Facing rock reality (1988)
John Harbison · Contemporary Music Review · 2000
In this essay, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Harbison reflects on his own personal attempt to come to grips with the overwhelming popularity of rock music. For Harbison, rock music has come to virtually eclipse modern art music in American culture, and he reflects on the efforts of certain modern composers to adapt practices — both compositional and promotional — drawn from the world of rock music. After his attempt to give rock music a fair hearing, Harbison concludes that he is ultimately not a fan of rock music, and affirms his own personal dedication to the art-music tradition.