Ben Johnston (composer)
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Benjamin Burwell Johnston Jr. (March 15, 1926 – July 21, 2019) was an American
contemporary music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included se ...
composer, known for his use of
just intonation In music, just intonation or pure intonation is the tuning of musical intervals as whole number ratios (such as 3:2 or 4:3) of frequencies. An interval tuned in this way is said to be pure, and is called a just interval. Just intervals (and ...
. He was called "one of the foremost composers of
microtonal music Microtonal music or microtonality is the use in music of microtones— intervals smaller than a semitone, also called "microintervals". It may also be extended to include any music using intervals not found in the customary Western tuning of ...
" by Philip Bush and "one of the best non-famous composers this country has to offer" by
John Rockwell John Sargent Rockwell (born September 16, 1940) is an American music critic, dance critic and arts administrator. According to ''Grove Music Online'', "Rockwell brings two signal attributes to his critical work: a genuine admiration for all ki ...
.


Biography

Johnston was born in
Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of G ...
, and taught composition and theory at the
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Un ...
from 1951 to 1986, before retiring to North Carolina. During his time teaching, he was in contact with
avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretica ...
figures such as
John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading f ...
,
La Monte Young 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. He is best k ...
, and
Iannis Xenakis Giannis Klearchou Xenakis (also spelled for professional purposes as Yannis or Iannis Xenakis; el, Γιάννης "Ιωάννης" Κλέαρχου Ξενάκης, ; 29 May 1922 – 4 February 2001) was a Romanian-born Greek-French avant-garde c ...
. Johnston's students have included Stuart Saunders Smith,
Neely Bruce (Frank) Neely Bruce (born January 21, 1944) is an American composer, conductor, pianist, and scholar of American music. He is the composer of over 800 works including three full-length operas. Currently, he is John Spencer Camp Professor of Music ...
, Thomas Albert,
Michael Pisaro Michael Pisaro (born 1961 in Buffalo, New York) is a guitarist and composer. A member of the Wandelweiser Composers Ensemble, he has composed over 80 works for a great variety of instrumental combinations, including several pieces for variable i ...
,
Manfred Stahnke Manfred Stahnke (born 30 October 1951) is a German composer and musicologist from Hamburg. He writes chamber music, orchestral music and stage music. His music makes extensive use of microtonality. He plays piano and viola. Life Manfred Stahnke w ...
, and Kyle Gann. He also considered his practice of just intonation to have influenced other composers, including
James Tenney James Tenney (August 10, 1934 – August 24, 2006) was an American composer and music theorist. He made significant early musical contributions to plunderphonics, sound synthesis, algorithmic composition, process music, spectral music, microto ...
and
Larry Polansky Larry Polansky (born 1954) is a composer, guitarist, mandolinist, and professor emeritus at Dartmouth College and the University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land ...
. In 1946 he married dance band singer Dorothy Haines, but they soon divorced. In 1950 he married artist Betty Hall, who died in 2007. Johnston began as a traditional composer of
art music Art music (alternatively called classical music, cultivated music, serious music, and canonic music) is music considered to be of high phonoaesthetic value. It typically implies advanced structural and theoretical considerationsJacques Siron, ...
before working with
Harry Partch Harry Partch (June 24, 1901 – September 3, 1974) was an American composer, music theorist, and creator of unique musical instruments. He composed using scales of unequal intervals in just intonation, and was one of the first 20th-century com ...
. He helped the senior musician to build instruments and use them in the performance and recording of new compositions. Partch then arranged for Johnston to study with
Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...
at
Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University is a private college in Oakland, California and part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it w ...
. In 1952, Johnston met Cage, who invited him to come to New York to study with him in the summer. Though Johnston decided he did not have sufficient time to prepare for such studies, he did go to New York for several weeks and assisted, along with
Earle Brown Earle Brown (December 26, 1926 – July 2, 2002) was an American composer who established his own formal and notational systems. Brown was the creator of "open form," a style of musical construction that has influenced many composers since ...
