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Aesthetics of Survival: A Composer's View of the Twentieth Century

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Aesthetics of Survival: A Composer's View of the Twentieth Century [Hardcover]

George Rochberg (Author), William Bolcom (Editor)

3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews) |

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Book Description

Publication Date: July 15, 1984

A revised paperback edition of composer George Rochberg's landmark essays

"Rochberg presents the rare spectacle of a composer who has made his peace with tradition while maintaining a strikingly individual profile. . . . [H]e succeeds in transforming the sublime concepts of traditional music into contemporary language."
-Washington Post

"An indispensable book for anyone who wishes to understand the sad and curious fate of music in the twentieth century."
-Atlantic Monthly

"The writings of George Rochberg stand as a pinnacle from which our past and future can be viewed."
-Kansas City Star

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Product Details

Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: University of Michigan Press (July 15, 1984)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0472100378
ISBN-13: 978-0472100378

Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,231,470 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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› Visit Amazon's George Rochberg Page

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9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece, October 24, 2005

Elliott M McKinley (Seneca Falls, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Aesthetics of Survival: A Composer's View of Twentieth-Century Music (Paperback)

All due respect to the other reviewer, Rocherberg shows poise and illuminates the many misdirections of the 20th century. Rochberg exposes the farce and folly held by those in the so-called avant-garde (of both formalist and indeterminist leanings).
This is a book for those who's music is MUSIC and for those who actually use their ears!

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9 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars don't waste your time, January 10, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Aesthetics of Survival: A Composer's View of the Twentieth Century (Hardcover)

Rochberg, having failed to distinguish himself as a composer, let alone an alternative to modernism, makes an attempt as an Adorno wannabee in this effort. The latest essay is from 1982, and they all are hopelessly dated. Roger Reynolds "Mind Models" from the 70s generates more excitement and shows more relevance to today's scene than Rochberg's stuffy, self-referential musings. This book is destined to collect dust at university libraries, only to be read by those who want to read something that confirms their views, as evidenced by William Bolcom's introduction.

If you must read, ask yourself this question: On what basis should we take Rochberg seriously? Where is an epistemology that we can trust?

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Inside This Book (learn more)
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First Sentence:
Human consciousness and thought in the twentieth century have discovered the essential irrationality of the premises on which they are based. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
aural fiction, dissonant chromaticism, durational flow, aural facts, durational process, aural depth, ontological intent, alpha language, acoustical space, rhythmic periodicity, rational madness, musical space, incorporeal realm, aural illusions, total serialism, chance music, sonorous bodies, sound substance, sounding forms, experiential time, serial music, simple acquiescence, projective verse, archaic man, classical man

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Von Neumann, Herr Schoenberg, Universal Edition, World War, Abstract Expressionism, Luigi Russolo, Big Bang, Charles Ives, Pierrot Lunaire, Anton Webern, Arnold Schoenberg, Pop Art, William Blake, Billy Budd, Bryn Mawr, Die Reihe, European American Music Distributors Corporation, Mircea Eliade, Owen Barfield, Wallace Stevens, Bad Art, Belmont Music Publishers, Concerning Fechner, Grove Press

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 60 books:

Feeling and Form by Susanne K. Langer on 4 pages
Time and Western Man by Wyndham Lewis on page 24, page 123, and Back Matter
Style and Idea: Selected Writings by Arnold Schoenberg on page 14, page 72, and Back Matter
Billy Budd and Other Stories (Penguin Classics) by Herman Melville on page 135, page 136, and page 207
Fifth Business (Penguin Classics) by Robertson Davies on page 214, page 221, and Back Matter

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9 books cite this book:

Contemporary Composers On Contemporary Music by Elliott Schwartz in Front Matter, and page 473
Chronology of European Classical: Vol 2 on page 551, and Index
Webster's New World Dictionary of Music by Nicolas Slonimsky on page 441
Theology, Music and Time (Cambridge Studies in Christian Doctrine) by Jeremy S. Begbie in Back Matter
Quotation and Cultural Meaning in Twentieth-Century Music (New Perspectives in Music History and Criticism) by David Metzer in Back Matter

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The Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music and Musicians by Don Michael Randel

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Music, the Arts, and Ideas by Leonard B. Meyer

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Essays on Music by Theodor W. Adorno

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