Why Classical Music Still Matters by Lawrence Kramer (English) Paperback Book

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Explores classical music's nature of subjectivity, the conquest of time and mortality, the harmonization of humanity and technology, the cultivation of attention, and the liberation of human energy.

FORMATPaperback LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Publisher Description

"What can be done about the state of classical music?" Lawrence Kramer asks in this elegant, sharply observed, and beautifully written extended essay. Classical music, whose demise has been predicted for at least a decade, has always had its staunch advocates, but in today's media-saturated world there are real concerns about its viability. Why Classical Music Still Matters takes a forthright approach by engaging both skeptics and music lovers alike. In seven highly original chapters, Why Classical Music Still Matters affirms the value of classical music-defined as a body of nontheatrical music produced since the eighteenth century with the single aim of being listened to-by revealing what its values are: the specific beliefs, attitudes, and meanings that the music has supported in the past and which, Kramer believes, it can support in the future.Why Classical Music Still Matters also clears the air of old prejudices. Unlike other apologists, whose defense of the music often depends on arguments about the corrupting influence of popular culture, Kramer admits that classical music needs a broader, more up-to-date rationale. He succeeds in engaging the reader by putting into words music's complex relationship with individual human drives and larger social needs. In prose that is fresh, stimulating, and conversational, he explores the nature of subjectivity, the conquest of time and mortality, the harmonization of humanity and technology, the cultivation of attention, and the liberation of human energy.

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"Wow. Kramer succeeds at what is a fantastically difficult task: to seduce readers into a powerful engagement with classical music by portraying in words its complex entanglements with fundamental human drives and social needs. Ranging from J.S. Bach to John Adams, the author shows again and again how classical music participates in the exploration of subjectivity, the conquest of time and mortality, the harmonization of humanity and technology, the cultivation of attention, and the liberation of human energy. Matching some of the most famous descriptive musical prose of the modern era, Kramer uses his extraordinary command of language to treat the material in a manner that could not be more original and stimulating."--Robert Fink, author of Repeating Ourselves: American Minimal Music as Cultural Practice

Author Biography

Lawrence Kramer is Professor of English and Music at Fordham University and editor of 19th-Century Music. His many books include Opera and Modern Culture: Wagner and Strauss (2004), Classical Music and Postmodern Knowledge (1995), After the Lovedeath: Sexual Violence and the Making of Culture (1997), and Musical Meaning: Toward a Critical History (2002), all from the University of California Press.

Table of Contents

In Lieu of a Preface 1. Classical Music and Its Values 2. The Fate of Melody and the Dream of Return 3. Score and Performance, Performance and Film: Classical Music as Liberating Energy 4. But Not for Me: Love Song and the Heartache of Modern Life 5. The Ghost in the Machine: Keyboard Rhapsodies 6. Crisis and Memory: The Music of Lost Time 7. Persephone's Fiddle: The Value of Classical Music References Index

Details ISBN0520258037 Author Lawrence Kramer Short Title WHY CLASSICAL MUSIC STILL MATT Publisher University of California Press Language English ISBN-10 0520258037 ISBN-13 9780520258037 Media Book Format Paperback Year 2009 Imprint University of California Press Country of Publication United States Birth 1946 Place of Publication Berkerley Residence US Affiliation Fordham University DOI 10.1604/9780520258037 UK Release Date 2009-01-07 NZ Release Date 2009-01-07 US Release Date 2009-01-07 Illustrations 1 b-w illustrations Pages 256 Publication Date 2009-01-07 DEWEY 780.9 Audience Professional & Vocational AU Release Date 2009-01-06 We've got this

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