Composer/keyboardist/producer Elodie Lauten creates operas, music for dance and theatre, orchestral, chamber and instrumental music. Not a household name, she is however widely recognized by historians as a leading figure of post-minimalism and a force on the new music scene, with 20 releases on a number of labels.
Her opera Waking in New York, Portrait of Allen Ginsberg was presented by the New York City Opera (2004 VOX and Friends) in May 2004, after being released on 4Tay, following three well-received productions. OrfReo, a new opera for Baroque ensemble was premiered at Merkin Hall by the Queen's Chamber Band, whose New Music Alive CD (released on Capstone in 2004) includes Lauten's The Architect. The Orfreo CD was released in December 2004 on Studio 21. In September 2004 Lauten was composer-in-residence at Hope College, MI. Lauten's Symphony 2001, was premiered in February 2003 by the SEM Orchestra in New York. In 1999, Lauten's Deus ex Machina Cycle for voices and Baroque ensemble (4Tay) received strong critical acclaim in the US and Europe. Lauten's Variations On The Orange Cycle (Lovely Music, 1998) was included in Chamber Music America's list of 100 best works of the 20th century.
Born in Paris, France, she was classically trained as a pianist since age 7. She received a Master's in composition from New York University where she studied Western composition with Dinu Ghezzo and Indian classical music with Ahkmal Parwez. Daughter of jazz pianist/drummer Errol Parker, she is also a fluent improviser. She became an American citizen in 1984 and has lived in New York since the early seventies
|
|
|
|
|
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Elimination Rituals
Elimination is very popular right now, in the media, as well as in real life. A large number of the popular television shows focus on the process of elimination of a set of candidates, a set of Donald Trump potential employees, a set of aspiring singers auditioning for the top spot, a set of so-called ‘survivors’ whose game is to decide every so often on who will be eliminated. Other popular television shows focus on crime, starting with the eliminated victim, and continue on to how to eliminate the perpetrator from society.
The elimination rituals are unforgiving. Whoever is best at following a set of rules and at getting rid of the competition by whatever means wins. They reflects the realms that are most valued in our society: the world of sports competition and the world of business competition. Whether these should be applied to the arts and entertainment however, is questionable. Over-emphasizing competition caters to negative feelings of selfishness, jealousy and greed. It does not offer an ideal or ethic, but only the survival of the fittest. The elimination rituals are a throw back to primitive human sacrifice.
In real life, the elimination ritual is part of a workplace where a good job performance is no guarantee of continued employment, where chaotic decisions and irrational situations brought about by abuse of power or hostile take-overs are the rule rather than the exception.
For composers, the elimination takes place at every funding organization, based on cronyism, politics, or narrow focus. Eliminated from the world of commissions, the shrinking job market also eliminates us because of prohibitive requirements or various forms of unrecognized discrimination.
I wonder whether the war has something to do with it. After all, wars are a process of elimination. But right here, in America, there is another war: the war against culture. I live with the sense that my very survival as a human being is threatened, not to mention my creative survival as a composer. When I came to New York in the early seventies with one suitcase and $50 in my pocket, I though I found the cultural Mecca of the time. Unfortunately, from the mid-eighties to the present, the culture has continually declined. I have made my home here, and I am not about to go back to Europe - I could only go through this kind of drastic change once in my lifetime. And here I stay, watching us, the creators, being slowly eliminated in this giant but apocryphal cultural genocide.
posted by Elodie Lauten
9:59 PM
Monday, July 18, 2005
Refracting Reality
This is the dead time of summer, and there are not too many concert invitations coming to my mail box, but I found one interesting postcard. It is a sepia tone in shades of light brown, a collage of seven ‘slices’ of photographs in which a real life character and a billboard ad coexist. In the first slice, a graphical representation of evolution from primate to man is juxtaposed with a studious-looking young man walking. The second slice features a famous model showing leg, larger than life, presiding over a car passing by. The third slice shows a giant–sized, attractive and extremely young model spreading her legs over a guy walking in the other direction, his back to the picture. The fourth slice shows an giant model showing both breasts and legs, towering over the street which I assume is Times Square, because the ‘42nd Street cowboy' is featured – a street performer clad only in his cowboy boots, hat and underwear. The fifth slice shows a huge, fully-dressed male model, while a pregnant woman walks carrying a package. The sixth ad shows a man in a suit and hat walking, with an ad showing a sports figure in the background. The seventh ad shows a close-up of a model’s face and hand, about twenty times the size of a walking figure carrying an umbrella.
This is the work of artist Wouter Deruytter, showing at the Chelsea Art Museum from July 28 through September 24 (556 West 22nd St, Tues-Sat, 12-6PM), www.wouterderuytter.com.
This is the first time I encountered the work of this artist, and I find it inspiring for many reasons.
A relationship is presented between the virtual reality of advertising, a fantasy world of oversized sex and power, and the everyday reality of the common citizen, in all cases, shown totally unconcerned by the advertising messages. This approach does not exactly mirror our reality, but refracts it from a creative and critical viewpoint. The complex relation to how advertising may or may not affect the population may be over-simplified, with a rather optimistic attitude saying, “I don’t care how large and appealing you may be, I am not even looking at you because you are just a pretty picture and I have more important things to do.”
Questioning advertising from a political viewpoint seems obvious and has been done many times before, but I find it refreshing that someone is still showing interest for this subject. How does this apply to the music world? What would be the musical equivalent of this piece of work? Juxtaposing fragments of jingles along with street noise and possibly a thematic rendition of the character? A sound environment, with dancers unconcerned with the sound, working against it? An orchestral piece using a series of overblown clichés interspersed with humdrum leitmotivs?
How do you feel about writing jingles? Is there something profoundly immoral in contributing to the greed-driven marketing of consumer products? Or does it really matter at all, as Deruytter is showing, since people aren’t really influenced by advertising any longer. It also depends on what is being advertised. I recognized Philip Glass’ style in the commercial for the Tribeca Film Festival. This seems worthy enough. Although, it could have been a clever imitation, as he is probably one of the most plagiarized composers. If placed in a situation of sponsorship, what would you advertise? Yamaha? Steinway? Nike? Is this kind of collusion and inescapable element of commercial success?
posted by Elodie Lauten
9:05 AM
| |
