Fantasy Pieces
Metrical Dissonance
in the Music
of Robert Schumann
by Harald Krebs
Winner of the Wallace Berry Award from the
Society for Music Theory
Oxford University Press
304 pages.
286 music examples.
6-1/8 x 9-1/4
ISBN13: 978-0-19-516946-1
ISBN10: 0-19-516946-8
Price: $55.00
About the Author
Harald Krebs holds a PhD in music theory from Yale University.
He has taught at
the University of British Columbia and the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, and is currently professor of music theory at the
School of Music of the University of Victoria.
Lullabies for Samantha is a CD of lullabies from
various countries, performed by Sharon Krebs, soprano, and Harald
Krebs, piano.
Schumann 4th Symphony
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Fantasy Pieces examines from several vantage points a
vital life-force of Robert
Schumann's music, namely metrical conflict.
Harald Krebs's imaginative
yet rigorous study makes use of Schumann's fascinating projections of
his own personality - the characters Florestan and Eusebius - as one
means of addressing the biographical and aesthetic context of the
music.
~ Robert Schumann ~
In counterpoint with the remarks of these personae, Krebs
develops an
original theory of metrical conflict by adapting the concepts of
consonance and dissonance to metrical analysis.
He investigates how
states of metrical dissonance arise, and shows how they are manipulated
and resolved in the course of compositions.
~ Clara Schumann ~
He offers new methods for
understanding the metrical progressions of entire works or movements,
and studies the interaction of metrical conflict with form, with pitch
structure, and with the texts of Schumann's vocal works.
Krebs includes
a wealth of illustrations from the whole range of Schumann's work and
offers numerous insights important for performance.
In the final
chapter, he provides richly detailed studies of pieces by Schumann in
various genres, interspersing them with shorter discussions of music by
Berlioz, Chopin, Clara Schumann, Ives, and Schoenberg.
~ Chopin ~
This is a book that will appeal not only to students and
scholars of
music theory, but to all musicians interested in the life, work, and
unique personality of
Robert Schumann.
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Reviews
"... excellent book ... Krebs unravels the musical
subtleties that
performers sense but do not always fully understand; performers have
much to gain by applying Krebs's analytical approach to their
interpretations of Schumann's music ... This is analysis at its best:
it
is sensitively placed in a valid historical context, and solidly based
on the real and heard elements in the score.
The author supplies ample
examples. Highly recommended for upper-level undergraduates through
performers."
- Choice
"This volume is a welcome contribution to the study of
Schumann,
especially for those interested in his music, but also for
psychologists and others desiring to examine inferentially matters of
personality through analysis of original documents."
- Perceptual and Motor Skills
"... a very impressive piece of work.
Though primarily a theoretical study, it casts its net considerably
wider.
Krebs is also sensitive to historical issues (precedents for
Schumann's metrical style), philological matters (metrical revisions in
the primary sources for Schumann's work), questions of performance
practice, and even biography (possible relationships between Schumann's
metrical techniques and his mental states).
In addition, the book is
written in an engaging and highly imaginative style."
- John Daverio,
School for the Arts,
Boston University
"This book is a unique contribution to Schumann
studies; it should be read by anyone who is seriously interested in
Schumann's music."
- William Rothstein, Queens College and the Graduate
Center, CUNY
"... his accomplishment is no less than an
imaginative reconstruction of the creative ferment of composing and
theorizing in the early nineteenth century ...
Krebs's literary
virtuosity in playing both sides of the fence does not smack of an
ideologically loaded postmodernist approach to scholarship ...
... in
daring to move creatively beyond the assurances of staid historical
scholarship, Krebs also brings to bear a commanding knowledge of the
repertoire, illustrated in copious analytical detail ...
In the course of
such a wide-ranging interpretive journey, one could not ask for a more
experienced and sensitive musical guide."
- Music Theory Spectrum
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