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Commission Music
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I HEARD THE FIRST PERFORMANCE AND I DIDN'T LIKE IT- IT WAS TOO PRETTY, TOO SWEET FOR ME. I WENT BACK A THIRD TIME AND AROUND THE FOURTH TIME, I BEGAN TO HEAR IT DIFFERENTLY. BY THE SIXTH TIME, I REALLY LIKED IT!
She is arguably the most influential philanthropist of contemporary music. Legendary in the music world, Betty Freeman has supported an astounding array of the most important composers in the past 50 years.
By her own count, since 1961 she has made over 300 grants, commissions and gifts of financial assistance to over 70 composers, often early in their careers. Her philanthropy is informed, passionate, and aesthetically wide-ranging. She has commissioned a virtual who's who of important composers, including John Adams, John Cage, Philip Glass, Lou Harrison, Conlon Nancarrow, Harry Partch, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Ned Rorem, Virgil Thomson, and LaMonte Young.
 Betty Freeman Detail from Still Video Composite of Betty Freeman, 1991 by David Hockney |
My father was a philanthropist who gave to hospitals, to Israel, and to education. He was always aware of the needy, the poor and the sick. So I learned this lesson early that it is better to give than to receive. Eventually I found a place for myself in helping with music.
 John Adams |
So many people with means have a kind of museum mentality. But I couldn't care less for buildings, buildings, buildings! Patrons like to see their names on walls so it's often easy to get support for putting up some new edifice. My passion is for the music and the composers.
I found the music world through contemporary art-I was a collector. Then I met composers like John Cage and, in 1964, Harry Partch. I've always been like an Indian with one ear to the ground, curious about what's going on. So I'd heard Partch's music on a Columbia LP and admired it, and then I met this remarkable man. At the time he was so poor, he had been living in his car for six weeks. I couldn't not help him and just let him die-it was that serious. And so I did what I could to keep him going for the last ten years of his life.
So it all began by supporting composers. This was a time when Phil Glass was driving a taxi and his wife had a soup kitchen in SoHo. I was helping a lot of composers-John Cage, Lou Harrison, LaMonte Young, and later Steve Reich-just helping them get by.
Gradually, these composers became better known and when they were asked to write a piece, I supported it. Pretty soon I learned that it wasn't enough to commission or compose the piece. There had to be performances so it didn't end up just being played in a studio. In the 1970s I began to commission only for performances by a specific ensemble or orchestra or opera company.
I'm constantly excited by what the great composers of today are writing-I'm a big fan of Harrison Birtwistle in England. Pierre Boulez is a great friend. Milton Babbitt-simply wonderful. And Glass, Reich, Adams, Thomas Adès, Osvaldo Golijov, Mikel Rouse…there are so many I can't name them all. People ask how I find composers but really it's a small world, much like the contemporary art scene. Once you get to know a few people, you quickly know many more.
I go to concerts as often as possible, but only when there is a piece I've never heard. Unfortunately, that's not as frequent in Los Angeles as it should be. I go to Europe every year where I hear a lot-usually to England, Germany, and Salzburg, where, when Gerard Mortier was directing the festival, he did exciting things. Last year I was in Lucerne to hear a young Austrian composer, Olga Neuwirth.
For someone thinking about commissioning, you have to consider that the cost can vary. You have to take into account how long the piece is-three minutes or three hours? And how many performers there are-a solo is completely different from an opera. Does the piece need a libretto? I always cover the cost of the scores, which can be a big item. For instance, if it's an orchestral piece, you have separate parts for each of the instrumentalists in addition to the full score for the conductor.
And there is the commissioning fee itself. Recently I heard about a composer who was calculating his rate for a solo piano piece as $1,000 a minute. So a three-minute solo piano piece, for instance, would be $3,000. That was his way of thinking about it and I thought it was not unreasonable and his rate was in line with what the well-known composers might get.
Sometimes things just don't work out. I commissioned a piece from a wonderful person who was the right person for the project, but the music didn't turn out so well. I never ever mind the failures though because without them you don't know what the successes are.
For about 20 years, I was married to a wonderful Italian man, Franco Assetto. He was from Turin and hated contemporary music. He only liked Verdi and Rossini. But he insisted on going to every concert with me. I could never sit next to him though because he would make these awful sounds -ah, uh- like he was dying!
We hosted musicales here in our home for ten years. About six times each season, I would invite two composers. Each would talk for 15 minutes or so and then play music-with live musicians or on a recording. Then the composer would answer questions. It was a very successful format.
Since he didn't like the music, my husband stayed in the kitchen. He lived to cook, so he would make pasta for 100 people. After he died in 1991, I tried to continue the series for two years but when the tenth anniversary of the series came, I knew it was time to stop. And on the day of the last concert, the mayor made a declaration of Betty Freeman Music Day in Los Angeles.
 Kaija Saariaho |
You don't have to go seven times to everything, as I do. But contemporary music demands a lot from us. You must use your mind to ask what the composer is doing. The great composers of today are writing marvelous things and I never get tired of the adventure of listening.