Henry Cowell by Joel Sachs
Joel Sachs offers the first complete biography of one of the most influential figures in twentieth-century American music. Henry Cowell, a major musical innovator of the first half of the century, left a rich body of compositions spanning a wide range of styles. But as Sachs shows, Cowell's legacy extends far beyond his music. He worked tirelessly to create organizations such as the highly influential New Music Quarterly, New Music Recordings, and the Pan-American Association of Composers, through which great talents like Ruth Crawford Seeger and Charles Ives first became known in the US and abroad. As one of the first Western advocates for World Music, he used lectures, articles, and recordings to bring other musical cultures to myriad listeners and students including John Cage and Lou Harrison, who attributed their life work to Cowell's influence. Finally, Sachs describes the tragedy of Cowell's life--his guilty plea on a morals charge, which even the prosecutor felt was trivial, but brought him a sentence of 15 years in San Quentin, of which he served four.
With Sachs's monumental new biography we can now examine all facets of Cowell's entire life and careerHis book is a major contribution to US musical scholarship and points scholars of early twentieth-century experimental music in new directions. * Nancy Yunhwa Rao, Journal of the Society for American Music *
gorgeously written ... each page seemingly revealing a nugget of information that history was hitherto reluctant to divulge. * Philip Clark, Gramophone *
gorgeously written ... each page seemingly revealing a nugget of information that history was hitherto reluctant to divulge. * Philip Clark, Gramophone *
Joel Sachs is Professor of Music History, Chamber Music, and New Music Performance at The Juilliard School, where he conducts the New Juilliard Ensemble.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780195108958 |
| ISBN 10 | 0195108957 |
| Title | Henry Cowell |
| Author | Joel Sachs |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press Inc |
| Year published | 2012-06-28 |
| Number of pages | 624 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |