Zeitgenรถssisch seit 1800 Contemporary since 1800
Earle Brown
Werkverzeichnis catalogue
Zeitgenรถssisch seit 1800 Contemporary since 1800
Announcing the Earle Brown / Morton Feldman Grant Program 2016/17 Earle Brown, (d. 2002) and Morton Feldman (d. 1987), longtime colleagues and friends, were both born in 1926. The Earle Brown Music foundation honors their 90th birthdays with a grant program for soloists and ensembles to present concerts featuring works by Brown and Feldman - or Brown alone - during 2016 and 2017. Grants will range from $1,000 to $3,000. Applicants may submit proposals for concerts to the Earle Brown Music Foundation via email (grants@earle-brown.org). Proposals must include the full proposed program, venue, concert budget, and non-profit status of the applicant or applying organization.
Copyright Š 2015 The Earle Brown Music Foundation, All rights reserved.
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Biografie Earle Brown, eine der zentralen Erscheinungen der zeitgenössischen Musik und führender Komponist der amerikanischen Avantgarde seit den 1950ern, starb am 2. Juli 2002 in seinem Haus in Rye, New York. Brown war den experimentellen Komponisten John Cage, Morton Feldman und Christian Wolff freundschaftlich und auch künstlerisch verbunden; gemeinsam mit Brown wurden diese später der so genannten New York School zugerechnet. Earle Brown wurde 1926 in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, geboren und er blieb sein ganzes Leben lang dem Neuengländer in ihm treu. Wie andere Künstler dieser Region – Ives, Ruggles und Dickinson – entwickelte auch Brown eine ganz eigene Sprache und fand seinen persönlichen künstlerischen Weg. Für Amerika galten diese Künstler als „Bilderstürmer“, für Europa hingegen repräsentierten sie Amerika. Dabei bildete Brown keine Ausnahme: Seine Musik wurde am häufigsten von den Europäern aufgeführt und studiert, am meisten gelobt und verehrt. Browns eigenes Schaffen war beeinflusst von seinem Interesse an einer großen Bandbreite ästhetischen Ausdrucks: angefangen von James Joyce’ Romanen über die Dichtung Gertrude Steins, Kenneth Patchens und anderer bis hin zum Werk der abstrakten Expressionisten (insbesondere Jackson Pollock und Alexander Calder). Erst jüngst, im Jahr 2000, äußerte er noch hierüber: „Die frühesten und immer noch vorherrschenden Einflüsse auf meine konzeptuelle Haltung gegenüber Kunst fanden sich in den Werken von Alexander Calder und Jackson Pollock: die immanenten, aber unberechenbar ‚fließenden‘ Veränderungen eines Mobiles und die kontextuelle ‚Richtigkeit’ der Ergebnisse von Pollocks Unmittelbarkeit und Spontaneität in Bezug auf die Materialien und seine besondere Vorstellung vom Werk … als einem totalen Raum (der Zeit).“ (2000) Earle Browns Einfluss auf die Avantgarde-Gemeinschaft war nicht nur philosophischer, sondern auch von direkt greifbarer und praktischer Art. Seine Dirigiertechniken und seine Experimente mit der „time notation“ (Zeitnotation), der Improvisation und der Kompositionsstruktur der offenen Form wurden Teil des zeitgenössischen kompositorischen Handwerks. Geradezu legendär waren seine Musiker-Freundschaften, die von Bruno Maderna, der die Uraufführung zahlreicher Werke Browns dirigierte, bis zu Jazz-Größen wie Zoot Sims und Gerry Mulligan reichten.
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Brown erhielt viele Aufträge, Einladungen als Composer in residence und zahlreiche Preise, darunter einen Guggenheim Preis. Ein Ehrendoktortitel wurde ihm vom Peabody Conservatory of Music (1970) verliehen, wo er den W. Jones Lehrstuhl für Musik innehatte. Daneben erhielt er unter vielen anderen den John Cage Preis von der Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts. Als Composer in residence war Brown am California Institute of the Arts, an der Universität Yale, bei den Tanglewood und Aspen Music Festivals, an der American Academy in Rom und am Baseler Konservatorium tätig. Am 20. November 2002 veranstaltete das Museum of Modern Art eine Hommage an einen der größten Komponisten des 20. Jahrhunderts: „In Memoriam: Ein Konzert mit ausgewählten Werken von Earle Brown.“ Das Programm beinhaltete Werke, die Brown zusammen mit seiner Frau Susan kurz vor seinem Tod selbst ausgewählt hatte. Sie dokumentieren seinen kompositorischen Werdegang: Music for Violin, Cello and Piano (1952), Corroboree (1964), New Piece (1971), Centering (1973), Tracking Pierrot (1992) und Special Events (1998).
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biography Earle Brown, a major force in contemporary music and a leading composer of the American avant-garde since the 1950s, died on July 2, 2002 at his home in Rye, New York. He was associated with the experimental composers John Cage, Morton Feldman, and Christian Wolff who, with Brown, came to be known as the New York School. Earle Brown was born in 1926 in Lunenburg, Massachusetts and, in spirit, remained a New Englander throughout his life. Like other artists from that region – Ives, Ruggles, Dickinson – he spoke with his own voice and found his own path. To America, these artists were iconoclasts, but to Europe they embodied America – and Brown was no exception: his music has been most frequently performed, studied, lauded, and revered by Europeans. Brown’s interest in a broad range of aesthetic expressions, ranging from the writings of James Joyce and the poetry of Gertrude Stein, Kenneth Patchen, and others to the work of the Abstract Expressionist painters – and particularly Jackson Pollock and Alexander Calder – informed his own work. He said, as recently as in 2000, that “the earliest and still predominant influences on my conceptual attitude toward art were the works of Alexander Calder and Jackson Pollock...the integral but unpredictable ‘floating’ variations of a mobile, and the contextual ‘rightness’ of the results of Pollock’s directness and spontaneity in relation to the materials and his particular image of the work…as a total space (of time).” Earle Brown’s influence on the avant-garde community has been philosophical as well as tangible and practical. His conducting techniques and experiments with “time notation,” improvisation, and open-form compositional structure have become part of contemporary compositional usage. His musical friendships were legendary, from Bruno Maderna who conducted first performances of many of Brown’s works to jazz musicians such as Zoot Sims and Gerry Mulligan. Brown received many commissions, residencies, and awards, including a Guggenheim award; an honorary doctorate from the Peabody Conservatory of Music (1970) where he held the W. Alton Jones Chair of Music; and the John Cage Award from the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, among others. Among his many residencies were those at the California Institute of the Arts, Yale University, the Tanglewood and Aspen Music Festivals, the 8
American Academy in Rome, and the Basel Conservatory of Music. On November 20, 2002, The Museum of Modern Art hosted an homage to one of the great American composers of the twentieth century : In Memoriam: A Concert of Selected Works by Earle Brown. The program included works, selected by Brown in conversation with his wife Susan shortly before his death, that span his career: Music for Violin, Cello and Piano (1952); Corroboree (1964); New Piece (1971); Centering (1973); Tracking Pierrot (1992); and Special Events (1998).
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Werkverzeichnis catalogue Works for Chamber Ensemble (up to 9 instruments) Calder Piece (1966) for four percussionists and Mobile / 15‘ Corroboree (1964) for 3 or 2 pianos / 14‘ Event: Synergy II (1967/68) for ensemble and two conductors / 13‘ 4Vln, 2Vla, 2Vc for alternative versions see also works for chamber orchestra Forgotten Piece (1954) for four pianos / 8‘ Hodograph I (1959) for flute, piano (also celesta) and percussion / 4‘ Indices (1954) for ensemble / 29‘ Fl, Hn, Tp, Perc (at least two players), Pf, Guit (ampl), Vln, Vc, Db - Ballet Version (1954) / 29‘ see also works for piano or harpsichord - Concert Version (1957) / 17‘ Music for Violin, Cello and Piano (1952) / 4‘ New Piece (1971) for chamber ensemble / variable duration Nine Rarebits (1965) for 1 or 2 harpsichords / 6‘ see also works for piano or harpsichord Novara (1962) for ensemble / 13‘ Fl, B-cl, Tpt, Pf, 2Vln, Vla, Vc 10
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Werkverzeichnis catalogue Octet I (1953) for eight loudspeakers / 4‘ Oh, K (l992) for ensemble / 15‘ (dedicated to Mauro [Mauricio Kagel]) Fl, Cl, B-cl, Pf, Perc, Vln, Vla, Vc, Db Pentathis (1958) for 9 solo instruments / 12‘ Fl, B-cl, Tpt, Tbn, Pf, Hp, Vln, Vla, Vc Special Events (1998/99) for violoncello and piano / 15‘ String Quartet (1965) / 10‘ Syntagm III (1970) for ensemble / 12‘ Fl, B-cl, 2Perc, Cel/Pf, Hp, Vln, Vc Times Five (1963) for instrumental ensemble and tape / 16‘ Fl, Tbn, Hp, Vln, Vc, and 4 channel electronic tape Tracer (1985) for ensemble / 15‘ Fl, Cl, B-cl, Vln, Vc, Db and 4 channel tape Tracking Pierrot (1992) for ensemble / 15‘ Fl, Cl/B-cl, Pf, Perc, Vln, Vc Twenty Five Pages (1953) for 1 to 25 pianos / 8‘20‘‘-25‘ see also works for piano Wikiup (1979) Sound Installation, 6 independent playing devices (soundfiles & description) 12
Earle Brown with Morton Feldman and Christian Wolff
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Werkverzeichnis catalogue Windsor Jambs (1980) for ensemble / 20‘ Mezzo, AltFl, B-cl, Pf (also Cel), Perc, Vln, Vla, Vc Works for Chamber Orchestra (more than 9 instruments) Centering (1973) for solo violin and ensemble / 20‘ Solo Vln - 1.0.1.1 - 1.1.1.0. - Pf - 1.0.1.1.0 Event: Synergy II (1967/68) for ensemble and two conductors / variable duration 2Fl, 2Ob, Ca, 3Cl, B-cl, 2 Bsn - 4Vln, 2Vla, 2Vc Alternative performing formats: Fl, Ob, Ca, Cl, B-cl, Bsn - string quartet or: Fl, Ob, 2Cl, Bsn - string quartet or: 2Fl, 2Ob, Ca, 3Cl, B-cl, 2Bsn or: 4Vln, 2Vla, 2Vc see also works for chamber ensemble Folio II (1954-1982) for variable instrumentation / variable duration From Here (1963) for SATB Chorus (optional) and 20 instruments / variable duration (10‘-20‘) 1.1.3.1 - 1.1.1.1. - 2Perc - Guit (amp.) - Hp - Pf - 1.1.1.1.1 see also works with chorus Sign sounds (1972) an open form piece for chamber orchestra / 9‘ 1.0.1.B-cl.1 - 0.1.1.0 - 4Perc - Pf, Cel, Hp - 1.1.1.1.1 The Kind of Bird I am (1957) for chamber orchestra / 20 seconds (dedicated to Max Ernst) 3(Picc, Fl, Alt).1.1.1(Contra) - 1.2.1.0 - Vib - Pf - Hp - Str (1.Vln divisi. 2.Vln divisi. Vla divisi. Vc divisi. 0) 14
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Werkverzeichnis catalogue Works for Large Orchestra Cross Sections and Color Fields (1972-1975) for orchestra / 13‘ 4.2.3.Sopr-Sax.3 - 4.3.3.2 - 6Perc - Pf - Cel - 2Hp - Str Modules l and II (1966) for orchestra Each module is a separate work which may be performed alone or simultaneously with any other module / 10‘ Module 1: 2.1.1.B-cl.1 - 2.2.1.1 - Str. (each divisi a 2) Module 2: 1.1.Ca.1.1.2(2. doubling C-Bsn) - 2.2.2.0 - Str (each divisi a 2) Module III (1968/1969) for orchestra / 15‘ 2.1.2.1 - 1.2.1.0 - 3Perc - Hp - Pf - Str (each divisi a 2) New Piece Loops (1972) A piece in closed form for choir and/or orchestra / 20‘ 2.1.2.2 - 2.2.3.1 - 2Perc - 2Hp - 2Pf - 24.0.10.8.6 Chorus: 12S, 12A, 12T, 12B in 3 or 4 groups see also works with chorus Sounder Rounds (1983) for orchestra / variable duration 2.3.3.2 - 4.3.2.1 - Perc - Pf - Hp - Str (each divisi a 2) Time Spans (1972) for orchestra / 12‘ 4.3.4.3 - 4.4.4.2 - 2Vib, 2Mar - 2Pf - 2Hp - 16.14.12.10.8 Works with Chorus From Here (1963) for SATB Chorus (optional) and 20 instruments / variable duration (10‘-20‘) 1.1.3.1 - 1.1.1.1. - 2Perc - Guit(amp.) - Hp - Pf - 1.1.1.1.1 see also works for chamber orchestra
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New Piece Loops (1972) A piece in closed form for choir and/or orchestra / 20‘ 2.1.2.2 - 2.2.3.1 - 2Perc - 2Hp - 2Pf - 24.0.10.8.6 Chorus: 12S, 12A, 12T, 12B in 3 or 4 groups see also works for large orchestras Work for Chorus a cappella Small piece for large chorus (1969-1970) SATB - choir a cappella / duration variable Works for Piano or Harpsichord Four More (1956) for one or more pianos / 8‘ (dedicated to David Tudor) Indices (1954) Piano Reduction (of the Ballet Version) / 29‘ see also works for chamber ensemble Nine Rarebits (1965) for 1 or 2 harpsichords / 6‘ see also works for chamber ensemble Summer Suite ‘95 (1995) 13 short pieces for piano / variable duration Twenty Five Pages (1953) for 1 to 25 pianos / 8‘20‘‘-25‘ see also works for chamber ensemble
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Earle Brown
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Discography The New York School (1992) Hat Hut Records Folio and 4 Systems, Music for Cello and Piano Earle Brown: Four Systems (1994) Hat Hut Records Folio and 4 Systems, Folio II The New York School 2 (1994) Hat Hut Records Folio and 4 Systems, Hodograph I, Octet I Earle Brown: Synergy (recorded 1995, 1995) Hat Hut Records Windsor Jambs, Tracking Pierrot, Event: Synergy II The New York School 3 (1995) Hat Hut Records Folio and 4 Systems, Folio II New Music for 1, 2, & 3 Pianos (1995) Mode Corroboree for 3 or 2 Pianos American String Quartets, 1950-1970 (1995) Vox String Quartet Earle Brown: Music for Piano(s) 1951-1995 (1996) New Albion Corroboree for 3 or 2 Pianos, Folio and 4 Systems, Forgotten Piece, Perspectives, Summer Suite ‚95, Three Pieces for Piano, Twenty Five Pages Earle Brown: Music for Large Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra (1997) Archive Recordings Available Forms II, Cross Sections and Color Fields, Folio and 4 Systems, From Here, Module I, Music for Violin, Cello and Piano 19
Discography
Earle Brown: Music for Chamber Orchestra (1997) Windsor Jambs, Tracking Pierrot, Sign Sounds, Centering, Available Forms I Earle Brown: Twenty-five Pages (1997) Wergo Twenty Five Pages Centering: The Music of Earle Brown (1998) Newport Classic Windsor Jambs, Tracking Pierrot, Event: Synergy II, Centering George Crumb: Zeitgeist / Earle Brown: Corroboree (1998) Mode Records Corroboree American Masters Series: Earle Brown (2000) Nine Rare Bits, Music for Violin, Cello & Piano, Music for Cello and Piano, Folio and 4 Systems, Novara, Octet I, Times Five Subtropics Vol. 1: Breath (2001) Elegua Records Folio and 4 Systems The New York School (2002, recorded 1964) Alga Marghen (Italy) Folio and 4 Systems Electronics and Percussion – Five Realizations (2002, recorded 1968) Sony (Japan) Folio and 4 Systems 20/21 - Intercomunicazione (2002, recorded 1975) Deutsche Grammophon Music for Cello and Piano Ensemble Neue Horizonte Bern: 1968-1998 (2002) Musiques Suisses Folio and 4 Systems 20
Discography
Earle Brown: Chamber Music (2003) Matchless Recordings (UK) Corroboree: for 3 or 2 Pianos, Folio and 4 Systems, Tracking Pierrot Tear (2003) String Quartet SCENE Piano Music of the Darmstadt School Vol 2 (2004) MD&G Corroboree: for 3 or 2 Pianos Piano (2006) ein_klang_records Folio and 4 Systems Selected Works (2006) New World Records Times Five, Nine Rare Bits, Octet I, Music for Violin, Cello and Piano, Folio and Four Systems, Music for Cello and Piano Tracer (2007) Mode Records Tracer, Folio, Octet 1, Music for Violin, Cello & Piano, String Quartet, New Piece
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Register index
Calder Piece (1966) Centering (1973) Corroboree (1964) Cross Sections and Color Fields (1972-1975) Event: Synergy II (1967/68)
8, 12
Folio II (1982) Forgotten Piece (1954) Four More (1956 or 1962) From Here (1963)
12 8 15 12, 14
Hodograph I (1959) Indices (1954) Modules l and II (1966) Module III (1968/1969) Music for Violin, Cello and Piano (1952) New Piece (1971) New Piece Loops (1972) Nine Rarebits (1965) Novara (1962)
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8 12 8 14
8 8, 15 14 14 8 8 14, 15 8, 15 8
Octet I (1953) Oh, K (l992)
10 10
Pentathis (1958)
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Sign sounds (1972) Small piece for large chorus (1969-1970) Sounder Rounds (1983) Special Events (1998/99) String Quartet (1965) Summer Suite ’95 (l995) Syntagm III (1970)
12 15 14 10 10 15 10
Register index
The Kind of Bird I am (1957) Time Spans (1972) Times Five (1963) Tracer (1985) Tracking Pierrot (l992) Twenty Five Pages (1953) Wikiup (1979) Windsor Jambs (1980)
all photos: Š The Earle Brown Music Foundation
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