francis picabia
ltm catalogue
ISBN: 978-1-906310-04-2

Born in Paris (France), artist, poet and theorist Francis Picabia (1879-1953) is recognised as a key figure in the development of abstract art and the avant-garde in the 20th Century. To read CD sleevenote click here. To purchase CD click here.


LA NOURRICE AMERICAINE (THE AMERICAN NURSE) (LTMCD 2509) £10
Written in 1920, La Nourrice Américaine (The American Nurse) consists of "three notes repeated to infinity" and was performed for the first - and last - time at the Festival Dada, staged at the Salle Gaveau in Paris on 26 May 1920. A landmark event, it launched the Dada phenomenon in Paris. La Nourrice Américaine was performed by Marguerite Buffet, duration unknown. It seems likely that Picabia's only venture into musical composition was inspired by talks with his friends Erik Satie, Marcel Duchamp and Edgard Varese. On this CD fast and slow interpretations are included, both performed by pianist Tom Feldschuh and each lasting for 20 minutes. The CD also includes three spoken word interviews by Picabia (in French), recorded between 1945 and 1949, as well as detailed sleevenotes and translations of the interviews. Full tracklist: La Nourrice Américaine (fast version), interview material, La Nourrice Américaine (slow version).

Reviews: "Some may re-think how they understand the term 'composition', but the slow version of The American Nurse included here is probably what Morton Feldman's sensual piano pieces would have sounded like had he been an amnesiac goldfish. The conversation with Picabia serves as an interval" (Boomkat, 01/2008); "Picabia outstrips even the confrontational minimalism of Satie's sublimely tedious Vexations" (The Wire, 04/2008)



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