Written by a pupil of Heinrich Schenker, this outstanding work develops and extends Schenker's approach. More than 500 examples of music from the Middle Ages to the 20th century complement the detailed discussions and analyses.

Introduction -- Expression. The two curious moments in Chopin's E-flat major prelude / Charles Burkhart ; Circular motion in Chopin's late B-major nocturne (op. 62, no. 1) / William Rothstein ; Of species counterpoint, gondola songs, and sordid boons / Poundie Burstein -- Theory. The spirit and technique of Schenker pedagogy / David Gagné and Allen Cadwallader ; Prolongational and hierarchical structures in 18th-century theory / Joel Lester ; Thoughts on Schenker's treatment of diminution and repetition in part III of Free composition, and its implications for analysis / Wayne Petty ; Looking at the Urlinie / Hedi Siegel -- Style. Rhythmic displacement in the music of Bill Evans / Steven Larson ; Levels of voice leading in the music of Louis Couperin / Drora Pershing ; The analysis of east Asian music / David Loeb ; Baroque styles and the analysis of baroque music / Channan Willner -- Words and music. Schumann's Das ist ein Flöten und Geigen : conflicts between local and global perspectives / Lauri Suurpaa ; Reinterpreting the past : Brahms's link to Bach in the setting of Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin, from the motet op. 74, no. 1 / Robert Cuckson ; Hinauf strebt's : song study with Carl Schachter / Timothy Jackson ; Intimate immensity in Schubert's The shepherd on the rock / Frank Samarotto -- Form. Tonal conflicts in Haydn's development sections : the role of C major in symphonies nos. 93 and 102 / Mark Anson-Cartwright ; Aspects of structure in Bach's F-minor fugue, WTC II / William Renwick ; The andante from Mozart's symphony no. 40, K. 5

Steve Larson drew on his 20 years of research in music theory, cognitive linguistics, experimental psychology, and artificial intelligence—as well as his skill as a jazz pianist—to show how the experience of physical motion can shape one's musical experience. Clarifying the roles of analogy, metaphor, grouping, pattern, hierarchy, and emergence in the explanation of musical meaning, Larson explained how listeners hear tonal music through the analogues of physical gravity, magnetism, and inertia. His theory of melodic expectation goes beyond prior theories in predicting complete melodic patterns. Larson elegantly demonstrated how rhythm and meter arise from, and are given meaning by, these same musical forces.

"A well-written textbook by a learned musician practicing his craft. The analyses are clearly argued, and Wen projects a reassuring sense of authenticity in his approach to tonal music analysis. The book will be of interest to many musicians, especially those focused on Schenkerian theory and analysis. I believe the book will be a welcome addition to the range of teaching manuals on the subject." — Music Theory OnlineMusic theorist Eric Wen presents in-depth analyses of seven masterworks from the common-practice period of Western art music: Bach: Air from Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D, BWV 1068 Mendelssohn: Andante con moto tranquillo from Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49 Schubert: Nacht und Traüme, D. 827 Haydn: Adagio — Vivace assai from Symphony No. 94 in G, Hob. I:94 Mozart: Molto Allegro from Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550 Beethoven: Marcia funebre: Adagio assai from Symphony No. 3 in E-flat, Op. 55 Brahms: Un poco presto e con sentimento from Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108 Wen employs the analytic approach developed by Heinrich Schenker, a method that uses musical notation to clarify and illuminate a work's structural hierarchies. Copiously illustrated with analytic musical examples that elucidate the tonal organization of each of the seven works, this study also explores aspects of form, rhythmic organization, and programmatic meaning. This volume will be of particular interest to musicologists and professional musicians, and it will also appeal to listeners keen to probe the rich complexities of these masterpieces.

This book studies recent music in the western classical tradition, offering a critique of current analytical/theoretical approaches and proposing alternatives. The critique addresses the present fringe status of recent music sometimes described as crossover, postmodern, post-classical, post-minimalist, etc. and demonstrates that existing descriptive languages and analytical approaches do not provide adequate tools to address this music in positive and productive terms. Existing tools and concepts were developed primarily in the mid-20th century in tandem with the high modernist compositional aesthetic, and they have changed little since then. The aesthetics of music composition, on the other hand, have been in constant transformation. Lochhead proposes new ways to conceive musical works, their structurings of musical experience and time, and the procedures and goals of analytic close reading. These tools define investigative procedures that engage the multiple perspectives of composers, performers, and listeners, and that generate conceptual modes unique to each work. In action, they rebuild a conceptual, methodological, and experiential place for recent music. These new approaches are demonstrated in analyses of four pieces: Kaija Saariaho’s Lonh (1996), Sofia Gubaidulina’s Second String Quartet (1987), Stacy Garrop’s String Quartet no.2, Demons and Angels (2004-05), and Anna Clyne’s "Choke" (2004). This book defies the prediction of classical music’s death, and will be of interest to scholars and musicians of classical music, and those interested in music theory, musicology, and aural culture.

There have been far-reaching changes in the way music theorists and analysts view the nature of their disciplines. Encounters with structuralist and post-structuralist critical theory, and with linguistics and cognitive sciences, have brought the theory and analysis of music into the orbit of important developments in intellectual history. This book presents the work of a group of scholars who, without seeking to impose an explicit redefinition of either theory or analysis, explore the limits of both in this context. Essays on the languages of analysis and theory, and on practical issues such as decidability, ambiguity and metaphor, combine with studies of works by Debussy, Schoenberg, Birtwistle and Boulez, together making a major contribution to an important debate in the growth of musicology.

"This volume will be of particular interest to medical professionals, neuroscientists, neurologists, psychologists, educators, music therapists, musicologists, sound engineers, computer scientists. Manuscripts address how the tools of cognitive neuroscience have provided new insights into where and how rhythm is coded in the brain; production and perception abilities and the relationship between the two; the use of music as a tool for the investigation of human cognition and its underlying brain mechanisms; recent research investigating various aspects of musical memory and learning, and implications for medical rehabilitation for patients with memory disorders; advances in the fields of developmental auditory neuroscience, empirical music aesthetics, and music emotions in normal and disordered development such as autistic spectrum disorders; mutual interactions between music and language in children and adults with cochlear implants; and human communication of information, ideas, and emotional states, and the shared networks of speech and motor processing with musical processing"--NYAS Web site