The history of Schumann's Fantasie, Op. 17 is richly explored through letters to Clara Wieck and his publisher, alongside an analysis of surviving sketches. Nicholas Marston delves into intriguing questions about the work's dedication and the origins of its celebrated opening movement, providing a comprehensive understanding of this masterpiece in Romantic piano music.
The book delves into Heinrich Schenker's ambitious project to create an elucidatory edition of Beethoven's last five piano sonatas, particularly focusing on the 'Hammerklavier' Sonata, op. 106, which remained unpublished. Nicholas Marston provides a thorough historical analysis of the Erlÿuterungsausgabe, exploring the complexities and challenges faced by Schenker in his endeavor, as well as the broader implications for music scholarship and interpretation during that era.
In his thorough analytical study of Beethoven's Piano Sonata in E, Op. 109, Nicholas Marston suggests a unique way of understanding this important work. The book provides an exhaustive study of its sources and an analytical approach to the structure of the sonata itself. The source study is based on a complete transcription of all the surviving manuscript sources for the work; the book includes a large majority of the sketches, and parts of the autograph score. The introductory chapter reviews Heinrich Schenker's work on Op. 109. In Chapter 2 Beethoven's letters, conversation books, sketchbooks and other sources are used to build up a detailed picture of the progress of his work on the sonata. The middle chapters form the core of the analytical study in which the sketches for each part of the three movements are analysed in detail, and the relevance of the sketches to the final version is explored. The final chapter extends the notion of "sketch" beyond Op. 109 and summarizesthe results of the study.