Overview

Byron Almen proposes an original synthesis of approaches to musical narrative from literary criticism, semiotics, historiography, musicology, and music theory, resulting in a significant critical reorientation of the field. This volume includes an extensive survey of traditional approaches to musical narrative illustrated by a wide variety of musical examples that highlight the range and applicability of the theoretical apparatus. Almen provides a careful delineation of the essential elements and preconditions of musical narrative organization, an eclectic analytical model applicable to a wide range of musical styles and repertoires, a classification scheme of narrative types and subtypes reflecting conceptually distinct narrative strategies, a wide array of interpretive categories, and a sensitivity to the dependence of narrative interpretation on the cultural milieu of the work, its various audiences, and the analyst. A Theory of Musical Narrative provides both an excellent introduction to an increasingly important conceptual domain and a complex reassessment of its possibilities and characteristics.

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9780253030092

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[N]atural, elegant, and convincing... a must for all music theory collections. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through researchers and faculty. --Choice</p>

Author Information

Byron Almén is Associate Professor of Music Theory at The University of Texas at Austin. He is coeditor of Approaches to Meaning in Music and coauthor of Tonal Harmony.

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