Lou Harrison: Composing a World [Hardcover]

Leta E. Miller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 20, 1998

Lou Harrison, who celebrated his 80th birthday in 1997, has often been cited as one of the America's most original and influential composers. In addition to his prolific musical output, Harrison is also a skilled painter, calligrapher, essayist, critic, poet, and instrument-builder. During his long and varied career, he has explored dance, Asian music, tuning systems, and universal languages, and has actively championed political causes ranging from pacifism to gay rights. As an articulate and outspoken observer of the contemporary musical scene, he is frequently quoted in the media; yet until now no comprehensive study of his life and works has been published.

The present book, supported by extensive archival research and nearly 70 interviews, examines the ideas that have shaped Harrison's creative output, as seen through the eyes of the composer and his associates. A detailed biographical section is followed by individual chapters focusing on Music and Dance, Intonation and Tuning, Instruments, Asian influences, Gamelan, Music and Politics, Music Criticism, and Compositional Processes. In a separate chapter, the authors describe the historical background of the San Francisco gay community, Harrison's literary and musical statements on gay rights, and possible "gay markers" on his musical style.

An annotated works-list details over 300 compositions, and a full-length CD illustrates the text in sound, including several unique and previously unrecorded works.

This engaging study of Harrison's life and works will be indispensable to students and scholars of American music and to performing artists and programmers.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"West Coast" composer Lou Harrison (born 1917) is another in a long line of individualist Americans including (primarily) Charles Ives, but also pioneers such as Henry Cowell and Harry Partch. Born in Oregon, Harrison came East after studying with Cowell and was briefly one of Virgil Thomson's stringers on the New York Herald-Tribune, while also editing some of Ives's music. He returned to the West Coast in the early 1950s, where he settled into a life of teaching and composing.

Harrison's love affair with the various musics of Asia began at this time and coincided with his affinity for dance rhythms in his music. With his longtime companion Bill Colvig, Harrison invented many sounding instruments (influenced by those in the Indonesian gamelan), which he employed in his symphonies and other compositions. Harrison's development of a tuning method (which he calls "just tone" in contradistinction to "mean tone" or "equal temperament") has become central to his compositional practice and receives in-depth discussion.

Miller and Lieberman (a musicologist/performer and an ethnomusicologist/composer, respectively) began this book as an oral history, but it evolved into a thoroughgoing study of the music as well as of the man. After a brief biography, there are a variety of discrete chapters (e.g., on dance, tuning, homosexuality, politics) with a plethora of music examples. Harrison's lifelong interest in typefaces is also addressed, with examples given. The book includes a catalog of his works and a CD of excerpts from his compositions.

In the last 10 years or so, Harrison has enjoyed many more performances of his music, and his position as one of the leading American composers of his generation has been solidified. This affectionate volume--if more for the specialist than for the casual listener--is an appropriate tribute. --Patrick J. Smith

From Library Journal

Miller and Lieberman (Univ. of California, Santa Cruz) have fashioned a respectful portrait of composer Lou Harrison (b. 1917), emphasizing his humanity and enthusiasm for incorporating diverse influences into his music. Based on thorough research and many interviews, the book first traces Harrison's life and then devotes chapters to subjects such as his use of Asian instruments, alternative tunings and temperaments, and explorations in dance, poetry, and calligraphy. In addition, Harrison's political views and openness regarding homosexuality are investigated non-judgmentally. The composer's own voice shines through, as do stories of influential encounters with seminal figures of 20th-century music such as Arnold Schoenberg, Charles Ives, Henry Cowell, Harry Partch, and Virgil Thomson. Heidi Von Gunden's The Music of Lou Harrison (Scarecrow, 1995) covers much of the same material, although the present book eschews musical analysis except in limited instances. Warmly recommended for music and 20th-century culture collections.?Barry Zaslow, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (August 20, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195110226
• ISBN-13: 978-0195110227
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,508,049 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An essential study of one of America's greatest composers., November 30, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Lou Harrison: Composing a World (Hardcover)

In 1947, composer Lou Harrison suffered a "nervous breakdown." If he had never recovered from this event, Lou Harrison would still rank as a significant figure in American music. In other words, by the time he was 30, Harrison had already accomplished more than other composers accomplish in their entire careers. (This included inventing, with John Cage, the percussion ensemble, taking over the editorship of Henry Cowell's very influential publication New Music Quarterly, the editing of Charles Ives' 3rd Symphony - which won the Pulitzer Prize that year - and working as a reviewer for the New York Herald with Virgil Thomson. Considering that Harrison turned 80 in 1997, a thorough study of his life and work was long overdue. Miller and Lieberman have done an excellent job, considering how little has been previously written about Harrison's life and work, and the CD that accompanies the book is a particularly helpful touch. (For the average reader, the discussion of tuning systems in the book will seem obscure, but the CD, gratefully, makes some of those issues audible.) My only criticism of the book is that it is neither a full-fledged, fleshed-out biography (and Harrison's life is certainly colorful enough to merit such a thing), nor an in-depth analysis of his musical accomplishments. On the one hand, since the composer himself is such a chameleon, perhaps a hybrid volume is appropriate. But I can't help but wonder if Lou didn't deserve two books instead of this one. In the mean time, this is an informative, essential study for anyone interested in understanding what it means for a creative artist to be truly "multicultural."

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scholarly yet accessible acct of a fantastic composer, October 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Lou Harrison: Composing a World (Hardcover)

This is a delightful book, scholarly yet fully accessible to the layman. It deals with a contemporary American composer, Lou Harrison, who is finally getting the critical recognition he deserves as the creator of one of the richest, most melodic, most wide-ranging and eclectic musical canons of our time. This is the first significant critical work on Harrison and is important just for that. But it will also appeal to those interested in the interplay between politics and music in the 20th century, especially pacificism and the arts, and to those interested in the gay rights movement and the key role of gay artists in contemporary music. Though co-authored, the book is written in a seamless, graceful style, and it is organized for easy skimming and sampling. Nevertheless, it is fully documented and full of ideas and directions for further scholarship and research. The wonderful accompanying CD enriches the book enormously and makes the whole package a bargain.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lou Harrison's stature continue to expand, November 17, 2003

By 

Scott MacClelland (Carmel CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lou Harrison: Composing a World (Hardcover)

After the release of this volume in Autumn, 1998, I wrote a review that ran in Coast Weekly (see archives, 10/29/98, coastweekly.com) in which I expressed not only admiration toward authors Miller and Lieberman but amazement over the countless other details of Lou's life that I had not previously known. Amazement, because I knew the man for forty years, starting in 1963 when I was a student at San Diego State University and he was touring a program of Chinese music with Richard Dee, a long-time associate. Lou once descibed himself to me as a "glandular optimist," and so he was, in every creative and thoughtful way. His artistic example will continue to influence the music, and other arts in which he excelled, far into the future.