Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier by Alan Jefferson; Richard Strauss: Vier letzte Lieder bySusan WanlessReview by: Robert J. DennisNotes, Second Series, Vol. 44, No. 1 (Sep., 1987), pp. 61-62Published by: Music Library AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/940986 .

Accessed: 14/06/2014 14:22

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

Music Library Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Notes.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 195.78.108.40 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 14:22:35 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Book Reviews Book Reviews

turned for advice), a charming note to his eight-year-old nephew Sebastian, and mov- ing expressions of his grief at the deaths of his father and his beloved Fanny.

Unfortunately, the translation does not always serve Elvers or Mendelssohn as well as might be hoped. To be sure, credit must go to Craig Tomlinson for capturing the general style of Mendelssohn's prose in id- iomatic English, and even for managing a rhymed translation of a rhymed riddle with which Felix challenged Rebecka (p. 10). On the other hand, some of the translations are perhaps freer than necessary; to give one example, there is no evident need to change Mendelssohn's statement that he hoped "to sleep in Vienna the night of the day after tomorrow" ("iibermorgen Nacht in Wien zu schlafen") to "to be happily ensconced in Vienna the day after tomorrow" (p. 128). There are also a few disconcerting prob- lems in specifically musical matters. For ex- ample, in a description of an organ with ten "Stimmen" of which six were out of or- der, the translator employs the word "voices" where "stops" would certainly be the appropriate English term (p. 12). There is also a classic slip-up in translating "B dur" as "B major" rather than "B-flat major" in a reference to the Lobgesang (p. 247).

The book includes a section of pictures, consisting mostly of portraits of the com- poser and his family and of his own travel drawings and watercolors (reproduced in black and white). Several appendixes are also provided, including a chronology of events, a list of the letters according to their addressees, an index of persons named in the text, and a list of Mendelssohn's works with page references for those mentioned. The indexing of the works is regrettably marred by a large number of inaccuracies; often one has to search a number of nearby pages for the actual citations. This is not the case with the index of names, however.

The curious Mendelssohn scholar wishes for a few more annotations and for indi- cations of the present locations of the let- ters' originals. In the long run, we still need a comprehensive, fully scholarly edition of Mendelssohn's correspondence. In the meantime, we can be sincerely grateful for this new addition to the books of selections.

turned for advice), a charming note to his eight-year-old nephew Sebastian, and mov- ing expressions of his grief at the deaths of his father and his beloved Fanny.

Unfortunately, the translation does not always serve Elvers or Mendelssohn as well as might be hoped. To be sure, credit must go to Craig Tomlinson for capturing the general style of Mendelssohn's prose in id- iomatic English, and even for managing a rhymed translation of a rhymed riddle with which Felix challenged Rebecka (p. 10). On the other hand, some of the translations are perhaps freer than necessary; to give one example, there is no evident need to change Mendelssohn's statement that he hoped "to sleep in Vienna the night of the day after tomorrow" ("iibermorgen Nacht in Wien zu schlafen") to "to be happily ensconced in Vienna the day after tomorrow" (p. 128). There are also a few disconcerting prob- lems in specifically musical matters. For ex- ample, in a description of an organ with ten "Stimmen" of which six were out of or- der, the translator employs the word "voices" where "stops" would certainly be the appropriate English term (p. 12). There is also a classic slip-up in translating "B dur" as "B major" rather than "B-flat major" in a reference to the Lobgesang (p. 247).

The book includes a section of pictures, consisting mostly of portraits of the com- poser and his family and of his own travel drawings and watercolors (reproduced in black and white). Several appendixes are also provided, including a chronology of events, a list of the letters according to their addressees, an index of persons named in the text, and a list of Mendelssohn's works with page references for those mentioned. The indexing of the works is regrettably marred by a large number of inaccuracies; often one has to search a number of nearby pages for the actual citations. This is not the case with the index of names, however.

The curious Mendelssohn scholar wishes for a few more annotations and for indi- cations of the present locations of the let- ters' originals. In the long run, we still need a comprehensive, fully scholarly edition of Mendelssohn's correspondence. In the meantime, we can be sincerely grateful for this new addition to the books of selections.

DOUGLASS SEATON Florida State University

DOUGLASS SEATON Florida State University

Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier. By Alan Jefferson. (Cambridge Opera Handbooks.) Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1985. [viii, 152 p.; $34.50; $11.95 pbk] ISBN 0- 521-26036-1; 0-521-27811-2 (pbk)

Richard Strauss: Vier letzte Lieder. By Susan Wanless. (Mayflower Study Guides, 5.) Leeds: Mayflower Enter- prises, 1984. [55 p.] ISBN 0-946896- 09-7

Volumes in the series Cambridge Opera Handbooks, written for the "serious opera- goer or record-collector" (so boasts the dust jacket), are arm-chair travelogues of the best kind. Informative, and assembled with ad- mirable thoroughness, each offers compre- hensive observations on the work at hand: discussion of sources or literary proto- types, review of performance history through periods of changing musical and theatrical tastes, detailed analysis of musi- cal and dramatic structure, and often, a short account of critical appraisal. The ten guides in the series span operatic history from Monteverdi's Orfeo to Britten's The Turn of the Screw, while Puccini, Janacek, and Stravinsky have now joined Mozart, Verdi, and Wagner in the list of composers whose operas have been examined in this format.

Alan Jefferson's Rosenkavalier anthology is a good study companion for this master- ful and popular opera. Jefferson draws upon the Strauss-Hoffmansthal corre- spondence to produce a concise account of the development of the opera's beloved and vivid characters. The author's examination of Hoffmansthal's literary sources and op- eratic models is unencumbered by prickly detail or loose threads. The lengthy syn- opsis and musical analysis of Der Rosenka- valier by Norman Del Mar is adapted from his three-volume study, Richard Strauss (London, 1962). Replete with over seventy musical examples, Del Mar's discussion of the musical and dramatic action is punc- tuated with pointed observations by the legendary Marschallin Lotte Lehmann, ex- tracted from her autobiography, My Many Lives (New York, 1948).

Jefferson's two chapters, "Staging the operas" and "The critical view," provide telling examples of the kind of concise and

Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier. By Alan Jefferson. (Cambridge Opera Handbooks.) Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1985. [viii, 152 p.; $34.50; $11.95 pbk] ISBN 0- 521-26036-1; 0-521-27811-2 (pbk)

Richard Strauss: Vier letzte Lieder. By Susan Wanless. (Mayflower Study Guides, 5.) Leeds: Mayflower Enter- prises, 1984. [55 p.] ISBN 0-946896- 09-7

Volumes in the series Cambridge Opera Handbooks, written for the "serious opera- goer or record-collector" (so boasts the dust jacket), are arm-chair travelogues of the best kind. Informative, and assembled with ad- mirable thoroughness, each offers compre- hensive observations on the work at hand: discussion of sources or literary proto- types, review of performance history through periods of changing musical and theatrical tastes, detailed analysis of musi- cal and dramatic structure, and often, a short account of critical appraisal. The ten guides in the series span operatic history from Monteverdi's Orfeo to Britten's The Turn of the Screw, while Puccini, Janacek, and Stravinsky have now joined Mozart, Verdi, and Wagner in the list of composers whose operas have been examined in this format.

Alan Jefferson's Rosenkavalier anthology is a good study companion for this master- ful and popular opera. Jefferson draws upon the Strauss-Hoffmansthal corre- spondence to produce a concise account of the development of the opera's beloved and vivid characters. The author's examination of Hoffmansthal's literary sources and op- eratic models is unencumbered by prickly detail or loose threads. The lengthy syn- opsis and musical analysis of Der Rosenka- valier by Norman Del Mar is adapted from his three-volume study, Richard Strauss (London, 1962). Replete with over seventy musical examples, Del Mar's discussion of the musical and dramatic action is punc- tuated with pointed observations by the legendary Marschallin Lotte Lehmann, ex- tracted from her autobiography, My Many Lives (New York, 1948).

