Reflections of an American Composer

In this engrossing collection of essays, distinguished composer, theorist, journalist, and educator Arthur Berger invites us into the vibrant and ever-changing American music scene that has been his home for most of the twentieth century. Witty, urbane, and always entertaining, Berger describes the music scene in New York and Boston since the 1930s, discussing the heady days when he was a member of a tight-knit circle of avant-garde young composers mentored by Aaron Copland as well as his participation in a group at Harvard University dedicated to Stravinsky. As Virgil Thomson's associate on the New York Herald Tribune and founding editor of the prestigious Perspectives of New Music, Berger became one of the preeminent observers and critics of American music. His reflections on the role of music in contemporary life, his journalism career, and how changes in academia influence the composition and teaching of music offer a unique perspective informed by Berger's abundant intelligence and experience.

The Washington Post

[Berger] writes about music and musicians with warmth, humor and a welcome generosity toward peers of widely diverging aesthetic viewpoints. While some of the essays are highly technical ("The Octatonic Scale" is clearly aimed at composers and theorists), others are comfortably anecdotal; Berger must have been a wonderful raconteur. — Tim Page

Arthur Berger is Irving Fine Professor of Music Emeritus at Brandeis University and Fellow of both the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is the author of Aaron Copland (1990) and composer of orchestral, piano, choral, and chamber music.