Music, Subjectivity, and Schumann

What is musical subjectivity? Drawing on philosophy and critical theory, Benedict Taylor investigates this concept in relation to Schumann.

Benedict Taylor (Author)

9781009158077, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 22 August 2024

382 pages
24.4 x 16.9 x 2 cm, 0.66 kg

'Thoughtfully conceived and written, this is an insightful, engaging study of value to academic readers interested in Schumann and his music, musical meaning in the romantic era, and notions of subjectivity and the self as expressed in the arts. Given the difficulties many others have faced in clearly articulating the meaning and means of conveying 'subjectivity' in music, Taylor brings to bear here a commendable precision. His writing not only is dense with thought-provoking ideas and illustrative examples but also is presented in easy-to-follow, meticulously organized prose that locates the music's expressions of subjectivity in specific musical elements, with clear and persuasive explanations. In these respects, Taylor's book serves as a model for further explorations of subjectivity in the music of other composers.' Jacquelyn Sholes, Notes, the Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association

The concept of subjectivity is one of the most popular in recent scholarly accounts of music; it is also one of the obscurest and most ill-defined. Multifaceted and hard to pin down, subjectivity nevertheless serves an important, if not indispensable purpose, underpinning various assertions made about music and its effect on us. We may not be exactly sure what subjectivity is, but much of the reception of Western music over the last two centuries is premised upon it. Music, Subjectivity, and Schumann offers a critical examination of the notion of musical subjectivity and the first extended account of its applicability to one of the composers with whom it is most closely associated. Adopting a fluid and multivalent approach to a topic situated at the intersection of musicology, philosophy, literature, and cultural history, it seeks to provide a critical refinement of this idea and to elucidate both its importance and limits.

Preamble: Schumann, Subjectivity
Prosopopoeic Preliminaries: 1. Defining subjectivity
Part I. Hearing Subjects: 2. Hearing the self
3. Hearing selves
Part II. Hearing Presence: 4. Presence of the self
5. Presence of the other
Part III. Hearing Absence: 6. Absence of the other
7. Absence of the self
Part IV. Hearing Others: 8. Hearing another's voice
9. Hearing oneself as another
Epilogue: 10. Hearing ourselves.

Subject Areas: Philosophy [HP], Literary theory [DSA], Romantic music [c 1830 to c 1900 AVGC5], Music reviews & criticism [AVC]