Joseph Haydn – Klassiker zwischen Barock und Biedermeier

With the encouragement of H. C. Robbins Landon, Manfred Huss wrote a comprehensive book on the life and work of Haydn based on the latest research findings, the first modern one of its kind in the German language (Joseph Haydn – Klassiker zwischen Barock und Biedermeier; Eisenstadt 1984, Edition Roetzer). Huss’s prime interest in undertaking this work, however, was to acquire the profound information about eighteenth-century performance practice that was to become the intellectual basis for his later work with period instruments.

Wahrung der Gestalt

In the mid-1970s Manfred Huss was asked to edit Hans Swarowsky’s writings on the principles and practice of musical interpretation, a task that was both an honour and a challenge for the young artist. The result was a comprehensive volume covering both aesthetic and practical aspects of conducting, also containing a very critical survey of the profession: Wahrung der Gestalt (Universal Edition Wien, 1979). As Christoph von Dohnányi has commented: “I hardly know anything more essential an artist could say or could have said about questions concerning interpretation of music!” A Spanish translation followed (published by Real Musical Madrid in 1989, translated by Miguel Gomez Martinez); an updated and revised version in English is now in preparation and will be published in 2016 by Toccata Press.