, in the production of Cage's eight-track tape composition, ''
Williams Mix ''Williams Mix'' (1951–1953) is a 4'15" musique concrete composition by John Cage for eight simultaneously played independent quarter-inch magnetic tapes. The first octophonic music, the piece was created by Cage with the assistance of Earle B ...
''. Later, in 1957 and 1959, he studied with Cage, who encouraged him to follow his desires and use traditional instruments rather than electronics or newly built instruments. Unskilled in carpentry and finding electronics unreliable, Johnston struggled with how to integrate microtonality and conventional instruments for ten years. He also struggled with how to integrate microtones into his compositional language through a slow process of many stages. However, since 1960 Johnston had almost exclusively used a system of microtonal notation based on the rational intervals of just intonation, what Gann describes as a "lifelong allegiance" to "microtonality". Johnston also studied with
Burrill Phillips Leroy Burrill Phillips (November 9, 1907 – June 22, 1988) was an American composer, teacher, and pianist. Biography Phillips was born in Omaha, Nebraska. He studied at the College of Music at the University of Denver with Edwin Stringham and a ...
and Robert Palmer. Johnston composed music for multiple productions by the E.T.C. Company of La MaMa,
Wilford Leach Carson Wilford Leach (August 26, 1929 – June 18, 1988) was a Tony Award-winning American theatre director, set designer, film director, screenwriter, and professor. Biography Leach was born in Petersburg, Virginia,company-in-residence at
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theatre founded in 1961 by Ellen Stewart, African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer. Located in Manhattan's East Village, the theatre began in the ...
in the East Village of Manhattan. His most significant work was ''
Carmilla ''Carmilla'' is an 1872 Gothic novella by Irish author Sheridan Le Fanu and one of the early works of vampire fiction, predating Bram Stoker's '' Dracula'' (1897) by 26 years. First published as a serial in ''The Dark Blue'' (1871–72), the ...
'', which the company performed as part of their
repertory A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawin ...
throughout the 1970s. He also composed music for the company's production of ''Gertrude'', a
musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwo ...
about the life of
Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the Allegheny West neighborhood and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris ...
. His other works included the orchestral work ''Quintet for Groups'' (commissioned by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra), ''Sonnets of Desolation'' (commissioned by the
Swingle Singers 270px, The Swingles at the Black Forest Voices Festival in Kirchzarten, Germany">Kirchzarten.html" ;"title="Black Forest Voices Festival in Kirchzarten">Black Forest Voices Festival in Kirchzarten, Germany on 29 June 2019 The Swingles are a v ...
), the '' Sonata for Microtonal Piano'' (1964), and the '' Suite for Microtonal Piano'' (1977). Johnston completed ten string quartets. The Kepler Quartet recorded all ten of his string quartets for New World Records, finishing in April 2016 just after the composer's 90th birthday. Johnston said: He has received many honors, including a
Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the art ...
in 1959, a grant from the National Council on the Arts and the Humanities in 1966, two commissions from the
Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Found ...
, and the
Deems Taylor Award Joseph Deems Taylor (December 22, 1885 – July 3, 1966) was an American music critic, composer, and promoter of classical music. Nat Benchley, co-editor of ''The Lost Algonquin Roundtable'', referred to him as "the dean of American music." Ear ...
. In 2007, the
American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...
honored Johnston for his lifetime of work. His ''Quintet for Groups'' won the SWR Sinfonieorchester prize at the 2008
Donaueschinger Musiktage The Donaueschingen Festival (german: Donaueschinger Musiktage, links=no) is a festival for new music that takes place every October in the small town of Donaueschingen in south-western Germany. Founded in 1921, it is considered the oldest festiva ...
. Heidi Von Gunden wrote a monograph on the composer, and Bob Gilmore edited the composer's complete writings, which were published as ''"Maximum Clarity" and Other Writings on Music'' by the University of Illinois Press. A three-part
oral history Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...
covering all stages of his career is housed at the Oral History of American Music through
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
. Johnston died from complications of
Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms beco ...
in Deerfield, Wisconsin, on July 21, 2019.


