Julius Eastman

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Julius Eastman (October 27, 1940–May 28, 1990) was an African-American composer, pianist, vocalist, and dancer 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 owing to his 1973 Nonesuch recording of Eight Songs for a Mad King by the British composer 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.

In 1970, Eastman joined the Center for the Creative and Performing Arts at SUNY Buffalo, where he met the Czech-born composer, conductor, and flutist Petr Kotik. Eastman and Kotik performed together extensively in the early to mid 1970s. Eastman was a founding member of the S.E.M. Ensemble. From 1971 he performed and toured with the group, and composed numerous works for it. Many of the earliest performances of Eastman's works were given by the Creative Associates ensemble of University at Buffalo, of which he was a member from 1968.

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 choreographer Molissa Fenley used his work Thruway for a dance, Geologic Moments, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Also a vocalist, he recorded with Meredith Monk's ensemble for her influential album Dolmen Music (1981).

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 University at 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.

[edit] Known works

Tripod (1960s) for unspecified instruments
Piano Piece I (1968) for solo piano
Piano Piece II (1968) for solo piano
Piano Piece III (1968) for solo piano
Piano Piece IV (1968) for solo piano
Thruway (1970) for chorus (plus other unspecified instruments)
The Moon's Silent Modulation (1970) for dancers, vocalists and chamber ensemble
Touch Him When (?) for piano 4 hands
Macle (1971) for voices and electronics
Comp 1 (1971) for solo flute
Mumbaphilia (1972) for solo performer and dancers
Wood in Time (1972) for metronomes
Stay on It (1973) for voice, clarinet, 2 saxes, violin, piano and percussion
440 (1973) for voice, violin, viola and double bass
Femenine (1974) for chamber ensemble
If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich? (1977) for violin, 2 French horns, 4 trumpets, 2 trombones, tuba, piano, 2 chimes and 2 basses
NF (1978) for piano
Piece for 2 pianos (1979)
Evil Nigger (1979) for 4 pianos
Gay Guerilla (ca. 1980) for 4 pianos
Crazy Nigger (ca. 1980) for 4 pianos
The Holy Presence of Joan d'Arc (1981) for ten cellos
Untitled [Prelude to The Holy Presence of Joan d'Arc] (1981?) for solo voice
His Most Qualityless Majesty (1983) for piano and voice
Piano 2 (1986) for solo piano

[edit] Recordings

2005 - Unjust Malaise by various artists (New World 80638) (Includes 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; and Spoken Introduction to Northwestern University Concert)
1987 - Davies, Peter Maxwell. Miss Donnithorne's Maggot; Eight Songs For a Mad King. London: Unicorn-Kanchana. (Includes Julius Eastman, baritone.)
1981 - Monk, Meredith. Dolmen Music. (Includes Julius Eastman, voice.)
1972 - Kolb, Barbara, and Richard Moryl. New York: Desto. (Includes Julius Eastman, narrator, on Side A.)