A Musical Life: Writings and LettersThis volume offers a collection of articles written by the renowned conductor and scholar Max Rudolf, together with a selection of his correspondence relating to material in the articles. Max Rudolf's conducting career spanned seventy years, from his first performances in l920-2l to his last in 1990. His life was devoted to performing, scholarship, and teaching. He conducted at the Metropolitan Opera from 1943 to 1937 and was Musical Director of the Cincinnati Symphony from 1938 to 1970, after which he combined guest conducting with teaching opera and conducting at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. The articles reflect a lifetime of thought on the art of conducting, musical style, and performance practice. Rudolf, known as an interpreter of the classical repertoire, freely shared his vast knowledge of Mozart's and Beethoven's scores with colleagues and students. His conducting book, The Grammar of Conducting, has been the leading college text in the field for many years. As such it has extended his influence on many generations of conductors. Throughout his life, Rudolf corresponded voluminously with other musicians. The letters included in this volume were selected because they shed a warm, personal light on the formal published articles thus providing an opportunity to share the mind and thoughts of an outstanding human bein |
Contents
A Question of Musical Allegiance | 11 |
On Contemporary American Music | 21 |
A Medley of Thoughts on Conductors and Composers | 44 |
Musical Musings from Maine | 61 |
Selected Correspondence | 71 |
to Helen Thompson 61460 | 78 |
to Irving Kolodin 102167 | 87 |
to Harold Schonberg 5378 | 94 |
The Metronome Indications in Beethovens Symphonies | 242 |
A Question of Tempo in Beethovens Ninth Symphony | 261 |
Beethovens An die Freude and Two Mysterious | 267 |
Fidelio a Unique Experience in Opera | 274 |
On or Before the Beat a Matter of Fashion? | 293 |
Improvised thoughts on the 33rd Variation in | 300 |
to Brigid Brophy 103070 | 309 |
to Claude Frank 72276 | 323 |
Good Taste in Music | 101 |
Authenticity in Musical Performance | 115 |
Inner Repeats in the Da Capo of Classical Minuets and | 123 |
A Report on a Composer | 135 |
Translation Yes Betrayal No | 151 |
Selected Correspondence | 157 |
to Rudolf Serkin 1178 | 165 |
to Shin Augustinus Kojima 21580 | 171 |
to Bernard Jacobsen 21686 | 179 |
to Isaac Stern 52388 | 185 |
to William Meredith 91288 | 192 |
Paminas Aria a Question of Tempo | 207 |
A Diverse Land | 217 |
The Don Giovanni Premiere | 233 |
to William Newman 4977 | 328 |
to Sandra Rosenblum 71180 | 344 |
to Louis Lane 81485 | 360 |
to Malcolm Frager 51688 | 374 |
to William Newman 3289 | 387 |
to Gary Graffman 7989 | 401 |
to Malcolm Frager 2591 | 416 |
Storm and Stress in Music | 433 |
A Stroke of Genius | 469 |
The Function of the Sign in Classic German Music | 499 |
Selected Correspondence | 507 |
| 515 | |
Common terms and phrases
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