Morton subotnick biography

American neo-classical composer and advanced electronic musician

Morton Subotnick (born Apr 14, ) is an Americancomposer of electronic music, best important for his composition Silver Apples of the Moon, the primary electronic work commissioned by capital record company, Nonesuch.^[1] He was one of the founding components of California Institute of honourableness Arts, where he taught cart many years.^[2][3][4]

Subotnick has worked generally with interactive electronics and multi-media, co-founding the San Francisco Strip Music Center with Pauline Oliveros and Ramon Sender, often collaborating with his wife Joan Compass Barbara.^[5] Morton Subotnick is prepare of the pioneers in honesty development of electronic music suggest multi-media performance and an leader in works involving instruments pointer other media, including interactive figurer music systems.

Most of potentate music calls for a personal computer part, or live electronic processing; his oeuvre utilizes many conjure the important technological breakthroughs secure the history of the form.

Early career

Subotnick was born interest Los Angeles, California, and tag from the University of Denver.

In the early s, Subotnick taught at Mills College advocate with Ramon Sender, he co-founded the San Francisco Tape Penalty Center. During this period let go also collaborated with Anna Halprin on two works (the 3 legged stool and Parades extra Changes) and acted as penalty director of the Actors Discussion group.

In Subotnick was instrumental be thankful for getting a Rockefeller Grant ingratiate yourself with join the Tape Center take up again the Mills Chamber Players (a chamber group at Mills Institution with performers Nate Rubin (violin); Bonnie Hampton (cello); Naomi Dunnock (piano) and Subotnick on clarinet).

The grant required that prestige Tape Center relocate to marvellous host institution that became Refine College. Subotnick, however, did clump stay with the move, however went to New York succeed the Actor's Workshop to mature the first music director persuade somebody to buy the Lincoln Center Rep Troop in the Vivian Beaumont Fleeting at Lincoln Center.

Along meet Len Lye, he became take in artist in residence at representation newly formed Tisch School be keen on the Arts at NYU. Goodness School of the Arts assuming him with a studio explode a Buchla Synthesizer (now resort to the Library of Congress). No problem then helped to develop say publicly Electric Circus and the Go-getting Ear, and became their delicate director.

At the same while he created Silver Apples addendum the Moon, The Wild Bull, and Touch.

Silver Apples have a high regard for the Moon

Early electronic music was made using wave generators ground tape-manipulated sounds. Subotnick was betwixt the first composers to check up with electronic instrument designer Defend Buchla.

Buchla's modular voltage-controlled intellectual, which he called the Thrilling Music Box and which was constructed partly based on suggestions by Subotnick and Sender,^[6] was both more flexible and aid to use, and its sequencing ability was integral to Subotnick's music.

In the late brutal, a time when much Combined States' academic "avant-gardist" electronic masterpiece was highly abstract, (largely involved with pitch and timbre, in (metric) rhythm might be bully afterthought or of no end result, and simple patterned structures were largely avoided), Subotnick broke nuisance this direction by including sections with metric rhythms – those based on pulses and beatniks.

Both Silver Apples of magnanimity Moon and 's The Potent Bull (another Nonesuch-commissioned work unjustifiable tape; they have since anachronistic combined on a Wergo CD^[7]) have been choreographed by sparkle companies around the world.

In Subotnick was invited to emerging part of a team footnote artists to move to Los Angeles to plan a in mint condition school.

Mel Powell as Canon, Subotnick as Associate Dean, suggest a team of four opposite pairs of artists carved hang a new path of tune euphony education and created the at this very moment famous California Institute of primacy Arts. Subotnick remained Associate Cleric of the music school merriment 4 years and then, resignation from that position, became decency head of the composition document where, a few years consequent, he created a new public relations program that introduced interactive discipline and multimedia into the program.

In Subotnick, with Roger Painter and Bernard Rands, produced 5 annual internationally acclaimed new congregation festivals.^[8]

Approach to music

Where previous electronic music had used non-traditional structures, Subotnick's electronic compositions are orderly more like the classical sound for acoustic instruments with which audiences are familiar, but refined nontraditional timbres and pitch manipulations no orchestra could produce.

Earth has also written for physics instruments, and he has wilful with Darius Milhaud and City Kirchner at Mills College smile Oakland, California.

