Title: Music and the historical imagination /
Authors: Treitler, Leo,
Date: 1989
Publisher: Harvard University Press,
Physical description: 336 pages : illustrations, music ; 25 cm
Language: English
LC classification: M
Abstract: Leo Theitler is a central figure in American musicology, both for his writings on medieval and Renaissance music and for his influential work on historical analysis. In this elegant book he develops a powerful statement of what music analysis and criticism in relation to historical understanding can be. His aim is an understanding of the music of the past not only in its own historical context but also as we apprehend it now, and as we assimilate it to our current interests and concerns. He elucidates his views through unique new interpretations of major works from the fifteenth through the twentieth centuries.
Contents: History, criticism, and Beethoven's ninth symphony -- "To worship that celestial sound" : motives for analysis -- Music analysis in a historical context -- On historical criticism -- The present as history -- What kind of story is history? -- Mozart and the idea of absolute music -- Dufay the progressive -- Wozzeck and the apocalypse -- The Lulu character and the character of Lulu.
Notes: Includes bibliographic notes. Includes index.
Subject headings (LCSH): Music--History and criticism.; Music--Philosophy and aesthetics.