Sanne Krogh Groth and Holger Schulze, eds, Bloomsbury Handbook of Sound Art, Bloomsbury, 2022, 592 pp., £35.99.

Bernard Mâche’s Greek holiday home, provide useful references. Chapter Seven, ‘Some Closer Looks’, continues the discursive breadth that was introduced in the opening chapter. In excerpts from Roger’s notes, there are brief, evocative vignettes; sipping kitrone with Marie-Luce and François-Bernard Mâche on the island of Amorgos, or musings on a boat journey across the Mediterranean. It is clear that Karen and Roger Reynolds formed enduring friendships with their musical colleagues. Letters between Xenakis, Karen and Roger include philosophical questions about life and art, discussions of the serious illnesses that affected both Roger and Iannis and contemplations of friendship. In another setting, this could all seem a little saccharine – happy, successful couples, travelling the world yet cocooned by the prestige of their achievements. This is not the case in this book. Instead, personal reflections, anecdotes and expressions of feeling serve to underline the touching honesty, even idealism, at the heart of this project. All this supplementary material suggests that the Reynolds Desert House was not just a plan for a building, but an idea that grew with and from human connections and the exchange of ideas. The final 11 pages of Chapter Seven are a transcript of a public discussion between four composers at Delphi Computer Music Conference/ Festival in 1992. Although this could seem like a digression, it provides a fascinating insight into the thoughts of Paul Lansky, François-Bernard Mâche, Roger Reynolds and Iannis Xenakis. The pivot towards more generalised musical and philosophical themes sets the scene for Chapter Eight, ‘Creation: A Personal Assessment’. Three of Xenakis’ works are considered: Achorripsis, Thalleïn and Tetras. The authors state that they do not intend to provide a musically detailed study of these works. Nonetheless, the analysis provided is thorough and informative. References are supported by relevant score excerpts. Discussion of Achorripsis acknowledges similarities with Xenakis’ writing in Formalized Music, presented here in ways that are ‘less detailed and more carefully illuminated’. Complex materials, including mathematical formulae, tables of probabilities and a copy of the matrix that Xenakis used in Achorripsis are explained clearly and succinctly. Similar precision is demonstrated in the section-bysection discussion of Thalleïn. Analysis of Tetras usefully focuses on how a listener might comprehend the work. Throughout the final chapter, architectural analogies and parallels with the Reynolds Desert House link musical materials to previous chapters. The closing section returns to Xenakis’ music. As elsewhere, evocative scenes and incisive summaries make for an engaging read, yet I was left feeling that there were unanswered (or perhaps unasked) questions. What is the authors’ final assessment of the Reynolds Desert House project? Given the candid tone of previous chapters, the absence of a definitive evaluation is striking. Although the Reynolds Desert House was never built, the book bears witness to the creativity and friendships that grew with the project over 30 years. As a catalysing force, the strength of its impact is surely reflected in the richness of supplementary materials, including letters, journal entries and photographs, that bring each chapter vividly to life. The very existence of this book indicates that the absence of a completed building need not be seen as a failure. Perhaps the conclusion is necessarily open-ended while the house remains unbuilt. The idea of the Reynolds Desert House provides a frame through which the authors invite us to view decades of artistic endeavour and friendship. This book is an affirmative testament to the abundant creativity of lives lived to the full.