The Correspondence of Roger Sessions by Andrea Olmstead (Editor)

From the Publisher

Roger Sessions (1896-1985), one of this century's most highly respected American composers, was also a prolific and gifted writer. Besides authoring numerous books, essays, and articles, Sessions carried on lengthy written conversations with such noteworthy composers and musicians as Aaron Copland, Igor Stravinsky, Nadia Boulanger, Arnold Schoenberg, Ernest Bloch, Luigi Dallapiccola, Ernst Krenek, and his student David Diamond. Andrea Olmstead has edited and annotated more than two hundred of Sessions's letters, as well as letters from his correspondents, covering nearly seventy-five years of the composer's long and productive life, from prep school until his death in 1985. In addition, Olmstead has included thoughtful commentary that places the letters in their context. Sessions's correspondence provides a fascinating firsthand view of music-making in the twentieth century. Among the richest exchanges are the letters between Sessions and Copland in the late 1920s, when they decided to organize a series of concerts of new music in New York City. The volume also contains previously unpublished letters between Sessions and Thomas Mann on Mann's Dr. Faustus and letters from Ernst Krenek that vividly describe his escape from the Nazis and adjustment to life in America. Until now, many details about Sessions's life and work have been elusive. Here Sessions discusses the range of musical issues that touched him personally. His letters also convey much about the nature of the artistic milieu in which he and his colleagues, both in America and abroad, made music. Sessions was a perceptive observer of the passing political scene. His correspondence provides a unique perspective on an important chapter in musical and political history. As Olmstead notes in her introduction, Sessions wrote letters much the way he composed music: "Long sentences are begun, spun out with elaborate punctuation, and completed in virtuoso fashion without his crossing out a single word or phras

Library Journal

Olmstead, author of other works on Sessions (e.g., Conversations with Roger Sessions , LJ 5/1/87), has compiled a compelling volume of his letters. Her superb editing, fluid writing style, and devotion to the subject enhances a collection notable for its interesting biographical material and eloquence. Sessions is an important figure in 20th-century American music and music pedagogy who is not well represented on major recording labels or in the concert hall, making this publication a welcome event. The letters reveal him to be of considerable intellect, with an exacting, self-critical nature that proved problematic during various stages of his career. Although much of the material is devoted to business or technical matters, there are absorbing accounts of his artistic development and fascinating exchanges with eminent personalities in and out of 20th-century music.-- Daniel Fermon, Museum of Modern Art Lib., New York

Booknews

Presents 114 reliefs and cognate architectural blocks (of possibly 4-500 in existence) from the New Kingdom Memphite tombs--blocks which, because of haphazard excavations or clearances of antiquities hunters and others in the 19th century, have been scattered. The Corpus collects and presents these reliefs for study in a systematic way. American composer Sessions (1896-1985) carried on lengthy written conversations with many noteworthy composers and musicians. The presentation here of some 200 of those letters--edited, annotated, and set in context--provides a firsthand view of music-making in the 20th century. Among the richest exchanges are those between Sessions and Aaron Copland in the late 1920s. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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