Hanslick on the Musically Beautiful

The sixteen lectures by Geoffrey Payzant in this volume are all about one little book by Eduard Hanslick, Vom Musikalisch-Schönen - On the Musically Beautiful. Published at Prague in 1854 and a mere 104 pages, VMS ran to ten German editions and many translations in Hanslicks lifetime (he died in 1904). One may agree or disagree with its arguments and conclusions, but there is no denying that musical aesthetics as we know it has been given shape and direction by this small classic. Payzants lectures examine aspects of the Hanslick debate which have received less attention than they deserve. In particular, they offer a fresh look at Hanslick's use of the German words Tön (tone) and Gefüehl (feeling).