Review of Christopher Alan Reynolds,Motives for Allusion: Context and Content in Nineteenth-Century Music(Harvard University Press, 2003)

Abstract

Christopher Alan Reynolds's Motives for Allusion has received wide attention from reviewers who often seem to be as anxious to recount their own preoccupations with the topic of musical allusion as to provide a close reading and evaluation of the text itself. Given the elusive nature of the topic, this is understandable. Attempting to comprehend just how we should view and understand these musical puzzles leads many a scholar into the thorny territory of ascribing meaning and intention. Despite the inherent problems of the topic, Reynolds charges forward with his own views, ultimately leaving the reader to decide what she or he believes.[2] Reynolds defines allusion as "an intentional reference to another work made by means of a resemblance that affects the meaning conveyed to those who recognize it" (p. 6). As reviewer Michael Klein notes, "Here all the troubles of allusion are laid bare: the problem of intention; of the likelihood that an audience will recognize the resemblance; and of the meaning that accrues its recognition." (1) Klein's statement casts a light on what are perhaps the most problematic aspects of allusion, especially that of authorial intention. He goes on to explain that, "In particular, embracing authorial intention seems courageous in the post-Barthesian world, where the 'death of the author' threatens to render moot any argument hoping to recover a poetic level of allusion." (2) Recognizing this knotty aspect, Reynolds admits, "intentionality is an important element, however problematic it may be to determine," and in the end, decides that intentionality is important for understanding the compositional process and in considering questions of originality (p. 6).[3] Reynolds strives forward with nine chapters devoted to several different aspects of allusion, which explore how composers concealed their allusions (Chapter 2); whether composers chose to assimilate (Chapter 3) or contrast (Chapter 4) the original source of a musical allusion; the practice of adding a text to previously composed instrumental music (Chapter 5); the use of musical ciphers (Chapter 7); musical allusions as a form of tradition (Chapter 8); as well as the perennial problems of originality and intention (Chapter 6).[4] In Chapter 2 ("Transformations"), Reynolds describes the various ways in which composers have concealed their appropriated motives (or themes). (3) In addition to changes in rhythm, meter, intervals, and the like, he introduces three other methods: motivic combination (occurring contrapuntally in two voices either simultaneously, melodically in succession,