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    Music of a lesser genre? Schubert’s development and transformation of the piano duet medium


    Strahan, Barbara (2009) Music of a lesser genre? Schubert’s development and transformation of the piano duet medium. Maynooth Musicology: Postgraduate Journal, 2. pp. 19-39.

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    Abstract

    Schubert’s gift for transforming smaller genres into greater ones is not unique to his Lieder: the formal, stylistic and aesthetic innovations in Schubert’s piano duets reveal an authentic development of this genre. Schubert’s four-hand piano repertoire enjoyed the same performance setting as his songs, but in reception history have not enjoyed the same level of popularity. This chapter therefore seeks to examine why the duets have been misrepresented in scholarship and criticism, and also how Schubert’s contribution differed radically to that of his predecessors. Firstly, the significance of the social milieu of the early nineteenth century in cultivating the duets shall be considered as also the many negative associations accompanying this musical setting. Key issues of reception history, which have contributed to the neglect of Schubert’s piano duets within Schubert scholarship, will also be addressed. Following an exploration as to why these works have been neglected within scholarship, the history of the duet genre will be considered in order to place Schubert’s contribution in a broader context. Finally, Schubert’s own contribution will be assessed, alongside how traditional musicological approaches to the duets have begun to be overturned.

    Item Type: Article
    Keywords: Music; lesser genre; Schubert; development; transformation; piano; duet; medium; Maynooth Musicology;
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Arts,Celtic Studies and Philosophy > Music
    Item ID: 9470
    Depositing User: IR Editor
    Date Deposited: 14 May 2018 11:38
    Journal or Publication Title: Maynooth Musicology: Postgraduate Journal
    Publisher: Maynooth Musicology
    Refereed: Yes
    URI:
      Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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