John Moran
Encyclopedia
John Moran is an American composer, author and choreographer. He was born in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1965.
. He was born in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1965, and began his career with the debut of his first opera in 1989. His works as a composer and theater artist are unusual, in that actors or dancers are generally expected to work silently (as mimes) to a score of highly edited voices and sound-effects. These works are known for such specific interaction between sound and movement that they have sometimes been categorized as dance. Whatever the description of Moran's works however, what most have agreed is that they defy any conventional classification. Over the last 2 decades, his work has featured performers such as Uma Thurman
, Allen Ginsberg
, Julia Stiles
and Iggy Pop
, at venues like Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
, American Repertory Theater, New York Shakespeare Festival / Public Theater
and many more internationally. Despite his remaining relatively unknown to commercial audiences, publications like The New York Times
have frequently referred to Moran as "one of the leading vanguards of American music-theater."
. Although the work was considered a benchmark for modern composition at the time, the work itself was reportedly stolen in a Lower East Side apartment robbery, and has not been presented again (presumably because it no longer exists). There are many unusual anecdotes about Moran's life at this time, including his living "behind the couch" of Philip Glass for several years, after showing up on the older composer's doorstep and announcing himself Glass' protégé. Glass himself confirmed such stories in several interviews (The Boston Globe, 1997 and The New York Times, 2000).
In 1990, Moran was commissioned by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
to create his second opera, The Manson Family, which starred Iggy Pop
. A recording of the opera was produced by Glass and released on POINT Music/Philips/PolyGram Records. Although the recording was almost immediately recalled by its parent label for obscene language and content [receiving one of the country's first Parental Advisory
stickers], it achieved the instant status of cult classic, and is still widely distributed by fans around the world. This is the only recording by Moran to present, which has ever received public release. In another unusual anecdote concerning Moran's early career, Charles Manson
was thought to have taken it upon himself to send a letter to Wall Street Journal critic Mark Swed, for his penning a negative review of the opera upon its release.
In 1993, Moran's trilogy opera Everyday, New Burman (The Trilogy of Cyclic Existence) debuted at the larger Annex space at La Mama E.T.C. in New York City to wide critical acclaim. Owing to the opera, Moran was awarded a Bessie Award, and the following year a grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts
Grants to Artists Award.
In 1995 and 1996 his opera Mathew in The School of Life premiered at The Kitchen
in New York City. The work featured vocals by poet Allen Ginsberg
and a small part voiced by actress Julia Stiles
. As a performer, The NY Times compared Moran with figures like Merce Cunningham
and Twyla Tharp
, and as a composer he received an Obie Award
. In these later early works by Moran, one can find him expanding into work with theatrical illusions and detailed specifications regarding the works staging. The use of doubled performers, playing the same part were often employed in his scoring of these events, to mimic the effect of cinematic-style editing.
At the end of this period, in 1997, his version of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari premiered at American Repertory Theater at Harvard. Concerning Caligari, The Boston Globe
described Moran as "a modern day Mozart", but Moran himself expressed an unhappiness with the production, as well as the work's producer Robert Brustein
and its presenting partners Ridge Theater, which apparently resulted in a tense and public split with the group. In a 1998 New York Times article the following year, Moran claimed to have seen his staging and visual ideas appropriated by the group, while being publicly uncredited to him by the group's director, Bob McGrath. The article presented several other points of view on the subject from the New York theater world of the time, but clearly marked an end to a decade of joint-production by the two parties.
, and produced by George Wolfe
for The New York Shakespeare Festival / Public Theater
, in New York City and featured actress Uma Thurman
as the work's narrator. The work received less than favorable review, however, and in later autobiographical works Moran himself described the production as "one of the most unhappy times of [his] life.", owing to "the sheer mechanical hugeness of it all." The work (also designed by Moran) received The American Theater Wing Design Award (now called The Hewes Award) for "Best Theatrical Design in New York City (2000)".
He then relocated to Germany and re-mounted his work Everyday, Newt Burman in 2001 at Staatstheater-Darmstadt, where he apparently met German dancer Eva Müller who starred in the remounted production. Upon returning to America together, Moran began to create duet works for himself and Müller. Regarding these duet performances, TimeOut Magazine wrote that Moran had "reaffirmed his reputation as one of the most important (and underrated) figures in the avantgarde." Also at this time, in 2003, Philip Glass
was quoted to say, "I am convinced that there is no more important composer working today than John Moran. His works have been so advanced as to be considered revolutionary." However, possibly owing to disappointing reviews from his ambitious 2000 work, Book of The Dead (2nd Avenue), Moran seemed to resign himself with smaller venues, such as Galapagos Art Space in Brooklyn, and Joe's Pub
in New York City.
In 2004-2005 Moran spent nearly 2 years as artist-in-residence for Mairie de Paris (The City of Paris), however these were described by the composer as less than productive times. In later interviews, Moran related having buried the remains of his former works with dancer Eva Müller under a "popular landmark" in Paris, so that tourists would unknowingly take photographs of its remains. If true, this would likely be in an area of Montmartre
, next the iconic Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, where Moran resided at the time.
During this period Moran received fellowships from The American Academy of Arts and Letters
and The Pen American Center. But, perhaps strangely, it was reported by The New York Times
in 2006 that Moran had experienced a period of homelessness upon returning to America at the end of 2005, immediately after the creation of his highly praised work John Moran...and his neighbor, Saori, with Japanese-born dancer Saori Tsukada.
This seems to have marked a shift in subject matter for Moran, who then began to appear in his works as himself, often telling highly personal stories about his bizarre life, and describing (in artistic terms) an "obsession" with his then next-door-neighbor, Tsukada. In numerous articles Tsukada has been described as Moran's "muse". In Tsukada's description, "If I am the disciplined Japanese girl, then he is the picture of what people think of as a tortured artist.".
Their collaborations, under the title John Moran...and his neighbor, Saori seemed to see immediate critical success. In addition to relocating their work to Europe sometime around 2007, Moran and Tsukada premiered several music, dance and theatre works throughout the period of 2005-2010, all of which featured Tsukada and Moran portraying autobiographical representations of themselves. Their work John Moran...and his neighbour, Saori has seen much European touring since 2005. The Guardian UK described the piece as "a work with genius as it's foundation." and The New York Times
cited their work as "one of the most important and innovative dance collaborations of the year", in 2007. The two performed frequently at venues such as Edinburgh Fringe
, Dublin Fringe, Amsterdam Fringe, The Arches
, Soho Theatre
in London, as well as theatrical venues across UK, Germany, Israel and Poland.
In 2010, Moran and Tsukada debuted their work, John Moran and Saori (in Thailand). The work again received praise from critics in Scotland, England, Germany and Belgium.
Other works by Moran and Tsukada from this period included Saori's Birthday! (2007), commissioned by Performance Space 122
in New York City, and which in addition to Tsuakda featured performance artists Joseph Keckler
and Katherine Brook, and a somewhat minor work titled Zenith 5! which played at The Spiegeltent in New York in 2006, and also featured Keckler and Brook.
Accompanying the majority of Moran's works, have been overhead maps of the works staging, including what position on stage the event occurs. This has been done so that the sound(s) appear to emerge from where the performers are seen on stage (i.e., left, right, near or far). Performers in these works are then expected to memorize highly complex sequences of action, wherein each movement is performed in exact adherence to the composition.
Structure
Certainly influenced by Philip Glass
(as well as others in the minimalist genre; Steve Reich
, Terry Riley
or Arvo Pärt
) the use of repetitive structures is often employed. However, taking this beyond the realm of music, and into the staging of dramatic events, Moran has sought to find repeating events portrayed with an exactitude, which (more and more over the time-line of his productions) called for the use of trained dancers. Although not performing what would traditionally be thought of as dance, the works required performers which could execute their movements in such detail as to faithfully reproduce the events as they repeated. Some have made the case that Moran's works were actually "dance" from the beginning. However what is clear, is that these works have blended these different forms to an extent not seen before. They cannot be rightly called "opera", nor could they adequately be described as "dance", "theater" or any one classification. They are rather, a blending of these forms into a singular expression.
Tempo and Harmonic Relationship
In all of Moran's works, one finds these edited events have been finessed in order that the peculiarities of their internal rhythms align to an underlying tempo. In other words (to revert back to the example of a chair), if the character sits and then stands, not only does the score express the nature of the character's actions and the setting, but also that the event itself be constructed as a work of music (i.e., the nuances of the event's details are on a shared tempo). The use of more traditional underscoring then, serves the purpose of defining this tempo, as well as defining or emphasizing the structural patterns of the scene. These events are not only unified by tempo, but also by their harmonic relationships. The separate elements of the events are heard to be "tuned" (or subtly pitched) in order to create harmonic relationships together, again emphasized in part by the work's underscoring. In these works, all events are presented as music and choreography.
In this way, in that the events are composed as music, yet call for a precise physical execution on the part of a live performer, and that together those two layers create a third, theatrical level, Moran's works have merged the mediums of music, dance and theater into a singlular expression.
Another structural technique used by Moran throughout the majority of his works, is the technique of a single performer changing character(s), in rhythmic and repetitious sequences. The movements of the performer are asked to "flow seamlessly from one character to the next" as they continuously move through a variety of characters and situations. The effect is like a rapidly shifting overview of many different people at once, each in their own unique time and situation, but somehow unified in their shared experience of this musicality. Among many examples of the technique is the entirety of the 3rd act solo of Everyday, Newt Burman, titled The Little Retarded Boy.
Cycles and Overlapping-Cycles
Another structural device often used by Moran, has been that of cycles, or loops of action where the end of a sequence leads seamlessly into its beginning. This seems to have been a major interest for Moran through all his works. Owing to the sounds and events (i.e., the stage action) being unified by a shared tempo, the use of separate but simultaneous cycles can be particularly striking in these works. Often, he has employed a method whereby seemingly separate events from different moments in the work's narrative, are later brought together to show a complex, rhythmic counterpoint to each other, in overlapping cycles. In other words, each section forms a separate cycle of sound and action, and each cycle is of a different length, yet both share the same tempo and harmonic relationships. So in having these aspects in common, the various cycles could start at the same moment, but then run for extended periods of time, always remaining in rhythmic counterpoint to each other, but in a constant state of evolution as the process unfolds. One example of such overlapping-cycles can be found at the conclusion of his opera Mathew in the School of Life. And a more intimate example at the conclusion of his chamber work John Moran and Saori (in Thailand).
(Book of the Dead), Iggy Pop
(The Manson Family), Allen Ginsberg
(Mathew in the School of Life, and Meet the Locusts—an unreleased album for Philips/PolyGram), Julia Stiles
(Everyday, Newt Burman, Mathew in the School of Life) and Saori Tsukada (Saori's Birthday, John Moran and his neighbor, Saori, Zenith 5!, John Moran and Saori (in Thailand)).
Overview
John Moran is considered a protégé of composer Philip GlassPhilip Glass
Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
. He was born in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1965, and began his career with the debut of his first opera in 1989. His works as a composer and theater artist are unusual, in that actors or dancers are generally expected to work silently (as mimes) to a score of highly edited voices and sound-effects. These works are known for such specific interaction between sound and movement that they have sometimes been categorized as dance. Whatever the description of Moran's works however, what most have agreed is that they defy any conventional classification. Over the last 2 decades, his work has featured performers such as Uma Thurman
Uma Thurman
Uma Karuna Thurman is an American actress and model. She has performed in leading roles in a variety of films, ranging from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action movies. Among her best-known roles are those in the Quentin Tarantino films Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill...
, Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
, Julia Stiles
Julia Stiles
Julia O'Hara Stiles is an American actress.After beginning her career in small parts in a New York City theatre troupe, she has moved on to leading roles in plays by writers as diverse as William Shakespeare and David Mamet...
and Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
, at venues like Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of New York City's Upper West Side. Reynold Levy has been its president since 2002.-History and facilities:...
, American Repertory Theater, New York Shakespeare Festival / Public Theater
Public Theater
The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as The Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers. It is headquartered at 425 Lafayette Street in the former Astor Library in the East Village...
and many more internationally. Despite his remaining relatively unknown to commercial audiences, publications like The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
have frequently referred to Moran as "one of the leading vanguards of American music-theater."
Early career
Moran's first opera, Jack Benny, was created in 1988, and composed entirely of snippets of sound from the Jack Benny television series. The piece was staged at New York's La Mama Experimental Theater Club, where it was presented by performance troupe Ridge Theater, and received strong praise in publications such as The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. Although the work was considered a benchmark for modern composition at the time, the work itself was reportedly stolen in a Lower East Side apartment robbery, and has not been presented again (presumably because it no longer exists). There are many unusual anecdotes about Moran's life at this time, including his living "behind the couch" of Philip Glass for several years, after showing up on the older composer's doorstep and announcing himself Glass' protégé. Glass himself confirmed such stories in several interviews (The Boston Globe, 1997 and The New York Times, 2000).
In 1990, Moran was commissioned by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of New York City's Upper West Side. Reynold Levy has been its president since 2002.-History and facilities:...
to create his second opera, The Manson Family, which starred Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
. A recording of the opera was produced by Glass and released on POINT Music/Philips/PolyGram Records. Although the recording was almost immediately recalled by its parent label for obscene language and content [receiving one of the country's first Parental Advisory
Parental Advisory
Parental Advisory is a message affixed by the Recording Industry Association of America to audio and recordings in the United States containing excessive use of profane language and/or sexual references. Albums began to be labeled for "explicit lyrics" in 1985, after pressure from the Parents...
stickers], it achieved the instant status of cult classic, and is still widely distributed by fans around the world. This is the only recording by Moran to present, which has ever received public release. In another unusual anecdote concerning Moran's early career, Charles Manson
Charles Manson
Charles Milles Manson is an American criminal who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders carried out by members of the group at his instruction...
was thought to have taken it upon himself to send a letter to Wall Street Journal critic Mark Swed, for his penning a negative review of the opera upon its release.
In 1993, Moran's trilogy opera Everyday, New Burman (The Trilogy of Cyclic Existence) debuted at the larger Annex space at La Mama E.T.C. in New York City to wide critical acclaim. Owing to the opera, Moran was awarded a Bessie Award, and the following year a grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts
Foundation for Contemporary Arts
Foundation for Contemporary Arts , originally known as Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, is a nonprofit based foundation in New York City founded by artists Jasper Johns , John Cage, Elaine de Kooning and others in 1963. FCA offers financial support and recognition to contemporary...
Grants to Artists Award.
In 1995 and 1996 his opera Mathew in The School of Life premiered at The Kitchen
The Kitchen
The Kitchen is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary art and performance space located at at 512 West 19th Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City...
in New York City. The work featured vocals by poet Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
and a small part voiced by actress Julia Stiles
Julia Stiles
Julia O'Hara Stiles is an American actress.After beginning her career in small parts in a New York City theatre troupe, she has moved on to leading roles in plays by writers as diverse as William Shakespeare and David Mamet...
. As a performer, The NY Times compared Moran with figures like Merce Cunningham
Merce Cunningham
Mercier "Merce" Philip Cunningham was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of the American avant-garde for more than 50 years. Throughout much of his life, Cunningham was considered one of the greatest creative forces in American dance...
and Twyla Tharp
Twyla Tharp
Twyla Tharp is an American dancer and choreographer, who lives and works in New York City.-Early years:Tharp was born in 1941 on a farm in Portland, Indiana, and was named after Twila Thornburg, the "Pig Princess" of the 89th Annual Muncie Fair in Indiana.she spend hours working on it to help her...
, and as a composer he received an Obie Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
. In these later early works by Moran, one can find him expanding into work with theatrical illusions and detailed specifications regarding the works staging. The use of doubled performers, playing the same part were often employed in his scoring of these events, to mimic the effect of cinematic-style editing.
At the end of this period, in 1997, his version of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari premiered at American Repertory Theater at Harvard. Concerning Caligari, The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
described Moran as "a modern day Mozart", but Moran himself expressed an unhappiness with the production, as well as the work's producer Robert Brustein
Robert Brustein
Robert Sanford Brustein is an American theatrical critic, producer, playwright and educator. He founded both Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut and the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he remains a Creative Consultant, and has been the theatre critic for...
and its presenting partners Ridge Theater, which apparently resulted in a tense and public split with the group. In a 1998 New York Times article the following year, Moran claimed to have seen his staging and visual ideas appropriated by the group, while being publicly uncredited to him by the group's director, Bob McGrath. The article presented several other points of view on the subject from the New York theater world of the time, but clearly marked an end to a decade of joint-production by the two parties.
2000-2005
In 2000, Moran's opera Book of The Dead (2nd Avenue) was commissioned by Lincoln Center for the Performing ArtsLincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of New York City's Upper West Side. Reynold Levy has been its president since 2002.-History and facilities:...
, and produced by George Wolfe
George Wolfe
George Wolfe may refer to:*George C. Wolfe , African-American playwright and director*George Wolfe , Irish Cumann na nGaedhael TD 1923–1932*George Wolfe , US government administrator in Iraq...
for The New York Shakespeare Festival / Public Theater
Public Theater
The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as The Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers. It is headquartered at 425 Lafayette Street in the former Astor Library in the East Village...
, in New York City and featured actress Uma Thurman
Uma Thurman
Uma Karuna Thurman is an American actress and model. She has performed in leading roles in a variety of films, ranging from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action movies. Among her best-known roles are those in the Quentin Tarantino films Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill...
as the work's narrator. The work received less than favorable review, however, and in later autobiographical works Moran himself described the production as "one of the most unhappy times of [his] life.", owing to "the sheer mechanical hugeness of it all." The work (also designed by Moran) received The American Theater Wing Design Award (now called The Hewes Award) for "Best Theatrical Design in New York City (2000)".
He then relocated to Germany and re-mounted his work Everyday, Newt Burman in 2001 at Staatstheater-Darmstadt, where he apparently met German dancer Eva Müller who starred in the remounted production. Upon returning to America together, Moran began to create duet works for himself and Müller. Regarding these duet performances, TimeOut Magazine wrote that Moran had "reaffirmed his reputation as one of the most important (and underrated) figures in the avantgarde." Also at this time, in 2003, Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
was quoted to say, "I am convinced that there is no more important composer working today than John Moran. His works have been so advanced as to be considered revolutionary." However, possibly owing to disappointing reviews from his ambitious 2000 work, Book of The Dead (2nd Avenue), Moran seemed to resign himself with smaller venues, such as Galapagos Art Space in Brooklyn, and Joe's Pub
Joe's Pub
Joe's Pub at Public Theater is a nightclub that hosts live performances regularly. The venue, which is a non-profit operation, is located at 425 Lafayette Street near Astor Place in Manhattan, New York City...
in New York City.
In 2004-2005 Moran spent nearly 2 years as artist-in-residence for Mairie de Paris (The City of Paris), however these were described by the composer as less than productive times. In later interviews, Moran related having buried the remains of his former works with dancer Eva Müller under a "popular landmark" in Paris, so that tourists would unknowingly take photographs of its remains. If true, this would likely be in an area of Montmartre
Montmartre
Montmartre is a hill which is 130 metres high, giving its name to the surrounding district, in the north of Paris in the 18th arrondissement, a part of the Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré Cœur on its summit and as a nightclub district...
, next the iconic Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, where Moran resided at the time.
During this period Moran received fellowships from The American Academy of Arts and Letters
The American Academy of Arts and Letters
The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 250-member honor society; its goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Located in Washington Heights, a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan in New York, it shares Audubon Terrace, its Beaux Arts campus on...
and The Pen American Center. But, perhaps strangely, it was reported by The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
in 2006 that Moran had experienced a period of homelessness upon returning to America at the end of 2005, immediately after the creation of his highly praised work John Moran...and his neighbor, Saori, with Japanese-born dancer Saori Tsukada.
