Book Description
Beethoven's piano sonatas form one of the most important collections of works in the whole history of music. Spanning several decades of his life as a composer, the sonatas soon came to be seen as the first body of substantial serious works for piano suited to performance in large concert halls seating hundreds of people. In this comprehensive and authoritative guide, Charles Rosen places the works in context and provides an understanding of the formal principles involved in interpreting and performing this unique repertoire, covering such aspects as sonata form, phrasing, and tempo, as well as the use of pedal and trills. In the second part of his book, he looks at the sonatas individually, from the earliest works of the 1790s through the sonatas of Beethoven's youthful popularity of the early 1800s, the subsequent years of mastery, the years of stress (1812-1817), and the last three sonatas of the 1820s. Composed as much for private music-making as public recital, Beethoven's sonatas have long formed a bridge between the worlds of the salon and the concert hall. For today's audience, Rosen has written a guide that brings out the gravity, passion, and humor of these works and will enrich the appreciation of a wide range of readers, whether listeners, amateur musicians, or professional pianists.
Customer Reviews:
con brio.......2007-03-09
This is a nice read for hard-core Beethoven-heads. It'll change the way you approach playing the pieces, or at the least change the way you listen to them. There's nothing wrong with just listening to the music and absorbing it, not worrying about why a particular change is brilliant or why it should affect you. It's like watching a movie and just letting the movie touch you however it does, not worrying about why the director chose a particular camera angle or what some set detail might be referencing. But it is hard for modern listeners to realize just how much some of Beethoven's compositions broke against the assumptions of the time. When the harmonies pivot on thirds, for example, modulating through a series of keys before landing where the ear expects it, it doesn't necessarily hold the same tension to modern ears. Wagner, as well as every composer of cinematic background music, have now manipulated Beethoven's techniques to the point of emotional burlesque. But you get extra credit for being the first, and still the best, to do it.
But the best parts of reading Rosen- a scholar whose words are mostly measured- are those brief moments when he gushes. When he expands on the revolutionary character of the music. When he stops intellectualizing about music and briefly speaks as an admirer in awe. Compositional theory can only go so far, after all. Eventually you give yourself over to the sheer transcendence of this brilliant music.
It reminds me of a calculus teacher I had once. He was just about the slowest, driest lecturer I had ever had. But one day, when discussing the fact that the derivative of sine is cosine, his gaze softened. His voice choked for a moment, "this is when math becomes something more than logic, something more beautiful. There is nothing in the Universe that says the derivative of a sine wave will be a cosine wave. It didn't have to be..." I nice little warble of emotion broke through and I briefly cared about calculus.
New Testament for pianists.......2006-02-24
Any pianist, amateur or professional, who is serious about playing the piano, particularly the Beethoven sontats, must not only have this book but also devour it. Charles Rosen has willingly shared his incredible intellect, musicianship, research and pianistic knowledge and understanding. To have someone of his stature and accomplishments willing to share a lifetime of performing experience with us is truly remarkable. A MUST HAVE for all pianists.
Valuable guide to some of the best piano music ever written.......2004-10-06
There are a number of well-known books about Beethoven's piano sonatas. If one simply likes listening to the sonatas but has no intention of playing them, I wouldn't recommend this book, nor the ones by Tovey or Drake. I'd suggest reading about them in a book about Beethoven's life, or maybe the chapter on them in Kentner's book on the piano. But if you enjoy playing any or all of these sonatas, yes, you'll enjoy this book, with its emphasis on simplicity of style (which Rosen explains to us is the advice of Proust's grandmother).
While there's good advice on phrasing, pedaling, and trills, the most interesting part of any book on the Beethoven sonatas is going to be about tempos. This one is no exception. The author points out that it is not illegal to play a piece of music at the wrong tempo. One won't get a speeding ticket or a fine or a jail sentence for doing so. Still, even if a tempo seems comfortable to us, it may not be anything like what Beethoven had in mind, so it is useful to see what the correct tempos appear to be. I like the fact that Rosen tries to discover what those who read Beethoven's tempo descriptions would have concluded at the time they were written, as opposed to relying on what Czerny, Moscheles, Schindler, or others might have said long afterwards.
Rosen's comments are backed up with excerpts on an accompanying CD (played by Giulio Ricci). I think these add substantially to the value of this book.
And of course, if you play the piano but haven't tried the Beethoven sonatas, you are missing something truly special.
Not top-drawer Rosen, but a useful guide.......2004-05-12
Charles Rosen by now is one of the foremost writers on music, especially piano music, of the Classic and Romantic eras. His books _The Classical Style_ and _The Romantic Generation_ are classics of their kind.
Inevitably, given Rosen's prolific output and its specialization, there is a slight feeling of deja vu about this volume on Beethoven's sonatas for piano. Rosen is laboring under the shade of such great writers on Beethoven as Donald Tovey. Nevertheless, the book offers fresh perspectives and many stimulating new ideas in its opening section, which views the sonatas through general topics such as "Phrasing" and "Tempo." The second section, consisting of commentaries on the individual works, more clearly apes Tovey and here, considered word for word, the older writer probably offers more detailed and practical insights for the serious piano student into the actual performance of these great works than Rosen. Nevertheless, this book is a valuable addition to any collection of writings on music.
Music of a Lifetime.......2002-07-20
Beethoven's 32 sonatas are the glory of music written for the piano. They are music of Beethoven's lifetime in that their composition spans the period from his early days in Vienna to near the end of his life. In another sense, Beethoven's piano sonatas are the music of my lifetime. I first was exposed to them as an early adolescent through concerts, records, and my own early attempts at playing the easier of them. Today, all too many years later (I am 55), I still try to play the sonatas and I go to recitals. I listen to them on CDs now instead of records. And I read about them, particularly Charles' Rosen's edudite and eloquent study. With short periods away, Beethoven's piano sonatas are probably the most lasting interest I have had in my life.
Rosen was inspired to write this book by giving a performance of the sonata cycle and to lecture on Beethoven at a summer music festival and school. The book is, on one level, a continuation of Rosen's study, "The Classical Style" with application to the Beethoven sonatas. The book is marked by its wide-ranging references. There is a great deal of specific discussion of Beethoven's piano sonatas, of course, but the book is enriched immeasurably by examples from and discussions Mozart, Haydn, and Schubert, as their works are compared and contrasted with Beethoven's.
The book is divided into two Parts. Part I, "The Tradition" begins with a discussion of the nature and development of the sonata form. Rosen describes well how Beethoven's sonatas have, until very recent years, been a bridge from the world of performance of classical music in the home to its appreciation in the concert hall. This was certainly the case with me.
The book discusses various ways in which the sonatas have been interpreted over the years and attempts to find that elusive quarry -- the manner in which the composer would have interpreted the sonatas. Rosen devotes a great deal of attention to questions of tempo and questions of phrasing, with examples from Beethoven's predecessors. He concludes that modern performers place more emphasis on a smooth legato style than would have been the case in Beethoven's day and that Beethoven's tempos would be somewhat different from those at which we now hear the music. In some cases, tempos would have been faster, but I get the impression that in the main tempos were taken at a slower pace. The book comes with a CD recorded by Guiilio Caesare Ricci which illustrates helpfully many of Rosen's musical examples. Rosen stresses that there is no single way of performing these complex, wonderful pieces of music. His discussion of performance practices still is highly useful in understanding the sonatas and in listening to them.
The second part of the book consists of a chronological discussion of each of the 32 sonatas. The discussion is arranged in five parts: a)the early 18th Century sonatas (the sonatas from opus 2 to opus 22); b) the sonatas of Beethoven growing in popularity and independent style (the sonatas from opus 26 to opus 28) c) the sonatas in which Beethoven attained mastery (the sonatas from opus 31 through opus 81a) d). the sonatas composed during Beethoven's years of stress and personal difficulty (the opus 90 and opus 101 sonatas and the "Hammerklavier" sonata, opus 106 ); and e)the last sonatas (opus 109. 110,111)
In each instance Rosen offers some general comments on the character of each sonata followed by detailed thematic, harmonic and pianistic discussions.
I found it useful in this section of the book to read first Rosen's discussion of the sonatas with which I was most familiar, either by attempting to play them or by repeated hearings over the years. Thus I began with Rosen's discussion of the opus 26 sonata and followed it the the "Waldstein", the "Pathetique" and the opus 90 sonata. I then went through Rosen's discussion work by work as it appeared in the book. There is much to be learned, and Rosen's discussion will be useful in listening to the sonatas and following along with the score or with Rosen's discussion.
It is worth noting that Rosen spends a great deal of time on sonatas which are relatively little performed, particularly the opus 54 (which is given in full on the CD that comes with the book) and with the opus 31 no. 1 sonata. His discussion of these work illuminates them and illuminates Beethoven's output. He also gives thorough discussions of more familiar works particularly the "Moonlight" sonata and the Hammerklavier -- with respect to the latter, he follows-up upon the lengthy analysis of this work in The Classical Style.
Beethoven's piano sonatas are indeed music of a lifetime. If you love them, by playing or by hearing them, you will love this book. If you want to learn about them, this book will be an outstanding guide.
Customer Reviews:
Great textbook.......2001-10-14
I am a student, and I am currently using this book. This book continues on from the first volume in a successful way. It makes learning Neopolitan chords a little easier; it explains everything clearly, and allows the student to apply it in the right way. Good informative book.
Book Description
Volume 1 of authoritative Schenker edition includes Op. 2, Nos. 1-3; Op. 7, Op. 10, Nos. 1-3; Op. 13, op. 14, Nos. 1-2; Op. 22; Op. 26; Op. 27, Nos. 1-2; Op. 28.
Customer Reviews:
Awesome Edition For the Cheap Price.......2006-09-15
I'm a piano major in college and I know several people who own this edition and have in soem cases for years and they're all still in very good condition for their age. Surprisingly, it holds up well over time and the pieces are excellently presented...I've never heard any editing complaints.
I myself own the Henley Urtext edition of the volume 2, but own teh Dover for the volume 1. If you're strapped for cash in your music shopping *which I have been many times*, this is a great choice!
Most bang for the buck.......2006-08-18
I might be biased because I almost exclusively buy Dover editions of piano music, but the LVB Sonata volumes are one of the better ones.
Firstly, it's clear that you can't Dover on value. It'd cost more to photocopy the entire book than to buy it. I like the binding of the books, as they are well-made. I do have some trouble keeping the pages open in the thicker books (esp. the Scriabin Etudes book), but I can't complain.
Secondly, the notes are printed as a good size, and notation/fingering is good. I like Heinrich Schenker's notation and commentary, and I feel that it's very helpful for the amateur pianist for suggestions. There are some fingerings that I don't necessarily agree with, but it's unobstrusive enough to not bother me. I'd rather have some suggestion than none at all.
For Beethoven Sonatas, Dover is a good choice, unless you'd prefer Henle Urtext, which is at least 2x or 3x the price of this. I would avoid the Schirmer editions, as they butcher the markings.
Has stood the test of time.......2006-01-29
As the other reviewers have noted, this book is printed with very high quality and attention to detail. I've owned mine for almost 20 years -- over that time, it has the the most-used and best-wearing piano book I've owned. As others have noted, it also lies flat, the print is very clear, and it's a total bargain.
Great edition.......2005-11-20
To be quite honest, perhaps I would give it a 4.5 star rather than 5 stars. First off, I'd like to praise the accuracy this volumn presents. Though, it isn't an Urtext edition, but I've compared some to an Urtext and surprise, surprise, even the padeling isn't much deterred from one. Also, it isn't heavily edited, and to me, the little editing that it has, actually is helpful. Now on to the reason why I subtracted a .5 star off is because though the fingerings are there, but some of them are quite horrible and if anything, complicated the flow of the piece, that, if one isn't attentive to the peice might just ruin it. The worst is, a mere change of fingering can probably correct the problem. So my advice is to have your teacher check the fingerings and make corrections. Of course, those kind of mistakes aren't abundant, but here I should give an example of bad fingering for Sonata no.17 "Tempest". When one plays the triplets, instead of playing along what the book suggests, just play all triplets with your right hand and have your left hand cross over. This alternative fingering isn't a secret, many people know it and find it better. I wonder why doesn't the book at least give alternative fingerings?
But it is jaw-breakingly cheap and accurate. If I were to make a choice to buy it again, I certainly would.
By the way, I find all Dover bindings to be on the horrible side. This book, along with my many other Dover scores are already broken in half (hey, it's like having two books with a price of one! I kid, it's like a book broken in half that's not suppose to be.) So just be prepared to see this great Dover edition break... and you can't do anything about it.
Cheap, Well-Printed, Good Fingerings, Schenker's Footnotes.......2005-02-01
This is a reprint of one volume of the two volume set of the legendary 1923 Universal Editions set of all 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas in Heinrich Schenker's scrupulous edition, complete with his footnotes and an explanatory introduction. Physically the book (and its companion comprising the rest of the sonatas) is well done. It lies flat, the binding doesn't crack (or at least mine hasn't in several years' usage), the printing is legible, the fingerings are easy to read and generally pretty apt. This book and its companion have had a lot of use and they're still in pretty good shape. And, of course, they provide many hours of pleasure at the piano.
Perhaps best of all is that Dover's price won't break anyone's bank. I don't know how Dover does it, but I have bought many of their scores--not just Beethoven--with general satisfaction.
Average customer rating:
- A delightfully entertaining book!
- Love comes when least expected
- Wonderfully romantic and lyrical
- Another Winner
- Coffee Sonata Kept Me Up All Night
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Coffee Sonata
Gun Brooke
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ASIN: 1933110414 |
Customer Reviews:
A delightfully entertaining book!.......2007-01-04
In a small town, everyone knows everyone. Or do they?
Michaela Stone, owner of the Sea Stone Café, is a woman thrown more than one hard knock by life. Vivian Harding is the "Diva" of the Opera World. Michaela and Vivian are two women who would most likely have never met were it not for the mysterious circumstances that brought Vivian back to East Quay. What were those circumstances? It seems no one is telling, least of all the key player in the mystery.
