Classical music has countless misfits, but American composer, pianist, singer and choreographer Julius Eastman is the current world record holder. With a new recording of his work Femenine, he takes a decisive step toward definitive recognition.
Julius Eastman (1940-1990) was destined to enter the classical paths with elegance and dignity. Eastman trained at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Shortly after, he performed as a baritone with conductors Zubin Mehta and Pierre Boulez. Subsequently, he became a teacher at the University of Buffalo in the state of New York and found his biotope there in minimalist compositions. In 1966 he debuted as a pianist in New York City, with his own work. His social and artistic life unfolded with avant-gardists and personalities such as John Cage, Meredith Monk, Arthur Russell and the S.E.M. Ensemble.
"To the fullest"
Slowly, withdrawn and shy, he tinkered with the foundations of avant-gardism, which was generally regarded as white and Eurocentric. From the 1970s onwards, his charisma grew with his personality. In an interview with the newspaper Buffalo Evening News in 1976, he described his personal adagio: "…to be what I am to the fullest: Black to the fullest, a musician to the fullest, and a homosexual to the fullest." With this, Eastman fired a shot across the bow for the controversial titles he gave to some of his works: Crazy Nigger, Dirty Nigger, Evil Nigger, Nigger Faggot, Gay Guerilla. According to his own account, he used these titles to 'package' himself in stereotypes and thereby provoke a discussion about racism and homophobia. Regarding issues that are on everyone's lips today, such as Black Lives Matter, gender neutrality, income inequality and drug policy, he was far ahead of his time, perhaps too far. At the end of the 1970s, Eastman increasingly isolated himself from his surroundings. Alcohol and drugs did their alienating work and confirmed that he wanted to be and remain an outsider. "He lived like the titles of his compositions," said a friend. He also chose a possessionless existence. His apartment was never locked, and he regularly had thieves over the floor. Eventually he was evicted from his New York apartment due to unpaid rent. All household goods, including scores, ended up on the street. Eastman ended up in homeless shelters and lived for a while under the open sky of Tompkins Square Park, Manhattan. He died in 1990 in a hospital in Buffalo, completely forgotten. It took seven months before an article about his death appeared in The Village Voice.
Organic development
Femenine is composed in a repetitive style, and in its original version is performed by wind instruments, marimba, vibraphone, sleigh bells, piano and bass. The piece, just over an hour long, is based on a musical block consisting of a two-note theme on the vibraphone against a snow curtain of sleigh bells. The reference material is extremely limited. There are only five pages of score for the musicians to work with. And there is a recording by the S.E.M. Ensemble, of which Eastman was a member, from 1974. Those are the only existing sources. The new music collective Wild Up from Los Angeles nonetheless sunk their teeth into it with a refreshed new version, released on the New Amsterdam label. The result is a dizzying weave that develops organically in a layered soundscape that never bores, but constantly surprises. The basic melody is repeated ostinato as in Terry Riley's In C. This ostinato grabs the listener, but the risk of irritation is averted by the alternating appearance and disappearance of bells, drones and other instruments. The effect is thus more organic than minimalist. But actually, the only norm of the piece exists in consistent normlessness. And for Wild Up, there was an added challenge: how to use the limited written material to create a performance that is unmistakably Julius Eastman? The answer was: improvisation. Wild Up added twelve solos for piano, cello, baritone saxophone, horn and voice. The ensemble was able to realize this because the musicians themselves compose and improvise. This meant they brought in instruments (bells, whistles) and added their own color and dynamics. In this way, the composer functions more as a facilitator, whose music does not want to prescribe anything, but rather wants to encourage pushing boundaries and trying out new possibilities. Few composers dare to do that. The strength of Femenine lies in part in the freedom given to the musicians to adapt the instrumentation and experiment with the form. The performers thus have maximum influence on the end result. This is also the reason why this recording by Wild Up differs from earlier recordings such as those by the British Apartment House (2019) and the Belgian Sub Rosa (2020).
Eastmania
Eastmania, that's what the renewed, trendy admiration for Julius Eastman is called. The icing on the cake comes from the New York Philharmonic, which has programmed Symphony No. II - The Faithful Friend: The Lover Friend's Love for the Beloved for February 2022, even in a series for subscribers. The score was found in a desk drawer and has been reworked. The conductor is Jaap van Zweden.
- WHAT: Julius Eastman – Femenine
- WHO: Wild Up
- PHOTOS: Chris Rusiniak, Wild Up
- RELEASE: New Amsterdam Records