In the course of a 50-year period, Haydn composed some 80 string quartets, whose range and variety of structural invention rank second only to those of Beethoven. This fine new anthology consists of the six pieces known collectively as Op. 17: String Quartet in E Major, Op. 17, No. 1; String Quartet in F Major, Op. 17, No. 2; String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 17, No. 3, and three other pieces.
Organized Time is the first attempt to unite theories of harmony, rhythm and meter, and form under a common idea of structured time. Building off of recent advances in music theory in essential subfields-rhythmic theory, tonal structure, and the theory of musical form--author Jason Yust demonstrates that tonal music exhibits similar hierarchical organization in each of these dimensions. Yust develops a network model for temporal structure with an application of mathematical graph theory, which leads ultimately to musical applications of a multi-dimensional polytope called the associahedron. A wealth of analytical examples includes not only the familiar tonal canon-J.S. Bach, Mozart, Schumann--but also lesser known masters of the musical Enlightenment such as C.P.E. and J.C. Bach, Boccherini, and Johann Gottlieb Graun. Yust's approach has wide-ranging ramifications across music theory, enabling new approaches to musical closure, hypermeter, formal function, syncopation, and rhythmic dissonance, as well as historical observations about the development of sonata form and the innovations of Haydn and Beethoven. Making a forceful argument for the independence of musical modalities and for a multivalent approach to music analysis, Organized Time establishes the aesthetic importance of structural disjunction, the conflict of structure in different modalities, in numerous analytical contexts.
The variety and complexity of cadenceThe concept of closure is crucial to understanding music from the “classical” style. This volume focuses on the primary means of achieving closure in tonal music: the cadence. Written by leading North American and European scholars, the nine essays assembled in this volume seek to account for the great variety and complexity inherent in the cadence by approaching it from different (sub)disciplinary angles, including music-analytical, theoretical, historical, psychological (experimental), as well as linguistic. Each of these essays challenges, in one way or another, our common notion of cadence. Controversial viewpoints between the essays are highlighted by numerous cross-references. Given the ubiquity of cadences in tonal music in general, this volume is aimed not only at a broad portion of the academic community, scholars and students alike, but also at music performers. Contributors Pieter Bergé (KU Leuven), Poundie Burstein (City University of New York), Vasili Byros (Northwestern University), William Caplin (McGill University), Felix Diergarten (Schola Cantorum Basiliensis), Nathan John Martin (Yale University / KU Leuven), Danuta Mirka (University of Southampton), Markus Neuwirth (KU Leuven), Julie Pedneault-Deslauriers (University of Ottawa), Martin Rohrmeier (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and David Sears (McGill University)
The past ten years have seen a rapidly growing interest in performing and recording Classical and Romantic music with period instruments; yet the relationship of composers' notation to performing practices during that period has received only sporadic attention from scholars, and many aspects of composers' intentions have remained uncertain. Brown here identifies areas in which musical notation conveyed rather different messages to the musicians for whom it was written than it does to modern performers, and seeks to look beyond the notation to understand how composers might have expected to hear their music realized in performance. There is ample evidence to demonstrate that, in many respects, the sound worlds in which Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, and Brahms created their music were more radically different from ours than is generally assumed.
At the centre of Bartók's œuvre are his string quartets, which are generally acknowledged as some of the most significant pieces of 20th century chamber music. This book examines these remarkable works from a range of theoretical and methodological perspectives.
Joseph Haydn is one of the greatest and most innovative of all composers, yet in some ways he is still curiously misunderstood. This engaging new Pocket Guide assesses what Haydn's music means to us today, and challenges some of the myths that have grown up around the composer. With suggestions for further reading and recommended CD recordings, Richard Wigmore's crisp and concise guide presents you with all you need to listen to and enjoy Haydn's music. It explores each of his key works, from his symphonies to his quartets, from his choral works to his sonatas, and invites a new generation of listeners to discover the depth and dazzling ingenuity of this most humane and life-affirming of composers.
Authoritative guide presents 231 of the most frequently performed pieces by 55 composers. A must for music lovers and musicians alike. "No lover of chamber music should be without this Guide." — John Barkham Reviews.
