
Ever since the nineteenth century, descriptions of musical form have tended to rely heavily on architectonic analogies. In contrast, earlier discussions more often invoked the metaphor of a journey to describe the structure of a composition. In Journeys Through Galant Expositions, author L. Poundie Burstein encourages readers to view the form of Galant music through this earlier metaphorical lens, much as those who composed, performed, improvised, and listened to music in the mid-1700s would have experienced it.By elucidating eighteenth-century ideas regarding musical form and applying them to works by a wide range of composers ― including Haydn and Mozart, as well as a host of others who are often overlooked ― this innovative study provides an accessible new window into the music of this time. Rather than dissecting concepts from the 1700s as a mere historical exercise or treating them as a precursor of later theories, Burstein invigorates the ideas of theorists such as Heinrich Christoph Koch and shows how they can directly impact our understanding and appreciation of Galant music as audiences and performers.
This book investigates how shifting the analytical framework of Galant music from architectonic metaphors to the metaphor of a journey alters our understanding of eighteenth-century musical form. L. Poundie Burstein, a scholar of music theory, draws upon historical treatises and the writings of eighteenth-century theorists like Heinrich Christoph Koch to reconstruct the contemporary experience of listening to and performing music. By applying these period-specific concepts to both canonical and lesser-known works, the author argues for a more historically informed approach to musical analysis that prioritizes the listener's temporal experience over later structuralist models.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Experts in musicology recognize this work as a significant contribution to the study of historical performance practice and music theory. Readers frequently note that the text successfully bridges the gap between academic theory and the practical experience of performers and listeners.
Page Count:
312
Publication Date:
2020-09-22
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0190083999
ISBN-13:
9780190083991
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