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Julius Eastman Resources: External resources

Description of holdings in the Music Library related to the life and career of Julius Eastman.
Last Updated: Jan 8, 2024 4:14 PM

External resources

Mary Jane Leach has maintained a site dedicated to Julius Eastman and his works. It contains a list of known compositions as well as background information about Eastman.

Mary Jane Leach also prepared an annotated version of the list for the book, Gay Guerrilla: Julius Eastman and his Music.

Insect Sonata (1962 or earlier)
piano.
No score or recording available.

The Blood (1963)
clarinet, piano, and nine singers.
Performed February 27, 1963 on Eastman's graduation recital at the Curtis Institute for Music with student performers, including pianist Richard Goode and clarinetist Frank Ell.
No score or recording available.

Song Trilogy: O, Go Not; Birds Fly Away (with cello); I Love the River (1963)
voice, piano, and dancer.
Performed February 27, 1963 on his graduation recital at Curtis Institute, with student performers. Performed July 1966, at the Alice Statler Auditorium at Cornell University, with Eastman performing as the dancer.
No score or recording available.

Piano Compositions: Chorale and Fugue on a Theme of Constant Vauclain, Plié, Vergiu's Dance (1963)
solo piano.
Performed February 27, 1963 on his graduation recital at Curtis Institute, with student performers.
No score or recording available.

Sonata (1963)
piano.
One movement was entitled "Allegro."
Performed February 27, 1963 on his graduation recital at Curtis Institute, with Eastman playing the piano.
No score or recording available.

Tripod (1960's)
unspecified instrumentation.
Score in the archives of the UB Music Library; also listed at http://www.mjleach.com/EastmanScores.htm
No known recording.

Piano Piece I (1968)
0:50
piano.
No score available.
Premiered December 15, 1968, in an Evening for New Music Concert at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, Julius Eastman- piano
Recording in the archives of the UB Music Library.

Piano Piece II (1968)
2:50
piano.
No score available.
Premiered December 15, 1968, in an ENM concert at the A-K Gallery, Buffalo, Julius Eastman-piano
Recording in the archives of the UB Music Library.

Piano Piece III (1968)
0:40
piano.
No score available.
Premiered December 15, 1968, in an ENM concert at the A-K Gallery, Buffalo, Julius Eastman-piano
Recording in the archives of the UB Music Library.

Piano Piece IV (1968)
2:20
piano.
No score available.
Premiered December 15, 1968, in an ENM concert at the A-K Gallery, Buffalo, Julius Eastman-piano
Recording in the archives of the UB Music Library.

Poems with Piano Interludes (1969)
spoken voice and piano.
No score or recording available.

Four Songs with String Quartet: There Was a Man; Speed Me Life's Fluid; To Those Who Live Without the Liquid Love; Baby, Baby, Baby (1969)
voice and string quartet.
No score or recording available.

Three Pieces for Violin and Piano (1969)
violin and piano.
No score or recording available.

Symphony for Strings (1969)
instrumentation unknown.
No score or recording available.

Contrapunctus I-IV (1969)
string quartet and/or flute and cello.
No score or recording available.

The Moon's Silent Modulation (1970)
flute, percussion, 2 pianos, string quartet, chorus, speaker, and dancers.
Premiered April 19, 1970 by the Creative Associates in Domus, Buffalo.
Score has his first use of graphic notation, uses some improvisation.
Score in the UB library.
No known recording exists.

Thruway (1970)
31:30
flute, clarinet, violin, cello, soprano, chorus, jazz combo, film projections, and tape.
Conducts premiere May 3, 1970 on an Evenings for New Music concert in the Albright-Knox Gallery, UB.
Score uses some improvisation.
Score in the UB library.
Recording in the archives of the UB Music Library.

Touch Him When (1970)
9:00
piano 4 hands.
No score available.
Recording with Eastman and Steve Marrow performing, was issued commercially on cassette-only release in1984, Tellus IV, and is available on custom cd from Harvestworks.

Bread (1970)
violin.
No score or recording available.

Trumpet (1970)
7 trumpets (or 7 soprano instruments).
Premiered August 18, 1971, by the Los Angeles Philharmonic players at the Hollywood Bowl.
No score available.
Performed March 25, 1971 at UB, using oboe, clarinet, tenor saxophone, and four trumpets, Recording in the archives of the UB Music Library.

Macle (1971)
33:00
4 voices and electronics.
Performed February 13, 1972, in an ENM concert in the A-K Gallery.
Score in the archives of the UB Music Library
Recording in the archives of the UB Music Library.

Comp 1 (1971)
14:20
solo flute.
Written for and premiered on October 18, 1972 by Petr Kotik in a CA recital.
No score available.
Recording in the archives of the UB Music Library.

Five Gay Songs (1971)
instrumentation unknown.
No score or recording available.

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (1972)
performed by S.E.M. Ensemble: flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, and voice.
No score available.
Recording in the archives of the UB Music Library.

Mumbaphilia (1972)
10:00
solo performer and dancers.
Premiered May 10, 1972 on a faculty recital in Baird Recital Hall, UB.
No score available
Recording in the archives of the UB Music Library.

Wood in Time (1972)
15:15
8 metronomes and dancers.
Written for Karl Singletary.
Premiered March 5, 1973 on a faculty recital in Baird Recital Hall, UB.
No score available
Recording in the archives of the UB Music Library.

Colors (1973)
14 women's voices, tape.
Premiered July 22, 1973 in Barnes Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
Score listed at http://www.mjleach.com/EastmanScores.htm.
No known recording.

Creation (1973)
20:00
flute, percussion, piano, and recorded sounds.
Premiered by S.E.M. Ensemble at A-K Gallery, UB.
No score or recording available.

Stay On It (1973)
25:00
no fixed instrumentation, although piano, percussion, and voice were always included.
Premiered May 22, 1973 on a faculty recital in Baird Hall, UB.
No score available, piece uses some improvisation.
Recording issued on the 3-cd set Unjust Malaise, New World Records 80638, 2005, using the UB concert recording.
Video recording, courtesy of Francis McKee, Third Eye Centre Video Archive, Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow from a Creative Associates concert on February 16, 1974, in Glasgow, Scotland.

440 (1973) 1
8:40
voice, violin, viola, and double bass.
Performed April 20, 1974 on a Benjamin Hudson (CA) recital, Baird Hall, UB.
No score available.
Recording in the archives of the UB Music Library.

That Boy (1973)
small instrumental ensemble.
Performed by the S.E.M. Ensemble March 13, 1975, at The Kitchen, NYC.
No score or recording available.

Joy Boy (1974)
4 treble instruments.
Commissioned by the Composers Forum in Albany, NY, and premiered there by S.E.M. on November 6, 1974.
Performed by S.E.M. March 13, 1975, at The Kitchen, NYC.
Score listed at http://www.mjleach.com/EastmanScores.htm. Score uses some improvisation.
No recording available.

Feminine (1974)
73:00
winds, sleigh bells, marimba/vibraphone, piano, bass.
Performed by S.E.M. March 13, 1975, at The Kitchen, NYC.
Score listed at http://www.mjleach.com/EastmanScores.htm. Score uses some improvisation.
Concert recording is in the archives of The Kitchen.

Masculine (1974)
small instrumental ensemble.
No score or recording available.

Praise God From Whom All Devils Grow (1976)
voice and piano improvisation.
Performed by Eastman November 12, 1976 at Environ, NYC.
No recording available.

Untitled improvisation performed at Experimental Intermedia Foundation (1976)
71:20
voice, piano, and tape.
Performed by Eastman December 15, 1976 at Experimental Intermedia Foundation.
Improvisation, no score.
Private recording exists.

If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich? (1977)
25:00
2 French horns, 4 trumpets, 2 trombones, tuba, piano, 2 chimes, violin, 2 basses.
Eastman conducts premiere December 10, 1977 on the Meet the Moderns series at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, later performed February 11, 1979 on an Evenings for New Music concert at Albright-Knox Gallery, UB.
No score available.
Recording issued on the 3-cd set Unjust Malaise, New World Records 80638, 2005, using the UB concert recording.

Conceptual Music for Piano (1977)
voice and piano.
Premiered by Eastman February 27, 1977 in a Brooklyn Community Concert at the Billie Holiday Theater in Bedford- Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
No score or recording available.

Dirty Nigger (1978)
2 flutes, 2 saxophones, bassoon, 3 violins, 2 double basses.
Premiered December 1, 1978 at the Third Street Music School Settlement, NYC.
The first two pages are in the Performing Arts Research Collections - Music Library at Lincoln Center.
No recording available.

Nigger Faggot, also listed as NF (1978)
bell, percussion, and strings.
Premiered as NF November 12, 1978 on a Brooklyn Community Concert, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Brooklyn.
No score or recording available.

