Contemporary Composers on Contemporary Music Book

Contemporary Composers on Contemporary Music first appeared in 1967 and immediately became a standard for those with an interest in what--in our time--has come to be known as "music of our time." Even three decades ago it was a bit disingenuous to call some of these interviews and essays "contemporary"; it's been a while since Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924), Claude Debussy (1862-1918), or Erik Satie (1866-1925) could properly be thought of as contemporary or even recent. A better title back then and certainly now might have been 20th-Century Composers on 20th-Century Music. Still, Debussy's section is invaluable, not least for its humor, and if there are a few musical frauds represented in these pages, there is also plenty of useful information and insight into the thought processes of significant composers of the last few decades. But a number of important composers, including Philip Glass, are noticeably absent while far more obscure musicians get the full treatment. The editors' tastes run to serialism, electronic music, and other more dissonant, less traditionalist, and less tonal trends. And since the range of contributors is broad, the quality of the essays and interviews is at times inconsistent. Still, particularly with this expanded edition, Contemporary Composers on Contemporary Music remains an important work for those concerned with what the editors call "new attitudes" in serious music. --Sarah Bryan Miller