Headaches among the overtones : music in Beckett / Beckett in music

Samuel Beckett produced some of the most powerful writing - some of the funniest but most devastating - of the twentieth century. He described his plays, prose and poetry as 'an unnecessary stain on the silence', but the extraordinary combination of concision and richness in his writing stems from his peculiar sensitivity to the sounds and rhythms of words. Moreover, music forms a part of Beckett's comic aesthetics of failure: it plays a role in his exploration of the possibilities and failures of the imagination, and the ever-failing attempt to forge a sense of self. No wonder, then, that so many composers have taken inspiration from Beckett, setting his words to music or translating into music the dramatic themes or contexts of his work. Headaches Among the Overtones considers both music in Beckett and Beckett's significance in contemporary music. In doing so, it explores the relationship between words, music and meaning, examining how comparable philosophical concerns and artistic effects appear in literature and music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries Cover 1 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgements 7 Introduction: Why Beckett and Music? 9 Part 1: Music in Beckett 24 1. Beckett, Proust, and Music 25 2. Ideas of Music in Dream of Fair to Middling Women: Beckett and Beethoven 1 60 3. Musical Haunting in Beckett's Ghost Trio: Beckett and Beethoven 2 118 4. 'The fable of one with you in the dark': The Company of Schubert in All That Fall; Beckett and Schubert 1 160 5. Vocality and Imagination in Beckett’s Nacht und Träume: Beckett and Schubert 2 188 Part 2: Beckett in Music 212 6. Beckett and Contemporary Music 213 7. 'Doing it one way and doing it another way': Morton Feldman's Neither 251 8. 'Together, dogs!': Feldman’s Music for Words and Music 316 9. Beckett in Music Translation: Embodiment and Subjectivity in Richard Barrett's Ne songe plus à fuir 353 10. Step by Step: Beckett and Kurtág 401 Beckett Sources and Abbreviations 451 References 454 Image Credits 488 Index of Works by Beckett 489 General Index 491 Content: Acknowledgements Introduction: Why Beckett and Music? Part 1: Music in Beckett Beckett, Proust, and Music Ideas of Music in Dream of Fair to Middling Women: Beckett and Beethoven 1 Musical Haunting in Beckett's Ghost Trio: Beckett and Beethoven 2 'The fable of one with you in the dark': The Company of Schubert in All That Fall Beckett and Schubert 1 Vocality and Imagination in Beckett's Nacht und Traume: Beckett and Schubert 2 Part 2: Beckett in Music Beckett and Contemporary Music 'Doing it one way and doing it another way': Morton Feldman's Neither 'Together, dogs!': Feldman's Music for Words and Music Beckett in Music Translation: Embodiment and Subjectivity in Richard Barrett's Ne songe plus a fuir Step by Step: Beckett and Kurtag Beckett Sources and Abbreviations References Image Credits This Book Considers Both Music In Beckett And Beckett's Significance In Contemporary Music, Examining Also How Comparable Philosophical Concerns And Artistic Effects Appear In Literature And Music Of The Twentieth And Twenty-first Centuries.