La Monte Young's 1958 'Trio for Strings' is the first Western piece made entirely of sustained tones, originating drone music

La Monte Young is the pivotal originating figure of drone music. Drawn from childhood to droning sounds (transformer hum, wind, gagaku, the tanpura), he first incorporated sustained tones in ‘For Brass’ (1957), then composed ‘Trio for Strings’ (1958) — a work made entirely of static chords and steady tones with no melody or rhythm, which he described as ‘the first work in the history of music that is completely composed of long sustained tones and silences.’ It is considered the first modern drone piece, making the drone the whole work rather than a backdrop, and a building block of later minimalism (predating Terry Riley’s ‘In C’ and Steve Reich). In 1962 Young co-founded the Theatre of Eternal Music with Marian Zazeela — a collaborative multimedia group (Conrad, Cale, MacLise and others) whose long-form, durational performances consisted of slowly evolving combinations of harmonic relationships. This collaborative, durational loft-scene practice — not any single recording — is what established drone as an avant-garde discipline; the group released nothing during its performing years, yet became the main channel spreading drone into rock, composition, and electronic music.

Examples

‘For Brass’ (1957): first sustained tones. ‘Trio for Strings’ (1958): ‘the first piece completely made up of static chords and steady tones without any melody or rhythm’ — the origin work. Theatre of Eternal Music (founded 1962, members incl. Tony Conrad, John Cale, Marian Zazeela): collaborative, durational, unrecorded during its active years.

Assessment

Order ‘For Brass,’ ‘Trio for Strings,’ and the founding of the Theatre of Eternal Music, stating what each contributed to establishing drone. Explain why ‘Trio for Strings’ is considered the first modern drone piece, and name the group Young founded that transmitted drone aesthetics onward.