Virgil Thomson: A Reader: Selected Writings, 1924-1984 - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0415937957 ISBN 13: 9780415937955

Publisher: Routledge, 2002

Synopsis

This essential reader includes Thomson's essays on making a living as a musician; his articles on classic composers; his relation to his contemporaries; his articles on newcomers in the music world, including John Cage and Pierre Boulez; his autobiographical writings and commentary on his own works.

About this title

About the Author

Richard Kostelanetz has edited and authored over forty volumes on contemporary music and culture, including A Dictionary of the Avant-Gardes, also published by Routledge.

Reviews

"Beethoven's Overture to Egmont is a classic hors d'oeuvre. Nobody's digestion was ever spoiled by it, and no late comer has ever lost much by missing it." Thus waxed composer and music critic Virgil Thomson (1896-1989) about a 1940 season-opener of the Philharmonic Symphony Society of New York, and there's more where that came from: Virgil Thomson: A Reader Selected Writings, 1924-1984 gathers the best of the writer's brilliantly acerbic criticism. The volume, edited by Richard Kostelanetz (Dictionary of the Avant-Gardes), includes Thomson's musings on such subjects as "Mozart's Leftism," his relationship with contemporaries such as Kurt Weill and Aaron Copland, the staging of opera, and the careers of everyone from John Cage to Gertrude Stein.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0415937957
• ISBN 13: 9780415937955
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 302
• Editor: Kostelanetz Richard