John Ashbery

Reading at The Living Theatre, New York City, September 16, 1963

1. Introduction by Kenneth Koch (2:35): MP3

From Rivers and Mountains (1966) (except for those marked with *)

2. Rivers and Mountains (3:57): MP3
3. The Ecclesiast (2:32): MP3
4. The Adirondacks* (3:26): MP3
5. These Lacustrine Cities (1:40): MP3
6. Balance of Payments (3:02): MP3
7. To a Waterfowl* (3:07): MP3
8. Into the Dusk-Charged Air (3:55): MP3

from Some Trees (1956)

9. Two Scenes (1:07): MP3
10. Popular Songs (1:39): MP3
11. The Instruction Manual (5:28): MP3
12. Sonnet ("Each servant stamps the reader with a look") (0:44): MP3
13. The Young Son (1:26): MP3
14. And You Know (3:44): MP3

from The Tennis Court Oath (1962)

15. "They Dream Only of America" (1:09): MP3
16. The Suspended Life (4:15): MP3
17. A Life Drama (3:02): MP3
18. Our Youth (1:58): MP3
19. Landscape (1:25): MP3
20. A Last World (cuts off abruptly) (0:56): MP3

Interview with Bruce Kawin on WKCR Radio, May 5, 1966

Complete Reading (27:38): MP3

Reading at YM-YWHA, with an introduction by Richard Howard. Episode #23157: "The Poetry of John Ashbery," March 27, 1967

Complete Reading (20:22): MP3

Appearing at Poetry's 19th Annual Poetry Day, WFMT Chicago, November 17, 1973

Note: Ashbery read with John Hollander at this reading, as is alluded to in the introduction

Complete recording (41:25): MP3

From Some Trees (1956)

1. Introduction (3:03): MP3
2. Two Scenes (1:30): MP3
3. Popular Songs (1:40): MP3
4. The Grapevine (0:35): MP3
5. Glazunoviana (0:32): MP3
6. Sonnet ("Each servant stamps the reader with a look.") (0:45): MP3
7. And You Know (3:52): MP3

from The Tennis Court Oath (1962)

8. They Dream Only of America (1:25): MP3
9. Thoughts of a Young Girl (0:39): MP3
10. Faust (2:28): MP3

From The Double Dream of Spring (1970)

11. Soonest Mended (5:07): MP3
12. Variations, Calypso and Fugue on a Theme of Ella Wheeler Wilcox (9:28): MP3

from Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror (1975)

13. Forties Flick (1:45): MP3
14. On Autumn Lake (2:04): MP3
15. Scheherazade (4:31): MP3

Reading for WBAI-FM, Produced by Susan Howe, New York, May 14 and June 7, 1975

Complete reading, May 14 (32:41): MP3

1. Business Personals (5:09): MP3
2. Syringa (5:28): MP3
3. Worsening Situation (2:21): MP3
4. Forties Flick (1:33): MP3
5. As You Came from the Holy Land (2:05): MP3
6. Scheherazade (3:57): MP3
7. The Tomb of Stuart Merrill (2:56): MP3
8. The One Thing that Can Save America (2:20): MP3
9. As One Put Drunk into the Packet Boat (2:22): MP3
10. Oleum Misericordiae (2:19): MP3

Complete reading, June 7 (20:04): MP3

1. Daffy Duck in Hollywood (7:55): MP3
2. And Ut Pictura Poesis Is Her Name (1:53): MP3
3. Unctuous Platitudes (1:11): MP3
4. Explaination (2:09): MP3
5. On the Towpath (2:30): MP3
6. Mixed Feelings (2:05): MP3

