Books about 20th/21st Century Composers

[Karl Henning]

Regarding Stravinsky, this is currently on my side table:

[asin]0521602882[/asin]

Joseph N. Straus is an excellent writer on contemporary music, his books are well researched and sourced, and not dull reading (at least not for me).  His book on American Serialists is excellent.  I will probably get his book on Post Tonal Theory at some point.

Mm, I must seek that one out.

[ritter]

That book on late Stravinsky certainly looks interesting. Is it accessible to the mere aficionado?

On the other hand, the précis of Maconie's book (..."Stravinsky lived much of his life in Hollywood"..."his work subtly espoused deeply held political views"...etc.) doesn't really generate much enthusiasm in me, I must confess. 

Does anyone know this book? It better be fantastic, because at almost $100,  it's not really cheap, is it?  :

[asin]1107033292[/asin]

[San Antone]

That book on late Stravinsky certainly looks interesting. Is it accessible to the mere aficionado?

Does anyone know this book? It better be fantastic, because at almost $100,  it's not really cheap, is it?  :

[asin]1107033292[/asin]

You need to be able to read music in order and be familiar with the standard vocabulary of 12-tone composition in order to appreciate much of the analysis of the music.  That book on Darmstadt is one I've thought about getting, but the price has held me off from purchasing a book that appears to somewhat redundant of another book I already own, on the European Serialists which encompasses much of the Darmstadt period.

[Karl Henning]

On the other hand, the précis of Maconie's book (..."Stravinsky lived much of his life in Hollywood"..."his work subtly espoused deeply held political views"...etc.) doesn't really generate much enthusiasm in me, I must confess. 

Oof. Personally, I despise that sort of book 

[ritter]

Thanks James, Karlhenning and Sanantonio for your comments!

I do read music, but cannot, for example, quote sections of Schoenberg's Harmonielehre (if that is the kind of knowledge that is required  )

My personal library includes almost everything that has been published by or on Boulez, several tomes on Stockhausen, Elliott Carter, Stravinsky, etc. , but I am not a professional musician by any means... Some of the books are very accessible to me, and some way beyond my reach  . In any case, I'm more interested in the historical aspects of this music, than in the  theoretical and technical side of things (a stance that reflects my limited--but not complete absence of--musical training).

My objection with the (apparent) tone of the Maconie book is what could appear to be (always based on the abstract and reviews) a banalization of Stravinsky's art. I really can't understand why our dear Igor Feodorovich would be a better (or worse) composer, or a more interesting figure, because, e.g. he "did work closely with Disney on Fantasia and spent years in Hollywood".

[San Antone]

Thanks James, Karlhenning and Sanantonio for your comments!

I do read music, but cannot, for example, quote sections of Schoenberg's Harmonielehre (if that is the kind of knowledge that is required  )

My personal library includes almost everything that has been published by or on Boulez, several tomes on Stockhausen, Elliott Carter, Stravinsky, etc. , but I am not a professional musician by any means... Some of the books are very accessible to me, and some way beyond my reach  . In any case, I'm more interested in the historical aspects of this music, than in the  theoretical and technical side of things (a stance that reflects my limited--but not complete absence of--musical training).

My objection with the (apparent) tone of the Maconie book is what could appear to be (always based on the abstract and reviews) a banalization of Stravinsky's art. I really can't understand why our dear Igor Feodorovich would be a better (or worse) composer, or a more interesting figure, because, e.g. he "did work closely with Disney on Fantasia and spent years in Hollywood".

If you don't already have the Stephen Walsh book on Stravinsky, I'd say it is one to consider.

[Karl Henning]

If you don't already have the Stephen Walsh book on Stravinsky, I'd say it is one to consider.

+ 1

[ritter]

If you don't already have the Stephen Walsh book on Stravinsky, I'd say it is one to consider.

I've read volume 2 "Second Exile", after buying it here in a bookstore in Madrid. I found it a fascinating read... 

I really should make a point of reading the first volume asap...

[ritter]

I've read volume 2 "Second Exile", after buying it here in a bookstore in Madrid. I found it a fascinating read... 

I really should make a point of reading the first volume asap...

Ooops...your link is to another book by Walsh  . I thought you meant the biography in two volumes:

[asin]0679414843[/asin]
[asin]0520256158[/asin]


Well, now I know there's TWO Walsh books I need to explore... 

[Karl Henning]

Ooops...your link is to another book by Walsh  . I thought you meant the biography in two volumes:

That's what I thought when plus-oned . . . I have not wished to mathematically cancel it out, though

[ritter]

ritter ..

Maconie's Stravinsky book is great for general listeners, it is right up your alley & fun.
Get this book and the integral 22CD Sony Box and go on an odyssey that will only enrich.

The 2 go hand-in-hand.

The 22-CD set has been in my collection for years...not only that, I still have the original vinyl centennial edition (a present from my mother, received more than 30 years ago  )... One of the very few LP sets I still own...

[Karl Henning]

This is the Stravinsky survey I should suggest to the general listener (although, now, supplemented by the two-volume Walsh biography):

[asin]0520039858[/asin]

Oh, good heavens -- if Maconie writes that Stravinsky did work closely with Disney on Fantasia, he's indulging in pure fantasist drivel.

To cut to the chase:

Stravinsky was consulted on none of these changes, of course, and they came as a complete surprise to him when he saw the finished film eighteen months or so later.

--from p. 90, Stravinsky, The Second Exile: France and America, 1934-1971

All that I am seeing about Maconie's book in this thread, indicates that it is laughably inaccurate and wilfully tendentious.

[Karl Henning]

Has anyone read this one?

[asin]0810857480[/asin]

[Karl Henning]

I find a bad reputation of Lebrecht here and there. Is it because of his scandalous books about conductors, singers, classical music business, etc.? And/or his musical assessments are unreliable/biased?

He's the world's first tabloid musicologist

[North Star]

He's the world's first tabloid musicologist

Pioneers deserve respect... of course, some are also killed by bears. One can always hope, I suppose.

[Karl Henning]

I'd feel sorry for the bear, truly.

[torut]

He's the world's first tabloid musicologist

I admit I enjoyed his books (Maestro Myth, Life and Death of Classical Music) with interest that is not so noble.   

[Karl Henning]

I respect your confession

[torut]

Thank you for many suggestions. I would like to check the books about individual composers.
Regarding overview-type books, has anyone read this?

Music in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
Joseph Auner
[asin]0393929205[/asin]

There is an accompanying book Anthology for Music in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries with this description.

Twenty-six carefully chosen works—including music by Claude Debussy, Kurt Weill, William Grant Still, Pauline Oliveros, and Chen Yi—offer representative examples of genres and composers of the period.

These names are unfamiliar for me, except the first two.

[Karl Henning]

William Grant Still is often referred to as "the Dean" of African-American composers.  Pauline Oliveros may still be active in NYC.  The last name is unknown to me.