“Musicians and theorists of all colours [...] agree in the one point, that, by the works of Beethoven’s latter years, and especially by the Ninth Symphony of that master, a new phase is marked in the history of their art. [...] To define the aesthetical foundation of this new idea in music, and at the same time follow the course of its growth, will be my chief task in the following pages. Here I will only try to indicate in a few words its most general characteristics, and first of all to fix its nondescript airiness into a local habitation and name. The new movements, therefore, which arose after and, to a great extent, through Beethoven’s reformatory deeds, we will henceforth call the period of poetic music [...]; or, in case the reader should prefer an old to a new-coined expression, we will occasionally apply the generally acknowledged sobriquet of the Music of the Future.” (from the Preface; p.iii-v)
- Title: Richard Wagner and the Music of the Future: History and Aesthetics
- Author: Franz Hueffer
- Publisher: Chapman and Hall
- Place: London
- Year: 1874
- Printer: Taylor and Co.
- Length: 333pp
- Dimensions: 25” x 7.75” x 1.25”
- Condition: While the text block is original from 1874, the binding is a library binding from 1940. The cover consists of cornflower blue cloth-covered boards with a geometric ornamentation. It is in great condition, minimal soiling/wear. The binding is tight. No pages are missing. The text block itself is clean. The pages are crisp with no folds, tears, or marginalia. A library pocket is affixed to the front pastedown. Library stamps and markings dot the title and copyright pages. The obituary of the author has been glued to the verso facing the title page with an accompanying inscription: "London Times. Jan. 25 189[?]".