Cette série propose des introductions captivantes et accessibles à des œuvres musicales majeures. Chaque volume est rédigé par des experts de premier plan, fournissant un contexte essentiel sur l'historique, l'analyse musicale et l'histoire des interprétations. Conçus pour les mélomanes, les interprètes et les étudiants, ces guides offrent des analyses critiques éclairées de la musique elle-même.
Mozart's Clarinet Concerto is of supreme importance as his last instrumental work. Yet there are a number of special problems surrounding the piece, since the autograph is lost and the unique instrument for which it was written has not survived. This book presents a wealth of background information, an analysis of the Concerto, discussion of performance practice and details of surviving relevant instruments.
Focusing on Elgar's renowned 'Enigma' Variations, the book delves into the intricacies and significance of this iconic composition. It explores the themes, musical structure, and the personal connections behind each variation, offering insights into Elgar's creative process and the emotional depth of the piece. Through analysis and context, readers gain a deeper appreciation for the work's impact on classical music and its enduring legacy.
The book delves into the intricate development of Berlioz's 'dramatic symphony' Romeo et Juliette, often hailed as his masterpiece. It explores the unique musical elements and their dramatic significance, providing a detailed analysis that enhances the understanding of this original composition. Through this examination, readers gain insight into both the creative process behind the work and its emotional depth.
Focusing on Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, this study explores its significance as one of his most celebrated works. It delves into the intricate themes, musical structure, and emotional depth of the composition, highlighting its unique blend of symphonic and vocal elements. The analysis provides insights into the cultural and historical context surrounding the piece, enhancing the reader's understanding of Mahler's artistic vision and the profound impact of this masterpiece on the music world.
Focusing on Haydn's Symphonies Nos. 82-87, the book explores the composer's advanced compositional techniques and their significance in the cultural landscape of 1780s Paris. It delves into the stylistic elements of the symphonies while highlighting their impact on contemporary audiences. The inclusion of 17 music examples enriches the analysis, providing insights into the works' musical intricacies and their reception during a pivotal era in classical music history.
Focusing on Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, this study delves into the intricacies of the composition, exploring its themes, musical structure, and emotional depth. It highlights the significance of the work within Mahler's oeuvre and its impact on the evolution of classical music. The analysis aims to uncover the profound connections between the music and the human experience, making it a valuable resource for both scholars and enthusiasts of Mahler's artistry.
Focusing on Dowland's renowned Lachrimae, this guide delves into the significance of the 1604 collection, highlighting its status as the earliest known compilation of instrumental music for a general audience. It examines the historical context, musical structure, and emotional depth of the pieces, making it accessible to both enthusiasts and scholars alike.
Exploring the background and significance of a widely appreciated work, David Wyn Jones delves into the circumstances surrounding its creation. His account offers insights into the themes and influences that shaped the piece, providing readers with a deeper understanding of its impact and relevance.
Focusing on Tchaikovsky's final symphony, the Pathetique, the book explores its conception and genesis, as well as the critical reception it received over time. It delves into the symphony's intricate structure, providing insights into its emotional depth and significance within Tchaikovsky's body of work. Through detailed analysis, the book offers a comprehensive understanding of this iconic piece and its lasting impact on classical music.
In this account of one of the masterpieces of the classical period, the author places The Creation within the oratorio tradition and contrasts the theological and literary character of the English libretto with the Viennese milieu of the first performances.
This handbook contains a discussion of the historical and musical contexts of the piece, its early performance history, and critical reception.
Focusing on Chopin's four ballades, the book offers a thorough exploration of their historical and musical context, highlighting their importance in the solo piano repertoire of the nineteenth century. Jim Samson delves into the social influences surrounding Chopin's compositions, evaluates various printed editions, and examines the critical reception of these works. Additionally, the discussion includes insights into the interpretations by prominent pianists from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, enriching the reader's understanding of these masterpieces.
The handbook explores the historical and musical contexts surrounding the piece, detailing its early performance history and the critical reception it received. It provides insights into the significance of the work within its era, making it a valuable resource for understanding its impact and evolution over time.
Focusing on Holst's orchestral suite, this comprehensive guide delves into the music's intricate details while situating the work within its historical framework. It offers insights into the composition's significance and the influences that shaped it, making it an essential resource for understanding both the music and its era.
An examination of the popular Quartet for the End of Time by Olivier Messiaen.
An analysis of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto - of supreme importance as the composer's last instrumental work.
Stravinsky's Oedipus rex stands out as a significant achievement in twentieth-century music-theatre, blending powerful themes with innovative staging. This guide offers a detailed exploration of the opera-oratorio, providing insights into its music and performance elements for a deeper understanding of its artistic impact.
