Reflections of an American composer / Arthur Berger.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Berger, Arthur, 1912-2003.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Music--United States--History and criticism.

Music.

Berger, Arthur, 1912-2003.

Berger, Arthur.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (288 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, c2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In this engrossing collection of essays, distinguished composer, theorist, journalist, and educator Arthur Berger invites us into the vibrant and ever-changing American music scene that has been his home for most of the twentieth century. Witty, urbane, and always entertaining, Berger describes the music scene in New York and Boston since the 1930's, discussing the heady days when he was a member of a tight-knit circle of avant-garde young composers mentored by Aaron Copland as well as his participation in a group at Harvard University dedicated to Stravinsky. As Virgil Thomson's associate on the New York Herald Tribune and founding editor of the prestigious Perspectives of New Music, Berger became one of the preeminent observers and critics of American music. His reflections on the role of music in contemporary life, his journalism career, and how changes in academia influence the composition and teaching of music offer a unique perspective informed by Berger's abundant intelligence and experience.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Composers and Their Audience in the Thirties

2. Nationalism

3. Is Music in Decline?

4. Rendezvous with Apollo: Form Is Feeling

5. Reinventing the Past: Pastiche, Collage, or "Criticism"?

6. Serialism: Composer as Theorist

7. Rapprochement or Friendly Takeover?

8. Postmodern Music

9. Virgil Thomson and the Press

10. Music on My Beat

11. PNM and the Ph.D.

12. A Tale of Two Critics: Rosenfeld and Haggin

13. Do We Hear What We Say We Hear?

14. New Linguistic Modes and the New Theory

15. The Octatonic Scale

16. Backstage at the Opera

17. A Tale of Two Conductors: Koussevitzky and Mitropoulos

18. From My Diary: Brief Encounters

Appendix: From My Scrapbook

Notes

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781597348577

1597348570

9780520928213

0520928210

OCLC:

475926888