Programming the Absolute discusses the notorious opposition between absolute and program music as a true dialectic that lies at the heart of nineteenth-century German music. Beginning with Beethoven, Berthold Hoeckner traces the aesthetic problem of musical meaning in works by Schumann, Wagner, Liszt, Mahler, and Schoenberg, whose private messages and public predicaments are emblematic for the cultural legacy of this rich repertory.
After Romanticism had elevated music as a language "beyond" language, the ineffable spurred an unprecedented proliferation of musical analysis and criticism. Taking his cue from Adorno, Hoeckner develops the idea of a "hermeneutics of a moment," which holds that musical meaning crystallizes only momentarily--in a particular passage, a progression, even a single note. And such moments can signify as little as a fleeting personal memory or as much as the whole of German music.
Although absolute music emerged with a matrix of values--the integrity of the subject, the aesthetic autonomy of art, and the intrinsic worth of high culture--that are highly contested in musicology today, Hoeckner argues that we should not completely discard the ideal of a music that continues to offer moments of transcendence and liberation.
Passionately and artfully written, Hoeckner's quest for an "essayistic musicology" displays an original intelligence willing to take interpretive risks. It is a provocative contribution to our knowledge about some of Europe's most important music--and to contemporary controversies over how music should be understood and experienced.
eBook - PDF
Programming the Absolute
Nineteenth-Century German Music and the Hermeneutics of the Moment
- 370 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF
Programming the Absolute
Nineteenth-Century German Music and the Hermeneutics of the Moment
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Subtopic
Classical MusicTable of contents
- Cover Page
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- List of Examples
- Preface
- Introduction: Musical Moments and the Moment of German Music
- Chapter One: Beethoven’s Star
- Chapter Two: Schumann’s Distance
- Chapter Three: Elsa’s Scream
- Chapter Four: Liszt’s Prayer
- Chapter Five: Schoenberg’s Gaze
- Chapter Six: Echo’s Eyes
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
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Yes, you can access Programming the Absolute by Berthold Hoeckner in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Media & Performing Arts & Classical Music. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.