Music

He is best known for extending
Harry Partch Harry Partch (June 24, 1901 – September 3, 1974) was an American composer, music theorist, and creator of unique musical instruments. He composed using scales of unequal intervals in just intonation, and was one of the first 20th-century com ...
's experiments in
just intonation In music, just intonation or pure intonation is the tuning of musical intervals as whole number ratios (such as 3:2 or 4:3) of frequencies. An interval tuned in this way is said to be pure, and is called a just interval. Just intervals (and ...
tuning to traditional instruments through his system of notation. Johnston's compositional style is eclectic. He uses serial processes, folk song idioms (
string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinist ...
s 4, 5, and 10), repetitive processes, traditional forms like
fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the co ...
and variations, and intuitive processes. His main goal "has been to reestablish just intonation as a viable part of our musical tradition". According to Mark Swed, "ultimately, what Johnston has done, more than any other composer with roots in the great American musical experiments of the '50s and '60s, is to translate those radical approaches to the nature of music into a music that is immediately apprehensible"., quoted in . Most of Johnston's later works use a large number of pitches, generated through just-intonation procedures. In these works, he forms melodies based on an "
otonal ''Otonality'' and ''utonality'' are terms introduced by Harry Partch to describe chords whose pitch classes are the harmonics or subharmonics of a given fixed tone ( identity), respectively. For example: , , ,... or , , ,.... Definition ...
" eight-note just-intonation scale made from the 8th through 15th partials of the harmonic series, or its "utonal" inversion. He then gains new pitches by using common-tone transpositions or inversions. Many of his works also feature an expansive use of just intonation, using high prime limits. His String Quartet No. 9 uses intervals of the harmonic series as high as the 31st partial. He uses "potentially hundreds of pitches per octave," in way that is "radical without being avant-garde," and not for the creation of "as-yet-unheard dissonances," but in order to, "return... to a kind of musical beauty," which he perceives as diminished in Western music since the adoption of
equal-temperament An equal temperament is a musical temperament or tuning system, which approximates just intervals by dividing an octave (or other interval) into equal steps. This means the ratio of the frequencies of any adjacent pair of notes is the same, ...
. "By the beginning of the 1980s he could say of his elaborately microtonal ''String Quartet no. 5''... 'I have no idea as to how many different pitches it used per octave'". Johnston's early efforts in just composition drew heavily on the accomplishments of post-
Webern Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern (3 December 188315 September 1945), better known as Anton Webern (), was an Austrian composer and conductor whose music was among the most radical of its milieu in its sheer concision, even aphorism, and stead ...
serialism In music, serialism is a method of composition using series of pitches, rhythms, dynamics, timbres or other musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though some of his contemporaries were al ...
. His
7-limit 7-limit or septimal tunings and intervals are musical instrument tunings that have a limit of seven: the largest prime factor contained in the interval ratios between pitches is seven. Thus, for example, 50:49 is a 7-limit interval, but 14 ...
String Quartet No. 4 "Amazing Grace", was commissioned by the Fine Arts Music Foundation of Chicago, and was first recorded by the
Fine Arts Quartet The Fine Arts Quartet is a chamber music ensemble founded in Chicago, United States in 1946 by Leonard Sorkin and George Sopkin. The Quartet has recorded over 200 works and has toured internationally for 77 years, making it one of the longest ...
on
Nonesuch Records Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly called Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, No ...
in 1980 (then reissued on Gasparo as GS205). His String Quartet No. 4, perhaps Johnston's best-known composition, has also been recorded by the
Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for almost 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classic ...
. The Kepler Quartet (Sharan Leventhal, Eric Segnitz, Brek Renzelman, and Karl Lavine) also recorded the piece for New World Records, as part of a complete 10-quartet series documenting Johnston's entire cycle of string quartets. The Third Quartet was premiered as part of this series by the
Concord String Quartet The Concord String Quartet was an American string quartet established in 1971. The members of the quartet were Mark Sokol and Andrew Jennings, violins; John Kochánowski, viola; Norman Fischer, cello. They gave their last regular concert on May 1 ...
at
Alice Tully Hall Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The hall is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and philanthropist whose donations assist ...
at
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...
, on March 15, 1976, the composer's fiftieth birthday.


