Seal Bait – Your mind body and spirit connection

Corner became interested in calligraphy during military service in Korea in 1960-1961 and studied it with Ki-sung Kim; it is often incorporated into his scores. While there he became enamored with Korean traditional music, particularly the ''jeongak'' composition'' Sujecheon'', which he describes as "the most beautiful piece of music in the history of the world."[http://www.hungryghost.net/mb/corner.htm] Many of his scores are open-ended in that some elements are specified, but others are left partially or entirely to the discretion of the performers. Some employ standard notation, whereas others are graphic scores, text scores, etc. His music also frequently explores unintentional sound, chance activities, minimalism, and non-Western instruments and tuning systems. Improvisation is important, though not exclusive; some "performance proposals" lead to a kind of ecstatic semi-trance. Contact with artists in other media, especially dance and the visual arts, as well as a long-standing interest in Eastern religions such as Buddhism and study of the music of composers from the Baroque and Pre-Baroque eras has likewise impacted his music.

Representative works include the ensemble pieces ''Passionate Expanse of the Law'', ''Sang-teh/Situations'' and ''Through the Mysterious Barricade'', among many others. Also in his incredibly large oeuvre are piano pieces (''perfect'', ''Pictures of Pictures from Pictures of Pictures''), choral works (''Peace, be still''), electronic music (the war cantata ''Oracle''), and more than 400 works in the ''Gamelan'' series, to mention only some of his catalogue. He divides his output into five periods, each one reflective of his attitudes at the time:

#Culture, 1950s

#The World, 1960s and 1970s

#Mind, 1970s and 1980s

#Body, 1980s and 1990s

#Spirit; Soul, 1999 - present

Frog Peak Music, a Composer's Collective, has undertaken to make as much as possible of his opera omnia available by on-order photocopy publication.

Non-musical activities

In addition to his work as a composer and musician, he has created numerous assemblages, calligraphy, collages, drawings, and paintings, many of which have been exhibited internationally. He has also written much poetry, which like some of his music, has occasionally appeared under his Korean pseudonym Gwan Pok, meaning "Contemplating Waterfall".

Editions in silk-screen have been brought out by the Archivio F. Conz, Verona, and Pari e Dispari Agency in Reggio Emilia, among others.

Works are regularly exhibited in galleries, mostly in Europe, and are in notable museum collections.

His principle gallery is UnimediaModern in Genova, whose director Caterina Gualco maintains a large collection. Other important collectors are Hermann Braun in Germany (deceased 2009) and Luigi Bonotto in Bassano who maintains an extensive documentation.


Adapted from the Wikipedia article Philip Corner, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki