Full Description
Described by New York Times critic John Rockwell as "one of the best non-famous composers this country has to offer," Ben Johnston reconceives familiar idioms--ranging from neoclassicism and serialism to jazz and southern hymnody--using just intonation. Johnston studied with Darius Milhaud, Harry Partch, and John Cage, and is best known for his String Quartet No. 4, a complex series of variations on Amazing Grace. This collection spans forty years and brings together forty-one of Johnston's most important writings, including many rare and several previously unpublished selections. They include position papers, theoretical treatises, program notes, historical reflections, lectures, excerpts from interviews, and letters, and they cover a broad spectrum of concerns--from the technical exegesis of microtonality to the personal and the broadly humanistic. A discography of commercially available recordings of Johnston's music closes out the collection.
Contents
Editor's Acknowledgments xi
Introduction xi Bob Gilmore
Ben Johnston: A Chronology xxv Bob Gilmore
1. ON MUSIC THEORY
Aesthetic Theory; Philosophical Background for Mathematical Theory; Musical Background for Application of Mathematical Theory 3
Scalar Order as a Compositional Resource 10
Proportionality and Expanded Musical Pitch Relations 32
Microtonal Resources 41
Tonality Regained 46
Music Theory 53
Rational Structure in Music 62
A Notation System for Extended Just Intonation 77
2. ON MUSICAL AESTHETICS AND CULTURE
Musical Intelligibility: Where Are We? 91
A Talk on Contemporary Music 103
Festivals and New Music 107
Three Attacks on a Problem 109
On Context 118
Contribution to IMC Panel 122
How to Cook an Albatross 126
Art and Survival 134
On Bridge-Building 143
Seventeen Items 149
Art and Religion 151
Extended Just Intonation: A Position Paper 153
A.S.U.C. Keynote Address 156
Just Intonation and Mere Intonation 163
Without Improvement 166
Maximum Clarity 171
3. SOME COMPOSITIONS
On String Quartet No. 2 183
On Sonata for Microtonal Piano 185
The Genesis of Knocking Piece 187
Quintet for Groups: A Reminiscence 192
On Carmilla 196
On Crossings (String Quartet No. 3 and String Quartet No. 4) 199
On The Age of Surveillance 201
On String Quartet No. 5 203
On String Quartet No. 6 204
On Journeys 205
On Sleep and Waking 207
4. ON OTHER COMPOSERS
Letter from Urbana 211
To Perspectives of New Music re. John Cage 216
The Corporealism of Harry Partch 219
Harry Partch/John Cage 232
Harry Partch's Cloud-Chamber Music 235
Beyond Harry Partch 243
Regarding La Monte Young 251
Notes on Sources 259
Bibliography 263
Discography 267
Index 271
