Of Poetry and Song
Title Details

470 Pages

22.8 x 15.2 cm

75 line illus.

Series: Eastman Studies in Music

Series Vol. Number: 75

Imprint: University of Rochester Press

Of Poetry and Song

Approaches to the Nineteenth-Century Lied

Edited by Jürgen Thym

  • Description
  • Contents
  • Reviews
Interdisciplinary studies of some of the greatest examples of German art song by major scholars in musicology and German literature.

Singers and pianists never tire of exploring the songs of Schubert and Schumann, Wolf and Mahler. But discussions of these marvelous works have too often given only brief consideration to the artistry of the poems -- by such masters as Goethe, Heine, and Eichendorff -- and to the composers' insightful interaction with that verbal art.
Of Poetry and Song: Approaches to the Nineteenth-Century Lied is an anthology of truly interdisciplinary studies of text-music relations in the German Lied. The chapters gathered in it (including some published here for the first time in English or indeed at all) were written by two musicologists -- Rufus Hallmark and Jürgen Thym -- and two German-literature specialists -- Harry Seelig and the late Ann C. Fehn.
An extensive introduction by the volume's editor, Jürgen Thym, considers the fruitful ways in which the four authors meet the challenge of combining literary and musical analysis.

Jürgen Thym is Professor Emeritus of Musicology at the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music.
On Schubert Reading Poetry: A Primer in the Rhythm of Poetry and Music - Rufus Hallmark
The Musical "Spirit" of Goethe's "Suleika": Schubert's Settings D. 720 and D. 717 - Harry E. Seelig
Text-Music Relations in Schumann's Eichendorff Song" Frühlingsfahrt" - Jurgen Thym
Hugo Wolf's Ghazal Settings from "Das Schenkenbuch" of Goethe's West-östlicher Divan - Harry E. Seelig
Karl Weigl's Opus 1 in Its Nineteenth-Century Context: A Historic Literary-Musical Fusion of Goethe's "Wanderers Nachtlied" and "Ein Gleiches" - Harry E. Seelig
"Hans Adam"-Goethe's Parodistic Creation Myth: A Parody Parodied by Hugo Wolf and Richard Strauss - Harry E. Seelig
Text and Music in Schubert's Settings of Pentameter Poetry - Rufus Hallmark and Ann C. Fehn
Repetition as Structure in the German Lied: The Ghazal - Ann C. Fehn and Jurgen Thym
Sonnet Structure and the German Lied: Shackles or Spurs? - Ann C. Fehn and Jurgen Thym
Schubert's Strategies in Setting Free Verse - Jurgen Thym and Ann C. Fehn
Hugo Wolf and Goethe's "Duodrama": Toward a "Better Understanding" of the Problematic Divan-Trinity of Life, Love, and Spirit - Harry E. Seelig
Text and Music in Mahler's Kindertotenlieder - Ann C. Fehn
The Rückert Lieder of Robert and Clara Schumann - Rufus Hallmark
A Cycle in Flux: Schumann's Eichendorff Liederkreis - Jurgen Thym
Why Dichterliebe Twice? The Case of Schumann's Opus 24 and Opus 48 - Rufus Hallmark
Discovering "Musical Impressionism" by Way of Eichendorff and Schumann: Wolf and Pfitzner at the Threshold - Jurgen Thym
Index
"[The essays] fit together naturally -- even rhyme with one another -- because of each author's dedication to uncover the 'network of communicative meaning' between linguistic and musical structures in lieder. . . Seelig writes with passion and precision. . . The shining star . . . is by Jürgen Thym. . . . These essays exhibit an impressive level of intellectual rigour . . . [and] offer us a standard by which we can now measure our own efforts." Karen M. Bottge, NINETEENTH-CENTURY MUSIC REVIEW
"[A] rich banquet of critical essays . . . , making us palpably aware of the active role that lied composers played as sensitive and penetrating readers of their chosen poems. . . . [Special praise for] Jürgen Thym's exemplary text-music analysis of Schumann's 'Frühlingsfahrt.' Both musicologists and performers will find considerable intellectual and artistic stimulation by wrestling with the arguments in this book." Benjamin Binder, MUSIC LIBRARY ASSOCIATION NOTES
"The authors elevate the role of the poem in the creation of the Lied . . . [and delve into] the deeper meanings of the songs and cycles presented. . . . [Includes] musical examples and easy-to-read diagrams and tables. . . . Summing Up: Highly Recommended." Jennifer Trost, Choice
"The authors argue passionately for treating song as the complex phenomenon it is, one in which the relations between linguistic and musical structures are the focus. A rich and important book. --Susan Youens, J. W. Van Gorkom Professor of Music, University of Notre Dame" Susan Youens, J. W. Van Gorkom Professor of Music, University of Notre Dame
"An approachable, engaging, and polished study of the mechanics of song composition. . . . [Important essays] written in prose so clean, precise, and direct that upper-level students will appreciate their insights as much as seasoned scholars. . . . A generous number of clean and polished music examples . . . makes this compilation both attractive and convenient. . . . Hallmark's opening essay . . . [is] theperfect way to open a seminar on song." Blake Howe, MUSIC AND LETTERS
"[An] important and engaging collection of essays. . . . As an approachable, engaging, and polished study of the mechanics of song composition and analysis, this book has few peers." MUSIC & LETTERS, November 2011
"[P]roves to be more than just a . . . collection of . . . previously unpublished essays; indeed, one might read it as the scholarly equivalent of a successful Liederabend." GOETHE YEARBOOK, Vol 12, 2012

Hardcover

9781580460552

April 2010

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9781580467599

April 2010

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Title Details

470 Pages

2.28 x 1.52 cm

75 line illus.

Series: Eastman Studies in Music

Series Vol. Number: 75

Imprint: University of Rochester Press