Bernhard Lang: Critical Guides to Contemporary Composers

A critical guide and introduction to the work of Austrian composer Bernhard Lang (b. 1957) - one of Europe’s foremost leading practitioners in contemporary music. It traces the phenomenon of repetition as it works in and through Lang’s oeuvre and investigates his use of textual quotation and musical borrowing. 42 b/w illus. The work of Austrian composer Bernhard Lang defies easy categorization. His music references a wide range of styles and sound worlds, sharing links with not only free jazz and experimental composition but also turntablism, hip hop, DJ-culture, rock and electronic dance music (EDM). In this first book-length study of Lang’s work to appear in English, Christine Dysers identifies the phenomenon of repetition as a central concern in the composer’s thinking and making. Lang’s artistic practice is identified as one of ‘loop aesthetics’: a creative poetics in which repetition serves not only as methodology, but also as subject matter. Fusing critical musicology, aesthetic theory, poststructuralist thought and music analysis, the author brings fresh insight to the work of an award-winning contemporary composer. Dr Christine Dysers is a postdoctoral researcher at the Uppsala University Department of Musicology. Her research is broadly concerned with music after 1989, with a particular focus on the aesthetics of repetition, music and the political, musical borrowing, and the notion of the uncanny. Christine holds a Ph.D. in music from City, University of London. In 2021, she was appointed as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar in the Department of Music at Columbia University. Bernhard Lang: Critical Guides to Contemporary Composers offers a critical guide and introduction to the work of Austrian composer Bernhard Lang (b. 1957). It identifies the phenomenon of repetition as a central concern in Lang’s thinking and making. The composer’s artistic practice is identified as one of ‘loop aesthetics’: a creative poetics in which repetition serves not only as methodology, but also as material, language, and subject matter. The book is structured around the four central thematic nodes of philosophy, music, theatre, and politics. After introducing Lang as a composer whose work is thoroughly influenced by philosophical thought, the book develops a typology of musical repetition as it is explored and activated in Lang’s oeuvre. Pointing towards the several repetitions within the performance of Lang’s works, the book explores the heavily trans-medial nature of the repeat across domains such as literature, dance, and theatre. Finally, the book investigates Lang’s use of textual quotation and musical borrowing. Christine Dysers is a musicologist specialising in contemporary music aesthetics. Her research centres around repetition, politics, absence, the liminal, and the uncanny. This is the first full-length study of the works of Bernhard Lang and is a new volume in the Critical Guides to Contemporary Composers series from Intellect.

Pagina's: 190, Paperback, Intellect Books