Charlotte Moorman ("the topless cellist") has existed in my constellation of inspirations ever since I learned about her while working long ago at the Harvard music library. One of the librarians, a cellist himself, told me he kept her poster on his wall while in music school in the late 60s.
Julliard-trained, Moorman first fell for the avant-garde after playing a John Cage piece that involved both playing cello and cooking and eating mushrooms (not of the magical variety). She became associated with the wonderful Fluxus movement (along with Yoko Ono) and, among other things, became a pioneer in bringing sexuality into what was considered "serious" music by Western Civilization standards. Her renegade music even pre-dated much of pop music's libidinous explorations. Two years before Jim Morrison was arrested in Miami for allegedly whipping it out, Moorman was arrested for toplessness (on Feb. 9, 1967) in Manhattan during the performance of "Opera Sextronique" by Naim Jun Paik. (She was tried and convicted for partial nudity but the sentence was eventually suspended.)
The flyer for "Opera Sextronique" (see below) is profound. It made the case that "serious" music could not be taken seriously until it began to explore sexuality in the way that painting and literature had. "Music history needs its D.H. Lawrence its Sigmund Freud." It all reads as quaint now for a number of reasons, but it's a nice reminder that music should still aim to provoke and explore new territory. And feature topless cellists.
Julliard-trained, Moorman first fell for the avant-garde after playing a John Cage piece that involved both playing cello and cooking and eating mushrooms (not of the magical variety). She became associated with the wonderful Fluxus movement (along with Yoko Ono) and, among other things, became a pioneer in bringing sexuality into what was considered "serious" music by Western Civilization standards. Her renegade music even pre-dated much of pop music's libidinous explorations. Two years before Jim Morrison was arrested in Miami for allegedly whipping it out, Moorman was arrested for toplessness (on Feb. 9, 1967) in Manhattan during the performance of "Opera Sextronique" by Naim Jun Paik. (She was tried and convicted for partial nudity but the sentence was eventually suspended.)
The flyer for "Opera Sextronique" (see below) is profound. It made the case that "serious" music could not be taken seriously until it began to explore sexuality in the way that painting and literature had. "Music history needs its D.H. Lawrence its Sigmund Freud." It all reads as quaint now for a number of reasons, but it's a nice reminder that music should still aim to provoke and explore new territory. And feature topless cellists.
