Julius Eastman (1940-1990)

Started by bhodges, September 20, 2020, 08:46:24 AM

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Mandryka

Big recommendation for the Femenine released this year, from a band called Wild Up. It's the only one I know where I've felt I wanted to stay with it to the end.

https://wildup.bandcamp.com/album/julius-eastman-vol-1-femenine
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

bhodges

I'm looking forward to hearing this new Femenine, and the reviews only confirm your comments. Here's a piece from Alex Ross from July:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/07/12/julius-eastmans-florid-minimalism

Meanwhile, Wigmore Hall has reposted this concert from last year, with Apartment House in Femenine and Joy Boy. (No idea how long it will be up.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFYuzU30ijE

--Bruce

Mandryka

Quote from: Brewski on September 01, 2021, 05:25:10 AM
I'm looking forward to hearing this new Femenine, and the reviews only confirm your comments. Here's a piece from Alex Ross from July:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/07/12/julius-eastmans-florid-minimalism

Meanwhile, Wigmore Hall has reposted this concert from last year, with Apartment House in Femenine and Joy Boy. (No idea how long it will be up.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFYuzU30ijE

--Bruce

Not keen on Apartment House, they make Eastman sound like an English gentleman.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

bhodges

Quote from: Mandryka on September 01, 2021, 05:37:57 AM
Not keen on Apartment House, they make Eastman sound like an English gentleman.

Ah, so the Wild Up version is a bit more...uninhibited? (That's the impression left by Alex Ross.)

--Bruce

Mandryka

Quote from: Brewski on September 01, 2021, 06:35:31 AM
Ah, so the Wild Up version is a bit more...uninhibited? (That's the impression left by Alex Ross.)

--Bruce

What I want to say, though you may think this is a bit adolescent and in my defence I've just drunk half a bottle of chianti, is that Apartment House is gay - modelled on conventional establishment ideas of how music should sound. On the other hand, Wild Up is queer - a radical alternative to conventional ideas.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

bhodges

Quote from: Mandryka on September 01, 2021, 07:58:40 AM
What I want to say, though you may think this is a bit adolescent and in my defence I've just drunk half a bottle of chianti, is that Apartment House is gay - modelled on conventional establishment ideas of how music should sound. On the other hand, Wild Up is queer - a radical alternative to conventional ideas.

Ah, thanks. (No adolescent accusations will come from me!)

That distinction resonates, especially knowing composers and musicians who identify as one or the other.

--Bruce

not edward

Quote from: Mandryka on September 01, 2021, 07:58:40 AM
What I want to say, though you may think this is a bit adolescent and in my defence I've just drunk half a bottle of chianti, is that Apartment House is gay - modelled on conventional establishment ideas of how music should sound. On the other hand, Wild Up is queer - a radical alternative to conventional ideas.
Having struggled with the piece before hearing this reading, I think this is an entirely fair assessment. To make a similar analogy, Wild Up's performance is both a party and a riot, and thus entirely inline with Eastman's sensibilities.
"I don't at all mind actively disliking a piece of contemporary music, but in order to feel happy about it I must consciously understand why I dislike it. Otherwise it remains in my mind as unfinished business."
-- Aaron Copland, The Pleasures of Music

Iota

I've never really found JE's music particularly engaging. I went to a lecture/public discussion of his music a few years ago at the ICA in London with a friend who's very keen on his music, which failed to ignite anything for me. But recently listened again to Gay Guerrilla and got a little more from it, so look forward to checking out that new recording of Femenine to see what comes of it.

Iota

Quote from: Mandryka on September 01, 2021, 05:37:57 AM
Not keen on Apartment House, they make Eastman sound like an English gentleman.

Certainly agree with you that for as far as their Bandcamp sample goes, Wild Up sound a deal more interesting than Apartment House.

bhodges

Eastman's Gay Guerilla (1979) doesn't show up all that often, but here is a version with pianists Gilles Vonsattel and Terrence Wilson, presented by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. For lovers of minimalism, it's quite something.

The program, which also includes works by Jeffrey Mumford, Salina Fisher, and Clarence Barlow, is available to view (free) for 7 days.

https://www.chambermusicsociety.org/watch-and-listen/live/new-milestones-emergence-of-beauty/

--Bruce

bhodges

On June 28 at 6:30pm (EDT), the Orchestra of St. Luke's will perform Eastman's Femenine, with host David Hyde Pierce, and the livestream is free at the link below.

https://oslmusic.org/event/julius-eastmans-femenine/

--Bruce

Mandryka

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

brewski

Looking forward to this new recording of Femenine by Julius Eastman, arranged by trombonist Chris McIntyre, with the Talea Ensemble and the Harlem Chamber Players.

https://www.kairos-music.com/cds/0015116kai

-Bruce
"I set down a beautiful chord on paper—and suddenly it rusts."
—Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998)