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PostClassic

Kyle Gann on music after the fact

Ives and Gann Meet in Berlin

Having returned last night from performing in Santa Fe, I am on my way to Europe. According to my site statistics only a small percentage of my readers come from Europe, but more from the German time zone than elsewhere. If anyone reading this happens to be in Berlin this Friday, I’ll be presenting a paper that morning at the Maerzmusik festival. The festival is devoted to Charles Ives, and I’ll be talking about Ives’ influence on current American composers, with musical examples. It’s a little awkward having been asked, because I do believe that I myself am perhaps the most Ives-influenced composer around, and I could spin an entire lecture out of just my debts to him, not to mention my patent imitations. In 1991 Ives appeared to me in the most inspiring dream of my life: I was among a crowd of people waiting in his house to meet him, and he came out and led me to the piano, where either he played for me or I for him or both at the same time, and he gave me his blessing.

While I’m at it, I’d be curious for some input as to what recent composers show a particular debt to Ives. If you know of examples, if you’re a composer who’s built on his aesthetic, or if you have ideas about Ives’ effect on American music, I’d appreciate hearing from you – e-mail address at right of this page.

What’s going on here

So classical music is dead, they say. Well, well. This blog will set out to consider that dubious factoid with equanimity, if not downright enthusiasm [More]

Kyle Gann's Home Page More than you ever wanted to know about me at www.kylegann.com

PostClassic Radio The radio station that goes with the blog, all postclassical music, all the time; see the playlist at kylegann.com.

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Sites to See

American Mavericks - the Minnesota Public radio program about American music (scripted by Kyle Gann with Tom Voegeli)

Kalvos & Damian's New Music Bazaar - a cornucopia of music, interviews, information by, with, and on hundreds of intriguing composers who are not the Usual Suspects

Iridian Radio - an intelligently mellow new-music station

New Music Box - the premiere site for keeping up with what American composers are doing and thinking

The Rest Is Noise - The fine blog of critic Alex Ross

William Duckworth's Cathedral - the first interactive web composition and home page of a great postminimalist composer

Mikel Rouse's Home Page - the greatest opera composer of my generation

Eve Beglarian's Home Page- great Downtown composer

David Doty's Just Intonation site

Erling Wold's Web Site - a fine San Francisco composer of deceptively simple-seeming music, and a model web site

The Dane Rudhyar Archive - the complete site for the music, poetry, painting, and ideas of a greatly underrated composer who became America's greatest astrologer

Utopian Turtletop, John Shaw's thoughtful blog about new music and other issues

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