The Characteristic Symphony in the Age of Haydn and Beethoven (New Perspectives in Music History and Criticism, Series Number 7)

Associated through descriptive texts with literature, politics, religion, and other subjects, 'characteristic' symphonies offer an opportunity to study instrumental music as it engages important social and political debates of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. This first full-length study of the genre illuminates the relationship between symphonies and their aesthetic and social contexts by focussing on the musical representation of feeling, human physical movement, and the passage of time. The works discussed include Beethoven's Pastoral and Eroica Symphonies, Haydn's Seven Last Words of our Savior on the Cross, Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf's symphonies on Ovid's Metamorphoses, and orchestral battle reenactments of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras. A separate chapter details the aesthetic context within which characteristic symphonies were conceived, as well as their subsequent reception, and a series of appendixes summarises bibliographic information for over 225 relevant examples Frontmatter Acknowledgments (page ix) Note to the reader (page xi) Introduction (page 1) 1 Paradise lost: Dittersdorf's Four Ages of the World and the crisis of Austrian enlightened despotism (page 29) 2 Preaching without words: Reform Catholicism versus divine mystery in Haydn's Seven Last Words (page 83) 3 The boundaries of the art: characteristic music in contemporary criticism and aesthetics (page 129) 4 Paradise regained: time, morality, and humanity in Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony (page 156) 5 Making memories: symphonies of war, death, and celebration (page 188) Appendixes (page 242) 1 Index of characteristic symphonies (page 249) 2 Pastoral symphonies and movements (page 294) 3 Symphonies and movements by subject (page 299) Bibliography (page 304) Index (page 319) Characteristic symphonies have texts associating them with literature, politics, religion, and other aspects of eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century European culture. Examining both the music and its aesthetic and social contexts, this first full-length study of the genre demonstrates how symphonies constructed individual and collective identities through their subjects, representing emotion, human bodily movement, and the passage of time. Examples discussed include the Pastoral and Eroica symphonies of Beethoven and works by Haydn, Dittersdorf, and other composers of the era. An Appendix provides a thematic index of the entire repertory. 'Characteristic' symphonies have texts associating them with literature, politics, religion, and other aspects of eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century European culture. This first full-length study of the genre illuminates the relationship between symphonies and their aesthetic and social context and discusses examples of works by composers including Beethoven, Haydn and Dittersdorf A glittering audience attended the Viennese premiere of Dittersdorf's twelve symphonies on Ovid's Metamorphoses, given at two concerts in May 1786.

study Of 'characteristic' Symphonies, Discussing Works By Beethoven, Haydn And Dittersdorf.

Richard Will. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 304-318) And Index.