James Webster (musicologist)
Encyclopedia
James Webster is a musicologist
, specializing in the music of Joseph Haydn
and other composers of the classical era
. His professional position is as the Goldwin Smith Professor of Music at Cornell University
. He has published several books in his field, including a massive study of Haydn's "Farewell" Symphony
and (with Georg Feder) the Haydn article in the current edition of the New Grove, spun off as a separate book.
Webster's work is notable for its scholarly care, particular his willingness to sift through and assess conflicting sources of historical evidence. His biography of Haydn particularly reflects this tendency, and unlike several earlier Haydn biographers, he is generally unwilling to fill in the narrative with conjecture, particularly conjecture about how Haydn must have felt or what he must have done on some particular occasion.
Webster is also an impassioned devotee of the earlier works of Haydn, and has consistently asserted his opposition to the views of Charles Rosen
and others who assert a course of "progress" and learning through the composer's career.
Musicology
Musicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture...
, specializing in the music of Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
and other composers of the classical era
Classical period (music)
The dates of the Classical Period in Western music are generally accepted as being between about 1750 and 1830. However, the term classical music is used colloquially to describe a variety of Western musical styles from the ninth century to the present, and especially from the sixteenth or...
. His professional position is as the Goldwin Smith Professor of Music at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
. He has published several books in his field, including a massive study of Haydn's "Farewell" Symphony
Symphony No. 45 (Haydn)
Symphony No. 45 in F-sharp minor, known as the "Farewell" Symphony , was composed by Joseph Haydn in 1772....
and (with Georg Feder) the Haydn article in the current edition of the New Grove, spun off as a separate book.
Webster's work is notable for its scholarly care, particular his willingness to sift through and assess conflicting sources of historical evidence. His biography of Haydn particularly reflects this tendency, and unlike several earlier Haydn biographers, he is generally unwilling to fill in the narrative with conjecture, particularly conjecture about how Haydn must have felt or what he must have done on some particular occasion.
Webster is also an impassioned devotee of the earlier works of Haydn, and has consistently asserted his opposition to the views of Charles Rosen
Charles Rosen
Charles Rosen is an American pianist and author on music.-Life and career:In his youth he studied piano with Moriz Rosenthal. Rosenthal, born in 1862, had been a student of Franz Liszt...
and others who assert a course of "progress" and learning through the composer's career.
External links
- Professor Webster's page at Cornell University; includes partial bibliography