Music Theory

WIP: Notes on Complete Set-Class Cover

by Stephen Soderberg

Stylistic Cohabitation in the First Movement of Bartók’s Fourth String Quartet

by Sergio Cote

The perceptual notation of musical time

by Andrei Covaciu-Pogorilowski

A matter of perspective

by Andrei Covaciu-Pogorilowski

Music, otherwise…

by Andrei Covaciu-Pogorilowski

Musical time theory & a Manifesto

by Andrei Covaciu-Pogorilowski

I Hear Singing: Rhythmic and affective characteristics in three choral settings of E. E. Cummings’ “i thank You God for most this amazing” compared with a recording of the poet reading his own work.

by Philip Rice

Written for "Seminar in Analysis of American Vocal Music", graduate course at Westminster Choir College, Spring, 2012. Instructor: Dr. Christian Carey.

Comparison of three choral settings of E. E. Cummings' "i thank You God for most this amazing" using a 1953... more Comparison of three choral settings of E. E. Cummings' "i thank You God for most this amazing" using a 1953 recording of the poet reading the poem as a control group for analysis of rhythmic features and affects within each work. Settings explored are by Jacob Avshalomov (1971), Gwyneth Walker (1998), and Eric Whitacre (2000).

A Modern Anacharsis Looks at Music Theory

by Peter Sonderen

Dutch Journal of Music Theory. Tijdschrift voor Muziektheorie. 2012, Volume 17 Issue 1

In this article the author focuses on the (critical) role of the outsider, or allochthon, with regard to other... more In this article the author focuses on the (critical) role of the outsider, or allochthon, with regard to other cultural fields. From historical and aesthetic viewpoints, he stresses, as a modern Anacharsis, the importance of the cultural side of music theory that hardly seems to play a role on the musical menu in art education. The Dutch aesthetician Frans Hemsterhuis serves as a guide.

'Tristan chords and random scores': exploring undergraduate student experiences of music in higher education through the lens of Bourdieu

by Gwen Moore

Within a theoretical framework drawn from Bourdieu, this article explores the relationship between undergraduate... more Within a theoretical framework drawn from Bourdieu, this article explores the relationship between undergraduate students' experiences of music in higher education and their musical backgrounds and prior music education experiences. More critically, this study aims to discover whether ideologies surrounding musical value impact on the student experience in higher education. A survey of undergraduate students of music (N=60) at a higher education music department in the Republic of Ireland was conducted. Preliminary data suggest that students' musical habitus and cultural capital impact on their experience of music within the field of higher education. Implications of findings from this study suggest a reappraisal of curricula and assessment at secondary level and of musical value and curriculum content in Irish higher education.

Guides to Writing about Music

by Kendra Leonard

Published in the Journal of Music History Pedagogy, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Fall 2011)

Guides to writing about music have become staples in courses on music history. This review covers three such books, by... more Guides to writing about music have become staples in courses on music history. This review covers three such books, by Bellman, Herbert, and Wingell, as well as RILM’s reference on musical terms and conventions. The review discusses the strengths or weaknesses of all four books in order to help an instructor decide what might be best for any particular course.

Review of Brian Hulse and Nick Nesbitt, eds., Sounding the Virtual: Gilles Deleuze and the Theory and Philosophy of Music (Ashgate, 2010)

by Andrew Robbie

published in Music Theory Online 18.1, April 2012

Z-relation and homometry in musical distributions

by John Mandereau

Co-authored with Daniele Ghisi, Emmanuel Amiot, Moreno Andreatta, Carlos Agon. Published in Journal of Mathematics and Music.

This paper defines homometry in the rather general case of locally-compact topological groups, and proposes new cases... more This paper defines homometry in the rather general case of locally-compact topological groups, and proposes new cases of its musical use. For several decades, homometry has raised interest in computational musicology and especially set-theoretical methods, and in an independent way and with different vocabulary in crystallography and other scientific areas. The link between these two approaches was only made recently, suggesting new interesting musical applications and opening new theoretical problems. We present some old and new results on homometry, and give perspective on future research assisted by computational methods. We assume from the reader basic knowledge of groups, topological groups, group algebras, group actions, Lebesgue integration, convolution products, and Fourier transform.

Discrete Phase Retrieval in Musical Structures

by John Mandereau

Co-authored with Daniele Ghisi, Emmanuel Amiot, Moreno Andreatta, Carlos Agon. Preprint. Published in Journal of Mathematics and Music.

This paper describes phase retrieval approaches in music by focusing on the particular case of the cyclic groups... more This paper describes phase retrieval approaches in music by focusing on the particular case of the cyclic groups (beltway problem). After presenting some old and new results on phase retrieval, we introduce the extended phase retrieval for generalized musical Z-relation. This concept is accompanied by mathematical definitions and motivations from computer-aided composition. We assume from the reader basic knowledge of groups, topological groups, group algebras, group actions, Lebesgue integration, convolution products, and Fourier transform.

