This is Sam Morgenstern's classic anthology, now thoroughly updated with new selections and commentary reflecting recent music scholarship.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
A thorough revision of Sam Morgenstern's 1956 classic, with 40% new material.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
From Library Journal
This volume is a greatly expanded version of the classic 1956 anthology by Sam Morgenstern. Fisk has added 30 composers to the roster, mostly in the pre-Baroque and contemporary eras, and has taken advantage of recent scholarship to prune and update the entries. The result is a fascinating glimpse into the writings of 103 major composers, from Marchetto of Paduo (14th century) on the definition of musician, to the contemporary British composer Oliver Knussen on much the same topic. Music history buffs will recognize chestnuts such as Bach's famous memorandum to the Town Council of Leipzig and will be pleased to make new discoveries, such as the elegant, cryptic prose of Toru Takemitsu. A singular pleasure, in fact, is to recognize that many composers are almost as fluent in the written word as they are in the transient world of musical sound. And while pettiness and petulance abound, there are enough prescient insights to convince the reader that composers by and large know their subject extremely well. Recommended for general collections.?Larry A. Lipkis, Moravian Coll., Bethlehem, Pa.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
See what the composers themselves have to say!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Composers On Music: Eight Centuries of Writings (Paperback)
I love this book! It covers just about every composer you've ever heard of. Filled to the brim with helpful essays. I also love the letters the composers wrote to other people. This book is a great way to get into the composer's mind! Highly recommended. Belongs in the library of every musician as well as the music student/lover! Buy it!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Summary of Composers' Thoughts,
By Jokie X Wilson "jokiex" (San Francisco, California United States) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Composers On Music: Eight Centuries of Writings (Paperback)
This book is not an end for the serious music student, but for those who simply want an overview of thoughts on why composers compose, this is the book to get. Even for the serious student, this is a great sourcebook and offers a good start for deeper study on the composers contained within. Also, the book is a fun read.
I am a visual artist and wanted information that would explain the reason for classical music. I wanted to see how it would overlap with my studies of visual art aesthetics and history. It doesn't cover that topic deeply, of course, but it does touch on it. The book helped me place what composers were alive during the lives of various visual artists and sometimes the composers made comments about visual artists they knew or admired. This book changed my outlook on classical music as the composers were quite human and unpretentious in their comments. The way they explained their outlooks made listening to their music seem less like a chore or expectation and more like something you do because you like to. Also, you don't have to like all of it to be sophisticated. No composer liked all other composers' music. Music is a much better experience when you don't have to pretend and just like what you like. But, don't be afraid to plunge a little deeper as well. ;-)
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Of limited utility, works best as a reference to larger sources,
This review is from: Composers On Music: Eight Centuries of Writings (Paperback)
COMPOSER ON MUSIC: Eight Centuries of Writings, edited by Josiah Fisk, is a collection of quotations from composers all the way from Hildegard von Bingen to the generation of Takemitsu, Gubaidulina, and Glass. While you'll find all the important figures here, the book is remarkable for its use of insights from relatively forgotten figures of ages past, such as Louis Spohr, Edouard Lalo, and Max Reger. The book frequently contains some of the big statements of composers, things that won them notoriety (although, regrettably, neither of Boulez's big too polemical statements are here), but there are also extracts from private letters.
It must be mentioned that this is a refence item, not something the individual music fans needs to purchase for his home. The quotations used are generally very small, a couple of paragraphs at most, and are taken out of their context. Sure, it can be entertaining to see random opinions by composers--Stockhausen, for example comes across very hilariously--but it's all limited to aesthetic and you won't learn much about their biography or musicological details of their work. However, the source of each quotation is given. The book is therefore most useful for fans who want to be directed to larger writings through the small samples given here. For example, Gyorgy Ligeti's pithy comment "Music should not be normal, well-bred, with its tie all neat" is amusing, but it isn't terrible informative on its own. However, it does refer the reader on to the interview LIGETI IN CONVERSATION. Not an item that you'll need to own, but something to hunt down at the library if you are doing research.
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