Bang on a Can-Ism
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Bang on a Can-ism Postminimalism, totalism and the music by Michael Gordon, David Lang and Julia Wolfe Master Thesis Musicology Laura Jonker Supervisor: Prof. M. Beirens Second reader: prof. dr. J.J.E. Kursell Studentno: 5884497 University of Amsterdam 1 Index Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 4 Chapter 1 – A brief history of minimal music ......................................................................................... 7 Young, Riley, Reich, Glass ................................................................................................................. 8 The new ensemble ............................................................................................................................. 10 Minimal musical elements ................................................................................................................. 11 Louis Andriessen ............................................................................................................................... 13 After minimalism .............................................................................................................................. 13 Chatham, Branca, Zorn ..................................................................................................................... 14 Downtown musical elements ............................................................................................................. 16 Downtown developments .................................................................................................................. 17 Chapter 2 – Gordon, Lang, Wolfe ......................................................................................................... 18 Michael Gordon ................................................................................................................................. 18 David Lang ........................................................................................................................................ 20 Julia Wolfe ........................................................................................................................................ 22 Combining the three .......................................................................................................................... 25 Chapter 3 – Downtown and Bang on a Can .......................................................................................... 26 The success of being downtown ........................................................................................................ 26 Bang on a Can ................................................................................................................................... 28 Influences .......................................................................................................................................... 30 New generation.................................................................................................................................. 31 The Netherlands ................................................................................................................................ 33 Chapter 4 – Robert Fink & Kyle Gann .................................................................................................. 36 Fink and postminimalism .................................................................................................................. 36 Gann and totalism .............................................................................................................................. 41 Chapter 5 – Trance, cheating, lying, stealing and Lick ......................................................................... 48 Michael Gordon - Trance .................................................................................................................. 49 David Lang – cheating, lying, stealing .............................................................................................. 54 Julia Wolfe - Lick .............................................................................................................................. 62 Chapter 6 - Postminimalism or totalism? .............................................................................................. 71 The four points .................................................................................................................................. 71 Comparing the analyses ..................................................................................................................... 74 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 76 Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................... 78 Books and articles ............................................................................................................................. 78 2 Websites ............................................................................................................................................ 80 Scores, audio and video ..................................................................................................................... 83 3 Introduction Defining contemporary classical music results in a vast amount of opinions, definitions and terms. Scholars, journalists and authors often try to find a common trait in the music they hear, and compare it to other compositions that they know of. It is of importance for them to place this new music in different perspectives, for example historically, or in society. This can be difficult, because classical music in the 21st century is very diverse. Strict boundaries of genres become obscured or even disappear and musicians from different genres, styles, countries and paths of life are collaborating with each other. Even compositions of one composer often sound different from one another. When writing articles or reviews about contemporary classical music, all kinds of terms are attached to new compositions. Authors usually agree with each other that minimalism was the starting point for new developments, but after that opinions vary. Very broad, non-specific terms as ‘new classical’ or ‘post-classical’ are used sometimes, but more common is the classification of postminimalism or totalism.1 Often this indexation is done with some hesitation though, it seems as if it is hard to give this new kind of classical music a name. Two authors who are not reluctant to do so, are Robert Fink and Kyle Gann. Both have written multiple articles on the American music scene in the late 20th and early 21st century. Broadly speaking, Fink has done so from the perspective of musicology and the struggles within this field to research this music, while Gann has done so as a composer and journalist proving the importance of this new movement. Gann has made compelling arguments on the difference between postminimalism and totalism. Fink is also convincing in his texts, where he sees the problem of the diversity and argues for the general use of the term postminimalism. Gann in particular, but Fink also to a lesser extent, are quoted and referenced to, for their definitions of the terms. Their views on contemporary classical music are very influential in the discussions of what is going on in the genre, not only in the USA but in other parts of the world. The difference between the two terms are, however, not very clear by many. There is not (yet) a strict definition of postminimalism and totalism, and the use of the two terms varies with every writer who apply them to a new composition. It is therefore interesting to analyse Fink and Gann’s definition of totalism and postminimalism, to see what the difference 1 Flory 2008, Cleckler 1993 4 is (if there is any) and if the terms are indeed applicable for contemporary classical music. This thesis compares the result of the analyses with a test case; one of the bigger influencers in the contemporary classical music scene, the collective Bang on a Can. Founded by the American composers Michael Gordon, David Lang and Julia Wolfe, the Bang on a Can collective is renowned for their innovative compositions and concerts. After their studies with Martin Bresnick at Yale, they agreed on one thing: there needs to be a change in the (contemporary) classical music scene. In 1987 they organised the marathon concert Bang on a Can festival. Now, they are among the most well-known composers of the 21st century. Lang and Wolfe both have received a Pulitzer Prize, the three have released multiple successful CD’s and have frequently composed commissioned pieces. They have started their own CD label Cantaloupe Records, and founded the ensemble Bang on a Can All-Stars which perform their music around the globe. They have a firm ground in the downtown New York music scene. Because of their success, other composers and musicians have been following their example. Similar ensembles like the Bang on a Can All-Stars have been founded and other composers are making compositions in the spirit of Gordon, Lang and Wolfe. They are creating music that is influenced by styles outside of classical music. Bang on a Can has become a successful ‘brand’, other contemporary classical music has even been categorized as ‘Bang on a Can-ism’.2