Mendelssohn's `Italian' Symphony

by John Michael Cooper

Overview

This is the first book-length study of the composition, reception, extramusical implications, and stylistic eclecticism of Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony, a staple of the nineteenth-century musical canon. Cooper devotes extensive attention to the differences between the posthumously published familiar version of the work and the composer's revision, which remained unpublished until 2001. He presents substantial new insights into a work which many listeners and scholars have known only in the version the composer considered less successful.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198166535
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	03/20/2003
Series:	Studies In Musical Genesis, Structure, and Interpretation
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 6.20(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Michael Cooper is Associate Professor of Music History at the University of North Texas. He has been Visiting Assistant Professor of Musicology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Assistant Professor of Music History at Illinois Wesleyan University.

Table of Contents

1. Compositional Context and Critical Reception2. Composition, Revision, and Early Performances3. The Musical Sources4. The Music and Its Revisions5. An 'Italian' Symphony? 6. Knowing Mendelssohn

Editorial Reviews

"There is no doubt that this book represents a consideable scholarly achievement. It brings about a thorough 'defamiliarization' of the 'Italian' Symphony, both through the revelation of a great number of new details concerning its festation and chronology, and through the wide array of new interpretative perspectives that John Michael Cooper opens up, especially on programmatic aspects and the work's 'Italian-ness'.... All in all, this new book is indispensable to anyone with a serious interest in Mendelssohn and is strongly recommended."—Music and Letters

From the Publisher