German Music Criticism in the Late Eighteenth Century
Aesthetic Issues in Instrumental Music

Derives a practical aesthetic for German instrumental music during the late eighteenth century, from reviews of printed instrumental works.

Mary Sue Morrow (Author)

9780521027458, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 November 2006

268 pages, 9 tables 13 music examples
22.8 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.411 kg

'The book's usefulness is enhanced by music examples, a full bibliography and index.' Peter Branscombe, The Times Literary Supplement

Music aesthetics in late eighteenth-century Germany has always been problematic because there was no aesthetic theory to evaluate the enormous amount of high-quality instrumental music produced by composers like Haydn and Mozart. This book derives a practical aesthetic for German instrumental music during the late eighteenth century from a previously neglected source, reviews of printed instrumental works. At a time when the theory of mimesis dominated aesthetic thought, leaving sonatas and symphonies at the very bottom of the aesthetic hierarchy, a group of reviewers were quietly setting about the task of evaluating instrumental music on its own terms. The reviews document an intersection with trends in literature and philosophy, and reveal interest in criteria like genius, the expressive power of music, and the necessity of unity, several decades earlier than has previously been supposed.

Acknowledgements
Author's note
Introduction: terms of discourse
1. What does instrumental music mean?
2. Answering with a unified voice
3. Answering with a German voice
4. Answering with aesthetic criteria
5. The importance of being correct
6. The reign of genius
7. A call to order
8. Epilogue: segue to the nineteenth century
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Classical music [c 1750 to c 1830 AVGC4]