Staff notation

Beginning in the 1960s, Johnston had proposed an approach to notating music in just intonation (JI), redefining the understanding of conventional symbols (the seven "white" notes, the sharps and flats) and adding further accidentals, each designed to extend the notation into higher
prime limit In music theory, limit or harmonic limit is a way of characterizing the harmony found in a piece or genre of music, or the harmonies that can be made using a particular scale. The term ''limit'' was introduced by Harry Partch, who used it to give ...
s. Johnston‘s method is based on a diatonic C major scale tuned in JI, in which the interval between D (9/8 above C) and A (5/3 above C) is one Syntonic comma less than a Pythagorean perfect fifth 3:2. To write a perfect fifth, Johnston introduces a pair of symbols representing this comma, + and –. Thus, a series of perfect fifths beginning with F would proceed C G D A+ E+ B+. The three conventional white notes A E B are tuned as Ptolemaic major thirds (5:4,
Ptolemy's intense diatonic scale Ptolemy's intense diatonic scale, also known as the Ptolemaic sequence, justly tuned major scale, Ptolemy's tense diatonic scale, or the syntonous (or syntonic) diatonic scale, is a tuning for the diatonic scale proposed by Ptolemy, and corresp ...
) above F C G respectively. Johnston introduces new symbols for the septimal ( & ), undecimal ( & ), tridecimal ( & ), and further prime extensions to create an accidental-based exact JI notation for what he has named "extended just intonation". Though "this notation is not tied to any particular diapason" and "what remains constant are the ratio relations between pitches", "most of his works utilize A = 440 as the tuning note", making C 264 Hertz. Thus, a string quartet is tuned C-, G-, D-, A, E.


