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La Monte Young

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Composer

The Resume

    (October 14, 1935- )
    Born in Bern, Idaho
    Avant-garde/minimalist composer
    Plays saxophone, piano and tanpura
    Wrote 'Five Small Pieces for String Quartet' (1956), 'Poem for Chairs, Tables, Benches, Etc.' (1960), 'Compositions 1960' (1960), 'Four Dreams of China' (1962), 'Pre-Tortoise Dream Music' (1964), 'The Well-Tuned Piano' (1964), 'Two Systems of Eleven Categories' (1966), 'The Subsequent Dreams of China' (1980), 'The Big Dream Symmetries' (1988), 'The Prime Time Twins' (1990) and 'Just Charles and Cello in the Romantic Chord' (2003)

Why he might be annoying:

    He wrote pieces that require releasing butterflies in the auditorium and 'feeding' a bale of hay to a piano.
    His concert programs included a printed notice: 'The purpose of these concerts is not entertainment.'
    His more ambitious works tended to drone on... and on... and on.
    Several of his works were inspired by his use of LSD, peyote and marijuana.
    He and his wife, light artist Marian Zazeela, follow their own extended sleep-wake cycle of 33-hour 'days.'
    He influenced Yoko Ono.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He and Zazeela have been married for over 50 years.
    Before going avant-garde, he was a jazz musician who played with Ornette Coleman.
    His works have been influenced by Indian ragas, Japanese gagaku (Imperial court dances) and Indonesian gamelan music.
    His 'The Well-Tuned Piano' was described by the New York Times as 'a watershed event' in the development of late-20th century music.
    He influenced the Velvet Underground and Brian Eno.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 13 Votes: 69.23% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 8 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 10 Votes: 60.0% Annoying