Benjamin Burwell Johnston Jr. (March 15, 1926 – July 21, 2019) was an American

contemporary music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included serial ...

composer, known for his use of

just intonation In music, just intonation or pure intonation is the tuning of musical intervals Interval may refer to: Mathematics and physics * Interval (mathematics), a range of numbers ** Partially ordered set#Intervals, its generalization from numbers to ...

. He was called "one of the foremost composers of

microtonal music Microtonal music or microtonality is the use in music of microtones—intervals smaller than a semitone, also called "microintervals". It may also be extended to include any music using intervals not found in the customary Western tuning of tw ...

" by Philip Bush and "one of the best non-famous composers this country has to offer" by

John Rockwell John Sargent Rockwell (born September 16, 1940) is an American music critic, dance critic and arts administrator. According to '' Grove Music Online'', "Rockwell brings two signal attributes to his critical work: a genuine admiration for all ...

Biography

Johnston was born in

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of Geo ...

, and taught composition and theory at the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Universit ...

from 1951 to 1986, before retiring to North Carolina. During his time teaching, he was in contact with

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

figures such as

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...

La Monte Young La Monte Thornton Young (born October 14, 1935) is an American composer, musician, and performance artist recognized as one of the first American minimalist composers and a central figure in Fluxus and post-war avant-garde music. He is best kno ...

, and

Iannis Xenakis Giannis Klearchou Xenakis (also spelled for professional purposes as Yannis or Iannis Xenakis; el, Γιάννης "Ιωάννης" Κλέαρχου Ξενάκης, ; 29 May 1922 – 4 February 2001) was a Romanian-born Greek-French avant-garde ...

. Johnston's students have included

Stuart Saunders Smith Stuart Saunders Smith (born 16 March 1948) is an American composer and percussionist. After having studied composition and music theory at three music institutions, Smith is currently based in Vermont, United States, with his wife Sylvia. He h ...

, Neely Bruce,

Thomas Albert Thomas Albert (born December 14, 1948) is an American composer and educator. He attended the public schools of Lebanon, Pennsylvania and Wilson, North Carolina. In 1970, he received the degree A.B. (magna cum laude) from Atlantic Christian C ...

Michael Pisaro Michael Pisaro (born 1961 in Buffalo, New York) is a guitarist and composer. A member of the Wandelweiser Composers Ensemble, he has composed over 80 works for a great variety of instrumental combinations, including several pieces for variable in ...

, Manfred Stahnke, and

Kyle Gann Kyle Eugene Gann (born November 21, 1955, in Dallas, Texas) is an American professor of music, critic, analyst, and composer who has worked primarily in the New York City area. As a music critic for ''The Village Voice'' (from 1986 to 2005) and ...

. He also considered his practice of just intonation to have influenced other composers, including

James Tenney James Tenney (August 10, 1934 – August 24, 2006) was an American composer and music theorist. He made significant early musical contributions to plunderphonics, sound synthesis, algorithmic composition, process music, spectral music, microtonal ...

and

Larry Polansky Larry Polansky (born 1954) is a composer, guitarist, mandolinist, and professor emeritus at Dartmouth College and the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is a founding member and co-director of Frog Peak Music (a composers' collective) ...

. In 1946 he married dance band singer Dorothy Haines, but they soon divorced. In 1950 he married artist Betty Hall, who died in 2007. Johnston began as a traditional composer of

art music Art music (alternatively called classical music, cultivated music, serious music, and canonic music) is music considered to be of high phonoaesthetic value. It typically implies advanced structural and theoretical considerationsJacques Siron, ...

before working with

Harry Partch Harry Partch (June 24, 1901 – September 3, 1974) was an American composer, music theorist, and creator of unique musical instruments. He composed using scales of unequal intervals in just intonation, and was one of the first 20th-century com ...

. He helped the senior musician to build instruments and use them in the performance and recording of new compositions. Partch then arranged for Johnston to study with

Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University is a private college in Oakland, California and part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was ...

. In 1952, Johnston met Cage, who invited him to come to New York to study with him in the summer. Though Johnston decided he did not have sufficient time to prepare for such studies, he did go to New York for several weeks and assisted, along with

Earle Brown Earle Brown (December 26, 1926 – July 2, 2002) was an American composer who established his own formal and notational systems. Brown was the creator of "open form," a style of musical construction that has influenced many composers since� ...

, in the production of Cage's eight-track tape composition, ''

Williams Mix ''Williams Mix'' (1951–1953) is a 4'15" musique concrete composition by John Cage for eight simultaneously played independent quarter-inch magnetic tapes. The first octophonic music, the piece was created by Cage with the assistance of Earle B ...

''. Later, in 1957 and 1959, he studied with Cage, who encouraged him to follow his desires and use traditional instruments rather than electronics or newly built instruments. Unskilled in carpentry and finding electronics unreliable, Johnston struggled with how to integrate microtonality and conventional instruments for ten years. He also struggled with how to integrate microtones into his compositional language through a slow process of many stages. However, since 1960 Johnston had almost exclusively used a system of microtonal

notation In linguistics and semiotics, a notation is a system of graphics or symbols, characters and abbreviated expressions, used (for example) in artistic and scientific disciplines to represent technical facts and quantities by convention. Therefore, ...

based on the rational intervals of just intonation, what Gann describes as a "lifelong allegiance" to "microtonality". Johnston also studied with Burrill Phillips and Robert Palmer. Johnston composed music for multiple productions by the E.T.C. Company of La MaMa,

Wilford Leach Carson Wilford Leach (August 26, 1929 – June 18, 1988) was a Tony Award-winning American theatre director, set designer, film director, screenwriter, and professor. Biography Leach was born in Petersburg, Virginia,company-in-residence at

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theatre founded in 1961 by Ellen Stewart, African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer. Located in Manhattan's East Village, the theatre began in the ...

in the East Village of Manhattan. His most significant work was ''

Carmilla ''Carmilla'' is an 1872 Gothic fiction, Gothic novella by Irish author Sheridan Le Fanu and one of the early works of vampire fiction, predating Bram Stoker's ''Dracula'' (1897) by 26 years. First published as a Serial (literature), serial in ' ...

'', which the company performed as part of their

repertory A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawing ...

throughout the 1970s. He also composed music for the company's production of ''Gertrude'', a

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

about the life of

Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the Allegheny West neighborhood and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris ...

. His other works included the orchestral work ''Quintet for Groups'' (commissioned by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra), ''Sonnets of Desolation'' (commissioned by the

Swingle Singers 270px, The Swingles at the Black Forest Voices Festival in Kirchzarten, Germany">Kirchzarten.html" ;"title="Black Forest Voices Festival in Kirchzarten">Black Forest Voices Festival in Kirchzarten, Germany on 29 June 2019 The Swingles are a v ...

), the ''

Sonata for Microtonal Piano ''Sonata for Microtonal Piano'' is a sonata for specifically microtonally tuned piano by Ben Johnston written in 1964 (see also just intonation). When the movements are played in an alternate order the piece is titled ''Grindlemusic''. The piece u ...

'' (1964), and the ''

Suite for Microtonal Piano Suite for Microtonal Piano (1978) is a suite for specifically microtonally tuned piano(s) by Ben Johnston written in 1977 (see also just intonation). According to Bob Gilmore the piece, "take extended just intonation well beyond the point reache ...

'' (1977). Johnston completed ten string quartets. The Kepler Quartet recorded all ten of his string quartets for

New World Records New World Records is a record label that was established in 1975 through a Rockefeller Foundation grant to celebrate America's bicentennial (1976) by producing a 100-LP anthology, with American music from many genres.Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

in 1959, a grant from the National Council on the Arts and the Humanities in 1966, two commissions from the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

, and the

Deems Taylor Award Joseph Deems Taylor (December 22, 1885 – July 3, 1966) was an American music critic, composer, and promoter of classical music. Nat Benchley, co-editor of ''The Lost Algonquin Roundtable'', referred to him as "the dean of American music." Ear ...

. In 2007, the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

honored Johnston for his lifetime of work. His ''Quintet for Groups'' won the SWR Sinfonieorchester prize at the 2008

Donaueschinger Musiktage The Donaueschingen Festival (german: Donaueschinger Musiktage, links=no) is a festival for new music that takes place every October in the small town of Donaueschingen in south-western Germany. Founded in 1921, it is considered the oldest festiv ...

. Heidi Von Gunden wrote a monograph on the composer, and

Bob Gilmore Bob Gilmore (6 June 1961 – 2 January 2015) was a musicologist, educator and keyboard player. Born in Larne, Northern Ireland, he spent his early years in Carrickfergus. He studied music at York University, England, then at Queen's University ...

edited the composer's complete writings, which were published as ''"Maximum Clarity" and Other Writings on Music'' by the University of Illinois Press. A three-part

oral history Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...

covering all stages of his career is housed at the Oral History of American Music through

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. Johnston died from complications of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

Deerfield, Wisconsin Deerfield is a village in Dane County, Wisconsin. The population was 2,319 at the time of the 2010 census. The village is located within the Town of Deerfield. It is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area. Towns and villages near Dee ...

