From the end of the nineteenth century a national musical consciousness gradually emerged in the United States as composers began to turn away from the European conventions on which their music had been modeled. It was in this period of change that experimentalism was born and America subsequently became, as it still is, a major source of new musical ideas for European musicians. David Nicholls considers the most influential figures in the development of American experimentalism, including Charles Ives, Charles Seeger, Ruth Crawford, Henry Cowell and the young John Cage. He analyzes the music and ideas of this group, explaining the compositional techniques invented and employed by them and the historical and cultural context in which they emerged. The book is thus an important contribution toward our understanding of some of the most challenging music of the twentieth century.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
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"...musicians will enjoy seeing a British composer/scholar trace an American experimental movement with an objectivity that only a transatlantic outsider could muster." Kyle Gann, Voice
"...a coherent guide to the inner workings of compositions by Charles Ives, Charles Seeger, Carl Ruggles, Ruth Crawford, Henry Cowell and John Cage. Nicholls writes eminently readable prose- no small acheivement in an analytic text- and provides insightful findings. Notes
"...a coherent guide to the inner workings of compositions by Charles Ives, Charles Seeger, Carl Ruggles, Ruth Crawford, Henry Cowell and John Cage. Nicholls writes eminently readable prose- no small acheivement in an analytic text- and provides insightful findings. Notes
Book Description
Charles Ives, Charles Seeger, Ruth Crawford, Henry Cowell and the young John Cage are considered in this survey of the most influential figures in the development of American experimentalism over a fifty year span.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
Until the last decade of the nineteenth century, music written by American composers was almost invariably modelled on the theory and practice of European convention. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
harmonic theme, polymetric relationship, semiquaver unit, prime number series, dissonant counterpoint, intervallic shape, rhythmic structuring, musical layers, phrase balancing, rhythmic dissonance, sliding tones, dissonant relationship, intervallic content, rhythmic content, string piano, octave transpositions, rhythmic material, rhythmic motifs, pitch content, interval chords, published score, temple gongs, pitch material, twelve pitches, retrograde inversion Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Peters Edition Limited, Peer International Corporation, United Quartet, Henmar Press, New Musical Resources, Merion Music, Ruth Crawford, Peters Corporation, First Construction, Henry Cowell, Ostinato Pianissimo, Quartet Romantic, Central Park, Over the Pavements, Theodore Presser Company, Three-Page Sonata, Charles Seeger, Fourth Symphony, Piano Study, Quartet Euphometric, The Unanswered Question, Five Songs, The Letter, American Music New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Until the last decade of the nineteenth century, music written by American composers was almost invariably modelled on the theory and practice of European convention. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
harmonic theme, polymetric relationship, semiquaver unit, prime number series, dissonant counterpoint, intervallic shape, rhythmic structuring, musical layers, phrase balancing, rhythmic dissonance, sliding tones, dissonant relationship, intervallic content, rhythmic content, string piano, octave transpositions, rhythmic material, rhythmic motifs, pitch content, interval chords, published score, temple gongs, pitch material, twelve pitches, retrograde inversion Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Peters Edition Limited, Peer International Corporation, United Quartet, Henmar Press, New Musical Resources, Merion Music, Ruth Crawford, Peters Corporation, First Construction, Henry Cowell, Ostinato Pianissimo, Quartet Romantic, Central Park, Over the Pavements, Theodore Presser Company, Three-Page Sonata, Charles Seeger, Fourth Symphony, Piano Study, Quartet Euphometric, The Unanswered Question, Five Songs, The Letter, American Music New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 23
books:
See all 23 books this book cites
1
book
cites this book:
- New Musical Resources by Henry Cowell on 17 pages
- John Cage Ex(plain)ed by Richard Kostelanetz in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Futurist Manifestos by Umbro Apollonio in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- American Music: A Panorama, Concise Edition by Lorenzo Candelaria in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Essays Before a Sonata, The Majority, and Other Writings by Charles Ives on page 5, page 221, and Back Matter
See all 23 books this book cites
- Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond (Music in the Twentieth Century) by Michael Nyman on page 191
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