Description

Book Synopsis
When Machines Play Chopin brings together music aesthetics, performance practices, and the history of automated musical instruments in nineteenth-century German literature. Philosophers defined music as a direct expression of human emotion while soloists competed with one another to display machine-like technical perfection at their instruments. When Machines Play Chopin looks at this paradox between thinking about and practicing music to show what three literary works say about automation and the sublime in art.

Trade Review
"Densely written and diligently researched, When Machines Play Chopin interweaves literary history, aesthetics, performance history, and the history of technology in new and unexpected ways. [...] By focusing on the literary life of music machines, Hirt presents a compelling narrative on music aesthetics and the mechanical from the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries, one with important consequences for a contemporary discussion of the place of the human vis-a-vis technologies of sound."Mary Helen Dupree in: Monatshefte 104/1 2012

When Machines Play Chopin: Musical Spirit and Automation in Nineteenth-Century German Literature

    Product form

    £113.52

    Includes FREE delivery

    RRP £119.50 – you save £5.98 (5%)

    Order before 4pm today for delivery by Wed 24 Jun 2026.

    A Hardback by Katherine Hirt

    15 in stock

      Trusted by thousands of customers. See 2,385+ Customer Reviews

      View other formats and editions of When Machines Play Chopin: Musical Spirit and Automation in Nineteenth-Century German Literature by Katherine Hirt

      Publisher: De Gruyter
      Publication Date: 19/05/2010
      ISBN13: 9783110232394, 978-3110232394
      ISBN10:

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      When Machines Play Chopin brings together music aesthetics, performance practices, and the history of automated musical instruments in nineteenth-century German literature. Philosophers defined music as a direct expression of human emotion while soloists competed with one another to display machine-like technical perfection at their instruments. When Machines Play Chopin looks at this paradox between thinking about and practicing music to show what three literary works say about automation and the sublime in art.

      Trade Review
      "Densely written and diligently researched, When Machines Play Chopin interweaves literary history, aesthetics, performance history, and the history of technology in new and unexpected ways. [...] By focusing on the literary life of music machines, Hirt presents a compelling narrative on music aesthetics and the mechanical from the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries, one with important consequences for a contemporary discussion of the place of the human vis-a-vis technologies of sound."Mary Helen Dupree in: Monatshefte 104/1 2012

      Recently viewed products

      © 2026 Book Curl

        • American Express
        • Apple Pay
        • Diners Club
        • Discover
        • Google Pay
        • Maestro
        • Mastercard
        • PayPal
        • Shop Pay
        • Union Pay
        • Visa

        Login

        Forgot your password?

        Don't have an account yet?
        Create account