[Smt-talk] Basic Formal Structures in Music-A New Approach

[Ninov, Dimitar N]

Dear Colleagues,

I am kindly taking a moment to announce my new publication, entitled "Basic Formal Structures in Music: A New Approach." It just came out in Music Theory and Its Methods (Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 2013) which is book 7 from the series Methodology of Music Research. The whole book is written in English and is readily available on Amazon and other web sites, including the publisher's site.

My article is found on page 179, and it provides the following features/novelties:

- a brief discussion of the discrepancy in formal terminology between some European and North American sources;
- a new definition of musical phrase, which is freed from the stipulation for a mandatory harmonic cadence;
- reference to problems inherent in the Schoenberg/Caplin theory of sentence and cadence;
- introduction of new terms: specific sentence, general sentence, phrase-sentence, sentence-period, and structural group;
- clear differentiation ( I dare say: for the first time in American Theoretical Musicology) between the categories of "compound period" and "genuine double period" with concrete examples of the latter unique structure.
- a number of cases of period forms which defy common and inflexible definitions.

Thank you for your attention. I hope this paper will be of interest to those who specialize in musical form and believe in flexible theories that stay open to the accommodation of more real music. I would also appreciate any comments in the future.

With best regards,

Dimitar Ninov

Dr. Dimitar Ninov, Lecturer
School of Music
Texas State University
601 University Drive
San Marcos, Texas 78666