Ten masterpieces of music

Harvey Sachs, 1946-

Book - 2021

"Some pieces of music survive; most fall into oblivion. What gives the ten masterpieces selected for this book their extraordinary vitality? In this magisterial volume, Harvey Sachs, author of the highly acclaimed biography Toscanini, takes readers into the heart of ten great works of classical music--works that have endured because they were created by composers who had a genius for drawing music out of their deepest wellsprings. These masters--Mozart and Beethoven; Schubert, Schumann, Berlioz, Verdi, and Brahms; Sibelius, Prokofiev, and Stravinsky--communicated their life experiences through music, and through music they universalized the intimate. By expanding our perceptions of these ten pieces--composed in the years between 1784 a...nd 1966--Sachs, in lush, exquisite prose, invites us to consider why music stimulates, disturbs, exalts, and consoles us. He has lived with these masterpieces for a lifetime, and his descriptions of them and the dramatic lives of the composers who wrote them bring a heightened dimension to the musical perceptions of readers who may be casual listeners, students, professional musicians, or anyone in between"--

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Subjects
Published
New York : Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W. W. Norton & Company [2021]
Language
English
Main Author
Harvey Sachs, 1946- (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
xvi, 366 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9781631495182
  • Preface
  • Part I. 1789: Before and After
  • 1. "Il catalogo è questo"
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Concerto No. 17 in G Major for Piano and Orchestra, K. 453 (1784)
  • 2. His Imperial Highness's Sore Finger
  • Ludwig van Beethoven: Trio in B-flat Major for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 97, "Archduke" (1811)
  • Part II. The Romantic Century
  • 3. A Quartet That's About Nothing
  • Franz Schubert: String Quartet No. 15 in G Major, Op. posth. 161, D. 887 (1826)
  • 4. In the Wondrously Disturbing Month of May
  • Robert Schumann: Dichterliebe (Poet's Love), Op. 48 (1840)
  • 5. A Monument Reimagined
  • Hector Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust: Légende dramatique, Op. 24 (1846)
  • 6. The Crown, the Cross, and the Cruelty of Love
  • Giuseppe Verdi: Don Carlo (1867)
  • 7. Almost a Tale of Joy
  • Johannes Brahms: String Quintet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 111 (1890)
  • Part III. The Age of Uncertainty
  • 8. Europe, a Prophecy?
  • Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 4 in A Minor, Op. 63 (1911)
  • 9. Creative Suffering
  • Sergei Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No. 8 in B-flat Major, Op. 84 (1944)
  • 10. An Ice-Cold Question Mark
  • Igor Stravinsky: Requiem Canticles for Contralto and Bass Soli, Chorus, and Orchestra (1966)
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • Some Recordings
  • Bibliography
  • Index
Review by Booklist Review

While reading Sachs' (Toscanini, 2017) homage to the greatest of Western music, it's important to keep two things in mind. Art is intensely personal and thus the book is not intended to be a top 10 list; and, for an immersive experience, listening to the masterworks Sachs thoughtfully presents is highly recommended. It's no surprise that the composers discussed, including Mozart and Beethoven, among other greats, are well known, even by casual audiences. The works themselves, however, may not be as familiar. Here Sachs, who is a music historian on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, skillfully brings readers right into the social and political milieu in which the composers thrived. By pairing historical context with the composers' personal lives and characteristics, Sachs vividly frames 10 masterpieces. The book is structured in three parts; "1789: Before and After" focuses on the classical period, "The Romantic Century" covers the romantic period, and "The Age of Uncertainty" examines more modern works. Throughout, Sachs considers an important question: What makes great art stand the test of time?

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review

Sachs (Curtis Inst. of Music, Philadelphia; Toscanini: Musician of Conscience) takes readers on a breezy, informative tour of classical music from the 18th-20th centuries. Sachs chose 10 masterpieces to be the book's guideposts, one each by Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Berlioz, Verdi, Brahms, Sibelius, Prokofiev, and Stravinsky. Sachs admits that he chose these works somewhat arbitrarily; why pick, for example, Mozart's 17th piano concerto when numbers 18 through 27 are just as great? The book presents a variety of genres--concerto, symphony, piano sonata, piano trio, string quintet and quartet, song cycle, opera--as well as a wide geographic distribution of composers across Europe. Sachs considers each selection in the contexts of the composer's life and the larger pantheon of musical greats. He provides abundant cultural and historical background and significant biographical detail. VERDICT Sachs's lively prose will draw readers in; were it not for his considerable technical discussion of the masterpieces, this book would be a first-rate choice for general readers. Heartily recommended to every serious lover of classical music.--Edward B. Cone, New York

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

An astute guide compiles a stunning repertoire of works. Esteemed music critic Sachs gets personal with this effervescent homage to some favorite works of "life-giving and affirmative" classical music. He chose these pieces, all in different genres, because he felt he had "something useful to say about them," and he deftly shows how biography informed the music, each piece neatly fitting into its time and place. The more musically inclined reader will especially appreciate the brief explications of their key components. Mozart wrote his "profoundly moving" Piano Concerto in G Major in 1784 during a hectic and busy period; it was a "work of exceptional beauty and depth" that exhibited "previously unexplored regions." Beethoven composed Trio in B-flat major, a "work of great breadth," in 1811, 20 years after Mozart's death. Its debut, an attending composer wrote, "was not a treat," for the "piano was badly out of tune." But Beethoven "minded little" because he was now deaf which, Sachs writes, likely led "him into previously unexplored regions of musical creativity." One of the torchbearer's at Beethoven's funeral was Schubert, who, while ill, would compose his last and "greatest" string quartet, in G major. "I propose the hypothesis," writes the author, "is 'about'…trying to accept the nothingness of death." Hector Berlioz used Goethe as a "springboard" for his Damnation of Faust, which "arouses admiration, fascination, and joy," and he had the "audacity" to send Goethe a copy of the score. Verdi's opera Don Carlo, writes Sachs, was "another milestone in the extraordinary biography of a master whose beginnings had been exceptionally unpromising." After enthusiastically delving into the String Quintet in G Major by Brahms, the "spiritual devastation" of Sibelius' Fourth Symphony, and Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 8, Sachs concludes with a section on the "pungent physicality" of Stravinsky's Requiem Canticles, "among the most intensely spiritual pieces of the twentieth century." This judicious compilation of biographies and analysis is a thoroughly engaging read. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.