Review of When Music Resists Meaning: The Major Writings of Herbert Brun
Wesleyan University Press, 2004, pp.368, includes CD
By Matthew Warne and Diane Gromala
v.3
When Music Resists Meaning presents Herbert Brun’s argument for what the role of arts
practitioners, the composer specifically, should be in society. Although the editor, Arun
Chandra, may have provided a more comprehensive context for the reader to better
understand the work, this book is nevertheless important for making available the
thinking of an influential figure in 20th century music.
Brun was born in Berlin in 1918 and studied piano and composition at the Jerusalem
Conservatory in the late 1930s and at Tanglewood and Columbia University from 1948 to
1950. His work in the 1950s led him to work in early electronic music studios in Paris,
Cologne, and Munich, such as WDR and Siemens -- studios which were visited by
contemporaries Pierre Boulez, Iannis Xénakis, and Karlheniz Stockhausen. In 1962, after
a lecture tour in the United States, Brun was invited by Lejaren Hiller to join the faculty
at the University of Illinois. Brun was an influential faculty member at Illinois -- one of
this century’s most important contemporary music schools in America -- until his death
in 2000 (EMF-Media Accessed 7/22/2004). His influence extended from recognition
within and beyond the music community. He served, for example, on the editorial board
of the Computer Music Journal in the 1980s and expanded his influence to Cybernetics,
receiving the Norbert Wiener medal from the American Society for Cybernetics in 1993.
Brun was also awarded the Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Society for
Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS), and an honorary doctorate by
the Department of Classical Philology and Art Studies at the University of Frankfurt in
1999 (Kortner-Brün, Brün et al. 2000).
Chandra has organized the collection of Brun’s essays, lectures and interviews that begin
with relatively simple definitions of “art” and “composer,” and brings precision to these
definitions by explaining the role of a composer and works in systems of increasingly
complicated relationships. Brun discusses the relationship among a composer and his or
her work to other composers, performers, history, listeners, research institutions, science
and, eventually, society. The book starts with statements of relative idealism
(particularly regarding the definitions of art and artist/composer) and moves to
increasingly concrete examples of a model for the sort of society Brun would build, along
with what role the arts would play in this society (in the form of a 1970 recommendation
to UNESCO on the formation of a department for research including artists and scientists
FACT CHECK!! Or just chop FACT CHECK).
Chandra’s selections demonstrate the importance of language and definitions to Brun,
and present him as meticulous in his arguments. One also gets a sense of Brun as goodnatured but deadly-serious, interested in the way that language stunts thinking and leads
to the perpetuation of systems. Brun promotes a progressive and intentionally challenging
use of language which necessitates continued dialog, perpetuating not systems but
humans. (would it be accurate to use quotemarks around “perpetuating…humans”? i.e., a
quote  Quotes would be better, in essay “anti-communication”) Brun’s practice in
thought parallels his practice in composition, where he is interested in the creation of new
sounds and in new relationships between sounds. With candor and care, Brun argues for
artists to challenge existing aesthetic conventions and to create works that will expand the
boundaries of audiences’ tastes and perceptions. A selection of Brun’s compositions is
included on the accompanying audio Compact Disc; these demonstrate some of the
concepts that he details in the text. Brun’s carefully constructed statements are refreshing
both for their interest in precision and, in the current academic climate of qualification,
for their willingness to be absolute. Whether agreeing or disagreeing with Brun, readers
are left with arguments which serve as useful tools (be they foils or supports) for
strengthening their own thoughts and opinions.
The primary criticism of this book lacks is that it lacks context. Because it is a collection,
Brun has not authored and does not state a central argument. The larger topic begins to
form only after reading few chapters into the book, as Brun makes repeated passes at
single set of definitions. Some of this material is repetitive, but the repetition makes it
clear that each document examines the set of terms from slightly varying perspectives.
One begins to get a sense of spiraling outward slowly, examining the central questions
from multiple perspectives and ever-greater distance. The book would be more
productive from the outset had Chandra written an introduction which set the goals for
the book and outlined the material to be presented and its organization. As it stands the
reader is left to discern the book’s argument alone. The lack of an overview, combined
with little information about Brun and his place in musical and intellectual history
(Chandra provides only a two-page biography in the appendix), makes this book less
useful than it would otherwise be and perhaps presents a challenge for beginning
students.
The best use of this book is perhaps in a course where the professor, syllabus, or other
readings can provide a context for Brun’s arguments. The individual documents lend
themselves well to this use, as each chapter is a self-contained. Given Brun’s interest in
the role of arts and society conceived broadly, the text could serve any discourse on
aesthetics or the role of the arts, and has relevance beyond the field of music. For those
dedicated to a study of contemporary music, this book is more essential as it reveals the
thinking of an individual who holds a prominent and influential position in 20th century
music’s intellectual history.
EMF-Media (Accessed 7/22/2004). Artist Biography: Herbert Brun. EMF Media.
Albany, Electronic Music Foundation. 2004.
Kortner-Brün, M., M. Brün, et al. (2000). Obituary: Herbert Brün 1918-2000. American
Society for Cybernetics Webpage, American Society for Cybernetics.