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Three Classics in the Aesthetic of Music
Debussy, Claude Et Al., Three Classics In The Aesthetic Of Music
188 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1962
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About the author
Claude Debussy
1,847 books38 followersClaude-Achille Debussy (22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures associated with Impressionist music, though he himself disliked the term when applied to his compositions. He was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in his native France in 1903. Debussy was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and his use of non-traditional scales and chromaticism influenced many composers who followed.
Debussy's music is noted for its sensory content and frequent usage of non-traditional tonalities. The prominent French literary style of his period was known as Symbolism, and this movement directly inspired Debussy both as a composer and as an active cultural participant.
Debussy's music is noted for its sensory content and frequent usage of non-traditional tonalities. The prominent French literary style of his period was known as Symbolism, and this movement directly inspired Debussy both as a composer and as an active cultural participant.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 23, 2024
Classics indeed - what a fantastic collection of essays and discussions about the aesthetics of music, written by the composers themselves. It’s just unbelievably impressive how, apart from being composers, Debussy, Ives, and Busoni were also great writers.
I first heard of this book in my music history lecture, and later found it by chance at a second hand bookstore in the Netherlands. Debussy’s discussions on different composers were certainly fascinating to read, as well as Ives’ essays on the aesthetic and truth of the art and the artist himself.
However, Busoni’s ‘Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music’ was my personal favourite. He tackled the goals and limitations of different art forms (poetry, painting, sculpture, music), contemplated the definition and reality(?) of freedom, “absolute music”, the performance of music and its emotional interpretation, what it means to be “musical”, the purpose of a creative artist and whether a routine should be encouraged to be adopted, and much, much more.
I don’t think I’ve even scratched the surface of this volume - will definitely (have to) return to it sometime in the future. So much wisdom and food for thought.
I first heard of this book in my music history lecture, and later found it by chance at a second hand bookstore in the Netherlands. Debussy’s discussions on different composers were certainly fascinating to read, as well as Ives’ essays on the aesthetic and truth of the art and the artist himself.
However, Busoni’s ‘Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music’ was my personal favourite. He tackled the goals and limitations of different art forms (poetry, painting, sculpture, music), contemplated the definition and reality(?) of freedom, “absolute music”, the performance of music and its emotional interpretation, what it means to be “musical”, the purpose of a creative artist and whether a routine should be encouraged to be adopted, and much, much more.
I don’t think I’ve even scratched the surface of this volume - will definitely (have to) return to it sometime in the future. So much wisdom and food for thought.
February 26, 2008
One of the joys of reading about aesthetics, in particular as the field applies to music, is that there is such a variance of thought about what is beautiful. For all three of the authors included in this collection, beauty is not solely defined by consonance and dissonance. These composer-authors grapple with the role of inspiration, philosophical contexts, and music itself.
Claude Debussy, "Monsieur Croche the Dilettante Hater" (1927)
Debussy does not mince words and offers invective toward everything from opera to arts administration. It is more music criticism than a specific treatise on aesthetics. It is impossible, however, to read this group of essays without tasting the clear flavor of Debussy's own aesthetic agenda. For example, the Paris Opera, for Debussy, "...continue[s] to produce curious noises which the people who pay call music, but there is no need to believe them implicitly." (24)
Ferruccio Busoni, "Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music "(1911)
Busoni gives the reader a more straightforward offering complete with footnotes and musical examples. However, even Busoni likes to wax poetic: "Tradition is a plaster mask taken from life..." (n.1, p. 7). In another footnote, Busoni makes the case for microtonality, attacking the idea of musical "purity":
But what is "pure," and what "impure?" We hear a piano "gone out of tune," and whose intervals may thus have become "pure, but unserviceable," and it sounds impure to us. The diplomatic "Twelve-semitone system" is an invention mothered by necessity yet none the less do we sedulously guard its imperfections. (89)
Charles Ives, "Essays before a Sonata" (1920)
It is Ives' contribution that is the most beautiful read. He offers an essay that is one part program note (for the Concord Sonata (1915, rev. 1947)) to two parts philosophical and aesthetic treatise. Writing with all the passion and transcendental fervor he can muster, Ives presents various New England literary figureheads as aesthetes, blurring the line between the artistry of literature and that of music.
Claude Debussy, "Monsieur Croche the Dilettante Hater" (1927)
Debussy does not mince words and offers invective toward everything from opera to arts administration. It is more music criticism than a specific treatise on aesthetics. It is impossible, however, to read this group of essays without tasting the clear flavor of Debussy's own aesthetic agenda. For example, the Paris Opera, for Debussy, "...continue[s] to produce curious noises which the people who pay call music, but there is no need to believe them implicitly." (24)
Ferruccio Busoni, "Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music "(1911)
Busoni gives the reader a more straightforward offering complete with footnotes and musical examples. However, even Busoni likes to wax poetic: "Tradition is a plaster mask taken from life..." (n.1, p. 7). In another footnote, Busoni makes the case for microtonality, attacking the idea of musical "purity":
But what is "pure," and what "impure?" We hear a piano "gone out of tune," and whose intervals may thus have become "pure, but unserviceable," and it sounds impure to us. The diplomatic "Twelve-semitone system" is an invention mothered by necessity yet none the less do we sedulously guard its imperfections. (89)
Charles Ives, "Essays before a Sonata" (1920)
It is Ives' contribution that is the most beautiful read. He offers an essay that is one part program note (for the Concord Sonata (1915, rev. 1947)) to two parts philosophical and aesthetic treatise. Writing with all the passion and transcendental fervor he can muster, Ives presents various New England literary figureheads as aesthetes, blurring the line between the artistry of literature and that of music.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews