Episode 32 - 1974: Donald Martino, Notturno

Hearing The Pulitzers

Jul 16 2022 • 32 mins

In this episode, Dave and Andrew discuss a composer who is usually considered a 12-tone composer, but who also rejected labels. He famously told the New York Times in 1997 that "If anyone writes program notes and says I am a Serial or a 12-tone composer, I am infuriated." How do Dave and Andrew label Martino's music? How does Notturno fit into the style of other winners in the early 1970s?

If you'd like more information about Donald Martino and Notturno, we recommend:

  1. James Praznik's 2022 dissertation "Dreaming of Single Hexachords in an Infinite Expanse: An Analysis of Movement II of Donald Martino’s Notturno"
  2. The collection of articles in tribute to Martino in Perspectives of New Music 29/2 (Summer 1991)
  3. Bruce Duffie's interview with Martino