Friends, enemies, teachers; inspiration; in the footsteps of Schumann; in the footsteps of Wagner; "Palestrina"; Pfitzner and the Lied; nationalism and modernism; an inner emigration. Appendix: Pfitzner's songs with piano accompaniment classified according to poet.
`After Adamy, what was needed, above all, was a book of comparable
weight and seriousness on the music itself. And that is what John
Williamson had provided in The Music of Hans Pfitzner ... What
Williamson has done here, more convincingly than any previous
writer, is to bring out the subtle inventiveness of Pfitzner's
stylistic experiments in form, harmony and counterpoint. Here at
last is a book which can domonstrate that Pfitzner was no mere
stylistic
reactionary ... the most penetratingly sympathetic study of his
music so far.
'
Times Literary Supplement
`This is an important book and all the more welcome for being the
first in English devoted solely to this composer...Williamson's
erudition is remarkable, encompassing the whole of Pfitzner's
writings and all his music ( including the sketches) as well as the
vast corpus of secondary literature; a select bibliography lists no
fewer than 165 items...a hugely impressive study, a book from which
any serious student of the music of the period will learn much
and a very significant contribution to our understanding of this
fascinating composer'
The Music Review
`Williamson's book marks a good start in remedying the lack of
studies in English on its enigmatic subject ... Recommended to all
undergraduate and graduate libraries for both its social and
musical content.
'
Choice
`This volume represents a milestone in the history of Pfitzner
scholarship, being the first complete study of the composer's music
in English and appearing at an ideal time for an objective
re-evaluation of his work.
'
Musical Times
`Williamson's book is the first study of Pfizner's music in
English, indeed in any language other than German. Williamson gives
us new insights into the inner life, the music ... the basic
sources are now at hand for us to develop new insights into
Pfitzner and his significance for his time and ours.
'
David E. Anderson, University of Chicago, Notes, December 1993
`As the first full-length published study of Pfitzner in English,
this book is to be welcomed. John Williamson is a voraciously
learned scholar of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century European
music whose wide reading and listening richly inform his writing
... there could be no better way of approaching Pfitzner's music
than in the company of this book. All the major works are
discussed, with generous space rightly going to the operas ...
whose plots
are summarized in synopses.
'
Peter Franklin, Music and Letters, Vol. 74, No. 4, Nov '93
`This volume represents a milestone in the history of Pfitzner
scholarship, being the first complete study of the composer's music
in English and appearing at an ideal time for an objective
re-evaluation of his work...it is superbly produced
'
David Allenby, Music Times, March 1993
`... heartily to be applauded.
'
Martin Anderson. Tempo No. 190 Sept '94
`an arresting exposition of the ideas and musical works of Hans
Pfitzner
'
Choral Journal
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