The Musical Language of the Twentieth Century: The Discovery of a Missing Link- The Music of Georg von Albrecht (Quellen und Studien zur ... Music History from Antiquity to the Present)

Description

This book provides not only an understanding and appreciation of Georg von Albrecht’s musical art, but also links his compositional approach to a broader historical and theoretical context. The significance of the study lies in the discovery of a «missing historical link» in the evolution of principles that range from the pentatonic formations and modalities of folk music and polymodal combination to the more abstract realm of serial procedures. These principles often unfold in contexts based on complex metric/rhythmic formulizations. Albrecht, whose folkloristic activities and compositional inclinations invoke the creative spirit of Béla Bartók, is an exemplar of a composer who has synthesized traditional and contemporary elements from both Eastern and Western European sources. He was inspired by many cultures, his music imbued with Byzantine and ancient Greek elements, Hebrew folklore, and Gregorian elements, as well as the pentatonicism of Eastern Asia. Russian and Lithuanian folklore underlies virtually all of his works. Albrecht’s profound reflections on music as well as the remarkable range of his compositional aesthetics and techniques still provide the music historian with a new level of insight into some essential links in the evolution of twentieth-century music and thought. Contents Preface Chapter 1: Sources of the Musical Language and Style: Early Historical Conditions, Cultural Sources, and Motivations for Folk-Music Investigation in Russia Chapter 2: Modal and Structural Variation in Selected Piano Works Chapter 3: Hybrid Modes and Interval Sets as Formal Determinants in Piano Sonatas of Albrecht, Scriabin, and Prokofiev Chapter 4: The Twelve-Tone Idea as Scale and Theme:The Cyclic Set, Inversional Symmetry,and Diatonic/Whole-Tone Transformations in the Late Piano Sonatas Chapter 5: From Russian Folk Music to Serialism in Three Violin Works Chapter 6: Musical Integration and Poetic Correspondences in Two Twelve-Tone Songs, On Poems by Georg von der Vring Chapter 7: Metamorphosis and Identity in a Twelve-Tone Solo Violin Work Chapter 8: The Opera as Synthesis: Das Vaterunser, op. 50 Chapter 9: Epilogue Works Bibliography Index