|
December 13, 2011 - No. 129
Cornelius Cardew -- Outstanding
Musician,
Composer, Communist
- Sandra L. Smith* -
Cornelius
Cardew
May 7, 1936 -
December 13, 1981
|
December 13 marks the 30th anniversary of the death of
Cornelius Cardew, who was born 75 years ago on May 7, 1936. Cornelius
was an outstanding member of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary
Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist) and Secretary of the
Progressive Cultural Association
(PCA). He died tragically in a hit-and-run accident in 1981.
Many of us in the Communist Party of Canada
(Marxist-Leninist) had the good fortune to work closely with Cornelius
under the leadership of Comrade Hardial Bains when the Canadian
Cultural Workers' Committee (CCWC) and the PCA engaged in joint work on
the cultural front. On December 21, 1996, on
the fifteenth anniversary of Cornelius' death, Comrade Bains delivered
an important paper at a symposium held at the Marx Memorial Library in
London, England by the PCA. The paper was subsequently published in a
pamphlet under the title The Question is Really One of Word and
Deed. In that presentation,
Comrade Bains summed up the significance of the contribution Cornelius,
a renowned musician and composer in his own right, made to the
development of the movement to open society's path to progress at that
time. Comrade Bains pointed out:
"One of the greatest qualities of Cornelius was that he
worked as part of the collective. Being already a well-known
personality in the field of music, a celebrated person from his younger
days, there is a tendency to forget about the work of the collective
and attribute all its achievements to Cornelius Cardew.
Cornelius did not play that kind of role. It was his decision to join
the collective that was the important and decisive step. This work in
the sphere of culture had a history of some fifteen years before
Cornelius joined it. It has also a history of some seventeen years
since he joined. In fact, there was no such work
during this period which can be called the 'work of Cornelius' nor is
this its hallmark since. It was not Cornelius Cardew as such who gave
rise to important developments. The entire work was that of the
collective in which Cornelius made his contribution like everyone else.
He did so not as the leader or inspirer
of such a collective but as a person who was led and inspired by such a
collective. It can be said that this quality of his working under the
inspiration, the leadership of the collective, was his greatest quality
and virtue. It is this quality which made him dear to everyone with
whom he came in contact. It is precisely
this virtue which enabled him to make his own contribution. Cornelius
minus this virtue would remain a renowned composer and a personality to
be interpreted by every Tom, Dick and Harry in a manner so as to please
their own fancies. Cornelius with this virtue was the potential giant
he was in this field. Alas,
this potential was nowhere near exhausted by the time of his most
untimely demise. His early death robbed him of the opportunity to
develop his full potential. His keenness in work, his modesty, his
convictions and dedication to the cause of revolution and socialism all
stem from this virtue of working under the
leadership of the collective. It can be said that he acquired this
virtue as a result of his involvement in the proletarian movement for
emancipation."
Concluding his presentation, Comrade Bains added:
Cornelius Cardew
alongside the Founder and Leader of CPC(M-L) Hardial Bains during
the Internationalist Youth Concert and Variety Show which toured
Canada in 1979.
|
"Cornelius Cardew will be remembered as a personality
who was able to rise above the trivial, the narrow and the profane. He
joined the collective and the collective work in which he found the
greatest dignity and greatest satisfaction. He himself was a
pathfinder, one who arrived at some important conclusions
in his early life, especially the one in which he placed the musician
and the performer right in the midst of the struggles of the masses for
their rights. He joined work by placing his entire body and soul into
it. In more ways than one, he lived one life, the life of a
Marxist-Leninist revolutionary. Composing music,
participating in the PCA/CCWC collective, was one of the duties he took
up and executed honourably. This was not all that Cornelius did. He had
other duties, the most important of which was his membership on the
Central Committee of the Communist Party. An accomplished musician on
the Central Committee
of a Communist Party?! Yes, because he was an accomplished communist, a
Marxist-Leninist revolutionary, a man dedicated to the victory of the
proletarian movement for emancipation in the first place. He was all
those things which the prevailing wisdom demands that an accomplished
musician, a celebrated composer
ought not be. Besides, he played the second fiddle to the leadership
which he followed with utmost devotion and loyalty. He was so fortunate
in accomplishing so much in life until the anarchy and violence of the
society he worked so hard to transform through revolution cut his life
short.
"Our Comrade Cornelius Cardew will always be remembered
as the militant revolutionary Marxist-Leninist he was. All the
attributes, his skills and abilities were in the service of the
proletarian movement for emancipation. He is a worthy role model for
all who wish to make their contribution, a person who found
the way forward."
On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Cornelius'
birth, the significance of his contribution is being appreciated anew
by not only the generation of musicians, artists and political
activists who were part of the movement to break new ground in the
1960s and 1970s, but also by today's generation of musicians
and political activists. Together they have inherited Cornelius'
greatest legacy of keeping in step with the requirements of the times
in a manner that accepts no dogmatic rendering of reality or
limitations on the human spirit and striving to contribute to the
creation of a new world of socialized humanity.
In this vein, London's Morley College, an adult
education college, where Cornelius tutored from 1968-73, held a
festival of his music, together with a weekend conference. Inaugurating
these events, the Principal of the College highlighted Cornelius'
bravery as one of his defining characteristics. The opening
speech of the symposium and other presentations were made by colleagues
of Cornelius who worked with him and elaborated on different aspects of
his life and work, as well as young people who have taken up the study
of his work. A session was held on "The Morley Experimental Music Class
1968-73: Recollections
and Legacy" where Michael Chant, Carole Finer, Michael Graubart, Keith
Rowe and Hugh Shrapnel brought out the significance of that experience.
The film on Cornelius Cardew, "The Content of Our Song" by independent
film-maker Stuart Monro, was also shown on the occasion.
A week prior to the symposium, the Morley Chamber
Orchestra performed a concert where the amateur musicians played some
of Cornelius' early works, amongst other pieces. During the symposium,
young professional pianist Kerry Yong analyzed the musical significance
of the piano solo "We Sing for the
Future" by Cornelius and also spoke of his profound appreciation of the
music.
This program was one of several held or to be held this
year to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the birth of Cornelius
Cardew. This includes a performance of his music on December 17 at
Conway Hall in
central London, which promises to be stunning.
CPC(M-L) sent a bouquet of red carnations to be placed
on Cornelius' grave today with the message: "With our deepest social
love and respect for your indelible contribution, Communist Party of
Canada (Marxist-Leninist)."
Film
Cornelius Cardew: The Content of Our Song
- Stuart Monro -
Click image to view film.
Read The Marxist-Leninist
Daily
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
|
