Central to the repertoire of Western art music since the 18th
century, the symphony has come to be regarded as one of the
ultimate compositional challenges. Surprisingly, heretofore there
has been no truly extensive, broad-based treatment of the genre,
and the best of the existing studies are now several decades old.
In this five-volume series, A. Peter Brown explores the symphony
from its 18th-century beginnings to the end of the 20th century.
Synthesizing the enormous scholarly literature, Brown presents
up-to-date overviews of the status of research, discusses any
important former or remaining problems of attribution, illuminates
the style of specific works and their contexts, and samples early
writings on their reception. The Symphonic Repertoire provides an
unmatched compendium of knowledge for the student, teacher,
performer, and sophisticated amateur. The series is being launched
with two volumes on the Viennese symphony.
Volume IV
The Second Golden Age of the Viennese Symphony
Brahms, Bruckner, Dvorak, Mahler,
and Selected Contemporaries
Although during the mid-19th century the geographic center of
the symphony in the Germanic territories moved west and north from
Vienna to Leipzig, during the last third of the century it returned
to the old Austrian lands with the works of Brahms, Bruckner,
Dvorak, and Mahler. After nearly a half century in hibernation, the
sleeping Viennese giant awoke to what some viewed as a
reincarnation of Beethoven with the first hearing of Brahms s
Symphony No. 1, which was premiered at Vienna in December 1876.
Even though Bruckner had composed some gigantic symphonies prior to
Brahms s first contribution, their full impact was not felt until
the composer s complete texts became available after World War II.
Although Dvorak was often viewed as a nationalist composer, in his
symphonic writing his primary influences were Beethoven, Schubert,
and Brahms. For both Bruckner and Mahler, the symphony constituted
the heart of their output; for Brahms and Dvorak, it occupied a
less central place. Yet for all of them, the key figure of the past
remained Beethoven. The symphonies of these four composers,
together with the works of Goldmark, Zemlinsky, Schoenberg, Berg,
Smetana, Fibich, Janacek, and others are treated in Volume IV, The
Second Golden Age of the Viennese Symphony, covering the period
from roughly 1860 to 1930."
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