carnes@gargoyle.UUCP (Richard Carnes) (10/08/85)
Someone asked about the biographies of composers taken from the New Grove's and reprinted (by Norton, I think) as separate volumes. My musicologist friends inform me that they are improvements on the originals in the New Grove's. In particular, the Wagner article was rewritten for the series. The article in Grove's was written by (I think) Kurt von Westerhagen, a friend of the Third Reich and now deceased. He portrayed a considerably sanitized Wagner in his article. One wonders why the editors permitted it to be printed. The Schubert article in the New Grove's devotes considerable space to his operas, relatively unimportant works, and makes no mention of the song cycles, both among his greatest compositions. This bizarre article was rewritten for the biographical series at the behest of Charles Rosen, who I believe had a hand in the rewriting. The biography series is a good deal if you don't want to plunk down $2,100 for the complete Grove's. (I'm waiting for the Book-of-the-Month Club to offer the Grove's for $22.50 as an introductory offer. But I'm not holding my breath.) -- Richard Carnes, ihnp4!gargoyle!carnes