American Experimental Music 1890-1940

David Nicholls

Paperback

Regular price$45.00With free membership trial$42.755% off

This title does not qualify for the full 50% off new member discount

+ Free shipping

In Stock– Ships within one business day

Do you recommend this book?

Yes!

From the end of the nineteenth century a national musical consciousness gradually emerged in the United States as composers began to turn away from the European conventions on which their music had been modeled. It was in this period of change that experimentalism was born and America subsequently became, as it still is, a major source of new musical ideas for European musicians. David Nicholls considers the most influential figures in the development of American experimentalism, including Charles Ives, Charles Seeger, Ruth Crawford, Henry Cowell and the young John Cage. He analyzes the music and ideas of this group, explaining the compositional techniques invented and employed by them and the historical and cultural context in which they emerged. The book is thus an important contribution toward our understanding of some of the most challenging music of the twentieth century.

Book Details

Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publish Date: Jul 26th, 1991
Pages: 252
Language: English
Edition: undefined - undefined
Dimensions: 9.73in - 6.83in - 0.57in - 1.01lb
EAN: 9780521424646
Categories: • History & Criticism - General

Praise for this book

"...musicians will enjoy seeing a British composer/scholar trace an American experimental movement with an objectivity that only a transatlantic outsider could muster." Kyle Gann, Voice

"...a coherent guide to the inner workings of compositions by Charles Ives, Charles Seeger, Carl Ruggles, Ruth Crawford, Henry Cowell and John Cage. Nicholls writes eminently readable prose- no small acheivement in an analytic text- and provides insightful findings. Notes