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Book Review (Two Books About Music)
Feb. 1st, 2016 09:55 pmMavericks and Other Traditions in American Music
by Michael Broyles
This book looks at a series of American composers, from William Billings through Meredith Monk, who had profound impact on American Music and partook of and defined the maverick tradition in music. Broyles looks at these composers life and works and the ways they fit into a particular American myth and tradition regarding artists and their creativity.
I really enjoyed Broyles' take on this particular slice of modern American music. His takes on the perceived dominance of serialism during the mid-twentieth century and the significance of John Cage. I also really enjoyed how he uses the story of contemporary American music to elucidate the tensions between eccentric individuality and the establishment and between rugged individualism and community in American art and society.
Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall
by Kazuo Ishiguro
This set of five short stories shares the theme of music and musicians. Each story catches the characters at a moment of change, a turning point in which their potential will either start to be realized or fall by the wayside into a ditch of disappointments. Although Ishiguro never quite resolves the question of which way it is going to go for his characters. I found I really liked the way each story left me wondering - Ishiguro found just the right balance between leaving me with lingering blanks to fill in and questions to ponder without leaving me feeling unsatisfied.
by Michael Broyles
This book looks at a series of American composers, from William Billings through Meredith Monk, who had profound impact on American Music and partook of and defined the maverick tradition in music. Broyles looks at these composers life and works and the ways they fit into a particular American myth and tradition regarding artists and their creativity.
I really enjoyed Broyles' take on this particular slice of modern American music. His takes on the perceived dominance of serialism during the mid-twentieth century and the significance of John Cage. I also really enjoyed how he uses the story of contemporary American music to elucidate the tensions between eccentric individuality and the establishment and between rugged individualism and community in American art and society.
Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall
by Kazuo Ishiguro
This set of five short stories shares the theme of music and musicians. Each story catches the characters at a moment of change, a turning point in which their potential will either start to be realized or fall by the wayside into a ditch of disappointments. Although Ishiguro never quite resolves the question of which way it is going to go for his characters. I found I really liked the way each story left me wondering - Ishiguro found just the right balance between leaving me with lingering blanks to fill in and questions to ponder without leaving me feeling unsatisfied.
