The modern percussion revolution : journeys of the progressive artist

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Where to find it

Music Library

Call Number
ML1030 .M64 2014
Status
Available

Summary

More than eighty years have passed since Edgard Varèse's catalytic work for percussion ensemble, Ionisation , was heard in its New York premiere. A flurry of pieces for this new medium dawned soon after, challenging the established truths and preferences of the European musical tradition while setting the stage for percussion to become one of the most significant musical advances of the twentieth century. This 'revolution', as John Cage termed it, was a quintessentially modernist movement - an exploration of previously undiscovered sounds, forms, textures, and styles. However, as percussion music has progressed and become woven into the fabric of Western musical culture, several divergent paths, comprised of various traditions and a multiplicity of aesthetic sensibilities, have since emerged for the percussionist to pursue.

This edited collection highlights the progressive developments that continue to investigate uncharted musical grounds. Using historical studies, philosophical insights, analyses of performance practice, and anecdotal reflections authored by some of today's most engaged performers, composers, and scholars, this book aims to illuminate the unique destinations found in the artistic journey of the modern percussionist.

Contents

  • Preface Kevin Lewis and Gustavo Aguilar
  • Part I Looking Back, Moving Ahead
  • 1 Percussion in the 1950's: A Survey of Developmental Forces, Concepts, and Trends Kevin Lewis
  • 2 Beyond the Surface Gustavo Aguilar
  • 3 What of the Performers? The Case of the Percussion Group Cincinnati, and the Need to Reconsider Percussion Chamber Music Historiography Thomas J. Kernan
  • 4 At Loose Ends with Anticommunication Allen Otte
  • 5 Performing Rpons and Other Late Works by Pierre Boulez Bill Solomon
  • Part II Exploration, Discovery, and Illumination
  • 6 Having Never Listened to a Note of Percussion Brian Archinal
  • 7 Abstracted Resonance: The Percussion Music of Peter Garland John Lane
  • 8 Narrative on Narratives, from Utterance to Stories: Finding a Context for the Speaking Percussionist Bonnie Whiting Smith
  • 9 An Introduction to Stuart Saunders Smith's Works for Percussion Kevin Lewis
  • 10 I Drum the Body Electric! Rob Esler
  • Part III Reflections on Paths Travelled
  • 11 Preferences in Percussion - 2010 Allen Otte
  • 12 Revelations Steven Schick
  • 13 Bagatelles Robyn Schulkowsky
  • 14 Percussion at the End of 'New Music' Christopher Shultis
  • Part IV Conversing about the Journey
  • 15 Interview with William Winant Thad Anderson
  • 16 Talk to Me: A Self-Interview Fritz Hauser
  • 17 On the Nature of Percussion Masterworks Bill Sallak

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