Compendium of Modern Instrumental Techniques

(Hardback)

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Description

An important characteristic of contemporary art music has been the use of conventional instruments in unconventional ways, achieving effects undreamed of or thought impossible in the early 20th century. Yet many of these techniques remain poorly understood with respect to both the physical procedures involved and the results in sound output. This compendium codifies these techniques, explains their production in terms of idiomatic peculiarity and limitations, and cites representative scores in which the new devices form an integral part of the composer's sonoric concepts. Citations and numerous printed examples are taken from an international selection of works by significant composers. Part 1 considers techniques and procedures that, with only slight modification, apply to all instruments: extended ranges, muting, glissandi, harmonics, percussive effects, microtones, amplification and extramusical devices. Part 2 is devoted to idiomatic techniques with specific instruments in the categories of woodwinds and brasses, percussion, harp and other plucked instruments, keyboard instruments, and strings. While demonstrating recent and radical innovations, references are made to historical beginnings of such devices in our classical music heritage. An earlier version of this volume "Contemporary Instrumental Techniques" (1976), was recognised as a significant achievement in cataloguing and organisation, and as a useful reference tool. Now expanded, with additional techniques, new and revised explanations, and hundreds of recent citations and examples, this survey is designed for any music library or serious musician. A guide for composers and orchestrators, it should also prove valuable as a sourcebook for performers and teachers and as a textbook for courses in composition.

Reviews

Composers may well wish to study the entire volume, as they seek to determine which techniques will endure in compositional practice; but for most readers the book will serve as an excellent resource for exploring individual interests or needs. A debt of gratitude is owned the author for making so much information available in a concise and accessible form. Recommended for upper-division undergraduates and above.-Choice
This updated volume is a welcome and necessary addition to the literature. Read's style of writing is casual and straightforward. He clearly and concisely describes numerous complex techniques, allowing the reader to visualize and understand the correct means of execution. It should hold up well to vigorous use in library and reference collections and music studios. Any composer or instrumentalist who is interested in music that incorporates the ever-expanding range of techniques that the 20th century has engendered will want to have this book close at hand. Compendium of Modern Instrumental Techniques is highly recommended for composers, instrumental students and teachers and all music libraries.-Music Reference Services Quarterly
"Composers may well wish to study the entire volume, as they seek to determine which techniques will endure in compositional practice; but for most readers the book will serve as an excellent resource for exploring individual interests or needs. A debt of gratitude is owned the author for making so much information available in a concise and accessible form. Recommended for upper-division undergraduates and above."-Choice
"This updated volume is a welcome and necessary addition to the literature. Read's style of writing is casual and straightforward. He clearly and concisely describes numerous complex techniques, allowing the reader to visualize and understand the correct means of execution. It should hold up well to vigorous use in library and reference collections and music studios. Any composer or instrumentalist who is interested in music that incorporates the ever-expanding range of techniques that the 20th century has engendered will want to have this book close at hand. Compendium of Modern Instrumental Techniques is highly recommended for composers, instrumental students and teachers and all music libraries."-Music Reference Services Quarterly

Author Bio

GARDNER READ, a noted American composer and Professor of Music Emeritus at Boston University. His books include Thesaurus of Orchestral Devices, Music Notation: A Manual of Modern Practice, Contemporary Instrumental Techniques, Modern Rhythmic Notation, Style and Orchestration Source Book of Proposed Music Notation Reforms (Greenwood Press, 1987), and Twentieth-Century Microtonal Notation (Greenwood Press, 1990).