The music of the Greek-born composer, Iannis Xenakis, has been called brutal and violent. He first studied as an architect, but then turned to composition and put to musical use his knowledge of higher mathematics. In these conversations he talks about his life and music.

This book began as an attempt to carry out a suggestion made in 1929 by Carl Engel in his "Views and Reviews"-to fulfill his wish for " a living record of musical personalities, events, conditions, tastes ...a history of music faithfully and entirely carved from contemporary accounts. Twentieth-century music has been described as complex, vital, diverse, uncertain, experimental, self-conscious, innovative-the list is long and growing. Composers have been both credited with and accused of always searching for something "new," writing works that are mechanistic but romantic, meaningful but unskilled, beautiful but ugly! In The Twentieth Century , Robert P. Morgan helps us grasp the flavor of the era by presenting forty-five readings from the period, nearly all written by active participants in the musical developments of the time. Thus we tune in to the voices of some thirty composers-from Busoni to Babbitt, Ives to Xenakis, Satie to Stravinsky-and learn from performers Anderson and Landowska, philosopher-critics Adorno, Dahlhaus, and Meyer, and writers Cocteau, Barthes, and Eco.

Electronic and Experimental Technology, Music, and Culture provides a thorough treatment of the relevant history behind the marriage of technology and music that has led to the state of electronic music today. Beginning with an early history of electronic music before 1945, the book outlines key composers, inventions, and concepts, ranging from Edgard Varèse to Brian Eno; musique concrète to turntablism; and compositional techniques used in both analog and digital synthesis. The third edition’s reader-friendly writing style, logical organization, and features provide easy access to key ideas, milestones, and concepts.