Alvin Lucier, "I am sitting in a room" (1969)

Click here to listen to this piece (hosted at UBUWEB) I would encourage you to listen to the piece a few times. Only after you've listened a few times should you consult the score. The score for the work is available here.

1. What elements of music are most prominent in this composition?
2. What elements of music appear to be missing?
3. How does repetition structure this piece? What elements are repeated? How do they change?
4. Which elements of the composition are fixed? Which change from performance to performance?
5. This piece requires a tape recorder for its performance. Does the recorder function as a musical instrument, recording device, both, or neither?
6. What might a live performance of this work look like? (You may wish to consult the score as you think about this question.)
7. On the score, Lucier indicates that the performer does not have to use this text, but can use "any other text of any length." Is the text an integral part of the composition?
8. Discuss the relationship between the score, a performance, and a recording of this work. (To do this, you may wish to seek out other recorded performances of the piece.)

Additional resources:

• Liner notes (hosted at DRAM)
  
• Alvin Lucier's personal website at Wesleyan University