Jefferson's two chapters, "Staging the operas" and "The critical view," provide telling examples of the kind of concise and

61 61

This content downloaded from 195.78.108.40 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 14:22:35 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

MLA Notes, September 1987 MLA Notes, September 1987

comprehensive overview these study guides provide: the chapter on staging brings to light interpretive problems and their so- lutions in various mountings of the opera from the Dresden premiere through mile- stone productions in Vienna, Munich, London, Salzburg, and New York. The contributions of conductors (Beecham, Krauss, Karajan, Szell), directors (Rein- hardt, Ebert, Hartmann, Liebermann), and a host of major singers long associated with this work are recalled in an intelligent ap- praisal tempered by historical perspective. The segment on critical viewpoints samples the wide spectrum of criticism of the work, much of it still relevant and illuminating. The familiar and contrasting observations of Romain Rolland and Joseph Kerman are offset by Ethyl Smyth's curiously unpleas- ant admiration. The author offers some stimulating ideas of his own in the chapter concerned with interpretation.

Of special interest are the book's ap- pendixes, which include an absorbing dis- cussion of the language of Rosenkavalier (Hoffmansthal's Sprachkostum), and an investigation of textual variants, most of which Hoffmansthal offered as remedy for racy or frankly explicit text. The editor also discusses two film versions of the work (most notably the 1925 silent film with incidental music conducted by Strauss) and the 1961 Schonbrunn production of the play. There is a commendably thorough discography, an extraordinary feature of which is com- prehensive documentation of the standard stage cuts; a table of their application, with variants, to each of the ten complete re- cordings will surely soothe many an exas- perated listener.

Those readers seeking discussion of mu- sic or text in greater detail, or on a higher technical level, will find an exemplary bib- liography of literary sources, correspon- dence and related papers, periodical ar- ticles, books, librettos, and other opera guides. There is plenty here to tease the easily-stimulated intellect toward further investigation. Jefferson's handbook is an admirable volume on all counts.

Susan Wanless's brief study of Strauss's Vier letzte Lieder is a straightforward and factual description of the composer's last major work. In fewer than fifty pages, the author touches on various aspects of the poems and music. Her discussion of struc-

comprehensive overview these study guides provide: the chapter on staging brings to light interpretive problems and their so- lutions in various mountings of the opera from the Dresden premiere through mile- stone productions in Vienna, Munich, London, Salzburg, and New York. The contributions of conductors (Beecham, Krauss, Karajan, Szell), directors (Rein- hardt, Ebert, Hartmann, Liebermann), and a host of major singers long associated with this work are recalled in an intelligent ap- praisal tempered by historical perspective. The segment on critical viewpoints samples the wide spectrum of criticism of the work, much of it still relevant and illuminating. The familiar and contrasting observations of Romain Rolland and Joseph Kerman are offset by Ethyl Smyth's curiously unpleas- ant admiration. The author offers some stimulating ideas of his own in the chapter concerned with interpretation.

Of special interest are the book's ap- pendixes, which include an absorbing dis- cussion of the language of Rosenkavalier (Hoffmansthal's Sprachkostum), and an investigation of textual variants, most of which Hoffmansthal offered as remedy for racy or frankly explicit text. The editor also discusses two film versions of the work (most notably the 1925 silent film with incidental music conducted by Strauss) and the 1961 Schonbrunn production of the play. There is a commendably thorough discography, an extraordinary feature of which is com- prehensive documentation of the standard stage cuts; a table of their application, with variants, to each of the ten complete re- cordings will surely soothe many an exas- perated listener.

Those readers seeking discussion of mu- sic or text in greater detail, or on a higher technical level, will find an exemplary bib- liography of literary sources, correspon- dence and related papers, periodical ar- ticles, books, librettos, and other opera guides. There is plenty here to tease the easily-stimulated intellect toward further investigation. Jefferson's handbook is an admirable volume on all counts.

Susan Wanless's brief study of Strauss's Vier letzte Lieder is a straightforward and factual description of the composer's last major work. In fewer than fifty pages, the author touches on various aspects of the poems and music. Her discussion of struc-

ture and harmony is of a descriptive rather than analytical nature, though she does raise such issues as the work's overall tonal scheme relative to the sequence of songs in performance. Her treatment of the vocal writing and orchestration is similarly cur- sory. Background on the verses and Strauss's contact with them is slight; fine, idiomatic translations of the poems are provided, but, frustratingly, not the origi- nal Hesse and Eichendorff texts.

ROBERT J. DENNIS Harvard University

Handbuch der musikalischen Figu- renlehre. By Dietrich Bartel. Laaber: Laaber-Verlag, 1985. [307 p.; 68 DM] ISBN 3-89007-028-0

The Figurenlehre, or doctrine of figures, has been a main focus of modern studies of musical rhetoric in the Baroque. The re- lationship between musical and rhetorical figures was first codified in the theoretical works of Joachim Burmeister, between 1599 and 1606. A practice cultivated primarily in Germany, the application of musical- rhetorical figures in musical compositions was an important consideration both for composers and for theorists throughout the seventeenth century and well into the eigh- teenth. The number and currency of dis- cussions of musical rhetoric declined dur- ing the first half of the eighteenth century, in part because of changes in musical styles and concepts of musical structure, together with the general deterioration of philologi- cal studies in the schools. By the time Jo- hann Adolf Scheibe and Johann Nikolaus Forkel were writing in the second half of the eighteenth century, the Figurenlehre as part of a practical compositional and ana- lytic system was effectively at an end.

A recent and noteworthy contribution to the growing number of modern studies of musical rhetoric is Dietrich Bartel's Hand- buch der musikalischen Figurenlehre, the pub- lished version of a doctoral dissertation written at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universitat in Freiburg. Bartel presents, for the first time in a modern source, a systematic and comprehensive compilation of the numer- ous musical-rhetorical figures of the Ba- roque. Although other studies have dealt with many of these figures in the past, Bar-

ture and harmony is of a descriptive rather than analytical nature, though she does raise such issues as the work's overall tonal scheme relative to the sequence of songs in performance. Her treatment of the vocal writing and orchestration is similarly cur- sory. Background on the verses and Strauss's contact with them is slight; fine, idiomatic translations of the poems are provided, but, frustratingly, not the origi- nal Hesse and Eichendorff texts.

ROBERT J. DENNIS Harvard University

Handbuch der musikalischen Figu- renlehre. By Dietrich Bartel. Laaber: Laaber-Verlag, 1985. [307 p.; 68 DM] ISBN 3-89007-028-0

The Figurenlehre, or doctrine of figures, has been a main focus of modern studies of musical rhetoric in the Baroque. The re- lationship between musical and rhetorical figures was first codified in the theoretical works of Joachim Burmeister, between 1599 and 1606. A practice cultivated primarily in Germany, the application of musical- rhetorical figures in musical compositions was an important consideration both for composers and for theorists throughout the seventeenth century and well into the eigh- teenth. The number and currency of dis- cussions of musical rhetoric declined dur- ing the first half of the eighteenth century, in part because of changes in musical styles and concepts of musical structure, together with the general deterioration of philologi- cal studies in the schools. By the time Jo- hann Adolf Scheibe and Johann Nikolaus Forkel were writing in the second half of the eighteenth century, the Figurenlehre as part of a practical compositional and ana- lytic system was effectively at an end.

A recent and noteworthy contribution to the growing number of modern studies of musical rhetoric is Dietrich Bartel's Hand- buch der musikalischen Figurenlehre, the pub- lished version of a doctoral dissertation written at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universitat in Freiburg. Bartel presents, for the first time in a modern source, a systematic and comprehensive compilation of the numer- ous musical-rhetorical figures of the Ba- roque. Although other studies have dealt with many of these figures in the past, Bar-

62 62

This content downloaded from 195.78.108.40 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 14:22:35 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions