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Musical Reflections of Surrealism

Prof. Anne LeBaron


Assignment #1, given on Jan. 24, 2018

READ: First Manifesto of Surrealism by André Breton: p. 3-47
http://new-territories.com/blog/2013GSAPP-UPENN/wp-
content/uploads/2013/08/Pages-de-manisfesto1.pdf
Concentrate on these ignificant passages in (page numbers refer to the volume
translated by Seaver and Lane)
p. 9-10: Breton decries the loss of imagination
p. 13-14: #4: he reflects on the importance of dreams
p. 14-18: ‘the marvelous’
p. 24-35: ESSENTIAL to read this section:
- passage begins with origins of the def. of surrealism with
lines from a poem by Pierre Reverdy;
- begins to discover ‘thought writing’;
- formally defines surrealism;
- gives instructions for engaging in automatic writing
p.36-43: surrealist images; value of randomness

VIEW: Dada and Surrealism overview by Peter Tush – a one hour lecture with
many illustrations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGeBUjPdH7I

LISTEN: Schwitters’ Ursonate performed by Christian Bök; refer to the transcript


with the link provided on the site
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCgzRxM5010

DO for next week,(Jan. 31) in class:


1. Bring in an example of music that could be considered as ‘surrealist’ music.
This can be a score, a recording, or something you create. Be prepared to
explain why you think it exhibits surrealist tendencies, based on what you
glean from the Breton manifesto or other sources.

2. Write a poem according to Tzara’s method; bring in to share in class


http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88v/tzara.html
(for a speedy version try this Dada Poem Generator):
http://www.lasalle.edu/~blum/c340wks/DadaPoem.htm

3. Be prepared to discuss aspects of Breton’s 1924 Surrealist Manifesto.

4. We will also share impressions of the full performance of Ursonate.

5. Write 2-3 sentences on a piece of paper to hand it to me, about why you are
taking this course; also, on this paper, please provide me with your
preferred pronouns (she/her; he/him; they/their).
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES for all things DADA and beyond:

The International Dada Archive


http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/dada/dadaists/index.html

Documents of Dada and Surrealism: Dada and Surrealist Journals


in the Mary Reynolds Collection
http://www.artic.edu/reynolds/essays/hofmann.php

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