Product Description
Alfred is excited to present this superb collection of vocal solos exclusively for female voices. From a touching American folk song to dramatic seasonal portraits of autumn and winter, you’ll find something for everyone in this wonderful and varied collection. A perfect choice for studio and stage.
Titles: Autumn * The Moon * Mother, Please Explain * Music Speaks * Oh, No! * Poor Boy * Remember My Song * Shooting Star * Why Does the Willow Tree Weep? * WinterSong. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Great ideas but not a great read
I'll agree with other reviewers on some of the criticisms of the book in that it doesn't necessarily read very well. Peacock does take a long time on expository setting up his main point of how the CCM industry's worldview may be misguided when it's probably not needed. The audience for this book presumably is already Christian, whether they be record company label heads and workers, musicians, or just dedicated listeners of gospel music. If you're involved with the music, you probably know the history.

I also felt that perhaps too much attempt was made to "blame" CCM's often utilitarian [i.e. music strictly as salvation tool] emphasis on John Wimber and his followers (Please note: I am not personally a member of the Vineyard..nor would I even consider myself charismatic. I just felt that he was singled out as being the cause of CCM theology being more oriented to the experiential rather than the theological...i.e. how do I FEEL about God as opposed to what do I learn about God from His WORD)

That being said, Peacock rightly points out that if CCM truly does intend to reach the lost, it's not doing a good job of spending promotional money and aiming marketing at putting its artists in places where they're more likely to find the unconverted (i.e. trying to get them into bars, coffeehouses, mainstream music fests, etc etc etc) He also suggested (I believe correctly) that the industry's focus on appealing to what it perceives as the desires of the already converted in terms of lyrical expression, direct testimony and salvation appeals at live appearances, and artists parroting the "approved" answers in interviews tend to stifle the musicians' proper role as artists and limit the reach they can have within the greater culture at large.

While I'm not sure whether Peacock has the answers to really getting the message out to those who need to hear most and of restoring the Church to its place of preeminence in the arts, it appears he's at least asking the correct questions and that's a good start.

From the inside
Charlie has written probably one of the most thoughtful treatise on the CCM monster.I have my own issues with this industry and dare I say, Peacock addresses 90% of them.He also does it in a fashion that is fair and careful.He clearly wants to see the artists thrive and looks at the chasm that has grown between the church and the artist.Leaving many artists to forage on theirown without support from fellow Christians, or to water down their art into a palatable cheerleading craft.Ministry, art, stardom are all topics Charlie approaches with great care and concern.If some are offended by Charlie's approach, it is through not fault of his, and they are likely people who find fault everywhere but with themselves.This is an excellent book for anyone curious about Christian music, both where it's been and where it's can go.

A Wake Up Call
Where did Christian music come from and what were its early driving forces? What mistakes were made that caused many of the problems we wrestle with today to arise? What exactly IS Christian music? Is music to be used only for ministry? Where is Christian music going? How do we, or even CAN we, meld our music with business, and what about the partnership with the mainstream record companies?

These are questions that Peacock confronts head on, using history, reason, common sense, and, most importantly, solid Biblical scripture and principles. He has truely strived to give a fair and balanced view of the situations that we are in, and then appealed the the Scriptures to give Biblical solutions and answers to the problems and roads that we are facing. No matter what position you take on any of the above issues, you should be touched and encouraged by what Peacock lays out here, since he does it gently and Biblically, and he really is one of the best equipped men to do something like this. Steven Curtis Chapman wrote "I know of no one who has wrestled more profoundly with these issues and how they may relate to the arts, especially Christian music, than Charlie Peacock."

If you're planning on entering a career related to CCM in any way this should be required reading, but even as a fan it's something you'll want to pick up. It should radically alter the way you think about Christian music and view its place and mission in the world, as well as affect your over-all Christian walk as you try to approach life from a Kingdom Perspective. I give At the Crossroads my full support and recommendation, both critically and as someone who has a passion, love, and concern for CCM and its future.

not just about CCM, but about life
This book is tremendously awesome.That's too bad that some people have gotten confused with what Peacock was trying to say.The book is wonderful in declaring we should be living our lives with a Kingdom Perspective.TheKingdom Perspective is one of the most useful connotations I havediscovered in my recent Christian walk.This book shows how importantGod's word and truth are.They are what we should base our decisions on.

An instructional approach to CCM
Having in my life been more accustomed to making fun of CCM than actually supporting it, I approached this book with the sole purpose of trying to understand why such an industry exists and what an insider, and a musicianI have a lot of respect for has to say about it.What I found was a bookthat focused more on what Peacock calls the "kingdom life"principle and less an informative background and history of CCM and itsshortcomings.Clearly, the difference between what Peacock has done hereand what I was looking for is the difference between something written by ascholar and something written by a musician.I'm in no way knockingPeacock's intelligence, because I feel that he did appropriate research forthe book, I only had hoped it would be more of an informative book than itis.The style in which he constructed the book, breaking down each chapterinto subtitles often confused me and kept the book from being a cohesiveunit.I admire his presenting the issues on every side and not taking adefinite side, and his use of Bible verses highlighted the importance ofthe Gospel not only in the industry, but also for the fans of the industry,however I would have much rather been taken down a more informative thaninstructional path.In going into this book I had little interest in anyof the music coming out of the closed CCM market, and I would say now thatI have even less desire to give out "Christian Charity" to any ofthose artists. ... Read more

Product Description
Sales of Christian music have skyrocketed. More and more Christian artists have crossed over into mainstream markets, and the national media has taken notice-Entertainment Weekly, Newsweek, and The Wall Street Journal have all devoted in-depth features to the Christian music phenomenon. The Billboard Guide to Contemporary Christian Music chronicles the amazing rise of this genre from its gospel roots to today's diverse musical sound, which includes rock, punk, heavy metal, pop, R&B, ska, swing, country, and Latin music. It offers a complete capsule encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian artists as well as an introduction to the music form, discussing its roots and cultural impact, and includes interviews with influential artists and an Appendix of key sources and contacts. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

"Billboard" means "Definite not Comprehensive"
I have to admit, I haven't read this thoroughly, yet. It looks interesting - and not afraid to deal with difficult issues that the artists, the music, and the industry have gone through through the years.

However, like I said in the title, it is not comprehensive. My touchstones were Glad, Bleach, and PFR, which were no small bands. It wouldn't take more to find more that aren't here.

It's also outdated -- 2002. So our splurge of new hypercontemporary bands are not included.

However, if you're looking for Jesus Movement/ Post Jesus Movement Era, it's probably got more than you've heard of.

A-Z encyclopedia format
Compiled, written and edited by Barry Alfonso, The Billboard Guide To Contemporary Christian Music presents information on hits, trends, controversies, stars, and more in the world of contemporary Christian music. An A-Z encyclopedia format, The Billboard Guide To Contemporary Christian Music provides basic biographical information on the most well-known artists, a solid history of Contemporary Christian Music since its origin, and a great deal more. The Billboard Guide To Contemporary Christian Music is highly recommended as a resourceful introduction and guide to an increasingly popular music genre.

A Great Guide
The three pieces at the beginning of this book (counting the introduction, and the two long essays) are very educational to anyone who has listened to CC music yet never fully understood the historical precedent for its various anomalies.I thought it was key that Mr. Alfonso mentioned the Council of Trent point regarding forbidden images and the spiritual arbiters who raised the alarm to "protect us" from unsuitable art.This attitude still seems to be circumscribing the current, carefully polished CCM image.I also enjoyed the little story about Abe Lincoln's parents at the tent revival-they might have been describing a Benny Hinn revival from last week.I guess there really is nothing new under the sun.The characters the author spotlights in his introduction are all fascinating, or at least he makes them seem so.It's interesting that he chose to trace the baton back to these odd-balls instead of dwelling on the rather banal stories of most of the current stars.His appreciation for the music is obvious, and the generous encyclopedia entries are done with careful sensitivity to the artist's intent.There are no harsh generalizations or condescending cheap shots about the music.Each artist's merit is weighed on singular terms, and each is given credit for his/her/their positive contributions to the genre.I also enjoyed Alfonso's interview with Bruce Cockburn, especially Bruce's funny line about not wanting to be labeled a Christian-artist (hyphenated), "I'm also a Christian who goes to the bathroom".Thanks for the enlightenment.This is a highly readable book, not just a quick reference tome.I hope it sells as well as it deserves to sell.I'll make sure my Christian friends know about it...

Well-Informed, Lively, and Beautifully Produced
This book will almost certainly be compared to mine so I want to be among the first to come out with a strong endorsement of it. Alfonso covers a wide variety of artists in short compass, including all of Christian music's current stars and the most important acts from its thirty year history. A wide variety of styles are represented and Alfonso traverses the varied landscape like a seasoned pro, introducing us to critics' favorites, industry darlings, edgy cult artists, and mainstream Dove Award winners.

The heart of the book is it's A - Z listing of over 100 artists. These entries are well-researched and accurate, written in a lively style that never fails to capture the unique appeal of each performer. Christian music fans can review career summaries of their favorite artists and then browse around in the book to discover new performers they might have missed. Or, the book could easily be read from cover-to-cover to gain a good overview of all that the Christian music scene has to offer. It is organized in a reader-friendly format with photos and discographies that make it fun and accessible.

Note that the book also contains an introductory history of contemporary Christian music, interviews with several artists, and a helpful index. What more could you want? This is a wonderful book! I can't imagine any fan of Christian music not wanting a copy.

(The writer of this review is author of the book Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music, published by Hendrickson in 2002). ... Read more

Product Description
As a work of cultural criticism that recalls the concerns of Foucault, Hayden White, Zizek, and others Decentering Music examines the struggle for the authority to speak about music at a time when the humanities are in crisis. By linking the institutions that support musical research, including professional associations and universities, to complex historical changes such as globalization and the commodification of knowledge, Korsyn undertakes a critique of musical scholarship as an institutional discourse, while contributing to a general theory of disciplinary structures that goes beyond the limits of any single field. In asking a number of fundamental questions about the models through which disciplinary objects in music are constructed, Korsyn suggests unexpected relationships between works of musical scholarship and the cultural networks in which they participate. Thus David Lewin's theory of musical perceptions is compared to Richard Rorty's concept of the "liberal ironist," Susan McClary's feminist narrative of music history is juxtaposed with T.S. Eliot's "dissociation of sensibility," and Steven Feld's work in recording the music of the Kaluli people is compared to the treatment of ambient sound in contemporary cinema. Developing a framework for interpretation in dialogue with a number of poststructuralist writers, Korsyn goes far beyond applying their thought to the analysis of music; by showing the cultural dilemmas to which their work responds, Korsyn suggests how musical research already participates in these ideas. Rather than impose any single method, Decentering Music empowers readers to choose for themselves by interrogating their own values and ideological commitments, exploring the enabling conditions for statements about music. By demonstrating the complicity of opposing positions and challenging readers to reexamine their own values, Decentering Music will surely provoke debate, while appealing to readers in a variety of fields, and to anyone concerned about the crisis in the humanities. ... Read more

Product Description
"The A to X of Alternative Music" is a survey of the most influential bands of the last 30 years. It covers those bands and artists who have rejected the mainstream in favour of innovation, originality and the pursuit of their own unique musical identity. These are the acts who have inspired other musicians, helped define the culture of their times and won devoted followings. From "A Certain Ratio" to "Frank Zappa", via "The Fall", "Mogwai", "New York Dolls" and "Sonic Youth", over 200 written entries build up to offer a unique perspective on contemporary music. Each entry concludes with album recommendations, while a closing 'ones to watch' section covers some of the most exciting new acts to have arrived on the alternative scene in the last five years. "The A to X of Alternative Music" is guaranteed to tell you things you never knew about your favourite bands, introduce you to new artists and provoke passionate debate between music lovers. Unafraid to court controversy in its judgements, inclusions and omissions, and engagingly written and illustrated throughout, this is the essential reference companion for anyone who loves music made - and listened to - outside the mainstream. ... Read more

Product Description
Blending the sounds of African traditional instruments with pop culture's rock, jazz, soul, and R & B, a full-color fan's guide chronicles the history of the music and notes its influence on the international scene. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Glossy, pretty, low on real content
It's a nice book put out by people who know their music and for some reason chose to give you lots of glossy filler instead of any real information.

Damn shame. ... Read more

Product Description
It is customary in the Western world for people to use the term 'African music' as if it were a single clearly identifiable phenomenon. Yet when one considers the size of the continent (the second largest in the world), the enormous differences in climate and terrain producing contrasting ways of life across the land mass, and, above all, its extreme multilingualism (more than 1800 different languages constituting a third of the world's languages), one should not be surprised at the diversity of music and the difficulty of isolating distinctly African features common to the whole continent. Besides, the study of its music did not proceed everywhere with equal thoroughness, insight or purpose. This new and important book is an overview of music in Africa. ... Read more

Product Description
Contemporary Music Education maintains the practical and objective stance that has made it a standard in the field. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Contemporary Music Education
This book was used as a textbook but it can also be used as a reference book. This bookhas information regarding various topics such as; Historical Foundations of Music Education, Pivotal Events of the Contemporary Era, Advocacy, Music Education Methods........

Contemporary Music Education
The book is a good summary but is dated, since it was last printed in the early 90's.It is hard to find a good Contemporary Trends book, particularly for graduate students, but a new one just came out this fall (Abeles) and I would recommend looking at that one first.

A lousy book
This book was the textbookfor one of our classes in music education. I think it's very poor because it's so unintelligent (thin) and boring and, compared to texts we use in other music courses (e.g. music history), it's unscholarly and sloppy. For example, this book repeats a whole pile of dead information that any undergrad can find in MENC blurbs and MENC'propaganda'.I think Mark must be paid as a cheerleader for MENC. Being forced to read this book is like being forced to read a cereal box.And look at his discussion of'philosophy' in this book; Mark thinks he's a scholar, but he is so obvioulsy clueless and biased. One more thing --- even I can find all sorts of typos and errors in the BIB and I'm just a senior!! The bottom line for me and my classmates is this: a poor author + a poor editor= a lousy book!!We want our money back!! ... Read more

Product Description
The revised 2nd edition of this favorite in our Big Book series features 50 of today's top CCM hits: Always Have, Always Will * Angels * El Shaddai * Find a Way * Friends * The Great Divide * I Will Be Here * I'll Lead You Home * Jesus Freak * Let Us Pray *Love in Any Language * A Maze of Grace * People Need the Lord * Pray * Shine on Us * Speechless * This Love * Thy Word * To Know You * Undivided * Via Dolorosa * Whatever You Ask * Where There Is Faith * Wisdom * and more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Big Book Of Contemporary Favorites
Yes, This book has a lot of songs from the 80's and 90's. Not current ones. But that being said there are a lot of songs thatbring me back to when I first accepted the Lord as my Savior. I am excited to learn them and share them with my church family and friends. I must say that Amazon has been a pleasure to deal with. ... Read more

Product Description
25 contemporary Christian radio favorites, including: Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) * Bring the Rain * Does Anybody Hear Her * East to West * Every Time I Breathe * Everything Glorious * Give You Glory * God with Us * How to Save a Life * In Better Hands * Miracle of the Moment * Something Beautiful * Undo * You Alone * and more. ... Read more

Product Description
As a sociologist Simon Frith claims music is the result of the play of social forces, whether as an idea, an experience, or an activity. The essays in this important collection address these forces, recognising that music is an effect of a continuous process of negotiation, dispute and agreement between the individuals who make up a music world.The collection includes nineteen essays, some of which have had a major impact on the field, along with an autobiographical introduction. ... Read more

Product Description
This outstanding collection of Susan McClary's work exemplifies her contribution to a bridging of the gap between historical context, culture and musical practice. The selection includes essays which have had a major impact on the field and others which are less known and reproduced here from hard-to-find sources. The volume is divided into four parts: Interpretation and Polemics, Gender and Sexuality, Popular Music, and Early Music. Each of the essays treats music as cultural text and has a strong interdisciplinary appeal. Together with the autobiographical introduction they will prove essential reading for anyone interested in the life and times of a renegade musicologist. ... Read more

Product Description
Disruptive Divas focuses on four female musicians: Tori Amos, Courtney Love, Me'Shell Ndegeocello and P. J. Harvey who have marked contemporary popular culture in unexpected ways have impelled and disturbed the boundaries of "acceptable" female musicianship. ... Read more

Product Description
Mitropoulos' story unfolds against the rich backdrop of the Golden Age of conductors and reveals secret wars among musicians, patrons, promoters, and critics. Based upon extensive research, this radiant account of a tragically noble and neglected giant promises to be the most important musical biography of the decade. Photos. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A fine job
Mitropoulos's career, method of working, extraordinarymusicianship are described in detail. Also described is his sweetnessand naiveté. Aside from some special pleading when he bashes other conductors in defense of Mitropoulos, Trotter does a fine job of pulling together the research of Oliver Daniel who died before he could write the biography.

Wonderful biography of a forgotten giant
I stumbled on the name Dimitri Mitropoulos quite by accident, as one never hears him mentioned much in the same way Karajan, Bernstein, and others are.Neither have I heard any of his recordings.This book helped medelve into this great man's life - what a singular purpose of mind he had -total dedication to his craft.William Trotter succeeds in giving us notjust the details of his life (which, by themselves, are not exactlymundane), but also in bringing the reader the imagery, the depth of feelingof Mitropoulos' work.One can feel and see him conducting in his fullglory.Having had this marvellous biography brought to me, I am noweagerly buying whatever recordings conducted by Mitropoulos that I canfind.I agree with the other reader who commented - a discography would bemost welcome.

