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John MacAuslan interprets four great Schumann works in the context of their literary connections and Romantic aesthetic concepts.
List of contents
Introduction; 1. Chrysalis, 1827-34: Schumann's emergence as a literary composer; 2. Notions of resonance and expression; 3. A musical carnival, 1834-7: Carnaval, op. 9; 4. Form, content and conception; 5. Dream images, 1837: Fantasiestücke, op. 12; 6. 'In possession of the secret', 1836-8: Schumann's stylistic evolution; 7. New worlds, 1838: Kreisleriana, op. 16; 8. Associations and expressiveness in Schumann's 'Hoffmann works'; 9. Anti-matter, 1839-40: Nachtstücke, op. 23; 10. 'The closed book': interpreting aesthetic entities; Appendices: Appendix 1. Concordance of Novalis excerpts; Appendix 2. Novalis and the Schumann of 1828; Appendix 3. Extracts from selected German original texts.
About the author
John MacAuslan is an independent scholar who holds a Ph.D. in music. He worked for many years in Her Majesty's Treasury, the National Gallery and as a Civil Service Commissioner, as well as working for the NGO War Child.
Summary
Four of Schumann's great masterpieces of the 1830s are connected to the fiction of E. T. A. Hoffmann. John MacAuslan explores these works' musical patterns, stylistic developments and literary connections. Essential reading for musicologists, performers and listeners with an interest in Schumann and early nineteenth-century music.
