Music of My Time: Collected Essays and Articles (Something About the Music : Guide to Contemporary Repertory, Vol 1)

Music critic and biographer Joan Peyser's articles from the New York Times and other publications trace contemporary music from Schoenberg to Charles Wuorinen and Tod Machover, with pieces about Maria Callas, the Beatles and the New York Philharmonic along the way.

Joan Peyser's The Music Of My Time profiles major 20th Century composers, performers and institutions in 50 incisive musical studies. From Schoenberg, Stravin-sky, Varese, Cowell and Bartok to new productions currently premiering on the stage of the New York City Opera, The Music Of My Time encompasses a colorful variety of musical styles and personalities including atonality and 12-tone writing; the Boulanger proteges Thomson, Carter, Diamond and Rorem; the vernacular idiom of Gershwin, Blitzstein, Bernstein, Morton Gould and the Beatles; the influence of American academic and independent musicians such as Babbitt, Sessions, Wolpe, Wyuorinen, Kirchner and Harbison; contemporary European composers Boulez, Berio, Henze, Stockhausen and Britten; and (throughout the period) the rise and fortunes of such institutions as the New York Philharmonic, the Lincoln Center, and the Santa Fe Opera; as well as memorable arts like Maria Callas, Richard Tucker, and Jose Quintero. The Music Of My Time is a magnificent, wide-ranging compendium of contemporary music history. Informative, challenging, entertaining, and fascinating reading. -- Midwest Book Review