Trio for Strings: Difference between revisions

Young composed the ''Trio'' as a recent college graduate in Los Angeles, imagining it as an impractically lengthy piece.<ref name="nyt glacial"/> He ultimately reduced it to an hour for the first public presentation of his work.<ref name="nyt glacial"/> The piece is indebted to [[Arnold Schoenberg]]'s [[12-tone technique]] and the late works of [[Anton Webern]],<ref>{{cite web |titlename=MELA:"mela" Trio for Strings, La Monte Young, The Theatre of Eternal Music String Ensemble |url=https://www.melafoundation.org/Trio_September_2005.htm |website=Mela Foundation |accessdate=28 October 2020}}</ref> but was also influenced by Young's fascination with the long tones of Japanese [[gagaku]] and Indian [[raga]].<ref name="nyt glacial"/> It was Young's final [[serialism|serialist]] composition.<ref>{{cite web |titlename=MELA:"mela" Trio for Strings, La Monte Young, The Theatre of Eternal Music String Ensemble |url=https://www.melafoundation.org/Trio_September_2005.htm |website=Mela Foundation |accessdate=28 October 2020}}</ref> A set of four notes which recurs in the piece became known as the "[[Dream Chord]]" and would be explored further in Young's subsequent works.<ref name="nyt glacial">{{cite web |last1=Robin |first1=William |title=La Monte Young Is Still Patiently Working on a Glacial Scale |website=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/23/arts/music/la-monte-young-is-still-patiently-working-on-a-glacial-scale.html}}</ref>

For decades, Young did not release any recordings of the ''Trio'' or publish the score, making it difficult to hear aside from [[bootleg recording|bootlegs]] circulated privately.<ref name="nyt glacial"/> Since 1986, he has worked with cellist [[Charles Curtis (musician)|Charles Curtis]] to develop alternate versions of the piece.<ref name="nyt glacial"/> In 2005, Young premiered a new "[[Just Intonation]] Version" of the ''Trio'' for a sextet, performed by the Theatre of Eternal Music String Ensemble under the direction of Curtis.<ref>{{cite web |titlename=MELA:"mela" Trio for Strings, La Monte Young, The Theatre of Eternal Music String Ensemble |url=https://www.melafoundation.org/Trio_September_2005.htm |website=Mela Foundation |accessdate=28 October 2020}}</ref> A series of 2015 performances at Dia Chelsea extended the piece to three hours in length.<ref name="nyt glacial"/> This version was officially released in 2021 by the [[Dia Art Foundation]] under the title <i>''Trio for Strings Original Full Length Just Intonation Version (1958–1984-1998–2001–2005–20151958–1984–1998–2001–2005–2015)</i>'' featuring Curtis and Reynard Rott (cello), Erik Carlson and Christopher Otto (violin, viola).

The composition has been described as an "origin point for [[minimal music|minimalism]]."<ref name="nyt glacial"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Nechvatal |first1=Joseph |title=Biography: Flawed Composition |url=https://brooklynrail.org/2012/03/books/flawed-composition |website=[[Brooklyn Rail]] |accessdate=7 October 2020}}</ref> ''[[The New Yorker]]'' called it "a sensuous and transcendent work" and "for many, the seminal work of musical minimalism."<ref>{{cite magazine |title=La Monte Young's "Trio for Strings" |url=https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/classical-music/la-monte-youngs-trio-for-strings |magazine=The New Yorker}}</ref> Author Edward Strickland called it "the first work in full-blown musical minimalism" following Young's transitional pieces ''for Brass'' (1957) and ''for Guitar'' (1958).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Strickland |first1=Eric |title=Minimalism:Origins |date=1993 |publisher=Indiana University Press}}</ref> David Paul of ''[[Seconds (magazine)|Seconds]]'' stated that the piece, "with its silences and long tones, paved the way for music based on [[tonality]], [[drone (music)|drone]] and infinite time spans, brushing aside elaborate formal development in favor of the contemplation of pure sound."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Paul |first1=David |websitetitle=Terry Riley, La Monte Young: Reclusive composers speak |journal=[[Seconds (magazine)|Seconds]] |date=1999 |issue=50}}</ref> The composition precipitated Young's 1960s improvising ensemble the [[Theatre of Eternal Music]] and his development of ''[[Dream House (installation)|Dream House]]'' environments with [[Marian Zazeela]].<ref name="nyt glacial"/>

Artist [[Andy Warhol]] attended thean 1962early premièreperformance of the piece along with film-maker [[Jonas Mekas]], who claimed that Warhol's static films were directly inspired by the performance.<ref>Husslein 1990</ref><ref>[[Blake Gopnik]], ''Warhol:  A Life as Art'' London: Allen Lane. March 5, 2020. {{ISBN|978-0-241-00338-1}} p. 319</ref> Composer [[Terry Riley]] credited the piece with paving the way for his influential 1964 composition ''[[In C]]'', stating that "What La Monte introduced was this concept of not having to press ahead to create interest. He would wait for the music to take its own course."<ref name=talking>{{cite book |last1=Duckworth |first1=William |title=Talking Music |date=1995 |publisher=Schirmer Books |location=New York}}</ref> According to Young himself, "Nobody ever took an interest in writing sustained tones without melodies over them before me."<ref name="nyt glacial"/>

* ''Trio for Strings'' (1958) recorded live in 2015 at the [[Dia Art Foundation|Dia]]:Chelsea Dream House, performed by [[Theatre of Eternal Music]] String Ensemble ([[Dia Art Foundation]], four2022) discsThis andvinyl abox set (with cover calligraphy by [[Marian Zazeela]]) is the 32first-pageever setofficial release of liner[[La notesMonte Young]]’s ''Trio for Strings'' (1958). It was recorded in 2015 live at the Dia:Chelsea ArtDream FoundationHouse sound-and-light installation by Young, 2022)Zazeela, and [[Jung Hee Choi]]. ''Trio for Strings'' was performed by The Theatre of Eternal Music String Ensemble led by [[Charles Curtis]]; featuring Curtis on [[cello]]; Reynard Rott on cello; Erik Carlson on [[viola]], and Christopher Otto on viola.

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