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PREFACE
- Zooming out completely, we finally encounter the listener, the one at the receiving end of the line of communication, as art is a form of human communication; in my opinion the highest developed, most playful, emotional and fulfilling form of communication. The one that makes up for the violent mess we collectively make of our existence on this beautiful planet. To stretch its importance, my first chapter is devoted to that listener. How do we perceive music as human beings, why do we remember it, love it, hate it, why does it make us cry or make us believe we are turned into better persons? And why is some of it called Art? The music of the twentieth century consists of so many different schools that any book about it must severely limit itself. The number and variety of masterpieces of twentieth-century music literature alone far surpasses that of the nineteenth century! I was therefore obliged to make firm choices and in doing so I have tried to thoroughly study the most distinctive works. This means that, to my great regret, many fascinating works and individuals that equally defined this extremely rich era were left out. The book is already voluminous enough as it is…
I did not have the intention of writing this book from my perspective as a composer. Still, all analyses say something about the person who does the analysis, even though I have tried to be objective. On the other hand: a book without opinions may become rather dull. Finally, this book meets the constantly recurring demand by students, to whom I have with great pleasure taught the course ‘analysis of new music’ over the past twenty years. Time and again they insisted that I should put my classes in writing and during the final year before my retirement I was no longer able to resist their call. This book intends to answer the most diverse questions, questions that kept coming up: what are the main streams; how did composers arrive at their, sometimes extreme, positions; how can we understand the analytical writings of hardliners such as Stockhausen, Boulez, and Xenakis? And they wanted analyses that give insight as to why the notes that there are, are there. Thanks are due to the rightholders, who gave permisson to reproduce the many musical examples; a full list is given in the Acknowledgment chapter. The students’ intelligent questions and their heart-warming involvement have made this book necessary for me to write. I owe a debt of gratitude to my former employer, Codarts University of the Arts Rotterdam, which not only enabled me to spend much time on writing the
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