Editing Glenn Branca

{{short description|American composer and guitarist (1948–2018)}}
{{Infobox person
| name             = Glenn Branca
| image            = Glenn Branca (cropped).jpg
| caption          = Branca performing at [[Hallwalls]] (circa 1980)
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1948|10|6}}
| birth_place      = [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| death_date       = {{death date and age|2018|5|13|1948|10|6}}
| death_place      = [[New York City]], U.S.
| occupation       = Composer, musician, [[luthier]], playwright
}}

'''Glenn Branca''' (October 6, 1948 – May 13, 2018) was an American [[avant-garde music|avant-garde]] [[composer]], guitarist, and luthier. Known for his use of volume, [[scordatura|alternative guitar tunings]], [[minimal music|repetition]], [[drone (music)|droning]], and the [[harmonic series (music)|harmonic series]], he was a driving force behind the genres of [[no wave]], [[totalism]] and [[noise rock]].<ref>Paul Hegarty, Noise/Music, A History (Continuum, 2007) p. 123</ref> Branca received a 2009 [[Foundation for Contemporary Arts]] Grants to Artists Award.

==Life and work==

===Beginnings: 1960s and early 1970s===
Born in [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]], Branca started playing the guitar at age 15. He also created a number of tape [[sound art]] collage pieces for his own amusement. After attending [[York College of Pennsylvania|York College]] in 1966–1967, he started the short-lived cover band The Crystal Ship with Al Whiteside and Dave Speece in the summer of 1967. In the early 1970s, Branca studied theater at [[Emerson College]] in [[Boston]]. In 1973, he moved from [[Boston]] to [[London]] with his then girlfriend Meg English.

After moving back to Boston in 1974, he met John Rehberger. While there, he began experimenting with sound as the founder of an [[experimental theater]] group called Bastard Theatre in 1975. Working out of a loft on [[Massachusetts Avenue (metropolitan Boston)|Massachusetts Avenue]] they wrote and produced the music/theater piece ''Anthropophagoi'' for a two-week run. In 1976, The Bastard Theatre's second production was ''What Actually Happened'' at a new loft in Central Square, Cambridge and later at The Boston Arts Group. Considering the unconventional and sometimes confrontational nature of the productions, the shows still received interested reviews from the ''Phoenix'' and ''[[The Boston Globe]]''. All music for Bastard Theatre productions were original compositions by Branca or Rehberger and were performed live by the actor/musicians.<ref>Marc Masters, p. 112</ref>

===New York: Late 1970s and 1980s===
In 1976, Branca moved to [[New York City]] to continue in experimental theater. He encountered the N. Dodo Band and watched their rehearsals in [[Chelsea, Manhattan|Chelsea]], hoping to use the space for a theater production. Branca spent time with one of its members, Jeffrey Lohn, who introduced him to bands such as [[Suicide (band)|Suicide]]. The two began forming a theater group when Branca decided he wanted to form a band, which he called the Static and later [[Theoretical Girls]]. Branca put up posters to recruit members, and after seeing one of the posters, Lohn expressed interest.<ref>Moore and Coley, p. 52–56</ref>

Lohn's girlfriend Margaret De Wys joined the band as its bassist, and they borrowed drummer Mike Anthol from the N. Dodo Band. Artist [[Dan Graham]] booked the band at [[Franklin Furnace Archive|Franklin Furnace]] for its first performance.<ref name="moore-coley-56">Moore and Coley, p. 56</ref> The group reformed in 1977 with [[Wharton Tiers]] as its drummer.<ref name="moore-coley-56"/><ref>Masters, p. 114</ref> Branca also recorded [[Barbara Ess]]'s band [[Y Pants]] for their debut release on [[99 Records]] and performed with [[Rhys Chatham]]'s ''Guitar Trio'' on occasion from 1977 to 1979,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Boch|first=Richard|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/972429558|title=The Mudd Club|date=2017|publisher=[[Feral House]]|isbn=978-1-62731-051-2|location=Port Townsend, WA|pages=96|language=English|oclc=972429558}}</ref><ref>Masters, p. 124</ref> a [[noise music]] experience that was very important in the development of his compositional voice (Branca 1979). In 1982, Branca launched his own [[record label]], [[Neutral Records]], releasing Y Pants' LP and the first few records by New York [[noise rock]]ers [[Sonic Youth]].<ref>[[Joseph Nechvatal]], Immersion Into Noise (Ann Arbor: Open Humanities Press, 2012), p. 46</ref>

