The Music of Hans Pfitzner

After Adamy, what was needed, above all, was a book of comparable weight and seriousness on the music itself. And that is what John Williamson had provided in The Music of Hans Pfitzner ... What Williamson has done here, more convincingly than any previous writer, is to bring out the subtle inventiveness of Pfitzner's stylistic experiments in form, harmony and counterpoint. Here at last is a book which can domonstrate that Pfitzner was no mere stylistic reactionary ... the most penetratingly sympathetic study of his music so far. * Times Literary Supplement *
This is an important book and all the more welcome for being the first in English devoted solely to this composer...Williamson's erudition is remarkable, encompassing the whole of Pfitzner's writings and all his music ( including the sketches) as well as the vast corpus of secondary literature; a select bibliography lists no fewer than 165 items...a hugely impressive study, a book from which any serious student of the music of the period will learn much and a very significant contribution to our understanding of this fascinating composer * The Music Review *
Williamson's book marks a good start in remedying the lack of studies in English on its enigmatic subject ... Recommended to all undergraduate and graduate libraries for both its social and musical content. * Choice *
This volume represents a milestone in the history of Pfitzner scholarship, being the first complete study of the composer's music in English and appearing at an ideal time for an objective re-evaluation of his work. * Musical Times *
Williamson's book is the first study of Pfizner's music in English, indeed in any language other than German. Williamson gives us new insights into the inner life, the music ... the basic sources are now at hand for us to develop new insights into Pfitzner and his significance for his time and ours. * David E. Anderson, University of Chicago, Notes, December 1993 *
As the first full-length published study of Pfitzner in English, this book is to be welcomed. John Williamson is a voraciously learned scholar of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century European music whose wide reading and listening richly inform his writing ... there could be no better way of approaching Pfitzner's music than in the company of this book. All the major works are discussed, with generous space rightly going to the operas ... whose plots are summarized in synopses. * Peter Franklin, Music and Letters, Vol. 74, No. 4, Nov '93 *
This volume represents a milestone in the history of Pfitzner scholarship, being the first complete study of the composer's music in English and appearing at an ideal time for an objective re-evaluation of his work...it is superbly produced * David Allenby, Music Times, March 1993 *
... heartily to be applauded. * Martin Anderson. Tempo No. 190 Sept '94 *
an arresting exposition of the ideas and musical works of Hans Pfitzner * Choral Journal *