The exploration of Anton Bruckner's Eighth Symphony delves into its intricate history of composition and revision, shedding light on its complexity as a Romantic masterpiece. The book serves as an accessible guide to the symphony's musical structure and examines the evolution of performance styles through notable recordings. Additionally, it challenges established views on the different versions and editions of the work, offering fresh insights and conclusions that provoke thought about this significant piece in classical music history.
The first comprehensive guide to Holst's orchestral suite considers the music in detail and places the work in its historical context.
The Missa Solemnis is a document of extraordinary richness from the last decades of Beethoven's creative life. In this compendious and accessible guide, William Drabkin considers the work as a musical expression of the most celebrated text of the Roman Catholic faith and as an example from a tradition of Mass settings in eighteenth and early nineteenth-century Austria.
Highlighting the definitive work of Carl Nielsen, Denmark's most renowned composer, this book delves into his significant contributions to music and explores his unique style and influence. It provides insights into Nielsen's life, his creative process, and the cultural context of his compositions, offering readers a comprehensive understanding of his legacy in the world of classical music.
This exploration delves into Olivier Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time, analyzing its profound themes and innovative musical techniques. The work, composed during his imprisonment in a German camp during World War II, reflects on time, faith, and the human experience. The book highlights the interplay of its unique instrumentation and the spiritual significance embedded within the compositions, offering insights into Messiaen's creative process and the historical context surrounding this iconic piece.
This guide delves into Stravinsky's groundbreaking composition, offering insights into its revolutionary aspects and historical significance. It presents a thorough analysis that makes complex concepts accessible, catering to both music enthusiasts and newcomers. By exploring the context and impact of the work, the book illuminates Stravinsky's innovative techniques and their influence on the evolution of modern music.
Focusing on Mozart's renowned string quartets, this guide highlights the composer's deep friendship with Joseph Haydn, who greatly influenced his work. It explores the musical intricacies and emotional depth of these quartets, offering insights into their historical context and significance. The book serves as both an analysis and appreciation of Mozart's contributions to chamber music, making it a valuable resource for music enthusiasts and scholars alike.
Regarded as a monumental achievement in Western music, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony stands out as a powerful emblem of unity and affirmation. Despite its profound impact, it faced initial criticism for being cryptic and eccentric, stemming from the struggles of a deaf and aging composer. The symphony's journey from skepticism to acclaim highlights its significance and enduring legacy in the musical landscape.
Pierrot Lunaire (1912) is one of the most important music theatre works ever written. This is the first guide in English to a work which continues to be performed, broadcast and recorded worldwide. The book describes the artistic environment around the turn of the century from which Pierrot emerged and discusses Schoenberg's working methods and intentions in its composition. The composer's artistic development up to 1912 is contemplated as a backdrop to this extraordinarily original creative act, and the significance of Pierrot in the unfolding of twentieth-century music is a recurrent topic of the text. In a clear and imaginative description of the work itself, the author takes each of the 21 melodramas in turn, considering both the music and the narrative. The text of all 21 poems is provided in German and in a new English translation by Andrew Porter.
This discussion of Chopin's four ballades combines history and analysis to provide a detailed picture of these popular piano works, investigating the social and musical background to Chopin's unique style, describing the manuscript sources and evaluating the many printed editions of the ballades.
Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex is widely acknowledged as one of the most original musical theater works of the twentieth century. This clear and concise guide, the first ever written on the work, describes the plot, the music and the staging in close detail and provides a fully documented discussion of the origins of Oedipus Rex in Stravinsky's own work and thinking. By placing the work in its social context, the author paints a vivid picture of Parisian artistic politics in the twenties, from which emerged one of the richest and most suggestive works of modern times. The full libretto is provided, with a parallel translation.
Focusing on Beethoven's renowned piano sonata, the book offers an in-depth exploration of Opp. 27 and 31, providing insights into their structure, themes, and musical significance. It serves as a valuable resource for both beginners and seasoned musicians, enhancing the understanding of these iconic works through analysis and context.
The concert overtures A Midsummer Night's Dream, Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, and The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave), conceived by Mendelssohn before the age of twenty, have ranked amongst the most enduring of the nineteenth-century orchestral repertoire. R. Larry Todd offers a historical, stylistic, and analytical guide to these three remarkable works which secured for Mendelssohn no small measure of his fame. After placing the overtures in the context of Mendelssohn's astonishing compositional development during the 1820s, the volume disentangles the complex history of their creation and considers in turn their style and formal structure, their contents as programme music, aspects of their orchestration and their reception and influence. All this is supported by a wealth of primary documents, including Mendelssohn's correspondence, memoirs of his friends, and nineteenth-century critical reviews.
