Neoclassicism in Music: From the Genesis of the Concept Through the Schoenberg/Stravinsky Polemic [Hardcover]

Scott Messing (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1996

This historical and critical study of "neoclassicism" in music, covers the genesis of the concept in France in the 1870s through to the Schoenberg/Stravinsky polemic. It provides a broad cultural context for the investigation of its origins and then looks in turn at Wagner and the French reaction to him; Saint-Saens, d'Indy, Debussy, Ravel and their French contemporaries; Germany and France in the decade which includes the World War I, with special reference to Thomas Mann and Ferrucio Busoni, and to Jean Cocteau and the "New Simplicity"; and Igor Stravinsky, the composer most frequently cited in connection with this term.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Scott Messing is a good digger. He successfully unearths the cultural politics out of which nouveau classicisme (in German, Klassizitat) began to emerge - not as nostalgia, and long before the Great War... He demonstrates the connections between (neo)classicism and youth culture, (neo)classicism and cultural elitism, (neo)classicism and authoritarianism, (neo)classicism and the politics of exclusion. He knows how (neo)classicism relates to `decadence'. His book, in short, is a breakthrough in culturally informed music historiography. The fact that in five years it has not managed to attract interest commensurate with its deserts...(is largely) the result of some long-standing academic biases. --19th Century Music --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 215 pages
• Publisher: University of Rochester Press (April 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1878822667
• ISBN-13: 978-1878822666
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,643,988 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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