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Vol 18-2: Review of in C by Robert Carl BOOK reviews ROBErt CARL TErry RILEY’S Ninth Symphony together represent the IN C significant music from the second half of the Twentieth Century? Malcom Gillies, editor of Oxford University Press, 2010 The Oxford University Press series Studies in By Mark Zuckerman Musical Genesis, Structure, and Interpretation, believes so, with composer Robert Carl’s Terry Riley’s In C (1964) is widely regarded as the ambitious, elegantly written book in the Studies in Musical Genesis, Structure, and Interpretation Studies in Musical Genesis, Structure, and Interpretation series, Terry Riley’s In C, making the case. very challenges it presents to “classical” music. seminalnquestionably thework founding work in of the minimalist canon. Its score He examines In C in the context of its era, its Uminimalism in musical composition, grounding in aesthetic practices and assump- Terry Riley’s In C (1964) challenges the stan- tions, its process of composition, presentation, Terry Riley’s isdards lean: of imagination, one intellect, andpage musical of music and about a page recording, and dissemination. By examining ingenuity to which “classical” music is held. Carl Its blurred boundary between structure the work’s significance through discussion with andOnly one pagea ofhalf score in length, of it containsperformance advice. The music performers, composers, theorists, and critics, neither specified instrumentation nor parts. Robert Carl explores how the work’s emerg- Its fifty-three motives are compact, presented and interpretation makes In C an intriguing ing performance practice has influenced our iswithout a anysequence counterpoint or evident form. of The 53 modules: numbered linear very ideas of what constitutes art music in the composer gave only spare instructions and no addition to such a series. Given the nature twenty-first century. “ If In C needed any justification beyond its joyously jangling momen- fragmentstempo. And he assigned the work ranging a title that is in scope from a single note to tum, Robert Carl has provided it with a detailed legal brief to prove laconic in the extreme. At the same moment of ABOUT THE AUTHOR forever its intelligent inner logic and connection to multiple world its composition, Elliott Carter was working on of the music and the sparse public record of Robert Carl is Professor of Composition and musical traditions. The defense rests.” anhis Concerto extended for Piano, a work Stravinsky phrase was (there’s exactly one of these, to hail as a masterpiece. Having almost com- Theory and Chair of Composition, Depart- —Kyle Gann, author of The Music of Conlon Nancarrow and Laborinthus II its first realizations, any serious attempt to Terry Riley’s pleted , Luciano Berio would ment of Music, The Hartt School, University American Music in the Twentieth Century Module 35); most are short, oscillating sixteenth of Hartford. His music has been performed soon start the Sinfonia. Karlheinz Stockhausen throughout the United States and Europe and had just finished Momente. In context of these fulfill the Oxford series mission would involve “ Robert Carl was the right choice to write this book. Through a blend has been published by American Compos- noteother works, andpatterns. of the myriad of composi - of scholarly research, professional connections and composerly mus- ers’ Alliance, Boosey and Hawkes, and Apoll- tional styles and trends that preceded them, In extending the frontiers of conventional Edition. Recent CD releases of his works are ings, Carl brings the genesis of In C to life, while simultaneously C stands the whole idea of musical “progress” found on New World, Innova, Neuma, Koch opening the door for future manifestations of this mid-century mas- on its head. International, Centaur, Cedille, Lotus, Cap- terpiece.” Forty years later, In C continues to receive scholarship and musical analysis. Blazing such Inregular C performances is an every yearensemble by profession- piece for an unspecified stone, and Vienna Modern Masters. Carl also —Lawrence Dillon, Composer in Residence, University of als, students, and amateurs, and has had nu- writes regularly on new music for Fanfare Mag- North Carolina School of the Arts merous recordings since its 1968 LP premiere. a trail requires courage, dedication, and no azine. number of instruments of unspecified type. Welcoming performers from a vast range of “ For many In C is the revolutionary classical composition of the sec- practices and traditions, from classical to rock small amount of work. For the most part, Carl ond half of the twentieth century; Robert Carl’s book, which like Theto jazz to non-Western,composer these recordings rangerecommends a group of about the work perfectly balances academic discipline and popular appeal, from the Chinese Film Orchestra of Shang- rises to the challenge. His treatise is a labor provides an ideal companion.” 