Franz Schubert: Music and Belief [Hardcover]

Leo Black (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 4, 2003

Remarkable new study...Its central submission, that we have hitherto disregarded or misinterpreted the most profound intuitions of a unique composer, certainly carries conviction. And even after one reading there are already musical passages that this Schubert enthusiast find himself hearing in quite a new way. Bayan Northcott, BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE A sensitive and richly allusive commentary... likely to change the way we listen to certain works. Brian Newbould.The old stereotypes of Schubert as Bohemian artist and unselfconscious creator have been replaced over the past half-century with a picture of a difficult man in difficult times. The author aims to redress the balance, concentrating firstly on works where Schubert's beliefs are clearly expressed (masses, other religious music, songs amounting to Geistliche Lieder). This also prompts an examination of instrumental masterpieces (Unfinished and Great C Major Symphonies, and the Wanderer Fantasy), which show that Schubert's religious side encompasses awe and terror as well as wonder. Schubert's `complete voice' is thus clearly heard, rather than the sombre one currently emphasised in both literature and concert.LEO BLACK is a former BBC chief producer for music.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Remarkable new study. BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE (Bayan Northcott) A thoroughly convincing study of the music, beautifully and unpretentiously written... Excellent study does memorable justice to the composer. CLASSIC FM An important and absorbing addition to the canon of Schubert literature. THE GRAMOPHONE (This) book is an invaluable addition to Schubert studies, not only as a treasure trove for the academic, but also for the performing musician.... The author is clearly a musicologist of the highest order, but he also proves to be a philosopher of insight and generosity, and it is here that his genius lies.... Leo Black has written a masterpiece and a monument. Robert Tear in THE OLDIE

About the Author

LEO BLACK is a former BBC chief producer for music.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 226 pages
• Publisher: Boydell Press (December 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 184383023X
• ISBN-13: 978-1843830238
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,342,834 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Insights, January 9, 2007

By 

Jeff Wolf (Abilene, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Franz Schubert: Music and Belief (Paperback)

Anyone who knows enough about Schubert to look at this review knows the composer was not a conventionally religious person -- which is hardly the same as saying Schubert's struggles with the human spirit had nothing to do with his artistic creations. Leo Black, the longtime BBC chief producer for music, draws on a lifetime of intimacy with Schubert's compositions to deliver a point of view probably only he could provide. Offering neither a narrow, dusty study of Schubert's "sacred" music nor a bland, comprehensive summary of Schubert's entire musical output, Black instead shows how the genuinely spiritual elements in Schubert's music appear and reappear and inform even many of his "secular" masterpieces. Black's individual insights are far too many to mention, but among them, I must thank him for encouraging me to hear and learn Schubert's marvelous "Gesang der Geister uber den Wassern" (D. 714) and for recommending the lieder recordings of German baritone Siegfried Lorenz. I can't imagine anyone who already appreciates Schubert not appreciating this book and, thus, appreciating Schubert even more.