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Nikolaus Harnoncourt Sabine M. Gruber - Impossibilities are the finest possibilities.

Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s world of word-pictures

A unique collection of sayings by the enfant terrible of classical music – taken from rehearsals and recording sessions

One of Nikolaus Harnoncourt's great secrets is his talent for language, probably unparalleled within his fraternity – his ability to translate musical images into basic, humorous, precise verbal images. Sabine M. Gruber, a member of the Schoenberg Chorus since the early 1980s, has – as both participant and observer – kept a record of Harnoncourt's inspired linguistic innovations over the years. Linking these with comments of her own, she examines the personality of Harnoncourt, artist and man, and the nature of the musical and artistic process. Reflections and remarks on works by Bach, Beer, Beethoven, Handel, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Monteverdi, Mozart, Purcell, Schubert, Schumann and Strauss combine in this book, which affords a fascinating glimpse through the keyhole of rehearsal-rooms and concert-halls. These are exceptional and authentic insights into the working methods and the personality of one of the most unconventional musicians of our time – full of humour, musical truth and wisdom.

Book details

128 pages
format:190 x 240
ISBN: 9783701713455
Release date: 01.12.2010

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  • World rights available
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Authors
Nikolaus Harnoncourt

born in 1929 in Berlin, died 2016. In 1953, he founded his ensemble for old music, the Concentus Musicus. As a conductor, he won numerous international awards, including the Musikpreis of the Ernst von Siemens Foundation (2002) and the Kyoto Prize (2005).

Sabine M. Gruber

writer and translator, was born in Linz in 1960; she studied French and Russian in Vienna. She has a diploma in psychology, trained as a singer and harpsichordist, and is a member of the Arnold Schoenberg Chorus.

Press

Nikolaus Harnoncourt ist der wohl suggestivste Entfesselungskünstler unter den Musikern, der Meister der entfesselten Phantasie.
Die Presse

Wem Musik so sehr Sprache ist, bei dem löst sie umgekehrt wieder Sprachliches aus, das dann unvermeidlich zum Bild neigt ... In der Tat haben Harnoncourts Sprachbilder, wo in der so genannten Ernsten Musik doch sonst so viel geraunt wird, etwas erfrischend Zupackendes. Aus der Fülle der Bilder, die dem Musiker Harnoncourt einfallen, um das Inkommensurable, ins musikalisch Handwerkliche übersetzt, verständlich zu machen, faszinierende Einsichten in die Gedankenwelt dieses Ausnahmemusikers.
Literaturen

Es sind spontane Bilder, Gedankenbilder, von Ernst und Wissen getragen, mit Humor und Witz gewürzt und voller Menschlichkeit. Ein humanes Buch!
Musik & Theater

Eine herrlich amüsante Bonmot-Sammlung voller Perlen lauterer Weisheit
Spiegel

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