Ernst Kurth Selected Writings [Hardcover]

This book provides extensive annotated translations of the writings of the music theorist Ernst Kurth (18861946).The only collection of Durkheim's writings to draw upon the whole body of his work. All the texts included in this book have been newly translated, many for the first time.The only collection of Durkheim's writings to draw upon the whole body of his work. All the texts included in this book have been newly translated, many for the first time.This is the first publication to provide extensive annotated translations from the writings of the music theorist Ernst Kurth (1886-1946), who wrote three pioneering studies on the music of J.S. Bach, Richard Wagner and Anton Bruckner. The book will familiarize today's English-speaking scholars with Kurth's theoretical ideas and innovative analytical strategies through his commentaries on the passages from these composers. An extensive introductory essay discusses the intellectual and socio-cultural background required for understanding Kurth's work.Foreword Ian Bent; Preface; Notes on the translation; Introduction; Part I. Grundlagen des linearen Kontrapunkts (Foundations of linear counterpoint): 1. Polyphonic structure 2. Thematic and motivic processes 3. Polyphonic melody; Part II. Romantische Harmonik und ihre Krise in Wagners 'Tristan' (Romantic harmony and its crisis in Wagner's 'Tristan'): 4. Details of Romantic harmony 5. Broader dimensions of Romantic harmony; Part III. Bruckner: 6. Bruckner's form as undulatory phases; 7. Details of Bruckner's symphonic waves; Appendix: complete tables of contents for Kurth's Grundlagen des linearen Kontrapunkts, Romantische Harmonik und ihre Krise in Wagners 'Tristan' and Bruckner; Select bibliography; Index of musical examples; General index. Not only has Rothfarb mastered a wealth of material from Kurth's four principal writings, he has sifted as well through the complexity and abundance of thought, has organized it cogently, and has honed a precise yet fluent prose styl#ð