The book examines the perception of the organist as the most influential musical figure in Victorian society through the writings of Thomas Hardy and Robert Browning. This will be the first book in the burgeoning area of research into the relationship of music and literature that examines the societal perceptions of a figure central to civic life in Victorian England.
This book is deliberately interdisciplinary and will be of special interest to literature scholars and students of Victorian studies, culture, society, religion, gender studies, and music. However, the nature of the text does not require specialist knowledge of music.
.-1 Introduction.-2 Robert Brownings Abt Vogler':The Organist as Improviser and Divine Servant.-3 Saint or Siren: Thomas Hardy, Gendered Perception and the Sacred Setting
The Organist in Victorian Literature is a short but deeply researched and highly readable foray into the interaction of music, literature, gender studies, aesthetics, religion and culture. Quinn has presented the tip of what appears to be a tantalizing iceberg of musical culture in Victorian England. & HlGHLY RECOMMENDED. (Erik W. Goldstrom, The Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians, Vol. 26, (7), September, 2017)
Iain Quinn is Assistant Professor of Organ at The Florida State University, USA. His previous publications are focused on nineteenth and early twentieth century studies in the form of articles, critical editions and commercial recordings. He is the author of
The Genesis and Development of an English Organ Sonata (2016).
The implications of Dr Quinn's argument about the centrality of the organist to Victorian musical life are well-made&Dr Quinn is equally illuminating and engaging--at times brilllĂ)
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