Focusing on Tippett's renowned wartime oratorio, the guide offers insights into its themes, historical context, and musical structure. It explores the emotional depth and social commentary embedded in the work, highlighting its relevance during tumultuous times. The guide serves as a resource for understanding the oratorio's significance and the composer’s intentions, making it an essential companion for both listeners and performers.
Focusing on the genesis and historical context of Bach's Mass in B Minor, John Butt provides an engaging exploration of its significance and impact. The book delves into the work's creation and how it has been received over time, highlighting its status as one of Bach's most remarkable compositions.
The German Requiem is Brahms's largest work, making Brahms an international name and prompting comparisons between him and Bach and Beethoven. It has found new critical support recently, as an original and progressive work, and this detailed study examines its history, controversial past, and textual and musical structure.
A study of Handel's best-known public music: Water Music, and Music for the Royal Fireworks.
Focusing on Mozart's renowned piano concertos, this guide delves into their historical context during a peak period of his career. It examines the unique nature of the concerto form and presents various critical interpretations, from structural analysis to metaphorical representations. Detailed accounts of Concertos No. 20 and No. 21 are provided, alongside a theory of concerto form. The final chapter addresses practical concerns for modern performers, such as historical instruments, orchestration, cadenzas, and improvisation techniques.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band represents the highpoint of the recording career of the Beatles. This is the first detailed study to be made of this or any other such album, and is a fascinating approach to this legendary work.
Focusing on Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, this study examines its significance as a musical composition, a pivotal historical event, and a cultural artifact. It delves into the context of its creation and its impact on music and society, highlighting the fusion of classical and jazz elements that defines the piece. The exploration reveals how Rhapsody in Blue not only reflects the era in which it was composed but also continues to resonate in contemporary culture.
Offering a comprehensive introduction to Vivaldi's renowned work, this guide delves into the intricacies of The Four Seasons, exploring its structure, themes, and historical context. It serves as an excellent resource for both newcomers and those familiar with classical music, enhancing the listener's appreciation and understanding of Vivaldi's compositions.
A study of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue as musical work, historical event and cultural document.
Beethoven's Violin Concerto was the only significant work of this genre to appear between Mozart's five concertos of 1775 and Mendelssohn's E minor Concerto of 1844. This is the first individual study of the Concerto, exploring the work's background and its indifferent initial reception.
This comprehensive analysis delves into Beethoven's Violin Concerto, exploring its historical context, musical structure, and thematic elements. It examines the work's significance in Beethoven's oeuvre and its impact on the violin repertoire. The study also highlights the concerto's innovative features and its enduring influence on composers and performers alike, making it a crucial resource for musicologists and enthusiasts interested in deeper insights into this iconic composition.
A comprehensive and highly readable guide to Stravinsky's most revolutionary work. schovat popis
The history of Schumann's Fantasie, Op. 17 is richly explored through letters to Clara Wieck and his publisher, alongside an analysis of surviving sketches. Nicholas Marston delves into intriguing questions about the work's dedication and the origins of its celebrated opening movement, providing a comprehensive understanding of this masterpiece in Romantic piano music.
Focusing on Brahms' Clarinet Quintet, this book delves into its significance as a pinnacle of chamber music. It explores the composition's intricate structure, emotional depth, and the innovative techniques employed by Brahms. Through detailed analysis, the work highlights the quintet's enduring impact on the chamber music repertoire and its place in Brahms' overall body of work.
Focusing on Strauss's tone poem, the guide delves into its intellectual context and explores its influence on notable figures such as composers and writers, including Romain Rolland and Bartok. It analyzes how these artists have interpreted and responded to the work, providing insights into its reception and impact on the broader cultural landscape.
Focusing on Handel's most celebrated public compositions, this study delves into the intricacies of "Water Music" and "Music for the Royal Fireworks." It explores the historical context, musical structure, and the impact these works had on audiences during Handel's time. The analysis highlights the cultural significance and enduring legacy of these pieces, showcasing how they reflect the grandeur of royal celebrations and the evolution of orchestral music in the Baroque era.
Focusing on Mozart's final and most renowned symphony, the guide delves into its historical background and aesthetic contexts, providing insights into the music's significance. It offers a comprehensive exploration of both the symphony's creation and its enduring impact, making it an essential resource for understanding this masterpiece.
Focusing on Britten's War Requiem, this study delves into how the composer interprets Wilfred Owen's poignant anti-war poetry. It explores the interplay between music and literature, highlighting Britten’s innovative approach to conveying the emotional depth and themes of loss and sacrifice inherent in Owen's work. Through this analysis, readers gain insight into the historical context and artistic choices that shape the Requiem's powerful message against the horrors of war.
A detailed guide to one of Bach's most popular keyboard works. schovat popis