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The Art of Post-Tonal Analysis consists of analyses of thirty-three musical passages or entire short works in a variety of post-tonal styles. For each piece author Joseph N. Straus shows how it is put together and what sense might be made of it: how the music goes. Along the way, he shows the value of post-tonal theory in addressing these questions, and in revealing something of the fascination and beauty of this music. The works under study are taken
from throughout the long twentieth century, from 1909 to the present. Within the atonal wing of modern classical music, the composers discussed here, some canonical and some not, represent a diversity of
musical style, chronology, geography, gender, and race/ethnicity. Musical examples, plus a companion website full of analytical videos, carry the burden of the analytical argument, with rarely more than a few sentences of prose at a time. In writing these analyses, Straus imagined teaching these pieces to a class of undergraduate or graduate students, seated at the piano, pointing at score, listening as they go--the book is intended as a record of these (hypothetical) classes. His
approach could be loosely described as transformational, rooted in an interest in seeing how musical ideas (shapes, intervals, motives) grow, change, and effloresce. When musical ideas are obviously
dissimilar and possibly in conflict, the book teases out subtle points of connection between them. Above all, the book aims to create rich networks of relatedness, allowing our musical minds and musical ears to lead each other along some of the many enjoyable pathways through this challenging and beautiful music.
The Art of Post-Tonal Analysis consists of analyses of thirty-three musical passages or entire short works in a variety of post-tonal styles. For each piece author Joseph N. Straus shows how it is put together and what sense might be made of it: how the music goes. Along the way, he shows the value of post-tonal theory in addressing these questions, and in revealing something of the fascination and beauty of this music. The works under study are taken
from throughout the long twentieth century, from 1909 to the present. Within the atonal wing of modern classical music, the composers discussed here, some canonical and some not, represent a diversity of
musical style, chronology, geography, gender, and race/ethnicity. Musical examples, plus a companion website full of analytical videos, carry the burden of the analytical argument, with rarely more than a few sentences of prose at a time. In writing these analyses, Straus imagined teaching these pieces to a class of undergraduate or graduate students, seated at the piano, pointing at score, listening as they go--the book is intended as a record of these (hypothetical) classes. His
approach could be loosely described as transformational, rooted in an interest in seeing how musical ideas (shapes, intervals, motives) grow, change, and effloresce. When musical ideas are obviously
dissimilar and possibly in conflict, the book teases out subtle points of connection between them. Above all, the book aims to create rich networks of relatedness, allowing our musical minds and musical ears to lead each other along some of the many enjoyable pathways through this challenging and beautiful music.
Preface
Chapter 1. Arnold Schoenberg, Piano Pieces, Op. 11, No. 1
(1909)
Chapter 2. Anton Webern, Movements for String Quartet, Op. 5, No. 2
(1909)
Chapter 3. Alban Berg, Four Songs, Op. 2, No. 2, "Schlafend trägt
man mich" (1910)
Chapter 4. Igor Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring, Introduction to
Part One (1913)
Chapter 5. Igor Stravinsky, Three Pieces for String Quartet, No. 2
(1914)
Chapter 6. Arnold Schoenberg, Five Piano Pieces, Op. 23, No. 3
(1923)
Chapter 7. Béla Bartók, String Quartet No. 3, Prima parte
(1927)
Chapter 8. Aaron Copland, Piano Variations, Theme (1930)
Chapter 9. Ruth Crawford (Seeger), Diaphonic Suite No. 1, first
movement (1930)
Chapter 10. Ruth Crawford (Seeger), String Quartet, first movement
(1931)
Chapter 11. Anton Webern, Three Songs, Op. 25, No. 1, "Wie bin ich
froh!" (1934)
Chapter 12. Milton Babbitt, "The Widow's Lament in Springtime"
(1951)
Chapter 13. Luigi Dallapiccola, Goethe Lieder, No. 2, "Die Sonne
