This book is all introduction to the esthetics of music. Esthetics, which were of prime importance in thinking about music in the nineteenth century, are today sometimes suspected of being idle speculation. Yet judgments about music and every sort of musical activity are based on esthetic presuppositions.
Carl Dahlhaus gives an account of developments in the esthetics of music from the mid eighteenth century onwards. He combines a historical and systematic approach. Central themes in music are grouped together to illustrate both the historical course of events and a systematic unity of the essential elements in the esthetics of music.
For this edition, the late Carl Dahlhaus provided an annotated bibliography. William Austin has added books for the English-speaking reader, and has also supplied notes to the text to help the student.
This is a thoroughgoing study of the philosophy of music history. Drawing on competing philosophies of history throughout the ages, from the Enlightenment to the French structuralists, from the German idealist tradition to Russian formalism, Carl Dahlhaus applies the thoughts of these various schools to the specialist requirements of music history and assesses their advantages and shortcomings. Special attention is given to an appraisal of Marxist critiques of standard music history, showing where traditional approaches are still viable and where they stand in need of rethinking.
For this English edition, the late Carl Dahlhaus provided an extensive annotated bibliography.