Julius Eastman

“Eastman’s stated aim with Femenine was to please listeners, saying of the piece that ‘the end sounds like the angels opening up heaven . . . should we say euphoria?’” –Mary Jane Leach Musiken av Julius Eastman (1940-90) njuts pågående av återupptäckt. Han var mest känd för sitt arbete med viktiga musiker som Peter Maxwell Davies, Arthur Russell och Meredith Monk men idag drar hans egna formidabla kompositioner ökande beundran. I 2016, släppte det Finska skivbolaget Frozen Reeds en 1974 inspelning av Femenine utförd av S.E.M. Ensemble. Upplyftande, envis, och uppslukande, lyssnare badar i höjningar av tonalfärg från sammanflätade blåsinstrument, flygel, fiol, slagverk, synthesizer och tonsättarens egen uppfinning – mekaniserade bjällror — som ger stycket sin karakteristiska puls. Apartment House skapades av cellisten Anton Lukoszevieze i 1995. Under hans riktning har ensemblen blivit en stor exponent av avantgarde och experimentell musik – bortsett stil och mode. Apartment House uppträdanden har inkluderat många världspremiärer av musik från en mängd olika internationella kompositörer. Härmed framträder Apartment House den Svenska premieren av Feminine. Soppa serveras. Koncert producerad av John Chantler för Edition Festival med stöd från Stockholm Stad, Musikverket och RANK. www.edition-festival.com Julius Eastman fotografier © Andrew Roth. — Apartment House perform Femenine by Julius Eastman Thursday 5 October 2017, 21:00 — Fylkingen, Stockholm “Eastman’s stated aim with Femenine was to please listeners, saying of the piece that ‘the end sounds like the angels opening up heaven . . . should we say euphoria?’” –Mary Jane Leach The music of Julius Eastman (1940-90) is enjoying an on-going period of rediscovery. Known best in the past for his work with figures like Peter Maxwell Davies, Arthur Russell and Meredith Monk, today his own formidable compositions draw increasing admiration. A 1974 recording of Femenine performed by the S.E.M. Ensemble was released in 2016 to much critical acclaim by the Finnish label Frozen Reeds. Joyous, insistent, and immersive, Femenine bathes the listener in surges of tonal colour from intertwining winds, piano, violin, pitched percussion, synthesizer and – uniquely – the composer’s own invention of mechanised sleigh bells, which provide the 72-minute piece with its characteristic pulse. Apartment House was created by the cellist Anton Lukoszevieze in 1995. Under his direction it has become a major exponent of avant-garde and experimental music from around the World. Disregarding style, fashion and hip things, and forging nowhere with a zeitgeistian zeal, Apartment House’s performances have included many UK and World premieres of music by a wide variety of composers.