Franklin Cox

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

Franklin Cox (born Charleston, Illinois, United States, 1961) is an American composer and cellist. He composes music in the school of New Complexity (Duncan 2010, 139) and his performances range from new music to classical chamber works.

Life

Cox studied with Brian Ferneyhough at the University of California, San Diego, and at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse (Pace 1995, 37).

He is currently (2020) Associate Professor of Cello at Wright State University, heading Music Theory classes and the cello studio in the School of Music. 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. (Leonard 2011, 441–42; Barbieri 2015). Cox has also been co-editor of Search: Journal for New Music and Culture since its founding in 2007.

Compositions

• Di-remption, for solo percussionist
• Four Pieces for double bass
• If on a Winter's Night ..., for solo clarinet
• Clairvoyance, for violin solo
• Clairvoyance, transcribed for cello solo
• Recoil, for cello soloå
• viz., for chamber ensemble
• Chronopolis (1996), for solo flute

Recordings of works by Franklin Cox

• "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 Franklin 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

Ensembles

• Group For Contemporary Music
• Exposé
• Surplus
• Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin
• Ensemble Köln
• Extended Vocal Resources Ensemble (founding member)
• C-squared (founding member)
• Noise

Bibliography

Work as co-editor

• Search: Journal for New Music and Culture, co-edited by Daniel Biro, Franklin Cox, Alexander Sigman, and Steven Takasugi. This journaled publication was active 2007-2015, and it will begin publishing again 2020-2021. Eleven issues published online: http://www.searchnewmusic.org/.
• Anthology of articles from Search:
• The Second Century of New Music, ed. Biro, Cox, Sigman, Takasugi, Edwin Mellen Press, 2011 ISBN 978-0773415898.

• Co-editor of book series: New Music and Aesthetics in the 21st Century, Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Franklin Cox, Wolfram Schurig, co-editors. Hofheim: Wolke Verlag:
• Vol. 9: Substance and Content in Music Today (2014). ISBN 978-3-936000-18-4.
• Vol. 8: Musical Material Today (2012). ISBN 978-3-936000-19-1.
• Vol. 7: Klaus Huber--From Time to Time (2010). ISBN 978-3-936000-18-4.
• Vol. 6: Facets of the Second Modernity (2008). ISBN 978-3-936000-17-7.
• Vol. 5: Critical Composition Today (2006). ISBN 3-936000-16-6.
• Vol. 4: Electronics in New Music (2006). ISBN 3-936000-15-8.
• Vol. 3: The Foundations of Contemporary Composing (2004). ISBN 3-936000-14-X.
• Vol. 2: Musical Morphology (2004). ISBN 3-936000-13-1.
• Vol. 1: Polyphony & Complexity (2002). ISBN 3-936000-10-7.

Analyses of Works 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.
• "Frank Cox' Spuren," Steven Kazuo Tagasugi and Erik Ulman, translated by Christiane Tewinkel. Musik & Ästhetik 2, no. 7 (July 1998): 53–68.

Longer Articles by Franklin Cox

• {{wikicite|ref=CITEREFNelson2015|reference=Nelson, Peter. 2015. "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.
• "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.
• "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 Franklin 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.
• Frank Cox, Steven Takasugi, Erik Ulman, "Zum Andenken Mark Osborns", Musik & Ästhetik (Jan. 2003). Edited by Ludwig Holtmeier, Richard Klein, And Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, 111-115. 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 (Jan. 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.

Reviews of and References to Franklin Cox

• Orning, Tanya. 2015. "The ethics of performance practice in complex music after 1945," in Erling E. Guldbransen and Julian Johnson, Transformations of Musical Modernism (Cambridge University Press, 2015).
• Barbiero, Daniel Paul. 2015. "AMN Reviews: Franklin Cox – The New Cello Volume 2 [Centaur Records CRC3390]'". Avant Music News, November 2): https://avantmusicnews.com/2015/11/02/amn-reviews-franklin-cox-the-new-cello-volume-2-centaur-records-crc3390/.
• 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.
• 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. https://doi.org/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