Above all, American composer George Perle is not known for any of his works, but instead for the book Serial Composition and Atonality, a standard textbook used in college-level music courses. This has led to the common misconception that Perle is a serial composer, a designation that is only partly true. Perle works within a highly modified version of the twelve-tone system and its primacy, both in his work and in the era through which he was most active as composer, did not preclude him from composing traditional music ...
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Above all, American composer George Perle is not known for any of his works, but instead for the book Serial Composition and Atonality, a standard textbook used in college-level music courses. This has led to the common misconception that Perle is a serial composer, a designation that is only partly true. Perle works within a highly modified version of the twelve-tone system and its primacy, both in his work and in the era through which he was most active as composer, did not preclude him from composing traditional music from time to time. Perle celebrated his 90th birthday in 2005 and Bridge Records' George Perle: A Retrospective collects a number of recordings made during observances of this milestone in addition to a couple of items rescued from the back catalog. Perle's Serenade No. 3 for piano and chamber orchestra comes from a highly praised Nonesuch LP led by Gerard Schwarz and his Piano Concerto No. 2 from a long-deleted Harmonia Mundi issue. The selection chronologically ranges from his...
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