Roaratorio: An Irish Circus on Finnegans Wake
by John Cage
- Type: Album
- Released: 1982
- Label: Mode
- Country: United States
- Length: 1:24:00
- Community rating: 3.75/5 from 3 ratings
Album Notes & Community Reviews
Originally conceived as an elaborate radio play for WDR in Germany, this monumental electroacoustic work translates James Joyce's famously complex novel into a sprawling sonic environment. The composition utilizes chance operations to layer thousands of field recordings sourced from locations mentioned in the book, alongside traditional Irish musicians and Cage's own mesostic readings. It stands as one of the composer's most ambitious and overwhelmingly dense achievements.
Genres
Descriptors: avant-garde, history, monologue, experimental, spoken-word, conceptual, long-form
Tracklist
- John Cage Reading Roaratorio (Beginning) (10:10)
- A Radio Play, Part I (31:35)
- A Radio Play, Part II (28:20)
- Laughtears (Conclusion) (13:55)
Credits
- John Cage - primary artist, composed by, performer [realization], voice, interviewee
- Mel Mercier - bodhr谩n
- Peadar Mercier - bodhr谩n
- DesignTeam M眉nchen - cover [umschlaggestaltung]
- Klaus Sch枚ning - editor, interviewer
- Paddy Glackin - fiddle
- Matt Molloy - flute
- Peter Behrendsen - other [editor assistant]