Patricia Carpenter, Severine Neff (editors)
Foreword (2006) by Walter Frisch
376p., 2006, english, Paperback, 15.5 x 2.1 x 23.5 cm
». . . [this book] is the single best volume extant if one wishes to learn about the technical conception of music held by one of the greatest composers (and greatest music educators) of modern times.« (MLA Notes)
»This book is easy to read because there is no analysis without aim, no theoretical viewing without connections to genuine musical aspects.« (Eike Feβ, Besprechungen, April 2007)
The Gedanke manuscripts, from which The Musical Idea is compiled, are legendary writings of Arnold Schoenberg. Central to his concern was his concept of the “musical idea,” which represents the wholeness of the musical work and embraces Schoenberg’s notions of motive, gestalt, phrase, theme, rhythm, harmony, and form. Ultimately, the musical idea is the vision of the composer by which a musical work achieves unity in relation to the means by which the work is comprehended in its unity by the listener.