La Monte Young on Michael Harrison
Excerpts from a 2007 interview with La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela conducted by Frank J. Oteri for NewMusicBox. Young speaks about Harrison as protégé, performer of The Well-Tuned Piano, and composer in his own right.
Download full interview (PDF) →"I was myself impressed at how well he could learn it. I didn't ever have him practice it for me until just shortly before the concert. He just learned the piece by helping me tune and sitting beside me during performances. And that's very much the way I learned from my guru."
"It was a very positive experience. It was very heartwarming. You have a sense that the tradition will go on… he's written his own pieces, From Ancient Worlds and Revelation, all of which grew out of The Well-Tuned Piano."
"Although they're his compositions, they're children of The Well-Tuned Piano."
"But he added his own world."
"There's only one answer: you have to become my disciple and learn it the way Michael learned it, the way I learned music from Pandit Pran Nath."
"Some people may evolve who really capture the spirit of The Well-Tuned Piano and can play it just fine from listening to it on the recording. I think it would be good if they studied with me, the way Michael did, because I can convey something to them, the way Pandit Pran Nath conveyed something to me."
"He would measure the tuning, right after Michael had finished tuning it and just before I would play it for the concert… Michael did an especially good tuning of the 'Magic Harmonic Rainforest Chord.'"