Body, Jack (actually, John Stanley)
Body, Jack (actually, John Stanley)
Body, Jack (actually, John Stanley), New Zealand composer, ethnomusicologist, teacher, and experimental photographer; b. Te Aroha, Oct. 7, 1944. He studied with Ronald Tremain and Robin Maconie at the Univ. of Auckland (B.M., 1966; M.M., 1967), at Lilburn’s electronic music studio in Wellington, in Cologne (1968), and with Koenig at the Inst. of Sonology in Utrecht (1969). After serving as a guest lecturer at the Akademie Musik Indonesia in Yogyakarta (1976–77), he became a lecturer at the Victoria Univ. of Wellington School of Music in 1980. Body is an active champion of New Zealand musical life through his editorship of the Waiteata Music Press, which publishes scores by New Zealand composers, and as a producer of CDs of New Zealand music. As a composer, he has ranged widely over genres, from the use of traditional instruments to electroacoustic means. He has been notably influenced by the music of Southeast Asia and East Asia, most especially of Indonesia, and has demonstrated a remarkable capacity for synthesizing non–Western musical materials with contemporary compositional techniques. In his experimental photography, he has explored relationships between sound and image.
Works
DRAMATIC: Opera: Alley for Baritone, Actor, Beijing Opera Singer, 2 Folk Singers, Chorus, and 16 Instrumentalists (1997). orch.:Hello François (1976); Melodies (1983); Little Elegies (1985); Poems of Solitary Delights for Orch. and Voice (1985); Pulse (1995); Fours on My Teaching for Orch. and Speaker (1997). chamber:Turtle Time for Harp, Piano, Harpsichord, Organ, and Speaker (1968); The Caves of Ellora for Piano and Brass Ensemble (1979); 3 Transcriptions for String Quartet (1987); Interior for Chamber Ensemble and Tape (1987); Epicycle for String Quartet (1989); African Strings, transcriptions for 2 Guitars (1990); Arum Manis for String Quartet and Tape (1991); The Garden for Chamber Ensemble (1996); Campur Sari for String Quartet and Javanese Musician (1996). p i a n o : 4 Stabiles (1968); 5 Melodies (1982); 3 Rhythmics for Piano Duet (1986); Sarajevo (1996). vocal:Carol to St. Stephen for 3 Soloists and Chorus (1975); Marvel not Joseph for 2 Soloists and Chorus (1976); Vox Populi for Chorus and Tape (1981); Love Sonnets of Michelangelo for Soprano and Mezzo–soprano (1982); 5 Lullabies for Chorus (1988); Wedding Song for St. Cecilia for Chorus (1993). electroacoustic:Krytophones (1973); Musik dari Jalan (Music from the Street; 1975); Duets and Choruses (1978); Musik Anak– anak (Children’s Music; 1978); Fanfares (1981); Jangkrik Genggong (1985); Musik mulut (Mouth music; 1989); Vox Humana (1991). sound image installations:Runes (1984–85); Citywalk (1989); Bloodlines (1990); Sun and Steel: Homage to Mishima (1995). other:Encounters for 4 Track Tape and Actors/Participants (1980).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire