Sound Figures

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by Theodor Adorno,

Translated by Rodney Livingstone

Stanford University Press

Due/Published May 1999, 288 pages, paper

ISBN 0804735581

Throughout the essays in this book, all of which concern musical matters, Adorno displays a full range of cultural reference, demonstrating that music is invariably social, political, even ethical.

This volume includes essays on prominent figures in music (Alban Berg, Anton von Webern, Arturo Toscanini), compositional technique (the prehistory of the twelve-tone row, the function of counterpoint in new music), and the larger questions of musical sociology for which Adorno is most famous, including the relation of interpretation to audience, the ideological function of opera, and the historical meaning of musical technique. The essay on the sociology of music, for example, represents an early statement of what would soon become trademark principles of his mode of musical analysis, serving as a catalyst for his famous study Introduction to the Sociology of Music.

Adorno's insistence on the social character of aesthetic works will come as no surprise to those familiar with his writings, although many may be surprised by the volume's somewhat colloquial tone. This colloquialism, in dialogue with Adorno's rigor, stems from the occasional sources of many of the essays, mainly public lectures and radio addresses. As such, this volume represents an important and, for English-language readers, largely unfamiliar side to Adorno. His arguments move more quickly than in his more formal and extended musicological works, and the writing is much more accessible and generous than his often dense prose.

 Series: Meridian: Crossing Aesthetics

Review

Adorno’s critical theory and interest in music find perfect expression in the collection of lectures, radio addresses, and writings in Sound Figures. The essays discuss compositional techniques (twelve-tone, counterpoint, etc.), specific classical composers (Alban Berg, Anton von Webern, Arturo Toscanini, and the history of music as they examine the social, political, and ethical implications of music. Adorno also examines the relation of interpretation to audience, the ideological function of opera, and the historical meaning of musical technique. While Sound Figures demonstrates Adorno’s usual rigorous thinking on a range of cultural issues, it also has a surprising and effective colloquial tone presenting a different side of his work and being very accessible. Articles include: “Some Ideas on the Sociology of Music,” “Bourgeois Opera,” “New Music, Interpretation, Audience,” “The Mastery of the Maestro,” The Prehistory of Serial Music,” “Alban Berg,” “The Orchestration of Berg’s Early Songs,” “Anton von Webern,” “Classicism, Romanticism, New Music,” “The Function of Counterpoint in New Music,” “Criteria of New Music,” “Music and Technique.” “We’ve got to watch out: the fundamental epistemology of the city -- the way it constructs its meaning -- is being transformed as physical presence comes to be the privileged means of participation and enjoyment of urban life.” -- Michael Sorokin from his Introduction.