The Music of Stravinsky: Collected Essays

The analytic-theoretical approach to Stravinsky's music, introduced in the opening four chapters of this volume, has become the standard in theoretical and musicological circles. Richard Taruskin, Jonathan Cross, and Stephen Walsh have adopted and expanded upon it, discussing the rhythmic emphasis, metrical displacement, and disruptive effect of displacement on the listener. The relationship between African polyrhythm and Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring is explored, as are critical and aesthetic issues arising from the interpretation and performance of his music.

Format: Hardback
Length: 502 pages
Publication date: 12 May 2023
Publisher: Jenny Stanford Publishing

The analytic-theoretical approach to Stravinsky's music, which was introduced in the opening four chapters of this volume, has become the standard in theoretical and musicological circles over the past several decades. This approach has been adopted and expanded upon by numerous scholars, including Richard Taruskin, Jonathan Cross, and Stephen Walsh. Richard Taruskin, working independently from a historical perspective, reached many of the same conclusions regarding Stravinsky's musical language.

One unique aspect of Stravinsky's music is the discussion of its rhythmic emphasis, the metrical displacement of repeated themes and chords, and the disruptive effect of displacement on the listener. The evolutionary history of meter and its entrainment by the listener, the concept of sensorimotor synchronization advanced by psychologist Bruno Repp, and the contrametric nature of Stravinsky's music, introduced by David Huron, are all brought into play. The relationship between African polyrhythm, as discussed by Kofi Agawu, David Locke, and Steve Reich, to the polyrhythmic stratifications in Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring is also explored.

Major concerns arise from the interpretation and performance of Stravinsky's music. The aesthetic views of Stravinsky himself, as well as critics such as Theodor Adorno, Richard Taruskin, and Robert Craft, are discussed in length. Accompanying the essays are over 100 musical illustrations and analytical designs, set and processed with consummate skill by Andre Mount.

The essays are prefaced by a newly composed Introduction, and then concluded with a lengthy unpublished chapter on the individual work and its classification. This volume provides a comprehensive and insightful exploration of Stravinsky's music, offering valuable insights into its theoretical and aesthetic aspects.

Weight: 838g
Dimension: 159 x 237 x 33 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9789814968621