Described by New York Times critic John Rockwell as one of the best non-famous composers this country has to offer, Ben Johnston reconceives familiar idioms--ranging from jazz to Southern hymns--using just intonation. Johnston studied with Darius Milhaud, Harry Partch, and John Cage, and is best known for his String Quartet No. 4, a complex series of variations on Amazing Grace. This volume reveals he is also a truly literate composer, who writes and speaks about music with eloquence and charm. Maximum Clarity and Other Writings on Music spans forty years and brings together forty-one of...