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Pauline Oliveros, To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe in Recognition of Their Desperation, (Vinyl/LP), ROAR21, Roaratorio, 2011

To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe in Recognition of Their Desperation: for any group or groups of instrumentalists (6 to large orchestra), Smith Publications, ca. 1977

Valerie Solanas
1936-1988
The Demale Society
Manhattan SCUM Chapter
Member #013666 since December 1966
Founder of the Society for Cutting Up Men
Author of SCUM Manifesto
Playwright of Up Your Ass

Marilyn Monroe
1926-1962
Movie actress
Born Norma Jean[e] Mortenson
Lived as an orphan and as a foster child until age 16
Nominated for the 1956 British Academy Award for “Best Foreign Actress” in The Seven Year Itch

«The players are distributed widely within a space, in groupings, each with its own conductor. The piece (in this performance) lasts 30 minutes, trisected into 3 ten-minute sections delineated in sequence by red light, yellow light, blue light. Before the piece begins, each player chooses five pitches. During the red section, players begin exploring one of their chosen pitches. At about the 7 minute mark, a white light flashes, after which the players gradually incorporate pitches 2, 3, 4 and 5. In the yellow section, players are invited to steal pitches from other players. Blue light signals cessation of stealing. At about the 23rd minute, another white flash signals gradual return to one pitch.
The piece is meditative in nature. Its title is not descriptive but dedicatory.»
― from the concert program of the 1977 performance

«Shortly after it was published in 1968 the SCUM Manifesto by Valerie Solanas fell into my hands. Intrigued by the egalitarian feminist principles set forth in the Manifesto, I wanted to incorporate them in the structure of a new piece that I was composing. The women’s movement was surfacing and I felt the need to express my resonance with this energy. Marilyn Monroe had taken her own life. Valerie Solanas had attempted to take the life of Andy Warhol. Both women seemed to be desperate and caught in the traps of inequality: Monroe needed to be recognized for her talent as an actress. Solanas wished to be supported for her own creative work. Commissioned by the Music Department of Hope College, Holland Michigan, To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe in Recognition of Their Desperation had its premiere in 1970. Though everyone knew Marilyn Monroe hardly anyone recognized Valerie Solanas or took her Manifesto seriously. I brought the names of these two women together in the title of the piece to draw attention to their inequality and to dedicate the piece.
In the score all players have a non-hierarchical role. The parts for the piece are the same for each player and within the given guidelines each individual interprets their part differently. If any player starts to dominate the musical texture, the community that is created by the piece absorbs the outstanding sounds back into the collective. To recognize this composition as a feminist piece it would be necessary to read the SCUM Manifesto and to study the player’s parts.»
― Pauline Oliveros, October 2010

October 6, 1970 – Wichers Hall, Hope College, Hope, Michigan
Buchla Electronic Music System: Pauline Oliveros, Jan Siderius
Flute: Pamela Ryker, Susan Bos, Mary Rockwood
Organ: Roger Davis
Strings: Harrison Ryker, Roger White, Suzanne De Vries, Joseph Filonowicz, Robert Ritsema, Glenn Stuart Jr.

April 7, 1977 – Crowell Concert Hall, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut
Conductors: Nathan Shimabuku, Teddy Klaus, Tom Hilton, David Claman, Eric Ranvig
Violin: Anna Barron, Pam Chapperon, James DeCaprio, Leslie Greengard, Margaret Holtzberg, Claudia Lewis, Georgia Mook, Fran Pepperman, Susan Rappaport, Pam Schwartz, Mark Sicbin
Viola: Jane Kurz, Monica McCarthy, Guitele Nicoleau. Flute: Marcia Finger, Sharon Avrutick
Oboe: Ruth Rotholz, Barbara Johnston
Clarinet: Tom Moran, Anne Wilson
Bassoon: Chuck Agosta, David Hiscox
Cello: Eliot Bailen, Wendy Breuninger, Julie Burstein, Tom Loder
Bass: Sarah Kendall
Horn: David Engstrom, Ruth Axelrod, Bill Rowe
Trumpet: Jon Mink, Robert Blumenschine
Trombone: Rich Brown
Percussion: Skip Lombardi
Electronics: Ron Kuivila, Tom Miller, Gary Grimaldi, Nancy Rosenberg, Kathy Bergeron, Greg Shatan, Fred Briccetti, Julie Burstein, Nathan Shimabuku

Artwork: Judith Lindbloom
Produced by Pauline Oliveros and James Lindbloom

Plus: Golden Offence Orchestra, Ode to Pauline Oliveros: To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe in recognition to their desperation, Composed by Pauline Oliveros, Adaptation by Golden Offence Orchestra, Recorded by Mats Erlandsson, David Granström and Maria W Horn in Stockholm, 2013. XKatedral, August 23, 2017