The avant-garde music scene is an utter failure and has no future ahead of it. Such words may appear harsh, but they could not be closer to the truth. The failures of avant-garde music are inevitable and inherent to the movement itself without drastic cultural change. White avant-garde music, the dominant form of expression, prides itself on its separation from the material world, its fetishization of the “idea,” and its separation of identity from material reality. This philosophy is evident when one takes a glance at the composers who are exalted and praised within academia. The names John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Pierre Boulez echo through the halls of academia like shouts in a cave. They are praised for their music‘s separation from their material realities and for the “purity” and “clarity” of their soundscapes.

Oh, how mistaken their methods were. When you erase the contents of a whiteboard, you risk erasing the board itself. In other words, you risk erasing personal style-the spirit one carefully injects into one’s creation. When one‘s self is erased from one’s music, that music merely becomes a means to an end rather than the end itself. John Cage explained this to be the goal of his music. As Richard Toop writes, “In the subsequent tabula rasa (blank slate) years, Cage erases his personality to achieve a more harmonious, quasi-Zen relationship to the world.” And oh, how this philosophy has cemented itself within musical academia. You cannot even hope to graduate without becoming intimately familiar with John Cage. All of a sudden, tabula rasa seems to be a prerequisite rather than a suggestion.

Anyone who dares to defy this tyranny is consciously erased. Why is it that one of the most influential and innovative composers of avant-garde minimalism, Julius Eastman-a Black, queer man-has been so unceremoniously erased from his own scene? It is not as though Julius Eastman was an unrecognized composer. During his lifetime, he was invited to perform entire programs of original works at one of the most prestigious conservatories in the world. He pioneered the fusion of pop harmony with a minimalist aesthetic and even developed a notation system that led to some of the most innovative uses of structured improvisation ever written.

So why does his name not appear in the pantheon of legendary avant-garde composers? The answer is simple and tragic: he refused to strip his spirit away in pursuit of “pure music.” His music is gritty, filled with social commentary and identity. You cannot listen to Julius Eastman‘s music without becoming intimately familiar with Julius Eastman as a person. His Blackness and queerness are deeply embedded within his music.

With that, avant-garde music is on a self-destructive downward spiral into irrelevance. What is the purpose of creating or consuming music that is devoid of the explosiveness and urgency of the human spirit? In a time marked by political turmoil and widespread self-questioning, Julius Eastman‘s music is more relevant than ever. I strongly implore every lover of art to listen to his work and experience the beauty of the human spirit.

<Jad Zraiqat 학생 기자 페어몬트 아카데미 11학년>