Bach's spectacular Goldberg Variations represent a high point in the repertory of keyboard music, particularly for the harpsichord. This book takes a detailed look at how these variations originated, especially in relation to all Bach's ClavierUbung volumes and late keyboard works, what their exceptionally intricate plan is, what kind of impact they have had, and how their mysterious beauty has been created. This guide to what was at the time the largest and most carefully conceived single work of keyboard music will appeal to students, performers and listeners.

Donald Burrows brings many new insights to this fascinating account of one of the favorite works of the concert hall. He traces the course of Messiah from Handel's initial musical response to the libretto, through the oratorio's turbulent first years to its eventual popularity with the Foundling Hospital performances. The book addresses such questions as the position of Messiah within the oratorio genre, Handel's treatment of structural design, tonal relationships in the work and problems of English wordsetting, as well as contemporary issues such as Handel's relationship with his librettist,...

Berlioz's "dramatic symphony" Romeo et Juliette is regarded by many as his finest work; it is certainly among the most original. This book summarizes the complex genesis of the work before examining the music closely and always with a view to understanding its dramatic implications. Julian Rushton quotes and discusses the early and later critical reception and concludes by suggesting a way of hearing the work that recognizes the value of its mixed genre. The complete libretto is provided in both English and French.

The Missa Solemnis is a document of extraordinary richness from the last decades of Beethoven's creative life. In this accessible guide, William Drabkin considers the work as an expression of the most celebrated text of the Roman Catholic faith and as an example from a tradition of Mass settings in eighteenth and early nineteenth-century Austria. The opening chapters present various critical perspectives on the Missa Solemnis and chart the history of its composition, first performances, and publication. But, above all, the work itself is considered in detail, including the overall design,...

Haydn's Creation is one of the great masterpieces of the classical period. This absorbing and original account of the work provides an indispensable guide for the concert-goer, performer and student alike.

The author places the work within the oratorio tradition, bearing in mind its intended early audiences in both Austria and England, and he contrasts the theological and literary character of the English libretto with the Viennese milieu of the first performances.

The complete text is provided in both English and German versions as a reference point for discussion of the design of the...

Mahler's Third Symphony was conceived as a musical picture of the natural world. This handbook describes the composition of Mahler's grandiose piece of philosophical program music in the context of the ideas that inspired it and the artistic debates and social conflicts that it reflects. In this original and wide-ranging account, Peter Franklin takes the Third Symphony as a representative modern European symphony of its period and evaluates the work as both the culmination of Mahler's early symphonic style and a work whose contradictory effects mirror the complexity of contemporary social and...

This informative and wide-ranging guide places the original piano work in the context of Russian cultural life, considering in particular the work of the artist Victor Hartman, creator of the pictures that inspired Musorgsky's composition. A detailed synopsis takes the reader through each piece in turn, and subsequent chapters consider the musical language and structure. Michael Russ also describes the fate of the work in the hands of editors and performers and closes by surveying the best of the orchestrations, particularly Ravel's.

Chopin's four ballades are widely regarded as being among the most significant extended works for solo piano of the nineteenth century. In an illuminating discussion, Jim Samson combines history and analysis to provide a comprehensive picture of these popular piano works, investigating the social and musical background to Chopin's music, evaluating the many printed editions of the ballads before considering their critical reception and the differing interpretations of well-known nineteenth- and twentieth-century pianists.

The Brandenburg Concertos represent a pinnacle in the history of the Baroque concerto, as well as being among the most universally admired of all Bach's works. This fascinating new guide places the concertos in their historical context, investigates their sources, traces their origins and discusses the changing traditions of performance that have affected the way listeners have understood them since Bach's time. The work's rich instrumentarium is carefully described, and a substantial chapter considers each concerto individually, revealing those aspects of their style and structure that make...

Pierrot lunaire (1912) is one of the most important music theatre works ever written. This is the first guide in English to a work which continues to be performed, broadcast and recorded worldwide.

The book describes the cultural environment around the turn of the century from which Pierrot emerged and discusses Schoenberg's working methods and intentions in its composition. The composer's artistic development up to 1912 is contemplated as a backdrop to this extraordinarily original creative act, and the significance of Pierrot in the unfolding of twentieth-century music is a recurrent...