Book Review
Apr. 15th, 2013 08:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariMr Modernsky: How Stravinsky Survived Schoenberg
by Meredith Oakes
This short book (a little over 60 pages) contains a single essay about Schoenberg and Stravinsky, their differing aesthetics, and their places in 20th century music. It's a rather personal essay, revealing a great deal about Oakes' views of the various schools and camps of modern music. Her thoughts on why Schoenberg is often elevated over Stravinsky in academia but why Stravinsky has ultimately been more interesting and influential in contemporary music are especially compelling and resonated with me quite a bit. I wish she had delved more deeply into these matters as well as the particulars of Schoenberg's and Stravinsky's aesthetics and techniques rather than devoting time to the explanation of some musical basics, but I gather Oakes was aiming for a less specialized audience.
by Meredith Oakes
This short book (a little over 60 pages) contains a single essay about Schoenberg and Stravinsky, their differing aesthetics, and their places in 20th century music. It's a rather personal essay, revealing a great deal about Oakes' views of the various schools and camps of modern music. Her thoughts on why Schoenberg is often elevated over Stravinsky in academia but why Stravinsky has ultimately been more interesting and influential in contemporary music are especially compelling and resonated with me quite a bit. I wish she had delved more deeply into these matters as well as the particulars of Schoenberg's and Stravinsky's aesthetics and techniques rather than devoting time to the explanation of some musical basics, but I gather Oakes was aiming for a less specialized audience.
