MTO Dissertation Listings

Volume 2.7 1996

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  1. Buhler, James. "Informal Music Analysis: A Critique of Formalism, Semiology, and Narratology As Discourses on Music"
  2. Collaros, Pandel, L. "Quanti-MAS: A Quantitative System of Melodic Analysis"
  3. Mak, Su Yin."Structure, Design, and Rhetoric: Variation Procedures in Selected Instrumental and Vocal Works by Franz Schubert"
  4. Mengozzi, Stefano. "Between Humanistic Ideals and Scientific Thought in Glareanus's Dodecachordon"
  5. Morse, Michael William. "The Tune in Jazz as a Social Process--Prolegomena to a Sociology of Music"
  6. Wilkinson, Carlton J. "Symphony in Five Movements: A Presentation and Analytical Discussion of a New Work in a Symphonic Form"


Buhler, James. "Informal Music Analysis: A Critique of Formalism, Semiology, and Narratology As Discourses on Music"

AUTHOR:  Buhler, James
TITLE:  Informal Music Analysis:  A Critique of Formalism, Semiology, and 
        Narratology As Discourses on Music 
INSTITUTION:  University of Pennsylvania
COMPLETION:  May 1996
ABSTRACT:  
This dissertation investigates the relation of language to music.  In 
particular, it probes the manner in which discursive claims on music are 
adjudicated: How do we apply critical and analytical language to musical 
works and what limits do we encounter simply because this language cannot 
be the work itself?  

Chapter 1 defines the basic problem field that any representation of 
music must traverse and looks especially at the difficulties of 
translating music adequately into language.  Chapters 2 through 4 offer 
critical close readings of Hanslick's formalism, the musical narratology 
of Kramer and Newcomb, and the semiology of Nattiez.  Each of these 
chapters shows how a basic conceptual confusion leads to a loss of 
potential insights into the problems of constructing an adequate 
discourse on music.  These close readings culminate in chapter 5, which 
draws on the work of Abbate and Adorno to argue for an "informal" mode of 
analysis.  Informal analysis is an ad-hoc but still rigorously theorized 
analytical eclecticism that is able to appropriate the central insights 
of traditional analytical methods while redeploying them so as to 
increase critical depth.  

Chapters 6 and 7 present "informal" analyses of works by Mahler and 
Tchaikovsky.  Chapter 6 offers an extensive discussion of the key 
ideological presumptions grounding the metaphysics of sonata form.  The 
informal analysis of chapter 7 serves a dual function.  First, it is a 
critique of Langer's notion of absolute music, which shows that Langer 
must in fact presuppose the priority of program music despite her 
explicit intentions.  Second, the analysis in this chapter develops a 
nuanced theory of musical bombast, where bombast is understood as 
something other than a simple sign of artistic failure.


KEYWORDS: Analysis, Semiology, Semiotics, Formalism, Narratology, Critical 
Theory, Absolute Music, Program Music, Sonata Form

CONTACT:	511 W. Allen St.
		Bloomington, IN 47403
		(812) 331-1082
		jwbuhler@indiana.edu

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Collaros, Pandel, L. "Quanti-MAS: A Quantitave System of Melodic Analysis"

AUTHOR:  Collaros, Pandel, L.
TITLE:  "Quanti-MAS:  A Quantitative System of Melodic Analysis"
INSTITUTION:    The Ohio State University
                School of Music
                110 Weigel Hall
                1866 College Road
                Columbus, OH   43210-1170
BEGUN:  June, 1994
COMPLETION:  December, 1996
ABSTRACT:  The quantitative melodic analysis system, or Quanti-MAS,
facilitates the explication of pitch-class strings in ways which clarify
referential, hierarchical, and serial structures.  Not merely a tabulation
of two-note transition frequencies, Quanti-MAS produces graphic analyses
and numerical measurements of voice leading characteristics.  The
dissertation begins with an overview of existing analytical techniques, and
continues with a discussion of the "assumption of linear resolution
expectations."  The assumption of linear resolution expectations provides
the foundation for Quanti-MAS.  A step-by-step explanation of the
analytical technique is provided which uses real musical examples.  An
in-depth discussion of Quanti-MAS results correlates data with various
melodic types.  A chapter of analyses examines melodic materials from
Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Hindemith, and Collaros.  Future
ramifications of Quanti-MAS are explored which include compositional
procedures and extensions to musical parameters beyond melody.
KEYWORDS:  music, theory, melodic, analysis, quantitative, Quanti-MAS
TOC:    Chapter 1:  Introduction
        Chapter 2:  Literature Review
        Chapter 3:  The Assumption of Linear Resolution Expecations and
Quanti-MAS (Quantitative Melodic Analysis System)
        Chapter 4:  The Standard LRE (Linear Resolution Expectations) Ratio
        Chapter 5:  Analyses
        Chapter 6:  Commentary
        Chapter 7:  Conclusion

CONTACT:        1109 George Court, Apartment 3
                Lawrence, KS   66044
                e-mail:  pcollaro@falcon.cc.ukans.edu

[EDITORIAL NOTE:  This dissertation will not be followed through to
completion.  The listing will be superseded by another, different 
one in a future issue of MTO.  Lee A. Rothfarb, General Editor, MTO]

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Mak, Su Yin. "Structure, Design, and Rhetoric: Variation Procedures in Selected Instrumental and Vocal Works by Franz Schubert"

AUTHOR:  Mak, Su Yin                            
TITLE:   Structure, Design, and Rhetoric:  Variation Procedures in
         Selected Instrumental and Vocal Works by Franz Schubert
INSTITUTION:  Departments of Musicology and Music Theory
              Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester
              26 Gibbs Street
              Rochester, NY  14607
              USA
BEGUN:  July, 1996   
COMPLETION:  December, 1997
ABSTRACT:  Schubert's compositions often contain formal and
harmonic anomalies that, by virtue of their salience, draw
attention to their expressive character; they thus demand
interpretation on both technical and rhetorical levels.  My
dissertation will explore some of Schubert's expressive strategies
by focusing on the functions of variation procedures in his music. 
In the analytical portions of the dissertation, I adopt a modified
Schenkerian approach to illustrate Schubert's uses of repetition
and elaboration, rhetorical strategies typically associated with
variation, at different structural levels.  At the same time, I
offer interpretations of their expressive potential by considering
the various types of repeated elements as rhetorical topics.  I
suggest, further, that the rhetorical significance of repetition
and variation in a number of Schubert's instrumental movements can
be fruitfully examined through comparison with songs that use
similar techniques.

KEYWORDS:  Schubert, variation, structure and design, Schenkerian
analysis, motivic analysis, rhetoric

TOC:  

1.  Introduction and Survey of Analytical Literature on Schubert's
Instrumental Music

2.  Models of Variation Procedures

     a.  Survey of existing scholarship on repetition and variation
     b.  Types of repetition
     c.  Identity and difference: variation as altered repetition
     d.  Strophic variation:  repetition as formal determinant
     e.  Continuous variation:  repetition as structural    
     determinant
     f.  Motivic parallelism as variation : the influence of design
     on structure


3.  A Rhetorical Approach to Schubert's Variation Procedures
     
     a:  Repetition as rhetorical strategy
     b:  Style topics:  Schubert's ties to the Classical tradition
     c:  Harmonic and motivic topics:  Schubert's innovations
     d.  Schubert the reader:  Vocal models for Schubert's  
     variation rhetoric
     

4.  Strophic Variation

"Die Forelle", D.550 (Schubart)
String Quintet in A Major, D. 667, IV 

"Der Tod und das Mdchen", D. 531 (Claudius)
String Quartet in D Minor, D. 810, II

