CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
EN/FR
Search
Menu
Research dossier · Arts & Letters

Elements of Surprise

album by Anthony Braxton

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 15, 2025
Entity authorityQ27818893 ↗
Source-derived summary

Elements of Surprise is a live album by saxophonist Anthony Braxton and trombonist George E. Lewis recorded at the Moers Festival in Germany in 1976 and originally released on the Moers Music label.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Elements of Surprise” as album by Anthony Braxton. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Elements, Surprise and album.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1976—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Elements, Surprise and album providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Elements of Surprise”, the useful work is to connect “album by Anthony Braxton” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 15, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q27818893. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1976.

Critical limits

Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Elements of Surprise”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Elements of Surprise primary sources, Elements of Surprise archive and Elements research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Elements of Surprise”?
  2. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
  3. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Elements of Surprise” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.