Ben Johnston talks about the aesthetic dilemmas of contemporary music and his own pioneering work in extended intonation, as well as personal encounters with John Cage, Harry Partch, Milton Babbitt, and others—topics which all figure prominently in his newly published collection of writings, Maximum Clarity.

Excerpted from Imagining Native America in Music by Michael V. Pisani.

An interview with the author of Imagining Native America in Music.

Excerpted from Settling Scores: German Music, Denazification, and the Americans, 1945-1953 by David Monod.

An interview with the author of Settling Scores: German Music, Denazification, and The Americans, 1945-1953.

Traditionally composers have located the elements of a composition in time. One idea which I am interested in is locating them, instead, in space, and letting the listener place them in his own time.

An interview with the editor of Background Noise: Perspectives on Sound Art.

Excerpted from The John Adams Reader: Essential Writings on an American Composer edited by Thomas May.

An interview with the editor of The John Adams Reader: Essential Writings on an American Composer.

An interview with Phillip Ramey, author of Irving Fine: An American Composer in His Time.