Formal Functions in Perspective: Essays on Musical Form from Haydn to Adorno(Eastman Studies in Music)

Presents thirteen studies that engage with the notion of formal function in a variety of ways Among the more striking developments in contemporary North American music theory is the renewed centrality of issues of musical form (Formenlehre). Formal Functions in Perspective presents thirteen studies that engage with musical form in a variety of ways. The essays, written by established and emerging scholars from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the European continent, run the chronological gamut from Haydn and Clementito Leibowitz and Adorno; they discuss Lieder, arias, and choral music as well as symphonies, concerti, and chamber works; they treat Haydn's humor and Saint-Saëns's politics, while discussions of particular pieces range from Mozart's arias to Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht. Running through the essays and connecting them thematically is the central notion of formal function. CONTRIBUTORS: Brian Black, L. Poundie Burstein, Andrew Deruchie, Julian Horton, Steven Huebner, Harald Krebs, Henry Klumpenhouwer, Nathan John Martin, François de Médicis, Christoph Neidhöfer, Julie Pedneault-Deslauriers, Giorgio Sanguinetti, Janet Schmalfeldt, Peter Schubert, Steven Vande Moortele Steven Vande Moortele is assistant professor of music theory at the University of Toronto. Julie Pedneault-Deslauriers is assistant professor of music at the University of Ottawa. Nathan John Martin is assistant professor of music at the University of Michigan.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Introduction "Functional Formanality": Twisted Formal Functions in Joseph Haydn's Symphonies - L. Poundie Burstein Mozart's Sonata-Form Arias - Nathan John Martin Formal Type and Formal Function in the Postclassical Piano Concerto - Julian Horton Saint-Saen's Cyclic Forms - Andrew Deruchie Schubert's "Deflected-Cadence" Transitions and the Classical Style - Brian Black "Heavenly Length" in Schubert's Instrumental Music - Francois de Medicis Sentences in the Lieder of Robert Schumann:The Relation to the Text - Harald Krebs Parlante Talk: Texture and Formal Function in the Operas of Verdi - Steven Huebner Discipline and Punish among the Winds in the First Movement of Beethoven's First Symphony - Henry Klumpenhouwer Laborious Homecomings: The "Ongoing Reprise" from Clementi to Brahms - Giorgio Sanguinetti Dominant Tunnels, Form, and Program in Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht - Julie Pedneault-Deslauriers Form and Serial Function in Leibowitz's Trois poèmes de Pierre Reverdy - Christoph Neidhofer The Philosopher as Theorist: Adorno's materiale Formenlehre - Steven Vande Moortele Afterword - Janet Schmalfeldt

About the Author :
STEVEN HUEBNER is the James McGill Professor (musicology) at the Schulich School of Music, McGill University, Quebec, Canada.

Review :
First-rate studies. Fascinating...truly refreshing...incisive analysis. Formal Functions in Perspective breaks new ground by offering careful consideration of how best to extend Caplin's ideas about eighteenth-century form [with nineteenth-century repertory]. The book maintains remarkable focus throughout. Every chapter offers its own in-depth readings of musical form, most with several examples. Henry Klumpenhouwer and Giorgio Sanguinetti offer...enlightening, analyses. Vande Moortele's contribution, on connections between Adorno and Caplin, also offers a welcome marriage of formal analysis and broader intellectual trends. One obvious strength of this chapter is the author's ability to synthesize a huge amount of material clearly and succinctly. Nathan John Martin's study of Mozart's arias, Steven Huebner's discussion of texture in Verdi, and especially Harald Krebs's study of sentence structures in Schumann's songs all reward careful reading. Formal Functions in Perspective goes beyond the traditional analysis to look at other types of formal structure and relationships in music. The essays deal with a wide variety of forms -- the symphonic form, arias, sonata-form arias, the lieder, and chamber works -- and the book includes wonderful examples and tables that clearly identify the form parts and transitions. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.