Pentatonicism from the eighteenth century to Debussy / Jeremy Day-O'Connell.

Author/creator Day-O'Connell, Jeremy
Format Book
Publication InfoRochester, NY : University of Rochester Press, 2007.
Descriptionxviii, 529 pages : illustrations, music ; 24 cm.
Subjects
Pentatonic scales.
Music--18th century. --History and criticism.
Music--19th century. --History and criticism.

SeriesEastman studies in music, 1092-5228
Eastman studies in music. ^A494093
Contents Part 1: Scale. The rise of 6̂ in the nineteenth century. Theory: 6̂ in the major mode ; Practice: Classical 6̂ ; Practice against theory: non-classical 6̂ ; Implications ; Conclusion: Hearing the subtonic 6̂ -- Part 2: Signification. The pastoral-exotic pentatonic. The imported strain of pentatonicism ; The domestic strain of pentatonicism (I): incipient/intuitive sources ; The domestic strain of pentatonicism (II): overt sources ; Crosscurrents: the pastoral-exotic pentatonic in practice -- The religious pentatonic. The nineteenth-century restoration of sacred music ; The pentatonicism of older sacred styles ; The theory and rhetoric of the chant revival ; Other connections ; The religious pentatonic -- Part 3: Beyond signification. The pentatonic glissando. The harp in the nineteenth century ; The pentatonic glissando -- Debussy and the pentatonic tradition. The tradition of signification ; The tradition of non-classical 6̂ ; Beyond the pentatonic tradition: Debussy and the twilight of tonality -- Afterword: Beyond Debussy -- Catalogue of pentatonic examples. Preface to the catalogue ; Chronological index of catalogue examples ; Catalogue of pentatonic examples.
Abstract This book offers the first comprehensive account of a widely recognized aspect of music history: the increasing use of pentatonic ("black-key scale") techniques in nineteenth-century Western art-music. A more extensive and complex trend than has been acknowledged, pentatonicism in nineteenth-century music encompasses hundreds of instances, many of which predate by decades the more famous examples of Debussy and Dvorak. This book weaves together historical commentary with music theory and analysis in order to explain the sources and significance of this important, but hitherto only casually understood, phenomenon. Central to the books interest and arguments are the discussions of excerpts from repertoire both familiar and forgotten. The illustrated text concludes with an appendix of over 400 examples, a resource that demonstrates the individual artistry with which virtually every major nineteenth-century composer (from Schubert, Chopin and Berlioz to Liszt, Wagner, and Mahler) handled the seemingly "simple" materials of pentatonicism.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references (pages 499-514) and index.
LCCN 2006036187
ISBN9781580462488 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN1580462480

Availability

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Music Music Stacks ML3812 .D33 2007 ✔ Available Place Hold