Charlemagne Palestine

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Palestine began by singing sacred Jewish music and studying accordion and piano. At the age of 12 he started playing backup conga and bongo drum for Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Kenneth Anger, and Tiny Tim.{{cite journal|last=Gray|first=Louise|title=Invisible Jukebox: Charlemagne Palestine|date=1 September 2002|journal=The Wire|issue=223|pages=21–23}} From 1962 to 1969, Palestine was carillonneur for the Saint Thomas Episcopal Church in Manhattan,{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/mar/04/charlemagne-palestine-carillon-bells|title=Charlemagne Palestine – a man who plays the whole building|last=Hickling|first=Alfred|date=4 March 2010|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=14 December 2015}} eventually creating a piece that consisted of 1,500 15-minute performances.

From 1968 to 1972, Palestine studied vocal interpretation with Pandit Pran Nath, experimented on kinetic light sculptures with Len Lye, composed music for Tony and Beverly Conrad’s film Coming Attractions, taught at CalArts with Morton Subotnick, created the sound and movement piece Illuminations with Simone Forti, and developed his own alternative synthesizer: the Spectral Continuum Drone Machine.

Throughout the seventies Palestine created records, videos, sculptural objects, abstract expressionist visual scores, and performed long piano concerts regularly in his loft on North Moore Street{{Cite web|url=https://www.corticalart.com/product/charlemagne-palestinethe-lower-depths/|title=Charlemagne PALESTINE | "The Lower Depths"|website=Corticalart.com|access-date=August 15, 2024}} in Tribeca in the company of his bevy of stuffed animals.{{Cite web|url=https://bachtrack.com/piano-month-strumming-music-charlemagne-palestine-october-2017|title=Charlemagne Palestine’s Strumming Music|website=Bachtrack.com|access-date=August 15, 2024}} From 1980 to 1995, Palestine performed only rarely, exhibiting instead at Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; the Moderna Museet, Stockholm; and in documenta 8. During that time, he also founded the Ethnology Cinema Project in New York, which is dedicated to preserving films that document disappearing traditional cultures.

After moving to Europe in 1995, he settled in Brussels.{{Cite news |title= How New York art and music pioneer Charlemagne Palestine found his way to Brussels |url= https://www.brusselstimes.com/983875/how-new-york-art-and-music-pioneer-charlemagne-palestine-found-his-way-to-brussels |access-date=2024-04-30 |website=The Brussels Times }} In addition to creating exhibitions, Palestine performed regularly, re-releasing older material and developing new videos and sonic projects.{{cite book|last1=Guzman|first1=Antonio|title=Sacred Bordello: Charlemagne Palestine|date=April 1, 2004|publisher=Black Dog Publishing|location=London|isbn=978-1901033793}}

• Body Music 1973Ira Schneider, Beryl Korot -Video art: an anthology 1976 - - Page 249 "Palestine, in an early tape entitled Body Music, produced a fixed-camera recording of his performance piece, during which he developed a progression of body sounds while moving in an ever-expanding spiral toward the edges of the gallery ..."
• "Strumming Music". Shandar, 1974.
• Karenina. 2 CDs. Solo performance with Indian harmonium and falsetto voice, rec. March 1997 in Paris. London: World Serpent Distribution.
• Schlingen-Blängen. Solo performance for organ. US: New World Records, 1999.
• Four Manifestations on Six Elements. Solo pieces for piano and for electronics. Belgium: Barooni Records.
• Godbear. Solo pieces for piano. Belgium: Barooni Records.
• Strumming Music. Solo piece for piano. Felmay, San Germano, Italy, 1995; reissue of New Tone recording nt6742
• Three Compositions for Machines. Staalplaat, 1997.
• Schlongo!!!daLUVdrone. Organ of Corti, 2000.
• Jamaica Heinekens in Brooklyn. Piece for found sound and electronic drones. Belgium: Barooni Records.
• Alloy. Alga Marghen, 2000.
• Continuous Sound Forms. Alga Marghen, 2000.
• Charlemagne at Sonnabend. 2 CDs. CP, 2001.
• Music for Big Ears. Staalplaat, 2001.
• In Mid-Air. Alga Marghen, 2003.{{cite journal|last=Marley|first=Brian|date=1 June 2003|title=Charlemagne Palestine: In Mid-Air|journal=The Wire|issue=232|pages=67–68}}
• Old Souls Wearing New Clothes. VPRO, 2003.
• A Sweet Quasimodo between Black Vampire Butterflies: For Maybeck. Cold Blue, 2007.
• The Apocalypse Will Blossom. Yesmissolga, 2008.
• Voice Studies. LP only. Alga Marghen, 2008.
• From Etudes to Cataclysms. 2 CDs. Sub Rosa, 2008.
• "Relationship Studies". LP. Algha Marghen, 2010.
• "Two Electronic Sonorities". LP. Algha Marghen, 2012.

