Pre-Owned Music in Art: Through the Ages (Hardcover) 3791318640 9783791318646

The orchestral angels of the Renaissance and the seraphic choristers of the Baroque yield to the domestic music-making of the masters of the Dutch interior. The pastoral concerts of Venetian and French artists of the 17th and 18th centuries give way to the Impressionists and the still lifes and soloists of Cubism. Finally, the musical abstractions of Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky lead to the often-ironic or iconoclastic references to music in the experimental art of the end of this century.

Tom Phillips seeks out these colorful meetings between the sister arts and spins an intriguing web of anecdote and interpretation to link them through the ages. As an artist, he understands how pictures are made and as a writer he can convey this understanding with humor and clarity. Since he is also a composer in his own right his insights have the added value of musical authenticity as well as artistic authority. Each of the 50 short essays focuses on a particular work of art or contrasts two or more approaches to a similar theme. A diverse range of artists is featured, including Rembrandt, Leonardo, Veronese, Titian, Caravaggio, Renoir, Van Gogh, Matisse and Picasso. We are introduced tocomposers who are painters, and painters who are accomplished musicians, and learn how their thoughts can often provide the key to understanding musical and artistic styles.