{"id":57880,"date":"2019-01-08T14:08:53","date_gmt":"2019-01-08T19:08:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=57880"},"modified":"2019-01-08T14:08:53","modified_gmt":"2019-01-08T19:08:53","slug":"interview-terry-riley-i-would-not-have-written-in-c-if-i-never-had-played-jazz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2019\/01\/08\/interview-terry-riley-i-would-not-have-written-in-c-if-i-never-had-played-jazz\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Terry Riley: &#8220;I would not have written \u2018In C\u2019 if I never had played jazz&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_57894\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-57894\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-57894\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/01\/Terry-Riley-21C-music-festival.jpg\" alt=\"Terry Riley\" width=\"1024\" height=\"569\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/01\/Terry-Riley-21C-music-festival.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/01\/Terry-Riley-21C-music-festival-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/01\/Terry-Riley-21C-music-festival-768x427.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-57894\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">We catch-up with renowned minimalist composer Terry Riley and his son, Gyan Riley, and violinist Tracy Silverman ahead of their headline concert at RCM&#8217;s 21C Music Festival at Koerner Hall, January 18.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span class=\"wpsdc-drop-cap\">A<\/span>fter the long holiday-daze, 21C Music Festival is bringing much energy and surprises into sleepy January, and it\u2019s quite exciting to see the 2019 roster of performers and composers \u2014 especially for <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/event\/royal-conservatory-21c-music-festival-terry-riley-live-85\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Terry Riley: Live at 85! <\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>I remember first encountering <strong>Terry Riley<\/strong>\u2019s music as a university student \u2014 it came in the form of a single sheet: \u201cIn C\u201d (1964).\u00a0 Looking at the little fragments scattered across the page, it felt exciting yet slightly worrying \u2014 would this work? The freedom and the responsibility that came with it felt heavy for the uninitiated, though the worry lifted quickly, when everyone in the ensemble dug into the music, one pulse, one cell at a time \u2014 all in sync.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had some really pleasant surprises (with &#8216;In C&#8217;),\u201c said Terry. \u201c1964 on, it has been played thousands of times, and there have been some really interesting versions \u2014 including Walter Boudreau and L\u2019infonie\u2019s prog rock version, Mantra, and a version from Mali, Terry Riley\u2019s In C Mali, (organized for the 50<sup>th<\/sup> anniversary of \u201cIn C\u201d, with members of Africa Express\u00a0\u2014 including Andr\u00e9 de Ridder, Brian Eno and Damon Albarn).\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_FXQ68ZkWVw?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>\u201c\u2018<em>In C<\/em> was a new kind of way of playing \u2014 freedom, and the responsibility to contribute to the overall shape of the piece,\u201d says Terry.\u00a0 And for January 19th, the trio \u2014 Terry and Gyan Riley with Tracy Silverman, is taking the audience to a new space, on a live stage. There is no set program, except with the promise of solo violin version excerpts from \u201cThe Palmian Chord Ryddle\u201d and \u201cSri Camel\u201d by Tracy. The rest is <em>to be determined<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2026 When we were asked for the 21C festival proposal, I mentioned the duo with my son, and my work with Tracy Silverman, and they requested some orchestral music\u2026\u00a0 they picked the<em> \u2018<\/em>G Song<em>\u2019<\/em> and \u2018Half-Wolf Dances Mad in Moonlight\u2019,\u201d Terry continued.\u00a0 \u201cMy son and I do tour quite a bit, and Tracey has played with us as trio, so we were planning to do a duo set, then Tracy would play from the concerto and other music.\u00a0 I think [the trio] will happen, but we wanted to give Tracy the opportunity as well.\u201d\u00a0 The other two works in orchestral version will be featured on the eve of Jan. 16\u00a0and 19.<\/p>\n<p>Terry\u2019s deep interest in improvisation makes such loose programming a natural choice; he does recognize that rigid framework is a necessity, especially with large ensembles: \u201c\u2026 The larger it is \u2014 more people \u2014 it requires more control.\u00a0 If you are writing for an orchestra, you have to prepare for everything, as the rehearsals are short and every detail needs to be notated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But he observes that after the 20th-century, there is a flux, moving away from the pursuit of rigidity and control, that things are starting to open up again, to experience and create new kind of sounds \u2014 and for Terry, one of the best ways to get there is to give the liberty to the players to do things in different ways.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;We can open that once again, that music can be free and give freedom for the musicians to shape it&#8230;&#8221; \u2014 Terry Riley<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201c\u2026If we went back a couple hundreds of years back in music history, there was a lot more improvisation with compositions, and then the rigid framework got stuck on \u2014 certain notes and certain times, but it wasn\u2019t always like that.\u00a0 We can open that once again, that music can be free and give freedom for the musicians to shape it; it is much more common in jazz and world music, rather than classical music.