Tragedy in the Art of Music (The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures, 24)

A distinguished musicologist examines from the beginnings of Western civilization the continuing manifestations of tragedy in music. Leo Schrade considers the role of music in Greek tragedy, the nature of music drama in the early Renaissance, and, placing particular emphasis on the Baroque period, the tragic element in operas. In a final section that deals with tragic figures in music and the artist’s awareness of tragedy, Schrade concludes that “the history of artists is, and must be by its nature, the history of tragedy.” Schrade's critical editions of works by Guillaume de Machaut, Francesco Landini, and other medieval composers (in the Polyphonic Music of the Fourteenth Century series) are still of utmost importance for early music performers. He is also known today for his universal approach to the history of he worked not only on specialist topics such as medieval music, but also on works by Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, and many other composers. His large scale study of early opera composer Claudio Monteverdi, Creator of Modern Music, still controversial among early music scholars, remains a key work in the evolution of critical attitudes towards the music of Monteverdi. Preface Contents The theme Greek Tragedy Music Drama Reborn Tradeav and tlie Music Drama The Tragic Pathos in Music Tragic Figures in Music Acknowledgments Index