Bach's Cycle, Mozart's Arrow: An Essay on the Origins of Musical Modernity

434 Pages·2008·10.91 MB·English

by  Karol Berger

Bach’s Cycle,
Mozart’s Arrow

Bach’s Cycle,
Mozart’s Arrow
An Essay on the Origins
of Musical Modernity
karol berger
University of California Press
berkeley los angeles london
Disclaimer: Some images in the printed version of this book
are not available for inclusion in the eBook.
The publisher gratefully acknowledges
the generous contributions to this book provided
by the Music Endowment Fund of the University of
California Press Foundation and by Stanford University.
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University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles,California
University of California Press,Ltd.
London,England
© 2007 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Berger,Karol,1947–
Bach’s cycle,Mozart’s arrow :an essay on the origins of musical
modernity / Karol Berger.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn978-0-520-25091-8 (cloth :alk.paper)
1. Music—18th century—History and criticism. 2. Bach,Johann
Sebastian,1685–1750—Criticism and interpretation. 3. Mozart,
Wolfgang Amadeus,1756–1791—Criticism and interpretation.
I. Title.
ml195.b47 2007
780.9'033—dc22 2006029140
Manufactured in the United States of America
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is printed on Natures Book,which contains 50% post-
consumer waste and meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso
z39.48–1992 (r1997) (Permanence of Paper).
For Anna
and for my fellow travelers,
Andrzej and Wojciech

ma già volgeva il mio disio e ’l velle,
sì come rota ch’igualmente è mossa,
l’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
ParadisoXXXIII.143–45
Considerate la vostra semenza:
fatti non foste a viver come bruti,
ma per seguir virtute e canoscenza.
InfernoXXVI.118–20

Contents
List of Illustrations xi
Introduction 1
prelude
L’Orfeo,or the Anxiety of the Moderns 19
part i bach’s cycle
1 The Arrested Procession 45
appendix:St.Matthew Passion,opening chorus,full score 61
2 A Crystal Flying Like a Bullet 89
3 There Is No Time Like God’s Time 102
interlude
Jean-Jacques contra Augustinum:A Little Treatise
on Moral-Political Theology 131
Augustine 131
The Birth of Autonomy 142
Rousseau 148
The Christian and Modern Outlooks Compared 158
The Emancipation of Time 165
From Cosmos to History 172
part ii mozart’s arrow
4 Mozart at Play 179
5 The Hidden Center 199
6 Between Incoherence and Inauthenticity:
Don Giovanni and Faust 241
7 Die Zauberflöte,or the Self-Assertion of the Moderns 280