Arthur Honegger (1892--1955), Swiss by nationality, French by education and residence, was a major composer of the 20th century. Although he earned popular acclaim early in his career, in his later years his consistently tonal musical language was considered outmoded. His most significant works include five symphonies, a large body of chamber music, and several large-scale oratorios that combine choral and instrumental writing with declaimed narrative in a uniquely effective way. HARDCOVER

Studie over het werk van de Zwitserse laat-romantische componist (1892-1955)

This title was first published in 2002. Through analyses of a number of Honegger's compositions, including extended analyses of two of Honegger's orchestral works, "Mouvement symphonique No. 2 (Rugby)" and "Symphonie pour cordes", Keith Waters examines the principles of musical organization in Honegger's music and shows how these principles are based on systematic rhythmic and contrapuntal strategies. Musical form in Honegger's work, the book argues, is articulated by contrapuntal and rhythmic structures rather than by tonal structure, and it is this that provides the source of compositional unity in Honegger's music.

This book is about the use of exoticism, particularly the use of masks and stylized movement, in opera and other musical theater genres of the twentieth century. The author explores in depth a topic that effects a wide variety of important composers, dancers, and dramatists, but has never been comprehensively studied.

The absorbing, comprehensive story of an absolutely unique experiment in classical music, involving many key figures of the Dada and Surrealist movements Les Six were a group of talented composers who came together in a unique collaboration that has never been matched in classical music, and here their remarkable story is told for the first time. A musical experiment originally conceived by Erik Satie and then built upon by Jean Cocteau, Les Six were also born out of the shock of the German invasion of France in 1914—an avant-garde riposte to German romanticism and Wagnerism. Les Six were all—and still are—respected in music circles, but under the aegis of Cocteau, they found themselves moving among a whole new milieu: the likes of Picasso, René Clair, Blaise Cendrars, and Maurice Chevalier all appear in the story. But the story of Les Six goes on long after the heyday of Bohemian Paris—the group never officially disbanded and it was only in the last 20 years that the last member died; moreover, their spouses, descendents, and associates are still active, ensuring that the remarkable legacy of this unique group survives.

This new volume incorporates all entries from the previous editions by Arthur Wenk, expanding to cover writings drawn from periodicals, theses, dissertations, books, and Festschriften from 1940 to 2000. Over 9,000 references to analyses of works by over 1,000 composers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are included.

In Renegotiating French Identity, Jane Fulcher addresses the question of cultural resistance to the German occupation and Vichy regime during the Second World War. Nazi Germany famously stressed music as a marker of national identity and cultural achievement, but so too did Vichy. From the opera to the symphony, music did not only serve the interests of Vichy and German propaganda: it also helped to reveal the motives behind them, and to awaken resistance among those growing disillusioned by the regime. Using unexplored Resistance documents, from both the clandestine press and the French National Archives, Fulcher looks at the responses of specific artists and their means of resistance, addressing in turn Pierre Schaeffer, Arthur Honegger, Francis Poulenc, and Olivier Messiaen, among others. This book investigates the role that music played in fostering a profound awareness of the cultural and political differences between conflicting French ideological positions, as criticism of Vichy and its policies mounted.