\u00a0 I would not have written \u2018In C\u2019 if I never had played jazz.\u00a0 It\u2019s only a page, but you may play 20 minutes very easily \u2014 something so simple but has the potential to be elaborate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>All three men find that free improvisation is a great way to interact and to satisfy their curiosity. Terry: \u201c\u2026\u00a0 I like to be surprised when I\u2019m playing, so we don\u2019t have a set list, we go on the stage and we don\u2019t rehearse, and we try to keep things really fresh and surprising \u2014 that&#8217;s the thing I like the most about the duo, that it\u2019s very intuitive and we do have that close connection, that we are both aware where the music goes\u2026 The top priority is that music is coming to you, rather than you having to reach out to it. To be free enough to spontaneously come up with fresh ideas.\u00a0 The only way I can really do that is the daily routine \u2014 I practice every day as an improviser.\u00a0 The daily practice will open one up to the inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In fact, Terry has been cutting back on writing.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve been spending a lot more time improvising, taking older pieces of mine and re-developing that.\u00a0 I\u2019m still very active in that way, but sitting down with pen and paper \u2014 I\u2019m not interested in that, I\u2019m more interested in playing it.\u201d Terry continued that during 1970-80s, he wasn\u2019t writing things down then either, as he was immersed in the Indian tradition, where things are strictly done by rote.\u00a0 \u201cSo, I had a period in my life when I do and don\u2019t write things down. The last three years have been non-writing, but I may start writing things down again when the idea comes to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_57886\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-57886\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-57886\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/01\/Gyan-Terry-Riley.jpg\" alt=\"Gyan Riley and Terry Riley\" width=\"1024\" height=\"555\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/01\/Gyan-Terry-Riley.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/01\/Gyan-Terry-Riley-300x163.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/01\/Gyan-Terry-Riley-768x416.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-57886\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gyan Riley and Terry Riley. (Photo courtesy of the artist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Gyan Riley<\/strong>, whose first instrument was a guitar that he won at a raffle at age 12, has been close to Terry \u2014 his father, but also as a fellow musician.\u00a0 Their latest project together includes a film score for Fran\u00e7ois Girard,\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/V9DUrkqMhGg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Hochelaga, Terre des \u00c2mes<\/em><\/a>, which premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival, though the life-long implicit trust between the Rileys is most illustrative in their live duo performances.\u00a0 Gyan finds it difficult to define the connection in such playing: \u201cMusic to me, is something that cannot be described well by words \u2014 if we had the right words, then we wouldn\u2019t need music! Every time I attempt to describe any music, I find the descriptions painfully inadequate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And like Terry, who builds his oeuvres through fostering personal relationships with others \u2014 the decades-long collaboration with Kronos Quartet, which resulted in 26 string quartet work comes to mind \u2014 Gyan is also deeply appreciative of such connections: \u201cGenerally, the music somebody makes is an extension of their personality, even if it isn\u2019t obvious at first.\u00a0 That\u2019s partly why getting to know somebody through playing together is so wonderful.\u00a0 But it isn\u2019t always: sometimes there isn\u2019t an immediate personal connection, but you can tell that something is promising, and respectively you have to find the road to playing well together.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Ib-g-uQKSaA?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p><strong>Tracy Silverman<\/strong> is also a rare bird of a feather. Looking to find his own voice upon graduation from Juilliard, Tracy started to design his own electric violin. With his electric axe, Tracy explored rock, grunge-metal, and then came back to the traditional violin and joined the Turtle Island String Quartet. However, for many Classical music listeners, it was his performance of John Adams\u2019 \u201cThe Dharma at Big Sur\u201d at LA Phil\u2019s gala opening of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2013 with Eska-Pekka Salonen, which made an unforgettable impression.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/htqhGgBWxyI?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>So how is his six-string electric violin differ from the traditional analogue violin?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am a D\u2019Addario endorser. The two lower strings are C and F.\u00a0 The C string is a standard short scale viola C, and the F string is something which I used to have custom made by D\u2019Addario, but which is now made by several string producers as 6-string instruments are increasingly common,\u201d Tracy explained.\u00a0 \u201cMy gear is always changing, and because I\u2019m usually flying and the technology has finally caught up, I am now using computer-based amp and speaker simulators.