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Review Author(s): John Novak Review by: John Novak Source: Notes, Second Series, Vol. 57, No. 1 (Sep., 2000), pp. 142-143Published by: Music Library AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/899796Accessed: 21-11-2015 14:57 UTC

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NOTES, September 2000 NOTES, September 2000

for example, and introduces enough evi- dence to give pause to those who would dismiss his conclusions out of hand.) Al- though the discussion of musical issues might have benefited from a different orga- nizational approach, Studd's perceptive comments on the development of the com- poser's style provide a foundation for those who wish to explore the works in more depth. In sum, this is not the comprehen- sive biography that is needed for a proper reassessment of Saint-Saens's life and achievements-it relies too much on previ- ous work to warrant such accolades-but it provides a good starting point for further investigation.

MICHAEL STRASSER

Baldwin-Wallace College

Dvorak: Cello Concerto. By Jan Smaczny. (Cambridge Music Hand- books.) Cambridge: Cambridge Uni-

versity Press, 1999. [x, 120 p. ISBN 0- 521-66050-5 (cloth); 0-521-66903-0

(pbk.). $44.95 (cloth); $15.95 (pbk.).]

In this monograph, Jan Smaczny exam- ines from various perspectives a work com- posed during a particularly creative transi- tion point in Antonin Dvoirk's career. The result is an engaging study of Dvorak's compositional process, his life in the United States, his views on American and Czech music, and his mysterious relation- ship with the cello, an instrument he seems to have championed unwittingly in one of the most famous concertos ever written. Smaczny bases his work on original sources, including revealing sketch studies as well as writings of Dvorak and his colleagues, stu- dents, and friends.

The study begins with Dvorak's enig- matic statement that "The cello is a beauti- ful instrument, but its place is in the or- chestra and in chamber music. As a solo instrument it isn't much good ... I have ... written a 'cello-concerto, but am sorry to this day I did so, and I never intend to write another" (p. 1). This remark sets the stage for a series of ironic issues concern- ing the concerto. One is that the famous work was actually the composer's second concerto for the cello; his first dates from June 1865 and remains unorchestrated.

for example, and introduces enough evi- dence to give pause to those who would dismiss his conclusions out of hand.) Al- though the discussion of musical issues might have benefited from a different orga- nizational approach, Studd's perceptive comments on the development of the com- poser's style provide a foundation for those who wish to explore the works in more depth. In sum, this is not the comprehen- sive biography that is needed for a proper reassessment of Saint-Saens's life and achievements-it relies too much on previ- ous work to warrant such accolades-but it provides a good starting point for further investigation.

MICHAEL STRASSER

Baldwin-Wallace College

Dvorak: Cello Concerto. By Jan Smaczny. (Cambridge Music Hand- books.) Cambridge: Cambridge Uni-

versity Press, 1999. [x, 120 p. ISBN 0- 521-66050-5 (cloth); 0-521-66903-0

(pbk.). $44.95 (cloth); $15.95 (pbk.).]

In this monograph, Jan Smaczny exam- ines from various perspectives a work com- posed during a particularly creative transi- tion point in Antonin Dvoirk's career. The result is an engaging study of Dvorak's compositional process, his life in the United States, his views on American and Czech music, and his mysterious relation- ship with the cello, an instrument he seems to have championed unwittingly in one of the most famous concertos ever written. Smaczny bases his work on original sources, including revealing sketch studies as well as writings of Dvorak and his colleagues, stu- dents, and friends.

The study begins with Dvorak's enig- matic statement that "The cello is a beauti- ful instrument, but its place is in the or- chestra and in chamber music. As a solo instrument it isn't much good ... I have ... written a 'cello-concerto, but am sorry to this day I did so, and I never intend to write another" (p. 1). This remark sets the stage for a series of ironic issues concern- ing the concerto. One is that the famous work was actually the composer's second concerto for the cello; his first dates from June 1865 and remains unorchestrated.

Smaczny finds convincing parallels between the plans of the two works.

Another irony concerns the work's musi- cal style. While I tend to see the concerto as a close companion to Dvorak's Ninth Symphony, most musicologists consider it a deliberate turning away from the American style to the composer's native Bohemia, for which he was homesick during its composi- tion. Smaczny demonstrates how the con- certo clearly possesses traits of both styles.

A third ironic issue is Dvorak's quotation of his emotional song "Lasst mich allein!" in the second movement. Before develop- ing feelings for his future wife Anna Cer- makova, the composer had had a "burgeon- ing love" (p. 78) for her older sister Josefina while the latter was his pupil. Late in 1894, as Dvoirk began the concerto, he received letters from a distressed Josefina, who was confined to bed with heart disease. Dvoifk associated the song with her; the tender manner in which it is incorporated into the second movement reveals his em- pathy toward (or possibly longing for) someone for whom he cared deeply.

Smaczny devotes three chapters to Dvoirk's creative process, comparing pre- liminary sketches, the continuous sketch of the entire work, and the final score. Although the concerto's form was devel- oped primarily during the writing out of the continuous sketch, Dvoifk made many sublime changes to the melodies and rhythms when scoring the work. Compari- son of the continuous sketch and the final score shows Dvoirk's uncanny gift for tim- ing, drama, and developing variation. Equally fascinating are his revisions of the virtuosic solo passages. Cellist Hanus Wihan, who initially asked Dvoifk to write the work, aided the composer with ideas for these passages; nonetheless, Dvoaik re- fused to honor Wihan's desire for an ex- tended cadenza.

Although Dvoifk initially indicated that he completed the score in the United States in February 1895, he was prompted to make extensive changes to the coda of the final movement in June of that year when he was back in Bohemia. It is likely that Josefina's death in May was the pri- mary inspiration for the brilliantly elegiac coda, which recalls and combines themes from all three movements. This apotheosis grants the work an essential formal bal-

Smaczny finds convincing parallels between the plans of the two works.

Another irony concerns the work's musi- cal style. While I tend to see the concerto as a close companion to Dvorak's Ninth Symphony, most musicologists consider it a deliberate turning away from the American style to the composer's native Bohemia, for which he was homesick during its composi- tion. Smaczny demonstrates how the con- certo clearly possesses traits of both styles.

A third ironic issue is Dvorak's quotation of his emotional song "Lasst mich allein!" in the second movement. Before develop- ing feelings for his future wife Anna Cer- makova, the composer had had a "burgeon- ing love" (p. 78) for her older sister Josefina while the latter was his pupil. Late in 1894, as Dvoirk began the concerto, he received letters from a distressed Josefina, who was confined to bed with heart disease. Dvoifk associated the song with her; the tender manner in which it is incorporated into the second movement reveals his em- pathy toward (or possibly longing for) someone for whom he cared deeply.

Smaczny devotes three chapters to Dvoirk's creative process, comparing pre- liminary sketches, the continuous sketch of the entire work, and the final score. Although the concerto's form was devel- oped primarily during the writing out of the continuous sketch, Dvoifk made many sublime changes to the melodies and rhythms when scoring the work. Compari- son of the continuous sketch and the final score shows Dvoirk's uncanny gift for tim- ing, drama, and developing variation. Equally fascinating are his revisions of the virtuosic solo passages. Cellist Hanus Wihan, who initially asked Dvoifk to write the work, aided the composer with ideas for these passages; nonetheless, Dvoaik re- fused to honor Wihan's desire for an ex- tended cadenza.

Although Dvoifk initially indicated that he completed the score in the United States in February 1895, he was prompted to make extensive changes to the coda of the final movement in June of that year when he was back in Bohemia. It is likely that Josefina's death in May was the pri- mary inspiration for the brilliantly elegiac coda, which recalls and combines themes from all three movements. This apotheosis grants the work an essential formal bal-

142 142

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Book Reviews Book Reviews

ance, a concern of the composer even be- fore Josefina's untimely passing.

