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Sextet-The Tiger's Mindbv CorneliusCardew

DaypieceThe dgcr ights hernindthat oves hecircle hat traps he tiger.The circlc spcrfectand outside ime.The wind blowsdust ntigcrs'cycs.Anry rcfccts, claxes ith hcr tnind, whichputsoutbuds cmulateshc tree). my umpsthrough hecircle ndcomforts he tiger.Thc tigersleepsn the tree.High wind.Amyclimbs he tree,which groansn thewind andsuccumbs. he tigerbums.

NightpieceThe tiger burns and snifts he wind for news. He stormsat thecircle; f inside to get out, if ou$ide to get in. Amy sleepswhilethe tiger hunts. Shedreamsof the wind, which then comesandwakesher. The tree trips Amy in the dark and in her fall sherecognizes er mind. The mind, rockedby the wind titteringin the leavesof the tree,and strangledby the circle,goeson thenod. The circle s trying to teach ts secretso the tree.The treelaughsat the rnind and at the tiger fighting it.

@ tg6l by Hinrichsen Edit ion Ltd, London.

P- 71 Cs

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Interpretation of this piecc s to be vicwcd hopcfirlly as a continuousproccss.Initially the two tcxts given aboveshould be regardedas imiring(ic, play thc givcn actions n the givcn order), the Daypieceand Nightpieccbeing used or perforrnanccon alternatcoccasions.All musicians houldmemorize the text to bc used. Subsequently ew accions nd situarionsmay bcallowed to arisespontaneously,oncurrentor interleavedwith the givenoncs; also he succcssion f cventsmay be altered, nore or lessat random(eg, a pcrfomranceof thc Daypiecemight open with thc riger asleepn thetree, or thc mind loving the circle, or Amy's mind putting out buds,etc).After additionalexpericncet may be desirable o devisenew rcxrsinvolving the samcsix charactcrs-the new texts should then be memorizedas before. Finally it may be possible o play without a text, simply improvisinsactionsand situations nvolving the six characters.

Initially the six charactcrs nay be played by six musicians, achoncknowing which rolcs arc allocated o thc other players. Later,cachnrusicianmay selecthis own rolc and allocatc hc othcr fivc roleswithout telling theother players so hat playcr A may selcct rce for himself and regardB astigcr, whilc B hassclectcd ree alsoand regardsA ascircle-in this casewe alrcadyhavc two aspects f trcc prcsentat once). Alternatively,eachplayer mayselccthis own rolc and allocatc hc other five in the courseof play, asrequircd by thc perfornrancc f his own role. Logically, after this stage t isno longer so rnportant that therebe six players. When there arc nlore thansix players he charactcrs 'raybc duplicatedor rnultiplied as oftcn asneccssary.Howcvcr, Anry should ncver be duplicated(obviously t mighthappen hat two playcrsboth rcgard themselves s Amy, but this is allowablcas ong as cachonc rcgardshinuelf as he orrJyA-y). When thereare rzor lnorc playcrs hc rolcs shouldbe allocatedby a performanccdirectorand made common knowlcdge amongst he musicians eg,performers -6 aretrecs,7 is Amy, 8 and 9 make up a circle, ro is the wind and the restaretigcrs). When thereare ess han six players,peoplc or objectsor soundsources utside he group may bc usedasdummies-without necessarilyinforming thenr of thcir rolc (for instance,f thcreare four players t might beconvenicnt o takc a slcepingonlooker-or an object n a slcepingpositionor a tape-rccordingof snoring-and placea tree-object n a positionsuch hat hc becor.ncshe tiger sleeping n the tree. He may sleepon for theduration of thc performancc. If he wakeshe may still be regardedas he dger,but thc playersshouldbe prepared hat he act not in accor&ncewith thetext. Alternatively a nrcchanical iger may be devised-although it nriehtsccnl nlore appropriatc o devisenrechanicalminds, winds or circles).If thcrc is only onc playcr hc shouldplay the tiger.

Thc duration of thc piecc s not limitcd and it shouldprcfbrablybeperfornrcdon its own.

Thc following notcs on thc six characters re not limiting or definirive.They arc intendedprinrarily to encourageand assist rospective erformers nthe assumption f their roles. However, they do contain phraseshat may beused n performanceas additional nraterial eg, Amy holding the tiger by

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the tail, the circle spinning,ctc). Individual pcrfbrmersnray modify the givendetails and add new ones f they so desire (eg, a zoologist performer mayobject to the view that the tiger's growling is instinctual, and might wish to addthat the structure of his paws enableshinr to travel soundlesslyover aparticularkind of terrain. Howcver, if our zoologistcannotaccept igerssleeping n treeshe should choosea different role-at least until such time asthe givcn texts have been discarded).Amy is a person. She worships the tiger. She tags along holding him by thetail. Her mind is occupied with things closeby. She comes to no harm inthe wind, although it brings her intimations of things far away. However,in high winds sheshould avoid climbing trees.

The tiger is a beast; he likes to hunt. His 6ce when he sights his prey is asilent explosion. In lean seasons e rnust conservehis strength and be on hisguard againstmanginess. Movement is his language and Amy understandsthis language. His growling, etc, are merely his instinctual noises.His telecommunications systern s basedon the wind which brings him scentsand sounds rom far away. His hearing and sense f smell are very acute.

The tree is supposedly nsensate.But it does respond to the stimuli of windand sun, and is also subject to sickness. It can sustainseveredamageand sdlrepair itself. It is a haven for all kinds of life (animals, nsects,plants) someof which are dependenton it parasitically. It keepswithin itself a recordof its age (seenasconcentric circles). It is hard yet pliant. Dead treesmayremain standing for centuriesafter their death. In life it expresseshe circleof seasonsn its fowering, its hlling leaves, heir changing colour, therising sap,etc. Ironically, its secd s borne away on the wind which is apotentially dangerousenemy. Being unaware of the effect of its being, a treemay be beneficial, nimical or neutral in relation to others of its kind(eg, it may be protecting a neighbouring tree from high winds at the samerimeas depriving it of vital sunlight). Having no mind of its own, the tree is aconstant stimulus to the mind.

Wind is insubstantial:visible and audible only through the objects n its path.Wind is a persuasivemage of freedom-blowing when and where it wants,now hot now cold, now hard now soft, now sweet now sour, frequentlyscreaming, wailing, whimpering, groaning, but never suffering, alwaysintact-but crack this image and behind it we find that wind is totally

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