Communication in Eighteenth-Century Music

In this book, ten leading scholars of music explore the nature of musical communication in the eighteenth century.

Danuta Mirka (Edited by), Kofi Agawu (Edited by)

9780521888295, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 10 July 2008

356 pages
25.4 x 18.2 x 2.7 cm, 0.87 kg

Review of the hardback: 'Two editors have done a fine job of showcasing some of the most interesting voices in music scholarship today. Over the years, the sprightly, optimistic music of the late eighteenth century has fallen victim to some very dull analysis. Here, by contrast, lively ideas meet lively music, with a satisfying result.' Eighteenth-Century Music

Written by ten leading scholars, this volume assembles studies of eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century music under the broad rubric of communication. That such an impulse motivates musical composition and performance in this period of European musical history is often acknowledged but seldom examined in depth. The book explores a broad set of issues, ranging from the exigencies of the market for books and music in the eighteenth century through to the deployment of dance topoi in musical composition. A number of close readings of individual works by Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven draw on a sophisticated body of historically-appropriate technical resources to illuminate theories of form, metre, bass lines and dance topoi. Students and scholars of music history, theory and analysis will find in this volume a set of challenging, state-of-the-art essays that will stimulate debate about musical meaning and engender further study.

Foreword Danuta Mirka
Part I. Communication and the Market: 1. Communication and verisimilitude in the eighteenth century Paul Cobley
2. Listening to listeners Mark Evan Bonds
3. 'Mannichfaltige abweichungen von der gewöhnlichen sonaten-form': Beethoven's 'Piano-Solo' op. 31 no. 1 and the challenge of communication Claudia Maurer Zenck
Part II. Musical Grammar: 4. Metre, phrase structure and manipulations of musical beginnings Danuta Mirka
5. National metrical types in music of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries William Rothstein
6. Schoenberg's 'Second Melody', or, 'Meyer-ed' in the bass William E. Caplin
Part III. Rhetorical Form and Topical Decorum: 7. A metaphoric model of sonata form: two expositions by Mozart Michael Spitzer
8. Beethoven's op. 18 no. 3, First Movement: two readings, with a comment on analysis Kofi Agawu
9. K331, First Movement: once more, with feeling Wye J. Allanbrook
10. Dance topoi, sonic analogs and musical grammar: communicating with music in the eighteenth century Lawrence Zbikowski
Afterword Kofi Agawu.

Subject Areas: Techniques of music / music tutorials [AVS], Classical music [c 1750 to c 1830 AVGC4]