Neoclassicism in Music

This historical and critical study of "neoclassicism" in music, covers the genesis of the concept in France in the 1870s through to the Schoenberg/Stravinsky polemic. It provides a broad cultural context for the investigation of its origins and then looks in turn at Wagner and the French reaction to him; Saint-Saens, d'Indy, Debussy, Ravel and their French conteporaries; Germany and France in the decade which includes the World War I, with special reference to Thomas Mann and Ferrucio Busoni, and to Jean Cocteau and the "New Simplicity"; and Igor Stravinsky, the composer most frequently cited in connection with this term.

“Scott Messing is a good digger. He successfully unearths the cultural politics out of which nouveau classicisme (in German, Klassizitat) began to emerge - not as nostalgia, and long before the Great War... He demonstrates the connections between (neo)classicism and youth culture, (neo)classicism and cultural elitism, (neo)classicism and authoritarianism, (neo)classicism and the politics of exclusion. He knows how (neo)classicism relates to "decadence." His book, in short, is a breakthrough in culturally informed music historiography. The fact that in five years it has not managed to attract interest commensurate with its deserts...[is largely] the result of some long-standing academic biases. --NINETEENTH-CENTURY MUSIC REVIEW [Richard Taruskin]”

Scott Messing is a good digger. He successfully unearths the cultural politics out of which nouveau classicisme (in German, Klassizitat) began to emerge - not as nostalgia, and long before the Great War... He demonstrates the connections between (neo)classicism and youth culture, (neo)classicism and cultural elitism, (neo)classicism and authoritarianism, (neo)classicism and the politics of exclusion. He knows how (neo)classicism relates to 'decadence.' His book, in short, is a breakthrough in culturally informed music historiography. The fact that in five years it has not managed to attract interest commensurate with its deserts...[is largely] the result of some long-standing academic biases. -- Richard Taruskin NINETEENTH-CENTURY MUSIC REVIEW

Scott Messing is Charles A. Dana Professor of Music at Alma College.

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