Here at last is the book that every scholar of modern French music has surely considered writing, and which always seemed so attractive to university students looking for a thesis subject. But the wise supervisor has always advised against it because of its multifarious pitfalls. On the surface, it seems an ideal subject, for the composer who told Edgard Varèse in 1911 that ‘I love pictures almost as much as music’ was pigeon-holed by uncomprehending critics as an impressionist as early as 1887 (with Printemps), and only a little more accurately later on as a symbolist. But whoever takes on the gargantuan task of trying to write definitively about the relationship between Debussy's music and the other arts needs to be equally adept as both an art and a literary critic, as well as having a mature knowledge of the complex world of contemporary, cosmopolitan Paris. And as the enigmatic Debussy covered his tracks so well and was often guilty of hypocrisy and ambiguity, there is little hard, relevant evidence to rely on, and ‘probably’, ‘perhaps’, and ‘surely’ will be needed on virtually every page. Edward Lockspeiser might have written such a book, but it is Jean-Michel Nectoux, with his long experience accumulated at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Musée d’Orsay, and Radio France, who has finally succeeded in filling this crucial gap in Debussy scholarship and has produced a most attractive and fascinating book into the bargain.
Journal Article Musical Encounters at the 1889 Paris World’s Fair. By Annegret Fauser. pp. xx + 391. Eastman Studies in Music, 32. (University of Rochester Press, Rochester, NY and Woodbridge, 2005, £40. ISBN 1-58046-185-9.)Debussy’s Letters to Inghelbrecht: The Story of a Musical Friendship. Annotated by Margaret G. Cobb. Trans. by Richard Miller. pp. xxii + 131. (University of Rochester Press, Rochester, NY, 2005, £45. ISBN 1-58046-174-3.) Get access Robert Orledge Robert Orledge Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Music and Letters, Volume 87, Issue 4, 1 November 2006, Pages 627–630, https://doi.org/10.1093/ml/gcl058 Published: 01 November 2006
most common applications of overlegato’ (p. 136), where he should have substituted ‘Schindler’ for ‘Beethoven’. Thus none of the evidence offered in support of Beethoven’s alleged use of overlegato stands up to scrutiny. In fact Beethoven did at times wish for this effect, but he was quite prepared to notate it explicitly, however awkward this might be. Many examples can be found in his piano sonatas, for example Op. 2 No. 3 (I.222–31), Op. 10 No. 3 (I.294–7), Op. 22 (IV.1–7), and Op. 53 (I.124–38), as well as in the violin sonatas themselves (e.g. Op. 12 No. 1, II.7–8; Op. 24, IV.16–17). None of these passages or similar ones is discussed. One must therefore conclude that, since Beethoven often wrote overlegato where he wanted it, where he did not write it he probably did not intend it, and pianists should follow what he wrote rather than what Kroll advocates. Certainly, some horrid unresolved dissonances that are recommended here (Exx. 7.16, 7.18, and 7.26) lie outside both the recommendations of the theorists and the style of the period. At best, one can accept only that some pianists, and perhaps Beethoven himself, may occasionally have held some notes down longer than marked, but even this is uncertain. As a whole, then, the book provides both some new insights and a very useful overall account of Beethoven’s violin sonatas; and the fact that not all of them are given equal weight in the book is in no way a deficiency. Indeed it is good to see the ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata, for example, being given such extended and detailed treatment, in which all of its most important features are set in the context of some useful research on some particularly interesting aspects of it. This book is a more than worthy complement to recent books devoted to other genres of Beethoven’s music, such as the symphonies, concertos, and piano sonatas. BARRY COOPER doi:10.1093/ml/gcl030
Journal Article UNDERSTANDING SATIE‘S ’VEXATIONS‘ Get access ROBERT ORLEDGE ROBERT ORLEDGE Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Music and Letters, Volume 79, Issue 3, August 1998, Pages 386–395, https://doi.org/10.1093/ml/79.3.386 Published: 01 August 1998
Journal Article SATIE'S SARABANDES AND THEIR IMPORTANCE TO HIS COMPOSING CAREER Get access ROBERT ORLEDGE ROBERT ORLEDGE Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Music and Letters, Volume 77, Issue 4, November 1996, Pages 555–565, https://doi.org/10.1093/ml/77.4.555 Published: 01 November 1996