Potpourri of Poetry Reading at the Naropa Institute, Summer 1975

John Ashbery's segment (reading "Wet Casements") (3:19): MP3

Reading in Buffalo, October 15, 1975

Complete reading (46:15): MP3

1. Farm Implements and Rutabagas in a Landscape (2:52): MP3
2. Summer (1:34): MP3
3. It Was Raining in the Capitol (2:40): MP3
4. Variations, Calypso and Fugue on a Theme of Ella Wheeler WIlcox (10:22): MP3
5. The Chateau Hardware (0:38): MP3
6. The Task (1:19): MP3
7. Parergon (2:31): MP3
8. Soonest Mended (4:47): MP3
9. The New Spirit (excerpt) (6:45): MP3
10. Worsening Situation (1:55): MP3
11. Scheherazade (4:20): MP3
12. Mixed Feelings (2:41): MP3

Reading at Sanders Theater, Harvard University, sponsored by the Woodberry Poetry Room, May 16, 1976

complete reading (1:07:10): MP3

1. introduction (1:14): MP3
2. Street Musicians (1:36): MP3
3. Pyrography (6:19): MP3
4. Bird's Eye View of the Tool and Die Co. (1:10): MP3
5. Collective Dawns (2:40): MP3
6. The Couple in the Next Room (0:42): MP3
7. Variant (1:08): MP3
8. Daffy Duck in Hollywood (9:19): MP3
9. Melodic Trains (3:32): MP3
10. Wet Casements (1:44): MP3
11. The Wrong Kind of Insurance (2:45): MP3
12. Business Personals (4:35): MP3
13. Unctuous Platitudes (1:07): MP3
14. Friends (2:06): MP3
15. The Lament Upon the Waters (2:45): MP3
16. Worsening Situation (2:32): MP3
17. Poem in Three Parts: Love, Courage, I Love the Sea (3:22): MP3
18. Mixed Feelings (2:05): MP3
19. Oleum Misericordiae (3:01): MP3
20. Variations, Calypso and Fugue on a Theme of Ella Wheeler Wilcox (9:13): MP3
21. Farm Implements and Rutabagas in a Landscape (3:04): MP3

Reading at Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, May 17, 1977

part one (42:25): MP3

1. introduction (4:20): MP3
2. passage from The New Spirit (20:52): MP3
3. Street Musicians (1:37): MP3
4. The Other Traditions (2:17): MP3
5. Collective Dawns (2:57): MP3
6. Wooden Buildings (1:13): MP3
7. Pyrogaphy (ends prematurely) (7:38): MP3

part two (16:36): MP3

1. Daffy Duck in Hollywood (beginning cut off) (7:09): MP3
2. Blue Sonata (8:46): MP3

Appearing with Barbara Guest on P.E.N. Portraits, hosted by Anne Fremantle, WNYC, May 22, 1977

Complete program (28:52): MP3

Poems from the program:

Complete reading (46:15): MP3

1. And Ut Pictura Poesis Is Her Name (1:49): MP3
2. What Is Poetry (0:43): MP3
3. From Three Poems (1:02): MP3

Reading at the Ear Inn with Michael Lally, September 16, 1978

complete reading (1:23:44): MP3

• A Box and Its Contents (8:22): MP3
• The Cathedral Is (0:12) MP3
• Silhouette (7:15) MP3
• from Litany (20:05) MP3

Reading at the Science Center, Harvard University, November 9, 1978

1. introduction (0:48): MP3
2. Worsening Situation (2:53): MP3
3. Oleum Misericordia (3:44): MP3
4. The Other Tradition (2:43): MP3
5. The Ice-Cream Wars (2:39): MP3
6. Blue Sonata (3:01): MP3
7. Fantasia on a Nut Brown Maid (7:29): MP3
8. The Sun (2:18): MP3
9. Five Pedantic Pieces (3:03): MP3
10. The Haunted Landscape (5:19): MP3
11. My Erotic Double (1:10): MP3
12. Seeing is Believing (0:36): MP3
13. Knocking Around (3:05): MP3
14. Train Rising Out of the Sea (3:27): MP3
15. The Cathedral Is (2:09): MP3
16. A Sparkler (2:13): MP3
17. The Wine (1:56): MP3
18. Sleeping in the Corners of Our Lives (1:28): MP3
19. The Other Cindy (2:24): MP3
20. Landscape People (1:25): MP3
21. The Plural of Jack-in-the-Box (0:55): MP3
22. Litany (16:24): MP3

Lecture on Giorgio de Chirico at the Poetry Project, NYC, March 22, 1979

part one (38:17): MP3
part two (30:28): MP3

The Songs We Know Best, 1973 and 1988

Complete reading (61:40): MP3

Side One

1. Two Scenes (1:08): MP3
2. The Instruction Manual (7:05): MP3
3. And You Know (4:26): MP3
4. Thoughts of a Young Girl (0:46): MP3
5. It was Raining in the Capital (3:21): MP3
6. Far Implements and Rutabagas in a Landscape (4:07): MP3
7. And Ut Pictura Poesis Is Her Name (3:15): MP3
8. Landscape (After Baudelaire) (2:06): MP3
9. The Songs We Know Best (4:09):MP3

All selections on side one were recordered at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington D.C., on Febrauary 29, 1988. Special thanks to Gigi Bradford.

Side Two

1. Sonnet ("Each servant stamps the reader...") (0:46): MP3
2. "How Much Longer Will I Be Able to Inhabit the Divine Sepulcher..." (4:29): MP3
3. Rivers and Mountains (3:47): MP3
4. The Task (1:23): MP3
5. Song (1:27): MP3
6. The New Spirit (excerpt) (17:59): MP3

All selections on side two were recorded at the Library of Congress Recording Lab, Washington D.C., January 16, 1973.

• STAFF:
• Producer: Anne Becker
• Recording Engineer: Alan D. Austin (Side One)
• Post Production Engineer: Anne Becker
• Cover Design:Lynn Springer

Production of this tape was made possible in part by a grant from the Literature Program of the National Endowment for the Arts

"Litany," recorded with Ann Lauterbach, 1980

"Litany" originally appeared in As We Know (1979). A brief excerpt of this session previously appeared on the Giorno Poetry Systems album, Sugar, Alcohol and Meat in 1980.

• "Litany" part 1 (15:49): MP3
• "Litany" part 2 (54:40): MP3
• "Litany" part 3 (14:08): MP3

1. Complete Reading, part one (44:56): MP3
2. Complete Reading, part two (12:15): MP3

Appearing with Robert Creeley in "Attitudes Towards the Flame," part of "The Territory of Art" radio series, produced and (c) by Museum of Comtemporary Art, Los Angeles, 1983

written by Julia Brown, produced by Ara Guzelimian

• Complete Program (28:40): MP3

• Complete Reading (1:54:53): MP3

• Complete Recording (4:41): MP3

Reading at the Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM, November 20, 1985

Complete Recording (1:17:41): MP3

1. Introduction (1:27): MP3
2. Two Scenes (2:33): MP3
3. Popular Letters (2:16): MP3
4. Thoughts of a Young Girl (1:21): MP3
5. The New Realism (2:13): MP3
6. Plainness and Diversity (1:56): MP3
7. Variations, Calypso and Feud (11:55): MP3
8. Chateau Hardware (0:46): MP3
9. Worsening Situation (2:48): MP3
10. The Other Tradition (2:33): MP3
11. The Gazing Grain (1:26): MP3
12. And Ut Pictura Poesis Is Her Name (3:26): MP3
13. At North Farm (2:26): MP3
14. The Songs We Know Best (4:18): MP3
15. Tableaux Parisiens (2:07): MP3
16. More Pleasant Adventures (1:30): MP3
17. A Wave (6:41): MP3
18. Finished Rapsody (7:19): MP3
19. Vettiver (2:11): MP3
20. A Mood of Quiet (1:03): MP3
21. October at the Window (2:53): MP3
22. Forgotten Song (2:56): MP3
23. Someone You Have Seen Before (4:49): MP3

WQXR Radio Program, New York, April 8, 1986

Academy of American Poets Discussion with John Ashbery, Ned Rorem and June LeBell

