Gay Guerrilla
Back of the Book
Composer-performer Julius Eastman (1940-90) was an enigma, both comfortable and uncomfortable in the many worlds he inhabited: black, white, gay, straight, classical music, disco, academia, and downtown New York. His music, insistent and straightforward, resists labels and seethes with a tension that resonates with musicians, scholars, and audiences today. Eastman's provocative titles, including “Gay Guerrilla,” “Evil Nigger,” “Crazy Nigger,” and others, assault us with his obsessions.
Eastman tested limits with his political aggressiveness, as reflected in legendary scandals like his June 1975 performance of John Cage's Song Books, which featured homoerotic interjections, and the uproar over his titles at Northwestern University. These episodes are examples of Eastman's persistence in pushing the limits of the acceptable in the highly charged arenas of sexual and civil rights.
In addition to analyses of Eastman's music, the essays in Gay Guerrilla provide background on his remarkable life history and the era's social landscape. The book presents an authentic portrait of a notable American artist thatis compelling reading for the general reader as well as scholars interested in twentieth-century American music, American studies, gay rights, and civil rights.
Why You Should Read It
Julius Eastman’s reputation as a confrontational genius paints an incomplete picture of the renegade composer. Gay Guerilla sheds some light on Eastman’s method and his choices, as well as his place in music and civil rights history whilst preserving the private power in Eastman’s gentle aura—an inaccessible place from which the beauty of his art itself originates, delicate and wild.
Memorable Passage
What I am trying to achieve is to be what I am to the fullest—Black to the fullest, a musician to the fullest, and a homosexual to the fullest. It is important that I learn how to be, by that I mean accept everything about me.
About Julius Eastman
Julius Eastman (1940–1990) was a pioneering American composer, vocalist, and pianist whose contributions to contemporary classical music remain both groundbreaking and underappreciated. A prominent figure in the 1960s and 1970s avant-garde music scene, Eastman was known for his innovative compositions that blurred the lines between genres and challenged traditional conventions. His work often explored themes of identity, race, and sexuality, as exemplified in compositions like "Gay Guerrilla." Eastman's impact extended beyond his music; he was an advocate for inclusivity in the arts, breaking barriers as an openly gay African American artist. Despite facing challenges and obscurity during his lifetime, Julius Eastman is worth knowing for his profound influence on experimental music, his commitment to pushing artistic boundaries, and the trailblazing path he forged for subsequent generations of diverse voices in classical music.
Further Reading & Watching
“Minimalist Composer Julius Eastman, Dead for 26 Years, Crashes the Canon” by Zachary Woolfe, The New York Times
Gay Guerrilla by Julias Eastman
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