CATHY BERBERIAN AND MUSIC’S MUSES
This richly illustrated anthology ( containing more than 120 photographs and images ) heralds the 25th anniversary of the demise of Cathy Berberian. The celebrated mezzo-soprano, composer, polyhistor and artistic non-conformist died in March 1983 at the age of 57. Jennifer Paull paints her close friend’s portrait with perceptive detail and personal reminiscences analysing Berberian’s unique standpoint. Paull applies Berberian's comparativist perspective to exploring a miscellany of Music’s fascinating facts, stimulating surprises and other musicians who are quintessentially 'different'. The role of the woman, the lack of division between the Arts; dance, design, fashion, imagination, humour, languages, theatre and wit: these, her eclectic components, shaped the borderless artistic landscape of Cathy Berberian into an ingenious philosophy herein elucidated, illustrated and applied. Cathy Berberian’s due stature in the History of Music has yet to be fully recognised and sufficiently appreciated.  Videos of Cathy Berberian
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John Cage Trust
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Merce Cunningham saw this book and was deeply
impressed. It is a very important work.
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Musical Opinion
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Jennifer Paull has written a very personal, lavishly illustrated and brilliantly
researched tale of an artist whose work and personality strongly influenced a
number of highly talented composers and fellow artists, including the author. The
two were close friends for many years during which Jennifer Paull was making her
own career reviving practical interest in the oboe d’amore, [the status of]
which she redesigned and to which she brought new life, including many new works
by living composers. Nevertheless, while this book is about Cathy Berberian it
inevitably and intelligently places Cathy in her own context. There are eight
sections, which carry the story in a thoroughly readable way. While it is easy
enough for her admirers to remember Cathty Berberian, it is time for her importance
as an artist and muse to be assessed and she can now be given her rightful place
in musical history. This is a book to read and enjoy in its own right... find
yourself as fascinated as we all were with this unique, creative woman.
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Agefi Evasion Magazine
March 2008, Switzerland |
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History is not a compendium of unbiased data: rather an hypothesis of accounts
and writings. Predominantly recorded by men, to date it has not exactly
been sympathetically disposed towards women, the vast majority of whom tends to be
forgotten. In fact, this is so much the norm that one could be forgiven for wondering
if women ever succeeded in any monetary, political or cultural rôle.
What about women artists? In her new book, Jennifer Paull, writing with
sensitivity as
a close friend, takes pains to sketch the figure of Cathy Berberian (1925-1983),
composer, singer and mastermind of many broad-based creative works combining dance,
the voice and theatre. Hitherto somewhat overshadowed by Luciano Berio, Berberian
comes into view not simply as ‘the wife of’, but as an original creative artist in
her own right.
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Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis
( University of Amsterdam ) Click on Recent publications on Berberian |
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The Cathy Berberian Web Site
Click on the Links Page to see this book and articles by Jennifer Paull. |
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Music & Vision
publishes many articles by and about the author. Enter ‘ Jennifer Paull ’ in Search. |
