Theory, Analysis and Meaning in Music

Theory, Analysis and Meaning in Music

Author: Anthony Pople

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2006-11-02

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 9780521028301

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There have been far-reaching changes in the way music theorists and analysts view the nature of their disciplines. Encounters with structuralist and post-structuralist critical theory, and with linguistics and cognitive sciences, have brought the theory and analysis of music into the orbit of important developments in intellectual history. This book presents the work of a group of scholars who, without seeking to impose an explicit redefinition of either theory or analysis, explore the limits of both in this context. Essays on the languages of analysis and theory, and on practical issues such as decidability, ambiguity and metaphor, combine with studies of works by Debussy, Schoenberg, Birtwistle and Boulez, together making a major contribution to an important debate in the growth of musicology.


Book Synopsis Theory, Analysis and Meaning in Music by : Anthony Pople

Download or read book Theory, Analysis and Meaning in Music written by Anthony Pople and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2006-11-02 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There have been far-reaching changes in the way music theorists and analysts view the nature of their disciplines. Encounters with structuralist and post-structuralist critical theory, and with linguistics and cognitive sciences, have brought the theory and analysis of music into the orbit of important developments in intellectual history. This book presents the work of a group of scholars who, without seeking to impose an explicit redefinition of either theory or analysis, explore the limits of both in this context. Essays on the languages of analysis and theory, and on practical issues such as decidability, ambiguity and metaphor, combine with studies of works by Debussy, Schoenberg, Birtwistle and Boulez, together making a major contribution to an important debate in the growth of musicology.


Conceptualizing Music

Conceptualizing Music

Author: Lawrence M. Zbikowski

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2002-11-14

Total Pages: 376

ISBN-13: 0199881588

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This book shows how recent work in cognitive science, especially that developed by cognitive linguists and cognitive psychologists, can be used to explain how we understand music. The book focuses on three cognitive processes--categorization, cross-domain mapping, and the use of conceptual models--and explores the part these play in theories of musical organization. The first part of the book provides a detailed overview of the relevant work in cognitive science, framed around specific musical examples. The second part brings this perspective to bear on a number of issues with which music scholarship has often been occupied, including the emergence of musical syntax and its relationship to musical semiosis, the problem of musical ontology, the relationship between words and music in songs, and conceptions of musical form and musical hierarchy. The book will be of interest to music theorists, musicologists, and ethnomusicologists, as well as those with a professional or avocational interest in the application of work in cognitive science to humanistic principles.


Book Synopsis Conceptualizing Music by : Lawrence M. Zbikowski

Download or read book Conceptualizing Music written by Lawrence M. Zbikowski and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2002-11-14 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book shows how recent work in cognitive science, especially that developed by cognitive linguists and cognitive psychologists, can be used to explain how we understand music. The book focuses on three cognitive processes--categorization, cross-domain mapping, and the use of conceptual models--and explores the part these play in theories of musical organization. The first part of the book provides a detailed overview of the relevant work in cognitive science, framed around specific musical examples. The second part brings this perspective to bear on a number of issues with which music scholarship has often been occupied, including the emergence of musical syntax and its relationship to musical semiosis, the problem of musical ontology, the relationship between words and music in songs, and conceptions of musical form and musical hierarchy. The book will be of interest to music theorists, musicologists, and ethnomusicologists, as well as those with a professional or avocational interest in the application of work in cognitive science to humanistic principles.


A Theory of Musical Narrative

A Theory of Musical Narrative

Author: Byron Almén

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2017-09-04

Total Pages: 263

ISBN-13: 0253030285

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Byron Almén proposes an original synthesis of approaches to musical narrative from literary criticism, semiotics, historiography, musicology, and music theory, resulting in a significant critical reorientation of the field. This volume includes an extensive survey of traditional approaches to musical narrative illustrated by a wide variety of musical examples that highlight the range and applicability of the theoretical apparatus. Almén provides a careful delineation of the essential elements and preconditions of musical narrative organization, an eclectic analytical model applicable to a wide range of musical styles and repertoires, a classification scheme of narrative types and subtypes reflecting conceptually distinct narrative strategies, a wide array of interpretive categories, and a sensitivity to the dependence of narrative interpretation on the cultural milieu of the work, its various audiences, and the analyst. A Theory of Musical Narrative provides both an excellent introduction to an increasingly important conceptual domain and a complex reassessment of its possibilities and characteristics.


Book Synopsis A Theory of Musical Narrative by : Byron Almén

Download or read book A Theory of Musical Narrative written by Byron Almén and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2017-09-04 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Byron Almén proposes an original synthesis of approaches to musical narrative from literary criticism, semiotics, historiography, musicology, and music theory, resulting in a significant critical reorientation of the field. This volume includes an extensive survey of traditional approaches to musical narrative illustrated by a wide variety of musical examples that highlight the range and applicability of the theoretical apparatus. Almén provides a careful delineation of the essential elements and preconditions of musical narrative organization, an eclectic analytical model applicable to a wide range of musical styles and repertoires, a classification scheme of narrative types and subtypes reflecting conceptually distinct narrative strategies, a wide array of interpretive categories, and a sensitivity to the dependence of narrative interpretation on the cultural milieu of the work, its various audiences, and the analyst. A Theory of Musical Narrative provides both an excellent introduction to an increasingly important conceptual domain and a complex reassessment of its possibilities and characteristics.