Eryn Goddard, a reporter for the local paper, hopes to discover why one of East Quay's famous children has suddenly returned. Manon Belmont is the rich and sophisticated head of the illustrious and well-known Belmont Foundation. Manon has an extreme distrust of the press, which sets her and Eryn's first meeting off to a rocky start. So imagine their surprise when the two women discover they are neighbors in the same building.
Eryn nevertheless sets out to befriend the seemingly aloof socialite but finds one roadblock after another thrown up in her face with each attempt. Manon makes it painfully obvious that there are things about her that are off topic...especially things about her past. Why? What could have happened to make such distrust so focused? What happens when secrets held are in danger of being discovered?
The guiding force of life soon sends the four women on the paths chosen for them. Vivian and Michaela begin to discover that age is only a state of mind when love enters the picture as Manon and Eryn decide that maybe having faith in each other can take them a long way towards a possible romance and the four of them discover that friendship could be the key to it all.
Coffee Sonata, a wonderful mix of romance and drama with a smidgeon of intrigue thrown in, takes the reader on a journey with two different sets of women. Each woman has been dealt different sets of cards by life. What happens when all the cards decide to return to the same deck in one small town? Take a load off, pull up a stool, have a cup of java at Michaela's café and enjoy another tremendously entertaining story woven by author Gun Brooke, who gifted the reading world first with the engaging book, Course of Action.
Love comes when least expected.......2006-08-23
In the village of East Quay, Rhode Island, where everyone knows your name and your history, it is difficult to keep secrets.
Vivian, a celebrated diva, unexpectedly returns to her home of East Quay after almost 40 years. She had vowed she would never return again but her friend Manon has presuaded her to do a benefit concert. For Vivien, it seems fitting to give her farewell concert in her home town. Everyone is shocked to learn of Vivian's retirement since she at the top of her singing form. What is Vivian's secret?
Manon is the head of a philandropic foundation her grandfather began. It is the center of her life. She has no family and her closeted life-style has made her lonely. Will she ever take a chance on love and with whom?
Michaela "Mike" Stone owns a cafe in town. She began her coffee shop with nothing and now has a thriving business. However, because of her past and her gender, she is yet to be asked to become a member of any local business organizations. It irks Mike and makes her think she can never escape her tragic past.
Erin Goddard is a writer for the East Quay newspaper. She is a talented reporter and offers from big town papers have come her way but she prefers to live her life in East Quay, even if her boss is a bigot and incompetant and her parents non-forgiving of her lesbian life-style.
How can these four different women become friends let alone two couples? It begins with coffee and ends with so much more. Music is a passion for all of them. Sometimes the person you least expect to is the one who steals your heart.
"Coffee Sonata" has a complicated plot and complicated characters. To coin a phrase "expect the unexpected". Unlike many novels in the romance genre, this book has you guessing all the way through.
I enjoyed it immensely and I look forward to reading Ms. Brooke's other published works as well.
Wonderfully romantic and lyrical.......2006-06-25
This author's first novel 'Course of Action' is a favorite so I began reading this novel with admittedly high expectations. By the last page I (along with the 4 women in the novel) were completely satisfied.
The novel has wonderful moments of deep emotional impact and builds slowly from the first chapter and doesn't rush to finish. Laugh out loud humor is interlaced throughout out. And the passionate loving is beautifully written and always moves the story forward.
I would add how beautifully the music that runs throughout the novel accentuated the lyrical storytelling. The use of Gershwin's 'Summertime' from Porgy & Bess was a wonderful choice at the moment in the story and I am still humming it.
Wonderful imagery - 'Early morning mist caressed the ocean.'
This from the publisher's web site -
Nothing exciting ever happens in East Quay, a quaint New England coastal town. Not until its most celebrated daughter returns for one last performance.
Four women, Manon, Eryn, Vivian and Mike, whose lives unexpectedly intersect in a small town by the sea share one thing in common -- they all have secrets. Despite tragedy, past and present, each learns that life holds more than they dared dream.
Manon Belmont, socialite and president of a wealthy foundation, leads a closeted life. She thrives helping others, but denies herself happiness for reasons she shares with no one. Nothing is the same after she meets Eryn Goddard, a reporter who has lost track of her dream of a grand writing career years ago. Eryn is suddenly rescued from her mundane assignments at the local paper when Vivian Harding, East Quay's only world famous celebrity, returns for a farewell performance. Vivian carries with her a secret that she fears has not only ended her career, but will also destroy her life. She finds an unexpected source of understanding in Michaela "Mike" Stone, a street smart and brilliant café owner. Mike, in turn, works hard developing her business, and even harder at overcoming the shadows of her past. She feels utterly protective of Vivian, but will she dare to open her heart again?
Another Winner.......2006-06-22
Award winning author Gun Brooke has given us another delightful romance with Coffee Sonata. I was so totally immersed in this story that I read it in one sitting.
Brooke builds anticipation as she introduces us to her four main characters. We want to know who each will fall in love with and how they will come together, and Brooke does not disappoint us. Vivian Harding suddenly comes home to East Quay to give her last performance as an opera singer after staying away for years. Her friend, deeply closeted socialite Manon Belmont, has arranged for Vivian to perform a benefit concert. Eryn Goddard is a top notch reporter covering the diva's return when she attends a press conference staged by Manon for Vivian. She is captivated by both Manon and Vivian. Mike Stone is the owner of a coffee shop and spends so much time there that her home is in the secluded basement below it. Mike seems the most unlikely to fit in with this group, but Brooke makes Mike's story the lynchpin of Coffee Sonata. These four women are not searching for romance. They are not even looking for friendship, but all of them find both in this most unusual romance.
Each of these characters is intriguing, attractive and likeable, but they are heartbreaking too as the reader soon learns when their pasts and their deeply buried secrets are slowly and methodically revealed. Brooke does not give the reader predictable plot points, but builds a fascinating set of subplots and surprises around the romances. On top of this, we are treated to some very erotic scenes too. The author develops two romances within the book, and the story floats effortlessly back and forth between the two. She blends their lives, their friendships, and their loves with an easy writing style. This is most impressive since this is only Brooke's third published novel. This style also makes the reader care about the story's characters.
It may be an understatement to say that Brooke has improved with each of her books since Course of Action, her debut novel, and Protector of the Realm recently won 2006 GCLS awards. With Coffee Sonata, the author continues her award winning storytelling and gives us a charming tale.
Coffee Sonata Kept Me Up All Night.......2006-06-20
Gun Brooke is a talented story teller who has created four interesting women - two older, two younger. Coffee Sonata is the story of how these four women come together to form friendships and love interests. The four women are from very different backgrounds. Brooke has the talent to make the reader believe that a world reknowned opera singer could fall for a coffeehouse owner and that a rich, sophisticated businesswoman would fall for a small-town reporter.
The connecting force for these women is music - not coffee as the title would indicate. It was in Brooke's descriptions of the music that they create together that I think she failed. Music is, under the best of circumstances, difficult to describe adequately without comparing it to another piece of music. Since the women were creating something new, Brooke had nothing to compare it to, and thus failed to put the music in the reader's mind.
It would be interesting to read a sequel to this book to see how well the women fare in their new relationships.
Book Description
For over 150 years the concept of "sonata form" lay at the heart of European instrumental music. Now, in Elements of Sonata Theory, musicologist James Hepokoski and music theorist Warren Darcy rethink its basic principles. Considering not only sonatas but also chamber music, symphonies, overtures, and concertos, their study outlines a new, updated paradigm for understanding the compositional choices present in the instrumental works of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and their contemporaries. It also lays down an indispensable foundation for those working with later adaptations and deformations of these musical structures in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Combining insightful research and analysis, contemporary genre theory, and provocative hermeneutic turns, these original perspectives provide a creative approach to the exploration of meaning within a familiar repertory. The authors map out the background terrain of historical norms at work in this music and provide a flexible mode of analysis for perceiving and assessing what happens--or what does not happen--in any given piece. They guide readers through the formatting possibilities within each compositional space in sonata form, while also introducing new ideas for understanding the ordering of musical modules over an entire movement and, more broadly, over an entire multimovement composition. The product of over a dozen years of research, Elements of Sonata Theory is the most thorough study of the sonata ever undertaken. It serves as a challenge both to students and to experienced musicologists and music theorists to rethink how sonata form is best understood.
Customer Reviews:
The Last Word on "Sonata-Form".......2007-06-27
As a pianist and music-lover, I have long been fascinated by the movement structure called "sonata-form." "Sonata-form" is the structure of the first movements (and many other movements) of almost every major piece of classical music from the Classical Era. Now a clear and comprehensive analysis of "sonata-form" has arrived, in the book "Elements of Sonata Theory."
The most surprising feature to me is that this book is quite readable. Readability is not something that can be taken for granted in the turgid literature of music theory. Therefore, the book is of value to a layperson like myself and not only to specialists. (The final four chapters, on the concerto version of sonata-form, are more difficult to read, but that is quite minor.) Another surprise to me was that a lot of information in the book was new to me. I have read widely in this field, but I still learned a lot.
Like any first edition, a few questionable statements have slipped in. For example, on p.20 the book implies that after about 1760 it became normal to repeat only the first part (the exposition), and not repeat the second part. Apparently, Mozart was not informed of this normal practice. Mozart called for the repeat of the second part in almost every sonata-form movement in his piano sonatas (28 of 31 sonata-form movements). But this is mere quibbling.
If someone is seriously interested in the subject of "sonata-form," this is the book to get.
Book Description
A collection of advanced piano sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven, urtext edition.
Customer Reviews:
Beethoven is the man!.......2000-09-23
In a snobby music world, where editions like Durand and Henle are too quickly deemed top dog, it's very nice to be able to find an edition like this one for so cheap. It's the urtext, so one has a lot more confidence in this edition than say, the Schirmer edition. (NEVER buy a Beethoven Schirmer if you ever want to play REAL Beethoven!)
Beethoven is always a joy, and the top sonata in this volume is the Pastorale, of course! Get volume 2 if you want to enjoy op. 78 (a favorite) and the Waldstein.
Customer Reviews:
A Perfect Collection.......2000-04-10
This collection defines modern drama. From Ibsen's realistic masterpiece The Wild Duck, to Pirandello's brilliant and revolutionary Six Characters in Search of an Author, to Eugene O'Neill's pitch-perfect character study Long Day's Journey Into Night, this collection is the epitome of modern dramatic literature in all its variations. Even the criticism for each play is brilliant. A definite recommendation for serious readers who haven't read any of these, but want to.
Amazon.com
Reading William H. Gass's fiction is a little like looking at oneself in a fractured mirror: the usual components are all there, but not necessarily in the right places. Take, for example, the title novella of Cartesian Sonata and Other Novellas: here Gass introduces us to Ella Bend, a sensitive clairvoyant married to a rather burdensome husband. But no sooner does Gass get us started with a very conventional opening, ("This is the story of Ella Bend Hess, of how she became clairvoyant and what she was able to see") than he injects himself into it ("Her gift was the gift of the gods … inexplicable and merciless. Marvelous is what I mean. Miraculous. Mysterious? Surely not a word so weak. Yet it has to begin with an m"). It isn't long before Ella becomes a bit player in her own story, the starring role having been appropriated by artful digressions, dizzying streams of consciousness, and Gass's own formidable wordsmithing talents.
The other three novellas in this collection are equally high-concept: a traveling salesman falls in love with his hotel room and refuses to leave; an aging spinster literally loses herself in a line from an Elizabeth Bishop poem; a young boy inexplicably decides to live for revenge. The plots, such as they are, are offbeat enough to catch the interest--what holds it, however, is Gass at play in the fields of the word. Cartesian Sonata will not be to every reader's taste--those who are impatient with absurdity, non sequiturs, and pages and pages of verbal pyrotechnics may want to steer toward more conventional literature. Those who like their fiction liberally laced with equal measures of philosophy and anarchy, however, should give William H. Gass a try.
Book Description
From the writer the Washington Post calls "the finest prose stylist in America," a collection of masterly short fiction-his first in over 30 years
In the words of the late Walker Percy, William Gass is a "totally committed, totally uncompromising, and extraordinarily gifted writer." His latest work is a suite of four novellas that explore Mind, Matter, and God.
In the title story, God is a writer in a constant state of fumble, Mind is a housewife cum modern-day Cassandra, and Matter is-who else?-the helpless and confused husband of Mind. In "Bed and Breakfast," the concept of salvation is explored through material possessions-a collection of kitsch -as a traveling businessman is slowly swamped by the sheer surfeit of matter in a small Illinois town. In "Emma Enters a Sentence of Elizabeth Bishop's," a young woman growing up in rural Iowa finds herself losing touch with the physical world as she loses herself in the work of her favorite poet. And in "The Master of Secret Revenges," God appears in the form of a demon to a young man named Luther, whose progress from devilish youth to satanic manhood is recounted with relish and horror.
A profound exploration of good and evil, philosophy and action, marked by the wit and style that has always defined the work of William Gass.
"Gass once again proves he is one of the few American writers who pens sentences readers can dance in." -Bill Marx
Customer Reviews:
Not as torturous (or tortuous) as The Tunnel.......2001-02-28
I don't know why I torture myself with Gass' fiction, but if I'm gonna be a masochist, I might as well go all the way. Well, this book isn't as full of it as some of Monsieur le Gass' other fiction. There were a couple of stories in here I wanted to hate, but actually ended up liking (Bed & Breakfast, The Master of Secret Revenges). Maybe it's because Willy stopped being pretentious for a minute and wrote a couple of decidedly good stories. Wow, instead of trying to impress himself and the crusty old academics who worship him like Buddha with big words (like consubstantiation and myxomatosis), heavy symbolism (he talks about his 'parts' waaay too much!) and incomprehensible sentence structures (for example: most of gass. is- like this- written like this. yes. gass. write this like this.), he actually just wrote in plain English. I'm impressed; I didn't know he had it in him! Bravo!
Stunning realization of the Cartesian halves........1999-09-24
A stunning realization of the Cartesian halves: the mind (on the one side); the flesh (on the other). All of the Gassian exploration of the marrow of language, metaphor and the life of lyricism is here. But so is his visceral presentation of the flesh, bones and fragile surfaces of the body of one Ella Bend. With the halves (thinking; therefore, being) folding and unfolding into and away from each other. The smell of earth, the abuses of existence, the pull of poetry: its all there. One of the best things I've ever read.
Stunning realizaation of the Cartesian halves........1999-09-24
a stunning realization of the Cartesian halves: the mind (on the one side); the flesh (on the other). All of the Gassian exploration of the marrow of language, metaphor and the life of lyricism is here. But so is his visceral presentation of the flesh, bones and fragile surfaces of the body of one Ella Bend. With the halves (thinking; therefore, being) folding and unfolding into and away from each other. The smell of earth, the abuses of existence, the pull of poetry: its all there. One of the best things I've ever read.
Book Description
Urxtext edition of this complete collection of sonatas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Customer Reviews:
right for the price.......2005-09-13
The scores are generally accurate and I love that it's Urtext and without much editorial suggestions, in fact, there isn't any single writing through out the book, which comes to the reason why it is only three stars: no fingering at all. Other bothersome defects are its bindings (mine's already fallen apart and I've only had it for less than a year.) Also, it doesn't contain the complete sonatas. Lastly, though the scores are generally easy to read, but I did find some faded prints and measures (in fact, a lot of them) that should be spread longer for easy reading are instead squashed together.
I'd buy a more expensive book for better quality instead of this one.
Amazing Book!.......2000-03-30
It's great to see a book with the complete sonatas form Mozart. The score is very accurate and is easy to read. It has a Fac-simile from the original score by Mozart. I love this book! If you like Mozart and know how to play a piano this book is for you!
Amazon.com
Everything you always wanted to know about the sonata, but were afraid to ask, answered at surprising length and with copious musical illustrations. Sonatas are generally thought of as being always organized into exposition, development, and recapitulation, but, writes Rosen, "...it is very dubious that a unique sonata form can be so defined even for a single decade of the late eighteenth-century," and he goes on to prove why it can't. Important reading for the serious musician.
Customer Reviews:
Highly Informative but Flawed.......2007-04-07
First: this book presupposes a reader who can read music well and knows some harmonic theory--if you know what chord V of V is in any key, you're fine; if that looked like Greek or mathematics to you, look elsewhere for a book on sonata form.
That said, if, as I did, you tried to read Rosen's The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and found yourself confused by his discussion of sonata form there, this could be the place to start. Rosen's analysis of the sonata forms (notice the plural) here gives the reader a much more complete and convincing argument for his analysis of sonatas as dramatic conflicts of tonalities (and yes, that's an oversimplification of his analysis, but it'll have to do) rather than the standard explanation of a sonata as the exposition/development/recapitulation of two themes in different keys so many of us received.
Now for the bad news: if Rosen's knowledge of particulars is vast and unimpeachable, his argumentation and methods are iffy, especially at crucial points. Case in point: Rosen dismisses general practice as an explanatory model for why sonata forms developed as they did as relying on "a false psychology of the composition and reception of music." (p. 4) In its place, he wants to put the social history of musical performance and reception at the time of the rise of the sonata forms, which he first employs to devastating polemical effect against an unnamed proponent of the general practice model. Problem is, Rosen's own use of social history depends on unjustified (and sometimes unmentioned) assumptions about putative listeners and performers, so much so that it comes to resemble (if not actually reproduce!) the general practice method he wants to displace. The game is pretty much up when judgments of one composer as a master of a particular technique or aspect of a sonata form start appearing; these only make sense in the context of a general practice model to explain sonata form, and so he's back to doing what he set out to oppose.
So if the book has these methodological problems, why buy it? Why give it three stars? Because Rosen's has such vast and deep knowledge of many particular works, and the price of being able to absorb some of it is having to endure his iffy theorizing. This may be a problem of scholarship in general: the price of ever more exact knowledge is a corresponding difficulty in making meaningful generalizations. This book is a gateway to the enormous wealth of knowledge and experience Rosen has as a musician and for me that more than justifies buying, reading, and studying it.
Essential Music Theory: Graduate Level Nuts and Bolts.......2006-06-19
First - a word of caution - the reader must have a working knowledge of music theory (particularly form & harmonic analysis) to understand this book. Even with that, this book is a commitment. Its not something one would read only a part of - it is to be taken as a whole. It will require the reader to analyze the music with the author to come to terms with the material.
That being said, this book is well worth reading, given you have the time to read passages again and analyze the musical examples. It provides an excellent analysis of what sonata form is in the Classic Period, with all the details the average musician is not aware of. Rosen uncovers patterns not often discussed when talking about sonata form. This is an excellent history of its development, and in depth analysis of its parts.
I've heard the complaint about Rosen - he is sometimes too harsh in his judgment of others. (Perhaps he is intolerant of stupidity?) However, with respect to clarity, he outclasses most music scholars (at least in writing.) Unlike some scholars, he defines start and end points with measure numbers so the reader can clearly see what is being discussed. He provides definitions for the terms he uses so that there will be little question of what it is he is talking about. Overall, he avoids showy, elitist vocabulary in his text. I find his writing a breath of fresh air.
Understanding the material in this book will arm the reader with a deep understanding of the sonata form, down to is nuts and bolts. Well worth reading, but "Sonata Forms" is a huge commitment of time and energy to understand!
a good, authoritative book.......2005-04-03
This book is chuck-full of information. He gives musical examples which I was unable to follow, but that was probably because I was not reading carefully enough.
Rosen does not always define terms as he should. I would like to know what a "counterstatement" is, because he uses the term several times. On page 388, he speaks of Berlioz' idee fixe, but does not tell us what it is. On page 393, he categorizes intra-movement thematic relations as "explicit" and "implicit," but will not define the two. I would like to know what the two terms mean. On page 403, he tells us that the Stravinsky piano sonata is in the "concerto grosso form." What does that mean?
While we are on the subject of terminology, this is the arena where Rosen throws a couple of boomerangs. He scorns the terms "first" and "second theme," preferring the terms "first" and "second group," but then he forgets and uses those terms himself.
He also denies that Haydn's sonata movements are "monothematic,"
and charges users of this term of misanalysis. But then he forgets and uses this term himself.
In the last chapter, he answers a question which I have been wondering: why does discussion of the sonata form usually ignore every composer since Beethoven. Rosen tells us that there has been little contribution to the form since Beethoven. He uses a composition by Schumann as a bad example and gives only a couple of good examples. He accredits Brahms with a few redeeming features, and give several other composers a cursory mention.
I hope to compose good sonata movements despite the handicap of living after Beethoven.
Typically valuable Rosen, despite structural problems.......2005-03-07
Rosen's book, now in a revised edition, is a follow-up to his classic "Classical Style," and it helps to be acquainted with the earlier work, or at least to be somewhat accustomed to the author's elaborate and occasionally repetitive prose and his habit of illustrating the discussion with copious, lengthy musical examples. The early chapters explain the author's choice of the plural for the title and distinguish his view of the sonata structure as opposed to the single form dictated by nineteenth-century authorities such as Czerny. Particularly interesting, if not altogether coherent, is the attempt to relate the rise of use of sonata principles by composers to the rise in prestige of instrumental music. A couple of chapters on sonata-form predecessors (aria, concerto, other works by early Italians such as Scarlatti and Sammartini) are succeeded by generally lucid discussions on motivic development and the component parts of fully developed sonata form: exposition, development, recapitulation, and coda. The last part of the book examines how sonata structure has continued to influence and at times frustrate post-Classical composers.
If one looks for it, there are brilliant analyses to be found throughout this book, often in unexpected places: a full-scale and fascinating dissection of the first movement of Mozart's great "Prague" Symphony in D major is hidden away in the middle of the "Motif and Function" chapter. Therein lies the major problem of this book for me, in that Rosen, ironically enough in a work about form, seems to have trouble ordering and presenting his ideas in a logical fashion. The chapter on concertos seems intended to illustrate pre-sonata principles, but contradicts its purpose with illustrations mainly from Mozart and his contemporaries. Elsewhere, Rosen first cites minuet form as a sonata-form predecessor but then clouds the issue by discussing classical minuets in a later chapter--the casual reader may miss the distinction, which he never states explicitly. In fact, some important overall points--that the turn toward the subdominant in many recapitulations is intended to balance the basic tonic-dominant polarity of the exposition, for example--are never stated by Rosen but left to be gleaned by the reader. He also fails to spend enough time, in my opinion, discussing the ways in which minor-key sonata movements differ from the prevalent major-key models. Still, with careful reading, following some of the examples with recordings, and perhaps a bit of reordering, a comprehensive picture does emerge of one of the most important currents in Western tonal music. I still have to recommend this book as the best available on this knotty subject.
Very specialized, but high quality.......2004-05-30
Sonata form is not quite as dry as it sounds--it's the "plot line" that gives works of the Classical period their drama, even though they're not "about" anything, the way program music is. I find that I enjoy Classical-era works more when I know their form and can keep track of where I am in the piece.
This book goes into sonata form in considerable detail, covering its history, evolution, and variants. It displays the thoughtfulness and insight that Rosen brings to all of his books. It's not an easy read, and I find that it helps to be familiar already with the works under discussion before you read about them. One way to approach the book is to listen to one of the works it discusses several times, until you're quite familiar with it, then come back and read at what Rosen has written on that particular work.
Another bit of advice: don't try this book unless you've already read Rosen's much more famous book _The Classical Style_ and enjoyed it. _Sonata Forms_ is a follow-up on the earlier book, pursuing the same ideas about sonata form at a more technical level.
Bottom line: this book is written for a particular audience, but people who are part of that audience and put in the time to listen to all the works analyzed will feel that their reading efforts have been rewarded.
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