Books by J. P. E. (Royal Holloway Harper-Scott

This thematic examination of Britten's operas focuses on the way that ideology is presented on stage. As well as being a record of the ideological world of mid-twentieth-century Britain, these operas continue to diagnose problems in our own time. This book argues that it is timely - if uncomfortable - for current audiences to re-address his music.

J. P. E. Harper-Scott's book proposes a new theory of musical modernism, bringing contemporary philosophy into contact with music theory and interpretation. It explores the capacity for music to challenge cultural and political ideas and provides a critique of modern music histories.

The first full-length analytical study of Edward Elgar's music, this book gives a historical overview of its place in European musical history. Harper-Scott argues that Elgar was a modernist composer, and that his music constitutes a pessimistic twentieth-century assessment of the nature of human being. A detailed glossary is included.