The Legacy of Cornelius Cardew

by Tony Harris

Overview

The extent to which Cornelius Cardew has been a central figure and a force for new ideas in music forms the backbone to this book. Cardew's diverse body of work and activity is here given coherence by its sharing in the values and principles that underpinned the composer's world view. The apparently disparate and contradictory episodes of Cardew's career are shown to be fused by a cohesive 'Cardew aesthetic' that permeates the man, his politics and his music.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138272590
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/28/2016
Pages:	228
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Tony Harris is Senior Lecturer in Music Education at Nottingham Trent University. An active composer, performer and improviser, he is founder member of the experimental duo The Pound Shop Boys. He has also performed with the Cornelius Cardew Ensemble and is resident percussionist with the CoMA East Midlands ensemble.

Table of Contents

Contents: Preface; Introduction; Stockhausen serves imperialism; The formative years; Cardew the bourgeois composer?; Scratch: embodiment and change; Cardew the revolutionary; Music for the masses; Towards a definition of ’Cardewism’; ’Well, well, Cornelius'; Epilogue; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

'One of the book's most valuable aspects is Harris' cogent explanation of Marxist political theory and lineages as they impacted Cardew's engagement and reception....The great strength of this book is the weaving together of interviews with musicians John Tilbury, Michael Parsons, Howard Skempton, Keith Rowe, Christopher Hobbs (and others) who worked with Cardew along with Harris' own insights. ... The Legacy of Cornelius Cardew is well worth adding to library collections ... ' ARSC Journal

From the Publisher