Editor’s Message

[1] The release of MTO issue 9.1 provides an opportunity to acknowledge the outstanding work of our departing editor, Eric Isaacson. The Journal has flourished under his leadership during the past four years. I am grateful to Eric for the countless ways in which he has helped to make the past year of co-editorial collaboration stimulating and enjoyable. My initial goal in assuming the editorship has been to provide for a smooth transition while maintaining the strengths of MTO that Eric fostered with diligence and success: a rigorous review process, the timely release of outstanding new work, a rich diversity of topics and points of view, and an innovative and polished format supported with rich media. It is a privilege to serve as MTO editor. I welcome the opportunity to build upon the lasting contributions of Eric Isaacson and founding editor, Lee Rothfarb.

[2] I am pleased to welcome Julian Hook of Pennsylvania State University and Andrew Mead of the University of Michigan to the MTO Editorial Board. I thank our three departing Editorial Board members, Jane Piper Clendinning, Patrick McCreless, and Catherine Nolan for their invaluable help and generous commitment. Brent Yorgason has accepted our newly created position of MTO Managing Editor. I am happy to place responsibilities for the production of the journal in his capable hands.

[3] In this issue, we present the work of seven authors in a format enhanced with RealPlayer video clips, high-resolution DjVu graphics, and MIDI files.

[4] In commemoration of the SMT twenty-fifth anniversary, a banquet was held at the 2002 annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio. Founding SMT members, Allen Forte, Richmond Browne, and Mary Wennerstrom were honored speakers. Their banquet addresses, published in this issue, provide a retrospective on the history of our Society.

[5] Also in this issue, Elizabeth Sayrs explores narrative aspects of film and music in “Narrative, Metaphor, and Conceptual Blending in The Hanging Tree.” Her study is accompanied with video clips from the 1959 Western. In “Triadic Post-Tonality and Linear Chromaticism in the Music of Dmitri Shostakovich,” William Hussey discusses symmetrical chromatic pitch space in the composer’s symphonic music. Henkjan Honing relates expressive timing to patterns of human motion in his “Comments on the Relation Between Music and Motion.” Jeffrey Perry reviews M. J. Grant’s Serial Music, Serial Aesthetics: Compositional Theory in Post-War Europe. The issue also provides listings of recently completed dissertations, job opportunities, and general announcements.

[6] Submissions to MTO are welcome at any time. We encourage readers to post their reactions to this issue's articles and review. The mto-talk email list is available to MTO subscribers (subscription is free) for online discussion of any MTO-related topic. 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 Author Guidelines.