Overview

Story-like chapters profile six twentieth-century reactive composers; not the most famous pillars of the period but lesser-known, perhaps more approachable, characters whose stories span that 1900-2000 period from decadent fin-de-siècle Vienna (Alban Berg, Alexander Zemlinsky) to war-torn Paris (Olivier Messiaen, Arthur Honegger) to the Cold War tensions of East vs. West (Tōru Takemitsu) and late-century Communism (Arvo Pärt). Their stories were all very different crises, and they produced very different kinds of music; each very telling of their composers life and times. Crisis Music presents each brief biography almost like a detective story looking for motives, then spotlights one particular piece of music from each composer that emerged directly out of hard times maybe a political crisis at the time of composition (Hitler marching into Paris or later Communist crack-downs); or some personal angst such as illness or scandal and how that music contains and expresses crisis. In short, the subject for discussion is how context influences content. Such troubled and especially vivid composition, crisis music, can often be most compelling and meaningful for its composer and for its time. Indeed, their music also seems to have a special resonance to share with our own crisis-prone times. And meanwhile, Western music history played-out its own story from late-romantic style to Serialism and Minimalism to the anything-goes Pluralism we hear today. Crisis Music sparks the discussion about how history, biography and music intersects. At the behest of music teachers at secondary and tertiary levels, Crisis Music contains substantive Discussion Questions geared for classroom use.

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9781789761467

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Reviews

An ambitious project and, judging by the Berg chapter, you have done an enormous amount of work to be able to summarize so much material - a mini biography for each composer! In any event, this is a very readable introduction to Berg and his music, and should appeal... --Christopher Hailey, author/biographer of Alban Berg & Franz Schreker I am really impressed with your work: you don't only study the theme of crisis in Honegger's work but you have retraced the musician's entire career throughout his life...a very big job to be proud of. Clear and convincing. --Pascal Lecroart, Honegger scholar, Bourgogne-Franche-Comte University This looks like my kind of book. Quite honestly, I think scholars sometimes can be party poopers: even if one doesn't understand how a work is constructed in an analytical way, one can certainly relate to the composer in a human way. This may be a way to introduce people to classical music. --Raymond Kreuger, former Assistant Librarian and French horn member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Your narrative poses some intriguing questions about the relationship between biography and musical creativity/output and draws attention to some composers who are distinctly interesting and diverse. --Ralph P. Locke, Professor Emeritus of Musicology, Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester Classical music wasn't the most popular music of the 20th century, but it was the most interesting. Focusing on six of modernism's most compelling composers, John Caps supplies historical and biographical background, as well as his own shrewd assessments, for some of the most expressive composition of that era, effectively conveying both the adventure of creation, and the heavy personal toll paid my such diverse composers as Berg, Messiaen, Takemitsu. Of course, great art always exacts a heavy toll from its creators and here Caps offers insightful profiles of how and why six artists were willing and, in some cases, compelled, to pay the price. --John Dutterer, music reviewer/contributor, American Record Guide War, famine, and tumultuous regime change have wrought their havoc on all preceding centuries, Caps argues in Crisis Music, but our past century is quite different with respect to how this tumult and disorder are reflected in 20th century music composition: crisis music that reflects the anxiety of its time...As we read about the composers examined here, it is impossible not to be affected by the political/social realities that they faced. --Melinda Bargreen, from the Foreword

‘Crisis Music poses some intriguing questions about the relationship between biography and musical creativity/output and draws attention to some composers who are distinctly interesting and diverse.’ Ralph P. Locke, Professor Emeritus of Musicology, Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester ‘Classical music wasn’t the most popular music of the 20th century but it was the most interesting. Focusing on six of modernism’s most compelling composers, John Caps supplies historical and biographical background, as well as his own shrewd assessments for some of the most expressive composition of that era, effectively conveying both the adventure of creation and the heavy personal toll paid by such composers as Berg, Messiaen, Takemitsu. Of course, great art always exacts a heavy toll from its creators and Crisis Music offers insightful profiles of how and why six artists were willing and, in some cases, compelled, to pay the price.’ John Dutterer, American Record Guide

Author Information

John Caps is the author of a 2015 book in the Univ. of Illinois Music in American Life series, articles for the New York City Opera and magazines like High Fidelity / Musical America, and liner notes for such recording labels as Harmonia Mundi; he holds an M.Ed. from American International College producing multi-media classroom curricula in mental health topics and was a classroom teacher of deaf-blind students at The Perkins School for the Blind near Boston.

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