Music Theory Commons^™

Does Music Theory Need Musicology?, Kofi Agawu

Publications and Research

Understood as a search for "the abstract principles embodied in music and the sounds of which it consists," music theory casts a wide net: it calls for a comparative sample and insists on a systematic methodology. As " the scholarly study of music, wherever it is found historically or geographically," musicology casts an even wider net. In practice, however, it has not been possible to transcend historical and geographical boundaries. (How often have you read an article on contemporary rock in JAMS or on Asian music in 19th-Century Music?) Obviously, any attempt to explore the juncture between music theory …

Volume 7, Various Authors

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

Volume 6, Various Authors

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

Abstract:Crossed Stars And Crossed Tonal Areas In Puccini's 'Madama Butterfly', Allan Atlas

Verdi Forum

Abstract for a paper given at a joint meeting of the American Institute for Verdi Studies and the Greater New York chapter of the American Musicological Society, Feb. 3, 1990.

Dynamic And Attack Associations In Boulez’S Le Marteau Sans Maître, Wayne C. Wentzel

Scholarship and Professional Work – Arts

This paper explores dynamic and attack associations in the Bourreux de Solitude movement of Pierre Boulez's pivotal piece, Le Marteau sans maître.

Two "Mistakes" In Stravinsky's Lntroitus, Joseph N. Straus

Publications and Research

During the 1950s and 60s, Stravinsky learned, mastered, and significantly transformed a musical language that was, for him, entirely new—the language of twelve-tone serialism. As the abundant compositional sketches from this period in the Paul Sacher Foundation make clear, this process was not always an easy one for Stravinsky. Indeed, the sketches show him groping for solutions to basic compositional problems, including particularly the problem of creating meaningful vertical harmonies from the essentially linear nature of the twelve-tone system.

Volume 5, Various Authors

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

A Primer For Atonal Set Theory, Joseph N. Straus

Publications and Research

Atonal set theory has a bad reputation. Like Schenkerian analysis in its earlier days, set theory has had an air of the secret society about it, with admission granted only to those who possess the magic password, a forbidding technical vocabulary bristling with expressions like "6- Z44" and "interval vector." It has thus often appeared to the uninitiated as the sterile application of arcane, mathematical concepts to inaudible and uninteresting musical relationships. This situation has created understandable frustration among musicians, and the frustration has grown as discussions of twentieth-century music in the professional theoretical literature have come to be expressed …

Volume 4, Various Authors

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

Volume 3, Various Authors

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

George Alan Russell: Jazz's First Theorist, Robert E. Moore

Trotter Review

In 1953 George Alan Russell published The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization. By virtue of this work Russell carved out a unique niche for himself in the history of jazz, his opus representing the first theoretical work to come out of the jazz tradition. The purpose of this paper is to define his place in jazz history and to offer a biographical sketch off jazz’s first and most important theorist. My points of departure will be references made to Russell in two widely read works—Gunther Schuller’s Early Jazz and Wilfrid Meliers’ Music in a New Found Land. …

Volume 2, Various Authors

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

A Conductor's Study Of The First Movement Of Gustav Mahler's Fifth Symphony, Allan Coleman Sholl

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to become acquainted with the first movement of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony in the same manner as a conductor would when preparing the work for performance. Dr. William Dehning stated in his doctoral thesis: “The correct execution of any music imposes a great responsibility on the conductor of that music to determine what the composer might have intended.” The areas of concern to be discussed in this thesis, then, include analysis, thoughts on aesthetic and stylistic qualities, and some historical accounts relating directly to the Fifth Symphony.

Volume 1, Various Authors

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

89th Annual Convocation; Annual Spring Concert, The Sherwood Conservatory Of Music

Commencement Programs

Programs for the Sherwood Music School 89th Annual Convocation ceremony held at Recital Hall (1014 South Michigan Avenue) on June 3, 1984 and the Annual Spring Concert on May 20, 1984

88th Annual Convocation, The Sherwood Conservatory Of Music

Commencement Programs

Program for the Sherwood Music School 88th Annual Convocation ceremony held at Recital Hall (1014 South Michigan Avenue) on June 3, 1983

Abstracts, James Hepokoski, David Lawton, Martin Chusid, Andrew Hornick, John Nádas, Gary Tomlinson, Leonard Garrison, Harold S. Powers, Gregory W. Harwood, Richard B. Beams, William P. Cole, Albert O. Cordell, Marianne Davis, Loryn E. Frye, Ben King, James Mason, William E. Mccauley, Stephen Town

Verdi Forum

Abstracts of papers about Giuseppe Verdi and his works, presented at joint meetings of the AIVS and Greater NY Chapter of the American Musicological Society, 1979-81 (Hepokoski, Lawton, Chusid, Hornick, Nádas, Tomlinson, Garrison, Powers), at the 1982 national meeting of the American Musicological Society (Harwood), and at an NEH-sponsored summer seminar at NYU in 1980 (Beams, Cole, Cordell, Davis, Fry, King, Mason, McCauley, Town).

87th Annual Convocation; Annual Spring Concert, Sherwood Music School

Commencement Programs

Programs for the Sherwood Music School 87th Annual Convocation ceremony held at Recital Hall (1014 South Michigan Avenue) on June 4, 1982 and the Annual Spring Concert on May 23, 1982

Froberger's Toccatas: Stylistic Considerations And Modern Editions, James W. Kosnik

Music Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) The music of Johann Jakob Froberger is recognized by scholars and musicians to be of significant artistic achievement and historical interest. Yet, with the possible exception of the suites, few modern-day performances of his music are likely to be heard for several reasons: the music does not fulfill the requirement of easy and accessible listening; the music lacks a certain superficial brilliance, or the proper instruments are unavailable so that the music cannot be heard in its most authentic language. The most important reason, however, is our own lack of understanding of the correct performance style which prevents …

86th Annual Convocation; Annual Spring Concert, Sherwood Music School

Commencement Programs

Programs for the Sherwood Music School 86th Annual Convocation ceremony held at Recital Hall (1014 South Michigan Avenue) on May 29, 1981 and the Annual Spring Concert on May 3, 1981

85th Annual Convocation; Annual Spring Concert, Sherwood Music School

Commencement Programs

Programs for the Sherwood Music School 85th Annual Convocation ceremony held at Recital Hall (1014 South Michigan Avenue) on June 3, 1980 and the Annual Spring Concert on May 18, 1980

84th Annual Convocation; Annual Spring Concert, Sherwood Music School

Commencement Programs

Programs for the Sherwood Music School 84th Annual Convocation ceremony held at Recital Hall (1014 South Michigan Avenue) on June 1, 1979 and the Annual Spring Concert on May 20, 1979

83rd Annual Convocation, Sherwood Music School

Commencement Programs

Program for the Sherwood Music School 83rd Annual Convocation ceremony held at Recital Hall (1014 South Michigan Avenue) on June 2, 1978

0241: William Tweel Papers, 1920-1978, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Contains arrangements of popular music by Tweel in his orchestra. Also contains two research papers written while a graduate student at Marshall University: " Bill Tweel and his society music", for the Music Department; and "Samuel Finley Breese Morse", for the Art Department.

82nd Annual Convocation; Annual Spring Concert, Sherwood Music School

Commencement Programs

Programs for the Sherwood Music School 82nd Annual Convocation ceremony held at Recital Hall (1014 South Michigan Avenue) on June 3, 1977 and the Annual Spring Concert on May 20, 1977

Valentin Roeser’S Essay On The Clarinet (1764) Background And Commentary, Albert Richard Rice

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Valentin Roeser’s Essai d’instruction à l’usage de ceux qui composent pour la clarinette et le cor is the earliest treatise on instrumentation and the first theoretical study of the clarinet. Comparisons are drawn with other eighteenth-century instructional materials, e.g. Francoeur’s Diapason général, La Borde’s Essai sur la musique, and Vanderhagen’s Méthode nouvelle et raisonnée pour la clarinette. A history of the chalumeau and two-keyed clarinet is presented, along with a biographical sketch of Roeser and an English translation of the first section of the Essai. Appendices include a checklist of Roeser’s writings and a list of eighteenth-century music using the …

81st Annual Convocation; Annual Spring Concert, Sherwood Music School

Commencement Programs

Programs for the Sherwood Music School 81st Annual Convocation ceremony held at Recital Hall (1014 South Michigan Avenue) on June 8, 1976 and the Annual Spring Concert on June 3, 1976

80th Annual Convocation; Annual Spring Concert, Sherwood Music School

Commencement Programs

Programs for the Sherwood Music School 80th Annual Convocation ceremony held at Recital Hall (1014 South Michigan Avenue) on June 11, 1975 and the Annual Spring Concert on May 28, 1975

Bach's B Minor Flute Sonata: A Study Of Six Recorded Interpretations, Edwin F. Sabrack Jr.

Masters Theses

The lack of knowledge and understanding of the performance practice of the early eighteenth century can lead to faulty and ill-conceived ideas regarding the interpretation of Bach's flute

sonatas. Problems of tempo, articulation, phrasing, dynamics, and ornamentation can overwhelm the student approaching these works for the first time. Luckily, the great flutists of our time have

given us a permanent documentation of their interpretations of this music by committing to record their performances. A diligent study of these performances, (in this case, the Sonata in B Minor), can guide the student to make intelligent decisions for his own playing of …

A Structural Comparison Of Traditional Opera And Music Drama, Charles H. Stephens

All Master's Theses

This paper presents a structural comparison of traditional opera and music drama. It uses Wagner's criticism of traditional opera, and his plan of incorporating the individual arts into a unified art form, to contrast the two forms. An identification of motives from a section of Wagner's Die Walkure further demonstrates the unifying factors in music drama.