The Musical Work: Reality or Invention? (Liverpool University Press - Liverpool Music Symposium) (Volume 1)

Like literature and art, music has ''works''. But not every piece of music is called a work, and not every musical performance is made up of works. The complexities of this situation are explored in these essays, which examine a broad swathe of western music. From plainsong to the symphony, from Duke Ellington to the Beatles, this is at root an investigation into how our minds parcel up the music that we create and hear. Not Every Piece Of Music Is Called A 'work'. These Essays Examine A Broad Swathe Of Western Music And Show How To Call A Piece Of Music A Work Is To Refer Not Merely To Its Structural Properties But Also To Its Societal Context. Some Thoughts On The Work In Popular Music / David Horn -- Intertextuality And Hypertextuality In Recorded Popular Music / Serge Lacasse -- Work-in-(g) Practice : Configuration Of The Popular Music Intertext / Richard Middleton -- Works And Recordings : The Impact Of Commercialism And Digitalisation / Catherine Moore -- The Practice Of Early-nineteenth-century Pianism / Jim Samson -- Looking Back At Ourselves : The Problem With The Musical Work-concept / Reinhard Strohm -- 'the Work' : An Evaluative Charge / Philip Tagg -- The Work-concept And Composer-centredness / Michael Talbot --the Musical Artwork And Its Materials In The Music And Aesthetics Of Busoni / John Williamson -- Re-composing Schubert / James Wishart -- 'on The Problems Of Dating' Or 'looking Backward And Forward With Strohm' / Lydia Goehr. Edited By Michael Talbot. Includes Indexes. "Like literature and art, music has 'works'. But not every piece of music is called a work, and not every musical performance is made up of works. The complexities of this situation were explored in a symposium held at the University of Liverpool, of which these are the proceedings. The essays examine a broad swathe of Western music: classical and popular, notated and recorded, ancient and modern. They show how to call a piece a work is to refer not merely to its structural properties but also to the interests, values and presumptions of the culture and society that cultivate it. Some cases of convergence and divergence between parallel musical traditions are revealed. In their varied approaches, the eleven contributors mirror the cleavages that they find in the subject matter. From plainsong to the symphony, from Duke Ellington to the Beatles, this is at root an investigation into how our minds parcel up the music that we create and hear."--Jacket