[Smt-talk] Palestrina and Jeppesen, was: MISSING THEORY COMPONENT?

[Peter Schubert, Prof.]

An entertaining feature of this list is the expressions of intense loyalty that theorists often feel towards the methods they were trained in. I apologize if I offended anyone by criticizing Jeppesen, and I intend to post a short piece on my page at academia.edu to “substantiate” my opinion. I’ll notify the list.

But here’s a funny anecdote: In 2002 I gave a paper at SMT in Columbus in which I criticized Jeppesen, and two senior scholars approached me afterwards. Harold Powers grumbled something like “I never liked Jeppesen much anyway” (so my criticism was wasted on him), and Leeman Perkins said he disagreed with me, that he had “learned a lot from Jeppesen” (so my criticism was wasted on him too!). Realizing that my message was falling flat on all sides, at the end of my JAMS article on Palestrina I cited Jeppesen’s “intuition” positively and gently suggested that knowing more about counterpoint would make us appreciate Palestrina’s melodies even more—that Jeppesen was righter than he knew. How mature was that? Now, instead of being diplomatic or inflammatory, I’ll try to write up something that’s clear and persuasive.

Peter Schubert
Schulich School of Music
McGill University
555 Sherbrooke St. W.
Montreal, QC  H3A 1E3
(514) 398-4535 x00281

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