The Symphonic Repertoire, Volume III, Part B: The European Symphony from Ca. 1800 to Ca. 1930: Great Britain, Russia, and France

The second part of the third volume to appear in the magnum opus of A. Peter Brown continues the geographical tour of the mid-19th-to early-20th-century symphony begun in Vol. 3A. Brown discusses works from England, Russia, and France--including those by Potter, Bennett, Stanford, Elgar, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Gounod, Bizet, Franck, Dukas, and many others. A single source provides a detailed analysis of stylistic traits and background material on the composition and performances of these masterpieces.

Brown's series synthesizes an enormous amount of scholarly literature in a wide range of languages. It presents current overviews of the status of research, discusses important former or remaining problems of attribution, illuminates the style of specific works and their contexts, and samples early writings on their reception. There are overviews of the symphony as a genre and in-depth analysis of particular aspects of the symphony (such as composer, period, or instrument). No other book or series of books allows for the in-depth musical analysis and historical context that Brown provides in each volume of The Symphonic Repertoire.

This third volume of a set that, completed, would be the most exhaustive study to date of the symphony in the Western tradition shares with its predecessors--The First Golden Age of the Viennese Symphony (CH, Apr'03, 40-4510), The Second Golden Age... (CH, Mar'04, 41-3953)--a brilliance of detail. It is divided into two parts: all of part A and two-thirds of part B are the work of the late Brown, whose untimely death leaves the fate of the volumes that would complete the survey uncertain. Like earlier volumes, this one includes complete analyses of each symphony, details of first performances, and rich bibliographic resources. Brown discusses formal and technical detail, placing each work in context. He analyzes the works of Franz Berwald, Joseph Joachim Raff, Mikhail Glinka, and other relative unknowns, as well as calling the reader's attention to, for example, the influence of Felix Mendelssohn as a mentor and Sergei Rachmaninoff as a contrapuntalist.Written with both scholarly appeal and wry good humor, this volume uncovers a rich world of previously underappreciated masterpieces. Serious students of music--including conductors, performers, and avid listeners--will find this both informative and readable. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers.M. Neil, Augustana College, Choice, September 2008 Indiana University Press Indiana University Press Indiana University Press

"ChoiceChoice" --M. Neil, Augustana College, ChoiceChoice, September 2008

"This work is highly recommended for all larger public and academic libraries, and smaller libraries with specialized music collections. ... conductors, musicologists, and others connected with symphonic music would certainly benefit from having these volumes in their libraries." --Robert L. Wick, American Reference Books Annual

"A surprising aspect of the 20th century musical historiography is that some of the central repertoires of Western art music remain unexplored in broad-based treatments...Fortunately, within the 1980s and 1990s a sufficient number of the more obscure symphonies has been made available in editions and reprints so that a measured and reasonable overview can be constructed." --from the introduction Indiana University Press

A. Peter Brown (1943-2003) was Professor of Musicology and Department Chair at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He authored more than 80 published articles and reviews and was known for his scholarship on Joseph Haydn.

VOLUME III PART B: GREAT BRITAIN, RUSSIA, FRANCE

Section Four -- The British Symphony

Chapter Fourteen -- The Symphony in Great Britain: From Potter to Elgar

The Symphonic Milieu from ca. 1800 to ca. 1850

Cipriani Potter

William Sterndale Bennett

The Symphonic Milieu from ca. 1850 to 1912

Charles Villiers Stanford

C. Hubert H. Parry

Edward Elgar

Conclusion: The British Symphony

Bibliographic Overview

Section Five -- The Russian Symphony

Chapter Fifteen -- The Symphony in Russia: From Glinka to Rachmaninoff

The Symphonic Milieu

The Seeds of the Russian Symphony: Mikhail Glinka

Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov

Aleksandr Borodin

Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky

Mily Balakirev

Vasily Sergeyevich Kalinnikov

Serge Rachmaninoff

Conclusion: What Makes a Symphony Russian?

Bibliographic Overview

Section Six -- The French Symphony

Chapter Sixteen -- The French Symphony after Berlioz: From the Second Empire to the First World War

Introduction: The Symphony in Mid-Century

Charles Gounod

Georges Bizet

Camille Saint-Saëns

Between Saint-Saëns's Second and Third: The "Revival" of Instrumental Music after 1870

Camille Saint-Saëns (continued)

French Symphonies after 1885: Classical and Romantic Camps

Édouard Lalo

César Franck

Ernest Chausson

Paul Dukas

Vincent d'Indy

Between the Mountain Air and d'Indy's Second: The Symphony at the Turn of the Century

Vincent d'Indy (continued)

Guy Ropartz

Charles Tournemire

Three Symphonists from the Conservatoire

Albéric Magnard

Conclusion

Bibliographic Overview

Index