La Monte Young

Not to be confused with Lamont Young.

La Monte Young
Young in c. 1961
Born (1935-10-14) October 14, 1935 (age 89)
Bern, Idaho, U.S.
Occupations
Spouse
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(m. 1963; died 2024)​
Signature

La Monte Thornton Young (born October 14, 1935) is an American composer, musician, and performance artist recognized as one of the first American minimalist composers and a central figure in Fluxus and post-war avant-garde music.[1][2][3] He is best known for his exploration of sustained tones, beginning with his 1958 composition Trio for Strings.[4] His compositions have called into question the nature and definition of music, most prominently in the text scores of his Compositions 1960.[5] While few of his recordings remain in print, his work has inspired prominent musicians across various genres, including avant-garde, rock, and ambient music.[6]

Young played jazz saxophone and studied composition in California during the 1950s, and subsequently moved to New York in 1960, where he was a central figure in the downtown music and Fluxus art scenes.[5] He then became known for his pioneering work in drone music (originally called dream music) with his Theatre of Eternal Music collective, alongside collaborators such as Tony Conrad, John Cale, and his wife, the multimedia artist Marian Zazeela.

Since 1962, he has worked extensively with Zazeela, with whom he developed the Dream House sound and light environment.[3] In 1964, he began work on his unfinished improvisatory composition The Well-Tuned Piano, iterations of which he has performed throughout subsequent decades.[7] Beginning in 1970, he and Zazeela studied under Hindustani singer Pandit Pran Nath. In 2002, Young and Zazeela formed the Just Alap Raga Ensemble with their disciple Jung Hee Choi.

  1. ^ Strickland 2001.
  2. ^ Tannenbaum, Rob (July 2, 2015). "La Monte Young Discusses His Life and Immeasuable Influence". Vulture. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  3. ^ a b Owelnick, Brian. "The Well-Tuned Piano – La Monte Young". AllMusic. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  4. ^ Nechvatal, Joseph (March 2, 2012). "Biography: Flawed Composition". Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  5. ^ a b Jeremy Grimshaw, Draw a Straight Line and Follow It: The Music and Mysticism of La Monte Young. Oxford University Press, 2012 ISBN 0199740208
  6. ^ Tannenbaum, Ryan (July 2, 2015). "MUSIC JULY 2, 2015 Minimalist Composer La Monte Young on His Life and Immeasurable Influence". Vulture. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  7. ^ Service, Tom (March 26, 2013). "A guide to La Monte Young's music". The Guardian. Retrieved June 12, 2016.