A Ned Rorem Reader

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Daniel Albright

"Berlioz's Semi-Operas studies two works, Romeo et Juliette and La damnation de Faust, which are among the most challenging of the entire Romantic movement, not least because they assault the notion of genre: they take place in a sort of limbo between symphony and opera, and try to fulfill the highest goals of each - simultaneously. Berlioz strenuously resisted any impediments that stood in the way of complete compositional freedom. Most of his large-scale works nevertheless obey the strictures of some preexistent form, whether opera or symphony or mass or cantata; it is chiefly in these two experiments that Berlioz allowed himself full liberty to be Berlioz.". "The method of this book is unusual in that it pays equally close attention to the original literary texts (Romeo and Juliet and Faust) as well as to the musical adaptations; furthermore, it suggests many analogues in the operatic world that Berlioz knew - the world of Gluck, Mozart, Mehul, Spontini, Cherubini - in order to show exactly how Berlioz followed or flouted the dramatic conventions of his age.". "Berlioz's Semi-Operas contributes to Berlioz studies, to studies of the Romantic movement, and to the rapidly growing field of comparative arts."--BOOK JACKET.

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George Perle

George Perle takes us into the composer's workshop as he reevaluates what we call "twentieth-century music"--A term used to refer to new or modern or contemporary music that represents a radical break from the tonal tradition, or "common practice," of the preceding three centuries. He proposes that this music, in the course of breaking with the tonal tradition, presents coherent and definable elements of a new tradition. In spite of the disparity in their styles, idioms, and compositional methods, he argues, what unites Scriabin, Stravinsky, Bartok, and the Viennese circle (Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern) is more important than what separates them. If we are to understand the connections among these mainstream composers, we also have to understand their connections with the past. Through an extraordinarily comprehensive analysis of a single piece by Varese, Density 21.5 for unaccompanied flute, Perle shows how these composers refer not only to their contemporaries but also to Wagner, Debussy, and Beethoven. Perle isolates the years 1909-10 as the moment of revolutionary transformation in the foundational premises of our musical language. He asks: What are the implications of this revolution, not only for the composer, but also for the listener? What are the consequences for the theory and teaching of music today? In his highly original answers, Perle relates the role of intuition in the listening experience to its role in the compositional process. Perle asserts that the post-Schoenbergian serialists have preoccupied themselves with secondary and superficial aspects of Schoenberg's twelve-tone method that have led it to a dead end but he also exposes the speciousness of current alternatives such as chance music, minimalism, and the so-called return to tonality. He offers a new and more comprehensive definition of "twelve-tone music" and firmly rejects the notion that accessibility to the new music is reserved for a special class of elite listeners [Publisher description].

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Mellonee V. Burnim, Portia K. Maultsby

Designed for an introductory course in African American music, this title focuses on musical genres & styles, moving chronologically from folk traditions to modern forms. A final section discusses the aesthetics of African American culture & music.

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Scott Calhoun

"This thoughtful and timely collection recognizes U2's music both as art and commentary on personal journeys and cultural dialogues about contemporary issues. It offers insights and critical assessments that will appeal not only to scholars and students of popular music and culture studies but also to those in the fields of theology, philosophy, performing arts, literature and intellectually curious U2 fans." -- cover.