Des Oliver, LSO Jerwood Composer+ participant, discusses the ins and outs of transcribing and arranging Piano Piece I-IV, based on piano miniatures by the American composer, pianist and vocalist Julius Eastman. His arrangement for chamber ensemble and dancer will be heard (and seen) for the first time at LSO St Luke’s on Saturday 24 June, part of an evening of contemporary and new music curated by Oliver.
‘As the title of my next concert suggests, UN / CONSCIOUS INFLUENCE is centred on the theme of influence, exploring both the music and personalities of several composers, as mentors, icons and provocateurs, past and present, who’ve been influential to me in some way. Recently I’ve been exploring the music of African American composer Julius Eastman, and as part of this event, I wanted to showcase one of his lesser-known works, alongside more familiar repertoire.
‘Many of Eastman’s scores and intended to blur the line between ‘composer’ and ‘performer’, allowing the player far more freedom to interpret certain aspects of the music’ – Des Oliver on Julius Eastman
Anyone who has attempted to explore Eastman’s scores in-depth will be well aware that a significant portion of his manuscripts were lost during his lifetime. However, in recent years there has been something of a revival of his music. This is thanks in part to the efforts of American composer Mary Jane Leech, who helped to recover missing manuscripts. Her book Gay Guerrilla: Julius Eastman and his Music, written alongside Renée Levine Packer, is a collection of biographical and musical essays on the composer, and also details numerous attempts by other composers, performers and new music ensembles to reconstruct some of Eastman’s missing scores by way of transcriptions and arrangements based on pre-existing recordings.’
What pieces by Eastman feature in the concert?
‘Alongside Eastman’s Joy Boy, the concert will include a brand-new arrangement of his four solo piano miniatures entitled Piano Piece I–IV, re-arranged for bass clarinet, percussion, accordion and piano. My new arrangement is based on an original transcription I made from a performance Eastman gave in 1968, the premiere of the four piano miniatures at an ‘Evenings for New Music (ENM)’ event at the Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo. The archive recording was courtesy of the University at Buffalo, with permission from Music Sales and G Schirmer.
It seemed somehow in keeping with the ‘spirit’ of Eastman’s aesthetic to curate an event that included an element of the unknown, showcasing a work that is unfamiliar to most audience members, and which before planning the concert had been completely unknown to me as its curator. It also provided an opportunity to intimately acquaint myself with one of his lesser-known pieces. My hope is that both the transcription and arrangement will serve to make these miniatures more accessible to the public, and to those interested in performing his music.’
Was it a challenge transcribing the music?
‘The transcription process consisted of several stages: first, transcribing by ear and creating, as precisely as I could, a notated version of the solo piano piece based on the composer’s 1968 performance.
In addition to the first transcription, which uses conventional Western notation, I created a ‘free rhythm’ version of each piece with precise rhythms omitted. These are sparse in detail, like many of Eastman’s scores, and intended to blur the line between ‘composer’ and ‘performer’. They allow the player far more freedom to interpret certain aspects of the music as they see fit. This way, a performer has the option of replicating Eastman’s original performance or re-imagining the piece entirely.
From there, I arranged the piece for an alternative setup, different from the suggested instrumentation of the original. So each transcription involved producing three different ‘versions’ of each miniature.’
How are your arrangement and piano transcription different?
‘There is some cross-over between the two versions. The second movement is still for solo piano. The arrangement also retains the prepared piano elements and non-keyboard effects that occurred infrequently during the original performance. This proved to be something of a challenge, as it was not always clear how the sound was produced. I spent quite a bit of time trying to retro-engineer some of these effects, and I had to experiment with my own piano (and various objects) to find a sound that most clearly matched the original. It has to be said that much of this is guess work on my part!
My re-imagining of this piece also calls for a dancer (optional in the score) as a tribute to Eastman’s affinity for dance. I’m delighted to be collaborating with the brilliantly talented choreographer Kennedy Muntanga, who will be responding to the miniatures through movement and dance. Kennedy has been given full artistic licence to choreograph the piece as he sees fits, however I’ve suggested that each of his dance miniatures should contain some element of ‘surprise’.
The piece also includes one or two vocalisations by the performers themselves, something that was in the archival recording of Eastman’s own performance. I have no idea whether these were spontaneous contributions by the composer at the time, if they appeared in his original score, or indeed how they were notated. In any case, it seemed appropriate to keep them!’
The Concert
LSO Jerwood Composer+ is generously supported by Jerwood Arts
