During the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, 'lo-fi,' a term suggesting poor sound quality, the opposite of 'hi-fi,' became a characteristic perceived in certain popular-music recordings and eventually emerged as a category within independent or 'indie' popular music. It is typically taken to express the technical and technological deficiencies associated with amateur or 'DIY' musical production, namely at home using cheap recording equipment. However, this thesis rejects the assumption that lo-fi equates to a mode of production and charts it as a construction and a certain aesthetics within popular music discourse, defined as 'a positive appreciation of what are perceived and/or considered normatively interpreted as imperfections in a recording.' I chart the development and manifestation of lo-fi aesthetics, and the ways it focuses on various 'lo-fi effects' such as noise, distortion ('phonographic imperfections') and performance imperfections, in several decades of newspapers, magazines and websites covering popular music in the English-speaking world. I argue that lo-fi aesthetics is not merely the unmediated, realist authenticity that it is often claimed to be, but one that is also fascinated with the distance from perceived commercial norms of technique and technology (or 'technocracy') that lo-fi effects signify. Lo-fi aesthetics derives from aesthetics of primitivism and realism that extend back long before phonographic imperfections were positively received. I also differentiate between lo-fi aesthetics and aesthetics of noise music, distortion in rock, glitch, punk and cassette culture. An appreciation for recording imperfections and the development of 'lo-fi' as a construction and a category is charted since the 1950s and particularly in the 1980s, 1990s and in the twenty-first century, taking in the reception of artists such as the Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan, Hasil Adkins, the Shaggs, Jandek, Daniel Johnston, Beat Happening, Pavement, Sebadoh, Guided By Voices, Beck, Will Oldham, Ariel Pink and Willis Earl Beal.

This dissertation deals with the aesthetic opinions of conductor Rafael Kubelík as evidenced in the materials available in archives and cultural institutions in Munich as well as in the recollections of Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra members from the time of Kubelík's direction of that ensemble. The study includes an overview with commentary of the repertoire performed by Kubelík in subscription concerts by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, which along with Kubelík's comments and in comparison with the programme of other guest conductors indicates Kubelík's programming activities and probably his musical preferences. This study also discusses Kubelík's interest in opera and his ideas on its staging and production. Other chapters deal with Kubelík's qualities as a conductor and the specific demands he made on his performers. It also includes a curriculum vitae of Rafael Kubelík and a number of recollections by people who knew him, all of which serve to fill out the overall picture of Kubelík's personality.

Sabemos que a querela entre Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) e Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) está sujeita a diferentes leituras, cujo interesse muitas vezes foi reduzido a um curioso anedotário ou a uma disputa produzida tão somente pelos humores de ambos. Nesta pesquisa, contudo, para além do relato biográfico e das conjecturas sobre as causas da rivalidade entre Rousseau e Rameau, intentamos priorizar uma análise que buscasse balizar os posicionamentos estéticos de um e outro, com ênfase nos argumentos expostos por Rousseau em sua contraposição ao sistema harmônico de Rameau. Ao longo deste debate, entendemos que, ao esquadrinhar e, posteriormente, criticar os escritos de Rameau, Rousseau teria encontrado ideias extraordinariamente férteis que favoreceram o desenvolvimento de seu pensamento musical. Para sustentar a tese da preeminência da melodia sobre a harmonia, assim contrariando os princípios do sistema ramista, o autor da maior parte dos verbetes sobre música da Enciclopédia, da Carta sobre a música francesa e do Dicionário de música, jamais deixaria de se referir ao sistema harmônico de seu rival. A presente pesquisa tem como objetivo compreender a querela Rousseau-Rameau sob este aspecto, assim como apontar a relação da disputa assinalada com inflamados debates que também estiveram em pauta na França da segunda metade do século XVIII, a exemplo da Querela dos Bufões. Para tanto, além de examinar aspectos pontuais dos escritos musicais já mencionados, cotejando-os com alguns dos principais textos da vasta obra teórica de Rameau, procuramos nos deter na análise do texto de Rousseau intitulado Exame de dois princípios avançados pelo Sr. Rameau, cuja tradução apresentamos em anexo. / We know that the quarrel between Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) and Jean- Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) is subject to different readings, whose interest has often been reduced to a curious collection of anecdotes or to a dispute produced only by the humors of both. In this research, however, beyond the biography and the conjectures about the causes of the rivalry between Rousseau and Rameau, we aim to prioritize an analysis that sought to mark the aesthetic positioning of one and the other, with emphasis on Rousseaus arguments as opposed to the harmonic system of Rameau. Throughout this debate, we understand that Rousseau, by scrutinizing and later criticizing Rameaus writings, would have found extraordinarily fertile ideas that favored the development of his musical thinking. To support the thesis of the preeminence of melody over harmony, thus contradicting the principles of the Rameaus system, the author of most of the articles on music at the Diderots Encyclopedia, of the Letter on French Music, and the Dictionary of Music, would never fail to refer to the harmonic system of his rival. The present research aims to understand the quarrel between Rousseau and Rameau in this aspect, as well as to point out the relationship of this dispute with inflamed debates that also were in agenda in France during the second half of the Eighteenth-Century, like the Quarrel of the Bouffons. Therefore, in addition to examining specific aspects of the musical writings already mentioned, comparing them with some of the main texts of Rameaus vast theoretical work, we seek to focus on the analysis of Rousseaus text entitled Examination of Two Principles Advanced by M. Rameau, whose translation into Portuguese we presented attached.

