In 1972-73, Barney Childs embarked on an ambitious attempt to survey the landscape of new American concert music. He recorded freewheeling conversations with fellow composers, most of them under forty, all of them important but most not yet famous. Though unable to publish the interviews in his lifetime, Childs had gathered invaluable dialogues with the likes of Robert Ashley, Olly Wilson, Harold Budd, Christian Wolff, and others.

Virginia Anderson edits the first published collection of these conversations. She pairs each interview with a contextual essay by a contemporary expert that shows how the composer's discussion with Childs fits into his life and work. Together, the interviewees cover a broad range of ideas and concerns around topics like education, notation, developments in electronic music, changing demands on performers, and tonal music.

Innovative and revealing, Interviews with American Composers is an artistic and historical snapshot of American music at an important crossroads.

| Cover Title Page Copyright Contents Preface and Acknowledgments Introduction 1. William Albright (1944–1998) Interview 2. Robert Ashley (1930–2014) Interview 3. Larry Austin (1930–2018) Interview 4. William Bolcom (b. 1938) Interview 5. Harold Budd (1936–2020) Interview 6. Joel Chadabe (1938–2021) Interview 7. Charles Dodge (b. 1942) Interview 8. William Hellermann (1939–2017) Interview 9. Sydney Hodkinson (b. 1934) Interview 10. Ben Johnston (1926–2019) Interview 11. Daniel Lentz (b. 1942) Interview 12. Alvin Lucier (b. 1931) Interview 13. Donald Martino (1931–2005) Interview 14. Salvatore Martirano (1927–1995) Interview 15. Robert Morris (b. 1943) Interview 16. Gordon Mumma (b. 1935) Interview 17. Loren Rush (b. 1935) Interview 18. Michael Sahl (1934–2018) Interview 19. Peter Westergaard (1931–2019) Interview 20. Olly Wilson (1937–2018) Interview 21. Phil Winsor (1938–2012) Interview 22. Christian Wolff (b. 1934) Interview 23. Charles Wuorinen (b. 1938) Interview Contributors Index Back cover |"A unique time capsule of recent history of the state of the field of art music composition in the United States in 1972. Virginia Anderson presents Childs's interviews as-is, warts and all. As such, each interview is revealing of the character of the times and of the protagonists."—Chris Brown, Professor Emeritus and former Co-Director of the Center for Contemporary Music, Mills College
|Barney Childs (1926-2000) was an experimental music composer, poet, and educator. His compositions included chamber music and music for keyboards. Virginia Anderson maintained the Experimental Music Catalogue and was the editor of the Journal of Experimental Music Studies. She died in 2021.