First broadcast on January 3, 1970, this is an engaging, in-studio concert by a collection of young high school students performing improvised and semi-improvised compositions, utilizing a vast assortment of music making instruments and objects. Much in the vein of the more established Musica Elettronica Viva, the Rickfield Eliand Fox Island Terror, or R. E. F. I. T., perform a selection of works that range from the pleasantly melodic to the considerably chaotic, yet never veering into the type of dissonant pandemonium that one might expect from such a youthful collective. After presenting a selection of six works, during which it is sometime difficult to determine where one piece ends and the others begin, the surprisingly mature, four young men, (ages 16-18), sit down with Charles Amirkhanian, who then quizzes them about the origin and meaning of their ensemble’s name, their musical influences and familiarity with modern avant-garde composers, as well as future plans for the group, which all agreed was somewhat limited by their plans to soon go away to colleges around the country. The program then ends with Amirkhanian joining R. E. F. I. T. for a fully improvised piece. Given the remarkable musicality and maturity of the group it is somewhat disappointing that they never seemed to have produced any other available recordings, and leave us with no further information about their progress through life. |
