Accenting the Classics: Editing European Music in France, 1915-1925

French composers, performers, and musicologists edited eighteenth- and nineteenth-century European classics for piano, including Fauré, Saint-Saëns, Debussy, Ravel, and Dukas. The French accent varied, with editorial responses ranging from scholarly to performance-oriented and from pan-European to patriotic. The Édition played a role in pedagogy and performance, and in the reassertion of contemporary French composition, particularly around neoclassicism.

Format: Hardback
Length: 382 pages
Publication date: 14 March 2023
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd

French composers, performers, and musicologists played a crucial role in editing and publishing eighteenth- and nineteenth-century European classics, particularly for piano. Among these editors were renowned figures such as Fauré, Saint-Saëns, Debussy, Ravel, and Dukas. Their inquiries encompassed a wide range of core works by composers like Rameau, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Chopin. This book presents six case studies of composer-editors, highlighting the diverse French accents and cultural influences upon this predominantly Austro-German music. Editorial responses varied from scholarly approaches to those driven by performance or compositional agendas, and from pan-European to strongly patriotic stances. The volume explores the Édition's role in pedagogy and performance, including through the contributions of pianists Robert Casadesus and Yvonne Loriod, as well as in the reassertion of contemporary French composition, particularly in the realm of neoclassicism. With its rich insights and captivating narrative, this book will appeal to a broad readership, including musicologists, performers, concert-goers, cultural historians, and scholars from other humanities disciplines.

Weight: 746g
Dimension: 242 x 164 x 28 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781837650323