"A composer
of enchanting music, one of New York’s most individual voices of the present
generation." "A seminal figure... one of the leading postminimal
composers."
THE VILLAGE VOICE
"Elodie
Lauten’s music extract order from chaos."
"Elegiac melodies...pungent and intriguing."
"... a fixture of the New York scene."
THE NEW YORK TIMES
"One of America’s premiere post-minimalist composers." DOWNTOWN EXPRESS
"A force on the new music scene." FANFARE
"A musical magus in the Renaissance tradition." THE CHICAGO READER
Lauten's Variations on the Orange Cycle for solo piano was included in Chamber Music America's list of best works of the 20th century.
Lauten's opera Waking in New York, portrait of Allen Ginsberg was listed among Sequenza21's list of the most influential works of the last three decades.
About
S.O.S.W.T.C.
One of the most powerful works to bloom out of the ashes of the World
Trade Center attacks was Elodie Lauten's S.O.S.W.T.C. Using synthesized
ambient sounds of New York and jarring electronic sounds that fold upon
themselves with the grit of collapsing steel, Lauten's meditation diverged
from both the sentimental tributes and the haphazard patriotic arrangements
that followed the attacks. She opted to express the horror of those morning
hours, a feeling that she as a longtime New Yorker has a particular claim
on, rather than the sadness of the aftermath. Released only a few months
after Sept. 11, S.O.S.W.T.C. possesses a rawness that few other composers
have been able to capture.
Amanda MacBlane, NEW YORK PRESS
About
Waking in New York:
"The poetry of Allen Ginsberg has inspired a wide range of
composers from Lee Hyla (whose Howl pits the Kronos Quartet against
a recording of Ginsberg reading his celebrated poem) to Philip Glass (whose
Ginsberg settings include the eclectic Hydrogen Jukebox and Symphony
#6 which is a Mahlerian adaptation of Ginsberg's "Plutonian Ode").
In terms of authenticity, however, all are trumped by Elodie Lauten, who
actually was Ginsberg's roommate during the 1970s. Lauten's Waking
in New York, a poly-stylistic musical melange residing somewhere between
musical theatre and a requiem, is Lauten's moving memorial to her creative
mentor who encouraged her to pursue a career as a composer."
Frank J. Oteri, NEW MUSIC BOX
Lauten reveals greater artistry the further you look beneath the surface, successfully marking the leaps in Ginsberg's own impressionistic narrative with appropriate changes in metre and key. Ken Smith, GRAMOPHONE U.K.
Strange but oddly compelling work...often wild and marvelously demented chord changes... this is a music of Gotham updated to our times, immortalized by one of its best poetic voices, and put in motion by a composer in tune with the pulse of her city." Gimbel, AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE
A Libretto
via Ginsberg captures a City's Spirit
"Blues melodies, gospel and pop as a song cycle. (...) Waking
in New York is actually a lovely, effective and affecting song cycle
for vocal ensemble and orchestra. Ms. Lauten has treated Ginsberg's poetry
and its underlying spirit carefully, even reverently. She tucked its personal
and sometimes diarylike texts into her own agreeably melodic and eclectic
style, but she also appears to have listened carefully for traces of the
music that animated Ginsberg's soul. When
she found them, both in direct references and by implication, she incorporated
them into her setting in the form of blues melodies, the soulful wail
of the gospel singer, hints of jazz and the insistent rhythms and bright
melodies of pop music. Perhaps most crucially, she presented Ginsberg's
texts with clarity and directness, never obscuring his ideas or pacing
for the sake of a purely musical effect.
Allan Kozinn, THE NEW YORK TIMES
About
The Deus Ex Machina Cycle:
"A grand work that we are likely to return to again and again…
timelessly beautiful… Unquestionably Lauten’s own is this fascinating
combination of baroque and earlier musics with contemporary concerns."
21ST CENTURY MUSIC
"A marvelous
piece of music… performed on this CD with admirable exactitude and with
the immediacy of a live recording….Although startlingly new at times I
very soon recognized the rightness, the fitness of The Deus Ex Machina
Cycle. I doubt that I will be alone in this recognition.…Elodie Lauten
is set to become a fixture of future musical lexicons."
NEW HOPE INTERNATIONAL (England)
"A spiritual complexity that is no stranger to the best works of the classical chamber music tradition." CHAMBER MUSIC AMERICA
"Wonderfully exciting music." OPZIJ (Netherlands)
"This work merits a major recording as soon as possible." THE SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
About Tronik Involutions:
"Mesmerizing keyboard work. The music on this CD is quite extraordinary." OPTION MAGAZINE
"Powerful, spontaneous and enlightening." THE SANTA FE SUN
"Unforgettable. Sounds like food for the soul." NOW MAGAZINE (Canada)
"An extraordinary revelation." NEW HOPE INTERNATIONAL (England)
VILLAGE VOICE REVIEWS BY KYLE GANN
Inscapes from Exile - Consumer Guide
Note: Kyle Gann wrote over 20 pieces about Elodie Lauten's music for the Village Voice since 1987; only some of them were included in Downtown, his published compilation of articles.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books
documenting the work of Elodie Lauten
Music Downtown, Writings from the Village
Voice, by Kyle Gann, University of California Press, 2006
Music in America Book, 2005
NovoCento Dictionary, Italy, 2005
La Musica Minimalista, by Giovanni Antognozzi, Rome, Italy, 2000
American Music in the 20th Century, by Kyle Gann, Schirmer, 1997
New Sounds, by John Schaefer, Harper & Row, 1987
Soho, The Rise and Fall of an Artists' Colony, by Richard Kostelanetz,
Routledge, New York, 2003
Newspapers,
Magazines & Online publications about Elodie Lauten
NEW YORK TIMES: Listing, American Festival of Microtonal
Music, April 29, 2007
TIME OUT NEW YORK, October 3, 2006, Recital at Faust Harrison
TIME OUT NEW YORK, Piano Soundstracks at Cornelia St Cafe, April 20-26,
2006
SEQUENZA21: 111 POST-1970 most influential works: Elodie Lauten's Waking
in New York, April 2005
ARTS JOURNA , Kyle Gann's Post Classic blog, April 2005, March
2005, January 2005
New York City Opera: VOX: Showcasing American Composers, THE NEW
YORKER, 5/31/05
Waking in New York, MUSIC AND VISION, 5/25/2004
NYC Opera presents Waking in New York, SEQUENZA 21, 5/25/04
Waking in New York, NEW MUSIC BOX, Is. 54, Vol. 6, 11/03
Waking in New York, GRAMOPHONE U.K., Oct. 03, Awards Issue
Waking in New York, a Ginsberg tribute by Elodie Lauten, SEQUENZA
21, Oct. 03
Not Just Noise, by Amanda MacBlane, NEW YORK PRESS, Vol. 16, Is.
40, 10/03
Waking in New York, AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE, Sept-Oct 2003
Waking in New York, NEW HOPE INTERNATIONAL, June 03
THE VILLAGE VOICE, March 5, 2003. Your Roots are showing. Symphony
2001 conducted by
Petr Kotik and the SEM Orchestra
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE, 8/2/02 Waking in New York
NEW MUSIC BOX, online, October 2001, Insights about The Deus Ex Machina
Cycle, comment by the composer
LA MANCHE LIBRE (France), 8/5/01, Le Cercle des Piroumanes invite Elodie
Lauten
OUEST-FRANCE, 6/21/01, Elodie Lauten
East Village Buddha, by Kyle Gann, THE VILLAGE VOICE, 6/6/01
Waking in New York, listing by Anthony Tommasini, THE NEW YORK
TIMES, 6/1/01
A libretto via Ginsberg catches the city's spirit, by Allan Kozinn,
THE NEW YORK TIMES, 6/6/01
PIPELINE Magazine (Internet) March 2001 – Interview by Scott Young
OPZIJ Magazine, Netherlands, An Exploration of Being: The Deux
Ex Machina Cycle,
by Patricia Werner Leanse 10/00
SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER, Recent CDs of Music by Women, by Allan
Ulrich, 10/00
NEW HOPE INTERNATIONAL, The Deus Ex Machina Cycle, by Sam Smith,
10/00
21ST CENTURY MUSIC, Glory, Lauten and Honor – The Deus Ex Machina Cycle,
10/00, by Mark Alburger
VILLAGE VOICE, 10/24/00, Listing: 50th Year Retrospective
CHAMBER MUSIC AMERICA, Composer Portrait, by Kyle Gann, 7/00
CHAMBER MUSIC AMERICA, 100 Best Works of the 20th Century,
by Frank Oteri, 1999
Waking in New York, VILLAGE VOICE listing, 10/20/99
Waking in New York, Critic’s Choice, NEW YORK TIMES, 10/15/99
Inscapes from Exile, review by Kyle Gann, VILLAGE VOICE, 1998
The Time Is Now – Review by Kyle Gann, VILLAGE VOICE, 1998
Inscapes from Exile, review by Dean Suzuki, EXPOSE, 1998
Elodie Lauten’s music seeks to capture sound of the universe, DOWNTOWN
EXPRESS, by Robert Hicks, 11/98
Elodie Lauten’s opera for the psychoanalyzed generation, by Kyle
Gann, VILLAGE VOICE, 10/22/97
Bang out an old soft shoe, by Kyle Gann, VILLAGE VOICE, 6/3/97
The American Festival of Microtonal Music, by Anthony Tommasini,
NEW YORK TIMES, 5/21/97
Tronik Involutions review, by Linas Vilyaudas TANGO Magazine (Lithuania),
6/1996
Fluidity, from tonality to polytonality to atonality, by Robert
Hicks, DOWNTOWN EXPRESS, 12/17/96
Short List, VILLAGE VOICE, 11/19/96
Listing, VILLAGE VOICE, 11/12/96
Tronik Involutions, TIME OUT, 11/7/96. Review by K. Leander Williams
THE MUSIC CONNOISSEUR, Summer 96. Interview by Marlene Harding.