• Charlemagne Palestine and Pan Sonic. Mort aux vaches. Staalplaat, 2000.
• Charlemagne Palestine, David Coulter and Jean Marie Mathoul. Maximin. Young God Records, 2002.
• Charlemagne Palestine, David Coulter, Michael Gira and Jean Marie Mathoul. Gantse Mishpuchach / Music in Three Parts. Fringes Recordings, 2004.
• Charlemagne Palestine and Tony Conrad. An Aural Symbiotic Mystery. Sub Rosa, 2006.
• Charlemagne Palestine, Terry Jennings, Tony Conrad, Robert Feldman, Rhys Chatham. Sharing a Sonority. Alga Marghen, 2008.
• Charlemagne Palestine and Christoph Heemann. Saiten in Flammen. Streamline, 2009.
• Charlemagne Palestine and Janek Schaefer. Day of the Demons. Desire Path Recordings, 2012.
• Charlemagne Palestine and Rhys Chatham Youuu + Mee = Weee. Sub Rosa, 2014.
• Charlemagne Palestine and Seppe Gebruers Beyondddddd The Notessssss. [https://www.konnekt.co/en/projects/beyondddddd-the-notessssss-charlemagne-palestine-seppe-gebruers Konnekt], 2025.

Charlemagne Palestine, who has long incorporated bears and plush toys into his performances, created the art installation Bear Mitzvah in Meshugahland{{Cite web|url=http://thejewishmuseum.org/exhibitions/charlemagne-palestine-bear-mitzvah-in-meshugahland|title=Charlemagne Palestine's Bear Mitzvah in Meshugahland|website=The Jewish Museum|access-date=2017-04-04}} at The Jewish Museum in New York City in 2017.

{{Reflist}}

• Johnson, Tom (1989). The Voice of New Music: New York City 1972–1982: A Collection of Articles Originally Published by the Village Voice. Eindhoven, Netherlands: Het Apollohuis. {{ISBN|90-71638-09-X}}.
• Palestine, Charlemagne (2004). Sacred Bordello. Book with CD. Milan: Alga Marghen.
• Voegelin, Salome. Listening to Noise and Silence: Towards a Philosophy of Sound Art. London: Continuum. 2010. Chapter 2 Noise, pp. 50–52.

• Zimmerman, Walter, Desert Plants – Conversations with 23 American Musicians, Berlin: Beginner Press in cooperation with Mode Records, 2020 (originally published in 1976 by A.R.C., Vancouver). The 2020 edition includes a cd featuring the original interview recordings with Larry Austin, Robert Ashley, Jim Burton, John Cage, Philip Corner, Morton Feldman, Philip Glass, Joan La Barbara, Garrett List, Alvin Lucier, John McGuire, Charles Morrow, J.B. Floyd (on Conlon Nancarrow), Pauline Oliveros, Charlemagne Palestine, Ben Johnston (on Harry Partch), Steve Reich, David Rosenboom, Frederic Rzewski, Richard Teitelbaum, James Tenney, Christian Wolff, and La Monte Young.

• {{official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20051210072317/http://www.charlemagnepalestine.org:80/}}
• {{Instagram|charlemagnepalestine}}
• [https://bombmagazine.org/articles/charlemagne-palestine Interview with Steve Dalachinsky in Bomb Magazine]
• [http://thejewishmuseum.org/exhibitions/charlemagne-palestine-bear-mitzvah-in-meshugahland Charlemagne Palestine Contemporary Art Exhibition]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Palestine, Charlemagne}}

Category:1947 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century American male musicians

Category:20th-century American classical composers

Category:21st-century American male musicians

Category:21st-century American classical composers

Category:American male classical composers

Category:Carillonneurs

Category:Classical musicians from New York (state)

Category:Composers for carillon

Category:Musicians from New York City

Category:Postmodern composers

Category:Pupils of James Tenney