Finding Music: Writings = Schriften, 1961–2018 by Tom Johnson

Abstract

Reviewed by: Finding Music: Writings = Schriften, 1961–2018 by Tom Johnson Twila Bakker Finding Music: Writings = Schriften, 1961–2018. By Tom Johnson. Edited by Gisela Gronemeyer and Raoul Mörchen. Köln: MusikTexte, 2019. [532 pp. ISBN 9783981331950 (paperback), €29]. Music examples, illustrations, list of works, index. Finding Music by the composer Tom Johnson is a concurrently bilingual volume (English and German on facing pages), divided into three broad sections: (1) “Writing Music” presents an overview of Johnson’s compositional journey, recounting his experiences as a Yale student and as a composer in New York and subsequently in Paris; (2) “Writing about Music” highlights some of Johnson’s important work as a music critic; and (3) “Introductions” provides a wide-ranging selection of introductions and program notes to Johnson’s compositional oeuvre. The text consists almost entirely of previously published materials; the convenience of having them collected between two covers is a key attraction of the current volume, as some of the articles are out of print or, after being presented in a lecture format, were published only on Johnson’s website. Their publication here adds a level of permanence and reproducibility that those articles were previously lacking. By way of an introduction we have the composer in his own words via a retrospective conversation with Libby Van Cleve—a document previously accessible only at Yale University’s Oral History of American Music (OHAM; Tom Johnson interview by Libby Van Cleve, 4 June 1997, OHV 252a–f). Understandably, the OHAM interview covers some of the same content as Bernard Girard’s 2011 interview; however, Van Cleve’s interviewing style, or perhaps the fact that the conversation was conducted in English, results in much longer responses from Johnson than the clipped dialogue of Girard’s interview (Bernard Girard, Conversations avec Tom Johnson [Château-Gontier: Aedam Musicae, 2011]; in English as “Conversations with Tom Johnson,” trans. Christine Lucia, Contemporary Music Review 39, no. 4 [2020]: 289–460). Johnson and Van Cleve’s conversation provides an excellent overview of both the life events and compositional choices that have helped shape Johnson’s career. The experience of reading the first section, “Writing Music,” was akin to visiting a composer friend in their studio. The content is varied, and although largely organized by the original publication date of the texts, the compositional ideas are not presented in a fixed chronology. One could imagine Johnson shuffling papers in his studio to bring forth a particular music example or letter from a collaborator to illustrate a specific point of interest. It is in this section where Johnson’s dogged interest in the inherent logic of mathematics shines most brightly as the nucleus of his compositional raison d’être. It is unnecessary to understand the mathematics to appreciate how it figures into Johnson’s compositions, and at times it even seems to be an intuitive discovery by Johnson of a fundamental truth. Furthermore, this first section presents an overall image of the context for Johnson’s composition, demonstrating the interconnectedness of his network of composers, performers, philosophers, and particularly mathematicians. This shows the interdependency of these occupations, putting to rest the idea of a solitary composer hidden away from the world with his art, and replacing it with a collaborative, supportive, and connected individual seeking to find his own musical voice. Unlike the first section, which includes short texts written about Johnson’s own music, the second section [End Page 219] deals primarily with the work of others. “Writing about Music” contains some of Johnson’s most easily accessible English writings, namely selections from his articles for the Village Voice, many of which had been previously collected and published (The Voice of New Music: New York City 1972–1982 [Eindhoven: Apollohuis, 1989]; digital ed., 2002, rev. 2014, https://editions75.com/tvonm [accessed 1 June 2022]) and are offered in Finding Music in German translation. These articles, however, amount to approximately 6 percent of the text of Finding Music, and this second section is supplemented with further reflections on John Cage, Conlon Nancarrow, Morton Feldman, Charles Ives, and Robert Ashley that do not appear in the Village Voice articles. With this section also begins in earnest the reader...