Gerhart von Westerman (1894–1963)

This Guide to "Concerts"--the Symphony--was initially compiled in the 1950's by the artistic director of the Berliner Festwochen. Curiously, the Foreword by Wilhelm Furtwangler claims the book is "not addressed to the musical expert, but to the open-minded, unprejudiced, anonymous audience at our concert halls, who all have a need for musical culture". Not so. The details of the aural architecture composed by the 30-plus highlighted composers (18 of whom are arguably German) are as technical as any I have read in writings decocted for the musicians themselves.
Cardew's chapter on "Contemporary Music" credits three European composers with having created a "musical revolution that seems likely to have as far-reaching repercussions as did that created by Schonberg and Webern in the second decade of this century": Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Luigi Nono. And they have never been heard from since. Really.… (altro)