Theatre of Eternal Music

For the 80s group, see Dream Syndicate.
Theatre of Eternal Music
OriginNew York City
GenresDrone, avant-garde, minimalism
Years active1962–1966, 1969–1974
LabelsShandar, Table of the Elements
Past membersLa Monte Young
John Cale
Angus MacLise
Terry Jennings
Marian Zazeela
Tony Conrad
Billy Name
Jon Hassell
Alex Dea
Terry Riley
Jon Gibson

The Theatre of Eternal Music (later sometimes called The Dream Syndicate)[1] was an avant-garde musical group formed by La Monte Young in New York City in 1962. The first group (1962–1964) of performers consisted of La Monte Young, Marian Zazeela, Angus MacLise, and Billy Name.[2] From 1964 to 1966, Theatre of Eternal Music consisted of La Monte Young (voice, saxophone), Marian Zazeela (voice, lighting), John Cale (viola), and Tony Conrad (violin), with sometimes also Terry Riley (voice). Since 1966, Theatre of Eternal Music has seen many permutations and has included Garrett List, Jon Gibson, Jon Hassell, Rhys Chatham, Alex Dea, Terry Jennings, and many others, including some members of the various 1960s groups.[3] The group's self-described "dream music" explored drones and pure harmonic intervals, employing sustained tones and electric amplification in lengthy, all-night performances.[4]

Archival recordings of the group's influential mid-1960s performances remain in La Monte Young's archive. None have ever seen official release[5] following a dispute over compositional credit between Young and Conrad and Cale. This dispute resulted in Young's refusal to release any of the archival material.[5] Nonetheless, a bootleg recording removed from the archive by Young's first archivist, Arnold Dreyblatt, of a 1965 performance was controversially released in 2000 by Table of the Elements in CD as Day of Niagara.[5] Other bootlegs of Theatre of Eternal Music have appeared online via file-sharing sites.[4]

  1. ^ Murray, Sean (April 30, 2000). "Inside the Dream Syndicate, Volume I: Day of Niagara (1965)". Pitchfork (review).
  2. ^ Nickleson, Patrick (2023). The Names of Minimalism: Authorship, Art Music, and Historiography in Dispute. University of Michigan Press. pp. 56–57. ISBN 9780472039098.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference LaBelle was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Hoberman, J. (April 9, 2016). "Tony Conrad, Experimental Filmmaker and Musician, Dies at 76". The New York Times. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  5. ^ a b c Murray 2000 The original master tape of the Day of Niagara recording was illicitly copied several decades before it found its way to this bootleg release and La Monte Young threatened legal action against the label. But as there had been no written agreement on who owned the rights to the music, no legal action was taken.