Synopses & Reviews
Sixteen essays by leading experts introduce the lay reader to issues that have concerned scholars over the past twenty years regarding Anton Bruckner (1824-1896). They provide an introduction to the composer's life and works, covering such problematic areas as his relationship to Vienna; the numerous editions of his symphonies; performing styles; and his appropriation by the Nazis during the Third Reich. They also consider the extent to which his Catholicism shaped not just his religious music but his symphonies as well.
Synopsis
Sixteen essays by leading experts provide an introduction to Bruckner's life and works in all genres.
About the Author
John Williamson is Reader in Music at the University of Liverpool. He is author of The Music of Hans Pfitzner (1992) and the Cambridge Music Handbook Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra (1993).
Table of Contents
Chronology; Part I. Background: 1. Introduction: a Catholic composer in the age of Bismarck John Williamson; 2. Musical life in Upper Austria in the mid-nineteenth century Andrea Harrandt; 3. Bruckner in Vienna Andrea Harrandt; Part II. Choral Music: 4. Bruckner's large sacred compositions Paul Hawkshaw; 5. Bruckner and the motet A. Crawford Howie; 6. Bruckner and secular vocal music A. Crawford Howie; Part III. The Symphonist: 7. The Brucknerian symphony: an overview John Williamson; 8. Bruckner's symphonies - a reinterpretation: the dialectic of darkness and light Derek B. Scott; 9. Programme symphony and absolute music John Williamson; 10. Bruckner editions: the revolution revisited Benjamin M. Korstvedt; 11. Bruckner and the symphony orchestra Julian Horton; 12. Between formlessness and formality: aspects of Bruckner's approach to symphonic form Benjamin M. Korstvedt; 13. Formal process as spiritual progress: the symphonic slow movements Margaret Notley; 14. Bruckner and Harmony Kevin Swinden; Part IV. Reception: 15. Conductors and Bruckner John Williamson; 16. The musical image of Bruckner Christa Brüstle.