More than two years in the making, Music & Literature no. 8 showcases the work of three artists who have renewed their inherited traditions—modern literature, classical music, and jazz—and brought innovation to their disciplines. Éric Chevillard, Unsuk Chin, and Mark Turner have been expanding the possibilities of their forms for decades, and the fruits of their unwavering efforts are on full display in the most extensive M&L to date.

Beloved for his playful and sharply intelligent fiction, Éric Chevillard is a voice worthy of a global readership. His portfolio includes never-before-translated shorts, novel and journal excerpts, as well as works for children that cheekily subvert the conventions of French literature. His collaborations with visual artists, including fellow “outsider” Gaston Chaissac, receive special attention, as do his astute and often hilariously caustic reviews. Ushered into English by a host of brilliant translators, this portfolio is rounded out with exclusive interviews with Chevillard and appreciations from his peers.

Korean composer Unsuk Chin has made her home in Germany for over twenty years and gained a devoted international following for her eclectic and challenging body of work. Drawing on everything from folk music and street art to Kafka and Lewis Carroll, Unsuk Chin’s radical imagination shares a spiritual kinship with Stravinsky and Debussy, even as it claims new territories for classical music. Revolving around her own writings on her compositional process, literary inspirations, and mentor, György Ligeti, Chin’s profile also features two newly translated interviews and previously unreleased materials from the composer’s archives.

Finally, in a first for Music & Literature—one proving that the M&L aesthetic is as at home in jazz as in classical music—we are excited to offer a portfolio exploring the career of American saxophonist Mark Turner, one of the most influential musicians of his generation. Here, an extensive conversation with Ben Ratliff is complemented by a series of reflections on Turner’s life, work, and utterly unique sound by longtime collaborators, students, and friends. Transcriptions and facsimiles of his musical notebooks offer further insight into an artist of exceptional depth and creative vision.

CONTENTS

I. ÉRIC CHEVILLARD

The Complete Published Works of Éric Chevillard

Hegel’s Cap / Éric Chevillard, trans. Jordan Stump

Peter and the Wolf / Éric Chevillard, trans. Jordan Stump

Autofiction / Éric Chevillard, trans. Daniel Levin Becker

Moles / Éric Chevillard, trans. Alyson Waters

An Excerpt from The Brave Little Tailor / Éric Chevillard, trans. Jordan Stump

An Excerpt from The Posthumous Works of Thomas Pilaster / Éric Chevillard, trans. Chris Clarke

A Selection of Paintings Appearing in Full Force / Gaston Chaissac

Extracts from The Autofictive / Éric Chevillard, trans. Jordan Stump

Excerpts from Suzie’s Theories / Jean-François Martin (illus.) & Éric Chevillard, trans. Daniel Levin Becker

Excerpts from Agathe’s Menagerie / Frédéric Rébéna (illus.) & Éric Chevillard, trans. Daniel Levin Becker

Chevillard, Reader of Le Monde / Anne Roche, trans. Sandra Smith

In the Abyss / Éric Chevillard, trans. Daniel Levin Becker

Pure Moods / Éric Chevillard, trans. Daniel Levin Becker

A Hard Blow for Europe / Éric Chevillard, trans. Daniel Levin Becker

An Impeccable Feast / Éric Chevillard, trans. Daniel Levin Becker

Bursting at the Sentences / Éric Chevillard, trans. Daniel Levin Becker

A Conversation with Éric Chevillard / Alyson Waters, trans. Jeffrey Zuckerman

Exhausting the Form / Pierre Jourde with Éric Chevillard, trans. Jeffrey Zuckerman

An Unquiet Place / Anne Diatkine with Éric Chevillard, trans. Jeffrey Zuckerman

Chevillard, the Author, and Me: An Introduction / Olivier Bessard-Banquy & Pierre Jourde, trans. Sandra Smith

What Is Palafox? / Sam Byers

Review of Disorder According to QWERTY / Claro, trans. Brian Evenson

Chevillard; or, the Art of Birlibiloque / Lydie Salvayre, trans. Brian Evenson

Chevillard’s Dog / Jeremy M. Davies

Chevillard Writing / Pierre Senges, trans. Jacob Siefring

Final Bouquet / Anne Weber, trans. Shaun Whiteside

II. UNSUK CHIN

Major Works of Unsuk Chin

Delighting in Unsuk Chin / Kent Nagano, trans. Shaun Whiteside

Notes on Kalá / Unsuk Chin, trans. Shaun Whiteside

Notes on Cantatrix Sopranica / Unsuk Chin, trans. Shaun Whiteside

Notes on Gougalōn: Scenes from a street theater / Unsuk Chin, trans. Shaun Whiteside

Thoughts on Le Silence des Sirenes / Unsuk Chin & Maris Gothóni

Courage / Unsuk Chin

In Praise of György Ligeti, on His Eightieth Birthday / Unsuk Chin, trans. Shaun Whiteside

A Conversation with Unsuk Chin / Gregor Dotzauer, trans. Shaun Whiteside

Searching for the Essence / Matthias Essenpreis with Unsuk Chin, trans. Stefan Drees

On the Piano Etudes of Unsuk Chin / Clemens J. Setz, trans. Ross Benjamin

Piano Concerto, First Movement / Donna Stonecipher

Looking-glass Opera / Alex Ross

A Tribute / George Benjamin

III. maRk turner

Selected Recordings of Mark Turner

A Conversation with Mark Turner / Ben Ratliff

Seventeen Ways of Looking at Mark Turner: Melissa Aldana / Omer Avital / Jeff Ballard / Avishai Cohen / Marcus Gilmore / María Kim Grand / Larry Grenadier / Helena Hansen / Billy Hart with Ethan Iverson / Gilad Hekselman / Joe Martin / Kurt Rosenwinkel / Jorge Rossy / Baptiste Trotignon / Ben Wendel / Patrick Zimmerli

Honor What They Say: Mark Turner, Student and Teacher / Kevin Sun

Threshold Angels / Jesse Ruddock

The Middle Way / Spencer Matheson

Self Portrait / Fiston Mwanza Mujila, trans. Roland Glasser