First Nights : Five Musical Premiers / Thomas Forrest Kelly.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kelly, Thomas Forrest, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Monteverdi, Claudio, 1567-1643. Orfeo.

Monteverdi, Claudio.

Handel, George Frideric, 1685-1759. Messiah.

Handel, George Frideric.

Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827. Symphonies--no. 9, op. 125--D minor.

Beethoven, Ludwig van.

Berlioz, Hector, 1803-1869. Symphonie fantastique.

Berlioz, Hector.

Stravinsky, Igor, 1882-1971. Vesna svi︠a︡shchennai︠a︡.

Stravinsky, Igor.

Music--First performances.

Music.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvi, 387 pages) : illustrations, maps

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven, CT : Yale University Press, [2000]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This lively book takes us back to the first performances of five famous musical compositions: Monteverdi's Orfeo in 1607, Handel's Messiah in 1742, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in 1824, Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique in 1830, and Stravinsky's Sacre du printemps in 1913. Thomas Forrest Kelly sets the scene for each of these premieres, describing the cities in which they took place, the concert halls, audiences, conductors, and musicians, the sound of the music when it was first performed (often with instruments now extinct), and the popular and critical responses. He explores how performance styles and conditions have changed over the centuries and what music can reveal about the societies that produce it.Kelly tells us, for example, that Handel recruited musicians he didn't know to perform Messiah in a newly built hall in Dublin; that Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was performed with a mixture of professional and amateur musicians after only three rehearsals; and that Berlioz was still buying strings for the violas and mutes for the violins on the day his symphony was first played. Kelly's narrative, which is enhanced by extracts from contemporary letters, press reports, account books, and other sources, as well as by a rich selection of illustrations, gives us a fresh appreciation of these five masterworks, encouraging us to sort out our own late twentieth-century expectations from what is inherent in the music.

Contents:

Claudio Monteverdi, Orfeo: Saturday, February 24, 1607

George Frideric Handel, Messiah: Tuesday, April 13, 1742, 12 noon

Ludwig van Beethoven, Ninth Symphony: Friday, May 7, 1824, 7:00 p.m.

Hector Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique: Sunday, December 5, 1830, 2 p.m.

Igor Stravinsky, Le sacre du printemps: Thursday, May 29, 1913, 8:45 p.m.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9780300185607

030018560X

OCLC:

861792882