Franklin Cox

This article is about the musician. For the architect, see Frank Cox (architect).

Franklin Cox (born Charleston, Illinois, 1961) is an American composer and cellist. He composes music in the school of New Complexity and his performances range from new music to classical chamber works. Cox currently has 8 cats.

Life

Cox studied with Brian Ferneyhough at the University of California, San Diego, and at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse.

He is currently (2020) associate professor of theory, composition, and cello at Wright State University. His ongoing concert series, The New Cello, features his work in addition to other composers that explore new possibilities on the instrument through extended techniques and microtonality.) Cox has also been co-editor of Search: Journal for New Music and Culture since its founding in 2007.

Compositions

(Pieces mentioned in and/or analyzed in articles listed below.)

• Chronopolis, for solo flute (1988–89).
• Di-remption, for solo percussionist (1993)
• Four Pieces for double bass
• If on a Winter's Night ..., for solo clarinet (1988)
• Clairvoyance, for violin solo (1989)
• Clairvoyance, transcribed for cello solo (1989)
• viz., for chamber ensemble (1988–1991)
• Recoil, for cello solo (1994)
• Doubles, for piano and taped synthesizer (1990–93, 2004).
• Spiegelgeschichte, cycle of works for 24 Voices, Commission from Südwestrunfunk (SWR), Germany (2009–2011). First performance by SWR Chorus in Eclat 2011 festival, Stuttgart, Germany, Feb. 12, 2011 (https://www.theaterhaus.com/theaterhaus/?id=1,3,12505)
• Eight Etudes for Solo Cello (2009–2016).

Recordings of works

• "This Isle is Full of Noises" Lisa Cella, flute, Centaur Records 3091 (2010). Includes "Chronopolis", for solo Flute
• The New Cello, Vol 1 – American Composers. Centaur Records 2994 (2010), Franklin Cox, cello. Includes "Clairvoyance" and "Recoil" for solo cello
• New Music Series Volume 4. Neuma Records 450-102 (2002). Includes Shift, for five cellos, performed by Frank Cox.
• Surplus Live auf Solitude. Stuttgart: Edition Solitude, ACD 6024-3. Includes R, performed by singers from the Stuttgarter Musikhochschule, dir. James Avery.
• Pierre-Yves Artaud, flauto. Milan: Rusty Classica, RUS 555019.2. Includes Chronopolis, performed by Pierre-Yves Artaud.

Selected recordings by Cox

• The New Cello, Vol 2 – European Composers. Centaur Records 3390 (2014). Works by Klaus K. Hübler, Mahnkopf, Redgate, Barrett, Erber, Nunes, and Finnissy.
• La vision d'ange nouveau for solo cello from Angelus Novus Cycle by Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf (NEOS 1121112, 2013).
• "The Courier's Tragedy" from "Pynchon Cycle" by Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf (Neos 269220, 2011). Cello part written for Dr. Cox
• The New Cello, Vol 1 – American Composers. Centaur Records 2994 (2010), Franklin Cox, cello. Works by Carter, Ben Johnston, and Stuart Saunders Smith
• "See Under Love" (Mode Records 169, 2006). Recording of opera by Chaya Czernowin premiered at Munich Biennale, 2000. Solo cello part written for Franklin Cox

Bibliography

Analyses of works by Cox

By Franklin Cox:

• "Expressive Substance in Eight Etudes for Cello Sollo", in Substance and Content in Music Today, New Music and Aesthetics in the 21st Century vol. 9, 51–74. Edited by Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Frank Cox, and Wolfram Schurig. Hofheim: Wolke Verlag, 2014.
• "An Overview of my Rhythmic Language", in Musical Material Today, New Music and Aesthetics in the 21st Century vol. 8, 39–70. Edited by Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Frank Cox, and Wolfram Schurig. Hofheim: Wolke Verlag, 2012.
• "Recoil, for Solo Cello: Background and Analysis", in Substance and Content in Music Today, New Music and Aesthetics in the 21st Century vol. 6, 99–134. Edited by Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Frank Cox, and Wolfram Schurig. Hofheim: Wolke Verlag, 2008.
• "Critical Modernism: Beyond Critical Composition and Uncritical Art", in Critical Composition Today, New Music and Aesthetics in the 21st Century vol. 5, 99-134. Edited by Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Frank Cox, and Wolfram Schurig. Hofheim: Wolke Verlag, 2008.
• "Rhythmic Morphology and Temporal Experience: Doubles, for Piano and Taped Synthesizers", in Musical Morphology, New Music and Aesthetics in the 21st Century vol. 2. Edited by Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Frank Cox, and Wolfram Schurig. Hofheim: Wolke Verlag, 2004.
• " 'Virtual' Polyphony: Clairvoyance, for solo violin", in Polyphony & Complexity, New Music and Aesthetics in the 21st Century vol. 1, 162–179. Edited by Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Frank Cox, and Wolfram Schurig. Hofheim: Wolke Verlag, 2002.

