Schlüsselwerke der Musik

Music spanning eight centuries, and yet more than just music history. This book seeks to uncover music’s innermost secrets: within the works themselves. Key works from the little-known period between the late Middle Ages and the Baroque era, all the way to works of the very recent past. As the term suggests, key works have opened up and sparked something; they have established a “canon,” founded a tradition, initiated a development, and marked a turning point. And: key works have endured, even if some are only now coming to light again or were previously known only to specialists.
Three authors write about the greatest works and the hidden gems. Each work is described on a single page in a way that is clear and accessible, highlighting its characteristics and contextualizing it within its historical setting. Each work can be read individually, yet is also intended to spark curiosity about the interplay of sounds from which a unique musical world unfolds, thereby telling its own story.
These “key works” are intended as a book for anyone who wants to discover, orient themselves, and gain an entertaining overview of the central works of European-influenced art music, both past and present. Thanks to the recent online availability of virtually all the works described here, this book can also be “read” by listening.

The authors:
Bernd Asmus, born in 1959. Composer and music theorist. Studied music education, guitar, music theory, and composition. Teaches music theory at the Stuttgart University of Music and Performing Arts.
Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, born in 1962. Composer and author. Studied composition, music theory, piano, musicology, philosophy, and sociology. Teaches composition at the University of Music and Theater Leipzig.
Johannes Menke, born in 1972. Music theorist and author. Studied oboe, school music, music theory, composition, German language and literature, and musicology. Teaches historical composition and theory of early music at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel.

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