Julius Eastman: Minimal Music concerts and livestream

Concerts in the Kunstbau
with the Munich Philharmonic, Münchener Kammerorchester and Kukuruz Quartett

The Lenbachhaus will host several concerts in February and March 2022 featuring works by the US composer Julius Eastman (1940–1990). Eastman was a representative of minimal music and composed primarily for smaller ensembles, including piano quartet. This rarely performed and challenging music is an impressive example of the international and cross-genre movement of Minimalism. The concerts at Lenbachhaus Kunstbau are intended as a musical complement to important works of Minimal Art in the museum’s collection by artists such as Dan Flavin, Marcia Hafif, Rosemary Mayer, Robert Morris, Senga Nengudi, Charlotte Posenenske, and Richard Serra. Moreover, individual pieces by Eastman are important early testimonies to the thematization of racism and homophobia in our societies. Already his original work titles confront us with this theme: with Nigger Faggot* (1978), Evil Nigger* (1979) or Gay Guerrilla (1979), Eastman addresses racist or homophobic themes consciously and directly, in order to leave no one the possibility to escape the reality of these discriminations. Analogous to the titles, Eastman developed an aesthetic-musical correspondence to the structural racisms of his time, which still exist today. The topicality of his compositions is a sad fact in this context, as he brings before our eyes and ears that even decades later we are still far from a language and society free of discrimination. The verbal violence of the work titles is therefore an unconditional part of Eastman’s aesthetic work and these must be written out in the context of the performances so as not to jeopardize the integrity of his work and his intentions.

The collection of the Blaue Reiter—a group of artists who championed the equality and mutual enlightenment of all the arts—has led to a programmatic focus at Lenbachhaus that combines visual art and music. We have been pursuing this consistently for several years with extraordinary projects. These include the first large-scale installation/performance by the Kraftwerk group in 2011, the Playback Room by Wolfgang Tillmans in 2016, the exhibition Electric Ladyland by Michaela Melián in 2016, the world premiere of Symphony 80 by Ari Benjamin Meyers together with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2017, the installation White Circle by raster-noton in 2018, and the world premiere of the Prekäres Singspiel Prekärotopia by Beate Engl, Leonie Felle, and Franka Kaßner in 2019. Later in 2022 the sound installation Spatial Jitter by the electro pioneers Mouse on Mars will follow. Our supporting program is also repeatedly dedicated to musical themes, such as in our collaborations with the Bavarian State Opera.

Curated by Eva Huttenlauch und Matthias Mühling.

With the kind support of Förderverein Lenbachhaus e.V.

Program:

February 8, 2022, 8pm
Femenine (1974)

Music for ensemble
Musicians of the Munich Philharmonic
Piano and direction: Miguel Pérez Iñesta

March 5, 2022, 8pm
Prelude to The Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc (1981)
The Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc (version for strings) (1981)
Buddha (version for strings by Philip Bartels) (1984)

Musicians of Münchener Kammerorchester

March 11 and 12, 2022, 8pm each
Fugue no. 7 (1983)
Evil Nigger* (1979)
Gay Guerrilla (1979)

Music for four pianos
with Kukuruz Quartett
Philip Bartels, piano
Duri Collenberg, piano
Simone Keller, piano
Lukas Rickli, piano

*This is the original title given by the composer. Julius Eastman deliberately exposed the term as racist, drawing the attention of non-black people in particular to structural racism and verbal violence. We have therefore decided to spell out Eastman’s original title in the context of the performance of his works.