Research at CMU

 

Keith Clifton: Writing the guide to post-1980 American composers

Music
Assistant professor of musicology Keith Clifton, a widely published specialist in various forms of 20th century music including American popular music, has written Recent American Art Song: A Guide, to be published by Scarecrow Press in 2007.

Significance
Clifton’s book represents the first major study of post-1980 songs by American composers. All the songs are for one voice and piano.

What is art song?
Art song is a fusion of musical composition with contemporary poetry or other texts. For example, composer Libby Larsen brought a feminist perspective to her work when she wrote Try Me, Good King: Last Words of the Wives of Henry VIII – a song cycle that uses excerpts from letters of Henry VIII’s former wives.
 


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