Dogantan, Minee. Mathis Lussy's Theory of Rhythm as a Basis for a Theory of Expressive Performance
AUTHOR: Dogantan, Mine
TITLE: Mathis Lussy's Theory of Rhythm as a Basis for a Theory of Expressive Performance
INSTITUTION: Columbia University, New York
BEGUN: September, 1995
COMPLETED: May, 1997
ABSTRACT:
The purpose of this dissertation is to reconstruct and interpret Mthis
Lussy's theory of rhythm and expressive performance. During the 18th
and early 19th centuries, the theory of rhythm was part of the theory
of composition, and the musical phrase was studied in its capacity to
create large-scale forms. The second part of the 19th century
witnessed a shift of focus towards a systematic investigation into the
internal organization of the individual phrase in connection with
performance practice. Because of the convergence of the theories of
rhythm and performance methodology, the generating causes of
expression in performance were thus sought in the structure of the
musical phrase rather than in the inspired soul of the performing
artist. In his Traite de l'expression musicale of 1874, Swiss
theorist Mathis Lussy offered the first theory of rhythm as a
foundation for a theory of expressive performance. His theory, along
with the works of Spencer and Hanslick, has been cited as one of the
most important contributions to 19th-century music psychology and
psychological aesthetics. Lussy's thesis that the source of
expression lies in unexpected metric, rhythmic, and tonal events has
decidedly modern overtones. His argument that the structural features
that generate musical expression are also responsible for the
listener's affective response to music constitutes the first attempt
to bring together music theory and affective psychology. Lussy's
theory of rhythm, which is built on the principle of action-repose,
has directly influenced the theories of Jaques-Dalcroze and the
scholars of Solemnes. In this dissertation, the ideas of predecessors
eho prepared the grounds for Lussy's theories are traced, and
connections with recent theories of rhythm and of the psychology of
expressive performance are considered.
KEYWORDS:
rhythm, expressive performance, timing, tonal attractions,
kinesthesis, models of musical rhythm, intelligibility in music,
passions.
TOC:
Chapter 1:Historical Background For Lussy'S Theory Of Musical Expression
Chapter 2: Foundations Of Lussy'S Theory Of Rhythm And Expression
Chapter 3: Lussy's Theory Of Rhythm And Meter As A Foundation For Performance
CONTACT:
Bagdat Cad. 384/3
Suadiye, Istanbul
81070, TURKEY
Yeditepe University
School of Arts and Sciences
Istanbul
Phone: (216) 355-2702
Fax: (216) 368-5035
email: drdogantanm@superonline.com
dogantan@yeditepe.edu.tr
AUTHOR: Fiore Carlo
TITLE: I mottetti di Josquin Desprez: interpretazione attraverso l'analisi
INSTITUTION: University of Bologna, Dipartimento di Musica e Spettacolo
BEGUN: February 1996
COMPLETED: April 1998
ABSTRACT:
Alle origini di questa tesi stanno due finalita convergenti dettate
da altrettante lacune della letteratura musicologica corrente:
contribuire alla fondazione di una metodologia analitica specifica per
il repertorio polifonico rinascimentale, dedicare ai mottetti di
Josquin Desprez un'indagine che ne interpreti le valenze espressive in
una prospettiva storica corretta. L'intreccio tra il "discorso sul
metodo" e la resa percettiva della poesia compositiva di Josquin e
programmaticamente costante. Si inquadra la figura di Josquin come
responsabile di un salto stilistico decisivo nella storia dell'arte
musicale: la sua produzione appare cosi paradigmatica del mondo
espressivo che si vuol provare a esplicare. I mezzi ritenuti piu
pertinenti per questo tipo di analisi sono difficilmente riconducibili
a una tradizione applicativa consolidata, si possono infatti
identificare in una "metateoria" che utilizza senza preconcetti quanto
di piu funzionale ci sia nei diversi procedimenti, valutando di
volta in volta il piu utile per un aspetto o per un altro
dell'opera in questione. In particolare si fa massiccio riferimento
all'analisi stilistica dell'impianto testurale, a quella dei rapporti
testo-musica e a quella basata sul rinvenimento di una matrice
retorica sia a livello formale che motivico, il tutto corredato da
numerosissimi esempi per l'immediata verifica auditiva. Anche tramite
una schematica analisi del De profundis, si esemplifica come
l'applicazione a un singolo brano dei principi esposti ne veicoli una
segmentazione coerente e una visione pregnante del contenuto
espressivo, senza pero far si che la sintassi specifica del
brano venga globalizzata da aspettative e procedimenti che si
dimostrerebbero blindati alla sempre sorprendente ricchezza e
singolarita dello stile di Josquin. Nell'insieme la scarsissima
presenza in sede esecutiva del repertorio trattato, viene avvertita
come ancor piu esecrabile della trascuratezza in sede
scientifica. L'interpretazione allora, cui fa da tramite questa
analisi, acquista il carattere interdisciplinare di esegesi, giudizio
estetico e veicolo per la prassi esecutiva.
KEYWORDS:
Josquin Desprez, Motets, Analysis, Rethoric, Performance practice
TOC:
Introduzione
Prima parte:
1.1 - I mottetti di Josquin Desprez: osservazioni preliminari
1.2 - Caratteristiche formali
Seconda parte:
2.1 - Rapporti tra musica e testo
2.2 - Analisi testurale
2.3 - Presenza e ruolo di un ordine retorico
2.4 - Individuazione e resa interpretativa degli intenti retorici
Terza parte:
3.1 - Analisi del De profundis: un esempio applicativo del metodo proposto
Conclusioni
Bibliogafia
Discografia selezionata
CONTACT:
Carlo Fiore
Corso Strada Nuova 134
27100 Pavia
tel: (+39)0382 34555
carlofiore@hotmail.com
AUTHOR: Hansen, Thomas Holme
TITLE: From Mode to Key. An Investigation of European Modal/Tonal
Theories in the Seventeenth Century [in Danish]
INSTITUTION: University of Aarhus (Denmark)
BEGUN:
COMPLETED: June 1996 (printed version (in Danish) June 1998)
ABSTRACT:
The subject of the dissertation is the evolution of the concept of
tonality in European music theory during the seventeenth century. It
aims to provide an overview of how the different doctrines of modality
originating in the Middle Ages and in the Renaissance (the eight
so-called church modes, the eight psalm tones, the twelve modes) on
the one hand survive and develop in various versions, and on the other
are supplemented and replaced by other tonal doctrines eventuating in
the major-minor system during the decades around 1700. The main focus
is on three themes of the modal/tonal theories of the seventeenth
century: (1) The maintenance of the twelve-mode doctrine dating back
to H. Glarean and G. Zarlino, including various attempts at reducing
or increasing the number of modes. It is concluded that the
predominant part of continental theorists maintained the fundamental
premises of the modal theory of Glarean/Zarlino. (2) The dissemination
of the set of eight organ tones originating in Catholic alternatim
practice. These modes represent a new and independent doctrine, whose
theoretical codification in especially A. Banchieri and G.G. Nivers is
discussed in detail. (3) Features of development leading toward the
modern concept of major and minor keys. Although the theoretical
premises of the modern system of keys were already present at the
outset of the seventeenth century a number of remarkable discrepancies
are pointing to a very diverse degree of key-like consolidation among
the writers in the different countries.
KEYWORDS:
tonality, modality, history of theory, modes, organ tones, major/minor
keys, Zarlino, Banchieri, Renaissance, Baroque
TOC:
1. Introduction
2. Tonal System System of Modes/Keys Tonality
3. Monophonic Modal Theory
4. Polyphonic Modal Theory
5. The Modal Theory
6. The Organ Tones
7. The Major and Minor Keys
Conclusion; Catalogue of Seventeenth-Century Theoretical Sources
(1571-1722); Bibliography; Appendices; Musical Supplements
CONTACT:
Thomas Holme Hansen
Department of Musicology
University of Aarhus
Langelandsgade 139
DK-8000 Aarhus C
Denmark
phone: +45 8942 5154;
fax: +45 8942 5164; e-mail: musthh@hum.aau.dk
AUTHOR: Paley, Elizabeth S.
TITLE: Narratives of 'Incidental' Music in German Romantic Theater
INSTITUTION: University of Wisconsin-Madison
BEGUN: January 1995
COMPLETED: July, 1998
ABSTRACT:
Because incidental music by definition is not omnipresent within
drama (in contrast to music in opera), moments when music
intrudes into a play necessarily arouse attention. From purely
instrumental overtures and entr'actes to songs and the
accompanied declamation of melodrama, incidental music occasions
diverse interactions between dramatic and musical narratives.
When listeners combine music with verbal texts (programs, poems,
plays, a composer's verbal reference to a composition, an
analytical narrative such as "sonata form," etc.), they enable it
to be read as narrating, as foreshadowing and recalling events of
the text and providing musical commentary on it. More
importantly, the synergistic whole, the music-plus-text, often
points to compelling secret narratives hidden behind those
suggested by the text or music alone. A set of
Zwischenreden--incidental texts--published in 1821 to accompany
concert performances of Beethoven's Egmont-Musik provides the
touchstone for Chapter 1, which draws on Der rida's logic of the
supplement to argue not only that music supplements narrative,
but also that narrative supplements music. In Chapters 2-4,
theories of narrative in music, literature, and film inform
detailed analyses of Goethe's/Beethoven's Egmont,
Shakespeare's/Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and
Byron's/Schumann's Manfred. These diverse musicodramatic works
reflect a flourishing theoretical and practical interest in
incidental music in Germany during the first half of the
nineteenth century. The analyses reveal a mutual supplementarity
between music and narrative, demonstrating that incidental music
is rarely "incidental."
KEYWORDS:
incidental music, narrative, Egmont, Midsummer Night's Dream,
Sommernachtstraum, Manfred, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann
TOC:
Chapter 1. Zwischenreden for Zwischenakte: Incidental
Narratives of Incidental Music
Chapter 2. Past, Presence, and Future: Musical Narratives in Beethoven's Egmont
Chapter 3. Musical and Dramatic Framing in Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream
Chapter 4. "The Voice Which Was My Music": Nonnarrative Musical Discourse in Schumann's Manfred
CONTACT:
Elizabeth S. Paley
Department of Music and Dance
452 Murphy Hall
University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS 66045
espaley@falcon.cc.ukans.edu
(785) 864-9757
AUTHOR: Sachania, Millan
TITLE: The Arrangements of Leopold Godowsky: An Aesthetic, Historical,
and Analytical Study
INSTITUTION: University of Cambridge, England
BEGUN: October, 1994
COMPLETED: July, 1997
RILM citation: 1998-07340-dd.
BLDSC Microform reference no: BLDSC no. D197866 (British Library Document
Supply Centre, the British version of UMI (now Bell-Howell etc.)
ABSTRACT:
The aim of the thesis is to promote understanding of the published
concert arrangements of Leopold Godowsky (1870-1938). This may be
attained by elucidating them in three ways. The historical approach
sets the arrangements in the context of those by Liszt, Rachmaninov,
Busoni and others. The analytical considers technical matters to do
with harmony and counterpoint, rhythm, structure, and key. But the
latter mode of inquiry is unable to rise to the challenges posed by
the wider concept of arrangements ; for this reason, the Introduction
debates aesthetic matters, and in the process attempts to explicate
Godowsky's syncretic commitment to an unfashionable cause.
The broader musical argument is waged not chronologically but in terms of the various post-opera-fantasy 'genres' of arrangement that Godowsky explored. Each Part, though, compares and contrasts Godowsky's earlier and later forays into the various 'genres'. Part One examines the Chopin arrangements. The musical inquiry is here supplemented by accounts of the historical context, genesis, chronology, and critical reception of the fifty-three studies on Chopin's Etudes (1894-1914). Part Two deals with the two collections of Baroque arrangements. The musical inquiry has a dual mission : to indicate the paraphrase qualities of the earlier collection, Renaissance (1906 and 1909), and to judge the extent to which the later 'elaborations' of Bach's solo violin and cello suites (1924) 'realise' and recompose the originals. Part Three scrutinises the 'symphonic metamorphoses' on Johann Strauss (c. 1905-7 and 1928), the twelve Schubert song arrangements (1926), and the reworkings of Weber, Albeniz, and others.
The Conclusion remarks on the fate of the 'genres' with which Godowsky engaged and briefly charts the trajectory of the arrangement after Godowsky. In highlighting the rigidity of Godowsky's idiom, and in evaluating the merit of the particular arrangements, it isolates various components of Godowsky's musical enginery : for instance, 'discretion' and naivete. One trend in Godowsky's output, though, is discernible. The earlier arrangements are generally more radical; for they thoroughly rework the details of the original texts. By contrast, the later ones tend to perform only cosmetic surgery on the originals. anding
KEYWORDS:
Aesthetics, Analysis, Arrangements, Transcriptions, 19th-century
music, 20th-century music
TOC:
Acknowledgments
Notes on the Text
Abbreviations
Preface
Introduction
Part One: The Chopin Arrangements
Part Two: The Baroque Arrangements
Part Three: Strauss, Schubert, And Others
Part Four: Conclusion
Appendix 1. Godowsky: Obituary Notice
Appendix 2. A Catalogue of Godowsky's Arrangements
Bibliography
CONTACT:
6 West Way
Shepperton
Middlesex
TW17 8HG
United Kingdom
Tel: + 44 (0)1932 222240
Email: M.Sachania@btinternet.com
AUTHOR: Saunders, Michael, D.
TITLE: A Computer-based Notation for the Process of Musical Composition
INSTITUTION: University of Wales, Cardiff
BEGUN: September 1995
COMPLETED: September 1998
ABSTRACT:
This dissertation describes a system for computer composition called
"Rusty", with particular emphasis on its representation of musical
objects. Rather than taking an abstract approach, Rusty models the
process of composition as it is practiced by human beings. Its design
is general and powerful enough so that any musical process may be
represented and enacted by it. Despite its scope, its use of familiar
musical concepts and a sophisticated graphic interface make it easy to
use. With Rusty, a composer may automate all or part of his
compositional method. The system is equally useful to analysts and
musicologists and is readily extendible to the tasks of machine
performance and sound synthesis.
Two features enable Rusty to achieve this breadth and utility. One is a means for the representation of all the musical concepts (of every level of abstraction) which musicians use when speaking of music. The computerization of the technical language of musicians doesn't merely make the system user-friendly, it incorporates into Rusty the vast store of practical understanding which musicians have accumulated over the centuries. The most interesting feature of Rusty is that it treats these (perhaps quite high-level) computerizations of musical objects as signals. This gives the user a natural, intuitive and highly powerful means for the expression of processes. Its forms for representing any musical concept in a tradition-neutral way, and for representing even vague or conflicting concepts precisely are expected to be especially valuable to theorists and musicologists.
KEYWORDS:
fuzzy logic, object-oriented, music representation,
ethnomusicology, computer language
TOC:
1. Introduction
2. System Overview
3. Implementation and Evaluation
4. Aesthetics
5. The Underlying Forms of Musical Concepts: Part 1---Physical Eidola
Michael Saunders
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Wales, Cardiff
P.O. Box 913
Cardiff
CF2 3YB
UK
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