Musical Motives

Musical Motives

Author: Brent Auerbach

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2021-04-21

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 0197526047

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All music fans harbor in their memories vivid fragments of their favorite works. The starting guitar solo of "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones, the da-da-da-DUM gesture that opens Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, the lush swelling chords of a beloved movie soundtrack: hearing the briefest snippet of any of these is enough to transport listeners into the piece's sonic and emotional world. But what makes musical motives so powerful? In Musical Motives, author Brent Auerbach looks at the ways that motives the small-scale pitch and rhythm shapes that are ever-present in music unify musical compositions and shape our experiences of them. Motives serve both to communicate basic musical meaning and to tie together sound space like the motifs in visual art. They present in all genres from classical and popular to jazz and world music, making them ideally suited for analysis. Musical Motives opens with a general introduction to these fundamental building blocks, then lays out a comprehensive theory and method to account for music's structure and drama in motivic terms. Aimed at both amateur and expert audiences, the book offers a tiered approach that progresses from Basic to Complex Motivic Analysis. The methods are illustrated by small- and large-scale analyses of pieces by Mozart, Beethoven, Handel, Chaminade, Verdi, Radiohead, and many more.


Book Synopsis Musical Motives by : Brent Auerbach

Download or read book Musical Motives written by Brent Auerbach and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-04-21 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All music fans harbor in their memories vivid fragments of their favorite works. The starting guitar solo of "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones, the da-da-da-DUM gesture that opens Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, the lush swelling chords of a beloved movie soundtrack: hearing the briefest snippet of any of these is enough to transport listeners into the piece's sonic and emotional world. But what makes musical motives so powerful? In Musical Motives, author Brent Auerbach looks at the ways that motives the small-scale pitch and rhythm shapes that are ever-present in music unify musical compositions and shape our experiences of them. Motives serve both to communicate basic musical meaning and to tie together sound space like the motifs in visual art. They present in all genres from classical and popular to jazz and world music, making them ideally suited for analysis. Musical Motives opens with a general introduction to these fundamental building blocks, then lays out a comprehensive theory and method to account for music's structure and drama in motivic terms. Aimed at both amateur and expert audiences, the book offers a tiered approach that progresses from Basic to Complex Motivic Analysis. The methods are illustrated by small- and large-scale analyses of pieces by Mozart, Beethoven, Handel, Chaminade, Verdi, Radiohead, and many more.


Everything in Its Right Place

Everything in Its Right Place

Author: Brad Osborn

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 0190629231

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More than any rock artist since The Beatles, Radiohead's music inhabits the sweet spot between two extremes: on the one hand, music that is wholly conventional and conforms to all expectations of established rock styles, and, on the other hand, music so radically experimental that it thwarts any learned notions. While averting mainstream trends but still achieving a significant level of success in both US and UK charts, Radiohead's music includes many surprises and subverted expectations, yet remains accessible within a framework of music traditions. In Everything in its Right Place: Analyzing Radiohead, Brad Osborn reveals the functioning of this reconciliation of extremes in various aspects of Radiohead's music, analyzing the unexpected shifts in song structure, the deformation of standard 4/4 backbeats, the digital manipulation of familiar rock 'n' roll instrumentation, and the expected resolutions of traditional cadence structures. Expanding on recent work in musical perception, focusing particularly on form, rhythm and meter, timbre, and harmony, Everything in its Right Place treats Radiohead's recordings as rich sonic ecosystems in which a listener participates in an individual search for meaning, bringing along expectations learned from popular music, classical music, or even Radiohead's own compositional idiolect. Radiohead's violations of these subjective expectation-realization chains prompt the listener to search more deeply for meaning within corresponding lyrics, biographical details of the band, or intertextual relationships with music, literature, or film. Synthesizing insights from a range of new methodologies in the theory of pop and rock, and specifically designed for integration into music theory courses for upper level undergraduates, Everything in its Right Place is sure to find wide readership among scholars and students, as well as avid listeners who seek a deeper understanding of Radiohead's distinctive juxtapositional style.


