Samuel Beckett and Music - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198184271 ISBN 13: 9780198184270

Publisher: OUP Oxford, 1998

Synopsis

Much has been written about the importance of the viewing eye in Samuel Beckett's writing. Less attention has been paid to the place of sound and musicality. Yet Beckett once told a friend that he had always written for a voice. As well as being an accomplished pianist, Beckett was a passionate listener to music. In this study - the first full-length work to deal exclusively with Beckett and music - Mary Bryden brings together academics and composers in a wide-ranging collection of essays. Divided into two main sections, entitled 'Words' and 'Music', the book not only analyses a number of specific musical settings of Beckett's texts, but also considers the wider issue of sound and music within the author's work. Whether interviews, personal recollections by friends or relatives, or more formal essays, all the material in this collection has either been written specially for this volume, or is appearing for the first time in English.

About this title

Review:

A book on the subject was long overdue, and Mary Bryden's collection of essays elegantly fills the gap ... in these vaporously postmodern times it is refreshing to encounter a volume with as well defined and well-researched a subject as this ... These essays enhance our understanding of music in Beckett and our sense of its mystery, too. (David Wheatley, The Irish Times (Dublin))

..this book is the first to move beyond analogy to a sustained consideration of the relation between his words and music other than the music of words. ... Bryden's own essay, 'Beckett and the Sound of Silence'. provides a stimulating synthesis of materials. ... making telling reference to pronouncements on music by philosophers and musicians. This piece takes its place as the authoriative statement on the subject./Paul Lawley/Irish Studies Review 6/3

About this edition

• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0198184271
• ISBN 13: 9780198184270
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288
• Editor: Bryden Mary