Brahms's Song Collections - Softcover

Van Rij, Inge

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521121825 ISBN 13: 9780521121828

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2009

Synopsis

Brahms once complained that singers never performed his songs in the groups in which he had published them, which he likened to 'song bouquets'. Over a century later, many singers and musicologists continue to ignore Brahms's wishes and focus on the individual songs rather than the bouquet groups. This is a detailed study of the implications of Brahms's comments. Following an examination of contemporary aesthetic and generic frameworks, the book traces Brahms's Lieder from their conception, to the arrangement into bouquets, to performance and reception, and examines the sometimes contradictory roles played by poet, composer, performer and recipient in creating coherence in song collections. An investigation of the graphic cycles of Max Klinger reveals a startling visual analogue of Brahms's conception of the song bouquet, and a final examination of the evidence of Brahms's aesthetic outlook reveals that his intentions may have been cyclic in more than one sense.

About this title

Book Description

In considering the songs of Brahms in the groups in which the composer published them, rather than as individual entities, Inge van Rij presents a way of thinking about this much loved repertoire. The book contains original analysis and an investigation of many previously unexplored primary sources.

About the Author

Inge van Rij is a lecturer in music at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521121825
• ISBN 13: 9780521121828
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 284