A few random notices:
I neglected to note that my profile of the composer Alvin Singleton is out in Chamber Music magazine this month (somewhat overshadowed by Frank Oteri’s long article on – uvallpeople – Charles Wuorinen). I’ve always been impressed by Singleton’s music, and I grew more and more so researching this article. I think calling him a Downtowner would be a stretch, but he’s certainly an imagist in the Messiaen-Shapey-Feldman vein, and his best music is accessible without being obvious, and soulful. I am informed of two gaffes I made: his piece Truth is based on Sojourner Truth, not Rosa Parks, and that was a total brain fart on my part. Also, apparently he lived for awhile in Austria, not Germany, but since he received an award from the city of Darmstadt, I just couldn’t quite keep it straight.Â
(My favorite Wuorinen story: When I wrote my book American Music in the Twentieth Century, the publisher sent the manuscript out to four readers for evaluation. Two of them, no less, singled out for praise the fact that I omitted to mention Wuorinen. The guy’s made a lot of enemies. As have I.)
I learned from the internet that Sarah Cahill will be playing my Private Dances on July 18 at Old First Concerts in San Francisco. God bless her.
David Toub alerts me that the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) is back up and running, having overcome copyright difficulties. God bless it too. Although I haven’t found any really cool new offerings to bring to your attention. [UPDATE: In fact, I just clicked on a couple dozen scores and found every one blocked pending determination of copyright status.]