Richard Bunger Evans

Last updated
Richard Bunger Evans
Also known asRichard Bunger
Richard B. Evans
Born1942
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Occupation(s)Composer, pianist, author
Website www.richardbevans.com

Richard Bunger Evans, also known as Richard Bunger, (born 1942) is an American composer and pianist who worked with John Cage and subsequently wrote "the classic book on John Cage," [1] The Well-Prepared Piano. Evans has composed and performed music for opera and musical theatre, piano, art songs, prepared piano, choral music, string orchestra and chamber music. He continues to compose and perform in these various genres, and is especially respected as a collaborator with singers. During his 17-year career as a music professor, Evans was named one of two statewide Outstanding Professors of 1981–1982 in the 23-campus California State University system.

Contents

Early career

Enrolling as Richard Bunger, Evans studied at Lafayette College and Oberlin College where he obtained a B.Mus. in 1964. Evans continued at the University of Illinois and earned a master's degree in music in 1966. He studied further at the University of Kentucky. During his post-graduate studies, he taught at Queens University of Charlotte in North Carolina. One of his students in North Carolina was composer Betty Rose Wishart. In 1968 Evans accepted a position at Oberlin Conservatory to teach music theory. A year later, Evans moved to Los Angeles, California to work as a jazz pianist. In 1970 he accepted a professorship at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH). Here he founded and directed the Electronic Music & Recording Program (EM&R), an interdisciplinary degree program between the departments of music, physics, and media. As the first of its type, the program became a prototype for many such programs subsequently offered across the country. Evans was named Outstanding Professor 1981–1982 of the 23-campus California State University system. [2] Also at CSUDH, Evans wrote the music and helped write the lyric for the school's alma mater. [3]

Prepared piano

While teaching at Queens University, Bunger became very interested in the techniques and performance of prepared piano, encountering John Cage in 1967. Evans studied Cage's early manuscripts and became expert enough that Cage asked him to edit some for publication, and to record performances of them. One such effort was a 1980 recording project at Capitol Records that eventually resulted in the Richard Bunger CD Four Walls, but it was not released to the public until after 1985 when Cage allowed it to be made available; Cage had long considered these expressive pieces unrepresentative of his most influential avant garde work. [4] Evans wrote The Well-Prepared Piano in 1973, [5] a treatise on piano techniques for new music composition and performance with illustrations drawn by the author. Cage wrote the foreword to the book, which has been repeatedly referred to by avant-garde pianists as "the classic" in the field, [1] [6] [7] and which was later published in Japanese by Zen-On Music Ltd. Evans performed and recorded a concert of avant garde solo piano pieces at Oberlin, including works by Cage, Henri Lazarof, Barney Childs and Charles Ives. Using manuscript fragments and notes, Evans reconstructed Cage's 1939 incidental music for Jean Cocteau's Marriage At The Eiffel Tower. Evans toured extensively in the 1970s and early 1980s, exclusively performing and promoting music by 20th century American composers, from Charles Ives to Cage and beyond, always including lectures on the physical well-being of the piano to protect against potentially harmful avant garde performance techniques. [8]

In 1973, Evans devised a way for pianists to hold their music while performing pieces that require the removal of the piano's traditional music stand. Evans called his invention the "Bungerack". [9] Evans also invented a notational scheme called "Musiglyph", for unconventional piano compositions. [10] [11] Evans was invited to join Nicolas Slonimsky, Dane Rudhyar and others at the April 1973 music convocation called "The Expanded Ear", which culminated in the Six-Acre Jam, a piece in which 60 musicians played at various positions among the trees on a mountain slope. [12] In May 1973, Evans performed live in the radio studio for Charles Amirkhanian's Other Minds radio program; Evans played compositions from Cage, Henry Cowell, Harold Budd, and E. T. Paull, and a recording of his piano and tape interpretation of a Morton Subotnick piece. [13]

Concert pianist

Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Evans toured in North America and Europe in support of music by 20th century American composers. He recorded a complete album of prepared piano pieces Prepared Piano: The First 40 Years before 1983 when illness forced him to leave the field of music. [14] In 1991, he returned to music, but in more traditional genres such as musical theatre, opera and oratorio rather than in avant garde styles. [15]

Composer

From 1991, Evans concentrated on composing music in a wide variety of popular genres, especially art songs, choral music, opera, oratorio and musical theatre.

For the 1991 Grove Play entitled Tyburn Fair, Evans worked with a libretto from Bohemian Donald L. Winks to compose the oratorio, performed in July at the Bohemian Grove. [16] Evans wrote the music for his next Grove Play in 2007 to a libretto by Mark Cleary: Leprechaun. [17]

In May–June 1994, Evans was the musical director for A New York Romance, a one-woman performance piece set in New York City, sung and acted by Mary Setrakian. [18] In 2000, Evans released the CD Midas & Marigold, A Family Opera, featuring music by Evans and book and lyrics by 'vid Buttaro and Squire Fridell.

