Bun No. 1

Bun No. 1 (italian: focaccina, ciambella, panino) is a 1965 piece, composed by Cornelius Cardew during his studies with Goffredo Petrassi as a final exercise for his postgraduate course in composition.

It is, as far as I know, a serial work for orchestra without percussion. A fascinating piece, very timbral, which reveals a virtually unknown aspect of Cardew's work, especially since this piece had virtually never been performed until its London premiere by the Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ilan Volkov for the BBC on August 20, 2010.

But why Bun? In Contact no. 26 (Spring 1983), John Tilbury explained.

[Cardew] gave me two off-the-cuff reasons when I asked him: a bun is what you give to an elephant at the zoo, and that was how he felt when he gave the work to an orchestra to play; and the piece is like a bun – filling but not substantial!

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