John Moran and Saori Tsukada
In 2005, Moran began to work exclusively with Japanese-born dancer Saori Tsukada, who in numerous reviews was described as a performer of unusual precision and stage presence. It was said that after seeing Tsukada from a distance on the street one afternoon, the composer knew the two strangers were "meant" to work together, and waited for her to return during a power outage.This seems to have marked a shift in subject matter for Moran, who then began to appear in his works as himself, often telling highly personal stories about his bizarre life, and describing (in artistic terms) an "obsession" with his then next-door-neighbor, Tsukada. In numerous articles Tsukada has been described as Moran's "muse". In Tsukada's description, "If I am the disciplined Japanese girl, then he is the picture of what people think of as a tortured artist.".
Their collaborations, under the title John Moran...and his neighbor, Saori seemed to see immediate critical success. In addition to relocating their work to Europe sometime around 2007, Moran and Tsukada premiered several music, dance and theatre works throughout the period of 2005-2010, all of which featured Tsukada and Moran portraying autobiographical representations of themselves. Their work John Moran...and his neighbour, Saori has seen much European touring since 2005. The Guardian UK described the piece as "a work with genius as it's foundation." and The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
cited their work as "one of the most important and innovative dance collaborations of the year", in 2007. The two performed frequently at venues such as Edinburgh Fringe
Edinburgh Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place annually in Scotland's capital, in the month of August...
, Dublin Fringe, Amsterdam Fringe, The Arches
The Arches
The Arches may mean:* The Arches , a theatre, arts venue and nightclub in Glasgow* The Arches , a nightclub in London* The Arches , a nightclub in Sheffield* The Arches is also a viaduct from EastEnders...
, Soho Theatre
Soho Theatre
Soho Theatre is a theatre in the eponymous Soho district of the City of Westminster. It presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret....
in London, as well as theatrical venues across UK, Germany, Israel and Poland.
In 2010, Moran and Tsukada debuted their work, John Moran and Saori (in Thailand). The work again received praise from critics in Scotland, England, Germany and Belgium.
Other works by Moran and Tsukada from this period included Saori's Birthday! (2007), commissioned by Performance Space 122
Performance Space 122
Performance Space 122, generally known as P.S. 122, is a not-for-profit arts organization and one of the longest standing venues dedicated to contemporary performance art in New York City. Founded in 1979 in the abandoned Public School 122 building at 150 First Avenue at East 9th Street in the East...
in New York City, and which in addition to Tsuakda featured performance artists Joseph Keckler
Joseph Keckler
Joseph Keckler is a musician, writer, and performance artist based in New York City. He is known both for his musical output as well as for creating narrative monologues and collage-like performance and video works, often musical, that involve transformation through multiple characters. Keckler's...
and Katherine Brook, and a somewhat minor work titled Zenith 5! which played at The Spiegeltent in New York in 2006, and also featured Keckler and Brook.
Compositional Techniques
Although much of Moran's works have contained what could be called "traditional" music (or "underscoring", which often simulates orchestral passages by use of synthetic generated sounds), the main emphasis in composition for Moran has always been so interwoven with specific actions called for in the work's narrative, that it would be impossible to separate his compositions from the action and staging they have been designed to correspond to. For example, when a character in the work is seen to walk, the footsteps of the performer seen on stage are intended to be (silent, and) in exact synch to a recording (or rather, many recordings) of the character's footsteps in the work's soundtrack. Likewise, the voices of the characters have also been pre-recorded and presumably edited in similar detail. The environments of his dramatic scenes have been constructed likewise. For example, when a character stands or sits using a chair, there are a myriad of separate sounds (or "samples" as they are called) which construct the event, defining not only the action, but the nuance of its specifics: is it a wooden or a metal chair? How heavy or light is the character using it? What is the nature or emotion of the character as they interact with it?Accompanying the majority of Moran's works, have been overhead maps of the works staging, including what position on stage the event occurs. This has been done so that the sound(s) appear to emerge from where the performers are seen on stage (i.e., left, right, near or far). Performers in these works are then expected to memorize highly complex sequences of action, wherein each movement is performed in exact adherence to the composition.
Structure
Certainly influenced by Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
(as well as others in the minimalist genre; Steve Reich
Steve Reich
Stephen Michael "Steve" Reich is an American composer who together with La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass is a pioneering composer of minimal music...
, Terry Riley
Terry Riley
Terrence Mitchell Riley, is an American composer intrinsically associated with the minimalist school of Western classical music and was a pioneer of the movement...
or Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt is an Estonian classical composer and one of the most prominent living composers of sacred music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs his self-made compositional technique, tintinnabuli. His music also finds its inspiration and influence from...
) the use of repetitive structures is often employed. However, taking this beyond the realm of music, and into the staging of dramatic events, Moran has sought to find repeating events portrayed with an exactitude, which (more and more over the time-line of his productions) called for the use of trained dancers. Although not performing what would traditionally be thought of as dance, the works required performers which could execute their movements in such detail as to faithfully reproduce the events as they repeated. Some have made the case that Moran's works were actually "dance" from the beginning. However what is clear, is that these works have blended these different forms to an extent not seen before. They cannot be rightly called "opera", nor could they adequately be described as "dance", "theater" or any one classification. They are rather, a blending of these forms into a singular expression.
Tempo and Harmonic Relationship
In all of Moran's works, one finds these edited events have been finessed in order that the peculiarities of their internal rhythms align to an underlying tempo. In other words (to revert back to the example of a chair), if the character sits and then stands, not only does the score express the nature of the character's actions and the setting, but also that the event itself be constructed as a work of music (i.e., the nuances of the event's details are on a shared tempo). The use of more traditional underscoring then, serves the purpose of defining this tempo, as well as defining or emphasizing the structural patterns of the scene. These events are not only unified by tempo, but also by their harmonic relationships. The separate elements of the events are heard to be "tuned" (or subtly pitched) in order to create harmonic relationships together, again emphasized in part by the work's underscoring. In these works, all events are presented as music and choreography.
In this way, in that the events are composed as music, yet call for a precise physical execution on the part of a live performer, and that together those two layers create a third, theatrical level, Moran's works have merged the mediums of music, dance and theater into a singlular expression.
Another structural technique used by Moran throughout the majority of his works, is the technique of a single performer changing character(s), in rhythmic and repetitious sequences. The movements of the performer are asked to "flow seamlessly from one character to the next" as they continuously move through a variety of characters and situations. The effect is like a rapidly shifting overview of many different people at once, each in their own unique time and situation, but somehow unified in their shared experience of this musicality. Among many examples of the technique is the entirety of the 3rd act solo of Everyday, Newt Burman, titled The Little Retarded Boy.
Cycles and Overlapping-Cycles
Another structural device often used by Moran, has been that of cycles, or loops of action where the end of a sequence leads seamlessly into its beginning. This seems to have been a major interest for Moran through all his works. Owing to the sounds and events (i.e., the stage action) being unified by a shared tempo, the use of separate but simultaneous cycles can be particularly striking in these works. Often, he has employed a method whereby seemingly separate events from different moments in the work's narrative, are later brought together to show a complex, rhythmic counterpoint to each other, in overlapping cycles. In other words, each section forms a separate cycle of sound and action, and each cycle is of a different length, yet both share the same tempo and harmonic relationships. So in having these aspects in common, the various cycles could start at the same moment, but then run for extended periods of time, always remaining in rhythmic counterpoint to each other, but in a constant state of evolution as the process unfolds. One example of such overlapping-cycles can be found at the conclusion of his opera Mathew in the School of Life. And a more intimate example at the conclusion of his chamber work John Moran and Saori (in Thailand).
Conclusion
It seems attributable to the highly specific nature of Moran's works, that although they have been well received, in general have not seen a larger audience in a commercial sense. These works, while often described by critics in glowing terms, would not serve well as the background to other scenarios. For example, most all of the work's by Moran's mentor, Glass, could be equally suitable for the background to another subject. One could say that Moran's works however, are created with unusually specific purpose from their inception. Arguably, one cannot appreciate the music of Moran, without the specifics in place for it to be understood. Perhaps owing to this, recordings of Moran's work and scores can be found, but are extremely rare.List of known works
Works include Jack Benny, The Manson Family, Everyday Newt Burman (The Trilogy of Cyclic Existence), Mathew in the School of Life, Book of the Dead (2nd Avenue) and John Moran...and his neighbour, Saori. Among the performers who have starred in Moran's work are Uma ThurmanUma Thurman
Uma Karuna Thurman is an American actress and model. She has performed in leading roles in a variety of films, ranging from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action movies. Among her best-known roles are those in the Quentin Tarantino films Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill...
(Book of the Dead), Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
(The Manson Family), Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
(Mathew in the School of Life, and Meet the Locusts—an unreleased album for Philips/PolyGram), Julia Stiles
Julia Stiles
Julia O'Hara Stiles is an American actress.After beginning her career in small parts in a New York City theatre troupe, she has moved on to leading roles in plays by writers as diverse as William Shakespeare and David Mamet...
(Everyday, Newt Burman, Mathew in the School of Life) and Saori Tsukada (Saori's Birthday, John Moran and his neighbor, Saori, Zenith 5!, John Moran and Saori (in Thailand)).
- Jack Benny! (1988–89) Music-Theater in 3 Acts
- The Manson Family (1990) Music-Theater in 3 Acts / Commissioned by Lincoln Center for the Performing ArtsLincoln Center for the Performing ArtsLincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of New York City's Upper West Side. Reynold Levy has been its president since 2002.-History and facilities:...
- The Hospital (1991) Music-Theater Commissioned By "Meryl VladimerMeryl VladimerMeryl F. Vladimer is an artist, theatrical producer, and political activist.Born in Brooklyn, New York, Meryl Vladimer began her career as a noted and critically reviewed sculptor, and was featured on the cover of Artforum Magazine...
" for the CLUB La MaMa - The (Haunted) House (1992) Music-Theater Commissioned By "Meryl VladimerMeryl VladimerMeryl F. Vladimer is an artist, theatrical producer, and political activist.Born in Brooklyn, New York, Meryl Vladimer began her career as a noted and critically reviewed sculptor, and was featured on the cover of Artforum Magazine...
" for the Club La MaMa - Everyday, Newt Burman (The Trilogy of Cyclic Existence) (1993) Music-Theater in 3 Acts / Commissioned by Ridge Theater
- Meet the Locusts (1993) / Point Music, Unreleased
- Matthew in the School of Life (1995–96) Music-Theater in 4 Acts / Commissioned by Ridge Theater
- The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1997) Music-Theater in 2 Acts / Commissioned by A.R.T. at Harvard University
- Book of the Dead (2nd Avenue) (2000) Music-Theater in 3 Acts / Commissioned by Lincoln Center for the Performing ArtsLincoln Center for the Performing ArtsLincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of New York City's Upper West Side. Reynold Levy has been its president since 2002.-History and facilities:...
- John Moran with Eva Müller (2003) - Variety of Performances
- Bonne Nuit (2004) - Commissioned by Agitakt Theater / Paris, France
- A Lake of Tears (For Cabell) (2004) - Orchestra and Computer / Commissioned by Musique Nouvelle en Liberte, Paris
- John Moran and his Neighbor, Saori (2005) - Variety of Performances
- Zenith 5! (2006)
- Saori's Birthday (2007) / Commissioned by Performance Space 122Performance Space 122Performance Space 122, generally known as P.S. 122, is a not-for-profit arts organization and one of the longest standing venues dedicated to contemporary performance art in New York City. Founded in 1979 in the abandoned Public School 122 building at 150 First Avenue at East 9th Street in the East...
, New York City - John Moran and Saori (In Thailand) (2010) / Commissioned by Pumpenhaus, Münster and The ArchesThe ArchesThe Arches may mean:* The Arches , a theatre, arts venue and nightclub in Glasgow* The Arches , a nightclub in London* The Arches , a nightclub in Sheffield* The Arches is also a viaduct from EastEnders...
, Glasgow, Scotland