Theodor W. Adorno (1903-1969), one of the principal figures associated with the Frankfurt School, wrote extensively on culture, modernity, aesthetics, literature, and--more than any other subject--music. To this day, Adorno remains the single most influential contributor to the development of qualitative musical sociology which, together with his nuanced intertextual readings of musical works, gives him broad claim as a continuing force in the study of music. This long-awaited collection of twenty-seven essays represents the full range of Adorno's music writing. Nearly half of the essays appear in English for the first time; all of the essays are fully annotated; and the previously translated essays have been corrected and missing text restored, making this volume the definitive resource on Adorno's musical thought.
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"A book of landmark importance. It is unprecedented in its design: a brilliantly selected group of essays on music coupled with lucid, deeply incisive, and in every way masterly analysis of Adorno's thinking about music. No one who studies Adorno and music will be able to dispense with it; and if they can afford only one book on Adorno and music, this will be the one. For in miniature, it contains everything one needs: a collection of exceptionally important writings on all the principal aspects of music and musical life with which Adorno dealt; totally reliable scholarship; and powerfully illuminating commentary that will help readers at all levels read and re-read the essays in question."-Rose Rosengard Subotnik, author of Deconstructive Variations: Music and Reason in Western Society
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"A book of landmark importance. It is unprecedented in its design: a brilliantly selected group of essays on music coupled with lucid, deeply incisive, and in every way masterly analysis of Adorno's thinking about music. No one who studies Adorno and music will be able to dispense with it; and if they can afford only one book on Adorno and music, this will be the one. For in miniature, it contains everything one needs: a collection of exceptionally important writings on all the principal aspects of music and musical life with which Adorno dealt; totally reliable scholarship; and powerfully illuminating commentary that will help readers at all levels read and re-read the essays in question."--Rose Rosengard Subotnik, author of Deconstructive Variations: Music and Reason in Western Society
"An invaluable contribution to Adorno scholarship, with well chosen essays on composers, works, the culture industry, popular music, kitsch, and technology. Leppert's introduction and commentaries are consistently useful; his attention to secondary literature remarkable; his interpretation responsible. The new translations by Susan Gillespie (and others) are outstanding not only for their care and readability, but also for their sensitivity to Adorno's forms and styles."--Lydia Goehr, author of The Quest for Voice: Music, Politics and the Limits of Philosophy
"With its careful, full edition of Adorno's important musical texts and its exhaustive yet eminently readable commentaries, Richard Leppert's magisterial book represents a brilliant solution to the age-old dilemma of bringing together primary text and interpretation in one volume."--James Deaville, Director, School of the Arts, McMaster University
"The developing variations of Adorno's life-long involvement with musical themes are fully audible in this remarkable collection. What might be called his 'literature on notes' brilliantly complements the 'notes to literature' he devoted to the written word. Richard Leppert's superb commentaries constitute a book-length contribution in their own right, which will enlighten and challenge even the most learned of Adorno scholars."--Martin Jay, author of The Dialectical Imagination: A History of The Frankfurt School and the Institute of Social Research
"There is afoot in Anglo-American musicology today the first wholesale reconsideration of Adorno's thought since the pioneering work of Rose Rosengard Subotnik around 1980. Essays on Music will play a central role in this effort. It will do so because Richard Leppert has culled Adorno's writings so as to make clear to musicologists the place of music in the broad critique of modernity that was Adorno's overarching project; and it will do so because Leppert has explained these writings, in commentaries that amount to a book-length study, so as to reveal to non-musicologists the essentially musical foundation of this project. No one interested in Adorno from any perspective--or, for that matter, in modernity and music all told--can afford to ignore Essays on Music."--Gary Tomlinson, author of Metaphysical Song: An Essay on Opera
"This book is both a major achievement by its author-editor and a remarkable act of scholarly generosity for the rest of us. Until now, English translations of Adorno's major essays on music have been scattered and often unreliable. Until now, there has been no comprehensive scholarly treatment of Adorno's musical thinking. This volume remedies both problems at a single stroke. It will be read equally--and eagerly--for Adorno's texts and for Richard Leppert's commentary on them, both of which will continue to be essential resources as musical scholarship seeks increasingly to come to grips with the social contexts and effects of music. No one knows Adorno better than Leppert, and no one is better equipped to clarify the complex interweaving of sociology, philosophy, and musical aesthetics that is central to Adorno's work. From now on, everyone who reads Adorno on music, whether a beginner or an expert, is in Richard Leppert's debt for devoting his exceptional gifts of learning and lucidity to this project."--Lawrence Kramer, author of Musical Meaning: Toward a Critical History
"An invaluable contribution to Adorno scholarship, with well chosen essays on composers, works, the culture industry, popular music, kitsch, and technology. Leppert's introduction and commentaries are consistently useful; his attention to secondary literature remarkable; his interpretation responsible. The new translations by Susan Gillespie (and others) are outstanding not only for their care and readability, but also for their sensitivity to Adorno's forms and styles."--Lydia Goehr, author of The Quest for Voice: Music, Politics and the Limits of Philosophy
"With its careful, full edition of Adorno's important musical texts and its exhaustive yet eminently readable commentaries, Richard Leppert's magisterial book represents a brilliant solution to the age-old dilemma of bringing together primary text and interpretation in one volume."--James Deaville, Director, School of the Arts, McMaster University
"The developing variations of Adorno's life-long involvement with musical themes are fully audible in this remarkable collection. What might be called his 'literature on notes' brilliantly complements the 'notes to literature' he devoted to the written word. Richard Leppert's superb commentaries constitute a book-length contribution in their own right, which will enlighten and challenge even the most learned of Adorno scholars."--Martin Jay, author of The Dialectical Imagination: A History of The Frankfurt School and the Institute of Social Research
"There is afoot in Anglo-American musicology today the first wholesale reconsideration of Adorno's thought since the pioneering work of Rose Rosengard Subotnik around 1980. Essays on Music will play a central role in this effort. It will do so because Richard Leppert has culled Adorno's writings so as to make clear to musicologists the place of music in the broad critique of modernity that was Adorno's overarching project; and it will do so because Leppert has explained these writings, in commentaries that amount to a book-length study, so as to reveal to non-musicologists the essentially musical foundation of this project. No one interested in Adorno from any perspective--or, for that matter, in modernity and music all told--can afford to ignore Essays on Music."--Gary Tomlinson, author of Metaphysical Song: An Essay on Opera
"This book is both a major achievement by its author-editor and a remarkable act of scholarly generosity for the rest of us. Until now, English translations of Adorno's major essays on music have been scattered and often unreliable. Until now, there has been no comprehensive scholarly treatment of Adorno's musical thinking. This volume remedies both problems at a single stroke. It will be read equally--and eagerly--for Adorno's texts and for Richard Leppert's commentary on them, both of which will continue to be essential resources as musical scholarship seeks increasingly to come to grips with the social contexts and effects of music. No one knows Adorno better than Leppert, and no one is better equipped to clarify the complex interweaving of sociology, philosophy, and musical aesthetics that is central to Adorno's work. From now on, everyone who reads Adorno on music, whether a beginner or an expert, is in Richard Leppert's debt for devoting his exceptional gifts of learning and lucidity to this project."--Lawrence Kramer, author of Musical Meaning: Toward a Critical History
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Required reading for anyone interested in art music,
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This review is from: Essays on Music (Paperback)
Finally, Adorno's major writings on music are available in a single, handsome volume with expert translations, copious footnotes from the editor, and illuminating editorial introductions. This collection contains the most important and influential essays and although it's not complete, this is probably the only Adorno collection a music student/scholar will need. Of course no musicologist should be without certain books such as "The Philosophy of New Music", but as far as the essays go, this is the big one. I've read some from "Sound Figures" and "Quasi una fantasia" and they're great, but I'd recommend them for hardcore Adorno fanatics or specialists only.
For the most part, the translations are very readable. They may not always achieve the level of Robert Hullot-Kentor's beautiful translations, but they straighten out the dense German prose and provide a good degree of specificity. Adorno is difficult enough without having to deal with awkward wordings. Susan Gillespie has done a great service for readers everywhere. If you're looking at this, you probably know you're getting into and what to expect. This is essential reading - everyone involved in music should be required to read at least a few of these essays.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You don't have to adore him to appreciate his contribution to 20th-century thought,
By Samuel Chell (Kenosha,, WI United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Essays on Music (Paperback)
Though I can't say I've ever been sympathetic to Adorno's views, he's always been the source I go to when relating music to politics. So-called "free jazz" is enjoying a revival internationally, so much so that the majority of live music reviews that I edit for a jazz website speak glibly and naively about the greater "freedom" of this "new" music (which actually appeared over 50 years ago, or about half-way through the telescoped history of jazz) and as a welcome escape from "the tradition." My role is not to correct or criticize but to teach, and Adorno at least holds forth the possibility of opening minds to the meaning of words like tradition and anarchyl, creativity and invention (they're not the same), and free choice vs. unlimited freedom. Although naivete and ignorance often win the day (it's much easier for a writer to describe the visual choreography of "free jazz" artists than the invisible architecture of a Charlie Parker solo), Adorno has on occasion opened up minds to some important questions about music, culture and politics. When he fails to promote further thought upon the subject, I simply accede to the label that has become my scarlet letter: "he's a traditionalist!" (Thank goodness, there are some of us left. Traditions are the most ephemeral, fragile, deconstructible of all human fabrications. But they're preferable to the alternative, and some of them--like playing notes instead of raw emotions on your horn--still make a lot of sense. Also, traditions assure the academization of a subject (literature and canons, film and auteur theory and, for a while, jazz and race). By contrast, freedom might get you a gig but not tenure.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Adorno,
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This review is from: Essays on Music (Paperback)
An outstanding compilation of Adorno's writings on music and aesthetics with very helpful background information and commentary.
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As with a number of other philosopher-aestheticians, Adorno addressed questions about music's fundamental nature, which for him, as for others, invited consideration of musical meaning; the question of meaning in turn invited speculation about music's relation to language, the subject of the essay "MUSIC LANGUAGE, AND COMPOSITION" (1956; this voulume, pp. 113-26). Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
regressive listening, musical objectivity, structural listening, extent that music, regressive listeners, exact imagination, musique informelle, plugging mechanism, signifying language, jazz subject, communal music, symphonic theme, studying popular music, vulgar music, free atonality, musical commodities, radio symphony, musical consumption, live symphony, formal schemata, jazz practice, salon music, thematic work, newer music, elemental type Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Richard Strauss, Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg, Walter Benjamin, Radio Project, Max Paddison, Ninth Symphony, Cambridge University Press, Columbia University, Richard Wagner, Karl Kraus, University of California Press, World War, National Socialism, Adorno's Aesthetics of Music, Fifth Symphony, Music Appreciation Hour, European Scholar, University of Minnesota Press, Die Meistersinger, Locating Music, Max Weber, Paul Whiteman, Third Reich New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
As with a number of other philosopher-aestheticians, Adorno addressed questions about music's fundamental nature, which for him, as for others, invited consideration of musical meaning; the question of meaning in turn invited speculation about music's relation to language, the subject of the essay "MUSIC LANGUAGE, AND COMPOSITION" (1956; this voulume, pp. 113-26). Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
regressive listening, musical objectivity, structural listening, extent that music, regressive listeners, exact imagination, musique informelle, plugging mechanism, signifying language, jazz subject, communal music, symphonic theme, studying popular music, vulgar music, free atonality, musical commodities, radio symphony, musical consumption, live symphony, formal schemata, jazz practice, salon music, thematic work, newer music, elemental type Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Richard Strauss, Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg, Walter Benjamin, Radio Project, Max Paddison, Ninth Symphony, Cambridge University Press, Columbia University, Richard Wagner, Karl Kraus, University of California Press, World War, National Socialism, Adorno's Aesthetics of Music, Fifth Symphony, Music Appreciation Hour, European Scholar, University of Minnesota Press, Die Meistersinger, Locating Music, Max Weber, Paul Whiteman, Third Reich New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 169
books:
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51
books
cite this book:
See all 51 books citing this book
- Adorno's Aesthetic Theory: The Redemption of Illusion (Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought) by Lambert Zuidervaart on 15 pages
- The Handbook of Critical Theory by David Rasmussen on 12 pages
- Adorno's Aesthetics of Music by Max Paddison on 9 pages
- The Semblance of Subjectivity: Essays in Adorno's Aesthetic Theory (Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought) by Tom Huhn on 9 pages
- Frankfurt School Reader: The Postwar Years by Andrew Arato on 7 pages
See all 169 books this book cites
- The Cambridge Companion to Adorno (Cambridge Companions to Philosophy) by Tom Huhn on 9 pages
- Roll over Adorno: Critical Theory, Popular Culture, Audiovisual Media (S U N Y Series in Postmodern Culture) by Robert Miklitsch on 4 pages
- Literary Music: Writing Music in Contemporary Fiction by Stephen Benson on page 37, page 108, and Back Matter
- After Adorno: Rethinking Music Sociology by Tia DeNora in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Musical Symbolism in the Operas of Debussy and Bartï¿1/2k: Trauma, Gender, and the Unfolding of the Unconscious by Elliott Antokoletz in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
See all 51 books citing this book
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