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The musical discourse of servitude : authority, autonomy and the work-concept in Fux, Bach, and Handel / Harry White.

By: White, Harry, 1958- [author].
Material type: materialTypeLabelBookPublisher: New York : Oxford University Press, [2020]Description: xvii, 307 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.Content type: text Media type: unmediated Carrier type: volumeISBN: 9780190903879 (hardback).Subject(s): Fux, Johann Joseph, 1660-1741 | Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750 | Handel, George Frideric, 1685-1759 | Music -- Europe -- 18th century -- History and criticism | Church musicAdditional physical formats: Online version:: Musical discourse of servitudeDDC classification: 780.94
Contents:
Introduction. Servitude, autonomy and the European musical imagination -- The Minstrelsy of heaven : Servility, freedom and the dynastic style -- The Virtuoso of submissiveness : Fux and the concept of authority -- The steward of unmeaning art : Bach and the musical subject -- 'A darkness which might be felt' : Handel, Fux and the Oratorio -- Steps to Parnassus : Fux, Caldara and Bach -- Conclusion. Well, well, well : Fux, Bach and Handel.
Summary: "The Musical Discourse of Servitude examines the music of Johann Joseph Fux (c.1660-1741) in relation to that of Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel. Its principal argument is that Fux's long indenture as a composer of church music in Vienna gains in meaning (and cultural significance) when situated along an axis that runs between the liturgical servitude of writing music for the imperial court service and the autonomy of musical imagination which transpires in the late works of Bach and Handel. To this end, The Musical Discourse of Servitude constructs a typology of the late baroque musical imagination which draws Fux, Bach and Handel into the orbit of North Italian compositional practice"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
General Lending MTU Cork School of Music Library Lending 780.94 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Checked out 19/04/2024 00197114
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Examining, for the first time, the compositions of Johann Joseph Fux in relation to his contemporaries Bach and Handel, The Musical Discourse of Servitude presents a new theory of the late baroque musical imagination. Author Harry White contrasts musical "servility" and "freedom" in his analysis, with Fux tied to the prevailing servitude of the day's musical imagination, particularly the hegemonic flowering of North Italian partimento method across Europe. In contrast, both Bach and Handel represented an autonomy of musical discourse, with Bach exhausting generic models in the mass and Handel inventing a new genre in the oratorio. A potent critique of Lydia Goehr's seminal The Imaginary Museum of Musical Works, The Musical Discourse of Servitude draws on Goehr's formulation of the "work-concept" as an imaginary construct which, according to Goehr, is an invention of nineteenth-century reception history. White locates this concept as a defining agent of automony in Bach's late works, and contextualized the "work-concept" itself by exploring rival concepts of political, religious, and musical authority which define the European musical imagination in the first half of the eighteenth century. A major revisionist statement about the musical imagination in Western art music, The Musical Discourse of Servitude will be of interest to scholars of the Baroque, particularly of Bach and Handel.

Bibliography: (pages 289-300) and index.

Introduction. Servitude, autonomy and the European musical imagination -- The Minstrelsy of heaven : Servility, freedom and the dynastic style -- The Virtuoso of submissiveness : Fux and the concept of authority -- The steward of unmeaning art : Bach and the musical subject -- 'A darkness which might be felt' : Handel, Fux and the Oratorio -- Steps to Parnassus : Fux, Caldara and Bach -- Conclusion. Well, well, well : Fux, Bach and Handel.

"The Musical Discourse of Servitude examines the music of Johann Joseph Fux (c.1660-1741) in relation to that of Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel. Its principal argument is that Fux's long indenture as a composer of church music in Vienna gains in meaning (and cultural significance) when situated along an axis that runs between the liturgical servitude of writing music for the imperial court service and the autonomy of musical imagination which transpires in the late works of Bach and Handel. To this end, The Musical Discourse of Servitude constructs a typology of the late baroque musical imagination which draws Fux, Bach and Handel into the orbit of North Italian compositional practice"-- Provided by publisher.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

  • Preface and Acknowledgments (p. ix)
  • About the Companion Website (p. xvii)
  • Introduction: Servitude, Autonomy, and the European Musical Imagination (p. 1)
  • 1 The Minstrelsy of Heaven: Servility, Freedom, and the Dynastic Style (p. 25)
  • 2 The Virtuoso of Submissiveness: Fux and the Concept of Authority (p. 60)
  • 3 The Steward of Unmeaning Art: Bach and the Musical Subject (p. 110)
  • 4 "A Darkness Which Might be Felt": Handel, Fux, and THE Oratorio (p. 149)
  • 5 Seeps to Parnassus: Fux, Caldara, And Bach (p. 226)
  • Conclusion: Well, Well, Well: Fux, Bach, and Handel (p. 283)
  • Select Bibliography (p. 289)
  • Index (p. 301)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

This book is a curious admixture of traditional musical analysis and trendy neo-Marxist victimology. Though White (University College Dublin) makes some very good points using the former methodology, his results are marred by his acquiescence to the latter. White's thesis that composers such as Johann Joseph Fux (1660--1741) were "indentured" by their service at court and were compositionally restrained within established formal norms misses the point that any gainful employment by definition imposes restraints, whether the employment is at court, for a private benefactor, or for the public taste. That said, what is particularly useful about this book is White's forceful advocacy for elevating Fux's historical status vis-à-vis the status of Bach and Handel. That is a laudable goal, but it is the quality of Fux's music rather than the composer's status as "victim" that will ultimately redress any historical wrongs. But White provides many useful musical examples and an excellent bibliography. Summing Up: Optional. Graduate students, researchers, faculty. --William E. Grim, Strayer University

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Harry White is Professor of Music at University College Dublin and a Fellow of the Royal Irish Academy of Music. He is widely acclaimed as the foremost cultural historian of music in Ireland.

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