Editor’s Message

[1] In this issue, Vincent Benitez explores simultaneous contrast as a structural principle in Olivier Messiaen’s opera, Saint François d’Assise. Drawing from the work of painter Robert Delaunay and Messiaen’s own commentaries, he shows how Messiaen creates dynamic relationships in the music through the interaction of contrasting areas of color. Sound-color relationships in Messiaen’s music are vividly illustrated through color examples and musical figures rendered in the high-resolution DjVu format.

[2] Also in this issue is a review of David Ferris’ 2000 book, Schumann’s Eichendorff Liederkreis and the Genre of the Romantic Cycle by Harald Krebs, and an exchange between Robert Cantrick and Nicholas Cook over Cook’s 2001 Music Theory Spectrum article, “Theorizing Musical Meaning.” The issue is rounded out with listings of recently completed dissertations, job opportunities, new books, and general announcements.

[3] Reactions to Benitez ’s article or Krebs’ review can be shared in two ways. The mto-talk email list is available to MTO subscribers (subscription is free) for online discussion of any MTO-related topic. (This link will help you determine if you are a subscriber.) To post to mto-talk, simply send an email message to mto-talk@societymusictheory.org. Longer responses may be submitted for publication in the Commentary section of the next issue. These should be formatted and submitted according to MTO’s Author Guidelines.

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Eric J. Isaacson, General Editor
Music Theory Online
School of Music
Indiana University
Bloomington, IN 47405
U.S.A.

mto-editor@societymusictheory.org
voice: (812) 855-0296 (with voice mail)
fax: (812) 855-4936

Updated 03 July 2013
Brent Yorgason

SMT