Larry Austin
Encyclopedia
Larry Austin is a United States
composer
noted for his electronic and computer music works. He was a co-founder and editor of the avant-garde music
periodical Source: Music of the Avant Garde
. Austin gained additional international recognition when he realized a completion of Charles Ives
's Universe Symphony
.
. In 1955 he studied at Mills College
and from 1955-1958 he engaged in graduate study at the University of California, Berkeley
, leaving to accept a faculty position at the University of California, Davis
. Austin studied with Canadian composer Violet Archer
at the University of North Texas
, French composer Darius Milhaud
at Mills College
, and with American composer Andrew Imbrie
at the University of California, Berkeley
.
and Rodney Waschka II
.
under Leonard Bernstein
. Other orchestral works of special note include "Universe Symphony, as realized and completed by Larry Austin" (1974–93) for large orchestra, and "Sinfonia Concertante: A Mozartean Episode" (1986) for chamber orchestra and tape. Chamber works with particularly significant computer music/electro-acoustic music aspects include "Accidents" for electronically prepared piano (1967), written for David Tudor
, "Canadian Coastlines: Canonic Fractals for Musicians and Computer Band" for eight musicians and tape from 1981, and "BluesAx" for saxophonist and tape (1995), which won the Magisterium Prize, at Bourges in 1996. "BluesAx" has been recorded by Steve Duke
.
His most recent work is "John explains..." (2007) for octophonic sound, based on a recording of an interview with John Cage
. "John explains..." was premiered at the 2008 North Carolina Computer Music Festival.
The noted critic Tom Johnson has written of Austin's music, ""His style is neither uptown nor downtown, nor is it minimal, eclectic, hypnotic, or European. But it works, it is strongly personal, and it has something to say in all these directions.... The real source of Austin's music, however, is clearly Charles Ives, who also liked musical symbols, enjoyed collaging them together as densely as he could, and never had much of a knack for prettiness."
Austin has said that "Exploring new concepts, new materials and their interaction is essential to my work as a composer."
"Robert Floyd Plays New Piano Music by Hans Werner Henze and Larry Austin," Advance Records, FGR10S, 1970.
"New Music for Woodwinds," Advance Records, FGR9S, 1974. (performed by Phil Rehfeldt, clarinet and Thomas Warburton, piano).
"Larry Austin Hybrid Musics: Four Compositions," Canton, TX: IRIDA Records
0022, 1980.
"Volume 1, CDCM Computer Music Series." Baton Rouge: Centaur Records, Inc., (CRC 2029) 1988.
"The Virtuoso in the Computer Age--I", Volume 10, CDCM Computer Music Series. Centaur Records, Inc., (CRC 2110) 1991.
"The Virtuoso in the Computer Age--III", Vol. 11, CDCM Computer Music Series, Baton Rouge: Centaur Records, 1993
"A Chance Operation: The John Cage Tribute". New York: Koch International Classics (KIC-CD-7238) 1993.
"Charles Ives's Universe Symphony, as realized and completed by Larry Austin (1974-93)" Baton Rouge: Centaur Records, CRC 2205, 1994.
"Composers in Computer Age II". Baton Rouge: Centaur Records, CRC 2193, 1994.
"Tárogató", New York: Romeo Records (7212), 2001. Esther Lamneck, performer.
"UNconventional Trumpet", Camas, WA: Crystal Records, CD763, 2004.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
noted for his electronic and computer music works. He was a co-founder and editor of the avant-garde music
Avant-garde music
Avant-garde music is a term used to characterize music which is thought to be ahead of its time, i.e. containing innovative elements or fusing different genres....
periodical 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...
. Austin gained additional international recognition when he realized a completion of Charles Ives
Charles Ives
Charles Edward Ives was an American modernist composer. He is one of the first American composers of international renown, though Ives' music was largely ignored during his life, and many of his works went unperformed for many years. Over time, Ives came to be regarded as an "American Original"...
's Universe Symphony
Universe Symphony (Ives)
The Universe Symphony is an unfinished work by American classical music composer Charles Ives.The date of composition is unknown, but he probably worked on it periodically between 1911 and 1928...
.
Education
Austin received a bachelors (Music Education, 1951) and masters degree (Music, 1952) from University of North Texas College of MusicUniversity of North Texas College of Music
The University of North Texas College of Music, based in Denton, is a comprehensive music school with the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, and the oldest in the world offering a degree in jazz studies...
. In 1955 he studied at Mills College
Mills College
Mills College is an independent liberal arts women's college founded in 1852 that offers bachelor's degrees to women and graduate degrees and certificates to women and men. Located in Oakland, California, Mills was the first women's college west of the Rockies. The institution was initially founded...
and from 1955-1958 he engaged in graduate study at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, leaving to accept a faculty position at the University of California, Davis
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment...
. Austin studied with Canadian composer Violet Archer
Violet Archer
Violet Archer, CM was a Canadian composer, teacher, pianist, organist, and percussionist. Born Violet Balestreri in Montreal, Quebec, her family changed their name to Archer. She died in Ottawa....
at the University of North Texas
University of North Texas
The University of North Texas is a public institution of higher education and research in Denton. Founded in 1890, UNT is part of the University of North Texas System. As of the fall of 2010, the University of North Texas, Denton campus, had a certified enrollment of 36,067...
, French composer Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...
at Mills College
Mills College
Mills College is an independent liberal arts women's college founded in 1852 that offers bachelor's degrees to women and graduate degrees and certificates to women and men. Located in Oakland, California, Mills was the first women's college west of the Rockies. The institution was initially founded...
, and with American composer Andrew Imbrie
Andrew Imbrie
Andrew Welsh Imbrie was an American composer of contemporary classical music.-Career:Imbrie was born in New York on April 6, 1921, and began his musical training as a pianist when he was 4. In 1937, he went to Paris to study briefly with Nadia Boulanger...
at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
.
Teaching career
Austin taught at the University of California, Davis from 1958 till 1972 rising from assistant professor to full professor. While at the University of California, Davis, he founded the improvisational New Music Ensemble. In 1972 he accepted a position at the University of South Florida, where he taught until 1978. In that year he returned to Texas, teaching at his alma mater, the University of North Texas, from 1978 until 1996 when he was named Professor Emeritus. His notable students include Dary John MizelleDary John Mizelle
Dary John Mizelle is an American composer.Mizelle studied trombone as well as composition and participated in the New Music Ensemble at the University of California, Davis, where he participated in a course led by Karlheinz Stockhausen...
and Rodney Waschka II
Rodney Waschka II
Rodney Waschka II is an American composer known for his algorithmic compositions and his theatrical works.-Biography:Waschka studied at Brooklyn College, at the Institute of Sonology, then newly part of the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, and earned his doctorate at the University of North Texas...
.
Compositions
Austin received early recognition for his instrumental and orchestral works and of those pieces, Improvisations for Orchestra and Jazz Soloists, was performed and recorded by the New York PhilharmonicNew York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
under Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
. Other orchestral works of special note include "Universe Symphony, as realized and completed by Larry Austin" (1974–93) for large orchestra, and "Sinfonia Concertante: A Mozartean Episode" (1986) for chamber orchestra and tape. Chamber works with particularly significant computer music/electro-acoustic music aspects include "Accidents" for electronically prepared piano (1967), written for David Tudor
David Tudor
David Eugene Tudor was an American pianist and composer of experimental music.- Biography :Tudor was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied piano with Irma Wolpe and composition with Stefan Wolpe and became known as one of the leading performers of avant garde piano music. He gave the...
