Lou Harrison

American Musical Maverick

Biography & Memoir, Entertainment & Performing Arts, Nonfiction, Entertainment, Music
Cover of the book Lou Harrison by Brett Campbell, Bill Alves, Indiana University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Brett Campbell, Bill Alves ISBN: 9780253026439
Publisher: Indiana University Press Publication: April 10, 2017
Imprint: Indiana University Press Language: English
Author: Brett Campbell, Bill Alves
ISBN: 9780253026439
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Publication: April 10, 2017
Imprint: Indiana University Press
Language: English

American composer Lou Harrison (1917–2003) is perhaps best known for challenging the traditional musical establishment along with his contemporaries and close colleagues: composers John Cage, Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson, and Leonard Bernstein; Living Theater founder, Judith Malina; and choreographer, Merce Cunningham. Today, musicians from Bang on a Can to Björk are indebted to the cultural hybrids Harrison pioneered half a century ago. His explorations of new tonalities at a time when the rest of the avant garde considered such interests heretical set the stage for minimalism and musical post-modernism. His propulsive rhythms and ground-breaking use of percussion have inspired choreographers from Merce Cunningham to Mark Morris, and he is considered the godfather of the so-called "world music" phenomenon that has invigorated Western music with global sounds over the past two decades.

In this biography, authors Bill Alves and Brett Campbell trace Harrison's life and career from the diverse streets of San Francisco, where he studied with music experimentalist Henry Cowell and Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg, and where he discovered his love for all things non-traditional (Beat poetry, parties, and men); to the competitive performance industry in New York, where he subsequently launched his career as a composer, conducted Charles Ives's Third Symphony at Carnegie Hall (winning the elder composer a Pulitzer Prize), and experienced a devastating mental breakdown; to the experimental arts institution of Black Mountain College where he was involved in the first "happenings" with Cage, Cunningham, and others; and finally, back to California, where he would become a strong voice in human rights and environmental campaigns and compose some of the most eclectic pieces of his career.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

American composer Lou Harrison (1917–2003) is perhaps best known for challenging the traditional musical establishment along with his contemporaries and close colleagues: composers John Cage, Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson, and Leonard Bernstein; Living Theater founder, Judith Malina; and choreographer, Merce Cunningham. Today, musicians from Bang on a Can to Björk are indebted to the cultural hybrids Harrison pioneered half a century ago. His explorations of new tonalities at a time when the rest of the avant garde considered such interests heretical set the stage for minimalism and musical post-modernism. His propulsive rhythms and ground-breaking use of percussion have inspired choreographers from Merce Cunningham to Mark Morris, and he is considered the godfather of the so-called "world music" phenomenon that has invigorated Western music with global sounds over the past two decades.

In this biography, authors Bill Alves and Brett Campbell trace Harrison's life and career from the diverse streets of San Francisco, where he studied with music experimentalist Henry Cowell and Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg, and where he discovered his love for all things non-traditional (Beat poetry, parties, and men); to the competitive performance industry in New York, where he subsequently launched his career as a composer, conducted Charles Ives's Third Symphony at Carnegie Hall (winning the elder composer a Pulitzer Prize), and experienced a devastating mental breakdown; to the experimental arts institution of Black Mountain College where he was involved in the first "happenings" with Cage, Cunningham, and others; and finally, back to California, where he would become a strong voice in human rights and environmental campaigns and compose some of the most eclectic pieces of his career.

More books from Indiana University Press

Cover of the book William J. Forsyth by Brett Campbell, Bill Alves
Cover of the book Critical Reading in Higher Education by Brett Campbell, Bill Alves
Cover of the book Victory at Gettysburg by Brett Campbell, Bill Alves
Cover of the book Guns and Society in Colonial Nigeria by Brett Campbell, Bill Alves
Cover of the book Ex-Centric Migrations by Brett Campbell, Bill Alves
Cover of the book Dolly Parton, Gender, and Country Music by Brett Campbell, Bill Alves
Cover of the book A Guide to Natural Areas of Northern Indiana by Brett Campbell, Bill Alves
Cover of the book Language after Heidegger by Brett Campbell, Bill Alves
Cover of the book Creatures of Politics by Brett Campbell, Bill Alves
Cover of the book Kant and the Subject of Critique by Brett Campbell, Bill Alves
Cover of the book Rebellious Parents by Brett Campbell, Bill Alves
Cover of the book Tambú by Brett Campbell, Bill Alves
Cover of the book Impulse to Act by Brett Campbell, Bill Alves
Cover of the book Jewish Poland Revisited by Brett Campbell, Bill Alves
Cover of the book Together and Apart in Brzezany by Brett Campbell, Bill Alves
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy