Franz Schubert's music in performance : compositional ideals, notational intent, historical realities, pedagogical foundations / David Montgomery.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Montgomery, David, 1944 July 28-

Contributor:

Class of 1932 Fund.

Series:

Monographs in musicology ; no. 11.

Monographs in musicology ; no. 11

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Schubert, Franz, 1797-1828--Criticism and interpretation.

Schubert, Franz.

Schubert, Franz, 1797-1828.

Criticism and interpretation.

Physical Description:

xx, 319 pages : illustrations, music ; 27 cm.

Place of Publication:

Hillsdale, NY : Pendragon Press, [2003]

Summary:

In Franz Schubert's Music in Performance David Montgomery challenges many operative myths about the music of this great, but often misunderstood, Viennese master. Chief among them is the lingering notion that Schubert was poorly-trained but still managed to turn out brilliant, if often flawed, scores. Modern adherents of this view believe that Schubert could not notate his own musical wishes accurately, and that he was principally a creature of intuition. Accordingly, musicians might allow themselves wide intuitive leeway in the interpretation of his music. Another myth challenged by Montgomery is that Schubert was a conservative, or perhaps even a chronological throwback. Opposing recent attempts to legitimize performer-generated embellishment of Schubert's music in the style of the eighteenth century, He clarifies Schubert's contributions to the radical intellectualism of nineteenth-century romanticism. The book offers six informative chapters ranging from aesthetics and acoustics to the specifics of tempo and expression, plus an appendix of pertinent Viennese pedagogical sources. In addition to many years of musicological research, Montgomery brings long experience as a concertizing pianist and conductor to this engaging and controversial work.

Contents:

I. The Sonic Imagination 1

The "sound" of the instrumental works

The "sound" of Schubert's lieder

Voice types and techniques

Dramatic vs narrative

Accompanimental transcriptions

Keys and transpositions

Temperaments and tuning

Translations

II. The Thematic, Structural and Temporal Imagination 36

Repeats

Harmonic direction, repetiton, and length

Metaphors of time

A note on introductions and postludes

III. Reading Schubert's Music 65

Assessing editions and choosing scores

Schubert's notation

Lingering myths about Schubert's notation

Literal vs. contextual values in Schubert: the historical background

The flexible dot

Overdotting

Underdotting

The Viennese sources

Dotted figures against sextuplets

The alignment theory

Assimilation as a contextual choice

Fermatas

Notational shorthand: implied vs. explicit

IV. Expression and Expressive Devices 117

Rubato

Schubert and "Viennese" rhythm

Trillo, bebung, tremolo, vibrato, ondeggiando, etc

Dynamics: ranges, levels, and layering

Accentuation

Hairpin accents vs. decrescendos

The tenuto-agogichairpin

The pure tenuto

Articulation: dots, strokes, slurs, tenutos, bowing vs. phrasing marks, pizzicatos

Bowing, slurring, and breathing

Pedalling

V. Essential and Voluntary Ornamentation 173

Essential ornamentation

Trills

Appoggiaturas

The long appoggiatura

Short appoggiatura

Voluntary ornamentation and improvisation

Impovisation

Improvisation and ornamentation in the opera

Ornamentation in the lieder

The "Vogl" controversy, once again

The Abschriften (copies)

Ornamentation and embellishment in the instrumental music

Musical structure and the argument for embellishment

VI. Tempo, Time, and Character 210

Relative tempos

Tempo, meter, and character

The duple meters

The triple meters

The quadruple meters

Thinking down, thinking up

Tempo fluctuation

Absolute tempo

IA Tempo Rubato: A short overview 270

IB Ludwig van Beethoven: So oder so 275

IIA The Pedagogical Sources: Methods and Tutors 277

IIB Selected Period and Modern Literature 307.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references, discography (pages 315-316), and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Class of 1932 Fund.

ISBN:

1576470253

OCLC:

50645670