5.  Continuous Variation: The Lament Bass topic

"Die Liebe hat gelogen", D. 751 (von Platen)

String Quartet in G major, D.887
Quartettsatz in C minor, D. 703


6.  Motivic Parellelism

"Der Wanderer", D.489 (Schmidt)
Fantasy in C major, "Wandererfantasie", D.760


7. Conclusion:  Schubert as Orator  

CONTACT:  40 South Goodman Street, #6
          Rochester, NY  14607
          USA
          Tel:  (716) 244-3987;  Fax: (716) 244-3987

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Mengozzi, Stefano. "Between Humanistic Ideals and Scientific Thought in Glareanus's Dodecachordon"

AUTHOR: Mengozzi, Stefano

TITLE: Between Humanistic Ideals and Scientific Thought 
       in Glareanus's Dodecachordon

INSTITUTION: University of Chicago

BEGUN: September, 1994

COMPLETED: March 1997

ABSTRACT:
In this study, I identify two main components of Glareanus's
thought. The first one is his concern that modal theory be
coherent and exhaustive.  Using arguments of a rational-deductive
kind, Glareanus presents his theory as an organic system, in 
which modes occupy a specific position within the whole, and 
can be compared to each other.  The second component of Glareanus's
theory is a marked empirical attitude: in careful testing his new 
theory against present and past musical repertories, he examines in 
detail a large number of compositions, thus illustrating both
the strength of his system, and the aesthetic value of the musical
work. I argue that Glareanus's critique of his present time and of
the immediate past, his calculated use of rhetorical means of
persuasion, and his philological and interpretive approach to
musical texts bespeak the humanistic orientations of this author;
on the other hand, I suggest that Glareanus's combination of
deductive reasoning with inductive verification, as well as his
search for a systematic and organic theory, recall contemporary
developments in the sciences (Copernicus).  The dissertation
also explores the ways in which the problem of mode, and Glareanus's
system in particular, has been discussed in the scholarly literature
of recent years. 

KEYWORDS:
Glareanus, modes and keys, humanism and music, music criticism, 
ekphrasis.

TOC:
I.   Introduction. Glareanus as a Humanist
II.  Glareanus and the Modal Tradition
III. The Practice of the Modes in the Renaissance
IV.  Glareanus's Path to Music Criticism
V.   Between Modes and Keys: a Big Wall or a Thin Line?
VI.  The Reception of Glareanus in Italy, between Zarlino and Zacconi. 

CONTACT:
Stefano Mengozzi
1358 E. Madison Park Ave., #3B
Chicago, IL 60615-2917 U.S.A.
tel: (773) 548-6385
fax: (773) 753-0558, c/o UC Music Dept.
e-mail: men8@midway.uchicago.edu

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Morse, Michael William. "The Tune in Jazz as a Social Process --Prolegomena to a Sociology of Music"

AUTHOR:  Morse, Michael William
TITLE:  "The Tune in Jazz as a Social Process --Prolegomena to a Sociology of Music"
INSTITUTION:  York University, 4700 Keele St., North York, Ontario, Canada
BEGUN:  IV/91
COMPLETION:  IV/96
ABSTRACT:
If a there is a distinctive discipline of the sociology of
music, then its focus and work proceed from conceptions of the
relation between music and society. Existing approaches to this
problem, however heterogeneous, have contended with the
presupposition that music and society are distinct objects and
opposed concepts--an assumption that makes the issues permanently
incoherent. To see music and society in a truly conjunct light is
to see the temporal procedures of music as particular instances
of broader social process.

Historically, sociology has struggled with the relevance of
its broad categorical abstractions to the details of experience.
Thus the problem of the work is the Kantian question "How is
consistent musical particularity possible?" Concrete musical
experience cannot consist solely or primarily in isolated objects
(called "compositions") and performances, but in semantic forms
of life called musicalities. Musicalities represent socially
specific developments of the universal fact of rhythm. Through
detailed discussion of certain key ideas of Max Weber, Wilhelm
Furtw=84ngler, Ferdinand de Saussure, Immanuel Kant, and Talcott
Parsons, the social commonality of rhythm is manifest. Attention
to the history of this concept, together with the exemplary case
of the musicality called improvised jazz, shows the integrality
of music with social life altogether.

