The Cambridge Companion to the Symphony

A comprehensive guide to the historical, analytical and interpretative issues surrounding one of the major genres of Western music.

Julian Horton (Edited by)

9780521884983, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 2 May 2013

470 pages, 6 b/w illus. 13 tables 88 music examples
25.3 x 17.8 x 2.5 cm, 1.09 kg

'Including essays both general and tightly focused, this collection goes well beyond the traditional chronological study and overview of the symphony and offers numerous perspectives and scholarly insights … Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals.' B. L. Eden, Choice

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.

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.

Subject Areas: Western "classical" music [AVGC], Theory of music & musicology [AVA], Music [AV]