Schumann's Music and E. T. A. Hoffmann's Fiction
Cambridge University Press
Edition: Illustrated, 5/19/2016
EAN 9781107141230, ISBN10: 1107141230
Hardcover, 300 pages, 25.6 x 17.6 x 1.9 cm
Language: English
Four of Schumann's great masterpieces of the 1830s - Carnaval, Fantasiestücke, Kreisleriana and Nachtstücke - are connected to the fiction of E. T. A. Hoffmann. In this book, John MacAuslan traces Schumann's stylistic shifts during this period to offer insights into the expressive musical patterns that give shape, energy and individuality to each work. MacAuslan also relates the works to Schumann's reception of Bach, Beethoven, Novalis and Jean Paul, and focuses on primary sources in his wide-ranging discussion of the broader intellectual and aesthetic contexts. Uncovering lines of influence from Schumann's reading to his writings, and reflecting on how the aesthetic concepts involved might be used today, this book transforms the way Schumann's music and its literary connections can be understood and will be essential reading for musicologists, performers and listeners with an interest in Schumann, early nineteenth-century music and German Romantic culture.
Introduction
1. Chrysalis, 1827–34
Schumann's emergence as a literary composer
2. Notions of resonance and expression
3. A musical carnival, 1834–7
Carnaval, op. 9
4. Form, content and conception
5. Dream images, 1837
Fantasiestücke, op. 12
6. 'In possession of the secret', 1836–8
Schumann's stylistic evolution
7. New worlds, 1838
Kreisleriana, op. 16
8. Associations and expressiveness in Schumann's 'Hoffmann works'
9. Anti-matter, 1839–40
Nachtstücke, op. 23
10. 'The closed book'
interpreting aesthetic entities
Appendices
Appendix 1. Concordance of Novalis excerpts
Appendix 2. Novalis and the Schumann of 1828
Appendix 3. Extracts from selected German original texts.