View source for David C. Johnson

{{Short description|American composer}}
{{Other people|David Johnson}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2013}}
{{Use shortened footnotes|date=March 2021}}
'''David C. Johnson''' (January 30, 1940, in [[Batavia, New York]] – October 28, 2021, in [[Basel]]) was an American composer, [[flautist]], and performer of [[live electronic music]].

== Life and career ==
Johnson studied, among other places, at Harvard University (M.A. in composition 1964), with [[Nadia Boulanger]] in Paris, and at the [[Cologne]] Courses for [[Neue Musik|New Music]] in 1964–1965, 1965–1966, and 1966–1967.{{sfn|Stockhausen|1971|pp=198–204}}

[[File:David C Johnson at the first MultiMediale in ZKM Karlsruhe 1989.jpg|thumb|David C Johnson at the 1989 presentation of "Gefangene Früchte" for the first MultiMediale festival organized by the Zentrum for Künst und MedienTechnologie, Karlsruhe]]
In 1966–1967, he was an independent collaborator at the [[Studio for Electronic Music (WDR)|Electronic Studio]] of the [[Westdeutscher Rundfunk|WDR]], where he assisted [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]] with the production of his electronic work ''[[Hymnen]]''. He also operated the live-electronics in the first performances of the chamber-orchestra version of Stockhausen's ''[[Mixtur]]'' (1967), and in the Darmstadt collaborative works directed by Stockhausen, ''[[Ensemble (Stockhausen)|Ensemble]]'' in 1967 and ''[[Musik für ein Haus]]'' in 1968.{{sfn|Gehlhaar|1968|p=39}}{{sfn|Ritzel|1970|p=50}}{{sfn|Stockhausen|1971|pp=213, 217}}

In 1968, Johnson was instructor of electronic music at the Cologne Courses for New Music.{{sfn|Stockhausen|1971|p=206}} From its formation in Cologne in 1968, he collaborated with the experimental beat group, later known as [[Can (band)|Can]], formed by bass guitarist Holger Schüring (later known as [[Holger Czukay]]), keyboardist [[Irmin Schmidt]], guitarist [[Michael Karoli]] and drummer [[Jaki Liebezeit]]. He left in 1969, disappointed at their growing rock influences and, according to Irmin, the lack of patience for band's vocalist, [[Malcolm Mooney]], "with his craziness and spontaneity and totally unforeseen sudden outbursts". Johnson also added that the group "demanded too much unstrained dedication, which cannot be mustered up artificially."<ref name="young">{{cite book |last1=Young |first1=Rob |last2=Schmidt |first2=Irmin |authorlink2=Irmin Schmidt |title=All Gates Open: The Story of Can |year=2018 |edition=e-book |publisher=[[Faber and Faber]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-571-31151-4|page=77}}</ref>

In 1970, Johnson performed in a number of Stockhausen's "process" works (''[[Spiral (Stockhausen)|Spiral]]'', ''[[Pole (Stockhausen)|Pole]]'', ''[[Expo (Stockhausen)|Expo]]'') at the German pavilion of [[Expo '70]], the [[Osaka Prefecture|Osaka]] [[world's fair]].{{sfn|Kurtz|1992|p=178}}{{sfn|Stockhausen|1971|pp=175–181}} After Osaka Johnson, together with [[Johannes Fritsch]] and [[Rolf Gehlhaar]], founded the Feedback Studio in Cologne<ref name="young"/> and became a technical collaborator in the Studio for Electronic Music of [[Utrecht University]].

In the early 1970s, Johnson joined the [[Oeldorf Group]], a musicians' cooperative, with [[Péter Eötvös]], [[Mesías Maiguashca]], Gaby Schumacher (cello) and Joachim Krist (viola), who organized a Summer Night Music series. Performances were held in the barn attached to the group's farmhouse in {{ill|Oeldorf|de}}, near [[Kürten]].{{sfn|Kurtz|1992|p=200}}

In 1972, with [[Helmut Lachenmann]], he coordinated the Composition Studio at the [[Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music]]. He remained technical director of the Feedback Studio until 1975, when he moved to Basel to become director of the electronic studio of the [[City of Basel Music Academy]] there, a post he held until 1985. 

