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East of the Beach (1980)
Robert Erickson:
"East of the Beach was composed for the New Hampshire Festival Orchestra, a 'classical' orchestra with winds in pairs and a small body of strings. There are three interconnected sections: constantly-changing timbre of a single pitch; an adagio; and a fast finale. The first section uses composite attacks to occasionally mask the identity of the instruments involved. The second has two long passages of what I call simultaneous variation, the variants of the theme producing at time a sort of 'not quite counterpoint.' The final section is hocketed throughout, to make a texture of broken instrumental color behind the long lined melodies. I was much involved in tone color and rhythm in this composition, but the tonal organization, simple and complex at the same time, was very intriguing to me, and carries hints for future pieces. The title comes from the place where I live, not far from the Pacific Ocean."
The work of Robert Erickson (1917-1997) explores a wide range of ideas and influences: music of the Second Viennese School, ancient and traditional tuning systems, technology and electronics, handmade instruments, and the natural world, especially in his adopted home of California. "When you come right down to it, what we all do is compose our environment." (Erickson)
Erickson was born and raised in Marquette, Michigan, where as a youth he played violin and piano. After high school he moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he studied composition with May Strong and Wesley La Violette, and became friends with composers George Perle and Ben Weber. He found a mentor through correspondence with Ernst Krenek, and relocated to St. Paul, Minnesota to study with Krenek at Hamline University until 1947 (with three years of Army service in between).
In 1953 Erickson moved to San Francisco, California, teaching at San Francisco State College (now University), the University of California, Berkeley, and San Francisco Conservatory, and becoming a significant influence on younger composers such as Pauline Oliveros, Terry Riley, and Morton Subotnick. He served as music director of the then-new radio station KPFA, and later its parent organization the Pacific Foundation. In 1967, with his former Hamline classmate Will Ogdon, he co-founded the music department at the University of California, San Diego, with an equal focus on contemporary music performance and research. Among Erickson's honors are fellowships from the Ford and Guggenheim Foundations, awards from the Kennedy Center and National Endowment for the Arts, and election to the Institute for Creative Arts of the University of California. He wrote articles on diverse topics such as tuning systems and the relationship between phonetics and music, and is author of the books The Structure of Music: A Listener's Guide (1955) and Sound Structure in Music (1975).
Erickson's music can be found on the CRI, Crystal, Naxos, Neuma, New World labels.
related websites
http://music.ucsd.edu/bio.php?fn=Robert+Erickson
The Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) has established itself as one of Boston's most active musical groups through creative programming, audience outreach, and auxiliary recording projects. It is one of the few orchestras in the United States devoted exclusively to contemporary music. Founded in 1996 by artistic director Gil Rose, the orchestra has commissioned, premiered, and recorded works by a wide range of composers including Arthur Berger, John Harbison, Lee Hyla, Steven Mackey, Bernard Rands, George Rochberg, Gunther Schuller, and Reza Vali. These performances can be found on the orchestra's own BMOP/sound label as well as on Albany, Arsis, Chandos, Naxos, New World, and Oxingale. BMOP is a ten-time winner of the ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming and has appeared at venues and festivals on both the East and West Coasts.
related websites
http://www.bmop.org
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