Stravinsky and the Russian period : sound and legacy of a musical idiom / Pieter C. van den Toorn, John McGinness.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Van den Toorn and McGinness take a fresh look at the dynamics of Stravinsky's musical style from a variety of analytical, critical and aesthetic angles. Starting with processes of juxtaposition and stratification, the book offers an in-depth analysis of works such as The Rite of Spring, Les Noces and Renard. Characteristic features of style, melody and harmony are traced to rhythmic forces, including those of metrical displacement. Along with Stravinsky's formalist aesthetics, the strict performing style he favoured is also traced to rhythmic factors, thus reversing the direction of the traditional causal relationship. Here, aesthetic belief and performance practice are seen as flowing directly from the musical invention. The book provides a counter-argument to the criticism and aesthetics of T. W. Adorno and Richard Taruskin, and will appeal to composers, critics and performers as well as scholars of Stravinsky's music.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Van den Toorn (Univ. of California, Santa Barbara) and McGinness (State Univ. of New York, Potsdam) trace the path of their study from the "repetitive patterns, layered structures, and modal harmonies of Stravinsky's Russian-period" by means of major elite compositions, such as Les Noces, Symphony of Psalms, and Three Pieces for String Quartet along with populist elements in Les Noces and The Soldier's Tale. The analysis concentrates on metrical displacement (rhythm), block textures (form), and modal diatonicism (pitch). The music of this "Russian period" does not have the lushness of ballet music, such as The Firebird and The Fairy's Kiss. Chapter 9 examines issues of performance practice and aesthetic belief, with a particular emphasis on the theories of musicologists Theodor Adorno and Richard Taruskin. Van den Toorn and McGinness call for a broader approach, "with theory and analysis tied to historical, psychological, aesthetic, and critical concerns." Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, researchers/faculty, and professionals/practitioners. W. K. Kearns emeritus, University of Colorado at Boulder