6. George Brecht: Drip Music (Drip Event) (1959–62)

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Drip Music

(Drip Event)

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Water Yam

Water Yam

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Water Yam

(1963)

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(1963)

Synthesizing the influence of Marcel Duchamp, Jackson Pollock, and John Cage, Fluxus artist George Brecht’s watershed event score Drip Music (Drip Event) helped catalyze a new wave of experimental notation that abandoned the look of staff notation in favor of the ambiguous poetics of the written word. An annotated digital edition of Water Yam invites users to manipulate and compare dozens of Brecht’s event scores: playful instructions for live performance or private meditation that cultivate the “virtuoso listener” for whom “all sound may be music.”

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Printed page with large margins and left aligned black text. “DRIP MUSIC (DRIP EVENT)” at top is followed by “For single or multiple performance. A source of dripping water and an empty vessel are arranged so that the water falls into the vessel. Second version: Dripping.” “G. Brecht (1959-62)” printed below. — Drip Music (Drip Event) (1959–62)

Top view of wooden box dominated by a white label with large black letters that read “Water Yam.” Smaller text surrounding reads “FLUXUS C” and “ARRANGED BY GEORGE BRECHT.” Hinged wooden box open to reveal stacked cardstock. Top page is white cardstock printed with “Drip Music” event score. — Water Yam (1963)

Water Yam Cards (1963)

Black and white video of man placing chair, bowl, pitcher of water, and rolling wooden ladder at the center of a room in front of an audience sat on the floor just below view of camera. The man announces “Drip Music,” and then steps onto the ladder and audibly pours water from the pitcher into the bowl. The camera often zooms in to follow the movements of objects in the man’s hands as well as the stream of water. — Dick Higgins performing George Brecht’s Drip Music (Drip Event) (1959–62), The Kitchen, New York, NY; excerpted from the film Flux Concert, directed by Larry Miller (24 March 1979)

Audio recording that begins with a brief sound of rushing water and then settles into the repeated sounding of two or three overlapping and/or alternating tones of a hollow, wooden, knocking nature. Their rhythm evokes the sound of dripping water but the tones are hard and percussive. The frequency of the sounds continuously slows over the duration of the recording until there are significant silences between sounds. — Drip Music (1959), from the album George Brecht/Ben Patterson: Drip Music/370 Flies, Alga Marghen (record label), Milan, Italy (recorded 2002)

Fixed frame color video of performance space created by a hung white sheets lit with spotlights and an audience sat below, covered in dark shadow. A man appears from behind the curtain setting a glass vase, a glass pitcher full of water, and a metal ladder on the floor at the center of the room. The man climbs the ladder holding pitcher and then covers it with a rag. He upturns the pitcher it so that the water drips audibly into the vase below. Man stands on ladder for one and a half minutes, steps off the ladder, and takes all objects used back behind the curtain. — Perry Garvin performing George Brecht’s Drip Music (Drip Event) (1959–62), Triskelion Arts, Brooklyn, NY, part of FLUXCONCERT 20090220-21: two evening performances of event scores written by Fluxus pioneer George Brecht (20 February 2009)

Fixed frame color video of five people standing outside on a concrete staircase, each holding a different vessel filled with water. Each person in succession pours the contents of their vessel into the vessel of the person on their left, from bucket to plastic kettle to metal kettle to watering can to paper cup, during which, water spills onto the staircase. Once the watering can has poured its entire contents into the cup, the video ends. — Midori Kubota and students performing George Brecht’s Drip Music (Drip Event) (1959–62), at Kobe College, Hyogo, Japan, directed by Midori Kubota (2 November 2015)

Unboxing video of George Brecht’s compendium of event scores, Water Yam (2024)

Google video search for “George Brecht” “Drip Music”

Highlights

Lined page in a spiral notebook with handwritten notes divided into three sections titled “The Problem,” “Requirements for the System,” and “What is the nature of the unity of space and time which occurs in such situations?” each followed by short paragraphs. The third section is followed by three cube diagrams annotated with squares and circles representing light and sound. — Notebook page, reprinted in George Brecht—Notebooks, ed. Dieter Daniels and Hermann Braun, vol. 2 (Cologne: Walther König, 1991), 35–36 (26 October 1958)

Audio recording that begins with ambient noises of a seated audience settling into a room. Then long periods of silence are interrupted by gentle giggles, murmurs, single piano tones, footsteps, and outbreaks of uproarious laughter and clapping. — Audio recording of a performance of George Brecht’s Incidental Music (summer 1961) at the Kongresssaal Mathildenhöhe, Darmstadt, Germany, as part of the 1961 Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik (6 September 1961)

Black and white collage of newspaper articles in English, German, Italian, and Danish featuring text columns, documentary photographs, article headlines, and newspaper titles on two leaves printed on both sides. — Ekstra Bladet/Politiken, 1992 reprint by Edition Hundertmark (early 1963; reprinted in 1992)

Two paragraphs of handwritten correspondence on a blank page that utilizes thin margins. A cylindrical diagram and corresponding circular diagram are embedded in the text at the top of the page. — Letter from George Maciunas to George Brecht (ca. January 1963)

Photograph of handwritten letter spanning five vertical rectangular pages, so think that no line is longer than five words. The first page is titled “day of the high lists” at the top center. The final page is nearly blank, with the conclusion of the previous page’s sentence and the signature “George.” — Letter from George Brecht to M. C. Richards (July 1963)

Scores (11 items)

Accordion folded white page with left aligned text and large right margin. Title at top reads “MOTOR VEHICLE SUNDOWN (EVENT).” In order, three sentences, one paragraph, a 23-point numbered list, and one final paragraph follow the title. — Motor Vehicle Sundown (Event), event score sent to David Tudor (spring/summer 1960)

Magazine cover featuring high contrast black and white photograph of outstretched hand emerging from under a piece of metal with peeling skin and casting a dark shadow against the rough ground. Title “KULCHUR 3” at top of page in large, bold letters. — Pages from Kulchur magazine, no. 3, 1961, edited by Marc Schleifer

Vertical page with left aligned text. Title at top reads “THREE CHAIR EVENTS” and is followed by a bulleted list with lines reading “Sitting on a black chair. Occurrence.,” “Yellow Chair. (Occurrence.),” and “On (or near) a white chair. Occurrence.” “Spring 1961 G. Brecht” at bottom. The page is sparsely populated, utilizing large margins. — Three Chair Events, event score sent to David Tudor (spring 1961)

Horizontal page titled “THREE AQUEOUS EVENTS” at top followed by bulleted list “ice water steam” at center. Signed “GBrecht” at bottom left. The page is sparsely populated, utilizing large margins. — Three Aqueous Events, event score sent to David Tudor (summer 1961)

Typewritten page titled “MALLARD MILK” at top left, followed by two text sections separated by three lines of blank space. The first section is titled “Text: Dick Higgins” and is followed by a list of short phrases and single words. The second section is titled “Sound-score: G. Brecht” and is followed by three sentences and two short paragraphs. “(Summer, 1961, gb)” at bottom left. — Mallard Milk, event score sent to David Tudor (summer 1961)

Typewritten page titled “Incidental Music” at top followed by a five-point numbered list. Each number is followed by an instructional sentence. Page utilizes wide margins and spacing between lines — Incidental Music, event score sent to David Tudor (summer 1961)

Press release for *FLUXUS: Classic ’60’s Performances plus the premier of Alison Knowles’ “Natural Assemblages and the True Crow”* at The Kitchen, New York, NY — Handwritten and typed transcriptions of George Brecht event scores (ca. 1962–63)

Overhead color photograph of several rectangular pieces of colored and white cardstock laid out on a table, all of which are printed with a few words or short phrases. — Lantern Extract, envelope and seventeen scores sent to M. C. Richards (late 1962)

Narrow strip of white paper, horizontally oriented and blank except for word “EVENT” at center left and “pulse start pulse stop” arranged in two lines at center right. — Event (Pulse Start, Pulse Stop), event score sent to David Tudor (December 1962)

Eight copy pages with handwritten text, the first a title page that reads “EIGHT PIANO TRANSCRIPTIONS for David Tudor G. Brecht 1963” from top to bottom. The top of each following page features the title of a performance and the corresponding performance score at center, often one or two words. — Eight Piano Transcriptions (for David Tudor) (1963)

Horizontal page with black printed writing, titled “EVENT SCORE” at top left and followed by text “Arrange or discover an event score and then realize it” and two bullet pointed sentences. “George Brecht” printed at bottom. — Event Score (August 1965)

Sketches and materials (8 items)

Lined page in a spiral notebook with handwritten notes divided into three sections titled “The Problem,” “Requirements for the System,” and “What is the nature of the unity of space and time which occurs in such situations?” each followed by short paragraphs. The third section is followed by three cube diagrams annotated with squares and circles representing light and sound. — Notebook page, reprinted in George Brecht—Notebooks, ed. Dieter Daniels and Hermann Braun, vol. 2 (Cologne: Walther König, 1991), 35–36 (26 October 1958)

Handwritten notes on lined page in a spiral notebook. Newspaper cutout of time place and date of “The Nonagon” taped at top, followed by two underlined phrases “Relativity in the Work of John Cage” and “Space, Time, and Causality in the Work of John Cage,” and a two by three table diagram at center, and, at bottom, a short list titled “Psychology.” — Notebook page, reprinted in George Brecht—Notebooks, ed. Dieter Daniels and Hermann Braun, vol. 2 (Cologne: Walther König, 1991), 64–66 (ca. December 1958)

Handwritten notes on lined page in a spiral notebook. Top half filled with two paragraphs followed by a two by two grid comprised of words that read, clockwise, “Cassirer,” “Symbols,” Wittgenstein,” and “Beyond Symbols.” The bottom half of the page is blank. — Notebook page, reprinted in George Brecht—Notebooks, ed. Dieter Daniels and Hermann Braun, vol. 2 (Cologne: Walther König, 1991), 107 (21 January 1959)

Two-page spread in a lined spiral notebook. The left page is blank except for top right section containing an abstract drawing labeled “ball of foil.” The right page is titled “Burette Music” at top and contains three drawings, the one at top left resembling the drawing from the opposite page. The other two drawings at bottom left and right appear to model the suspension of horizontal strips of foil and paper from the ceiling. All diagrams are labeled with possible materials. The top right section is titled “Rate” and is filled with numbers and equations. — Notebook page, reprinted in George Brecht—Notebooks, ed. Dieter Daniels and Hermann Braun, vol. 3 (Cologne: Walther König, 1991), 24–25 (28 April 1959)

Handwritten notes on lined page in a spiral notebook. Labeled “Draft” at top right and titled “Time-table Music” at top center. One sentence fills top three lines of page, followed by two paragraphs at center. — Notebook page showing draft of Time-Table Music (1963), reprinted in George Brecht—Notebooks, ed. Dieter Daniels and Hermann Braun, vol. 3 (Cologne: Walther König, 1991), 105–7 (July 1959)

Handwritten notes on lined page in a spiral notebook. The page is comprised of two paragraphs with several stricken-through and replaced words and phrases. The bottom quarter of the page is blank. — Notebook page, reprinted in George Brecht—Notebooks, ed. Dieter Daniels and Hermann Braun, vol. 3 (Cologne: Walther König, 1991), 123 (ca. late July 1959)

Handwritten notes on lined page in a spiral notebook. Page is horizontally bisected at center with top half comprised of two paragraphs and bottom with a stricken through diagram. — Notebook page, reprinted in George Brecht—Notebooks, ed. Dieter Daniels and Hermann Braun, vol. 3 (Cologne: Walther König, 1991), 125 (ca. late July 1959)

Notebook page with writing at top (some crossed out) and a star-shaped diagram at bottom with nodes labeled “Composer,” “Notation,” “Performer,” “Sound,” and “Listener,” when read clockwise beginning at the top center. — Notebook page, reprinted in George Brecht—Notebooks, ed. Dieter Daniels and Hermann Braun, vol. 3 (Cologne: Walther König, 1991), 127 (ca. late July 1959)

Programs and flyers (6 items)

White page flyer with black printed text in English. Title of performance, date, location, and time all at left in bold, all-lowercase font, spaced to cover length of page and interspersed with horizontal lines that span the width of the page, each marked with printed number at far right. Top right reads “seconds: 0.0.” Horizontal crease at center — Announcement for the George Brecht solo exhibition toward EVENTS: an arrangement, at the Reuben Gallery, New York, NY (1959)

Typed page. First three lines list the date, time, and location of a performance at the Living Theatre. The next eleven double-spaced lines list the artists and pieces to be performed. — Program for A Concert of New Music, Living Theatre, New York, NY (14 March 1960)

Black and white printed flyer advertising a performance at the Living Theatre. At top, the participating artists are listed inside white rectangles atop amorphous black band. Below, in the title reads “A Concert of New Music” rendered in several incongruous typefaces. Below another horizontal black band is intersected by three perpendicular bands, each featuring performance date, location, time and ticket information. — Flyer for A Concert of New Music, Living Theatre, New York, NY, reprinted in George Brecht—Notebooks, ed. Dieter Daniels and Hermann Braun, vol. 4 (Cologne: Walther König, 1998), 230 (14 March 1960)

