Música en 1853: La biografía de un año

by Hugh Macdonald, Francisco López Martín (Translator), Vicent Minguet (Translator)

El año 1853 fue crucial para la historia de la mú­ sica: Brahms, a sus veinte años, conoció a Ber­lioz, Liszt y Schumann; Berlioz y Wagner ini­ciaron la composición de piezas tan fundamen­ tales como Los troyanos y El anillo del nibelungo respectivamente, y Schumann, próximo ya a su trágico fin, dejó de componer. Hugh Mac­ donald ahonda en la vida cotidiana de los pro­ tagonistas de su relato para mostrar cómo la in­ ternacionalización de la escena musical―gra­cias a una intensa correspondencia y a la rápida expansión de la red ferroviaria que se extendía de Londres y París a Leipzig y Zúrich―hizo po­ sible que se gestaran las innovaciones que ca­ racterizarían la música de las siguientes déca­ das. Una vívida crónica, tan rigurosa como vi­ brante, del momento decisivo que marcó el nal del romanticismo ingenuo de Berlioz y Schu­mann, y la llegada de la poderosa política musi­cal de Wagner, pero también―a juicio de mu­ chas voces de la época―de su antídoto, la obra de Brahms.

Genres: Music, Classical Music, Biography

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[José · Rating 4 out of 5]

La vida, casi interrelacionada, de varios compositores e interpretes (Robert y Clara Schumann, Liszt, Brahms, Wagner, Berlioz...) durante el año 1853. Año de cambios para el mundo de la música.

[Henry Sturcke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book of "horizontal" history, or parallel biography. The author focuses on the intersecting lives of several composers and other musicians in a ten-month period, most of it falling in 1853. Prominently featured are Brahms, the Schumanns, Liszt, Wagner, Berlioz and, across the Alps, Verdi. The year is not arbitrarily chosen, but is significant for two reasons. One is that is was a fateful year in the lives of many of these individuals. The Brahms we meet is not the fat, prematurely aged man we usually see in photographs. Here is the twenty-year-old, first setting out from home, on a trip that would lead to his encounter with the Schumanns. Long-haired, high-voiced, his androgynous beauty added to the impact of his precocious music. At the other end of his career is Schumann. This is the year of his last compositions. Meanwhile, Wagner conceives of a new kind of music drama, and of the subject matter appropriate to it, the story of the ring. Seemingly at the center of an intricate network is the indefatigable and extremely-gifted Liszt. the amount of interaction between these figures is staggering, and this is due to the second of the reasons that the year 1853 is well-chosen. The author attributes this unprecedented amount of contact among the premier composers of their time to two media: the postal service, at the height of its efficiency, and rail travel, now connecting most cities in Europe.
The parallel structure leads to a bit of repetition, which could have been edited, and the prose is not entirely free of cliché, but the author has done a stellar job of reimagining this time. He has apparently retraced the routes taken, and offers descriptions of what they would have seen, and notes of what is now standing at various key locations in the narrative. Recommended to anyone interested in classical music, or more generally in 19th century cultural and social history.

[Mark Anderson]

The author gives fabulous perspective through dissecting the intersection of some of the greatest musical minds of the 1800s...and of all time. HIGHLY recommended.

[joan magrané · Rating 4 out of 5]

De lectura amena tot i ser un text molt ben documentat. Calen més llibres d'aquest tipus sobre música clàssica.

Aquest és el fascinant retrat d'un any per acompanyar (dalt d'un tren, sobretot) Wagner, Liszt, Berlioz, els Schumann, Brahms, Joachim i companyia en les seves aventures i desventures amicals i desamicals, musicals, d'egos i negocis.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

The two things that most interested me about this book were the descriptions of musical culture and concert practice in various European countries during this time period; and the chapter on Brahms' walking tour in the Rhine Valley.