Full Description
Develops a new theory of space and register which will be essential reading for the music analyst, while offering radical new interpretations of canonical repertoire for the pianist, Beethoven scholar and informed listener.
This is the first book to demonstrate the significance of registral structure and spatial narrative in Beethoven's oeuvre across his stylistic evolution. Introducing a far-reaching new analytical method and theoretical framework to a substantial corpus of piano music including sonatas, variations and bagatelles, the book extends conventional notions of register, Beethoven's handling of the highs and lows of pitch, to the broader concepts of pitch boundaries and the shaping of sonic space. Tracing theories of register from Schenker to the present-day, Miller moves beyond these approaches in his discussions of what he terms "spatial analysis". Proceeding from simple to more complex forms in a broadly chronological sequence, the author describes 'spatial narratives' of each work by means of cutting-edge computational diagrams and close-to-the text commentary.
This book shows how linear patterns at extreme boundaries correlate with structural highpoints and divisions within musical forms, for instance sonata structures, forming striking large-scale connections within, and between, individual movements. Analysed are interactions of high and low boundaries through gestures such as registral bridges, registral shifts, and the distribution of climatic peaks and wide-spans. Equally central to Miller's study is the survey of keyboard instruments of Beethoven's day, keyboard choreography, and spatial expansion and contraction, reflecting pianistic virtuosity and expression. The mediation of structural and expressive aspects culminates in the physicality and spirituality of the late works interpreted with metaphorical symbolism.
Contents
List of Illustrations
Key to Notational Conventions, Terminology and Diagrams
Foreword by Barry Cooper
Introduction
PART 1: Sonic Space Explorations: Concepts and Contexts
1. Register in the Analytical Literature: Limitations and Possibilities
2. The Analysis of Space and Register: Concepts and Methods
3. New Methods of Spatial Analysis in Action
4. Beethoven's Fortepianos and the Expansion of Range
PART 2: Shaping Sonic Space in Ternary, Rondo and Variation Forms
5. Shaping Space in the Seven Bagatelles Op. 33
6. Spatial Expansion in Beethoven's Piano Variations I: The 'Dressler' (1782) to Op.34 (1802)
7. Spatial Expansion in Beethoven's Piano Variations II: The 'Eroica' Op. 35 (1802) to the 'Diabelli' Op. 120 (1819-23)
PART 3: Spatial Strategies in Multi-movement Sonatas
8. Space and Boundary in the 'Grande Sonate Pathétique' Op.13
9. Depth and Spatial Dialogue in Op. 27/ 1 & 2 and Op. 28
10. Spatial Narratives of Drama and Wit: Op. 31/2 - 3
11. Stretching Space and Breaking Boundaries I: Sonata in C Op. 53 'Waldstein'
12. Stretching Space and Breaking Boundaries II: Sonata in F minor Op. 57 'Appassionata'
13. Registral Pairs: Sonata in F Op. 54; Sonata in F♯ Op. 78
14. Space and Narrative: Sonata in E flat Op. 81 'Les Adieux'
PART 4: Beethoven's Late Style and the Symbolism of Space
15. Space and Transcendence in the Late Piano Sonatas, Opp. 106, 109, 110, 111
16. Space and cyclic form in the Six Bagatelles I: Op. 126/1-3
17. Space and cyclic form in the Six Bagatelles II: Op.126/4-6
18. Epilogue: Towards a Theory of Space and Register
Bibliography
Index