By other authors:

• Paetzold, Cordula. 2013. "Ferneyhough––Cox––Thomalla: An Analysis, Two Outlooks, and the Question of a "New Complexity" School" Search –– Journal for New Music and Culture.(http://www.searchnewmusic.org), Fall 2013.
• Takasugi, Steven Kazuo and Ulman, Erik. Trans. by Christiane Tewinkel. 1988. "Frank Cox' Spuren," Musik & Ästhetik 2, no. 7 (July 1998): 53–68.

Longer articles by Cox

• "Politics and Compositional Aesthetics", in Music and Politics, Contemporary Music Review Volume 34, Part 2–3, 2015, 197–209. Edited by Peter Nelson and Alistair Zaldua. Taylor and Francis, 2015.
• "Richard Taruskin's The Oxford History of Western Music Part 2", Search: Journal of New Music and Culture, Issue 10, Fall 2013: http://www.searchnewmusic.org/cox_taruskin_part2.pdf: 79 pages.
• "Taruskins The Oxford History of Western Music", in Musik & Asthetik (Jan. 2012), 95–106. Edited by Ludwig Holtmeier, Richard Klein, And Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta Verlag.
• "La vision d’ange nouveau, by Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf," Ferdinand Zehentreiter, ed., Die Musik von Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf (Hofheim: Wolke Verlag, 2012), pp. 116–150.
• "Richard Taruskin's The Oxford History of Western Music Part 1", Search: Journal of New Music and Culture, Issue 9, Winter 2012: http://www.searchnewmusic.org/cox_review.pdf: 53 page).
• "Toward a Projective Art", in The Second Century of New Music: Search Yearbook Volume 1, 169–181. Edited by Franklin Cox, Daniel Peter Biro, Alexander Sigman, Steven Kazuo Takasugi. Edwin Mellen Press, 2011.
• "The Legitimation Crisis of New Music in the United States," Sonic Ideas/Ideas Sónicas, a Publication of the Mexican Center for Music and Sonic Arts (CMMAS), Fall issue, 2011, pp. 42–58.
• "Stanley Cavell on Modern Music: 'Music Discomposed' and 'A Matter of Meaning It' after Forty Years", in Journal of Music Theory 54:1, Spring 2010, 37–60. Edited by Brian Kane and Stephen Decatur Smith. Duke University Press.
• "Aura and Electronic Music", in Electronics in New Music, New Music and Aesthetics in the 21st Century vol. 4. Edited by Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Frank Cox, and Wolfram Schurig. Hofheim: Wolke Verlag, 2006.
• "Helmut Lachenmann als romantischer Hochmodernist". In auf (-) und zuhören, 67–86. Edited by Hans-Peter Jahn. Hofheim: Wolke Verlag, 2005.
• "Musical Progress? New Music and the Perils of Progressivist Historicism", in The Foundations of Contemporary Composing, New Music and Aesthetics in the 21st Century vol. 3. Edited by Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Frank Cox, and Wolfram Schurig. Hofheim: Wolke Verlag, 2004.
• "Musical Progress? New Music and the Perils of Progressivist Historicism", trans. into Italian, "Il progresso musicale? La musica nova e i pericoli dello storicismo progressivista," Musica/realtà, July 2003, 139–164.
• "Toward an Intelligent Corporality: The Virtual Body", in "Ars (in)humana?", 85–112. Edited by Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf and Younghi Pagh-Paa. Bremen: Einwurf, 2003.
• "Notes Toward a Performance Practice for Complex Music", in Polyphony & Complexity, New Music and Aesthetics in the 21st Century vol. 1, 84–112. Edited by Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Frank Cox, and Wolfram Schurig. Hofheim: Wolke Verlag, 2002.
• "Annäherungen an eine Projektive Kunst", Musik & Ästhetik (Jan. 2000), 79–85. Edited by Ludwig Holtmeier, Richard Klein, And Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta Verlag.
• "Elliott Carter zim 90. Geburtstag", in Musik & Ästhetik (Jan. 1999), 5–25. Edited by Ludwig Holtmeier, Richard Klein, And Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta Verlag.
• "Über John Cage", in "Mythos Cage", 35-58. Edited by Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf. Hofheim: Wolke Verlag, 1999.

Shorter articles, reviews, and tributes by Cox

• Review of Perspectives for Contemporary Music in the 21st Century, Dàniel Péter Biró, Kai Johannes Polzhofer, ed., Musik & Ästhetik Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta Verlag, 2016.
• "Rohan de Saram", in Musik & Asthetik (Jan. 2014), 114–116. Edited by Ludwig Holtmeier, Richard Klein, And Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta Verlag.
• "Nachruf auf Friedrich Hommel", in Musik & Asthetik (July 2012), 67–86. Edited by Ludwig Holtmeier, Richard Klein, And Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta Verlag.
• "Elliott Carters Harmony Book". In Musik & Asthetik (January 2007), 111–115. Edited by Ludwig Holtmeier, Richard Klein, And Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta Verlag.
• "Music and the Sacred", contribution to program book for 2001 Hannover Tage.
• "Elliott Carter's Elegy and Figment", contribution to program book for 2001 Lucerne Festival.
• "Arditti String Quartet spielt Elliott Carter", Musik & Ästhetik (January 2001), 25–35 Edited by Ludwig Holtmeier, Richard Klein, And Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta Verlag.
• "Der Zustand der neuen Musik", booklet for the series Neue Musik im Buecherturm, Offenbach, Germany, 1997.

Co-authored:

• Avery, James and Cox, Franklin. 2010. "Hübler, Klaus K." in Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell, eds., The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed. Version at Grove Music Online.
• Cox, Franklin, Takasugi, Steven, and Ulman, Erik. 2003. "Zum Andenken Mark Osborns", Musik & Ästhetik (January 2003). Edited by Ludwig Holtmeier, Richard Klein, and Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, 111-115. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta Verlag.

Reviews

• Covell, Grant Chu. 2018. La Folia review of Franklin Cox, The New Cello, Vol. 1: American Composers, http://www.lafolia.com/string-theory-26-some-duos-duets/
• Rutherford-Johnson, Tim. 2017. Music after the Fall: Modern Composition and Culture since 1989 (University of California Press).
• Covell, Grant Chu. 2016. La Folia 2016 review of Franklin Cox, The New Cello, Vol. 2: European Composers, https://www.lafolia.com/string-theory-19-mostly-cello/
• Orning, Tanya. 2015. "The ethics of performance practice in complex music after 1945," in Erling E. Guldbransen and Julian Johnson, Transformations of Musical Modernism, 299-318 (Cambridge University Press, 2015).
• Cook, Nicholas. 2013. 'Beyond the Score (Oxford University Press): article by Cox is central focus of Chapter 8 and cited elsewhere throughout book.
• Clarke, Colin. 2012. Review of Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf CD including Dr. Cox's recording of his The Courier's Tragedy, Tempo, Vol. 66, No. 261 (July 2012), pp. 77.
• Asmus, Bernd. 2011. Review of Franklin Cox, The New Cello, vol. 1: American Composers, Musik & Ästhetik (Winter, 2011).
• Hadjileontiadis, Leontios J. 2010. "Aesthetic Shifts from the Avant-garde towards the ‘Second Modernity’: The Swaddling of a New Compositional Thinking," Proceedings of the International Conference Beyond the Centres: Musical Avant-Gardes Since 1950, Thessaloniki, Greece, July 1–3, 2010.
• Antoniadis, Pavlos. 2010. "Learning complex piano music: Environmentalist applications," Proceedings of the International Conference Beyond the Centres: Musical Avant-Gardes Since 1950 Thessaloniki, Greece, July 1–3, 2010.
• Gann, Kyle. 2010. "The Mount Everest of String Quartets," PostClassic: Kyle Gann on Music after the Fact (Short review of 2010 American Innovators festival organized by Dr. Cox.)(http://www.artsjournal.com/postclassic/2010/03/the_mount_everest_of_string_qu.html), March 2010.
• Stefanou, Danae and Antoniadis, Pavlos. 2009. "Inter-Structures: Rethinking Continuity in Post-1945 Piano Repertoire," Journal of Interdisciplinary Music Studies, Spring/Fall 2009, Volume 3, Issue 1&2, pp. 77–93.
• Mahkopf, Claus-Steffen. 2000. "Das Generationsproblem der Neuen Musik," in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 7 April 2001.
• Haltern, Ulrich R. 2000. "Musik (und Recht) heute." in Festschrift für Knut Ipsen (München, C. H. Beck, 2000).

References

Sources

• Barbiero, Daniel Paul. 2015. "AMN Reviews: Franklin Cox – The New Cello Volume 2 [Centaur Records CRC3390". Avant Music News, November 2).
• Duncan, Stuart Paul. 2010. "Re-Complexifying the Function(s) of Notation in the Music of Brian Ferneyhough and the 'New Complexity' ".Perspectives of New Music 48, no. 1 (Winter): 136–72. Cox's 2002 article, "Notes Toward a Performance Practice for Complex Music," (see above), plays a central role in Duncan's extended article.
• Leonard, Brenda. 2011. "Franklin Cox, The New Cello, Vol. 1: American Composers. Centaur Records CRC 2994.". Journal of the Society for American Music, 5 (3): 441–442. doi:10.1017/S1752196311000241
• Pace, Ian. 1995. "Frank Cox and Brian Ferneyhough". Tempo, new series, no. 194 (Italian issue) (October): 37–38.

External links

• Franklin Cox page on Wright State University website
• http://www.searchnewmusic.org/