John Solum

REVIEW OF JOHN EATON:  FIRST PERFORMANCES EMF CD 056

John Eaton may well be the Beethoven of our time.  It was Beethoven, of course, who carried, pushed, and pulled well-mannered, well-ordered Classical music into the Romantic era.   He expanded the orchestra to suit his own expressive needs as well as considerations for the acoustics of the first real large-scale concert halls.  (Previously, concerts were given mainly in intimate palace rooms and in churches.)  He broadened the scope of music, both in terms of harmonic invention, duration, and dramatic impact.  Moreover, Beethoven exposed his emotions.  He was indeed a revolutionary.  The same things are true of much of John Eaton’s music.  Our classmate is one of the great pioneers of post-war (World War II) music, fearlessly exploring musical expression via new instruments, new aesthetics, and new musical forms.   He started with the music of our time in the fifties at Princeton and has never stopped breaking through the barriers of pre-conceived notions about music.   John has never been a composer to attach himself to systems of composition, such as dodecaphonic or minimalistic.   He is his own uniquely creative self, always expressing himself from the heart as much as from the mind.  With a brilliant knowledge of the music of the past, his newly-invented music is a continuation of music history.  This is one reason why he commands such great respect from his peers.  

And so this brings us to the subject of his recently-released CD, “John Eaton:  First Performances”.  This remarkable album consists of John as composer and performer on electronic synthesizers in music he wrote in 1964-68, more than 40 years ago.  These works were created during a period in John’s life when he lived in Rome as a recipient of numerous grants, including the coveted Rome Prize in musical composition.  The electronic music synthesizer on which he performs is the Syn-Ket, designed by Paolo Ketoff in 1964 at the urging of Eaton and others in residence at the American Academy in Rome.   With countless hours of practice, he became a master of the Syn-Ket, a formidable achievement by which he “humanized” an electronic device.   He also became a master of another electronic device, the Moog synthesizer, invented by Robert Moog.  Moreover, John became a leading advocate of microtonal music, thus breaking from the traditional Western notion of a 12-note scale. 

The CD consists of seven separate selections.  Historically the most important piece is “Songs for R.P.B.” (1964), thought to be the first piece ever composed to be performed live on a modern electronic music synthesizer.   R.P.B. is identified as Richard Palmer Blackmur, Princeton’s famed poet and literary critic who greatly influenced Eaton.  The texts are by Hart Crane and Blackmur.  The longest piece on the recording is John’s “Concert Piece for Syn-Ket and Symphony Orchestra” (1966), here recorded with John playing the Syn-Ket with the Dallas Symphony.  This challenging work has also been performed at such important venues as at Tanglewood under the baton of Gunther Schuller and with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the direction of Zubin Mehta.   For this piece, John daringly divides the orchestra into two parts, each tuned a quarter-tone apart. 

One of the pieces, “Duet” (1967) is a performance by Eaton on both the Syn-Ket and the Moog synthesizer.   John shows his versatility by playing both instruments simultaneously, the Syn-Ket with his right hand, the Moog with his left.   One of the most fascinating of the pieces on the CD is “Thoughts on Rilke” for soprano, two Syn-Kets and a vibration plate.  The Rilke text is abbreviated, i.e., only key words are used.  Here John is concerned with humanizing the machine.  John always demands incredible effects from his singers; this piece gives soprano Michiko Hirayama a chance to show her fantastic technique.  For the premiere of this piece at the Spoleto Festival, 48 speakers were spread around the room to surround the audience.   Hirayama is even more impressive in the opening piece on the CD, “Blind Man’s Cry” (1968) with a text by Tristan Corbiere translated by Patrick Creagh.  This piece strikes me as being the most complex and accomplished of all the works on this CD.  Here, John is in full control as a master of electronic music. 

The last two works on the album are short rock improvisations performed by John on the Syn-Ket with an accompanying rhythm section.  “Blues Machine” and “Bone Dry” were recorded for release as single 45rpm records by American Decca.   Decca went out of business before that could be done.  However, the recorded legacy can now be heard on this fascinating CD.   Every minute of this historic recording is both dazzling and challenging.   Classmates who listen to it should be prepared to have a sonic experience unlike any you’ve ever had before.  

To purchase John’s CD, go to www.emfmedia.org and click on the album cover of “First Performance” when it appears after a little time.  It’s the sixth (last space) in the second horizontal row.
                                                                                                            ___ John Solum