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Interview with Morton Subotnick, Now with Schott

Jan. 01, 2007

Schott Music is proud to announce representation of the music of electronic music pioneer Morton Subotnick. Born in California in 1933, Subotnick has been a leader in the development of electronic music since the 1950s. In 1967 he composed Silver Apples of the Moon, the first original large-scale composition created specifically for the disc medium, on a commission from Nonesuch Records, an acknowledgment of the stereo’s place among contemporary forms of chamber music. His works have proven unique in their interplay between composer, machine and performer, often employing “ghost” performers, or pre-recorded live performances on different electronic devices. Beyond composition, Subotnick has established himself among the most tireless and inventive of music educators, working at all age levels to expand the richness of musical education.

Our Keith Philpott sat down for coffee with Morton Subotnick to discuss his music and ideas.

Keith Philpott: What were the early influences in your life that drew you to compose electronic music?

Morton Subotnick: I started composing electronic music in 1957, when there was very little electronic music to listen to, so there weren't really any influences as such. Writing music for theatre and public television is what led me into technology.

What struck me about using technology was not only the ability to create a piece, but that I could also affect the performance of the piece, and I had a lot of performance capability, as far as knowing how to mold and shape things, from playing the clarinet. So, the possibility of being a composer and performer at the same time is what attracted me to electronic music.

KP: As the world of electronic music has grown over the past fifty years, how has your approach to composition, and electronic music in general, changed?

MS: When I started in the late 1950s, you were pretty much dealing with cutting and splicing tape, and that really did not allow one to be a composer/performer. So, by 1960 or 1961 I started looking for an engineer I could work with to develop something that would allow me to accomplish that. I met Don Buchla, and over the next three or four years Ramon Sender, Don and I worked together to develop what became the Buchla Synthesizer, one of the first analog synthesizers–according to Bob Moog, the Buchla actually predated the Moog, but being more of a keyboard instrument, the Moog wasn't what I was really looking for anyway; what I really wanted was real-time control over all aspects of sound: changing timbres, bending pitch, and all of those things one does in performing music. If I wanted to write for a keyboard, I could write on a piano; what I was really looking for was to create a new music.

KP: How have you approached the task of combining electronic instruments, which have virtually limitless sonic possibilities, with traditional instruments?

MS: I did my first big piece with electronics and instruments and lights in 1960 or 1961, and from that I decided I had to move back a bit, to concentrate on each medium one at a time. First, I focused on electronics, and it was 1967 before the culmination of that came out in Silver Apples of the Moon, but it was not until 1975 or 1976 with Until Spring that I felt I really had defined for myself what I wanted to do with pure electronics. Then I decided to go back and add the instruments, and that's when I started the Ghost pieces, and I'm still working on that idea. The idea of the Ghost piece is that the electronics modify the performance in real time. The instrumental sound is the source for everything we hear. The next piece in this continuation will be a new piano piece, which I'm working on now called The Other Piano, which will consist solely of the pianist’s performance but will be electronically modified in real time. The model for these works is Before the Butterfly (1975). To me, this is one of the most interesting pieces I've ever written–also one of the most beautiful.

KP: Is all the self-education you've had to do in developing your music the reason you became involved in children's education?

MS: Yes, that's one reason, but there are really two reasons. The other is that it was clear to me in the 60s that as records and other physical media came to be more and more common as the primary means through which people experience music, there would be many more people listening ‘passively’ to music and fewer ‘actively’ participating in music. I thought that the best way was to get children actively participating in the musical creative process. There was no real way to achieve this in the 60s, so I outlined ways it might be done and waited for technology to change. By the 1990s there were the technological means to achieve this, so I put the wheels into motion for a series of interactive discs for music education. I have completed Making Music, Hearing Music and Playing Music, and this series will be expanded with a downloadable and expandable program that will depend on the individual needs of any particular student.

Schott now serves as agent for Subotnick’s future works as well as the following works from Subotnick’s catalog:

Jacob’s Room (1993) - opera, 1 singer, 1 cello, and computer

Before the Butterfly (1975) - orchestra and 7 amplified instruments. Soloists: trumpet, trombone, percussion, harp, violin, viola, cello

The Key to Songs (1985) - 2 pianos, 2 percussion (mallet instruments), viola, violoncello, electronic sounds. All instruments amplified

A Fluttering of Wings (1981) - string quartet with computer ghost

Echoes from the Silent Call of Girona (1998) - string quartet w/CD-ROM

Trembling (1983) - violin, piano, tape and computer ghost

An Arsenal of Defense (1982) - solo viola and computer ghost

Axolotl (1982) - solo clarinet and computer ghost

Passages of the Beast (1978) - solo clarinet and computer ghost

Release (2003) - for clarinet, violin, violoncello, piano and computer controlled surround sound

For detailed information about Subotnick and his works, please visit www.mortonsubotnick.com.

More about Schott Music can be found at www.schott-music.com.

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