Warren Burt

After Warren's lecture, I bumped into him at a pedestrian crossing. He said he shared a similar compositional outlook with Robin Minard. Before he could explain this statement, we crossed the road and our paths diverged.

These composers are both here for the Adelaide Festival, and at this stage are our only forum presenters, so perhaps a comparison is warranted - but I was struck by their differences, not their similarities.

There are some similarities. They have both been composing for decades. Warren trained in USA and Robin next door in Canada, their musical development has been both shaped by and contributed to the maturation of electronic music technology. In their careers, both displayed a pioneering spirit - harnessing whatever technology they had available, in the early days tools which now seem extraordinarily archaic and cumbersome. Musically Warren and Robin both include random elements and what Robin calls "non-narrative composition".

One difference that struck me was the breadth of scope that lay behind the composer's musical thinking; the various elements the composers drew on to inform their work (at least that they shared with us!). Robin's focus in his early work, was on the relationship between frequencies, and later, like a sculptor who worked with found objects, he worked with found sounds. Robin considered the changing environment in the spaces for his work, and the different ways his music could have a relationship with its environment.

Warren's scope was overwhelming, his influences and considerations seemed to encompass an alarming array of human endeavour, from ancient Greek religion to Russian communism to Mafia bookies to 19th century armchairs to Fibonacci numbers. 1 So wide was this scope, and so fast Warren's delivery (presumably in an attempt to include as many as possible), it was hard to keep up. I felt that while Robin deliberately narrowed his scope, Warren was proudly expansive.

Another difference I perceived between the two men, was their intent - what they composed music for. Although both of them talked extensively about this, neither addressed it directly. Robin's compositions, although not concert music, were written for what used to be called an audience back in the simpler days of auditoriums. 2 He was concerned with the listener's experience of his music. Whilst clearly contemporary, I don't think Robin considers his music to be anti establishment - more pro listener.

Warren however, spoke little about the experience of his audience, excepting his discussion of the 1988 Brisbane installation. Sometimes his intent seemed to be expressing a you're not the boss of me so ner anti authoritarianism. He would create unusual music, because that wasn't the way music was normally done.

To this end, Warren has explored both randomness and unusual tunings. 1 There was some naughty appeal in the way he "hit things with hammers" to reduce predictability in his electronic music.

One recurring thread for Warren was self reference, where his musical performances are created by themselves. For example he had one piece where his arm movements imitated a live dancer who was part of the piece. These arm movements played the electronic instrument, which produced the music the dancer moved to. 1 I found this both appealing and mildly disturbing. The self referential creation and performance of his music presented as a closed loop that traveled between Warren, his instruments and the dancers or musicians he was collaborating with but did not extend to the audience.

In his talk, Warren didn't focus on how his audience shaped his decisions during the planning or presentation of a work, focusing more on what process he had undertaken to develop his instrument including his wide scope of influences and how his piece would incorporate randomness and self re-creation. Exploring these issues seemed to be the intent of Warren's music. Unlike Robin, it struck me that on the whole, Warren wasn't focused on the listener, either during design or execution.

Although this could lead to a problematic relationship with one's audience, this very difficulty might hold immense appeal for Warren. I suspect the world needs composers like Warren. In these mass produced commercial days, maybe it's important to remember to thumb one's nose at authority and write music simply because it's crazy or fun or it's never been done before.

1. Warren Burt . Lecture presented at University of Adelaide, 8 March 2006.

2. Robin Minard . Lecture presented at University of Adelaide, 2 March 2006.