Sounding Together (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781090628770)

The purpose of this book is the author's desire to share his life-long love of classical music. Sounding Together is a comprehensive history of the symphony with analysis of key works. The author hopes to awaken interest and enjoyment of this universal art form. The book's title is a literal translation of the ancient Greek phone (sounding) plus syn (together), being the word origin of "symphony". As a dedicated student of music and long-time physician, White brings a fresh perspective to the subject. Drawn together are program notes from his catalogs, reference works and authoritative music books. From these sources the author has assembled 32 chapters, beginning with the late 18th century Italian overture and ending with the new music of the 21st century. Writing in an informal, engaging and lively style, the author covers every major symphony and hundreds of underappreciated compositions. Several topics not covered in standard references and textbooks are addressed in separate chapters. Chapters of special interest are the 20th century Austro-German "Exile Symphony" and the Banned Symphony ("Entartete Musik") in Nazi Germany. Other special topics are the Pre-Classical Period in Italy, the Soviet Symphony, and the symphony as it evolves in the 21st century. Another unknown byway is the symphony "at the periphery", which delves into symphonies composed in South America, Israel, Japan, the Iberian Peninsula and other unexpected lands. The book concludes with thirteen Appendices, an extensive Discography and a Selective Bibliography. Throughout, the standard of research is high and broad. This near - encyclopedic text is written in a style which will hold the reader's interest, providing education, entertainment, new perspectives and rediscovery regarding Western civilization's most rewarding art form - the symphony.

Author: Robert Marion White
ISBN-10: 1090628773
ISBN-13: 9781090628770
Publisher: Independently Published
Language: English
Published: 03/19/2019
Pages: 526
Format: Paperback
Weight: 3.69lbs
Size: 11.00h x 8.50w x 1.37d