Annea Lockwood
Encyclopedia
Annea Lockwood is a New Zealand
born American composer
. She taught electronic music at Vassar College
. Her work often involves recordings of natural found sound
s. She has also recorded Fluxus
-inspired pieces involved burning or drowning pianos.
Lockwood studied composition and completed a B.Mus with honors from the University of Canterbury
in New Zealand. She went on to study composition at several institutions around Europe with notable teachers: The Royal College of Music
with Peter Racine Fricker
, the Darmstädter Ferienkurse with Gottfried Michael Koenig
, the Hochschule für Musik Köln
, and also in Holland. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Lockwood performed and composed around Europe but made London
her home. Her compositions featured non-conventional instruments, such as glass tubing and burning, moss covered pianos, which she described as sound sculptures, and presented in performance pieces with other sound poets and integrated choreography. Lockwood is most well known for “The Glass Concert” (1967) which was published in Source: Music of the Avant Garde
then recorded and released by Tangent records.
In the 1970s Lockwood began to compose what could be considered performance art pieces, though her work was still situated in the realm of music; they are considered so because the essence of the compositional ideas made the audience and environment agents in the piece. During this time Lockwood worked with environmental sounds, capturing them and building developed compositions around an environmental inspiration: A Sound Map of the Hudson River (1982), World Rhythms (1975), and parts built on of archetypes and conversations with significant people, Conversations with the Ancestors (1979), composed on conversations with 4 women in their eighties, Delta Run (1982, based on a conversation with the sculptor Walter Wincha), One piece, Three Short Stories and Apotheosis (1985) notably used what Lockwood named the Soundball, which was a foam-covered ball that was made of 6 small speakers and a radio receiver. The impetus for this unusual piece of equipment was to "put sound into the hands of dancers”.
Lockwood’s most recent pieces are written for acoustic-electric instruments and incorporate multi-media and indigenous instruments in her compositions: Thousand Year Dreaming (1991) is a work for four didgeridoos and blends images of the Lascaux cave as part of the performance.
Her progressive ideas and the breadth of her range is quite impressive; from the microtonal, electro-acoustic soundscapes and vocal music, she seems to have explored and expressed previously ignored spaces in modern composition. Her music has been presented at festivals all over the world, including events in Germany
, Scandinavia
, Italy
, Britain
, Australia
, New Zealand
and the U.S.
Lockwood, a Professor Emeritus at Vassar College, NY since 1982, has retired from teaching though she still writes and performs. Her recordings are distributed through these labels: Lovely
, XI, ?What Next?/OO Discs, Rattle Records (NZ), Harmonia Mundi
, Earth Ear, CRI
, and Finnadar/Atlantic.
ENVIRONMENT; Inside, An Echo Of a River By JAMES GORMAN, New York Times, March 9, 2003
Art From a River's Past (and Its Present) By DINITIA SMITH, New York Times, January 18, 2001
MUSIC; Electronic Music, Always Current By KYLE GANN, New York Times, July 9, 2000
It's Sound, It's Art, and Some Call It Music By KYLE GANN, New York Times, January 9, 2000
Classical Music in Review By Bernard Holland
, New York Times, April 20, 1993
‘’ Review/Music; Electronic Components In Work by 3 Composers by JOHN ROCKWELL, New York Times, December 10, 1989
MUSIC REVIEW; Bang on a Can Uptown Cultivates Crossover By ALLAN KOZINN, New York Times, May 23, 1995
Review/Music; Electronic Components In Work by 3 Composers By JOHN ROCKWELL, New York Times, December 10, 1989
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
born American composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
. She taught electronic music at Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
. Her work often involves recordings of natural found sound
Musique concrète
Musique concrète is a form of electroacoustic music that utilises acousmatic sound as a compositional resource. The compositional material is not restricted to the inclusion of sounds derived from musical instruments or voices, nor to elements traditionally thought of as "musical"...
s. She has also recorded Fluxus
Fluxus
Fluxus—a name taken from a Latin word meaning "to flow"—is an international network of artists, composers and designers noted for blending different artistic media and disciplines in the 1960s. They have been active in Neo-Dada noise music and visual art as well as literature, urban planning,...
-inspired pieces involved burning or drowning pianos.
Lockwood studied composition and completed a B.Mus with honors from the University of Canterbury
University of Canterbury
The University of Canterbury , New Zealand's second-oldest university, operates its main campus in the suburb of Ilam in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand...
in New Zealand. She went on to study composition at several institutions around Europe with notable teachers: The Royal College of Music
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
with Peter Racine Fricker
Peter Racine Fricker
Peter Racine Fricker was an English composer who lived in the United States for the last thirty years of his life....
, the Darmstädter Ferienkurse with Gottfried Michael Koenig
Gottfried Michael Koenig
Gottfried Michael Koenig is a contemporary German-Dutch composer.-Biography:Koenig studied church music in Braunschweig, composition, piano, analysis and acoustics in Detmold, music representation techniques in Cologne and computer technique in Bonn. He attended and later lectured at the...
, the Hochschule für Musik Köln
Hochschule für Musik Köln
The Cologne University of Music is a music college in Cologne, and Germany's largest academy of music.-History:The academy was founded by Ferdinand Hiller in 1850 as Conservatorium der Musik in Coeln...
, and also in Holland. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Lockwood performed and composed around Europe but made London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
her home. Her compositions featured non-conventional instruments, such as glass tubing and burning, moss covered pianos, which she described as sound sculptures, and presented in performance pieces with other sound poets and integrated choreography. Lockwood is most well known for “The Glass Concert” (1967) which was published in Source: Music of the Avant Garde
Source: Music of the Avant Garde
Source: Music of the Avant-Garde – also known and hereafter referred to as Source Magazine – is an independent, not-for-profit musical and artistic magazine published between 1967 and 1973 by teachers and students of University of California, Davis, CA...
then recorded and released by Tangent records.
In the 1970s Lockwood began to compose what could be considered performance art pieces, though her work was still situated in the realm of music; they are considered so because the essence of the compositional ideas made the audience and environment agents in the piece. During this time Lockwood worked with environmental sounds, capturing them and building developed compositions around an environmental inspiration: A Sound Map of the Hudson River (1982), World Rhythms (1975), and parts built on of archetypes and conversations with significant people, Conversations with the Ancestors (1979), composed on conversations with 4 women in their eighties, Delta Run (1982, based on a conversation with the sculptor Walter Wincha), One piece, Three Short Stories and Apotheosis (1985) notably used what Lockwood named the Soundball, which was a foam-covered ball that was made of 6 small speakers and a radio receiver. The impetus for this unusual piece of equipment was to "put sound into the hands of dancers”.
Lockwood’s most recent pieces are written for acoustic-electric instruments and incorporate multi-media and indigenous instruments in her compositions: Thousand Year Dreaming (1991) is a work for four didgeridoos and blends images of the Lascaux cave as part of the performance.
Her progressive ideas and the breadth of her range is quite impressive; from the microtonal, electro-acoustic soundscapes and vocal music, she seems to have explored and expressed previously ignored spaces in modern composition. Her music has been presented at festivals all over the world, including events in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Lockwood, a Professor Emeritus at Vassar College, NY since 1982, has retired from teaching though she still writes and performs. Her recordings are distributed through these labels: Lovely
Lovely Music
Lovely Music is an American record label devoted to new American music. Based in New York City, the label was founded in 1978 by Mimi Johnson, an outgrowth of her nonprofit production company Performing Artservices, Inc...
, XI, ?What Next?/OO Discs, Rattle Records (NZ), Harmonia Mundi
Harmonia Mundi
Harmonia Mundi is an independent music record label founded in 1958 by Bernard Coutaz in Arles . The Latin phrase means "world harmony"....
, Earth Ear, CRI
Composers Recordings, Inc.
Composers Recordings, Inc. was an American record label dedicated to the recording of contemporary classical music by American composers. It was founded in 1954 by Otto Luening, Douglas Moore, and Oliver Daniel, and based in New York City....
, and Finnadar/Atlantic.
Reviews and articles
MUSIC REVIEW | SOUNDS LIKE NOW , A 'Bring Your Own Improvisation' Party By ALLAN KOZINN, New York Times October 16, 2004ENVIRONMENT; Inside, An Echo Of a River By JAMES GORMAN, New York Times, March 9, 2003
Art From a River's Past (and Its Present) By DINITIA SMITH, New York Times, January 18, 2001
MUSIC; Electronic Music, Always Current By KYLE GANN, New York Times, July 9, 2000
It's Sound, It's Art, and Some Call It Music By KYLE GANN, New York Times, January 9, 2000
Classical Music in Review By Bernard Holland
Bernard Holland
Bernard Holland is an internationally recognized American music critic. He served on the staff of The New York Times from 1981 until 2008 and held the post of chief music critic from 1995, contributing 4,575 articles to the newspaper....
, New York Times, April 20, 1993
‘’ Review/Music; Electronic Components In Work by 3 Composers by JOHN ROCKWELL, New York Times, December 10, 1989
MUSIC REVIEW; Bang on a Can Uptown Cultivates Crossover By ALLAN KOZINN, New York Times, May 23, 1995
Review/Music; Electronic Components In Work by 3 Composers By JOHN ROCKWELL, New York Times, December 10, 1989
Discography
- Thousand Year Dreaming/Floating World, Pogus 21045-2, 2007
- 60x60 (2003) Capstone RecordsCapstone RecordsCapstone Records is an American classical music record label focusing particularly on contemporary classical music. It was established by Richard Brooks in 1986, and was based in Brooklyn, New York...
CPS-8744 - Breaking the Surface, Lovely MusicLovely MusicLovely Music is an American record label devoted to new American music. Based in New York City, the label was founded in 1978 by Mimi Johnson, an outgrowth of her nonprofit production company Performing Artservices, Inc...
, Ltd. CD 2082, 1999 - World Rhythms, on Sinopah (which also includes Ruth Anderson's, I Come Out of Your Sleep), Experimental Intermedia XI 118, 1998
- The Glass World, Nonsequitur/?What Next? WN 0021 & O.O. Discs, 1997
- The Angle of Repose, on Sign of the Times, Thomas Buckner, baritone, Lovely MusicLovely MusicLovely Music is an American record label devoted to new American music. Based in New York City, the label was founded in 1978 by Mimi Johnson, an outgrowth of her nonprofit production company Performing Artservices, Inc...
, Ltd. CD 3022, 1994 - Thousand Year Dreaming, Nonsequitur/?What Next? WN 0010 & O.O. Discs 0041, 1993
- Night and Fog on Full Spectrum Voice, Thomas Buckner, baritone, Lovely MusicLovely MusicLovely Music is an American record label devoted to new American music. Based in New York City, the label was founded in 1978 by Mimi Johnson, an outgrowth of her nonprofit production company Performing Artservices, Inc...
, Ltd. CD 3021, 1991 - A Sound Map of the Hudson River, Lovely MusicLovely MusicLovely Music is an American record label devoted to new American music. Based in New York City, the label was founded in 1978 by Mimi Johnson, an outgrowth of her nonprofit production company Performing Artservices, Inc...
, Ltd. CD 2081, 1989 - Ear-Walking Woman
- Sign Of The Times
- Women in Electronic Music: New Music for Electronic & Recorded Media
- Nautilus on The Aerial: Issue #2
- Red Mesa, Loretta Goldberg, keyboards, Opus One 00152