A systematic approach to chromaticism

by Mark Lindley

Published in the journal, “Systematische Musikwissenschaft/Systematic Musicology/Musicologie Systèmatique,” v.2 (1994).

Examples of chromaticism from a period of 700 years are discussed in terms of a concept of “types of system” developed... more Examples of chromaticism from a period of 700 years are discussed in terms of a concept of “types of system” developed in Lindley and Turner-Smith, “Mathematical Models of Musical Scales” (Verlag für Systematische Musikwissenschaft, 1993). Each type is associated with a set of premises as to how the relations amongst the pitch classes in the chromatic scale (pitch-class intervals) have themselves been assumed to be inherently related. For instance, have 3rds and 6ths evidently been regarded (by the composer) as consonant, and if so, have they all been regarded as equally euphonious or has it evidently been assumed instead that there are inherent differences of euphony among them? (In the latter case, there would be more variety of character among the different keys than if all triads have been regarded as equally euphonious.) Several such criteria are applied and it is argued that to be aware of them is conducive to intellectual clarity and historical sophistication in the analysis of chromatic music.

Recapitulation of an approach to mathematical models of musical scales, and notes on an analogous approach in regard to musical meter

by Mark Lindley

Published in the journal, “Systematische Musikwissenschaft/Systematic Musicology/Musicologie Systèmatique,” v.2 (1994)

Abstract: Examples of chromaticism from a period of 700 years are discussed in terms of a concept of “types of system”... more Abstract: Examples of chromaticism from a period of 700 years are discussed in terms of a concept of “types of system” developed in Lindley and Turner-Smith, “Mathematical Models of Musical Scales” (Verlag für Systematische Musikwissenschaft, 1993). Each type is associated with a set of premises as to how the relations amongst the pitch classes in the chromatic scale (pitch-class intervals) have themselves been assumed to be inherently related. For instance, have 3rds and 6ths evidently been regarded (by the composer) as consonant, and if so, have they all been regarded as equally euphonious or has it evidently been assumed instead that there are inherent differences of euphony among them? (In the latter case, there would be more variety of character among the different keys than if all triads have been regarded as equally euphonious.) Several such criteria are applied and it is argued that to be aware of them is conducive to intellectual clarity and historical sophistication in the analysis of chromatic music.

Review of Easley Blackwood, “The Structure of Recognizable Diatonic Scales”

by Mark Lindley

Co-author: Ronald Turner-Smith. Published in “Music & Letters,” v.70/2 (1989).

In Praise of Lou Harrison

by Joel Taylor

published in The Open Space Magazine, fall 2003

Some thoughts about Lou Harrison's music with emphasis on the experimental microtonal works, and the works for Gamelan. Some thoughts about Lou Harrison's music with emphasis on the experimental microtonal works, and the works for Gamelan.

In 'Spirit' and in Truth: Rhythm and Time in the Music of Arvo Pärt as related to Medieval Polyphony and Philosophy

by Philip Rice

Written for Intro to Musicology at Westminster Choir College, Fall 2010. Instructor was Dr. Sharon Mirchandani

The music of Estonian minimalist, Arvo Pärt, is influenced by the style and form of medieval polyphony. This influence... more The music of Estonian minimalist, Arvo Pärt, is influenced by the style and form of medieval polyphony. This influence permeates both his compositional method, and the resulting musical affect. This paper focuses on rhythm as a point of comparison, most significantly the appearance of rhythmic modes in his vocal works, and the declamation of text. Also significant is his biography, which includes a period of monasticism which the author postulates may have led to the "tranquil" mood of much of his music.

Performing Nationalism: Peasant Consciousness and the Dinshaway Incident in Rural Egyptian Popular Culture

by Kyle J. Anderson

submitted for the graduate program in Near Eastern Studies at Cornell University

After identifying promising contemporary trends in scholarship on subaltern consciousness in Egyptian historiography,... more After identifying promising contemporary trends in scholarship on subaltern consciousness in Egyptian historiography, this essay undertakes a close-study of two colloquial Arabic “mawwawil”—narrative songs—to get a sense of how bourgeois nationalist ideology of early 20th-century Egypt (centered in Cairo) was translated into concepts that resonated with rural society. Implications for the predominant local notions of political subjectivity implied by these texts are discussed, and instances of internalization, negotiation, and subversion of hegemonic cultural norms are identified.

Kloesterliches Leben im Spiegel der spaetmittelalterlichen Ebstorfer Quellen, in: Heimatkalender Uelzen 2012, ed. Horst Hoffmann, Uelzen: C. Beckers Buchdruckerei, 2012, pp. 63-70

by Linda Maria Koldau