A lost paradise of purity: the late masterpieces of Schubert
standpointmag.co.uk
A lost paradise of purity: the late masterpieces of Schubert
1–10 of 27 posts
Re: A lost paradise of purity: the late masterpieces of Schubert
#2It is interesting that the author here has to describe what emotional effect Schubert might have intended with his use of keys; when writers today do this, to me it suggests that contemporary readers might not hear this angst themselves. Not only did later Romanticism and Debussy stretch tonality to a point where listeners became more comfortable with hitherto dissonant keys, and so they do not hear things the way Schubert’s listeners would have, but modern pop music is very constrained in its use of modulation so society has lost much of the grammar of Baroque, Classical and Romantic music.
Re: A lost paradise of purity: the late masterpieces of Schubert
#3Incredible to think he died at 31, and composed more than 1,500 works, many of which are adored today. He makes me want to work harder every day.
Re: A lost paradise of purity: the late masterpieces of Schubert
#4His best works are written in what I have always imagined as some sort of feverish spurts when the syphilis was in remission to just get them out of him for the afterworld. The late symphonies, the septet, Winterreise. All amazing works.
I listen to a lot of music, but some works I go back to more than others. The big C major quintet (the string quartet with an extra cello one) is in my opinion the greatest piece of chamber music ever written, and I don't even like string music.
The recording with the Emerson quartet and Rostropovich is probably my favourite.
Another work I always return to are Petterssons 7th symphony, preferably the recording with the orchestra I work in. Norrköpings Symphony orchestra together with Leif Segerstam. Way before my time, but wow what a symphony. I never understood why Pettersson is never mentioned among other Scandinavian composers such as Nielsen or Sibelius. His seventh symphony deserves to be played world wide.
Re: A lost paradise of purity: the late masterpieces of Schubert
#5Incredible to think he died at 31, and composed more than 1,500 works, many of which are adored today. He makes me want to work harder every day.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Franz_...
Woah Man on a mission
Re: A lost paradise of purity: the late masterpieces of Schubert
#6It is interesting that the author here has to describe what emotional effect Schubert might have intended with his use of keys; when writers today do this, to me it suggests that contemporary readers might not hear this angst themselves. Not only did later Romanticism and Debussy stretch tonality to a point where listeners became more comfortable with hitherto dissonant keys, and so they do not hear things the way Sc…
I don't even understand the article's claim to dissonance - is it the dissonance you'd hear from e.g playing on B on a just intonation C piano? Or is it a 'dissonance' in the sense of a modulation to a non-diatonic key? Or is it just some expectation that the audience associates moods with different keys? (So assuming the audience can be expected to have at least subconscious absolute pitch, seems unlikely)
Re: A lost paradise of purity: the late masterpieces of Schubert
#7His best works are written in what I have always imagined as some sort of feverish spurts when the syphilis was in remission to just get them out of him for the afterworld. The late symphonies, the septet, Winterreise. All amazing works. I listen to a lot of music, but some works I go back to more than others. The big C major quintet (the string quartet with an extra cello one) is in my opinion the greatest piece of…
The lyricism and agony of Death and the Maiden (D810), particularly in the Andante, gut me every time. Personally my favorite chamber work.
Re: A lost paradise of purity: the late masterpieces of Schubert
#8It is interesting that the author here has to describe what emotional effect Schubert might have intended with his use of keys; when writers today do this, to me it suggests that contemporary readers might not hear this angst themselves. Not only did later Romanticism and Debussy stretch tonality to a point where listeners became more comfortable with hitherto dissonant keys, and so they do not hear things the way Sc…
Pianos actually sounded differently back then, different keys were genuinely distinct.
https://wmich.edu/mus-theo/courses/keys.html
"When equal temperament became the dominant tuning after 1917, the aural quality of every key became the same, and therefore these affective characteristics are mostly lost to us"
Re: A lost paradise of purity: the late masterpieces of Schubert
#9It is interesting that the author here has to describe what emotional effect Schubert might have intended with his use of keys; when writers today do this, to me it suggests that contemporary readers might not hear this angst themselves. Not only did later Romanticism and Debussy stretch tonality to a point where listeners became more comfortable with hitherto dissonant keys, and so they do not hear things the way Sc…
Pianos actually sounded differently back then, different keys were genuinely distinct. https://wmich.edu/mus-theo/courses/keys.html "When equal temperament became the dominant tuning after 1917, the aural quality of every key became the same, and therefore these affective characteristics are mostly lost to us"
Some of the stuff that is nowadays attributed to temperament is actually related to certain instrumentation being preferably set in specific keys that were easy to play with the available instruments.
Also competing tunings on various instruments mean that the situation was never a "fix" target.
I am not saying tunings don't play a role, in fact you can hear that John Frusciante sometimes has played with slightly detuned guitar strings for effect. But it its also not so simple as such compilations of key - and - purpose might make you want to believe.
Re: A lost paradise of purity: the late masterpieces of Schubert
#10> the Andantino of D959 is on a different plane of alienation. It is all the more aberrant in a work which is generally so warm-hearted and affirmatory... “desolate grace behind which madness lies.”
Schubert's Sonata D959 Andantino was also featured in a remarkable film, "La Pianiste" (2001), which explores many of the same themes described in the article: