Reconceiving Structure in Contemporary Music: New Tools in Music Theory and Analysis. By Judy Lochhead

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 334-339
Author(s):  
Yayoi U Everett
Keyword(s):  
Music Theory ◽  
Contemporary Music ◽  
Music Theory And Analysis

Hollywood Harmony

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Lehman
Keyword(s):  
Music Theory ◽  
Contemporary Music ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Film Music ◽  
Theoretical Description ◽  
Musical Structure ◽  
New Hollywood ◽  
Music Theory And Analysis ◽  
Psychological Models ◽  
First Time

Film music represents one of the few remaining underexplored frontiers for the field of music theory. Discovering its inner workings from a theoretical perspective is imperative if we wish to understand its tremendous effects on the ears (and eyes) of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Hollywood Harmony applies for the first time the tools of contemporary music theory and analysis to this corpus in a thorough and systematic way. In order to help readers appreciate how film music works, this study enlists a number critical apparatuses, ranging from abstract theoretical description to psychological models and sensitive close reading. It argues that matters of musical structure in film are matters of musical meaning, and pitch relations are inherently expressive, always somehow collaborating with visuals and narrative. One harmonic idiom, pantriadic chromaticism, plays an especially important role in the “Hollywood Sound,” and much of this study is dedicated to understanding its aesthetic and expressive content—of which the elicitation of a feeling of wonder is paramount. For better understanding of this tonal practice on a rigorous level, the transformational tools of neo-Riemannian theory are introduced and applied in an accessible and novel way. Neo-Riemannian theory emphasizes musical change and gesture over fixed objects or structures, and by recognizing the innate spatiality of musical experience in extended-tonal settings, it serves as an excellent lens through which to inspect film music. The works of a diverse assortment of composers are examined, with particular attention given to recent “New Hollywood” scoring practices.

Politics, Feminism, and Contemporary Music Theory

1991 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pieter C. van den Toorn
Keyword(s):  
Music Theory ◽  
Contemporary Music

The Oxford Handbook of Critical Concepts in Music Theory

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Music Theory ◽  
Contemporary Music ◽  
Panoramic View ◽  
Teaching And Research ◽  
New Concepts ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
English Speaking World ◽  
Technical Terms ◽  
Guiding Questions

Music Theory operates with a host of technical terms for concepts that appear straightforward but that conceal layers of complexity. This collection uncovers some of the richness and intricacy of these terms. Using a range of methods, from philosophical and historical contextualizations to cognitive and systematic approaches, and across a range of repertories, these essays aim to convey a fuller understanding of the terms music theorists employ every day in teaching and research. In so doing, the collection provides a panoramic view of the contemporary music-theoretical landscape, offering new perspectives on established concepts, seeking to expanding their purview to new repertories, and adding new concepts to the theorist’s toolkit. Taken as a whole, the concepts collected in this volume spotlight some of the guiding questions of music theory as it is currently practiced in the English-speaking world; they seek to broaden its foundational conversations to underline the ways in which music theory itself is evolving.

Music Theory and Mainstream Digital Journalism

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alyssa Barna
Keyword(s):  
Music Theory ◽  
Popular Press ◽  
Music Theory And Analysis ◽  
Digital Journalism

The tools of music theory and analysis have appeared in articles published in popular press venues for the last decade. Many of these articles, however, are written by non-experts and often stir controversy among academic writers due to assumptions or inaccuracies. Instead of passively arguing about this form of public music theory, this chapter encourages academic theorists to write stories for digital journalism outlets by explaining the role and context of this type of journalism, then outlining the process of pitching, writing, and editing a story. This chapter closes with a discussion of the specific responsibilities of music theorists who write for these venues, and the role of the academic in digital journalism.

Ende der Neuen Musik

2021 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-213
Author(s):  
Christoph Von Blumröder
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Music Theory ◽  
Contemporary Music ◽  
Current Theory ◽  
Musical Composition ◽  
The Political ◽  
German Language ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Late 20Th Century ◽  
A Current

The term "Neue Musik" was coined for a special concept of fundamental musical innovation within Austro-German music theory of the early 20th century, and it found no terminological equivalent beyond the German language. Established by Paul Bekker with his lecture “Neue Musik” in 1919, composers such as Stockhausen or Ligeti embraced the term with its emphatic claim to innovation and new departures. However, one hundred years on the term "Neue Musik" is often used mainly as a synonym for any type of contemporary music. This article questions whether the term "Neue Musik" is still an appropriate framework for a current theory of musical composition. Not only have the specific musical circumstances changed within the course of the 20th century, but also the political and social conditions have altered drastically after two world wars which had given special impulses to those composers who strove for a new foundation of music after 1918 and 1945 respectively. This article argues that the age of "Neue Musik" has come to an end in the late 20th century, and thus it is now necessary to introduce alternative terminological concepts and methodical directions for music historiography.

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