Christopher John Ballantine
Published: 1983
Total Pages: 232
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In this book, the author examines the 'raison d'etre' of classical symphonic style and then subjects latter-day works which purport to be of this genre to searching analysis. In essence, arguing from historical evidence, the author shows that the symphony is a dialectical process, of which the purposefulness has often been weakened by the imposition of alien ideas and techniques. At the same time a number of remarkable new forms and procedures have developed in response to the profound changes and challenges of the twentieth century. The argument unfolds after consideration of familiar works of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries which, however, are shown in a new light. Of modern works a number are subjected to detailed scrutiny, and the reader will find appreciations of major twentieth-century works by Mahler, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Nielsen, Tippett, Goehr, Gerhard, Hamilton, and others. The text is illuminated by well-chosen music examples and there is a bibliography.
