Of all recent art music styles, few have relied upon technological developments for their composition, performance and recording to the same degree as minimalism. In both the output of the principal composers of the more recent minimalist canon (namely in the objet trouvé works of Reich and Adams, the film scores by Glass and Nyman as well as through the reliance on electronic amplification common to them all) and in the counter-cultural movements characterized by music whose content is absolutely dependent on electronic media, repetitive styles have been transformed. The sophistication of these procedures has naturally resulted in a diminished sense of human labour within the compositional process and, at times, the total loss of a composer's authorial voice. The tintinnabuli music of Arvo Pärt stands out against the general tendency of such repetitive-based composers to harness the latest technology, to the extent that some commentators have baulked at the term ‘minimalist’ as an appropriate category. Robert Schwarz, for example, believes ‘neo-medievalist’ to capture something of Pärt's particular adoption of a supposedly pre-modern, non-technological attitude, while Josiah Fisk opts for the ‘new simplicity’ to describe (negatively) Pärt's monochromaticsm.

Friends, pupils and ex-colleagues of Geoffrey Poole (I write as all three) find it difficult to believe that this year witnesses his sixtieth birthday. In the past 40 years, he has consolidated his aesthetic position and career as a British composer of multifarious interests and distinctive personality. This article is a testament to his compositional integrity, staying power, humanity and humility. It is necessarily provisional, because each new work by Poole is a fresh beginning, expanding further outwards but also going deeper within, contributing to Western art music's capacity for regeneration and self-adaptation.

Editorial Note: Just after the following interview had been edited for inclusion in the present issue of Tempo, we were saddened to learn of the sudden death of David Johnson at his home in Edinburgh on about 30 March, aged 66. He had been an occasional reviewer of Scottish musical events for Tempo. The projects mentioned in the interview were destined to remain unfulfilled, but his substantial legacy of compositions and scholarship had made a distinct and independent-minded contribution to the Scottish musical scene.

My theoretical purpose is to distinguish between musical allusions and musical co-presences. A musical allusion is usually a citation of a melody or phrase from a work by a predecessor. In Shostakovich's Fifteenth Symphony, for example, references to Rossini's William Tell and to Wagner's Ring have tantalized listeners and provoked speculation on what these allusions could mean. In general, Shostakovich's music is notable for containing numerous allusions, often ironic, to previous composers. By contrast, Shostakovich's 24 Preludes and Fugues and the Eighth String Quartet show more than mere allusions to Bach: the very methods and forms of the Baroque master are incorporated into the later composer's works, as if Bach were a co-creator with Shostakovich; and those methods and forms are not employed ironically. That is to say, the music of Bach has a special significance for Shostakovich, a presence that goes beyond any topical value.

• Munich: Ben-Haim's ‘Joram’ Malcolm Miller

• Los Angeles: Andriessen's ‘The Hague Hacking’ Jeff Dunn

• New York: Kirchner 90th Birthday Celebrations Christian Carey

• Milton Keynes: Wood's Violin Concerto No. 2 Edward Venn

• Tewkesbury: Christopher Steel Paul Conway

• London, Barbican: ‘Total Immersion’ Days John Wheatley

• Leeds: David Sawer's ‘Skin Deep’ Paul Conway

• Opera premières in London Martin Anderson, Malcolm Miller

• Further reports from London and St Albans Jill Barlow, Paul Conway, John Wheatley

• Sacks's Agnosia Robin Maconie

• Ives Thrives: Books, Editions & Recordings Peter Dickinson

• Elliott Carter: A Centennial Portrait Rodney Lister

• Letters of Ralph Vaughan Williams Ceri Owen

• Further reviews Richard Causton, Martin Anderson

• The NMC Songbook John Fallas

• David Matthews Orchestral Music Peter Palmer

• Rued Langgaard's complete Symphonies Paul Conway

• Per Nørgård Symphonies and Guitar Music Bernard Hughes

• Americans in Rome Colin Clarke

• Lukas Foss Bret Johnson

• Further reviews Colin Clarke, Guy Rickards, Bernard Hughes