Franz Schubert: Sexuality, Subjectivity, Song (Cambridge Studies in Music Theory and Analysis) [Hardcover]

Lawrence Kramer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 13, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0521582105 | ISBN-13: 978-0521582100

This is the first book to examine Schubert's songs as active shaping forces in the culture of their era rather than as mere reflections of it. Responding to rising new forms of social organisation, Schubert discovered that songs could serve as a medium for shuffling and reshuffling the basic building blocks of identity and desire, especially sexual desire. His songs project a kaleidoscopic array of unexpected human types, all of whom are eligible for a sympathetic response, even the strangest and most disconcerting. Schubert sought to validate these subjective types without subordinating them to a central social or sexual norm. The book describes and contextualises this process and tracks it concretely in a wide variety of songs. Combining close attention to both music and poetry, the book addresses both specialists and non-specialists in a lively, accessible style unburdened by excessive jargon.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[The book's] two strengths are its dispelling of still lingering preconceptions of the Romantic period and its sense of provocation which necessarily works hard our own attention to Schubert's songs."--Hilary Finch

Book Description

The first book to examine Schubert's songs as active shaping forces in the culture of their era rather than a mere reflection of it. His songs project a kaleidoscopic array of unexpected human types, all of whom are eligible for a sympathetic response. Kramer shows how Schubert sought to validate these types in his songs.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 195 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (June 13, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521582105
• ISBN-13: 978-0521582100
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,562,288 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Yet another obscure intellectual romp with Lawrence Kramer, November 21, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Franz Schubert: Sexuality, Subjectivity, Song (Cambridge Studies in Music Theory and Analysis) (Hardcover)

Lawrence Kramer's latest book suffers the same disease as his other books and articles on classical music suffer. Much of the points he tries to make are lost in the highfalutin language he enjoys using. The topics of his book are complex already, and he doesn't make it any easier on the reader to understand by writing in such a distanced manner. While this is a text aimed for scholars in the field, Kramer could have broadened his audience by making it more accesible for the apprentices, not just the masters. Kramer's writing seems almost exclusive, as if he is holding his knowledge just above the reach of most people, and enjoying himself as he does this as well.

Getting past the language, many of Kramer's points are not supported by a wealth of evidence. He makes points that lack credibility without enough support. Kramer seems to expect the readers to take him at his word, which is a dangerous thing to do, considering that he is far from the final word on Schubert. Kramer's opinions are NOT enough to make opinion fact, though he seems to think this is the case.

If you buy this book for leisure or for class, be sure to read carefully, or else you'll get tricked into believeing Kramer's assertions.

Using big words to describe a complex topic does not magically transform his opinions into fact, nor does it make a scholar more scholarly. It compromises what possibly could have been an interesting book, dooming it before it even started.