James Tenney – Having Never Written a Note for Percussion (1971)

Описание: James Tenney’s “Having Never Written a Note for Percussion” (1971), performed by Matt Hannafin (tam-tam) as part of EXTRADITION PLAYS TENNEY concert 1 of 2, held at Leaven Community in Portland, Oregon, USA, on Saturday, January 24, 2026.

In the late 1950s, Philip Corner, Malcolm Goldstein, and James Tenney met as students on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Corner and Goldstein at Columbia University and Tenney at the Juilliard School of Music. In fall 1963, the three composer/performers formed the Tone Roads Chamber Ensemble, which performed contemporary works alongside composition by early masters of the American Experimental Tradition. The three went on to become masters themselves. As composer Peter Garland has written, "If the so-called American Experimental Tradition is today recognized as this country's most original and creative contribution to twentieth-century classical music, we have Tenney, Corner, and Goldstein to thank as much as anyone." Between January 2023 and February 2026, Portland, Oregon’s Extradition Ensemble presented three festivals honoring these influential figures: EXTRADITION PLAYS CORNER in 2023, EXTRADITION PLAYS GOLDSTEIN in 2024–25, and EXTRADITION PLAYS TENNEY in 2026.

EXTRADITION PLAYS TENNEY comprised two concerts on January 24 and February 21, 2026, both focused heavily on a composition series that’s come to be known as Tenney’s “Postal Pieces”: ten very short scores dedicated to friends, printed on postcards, and then mailed to those friends and others. In a 1978 interview with Gayle Young, Tenney explained the philosophy behind them: “Those pieces have a lot to do with . . . the avoidance of drama. They involve a very high degree of predictability. If the audience can just believe it, after they've heard the first twenty seconds of the piece, they can almost determine what's going to happen the whole rest of the time. When they know that's the case, they don't have to worry about it anymore. They don't have to sit on the edge of their seats. What they can do is begin to really listen to the sounds, get inside them, notice the details, and consider or meditate on the overall shape of the piece, simple as it may be. . . . [W]ithin a simple shape there can be relationships that are surprising.”

“Having Never Written a Note for Percussion” has become a staple of the solo percussion repertoire despite the fact that it is certainly one of the simplest compositions on record, encompassing in its entirety just a single long crescendo and decrescendo, typically accomplished on a large gong.

Links to all EXTRADITION PLAYS TENNEY performances are below:

CONCERT 1

Cellogram:    • James Tenney – Cellogram (1971)  

Beast:    • James Tenney – Beast (1971)  

Having Never Written a Note for Percussion:    • James Tenney – Having Never Written a Note...  

Improvisation:    • James Tenney – Improvisation (1956)  

For Percussion Perhaps, or . . . (night):    • James Tenney – For Percussion Perhaps, or ...  

CONCERT 2

Timbre Ring:    • James Tenney – Timbre Ring (1971)  

Swell Piece:    • James Tenney – Swell Piece (1967)  

Swell Piece No. 2:    • James Tenney – Swell Piece No  2 (1971)  

Swell Piece No. 3:    • James Tenney – Swell Piece No  3 (1971)  

Saxony:    • James Tenney – Saxony (1978)  

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Extradition is an ensemble and concert series dedicated to exploring the history and depth of the American experimental tradition and the global disciplines of open composition, guided improvisation, and other forms it helped inspire. Based in Portland, Oregon, USA, we collaborate closely with both known and emerging composers worldwide, producing quarterly concerts and intimate recital events that unite composition and improvisation, deliberation and chance, clarity and silence.

Performance photos by Glenn Sogge

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