The Philip Glass Ensemble in Downtown New York, 1966-1976 David Allen Chapman Washington University in St
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Washington University in St. Louis Washington University Open Scholarship All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) Spring 4-27-2013 Collaboration, Presence, and Community: The Philip Glass Ensemble in Downtown New York, 1966-1976 David Allen Chapman Washington University in St. Louis Follow this and additional works at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/etd Part of the Music Commons Recommended Citation Chapman, David Allen, "Collaboration, Presence, and Community: The hiP lip Glass Ensemble in Downtown New York, 1966-1976" (2013). All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs). 1098. https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/etd/1098 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by Washington University Open Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) by an authorized administrator of Washington University Open Scholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS Department of Music Dissertation Examination Committee: Peter Schmelz, Chair Patrick Burke Pannill Camp Mary-Jean Cowell Craig Monson Paul Steinbeck Collaboration, Presence, and Community: The Philip Glass Ensemble in Downtown New York, 1966–1976 by David Allen Chapman, Jr. A dissertation presented to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Washington University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2013 St. Louis, Missouri © Copyright 2013 by David Allen Chapman, Jr. All rights reserved. CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF EXAMPLES .............................................................................................................. vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................... ix Chapter INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1 Foundations: Previous Scholarship and New Methodologies ................. 2 Chapter Overview .................................................................................. 14 1. SPACE, COLLABORATION, AND COMMUNITY IN DOWNTOWN MANHATTAN, 1966–1970 ............................................... 18 Gibson Arrives in New York ................................................................. 19 Reich at Park Place Gallery ................................................................... 31 Enter Philip Glass .................................................................................. 41 Glass at Film-Makers’ Cinematheque ................................................... 49 Codetta: Landry and the Whitney Museum ........................................... 54 ii Chapter Page 2. PRESENCE IN THE EARLY-SEVENTIES AESTHETIC OF PHILIP GLASS ........................................................................................... 59 Presence, from Anti-Minimalism to “Anti-Illusion” ............................ 66 Philip Glass at Anti-Illusion .................................................................. 73 Presence in Foreman’s “Glass and Snow” ........................................... 79 Glass’ Psychoacoustic Turn .................................................................. 83 Amplification as Presence ..................................................................... 89 A Hostile Reception in St. Louis, May 1972 ......................................... 95 Epilogue: Glass’ Manhattan Audience ................................................... 99 3. PERFORMING COMMUNITY AT 10 BLEECKER STREET, 1972–1974 ............................................................ 102 Alanna Heiss, the Brooklyn Bridge, and 10 Bleecker Street .............. 108 10 Bleecker Street as Performance Space ........................................... 118 The Sunday Concerts ........................................................................... 123 Conclusion: Achievement and Loss at Town Hall .............................. 140 4. THE COMMUNITY OF COMPOSERS AND PERFORMERS: JON GIBSON .................................................................................................. 144 “He Occasionally Composes” ............................................................ 150 Gibson and Topf, Improvising for Each Other .................................... 161 Motives, Elaborated ............................................................................. 167 Song I and Song II ................................................................... 171 Cycles and Rhythm Study for Voice, Hands, Feet ................... 180 Solo for Saxophone .................................................................. 187 Conclusion: Seeds and Flowers, Misread and Unheard ...................... 193 iii Chapter Page 5. THE COMMUNITY OF COMPOSERS AND CRITICS: JOAN LA BARBARA .................................................................................... 199 La Barbara as Downtown Musician .................................................... 201 Reassessing Music Criticism ............................................................... 216 La Barbara as Critic on the Downtown Beat ....................................... 225 Conclusion: Writing About Her Own Music ....................................... 235 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................... 240 Einstein and After ................................................................................ 243 Appendix SELECTED PERFORMANCES BY MUSICIANS REPRESENTED IN THIS DISSERTATION ................................................. 247 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................... 291 iv FIGURES Figure 1. Program, “An Evening of Music by Steve Reich,” 5 January 1967 .................. 30 2. Program, “Four Pianos,” 17–19 March 1967 ..................................................... 37 3. Floor plan of Park Place Gallery, 17–19 March 1967 ........................................ 40 4. Program, “New Music – Philip Glass,” 19 May 1968 ....................................... 53 5. Floor plan of Film-Makers’ Cinematheque, 19 May 1968 ................................. 54 6. Philip Glass Ensemble’s in-the-round configuration after 1969 ........................ 78 7. Program (first two pages), “New Music by Jon Gibson,” 5 March 1974 ........ 146 8 . Gibson, Thirties, graphic realization ............................................................... 160 9. Program, “A Series of Dance and Music Concerts by Nancy Topf and Jon Gibson, 6–10 November 1971 ....................................... 164 v TABLES Table 1. “10 Bleecker Street Concerts,” January 1973 ................................................. 119 2. Three Sunday Concerts at 10 Bleecker Street, 1973–1974 ............................. 124 3. Gibson, Song II, harmonic sequence, additive strategy ................................... 178 4. Gibson, Rhythm Study for Voice, Hands, Feet, numerical relationships between parts ................................................................................................... 185 5. Gibson, Solo for Saxophone, sequence of harmonies by chord-size ............... 192 vi EXAMPLES Example 1. Gibson, Who Are You (1966), three ordered permutations ............................... 24 2. Comparing keyboard parts, Reich’s Piano Phase and Glass’ Head-On ........... 47 3. Glass, Music in Twelve Parts, Part 1 ............................................................... 131 4. Glass, Music in Twelve Parts, Part 2 ............................................................... 132 5. Glass, Music in Twelve Parts, Part 3 ............................................................... 133 6. Glass, Music in Twelve Parts, Part 4 ............................................................... 134 7. Gibson, “Brookline cemetery” melodic motive .............................................. 155 8. Gibson, Thirties (1970) ................................................................................... 157 9. Gibson, Song I (1973), Section A, Rehearsal 1 ............................................... 172 10. Gibson, Song I, first three additive expansions at Rehearsals 6, 8, and 10 ..... 173 11. Gibson, Song I, accumulated additive passages, second Section A, Rehearsals 27–29 ............................................................................................. 174 12. Gibson, Song I, Section B, selections for comparison .................................... 174 13. Glass, Music in Fifths (1969), Bars 1–4 .......................................................... 175 14. Gibson, Melody I (1973) .................................................................................. 176 15. Gibson, Melody I, Module (9) ......................................................................... 176 16. Gibson, Song II (1974), full chord sequence ................................................... 177 17. Rzewski, Les Moutons de Panurge (1968), first 25 numbered elements ........ 179 18. Gibson, Cycles (1974), full score .................................................................... 183 19. Gibson, Rhythm Study for Voice, Hands, Feet (1974), full score ................... 184 20. Gibson, Solo for Saxophone (1974), 32-pitch precompositional