Music
Is New Music Being Used For Political Or Social Ends?
In the late ’60s, you’d have a hard time finding a more cutting-edge music magazine than SOURCE: Music of the Avant Garde. A rich, pre-internet multimedia experience, its now highyl collectible issues came with graphics, records, art and articles featuring many of the pioneering musical figureheads of that time period. In 1969, SOURCE contacted twenty composers at the forefront of experimental music—including Charlotte Moorman, John Cage and Steve Reich—and asked them, “Is new music being used for political or social ends?” The responses given make for a fascinating read on their own. But in 2015 the Leonardo Music Journal, SOURCE’s successor, did a follow up article that posed the same question to twenty composers working today—some of whom, like Terry Riley, had responded in the original article.
Want to know the answers? Check out the full list of responses on Leonardo Music Journal contributor Alyce Santoro’s website.
