American Composers: Dialogues on Contemporary Music - Softcover

Strickland, Edward

Softcover

ISBN 10: 025320643X ISBN 13: 9780253206435

Publisher: Indiana University Press, 1991

Synopsis

"... Strickland's own deep involvement with the works of these composers [is] revealed by the questions and comments he poses in an appreciative, Paterian way. His profound pleasure in these works also leads him to scrutinize and challenge them intimately." ―Publishers Weekly

"This is an indispensable book about American music... " ―Fanfare

"... exhilarating... Any of the interviews in American Composers will stimulate your curiosity and appetite." ―Hungry Mind Review

"... not only engaging, but also a useful representation of the major compositional styles of the 1980s and their corresponding practitioners." ―Notes

Philip Glass, Keith Jarrett, Meredith Monk, and eight other active American composers reveal a broad spectrum of musical personalities in these candid, in-depth conversations. Witty and articulate, their remarks convey the great vitality, diversity, and distinctiveness of today's American music.

About this title

From the Back Cover

The composers discuss in detail the development of their individual styles, the influence of their musical antecedents, and their own predilections in contemporary music. These candid, in-depth conversations are witty and articulate and reveal a broad spectrum of musical personalities.

From Publishers Weekly

From these conversations with 11 leading U.S. composers, a trio of narratives emerges. One narrative concerns American music's metamorphosis into an art form of striking vitality. ``Profoundly disenchanted with the European hegemony in contemporary music,'' in the words of John Adams, these composers evolved galvanizing, highly individual styles. Steve Reich explains how his work draws not only from Bach but from the jazz of John Coltrane and from African drumming. John Zorn discusses why his compositions allude to Bartok and cartoon music, sometimes within the span of a few seconds. A second narrative revolves around the composers' descriptions of how their personal lives affected--and were affected by--their music. For instance, La Monte Young recalls ``wind blowing between the crisscrossed logs'' of the cabin where he was born as a formative musical experience. The third narrative is that of Strickland's own deep involvement with the works of these composers, revealed by the questions and comments he poses in an appreciative, Paterian way. His profound pleasure in these works also leads him to scrutinize and challenge them intimately. Strickland is a contributing editor of Fanfare magazine, where most of these dialogues first appeared.

Copyright 1991 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 025320643X
• ISBN 13: 9780253206435
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240