Recordings

* 2016: ''Ben Johnston: String Quartets Nos. 7, 8 & 6, Quietness'' – Kepler Quartet ( New World Records CD-80730) ** String Quartet No. 7 ** String Quartet No. 8 ** String Quartet No. 6 **"Quietness" (string quartet and voice) * 2014: ''Ben Johnston: Ruminations'' – Eclipse String Quartet, John Schneider (voice, microtonal guitar), Karen Clark (voice), Jim Sullivan (clarinet), Sarah Thornblade (violin) (MicroFest Records CD-5) **"The Tavern" **"Revised Standards" **"Parable" * 2011: ''Ben Johnston: String Quartets Nos. 1, 5 & 10'' – Kepler Quartet ( New World Records CD-80693) ** String Quartet No. 5 ** String Quartet No. 10 ** String Quartet No. 1, "Nine Variations" * 2008: ''On Track: Commissions Vol. 2''. – New Century Saxophone Quartet (Alanna Records ACD-6006, Pittsburgh) ** Includes Johnston's "O Waly Waly Variations" * 2006: ''Ben Johnston: String Quartets Nos. 2, 3, 4 & 9'' – Kepler Quartet ( New World Records CD-80637) ** String Quartet No. 9 **''Crossings'': String Quartet No. 3 **''Crossings: The Silence'' **''Crossings'': String Quartet No. 4, "Amazing Grace" ** String Quartet No. 2 * 2005: ''Susan Fancher: Ponder Nothing'' (
Innova Records Innova Recordings is the independent record label of the non-profit American Composers Forum based in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was founded in 1982 to document the winners of the McKnight Fellowship offered by its parent organization, the Minnesot ...
) ** Includes Johnston's "Ponder Nothing" * 2002: ''Cleveland Chamber Symphony. Vol. 1, 2 & 3'' (Troppe Note Records) ** Includes Johnston's "Songs of Loss" * 1997: ''
Phillip Bush Phillip Bush (born January 4, 1961 in Ridgewood, New Jersey) is an American classical pianist, with a career focusing primarily on chamber music and contemporary classical music. Early life Phillip Bush was born to an American father and German ...
: Microtonal Piano'' ( Koch International Classics 3-7369-2-H1) ** Includes Johnston's Suite for Microtonal Piano ** Includes Johnston's Sonata for Microtonal Piano ** Includes Johnston's "Saint Joan" * 1996: ''Michael Cameron: Progression'' (Ziva Records) ** Includes Johnston's "Progression" * 1993: ''Ponder Nothing: Chamber Music of Ben Johnston'' ( New World Records 80432-2) ** Septet for woodwinds, horn, and strings **"Three Chinese Lyrics" **"Gambit:" **"Five Fragments" ** Trio **"Ponder Nothing" * 1995: ''The Stanford Quartet'' (Laurel Records) ** Includes Johnston's String Quartet No. 9 * 1976: ''Sound Forms for Piano'' (
LP record The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of   rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; an ...
, New World Records NW-203) ** Includes Johnston's Sonata for Microtonal Piano * 1995: '' The Kronos Quartet: Released'' ( compilation,
Nonesuch Records Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly called Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, No ...
) ** Includes Johnston's String Quartet No. 4, "Amazing Grace" * 1993: ''Urban Diva'' – Dora Ohrenstein (soprano),
Mary Rowell Mary Rowell is an American violinist based in New York City. In 1998 Rowell co-founded the string quartet ETHEL. She retired from the group in 2011 but continues to be very active in the downtown New York music community, where she is known as an ...
(violin),
Phillip Bush Phillip Bush (born January 4, 1961 in Ridgewood, New Jersey) is an American classical pianist, with a career focusing primarily on chamber music and contemporary classical music. Early life Phillip Bush was born to an American father and German ...
(keyboards), Bill Ruyle and Jason Cirker (percussion), John Thompson (electric bass) (Emergency Music, Composers Recordings Incorporated CD-654) ** Includes Johnston's "Calamity Jane to Her Daughter" * 1987: ''White Man Sleeps'' –
Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for almost 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classic ...
( Elektra/
Nonesuch __NOTOC__ Nonesuch may refer to: Plants * '' Lychnis chalcedonica'', a wildflower * ''Medicago lupulina'', a wildflower Places and structures *Nonesuch, Kentucky *Nonesuch Island, Bermuda *Nonesuch Mine, Michigan *Nonesuch Palace, mis-spelling of ...
79163-2) ** Includes Johnston's String Quartet No. 4, "Amazing Grace" * 1984: '' New Swingle Singers and New Vocal Workshop'' (
Composers Recordings, Inc. Composers Recordings, Inc. (CRI) was an American record label dedicated to the recording of contemporary classical music by American composers. It was founded in 1954 by Otto Luening, Douglas Moore, and Oliver Daniel, and based in New York City. ...
) **Includes Johnston's "Sonnets of Desolation" **Includes Johnston's "Visions and Spels" * 1983: ''The New World Quartet'' (
Composers Recordings, Inc. Composers Recordings, Inc. (CRI) was an American record label dedicated to the recording of contemporary classical music by American composers. It was founded in 1954 by Otto Luening, Douglas Moore, and Oliver Daniel, and based in New York City. ...
) ** Includes Johnston's String Quartet No. 6 * 1980: ''The Fine Arts Quartet'' (
Nonesuch Records Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly called Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, No ...
) ** Includes Johnston's String Quartet No. 4, "Amazing Grace" * 1979: ''Music from the University of Illinois'' (
Composers Recordings, Inc. Composers Recordings, Inc. (CRI) was an American record label dedicated to the recording of contemporary classical music by American composers. It was founded in 1954 by Otto Luening, Douglas Moore, and Oliver Daniel, and based in New York City. ...
) ** Includes Johnston's Duo for flute and contrabass * 1970: ''Carmilla: A Vampire Tale'' (
Vanguard Records Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City. It was a primarily classical label at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but also has a catalogue of recordings by a n ...
) * 1969: ''John Cage &
Lejaren Hiller Lejaren Arthur Hiller Jr. (February 23, 1924, New York City – January 26, 1994, Buffalo, New York)Lejaren H ...
– HPSCHD/ Ben Johnston – String Quartet No. 2.'' (
LP record The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of   rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; an ...
,
Nonesuch Records Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly called Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, No ...
H-71224) * 1969: ''The Contemporary Contrabass -'' Bertram Turetzky, contrabass (
LP record The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of   rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; an ...
,
Nonesuch Records Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly called Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, No ...
H-71237) ** Includes Johnston's "Casta*" * 1968: ''New Music Choral Ensemble'' – Kenneth Gaburo, conductor (
LP record The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of   rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; an ...
, Ars Nova/Ars Antiqua Records AN1005) ** Includes Johnston's "Ci-Git Satie"


