The Voice of Music: Conversations With Composers of Our Time [Hardcover]

Anders Beyer (Editor), Jean Christensen (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1840142308 | ISBN-13: 978-1840142303 | Publication Date: February 2001

Extensive and generously illustrated interviews have been a feature of the lively Danish music periodical "Dansk Musik Tidsskrift" (Danish Music Review) since the 1960s. Now a long-standing tradition, these "conversations" with influential composers from all over the world are prepared by professional musicians and experienced writers on music. This volume is a collection of interviews selected from issues published since 1990 by Anders Beyer, the journal's editor-in-chief. The book gives an up-to-date picture of the North European musical perspectives through interviews with composers from each of the Nordic countries. These are further complemented by interviews with trend-setting composers from the rest of Europe and America. The interviews have been edited and translated into English to make them accessible to a wider audience. The volume features interviews with composers including Erik Bergman, Tikhon Chrennikov, Edison Denisov, Hans Gerfors, Philip Glass, Sofia Gubaidulina and Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 350 pages
• Publisher: Ashgate Pub Ltd (February 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1840142308
• ISBN-13: 978-1840142303
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,552,484 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable collection of interviews with many of the great contemporary composers, May 24, 2009

By 

Christopher Culver - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Voice of Music: Conversations With Composers of Our Time (Hardcover)

The journal Dansk Musik Tidskrift is one of the most informative publications for new music around. Its interviews have often plumbed composer's works and thought processes to depths that make Gramophone or BBC Music look like magazines for primary school readers. THE VOICE OF MUSIC offers English readers interviews conducted by Anders Beyers with 22 composers through the 1990s. The composers and, if noted, the date when the interviews first appeared in DMT are: Gyorgy Ligeti (92/93), Karl Aage Rasmussen (97/98), Sofia Gubaidulina (93/94), Thorkell Sigurbjornsson (98/99), Olav Anton Thommessen (98/99), Erik Bergman, Vagn Holmboe (96/97), Per Norgard, Arne Nordheim (98/99), Karlheinz Stockhausen (92/93), Edison Denisov (91/92), Ingvar Lidholm (97/98), Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen (92/93), Hans Gefors (94/95), Alfred Schnittke (90/91), Jukka Tiensuu (91/92), Tikhon Khrennikov (92/93), Pawel Szymanski (92/93), Philip Glass (95/96), Magnus Lindberg (89/90), Iannis Xenakis (96/97), and Kaija Saariaho (99/00).

No reviewer can be expected to be interested in all of these figures, but I did read most of the interviews and learnt a great deal about my favourite composers. The interview with Karlheinz Stockhausen is the longest in the book and illustrates well the combination of creative figure and complete lunatic that he became in the last few decades of his life. The interview with Alfred Schnittke, on the other hand, is extremely brief and touches only on the inspiration Schnittke drew from Mahler. Jukka Tiensuu famously doesn't write programme notes for his music, so interviews like this are a glimpse into his creative process. The interview with Ligeti is especially poignant because it was written just before his withdrawal from public life, and gives detailed plans for the Alice opera he didn't succeed in writing.

All in all, THE VOICE OF MUSIC is sure to prove an interesting read to fans of contemporary composers. While it now appears out of print, and Ashgate never issued a paperback, seek it out somewhere.