35hai—on players, traditional Chinese instruments—but smaller or larger groups are to the Hungarian “European Music Project” —Robert Morgan, Yale University group, joined by two electronica DJs manipu- of love: the result of prodigious effort and acceptable.lating The Pulse. In C rouses audiences, (The all the first performances, at the while projecting an inner serenity that suggests Cage’s definition of music’s purpose—“to sober wholehearted veneration. Jacket design: Eve Siegel Sanand quiet theFrancisco mind, thus making it susceptible Tape Music Center in November, Jacket photo: Terry Riley, c.1962 (photo by Warner Jepson; all rights reserved) to divine influence.” ISBN 978-0-19-532528-7 2 1964,Setting the stageinvolved for a most intriguing 13 players.) The tempo is also journey into the world of minimalism, Robert To build a history of Terry Riley’s development 1 Ë|xHSKBTFy325287zv*:+:!:+:! unspecified,Carl’s Terry Riley’s In C argues that the butwork the performers are directed to holds its place in the canon because of the www.oup.com Robert Carl use the same one throughout. To keep everyone and process, and to reconstruct the together, an ensemble can use a piano or a circumstances of In C’s public introduction, mallet percussion instrument as an eighth note Carl interviewed not only Riley, but also a metronome on high C’s. There are few other constraints. Each ensemble member plays number of his friends and acquaintances, through the entire sequence of modules in order, but may start the next module at any time including many of the participants in the and repeat each module ad libitum, making an effort to interlock with modules played by 1964 premiere performances and in the first others while being careful not to get too far behind or ahead. Once everyone has reached recording, released on Columbia Records the final module, the ensemble crescendos and diminuendos a few times before members in 1968. He studied and analyzed the drop out, one at a time. pieces Riley composed leading up to In C. He analyzed by ear 15 recordings of In C, There are no dynamic markings, articulations, or phrase marks. These are determined during including an in-depth analysis of the 1968 performance, through the interaction of the players. None of the modules demands any premiere recording. virtuosity, but an effective performance requires the kind of musical sensitivity you’d expect at a good jam session. Since In C envisions a limitless set of performances – indeed, it is There is a great deal to admire in the outcome. extremely unlikely any performance is repeatable, except with a recording – its performance The bulk of the book focuses on Riley’s practice is as important as its score. development as a composer and on In C itself, and this is where the book is strongest. Although a rendition at a moderate tempo of all 53 modules played end to end without repetitions lasts under 5 minutes, a typical In C performance lasts about 45 minutes to an The chapter on Terry Riley’s Life and Art hour or more. Changes occur very slowly – almost imperceptibly – producing an effect before In C succinctly explores Riley’s musical admirers find unpretentiously hypnotic and detractors find simplistically mind-numbing. biography, tracing the development of Riley’s musical thinking and identifying influential In C has become immensely popular all over the world and, as the herald of a new musical people and circumstances. The narrative is genre, has had a profound influence on composers and music critics. But does it belong illustrated frequently with reminiscences in the same company with musical monuments like Beethoven’s Op. 109 Piano Sonata, by Riley and his friends. We get a picture “Appassionata” Sonata, and Diabelli Variations? Or with Wagner’s Das Rheingold, Debussy’s of Riley’s musical personality – a gifted Ibéria, Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, and Strauss’s Elektra? Should it and Vaughn Williams’s 28 | New Music Connoisseur natural musician with ability on a number basic feature of minimalist music – which was analytic criteria and creative yet (hopefully) of instruments and eagerness to learn from added during rehearsal as a practical means careful use of traditional concepts and and collaborate with teachers and colleagues of keeping everyone together. Carl relates a terminology. The purpose of any musical whom he respected, regardless of their point number of colorful anecdotes surrounding the analysis should be to provide a plausible, if of view. One of these was La Monte Young, rehearsals and the performances, and quotes not convincing, accounting that encourages whom Riley met while pursuing a master’s the entire glowing review from the San paying closer attention. In this, Carl achieves degree at UC Berkeley and whose influence Francisco Chronicle. a qualified success. on Riley was pervasive: from exposing him to modern jazz (particularly John Coltrane), The historical narrative is resumed in a later The endogenous analysis introduces structural Asian music, and Young’s own musical chapter on the 1968 Columbia Records elements of In C in a progression requiring aesthetic to introducing him to marijuana recording, which brought In C to national increased degrees of discrimination and and peyote.
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