To Boulez and Beyond: Music in Europe Since the Rite of Spring

by Joan Peyser, Charles Wuorinen (foreword)

This volume traces the development of classical music from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day. Peyser (author of six books on music, and editor of musical publications) offers a guided tour of the sense behind the sound and an analysis of major musical trends. Drawing upon insights gained from interviews with key figures from the past as well as with rising stars, the author illuminates this dramatic musical evolution and offers her thoughts and predictions about the future of serious music. Contains several b&w photographs of conductors and composers, and an introduction by composer Charles Wuorinen. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Genres: Music, History, Nonfiction

382 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1999

Reviews

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Joan Peyser's book TO BOULEZ AND BEYOND: Music in Europe Since the Rite of Spring has a rather deceptive title. I assumed that it would be an overview of contemporary music, profiling various composers. Instead, Peyser's book is divided into two halves. The first is a history of the work of Stravinsky and of the Second Viennese School, exploring how they each contributed to European music. The second half is a gushing (but that's okay, I admire him myself) biography of Boulez alone, that only goes to the 1970s in significant detail and has only a few anecdotes from the 1980s and 1990s. These two parts are entirely incongruous, and as other reviewers have commented, this is a freakish abortion of a work that inexplicably got published. There is a brief and unsubstantial foreward by Charles Wuorinen that relates only to the first half; I suspect he had no idea what sort of book he was contributing to.

About the only thing I found worthwhile about the book are the many stories about Boulez's rocky tenure in New York. Many biographies of Boulez mention that he faced challenges and angered people, but don't go into significant detail. Here there is all kinds of juicy detail that Boulez fans will enjoy.

Otherwise, the work is poor. There is no real musicological analysis here, it's all simple historical writing. The typesetting is poor and the entire enterprise has a self-published feel about it.

[Shannon McCue · Rating 3 out of 5]

a LITTLE boring.