Looking For The 'harp' Quartet: An Investigation Into Musical Beauty

Looking For The 'harp' Quartet: An Investigation Into Musical Beauty
Tags: Markand Thakar

This book is a philosophical tour through the experience of beauty: what it is, and how the composer, performer, and listener all contribute. It explores with insight, patience, and humor profound issues at the essence of our experience. A student performance of Beethoven's String Quartet No. 10 in E-Flat Major, known as the "Harp," serves as a point of departure and a recurring theme. For the layperson the core of the book is five dialogues between Icarus, an inquiring student intensely concerned with fulfilling his highest potential as a musician, and Daedalus, a curmudgeonly, iconoclastic teacher who guides Icarus's search. Three technical articles, geared to the music professional and academic, treat the issues in greater depth. Supplementary online audio files and musical examples.