don@hcrvx1.UUCP (Don McKillican) (08/28/85)
>From: Richard Carnes, ihnp4!gargoyle!carnes >I would be interested in reading in this newsgroup about biographies >that others have enjoyed, as well as works of musicology and >criticism (let's hear it for GBS). Alas, I am not the world's greatest fan of GBS's music "critiques". But for books on musicology, etc., how about the following? Sir Donald Tovey: Essays in Musical Analysis (6 volumes, Oxford Univ. Press) For my tastes, one of the best ever! Mirabile dictu, most of these essays were written (in enormous haste) as program notes for Tovey's Reid Concerts in Edinburgh. It doesn't show (much): they are full of insights into the structure and form of the works he covers (and he covers most of the "standard orchestral repertoire"), and he dispenses bracing quantities of common sense into a lot of the contentious (and hotly contested) musical issues of his time and ours. Those of you looking at tone poems should have a look at his discussion of Beethoven's "Pastorale". He also was one of the first to realize that the classical sonata style was driven by its tonal structure, not its thematic structure, he discusses WHY the classical concerto starts with a lengthy orchestral introduction, and why later composers dropped the practice, and all sorts of other things, served up with an incisive prose style with which, I must confess, I fell hopelessly in love at a very early age (that doesn't show either, unfortunately :-)). Incidentally, he was also one of the first to begin the reappreciation of my dear though still-largely-unknown-and-VERY-obviously-misunderstood friend Haydn. One caveat, however (flame setting: INCINERATE!!!). The OUP has recently reissued the Essays in a one-volume format which I must reluctantly call a travesty. I can understand the usefulness of a single volume which collects the best of Tovey's efforts (some of them do show the time pressure), but when the editor loftily declares that he has removed "those essays which have not stood the test of time...", my blood begins to boil. When I discover that, inter alia, his essays on Joseph Joachim (for whom Brahms' violin and double concertos were written, but who was also a composer in his own right) have been purged, I begin to understand the drift. They have reduced Tovey to what the current academic establishment approves of. Well, I have the original six volume set. And I'm not giving it back. (flame setting: off.) Charles Rosen: The Classical Style A somewhat more controversial work: I seem to recall it's having received some prize or other when it was published, and one of the awards committee protesting, claiming the work to be unreadable. Well, I do think that Rosen lets his rhetoric run away with him a bit, but the book has a lot of insights into the structural processes of the classical period. Antony Hopkins: The Nine Symphonies of Beethoven V e r y interesting reading. Hopkins goes through each of the symphonies in detail, and points out many of the things which make these works so remarkable. He also discusses Beethoven's sketches for the works, and draws some interesting conclusions about Beethoven's creative methods. My respect for Mr. Hopkins increased again when I discovered that he is not afraid to criticize where he feels it warranted: eg. the cello line in the Trio of the 8th, which I must admit does sound rather pianistic. This is not a "debunking" work, however: Hopkins' admiration for the symphonies shows at every turn. These are fairly technical works, and I'm not sure I would recommend them for the novice. But you never know: when I first read Tovey, I had no idea what he was talking about, so I just kept reading until I did... I would be interested if anyone out there knows of other works on this level. I recall reading an analysis of Wagner's Nibelungen cycle several years ago, but I have forgotten both author and title. It had been written around the turn of the century (in German), and discussed not so much the organization of the Leitmotiven (itself an interesting study), as how they are combined to make a coherent form. I recall the author saying half-humorously that the answer was to be found in Hans Sachs' advice to young Walther (?) on how to put together his Preislied. Does anyone else know the book? Don McKillican @ Human Computing Resources Corporation {ihnp4,decvax,utzoo,watmath}!hcr!hcrvx1!don
dep@allegra.UUCP (Dewayne Perry) (09/18/85)
<i first do analysis and then eat the inconsequential stuff ...> A niggling nit: Tovey's books are more properly classified as musical analysis and not musicology (but you are forgiven for your inherent good taste in Haydn). Now that the nit has been taken care of - I agree that Tovey's books are worth having. They can be had in both hard and paper back forms. And since they have been around for quite a while, it is possible to find quite nice copies of them in used book stores. Rosen's book gives what I consider a lopsided view of the classical period - far too heavy on Beethoven, far too light on Haydn and Mozart and completely silent on everyone else. Another good writer is Karl Geiringer (University of California, Santa Barbara - emeritus now I think). His book on Haydn (the latest is the third edition) is probably the best one volume work on Haydn (for the full load, get H.C.Robbins Landon's 5 vol (approximately $80 per volume) set). His book on Brahms is also quite good. Both books can be had in paperback as well as hardback. The standard one volume History of Western Music by Donald J. Grout (Norton & Co) is worth having for the breadth and range of music history (and its very good bibliography). If you are interested inthe problems of musicology proper, Duckle's book on musicology is pretty much the standard work. One can never have too many good books on good subjects - Dewayne
linda@amdcad.UUCP (Linda Seltzer) (09/21/85)
There's another history/analysis book, Plantinga's Romantic Music, published in 1984.
rwfi@ur-tut.UUCP (Robert Fink) (09/25/85)
In article <4230@amdcad.UUCP> linda@amdcad.UUCP (Linda Seltzer) writes: >There's another history/analysis book, Plantinga's >Romantic Music, published in 1984. Re Plantinga's new book: I took a class from this man at Yale. If the book is half as dull as the class.........