NEW HOPE INTERNATIONAL REVIEW, London, England. Vol 18 #5, 1996. Review
by Mandy Smith
Short List, VILLAGE VOICE, 4/23/96
Short List, VILLAGE VOICE, 11/8/95
Drone on, by Kyle Gann, VILLAGE VOICE, 5/23/95
Mystical Music, by Kyle Gann, CHICAGO READER, 5/12/95
Short List, VILLAGE VOICE, 5/3/95
Feminine Instincts, by Kyle Gann, VILLAGE VOICE, 4/18/95
Elodie Lauten - Tronik Involutions, by Bill Tilland, OPTION MAGAZINE,
3/95
Best Beats - by Dwight Loop, SANTA FE SUN, 1/95
Mystical Axis, NOW MAGAZINE, Toronto, 1/95
Homebodies, by Kyle Gann, VILLAGE VOICE, 1/3/95
Elodie Lauten - Tronik Involutions, by Dean Balsamo, AH MAGAZINE,
12/94
Cycle with Origins in India, by Bernard Holland, NEW YORK TIMES,
12/17/93
Critic’s Choice, VILLAGE VOICE, 10/8/91
Nerves and Blood, by Kyle Gann, VILLAGE VOICE, 10/15/91
Critic’s Choice, VILLAGE VOICE, 6/13/91
Critic’s Choice, VILLAGE VOICE, 4/11/91
Ouija Songs, by Kyle Gann, VILLAGE VOICE, 4/91
Elodie Lauten Interview by Steven Hall, SHINY MAG., 4/91
Black Holes, by Kyle Gann, VILLAGE VOICE, 7/3/90
Elodie Lauten - Blue Rhythms, by Robert Ianapollo, CADENCE, 5/89
The Rising Yin, by Kyle Gann, VILLAGE VOICE, 3/8/88
Critic’s Choice, VILLAGE VOICE, 2/16/88
Paris and Pink Sunsets, by Kyle Gann, VILLAGE VOICE, 1/87
Elodie Lauten, by Tim Page, NEW YORK TIMES, 9/7/86
The Death of Don Juan, Piano Works, by Dean Suzuki, OPTION,
2/86
Concerto for Piano and Orchestral Memory, by Milo Fine, CADENCE,
5/85
Critic’s Choice, VILLAGE.VOICE, 10/20/84
Artful Music, by Gregory Sandow, VILLAGE VOICE, 8/22/84
Critic’s Choice, VILLAGE VOICE, 7/18/84
Critic’s Choice, VILLAGE VOICE, 7/18/84
Critic’s Choice, VILLAGE VOICE, 3/28/84
Critic’s Choice, VILLAGE VOICE, 4/25/84
Elodie Lauten’s music extracts order from chaos, by Bernard Holland,
NEW YORK TIMES, 6/3/84
Elodie Lauten, by Arnold Barkus, ISLAND MAGAZINE, Spring 84
Critic’s Choice, VILLAGE VOICE, 10/19/83
Critic’s Choice, VILLAGE VOICE, 11/29/83
Maiden in Distress, by Gregory Sandow, VILLAGE VOICE, 11/29/83
Music Room, by Ross Skoggard, EXPRESS MAGAZINE, Fall 83
Critic’s Choice, VILLAGE VOICE, 7/3/83
Critic’s Choice, VILLAGE VOICE, 2/8/83
Elodie Lauten - Music Marathon, NEW YORK ROCKER, 3/82
Orchestre Modern, by Anna Cerrani, THE AQUARIAN, 2/82
US Indie EPs, Orchestre Modern, by Andy Schwartz, NEW YORK ROCKER,
2/82
Talent Talk, BILLBOARD, 1/23/82
Orchestre Modern, OP MAG., Winter 81
Elodie Lauten interview by Alex Barakoff, INVITATION, Paris, 10/80
No Man’s Land, by Andy Schwartz, NEW YORK ROCKER, 12/80
Elodie à Paris, by Alain Pacadis, LIBERATION, 9/80
Le Nul 1976, ACTUEL, Paris, 1/76
Elodie Lauten, FAÇADE, Paris, 11/76
Elodie en sous-sol, ROCK ET FOLK, Paris, 11/75
La Saga de la Femme Electrique, by Alain Pacadis, LIBERATION, 8/75
Electronic Women, by Ernest Leogrande, DAILY NEWS, 11/15/93