1
of
1
Orpheus in the Underworld
Essays on Music and Its Mediation
Series: The German List
Brief Description
Delves into Theodor W. Adorno's lesser-known musical career and successful music criticism. Theodor W. Adorno is recognised as one of the twentieth century's most prominent social theorists. Though best known for his association with the Frankfurt School of critical theory, Adorno began his career as a...
Read More
Format: Hardback
$4799
Unit price
/
Unavailable
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER
Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 3-4 weeks
Found a better price? Request a price match
Orpheus in the Underworld
$4799
Unit price
/
Unavailable
"The source texts of this translation can be found in volumes 17, 18, 19 and 20 of Theodor W. Adorno's Gesammelte Schriften in 20 Bèanden."
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
Delves into Theodor W. Adorno's lesser-known musical career and successful music criticism.
Theodor W. Adorno is recognised as one of the twentieth century's most prominent social theorists. Though best known for his association with the Frankfurt School of critical theory, Adorno began his career as a composer and successful music critic.
Comprehensive and illuminating, Orpheus in the Underworld centres on Adorno's concrete and immediate engagement with musical compositions and their interpretation in the concert hall and elsewhere. Here, Adorno registers his initial encounters with the compositions of the Second Viennese School, when he had yet to integrate them into a broad aesthetics of music. Complementarily, essays on Béla Bartók, Jean Sibelius, and Kurt Weill afford insight into his understanding of composers who did not fit neatly into the dialectical schema propounded in the Philosophy of New Music.
Additionally, essays on recording and broadcasting show Adorno engaging with these media in a spirit that is no less productive than polemical and focused as sharply on their potentialities as on their shortcomings.
Orpheus in the Underworld offers a captivating exploration of Adorno's musical compositions, shedding new light on his understanding of influential composers and his critical perspectives on recording and broadcasting.
Series: The German List
View all-
Anyone Who Utters a Consoling Word Is a Traitor
Alexander Kluge’s work has long grappled with the Third Reich and its aftermath, and the extermination of the Jews forms its gravitational centre. Kluge is forever reminding us to keep our present catastrophes in perspective—“calibrated”—against this historical monstrosity. Kluge’s newest work, Anyone Who Utters a Consoling Word Is a Traitor, is a book about bitter fates, both already known and...Hardback$3599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
A Slap in the Face
Now in paperback, the touching, timely story of an Iraqi refugee in Germany. In our era of mass migration, much of it driven by war and its aftermath, A Slap in the Face could not be more timely. It tells the story of Karim, an Iraqi refugee living in Germany whose right to asylum has been revoked in the wake...Paperback$2399Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Bad Sheep
A touching and sensitive tale of love and loss that unfolds in a divided Berlin in the 1980s. Against the backdrop of West Berlin in 1987, meet Soja—a skilled typesetter, a refugee from East Germany, and a temporary florist with a generous heart. Her life takes an unexpected turn when she crosses paths with Harry—a tall, free-spirited individual with a...Hardback$4799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Blue Jewellery
Now in paperback, Katharina Winkler’s heartbreaking saga of a tenacious woman trapped in an abusive marriage. Blue Jewellery is private property. Not to be seen. Not to be talked about. It is worn like a bracelet around the wrists, on ribs, legs, arms. Blue jewellery is another name for the marks left on women’s bodies, inflicted by the men around...Paperback$2399Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Blumenberg
Now in paperback, from one of the most dazzling authors of contemporary German literature comes this delightful tale of a philosopher and his encounter with a supernatural lion. One night, German philosopher Hans Blumenberg returns to his study to find a shocking sight—a lion lying on the floor as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. The lion...Paperback$2399Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Hour Between Dog and Wolf
Now in paperback, Silke Scheuermann's portrayal of intimacy and estrangement between sisters as they navigate rivalries, addiction, and shared love interests. A young woman who has been living abroad returns to her hometown of Frankfurt am Main in Germany. Her sister Ines—a beautiful, impetuous painter—who still lives there, soon appears and promptly asks for financial help. But the returning sister...Paperback$2399Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Kong's Finest Hour
In a world full of devils, the giant ape Kong defends what he loves the most. But who and what is this undomesticated animal? Might it reside within us? As we tread confidently, is this where the earth opens up beneath us? In Kong’s Finest Hour, Alexander Kluge explores anew the accessible spaces where Kong dwells within us and in...Hardback$6699Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Last Country
Now in paperback, the epic tale of a violinist who must navigate the fractious world of early twentieth-century Germany. "Ruven Preuk stands apart from the village, on an August day in 1911, and listens." Thus begins an epic bildungsroman about the life of Ruven Preuk, son of the wainwright, child of a sleepy village in Germany’s north, where life is...Paperback$2799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Mokusei!
Two men talk in Tokyo. One, a Belgian, is a diplomat. The other, Dutch, is a photographer. What, they wonder, is the real face of Japan? How can they get beyond the European idea of the nation and its people—with its exoticism—and see Japan as it truly is? The Belgian has an idea: he helps the photographer find a model...Hardback$3599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Monsters Like Us
A novel of two young friends growing up on divergent paths in the last days of Communist East Germany. What is it like to be young and broken in a country that is on the brink of collapse? This is what acclaimed poet and sound artist Ulrike Almut Sandig shows us in her debut novel, through the story of old...Hardback$3999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Party Fun with Kant
Thousands upon thousands of books have been written about Immanuel Kant since his death. None, let’s be clear, have been quite like what we have here. In Party Fun with Kant, Nicolas Mahler tells the story of Kant—and his fellow serious-minded figures from the history of philosophy—with a comic edge. With his witty visual style and clever wordplay, he delves...Paperback$4099Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Prose
“His manner of speaking, like that of all the subordinated, excluded, was awkward, like a body full of wounds, into which at any time anyone can strew salt, yet so insistent, that it is painful to listen to him,” from The Carpenter. The Austrian playwright, novelist, and poet Thomas Bernhard (1931–89) is acknowledged as among the major writers of our...Paperback$3599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781803093222
Publisher: Seagull Books London Ltd
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 02 August 2024
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Seagull Books London Ltd
Contributors:
- Translated by Douglas Robertson
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 23.0mm
Width: 152.0mm
Height: 229.0mm
Weight: 513g
Pages: 300
About the Author
Theodor W. Adorno (1903–69) was the author of Minima Moralia, Philosophy of Modern Music, and Prisms, among many other books. Douglas Robertson is a translator based in Baltimore, Maryland.
Also by Theodor W. Adorno
View all-
Correspondence, 1939 - 1969
At first glance, Theodor W. Adorno’s critical social theory and Gershom Scholem’s scholarship of Jewish mysticism could not seem further removed from one another. Initially, they also harboured a mutual hostility. However, their first conversations in 1938 New York were the impetus for a profound intellectual friendship that lasted thirty years and produced more than 220 letters. These letters discuss...Hardback$4299Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Aesthetic Theory
Theodor Adorno (1903-69) was undoubtedly the foremost thinker of the Frankfurt School, the influential group of German thinkers that fled to the US in the 1930s, including such thinkers as Herbert Marcuse and Max Horkheimer. His work has proved enormously influential in sociology, philosophy, and cultural theory. Aesthetic Theory is Adorno's posthumous magnum opus and the culmination of a lifetime's...Paperback$6899Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
An Introduction to Dialectics
This volume comprises Adorno's first lectures specifically dedicated to the subject of the dialectic, a concept which has been key to philosophical debate since classical times. While discussing connections with Plato and Kant, Adorno concentrates on the most systematic development of the dialectic in Hegel's philosophy, and its relationship to Marx, as well as elaborating his own conception of dialectical...Hardback$13199Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Fighting Antisemitism Today
In autumn 1962, Theodor W. Adorno delivered a lecture on fighting antisemitism to the German Coordinating Council of Societies for Christian-Jewish Cooperation. This lecture remains as topical and urgent today as it was in the 1960s. After the Second World War, Germany grappled with a reluctance to admit collective guilt for the horrors of the Holocaust. German society was witnessing...Paperback$2399Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Lectures 1949-1968, Volume 1
When Theodor W. Adorno returned to Germany from his exile in the United States, he was appointed as a lecturer and researcher at the University of Frankfurt and he immediately made a name for himself as a leading public intellectual. Adorno’s widespread influence on the postwar debates was due in part to the public lectures he gave outside of the...Paperback$4499Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Lectures 1949-1968, Volume 2
When Theodor W. Adorno returned to Germany from his exile in the United States, he was appointed as a lecturer and researcher at the University of Frankfurt and he immediately made a name for himself as a leading public intellectual. Adorno’s widespread influence on the postwar debates was due in part to the public lectures he gave outside of the...Paperback$4499Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Philosophy and Sociology: 1960
In summer 1960, Adorno gave the first of a series of lectures devoted to the relation between sociology and philosophy. One of his central concerns was to dispel the notion, erroneous in his view, that these were two incompatible disciplines, radically opposed in their methods and aims, a notion that was shared by many. While some sociologists were inclined to...Paperback$4499Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Philosophy of Modern Music
In this classic work of music theory, Adorno critiques two major composers, Arnold Schoenberg and Igor Stravinsky, whom he presents as dialectically opposed to one another in terms of their musical styles, techniques, and directions. Adorno’s readings, especially of Schoenberg, continue to cause controversy and disagreement among musicians, music lovers, and philosophers today. As always with Adorno, a wide range...Paperback$5199Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Without Model – Parva Aesthetica
Essays by Adorno on art and cinema, available in English for the first time. In Without Model, Theodor W. Adorno strikingly demonstrates the intellectual range for which he is known. Taking the premise of the title as his guiding principle, that artistic and philosophical thought must eschew preconceptions and instead adapt itself to its time, circumstances, and object, Adorno presents...Hardback$4699Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
The New Music
A year after the end of the Second World War, the first International Summer Course for New Music took place in the Kranichstein Hunting Lodge, near the city of Darmstadt in Germany. The course, commonly referred to later as the Darmstadt course, was intended to familiarise young composers and musicians with the music that, only a few years earlier, had...Hardback$8399Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Beethoven
Beethoven is a classic study of the composer's music, written by one of the most important thinkers of our time. Throughout his life, Adorno wrote extensive notes, essay fragments, and aides-memoires on the subject of Beethoven's music. This book brings together all of Beethoven's music in relation to the society in which he lived. Adorno identifies three periods in Beethoven's...Hardback$13199Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Letters to his Parents
My dears: this is but a brief note to welcome you to the new world, where you are now no longer all too far away from us. So begins Adorno’s letter to his parents in May 1939, welcoming them to Cuba where they had just arrived after fleeing from Nazi Germany at the last minute. At the end of 1939...Hardback$3599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks
More from Arts & Culture
View all-
Dylan's PickBold Types
A tribute to 32 truly independent bookshops throughout Aotearoa New Zealand, from north of Auckland down to Dunedin, and coast to coast. Jane Ussher's photographs show every bookstore in its unique nature - including behind the counter, smoko rooms, the mess which tells the hardworking story behind the joy of matching books with customers. Jemma Moreira's careful editing has crafted...Hardback$5999Elsewhere:$7000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseDisney Moana: The Official Cookbook
Embark on a culinary adventure with Moana of Motunui with Pacific recipes inspired by Moana and Moana 2! After a long day of sailing to see how far you’ll go or keeping the demigod Maui out of trouble with Te Fiti, catch a break with the delicious dishes in Moana: The Official Cookbook! Featuring more than 50 recipes spanning the...Hardback$4499Elsewhere:$5299Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Did I Ever Tell You This?
