The Scratch Orchestra

The Scratch Orchestra was an experimental musical ensemble founded in the spring of 1969 by Cornelius Cardew, Michael Parsons and Howard Skempton. In the draft constitution published in the Musical Times of June 1969, Cardew defines a scratch orchestra as: "a large number of enthusiasts pooling their resources and assembling for action". The Orchestra reflected Cardew's musical philosophy at that time. This meant that anyone could join, graphic scores were used, and there was an emphasis on improvisation. The Scratch Orchestra arose from Cardew's "Experimental Music" class at Morley College, London, which served as a venue for extra rehearsals for Scratch Orchestra concerts, but Scratch Orchestra rehearsals were also held separately. New Zealand artist/musician Philip Dadson was amongst those at Morley College who were in the foundation group for the Scratch Orchestra and, after returning to New Zealand, established a NZ Scratch Orchestra in 1970, which evolved into the group From Scratch in 1974. The first meeting of the Scratch Orchestra was at St Katharine Docks, 1 July 1969. It was announced by means of a "Draft Constitution", published in The Musical Times in June 1969. From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scratch...) under Creative Commons Attribution CC-BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)