Double-spaced typewritten page with thin margins. Each word utilizes all capital letters. Top three-quarters of page features program information for “A Program of Happenings ? Events ! & Situations ?” while bottom quarter features a paragraph statement attributed to Alan Kaprow. — Program for A Program of Happenings ! Events ? & Situations !, Pratt Institute, New York (2 May 1960)

White page performance flyer with printed black text. Words “DAVID TUDOR” at top center in large font followed, at the midpoint of the page, by smaller text that lists performers and, at the bottom, the time, date, and location of the performance. — Announcement for a David Tudor concert at Mary Bauermeister’s atelier, Cologne, Germany (15 June 1960)

Printed page with large text at top reading “press release” and, below “Fluxus.” Page text details location, time, and price of the performance at The Kitchen, followed by paragraphs that detail the exhibition and participating artists. — Press release for FLUXUS: Classic ’60’s Performances Plus the Premier of Alison Knowles’ “Natural Assemblages and the True Crow” at The Kitchen, New York, NY (24 March 1979)

Photographs (8 items)

Black-and-white photograph of three people in lab coats surrounding an instrument comprised of three water bottles suspended above three plastic pots that sit on a rectangular box. An amplifier rests below the pots inside the box. The man to the right of the box leans in, bent at the waist, to examine the instrument. The other two figures at center back and left remain upright. The whole scene is lit by a spotlight. — Benjamin Patterson (director), performance of George Brecht’s Drip Music (Drip Event) (1959–62), at Ménagerie de Verre, Paris (18 June 2002)

Black and white photograph of a man in suit and tie holding a tea kettle while standing on a wooden ladder. At the base of the ladder sits a metal tub. Behind the ladder sits a large sign with painted words in Danish. — Dick Higgins performing George Brecht’s Drip Music (Drip Event) (1959–62) at Fluxus–Musik og Anti Musik det Instrumentale Teater, Nikolai Kirke, Copenhagen, Denmark (23 November 1962)

Black and white photograph of a man in a suit and tie holding a pitcher while standing on an over ten-foot-tall ladder. Loose pages are strewn about the floor surrounding the ladder, while the high-ceilinged wall behind the ladder is blank. — George Maciunas performing George Brecht’s Drip Music (Drip Event) (1959–62) at Festum Fluxorum, at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany (2 February 1963)

Black and white photograph of seven men loosely arranged in line at facing an eighth man at the left of the frame, all with their hands raised above their heads grasping eye droppers. Loose pages are strewn about the floor surrounding the men Behind the men sits a tall ladder. — Ensemble performance of George Brecht’s Drip Music (Drip Event) (1959–62), directed by George Maciunas at Festum Fluxorum, at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany (2 February 1963)

Black and white photograph of man bending over to pour water from a ceramic pitcher to a small bowl sitting on the floor below. In the background, an audience views the performance from behind clear plastic sheeting. — George Brecht performing Three Aqueous Events/Drip Music (Drip Event) (1959–62) at the concert Happenings, Events, and Advanced Musics, at Douglass College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ (6 April 1963)

Documentary photo of Drip Music assembled sculpture. At bottom right, a wet rag is draped over the handle of a watering can. At center left a painted sign of looping handwritten cursive reads “Goerge Brecht drip Music.” At top right a small light illuminates the scene, with the watering can gleaming underneath. — Sculptural realization of George Brecht’s Drip Music (Drip Event) (1959–62) at the New York Fluxhall/Fluxshop, New York, NY (1964)

Black and white photograph of outdoor faucet set up in front of a wall. A small metal basin rests on the grass under a spigot mounted high above, attached to the top of a remarkably tall length of pipe that is mounted to an equally tall slab of wood. — Drip Music (ca. 1970)

Color photograph of a man sitting man who smokes a cigarette and listens to audio on headphones connected to a Numark audio device. — Benjamin Patterson recording his realization of George Brecht’s Drip Music (Drip Event) (1959–62) in Paris using a specially made apparatus designed by Patterson with the assistance of Bertrand Clavez (2002)

Audio (1 item)

Audio recording that begins with ambient noises of a seated audience settling into a room. Then long periods of silence are interrupted by gentle giggles, murmurs, single piano tones, footsteps, and outbreaks of uproarious laughter and clapping. — Audio recording of a performance of George Brecht’s Incidental Music (summer 1961) at the Kongresssaal Mathildenhöhe, Darmstadt, Germany, as part of the 1961 Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik (6 September 1961)

Press clippings (2 items)

