The influence that composer and musician La Monte Young has exerted far exceeds the size of his slender and erratically available discography. Born in 1935, he presented some of his early compositions at a concert series he programmed at Yoko Ono’s loft in 1960, and they helped shape minimalist composition and conceptual art. He accidentally introduced drones and alternate tunings to rock ’n’ roll when violist John Cale incorporated sounds he’d developed in Young’s Theatre of Eternal Music into the Velvet Underground. Young named his ensemble with complete earnestness: duration is part of the essence of his work. He doesn’t consider individual performances of The Second Dream of the High-Tension Line Stepdown Transformer, presented tonight by Chicago new-music ensemble Fulcrum Point, to have beginnings and endings. They are rather parts of what he’s called an “eternal fabric of sound and silence,” which is itself part of a larger body of work, The Four Dreams of China (1962), whose pieces each comprise just four notes. Each manifestation of The Second Dream ushers listeners into a state of timelessness. Seated in a space bathed in magenta light, they are surrounded by eight trumpet players, who alternate long-held, muted tones with moments of silence. Those who’ve visited the Dream House (the long-standing sound and light installation that Young and his partner, light artist Marian Zazeela, have operated in New York for decades) will find the environment the piece generates quite familiar, but this performance is the first time that The Second Dream has been presented in the midwest. Joining Fulcrum Point for this performance is Ben Neill, an enduring associate of Young and Zazeela who played on the sole recording of the piece, released by Gramavision in 1991. Audience members are encouraged to bring yoga mats in case they wish to listen while prone.
Fulcrum Point Chicago ensemble Fulcrum Point will be joined by Ben Neill to perform La Monte Young’s The Second Dream of the High-Tension Line Stepdown Transformer. Thu 11/16, 7:30 PM, Venue Six10, 610 S. Michigan, $40, $30 students and teachers, discounts for Chicago Humanities members, all ages
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