La Monte Young
- Introduction
- La Monte Thornton Young (born October 14, 1935) is an American composer, musician, and artist recognized as one of the first American minimalist composers and a central figure in post-war avant-garde music. He is best known for his exploration of sustained tones, beginning with his 1958 composition Trio for Strings. His works have called into question the nature and definition of music, most prominently in the text scores of his Compositions 1960. Despite having released very little recorded material throughout his career—much of it currently out of print—some sources have described him as "the most influential living composer today". The Observer wrote that his work has had "an utterly profound effect on the last half-century of music."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. 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. Beginning in 1970, he studied under Hindustani singer Pandit Pran Nath. Perhaps Young's best known work is The Well-Tuned Piano, an ongoing, improvisatory composition begun in 1964 and performed throughout subsequent decades.
- Wikidata
- Q432822
- Introduction
- A proponent of experimental music created by the use of extended drones. Educated at the University of California, Los Angeles (1957-1958), he completed his graduate studies in composition at the University of California, Berkeley. An avid jazz musician, Young performed with Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry. In the mid-1960s he formed the Theater of Eternal Music with Marian Zazeela, Angus MacLise and Billy Name; Tony Conrad and John Cale joined later. His use of long tones at high volume was an important influence on other group members, especially Cale, who went on to form the Velvet Underground.Young studied with world-renowned North Indian vocal master Pandit Pran Nath in the 1970s. Young and Zazeela later created the Dream House, a sound and light installation.
- Nationality
- American
- Gender
- Male
- Roles
- Artist, Composer, Musician, Performance Artist
- Name
- La Monte Young
- Ulan
- 500081186
Exhibitions
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410: At the Border of Art and Life
Oct 21, 2019–Sep 20, 2020
MoMA
Collection gallery
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Judson Dance Theater: The Work Is Never Done
Sep 16, 2018–Feb 3, 2019
MoMA
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Yoko Ono: One Woman Show,
1960–1971 May 17–Sep 7, 2015
MoMA
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There Will Never Be Silence: Scoring John Cage’s
4′33″ Oct 12, 2013–Jun 22, 2014
MoMA
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Thing/Thought: Fluxus Editions, 1962–1978
Sep 21, 2011–Jan 16, 2012
MoMA
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La Monte Young has
9 exhibitionsonline.
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La Monte Young Composition 1960 #2 1960
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La Monte Young Composition 1960 #3 1960
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La Monte Young Composition 1960 #4 1960
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La Monte Young Composition 1960 #5 1960
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La Monte Young Composition 1960 #6 1960
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La Monte Young Composition 1960 #7 1960
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La Monte Young Composition 1960 #9 1960
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La Monte Young Piano Piece for Terry Riley #1 1960
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La Monte Young Poem for Chairs, Tables, Benches, Etc. (Or Other Sound Sources) 1960
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La Monte Young Composition 1960 #13 to Richard Huelsenbeck and Composition 1960 #15 to Richard Huelsenbeck 1960
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Henry Flynt, La Monte Young, Richard Maxfield Flyer for A Concert of Avant-Garde Music, The Harvard-Radcliffe Music Club, March 31, 1961 1961
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Various Artists, Arthur Köpcke, George Maciunas, Benjamin Patterson, Nam June Paik, Wolf Vostell, La Monte Young dé-coll/age, no. 1 1962
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La Monte Young, Nam June Paik La Monte Young's Composition 1960 #10 (to Bob Morris) performed by Nam June Paik during Fluxus Internationale Festspiele Neuester Musik, Städtisches Museum, Wiesbaden, September 1–23, 1962 1962
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La Monte Young, Nam June Paik La Monte Young's Composition 1960 #10 (to Bob Morris) performed by Nam June Paik during Fluxus Internationale Festspiele Neuester Musik, Städtisches Museum, Wiesbaden, September 1–23, 1962 1962
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La Monte Young, Nam June Paik La Monte Young's Composition 1960 #10 (to Bob Morris) performed by Nam June Paik during Fluxus Internationale Festspiele Neuester Musik, Städtisches Museum, Wiesbaden, September 1–23, 1962 1962
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La Monte Young, Nam June Paik La Monte Young's Composition 1960 #10 (to Bob Morris) performed by Nam June Paik during Fluxus Internationale Festspiele Neuester Musik, Städtisches Museum, Wiesbaden, September 1–23, 1962 1962
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La Monte Young, Nam June Paik La Monte Young's Composition 1960 #10 (to Bob Morris) performed by Nam June Paik during Fluxus Internationale Festspiele Neuester Musik, Städtisches Museum, Wiesbaden, September 1–23, 1962 1962
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La Monte Young, Nam June Paik La Monte Young's Composition 1960 #10 (to Bob Morris) performed by Nam June Paik during Fluxus Internationale Festspiele Neuester Musik, Städtisches Museum, Wiesbaden, September 1–23, 1962 1962
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La Monte Young Piano Piece for David Tudor #1, Piano Piece for David Tudor #2, andPiano Piece for David Tudor #3 1960
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La Monte Young, Marian Zazeela Composition 1960 #13. Performance 10 20 62 1962
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Various Artists, George Brecht, Claus Bremer, Earle Brown, Joseph Byrd, John Cage, Anthony Cox, David Degener, Walter De Maria, Ding Dong, Henry Flynt, Simone Forti, Dick Higgins, Toshi Ichiyanagi, Terry Jennings, Ray Johnson, Jackson Mac Low, Richard Maxfield, Robert Morris, Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik, Terry Riley, Dieter Roth, James Waring, Emmett Williams, Christian Wolff, La Monte Young An Anthology 1962
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George Brecht, Claus Bremer, Earle Brown, Joseph Byrd, John Cage, Anthony Cox, David Degener, Walter De Maria, Henry Flynt, Yoko Ono, Dick Higgins, Toshi Ichiyanagi, Terry Jennings, Dennis Johnson, Ding Dong, Ray Johnson, Jackson Mac Low, Richard Maxfield, Robert Morris, Simone Forti, Nam June Paik, Terry Riley, Dieter Roth, James Waring, Emmett Williams, Christian Wolff, La Monte Young An Anthology of chance operations, concept art, anti art, indeterminacy, plans of action, diagrams, music, dance constructions, improvization, meaningless work, natural disasters, compositions, mathematics, essays, poetry 1963
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La Monte Young Compositions 1961 1963
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La Monte Young Trio For Strings 1958, printed 1962-63
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La Monte Young, Nam June Paik Arabic Numeral (Any Integer) for Henry Flynt, and other simultaneous performances, performed during Festum Fluxorum/Fluxus/Musik und Antimusik/Das Instrumentale Theater, Staatliche Kunstakademie, Düsseldorf, February 2-3, 1963 1963
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Various Artists, Ay-O, George Brecht, Congo (a Chimpanzee), Dick Higgins, Joe Jones, Alison Knowles, Takehisa Kosugi, Shigeko Kubota, György Sándor Ligeti, Jackson Mac Low, Benjamin Patterson, Mieko Shiomi, Ben Vautier, Robert Watts, Emmett Williams, La Monte Young Fluxus 1 1964
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Various Artists, George Brecht, Stanley Brouwn, Congo (a Chimpanzee), Sohei Hashimoto, Dick Higgins, Joe Jones, Alison Knowles, Takehisa Kosugi, Shigeko Kubota, György Sándor Ligeti, Jackson Mac Low, George Maciunas, Benjamin Patterson, Takako Saito, Tomas Schmit, Mieko Shiomi, Ben Vautier, Robert Watts, Emmett Williams, La Monte Young Fluxus 1 1964
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Various Artists, George Brecht, Stanley Brouwn, Congo (a Chimpanzee), Dick Higgins, Joe Jones, Alison Knowles, Takehisa Kosugi, Shigeko Kubota, György Sándor Ligeti, George Maciunas, Jackson Mac Low, Benjamin Patterson, Takako Saito, Mieko Shiomi, Ben Vautier, Robert Watts, Emmett Williams, La Monte Young Fluxus 1 1964
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Various Artists, Ay-O, George Brecht, Dick Higgins, Joe Jones, Alison Knowles, Nam June Paik, Benjamin Patterson, Mieko Shiomi, Ben Vautier, Emmett Williams, La Monte Young Fluxkit 1965
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Various Artists, Eric Andersen, Ay-O, George Brecht, Giuseppe Chiari, Congo (a Chimpanzee), Willem de Ridder, Anna Halprin, Dick Higgins, Allan Kaprow, Alison Knowles, Jirí Kolár, Arthur Köpcke, Jackson Mac Low, George Maciunas, Nam June Paik, Benjamin Patterson, Tomas Schmit, Mieko Shiomi, Ben Vautier, Robert Watts, Emmett Williams, La Monte Young Construction of European Mail-order Warehouse/Fluxshop 1984 construction after 1964-65 photograph
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James Lee Byars, Su Braden, Walter De Maria, Richard Hamilton, Kasper König, Julien Levy, Sol Mednick, Irving Petlin, Nancy Reitkopf, La Monte Young, Marian Zazeela, Various Artists S.M.S. No. 1 1968
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Arman, Paul Bergtold, John Cage, Hollis Frampton, Roy Lichtenstein, Lil Picard, Mimmo Rotella, Robert Stanley, Robert Watts, Princess Winifred, La Monte Young, Marian Zazeela, Various Artists S.M.S. No. 4 1968
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Marian Zazeela, La Monte Young Two Propositions in Black from S.M.S. No. 1 1968
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La Monte Young Drift Study 4:37:405:09:50 5 VIII 68 from S.M.S. No. 4 1968
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La Monte Young, Marian Zazeela 31 VII 69 10:26-10:49 PM / 23 VIII 64 2:50:45-3:11 AM The Volga Delta 1969
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La Monte Young Composition 1960 #7 1960/1970
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Various Artists, Ay-O, George Brecht, Congo (a Chimpanzee), Robert Filliou, Anna Halprin, Hi Red Center, Takehisa Kosugi, Joe Jones, Allan Kaprow, Alison Knowles, Shigeko Kubota, György Sándor Ligeti, George Maciunas, Jackson Mac Low, Yoko Ono, Benjamin Patterson, Tomas Schmit, Mieko Shiomi, Ben Vautier, Robert Watts, Emmett Williams, La Monte Young Fluxus 1 c. 1976
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Eric Andersen, Joseph Beuys, John Cage, Philip Corner, Robert Filliou, Ken Friedman, Juan Hidalgo, Dick Higgins, Milan Knížák, Alison Knowles, Walter Marchetti, Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik, Ben Vautier, Wolf Vostell, Robert Watts, Emmett Williams, La Monte Young, Various Artists Fluxus Anthology 1989
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