Composer's voices from Ives to Ellington
Subtitle: an oral history of American music
By: Vivian Perlis and Libby Van Cleve.
Contributors: Van Cleve, Libby.
Series: An oral history of American music
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2005
Place of publication: New Haven
Language: eng
Number of pages: 477
Subjects: Composers -- United States -- 20th century -- Interviews; Jazz musicians -- United States -- 20th century -- Interviews
Genres: Interviews.
Description: The first decades of the twentieth century were a fertile and fascinating period in American musical history. This book and the two CDs that accompany it present an exceptional collection of interviews with and about the most significant musical figures of the era. Tapping the unparalleled materials contained in the Oral History American Music archive at Yale University, Composers' Voices from Ives to Ellington is a unique account of what it was like for musicians and composers to live and work in those years. It is also the story of the making of the archive, as told by Vivian Perlis, who personally conducted many of the interviews. Music aficionados can now hear Eubie Blake describe the birth of ragtime or listen to a firsthand account of how Ira Gershwin came to write those famous lines in "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off." In-depth interviews with such figures as Henry Cowell, Virgil Thomson, Aaron Copland, and Duke Ellington are included in the book, which also features chapter introductions and fascinating sidebars, illustrations, and anecdotes throughout. Two CDs complete the set, enabling today's listener to enjoy the remarkablen experience of hearing the actual voices and the music of American composers of the early twentieth century [Publisher description]
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p.   ) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introducing the century : 1 January 1900 : Charles Ives; title: On ragtime and Eubie Blake; title: From the early modernists. Leo Ornstein ; Edgard Varèse ; Carl Ruggles ; Dane Rudhyar ; Charles Seeger ; Henry Cowell; title: On the jazz age and George Gershwin; title: With a French accent. Nadia Boulanger; title: From the Boulangerie : Virgil Thomson ; Aaron Copland ; Roy Harris; title: Exploring the world of Duke Ellington.