\u00a0 I also use a variety of standard guitar pedals such as the Eventide H9 ad Boomerang loop pedal\u2026 and all my recent instruments are hollow, even though there is no sound hole on top.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-57887\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/01\/Tracy-Silverman.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"757\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/01\/Tracy-Silverman.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/01\/Tracy-Silverman-300x222.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/01\/Tracy-Silverman-768x568.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Tracy\u2019s style, which he calls \u2018post-classical string playing,\u2019 has opened an interesting path to him: \u201cIt incorporates contemporary popular idioms rhythmically and stylistically.\u00a0 I\u2019m trying to expand the vocabulary, whether that\u2019s conscious or not.\u00a0 Because I am doing something most people have never seen before, they automatically give me cred as a ground break.\u00a0 The challenge for me is to use that very precious opportunity to get an audience\u2019s attention, and to hope that they will share my taste in music, like what I\u2019m doing and open themselves to having a live musical experience together.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 As a innovator, in addition to solo composing and \u2018de-ranging,\u2019 Tracy continues works very closely with his colleagues to build an entirely new genre of electric violin repertoire, including additional concertos written for him by Terry, Nico Muhly and Kenji Bunch and the duo collaboration with Roy \u201cFutureman\u201d Wooten: <em>Futureman|Silverman<\/em>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sh-8tW2s44s?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>Terry also shares this sentiment regarding genres: \u201cWe have places where we can get music now and anywhere, which was a very different situation than when we went off to buy CDs and LPs.\u00a0 It\u2019s a quite a different situation. It is good in a way, you can hear almost anything, and anyone immediately.\u00a0 Categories of musical traditions are now kind of blurred by lots of crossovers between music and cultures, and now it\u2019s very hard to categorize, as a lot of music does not fall into categories \u2014 I have a background in classical-jazz and Indian\u2026. Words are inadequate to describe, the only thing we could do is point\u00a0[the audience] to my name, and see what they will find out on their own.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Such familiar names yet such mixtures of genres and styles&#8230; what is the audience to do?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou should welcome and not resist the integration of styles.\u00a0 This is one of the things I most appreciate and respect about Terry\u2019s music \u2014 his unfiltered freedom to joyride through whatever musical landscape he wants to be in,\u201d Tracy suggests.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cHolding onto stylistic purity has a very worthy place, and I don\u2019t want to minimize the importance of deeply understanding and studying any particular genre of music, whether that be Classical or Celtic or Carnatic. However, when it comes to the creation and dissemination of new music, I think there is a very different ethos which should dominate, and that is the idea of stylistic freedom \u2014 to create a nest of whatever twigs and fibres, bits of trash and repurposed items that can possibly be used. In the creation and listening of new music, whether serious concert music or popular music, there should be as few rules as possible &#8211; the listener as well as the creator of music should be free to imagine whatever the hell they like, and all the genre-specific training or previous listening of the past should be a reference point, informed or not, depending on the familiarity\/training \u2014 but not a regulation.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Three very different men, yet so closely connected in their ethos and practice. And they are bringing their A-game: music from themselves, no script, no rigid frame, but a promise with a serious dedication for musical synthesis \u2014 and it\u2019s this magical freedom and freshness that drew people into such music.\u00a0 Do put on your coat and come.\u00a0 Put your program down by the side, and simply open your eyes and ears.\u00a0 What would they tell us in the depth of the winter night?<\/p>\n<p>+++<\/p>\n<p>Terry Riley: Live at 85! 18 January 2019, 8 pm at Koerner Hall. Details <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rcmusic.com\/events-and-performances\/terry-riley-live-85\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">here<\/span><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Renowned minimalist composer Terry Riley chats about his upcoming headline concert at RCM&#8217;s 21C Music Festival at Koerner Hall, January 18. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":57894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[25164,4967,29],"tags":[4498,25790,2887,25784,25791],"yst_prominent_words":[19922,19831,25678,25788,25786,25776,25787,25785,25780,25777,6616,25789,25679,25774,21404,25676,25775,25773,19222,25677],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/01\/Terry-Riley-21C-music-festival.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-f3y","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57880"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57880"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57895,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57880\/revisions\/57895"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57880"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=57880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}