Few genres of the last 250 years have proved so crucial to the course of music history, or so vital to public musical experience, as the symphony. This Companion offers an accessible guide to the historical, analytical and interpretative issues surrounding this major genre of Western music, discussing an extensive variety of works from the eighteenth century to the present day. The book complements a detailed review of the symphony's history with focused analytical essays from leading scholars on the symphonic music of both mainstream composers, including Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven and lesser-known figures, including Carter, Berio and Maxwell Davies. With chapters on a comprehensive range of topics, from the symphony's origins to the politics of its reception in the twentieth century, this is an invaluable resource for anyone with an interest in the history, analysis and performance of the symphonic repertoire.
• A comprehensive guide to the symphony from its origins in the early eighteenth century to the present day that is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in understanding the symphony historically, analytically or culturally • A scholarly yet accessible overview of one of the major genres of Western music, concentrating diverse perspectives in a single volume • Leading scholars cover a wide range of repertoire and deal with historical, analytical and interpretative topics
Contents
1. Introduction: understanding the symphony Julian Horton; Part I. Historical Overview of the Genre: 2. The Viennese symphony 1750 to 1827 John Irving; 3. Other classical repertories Mary Sue Morrow; 4. The symphony after Beethoven after Dahlhaus David Brodbeck; 5. The symphony since Mahler: national and international trends David Fanning; Part II. Studies in Symphonic Analysis: 6. Six great early symphonists Michael Spitzer; 7. Harmonies and effects: Haydn and Mozart in parallel Simon P. Keefe; 8. Beethoven: structural principles and narrative strategies Mark Anson-Cartwright; 9. Cyclical thematic processes in the nineteenth-century symphony Julian Horton; 10. Tonal strategies in the nineteenth-century symphony Julian Horton; 11. 'Two-dimensional' symphonic forms: Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony, before, and after Steven Vande Moortele; 12. Symphony/antiphony: formal strategies in the twentieth-century symphony Daniel M. Grimley; Part III. Performance, Reception and Genre: 13. The symphony and the classical orchestra Richard Will; 14. Beethoven's shadow: the nineteenth century Mark Evan Bonds; 15. The symphony as programme music John Williamson; 16. 'Symphonies of the free spirit': the Austro-German symphony in early Soviet Russia Pauline Fairclough; 17. The symphony in Britain: guardianship and renewal Alain Frogley; 18. The symphony, the modern orchestra and the performing canon Alan Street.
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