Analytic approaches to twentieth-century music / Joel Lester.
| Author/creator | Lester, Joel |
| Format | Book |
| Edition | First edition. |
| Publication Info | New York : W.W. Norton & Company, ©1989. |
| Description | x, 303 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | Unit one: Tonality and twentieth-century music. The legacy of tonality -- Pitch in tonal and nontonal music. Functional harmony as directed motion ; The dissolution of functional tonality ; Motives and sets in tonal and nontonal music ; Pitch names in tonal and nontonal music -- Rhythm and meter. Meter in tonal music ; Meter in twentieth-century music ; Rhythmic motives -- Texture and timbre. Texture, phrasing, and form ; New types of textures ; Timbre ; Placement of timbral changes -- Form. Forms based on tonal models ; New formal possibilities -- Unit two: Pitch structures. Pitches, intervals, melody. Pitches and pitch-classes ; Intervals ; Interval-class ; Model analysis: melody -- Pitch-class sets. A single name for each pitch-class set: lowest ordering ; Locating pitch-class sets -- Interval content. Compositional and expressive effects of pitch-class sets -- Using different pitch-class sets. Relations among pitch-class sets ; Unity and variety using transpositions of a set ; Relationships among inversions of a set ; Unity and variety using different sets ; Some other relationships in pieces and sets -- Pitch-class regions, scales, modes. The diatonic scale ; The whole-tone scale ; The octatonic scale ; Other pitch-class regions -- Unit three: Serial music. Twelve-tone series. Locating the twelve-tone series in a piece -- Common elements. Hearing twelve-tone series ; Common intervals and subsets ; Uncovering common elements -- Hexachordal combinatoriality. Combinatoriality in the works of Schoenberg ; Hexachordal compositions -- Derived series. Derived series and Webern's music ; Multiple derived series in a single composition -- Multiple orderings of twelve-tone series. In Schoenberg's music ; In Berg's music ; Stravinsky's twelve-tone music -- Other aspects of serialism. Series with fewer than twelve pitch-classes ; Serialization of rhythm ; Serialization of other aspects -- Unit four: Since World War II. More recent developments. A century of change ; Serial music ; Freer pitch structures ; Timbre ; Improvisatory and aleatoric music ; Simplification of the musical language: tonality, minimalism ; A codetta -- Appendix: Combinatorial hexachords -- Glossary of foreign terms. |
| Abstract | Designed to introduce the reader to a variety of analytical techniques applicable to music of our century, this valuable new book is written in a straightforward, clear style and includes abundant music examples, practical exercises, and reinforcing overviews. Refreshingly free of jargon and the abstruse mathematical equations that characterize so many works of a speculative nature, this insightful study utilizes masterworks of twentieth-century music as the bases for discussion and analysis. The book is organized into four units. The first focuses on aspects of musical structure other than pitch, such as rhythm, texture, timbre, form, and the relationship of tonal music to the musics of our time. Units 2 and 3 deal with pitch structure: Unit 2 with pitch-class sets and Unit 3 with serial music. Unit 4 contains a survey of music of the most recent generation. The author admits freely that the perception of a work of art is a personal matter. In this book, he does not pretend to teach "the" way to listen to or to analyze contemporary music. Rather, he seeks to lead the reader to more informed listening through an understanding of how musical materials are used to achieve both sonic and expressive effects. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographies and index. |
| LCCN | 88028878 |
| ISBN | 0393957624 |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music | Music Reserve | MT6.L365 A5 1989 | ✔ Available | Want This? |
| Music | Course Reference | MT6.L365 A5 1989 | ✔ Available |