THE GREAT LEARNING Cornelius Cardew | Deutsche Grammophon

Among the 24 albums that comprise the original release of DG’s Avantgarde series, issued between 1968 and 1971, the Scratch Orchestra’s performance of Paragraph 2 & 7 of the English composer Cornelius Cardew’s The Great Learning remains among the most beloved and enduringly complex. 

In 1958, following the completion of his studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, Cardew moved to Cologne, acting as an assistant to Karlheinz Stockhausen at the Studio for Electronic Music at Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR). 

John Tilbury has said that with both the Scratch Orchestra and The Great Learning Cardew’s aims were “to transcend the most fundamental precepts of Western Art and in particular that of the artist as aristocrat. The Scratch Orchestra was an expression of the universality of Art; Art as a way of life.” 

Recorded in 1971, this release of The Great Learning remains the primary means for sonic encounter with the Scratch Orchestra, and the most important contribution to its enduring legacy. 

The vinyl was mastered and cut from the original analogue 2-track master tapes by Rainer Maillard and Sidney Claire Meyer at Emil Berliner Studios and features original artwork and a newly designed, beautifully crafted collector’s sleeve. It is released as a limited and numbered edition on 28 August and is now available for pre-order.