Download or read book Beethoven s Theatrical Quartets written by Nancy November and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first detailed contextual study of Beethoven's middle-period quartets, encompassing reception history, early performance practices, aesthetic contexts and theatrical impetus.
Download or read book The String Quartets of Beethoven written by William Kinderman and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2010-10-01 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "We do not understand music--it understands us." This aphorism by Theodor W. Adorno expresses the quandary and the fascination many listeners have felt in approaching Beethoven's late quartets. No group of compositions occupies a more central position in chamber music, yet the meaning of these works continues to stimulate debate. William Kinderman's The String Quartets of Beethoven stands as the most detailed and comprehensive exploration of the subject. It collects new work by leading international scholars who draw on a variety of historical sources and analytical approaches to offer fresh insights into the aesthetics of the quartets, probing expressive and structural features that have hitherto received little attention. This volume also includes an appendix with updated information on the chronology and sources of the quartets and a detailed bibliography.
Download or read book Beethoven for a Later Age written by Edward Dusinberre and published by Faber & Faber. This book was released on 2016-01-19 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'They are not for you but for a later age!' Ludwig van Beethoven, on the Opus 59 quartets. Tackling the Beethoven quartets is a rite of passage that has shaped the Takács Quartet's work together for over forty years. Using the history of the composition and first performances of the quartets as the backbone to his story, Edward Dusinberre, first violinist of the Takács since 1993 - recounts the life of the Quartet from its inception in Hungary, through emigration to the US and its present-day life as one of the world's renowned string quartets. He also describes what it was like for him, as a young man fresh out of the Juilliard School, to join the Quartet as its first non-Hungarian member - an exhilarating challenge. Beethoven for a Later Age takes the reader inside the life of a quartet, vividly showing how four people enjoy making music together over a long period of time. The key, the author argues, is in balancing continuity with change and experimentation - a theme that also lies at the heart of Beethoven's remarkable compositions.
Download or read book Indivisible by Four written by Arnold Steinhardt and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2000-06-15 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author tells of his own development as a student, "of how he and his intrepid colleagues were converted to chamber music ... [and of how] four individualists master and then overcome the confining demands of ensemble playing."--Jacket.
Download or read book Elements of Sonata Theory written by James Hepokoski and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2011-02-11 with total page 692 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Elements of Sonata Theory is a comprehensive, richly detailed rethinking of the basic principles of sonata form in the decades around 1800. This foundational study draws upon the joint strengths of current music history and music theory to outline a new, up-to-date paradigm for understanding the compositional choices found in the instrumental works of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and their contemporaries: sonatas, chamber music, symphonies, overtures, and concertos. In so doing, it also lays out the indispensable groundwork for anyone wishing to confront the later adaptations and deformations of these basic structures in the nineteenth and earlier twentieth centuries. Combining insightful music analysis, contemporary genre theory, and provocative hermeneutic turns, the book brims over with original ideas, bold and fresh ways of awakening the potential meanings within a familiar musical repertory. Sonata Theory grasps individual compositions-and each of the individual moments within them-as creative dialogues with an implicit conceptual background of flexible, ever-changing historical norms and patterns. These norms may be recreated as constellations "compositional defaults," any of which, however, may be stretched, strained, or overridden altogether for individualized structural or expressive purposes. This book maps out the terrain of that conceptual background, against which what actually happens-or does not happen-in any given piece may be assessed and measured. The Elements guides the reader through the standard (and less-than-standard) formatting possibilities within each compositional space in sonata form, while also emphasizing the fundamental role played by processes of large-scale circularity, or "rotation," in the crucially important ordering of musical modules over an entire movement. The book also illuminates new ways of understanding codas and introductions, of confronting the generating processes of minor-mode sonatas, and of grasping the arcs of multimovement cycles as wholes. Its final chapters provide individual studies of alternative sonata types, including "binary" sonata structures, sonata-rondos, and the "first-movement form" of Mozart's concertos.
Download or read book Beethoven s Theatrical Quartets written by Nancy November and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2014-01-09 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beethoven's middle-period quartets, Opp. 59, 74 and 95, are pieces that engage deeply with the aesthetic ideas of their time. In the first full contextual study of these works, Nancy November celebrates their uniqueness, exploring their reception history and early performance. In detailed analyses, she explores ways in which the quartets have both reflected and shaped the very idea of chamber music and offers a new historical understanding of the works' physical, visual, social and ideological aspects. In the process, November provides a fresh critique of three key paradigms in current Beethoven studies: the focus on his late period; the emphasis on 'heroic' style in discussions of the middle period; and the idea of string quartets as 'pure', 'autonomous' artworks, cut off from social moorings. Importantly, this study shows that the quartets encompass a new lyric and theatrical impetus, which is an essential part of their unique, explorative character.