Sabemos que a querela entre Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) e Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) está sujeita a diferentes leituras, cujo interesse muitas vezes foi reduzido a um curioso anedotário ou a uma disputa produzida tão somente pelos humores de ambos. Nesta pesquisa, contudo, para além do relato biográfico e das conjecturas sobre as causas da rivalidade entre Rousseau e Rameau, intentamos priorizar uma análise que buscasse balizar os posicionamentos estéticos de um e outro, com ênfase nos argumentos expostos por Rousseau em sua contraposição ao sistema harmônico de Rameau. Ao longo deste debate, entendemos que, ao esquadrinhar e, posteriormente, criticar os escritos de Rameau, Rousseau teria encontrado ideias extraordinariamente férteis que favoreceram o desenvolvimento de seu pensamento musical. Para sustentar a tese da preeminência da melodia sobre a harmonia, assim contrariando os princípios do sistema ramista, o autor da maior parte dos verbetes sobre música da Enciclopédia, da Carta sobre a música francesa e do Dicionário de música, jamais deixaria de se referir ao sistema harmônico de seu rival. A presente pesquisa tem como objetivo compreender a querela Rousseau-Rameau sob este aspecto, assim como apontar a relação da disputa assinalada com inflamados debates que também estiveram em pauta na França da segunda metade do século XVIII, a exemplo da Querela dos Bufões. Para tanto, além de examinar aspectos pontuais dos escritos musicais já mencionados, cotejando-os com alguns dos principais textos da vasta obra teórica de Rameau, procuramos nos deter na análise do texto de Rousseau intitulado Exame de dois princípios avançados pelo Sr. Rameau, cuja tradução apresentamos em anexo. / We know that the quarrel between Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) and Jean- Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) is subject to different readings, whose interest has often been reduced to a curious collection of anecdotes or to a dispute produced only by the humors of both. In this research, however, beyond the biography and the conjectures about the causes of the rivalry between Rousseau and Rameau, we aim to prioritize an analysis that sought to mark the aesthetic positioning of one and the other, with emphasis on Rousseaus arguments as opposed to the harmonic system of Rameau. Throughout this debate, we understand that Rousseau, by scrutinizing and later criticizing Rameaus writings, would have found extraordinarily fertile ideas that favored the development of his musical thinking. To support the thesis of the preeminence of melody over harmony, thus contradicting the principles of the Rameaus system, the author of most of the articles on music at the Diderots Encyclopedia, of the Letter on French Music, and the Dictionary of Music, would never fail to refer to the harmonic system of his rival. The present research aims to understand the quarrel between Rousseau and Rameau in this aspect, as well as to point out the relationship of this dispute with inflamed debates that also were in agenda in France during the second half of the Eighteenth-Century, like the Quarrel of the Bouffons. Therefore, in addition to examining specific aspects of the musical writings already mentioned, comparing them with some of the main texts of Rameaus vast theoretical work, we seek to focus on the analysis of Rousseaus text entitled Examination of Two Principles Advanced by M. Rameau, whose translation into Portuguese we presented attached.

