Symphony No. II - The Faithful Friend: The Lover Friend's Love for the Beloved by Julius Eastman is performed for the first time in Germany on July 9 by Philharmonisches Orchester Freiburg under the baton of André de Ridder.
The symphony is Eastman’s only surviving orchestral work and was composed as a parting gift to his partner at the time, poet R. Nemo Hall. It was inspired by a parable of two people embracing each other that Eastman observed on the streets of New York. In the score he writes:
On Tuesday, Main and Chestnut at 19 o’clock, The Faithful Friend and his Beloved Friend decided to meet. On Monday the day before, Christ came, just as it was foretold. Some went up on the right, and some went down on the left. Trumpets did sound (a little sharp), and electric violins did play (a little flat). A most terrible sound. And in the twinkling of an eye the Earth vanished and was no more. But on Tuesday, the day after on Main and Chestnut at 19 o’clock, there stood the Lover Friend and his Beloved Friend, just as they had planned, embracing one another.
Conductor Luciano Chessa, who edited and premiered the symphony says: ‘I realize that here Eastman is no longer the soldier in the queer army or the black activist. He is a human being dealing with the most human of feelings: the loss of love.’
For more information, please see the website of Theater Freiburg.
