Carl Ruggles (1876-1971) spent 5 years honing Sun-treader, (Real Audio) his orchestral masterpiece. A roiling eruptive jagged sea of sound, Sun-treader sings with noble clarity. Ruggles forsook composing in the 1950s to devote more time to painting. For more, start with a short biography and then visit Thomas Herlin's Ruggles page which is packed with links and an excellent bibliography. This excerpt, from Deutsche Gramophone's outstanding CD release DG 429 860-2, was performed by the Boston Symphony conducted by Michael Tilson-Thomas. Now why won't Sony/CBS release Tilson-Thomas' complete Ruggles on CD?

Harry Partch (1901-1974), fed up with Western music, incinerated his compositions in a pot-bellied stove in 1930. Creating, adapting and constructing many beautiful instruments tuned to a 43-tone octave, his compositions feature shimmering glissandi, ritualistic rhythms, hobo sayings and much that remains beyond my feeble powers of prose. Try an excerpt from Partch's The Bewitched (Real Audio) recently remastered and reissued on CRI. I also heartily recommend INNOVA's magnificent 4 CD set, Enclosure Two. To hear what the instruments sound like visit the invaluable Corporeal Meadows, a site dedicated to the life and works of Harry Partch. You can also visit the Harry Partch Special Collection Archive which has some good pictures, John Loffink's admirable Partch site, and PARTCH, which presents material from Genesis of a Music. CBS should be compelled to release The World of Harry Partch and Delusion of the Fury (with the accompanying instrumental record!) on CD.

Iannis Xenakis has probed the frontiers of acoustic and electronic music for decades. He was the first to explore the musical possibilities of granular synthesis. Listen to the gloaming granular textures of La Legende d'Eer (Real Audio) from the cd La Legende D'Eer MO 782058. Recently, I unearthed few Xenakis resources on the WWW: you can read an intriguing conversation with Xenakis, peruse an incomplete list of his works, wade through some citations or read a brief bio. Tell me about any Xenakis links I may have missed. Also, don't miss Electro-Acoustic Music now on CD. Hurray!

Only the Miles Davis groups of 1968 - 1975 surpassed the soft machine in jazz-rock.

The visionary Moondog blends canons, street poetry and elegant off-kilter rhythms into his compositions. A popular denizen of New York City's street life, he recited his poetry on the corner of 54th Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan. His magnificent Theme (Real Audio) from his eponymous two-fer CD - CBS MK 44994 offers a good introduction to his style. I don't have the strength to post his most incredible work, Symphonique #3, which leaves me exhausted after each listen.

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) remains misunderstood more than 40 years after his death. Aside from his legacy of beautiful compositions, he taught many of this century's most influential composers: Anton Webern, Alban Berg and others: even John Cage took a lesson or two! I'm currently deciding which clip to feature, so please be content with visiting the official Schoenberg web site, which is packed with photos, documents, a list of works and other items or settle for a quickie bio.

Tito Puente may be the King of Latin jazz, but Machito (1908-1984) reigns as Eternal Emperor - Lord of Screaming Brass and Thundering Percussion. Machito's Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra dazzled audiences for decades with the dextrous arrangments of Mario Bauza, Rene Hernandez and others. Their hair-splitting ensemble work fused steely precision with incorrigible bop-styled swing. Wild Jungle, (Real Audio) from Kenya or Latin Soul Plus Jazz is available on Palladium PCD-104 or preferably the grittier Caliente CD CHARLY 149, respectively. I demand a boxed set!!!!

Karlheinz Stockhausen's official Web page is packed with nifty articles, features, and some sound clips, so get thee thither! You can also visit the Licht page for information on the opera Licht, read reviews of some recent Stockhausen cds and more! You can also get a clip of one of his electronic masterpieces, Gesang der Junglinge. A leader of the post-war avant-garde, he pioneered serial techniques in electronic music, the combination of live instruments with electronics and multimedia performance. Stockhausen is unduly neglected here in America, so I urge you to unearth his records at your local library and write for his free catalog: