La Monte Young

Several weeks ago I would have skimmed over names such as Nicolas Slonimsky, and Kyle Gann. I would have attended recitals that programmed Ives and Cage and clapped without really knowing why. I would defiantly have bitched at the thought of listening to an entire cd of some dude called Nancarrow on my arduous drive from Morehead to Lexington twice a week. Now I find myself watching Youtube clips of a fellow classmate’s percussion recital and being enthralled by the sounds that are produced by an obscure machine, however irrelevant they may be to my own musical preference. I am checking out music from the library that could be defined as a ‘hole-punching composition’, reading quotes such as
"Without intrinsic talent, however, all the mechanical tricks in the world
would amount to nothing. The important thing is that Nancarrow’s method
gives full expression to what he has to say in purely musical terms.
And what he has to say, nobody, we may be certain, has ever said before." 

(Nicolas Slonimsky)
and thinking ‘how profound!’. I have created a file in my itunes to store my new discoveries, and I’ve even begun to enjoy the obscure sounds of the minimalists and experimentalists I previously dismissed.

So on this snowy Sunday morning, I find myself dragging my hung over butt out of bed to get to the library. Why, you ask. Well, I discovered another fascinating musical character. I realize ‘character’ is probably not the most appropriate word but I use it in reference to the essence of the musician as well as his/her music. La Monte Young. How did I not know about this man? He is considered the founder of minimalism! So I’m claiming him for my presentation and thought I’d share a few interesting thoughts on this American Innovator.

Born in 1935 in Idaho, Young studied with Stockhausen and Maxfield. His first love was jazz but his musical influences stretched as far as Gregorian chant, Indonesian Gamelan, and Indian Classical music. Young’s music can be summarized in three periods viz. serial, Fluxus (group of composers and designers known for combining various artistic mediums so as to avoid art without function), and his repetitive period. But the thing that really grabbed my attention was his innovative approach to incorporating the social aspects of performance. An example is in his Composition 1960 #2 where he states to
"build a fire in front of the audience. Preferably, use wood although other
combustibles may be used as necessary….the composition may be of any
duration”

This multifaceted composer incorporated so many innovative ideas into his music including his work The Well-Tuned Piano that is written for a just-tuned piano and is almost 7 hours long! Unfortunately, there is very little in the way of recordings, which is surprising considering the extensive repertoire of compositions that exists. But more on La Monte Young soon….