In the mid-eighties he played flute on Irmin Schmidt's soundtrack for [[Rote Erde (TV series)|Rote Erde]] TV series.<ref name="young"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/de/release/1442307-Irmin-Schmidt-Rote-Erde-Originalmusik-Zur-Fernsehserie|title=Irmin Schmidt – Rote Erde - Originalmusik Zur Fernsehserie|website=Discogs|date=1983 }}</ref>

Johnson died in [[Basel]] on October 28, 2021, aged 81.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.todesanzeigenportal.ch/?9XH3fWZdp2BAes |title=Todesanzeige |access-date=September 4, 2023 |archive-date=April 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405165827/https://www.todesanzeigenportal.ch/?9XH3fWZdp2BAes |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Personal life==
David C. Johnson and [[Mary Bauermeister]] (at the time married to [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]]) had a daughter Sofie (born July 1972).<ref name="young"/>

==Discography==
* Three Pieces for string quartet (1966)
* ''Dort wo wir leben'', electronic music for the documentary film by Kazimierz Karabasz (1967)
* ''TeleFun'', electronic music (1968)
* ''Ton-Antiton'', electronic music (1968)
* ''Prorganica'', sound installation (1970)
* ''Organica I–IV'', sound installations (1970–72)
* ''Triangles'', for flute, clarinet, cello, and 3 ring modulators (1975)
* ''Ars Subtilior Electrica'', electronic music, realised in the Electronic Studio of the Musikakademie Basel (1977)
* '' Drop Fruit'', for tape, live-electronics, slides and accompanying events (1984)
* ''Of burning a candle'', for tape and slides (1985)
* ''Imprisoned Fruit'', Cybernetic Soundspace (1989/90)
* ''Earth Wisdom'', for tape, live-electronics and slides (1990)

'''Recorded with [[Can (band)|Can]] in 1968''':
* [[Agilok & Blubbo]] (2009)
* [[Kamasutra: Vollendung der Liebe]] (2009)
* [[The Lost Tapes (Can album)|The Lost Tapes]] (2012)

==References==
{{reflist|20em}}

===Cited sources===
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Gehlhaar|1968}}|reference=[[Rolf Gehlhaar|Gehlhaar, Rolf]]. 1968. ''Zur Komposition Ensemble: Kompositionsstudio Karlheinz Stockhausen, Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik, Darmstadt 1967''. Darmstädter Beiträge zur Neuen Musik 11. Edited by Ernst Thomas. Mainz: B. Schott’s Söhne. Text in both German and English.}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Kurtz|1992}}|reference=Kurtz, Michael. 1992. ''Stockhausen: A Biography''. Translated by [[Richard Toop]]. London: Faber and Faber.}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Ritzel|1970}}|reference=Ritzel, Fred. 1970. ''Musik für ein Haus: Kompositionsstudio Karlheinz Stockhausen, Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik, Darmstadt 1968''. Darmstädter Beiträge zur Neuen Musik 12. Edited by Ernst Thomas. Mainz: B. Schott’s Söhne.}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Stockhausen|1971}}|reference=Stockhausen, Karlheinz. 1971. ''Texte zur Musik'' 3 (1963–1970). Edited by [[Dieter Schnebel]]. Cologne: Verlag M. DuMont Schauberg.}}

== Further reading ==
* Johnson, David. 1972. "Die ''Organica'' Geschichte." ''Feedback papers'' 7. Reprinted in ''Feedback Papers 1–16'', pp.&nbsp;168–177.
* Morawska-Büngeler, Marietta. 1988. ''Schwingende Elektronen: Eine Dokumentation über das Studio für Elektronische Musik des Westdeutschen Rundfunk in Köln 1951–1986''. Cologne-Rodenkirchen: P. J. Tonger Musikverlag.

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060823014004/http://genterstr.hypermart.net/f_comps/johnson.html Profile], Feedback Studio Publishing (in German)

{{Oeldorf Group}}
{{Can (band)}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, David C.}}
[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:2021 deaths]]
[[Category:American male classical composers]]
[[Category:Harvard University alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American classical composers]]
[[Category:21st-century American classical composers]]
[[Category:Can (band) members]]
[[Category:People from Batavia, New York]]
[[Category:Musicians from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Pupils of Karlheinz Stockhausen]]
[[Category:20th-century American flautists]]
[[Category:21st-century American flautists]]