In November 2004, Evans took part in a collaborative composition and performance work called "Raw Impressions Musical Theater #1", with eight other composers. [19] In 1995 Evans composed and recorded the music for the two-hour opera an oratorio based on the poetic works of William Butler Yeats, Maude Gonne, and Padraic Pearse: The Rising, An Irish Allegory. [20]

In 2001, Evans wrote the music for a performance of Thorstein Veblen's The Theory of the Leisure Class to a libretto by Charles Leipart, that was presented by the National Association of Musical Theatres in New York City in 2002 and recreated as a vaudeville production produced by Stages 2006, staged at Kansas City Ballet. [21] This musical was rewritten by the authors, retitled as "The Price of Everything" and produced during 2010 by the 6th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa, California, directed by Nancy Prebilich.

Evans’ other musicals as composer include The Playboy of Balyduff, An Irish Musical Comedy, with lyrics by Kate Hancock and book by Hancock and Evans, based on the 1907 Irish comedy by John Millington Synge; MIDLIFE! The Users’ Guide, a musical review with lyrics by Frank Evans and additional lyrics by R. Evans; and "The Golden Touch, A Family Musical," with book and lyrics by Maryrose Wood, commissioned by the International Institute of Vocal Arts and first produced in the Theatre at Riverside Church (NYC).

In 2009 Evans was commissioned by the West Bay Opera to create "Enchanted April, A Lyrical New Musical," based on the 1922 novel The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim. Evans in turn commissioned Charles Leipart to write the book and lyrics. The initial Industry Presentations of Enchanted April, directed by Annette Jolles, were produced at the Chelsea Studios in NYC in March 2010, and starred Rebecca Luker, Jill Paice, Robert Petkoff, and George Dvorsky.

Family

Evans has three children from his second marriage: Berklee Sati (b. 1977), Blake Lowrey-Evans (b. 1981), and Beka Lowrey-Evans (b. 1984). He is married to Debra Wakefield Evans, a television editor.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Tudor</span> Musical artist

David Eugene Tudor was an American pianist and composer of experimental music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Cage</span> American avant-garde composer (1912–1992)

John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde. Critics have lauded him as one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was also instrumental in the development of modern dance, mostly through his association with choreographer Merce Cunningham, who was also Cage's romantic partner for most of their lives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prepared piano</span> Piano with objects placed on or between the strings to temporarily change the sound

A prepared piano is a piano that has had its sounds temporarily altered by placing bolts, screws, mutes, rubber erasers, and/or other objects on or between the strings. Its invention is usually traced to John Cage's dance music for Bacchanale, created without room for a percussion orchestra. Cage has cited Henry Cowell as an inspiration for developing piano extended techniques, involving strings within a piano being manipulated instead of the keyboard. Typical of Cage's practice as summed up in the Sonatas and Interludes (1946–48) is that each key of the piano has its own characteristic timbre, and that the original pitch of the string will not necessarily be recognizable. Further variety is available with use of the una corda pedal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morton Feldman</span> American composer (1926–1987)

Morton Feldman was an American composer. A major figure in 20th-century classical music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School of composers also including John Cage, Christian Wolff, and Earle Brown. Feldman's works are characterized by notational innovations that he developed to create his characteristic sound: rhythms that seem to be free and floating, pitch shadings that seem softly unfocused, a generally quiet and slowly evolving music, and recurring asymmetric patterns. His later works, after 1977, also explore extremes of duration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Wolff (composer)</span> American composer of experimental classical music

Christian G. Wolff is an American composer of experimental classical music and classicist.

20th-century classical music describes art music that was written nominally from 1901 to 2000, inclusive. Musical style diverged during the 20th century as it never had previously, so this century was without a dominant style. Modernism, impressionism, and post-romanticism can all be traced to the decades before the turn of the 20th century, but can be included because they evolved beyond the musical boundaries of the 19th-century styles that were part of the earlier common practice period. Neoclassicism and expressionism came mostly after 1900. Minimalism started much later in the century and can be seen as a change from the modern to postmodern era, although some date postmodernism from as early as about 1930. Aleatory, atonality, serialism, musique concrète, electronic music, and concept music were all developed during the century. Jazz and ethnic folk music became important influences on many composers during this century.

Larry Don Austin was an American composer noted for his electronic and computer music works. He was a co-founder and editor of the avant-garde music periodical Source: Music of the Avant Garde. Austin gained additional international recognition when he realized a completion of Charles Ives's Universe Symphony. Austin served as the president of the International Computer Music Association (ICMA) from 1990 to 1994 and served on the board of directors of the ICMA from 1984 to 1988 and from 1990 to 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rodion Shchedrin</span> Soviet and Russian composer and pianist

Rodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin is a Soviet and Russian composer and pianist, winner of USSR State Prize (1972), the Lenin Prize (1984), and the State Prize of the Russian Federation (1992), and is a former member of the Inter-regional Deputies Group (1989–1991). He is also a citizen of Lithuania and Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gustavo Becerra-Schmidt</span> Chilean composer

Gustavo Becerra-Schmidt was a Chilean composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Montague</span> American musician (born 1943)

Stephen Rowley Montague is an American composer, pianist and conductor who grew up in Idaho, New Mexico, West Virginia and Florida.

Yvar Emilian Mikhashoff was an American virtuoso pianist and composer. He is best known for his performance of contemporary classical music.

Vahram Ohani Babayan is a contemporary Armenian composer, pianist, and music theorist. He has composed a variety of music, including opera and ballet, symphonies, chamber music, and vocal compositions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yannis Markopoulos</span> Greek composer (born 1939)

Yannis Markopoulos is a Greek composer.

<i>Originale</i> Music theatre work by Karlheinz Stockhausen

Originale, musical theatre with Kontakte, is a music theatre work by the German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, written in collaboration with the artist Mary Bauermeister. It was first performed in 1961 in Cologne, and is given the work number 12⅔ in Stockhausen's catalogue of works.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dmitry Smolsky</span> Belarusian composer

Dmitry Smolski was a Belarusian composer, Honored Artist of Belorussian SSR (1975), laureate of the State Prize of BSSR (1980), National Artist of the Republic of Belarus (1987), laureate of the Order of Francysk Skaryna (2013), and professor. Dmitry Smolsky was the father of Victor Smolski, best known as the guitarist of the German band Rage.

Zoran Hristić was a Serbian composer. He had a freelance artist status for a long time. At the initiative of Dušan Radović in 1979, he was nominated an editor, director and founder of the Concert Studio B. from 1982 to 1989, he was the chief music editor of Radio Belgrade, and then moved on RTVB, later RTS where he was editor in chief of the editorial board of Music programme until 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polo Piatti</span> Musical artist

Polo Osvaldo Ernesto Piatti is a British-Argentine composer, concert pianist and conductor. He has performed his own music in three continents.

IYOV is an opera-requiem for prepared piano, cello, drums and voices by composers Roman Grygoriv and Illia Razumeiko, directed by Vlad Troitskyi.

George Newson is an English composer and pianist who made some important contributions to British electronic and avant garde music during the 1960s and 1970s and has subsequently composed large and small-scale works in many musical forms and styles, from songs and chamber music to choral works and opera. As a photographer, Newson has taken portraits of many of his composer contemporaries.

References

  1. 1 2 American Composers Forum. Member Bio: William C. Harrington. Retrieved on July 1, 2009.
  2. ↑ California State University. Outstanding Professor Awards, p. 22. Retrieved on July 1, 2009.
  3. ↑ CSUDH CSU News, 1982. Retrieved on July 1, 2009.
  4. ↑ DRAM. Don Gillespie, John Cage's 4 Walls. Retrieved on July 1, 2009.
  5. ↑ Bunger, Richard. The Well-Prepared Piano, Colorado College Music Press, 1973.
  6. ↑ Cambridge Journals. Reviews: Multimedia. Philip Gentry, John Cage: The Works for Piano 7. Brian Brandt, director; Margaret Leng Tan, piano and prepared piano. Mode Records DVD 158, 2006. Retrieved on July 1, 2009.
  7. ↑ Music Teachers Association of California, San Diego Chapter. Women In Music: Compositions For Intermediate Level. Retrieved on July 1, 2009.
  8. ↑ AMS Newsletter. January 15, 1975. CMS and ASUC Join In February Meeting. Retrieved on July 1, 2009.
  9. ↑ Richard B. Evans. Bungerack and manufactured a limited number of these music stands for close friends, including John Cage. Retrieved on July 1, 2009.
  10. ↑ Bunger, Richard. The Musiglyph Primer, 1973.
  11. ↑ Bunger, Richard. The Diatonic Staff: A Notational Assessment for Musiglyph, 1974.
  12. ↑ Archive.org. Other Minds Archives. The Expanded Ear: Six Acre Jam. San Bernardino National Forest, April 28, 1973. Retrieved on July 1, 2009.
  13. ↑ Archive.org. Other Minds Archives. The Well-Prepared Piano by Richard Bunger (May 17, 1973). Retrieved on July 1, 2009.
  14. ↑ Kostelanetz, Richard; H. R. Brittain. A Dictionary of the Avant-Gardes, Routledge, 2001, p. 492. ISBN   0-415-93764-7
  15. ↑ Richard Bunger Evans. Who is Richard Bunger?. Retrieved on July 1, 2009.
  16. ↑ Evans, Richard B.; Donald L. Winks; Adrian McNamara; Bohemian Club. Tyburn Fair, Bohemian Club, 1991.
  17. ↑ Amazon.com. Leprechaun, Bohemian Club, 2007.
  18. ↑ Willis, John, ed. (1996). "A New York Romance". John Willis Theatre World 1993-1994 Season Volume 50. Applause Theatre Book Publishers. p. 126. ISBN   1-55783-235-8 . Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  19. ↑ RIMT RIMT #1. Retrieved on July 1, 2009.
  20. ↑ Opera America. North American Works Directory. The Rising, An Irish Allegory. Retrieved on July 1, 2009.
  21. ↑ Playbill, July 15, 2006. Kenneth Jones, Up to Date in Kansas City: Seven New Musicals Get Readings in Festival July 15 & 22. Retrieved on July 1, 2009.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.