Earle Brown (1926-2002)
Earle Brown was
born in Lunenberg, a farm town in Worcester County in central
Massachusetts. He picked up the trumpet at age 10 and led a small dance
band through high school. While at Northwestern University in Chicago,
studying engineering and mathematics, Brown played weekends in a
"territory" jazz band. He joined the Air Force to become a pilot, but
wound up in an Army band unit. Therein Brown met a fellow player who
sparked his interest in the Joseph Schillinger method of musical
composition. After Brown was discharged, he embarked on four years of
study at Schillinger House in Boston (now Berklee School of Music)
under Brogue Henning. His earliest works, such as the Music for Violin, Cello and Piano,
are 12-tone based and make use of methods derived from the Schillinger
system. In 1951, in Denver Earle Brown first met composer John Cage.
Cage invited Brown to move to New York City the following year. Earle
Brown worked with Cage and David Tudor in the Project for Music for Magnetic Tape. During that time, Brown created a key pioneering electronic work, the Octet for Eight Loudspeakers,
the first piece of musique concrète to be executed in multi-track
stereo. Later that year, Brown worked on a series of compositions
entitled Folio that one by
one began to reduce certain elements of notation. In December, 1952
Brown dispensed with conventional notation altogether, utilizing
instead a simple graph as the composition with instructions for
performance. December, 1952
is recognized as a landmark work of the 1950s, as it introduced graphic
notation, which would soon be widely adopted into the mainstream of the
avant-garde. Brown is often lumped together with Cage, Tudor, Morton
Feldman, and Christian Wolff as the "New York School." This is a
convenient handle used to identify New York composers of the 1950s who
were, in approach, seen as analogous in music to the Abstract
Expressionist style of painting then current among New York-based
artists. They were all friends, and it is true that Jackson Pollock and
his drip canvases provided a major source of inspiration to Earle
Brown, as did the spindly mobiles of Alexander Calder. But to lump
Brown in with any specific era or style does not do him justice. In
later compositions he moved into realms where he took greater amounts
of the music back, and put the ordering of the material into the hands
of the a conductor. In 1964, Brown and Leonard Bernstein both conducted
the premiere of his Available Forms I
with the New York Philharmonic, and Brown since composed several
large-scale orchestral works. At the other end of the spectrum, some
Brown pieces are completely notated and only a few seconds in
length. Brown said "I have certainly never been embarrassed by
writing a beautiful melody, a very lyrical passage, or what I consider
a beautiful chord progression. But I'm also interested in activating
the interaction between composers and performers, and making music a
more collaborative world—not in all cases, but some."- Uncle Dave Lewis, All Music Guide
COMPOSITIONS Earle Brown Links ~ ~ ~ Works by Genre ~ ~ ~ Earle Brown on Earle Brown
Home Burial, piano (1949) [composed for a dance choreographed by Carolyn Brown]
Three Pieces for Piano (1951)
Music for Violin, Cello and Piano (1952)
Perspectives, piano (1952)
Twenty-Five Pages, 1-25 pianos (1953)
Octet I, 8 loudspeakers (1953)
Indices, ballet, chamber orchestra (1954; concert version, 1954/57)
- Indices (piano reduction) (1954)
Forgotten Piece, piano (1954)
Folio and 4 Systems, piano/s and/or other instruments and/or sound-producing media (1954)
- October 1952
- November 1952 ("Synergy")
- December 1952
- mm-87, mm-135, March 1953
- Music for "Trio for five dancers", June 1953
- 1953, for piano
- Four systems, January 1954
Octet II, 8 loudspeakers (1954)
Music for Cello and Piano (1955)
Four More, piano (1956)
Jambono Acapoco, piano (1957) ???? [listed only at Wikipedia]
The Kind of Bird I Am, orchestra (1957)
Pentathis, flute, bass clarinet, trumpet, trombone, piano, harp, violin, viola and cello (1958)
Hodograph I, flute, percussion, celeste and piano (1959)
Available Forms I, chamber orchestra (1961)
Available Forms II, 2 orchestras (1962)
Novara, flute, bass clarinet, trumpet, piano, 2 violins, viola and cello (1962)
Times Five, flute, trombone, harp, violin, cello and tape (1963)
From Here, chamber orchestra (1963)
Corroboree, 3 or 2 Pianos (1964)
Nine Rarebits, 1 or 2 harpsichords (1965)
String Quartet (1965)
Module I, orchestra (1966)
Module II, orchestra (1966)
Calder Piece, 4 percussionists and mobile (1966)
Event: Synergy II, 2 fl, 2 ob, EH, 3 cl, bass cl, 2 bsn, 4 vln, 2 va and 2 vc (1967)
Module III, orchestra (1969)
Small Pieces for Large Chorus (1969)
Syntagm III, flute, bass clarinet, percussion, celeste, piano, harp, violin and cello (1970)
New Piece, four groups of variable instruments (1971)
Time Spans, orchestra (1972)
New Piece Loops, orchestra and chorus (1972)
Sign Sounds, chamber orchestra (1972)
Centering, solo violin, flute, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, piano, viola and cello (1973)
Cross Sections and Color Fields, orchestra (1975)
Wikiup, sound installation for six independent playing devices (1979)
Windsor Jambs, flute, bass clarinet, percussion, celeste, piano, violin, viola and cello (1980)
Folio II, variable ensemble (1982)
Sounder Rounds, orchestra (1983)
Tracer, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, violin, cello, double bass and tape (1985)
Tracking Pierrot, flute, bass clarinet, marimba, vibraphone, piano, violin and cello (1992)
Oh, K, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, cello and double bass (1992)
Summer Suite '95, piano (1995)
Special Events, cello and piano (1999)
WORKS BY GENRE Earle Brown Links ~ ~ ~ Earle Brown on Earle Brown ~ top of page ~
Dramatic/Theater
Indices, ballet, chamber orchestra (1954; concert version, 1954/57)
Orchestra
Indices, ballet, chamber orchestra (1954; concert version, 1954/57)
The Kind of Bird I Am, orchestra (1957)
Available Forms I, chamber orchestra (1961)
Available Forms II, 2 orchestras (1962)
From Here, chamber orchestra (1963)
Module I, orchestra (1966)
Module II, orchestra (1966)
Module III, orchestra (1969)
Time Spans, orchestra (1972)
Sign Sounds, chamber orchestra (1972)
Cross Sections and Color Fields, orchestra (1975)
Sounder Rounds, orchestra (1983)
Soloist(s) w/Ensemble
Centering, solo violin, flute, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, piano, viola and cello (1973)
Chorus w/Orchestra
New Piece Loops, orchestra and chorus (1972)
Choral
Small Pieces for Large Chorus (1969)
Chamber
Music for Violin, Cello and Piano (1952)
Music for Cello and Piano (1955)
Pentathis, flute, bass clarinet, trumpet, trombone, piano, harp, violin, viola and cello (1958)
Hodograph I, flute, percussion, celeste and piano (1959)
Novara, flute, bass clarinet, trumpet, piano, 2 violins, viola and cello (1962)
Times Five, flute, trombone, harp, violin, cello and tape (1963)
String Quartet (1965)
Calder Piece, 4 percussionists and mobile (1966)
Event: Synergy II, 2 fl, 2 ob, EH, 3 cl, bass cl, 2 bsn, 4 vln, 2 va and 2 vc (1967)
Syntagm III, flute, bass clarinet, percussion, celeste, piano, harp, violin and cello (1970)
New Piece, four groups of variable instruments (1971)
Centering, solo violin, flute, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, piano, viola and cello (1973)
Windsor Jambs, flute, bass clarinet, percussion, celeste, piano, violin, viola and cello (1980)
Folio II, variable ensemble (1982)
Tracer, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, violin, cello, double bass and tape (1985)
Tracking Pierrot, flute, bass clarinet, marimba, vibraphone, piano, violin and cello (1992)
Oh, K, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, cello and double bass (1992)
Special Events, cello and piano (1999)
Piano/Harpsichord
Home Burial, piano (1949) [composed for a dance choreographed by Carolyn Brown]
Three Pieces for Piano (1951)
Perspectives, piano (1952)
Twenty-Five Pages, 1-25 pianos (1953)
Forgotten Piece, piano (1954)
Indices, ballet, chamber orchestra (1954; concert version, 1954/57; piano reduction, 1954)
Folio and 4 Systems, piano/s and/or other instruments and/or sound-producing media (1954)
- October 1952
- November 1952 ("Synergy")
- December 1952
- mm-87, mm-135, March 1953
- Music for "Trio for five dancers", June 1953
- 1953, for piano
- Four systems, January 1954
Four More, piano (1956)
Jambono Acapoco, piano (1957) ???? [listed only at Wikipedia]
Corroboree, 3 or 2 Pianos (1964)
Nine Rarebits, 1 or 2 harpsichords (1965)
Summer Suite '95, piano (1995)
Electronic
Octet I, 8 loudspeakers (1953)
Folio and 4 Systems, piano/s and/or other instruments and/or sound-producing media (1954)
- October 1952
- November 1952 ("Synergy")
- December 1952
- mm-87, mm-135, March 1953
- Music for "Trio for five dancers", June 1953
- 1953, for piano
- Four systems, January 1954
Octet II, 8 loudspeakers (1954)
Times Five, flute, trombone, harp, violin, cello and tape (1963)
Wikiup, sound installation for six independent playing devices (1979)
Tracer, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, violin, cello, double bass and tape (1985)
EARLE BROWN LINKS Works by Genre ~ ~ ~ Earle Brown on Earle Brown ~ top of page ~
The Continuum Of Indeterminacy In Music (Adam Scott Neal, Art + Culture)
Earle Brown - Obituary (David Ryan, The Guardian)
Earle Brown, Innovative and Influential Composer - Obituary (The Independent)
Morton Feldman, Earle Brown and Heinz-Klaus Metzger in Discussion (@ Morton Feldman website)
Composer website . . . inquire about Earle Brown: here
Earle Brown @ Wikipedia
Earle Brown @ All Music Guide to Classical Music (Woodstra, Brennan, Schrott, Hal Leonard, books.google.com)
Earle Brown @ American Music Center
Earle Brown @ Answers.com
Earle Brown @ Art of the States also here
Earle Brown @ Associated Music Publishers/G. Schirmer
Earle Brown @ Bagatellen
Earle Brown @ Classical Archives
Earle Brown @ Classical Composers Database
Earle Brown @ ClassicsToday
Earle Brown @ composition:today
Earle Brown @ Elegua Records
Earle Brown @ Facebook
Earle Brown @ InstantEncore
Earle Brown @ Logos Foundation
Earle Brown @ Mode Records
Earle Brown @ MSN Music
Earle Brown @ MusicWeb International
Earle Brown @ musicianguide.com
Earle Brown @ MySpaceMusic
Earle Brown @ The New York Times
Earle Brown @ NNDB
Earle Brown @ Edition Peters
Earle Brown @ PianoFiles
Earle Brown @ Universal Edition
Publisher
Earle Brown @ Composer website
Earle Brown @ Ars Viva Verlag
Earle Brown @ Associated Music Publishers/G. Schirmer
Earle Brown @ Earle Brown Music Foundation
Earle Brown @ Independent Music Publishers
Earle Brown @ Henry Litolff's Verlag [Edition Peters]
Earle Brown @ Edition Peters
Earle Brown @ Schott Music
Earle Brown @ Universal Edition
Streaming Audio
Earle Brown @ Composer website (see individual work listings)
Earle Brown @ American Mavericks/"If Jackson Pollock Wrote Music"
Earle Brown @ Classical Archives
Earle Brown @ last.fm
Earle Brown @ MySpaceMusic
Earle Brown @ Rhapsody.com
Recordings
Earle Brown @ Composer website
Earle Brown @ ArkivMusic
Earle Brown @ ClassicsOnline
Earle Brown @ Discogs
Earle Brown @ Mode Records
Video
Earle Brown @ YouTube
Earle Brown @ Google Video
Earle Brown @ Vimeo
~ top of page ~
Earle Brown on Earle Brown: Interview w/Cornelius Dufallo & Gregg Bendian (streaming audio)
Composers
Speak on the Web at Pytheas~ click on composer picture to listen ~
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