John Clay Allen is an American composer and pianist. His body of work ranges from pieces for soloist and chamber ensemble to full orchestra, wind symphony, and opera. This music has been performed across the United States and internationally. Clay holds degrees from CU Boulder, the University of North Texas, and West Texas A&M University. Clay is on faculty at Metropolitan State University of Denver and serves as artistic director for Pendulum New Music at CU Boulder.
Devin Patrick Hughes: We are really excited for our “Genius” program to welcome local composer John Clay Allen. Can you tell me a little about your music, how it’s based on Galileo and speak about your compositional style and tastes?
John Clay Allen: In my music I tend to privilege texture, timbre, and color over any traditional sense of melody and harmony. I’m heavily influenced by the slow-churning sonorities of the French spectral tradition and the static harmonies found in American minimalism. On top of that, as a pianist, I can never really escape my deep-rooted love of the nineteenth-century greats: Brahms, Chopin, and the like. I suppose I’ll always be a romantic deep down.
All of these influences are at play in And Yet it Moves. This is a piece that roughly follows the Biography of Galileo Galilei and the conflict between his ideas and those accepted by the Catholic Church.
Galileo was eventually placed under house arrest for insisting that the Earth was not the center of the universe, and his book was banned for two subsequent centuries. Can you speak about the role of the composer or artists in revealing or illuminating truth to society?
I believe that the reason great art can be so moving and powerful is that it does illuminate some sort of truth. What that truth is is unique to the person experiencing it. I think we have to separate the artist and their intentions from the art itself. Experiencing art and music is subjective; every listener brings their own set of experiences, memories, and expectations. If a hundred people hear a piece of mine, there’ll be a hundred different interpretations of it, all of which are valid. Even when a composer tries to prescribe meaning to a work through a title or program note, the piece still ultimately belongs to the listener. Sometimes communities will latch onto a piece and it does become a vehicle for change in society, but that’s completely outside the composer’s control.
Have you written music in the scientific or natural realm before, or do you gravitate more towards absolute music, that is music existing purely for itself and with out any outside themes?
Most of my work is absolute music. Occasionally my music will be based on a singular external idea, without committing to a story or program. I’m fond of titles that point towards the natural world or the cosmos. My Light Pillars diptych takes it name from an atmospheric optical phenomenon and my orchestral work Mira is named for the red giant star in the Cetus constellation. However, it’s rare that my music is based on any sort of program. This piece – And Yet it Moves – may be the only exception.
On this program we feature names in and out of the arts: Einstein, Mozart, Fermi, Chopin and Galileo. We know Einstein took to music, playing Mozart violin sonatas when he had genius block. Do you think there’s a parallel there, something that the creative arts impart to individuals that allow them to make major breakthroughs in other fields?
The act of composing is one of play and curiosity. A composer has to be open to any and all possibilities. I imagine in science it’s very much the same. You don’t arrive at a ground-breaking hypothesis by retracing the same ideas over and over. It’s a creative act to take that mental leap and ask a different question of the universe. I don’t find it at all surprising that Einstein found music fruitful. I should also say that it goes both ways. My creative work has benefitted from reading works about and by great creative minds like Einstein and Galileo.
Many of Einstein’s thought experiments are still being proven by scientists and debated to this day. One of the things that resulted from Einstein’s discoveries and equations is the transistor. Computer generated sounds come into play for another work on the program, Cindy McTee’s Einstein’s Dreams. What are your experiences with “bits” and electronic music?
A great deal of my work involves electronics. It can be an incredibly diverse field but my electronic music generally falls into two categories: the manipulation of pre-recorded everyday sounds like water, metal, or wood to generate sounds and soundscapes that would be impossible with acoustic instruments. Music in the other category uses the computer to manipulate acoustic instruments in real time to extend their timbral possibilities.
Aside from being a composer you are also a pianist, conductor and you happen to be the director of CU Pendulum new music project. Can you speak about that?
Pendulum New Music is CU’s concert series dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music. The series is a platform for student composers to collaborate with outstanding performers from CU’s College of Music and produce top-notch performances. In my role as director, I curate the concerts, coach performers, and handle the administrative side of things, from overseeing the printing of posters and programs to coordinating guest artist visits.
For all those Copernicus and Galileo fans out there, what about And Yet It Moves do you think they’re going to enjoy the most?
My goal in this piece was to write textures and harmonies that would be evocative of the cosmos. I hope fans of science and astronomy will enjoy at least this composer’s musical take on the orbit of celestial bodies. Failing that, this piece features some big, brassy moments that should dazzle the ears, whether you’re a heliocentrist, flat-earther, or just a classical music lover.
Just like Schindler said and Beethoven quoted, “under a starry canopy a heavenly father must dwell.” We are so thrilled to be premiering your music and thank you for taking the time!
I'm so grateful you commissioned this piece and I appreciate all the care you took in bringing it to life. I was very pleased with the performances and I hope your audiences enjoyed it. It was a wonderful experience for me and I can't thank you enough for the opportunity.