The Gesualdo Hex: Music, Myth, and Memory
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.88 (565 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0393071022 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 400 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-10-18 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
A wonderful read! Grant Handsall I was really thrilled by "The Gesualdo Hex" - a heady and enticing brew of musical scholarship, memoir and art criticism that I found totally satisfying. Watkins has, of course, already published the definitive biography of Gesaualdo ("Gesualdo: The Man and His Music") but here he goes much deeper. Some astonishing sleuthing has brought to light frankly amazing further revelations, worthy of a gothic novel or horror film. I wouldn't want to spoil these for you, but they're worth the price of admission alone. Gesualdo's weird and wonderful tale is no. Craig Matteson said An amazing adventure through five centuries of marvelous music and wonderful scholarship. In the fall term of 198"An amazing adventure through five centuries of marvelous music and wonderful scholarship" according to Craig Matteson. In the fall term of 1982 I was a new masters student in music theory at the University of Michigan School of Music (now music, theater, and dance). I had been a lover of Stravinsky's music since I first heard his "Rite of Spring" in a music theory class in high school in 1971. When I heard that there was going to be a class on Stravinsky taught by one of the stars of the musicology department, Professor Glenn Watkins, I had to take the course. Frankly, the course was not only one of the highlights of my education but of my life. You see, Watkins not. I was a new masters student in music theory at the University of Michigan School of Music (now music, theater, and dance). I had been a lover of Stravinsky's music since I first heard his "Rite of Spring" in a music theory class in high school in 1971. When I heard that there was going to be a class on Stravinsky taught by one of the stars of the musicology department, Professor Glenn Watkins, I had to take the course. Frankly, the course was not only one of the highlights of my education but of my life. You see, Watkins not. "A Book for Those Who Dislike Interesting Books" according to theghostofmariad'avalos. If you are a college age student and are being forced to read this in your classes, I suggest you might want to switch classes because this is honestly one of the most boring and long winded books I have ever read. Sure, it's packed full of fascinating information, if the information you are seeking consists of a hundred pages of a correspondence between Leibowitz and Schoenberg.The first chapter about Gesualdo's life makes you think that you might be in for a good read, as it's actually rather interesting. Then BAM! Life shorty goes downhill from t
. But it is also an academic consideration of the changing nature of historical reputation, and of what elements of the Gesualdo legend have inspired later musicians (and other artists, including Werner Herzog and the novelist Wesley Stace) and why. Some of the most interesting passages in this analysis of Gesualdo's shifting reputation stem from Watkins's recollections of encounters with classical music icons like Nadia Boulanger and Igor Stravinsky. Gesualdo's transitional voice belonged to its time, Watkins concludes, and later ages, noting its equivocal position, prized it largely for that reason and noted its power. 25 illus.(Jan.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. Readers without access to Gesualdo's music may feel somewhat lost, but f
25 illustrations. A riveting investigation of one of the most provocative musicians of the Renaissance, who continues to captivate composers, artists, and audiences today. In this vivid tale of adultery and intrigue, witchcraft and murder, Glenn Watkins explores the fascinating life of the Renaissance composer Carlo Gesualdoa life suffused with scandal and bordering on the fantastical. Today, however, Gesualdo’s music, once deemed so strange as to be unperformable, stands as one of the most vibrant legacies of the late Italian Renaissance with an undeniable impact on a host of twentieth-century musicians and artists. Watkins challenges our preconceptions of what has become a nearly mythic persona, weaving together the cumulative experience of some of the most vibrant artists of the past century from Stravinsky and Schoenberg to Abbado and Herzog. In examining Gesualdo’s life, music, myth, and memory intertwine with one another to reveal an uncanny affinity with our own time. An isolated prince, Gesualdo had a personal life that was no less ecc