1814-1815

Metronome

• Dietrich Nikolaus Winkel invented the metronome,
• weighting a pendulum
• on both sides of the pivot.
• The next year,
• Johann Maelzel added a scale
• and patented it.
• In 1817, Ludwig van Beethoven, a friend of Maelzel,
• added metronome markings
• to one of his compositions.

Poème symphonique

• György Ligeti, influenced
• by the Fluxus movement, composed
• his Poème symphonique,
• for one hundred metronomes.
• The metronomes are wound up tightly,
• set to different tempos,
• and started together by ten performers
• who then leave the stage.

Tennis

• I’d play tennis without a net,
• and without an opponent.
• How would this be ”tennis”?
• I would count syllables.
• My serve would take six syllables.
• My return would take eight.
• Underlying rhythms
• would help serve my reader
• though fighting a built-in delay.