![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Book Review
Feb. 4th, 2013 07:11 pmGesualdo: The Man and His Music
by Glenn Watkins
This book on 16th century composer Carlo Gesualdo is set up very much like David Fallows' biographies - a short section covering Gesualdo's biography, and then a longer, more detailed section discussing his music, its features, and its development over the course of the composer's life. Much like Fallows, Watkins also provides useful discussion of the documentary evidence used to put together the events and details of Gesualdo's life. It's a model that really works for early composers. In addition, it was nice to get the sensational aspects of Gesualdo's life out of the way at the beginning.*
Gesualdo's madrigals and other compositions were unusual and innovative for his time, particularly as regards harmony and chromaticism. One of the highlights of this book is how Watkins discusses these aspects of the music, carefully showing both how adventurous and how grounded in the practice of the time Gesualdo's music was. His music provides a compelling bridge between Renaissance and Baroque styles, and Watkins also delves into this feature. There are plenty of nice music examples to illustrate Watkins' points, too.
*In 1590, when Gesualdo was around 30, he plotted and executed the murder of his wife and her lover. Due to various factors, primarily his noble status, Gesualdo pretty much got away with it.
by Glenn Watkins
This book on 16th century composer Carlo Gesualdo is set up very much like David Fallows' biographies - a short section covering Gesualdo's biography, and then a longer, more detailed section discussing his music, its features, and its development over the course of the composer's life. Much like Fallows, Watkins also provides useful discussion of the documentary evidence used to put together the events and details of Gesualdo's life. It's a model that really works for early composers. In addition, it was nice to get the sensational aspects of Gesualdo's life out of the way at the beginning.*
Gesualdo's madrigals and other compositions were unusual and innovative for his time, particularly as regards harmony and chromaticism. One of the highlights of this book is how Watkins discusses these aspects of the music, carefully showing both how adventurous and how grounded in the practice of the time Gesualdo's music was. His music provides a compelling bridge between Renaissance and Baroque styles, and Watkins also delves into this feature. There are plenty of nice music examples to illustrate Watkins' points, too.
*In 1590, when Gesualdo was around 30, he plotted and executed the murder of his wife and her lover. Due to various factors, primarily his noble status, Gesualdo pretty much got away with it.
