Robert Rauschenberg-Estate (1963)
When I went to visit Earle at his home in Rye, we had lunch together with Susan. (This was in 1986 and I presented to Earle my recently completed Fromm commission Trailing Vortices.) She served a delicious homemade soup. Afterward, Earle showed me their art pieces.
It was not so much a collection as a series of masterworks, many of which had been given to him off the floor of the studios of luminaries such as Robert Rauschenberg. He knew many artists early on and they often collaborated. Earle surrounded himself with art.
Earle inspires a constant desire to look outside of music for new ideas, look around, keep your eyes and ears open. Mix it up a bit. Make some soup.
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Watch this excellent video Elegy for Robert Rauschenberg
“This elegy is dedicated to the memory of Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008) and to the memory of his friendship with my late husband, Earle Brown (1926-2002), whose music has been intertwined and juxtaposed here with images of the glorious Combines.” – Susan Sollins-Brown, Executive Director, Art21
Originally published in: “Earle Brown: From Motets to Mathematics” Contemporary Music Review, Volume 26, Issue 3 & 4 June 2007 , pages 371 – 375
Tags: avant-garde, Earle Brown, Fromm, New York School, Robert Rauschenberg, Susan Sollins
Music, Polyphony and Polyrhythm 
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