The Music of Morton Feldman

(Hardback)

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Description

Morton Feldman (1926-1987) is today widely regarded as one of America's foremost experimental composers. His unique body of compositions, as well as his numerous writings and interviews, provide a vast amount of source material for scholarly research. Yet, few have seriously examined his work. This collection of essays will help rectify this situation. This book begins with a brief work by John Cage written in honor of Morton Feldman. It is followed by a series of essays that challenge some views of Feldman's music and clarify many others. The collection concludes with a selection of essays written by the composer himself; these essays reveal as much about Feldman's own work and attitudes as they do about the work and thought of the many composers and artists about whom he wrote. The volume concludes with a list of Feldman's compositions, a bibliography, and a discography. This study, the first of a series of Profiles of American Composers, will be invaluable to musicologists and all involved with the music of the 20th century.

Reviews

Feldman (1926-87) is an indisputably important composer in a radical American empirical tradition extending back through Edgard Varese and Charles Ives... The heart of this collection consists of five essays...they contain valuable synoptic information about Feldman's style and aesthetics as well as notational and performance practices... An important contribution to music aesthetics and composition; recommended for all libraries serving upper-division undergraduates and above.-Choice
"Feldman (1926-87) is an indisputably important composer in a radical American empirical tradition extending back through Edgard Varese and Charles Ives... The heart of this collection consists of five essays...they contain valuable synoptic information about Feldman's style and aesthetics as well as notational and performance practices... An important contribution to music aesthetics and composition; recommended for all libraries serving upper-division undergraduates and above."-Choice

Author Bio

THOMAS DeLIO is a composer and theorist. He has written and edited numerous publications on contemporary music. He is currently a member of the faculty of the Music Department at the University of Maryland at College Park.