kommt!" (1953)
Chapter 14. Igor Stravinsky, Three Shakespeare Songs, No. 2, "Music
to hear" (1953)
Chapter 15. Louise Talma, Holy Sonnets, "La Corona" (1955)
Chapter 16. Hale Smith, Three Brevities for Solo Flute, No. 2
(1969)
Chapter 17. Elisabeth Lutyens, Two Bagatelles, Op. 48, No. 1
(1962)
Chapter 18. Igor Stravinsky, Fanfare for a New Theatre (1964)
Chapter 19. Igor Stravinsky, Requiem Canticles, "Exaudi" (1966)
Chapter 20. Ursula Mamlok, Panta Rhei for Piano, Violin, and Cello,
third movement (1981)
Chapter 21. Elliott Carter, Riconoscenza per Gofreddo Petrassi (for
solo violin) (1984)
Chapter 22. Tania León, Rituál (1987)
Chapter 23. Tan Dun, Intercourse of Fire and Water (for solo cello)
(1996)
Chapter 24. Shulamit Ran, Soliloquy (for Violin, Cello, and Piano)
(1997)
Chapter 25. Kaija Saariaho, Papillons (for solo cello), No. 3
(2000)
Chapter 26. Joan Tower, Vast Antique Cubes (2000)
Chapter 27. John Adams, On the Transmigration of Souls (2002)
Chapter 28. Sofia Gubaidulina, Reflections on the Theme BACH
(2002)
Chapter 29. Thomas Adès, The Tempest, Act III, Scene 5 (2003)
Chapter 30. Thomas Adès, Four Quarters (for String Quartet), "Days"
(2010)
Chapter 31. Caroline Shaw, Valencia (for String Quartet) (2012)
Chapter 32. Chen Yi, Energetic Duo (for two violins) (2015)
Chapter 33. Suzanne Farrin, "Unico spirto," from Dolce la morte
(2016)
Post-Tonal Primer
Bibliography
Index
Joseph N. Straus is Distinguished Professor at the Graduate Center,
City University of New York, where he has taught since 1985. After
receiving his Ph.D. from Yale in 1981, he taught briefly at the
University of Wisconsin and, in addition to his work at CUNY, has
since held visiting positions at the University of Chicago,
Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and NYU. During that time, he has written
numerous articles and scholarly monographs on a variety of
topics in modernist music. In recent years, he has also written a
series of articles and books that engage disability as a cultural
practice. He was President of the Society for Music Theory in the
late 1990s.
Joseph Straus, who has given us the classic text Introduction to
Post-Tonal Theory, now provides a refreshingly diverse introduction
to post-tonal repertoire. Concise multimedia analyses offer
entry-points into pieces, composers, and analytical skills. These
Graphic Music Analyses will be tremendously useful for teachers and
students alike.
*Daphne Leong, University of Colorado Boulder*
Equal parts brass tacks and fudge brownies, these analyses will
challenge and delight. The repertoire is appealingly varied, the
musical instincts spot-on, and the prose clear and compact.
*Julian Hook, Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University*
Author of Introduction to Post-Tonal Theory (2016), Joseph Straus
has gifted post-tonal pedagogues with this compendium that
complements many of the concepts and analyses in his popular
textbook. This text is unique in its assemblage of self-contained
analytical vignettes, brought to life through multimedia. This last
element-multimedia integration-makes the text particularly
appropriate for use in the classroom. Those who engage this text
without pedagogical intentions but, rather, for the pleasure of
analysis itself will find Strausâs work enriching. He has placed
great care into both selecting previously underappreciated works
that provide opportunities for compelling interpretative arguments
and reexamining familiar works through a fresh lens. There is
something for everyoneâfrom the novice post-tonal instructor to the
experienced analyst-to enjoy.
*Gerardo Lopez, Integral *
Straus is... a leading authority on disability studies, and some of
the features of the book and accompanying website seem designed to
accommodate different learning styles...He also consistently uses
analysis to support issues of interpretation, particularly of
text-setting.
*Christian Carey, Tempo*
Joseph N. Straus's most recent book is a masterclass in the
pedagogical presentation of post-tonal analysis. Straus defines his
approach within the domain of post-tonal theory, primarily focusing
on pitch, through a lens that "could be loosely described as
transformational".
*David Floyd, Notes: the Quarterly Journal of the Music Library
Association 81:1*
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