Proust as Musician

Studying texts devoted to the Sonata and Septet of Vinteui, Nattiez demonstrates the fundamental role played by music in the evolution of the novel.

Jean-Jacques Nattiez (Author), Derrick Puffett (Translated by)

9780521028028, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 November 2006

140 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1 cm, 0.194 kg

"...pleasant reading for the specialist and non-specialist alike. It is agreeably written and smoothly translated...." Pauline Newman-Gordon, French Review

Does one need to know the rules of harmony to be considered a musician? Throughout A la recherche du temps perdu, and particularly ' Swann in Love', Proust displays a surprising sensitivity to the way music is heard, a sensitivity to which we owe some of the most beautiful writing on music. Through a study of the texts devoted to the Sonata and Septet of Vinteui, Jean-Jacques Nattiez demonstrates the fundamental role played by music in the evolution of the novel. He also shows how Debussy, Wagner and Beethoven provide the basis for a mystical quest whose goal is pure music and the literary absolute. Music as model for literature: this is the subject of Professor Nattiez's essay, which unravels the various musical themes running through Proust's work, and which thus constitutes a particularly clear and perceptive introduction to his writing.

Preface to the English edition
Translator's note
1. Introduction: beyond the 'little phrase'
2. Parsifal as redemptive model for the redemptive work
3. Music as redemptive model for literature
4. From Vinteuil to Schopenhauer
5. In conclusion: quest for the essence and denial of the origin
Appendix: passages from A la recherche translated in the text
Notes
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Music [AV]