In this comprehensive and authoritative guide, Rosen places Beethoven's sonatas in context and provides an understanding of the formal principles involved in interpreting and performing this unique repertoire. Includes a CD of the author performing extracts from several of the works.

Felix Mendelssohn has long been viewed as one of the most historically minded composers in western music. This book explores the conceptions of time, memory and history found in his instrumental compositions, presenting an intriguing new perspective on his ever-popular music. Focusing on Mendelssohn's innovative development of cyclic form, Taylor investigates how the composer was influenced by the aesthetic and philosophical movements of the period. This is of key importance not only for reconsideration of Mendelssohn's work and its position in nineteenth-century culture, but also more generally concerning the relationship between music, time and subjectivity. One of very few detailed accounts of Mendelssohn's music, the study presents a new and provocative reading of the meaning of the composer's work by connecting it to wider cultural and philosophical ideas.

As a result of both his political reputation--destroyed by false charges of Nazism after World War II--and his rejection of avant-garde techniques, the recordings and compositions of Ernst von Dohnányi went largely ignored for most of the 20th century. In recent years, however, musicians have begun to revise their interpretations of 20th century music to include compositional and performance styles that, like Dohnányi's, adhered more closely to 19th century aesthetics. Although performers and audiences worldwide have started to rediscover his musical legacy, scholarship has not kept pace with their growing interest. This bio-bibliography corrects that. As the first scholarly examination in English of Dohnányi's life and work, it serves as the perfect introduction to an unfairly neglected 20th century artist. A brief but insightful biography is followed by a list of works that reflects the most current research of Dohnányi's creative output. It includes nearly 200 entries, each of which collects such information as the date of composition, the instrumentation of the work, the publisher of its first edition, the location of the manuscript, and the date and location of its premiere. The discography lists 400 sound recordings of the composer's work, and the annotated bibliography includes 500 entries, emphasizing performance reviews that offer substantial information about Dohnányi's works and style.