The Voice of Music

This title was first published in 2000. Extensive and generously illustrated interviews have been a feature of the lively Danish music periodical "Dansk Musik Tidsskrift" (Danish Music Review) since the 1960s. Now a long-standing tradition, these "conversations" with influential composers from all over the world are prepared by professional musicians and experienced writers on music. This volume is a collection of interviews selected from issues published since 1990 by Anders Beyer, the journal's editor-in-chief. The book gives an up-to-date picture of the North European musical perspectives through interviews with composers from each of the Nordic countries. These are further complemented by interviews with trend-setting composers from the rest of Europe and America. The interviews have been edited and translated into English to make them accessible to a wider audience. The volume features interviews with composers including Erik Bergman, Tikhon Chrennikov, Edison Denisov, Hans Gerfors, Philip Glass, Sofia Gubaidulina and Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen.

Anders Beyer (b. 1958, Denmark) editor, author and critic, graduated in musicology from the Institute of Musicology, University of Copenhagen. In addition to his work as a critic for the national daily newspaper, Information, he edits Dansk Musik Tidsskrift (Danish Music Review) and Nordic Sounds. He has taught twentieth-century music history at the University of Copenhagen, and he is a consultant and writer for The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (MGG). Beyer is editor of the book The Music of Per Norgard. Fourteen Interpretative Essays, Scolar Press, 1996.

1. Introduction, Jean Christensen.  2. An Art Without Ideology, Gyorgy Ligeti.  3. The Poetry of Opposition, Karl Aage Rasmussen.  4. Into the Labyrinth of the Soul, Sofia Gubaidulina.  5. Composer and Optimist, Porkell Sigurbjornsson.  6. A Multifaceted Sonic Explorer, Olav Anton Thommessen.  7. A Refined Primitive, Erik Bergman.  8. My Unattainable Goal, Vagn Holmboe.  9. A Composer on Inclined Planes, Per Norgard.  10. On Articulating the Existential Scream, Arne Nordheim.  11. Every Day Brings New Discoveries, Karlheinz Stockhausen.  12. Music Must Bring Light, Edison Denisov.  13. My Great Need for Expression, Ingvar Lidholm.  14. An Established Outsider, Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen.  15. The Work of Art as a True Presence, Hans Gefors.  16. Between Hope and Despair, Alfred Schnittke.  17. Giving Musical Form to your Thoughts, Jukka Tiensuu.  18. My Conscience is Clear, Tikhon Khrennikov.  19. Between Tradition and Renewal, Pawel Szymanski.  20. When Language Fails the World is Revealed, Philip Glass.  21. A New World of Sound, Magnus Lindberg.  22. A Distinctive Profile in New Music,  Iannis Xenakis.  23. Colour, Timbre and Harmony, Kaija Saariaho.