Mozart and Enlightenment semiotics / Stephen Rumph.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rumph, Stephen C.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791--Criticism and interpretation.

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus.

Music--18th century--History and criticism.

Music.

Music--Semiotics.

Enlightenment.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (284 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In this groundbreaking, historically-informed semiotic study of late eighteenth-century music, Stephen Rumph focuses on Mozart to explore musical meaning within the context of Enlightenment sign and language theory. Illuminating his discussion with French, British, German, and Italian writings on signs and language, Rumph analyzes movements from Mozart's symphonies, concertos, operas, and church music. He argues that Mozartian semiosis is best understood within the empiricist tradition of Condillac, Vico, Herder, or Adam Smith, which emphasized the constitutive role of signs within human cognition. Recognizing that the rationalist model of neoclassical rhetoric has guided much recent work on Mozart and his contemporaries, Rumph demonstrates how the dialogic tension between opposing paradigms enabled the composer to negotiate contradictions within Enlightenment thought.

Contents:

From rhetoric to semiotics

The sense of touch in Don Giovanni

Topics in context

Mozart and Marxism

A dubious credo

Archaic endings.

Notes:

"An Ahmanson Foundation book in the humanities"--Dust jacket.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786613520531

9781280100222

1280100222

9780520950115

0520950119

OCLC:

774278962