Christopher Morris, Morris Christopher

Reading Opera Between the Lines

Orchestral Interludes and Cultural Meaning from Wagner to Berg
Herausgeber: Solie, Ruth

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

A characteristic feature of Wagnerian and post-Wagnerian opera is the tendency to link scenes with numerous and often surprisingly lengthy orchestral interludes, frequently performed with the curtain closed. Often taken for granted or treated as a filler by audiences and critics, these interludes can take on very prominent roles, representing dream sequences, journeys and sexual encounters, and in some cases becoming a highlight of the opera. Christopher Morris investigates the implications of these important but strangely overlooked passages. Combining close readings of individual musical texts with an investigation of the critical discourse surrounding the operas, Morris shows how the interludes shed light not only on the representational and narrative capacities of the orchestra, but also on the supposed 'absolute' realm of instrumental music, a concept to which many critics appealed when they associated the interludes with 'purely musical' and 'symphonic' qualities.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Cambridge University Press
• Seitenzahl: 232
• Erscheinungstermin: 30. März 2007
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 229mm x 152mm x 14mm
• Gewicht: 383g
• ISBN-13: 9780521001977
• ISBN-10: 0521001978
• Artikelnr.: 22896202

Autorenporträt

Christopher Morris is Lecturer in Music at University College Cork. His articles have appeared in the Journal of Musicological Research, Musical Quarterly and the Journal of the Royal Musical Society.

Inhaltsangabe

Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. A walk on the wild side
2. What the conductor saw
3. Lost in the forest
4. 'Sympathy with death'
5. 'A torrent of unsettling sounds'
6. Wagner and 'invisible theatre'
Conclusion: 'innocence among opposites'
Bibliography
Index.