1. setting poetry to music (4:46): MP3
   
2. appropriate poems and appropriate music (6:05): MP3
   
3. the singer's experience (2:05): MP3
   
4. on phrasing "Thoughts of a Young Girl" (3:15): MP3
   
5. reading and discussing "Fear of Death;" on composers in poetry (5:19): MP3
   
6. on having poetry set to music by Elliot Carter (7:12): MP3
   
7. on poets reading their own poetry, and the human voice (3:11): MP3
   

Complete Conversation, recorded April 30, (52:53): MP3

• Ashbery's Commencement Address to students at the Kansas City Art Institute (27:00): MP3

• Recording for Radio Helicon, hosted by John Tranter, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 1987 or 1988

  • Complete Recording (1:42:49): MP3

  John Ashbery reads Eliot as part of "In Different Voices: T.S. Eliot at 100," organized by Richard Howard, Symphony Space, New York City, October 22, 1988

  • Ashbery's Intro (4:02): MP3
  • Marina (2:08): MP3
  • Animula (2:14): MP3

  Reading at the Poets' Corner Vespers Service for the Induction of Wiliam Faulkner and Wallace Stevens, The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, NYC, October 22, 1989

  • Complete Recording (56:40): MP3

  Reading at 92nd Street Y with James Schuyler, November 11, 1989

  • Ashbery Reading (34:48): MP3
  • Complete Recording with James Schuyler (1:21:34): MP3

  Reading for the Modern Languages Auditorium, University of Arizona, Septeber 12, 1990

  • Complete Recording (45:01): MP3

  "Poets Reading in the Village", April 25, 1991

  Complete recording (37:42): MP3

  1. Introduction (3:00): MP3
  2. Elephant Visitors (1:59): MP3
  3. The Youth's Magic Horn (3:06): MP3
  4. Withered Compliments (1:17): MP3
  5. In My Way / On My Way (5:12): MP3
  6. Private Syntax (1:18): MP3
  7. Korean Soap Opera (4:10): MP3
  8. Of Linnets and Dull Time (1:06): MP3
  9. From Flow Chart (15:21): MP3

  Tracks 2-8 can be found in Hotel Lautréamont (1992), track 9 is from Flow Chart (1991)

  Reading excerpts from Flow Chart on WBAI Radio, New York. April 25, 1991

  Complete recording (16:53): MP3

  Reading and interview on The Book Show, 1992

  Hosted by Tom Smith, The Book Show was produced by the New York State Writers Institute at SUNY Albany.
  On this program, Ashbery discusses Flow Chart (1991) and Hotel Lautréamont (1992).
  Complete program (25:09): MP3

  Reading of "Syringa" for WNYC's 50th Anniversary, June 13, 1994

  • Complete Recording (5:48): MP3

  Reading for Wednesdays @ 4Plus, University at Buffalo, October 12, 1996
  

  Ashbery read as part of the Robert Creeley 70th birthday celebration. Introduction by Susan Schultz (introduced by Charles Bernstein)
  

  Complete Reading (48:37): MP3

  Appearing on BBC Radio 3, Contemporary American Poetry Program, July 24, 1999

  Complete Reading (19:48): MP3
  

  From The Voice of the Poet, 2001

  1. Self Portrait in a Convex Mirror (I: "As Parmigianino did it") (8:16): MP3
  2. Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror (II: "Tomorrow is easy but today is uncharted") (6:07): MP3
  3. Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror (III: "A breeze like the turning of a page") (11:41): MP3
  4. Soonest Mended (4:35): MP3

  Kelly Writers House Fellow, 2002

  Reading at the Kelly Writers House, March 25, 2002

  1. Introduction (10:27): MP3
  2. This Room (2:51): MP3
  3. If You Said You Would Come With Me (3:28): MP3
  4. A Linnet (1:24): MP3
  5. The Bobinski Brothers (1:30): MP3
  6. Merrily We Live (3:32): MP3
  7. Invasive Procedures (2:46): MP3
  8. Memories of Imperialism (2:23): MP3
  9. Strange Occupations (1:45): MP3
  10. Full Tilt (1:58): MP3
  11. Heartache (2:03): MP3
  12. Onion Skin (0:18): MP3
  13. Redeemed Area (2:35): MP3
  14. Crossroads in the Past (1:48): MP3
  15. The Underwriters (2:34): MP3
  16. A Nice Presentation (3:08): MP3
  17. Disagreeable Glimpses (5:41): MP3
  18. Runway (1:52): MP3
  19. As Umbrellas Follow Rain (6:13): MP3

  In discussion with Al Filreis, March 26th, 2002

  Complete discussion (1:03:44): MP3

  1. introduction by Al Filreis (7:36): MP3
  2. memory and age (2:36): MP3
  3. "Crossroads in the Past" and "Enjoys Watching Foreign Films" (5:03): MP3
  4. prose and verse (3:59): MP3
  5. Harvard lectures (2:58): MP3
  6. Delmore Schwartz (3:25): MP3
  7. unknown, "minor" poets (5:54): MP3
  8. confessional poems (3:08): MP3
  9. narrative poetry (1;07): MP3
  10. on publishing (6:35): MP3
  11. reading Ashbery in anthologies and "The One Thing That Can Save America" (3:01): MP3
  12. connections to music and visual art (2:54): MP3
  13. influence of Delmore Schwartz (4:55): MP3
  14. the space between self and poetry (2:47): MP3
  15. current writing process (3:39): MP3
  16. comparison and jealousy (1:50): MP3
  17. "Enjoys Watching Foreign Films" (2:19): MP3

  For more information on Ashbery's visit, and video footage of both events, please visit the Kelly Writers House Fellows Program site.

  From The Key West Literary Seminar, 2003

  lecture on Elizabeth Bishop (12:04): MP3 (more information at Littoral)

  Reading from Chinese Whispers (25:03):MP3

  1. Nice Presentation (3:20): MP3
  2. Disagreeable Glimpses (5:50): MP3
  3. Theme Park Days (1:54): MP3
  4. Why Not Sneeze? (1:06): MP3
  5. View of Delft (1:13): MP3
  6. The Lightning Conductor (2:25): MP3
  7. I Asked Mr. Dithers Whether It Was Time Yet He Said No to Wait (1:11): MP3
  8. Local Legend (2:49): MP3
  9. Runway (1:40): MP3
  10. The Business of Falling Asleep (2) (3:24): MP3
  
  

  John Ashbery appears on "France Culture" on Radio France, February 12, 2003

  • Complete Recording (52:31): MP3

  Staged Reading of John Ashbery's play "The Compromise"

  Theatre Metropole, Paris, France, March 5, 2007

  1. Introduction (0:54): MP3
  2. Act One (32:08): MP3
  3. Act Two (27:24): MP3
  4. Act Three (36:13): MP3

  Mo Pitkin's, New York

  June 6, 2007

  Readingwith Charles Bernstein

  Sponsored by Poetry magazine & McSweeney's "Chain" issue

  Note: Lynn Emmanuel read first at this event but her reading was not on the CD provided to PennSound.

  • John Ashbery Introduction (1:13) MP3
  • Full Reading by John Ashbery: (22:44) MP3

  Ashbery reads from A Worldly Country

  1. A Worldly Country (3:26): MP3
  2. To Be Affronted (1:58): MP3
  3. Opposition to a Memorial (2:17): MP3
  4. For Now (1:36): MP3
  5. Image Problem (1:34): MP3
  6. A Kind of Chill (0:48): MP3
  7. Well-Scrubbed Interior (1:15): MP3
  8. Thrill of a Romance (1:37): MP3
  9. Phantoum (4:08): MP3
  10. So Long, Santa (1:53): MP3
  http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/daily/200710.php#24_12:46

  Reading at Haverford College, February 19, 2008

  Complete reading (37:00): MP3

  1. Introduction (0:50): MP3
  2. Discussing Hotel Lautréamont (2:10) MP3
  3. Hotel Lautréamont (2:10) MP3
  4. This Room (0:40) MP3
  5. If You Said You Would Come With Me (2:48) MP3
  6. A Linnet (1:24): MP3
  7. The Bobinski Brothers (1:24): MP3
  8. Merrily We Live (2:46): MP3
  9. The History of My Life (0:45): MP3
  10. Redeemed Area (2:26): MP3
  11. Stanzas Before Time (0:31): MP3
  12. Crossroads in the Past (1:48): MP3
  13. A Nice Presentation (2:24): MP3
  14. Disagreeable Glimpses (5:42): MP3
  15. Sonnet: More of Same (1:00): MP3
  16. A Worldly Country (2:34): MP3

  Please note: the quality of this recording, which was taken from a videotape of the event, is less than optimal; however we felt that its significance merited our posting it, and have done our best to make the audio as clear as possible

  from State of the Union: a Poetry Reading, at the CUNY Graduate Center, October 30, 2008

  complete reading (5:58): MP3
  

  New York Review of Books Podcast, 2009

  John Ashbery reads his selections from among the poems he has published in the New York Review of Books, recorded on February 21, 2009 at the offices of the New York Review of Books. Introduced by Jana Prikryl. Originally broadcast on April 1, 2009, as part of the Review's podcast series.

  complete recording (31:25): MP3

  Appearing on Belgische Radio en Televisie, Brussels (date unknown)

  complete recording (55:02): MP3
  
  1. on French writers (4:15): MP3
  2. on achieving the objective rather than the subjective (2:05): MP3
  3. the writing process (0:38): MP3
  4. on writing Three Poems (0:31): MP3
  5. reading "Le Livre est Sur la Table" and discussing influences (5:10): MP3
  6. reading "Variations, Calypso and Fugue on a Theme of Ella Wheeler Wilcox" (17:53): MP3
  7. on writing "Variations, Calypso and Fugue on a Theme of Ella Wheeler Wilcox" (1:19): MP3
  8. sources of inspiration (2:32): MP3
  9. reading "The Tennis Court Oath" (1:57): MP3

  Also on PennSound:

  • They Dream Only of America (Recorded July 22, 1994, in Hudson, NY) (1:07): MP3
  • Setting Poetry to Music Discussion with Ned Rorem (date and location unknown) (1:14:38): MP3
  • Lyrikmagasinet Reading; May 15, 1996 (43:28): MP3

  John Ashbery on PennSound Daily

  • May 18, 2009: "John Ashbery: Staged Reading of "The Compromise," Paris, 2007"
  • April 6, 2009: "John Ashbery: New York Review of Books Podcast, 2009"
  • January 30, 2009: "John Ashbery on Susan Howe's Pacifica Radio Program, 1975"
  • January 14, 2009: "John Ashbery: Four New Recordings"
  • September 8, 2008: "Selections from the Key West Literary Seminar"
  • August 16, 2008: "PoemTalk #9: John Ashbery's 'Crossroads in the Past'"
  • July 18, 2008: "John Ashbery: Four New Readings from the 1960s and 70s"
  • April 2, 2008: "John Ashbery Reading at Haverford College"
  • February 19, 2008: "John Ashbery: Several New Recordings Added"
  • February 7, 2008: "John Ashbery: A Complete 'Litany', read with Ann Lauterach"
  • December 28, 2007: "John Ashbery: Two New Recordings from 1991-1992"
  • November 26, 2007: "John Ashbery's The Songs We Know Best"
  • October 26, 2007: "John Ashbery's 1994 reading of 'They Dream Only Of America'"
  • October 25, 2007: "John Ashbery's 2007 reading at Mo Pitkin's"
  • October 24, 2007: "John Ashbery In Conversation with Al Filreis, 2002"
  • October 23, 2007: "John Ashbery's 2002 Reading at KWH"
  • October 22, 2007: "John Ashbery at Ear Inn"

  These sound recordings are being made available for noncommercial and educational use only. All rights to this recorded material belong to the author. © 2007-2009 John Ashbery. Used with the permission of John Ashbery. Distributed by PennSound. With special thanks for The Flowchart Foundation's Ashbery Resource Center.