Unsung post-minimalist composer Bunita Marcus blends layers of history on Lecture For Jo Kondo

Featuring a machine-based deconstruction by David August.

Post-minimalist composer and conductor Bunita Marcus is releasing a new version of her 1985 Lecture For Jo Kondo, via 99Chants this September.

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Having begun studying composition at age 16, Marcus was active within New York’s avant-garde music scene during the ’70s and ’80s.

Despite her influence extending to celebrated composers like Morton Feldman, Marcus’ gender saw her relegated to the sidelines — both at the time and historically. 99Chants aims to correct that injustice with this new release.

Lecture For Jo Kondo is dedicated to fellow composer and friend Jo Kondo, and was originally written for Morton’s group Feldman and Soloists to be performed in 1985.

The piece was recorded by Berlin’s Ensemble Adapter for the 2012 release of Marcus’ Sugar Cubes, and this latest version — arriving 35 years after the piece was originally written — adds Marcus’ own vocals on top of that Berlin recording.

“This piece is based in complex theories I am calling ‘serialism’ and showing how Repetition + Mutation = Patterning,” Marcus explains. “It is this patterning that is the basis of musical language and thought.”

Alongside the full 20-minute piece, Lecture For Jo Kondo also includes a machine-based deconstruction by 99Chants label owner David August.

Head here to pre-order a copy in advance of Lecture For Jo Kondo’s 25th September release, check out the artwork and tracklist below.

Tracklist:

Side A

1. Bunita Marcus – Lecture for Jo Kondo

Side B

1. Bunita Marcus – Lecture for Jo Kondo (David August Deconstruction)