John Williamson (9) (1949–)

Very few people I suspect read Cambridge Companions cover to cover, they are often invaluable reference works. So I did wonder what John Williamson who edited this volume had in mind, when instead of commissioning a structured and complete analysis of the symphonies, various ‘overview’ chapters have been preferred as if to make the book more approachable to someone wishing to read it through. Those chapters are by Williamson himself: 'The Brucknerian symphony: an overview’, which doesn’t do more than skim the surface, a rather pretentious one by Derek B Scott portentously titled ‘Bruckner's symphonies – a reinterpretation: the dialectic of darkness and light’ and then another I felt rather misconceived one by Williamson ‘Programme symphony and absolute music’ which is just not where I would want to start in understanding Bruckner as a symphonist - as if programme music was central to one’s understanding of what Bruckner the composer was. To me the success of this book really depends on what it can tell one about the symphonies and I think it’s fatally weak here, all the more frustrating because the section on the Choral Music is admirably done, with three excellent, lucid essays.
There are a couple of genuinely interesting chapters on the symphonies, albeit somewhat peripheral to any central analysis: Benjamin M Korstvedt does a good job of untangling the textual scholar’s dream or nightmare of the editions of the symphonies (although it peters out a bit once the Haas Gesamtausgabe narrative is done) and Williamson himself is enlightening on conductors and recordings (particularly pioneering ones), although he does overdo the aging conductor and ‘monumentalism’ trope and there is more to the analysis of recordings than taking the easy route of comparing timings.
A very mixed volume then and absolutely not one I could recommend to someone just familiarising themselves with Bruckner.… (lisätietoja)

Richard Strauss's tone poem Also sprach Zarathustra is one of his most controversial works, but it is also one of the staples of the virtuoso orchestra. Its greatest popularity has been achieved in recent years with its association with Kubrick's film 2001--A Space Odyssey. This guide examines the intellectual background of the work and considers the ways in which it has been received by composers and writers. It also discusses the musical background of Liszt and Wagner which gave rise to the genre "tone poem," and provides an analysis of several aspects of Strauss's musical language.… (lisätietoja)