Smaczny's brief study of the timings of ten different performances of the concerto appears to have one main conclusion: over the years, each successive generation of cel- lists has tended to play the work more slowly than the generation before. Smaczny believes that the primary reason for Pablo Casals's unqualified success with the con- certo is that his tempos were very close to Dvoirk's metronome indications. Later,

ance, a concern of the composer even be- fore Josefina's untimely passing.

Smaczny's brief study of the timings of ten different performances of the concerto appears to have one main conclusion: over the years, each successive generation of cel- lists has tended to play the work more slowly than the generation before. Smaczny believes that the primary reason for Pablo Casals's unqualified success with the con- certo is that his tempos were very close to Dvoirk's metronome indications. Later,

the trend was for cellists to play the lyrical passages much more slowly than the sur- rounding passages, thus segmenting the work and rendering it maudlin.

Better labeling of the music examples would have made this study easier to use. Smaczny often compares two examples, la- beling each by their tempo indications only, rather than specifying movement and measure numbers as well.

JOHN NOVAK Northern Illinois University

the trend was for cellists to play the lyrical passages much more slowly than the sur- rounding passages, thus segmenting the work and rendering it maudlin.

Better labeling of the music examples would have made this study easier to use. Smaczny often compares two examples, la- beling each by their tempo indications only, rather than specifying movement and measure numbers as well.

JOHN NOVAK Northern Illinois University

TWENTIETH CENTURY TWENTIETH CENTURY

Schoenberg and His World. Edited by Walter Frisch. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999. [xi, 352 p. ISBN 0-691-04860-6 (cloth); 0-691-04861-4

(pbk.). $55 (cloth); $19.95 (pbk.).]

Roughly half of Walter Frisch's Schoenberg and His World consists of a group of new or newly translated essays by American and German scholars; the other half contains reprintings or new translations of three groups of historic documents. As Frisch ob- serves in the preface, this organization is in- tended to depict "recent perspectives" on Arnold Schoenberg (the essays) and "reveal Schoenberg at three successive locales and stages of his career" (the documents) (p. [ix]). The essays are by Leon Botstein, Severine Neff, Joseph H. Auner, Rudolf Stephan, Reinhold Brinkmann, andJ. Peter Burkholder. The documents include Barbara Z. Schoenberg's translation of the Festschrift Arnold Sch6nberg, assembled and written mainly by Schoenberg's students and published in 1912; German newspaper accounts of Schoenberg's lectures and in- terviews in Germany from 1927 to 1933, as- sembled by Auner and translated by Irene Zedlacher; and a selection of Schoenberg's varied writings on his life and situation in America, juxtaposed with five views of Schoenberg by American composers (A. Walter Kramer, Henry Cowell, Nicholas Slonimsky, Lou Harrison, and Roger Sessions), the whole American group as- sembled by Sabine Feisst. Also included is a brief chronology of Schoenberg's life and works by Marilyn McCoy.

Frisch takes the position that it is not so much Schoenberg's music that has with- stood the test of time as the "diversity" of

Schoenberg and His World. Edited by Walter Frisch. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999. [xi, 352 p. ISBN 0-691-04860-6 (cloth); 0-691-04861-4

(pbk.). $55 (cloth); $19.95 (pbk.).]

Roughly half of Walter Frisch's Schoenberg and His World consists of a group of new or newly translated essays by American and German scholars; the other half contains reprintings or new translations of three groups of historic documents. As Frisch ob- serves in the preface, this organization is in- tended to depict "recent perspectives" on Arnold Schoenberg (the essays) and "reveal Schoenberg at three successive locales and stages of his career" (the documents) (p. [ix]). The essays are by Leon Botstein, Severine Neff, Joseph H. Auner, Rudolf Stephan, Reinhold Brinkmann, andJ. Peter Burkholder. The documents include Barbara Z. Schoenberg's translation of the Festschrift Arnold Sch6nberg, assembled and written mainly by Schoenberg's students and published in 1912; German newspaper accounts of Schoenberg's lectures and in- terviews in Germany from 1927 to 1933, as- sembled by Auner and translated by Irene Zedlacher; and a selection of Schoenberg's varied writings on his life and situation in America, juxtaposed with five views of Schoenberg by American composers (A. Walter Kramer, Henry Cowell, Nicholas Slonimsky, Lou Harrison, and Roger Sessions), the whole American group as- sembled by Sabine Feisst. Also included is a brief chronology of Schoenberg's life and works by Marilyn McCoy.

Frisch takes the position that it is not so much Schoenberg's music that has with- stood the test of time as the "diversity" of

his activities and accomplishments as a ped- agogue, theorist, commentator, and partici- pant in the important cultural develop- ments of his day (p. [ix]). This perspective has colored the makeup of Schoenberg and His TWorld, which focuses more on the con- text of Schoenberg's musical creations than on the works themselves. Nevertheless, in the first half of the volume, two of the six essays concern specific pieces of music (Brinkmann, "The Compressed Symphony: On the Historical Content of Schoenberg's Op. 9," and Auner, "Schoenberg and His Public in 1930: The Six Pieces for Male Chorus, Op. 35"), and one takes up a topic that concerns an array of works (Burk- holder, "Schoenberg the Reactionary"). The other three address "Schoenberg and Bach" (Stephan), "Schoenberg as Theorist: Three Forms of Presentation" (Neff), and "Schoenberg and the Audience: Modern- ism, Music, and Politics in the Twentieth Century" (Botstein). Botstein's is the most provocative of these essays; in the spirit of postmodern revisionism, it dismisses ac- cepted attitudes toward Schoenberg and his music and suggests new strategies for understanding. For example, Botstein posits that Schoenberg expected from his audience an elevated way of listening that was greatly at odds with established ways and that derived from an extreme, Hanslick-inspired, psychologically artificial absolutism mistakenly assigned by Schoen- berg to the Viennese classicists. Hence, au- diences have not been able to enjoy his music. Botstein also opines that the twelve- tone method came into being as a way for nearly assimilated Jews to establish a German musical identity independent of the rising tides of nationalism that loomed

his activities and accomplishments as a ped- agogue, theorist, commentator, and partici- pant in the important cultural develop- ments of his day (p. [ix]). This perspective has colored the makeup of Schoenberg and His TWorld, which focuses more on the con- text of Schoenberg's musical creations than on the works themselves. Nevertheless, in the first half of the volume, two of the six essays concern specific pieces of music (Brinkmann, "The Compressed Symphony: On the Historical Content of Schoenberg's Op. 9," and Auner, "Schoenberg and His Public in 1930: The Six Pieces for Male Chorus, Op. 35"), and one takes up a topic that concerns an array of works (Burk- holder, "Schoenberg the Reactionary"). The other three address "Schoenberg and Bach" (Stephan), "Schoenberg as Theorist: Three Forms of Presentation" (Neff), and "Schoenberg and the Audience: Modern- ism, Music, and Politics in the Twentieth Century" (Botstein). Botstein's is the most provocative of these essays; in the spirit of postmodern revisionism, it dismisses ac- cepted attitudes toward Schoenberg and his music and suggests new strategies for understanding. For example, Botstein posits that Schoenberg expected from his audience an elevated way of listening that was greatly at odds with established ways and that derived from an extreme, Hanslick-inspired, psychologically artificial absolutism mistakenly assigned by Schoen- berg to the Viennese classicists. Hence, au- diences have not been able to enjoy his music. Botstein also opines that the twelve- tone method came into being as a way for nearly assimilated Jews to establish a German musical identity independent of the rising tides of nationalism that loomed

143 143

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