The Piece as a Whole: Studies in Holistic Musical Analysis (Contributions to the Study of Music and Dance , No 45)

Designed to serve music students at the college level, this informal approach to music theory relates the technical aspects of music with the expressive character of the art. The approach is holistic in the sense that it focuses on the interrelationships between the piece as heard by a socially conditioned listener and the notated, performed score: it aims to bridge the gap between the technical and expressive aspects of music. The composers addressed are: Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Brahms, Wagner, Debussy, and Schoenberg. There are separate chapters on the problems of meaning in music and on the interdependence of aesthetic and ethical value-judgments. This novel and exciting approach to music theory will be a welcome addition to the musical analysis literature. Contents......Page 6 Preface......Page 8 Introduction......Page 10 1 Chopin: Prelude No. 7 in A Major......Page 14 2 The Split Fifth: A Cautionary Tale......Page 24 3 Chopin: Prelude No. 4 in E Minor......Page 26 4 Meaning in Music......Page 38 5 Some Mozart Excerpts......Page 44 6 Beethoven: Fifth Symphony......Page 54 7 Three Beethoven Excerpts......Page 72 8 Aesthics: Aesthetics Meets Ethics......Page 82 9 Two Schumann Songs and a Bit of Brahms......Page 86 10 J. S. Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I......Page 96 11 Wagner: Prelude to Tristan and Isolde......Page 108 12 Debussy: Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun......Page 114 13 The Analysis of Twentieth-Century Music......Page 122 Suggestions for Further Reading......Page 132 E......Page 134 S......Page 135 W......Page 136