[Smt-talk] Motivic Analysis and Narrative

[Neil Newton]

Dear all,

I have had a lot of people asking me for a summary of what people sent
me. So, I am guessing that there are a more out there who are
interested but haven't emailed me. I was also sent two longer
bibliographies by Nick Reyland and Gregory Karl, who have both
published articles of musical narrative. I haven't included the
material from the longer bibliographies and am limiting this to
articles that were specifically mentioned.

A lot of people suggested Byron Almen's book. However, with the warning
that it is too advanced for undergraduates and will therefore need to be watered
down, and also that it was very specific and would need other things
added for a broader picture.

The Patrick McCreless article: ‘Roland Barthes’s S/Z from a Musical
Point of View’, In Theory Only
10/7 (1988), pp. 1-29. came up a lot too, and also: Cone, Edward T.
“Schubert’s Promissory Note: An Exercise in Musical Hermeneutics.”
19th-Centur Music 5 (1982): 233-41.

For motivic stuff Philip Duker suggested Charles Rosen's book Musical Frontiers.

Nick Reyland singled out a Susan McClary, 'The Impromtu that Trod on a
Loaf: or how Music Tells Storys', Narrative, Vol. 5, No. 1, 1997
and also the titles mentioned above.

Gregory Karl wrote this:

Jenefer Robinson edited a book called Music and Meaning which contains
important essays by Leo Treitler (in part an answer to Carolyn
Abbate's "What the Sorcerer Said"), Anthony Newcomb, Fred Maus,
Charles Fisk and others that fall in the purview of what is generally
called musical narrative.

Abbate, Carolyn. “What the Sorcerer Said.” 19th-Century Music 12 (1989): 221-30.

Nancy Garniez mentioned 'The Sense of Music' by Viktor Zuckerkandl as
being a good text for undergrads

These also featured in a few posts:

Guck, Marion, ‘Analysis as Interpretation: Interaction,
Intentionality, Invention’, Music
Theory Spectrum 28/2 (2006), pp. 191-209.
Hatten, Robert, ‘On Narrativity in Music: Expressive Genres and Levels
of Discourse in
Beethoven’, Indiana Theory Review 12 (1991), pp. 75-98.
– Musical Meaning in Beethoven: Markedness, Correlation, and I nterpretation
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994).
Klein, Michael, ‘Chopin’s Fourth Ballade as Musical Narrative’, Music
Theory Spectrum 26/
1 (2004), pp. 23-55.

Maus, Fred Everett. “Agency in Instrumental Music and Song.” In
“Edward T. Cone’s The Composer’s Voice: Elaborations and Departures,”
College Music Symposium 29 (1989): 1-80.

________. “Music as Drama.” Music Theory Spectrum 10 (1988): 56-73.

________. “Music as Narrative.” Indiana Theory Review 12 (1991): 1-34.

Nattiez, Jean-Jacques. Music and Discourse. Translated by Carolyn
Abbate. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1990.

________. “Can One Speak of Narrativity in Music?” Journal of the
Royal Music Association. (1990): 240-57.

Newcomb, Anthony. “Once More ‘Between Absolute and Program Music’:
Schumann’s Second Symphony.” 19th-Century Music 7 (1984): 233-50.

________. “Schumann and Late Eighteenth-Century Narrative Strategies.”
19th-Century Music 11 (1987): 164-174.

Hope all this is of some help!
Best,
Neil

On 14 October 2010 20:01, Neil Newton <nnew005 at aucklanduni.ac.nz> wrote:
> Dear All,
>
> I am teaching a first year course next semester for the first time
> titled 'Tonality: Motive and Meaning'. It focuses predominantly on
> motivic and narrative analysis. Can anyone recommend a good book, or
> books, that would be appropriate for a first year course?
>
> Many thanks,
> Neil Newton
> University of Manchester
>
>