volume 2
(VHS PAL & SECAM) 27,00 euros
Muratti Privat 1935 b/w 2’
Wax Experiments 1921-1926 color silent 9’
München-Berlin Wanderung 1927 b/w silent 5’
Study 5 1930 b/w 3’
Study 9 1931 b/w 3’
Study 12 1932 b/w 5’
Komposition in Blau 1935 color 4’
American March 1941 color 3’
Organic Fragment 1941 color silent 1’
Mutoscope Reels 1945 b/w silent 2’
Oskar Fischinger was the champion of absolute ideas in abstract experimental film. He left Germany in 1936 at the invitation of Paramount and went to Hollywood, where he was the initial inspiration for Walt Disney’s Fantasia, and where he continued to work in the abstract field both in painting and filmmaking until his death in 1967. Fischinger alone, of the many who had used the form, continued solely to produce abstractions on film, to the point where his name became identified with the form.
Volume II offers a fascinating overview of his career, from his first film in the early 1920s, the exotic and serene Wax Experiments (created by slicing away prepared blocks of wax, with color tints added), to one of his last films, the 1950s Muntz TV Commercial, painted in black-and-white as a television ad. The dazzling color films Composition in Blue (1935) and American March (1941) are seen here in newly-restored prints that capture the vivid colors of the originals better than any previously available version. The brief unfinished fragments of films from the early 1940s provide a glimpse of what further glories Fischinger might have supplied if he had encountered better support for his filmmaking in America.
William Moritz
This edition of Oskar Fischinger’s films was curated by Elfriede Fischinger and William Moritz and includes a booklet by W. Moritz.
Oskar Fischinger était un champion absolu de l'expérimentation abstraite. En 1936, il quitta l'Allemagne pour Hollywood sur l'invitation de la Paramount. Il travailla aux studios Disney sur Fantasia dont il était d'ailleurs le principal initiateur. Il travaillera à Hollywood dans le domaine abstrait comme peintre et cinéaste jusqu'à sa mort en 1967. De tous ceux qui travaillaient la forme, seul Fischinger a continué à ne produire que des abstractions sur film, au point que son nom est devenu représentatif de ce genre de recherche formelle.
Ce deuxième volume consacré à Oskar Fischinger offre un panorama saisissant sur la carrière du cinéaste, depuis son premier film dans les années vingt, l'exotique et paisible Wax Experiments (fabriqué à partir de blocs de cire tranchés, puis teinté) jusqu'à l'un de ses derniers films dans les années cinquante, Muntz TV Commercial, une publicité pour la télévision, peinte en noir et blanc.
Les éblouissants films en couleurs Komposition in blau (1935) et American March (1941) sont ici présentés dans des copies neuves restaurées, qui nous rendent les couleurs éclatantes d'origine, comme aucune version auparavant. Les courts fragments inachevés des films du début des années 1940 donnent un aperçu du succès qu'aurait pu avoir Fischinger s'il avait rencontré davantage de soutien en Amérique.
- William Moritz
Cette édition en vidéo des films d'Oskar Fischinger a été choisie par Elfriede Fischinger et William Moritz et comprend un livret de textes de W. Moritz.
John Cage Featured on KPFA's Ode To Gravity Series (December 12, 1987):
John Cage discusses how he met filmmaker Oskar Fischinger through Galka Shire around 1935.
Based on an interview with John Cage, conducted by Charles Amirkhanian at the Exploratorium's Speaking of Music in San Francisco, this Ode to Gravity program was heard nationwide over the NPR satellite. Amirkhanian begins with a quick history of Cage's musical upbringing, leading into an interview conducted with Cage during preparation for the San Francisco Symphony's "all-Cage" evening in 1983.
The program opens with a performance of "Double Music" (1941) written jointly by Cage and Lou Harrison. The music is performed by the Manhattan Percussion Ensemble, under the direction of Cage.
Amirkhanian gives background on Cage, including the influence of Henry Cowell, Arnold Schoenberg and Buddhism, leading into a summary of Cage's style.
Introduction of the interview, conducted at Davies Symphony Hall in 1983, during preparation for the San Francisco Symphony's "all-Cage" evening.
Cage discusses how he met filmmaker Oskar Fischinger through Galka Shire around 1935, which led him to composing music for percussion instruments. Cage relates this music to silence and zen, moving away from the usual motivation of music as communication" towards "music as a means of sobering and quieting the mind, thus subjecting it to divine influences."
Cage discusses his "Credo in Us", composed in 1942 in New York City for a dance choreographed by Merce Cunningham and Jean Erdman.
"Credo in Us" performed by Musica Negativa, conducted by Reiner Riehn.
Part I (57:43)
John Cage/Lou Harrison: Double Music
performed by Manhattan Percussion Ensemble
conducted by John Cage
Interview with Cage (1983)
Credo in US (1942)
performed by Musica Negativa
conducted by Reiner Riehn
on "Music before Revolution" (EMI)
Ryoanji (1983)
Michael Pugliese percussion, Isabell Ganz mezzo soprano
(Mode Records)
Part II (57:58)
Experiences No. 2 (1945-1948)
text from Tulips and Chimneys by e.e. cummings
performed by Robert Wyatt on
"Jan Steele/John Cage: Voices and Instruments"
(EG Obscure 5)
Lecture: EurOperas I & II
Speaking of Music series at the McBean Theater, SF
January 8, 1987
MusiCircus -- November 21, 1969 featuring
How to Improve the World (You will only make matters worse) (1966)
(part 2)