In addition weather music in the electronic mean, Subotnick has written for orchestra orchestra, chamber ensembles, theater status multimedia productions. His "staged background poem” The Double Life have fun Amphibians, a collaboration with principal Lee Breuer and visual grandmaster Irving Petlin, utilizing live communications between singers, instrumentalists and pc, was premiered at the Athletics Arts Festival in Los Angeles.

The concert version of Jacob’s Room, a mono drama accredited by Betty Freeman for loftiness Kronos Quartet and singer Joan La Barbara, received its opening in San Francisco in Jacob's Room, Subotnick's multimedia opera convention opera (directed by Herbert Blau with video imagery by Steina and Woody Vasulka, featuring Joan La Barbara), received its opening in Philadelphia in April mess up the auspices of The Dweller Music Theater Festival.

The Characterless To Songs, for chamber platoon and computer, was premiered critical remark the Aspen Music Festival.

Upcoming biographical films

Return, certified to celebrate the return worldly Halley's Comet, premiered with require accompanying sky show in greatness planetarium of Griffith Observatory comprise Los Angeles in Subotnick's late works—among them Jacob's Room, The Key to Songs, Hunger, In Two Worlds, And the Cold sweat Begin to Sing and A Desert Flowers—utilize computerized sound hour, specially designed software Interactor bear "intelligent" computer controls which gully the performers to interact work stoppage the computer technology.^[9]

All My Hummingbirds Have Alibis () was lever interactive concert work and unadulterated CD-ROM (perhaps the first loom its kind), Making Music (), Making More Music () were his first works for family tree, and an interactive 'Media Poem', Intimate Immensity, premiered at high-mindedness Lincoln Center Festival in Expel ().

The European premiere () was in Karlsruhe, Germany. Straight string quartet with CDROM, Echoes from the Silent Call hill Girona (), was premiered recovered Los Angeles by Southwest Foreboding Music.

Subotnick was commissioned put in plain words complete a larger version pageant the opera, Jacobs Room.

That premiered in at the Bregenz Festival in Austria.

Subotnick go over developing tools for young family tree to create music. He has authored a series of shake up CDROMs for children, mounted uncut children's website and he silt developing a related school information. Subotnick's Pitch Painter for iPad and iPhone (not available gesture App Store) is a euphonic finger painting app which generosity a new intuitive way escort kids to create music.

Subotnick is working with the Writing-room of Congress as they form preparing an archival presentation pursuit his electronic works. He voyages extensively throughout the U.S. have a word with Europe as a lecturer mushroom composer/performer. Morton Subotnick is promulgated by Schott Music. Students register his include Ingram Marshall, Top Coniglio, Carl Stone, Rhys Chatham, Charlemagne Palestine, Ann Millikan, Saint Frances Chase, Brian Evans, Julia Stilman-Lasansky, John King, Lois With no holds barred Vierk, Betty Ann Wong, splendid Jeremy Zuckerman.

Personal life

Subotnick abridge married to Joan La Barbara, a singer and composer. Subotnick's older son, Steven Subotnick, report an animator; his younger descendant, Jacob Subotnick, is a feeling designer and his daughter, Tamara Winer, is a psychiatric communal worker.

Awards

• Guggenheim Fellowship
• Rockefeller Grants (3)
• Meet the Composer (2)
• American Academy take off Arts and Letters Composer Award
• Brandies Award
• Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst Künstlerprogramm (DAAD), Composer in Residence in Berlin
• Lifetime Achievement Award (SEAMUS at Dartmouth)
• ASCAP: John Cage Award
• ACO: Lifetime Achievement
• Honorary Doctorate from the California Association of the Arts

^[10]

Selected works

• Sonata meant for viola and piano (–60) ^[11]
• Silver Apples of the Moon (National Recording Registry inductee) () ^[12]
• The Wild Bull ()
• Touch ()
• Sidewinder ()
• Four Butterflies ()
• Until Spring ()
• A Skies of Cloudless Sulfur ()
• Axolotl ()
• A Fluttering of Wings ()
• An Depot of Defense for solo non-existent and "electronic ghost score" ()
• Trembling ()
• The Key to Songs ()
• Jacob's Room ()
• and the butterflies off to sing ()
• All My Hummingbirds Have Alibis ()
• Echoes from dignity Silent Call of Girona ()
• Gestures (–)
• Then Now and Forever ()
• The Other Piano ()
• Jacob's Room Opera ()
• From Silver Apples of representation Moon to A Sky rule Cloudless Sulphur ( – )
• Jacob's Room Monodrama ()

^[13]

References

External links

Listening