KLANG - NEW MUSIC ON THE FRINGE
KLANG (klɑŋ) = German for "sound" (also a play on the root of clangorous [a sound with inharmonic partials, resulting in a noisy or bell-like timbre])
KLANG is a blog dedicated to the discussion of today's most adventurous composers, performers, ensembles and festivals in America's contemporary music scene. It includes standard blog posts/discussion (Direct Sound), interviews with emerging and active composers and performers (Early Reflections) and reviews of CDs, concerts, books, media and other tasty tidbits of experimental music (Reverberations).
All music is organized sound, and I personally find that the most interesting music of our time is that which explores all the possibilities of sonic exploration, particularly those of a more experiment leaning. I often feel that music of a more adventurous and avant-garde leaning runs the risk of being swept under the rug in American New Music culture, both in universities, and in concert and festival programming. While the avant-garde had its heyday in the early and middle 20th century, it does not have the overwhelming prominence it once did, and I think that's great. It's troubling that any single aesthetic could (or should) represent the entirety of a culture. Unfortunately, I see that as a growing trend in American music, as festivals and programming seems to be favoring a more populist (dare I say [and I hate the term] accessible) collection of young composers. While stylistically diverse - spanning styles of Neoromanticism, postminimalism, Indie classical, pop-crossover - these never really satisfied my own musical interests related to the more experimental, noisy and gnarly approaches to new music.
Additionally, I feel that these musics are given much more weight in terms of press coverage, leaving little discussion and exposure for the numerous composers, performers, ensembles and researchers who continue to develop and extend practices of the myriad experimental and avant-garde movements which began in the 20th century. My goal with KLANG is to bring that music and its contributors to a wider audience.
That is what this blog is dedicated to. Please enjoy, and if you have any suggestions for topics of discussion, composers/ensembles of interest, or a book/recording/festival/concert series to review, please check out the Feedback page and send me an email!
- Jon Fielder (creator)
KLANG is a blog dedicated to the discussion of today's most adventurous composers, performers, ensembles and festivals in America's contemporary music scene. It includes standard blog posts/discussion (Direct Sound), interviews with emerging and active composers and performers (Early Reflections) and reviews of CDs, concerts, books, media and other tasty tidbits of experimental music (Reverberations).
All music is organized sound, and I personally find that the most interesting music of our time is that which explores all the possibilities of sonic exploration, particularly those of a more experiment leaning. I often feel that music of a more adventurous and avant-garde leaning runs the risk of being swept under the rug in American New Music culture, both in universities, and in concert and festival programming. While the avant-garde had its heyday in the early and middle 20th century, it does not have the overwhelming prominence it once did, and I think that's great. It's troubling that any single aesthetic could (or should) represent the entirety of a culture. Unfortunately, I see that as a growing trend in American music, as festivals and programming seems to be favoring a more populist (dare I say [and I hate the term] accessible) collection of young composers. While stylistically diverse - spanning styles of Neoromanticism, postminimalism, Indie classical, pop-crossover - these never really satisfied my own musical interests related to the more experimental, noisy and gnarly approaches to new music.
Additionally, I feel that these musics are given much more weight in terms of press coverage, leaving little discussion and exposure for the numerous composers, performers, ensembles and researchers who continue to develop and extend practices of the myriad experimental and avant-garde movements which began in the 20th century. My goal with KLANG is to bring that music and its contributors to a wider audience.
That is what this blog is dedicated to. Please enjoy, and if you have any suggestions for topics of discussion, composers/ensembles of interest, or a book/recording/festival/concert series to review, please check out the Feedback page and send me an email!
- Jon Fielder (creator)