I know you're all busy working on your final project, so I've been trying to go easy on reading. But here are a few items you may be interested in, on various topics starting with Morton Feldman:
- Dora Hanninen, "Feldman, Analysis, Experience." (pdf) Twentieth-century music 1/2 (2004), pp. 225-251. An interesting perspective on the difficulties in analyzing Feldman's music, with a detailed look at Coptic Light.
- The video by Kurt Ralske based on Feldman's Triadic Memories, which I showed last week in class.
On
Nixon in China, there are many interviews with John Adams and the director Peter Sellars, which you can find easily; one of the more interesting analytical articles is here:
On British composer Thomas Adès, again there is lots of publicity material, but fewer in-depth looks (Adès himself rarely gives interviews). Here are some of the most interesting articles -
On Chinese-American composer Chen Yi -
- A brief interview (transcript) from Minnesota Public Radio, 2001.
- A 2003 dissertation by Xin Guo on Chen Yi's music.
On Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho -
Listening: Adès,
Asyla for orchestra,
movements
1 and
3; Chen Yi,
Si Ji for orchestra
; Saariaho,
New Gates for flute, viola and harp.
2 comments:
I'm really sorry about hijacking discussion in class today. I should have waited to express my opinion here or just spoken with Steve after class.
Anyway, I gave Adès the benefit of the doubt and listened to the rave piece again but I just don't get it. All of the gestures typically found in a techno dance beat are still there, completely unprocessed. The part leading up to the first four-on-the-floor drum beat section just sounds like Stravinsky to me. I guess what I don't understand is why he would choose to write such a piece for orchestra. If he wanted to do a techno dance beat rave tune, why not get out the midi controller, sequencer, and drum machine? It would sound better, in my opinion. Sure, it's controversial for a composer to do a symphonic rave, it gets people talking (even if they're saying bad things), but wouldn't it be just as controversial for an orchestral composer to release an extremely well conceived and executed techno tune realized by electronic means? What would people think of that? I'm not sure what I think about this yet, but I kind of feel like Adès's statement isn't suited to the orchestra. It just doesn't make sense.
Don't worry about it Taylor - you brought up undercurrents that have been lurking in the background throughout the four weeks.
As for Ades writing four-on-the-floor for orchestra: there's always something to be gained from transposing one kind of experience into a different realm, not unlike Reich and Ligeti composing works from African principles. Ades's techno version is one attempt; there are lots of other approaches one could try. Some composers *are* trying to do "real" electronica with synthesizers, while others are writing pieces that may be inspired by pop but sound nothing like it.
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