Anthony Braxton – 50+ Years of Creative Music

For over half a century, the African-American Anthony Braxton (*1945) has been one of the key figures in contemporary avant-garde music as a composer, multi-instrumentalist, music theorist, university teacher, mentor and visionary. Braxton himself calls his transidiomatic music “creative music”, which draws inspiration equally from jazz, European art music and the music of different world cultures. His oeuvre comprises around 700 compositions, over 200 albums and eight theoretical books.

In the first international conference dedicated to his work, leading experts, colleagues and former students discussed Braxton’s typical compositional processes, his musical concepts, his music-philosophical views and his work as a university teacher and mentor at the Darmstadt Summer Course 2023 on 8 and 9 August 2023. The conference was organised by the German Braxton expert Timo Hoyer and the Belgian musician and Braxton interpreter Kobe van Cauwenberghe.

Hoyer and Van Cauwenberghe are also the editors of the special volume Anthony Braxton – 50+ Years of Creative Music. The volume will consist of the revised conference papers written in English. The original contributions shed light on Braxton’s systematic, theoretical and conceptual approach (Part I) as well as his central compositional models (Part II). In addition, an original interview with Braxton and an expert discussion on Braxton’s work and impact are included (Part III).

The publication of the special volume Anthony Braxton – 50+ Years of Creative Music is made possible by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.

Further information:
schott-music.com