inv.BVau 1015

BEN VAUTIER, Une seule note suffit, 1966
26,7 x 21,2 cm
stencil print
published by the artist
splendid condition, slightly aged
extremely rare
€ 650,- plus € 8,- Track & Trace EU registered mail
inv.BVau 1016-pr

Ben Vautier describes Composition # 7 (1960) as ‘a single note is sufficient’. In fact, to perform this composition 2 notes are used producing one tone, i.e. a two-note sound. Looking closer at the score one detects two vaguely written – here stenciled – notes in the music bar.
Ref. La Monte Young, Composition # 7 July 1960.

It is unknown whether this stencil paper has been part of “Stencils de Ben 1963-1969”, a folder with 58 loose stenciled sheets. This was an artist’s publication in an edition of 180.

The stencil print ‘Une seule note suffit’ contains two radical compositions by La Monte Young and Ben Vautier. The latter opens with an exposé on pop musicians and their pop culture embracing traditional music from the North of India:
“A single note is enough
Several parts from the last record of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Troggs, announce a new sound which extends the variety in music. These are monotonous sounds, in particularly produced by the Sitar (North Indian instrument) in tones and semitones, i.e. very close to this same music.” *
Ben ends his text by making an ingenious link to Western contemporary (or Fluxus-like) music:
“But this musical conception is not in opposition to modern techniques, on the contrary, today it allows us to know better and better the field of semitones, quarter tones.”
Followed by a composition “# 7” (to be held for a long time) of La Monte Young from 1960 and a composition “Crescendo” by himself from 1963.

“CRESCENDO
This composition is a single tone that is amplified. If it is given in a concert hall, it must begin when the curtains are drawn up. It is SLOWLY amplified in an evenly progression (without fluctuation). Its progress will be calculated in relation to the volume of the room and to the maximum power that the amplifiers are able to produce. The duration must be at least 4 hours. Half an hour before the end the volume must be absolutely unbearable and the audience must leave the room. BEN 1963”

* ‘Une seule note suffit
Plusieurs passages du dernier disque des Beattles, des Rolling Stone, des Troggs, annoncent une sonorité nouvelle qui envahit la musique de variété. Il s’agit de sons monotones, plus particulièrement produits par le Sitar (instrument Inde du Nord) en tons et demi-tons, très proches de cette même musique.’
….
‘Mais cette conception musicale n’est pas en opposition avec la technique moderne, bien au contraire, les emplis et micros d’aujourd’hui nous permettent de connaître de mieux en mieux le domaine des demi-tons, des quarts de tons.’
….
‘CRESCENDO
Cette composition est un seul son qui va en s’amplifiant. Si elle est donnée dans une salle de concert, elle doit débuter au lever du rideau. Elle s’amplifie LENTEMENT par progression symétrique (sans fluctuation). Cette Progression sera calculée par rapport au volume de la salle et à la puissance maximum que les amplificateurs pourront produire. La durée doit être au minimum de 4 heures. Une demi-heure avant la fin la puissance doit être absolument insupportable et l’assistance quittera la salle. BEN 1963’