The New Grove Schubert (The New Grove Series) (Paperback)

~ Maurice J. E. Brown (Author), Eric Sams (Contributor) "Vienna, in Schubert's day, consisted of an inner city bounded to the north-east by the Danube Canal and enclosed by a rampart; these enclosing walls..." (more)
Key Phrases: unspecified voices, lasst mich, iii xvi, Die Zauberharfe, Piano Trio, Der Wanderer (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The most remarkable composer of song literature in the history of Western music, Franz Schubert sometimes gets overlooked in favor of his more bombastic contemporaries. 1997 marks the bicentennial of his birth; record companies and concert programmers, who love such pegs, have accordingly scheduled loads of Schubert for the year. You can find some useful insights into the composer and his work with this biography, a slightly expanded version of the essay written for the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Also helpful is the detailed chronicle of his music, arranged by type and date of composition. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

From reviews of the first edition:"a model of critical biography ... an essential vade mecum for all Schubertians'"--TLS
"a book which should open many ears and minds to Schubert's true musical stature"--The Musical Times
"admirable"--Andrew Porter, The Observer
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 186 pages
• Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co. (October 17, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039331586X
• ISBN-13: 978-0393315868
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #563,270 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Splendid Guide, September 9, 2004

By	ymatsui4 "Y. Matsui" (Tanashi, Tokyo Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Schubert (Master Musicians Series) (Paperback)

In his late years, John Reed accomplished a magnificent task: writing and revising this book. Though a smallish book, he successfully compiled critical evaluation, date (latest estimate), circumstance, and future effect of an great numbers of important (often unduly underrated) works of Schubert. His view is in general quite well-balanced and persuasive. I think this book is the most reliable guide book for Schubert's supreme music. Strongly recommended.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice intro. Very valuable list of all Schubert's works in the back., November 9, 2005

By	Craig Matteson (Ann Arbor, MI) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians is now best available online (at a hefty subscription fee). A version was published in 1980 in more than two dozen volumes. It was a magnificent achievement, but almost immediately errors were found, disputes were had, and at least one article was guilty of a hidden insult that was discovered too late. Some of the biographical articles were so good that they were excerpted into a series of short books, this being one of them.

If you are interested in the life of Schubert, one of our greatest composers, and one of the very greatest song writers of all time, this book provides a nice introduction to his life and work. Especially valuable is the list of all his known works (and a list of the spurious compositions as well), and an index of his songs by name. This genius died at 31 having written more than 600 songs and at least 200 other works including large symphonies, quartets, and even a couple of for the stage.

The bibliography is especially useful because it discusses important articles on Schubert by genre, that is important articles and books on his symphonies, or quartets, or what have you. This book can only be an introduction, you will have to go further to really appreciate the greatness of this composer who died so ridiculously young.

It was written by Maurice J.E. Brown who died before it was completed and finished by his friend, the wonderful Eric Sams (who died at 78 in September 2004, to our loss).