Composer and Theorist Joel Mandelbaum on Microtonality
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Abstract
Mr. Mandelbaum (b. 1932) is a highly educated, skillful composer who writes in a clear,
tuneful, and accessible tonal style to which the use of microtones add an original and fascinating
flavor. Unfortunately, his music, such as his important, much-acclaimed operas on Jewish subjects,
is all but unavailable on recordings. Of his microtonal music, only a short electronic work in 31-
tone equal temperament is available on CD (“Andante cantabile” on the compilation “Electronical,”
American Festival of Microtonal Music – Pitch P-200208).Among microtonal composers and
scholars of tuning systems, Joel Mandelbaum is widely known for his seminal dissertation
“Multiple Division of the Octave and the Tonal Resources of the 19-tone Equal Temperament”
(Ph.D. thesis, University of Indiana, 1961; available online at
http://anaphoria.com/mandelbaum.html). Publishing this 1994 interview now makes available a fine
short introduction to a remarkable microtonal composer and theorist, and two of the most important
and popular microtonal tuning systems: 19 and 31 equal divisions of the octave.
After his most illuminating talk, Mr. Mandelbaum demonstrated various intervals and
tunings on his famous Motorola Scalatron, an early digitally retunable electronic organ, which at the
time was still in working condition.
Keywords: microtonality, Joel Mandelbaum, microtonal composers.
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