E.T.A. Hoffmann's Musical Writings: Kreisleriana, the Poet and the Composer, Music Criticism

Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989. Hardcover. VG-/VG- (Ex-library with stamps and labels on spine, inside front and rear covers, ffep and block.). Black cloth boards, silver lettering on gray title block on spine; bw illustrated dj, mylar cover; xvi, 476 pp, music. "This book contains the first complete translation in English of E.T.A. Hoffmann's major musical writings, complementing the well-known Tales. It offers, therefore, a long-awaited opportunity to assess the thought and influence of one of the most famous of all writers on music and the musical links with his fiction. Containing the first complete appearance in English of Kreisleriana, it reaveals a masterpiece of imaginative writing whose title is familiar to musicians (from Robert Schumann's piano cycle) and whose profound humour and irony can now be fully appreciated. This volume offers translations aiming at the greatest fidelity to Hoffmann, as well as musical accuracy in the reviews. David Charlton's three introductory essays provide extensive information on the background to Romantic music criticism; on the origins and internal structure of Kreiseriana; and on Hoffmann and opera. A concluding essay by the late Friedrich Schnapp lists Hoffmann's planned reviews and those mistakenly attributed to him." DJ. Contents: Hoffmann as a writer on music -- Kreisleriana: Introduction to Kreisleriana ; Prefatory remarks to individual essays ; 'Jacques Callot' ; Kreisleriana: Part I ; Kreisleriana: Part II --The poet and the composer : Introduction to The Poet and the Composer Hoffman and opera ; The poet and the composer -- Music Criticism ; 'Letter from a monk to his friend in the capital' ; 'Observations on Quaisin's Le Jugement de Salomon, on Melodrama, and on the chorus in tragedy' ; Review of Witt's fifth and sixth symphonies ; Review of Fioravanti's I virtuosi ambulanti ; Review of Beethoven's fifth symphony ; Review of Weigl's Das Waisenhaus (extract) ; Review of Gluck's Iphigenie en Aulide ; Review of Paer's Sofonisba ; Review of Spohr's first symphony ; Review of Beethoven's overture to Coriolan ; Review of Gyrowetz's Der Augenartz (extract) ; Review of Mehul's overture La Chasse du jeune Henri ; Review of Beethoven's piano trios, op. 7- nos. 1 and 2 ; Review of Beethoven's mass in C ; Review of Beethoven's overture and incidental music to Goethe's Egmont ; 'Old and new church music' ; Review of Riem's Zwolf Lieder, op. 27 (extract) ; Review of Boieldieu's Le Nouveau Seigneur de village ; 'Letters on music in Berlin. First letter' ; Review of Mozart's Don Giovanni, 20 September 1815 ; Review of Mehul's Ariodant, 1 June 1816 ; 'Some observations on the comments made by the Royal Chamber singer Herr Fischer ; 'A letter from kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler (contributed by E.T.A. Hoffmann)' ; 'Further observations on Herr Konzertmeister Moser's concert on 26 March this year [1820]' ; Concert under the direction of Spontini, 3 August 1820 ; 'Casual reflections on the appearance of this journal' ' Further observations on Spontini's opera Olimpia (extract).