KEYWORDS:  social theory, jazz studies, rhythm, time, meaning, logic
TOC: 
Part One: On the Relations of Music and Society
Chapter One: Conceptions
     A. The Problem
     B. Conversations
     C. Cultural Difference and Rhythmic Space
Part Two: Rhythm as a Basis of Social Action
Chapter Two: Experience and Meaning
     A. Saussure's Conception of History                                 
 
     B. Kant's Conception of Form and Possibility                        

Chapter Three: Social Theory                                             

Chapter Four: The Nature of Rhythm
     A. Pulse, Beat, Meter                                               

     B. Rhythm as the Shape of Experience                                

Part Three: The Tune in Jazz as a Social Process
Chapter Five: SONG, the Organization of Musical Experience

CONTACT:  Dr. Michael Morse, 76 Ellerbeck Street, Toronto,
	  Ontario, M4K 2V1
          telephone: 416-465-2197  e-mail: MMORSE@YorkU.CA

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Wilkinson, Carlton J. "Symphony in Five Movements: A Presentation and Analytical Discussion of a New Work in a Symphonic Form"

AUTHOR:  Wilkinson, Carlton J.
TITLE: "Symphony in Five Movements: A Presentation and Analytical
        Discussion of a New Work in a Symphonic Form"
INSTITUTION: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Graduate Music,
        Chapel Drive, Douglass Campus, New Brunswick, N.J. 08903
BEGUN:  December 1993
COMPLETION:  January 1995

ABSTRACT:  By way of the presentation of a new musical score titled
Symphony in Five Movements, problems related to the transference of
traditional forms into a modern-day idiom are analyzed. The use of such
forms by living composers is argued to be anachronistic in the face of
fundamental changes which have occurred in music over the last century.
Some alternative approaches to large-scale form, drawn directly from
works of twentieth century masters, are presented. An overview of the
Symphony in Five Movements is presented and aspects of its particular
forms are discussed. The movements follow both ancient and contemporary
models, including forms generated from a Cantor set as described by
Benoit B. Mandlebrot. The score consists of an introductory Adagio
movement, an Allegro whose form is derived from a historical model; two
movements loosely based on the minuet and scherzo; and a Presto in a
quasi-rondo form. The musical style is influenced in part by the works
of Wuorinen, Moevs, Carter and Boulez. The essay describes: (in Chapter
I) applying traditional forms to modern-day idioms; (II) the overall
form of the Symphony in Five Movements; (III) the special problems
encountered in the use of the Cantor set in movements I and V; and (IV),
some thoughts on the future of the symphony as an art form.

KEYWORDS:  Symphony, Form, Fractals, Cantor set, Mandlebrot, Wuorinen,
           Moevs, Sonata
TOC:
Volume I:
Abstract	       ii
Acknowledgments        iv
Table of Contents       v
Incipit                vi
I. The Difficult Issue of the Symphony as a Dead Form    1
II. The Overall Plan of the Symphony if Five Movements  32
III. The Special Problem of the Cantor Set              48
IV. Concluding Remarks                                  64
Appendices                  68
End Notes                   73
Bibliography                77
Vita                        80

VOLUME II:
Preface to the score      ii
Orchestration            iii
Adagio                   1
Allegro                  13
Adagio                   37
Calm, still/Animato      57
Presto                   75

CONTACT:  20 Roebling Avenue, Trenton, N.J. 08611
	  Voice: (609) 989-1232
          DQCW01A@prodigy.com

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Ralph Steffen
Editorial Assistant
11/5/96