Download or read book A Passionate Journey written by Robert Mann and published by . This book was released on 2018-02-14 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Growing up as an outdoorsy, nature-loving child in Portland, Oregon, Robert Mann wanted to be a forest ranger, but it was violin lessonsâand his parents' encouragementâthat ultimately launched him on a remarkable journey that would span a lifetime and five continents as he pursued his passion for classical music as a violinist, composer, conductor, and teacher. In this fascinating and far-ranging memoir, he looks back at the struggles and triumphs of that journey, as well as the unique insights and experiences he's gained along the way. From their beginnings in 1947, the Juilliard String Quartet set out to play new music as if it had been composed long ago, and to play a classical piece as if it had just been written. At first, the fledging combo struggled to compete with the more established European string quartets, while also coping with the inevitable difficulties of trying to blend four singular personalities and talents into a harmonious whole, but by the time Mann retired from the group some fifty-one years later, the Julliard String Quartet had played close to six thousand concerts on every continent except Africa and Antarctica and become an enduring, beloved institution in American music. They won three Grammys for their recordings, while sharing their distinctive sound with such notable figures as Glenn Gould, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, and even Albert Einstein. A Passionate Journey is a collection of both spoken and written words in the form of essays, letters, lectures, and transcribed interviews from various times in his life. Together they offer an engrossing glimpse into a life filled with musical milestones and into the fascinating mind of a musical giant.
Download or read book The Four and the One written by David Rounds and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spotlighting the four women of the Lafayette Quartet, a leading Canadian ensemble, Rounds offers both a comprehensive history of the beloved instrumental form and an inside view of the complex world of professional quartet players, revealing the exultation and heatache that are the performing artists' daily fare. A treat for every music lover, whether player, listener or composer.
Download or read book The Beethoven Quartet Companion written by Robert Winter and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1994 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Reading The Beethoven Quartet Companion made me want to listen to the quartets again from a new sociological as well as musical perspective. It is an invaluable guide not only for professional and amateur musicians but also for anyone who is curious about culture and wants to find out more."--Yo-Yo Ma "These essays are the most readable, useful, and well-informed commentary available today on these masterworks. Michael Steinberg's 'program notes' to each quartet, directed at once to the musical beginner and to the expert, are as eloquent and persuasive as popular writing about music can get. . . . His essays are followed by equally expert and accessible contributions by other masters on The Master, providing literate music lovers with the context and equipment for a richer enjoyment and clearer understanding of these sixteen unique conversations among two violins, a viola, and a cello."--David Littlejohn, author of The Ultimate Art: Essays Around and About Opera "A fine collection of essays to assist the music lover in the seemingly endless quest to illuminate the Beethoven string quartets."--Arnold Steinhardt, The Guarneri String Quartet "This book delivers on the implied promise of its title--it provides a lively, readable, and wide-ranging introduction to the quartets. Readers at many levels of experience will find it profitable."--Lewis Lockwood, author of Beethoven: Studies in the Creative Process
Download or read book Beethoven String Quartet No 4 written by Ludwig Van Beethoven and published by Performer's Edition. This book was released on 2009-02-18 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beethoven's String Quartet No. 4 (Opus 18, No. 4), is part of the set of 6 quartets that Beethoven wrote between 1798 and 1800. This is the Performer's Edition of the quartet, with clean print and easy to read markings designed for the performer. This version is a pocket score, sized at approximately half a standard sheet of paper for easy transport and use for performing musicians and students.
Download or read book Beethoven s Quartets written by Joseph de Marliave and published by . This book was released on 1928 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book YEAR OF WONDER Classical Music for Every Day written by Clemency Burton-Hill and published by Headline Home. This book was released on 2017-10-05 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As featured in the Telegraph and on Radio 4's Today programme. 'A magnificent treasury . . . a fascinating tour de force.' Observer 'Year of Wonder is an absolute treat - the most enlightening way to be guided through the year.' Eddie Redmayne Classical music for everyone - an inspirational piece of music for every day of the year, celebrating composers from the medieval era to the present day, written by award-winning violinist and BBC Radio 3 presenter Clemency Burton-Hill. Have you ever heard a piece of music so beautiful it stops you in your tracks? Or wanted to discover more about classical music but had no idea where to begin? Year of Wonder is a unique celebration of classical music by an author who wants to share its diverse wonders with others and to encourage a love for this genre in all readers, whether complete novices or lifetime enthusiasts. Clemency chooses one piece of music for each day of the year, with a short explanation about the composer to put it into context, and brings the music alive in a modern and playful way, while also extolling the positive mindfulness element of giving yourself some time every day to listen to something uplifting or beautiful. Thoughtfully curated and expertly researched, this is a book of classical music to keep you company: whoever you are, wherever you're from. 'The only requirements for enjoying classical music are open ears and an open mind.' Clemency Burton-Hill Playlists are available on most streaming music platforms including Apple Music.
Download or read book The Creative Worlds of Joseph Joachim written by Styra Avins and published by Boydell & Brewer. This book was released on 2021 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines Joseph Joachim's vital legacy through a range of philological, philosophical and critical approaches.Joseph Joachim (1831-1907), violinist, composer, teacher, and founding director of Berlin's Royal Academy of Music, was one of the most eminent and influential musicians of the long nineteenth century. Born in a tiny Jewish community on the Austro-Hungarian border, he rose to a position of unsurpassed prominence in European cultural life. This timely collection of essays explores important yet little-known aspects of Joachim's life and art. Studies of his Jewish background, early assimilation into Christian society, Felix Mendelssohn's mentorship, and the influence of Hungarian vernacular music on the formation of his musical style elucidate the roots of Joachim's identity. The later chapters focus on his personal and creative responses to the contentious and rapidly evolving cultural milieu in which he lived: his choice of instruments as his musical "voice," his performances as sites of (re)enchantment in the modern age, his pathbreaking British career, his calling and sway as a quartet player, his pedagogical legacy, his influence on the establishment of the musical canon, and several of his most distinctive and original compositions. With a wide variety of approaches-analytical, philological, archival, philosophical, and critical-this collection will prove enlightening to scholars, performers, and others interested in this brilliant artist and the musical aesthetics, culture, and styles of his time.ent in the modern age, his pathbreaking British career, his calling and sway as a quartet player, his pedagogical legacy, his influence on the establishment of the musical canon, and several of his most distinctive and original compositions. With a wide variety of approaches-analytical, philological, archival, philosophical, and critical-this collection will prove enlightening to scholars, performers, and others interested in this brilliant artist and the musical aesthetics, culture, and styles of his time.ent in the modern age, his pathbreaking British career, his calling and sway as a quartet player, his pedagogical legacy, his influence on the establishment of the musical canon, and several of his most distinctive and original compositions. With a wide variety of approaches-analytical, philological, archival, philosophical, and critical-this collection will prove enlightening to scholars, performers, and others interested in this brilliant artist and the musical aesthetics, culture, and styles of his time.ent in the modern age, his pathbreaking British career, his calling and sway as a quartet player, his pedagogical legacy, his influence on the establishment of the musical canon, and several of his most distinctive and original compositions. With a wide variety of approaches-analytical, philological, archival, philosophical, and critical-this collection will prove enlightening to scholars, performers, and others interested in this brilliant artist and the musical aesthetics, culture, and styles of his time.
Download or read book Chamber Music written by James M. Keller and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 517 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chamber Music: A Listener's Guide brings together acclaimed program annotator James Keller's essays on the essential chamber-music repertoire. Written to be meaningful to non-professional music-lovers while also providing enrichment for chamber-music professionals, these notes offer generous historical background for 193 works by 56 composers from the 18th century to the present.
Download or read book Bending the Rules of Music Theory written by Timothy Cutler and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-02-04 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For students learning the principles of music theory, it can often seem as though the tradition of tonal harmony is governed by immutable rules that define which chords, tones, and intervals can be used where. Yet even within the classical canon, there are innumerable examples of composers diverging from these foundational "rules." Drawing on examples from composers including J.S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Brahms, and more, Bending the Rules of Music Theory seeks to take readers beyond the basics of music theory and help them to understand the inherent flexibility in the system of tonal music. Chapters explore the use of different rule-breaking elements in practice and why they work, introducing students to a more nuanced understanding of music theory.
Download or read book Nineteenth Century Chamber Music written by Stephen Hefling and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2004-03-01 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nineteenth Century Chamber Music proceeds chronologically by composer, beginning with the majestic works of Beethoven, and continuing through Schubert, Spohr and Weber, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, the French composers, Smetana and Dvorák, and the end-of-the-century pre-modernists. Each chapter is written by a noted authority in the field. The book serves as a general introduction to Romantic chamber music, and would be ideal for a seminar course on the subject or as an adjunct text for Introduction to Romantic Music courses. Plus, musicologists and students of 19th century music will find this to be an invaluable resource.
Download or read book The Beethoven Quartet Companion written by Robert Winter and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2023-09-01 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While the Beethoven string quartets are to chamber music what the plays of Shakespeare are to drama, even seasoned concertgoers will welcome guidance with these personal and sometimes enigmatic works. This collection offers Beethoven lovers both detailed notes on the listening experience of each quartet and a stimulating range of more general perspectives: Who has the quartets' audience been? How were the quartets performed before the era of sound recordings? What is the relationship between "classical" and "romantic" in the quartets? How was their reception affected by social and economic history? What sorts of interpretive decisions are made by performers today? The Companion brings together a matchless group of Beethoven experts. Joseph Kerman is perhaps the world's most renowned Beethoven scholar. Robert Winter, an authority on sketches for the late quartets, has created interactive programs regarded as milestones in multimedia publishing. Maynard Solomon has written an acclaimed biography of Beethoven. Leon Botstein is the conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra as well as a distinguished social historian and college president. Robert Martin writes from his experience as cellist of the Sequoia Quartet. And the book is anchored by the program notes of Michael Steinberg, who has served as Artistic Advisor of the San Francisco Symphony and the Minnesota Orchestra.
