Franz Schubert : Sexuality, Subjectivity, Song (Cambridge Studies in Music Theory and Analysis)

Rating:
Summary: Yet another obscure intellectual romp with Lawrence Kramer
Review: Lawrence Kramer's latest book suffers the same disease as his other books and articles on classical music suffer. Much of the points he tries to make are lost in the highfalutin language he enjoys using. The topics of his book are complex already, and he doesn't make it any easier on the reader to understand by writing in such a distanced manner. While this is a text aimed for scholars in the field, Kramer could have broadened his audience by making it more accesible for the apprentices, not just the masters. Kramer's writing seems almost exclusive, as if he is holding his knowledge just above the reach of most people, and enjoying himself as he does this as well.

Getting past the language, many of Kramer's points are not supported by a wealth of evidence. He makes points that lack credibility without enough support. Kramer seems to expect the readers to take him at his word, which is a dangerous thing to do, considering that he is far from the final word on Schubert. Kramer's opinions are NOT enough to make opinion fact, though he seems to think this is the case.

If you buy this book for leisure or for class, be sure to read carefully, or else you'll get tricked into believeing Kramer's assertions.

Using big words to describe a complex topic does not magically transform his opinions into fact, nor does it make a scholar more scholarly. It compromises what possibly could have been an interesting book, dooming it before it even started.