Book Synopsis Everything in Its Right Place by : Brad Osborn

Download or read book Everything in Its Right Place written by Brad Osborn and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than any rock artist since The Beatles, Radiohead's music inhabits the sweet spot between two extremes: on the one hand, music that is wholly conventional and conforms to all expectations of established rock styles, and, on the other hand, music so radically experimental that it thwarts any learned notions. While averting mainstream trends but still achieving a significant level of success in both US and UK charts, Radiohead's music includes many surprises and subverted expectations, yet remains accessible within a framework of music traditions. In Everything in its Right Place: Analyzing Radiohead, Brad Osborn reveals the functioning of this reconciliation of extremes in various aspects of Radiohead's music, analyzing the unexpected shifts in song structure, the deformation of standard 4/4 backbeats, the digital manipulation of familiar rock 'n' roll instrumentation, and the expected resolutions of traditional cadence structures. Expanding on recent work in musical perception, focusing particularly on form, rhythm and meter, timbre, and harmony, Everything in its Right Place treats Radiohead's recordings as rich sonic ecosystems in which a listener participates in an individual search for meaning, bringing along expectations learned from popular music, classical music, or even Radiohead's own compositional idiolect. Radiohead's violations of these subjective expectation-realization chains prompt the listener to search more deeply for meaning within corresponding lyrics, biographical details of the band, or intertextual relationships with music, literature, or film. Synthesizing insights from a range of new methodologies in the theory of pop and rock, and specifically designed for integration into music theory courses for upper level undergraduates, Everything in its Right Place is sure to find wide readership among scholars and students, as well as avid listeners who seek a deeper understanding of Radiohead's distinctive juxtapositional style.


Performative Analysis

Performative Analysis

Author: Jeffrey Swinkin

Publisher: Boydell & Brewer

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 1580465269

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This book proposes a new model for understanding the musical work, which includes interpretation -- both analysis- and performance-based -- as an integral component.


Book Synopsis Performative Analysis by : Jeffrey Swinkin

Download or read book Performative Analysis written by Jeffrey Swinkin and published by Boydell & Brewer. This book was released on 2016 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book proposes a new model for understanding the musical work, which includes interpretation -- both analysis- and performance-based -- as an integral component.


Music as Discourse

Music as Discourse

Author: Kofi Agawu

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2014-10-29

Total Pages: 345

ISBN-13: 0190206403

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The question of whether music has meaning has been the subject of sustained debate ever since music became a subject of academic inquiry. This book presents a synthetic and innovative approach to musical meaning which argues deftly for the thinking of music as a discourse in itself.


Book Synopsis Music as Discourse by : Kofi Agawu

Download or read book Music as Discourse written by Kofi Agawu and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014-10-29 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The question of whether music has meaning has been the subject of sustained debate ever since music became a subject of academic inquiry. This book presents a synthetic and innovative approach to musical meaning which argues deftly for the thinking of music as a discourse in itself.


Musical Meaning in Beethoven

Musical Meaning in Beethoven

Author: Robert S. Hatten

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2004-10-20

Total Pages: 374

ISBN-13: 9780253217110

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Award-winning examination of Beethoven's music.


Book Synopsis Musical Meaning in Beethoven by : Robert S. Hatten

Download or read book Musical Meaning in Beethoven written by Robert S. Hatten and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2004-10-20 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Award-winning examination of Beethoven's music.


Focal Impulse Theory

Focal Impulse Theory

Author: John Paul Ito

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2021-01-05

Total Pages: 398

ISBN-13: 0253049946

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Music is surrounded by movement, from the arching back of the guitarist to the violinist swaying with each bow stroke. To John Paul Ito, these actions are not just a visual display; rather, they reveal what it really means for musicians to move with the beat, organizing the flow of notes from beat to beat and shaping the sound produced. By developing "focal impulse theory," Ito shows how a performer's choices of how to move with the meter can transform the music's expressive contours. Change the dance of the performer's body, and you change the dance of the notes. As Focal Impulse Theory deftly illustrates, bodily movements carry musical meaning and, in a very real sense, are meaning.


Book Synopsis Focal Impulse Theory by : John Paul Ito

Download or read book Focal Impulse Theory written by John Paul Ito and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2021-01-05 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Music is surrounded by movement, from the arching back of the guitarist to the violinist swaying with each bow stroke. To John Paul Ito, these actions are not just a visual display; rather, they reveal what it really means for musicians to move with the beat, organizing the flow of notes from beat to beat and shaping the sound produced. By developing "focal impulse theory," Ito shows how a performer's choices of how to move with the meter can transform the music's expressive contours. Change the dance of the performer's body, and you change the dance of the notes. As Focal Impulse Theory deftly illustrates, bodily movements carry musical meaning and, in a very real sense, are meaning.


Studies in Music with Text

Studies in Music with Text

Author: David Lewin

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2006-01-05

Total Pages: 423

ISBN-13: 0198040180

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Throughout his career, David Lewin labored to make even the most abstract theory speak to the experience of the ordinary listener. This book combines many of Lewin's classic articles on song and opera with newly drafted chapters on songs of Brahms, Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, and Milton Babbitt. Bound together by Lewin's cogent insight, the resulting collection constitutes a major statement concerning the methodological problems associated with interpretation of texted music.


Book Synopsis Studies in Music with Text by : David Lewin

Download or read book Studies in Music with Text written by David Lewin and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2006-01-05 with total page 423 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout his career, David Lewin labored to make even the most abstract theory speak to the experience of the ordinary listener. This book combines many of Lewin's classic articles on song and opera with newly drafted chapters on songs of Brahms, Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, and Milton Babbitt. Bound together by Lewin's cogent insight, the resulting collection constitutes a major statement concerning the methodological problems associated with interpretation of texted music.