Essays in Musical Analysis
choral music (for example, Volumes I and II were devoted to Symphonies; Volume III to Concertos), with many of the works discussed with the help of music examples. In 1944, a posthumous seventh volume appeared on chamber music
. In 1989, a new version was published with some essays omitted and the remainder of Volumes I-VI consolidated into two volumes.
Tovey's Essays were written as introductory notes for the concert-going public and are occasionally light-hearted in tone. Nevertheless, they analyse the pieces and describe their structure in much more depth than standard programme notes, even in a few pages each. Tovey saw his role as being "counsel for the defence" (Introduction to Volume I): in speaking up on behalf of the work about to be performed, he was seeking to facilitate the listener's appreciation of its artistic content and technical merits. As a result, his approach tends to 'track' the structure of a work as it unfolds through time before the ear of his imaginary 'naive listener'.
- Volume 1: Symphonies. Includes essays on Beethoven's overtures and symphonies, including the author's famous study of the Ninth Symphony; all Brahms's overtures and symphonies; 11 symphonies by Haydn; six by Mozart; three by Schubert, three by Sibelius; four by Dvorak.
- Volume 2: Symphonies (II), variations, and orchestral polyphony. Schumann, Bruckner, Tchaikovsky, Julius Rontgen, Bach Orchestral Suites and Concertos, Vaughan Williams, Holst.
- Volume 3: Concertos. Analysis of concertos by Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Chopin, Joachim, Brahms, Dvorak, Elgar, Somervell, Franck, Dohnanyi, Spohr, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Saint-Saens, Bruch, Stanford, Delius, R. Strauss, Glazounov, Sibelius, Schmidt, Respighi and Walton.
- Volume 4: Illustrative music. Essays on works by Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Berlioz, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Wagner, Dvorak, Parry, Elgar (Falstaff), J B McEwen and Holst.
- Volume 5: Vocal music. Includes long essays on Bach's B minor Mass, Beethoven's Mass in D, Haydn's The Creation and Verdi's Requiem.
- Volume 6: Supplementary essays, glossary and index. CPE Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Reger, Mahler, Elgar, Sibelius, Havergal Brian.
- Volume 7: Chamber music. Essays on Bach's Goldberg Variations and The Art of Fugue as well as key works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin, and Brahms.
References
- ^ Tovey, Donald (1935). Essays in Musical Analysis, Vols. I-VI. Oxford University Press.
- ISBN 0-19-315149-9.
External links
- Essays In Musical Analysis Vol-vi - digital copy at the Internet Archive