L'étude de ce que l'on nomme « rhétorique musicale » nous semble pouvoir offrir un éclairage spécifique sur la question de la musique et des émotions. En effet, les deux champs de réflexion en philosophie de la musique dont il est question font l'objet d'un intérêt qui se manifeste au cours de ces dernières années. Aussi, nous considérons que la rhétorique musicale et le phénomène particulier de la poétique musicale germanique sont de nature à structurer une telle étude, tant par les choix qu'ils présupposent (comme le fait que les émotions y sont un moyen destiné à produire un effet) que par ceux qu'ils délaissent. Notre recherche suivra les trois principales étapes suivantes : (a) une étude des aspects de la question antérieurs à la musica poetica (dans la Grèce antique, dans la liturgie luthérienne, dans la théorie musicale italienne) ; (b) un examen détaillé du thème des passions dans les traités de l’Allemagne baroque ; (c) un parcours concernant l’évolution de la question jusqu’aux débats actuels. / Studying “musical rhetoric” seems likely to bring some specific light about the topic of music and emotions. Both fields of research in philosophy of music involved arouse an interest, especially last years. Therefore, we regard musical rhetoric and the distinctive phenomenon of German musical poetics as able to structure such a studying, through choices they suppose (for example, the fact that emotions are means for have an effect) and choices they leave. Our investigation includes the three main following parts: (a) some study about facets of the subject prior to musica poetica (in Ancient Greece, in Lutheran liturgy, in Italian theory of music); (b) some detailed examination about the topic of passions in German baroque treatises; (c) a review regarding evolution of the subject up to current discusses..

La musique française pour clavecin des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles est-elle jouée de nos jours telle qu’elle devrait l’être ? De quelles sources disposent musicologues et musiciens pour approcher au plus près l’authentique sonorité du clavecin, la technique de son jeu, et la compréhension de son répertoire ? Cette approche nous a conduit à discerner neuf points déterminants, essentiels à la compréhension de la facture du clavecin. La mesure d’octave des claviers français de l’époque était inférieure à celle des instruments des pays voisins, et notamment inférieure à celle appliquée dans la facture de nos jours. Pour mémoire, cette mesure conditionne l’écartement entre le pouce et l’auriculaire, lequel écartement influence le jeu. Si l’écart est de moindre taille, les doigts sont plus rapprochés, et de ce fait, la main gagne en décontraction. Le jeu à la française se distingue aussi depuis ses origines par l’extrême souplesse de l’harmonisation, le peu de tension des cordes et le diapason bas (le La3 à 392 – 406 Hz). Par ailleurs, nous avons pu révéler l’existence de clavecins à trois claviers, la présence du seize pieds et du jeu nasal dans certains instruments (alsaciens notamment), et la paternité française de l’éclisse courbe en forme de « S ». Concernant les claviers, l’évolution de l’ambitus de l’instrument depuis le début du XVIIe jusqu’à la fin du XVIIIe siècle est bien connue des musicologues et des musiciens. Toutefois, aucune étude de cette évolution n’a été réalisée pour démontrer l’élargissement des claviers depuis le premier livre imprimé en 1670, les pièces de clavecin de Chambonnières, jusqu’à l’ambitus définitif des cinq octaves imposées dans les pièces de clavecin en concerts de Rameau en 1741. Notre étude s’est également étendue aux cordes, par la vérification de leur épaisseur et des matières dont elles étaient faites. Il s’avère que les facteurs de l’époque utilisaient des diamètres inférieurs à ceux des cordes actuelles, et qu’elles n’ont jamais été en cuivre dans les basses. Seul le laiton à forte teneur en cuivre était considéré comme satisfaisant pour la sonorité des cordes les plus graves. Quant aux cordes des trois cinquièmes supérieurs du clavier, elles étaient faites en fer mou qui n’avait qu’une faible tension. Il va sans dire que l’acier, employé de nos jours, était inconnu à cette époque. Enfin, il est admis aujourd’hui que le clavecin, une fois le tempérament posé, s’accorde en octaves pures, alors qu’il en était tout autrement au XVIIIe siècle, ainsi que nous l’avons établi à travers un texte de Corrette. / Is French harpsichord music of the 17th and 18th centuries played today as it should be ? What sources can help musicologists and musicians to reproduce the authentic harpsichord sound and playing techniques of that epoch, and understand its repertoire, as faithfully and fully as possible ? The mere fact that this music went unplayed for so long prompts that question. In fact, the harpsichord was forgotten overnight. The favoured instrument of court and fashionable society under the ancien régime, it had aristocratic associations which doomed it when the Revolution came. A century later, in June 1889, the noble, silvery sound of its plucked strings made a first, hesitant comeback, thanks to Louis Diémer. But it was only in the 20th century, between the two world wars, that Wanda Landowska’s tireless enthusiasm gave this baroque keyboard instrument a new lease of life. Interest in building “old-style” harpsichords, using traditional techniques, first developed in the late 1950s, and their popularity has grown steadily ever since. Today’s enthusiasts want to go back to the origins, and revive old ideas and techniques, but they still have a long way to go. At an earlier stage, techniques used in making pianos were extended to harpsichords - and some of these “alien” elements and additions are still present. We felt the time had come to clarify the picture by consulting certain contemporary texts, which had been unduly neglected. We found indeed that these were at odds with twentieth- century improvements, had been mistranslated or misunderstood, or were, quite simply, hard to find.Anyone wishing to form an idea of the original harpsichord sound must start with organology, and the various instruments used by French musicians in the 17th and 18th centuries offer valuable clues. X-ray examination reveals their design and shows how they were regulated (keys, jacks, plectra).Thanks to this approach, we have identified nine essential factors which illuminate the design and construction of these instruments. French manuals of the time had a narrower octave span than those of instruments made in neighbouring countries - or today. Span, of course, determines the distance between thumb and little finger, which itself affects playing. The smaller the gap, the closer the fingers, and the more relaxed the hand. From the beginning, the French sound was also distinguished by its highly flexible harmonies,low-tension strings and low pitch (A3 at 392-406 Hz.). We also found that some harpsichords had three manuals, that some (particularly Alsatian instruments) had 16 foot stops and a lute stop, and that the S-shaped bentside was a French innovation. Musicologists and musicians already know in general terms how manuals evolved from the early 17th to the late 18th century, but no specific research has been done on the process by which they became wider, between 1670, when the first book, Chambonnière’s Pièces de clavecin, was published, and 1741, when Rameau’s Pièces de clavecin en concerts made five octaves the norm.We have also studied strings, their thickness and the materials of which they were made. We have found that string diameter was smaller than it is now, and that bass strings were never made of copper. Only brass with high copper content was thought to give the deeper strings a satisfactory sound. Strings on the upper three-fifths of the manual were made of soft iron, which had little tension. Steel, which is used today, was obviously unknown.Finally, harpsichords, once their temperament is established, are today tuned in pure octaves –which, as a text by Corrette has shown us, was far from being the case in the 18th century.

This thesis interprets four of Schumann’s works in the light of the Hoffmann fictions with which they seem to be associated. Unlike previous studies, it deals with each of the four works, treating them as aesthetic entities enhanced by literary relationships that are not primarily programmatic, nor primarily a matter of formal parallels. Each work emerges both in a new light and as it always was. Carnaval (1834-37) appears as a dizzying comedy of theatrical vignettes and character, in the spirit of the German literary understanding of Italian carnival (including in Hoffmann), and Fantasiestücke (1837-38) as a humorous sequence of dream images, resonating with literary tales of the artist’s development, not least those in Hoffmann’s Fantasiestücke. Kreisleriana (1838), a finished masterpiece, suggests improvisations on melodic fragments appearing also in popular tunes used both in trivial variation sets and in Bach’s Goldberg Variations – which figure in Hoffmann’s Kreisleriana as opposed emblems of the philistine and the profound. Nachtstücke (1839-40) creates from plain rondos a paradoxically unsettled set, expressive of profound mental disturbances explored by Hoffmann’s book of that name. I bring out in each work previously unexamined patterns of melody, tonality, metre, sonority and form, showing how these become threads expressive of drama, emotion or symbolism. Unusually, I do not take Schumann’s approach over the 1830s as static: increasingly powerful musical means gave the music greater independence from supporting words, and what Schumann called ‘poetic’ threads increasingly coincide with core musical processes. Equally unusually, I describe those processes as resonating simultaneously with Schumann’s titles, with his culture including Hoffmann, and with his concerns around the time of composition as documented in his letters, criticism, diaries and Mottosammlung. Unlike previous work the thesis treats its subject consistently at three levels. My approach to the interpretation of the individual works at the first level is consonant with Schumann’s aesthetics as described at the second: there I focus more sharply than previous treatments on his stated view that musical works can ‘express’ ‘remote interests’ including literature, and on how he thought that possible – points that, given sensitivity to contemporary connotations and to context, emerge from his writings. Finally, at a third level, I reflect on the approach in the light of strands of musicological and intellectual thought in Schumann’s day and since.