CHAPTER 13 The Return of the Symphony
Brahms
Richard Taruskin
We have not taken a close look at an old-fashioned “nonprogrammatic” multimovement symphony since the end of chapter 2, when our subject was Schubert's “Unfinished” (1822), nor have we even given the genre a passing glance since chapter 3, when Mendelssohn's subtitled but nonprogrammatic “Reformation” Symphony (1832) briefly served us as a foil to his oratorio St. Paul. Had we not been sidetracked by what seemed at the time to be more pressing “historical” concerns, we might have spared a moment for Schumann's four symphonies, composed between 1841 and 1850, all of them now staples of the orchestral repertoire. The fact that we did not take the time is only another illustration of the problem broached in the previous chapter: the ease with which the historian's attention is captured by novelty.
- Citation (MLA):
- Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 13 The Return of the Symphony." The Oxford History of Western Music. Oxford University Press. New York, USA. n.d. Web. 21 Sep. 2023. <https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume3/actrade-9780195384833-chapter-013.xml>.
- Citation (APA):
- Taruskin, R. (n.d.). Chapter 13 The Return of the Symphony. In Oxford University Press, Music in the Nineteenth Century. New York, USA. Retrieved 21 Sep. 2023, from https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume3/actrade-9780195384833-chapter-013.xml
- Citation (Chicago):
- Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 13 The Return of the Symphony." In Music in the Nineteenth Century, Oxford University Press. (New York, USA, n.d.). Retrieved 21 Sep. 2023, from https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume3/actrade-9780195384833-chapter-013.xml
