Thomas Schuttenhelm

The rare story of creative collaboration between two renowned artists, David Hockney and James Sellars. Haplomatics is an animated techno-fantasy that combines original text and music by the American composer James Sellars with xerographs by the British artist David Hockney. Their collaboration has not previously been detailed and the unique combination of text-music-image that culminated in Haplomatics deserves closer attention. Their experimentations coalesced into a collaborative work of extraordinary proportions.A companion to the exhibition at the New Britain Museum of American Art, this book provides insight and access to a rare yet significant work. In addition to reproducing the Hockney Haplomes and the full text of Haplomatics, the book offers a detailed chronicle of the collaboration between Sellars and Hockney and describes the intersectional ties that exist between the text, music, images and the animated video.

Thomas Schuttenhelm provides a detailed account of the events leading up to and throughout the compositional process associated with Michael Tippett’s Fifth String Quartet and a comprehensive analysis of the entire quartet. The commentary discusses this work in the context of Tippett’s creative development and places it within the historical context of the genre of the string quartet. The commentary includes interviews with the members of the Lindsay String Quartet, who premiered the work, as well as previously unpublished letters from the composer and interviews with Tippett in which he discusses the quartet in detail. Special attention is given to Tippett’s preliminary attempts, which were only recently discovered (2011) and to the evidence that suggests he altered the original ending. Included are images from the composer’s sketchbooks and manuscripts, as well as the original beginning and the altered ending.

Thomas Schuttenhelm provides a detailed account of the events leading up to and throughout the compositional process associated with Michael Tippett’s Fifth String Quartet and a comprehensive analysis of the entire quartet. The commentary discusses this work in the context of Tippett’s creative development and places it within the historical context of the genre of the string quartet. The commentary includes interviews with the members of the Lindsay String Quartet, who premiered the work, as well as previously unpublished letters from the composer and interviews with Tippett in which he discusses the quartet in detail. Special attention is given to Tippett’s preliminary attempts, which were only recently discovered (2011) and to the evidence that suggests he altered the original ending. Included are images from the composer’s sketchbooks and manuscripts, as well as the original beginning and the altered ending.