Dissertation Index
Author: Doerksen, John F. Title: A Theory of Set-class Salience for Post-tonal Music, with Analyses of Selected Lieder by Anton Webern Institution: University of Western Ontario Begun: March 1993 Completed: June 1994 Abstract: This dissertation treats the question of hierarchical structure in post-tonal music. Its principal invention, the salience theory, offers a systematic means of interpreting the structural weight of a musical event. The salience theory, of which Allen Forte's genera theory and a rather regimented segmentation strategy form two aspects, purports to model post-tonal compositions as series of events. Many events share structural and contextual properties, some of which I identify and specify as event-classes (ECs). Each pc set within a composition, through its association with ECs, achieves a numerical ranking that reflects its relative salience--the more times a pc set instantiates an EC, and the broader the range of ECs it instantiates, the greater its structural role is deemed to be. While the salience theory has generalizability as its ultimate goal, the purview of the present study is limited to selected atonal Lieder of Anton Webern. Keywords: Webern, post-tonal, salience, matrix, event, segmentation, Forte, genera TOC: Chapter 1. Introduction Trends in Hierarchical Analysis using Set Theory The Salience Theory: Introduction and Context Chapter 2. Exclusivity Index: The Representation of Genus Uniqueness The Exclusivity Index A Reinterpretation of Two Analyses by Forte Chapter 3. The Salience Theory: Its Derivation and Implications Salience Theory Definitions Events and Event-classes The Salience Matrix Segmentation and the Salience Theory Chapter 4. Analyses of Selected Webern Lieder Introduction "Dies ist ein Lied" (Op. 3/1) "Du, der ichs nicht sage" (Op. 8/1) "Der Tag is vergangen" (Op. 12/1) "Nachts" (Op. 14/5) "Dormi Jesu" (Op. 16/2) Chapter 5. Conclusions Macro-salience: the Five Lieder Combined Future Research Contact: Voice: (519) 888-0641 or (519) 884-1970 (ext. 2153) |