X (any integer) for Henry Flynt by La Monte Young (1961) on Hurdy-Gurdy

La Monte Thornton Young was born on October 1935 in the state of Idaho, and is generally recognized as the first minimalist composer. In his childhood Young was fascinated by continuous environmental sounds, particularly those of motors, power plants and telephone poles. The dream chord (G, C, C#, D) on which some of his pieces are based is the chord he used to hear in the telephone poles. Arabic Numeral (Any Integer) to H.F. (1960), popularly known as X for Henry Flynt, requires the performer to repeat a loud, heavy sound every one to two seconds as uniformly and as regularly as possible for a long period of time. For this version, the hurdy-gurdy is tuned as follows: Gros Bourdon: G Petit Bourdon: C Trompette: D Chanterelles: C# Resonance strings: G, C, C#, D This performance contains a tribute to Douglas Adams. Hurdy-gurdy made by Paolo Coriani in 2001 (reconditioned by Giordano Ceccotti). La Monte Thornton Young