Footnotes


References

* * * * * * *


Further reading

*Elster, Steven. 1991. "A Harmonic and Serial Analysis of Ben Johnston's String Quartet No. 6". ''
Perspectives of New Music ''Perspectives of New Music'' (PNM) is a peer-reviewed academic journal specializing in music theory and analysis. It was established in 1962 by Arthur Berger and Benjamin Boretz (who were its initial editors-in-chief). ''Perspectives'' was firs ...
'' 29, no. 2 (Summer): 138–165. * Gilmore, Bob. 1995. "Changing the Metaphor: Ratio Models of Musical Pitch in the Work of Harry Partch, Ben Johnston, and James Tenney". ''
Perspectives of New Music ''Perspectives of New Music'' (PNM) is a peer-reviewed academic journal specializing in music theory and analysis. It was established in 1962 by Arthur Berger and Benjamin Boretz (who were its initial editors-in-chief). ''Perspectives'' was firs ...
'' 33, nos. 1–2 (Winter-Summer): 458–503. *Johnson, Timothy Ernest. 2008. "13-limit Extended Just Intonation in Ben Johnston's String Quartet Number 7 and Toby Twining's ''Chrysalid Requiem, Gradual/Tract''".
Doctor of Musical Arts The Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) is a doctoral academic degree in music. The DMA combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization (usually music performance, music composition, or conducting) with graduate-level academic study in su ...
thesis. Urbana:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Un ...
. *Johnston, Ben, and Sylvia Smith. 2006. ''Who Am I? Why Am I Here?: Ben Johnston Reflects on his Life in Music''.
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
: Smith Publications. *Johnston, Sibyl. 2007. "Very Precise Relationships: Two Interviews with Ben Johnston". '' American Music'' 25, no. 2 (Summer): 169–192. *Kassel, Richard. 2001. "Johnston, Ben(jamin Burwell)". ''
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...
'', second edition, edited by
Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was pub ...
and John Tyrrell. London:
Macmillan Publishers Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...
. *Maltz, Richard Steven. 1991. "Microtonal Techniques in
Charles Ives Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, one of the first American composers of international renown. His music was largely ignored during his early career, and many of his works went unperformed ...
' ''Three Quarter-Tone Pieces for Two Pianos'',
Harry Patch Henry John Patch (17 June 1898 – 25 July 2009), dubbed in his later years "the Last Fighting Tommy", was an English supercentenarian, briefly the oldest man in Europe, and the last surviving trench combat soldier of the First World War from ...
's ''And nthe Seventh Day Petals Fell in Petaluma'', and Ben Johnston's Fourth String Quartet".
PhD thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...
. University of South Carolina. *Ratliff, Phillip. 2002. "How Sweet the Sound". ''Living Music'' 18, no. 1 (Fall): 8–9. * Schneider, John (ed.) 2007. "Ben Johnston at Eighty". ''1/1: The Journal of the Just Intonation Network'' 12, no. 3 (Johnston birthday volume). *Shinn, Randall. 1977. "Ben Johnston's Fourth String Quartet". ''
Perspectives of New Music ''Perspectives of New Music'' (PNM) is a peer-reviewed academic journal specializing in music theory and analysis. It was established in 1962 by Arthur Berger and Benjamin Boretz (who were its initial editors-in-chief). ''Perspectives'' was firs ...
'' 15, no. 2 (Spring-Summer): 145–173. * Stahnke, Manfred. 2015. "Ben Johnston: Microtonal Piano Sonata. Klavierstimmung als Fessel und Freiheit – Anmerkungen zu Ben Johnstons Sonata for Microtonal Piano". '' MusikTexte'' 144, (February): 87-. * Taylor, Mark R. 2002.
Ben Johnston: Suite; Sonata; ''Saint Joan''. Phillip Bush (piano); Koch International Classics 3-7369-2-H1; Ben Johnston: ''Chamber Music''. Music Amici. New World Records 80432-2
. ''
Tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...
'', new series, no. 220 (April): 54–55. (, accessed 1 April 2009.) * Zimmerman, Walter. 2020. ''Desert Plants – Conversations with 23 American Musicians'', Berlin: Beginner Press in cooperation with Mode Records (originally published in 1976 by A.R.C., Vancouver). The 2020 edition includes a cd featuring the original interview recordings with
Larry Austin Larry Don Austin (September 12, 1930 – December 30, 2018) was an American composer noted for his electronic and computer music works. He was a co-founder and editor of the avant-garde music periodical '' Source: Music of the Avant Garde''. Austi ...
, Robert Ashley, Jim Burton,
John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading f ...
,
Philip Corner Philip Lionel Corner (born April 10, 1933; name sometimes given as Phil Corner) is an American composer, trombonist, alphornist, vocalist, pianist, music theorist, music educator, and visual artist. Biography After The High School of Music & Ar ...
, Morton Feldman,
Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimalism, being built up from repetitive ...
,
Joan La Barbara Joan Linda La Barbara (born June 8, 1947) is an American vocalist and composer known for her explorations of non-conventional or "extended" vocal techniques. Considered to be a vocal virtuoso in the field of contemporary music, she is credited wi ...
,
Garrett List Garrett List (September 10, 1943 – December 27, 2019) was an American trombonist, vocalist, and composer. List was born in Phoenix, Arizona. He studied at California State University, Long Beach, and the Juilliard School. He was a member of Ital ...
,
Alvin Lucier Alvin Augustus Lucier Jr. (May 14, 1931 – December 1, 2021) was an American composer of experimental music and sound installations that explore acoustic phenomena and auditory perception. A long-time music professor at Wesleyan University in ...
, John McGuire, Charles Morrow, J.B. Floyd (on
Conlon Nancarrow Samuel Conlon Nancarrow (; October 27, 1912 – August 10, 1997) was an American- Mexican composer who lived and worked in Mexico for most of his life. Nancarrow is best remembered for his ''Studies for Player Piano'', being one of the firs ...
),
Pauline Oliveros Pauline Oliveros (May 30, 1932 – November 24, 2016) was an American composer, accordionist and a central figure in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music. She was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center ...
, Charlemagne Palestine, Ben Johnston (on
Harry Partch Harry Partch (June 24, 1901 – September 3, 1974) was an American composer, music theorist, and creator of unique musical instruments. He composed using scales of unequal intervals in just intonation, and was one of the first 20th-century com ...
), Steve Reich, David Rosenboom, Frederic Rzewski, Richard Teitelbaum,
James Tenney James Tenney (August 10, 1934 – August 24, 2006) was an American composer and music theorist. He made significant early musical contributions to plunderphonics, sound synthesis, algorithmic composition, process music, spectral music, microto ...
, Christian Wolff (composer), Christian Wolff, and
La Monte Young 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. He is best k ...
.


