Martin Bresnick

with Libby Van Cleve

New Haven, CT

March 21, 1998

TABLE OF CONTENTS

[DAT 1]

Cassette Side e                                                                                                pp. 1-18

Influence of Wagner--teaching 19th Century music--Morris Lawner--Misha Namenwirth--Die Meistersinger--Wagner as avant-garde artist--Wagner’s influence on Hollywood movies--music as entertainment vs. edification--Der Signál-- The Dream of the Lost Traveller--theatrical elements in his work--art should not be restrained--relationship to avant-garde radicals--Bartok--Die Meistersinger as a reply to Wagner’s academic critics--Hans Sachs as a model of a master teacher--musical influences: folk music, his aunt [her name?], other family members, exposure to classics in recording, leftist and Yiddish folk music--family’s sense of culture’s importance-- parents’ mixed views toward his career choice--Theodore Sokolov--performances of folk music--Bob Dylan--High School of Music and Art--jazz--Mingus and Monk--late ‘60’s Bay Area rock scene--Stanford University--Leonard Ratner--John Chowning--rock performances.

Cassette Side f                                                                                                pp. 18-35

Chowning--William Sydeman--Theme and Variations for Solo Oboe--Youth Orchestra performing experiences--primary interest in composition from youth--college at University of Hartford--performances as actor--poetry writing--Conspiracies--Pontoosuc--early experiences with talented and privileged youth--feeling “slow” in composition--William Bolcom--Bresnick’s work process--Der Signál--Bucket Rider--BE JUST!--The Dream of the Lost Traveller--his process: pleasure/internal struggle--composition process of Dream of the Lost Traveller--upcoming project of piano concert with film--Blake--influence of Beethoven and Schubert’s Die Winterreise--***--meaning of title.

Cassette Side g                                                                                                pp. 36-51

***--Janácek’s Intimate Leaves--compositional process of ***--choice of instrumentation--Chowning and sound--compositional process of ***--Bucket Rider--variation forms--work ethic--shift of consciousness and physiology when immersed in composition--enormous demands on concentration--attention to demands of players--Just Time--Pontoosuc--Angelus Novus --writing for orchestra--economics of orchestra--Reich--Andriessen--Druckman.

[DAT 2]

Cassette Side h                                                                                                pp. 51-67

Philosophy of teaching--his musical style--Ligeti’s teaching--Ligeti and Bartok--Nancarrow--Kagel--Roberto Sierra--D. M. Siemanns--Stahnke--Michael Daugherty--Sydney Corbett--Feldman--form--Adorno--form and Ligeti--temporal aspects of form--American qualities in Bresnick’s music--non-European sources of musical inspiration--his musical eclecticism--his style--Romantic qualities--absolute and program music--Ratner’s concept of topics.

Cassette Side i                                                                                                pp. 67-86

Programmatic music--"Romantic Minimalism"--relation of serial and Minimalist music--Minimalism and origins thereof--Ligeti and Minimalism--Wagner in music--young musicians knowing their history--employing the past in modern music--working in the Department of Music--history of Sheep's Clothing--popularity of Sheep's Clothing--performances and long term effects--Zeitgeist.

Cassette Side j                                                                                                pp. 86-101

Sheep's Clothing reunion--relationship between School and Department of Music--Jacob Druckman--running the Composition department--partnership with Druckman--diversity in the Composition studio--lack of the conventional "Yale sound"--Charles Ives Living Award and it's effects--teacher versus composer--personal events affecting Bresnick's life--living life to the fullest.

[DAT 3]

Cassette Side k                                                                                                pg. 101-117

Wallace Stevens--Charles Ives Living Award--peculiar timing after personal traumas--new era of work represented by *** and Dream of Lost Traveller--student phase ending with Wir Weben--middle phase to Piano Trio--Opere della Musica Povera--Tucket--structural aspects of Musica Povera pieces--similarity to Bach--Tucket--Angelus Novus--Pigs and Fishes--Follow Your Leader--New Haven--Woodstock--Bucket Rider--BE JUST!--***--The Dream of the Lost Traveller--Josephine the Singer of the Mouse People--upcoming piece for Zeitgeist--CommonMuse Music Publishers and self-publishing--using the internet to sell music--function of publishers--Lady Neil’s Dumpe--quick obsolescence of computer hardware--Third String Quartet--Dante quotation--formal qualities--daughter Johanna’s departure for college.