Black and white newspaper article pasted into spiral-bound notebook. The article is titled “New School’s ‘Happneings’ Proves To Be ‘Hellzapoppin’-Beatnik Style” at top and is contains of a photograph of four posing performers on the right and a column of text on the left. — “New School’s ‘Happenings’ Proves to be ‘Hellzapoppin’-Beatnik Style,” New York World-Telegram and The Sun, reprinted in George Brecht—Notebooks, ed. Dieter Daniels and Hermann Braun, vol. 5 (Cologne: Walther König, 1998), 89 (3 May 1960)

Black and white collage of newspaper articles in English, German, Italian, and Danish featuring text columns, documentary photographs, article headlines, and newspaper titles on two leaves printed on both sides. — Ekstra Bladet/Politiken, 1992 reprint by Edition Hundertmark (early 1963; reprinted in 1992)

Correspondence (12 items)

Typewritten letter in spiral bound book addressed to Daniel Wolf containing three paragraphs, the first of which is a five point lettered list. Letter utilizes large margins and features no letterhead. — Letter from George Brecht to The Village Voice editor Daniel Wolf, reprinted in George Brecht—Notebooks, ed. Dieter Daniels and Hermann Braun, vol. 4 (Cologne: Walther König, 1991), 178 (9 February 1960)

Photocopy of short, two-sentence letter printed in a spiral-bound notebook. Date and body of letter typewritten, signature in pen. Word “Germany” written in same script as signature at bottom left. — Letter from John Cage to George Brecht, reprinted in George Brecht—Notebooks, ed. Dieter Daniels and Hermann Braun, vol. 5 (Cologne: Walther König, 1998), 114 (27 May 1960)

Two paragraphs of handwritten correspondence on white paper. Paragraphs are short but spaced such that they fill the page. Date at top right reads “Venice, July 27.” — Letter from David Tudor to George Brecht, reprinted in George Brecht—Notebooks, ed. Dieter Daniels and Hermann Braun, vol. 5 (Cologne: Walther König, 1998), 183 (27 July 1960)

Photocopy of letter printed in a spiral-bound notebook. Body of letter handwritten in neat, generously spaced cursive. Dated “July 2, 1961” at top left and paginated “1” at top center. — Letter from Toshi Ichiyanagi to George Brecht, reprinted in George Brecht—Notebooks, ed. Dieter Daniels and Hermann Braun, vol. 7 (Cologne: Walther König, 2005), 26–27 (2 July 1961)

Two short paragraphs of typed correspondence on a page with large margins. Handwritten signature “George” following final paragraph. — Letter from George Brecht to David Tudor (11 July 1961)

Handwritten letter in blue ink consisting of three sentences covering one full page. Signed “George” at bottom right. — Letters from George Brecht to Jill Johnston (ca. 1963)

Two paragraphs of handwritten correspondence on a blank page that utilizes thin margins. A cylindrical diagram and corresponding circular diagram are embedded in the text at the top of the page. — Letter from George Maciunas to George Brecht (ca. January 1963)

Verso of white rectangular postcard with black ink stamp at center reading “After April I will be unreachable by Fluxus” followed by black signature of George Brecht. Otherwise, blank. — Postcard from George Brecht to Benjamin Patterson (22 April 1963)

Photograph of handwritten letter spanning five vertical rectangular pages, so think that no line is longer than five words. The first page is titled “day of the high lists” at the top center. The final page is nearly blank, with the conclusion of the previous page’s sentence and the signature “George.” — Letter from George Brecht to M. C. Richards (July 1963)

Verso of white rectangular postcard with black printed text in English. “8 Rooms” at bottom left, address for George Brecht at top left, black ink and sticker stamps at top right, and handwritten address for Pyla and Ben Patterson at center right. — Postcard from George Brecht to Benjamin Patterson (21 January 1964)

White envelope with handwritten address of Pyla and Ben Patterson at bottom center, black ink and sticker stamp at top right, and address of Fischbach gallery at left, oriented vertically. — Postcard from George Brecht to Benjamin Patterson (7 April 1965)

White postcard with blue handwritten text in English. Handwritten notes at left and address for John Cage at bottom right. Open spot for stamp at top right. Small black printed text at top left reads “from AMPLE FOOD FOR STUPID THOUGHT by Robert Filliou.” — Postcard from George Brecht to John Cage (ca. 1967–69)

Archival materials (1 item)

Typewritten page with large margins titled “EVENTS: scores and other occurrences.” Page is filled with short sentences and paragraphs, each separated by carriage returns. — “EVENTS: scores and other occurrences,” typescript, sent to Jill Johnston (28 December 1961)