Robert Marshall

"The essays in this volume serve a single objective: to promote a deeper understanding of two of the greatest composers in history, as both supremely gifted creators and fellow human beings. The many fascinating topics include, among others, Bach's relationship to his sons, Martin Luther's importance in Bach's music and in his life, Bach's attitude toward the Jews, Mozart's wit, his portrayal in Amadeus, his evolving responses to Bach's influence, and the lessons of his unfinished works. Diverse interpretive approaches range from text criticism to style criticism and draw on Freudian and Schenkerian analysis, along with the ideas of Harold Bloom, Theodor Adorno, Edward Said, Maynard Solomon, Charles Rosen, and other challenging thinkers"-- Provided by publisher.

A singular resource, Exploring the World of J.S. Bach puts Bach aficionados and classical music lovers in the shoes of the master composer. Bach scholar Robert L. Marshall and veteran writer-translator Traute M. Marshall lead readers on a Baroque Era odyssey through fifty towns where Bach resided, visited, and of course created his works. Drawing on established sources as well as newly available East German archives, the authors describe each site in Bach's time and the present, linking the sites to the biographical information, artistic and historic landmarks, and musical activities associated with each. A wealth of historical illustrations, color photographs, and maps supplement the text, whetting the appetite of the visitor and the armchair traveler alike.

Eisenach 1685-95 -- Ohrdruf 1695-1700 -- Lüneburg 1700-1702 -- Arnstadt 1703-7 -- Mühlhausen 1707-8 -- Weimar 1703, 1708-17 -- Köthen 1717-23 -- Leipzig 1723-50.

Charles Rosen, the pianist and man of letters, is perhaps the single most influential writer on music of the past half-century. While Rosen's vast range as a writer and performer is encyclopedic, it has focused particularly on the living "canonical" repertory extending from Bach to Boulez. Inspired in its liveliness and variety of critical approaches by Charles Rosen's challenging work, Variations on the Canon offers original essays by some of the world's most eminent musical scholars. Contributors address such issues as style and compositional technique, genre, influence and modeling, and reception history; develop insights afforded by close examination of compositional sketches; and consider what language and metaphors might most meaningfully convey insights into music. However diverse the modes of inquiry, each essay sheds new light on the works of those composers posterity has deemed central to the modern Western musical tradition. Contributors: Pierre Boulez, Scott Burnham, Elliott Carter, Robert Curry, Walter Frisch, David Gable, Philip Gossett, Jeffrey Kallberg, Joseph Kerman, Richard Kramer, William Kinderman, Lewis Lockwood, Sir Charles Mackerras, Robert L. Marshall, Robert P. Morgan, Charles Rosen, Julian Rushton, David Schulenberg, László Somfai, Leo Treitler, James Webster, and Robert Winter. Robert Curry is principal of the Conservatorium High School and honorary senior lecturer in the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Sydney; David Gable is Assistant Professor of Music at Clark-Atlanta University; Robert L. Marshall is Louis, Frances, and Jeffrey Sachar Professor Emeritus of Music at Brandeis University.

Dennis Brain's recorded legacy is nothing less than prodigious. In addition to his few, highly celebrated recordings as a featured soloist, Brain participated in a breathtakingly vast number of recordings in his role as principal horn of several prestigious orchestras and chamber ensembles. By far the most important of these was the Philharmonia Orchestra, of which Brain was principal horn from its inception in July of 1945 until his death on 1 September 1957. Brain also served as principal horn of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from its founding by Sir Thomas Beecham in the autumn of 1946 through 1948, and, again, after intermittent appearances in early 1950, regularly from the autumn of 1950 until April of 1954. Since the RPO also served as the resident orchestra for the Glyndebourne festival from 1949 through 1963, Brain was involved in the early post-war Glyndebourne productions as well—at all events, through the 1953 season. In addition, Brain served as principal horn with the following organizations: the RAF Orchestra (R. P. O'Donnell) from 1940, the National Symphony Orchestra (Sidney Beer) from 1942, the London Chamber Orchestra and the (New) London Orchestra until about 1950, and, sporadically, with the London Wind Players and London Mozart Players (Harry Blech) through the early 1950s, as well as with Karl Haas's London Baroque Orchestra and London Baroque Ensemble. Brain also made recordings with his own group, the Dennis Brain Wind Quintet, which he had founded in April 1946, and with its outgrowth and continuation: the Dennis Brain Wind Ensemble.

"Mozart Speaks is a tapestry of letters, documents, contemporary accounts, and insightful commentary--a guide to Mozart's thoughts on almost every subject. Topically organized excerpts from Mozart's writings convey his daily preoccupations and pleasures, his experience of the musician's life, and his observations as he traveled throughout Europe. At the heart of the book are Mozart's ideas about music: his artistic code, his teaching methods, and his views on the art and craft of composition." -- Publisher

The instruments / Laurence Libin -- Aspects of performance practice / Eva Badura-Skoda -- Johann Sebastian Bach / Robert L. Marshall -- French masters / Mark Kroll -- Domenico Scarlatti / Frederick Hammond -- Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach / David Schulenberg -- Johann Christian Bach and the early classical Italian masters / Daniel E. Freeman -- Haydn's solo keyboard music / Elaine R. Sisman -- Mozart's solo keyboard music / Robert D. Levin -- Mozart's keyboard concertos -- Early Beethoven / William Drabkin.

The 16 essays collected here of two kinds: stylistic and historical inquiries, and studies of the original sources. The articles deal with the music and shed new light on the composer's life. Part 1 reconsiders Bach's historical position and assesses the cultural significance of his achievement; Parts 2, 3 and 4 draw upon the original sources to explore the compositional process, questions of authenticity and chronology, and controversial issues of performance practice. -- Publisher

V. 1. The general nature of the Bach autographs : manuscript types and their combinations -- The general nature of autograph sketches and corrections; precompositional activity : manuscript libretti. Sketches and drafts : problems of identification ; Corrections : problems of identification, evaluation, and classification ; Precompositional activity : extant manuscript libretti -- The preparation, layout, and structure of the Bach cantata autographs. Staff ruling ; The score layout ; Fascicle structure ; The succession of movements -- Autograph score of the four-part chorales. The order of events ; Corrections of the chorale melody ; Corrections of the bass line ; Corrections of the inner parts -- Autograph scores of the recitatives. The order of events ; Harmonic revisions ; Rhythmic revisions ; Melodic corrections ; Changes of form, genre, and instrumentation -- Arias and choruses : melodic invention and the order of events. The opening theme ; The homophonic ritornello ; Choral fugues ; Continuation sketches ; The composing scores -- Arias and choruses : corrections of detail. Formative corrections of melody ; Diminution corrections ; Formative corrections of rhythm ; Corrections of harmony ; Corrections of form ; Corrections of orchestration and texture ; Postscript -- V. 2. Transcriptions of the sketches and drafts.