1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910449685403321

Autore

Berger Arthur <1912-2003.>

Titolo

Reflections of an American composer [[electronic resource] /] / Arthur Berger

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berkeley, : University of California Press, c2002

ISBN

1-59734-857-0

0-520-92821-0

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (288 p.)

Disciplina

780/.973

Soggetti

Music - United States - History and criticism

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

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

Sommario/riassunto

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.