, on July 21, 2019.

Music

He is best known for extending

's experiments in

tuning to traditional instruments through his system of notation. Johnston's compositional style is eclectic. He uses serial processes, folk song idioms (

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

s 4, 5, and 10), repetitive processes, traditional forms like

fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...

and variations, and intuitive processes. His main goal "has been to reestablish just intonation as a viable part of our musical tradition". According to Mark Swed, "ultimately, what Johnston has done, more than any other composer with roots in the great American musical experiments of the '50s and '60s, is to translate those radical approaches to the nature of music into a music that is immediately apprehensible"., quoted in . Most of Johnston's later works use a large number of pitches, generated through just-intonation procedures. In these works, he forms melodies based on an " otonal" eight-note just-intonation scale made from the 8th through 15th partials of the harmonic series, or its "utonal" inversion. He then gains new pitches by using common-tone transpositions or inversions. Many of his works also feature an expansive use of just intonation, using high prime

limits Limit or Limits may refer to: Arts and media * ''Limit'' (manga), a manga by Keiko Suenobu * ''Limit'' (film), a South Korean film * Limit (music), a way to characterize harmony * "Limit" (song), a 2016 single by Luna Sea * "Limits", a 2019 ...

. His String Quartet No. 9 uses intervals of the harmonic series as high as the 31st partial. He uses "potentially hundreds of pitches per octave," in way that is "radical without being avant-garde," and not for the creation of "as-yet-unheard dissonances," but in order to, "return... to a kind of musical beauty," which he perceives as diminished in Western music since the adoption of equal-temperament. "By the beginning of the 1980s he could say of his elaborately microtonal ''String Quartet no. 5''... 'I have no idea as to how many different pitches it used per octave'". Johnston's early efforts in just composition drew heavily on the accomplishments of post-

Webern Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern (3 December 188315 September 1945), better known as Anton Webern (), was an Austrian composer and conductor whose music was among the most radical of its milieu in its sheer concision, even aphorism, and stead ...

serialism In music, serialism is a method of Musical composition, composition using series of pitches, rhythms, dynamics, timbres or other elements of music, musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, thou ...

. His

7-limit 7-limit or septimal tunings and intervals are musical instrument tunings that have a limit of seven: the largest prime factor contained in the interval ratios between pitches is seven. Thus, for example, 50:49 is a 7-limit interval, but 14:11 ...

String Quartet No. 4 "Amazing Grace", was commissioned by the Fine Arts Music Foundation of Chicago, and was first recorded by the

Fine Arts Quartet The Fine Arts Quartet is a chamber music ensemble founded in Chicago, United States in 1946 by Leonard Sorkin and George Sopkin. The Quartet has recorded over 200 works and has toured internationally for 77 years, making it one of the longest en ...

Nonesuch Records Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly called Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, Non ...

in 1980 (then reissued on Gasparo as GS205). His String Quartet No. 4, perhaps Johnston's best-known composition, has also been recorded by the

Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for almost 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classic ...

. The Kepler Quartet (Sharan Leventhal, Eric Segnitz, Brek Renzelman, and Karl Lavine) also recorded the piece for

New World Records New World Records is a record label that was established in 1975 through a Rockefeller Foundation grant to celebrate America's bicentennial (1976) by producing a 100-LP anthology, with American music from many genres.Concord String Quartet The Concord String Quartet was an American string quartet established in 1971. The members of the quartet were Mark Sokol and Andrew Jennings, violins; John Kochánowski, viola; Norman Fischer, cello. They gave their last regular concert on May ...

Alice Tully Hall Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The hall is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and philanthropist whose donations assist ...

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

, on March 15, 1976, the composer's fiftieth birthday.

Staff notation

Beginning in the 1960s, Johnston had proposed an approach to notating music in just intonation (JI), redefining the understanding of conventional symbols (the seven "white" notes, the sharps and flats) and adding further

accidentals In music, an accidental is a note of a pitch (or pitch class) that is not a member of the scale or mode indicated by the most recently applied key signature. In musical notation, the sharp (), flat (), and natural () symbols, among others, ma ...

