“Femenine is a challenging but accessible piece that’s as pleasing as it is provocative.”
Julius Eastman served soup to the audience during a 1974 performance of his epic composition Femenine. Sixteen years later, he died homeless. While Eastman’s wild baritone vocals can be heard on such disparate recordings as Peter Maxwell Davies’ experimental workEight Songs For A Mad King and the avant-disco of Dinosaur L’s 2424 Music, his own compositions once seemed lost to time and a devastating apartment eviction. Thankfully, Frozen Reeds has discovered a previously unknown recording of Femenine, and the music world can start to rediscover beautiful, unsettling, fascinating music from a composer whose work might never have been heard again.
Originally published by Spectrum Culture.Read it on Spectrum Culture