Julius Eastman

From Sequenza21/NetNewMusic Wiki

Julius Eastman (October 27, 1940-May 28, 1990) was a gay African-American composer of minimalist tendencies. His music was among the first to combine minimalist processes with elements of pop music, and he often gave his pieces titles of provocative political intent, such as Evil Nigger and Gay Guerrilla.

Eastman grew up in Ithaca, New York, where he began studying piano at age 14 and made rapid progress. He began college at Ithaca College and transferred to the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied piano with Mieczyslaw Horszowski and composition with Constant Vauclain, and switched majors from piano to composition. He made his debut as a pianist in 1966 at Town Hall in New York City. He was also possessed of a rich, deep, and extremely flexible singing voice. The latter became famous from his 1973 Nonesuch recording of Eight Songs for a Mad King by the British avant-gardist Peter Maxwell Davies. Eastman's talents brought him to the attention of composer-conductor Lukas Foss, who conducted his music with the Brooklyn Philharmonic.

Eastman's music was often written according to what he considered an "organic" principle by which each new section of a work contained all the information from previous sections, though sometimes "the information is taken out at a gradual and logical rate." The principle is most evident in his three works for four pianos, Evil Nigger, Crazy Nigger, and Gay Guerrilla, all from around 1979. The last of these appropriates Martin Luther's hymn "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" as a gay manifesto. Eastman's Stay On It from 1973 was an influential postminimalist piece that incorporated pop music influences. Many of Eastman's early performances were given by the Creative Associates ensemble of SUNY at Buffalo, of which he was a member from 1968. Starting in 1971 he also performed and toured with composer-flutist Petr Kotik 's S.E.M. Ensemble. A 1980 piece for Eastman's voice and cello ensemble, The Holy Presence of Jeanne d'Arc, was performed at The Kitchen in New York City, and in 1986 choregrapher Molissa Fenley used his work Thruway for a dance, Geologic Moments, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Despondent about what he saw as a dearth of professional possibilities worthy of him, Eastman grew increasingly dependent on alcohol and crack after 1983, and let his life fall apart. He had taught theory at SUNY Buffalo, but not very successfully, and a promised job at Cornell University failed to materialize. At one point he was evicted from his apartment, his belongings (including scores) confiscated by the sheriff, and he was forced to live in Tompkins Square Park. Despite a temporary attempt at a comeback, he died alone in Millard Fillmore Hospital in Buffalo of cardiac arrest. So far had he descended from the public eye that no public notice was given to his death until an obituary in the Village Voice by Kyle Gann on January 22, 1991, eight months after he died. Eastman's notational methods were loose and open to interpretation, and consequently revival of his music has been a difficult task, dependent on people who worked with him.

In 2005, owing to the considerable efforts of composer Mary Jane Leach and others, several existing recordings of Eastman's works were released on a three-CD album from New World Records. This represented the first major release of Eastman's music on commercial recording.

Known Works

Tripod (1960’s) unspecified instruments

Piano Piece I (1968) solo piano

Piano Piece II (1968) solo piano

Piano Piece III (1968) solo piano

Piano Piece IV (1968) solo piano

Thruway (1970) chorus (plus other unspecified instruments)

The Moon's Silent Modulation (1970) dancers, vocalists, chamber ensemble

Touch Him When (?) piano 4 hands

Macle (1971) voices and electronics

Comp 1 (1971) solo flute

Mumbaphilia (1972) solo performer and dancers

Wood in Time (1972) metronomes

Stay on It (1973) voice, clarinet, 2 saxes, violin, piano, percussion

440 (1973) voice, violin, viola, double bass

Femenine (1974) for chamber ensemble

If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich? (1977) violin, 2 French horns, 4 trumpets, 2 trombones, tuba, piano, 2 chimes, 2 basses

NF (1978) piano

Piece for 2 pianos (1979)

Evil Nigger (1979) 4 pianos

Gay Guerilla (~1980) 4 pianos

Crazy Nigger (~1980) 4 pianos

The Holy Presence of Joan d'Arc (1981) ten cellos

Untitled [Prelude to The Holy Presence of Joan d'Arc] (1981?) solo voice

His Most Qualityless Majesty (1983) piano and voice

Piano 2 (1986) solo piano

Recordings

Unjust Malaise (2005) various artists; New World 80638 (Stay On It; If You're So smart, Why Aren't You Rich; Prelude to The Holy Presence of Joan d'Arc; The Holy Presence of Joan d'Arc; Gay Guerilla; Evil Nigger; Crazy Nigger; Spoken Intoduction to Northwestern University Concert)