, each designed to extend the notation into higher

prime limit In music theory, limit or harmonic limit is a way of characterizing the harmony found in a piece or genre of music, or the harmonies that can be made using a particular scale. The term ''limit'' was introduced by Harry Partch, who used it to give ...

s. Johnston‘s method is based on a diatonic C major scale tuned in JI, in which the interval between D (9/8 above C) and A (5/3 above C) is one Syntonic comma less than a

Pythagorean Pythagorean, meaning of or pertaining to the ancient Ionian mathematician, philosopher, and music theorist Pythagoras, may refer to: Philosophy * Pythagoreanism, the esoteric and metaphysical beliefs purported to have been held by Pythagoras * Ne ...

perfect fifth 3:2. To write a perfect fifth, Johnston introduces a pair of symbols representing this comma, + and –. Thus, a series of perfect fifths beginning with F would proceed C G D A+ E+ B+. The three conventional white notes A E B are tuned as

Ptolemaic Ptolemaic is the adjective formed from the name Ptolemy, and may refer to: Pertaining to the Ptolemaic dynasty * Ptolemaic dynasty, the Macedonian Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt founded in 305 BC by Ptolemy I Soter * Ptolemaic Kingdom Pertaining ...

major thirds (5:4,

Ptolemy's intense diatonic scale Ptolemy's intense diatonic scale, also known as the Ptolemaic sequence, justly tuned major scale, Ptolemy's tense diatonic scale, or the syntonous (or syntonic) diatonic scale, is a tuning for the diatonic scale proposed by Ptolemy, and corresp ...

) above F C G respectively. Johnston introduces new symbols for the septimal ( & ), undecimal ( & ), tridecimal ( & ), and further prime extensions to create an accidental-based exact JI notation for what he has named "extended just intonation". Though "this notation is not tied to any particular diapason" and "what remains constant are the ratio relations between pitches", "most of his works utilize A = 440 as the tuning note", making C 264 Hertz. Thus, a string quartet is tuned C-, G-, D-, A, E.

Recordings

* 2016: ''Ben Johnston: String Quartets Nos. 7, 8 & 6, Quietness'' – Kepler Quartet (

New World Records New World Records is a record label that was established in 1975 through a Rockefeller Foundation grant to celebrate America's bicentennial (1976) by producing a 100-LP anthology, with American music from many genres.John Schneider (voice, microtonal guitar), Karen Clark (voice), Jim Sullivan (clarinet), Sarah Thornblade (violin) (MicroFest Records CD-5) **"The Tavern" **"Revised Standards" **"Parable" * 2011: ''Ben Johnston: String Quartets Nos. 1, 5 & 10'' – Kepler Quartet (

New World Records New World Records is a record label that was established in 1975 through a Rockefeller Foundation grant to celebrate America's bicentennial (1976) by producing a 100-LP anthology, with American music from many genres.New World Records New World Records is a record label that was established in 1975 through a Rockefeller Foundation grant to celebrate America's bicentennial (1976) by producing a 100-LP anthology, with American music from many genres.Innova Records Innova Recordings is the independent record label of the non-profit American Composers Forum based in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was founded in 1982 to document the winners of the McKnight Fellowship offered by its parent organization, the Minnesot ...

) ** Includes Johnston's "Ponder Nothing" * 2002: ''Cleveland Chamber Symphony. Vol. 1, 2 & 3'' (Troppe Note Records) ** Includes Johnston's "Songs of Loss" * 1997: ''

Phillip Bush Phillip Bush (born January 4, 1961 in Ridgewood, New Jersey) is an American European classical music, classical pianist, with a career focusing primarily on chamber music and contemporary classical music. Early life Phillip Bush was born to an Am ...

: Microtonal Piano'' (

Koch International Classics Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television s ...

3-7369-2-H1) ** Includes Johnston's Suite for Microtonal Piano ** Includes Johnston's Sonata for Microtonal Piano ** Includes Johnston's "Saint Joan" * 1996: ''Michael Cameron: Progression'' (Ziva Records) ** Includes Johnston's "Progression" * 1993: ''Ponder Nothing: Chamber Music of Ben Johnston'' (

New World Records New World Records is a record label that was established in 1975 through a Rockefeller Foundation grant to celebrate America's bicentennial (1976) by producing a 100-LP anthology, with American music from many genres.LP record The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...

New World Records New World Records is a record label that was established in 1975 through a Rockefeller Foundation grant to celebrate America's bicentennial (1976) by producing a 100-LP anthology, with American music from many genres.The Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for almost 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary class ...

: Released'' (

compilation Compilation may refer to: *In computer programming, the translation of source code into object code by a compiler **Compilation error **Compilation unit *Product bundling, a marketing strategy used to sell multiple products *Compilation thesis M ...

