Mendelssohn, Time and Memory
Mendelssohn, Time and Memory
Felix Mendelssohn has long been viewed as one of the most historically minded composers in western music. This book explores the conceptions of time, memory and history found in his instrumental compositions, presenting an intriguing new perspective on his ever-popular music. Focusing on Mendelssohn's innovative development of cyclic form, Taylor investigates how the composer was influenced by the aesthetic and philosophical movements of the period. This is of key importance not only for reconsideration of Mendelssohn's work and its position in nineteenth-century culture, but also more generally concerning the relationship between music, time and subjectivity. One of very few detailed accounts of Mendelssohn's music, the study presents a new and provocative reading of the meaning of the composer's work by connecting it to wider cultural and philosophical ideas.
- Presents the most extended consideration of cyclic form yet, allowing full consideration of this important nineteenth-century idea
- Considers music in relation to notions of subjectivity, time, history and memory, providing a significant contribution towards the current interest in these topics
- Connects Mendelssohn's music to wider cultural and philosophical ideas
Product details
December 2011Hardback
9781107005785
312 pages
254 × 180 × 20 mm
0.79kg
12 b/w illus. 6 tables 88 music examples
Available
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- 1. The idea of cyclic form
- 2. Musical history and self-consciousness: the Octet, Op. 20
- 3. Returning home: the E major Piano Sonata, Op. 6
- 4. In search of lost time: the A minor Quartet, Op. 13
- 5. Overcoming the past: the E flat Quartet, Op. 12
- 6. Cyclicism in Mendelssohn's mature music.