In this unexpected memoir, written in a creative burst of just a few months in 2022, Sam Neill tells the story of how he became one of the world’s most celebrated actors, who has worked with everyone from Meryl Streep to Isabel Adjani, from Jeff Goldblum to Sean Connery, from Steven Spielberg to Jane Campion. By his own account, his...Paperback$3799Elsewhere:$4500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
This Angry Pen of Mine
This Angry Pen of Mine by Layne Staley invites you to dive into the untold creative world of Layne Staley, the legendary voice behind Alice in Chains. This extraordinary collection showcases his handwritten lyrics, deeply personal poetry, stunning original artwork, rare photos, fan tributes, and so much more. Step into the world of Layne Staley like never before. For the...Hardback$7299Elsewhere:$8999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
They Bloom Because of You
Bestselling author and Instagram sensation Jessica Urlichs returns with a new collection of beautifully observed poems about the ever-evolving journey of motherhood - the hard, the magic and the fleeting. ‘A raw and honest read that makes you feel seen and understood in a way that will bring you to tears.’ - Hilary Swank ‘A book to keep close and...Paperback$3000Elsewhere:$3600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Leaves of Grass
A collectible new Penguin Classics series offers beautiful, slim, clothbound editions of ten favourite poets. In 1855, Walt Whitman published his first collection of poetry, Leaves of Grass. The volume received great praise from leading Transcendentalist poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. This encouragement led to what would become a lifelong project, as Whitman expanded and rewrote the volume until his death...Hardback$2200Elsewhere:$2400Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
30% offGreat Writers and the Cats who Owned Them
Throughout history, cats and writers have bonded together in a magical combination of comfort, companionship and inspiration. The famous authors featured here range from Samuel Johnson, whose cat Hodge dined on oysters, and Edward Lear, whose charismatic cat Foss was missing half his tail, to Margaret Mitchell, L. M. Montgomery and Dorothy L. Sayers, who rescued her kitten Blitz from...Hardback$2800Usually:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Beautiful Chaos
The Instant Sunday Times Bestseller Selected poems from bestselling author and Instagram poet, Jessica Urlichs. 'These words awaken the magic of life by celebrating the ordinary.' - Giovanna Fletcher Motherhood is messy and beautiful, and hard and humbling. We adore our children and sometimes we miss ourselves. Beautiful Chaos is a collection of raw, honest poems about motherhood, capturing everything...Paperback$2900Elsewhere:$3500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
The Odyssey
Composed at the rosy-fingered dawn of world literature almost three millennia ago, The Odyssey is a poem about violence and the aftermath of war; about wealth, poverty and power; about marriage and family; about travellers, hospitality, and the yearning for home. This fresh, authoritative translation captures the beauty of this ancient poem as well as the drama of its narrative....Paperback$2999Elsewhere:$3599Unit price /UnavailableBackorderShips late August -
To the Women - The New Collection of Wise Words Every Woman Needs
THE COMPLETELY UPDATED COLLECTION WITH OVER 70 BRAND NEW POEMS, FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES NO.1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF WILD HOPE AND WORDS TO LIVE BY 'Amazing . . . Donna's words speak to my heart' Davina McCall To the Women is a celebration of the beauty, strength, and joy of being a woman. A love letter to our deep capacity...Hardback$2999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Wreck This Journal: Now in Colour
The creative journey continues with Wreck This Journal: Now in Colour by Keri Smith, the latest and most vibrant edition of the groundbreaking series that redefined journaling. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, this edition brings the playful destructiveness of the original to life in dazzling full colour, adding a dynamic new dimension to the beloved prompts. Whether you're a seasoned Wreck-er,...Paperback$2500Elsewhere:$2800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
A Thousand Feasts
THE INSTANT #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER From award-winning writer Nigel Slater, comes a new and exquisitely written collection of notes, memoir, stories and small moments of joy. 'Nigel Slater’s prose is the rarest delicacy of all: exquisite yet effortless, filled with heart, tenderness, yearning and humour' ELIZABETH DAY For years, Nigel Slater has kept notebooks of curiosities and wonderings, penned...Paperback$2999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
