This is another strong pillar for the world's music
reference libraries and the shelves of serious enthusiasts. It will
have a strong appeal to dedicated students of US music of the twentieth
century as well as those who specialise in the cruel pilgrimage female
composers have had to make.
Vivian Fine was born on 28 September 1913 in Chicago,
Illinois. She was befriended by another and better connected composer,
Ruth Crawford. In 1932 her Four Polyphonic Piano Pieces showed
up in the First Festival of Contemporary American Music at Saratoga
Springs, upstate New York. By the mid-1930s Fine was working with many
women choreographers. At about this time she began lessons with Sessions
and Georg Szell. Her style was mostly atonal. She looked back on her
spell at Bennington College, Vermont as one of the most fruitful times
of her life. The apex of her career came with Drama for Orchestra
- an SFSO commission. This is a work suggested by a group of paintings
by Edvard Munch. She retired from Bennington in 1987. Vivian was killed
in a car accident on 20 March 2000.
Bear in mind that this is primarily a reference work.
That said there is a very personable introduction and a 30 page biography
that is just about ideal in its mix of historical incident and communicative
musical description. From there you can jump off into the annotated
bibliography (completed with extracts from the writings listed), a catalogue
of her works and performances, a list of her performances as a pianist,
a discography (only 21 entries), a chronology year by year. The appendices
tell us where to find Fine's music, names and addresses of publishers
etc (I wish there had been more in the way of e-mail contacts and web
addresses), analysis of creativity, list of teachers, alphabetical and
generic lists of works, settings of poetry by author and an index running
to 21pp. The index has entries by place, institution, people, publication
title etc.
Judith Cody has given shape and organisation to her
subjects' output by giving each work a JC number rather like the Mozart
Köchel numbers.
The book is a middle-large size format sturdily case-bound
as is the hallmark of Greenwood Press books. The usual matte cream-white
paper stock is used and by now they have moved away from the courier
font and employ times-roman or something closely related.
The authority of Ms Cody's work is never in doubt and
the vivid description of Cody's almost two weeks with Fine for between
8 to 10 hours a day is pleasing to read.
Ms Cody says that 'this book is designed to be as accessible
as possible to all those who love music'. Her design has been accomplished
and the book will open the way to Fine scholars the world over as well
as shedding illumination for enthusiasts of Fine's music.
Rob Barnett
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