Music of the Twentieth-Century Avant-Garde: A Biocritical Sourcebook

(Hardback)

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Presenting a view of the 20th-century music avant-garde without resorting to highly specialized jargon, this work offers an exhaustive history and analysis of contemporary music in a social, political, and artistic context. Distinguished contributors from around the world consider specific composers who represent the most progressive musical thinking of their time and place. Editor Larry Sitsky, an Australian composer and teacher, has assembled an accessible and clearly written collection. Also exploring the links among this diverse group of composers, the guide offers a cross-index of names that should help the researcher formulate a cohesive view of the 20th-century avant-garde. A bibliography and list of selected works round out the volume, which succeeds in demystifying an area that, until now, has been the exclusive province only of the specialist. Presenting a view of the 20th-century music avant-garde without resorting to highly specialized jargon, this work offers an exhaustive history and analysis of contemporary music in a social, political, and artistic context. Distinguished contributors from around the world consider specific composers who represent the most progressive musical thinking of their time and place. Editor Larry Sitsky, an Australian composer and teacher, has assembled an accessible and clearly written collection. Also exploring the links among this diverse group of composers, the guide offers a cross-index of names that should help the researcher formulate a cohesive view of the 20th-century avant-garde. A bibliography and list of selected works round out the volume, which succeeds in demystifying an area that, until now, has been the exclusive province only of the specialist.

Reviews

[v]aluable as starting point for research....[S]itsky's volume does a very good job of highlighting the astounding diversity of this most exciting era....[t]he Reich volume opens with a short, insightful, and well-written account of the composer's life. It then proceeds through the various listings in exemplary fashion, greatly facilitating the work of any serious student of Steve Reich's music.-Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association
Sitsky presents a collection of short essays about composers determined to be part of the 20th-century avant-garde, accompanied by selected works lists and bibliographies for each composer....useful to music students and general readers....Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and general readers.-Choice
"valuable as starting point for research....Sitsky's volume does a very good job of highlighting the astounding diversity of this most exciting era....the Reich volume opens with a short, insightful, and well-written account of the composer's life. It then proceeds through the various listings in exemplary fashion, greatly facilitating the work of any serious student of Steve Reich's music."-Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association
"Sitsky presents a collection of short essays about composers determined to be part of the 20th-century avant-garde, accompanied by selected works lists and bibliographies for each composer....useful to music students and general readers....Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and general readers."-Choice
"[v]aluable as starting point for research....[S]itsky's volume does a very good job of highlighting the astounding diversity of this most exciting era....[t]he Reich volume opens with a short, insightful, and well-written account of the composer's life. It then proceeds through the various listings in exemplary fashion, greatly facilitating the work of any serious student of Steve Reich's music."-Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association

Author Bio

LARRY SITSKY is a noted Australian composer, pianist, musicologist, and educator. His list of works ranges from grand opera and symphony to keyboard miniatures, and his musicological investigations include many books on such subjects as Rubinstein, the Russian Avant-Garde, and reproducing piano rolls.