Crazy Nigger (1978)
55:00
to be performed by any number of similar instruments, most commonly 4 pianos.
Performed January 16, 1980 in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall at Northwestern University.
Performed as a piano duo with Eastman and Joseph Kubera, pianos, on February 8-9,
1980 at The Kitchen, NYC.
Score listed at http://www.mjleach.com/EastmanScores.htm.
A two-piano version of Crazy Nigger was recorded from the February 8-9, 1980 performances at The Kitchen (The Kitchen archives).
Recording issued on the 3-cd set Unjust Malaise, New World Records 80638, 2005, using the Northwestern concert recording. DVD of March 13, 2008 performance in the Atrium den Haag, issued as Crazy Nigger by Julius Eastman by Dag in de Banding, Swaan Productions, 2008.

Evil Nigger (1979)
22:00
to be performed by any number of similar instruments, most commonly 4 pianos.
Premiered January 16, 1980 in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall at Northwestern University.
Also performed June 13,1980 at New Music America in Minneapolis.
Score listed at http://www.mjleach.com/EastmanScores.htm.
Recording issued on the 3-cd set Unjust Malaise, New World Records 80638, 2005, using the Northwestern concert recording.
Recording issued on Tomasz Sikorski and Julius Eastman, Unchained, Bolt Records DUX 1188, 2014.

Gay Guerrilla (1979)
29:00
to be performed by any number of similar instruments, most commonly 4 pianos.
Premiered January 16, 1980 in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall at Northwestern University.
Also performed June 13,1980 at New Music America in Minneapolis.
Score listed at http://www.mjleach.com/EastmanScores.htm.
A performance of Gay Guerrilla was recorded in October 1980 in Berlin, which was part of The Kitchen's European tour, which Eastman participated in. Recording issued on the 3-cd set Unjust Malaise, New World Records 80638, 2005, using the Northwestern concert recording. Recording issued on Tomasz Sikorski and Julius Eastman, Unchained, Bolt Records DUX 1188, 2014.

Humanity (1980-1)
solo voice.
Performed by Eastman January 30, 1981 at The Kitchen, NYC.
No score or recording available.

Not Spiritual Beings (1980-1)
voice, 2 pianos, and instrumental ensemble.
Performed January 30, 1981 at The Kitchen with flute, bass clarinet, 4 percussionists, 2 pianos, 2 violins, 2 violas, cello, bass, and voice.
No score or recording available.

The Holy Presence of Joan d'Arc (1981)
20:30
for 10 cellos.
Premiered April 1-5, 1981 at The Kitchen, in a dance (Gravy) choreographed by Andy de Groat, Eastman conducting.
Also performed June 8, 1981 at New Music America 1981 in the Japan Center Theater, San Francisco.
Recording made at the Third Street Music School Settlement, NYC for radio broadcast, as part
of a series produced by the?Creative?Music?Foundation, date unknown.
Score listed at http://www.mjleach.com/EastmanScores.htm. See also Figure 6.1.
The first two pages are in the Performing Arts Research Collections - Music Library at Lincoln
Center.
Recording issued on the 3-cd set Unjust Malaise, New World Records 80638, 2005, using the recording made for the radio broadcast.

Prelude to the Holy Presence of Joan d'Arc (1981)
15:45
for solo voice.
Improvisation, no score.
Recording made in Eastman's apartment for radio broadcast, as part of a series
produced by the?Creative?Music?Foundation, date unknown.
Recording issued on the 3-cd set Unjust Malaise, New World Records 80638, 2005, using the recording made for the radio broadcast.

His Most Qualityless Majesty (1983)
40:00
piano.
Improvisation by Eastman, performed October 20, 1983 at Roulette, NYC
No score or recording available.

Symphony No. II (1983)
3 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 English horns, 3 bassoons, 3 double bass bassoons, 2 bass clarinets, 3 double bass clarinets, 3 trombones, 3 tubas, 6 tympani, 5 strings (3 treble clef, 2 bass clef).
Score listed at http://www.mjleach.com/EastmanScores.htm.
Unperformed to date.
No recording available.

Buddha (1984)
unspecified instrumentation.
Score listed at http://www.mjleach.com/EastmanScores.htm.
No recording available.

One God (1985-6)
voice and piano.
No score or recording available.

Piano 2 (1986)
15:45
solo piano.
Premiered February 21, 1991 by Joseph Kubera at Merkin Hall, NYC.
Score listed at http://www.mjleach.com/EastmanScores.htm.
Recording issued on Book of Horizons, Joseph Kubera, New World Records CD 80745, 2014.

Our Father (1989)
2 male voices.
Score listed at http://www.mjleach.com/EastmanScores.htm.
No recording available.