Musical Indeterminacy as Critical and Affirmative play

Abstract

ialed Music, or Whatever, Offers Stiff Test of Nerves," proclaimed a headline in the Buffalo Evening News in December 1966. The article's author, music critic JOHN DWYER, further argued that the evening's concert was more challenging for the audience than Russian roulette or "Dead Man's Curve at 120 in the rain." 2 What was so demanding about this event? The recently formed Sonic Arts Union, visiting the University at Buffalo's Baird Hall as part of the Slee Music Lecture series, incorporated strange new techniques into their performance, disrupting norms and unsettling audience members. Musicians