Introduction to contemporary music / by Joseph Machlis.
| Author/creator | Machlis, Joseph |
| Format | Book |
| Edition | Second edition. |
| Publication Info | New York : W. W. Norton & Company, ©1979. |
| Description | xxv, 694 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | Part one: The first revolution. The old and the new -- The classic-romantic tradition -- Melody in twentieth-century music -- Harmony in twentieth-century music -- New conceptions of tonality -- Rhythm in twentieth-century music -- Texture in twentieth-century music -- New concepts in sonority -- New conceptions of form -- Part two: Before World War I (1900-1914). After Romanticism. The postromantic generation -- Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) -- Richard Strauss (1864-1949) -- Other composers of the postromantic era -- Impressionism. The impressionist movement -- Impressionist methods -- Claude Debussy (1862-1918) -- Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) -- Other impressionists -- Away from impressionism: Erik Satie (1866-1925) -- Three revolutionary works. Bela Bartok: Allegro Barbaro -- Igor Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps -- Arnold Schoenberg: Pierrot lunaire -- Part three: Between the wars (1920-1940). The central group. New trends: the flight from romanticism -- The new classicism -- Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) -- Two works by Stravinsky -- Bela Bartok (1881-1945) -- Two works by Bartok -- Paul Hindemith -- Les Six -- The Russians -- Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) -- Dmitri Shostakovitch (1906-1976) -- Twelve-tone music -- Arnold Schoenberg (1885-1951) -- Two works by Schoenberg -- Alban Berg (1883-1945) -- Anton Webern (1883-1945) -- Other significant figures. Leoš Janáček (1854-1928) -- Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) -- Kurt Weill (1900-1950) -- Other European composers between the wars (I) -- Other European composers between the wars (II) -- Part four: The American scene. Music in America -- American impressionists -- Charles Ives (1874-1954) -- The twenties -- Edgard Varèse (1883-1965) -- Carl Ruggles (1876-1971) -- Experimental composers of the twenties -- The thirties -- George Gershwin (1898-1937) -- Aaron Copland (1900-) -- Roger Sessions (1896-) -- Other composers between the wars: Douglas Moore, Walter Piston, Virgil Thomson, Howard Hanson, Roy Harris, Randall Thompson, others -- Latin America: Heitor Villa-Lobos, Carlos Chavez, others -- Part five: The second revolution. After World War II: The postwar scene -- European masters in America -- New trends -- New sounds -- Aspects of new music -- Four representative European composers: Olivier Messiaen (1908-), Benjamin Britten (1913-1976), Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-), Pierre Boulez (1925-) -- Four representative American composers: John Cage (1912-), Elliott Carter (1908-), Milton Babbitt (1916-), George Crumb (1929-) -- Dictionary of contemporary composers and their recorded works -- Appendices. Basic concepts -- Texts and translations of vocal works -- A reading list of books and articles on twentieth-century music -- Synoptic table. |
| Abstract | This book was written for the purpose of leading the reader to an understanding and enjoyment of twentieth-century music. In a survey of the broad contemporary panorama, the author assesses the forces that have shaped the musical climate in which we live. The author, so well-known for his successful text The Enjoyment of Music, employs the same techniques here: he combines interesting biographical and historical data with technical explanations couched in clear and accessible language. In preparing the second edition of this book, the author sought first of all to bring it up to date. This entailed adding a full discussion of the tremendous changes that have occurred since 1961. In addition, he has reorganized the material considerably, eschewing stylistic categorization for narrative chronology. This enables the reader to relate musical movements and trends to the great socio-political events that surround us. Newly designed and illustrated, with musical examples freshly drawn for greater clarity, this book concentrates, in the last section entitled The Second Revolution, on eight representative composers: four Europeans (Messiaen, Britten, Stockhausen, Boulez) and four Americans (Cage, Carter, Babbitt, Crumb). As a balance to this frank endorsement, the author has provided an enormously useful and concise Dictionary in which over two hundred composers are introduced. The appendices at the back of the book include a highly concentrated review of basic concepts of music, texts and translations of vocal works, a selective bibliography, and an up-to-date synoptic table. |
| Local note | Little-240179 - $22.95 |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 661-668) and index. |
| LCCN | 78010327 |
| ISBN | 0393090264 |