Wandering Monk

Donald Macleod unpacks the tragic mystery of Eastman’s final years.

When this week’s composer died homeless and alone in 1990, almost no one knew, not even his friends, and his work threatened to disappear with him. Julius Eastman had lit up America’s contemporary music scene as a spellbinding performer and a visionary composer whose music is difficult to pigeonhole. A gay, black man in the predominantly white world of new music, Eastman was often misunderstood. His musical voice fused minimalism with pop and the avant-garde, and was inextricable from his identity politics - a sound that was provocative then and remains so today. He collaborated with luminaries such as Pierre Boulez, Peter Maxwell Davies and Meredith Monk but also faced many struggles, leading to his premature and tragic decline. This week, Donald Macleod shares his long-overdue story, with insights from American baritone Davone Tines, a performer and champion of Eastman’s music.

Today, Donald and Davone turn to the final act in Eastman’s life. Customers at Tower Records in Manhattan would have never imagined the charismatic man behind the counter to be sleeping rough in Tompkins Square Park, but Eastman had been evicted, all his belongings confiscated, and he was quickly spiralling downward – somehow still composing and performing. We get a glimpse of how his once-eccentric, now erratic, behaviour was becoming more extreme, and pushing away those close to him. Most of his friends only found out about his death eight months later, after it was reported in the Village Voice. For a long time, his obituary was the final word on Eastman's story, but today Eastman's music and his message is gradually finding its way to new audiences.

Piano 2 (2nd movement)
Joseph Kubera, piano

The Holy Presence of Joan of Arc
Jodi Beder, Sarah Carter, Barry Gold, Julie Green, Christine Gummere, Maureen Hynes, Chase Morrison, Abby Newton, Larry Rawdon, David Sabee, cellos
Julius Eastman, conductor

Buddha
Kukuruz Quartet, pianos

Femenine (Final section, Must Return)
Wild Up
Christopher Rountree, conductor

Produced in Cardiff by Amelia Parker