) ** Includes Johnston's String Quartet No. 4, "Amazing Grace" * 1993: ''Urban Diva'' – Dora Ohrenstein (soprano), Mary Rowell (violin),

(keyboards), Bill Ruyle and Jason Cirker (percussion), John Thompson (electric bass) (Emergency Music, Composers Recordings Incorporated CD-654) ** Includes Johnston's "Calamity Jane to Her Daughter" * 1987: ''White Man Sleeps'' –

( Elektra/

Nonesuch __NOTOC__ Nonesuch may refer to: Plants * ''Lychnis chalcedonica'', a wildflower * ''Medicago lupulina'', a wildflower Places and structures *Nonesuch, Kentucky *Nonesuch Island, Bermuda *Nonesuch Mine, Michigan *Nonesuch Palace, mis-spelling of ...

79163-2) ** Includes Johnston's String Quartet No. 4, "Amazing Grace" * 1984: '' New Swingle Singers and New Vocal Workshop'' ( Composers Recordings, Inc.) **Includes Johnston's "Sonnets of Desolation" **Includes Johnston's "Visions and Spels" * 1983: ''The New World Quartet'' ( Composers Recordings, Inc.) ** Includes Johnston's String Quartet No. 6 * 1980: ''The Fine Arts Quartet'' (

) ** Includes Johnston's String Quartet No. 4, "Amazing Grace" * 1979: ''Music from the University of Illinois'' ( Composers Recordings, Inc.) ** Includes Johnston's Duo for flute and contrabass * 1970: ''Carmilla: A Vampire Tale'' (

Vanguard Records Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City. It was a primarily classical label at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but also has a catalogue of recordings by a n ...

) * 1969: ''John Cage &

Lejaren Hiller Lejaren Arthur Hiller Jr. (February 23, 1924, New York City – January 26, 1994, Buffalo, New York)Lejaren Hi ...

–

HPSCHD ''HPSCHD'' (pronounced as initials: eɪtʃ-piː-ɛs-siː-eɪtʃ-di:, although Cage himself said the title is "Harpsichord") is a composition for harpsichord and computer-generated sounds by American avant-garde composers John Cage (1912–1992) and ...

/ Ben Johnston – String Quartet No. 2.'' (

LP record The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...

H-71224) * 1969: ''The Contemporary Contrabass -''

Bertram Turetzky Bertram Jay Turetzky (born February 14, 1933) is a contemporary American double bass (contrabass) soloist, composer, teacher, and author of ''The Contemporary Contrabass'' (1974, 1989), a book that looked at a number of new and interesting ways o ...

, contrabass (

H-71237) ** Includes Johnston's "Casta*" * 1968: ''New Music Choral Ensemble'' –

Kenneth Gaburo Kenneth Louis Gaburo (July 5, 1926 – January 26, 1993) was an American composer. Life Gaburo was born in Somerville, New Jersey. He served as a professor of music at the University of Illinois, the University of California, San Diego, and the Un ...

, conductor (

, Ars Nova/Ars Antiqua Records AN1005) ** Includes Johnston's "Ci-Git Satie"

Footnotes

References

* * * * * * *

External links

Ben Johnston at Plainsound Music Edition"A New Dissonance"
: video interviews with Johnston, blog entries, documentary footage of rehearsals of String Quartet No. 10 by the Kepler Quartet
Ben Johnston at UNC (Greensboro) symposium
: autobiographical lecture describing his early music influences and his interest in microtonal music and just intonation
Johnston's page on La MaMa Archives Digital Collections

Listening

*''Casta Bertram'',

(NonesuchRecords, 1969
FLAC and liner notesMP3
*String Quartet No. 2, Composers Quartet (Nonesuch, 1969
FLAC and liner notesMP3
*String Quartet no. 6, New World Quartet ( Composers Recordings Inc., 1983
liner notesMP3: click on "Johnston 01.mp3"
*''Sonnets of Desolation'', New Swingle Singers and New Vocal Workshop ( Composers Recordings Inc., 1984
liner notesMP3: click on "Johnston 02.mp3"
*''Visions and Spels'', New Swingle Singers and New Vocal Workshop ( Composers Recordings Inc., 1984
liner notesMP3: click on "Johnston 03.mp3" for part 1; click on "Johnston 04.mp3" for part 2
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Ben 1926 births 2019 deaths 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers American male classical composers American classical composers Twelve-tone and serial composers Just intonation composers Writers from Macon, Georgia Musicians from Macon, Georgia Mills College alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty Pupils of Robert Moffat Palmer Pupils of Darius Milhaud Pupils of Harry Partch 21st-century American composers Experimental Music Studios alumni 20th-century American composers Deaths from Parkinson's disease Neurological disease deaths in Wisconsin Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters