James Tenney
Writings and Interviews on Experimental Music
Published on 2. May 2025
320 pages
979-8-7651-2134-4 (ISBN)
Description
This volume collects, for the first time, essential interviews and aesthetic writings from throughout James Tenney's five-decade artistic career.
The eminent American-Canadian composer James Tenney (1934-2006) made groundbreaking contributions to sampling culture, digital sound synthesis, algorithmic composition, minimalism, spectral music, music in non-standard tuning systems, contemporary theories of form and harmony, and the consolidation of an American experimental-music tradition. This book documents both his own work and his involvements with influential figures in mid-century American music, film, art, and technology. The writings are accompanied by photographs, artworks, compositional sketches, archival documents, and previously unpublished scores. Appendices supply, for the first time, exhaustive lists of Tenney's compositions and published writings, as well as performance chronologies that capture his influential contributions to the experimental arts in New York City and elsewhere in the 1960s and 1970s.
The eminent American-Canadian composer James Tenney (1934-2006) made groundbreaking contributions to sampling culture, digital sound synthesis, algorithmic composition, minimalism, spectral music, music in non-standard tuning systems, contemporary theories of form and harmony, and the consolidation of an American experimental-music tradition. This book documents both his own work and his involvements with influential figures in mid-century American music, film, art, and technology. The writings are accompanied by photographs, artworks, compositional sketches, archival documents, and previously unpublished scores. Appendices supply, for the first time, exhaustive lists of Tenney's compositions and published writings, as well as performance chronologies that capture his influential contributions to the experimental arts in New York City and elsewhere in the 1960s and 1970s.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
File size
32,40 MB
ISBN-13
979-8-7651-2134-4 (9798765121344)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Robert Wannamaker | Lauren Pratt | Tashi Wada
James Tenney
Writings and Interviews on Experimental Music
Book
06/2025
Bloomsbury Academic USA
€134.80
Shipment within 15-20 days
Persons
Robert Wannamaker is Associate Dean in the School of Music at the California Institute of the Arts, USA. He is the author of The Music of James Tenney, Vols. 1 & 2 (2021) and co-editor of James Tenney's From Scratch: Writings in Music Theory (2015).
Lauren Pratt is the executor of the estate of James Tenney, Canada. She is co-editor of James Tenney's From Scratch: Writings in Music Theory (2015).
Tashi Wada is a composer and independent scholar based in Los Angeles, USA. Wada studied composition with James Tenney at the California Institute of the Arts and has helped oversee Tenney's archive for the past decade.
Lauren Pratt is the executor of the estate of James Tenney, Canada. She is co-editor of James Tenney's From Scratch: Writings in Music Theory (2015).
Tashi Wada is a composer and independent scholar based in Los Angeles, USA. Wada studied composition with James Tenney at the California Institute of the Arts and has helped oversee Tenney's archive for the past decade.
Content
List of Figures
Preface
1. Introduction
2. Early Years (1934-1961)
3. Electronic and Computer Music (1961-64)
4. With Carolee Schneemann (1955-1968)
5. Media, Performance, and Society (1963-69)
6. Continuity and Harmony (1970-1985)
7. Entropy and Agency (1986-2006)
8. On Other Artists
9. On Harmonic Theory
Appendix A List of Works
Appendix B List of Writings
Appendix C Performances by Tenney (1954-79)
Appendix D Performances of Tenney's Music (1956-76)
Bibliography
Index
Preface
1. Introduction
2. Early Years (1934-1961)
3. Electronic and Computer Music (1961-64)
4. With Carolee Schneemann (1955-1968)
5. Media, Performance, and Society (1963-69)
6. Continuity and Harmony (1970-1985)
7. Entropy and Agency (1986-2006)
8. On Other Artists
9. On Harmonic Theory
Appendix A List of Works
Appendix B List of Writings
Appendix C Performances by Tenney (1954-79)
Appendix D Performances of Tenney's Music (1956-76)
Bibliography
Index
