PROBLEMS IN MUSIC THEORY––SURVEY OF POST-WAR TONAL THEORIES (Spring 2003)
Instructor: Dr. Stephen Peles Office: 251
Phone: 348-1472 Office Hours:
by appointment
E-mail: speles@music.ua.edu
Course Goals:
·
To
refine and broaden your analytical skills
· To broaden your awareness of the wide range of analytical problems of concern to contemporary tonal theorists
·
To
introduce you to the work of some of the most important tonal theorists of this
century and the intellectual traditions they represent
Grading:
· Homework. Reading assignments will include but will not be limited to items on the attached bibliography. 80% of final grade
·
Final
exam. 20% of final grade
·
Class
preparation and participation will be taken into account in the determination
of the final grade
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Schedule*
Metatheoretical Issues and Questions of Terminology: “Theory,” “Tonal,” “Tonal Theory”
Defining terms, defining the issues. What, if anything, are we trying to explain?
Readings: Ian Bent; Margaret Bent; Lawrence and
Margolis; Ratford
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The Situation Mid-Century
Hugo Riemann. Hindemith. The argument from ‘nature’.
Readings: Christensen; Hindemith; Heiden; Schoenberg;
Sessions
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Analysis and Performance
Readings:
Cone; Levy; Schmalfeldt
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Implication-Realization
Models/Gestalt Psychology
Readings: Cone; Meyer
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Analysis and Historical
Studies/Cognitive Psychology
Readings: Agawu; Gjerdingen
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Schoenberg and the Tradition
of Motivic Analysis
Readings: Carpenter; Epstein; Frisch;
Lester; Reti; Rothgeg; Schoenberg
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Schenker and His Descendents
Readings: Forte; Lerdahl and Jackendoff; Westergaard
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Aspects of Tonal Rhythm,
Miscellany
Readings: Cone; Lester; Westergaard
Bibliography
Agawu,
Kofi. 1991. Review of Robert O. Gjerdingen, A Classic Turn of Phrase, Music Theory Spectrum vol. 13, no. 1:
112-116.
Bent,
Ian. 1987. Analysis. New York:
W. W. Norton.
Bent,
Margaret. 1986. “Fact and Value in
Contemporary Musical Scholarship.” In Fact and Value in Contemporary Musical
Scholarship (Boulder, Colorado: The
College Music Society): 1-7.
Boretz,
Benjamin and Edward T. Cone, eds.
1972. Perspectives on Contemporary Music Theory. New York:
W. W. Norton.
Carpenter,
Patricia. 1983. “Grundgestalt as Tonal Function.” Music Theory Spectrum vol. 5: 15-38.
Christensen,
Thomas. 1982. “The Schichtenlehre of Hugo Riemann.” In Theory Only vol. 6, no. 4: 37-44.
Cone,
Edward T. 1968. Musical
Form and Musical Performance. New
York: W. W. Norton.
_____. 1985.
“Musical Form and Musical Performance Reconsidered.” Music Theory Spectrum vol. 7, pp.
149-158.
_____. 1986.
“Schubert’s Promissory Note: An
Exercise in Musical Hermeneutics.” In Schubert:
Critical and Analytical Studies, Walter Frisch, ed. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press:
13-30.
Epstein,
David. 1979. Beyond Orpheus: Studies in Musical Structure. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Forte,
Allen. 1977. “Schenker's Conception of Musical Structure,” in Readings in Schenker Analysis and Other
Approaches, Maury Weston, ed., New Haven: Yale University Press: 3-37.
Frisch,
Walter. 1984. Brahms and the Principle of
Developing Variation. Berkeley and
Los Angeles: University of California
Press.
Gjerdingen,
Robert O. 1986. “The Formation and Deformation of
Classic/Romantic Phrase Schemata,” Music
Theory Spectrum vol. 8: 25-43.
Heiden,
Bernhard. 1942. “Hindemith's ‘System’–A New Approach,” Modern Music vol. 19 no. 2, pp. 102-107.
Hindemith,
Paul. 1970. The Craft of Musical
Composition. Revised edition. New
York: Schott Music Corp.
Lawrence,
Stephen and Eric Margolis. 2001. “The Poverty of the Stimulus Argument.” British
Journal for the Philosophy of Science vol. 52: 217-276.
Lerdahl,
Fred and Ray Jackendoff. 1987. A
Generative Theory of Tonal Music.
Cambridge, MA: M.I.T. Press.
Lester,
Joel. 1979. “Articulation of Tonal Structures as a Criterion for Analytic
Choices,” Music Theory Spectrum vol.
1, pp. 67-79.
_____ 1981.
“Simultaneity Structures and Harmonic Functions in Tonal Music.” In Theory Only vol. 5 no. 5, pp. 3-28.
Levy,
Edward. 1979. “Analysis as Applied to Performance.” College Music Symposium vol. 19, no. 1, 128-138.
Meyer,
Leonard B. 1976. “Grammatical Simplicity and Relational
Richness: The Trio of Mozart's G Minor
Symphony.” Critical Inquiry vol. 2,
no. 4: 693-761.
_____. 1978.
Explaining Music: Essays and Explorations. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
Radford,
Andrew. 1981. Transformational
Syntax: A Student’s Guide to Chomsky’s
Extended Standard Theory.
Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Reti,
Rudolph. 1951. The
Thematic Process in Music. New
York: Macmillan.
Rothgeb,
John. 1987. Review of Walter Frisch Brahms
and the Principle of Developing Variation, Music Theory Spectrum vol. 9:
204-214.
Rothstein,
William. 1989. Phrase
Rhythm in Tonal Music. New
York: Schirmer.
Schmalfeldt,
Janet. 1985. “On the Relation of Analysis to Performance: Beethoven's Bagatelles Op. 126 Nos. 2 and
5.” Journal of Music Theory vol. 29,
no. 1, pp. 1-31.
Schoenberg,
Arnold. 1969. Structural Functions of
Harmony. Revised edition. New York:
W. W. Norton.
Sessions,
Roger. 1979. “Hindemith on Theory.” In
Roger Sessions on Music: Collected Essays, Edward T. Cone,
ed. Princeton: Princeton University
Press: 241-248.
Westergaard,
Peter. 1972. “Some Problems in Rhythmic Theory and Analysis.” In Benjamin Boretz and Edward T. Cone 1972: 226-237.
_____ 1975.
An Introduction to Tonal Theory. New York:
W. W. Norton.