The Boulez-Cage Correspondence

The Boulez-Cage Correspondence

by RobertSamuels (Editor), Jean-JacquesNattiez (Editor)

Synopsis

Between May 1949 and August 1954 the composers Pierre Boulez and John Cage exchanged a series of remarkable letters which reflect on their own music and the music and culture of the time. This correspondence, together with a further letter from 1962 and various other relevant documents, have been edited by Jean-Jacques Nattiez and appear here for the first time completely in English. At the time Cage and Boulez were great friends and these amicable letters reflect their differing ideas on the course new music should take. While Boulez was thinking about forms of serialism, Cage was moving in the direction of ever greater compositional freedom and chance procedures. Professor Nattiez has written a full introduction to this collection of documents and the meticulous and detailed annotation of every letter makes this a volume of extraordinary value for our understanding of the development of both Cage and Boulez and the music of their time.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 188
Edition: Reprint
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 27 Jan 1995

ISBN 10: 0521485584
ISBN 13: 9780521485586
Book Overview: A study of two of the greatest composers of the twentieth century through their correspondence, now available for the first time in English in a paperback edition.

Media Reviews
'The book's contrapuntal portrayal of the widening chasm is quite fascinating. It is a necessary book; an invaluable document of its time.' The Guardian
Their letters detail an intense interchange and illuminate the differences between the frankly eclectic Cage, who was then deepening his acquaintances with Zen Buddhism, dada, and abstract expressionism, and Boulez, who was immersing himself in his notions of mathematical control of his composition. Booklist
The book's contrapuntal portrayal of the widening chasm is quite fascinating. It is a necessary book; an invaluable document of its time. The Guardian
This admirably edited collection, containing all the surviving letters exchanged between Pierre Boulez and John Cage, helps to answer one of the great questions about post-war music--how was it that these men arrived at such similar premises for the writing of the 1950s New Music from such disparate backgrounds?....It is a necessary book: an invaluable document of its time. John Bentley, The Guardian