Music

Julius Eastman

I couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard of him until recently, when a friend told me about him. Julius Eastman was a black, gay composer who died in 1990 aged only 49. It is a true shame he is never mentioned as one of the founders of minimal music next to Steve Reich and Philip Glass. He brings emotion to the genre. People should listen to his music: it’s ecstatic, refined, driven by an unstoppable inner fire. Some of my favourite pieces are Gay Guerrilla and The Holy Presence of Joan D’Arc.