Contact: Camille Carskadon

STARKVILLE, Miss.—A Mississippi State Department of Music faculty member is co-editor of a new book about the music of Franz Schubert, considered one of the last classical and first romantic composers from the early 19th century.

MSU Associate Professor James Sobaskie, with University of Oxford music faculty member and co-editor Joe Davies, secured the participation of 11 Schubert experts from seven countries to establish a new, collective and diverse perspective on the composer’s music in “Drama in the Music of Franz Schubert.”

Published by Boydell and Brewer in the United Kingdom, the extensively researched publication challenges the assumption that the musical master—best known for his songs, symphonies and chamber scores—lacked a comparable talent for drama. The book demonstrates previously unsuspected locations of dramatic innovation in his vocal and instrumental music.

Sobaskie’s contributions also include two chapters, “The Dramatic Monologue in Schubert’s Mass in A flat major” and “The Dramatic Strategy Within Two of Schubert’s Serenades,” as well as the book’s co-written introduction.

“Schubert’s image is evolving, and we wanted to confront a longstanding misconception surrounding the Romantic Era composer’s dramatic music.  It turns out that Schubert invested drama within other genres besides opera, incorporating subtle narrative simulation, and we’ve aimed to change how people regard and listen to him.  I’m already using my colleagues’ ideas in my teaching,” Sobaskie said.

“I am grateful to my music department colleagues for their encouragement and am fortunate for the support of the College of Education. Schubert’s creativity thrived on the good will of those around him and so does mine.  I’m excited to see this book in print and motivated to complete my next project, a book on the music of Gabriel Fauré.”

Sobaskie holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and a doctorate in music from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He currently teaches music theory, ear training, form and composition at Mississippi State. He is an editorial board member of the Nineteenth-Century Music Review, a music journal published by Cambridge University Press, and he has served as the publication’s book review editor for a decade.

“Drama in the Music of Franz Schubert” is available in the local authors section of Barnes and Noble at MSU and from online outlets.

Part of MSU’s College of Education, the nationally accredited Department of Music is online at www.music.msstate.edu, as well as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @MSStateMusic.

Established in 1903, MSU’s College of Education is now home to six academic departments, one research unit and numerous service units. For more about the college, visit www.educ.msstate.edu.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.