Synopsis
"Music at the Limits" is the first book to bring together three decades of Edward W. Said's essays and articles on music. Addressing the work of a variety of composers, musicians, and performers, Said carefully draws out music's social, political, and cultural contexts and, as a classically trained pianist, provides rich and often surprising assessments of classical music and opera.
"Music at the Limits" offers both a fresh perspective on canonical pieces and a celebration of neglected works by contemporary composers. Said faults the Metropolitan Opera in New York for being too conservative and laments the way in which opera superstars like Pavarotti have "reduced opera performance to a minimum of intelligence and a maximum of overproduced noise." He also reflects on the censorship of Wagner in Israel; the worrisome trend of proliferating music festivals; an opera based on the life of Malcolm X; the relationship between music and feminism; the pianist Glenn Gould; and the works of Mozart, Bach, Richard Strauss, and others.
Said wrote his incisive critiques as both an insider and an authority. He saw music as a reflection of his ideas on literature and history and paid close attention to its composition and creative possibilities. Eloquent and surprising, "Music at the Limits" preserves an important dimension of Said's brilliant intellectual work and cements his reputation as one of the most influential and groundbreaking scholars of the twentieth century.
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Book Description
Music at the Limits is the first book to bring together three decades of Edward W. Said's essays and articles on music. Addressing the work of a variety of composers, musicians, and performers, Said carefully draws out music's social, political, and cultural contexts and, as a classically trained pianist, provides rich and often surprising assessments of classical music and opera. Said saw music as a reflection of his ideas on literature and history and paid close attention to its composition and creative possibilities. Eloquent and surprising, Music at the Limits preserves an important dimension of Said's brilliant intellectual work and cements his reputation as one of the most influential and groundbreaking scholars of the twentieth century.
About the Author
Edward W. Said (1935-2003) was University Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. He was the music critic for the Nation and the author of numerous books, including Out of Place, Culture and Imperialism, and Orientalism. His books with Columbia University Press include Joseph Conrad and the Fiction of Autobiography, Humanism and Democratic Criticism, Beginnings: Intention and Method, and Musical Elaborations.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
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Music at the Limits
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Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2008
ISBN 10: 0747597782
ISBN 13: 9780747597780
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Music at the limits : three decades of essays and articles on music / Edward W. Said
Published by
London : Bloomsbury, 2008
ISBN 10: 0747597782
ISBN 13: 9780747597780
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Seller: MW Books, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
1st edition. Fine cloth copy in a near-fine, very slightly edge-dulled dust wrapper. Remains particularly well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and strong. Physical description; 325 pp. Contents; 1. The Music Itself: Glenn Gould's Contrapuntal Vision -- 2. Remembrances of Things Played: Presence and Memory in the Pianist's Art -- 3. Pomp and Circumstance (on Musical Festivals) -- 4. On Richard Strauss -- 5. Die Walküre, Aida, X -- 6. Music and Feminism -- 7. Maestro for the Masses (review of Understanding Toscanini) -- 8. Middle Age and Performers -- 9. The Vienna Philharmonic: The Complete Beethoven Symphonies and Concertos -- 10. The Barber of Seville, Don Giovanni -- 11. Glenn Gould at the Metropolitan Museum -- 12. Giulio Cesare -- 13. Bluebeard's Castle, Erwartung -- 14. Extreme Occasions (on Celibidache) -- 15. Peter Sellars's Mozart -- 16. András Schiff at Carnegie Hall -- Part II: The Nineties -- 17. Richard Strauss -- 18. Wagner and the Met's Ring -- 19. Opera Productions (Der Rosenkavalier, House of the Dead, Doctor Faust) -- 20. Style and Stylessness (Elektra, Semiramide, Katya Kabanova) -- 21. Alfred Brendel: Words for Music (review of Alfred Brendel's Music Sounded Out: Essays, Lectures, Interviews, Afterthoughts) -- 22. Die Tote Stadt, Fidelio, The Death of Klinghoffer -- 23. Uncertainties of Style (The Ghosts of Versailles, Die Soldaten) -- 24. Musical Retrospection -- 25. The Bard Festival -- 26. The Importance of Being Unfaithful to Wagner -- 27. Music as Gesture (on Solti) -- 28. Les Troyens -- 29. Child's Play (review of Maynard Solomon's Mozart: A Life) -- 30. 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould -- 31. Bach's Genius, Schumann's Eccentricity, Chopin's Ruthlessness, Rosen's Gift (review of Charles Rosen's The Romantic Generation) -- 32. Why Listen to Boulez? -- 33. Hindemith and Mozart -- 34. Review of Michael Tanner's Wagner -- 35. In the Chair (review of Peter Ostwald's Glenn Gould and the Tragedy of Genius) -- 36. On Fidelio. 37. Music and Spectacle (La Cenerentola and The Rake's Progress) -- 38. Review of Gottfried Wagner's He Who Does Not Howl with the Wolf: The Wagner Legacy-An Autobiography -- 39. Bach for the Masses -- Part III: 2000 and Beyond -- 40. Daniel Barenboim (Bonding Across Cultural Boundaries) -- 41. Glenn Gould, the Virtuoso as Intellectual -- 42. Cosmic Ambition (review of Christoph Wolff's Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician) -- 43. Barenboim and the Wagner Taboo -- 44. Untimely Meditations (review of Maynard Solomon's Late Beethoven) -- Appendix: Bach/Beethoven. Subjects; Geschichte 1980-2003. Music History & Criticism. Collected essays. Music Addresses, essays, lectures. 1 Kg. Seller Inventory # 409626
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Music at the limits : three decades of essays and articles on music / Edward W. Said
Published by
London : Bloomsbury, 2008
ISBN 10: 0747597782
ISBN 13: 9780747597780
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Seller: MW Books Ltd., Galway, Ireland
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
1st edition. Fine cloth copy in a near-fine, very slightly edge-dulled dust wrapper. Remains particularly well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and strong. Physical description; 325 pp. Contents; 1. The Music Itself: Glenn Gould's Contrapuntal Vision -- 2. Remembrances of Things Played: Presence and Memory in the Pianist's Art -- 3. Pomp and Circumstance (on Musical Festivals) -- 4. On Richard Strauss -- 5. Die Walküre, Aida, X -- 6. Music and Feminism -- 7. Maestro for the Masses (review of Understanding Toscanini) -- 8. Middle Age and Performers -- 9. The Vienna Philharmonic: The Complete Beethoven Symphonies and Concertos -- 10. The Barber of Seville, Don Giovanni -- 11. Glenn Gould at the Metropolitan Museum -- 12. Giulio Cesare -- 13. Bluebeard's Castle, Erwartung -- 14. Extreme Occasions (on Celibidache) -- 15. Peter Sellars's Mozart -- 16. András Schiff at Carnegie Hall -- Part II: The Nineties -- 17. Richard Strauss -- 18. Wagner and the Met's Ring -- 19. Opera Productions (Der Rosenkavalier, House of the Dead, Doctor Faust) -- 20. Style and Stylessness (Elektra, Semiramide, Katya Kabanova) -- 21. Alfred Brendel: Words for Music (review of Alfred Brendel's Music Sounded Out: Essays, Lectures, Interviews, Afterthoughts) -- 22. Die Tote Stadt, Fidelio, The Death of Klinghoffer -- 23. Uncertainties of Style (The Ghosts of Versailles, Die Soldaten) -- 24. Musical Retrospection -- 25. The Bard Festival -- 26. The Importance of Being Unfaithful to Wagner -- 27. Music as Gesture (on Solti) -- 28. Les Troyens -- 29. Child's Play (review of Maynard Solomon's Mozart: A Life) -- 30. 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould -- 31. Bach's Genius, Schumann's Eccentricity, Chopin's Ruthlessness, Rosen's Gift (review of Charles Rosen's The Romantic Generation) -- 32. Why Listen to Boulez? -- 33. Hindemith and Mozart -- 34. Review of Michael Tanner's Wagner -- 35. In the Chair (review of Peter Ostwald's Glenn Gould and the Tragedy of Genius) -- 36. On Fidelio. 37. Music and Spectacle (La Cenerentola and The Rake's Progress) -- 38. Review of Gottfried Wagner's He Who Does Not Howl with the Wolf: The Wagner Legacy-An Autobiography -- 39. Bach for the Masses -- Part III: 2000 and Beyond -- 40. Daniel Barenboim (Bonding Across Cultural Boundaries) -- 41. Glenn Gould, the Virtuoso as Intellectual -- 42. Cosmic Ambition (review of Christoph Wolff's Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician) -- 43. Barenboim and the Wagner Taboo -- 44. Untimely Meditations (review of Maynard Solomon's Late Beethoven) -- Appendix: Bach/Beethoven. Subjects; Geschichte 1980-2003. Music History & Criticism. Collected essays. Music Addresses, essays, lectures. 1 Kg. Item is Shipped from Ireland or US locations. Seller Inventory # 409626
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Music at the Limits Said, Edward
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