Beschreibung:
In spite of growing interest in the songs of Hugo Wolf, there is still a lack of serious critical discussion of the nature of his achievements. This book offers an in-depth study of his music, including detailed analyses of selected songs. Perspectives from musical analysis and history are brought together to show how this composer and late-nineteenth-century song have a far more significant role in helping us to understand Wagner's musical and aesthetic influence than has yet been realized.
Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. 'Music of the future'? The nature of the Wagnerian inheritance; 2. 'Wagner of the Lied'? Wolf as critic of Wagner and Wagnerism; 3. Small things can also enchant us - Wolf's challenge to nineteenth-century views of song; 4. 'Poetry the man, music the woman'? Wolf's reworking in his Mörike songs of Wagner's aesthetics of words and music; 5. The integrity of musical language - questions of form and meaning in Wolf's Goethe songs; 6. The Wolfian perspective - comparisons with the songs of Strauss and Mahler; Notes; Bibliography; Index.