Review by Choice Review
León (born 1943) is a major 20th- and 21st-century musician who assumes many roles: composer, conductor, educator, mentor, arts advocate, and festival organizer. Madrid (Cornell Univ.) addresses each in this first in-depth examination of León's life and music. The timing of this publication is propitious as León received the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Stride, a composition for orchestra. Using an atypical and creative organizational strategy, Madrid assembled secondary material along with extensive interviews with León and her family, colleagues, students, and others as the foundation for much of this monograph. In the single chapter focusing on compositions, Madrid develops an analytical approach from the prominent features of each work and relies heavily on collaborative listening with León, presented as dialogues, and on discussions (largely electronic) with composer Sergio Cote-Barco, which Madrid summarizes. The eight sections about compositions begin with a short introduction and close with an assessment addressing "how her artistic voice may have developed in the process of thinking about and composing these works" (p. 128). Documentation in endnotes and bibliography is excellent, and back matter includes a list of interviewees, works list, discography, and chart placing León in context with music, political, and cultural news. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers. --J. Michele Edwards, emerita, Macalester College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