, "Canadian Coastlines: Canonic Fractals for Musicians and Computer Band" for eight musicians and tape from 1981, and "BluesAx" for saxophonist and tape (1995), which won the Magisterium Prize, at Bourges in 1996. "BluesAx" has been recorded by Steve Duke
Steve Duke
Steve Duke is an American classical and jazz saxophonist noted for his performance of contemporary classical music, particularly computer music.-Education and teaching career:...
.
His most recent work is "John explains..." (2007) for octophonic sound, based on a recording of an interview with John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
. "John explains..." was premiered at the 2008 North Carolina Computer Music Festival.
The noted critic Tom Johnson has written of Austin's music, ""His style is neither uptown nor downtown, nor is it minimal, eclectic, hypnotic, or European. But it works, it is strongly personal, and it has something to say in all these directions.... The real source of Austin's music, however, is clearly Charles Ives, who also liked musical symbols, enjoyed collaging them together as densely as he could, and never had much of a knack for prettiness."
Austin has said that "Exploring new concepts, new materials and their interaction is essential to my work as a composer."
Partial discography
"Leonard Bernstein Conducts Music of Our Time," New York Philharmonic, Columbia Masterworks, MS6733, 1965.- Improvisations for Orchestra and Jazz Soloists
"Robert Floyd Plays New Piano Music by Hans Werner Henze and Larry Austin," Advance Records, FGR10S, 1970.
- Piano Set in Open Style
- Piano Variations
"New Music for Woodwinds," Advance Records, FGR9S, 1974. (performed by Phil Rehfeldt, clarinet and Thomas Warburton, piano).
- Current
"Larry Austin Hybrid Musics: Four Compositions," Canton, TX: IRIDA Records
IRIDA Records
IRIDA Records was an American classical music record label focusing particularly on contemporary classical music. It was established by Jerry Hunt in 1979, and was based in Canton, Texas. The label released at least seven sound recordings featuring works by Hunt, James Fulkerson, Larry Austin,...
0022, 1980.
- Maroon Bells
- Catalogo Voce
- Quadrants: Event/Complex No. 1
- Second Fantasy on Ives' Universe Symphony
"Volume 1, CDCM Computer Music Series." Baton Rouge: Centaur Records, Inc., (CRC 2029) 1988.
- Sinfonia Concertante (chamber orchestra conducted by Thomas Clark)
- Sonata Concertante (performed by pianist Adam Wodicki)
"The Virtuoso in the Computer Age--I", Volume 10, CDCM Computer Music Series. Centaur Records, Inc., (CRC 2110) 1991.
- Montage:Themes and Variations for Violin and Computer Music on Tape (1985)
"The Virtuoso in the Computer Age--III", Vol. 11, CDCM Computer Music Series, Baton Rouge: Centaur Records, 1993
- La Barbara: The Name/The Sounds/The Music
"A Chance Operation: The John Cage Tribute". New York: Koch International Classics (KIC-CD-7238) 1993.
- art is self-alteration is Cage is... (1983/93), performed by Robert Black
"Charles Ives's Universe Symphony, as realized and completed by Larry Austin (1974-93)" Baton Rouge: Centaur Records, CRC 2205, 1994.
- Charles Ives's Universe Symphony, as realized and completed by Larry Austin (1974–93)
"Composers in Computer Age II". Baton Rouge: Centaur Records, CRC 2193, 1994.
- SoundPoemSet (1990–91), computer music on tape.
"Tárogató", New York: Romeo Records (7212), 2001. Esther Lamneck, performer.
- Tárogató
"UNconventional Trumpet", Camas, WA: Crystal Records, CD763, 2004.
- Charley's Cornet
External links
- Larry Austin's home page
- EMF Media: Larry Austin
- David TudorDavid TudorDavid Eugene Tudor was an American pianist and composer of experimental music.- Biography :Tudor was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied piano with Irma Wolpe and composition with Stefan Wolpe and became known as one of the leading performers of avant garde piano music. He gave the...
and Larry Austin: A Conversation April 3, 1989, Denton, Texas - Art of the States: Larry Austin