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Listening Report – Alvin Lucier: Project 76 - Nothing is Real (Strawberry Fields Forever)

Alvin Lucier’s “Project 76 – Nothing is Real (Strawberry Fields Forever)” was performed in 1990. Lucier used a piano, a tape recorder, a sound system, and an amplified teapot for this performance. The Composition can be split in two separate parts.

The first part starts with the composer playing on a regular piano. The sounds that are being created are very harmonious but contain a somber undertone which is being created by the reverb of the piano when lower tones are being played. The reverb sounds similar to the echo that is being created by Cage’s prepared piano.

By looking at the title of the Composition, it is noticeable that the composer is playing his version of the song “Strawberry Fields Forever” by the Beatles which was released in 1967. However, the interpretation of Alvin Lucier differs from the original song: While many sounds in the original song by the Beatles are perceived to be very upbeat, the composition contains sounds that are dark than upbeat. There is also a difference in the use of pauses: The original contains less breaks in between the different sounds, while the composition score has a strict order on when the performer needs to stop playing and when to start playing again.

For the second part of the composition, the composer stops playing the piano and closes its top to put an amplified teapot on top of the piano which plays the first part of the performance through the amplifier. The teapot itself also contains its’ own note sheet which is believed to contain the moments where the lid of the teapot must be taken off or lowered back again and when the object must be lifted or put back on the piano top. The sound that is being created contains far more reverb than the actual performance on the piano. This is only the case when the lid is being lifted. When the lid of the teapot is put back on its’ original place, the sound that comes out of the teapot is silent, which is believed to be due to the lack of space the sound can use.

The title of the Composition “Nothing is Real” is taken out of the song that is used in this performance by the Beatles also resonates with the performance due to the two parts that exist: While the first part sounds like a normal composition with sounds and also makes the tunes appear like we are used to listen to them, the second part shows the listener that the sounds can also sound completely different which can make the listener question which version of the sound is the actual, real representation of the sound.
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