Musical Meaning And Interpretation

Giacomo Puccini is one of the most frequently performed and best loved of all operatic composers. In Il Trittico, Turandot, and Puccini's Late Style, Andrew Davis takes on the subject of Puccini's last two works to better understand how the composer creates meaning through the juxtaposition of the conventional and the unfamiliar—situating Puccini in past operatic traditions and modern European musical theater.

Musical Meaning in Beethoven offers a fresh approach to the interpretation and explanation of musical expressive meaning. Beginning with a provocative analysis of the slow movement from Beethoven's Hammerklavier piano sonata, the investigation examines the role of markedness, Classical topics, expressive genres, and musical tropes in fostering expressive interpretation at all levels of structure.

This book thrusts the reader into the intellectual turmoil of medieval Europe.