One finds quotation in almost every epoch. Quotation must be distinguished from parody technique, contrafactum, variation, transcription, phantasy on known themes, paraphrase, pasticcio, metamorphosis, and stylization. Some thirteen criteria for quotation are listed (pp. 365-67). Four aesthetic functions of quotation are discussed with numerous examples of each: (1) a quotation may serve as the symbol for a well-defined expressive character; (2) a quotation may be used not so much as a symbol but rather as a means of expressing the content of a programmatic work (quotation as commentary); (3) a quotation may serve as an allusion or reference which will be more or less understood by the listener; and (4) a quotation may express parody, irony, or grotesquerie. The significance of quotation must be considered in relation to the genre in which it appears, such as pure instrumental music, vocal music, opera and ballet, music for film, and Jazz.

Works: Wagner: Die Meistersinger (368); Britten: Albert Herring (368); Bax: Tintagel (368); Berg: Lyrischen Suite (368); Mendelssohn: Reformation Symphony (369); Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture (369); Prokofiev: Aleksander Newski (369); Shostakovich: Symphony No. 12 (369); Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique (369); Liszt: Dante Symphony (369), Totentanz (369); Rachmaninoff: Die Todesinsel (369); Dallapiccola: Canti di prigionia (369); Miaskowski: Symphony No. 6 (369); Schubert: Der Tod und Das Mädchen (369); Strauss: Ein Heldenleben (370), Don Juan (370), Tod und Verklärung (370), Don Quixote (370), Also Sprach Zarathustra (370), Til Eulenspiegel (370); Offenbach: Orpheus (371); Strauss: Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (372).

Index Classifications: General, 1800s, 1900s

Contributed by: David C. Birchler