Product Description
A concise biographical study of the life and work of Anton von Webern. The book explores the idea that modern music is obscure by setting Webern's technical advances against the Romantic inheritance of 19th century Austro-Germany. The text traces the development of Webern and his music. Born into the aristocratic, musical heritage of Vienna, Webern launched his career at the University at the turn of the century. He became interested in Renaissance vocal music, and this early interest influenced his compositions throughout his life. As Schoenberg's pupil, he became a follower of the 12-note technique, and combined this with his love of chamber music to create his own sound. Despite a prolific rate of composition in his early years, Webern's musical output is small and tends towards brevity. He was accidently shot and killed in the Allied occupation of Austria. This text is part of the 20th-century composers series, examining composers in a biographical context, and offering a comprehensive study of key figures in the creation of 20th-century music. None of the books in the series presume a knowledge of specialized terms or musical notation.Each book in the series features a list of works, a bibliography, and a discography.Amazon.com Review
Was Anton von Webern an icon of progressive elements in musicor a Nazi sympathizer? According to author Malcolm Hayes, perhaps bothappellations are correct. Von Webern is neither as well known as hismentor Schoenbergnor did he achieve the (comparative) popular success of his compatriotBerg. As with othervolumes in the Phaidon 20th-Century Composers series, more attentionis focused on the life of von Webern than on the details of hismusic. Hayes recounts the troubled decline of Habsburg Austria in thefirst half of this century, which gave rise to the brand of modernismchampioned primarily by Schoenberg. Shot accidentally by an Americansoldier in 1945, von Webern never saw his postwar successes and wasspared the spectacle of some of the claims of his postwar adherents. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Solid introduction the fascinating composer
Webern's music seems to me to be something of an acquired taste. This biography, however, is perfectly designed to encourage one to acquire a taste for the strange atonal wisps of sound that comprise a good part of this composer's ouevre.

Rather than getting bogged down in technicaldiscussions of Webern's serial techniques, the author gives us thecomposer's life; stopping at crucial musical signposts to explain how histhought evolved. In each case, we're given an idea how to approach thegiven piece.

Webern's music often seems unearthly, and he comes across asa bit unearthly (or at least very impractical) himself.Still, we get ahuman portrait of him, which further encourages us to see the passion inhis music.

As with all the books in this wonderful series, it containscopious quantities of drawings and photos, a complete list of compositionsand a wonderful bibliography for further reading.

If you've alwayswondered what the big deal about Webern was (to the extent that heinfluenced 50 years of music, frequently by people who seem not to haveunderstood his muse), this is a good place to start finding out. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Indispensable
I bought this book when it was first published, and it remains the most thorough study of the composer available. I've seen no book, before or since this book, which is as extensive.The author is sympathetic, but retains his objectivity; there's no trace of fauning admiration here, nor of academic aloofness.Mixes biography with discussions of his musical works.This is that proverbial "must-have' book for anyone with an interest in the composer.

comprehensive personal
Shame this is diffucult to obtained,Moldenhauer is an archivist, a collector of the particles, anf filiments from one's lifeworld, and here this large book presents an exhaustive account of Webern's life down to much perosnal fragments, anxieties and wishes. We learn he remained afraid to conduct, and cancelled many times,also hated travel, he was very much like his music, thought thru down to finest rarefied details.,plucked strings, pencil-thin harmonics, Am Steg;a new musical language advanced like his "Six Pieces Op.6 for Orchestra",miniature gems of timbre here/there. There is not much on the creativity moments of his life, this is fairly a personal day to day ad nauseum at times narrative. It is fairly exhaustive, and really brings the commonplace aspects that fills really much of a composer's life, that in fact those moments of "illumination" or clarvoyance we as consumers continue wish to phanthom occur many times quite spontaneously and never within a durational frame of predictability; while walking or un-boarding a train, lighting up a cigarette, watching the troops from the train, returning home. His music, his diamond-cut pieces (Stravinsky decribed him) inspired a generation of composers. He affinity for purity number,density proportion shape and design were all welcome elements from the overdetermined political pages of Europe with Two Massive Wars, no one has seem to learn from.
There are nice vintage photos all included here. ... Read more