Layers of Musical Meaning

"Layers of Musical Meaning" confronts the widespread conception that music like ordinary language has specific meanings. The main thesis of the book is that music is a language that lacks the referencial dimension characteristic of an ordinary vocabulary. Thus the only vehicle for musical meaning is the specific grammars that govern musical style.
In addition to tables and illustrations the documentation of the book comprises close to 400 musical examples.

CONTENIDO

Preface

1. The Theory
- Preliminaries
- The uniqueness of the individual musical composition
- Language and music
- Langue/parole
- The musical experience "in audendo"
- Anything may be perceived as anything
- The integrator
- Nature and culture
- Poiesis and aesthesis
- Representation, paraphrasing and interpretation
- Summary

2. Musical Hermeneutics
- Hermann Kretzschmar
- Arnold Schering
- Shostakovich's 10th Symphony
- Lawrence Kramer
- Eero Tarasti, A Theory of Musical Semiotics
- Summary

3. Tonality in Gregorian Chant
- The melodies in the f-a system
- The melodies in the c-e system
- The melodies in the b(b)-d system
- Systems with quintal identity
- Further development of the tonal theory
- The incidential tertian structure
- Tonality based on tertian series
- The development of tonal codes
- Summary

4. Cadential Harmony
- The tonal cadence. Digression on the dualistic theory of harmony
- Transformation of the tonal cadence
- Altered Chords
- Enharmonic change
- Sequences
- Mixture and pseudo-mixtures
- Harmony as an incidental result of voice-leading
- Notation of harmonic analysis

5. Musical Time: I. Rhythm
- Musical tempo
- Musical rhythm
- Rhythmic alienation
- Summary

6. Musical Time 2: Form
- Dance music and the theme with variations
- The simple rondo
- The Italian rondo
- The Classical rondo
- The sonata form
- The fugue
- The meaning of musical forms
- Summary

7. Stray Reflections on Melodic Codes
- The hierarchy of interval-size opposition
- The inclusion of rhythm
- The steap/leap opposition
- The up/down opposition
- The strong/weak opposition
- Summary

Literature