A superb biography of a great musician
At the time of Dimitri Mitropoulos' death in 1960, he was regarded as one of the greatest conductors of the century. His spellbinding performances in Minneapolis and with the New York Philharmonic were legendary. Then he handed (or was forced to hand over) the baton to Leonard Bernstein, Mitropoulos turned to opera. Virtually all of those performances are legendary. Even when let down by poor casts (such as a Met broadcast of DIE WALKURE) hisconducting leaves the listener breathless. Yet the irony is that with a decade of his death, he was virtually forgotten. William Trotter's well-written, well-paced biography reminds us of Mitropoulos' great musicianship and encouraged me, for one, to pull the maestro's recordings off the shelf and become reacquainted. My only quibble is the lack of a discography. Maybe Amadeus will remedy that in future editions or maybe they'll give us a separate volume (as with their excellent Bjoerling discography). Highly recommended to all music lovers. ... Read more

Product Description
Twentieth Century Music is the third volume to appear in this series.Morgan divides his text into three chronological sections. Beginning with such giants as Mahler, Richard Strauss and Debussy, he discusses national movements, as represented by Charles Ives and Ralph Vaughan Williams; philosophical movements as various as the Schoenberg/Berg/Webern alliance or "les six"; and the giants who were "sui generis", such as Bartok and Stravinsky. The "isms" such as serialism, minimalism, indeterminism, the new romanticism and pluralism, are clearly delineated and the electronic boom of the last decades is defined. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Outdated
Well written for what it is, but does it make sense to spend so little time on the last 55 years of the century? If anything, there should be more space as we get closer to the present, as there is more music being composed now than at any time in history.

best overview of the century
Morgan's book is the best that I have found for an overview of the entire 20th century in "classical" music.He divides his analysis into 3 logical sections:

Part 1. Beyond Tonality:From 1900 to World War I

Part 2. Reconstruction and New Systems:Between the Wars

Part 3. Innovation and Fragmentation:From WWII to the Present

This allows for some nuance that a simple list of composers often misses.For instance, Schoenberg's "atonal revolution" is covered in Part 1, along with the "new tonalities" of Stravinsky and Bartok.Part 2 covers the origin of the "twelve-tone system," but makes clear that it did not become influential until years later with the "serial revolution" in France, led by Messiaen and Boulez, in Part 3.

As others have noted, Morgan is not as strong on the more recent period, partly because the book was published in 1991 and thus misses such phenomena as Schnittke's surge of popularity, especially in Russia and Europe, after the collapse of the Soviet regime.I recommend two other books along with Morgan:1) Gann's "American Music in the Twentieth-Century," which covers developments in the U.S. in greater detail, thus including for instance one of my favorites, Roger Reynolds, and 2) Griffiths' masterful "Modern Music and After," which begins after the Second World War.

The History of Modern Music for The Layman
As we end the 20th century, we may not realize that 20th century music covers the same time span as the 19th century Romantic music period. Have we grasped the meaning of modern music. To do this one needs to understand the history as well as the dynamics of 20th century music. Here is a book that fills the bill. Not only does Mr. Morgan discuss the growth and change in 20th century music but he does it in it's historical context of our maturing as a world. For many the atonality of 20th century music is hard to grasp, especially when concert artists and orchestras continue to emphasize in their repatoire 19th century music. But as the world changes so will music. A book to awaken your interest in 20th century music and the composers who were the leaders of this period. ... Read more

Product Description
Michael Nyman's book is a first-hand account of experimental music from 1950 to 1970. First published in 1974, it has remained the classic text on a significant form of music making and composing that developed alongside, and partly in opposition to, the postwar modernist tradition of composers such as Boulez, Berio, or Stockhausen. The experimentalist par excellence was John Cage whose legendary 4' 33'' consists of four minutes and thirty three seconds of silence to be performed on any instrument. Such pieces have a conceptual rather than purely musical starting point and radically challenge conventional notions of the musical work. Nyman's book traces the revolutionary attitudes that were developed toward concepts of time, space, sound, and composer/performer responsibility. It was within the experimental tradition that the seeds of musical minimalism were sown and the book contains reference to the early works of Reich, Riley, Young, and Glass.This second edition contains a new Foreword, an updated discography, and a historical overview by the author. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Somewhat superficial
For me the most useful thing about this book is that it has a lot of score excerpts that are useful if you're teaching at a university with a poor library. In the last few years a lot of valuable primary source material and interpretive writing has become available in book form through publishers like Musiktexte, and in scholarly journals like 'Perspectives in New Music'. I think the book is a fairly superficial survey, and I know its often used in introductory courses, but I don't like to recommend it to undergraduates because it's not a model for good scholarship because of the lack of citations like footnotes or endnotes when information comes from other sources.

Not a revision, a reprint
The other reviews catch it all. Nyman's points are 'interesting', but it is Nyman. This is my second copy as I thought it was revised. It's a reprint.

A Classic Introduction
Not only is this a great introduction for someone who doesn't know his or her way around this subject, but it offers more experienced listeners and readers Nyman's own sensitive, and (to my mind) highly accurate, takes on what Cage, Feldman, Brown, Cardew, LaMonte Young and others were up to back in the pre-revolutionary 50's and the revolutionary 60's and 70's.This is a snapshot, if you will, of many of the giants fully formed, and some, like Gavin Bryars, in the larval stages of their genius, so it makes for a fascinating read.Nyman's prose is pellucid, and his explanations cogent.My dream is that Michael Nyman will someday return to update this book and offer some insights on the new, strange paths, experimental music has taken in the age of the personal computer, robotics and the Internet.

THE 20th CENTURY RADICAL AVANT-GARDE
In this work originally published in 1974, Nyman discusses the work of composers and performers who shifted the boundaries of music as regards notation, time, space, and the roles of the composer, performer and audience. The author seeks to identify and explain a whole body of musical work that existed outside the classical tradition and the avant-garde orthodoxies that flowed from it. He thus explores the Anglo-American musical tradition loosely associated with John Cage. Since 1974 this book has been considered the classical work on the radical alternative to the mainstream avant-garde as represented by Berio, Boulez and Stockhausen. Many of the current popular composers like Glass and Reich trace their root to this experimental school. The most fascinating chapter to me is "Minimal Music, Determinacy And The New Tonality" in which the Theatre Of Eternal Music (Tony Conrad, La Monte Young, Marion Zazeela and John Cale) as well as the work of Terry Riley is discussed. Photographs, illustrations and musical notations enliven the text and the book concludes with a selected source bibliography, a discography of experimental music and a bibliography of publications since 1974. Brian Eno has contributed an interesting foreword to this edition. The text can get a bit technical for the non-musician, but it remains a detailed work on a radical musical direction that has borne great fruit in the years since it was first analysed in this thorough and scholarly work.

processes and fields of sound, not time-objects...
Nyman's 1974 classic is here reprinted sans revisions.Brilliant!It captures a moment -- as Nyman concludes his preface, "Thank goodness I wrote it when I did."EM is not a survey of 20th century avant-garde music.It focuses on one trend, inaugurated by Cage, Wolff, Feldman and Brown in the 1950s, a trend which explicitly attempted to overturn the traditional avant-garde then marching under the banner of total serialism.Nyman contrasts Wolff to Stockhausen, then a leading serialist:"Stockhausen is speaking of an unwanted situation needing to be remedied by his intervention, Wolff of a situation he is quite happy to accept, leaving sounds to go their own way." (27)As Cage says in his "Silence,"

"Not an attempt to understand...Just an attention to the activity of sounds."

One of the great strengths of Nyman's short book is his careful attempt to define experimental music before he moves on to discuss the artists and their music.To summarize and paraphrase, he says experimental composers are excited by creating "a process of generating action," involving situations or fields delineated by compositional rules, but leaving them open to the performers. (4)

Experimental music is uncompromisingly radical, and represents an ongoing influence on creative music, but has certainly not become any sort of popular movement.So for instance, while the early "minimalists" Young and Riley were arguably part of the experimental tendency, as were Reich's early phase patterns, (and hence are included here by Nyman), the later works of Reich, and especially Glass, are no longer open and experimental.And while Eno and recent techno/ambient artists have been influenced, their innovations have been more technical than conceptual by comparison.

My recommendation if this sounds intriguing -- check out anything by the English free-improv group AMM, which is nowadays constituted by Eddie Prevost on percussion, Keith Rowe on guitar and electronics, and John Tilbury on piano! ... Read more