May 28–28, 1999, 9:00 pm
Offsite

In Music for a Quarry by Walter Fähndrich, clear tones call across the natural amphitheater of the Hoosac Marble Quarry from ten speakers, equally spaced along its circumference, for fifteen minutes of twilight every evening. Working with the latitude and longitude of the quarry, a computer program begins the music at the same solar time (rather than clock time) each night. The start time (near 8 or 9 pm in summer, near 4 pm at the winter solstice) changes as the spatial relationship between the earth and sun changes. The first tone appears at the precise moment of astronomical sunset, a moment that is both permanently fixed and changing daily. During this fifteen-minute period, the burden of comprehending the physical space shifts slowly from the eye to the ear as the sounds are traced to their sources.

Music for a Quarry received generous support from the Zuger Kulturstiftung Landis & Gyr, the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, the Canton of Zug, Bank Leu AG, the Swiss Center Foundation, the City of Zug, the Emil and Rosa Richterich-Beck Foundation, Pro Helvetia (The Arts Council of Switzerland), and Drs. H. and H. Medicus.