The Thousand symphonies (1968)

1 - intention 

[Each symphony] is the result of violence on the part of its makers, and each exemplifies a clear power relationship among the performers which characterizes our understanding of the exertion and imposition of one's will over another in the most dictatorial and technical way.

II - resources 

The concept of all the pieces in this literature is that each utilizes the largest number of instrumentalists and vocalists, the former using the greatest variety available to them within the very arbitrary instrumentation of the orchestra described on the paper as source materials. The ensemble is presided over by the conductor

III - notations 

The notations are made by machine-gunning music paper with the standard ensemble indicated on it. The fragments are gathered together, without regard to whether they are torn, shattered, shredded or merely punctured, and the conductor attaches them to gunshot pieces of paper, as many to a sheet as seems appropriate, and as many sheets as necessary in the opinion of the conductor. 

IV - interpretation 

The performers play from left to right, but they may repeat any fragment. Any rip of paper crossing their parts indicates the shape of the musical event as well as that they may play. The lack of a rip means that they are silent during the movement. 

- Dick Higgins, New York City, 

July 1967

The Thousand Symphonies (#368), 1968

The Thousand Symphonies (#357), 1968

The Thousand Symphonies (#269), 1968

The Thousand Symphonies (#269), 1968

The Thousand Symphonies on the cover of "The Source: Music of the Avant-Garde" Issue No. 6, 1969

One unique page of the score to The Thousand Symphonies included in each issue of "The Source: Music of the Avant Garde," No. 6, 1969.