Towards a Theory of Musical Reproduction: Notes, a Draft and Two Schemata

"Towards a Theory of Musical Reproduction addresses the dialectical relation between the musical score (inscription) and its realized sound (performance), the two elements meeting in an act of interpretation, so as to produce what Adorno several times calls the x-ray image of the work, the subcutaneous depth that lies beyond surface manifestation. Adorno's concern is how music means, better how it is made meaningful. The book is a fragment, a set of extensive notes; what survives - more than 200 print pages - is nonetheless very considerable. Adorno's comments and commentaries, invariably aphoristic, are filled with insight and, into the bargain, are richly provocative and commonly provoking."

Richard Leppert, University of Minnesota