In 1978, Branca participated in the inception of the [[No wave|No Wave]] movement by participating twice in a five night [[no wave]] music festival at [[Artists Space]] organized by artists [[Michael Zwack]] and [[Robert Longo]]. It featured ten [[post-punk]] New York City bands; including [[Rhys Chatham]]'s [[The Gynecologists]], Communists, Branca's [[Theoretical Girls]], Terminal, Chatham's Tone Death (performing his composition for electric guitars ''Guitar Trio'')<ref>Patrick Nickleson, ''The Names of Minimalism: Authorship, Art Music, and Historiography in Dispute'', University of Michigan Press, p. 158</ref> and Branca's Daily Life (with [[Barbara Ess]], Paul McMahon and Christine Hahn).<ref>Patrick Nickleson, ''The Names of Minimalism: Authorship, Art Music, and Historiography in Dispute'', University of Michigan Press, pp. 151-152</ref>

In the early 1980s, Branca released his first album under his own name, ''[[Lesson No. 1]]''.<ref>Masters, p. 126</ref> In the same year, he composed several medium-length compositions for electric guitar ensembles, including ''[[The Ascension (Glenn Branca album)|The Ascension]]'' (1981) and ''[[Indeterminate Activity of Resultant Masses]]'' (1981). ''The Ascension'' appeared on his second same titled solo album in 1981, ''Indeterminate Activity of Resultant Masses'' wasn't released until 2008.<ref>[[Alan Licht]], ''Common Tones: Selected Interviews with Artists and Musicians 1995-2020'', Blank Forms Edition, ''Interview with Glenn Branca'', pp. 399-420</ref> 

Soon after these two compositions, he began composing [[Symphony|symphonies]] for orchestras of electric guitars and percussion, which blended [[drone (music)|droning]] industrial [[cacophony]] and [[Microtonal music|microtonality]] with quasi-mysticism and advanced mathematics. In 1982 he worked with [[Z'EV]] for Branca's Symphony No. 2 in which Z'EV had a solo segment swinging with metal can overhead, and rattling chains and sheets of steel. With Symphony No. 3 (''Gloria'') (1983), he began to systematically compose for the [[harmonic series (music)|harmonic series]], which he considered to be the structure underlying not only all music but most human endeavors.<ref>Masters, p. 115</ref> In this project, Branca was initially influenced by the writings of [[Dane Rudhyar]], [[Hermann von Helmholtz]], and [[Harry Partch]].
[[File:GlennBrancaRefrettedGuitar.jpg|thumb|253px|One of the many custom instruments created by Branca]]
Early members of his group included [[Thurston Moore]] and [[Lee Ranaldo]] of [[Sonic Youth]], [[Page Hamilton]] of [[Helmet (band)|Helmet]], [[Phil Kline]] of [[The Del-Byzanteens]], and several members of [[Swans (band)|Swans]] including [[Michael Gira]], [[Dan Braun]], and [[Algis Kizys]].<ref>Masters, pp. 114–118</ref>

===Custom-built musical instruments===
To further develop his compositions based on the harmonic series Branca built several [[experimental musical instrument|electrically amplified instruments of his own invention]], expanding his ensemble beyond the guitar. A few of these instruments were [[3rd bridge|third bridge]] [[zither]]s he called ''harmonics guitars''. He also built instruments with many strings which he referred to as "mallet guitars" because they were [[percussion]] instruments played with drumsticks and monotone electric [[cymbalom]]s with an additional third bridge on [[harmonics|resonating positions]]. Many of these instruments can be seen in the live performances that appeared on the DVD ''Glenn Branca - Symphonies 8 & 10 - Live at The Kitchen''.
[[File:Glenn Branca Ensemble perfroming Symphony 4.jpg|thumb|253px|The Glenn Branca Ensemble performing Symphony No. 4 ''Physics'' in Europe 1983. Featuring some of the custom made instruments]]

===Late work: 1990s to 2018===
[[File:Glenn Branca-2012.jpg|thumb|upright|253px|right|The Glenn Branca Ensemble, 2012 in Washington, D.C.]]
In the early 1990s, David Baratier attempted to document Branca's teaching style in ''They Walked in Line''. In September 1996, The Glenn Branca Ensemble played at the opening ceremony for the [[Aarhus Festuge|Aarhus Festival]] in Denmark. The ceremony took place in the Musikhuset Opera House, and in the audience were the Queen of [[Denmark]], the mayor of [[Aarhus]] and other dignitaries. After the composer  received more than 25 major commissions starting in 1981  until the time of his death in 2018, Branca's music has started to receive academic attention. Some scholars, most prominently [[Kyle Gann]], consider him (and [[Rhys Chatham]]) to be a member of the [[totalism (music)|totalist]] school of [[post-minimal]]ism.

Beginning with Symphony No. 7, Branca began composing for traditional [[orchestra]], although he never abandoned the [[electric guitar]]. Branca also played [[duet]]s for excessively amplified guitars with his wife, Reg Bloor, and conducted his 13th symphony for 100 electric guitars at the base of the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]] in New York City on June 13, 2001, less than three months before the center's destruction in the [[September 11 attacks]]. Since that time his 100 guitar piece has been performed in cities all over the U.S. and Europe. In 2008, he wrote his 14th Symphony, entitled ''The Harmonic Series'', which is performed by a traditional orchestra. The first (and only completed) movement of this symphony, named ''2,000,000,000 Light Years From Home'' premiered in St. Louis performed by the [[St. Louis Symphony Orchestra]] conducted by [[David Robertson (conductor)|David Robertson]] on November 13, 2008. This was the 12th major orchestra to perform Branca's orchestral work since 1986.

In 2008, he was awarded a grant from the [[Foundation for Contemporary Arts]] Grants to Artists Award as well as a CAPS grant in 1983, an award from the [[National Endowment for the Arts]] in 1988 and a [[NYSCA]] grant in 1998, all for music composition. In 2010, BBN Music re-released Branca's 1981 album ''[[The Ascension (Glenn Branca album)|The Ascension]]'' as a special edition on 180&nbsp;gram vinyl and Branca wrote a piece ''The Ascension: The Sequel'', which was released in the same year on the label Systems Neutralizers. This follow up piece led to new interest in his work and notable performances at [[Primavera Sound Festival]] 2011 and [[Villette Sonique]] 2011.

In October 2014, Branca premiered ''Ascension Three'', touring it with Glenn Branca Ensemble in Europe. In February 2015, Branca's second 100 electric guitars piece, ''Symphony No. 16 (Orgasm)'', was premiered at [[Cité de la Musique]] in Paris. ''The Light (for [[David Bowie|David]])'' for four guitars, bass and drums, premiered in October 2016 at the [[Roulette Intermedium|Roulette]] in Brooklyn.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/08/arts/music/david-bowie-as-muse-why-one-composer-says-so.html "David Bowie as Muse? Why One Composer Says So"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704165450/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/08/arts/music/david-bowie-as-muse-why-one-composer-says-so.html |date=2018-07-04 }} by [[Allan Kozinn]], ''[[The New York Times]]'', October 7, 2016</ref>

===Death===
On May 14, 2018, Reg Bloor's official Facebook page revealed in a post that Branca had died from [[throat cancer]] the night before.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/RegBloorOfficial/posts/1711187462281298 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/670431343023587/1711187462281298 |archive-date=2022-02-26 |url-access=limited|title=Reg Bloor|website=Facebook.com|access-date=15 May 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref>  He was 69.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/obituary/8455922/glenn-branca-dead|title=Guitarist & Composer Glenn Branca Dies at 69|website=Billboard.com|access-date=15 May 2018|archive-date=15 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180515065852/https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/obituary/8455922/glenn-branca-dead|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Legacy==
Branca was featured in 2023 at the [[Centre Pompidou]] in a Nicolas Ballet curated exhibition entitled ''Who You Staring At: Culture visuelle de la scène no wave des années 1970 et 1980'' (''Visual culture of the no wave scene in the 1970s and 1980s'').<ref>[https://www.centrepompidou.fr/en/collection/film-and-new-media/who-you-staring-at] ''Who You Staring At?: Visual culture of the no wave scene in the 1970s and 1980s'' February 1 – June 19, 2023, Film, Video, Sound and Digital Collections</ref>

==Discography==
===Albums===
* ''[[The Ascension (Glenn Branca album)|The Ascension]]'' (1981)
* ''Who You Staring At?'' (split with [[John Giorno]] (1982)
* ''Symphony No. 3 (Gloria)'' (1983)
* ''Symphony No. 1 (Tonal Plexus)'' (1983)
* ''Symphony No. 6 (Devil Choirs at the Gates of Heaven)'' (1989)
* ''Symphony No. 2 (The Peak of the Sacred)'' (1992)
* ''The World Upside Down'' (1992)
* ''Symphonies Nos. 8 & 10 (The Mysteries)'' (1994)
* ''Symphony No. 5 (Describing Planes of an Expanding Hypersphere)'' (1995)
* ''Symphony No. 9 (L'eve Future)'' (1995)
* ''Empty Blue'' (with [[Tony Oursler]]) (2000)
* ''[[Indeterminate Activity of Resultant Masses]]'' (2006)
* ''The Ascension: The Sequel'' (2010)
* ''Symphony No. 7 (Graz)'' (2010)
* ''Symphony No. 13 (Hallucination City) For 100 guitars'' (2016)
* ''The Third Ascension'' (2019)

===Singles===
* "Acoustic Phenomena" (1983)
* "Symphony No. 9 (L'eve Future)" (1995)

===EPs===
* ''[[Lesson No. 1]]'' (1980)
* ''Edmond'' (1986)

===Live albums===
* ''Ensemble - Live at Primavera Sound 2011'' (2011)

===Compilations===
* ''Songs '77–'79'' (1995)
* ''Selections From the Symphonies (For Electric Guitars)'' (1997)

==Music videos==
* Glenn Branca - Symphonies 8 & 10 - Live at The Kitchen (DVD)

==See also==
* [[Mudd Club]]
*[[Minimalism (music)]]
* [[Tier 3 (nightclub)|Tier 3]]
* [[Just Another Asshole]]
* [[New wave music]]
* [[No Wave Cinema]]
* [[No wave]]
* [[Noise Fest]]
* [[Experimental musical instrument]]
* [[Noise music]]
* [[List of noise musicians]]
* [[Post-punk]]

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book |last=Goldberg |first=RoseLee |year=1988 |title=Performance: Live Art Since 1960 |location=New York |publisher=[[Harry N. Abrams]] }}
* {{cite book |last=Hegarty |first=Paul |year=2007 |title=Noise/Music: A History |publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group }}
* {{cite book |last=Masters |first=Marc |year=2007 |title=No Wave |location=London |publisher=Black Dog Publishing }}
* {{cite book |last1=Moore |first1=Thurston |author-link1=Thurston Moore |last2=Coley |first2=Byron |author-link2=Byron Coley |year=2008 |title=Post-Punk. Underground. New York. 1976–1980. |publisher=[[Abrams Image]] |isbn=978-0-8109-9543-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/nowavepostpunkun00moor }}

==Further reading==
*Branca, Glenn (November 1979). New York: Rhys Chatham. ''New York Rocker,'' 16.
*Cole Gagne: "Glenn Branca", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy  {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516041031/http://www.grovemusic.com/ |date=2008-05-16 }}
*[[John Rockwell]]: "All American Music" (Knopf, 1983) ISBN 0-394-72246-9
*Billy Bergman and Richard Horn: "Recombinant Do Re Mi" (Quill, 1985)  ISBN 978-0-688-02192-4
*[[John Schaefer]]: "New Sounds" (Harper and Row, 1987) ISBN 0-06-055054-6
*[[Tom Johnson (composer)|Tom Johnson]]: "The Voice Of New Music" ([[Het Apollohuis]], 1989) ISBN 90-71638-09-X
*Cole Gagne: [https://nicolevgagne.com/music-books-sonic-transports "Sonic Transports"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629192828/https://nicolevgagne.com/music-books-sonic-transports/ |date=2023-06-29 }} (de Falco Books, 1990) ISBN 0-9625145-0-0 (Accessed October 1, 2023)  
*Cole Gagne: "Soundpieces 2: Interviews with American Composers" (Scarecrow Press, 1993) ISBN 0-8108-2710-7
*[[Alec Foege]]: "Confusion is Next" (St. Martins, 1994) ISBN 978-0-312-11369-8
*[[Geoff Smith (music composer)|Geoff Smith]] and Nicola Walker: "New Voices" (Amadeus Press, 1995) ISBN 0-931340-85-3
*[[William Duckworth (composer)|William Duckworth]]: "Talking Music" (Schirmer, 1995) ISBN 0-02-870823-7
*[[Bart Hopkin]]: "Musical Instrument Design" (See Sharp Press, 1996) ISBN 978-1-884365-08-9
*[[Kyle Gann]]: "American Music in The 20th Century" (Schirmer, 1997)  ISBN 0-02-864655-X
*[[Bill Milkowski]]: "Rockers, Jazzbos and Visionaries" (Billboard Books, 1998) ISBN 0-8230-7833-7
*Roni Sarig: "The Secret History Of Rock" (Billboard Books, 1998) ISBN 978-0-8230-7669-7
*[[Bill Martin (philosophy)|Bill Martin]]: "Avant Rock" (Open Court, 2002) ISBN 978-0-8126-9500-7

==External links==
*{{Official|http://www.glennbranca.com/}}
*[http://media.hyperreal.org/zines/est/intervs/branca.html EST Interview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510024245/http://media.hyperreal.org/zines/est/intervs/branca.html |date=2018-05-10 }} by and (c) Brian Duguid.
*[http://www.paristransatlantic.com/magazine/monthly2002/10oct_text.html Theoretical Girls] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060716125730/http://www.paristransatlantic.com/magazine/monthly2002/10oct_text.html |date=2006-07-16 }} by Paris Transatlantic magazine
*[http://musicmavericks.publicradio.org/features/rafiles/interviews/interview_branca.ram Glenn Branca interview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051225081131/http://musicmavericks.publicradio.org/features/rafiles/interviews/interview_branca.ram |date=2005-12-25 }}
*[http://www.ubu.com/sound/tellus_10.html Glenn Branca: "Acoustic Phenomena" (3:59)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612145857/http://www.ubu.com/sound/tellus_10.html |date=2008-06-12 }} published on the [[Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine]] @ [[Ubuweb]]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Branca, Glenn}}
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:2018 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American guitarists]]
[[Category:20th-century American classical composers]]
[[Category:21st-century American guitarists]]
[[Category:21st-century American classical composers]]
[[Category:American expatriates in England]]
[[Category:American people of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American experimental guitarists]]
[[Category:American male guitarists]]
[[Category:Blast First artists]]
[[Category:Deaths from throat cancer in the United States]]
[[Category:Emerson College alumni]]
[[Category:Experimental luthiers]]
[[Category:Guitarists from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:American male classical composers]]
[[Category:Microtonal musicians]]
[[Category:Musicians from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:No wave musicians]]
[[Category:American noise musicians]]
[[Category:ROIR artists]]
[[Category:York College of Pennsylvania alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:21st-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:Atavistic Records artists]]
[[Category:American luthiers]]