Eric Salzman (September 8, 1933 – November 12, 2017) was an American composer, scholar, author, impresario, music critic, and record producer. He is known for advancing the concept of "New Music Theater" (in his compositions and his large body of writing) as an independent art form differing in scope, both economically and aesthetically, from grand opera and contemporary popular musicals.[1] He co-founded the American Music Theater Festival and was, at the time of his death in 2017, Composer-in-Residence at the Center for Contemporary Opera.[2]
In 1958, he returned to the United States and began a career as a music critic, writing for The New York Times (1958–62), the New York Herald Tribune (1962–66), and Stereo Review (from 1966 until 1998 when it became Sound and Vision). While at the Herald Tribune in 1964 Salzman was awarded a Ford Foundation Fellowship to cover concerts in Europe. During the Fellowship (1964–65), Salzman was based in Paris. He won the Elsie O. and Philip D. Sang Prize for Critics of the Fine Arts in 1969, an award previously given to Harold Clurman and subsequently to Hilton Kramer.[5][6] The judges were Aaron Copland, Vladimir Ussachevsky, and Stanisław Skrowaczewski, who cited his writing for Stereo Review. He also worked as contributing editor and critic for Opera News, Opera, Neue Zeitschrift der Musik, New York Magazine, and other publications in Germany, France, and England.
Salzman founded and ran The Electric Ear at the Electric Circus from 1967 until 1968. He served as music director of WBAI-FM (Pacifica Radio) from 1962 until 1964, and again from 1968 until 1972, winning a Major Armstrong Award for broadcasting.[7] He interviewed numerous artists, including Stefan Wolpe and Edgard Varèse, and was himself interviewed by Virgil Thomson as the special guest on Thomson's radio program for WNCN-FM in 1970.[8]
Through his work at WBAI, where he founded the Free Music Store, Salzman was approached by Joseph Papp in 1968 to create concerts for the then-vacant Martinson Hall at The Public Theater.[9] As a result, the Free Music Store presented free concerts in Martinson Hall until Papp evicted the group in 1971. The Free Music Store provided a platform for musicians who wanted to explore new musical projects while foregoing compensation. Among many programs, the Free Music Store organized formal performances of ragtime music, presenting concerts featuring Eubie Blake and others. Salzman left the Free Music Store in 1972, though the Free Music Store continued operating in various locations under the leadership of Ira Weitzman.
From 1975 to 1990, Salzman produced and directed over two dozen recordings, mainly for Nonesuch Records, including two Grammy Award-nominated records: the Hal Prince production of Kurt Weill's The Silver Lake with the New York City Opera conducted by Julius Rudel (1980) and The Unknown Kurt Weill, featuring Teresa Stratas (1991). He produced the Nonesuch album The Tango Project (1991) and the two follow-up Tango Project albums, Two to Tango and The Palm Court. The first Tango Project album, for which Salzman and his collaborators transcribed Carlos Gardel's Por una Cabeza, won a Stereo Review Award for Record of the Year and was featured prominently in the films Scent of a Woman (1992) and True Lies (1994). The album has been credited for bringing attention to tango music both in Argentina and internationally. Salzman also produced several recordings featuring the music of Harry Partch and William Bolcom, as well as his own music.
New Music Theater
According to Salzman's writing, the future of opera and musical theater lies in economically viable, small-scale theater where music is the dominant driving force. This concept is evident in Salzman's early works, such as:
Verses and Cantos (1967)
The Peloponnesian War, full-evening mime/dance/theater piece with dancer/choreographer Daniel Nagrin (1967 tour)
Nude Paper Sermon, for actor (played by Stacy Keach) Renaissance consort, chorus, electronics (commissioned by Nonesuch in 1969) toured widely in a theatrical version
In 1970, Salzman founded the Quog Music Theater, a mixed-media performing group, which included accordionist William Schimmel and percussionist David Van Tieghem. The ensemble performed many of Salzman's works, including Ecolog, a music theater piece for television (premiered on Channel 13), which received its live premiere at the New York Philharmonic's "Prospective Encounters" series in 1972, as conducted by Boulez.[12] With Quog, Salzman experimented with theatrical forms and ensembles, creating an a capella radio opera and the music drama Lazarus (1973), combining contemporary and medieval elements, which appeared at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in 1974 before touring in Europe.[13]
Salzman created numerous theatrical works with the musician Michael Sahl, with both artists generally serving as co-composer and co-librettist. Among their many collaborations were The Conjurer (1975) which premiered at the Public Theater under the direction of Tom O'Horgan, and Civilization and Its Discontents, a music theater comedy which premiered at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in 1977. Civilization and Its Discontents toured Europe extensively, was recorded for National Public Radio and Nonesuch records, and won the Prix Italia and a Backstage Award. Other Sahl/Salzman collaborations were produced in partnership with the Pratt Institute, Victory Theater, WNYC, Theater for the New City, KCRW (Santa Monica), Quog Music Theater, and the American Music Theater Festival.
In 1997True Last Words of Dutch Schultz had its world premiere at the Internationaal Opera Centrum Nederland, starring Theo Bleckmann as Dutch Schultz. Also in 1997, the Théâtre Max Jacob in Quimper premiered Salzman's work, La Prière du loup, which had been commissioned by Un Théâtre pour la Musique and Scène National de Quimper and was directed by Michel Rostain, who wrote the libretto. They then commissioned Salzman to write another version of Gershwin's Strike Up the Band, which was performed several times in Quimper and Paris between 2000 and 2002. This led to a commission from L'Orchestre du Sciences-Po for a chamber orchestra suite based on the work.
In 1980, Salzman composed and conducted instrumental music and song for Yuri Rasovsky's Peabody Award-winning audio dramatization of Homer's Odyssey for the National Radio Theater.[16] The Kronos Quartet's 1997 album, Early Music, featured Salzman's arrangement of John Cage's Totem Ancestor. This was part of a suite of five of Cage's pieces for prepared piano arranged by Salzman for string quartet or string orchestra, published by C.F. Peters.[17] Salzman's more recent work includes the madrigal comedy Jukebox in the Tavern of Love, with text and stage direction by Valeria Vasilevski. The piece was commissioned by the Western Wind Vocal Ensemble and performed at the Flea Theater in 2008, then Brooklyn's Bargemusic in 2009.[18]
He wrote The New Music Theater: Seeing the Voice, Hearing the Body with Thomas Desi (Oxford University Press, 2008) and Twentieth Century Music: An Introduction (Prentice Hall, 1967; 4th edition, 2001), which has become a widely used textbook in university courses on modern music.[19] He also wrote Making Changes: A Practical Guide to Vernacular Harmony with Michael Sahl (G. Schirmer Inc., 1986), in addition to articles in various publications. He published an essay on the new music theater movement, "Music-Theater Defined: It's ... Well... Um..."[20]
Eric Salzman Award for New Music Theater
The Eric Salzman Award for New Music Theater was established in 2018 by the Quog Music Theater and the Estate of Eric Salzman. The inaugural award was adjudicated by Marcus Paus, Victoria Bond and Scott Joiner,[21] and was given to Marisa Michelson and Anna K. Jacobs.
Personal life
Salzman was married to environmental activist, writer, and Green Party founding member Lorna Salzman (née Jackson) from 1955 until his death. They had two daughters, the poet Eva Salzman and composer/songwriter Stephanie Salzman.[22]
He died on November 12, 2017, from a heart attack, aged 84.[2]
Recordings
Civilization & Its Discontents (reissued January 2012; Labor Records LAB 7089)
The Nude Paper Sermon/Wiretap (reissued October 2012; Labor Records LAB 7092) (The Nude Paper Sermon originally issued on Nonesuch, Wiretap originally issued on Finnadar)[23]
Jukebox in the Tavern of Love (released May 2014 – Labor Records LAB 7094) * This recording by the Western Wind Vocal Ensemble also features Meredith Monk'sBasket Rondo;[24] was a WQXR Q2 Album of the Week in May 2014; was chosen by Gramophone Magazine for inclusion in their 2014 Recordings of the Year.[25]
