The restlessly inventive American composer James Tenney has died at the age of seventy-two. Kyle Gann has an appreciation of his achievements, which ranged from mind-altering experiments in electronic and computer music to precisely imagined instrumental works in just-intonation tuning. Both John Cage and György Ligeti considered him one of the most powerful minds in American music. Not long ago New World Records reissued the Frog Peak compilation of Tenney's sixties-era electronic works, including two wildly original pieces from 1961: Collage #1, aka Blue Suede, which pulverizes the voice of Elvis singing "Blue Suede Shoes"; and Analog #1, an oceanic surge of sound inspired by traffic in Holland Tunnel.
