Michael Nyman: Collected Writings

396 Pages·2013·2.49 MB·English

by  Michael Nyman

Michael NyMaN: collected WritiNgs
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Michael Nyman:
collected Writings
Edited by
PWyll aP siôN
Bangor University, UK
articles © Michael Nyman. compilation and other original material © Pwyll ap siôn 2013
all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
Pwyll ap siôn has asserted his right under the copyright, designs and Patents act, 1988, to
be identified as the editor of this work.
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Nyman, Michael.
Michael Nyman: collected writings.
1. Music–history and criticism.
i. title ii. Pwyll ap siôn.
780-dc23
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Nyman, Michael.
Michael Nyman : collected writings / [edited] by Pwyll ap siôn.
pages cm
includes index.
ISBN 978-1-4094-6469-3 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Musical criticism. 2. Music–History
and criticism. i. Pwyll ap siôn, editor. ii. title.
Ml410.N935a5 2013
780.9–dc23
2012044681
ISBN 9781409464693 (hbk)
ISBN 9781472430472 (ebk-PDF)
ISBN 9781472430489 (ebk-EPUB)
Bach musicological font developed by © yo tomita
III
Contents
List of Music Examples ix
Foreword by Michael Nyman xi
Preface xv
Acknowledgements xvii
IntroductIon 1
Early Music, Baroque Musicology and Ethnomusicology 6
Musical Modernism and the Avant-Garde 7
Quotation 11
Experimental Music 13
Minimalist Music 19
Conclusion 22
Part I revIews, CrItICIsms and short Prose wrItIngs
SectIon 1 1968–1969 27
‘Blocks of Granite’ (The Spectator, 12 July 1968, p. 63) 27
‘The Sound of Music’ (The Spectator, 9 August 1968, pp. 201–2) 28
‘Enter Birtwistle’ (The Spectator, 30 August 1968, p. 299) 31
‘New Favourites’ (The Spectator, 13 September 1968, pp. 367–8) 33
‘Shawms and Rackets’ (The Spectator, 27 September 1968, pp. 440–41) 35
‘Alexander Goehr’s Naboth’s Vineyard’ (Tempo, 86, Autumn 1968,
pp. 14–15) 36
‘Harrison Birtwistle’s Punch and Judy’ (The Listener, 10 October
1968, p. 481) 38
‘Minimal Music’ (The Spectator, 11 October 1968, pp. 518–19) 41
‘Chaconnes’ (The Listener, 7 November 1968, p. 620) 43
‘About Time Too’ (The Spectator, 6 December 1968, pp. 809–10) 47
‘Now You See It, Now You Don’t’ (The Spectator, 13 December 1968,
pp. 850–51) 49
‘Is This a Record?’ (The Spectator, 3 January 1969, pp. 19–20) 52
‘Play Group’ (The Spectator, 17 January 1969, pp. 84–5) 54
‘Work Projects’ (The Spectator, 7 February 1969, pp. 181–2) 55
‘Demolition Squad’ (The Spectator, 14 February 1969, pp. 217–18) 57
‘French Polish’ (The Spectator, 14 March 1969, p. 346) 59
vi Michael Nyman: Collected Writings
‘Two New Works by Birtwistle’ (Tempo, 88, Spring 1969, pp. 47–50) 61
‘Not Being Done’ (The Spectator, 25 April 1969, p. 553) 64
‘This Way Madness’ (The Spectator, 9 May 1969, pp. 626–7) 66
‘Boulez in the Labyrinth’ (The Spectator, 16 May 1969, pp. 658–9) 67
‘Skip and Run’ (The Spectator, 28 June 1969, p. 860) 70
‘Hands Off’ (The Spectator, 12 July 1969, pp. 50–51) 72
‘Patchwork’ (The Spectator, 26 July 1969, pp. 116–17) 73
‘Mr Birtwistle is Out’ (Music and Musicians, 18, September 1969,
pp. 27, 78) 75
‘Purcell in his Cups’ (Music and Musicians, 18, October 1969, p. 30) 77
‘Brass Tacks’ (The Spectator, 1 November 1969, p. 613) 78
‘With Reference to Birtwistle’s Medusa’ (The Listener, 13 November 1969,
p. 676) 79
‘Scratch & Co’ (The Spectator, 13 December 1969, p. 845) 82
‘Drums & Symbols’ (The Spectator, 20 December 1969, p. 877) 84
SectIon 2 1970–1971 87
‘Old Master’ (The Spectator, 3 January 1970, pp. 23–4) 87
‘Food of Love’ (The Spectator, 10 January 1970, p. 53) 89
‘Six to One’ (The Spectator, 17 January 1970, pp. 85–6) 90
‘Ancient Monument’ (The Spectator, 7 February 1970, p. 186) 92
‘Flowerpot Men’ (The Spectator, 14 March 1970, p. 346) 93
‘Stockhausen and David Bedford’ (The Listener, 30 April 1970, p. 593) 95
‘Birtwistle’s Rituals’ (The Listener, 27 August 1970, p. 285) 98
‘Satiety’ (New Statesman, 2 October 1970, p. 429) 100
‘Anachronisms’ (New Statesman, 30 October 1970, pp. 574–5) 102
‘Big Screen Opera’ (New Statesman, 19 February 1971, p. 249) 103
‘Sign Language’ (New Statesman, 26 February 1971, p. 282) 105
‘Boulez’s Law’ (New Statesman, 2 April 1971, pp. 466–7) 107
‘Stockhausen – The Musician, The Machine’ (Vogue Magazine,
15 April 1971, pp. 82–3) 109
‘Interconnections’ (New Statesman, 16 April 1971, pp. 539–40) 114
‘Stockhausen Kommt’ (Time Out, 18 April–2 May 1971, p. 23) 115
‘Panethnic’ (New Statesman, 30 April 1971, p. 607) 117
‘Steve Reich, Phil Glass’ (Musical Times, 112/1539, May 1971,
pp. 463–4) 119
‘Stockhausen’ (New Statesman, 7 May 1971, p. 646) 120
‘Towards Interpretation’ (New Statesman, 25 June 1971, pp. 889–90) 122
‘Stravarese’ (New Statesman, 9 July 1971, p. 60) 124
‘Uncommercial’ (New Statesman, 20 August 1971, p. 248) 125
‘Melody Rides Again’ (Music and Musicians, 20, October 1971, pp. 26–8) 126
‘Disciplinarians’ (New Statesman, 29 October 1971, p. 599) 131
‘Dart’s Epitaph’ (New Statesman, 17 December 1971, p. 872) 133
Contents vii
SectIon 3 1972–1977 135
‘Learning from Scratch’ (New Statesman, 28 January 1972, pp. 122–3) 135
‘Causerie’ (New Statesman, 10 March 1972, p. 324) 136
‘Circle Complete’ (New Statesman, 31 March 1972, p. 434) 137
‘Christian Wolff’ (Music and Musicians, 20, April 1972, p. 8) 139
‘The Experimental Tradition’ (Art and Artists, October 1972, pp. 44–8) 141
‘As the Titanic Went Down’ (Music and Musicians, 21, December 1972,
pp. 10–14) 148
‘Last Week’s Broadcast Music’ (The Listener, 22 February 1973,
pp. 252–3) [Morton Feldman] 152
‘Last Week’s Broadcast Music’ (The Listener, 19 April 1973,
pp. 521–2) [Electronic Music] 154
‘Last Week’s Broadcast Music’ (The Listener, 3 May 1973,
pp. 593–4) [Robert Simpson] 155
‘Last Week’s Broadcast Music’ (The Listener, 23 August 1973, p. 258)
[Harrison Birtwistle] 157
‘Last Week’s Broadcast Music’ (The Listener, 13 September 1973, p. 354)
[Anton Bruckner] 158
‘Americana’ (The Listener, 31 October 1974, pp. 578–9) 160
‘Tippett at 70’ (The Listener, 16 January 1975, pp. 84–5) 162
‘Peak District’ (The Listener, 9 October 1975, p. 480) 164
‘Bare Essentials’ (The Listener, 9 December 1976, p. 763) 166
‘Mexican Discovery’ (The Listener, 21 April 1977, pp. 520–21) 168
‘Lindbergh’s Flight’ (The Listener, 2 June 1977, pp. 722–3) 170
Part II artICles, essays, IntervIews and longer
Prose PIeCes
‘Towards (a definition of) experimental music’ (Chapter 1 of Experimental
Music: Cage and Beyond (First Edition, Studio Vista, 1974; Second
Edition, CUP 1999)) 177
‘Tim Souster’s Night Out at the Proms’ (Tempo, 94, Autumn 1970,
pp. 20–24) 203
‘John Cage in Paris’ (New Statesman, 6 November 1970, p. 617) 208
‘Steve Reich: an interview with Michael Nyman’ (Musical Times, 112,
March 1971, pp. 229–31) 211
‘Harrison Birtwistle’ (London Magazine, 11, October/November 1971,
pp. 118–22) 214
‘Cornelius Cardew’s The Great Learning’ (London Magazine, 11,
December 1971/January 1972, pp. 130–35) 217
‘SR – Mysteries of the Phase’ (Music and Musicians, 20, February 1972,
pp. 20–21) 222
‘Cage and Satie’ (Musical Times, 114, December 1973, pp. 1227–9) 225
viii Michael Nyman: Collected Writings
‘Cage/Cardew’ (Tempo, 107, December 1973, pp. 32–8) 231
‘The Experimental Scene’ (Music and Musicians, 22, January 1974,
pp. 14–16) 239
‘Experimental Music and the American Vernacular Tradition’ (in the
First American Music Conference (Keele University, 1975), pp. 149–52) 242
‘Gavin Bryars 1971 Michael Nyman 1975’ (in Soundings 9, June 1975) 250
‘Music’ (Studio International, 191, January/February 1976, pp. 64–5) [Glass] 255
‘Music’ (Studio International, 191, March/April 1976, pp. 186–8)
[Obscure Records] 258
‘Music’ (Studio International, 191, May/June 1976, pp. 282–4)
[Fine Art Departments] 261
‘Music’ (Studio International, 192, July/August 1976, pp. 71–2)
[Glass and Budd] 266
‘Music’ (Studio International, 192, September/October 1976, pp. 192–4)
[John Cage] 270
‘Hearing/Seeing’ (Studio International, 192, November/December 1976,
pp. 233–43) 276
‘George Brecht: Interview by Michael Nyman’ (Studio International, 192,
November/December 1976, pp. 256–66) 305
‘Steve Reich: Interview’ (Studio International, 192, November/December
1976, pp. 300–07) 326
‘Music’ (Studio International, 193, January/February 1977, pp. 6–8)
[The music of Hobbs and White] 333
‘Music’ (Studio International, 193, March/April 1977, pp. 134–5)
[Pop Music] 336
‘Against Intellectual Complexity in Music’ (October, 13, Summer 1980,
pp. 81–9) 340
‘Nam June Paik, Composer’ (in John G. Hanhardt (ed.) Nam June Paik
(Whitney Museum of Art, 1982), pp. 79–90) 348
Appendix Michael Nyman’s Collected Writings in Chronological Order
(1968–1982) 359
Index 363
List of Music Examples
1 Chaconne bass (basic version) 45
2 Purcell’s G minor sonata (bass line) 45
3 Beethoven’s 32 Variations in C minor (WoO. 80) (bass line) 46
4 Howard Skempton’s Waltz © Howard Skempton (reproduced
by permission) 290