Reginald Smith Brindle: The New Music: The Avant-garde since 1945, 2nd ed (1975/1987)

This guide to the more adventurous evolutions of music since 1945–pointillism, post-Webernism, integral serialism, free dodecaphony, aleatory and indeterminate music, graphics, musique concrète, electronic music, and theatre music–was first published in 1975 and has been reprinted several times. For this second edition, Smith Brindle has added a new chapter reviewing developments over the decade since first publication. He discusses the decline of experimentalism and the reaction against increasing cerebralism and complexity as variously illustrated by the more recent works of Stockhausen, the minimalist works of Reich and Glass, and the partial return to romanticism. He also reviews the technological revolution which has taken place in computer music and concludes that the future of music will for the time being be most closely associated with technological change and development, rather than with radical changes in compositional techniques.

First edition published 1975
Publisher Oxford University Press, 1987
ISBN 0193154714, 9780193154711
222 pages

publisher
google books

PDF (DJVU)

John F. Moffitt: Alchemist of the Avante-Garde: The Case of Marcel Duchamp (2003)

“A fascinating book demonstrating the influence of alchemy and esoteric traditions on the mature art of Marcel Duchamp.

Acknowledged as the “Artist of the Century,” Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) left a legacy that dominates the art world to this day. Inventing the ironically dégagé attitude of “ready-made” art-making, Duchamp heralded the postmodern era and replaced Pablo Picasso as the role model for avant-garde artists. John F. Moffitt challenges commonly accepted interpretations of Duchamp’s art and persona by showing that his mature art, after 1910, is largely drawn from the influence of the occult traditions. Moffitt demonstrates that the key to understanding the cryptic meaning of Duchamp’s diverse artworks and writings is alchemy, the most pictorial of all the occult philosophies and sciences.”

Publisher SUNY Press, 2003
Suny Series in Western Esoteric Traditions
ISBN 0791457095, 9780791457092
468 pages

Publisher

PDF (updated on 2021-5-16)

James Donald, Anne Friedberg, Laura Marcus (eds.): Close Up: Cinema And Modernism (2001)

Between 1927 and 1933, the journal “Close Up” championed a European avant-garde in film-making. This volume republishes articles from the journal, with an introduction and a commentary on the lives of, and complex relationships between, its writers and editors.

Publisher Continuum International Publishing Group, 2001
ISBN 0304335169, 9780304335169
352 pages

publisher
google books

PDF (the link fixed on 2012-10-25)