Book Review
Aug. 10th, 2011 01:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariStyle and Idea: Selected Writings of Arnold Schoenberg
Edited by Leonard Stein; translations by Leo Black
This collection of essays by Arnold Schoenberg is not exactly a fun or completely pleasurable read, but it is very illuminating and very worthwhile for anyone interested in modern music. Schoenberg was very intelligent and had a truly impressive understanding of music and ability to convey his analysis of various works. His prose style is not always beautiful, but it is always clear and expresses his ideas well. And at times, especially when responding to critics, Schoenberg can produce a withering sarcasm that is subtly amusing.
Reading Style and Idea all at one go did give me the advantage of understanding what was truly important and even crucial to Schoenberg, through seeing which ideas came up repeatedly, across many years and many subjects. He was concerned above all with the clear conveying of a musical idea. He really believed that he had, in his twelve-tone compositional technique, discovered the next logical step in the development of Western art music and that he had thus secured the future of music. Perhaps at times he seems a little too sure of its centrality. He had extremely exacting and high standards for music and musicians (especially composers). I very much admired his intellect and insight.
Edited by Leonard Stein; translations by Leo Black
This collection of essays by Arnold Schoenberg is not exactly a fun or completely pleasurable read, but it is very illuminating and very worthwhile for anyone interested in modern music. Schoenberg was very intelligent and had a truly impressive understanding of music and ability to convey his analysis of various works. His prose style is not always beautiful, but it is always clear and expresses his ideas well. And at times, especially when responding to critics, Schoenberg can produce a withering sarcasm that is subtly amusing.
Reading Style and Idea all at one go did give me the advantage of understanding what was truly important and even crucial to Schoenberg, through seeing which ideas came up repeatedly, across many years and many subjects. He was concerned above all with the clear conveying of a musical idea. He really believed that he had, in his twelve-tone compositional technique, discovered the next logical step in the development of Western art music and that he had thus secured the future of music. Perhaps at times he seems a little too sure of its centrality. He had extremely exacting and high standards for music and musicians (especially composers). I very much admired his intellect and insight.