External links


Ben Johnston at Plainsound Music Edition"A New Dissonance"
: video interviews with Johnston, blog entries, documentary footage of rehearsals of String Quartet No. 10 by the Kepler Quartet
Ben Johnston at UNC (Greensboro) symposium
: autobiographical lecture describing his early music influences and his interest in microtonal music and just intonation
Johnston's page on La MaMa Archives Digital Collections


Listening

*''Casta Bertram'', Bertram Turetzky (NonesuchRecords, 1969
FLAC and liner notesMP3
*String Quartet No. 2, Composers Quartet (Nonesuch, 1969
FLAC and liner notesMP3
*String Quartet no. 6, New World Quartet (Composers Recordings, Inc., Composers Recordings Inc., 1983
liner notesMP3: click on "Johnston 01.mp3"
*''Sonnets of Desolation'', New Swingle Singers and New Vocal Workshop (Composers Recordings, Inc., Composers Recordings Inc., 1984
liner notesMP3: click on "Johnston 02.mp3"
*''Visions and Spels'', New Swingle Singers and New Vocal Workshop (Composers Recordings, Inc., Composers Recordings Inc., 1984
liner notesMP3: click on "Johnston 03.mp3" for part 1; click on "Johnston 04.mp3" for part 2
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Ben 1926 births 2019 deaths 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers American male classical composers American classical composers Twelve-tone and serial composers Just intonation composers Writers from Macon, Georgia Musicians from Macon, Georgia Mills College alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty Pupils of Robert Moffat Palmer Pupils of Darius Milhaud Pupils of Harry Partch 21st-century American composers Experimental Music Studios alumni 20th-century American composers Deaths from Parkinson's disease Neurological disease deaths in Wisconsin Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters