Schenkerian analysis

Schenkerian analysis is a method of musical analysis of tonal music based on the theories of Heinrich Schenker. The goal of a Schenkerian analysis is to reveal the underlying structure of a tonal masterpiece; in fact its basic tenets can be viewed as a way of defining tonality in music. The primary means of describing the structure of a musical passage for the Schenkerian analyst is to show hierarchical relationships among the pitches of the passage. This can be done through making reductions of the music and through a specialized symbolic form of musical notation that Schenker devised to demonstrate various prolongational techniques.

The musical reductions of Schenkerian analysis are usually arrhythmic. This reflects Schenker's belief that the deep, long-range structure of a piece of music has no particular rhythm. This long-range structure is called the Fundamental Structure ("Ursazt") in Schenkerian analysis, while the more surface aspects of the music are called the foreground or surface layer. So one could rephrase the previous statement as "the background of a musical composition is arhythmic," or, better yet, "rhythm is a characteristic of the musical foreground" (See "Der Freie Satz" section 21 and chapter 4). Open and closed noteheads, beams, and flags, which show rhythm in ordinary musical notation, are used in Schenkerian analysis to show hierarchical relationships between the pitch-events being analyzed.

Schenkerian analysis is a "subjective", not an objective, method. This means that there is no mechanical procedure for arriving at an analysis for a given piece of music; rather, the analysis reflects the musical intuitions of the analyst. Therefore, this form of analysis is more "art" than "science". The analysis represents a way of hearing a piece of music. Schenker himself was certain that a tonal masterpiece contains an inner truth-content, although few are sufficiently gifted to appreciate it. [ {Schenker, Heinrich. "Free Composition. (Der Freie Satz)" translated and edited by Ernst Ostler. New York: Longman, 1979. Foreword and Ch. 1}] Although it is a subject of debate among music theorists whether there is a single correct hearing and analysis of a piece of tonal music, even those who hold that there is a unique correct analysis agree that the analysis can only be arrived at and evaluated subjectively by an expert listener.

Further reading

* Beach, David, ed. (1983). "Aspects of Schenkerian Theory". New Haven: Yale University Press.
* Berry, David Carson (2004). [http://www.pendragonpress.com/books/bookdetail.php?PPNo=574 "A Topical Guide to Schenkerian Literature: An Annotated Bibliography with Indices"] . Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press.
* Maus, Fred (2004). "Sexual and Musical Categories", "The Pleasure of Modernist Music". ISBN 1-58046-143-3.
* Middleton, Richard (1990/2002). "Studying Popular Music". Philadelphia: Open University Press. ISBN 0-335-15275-9.
* Jonas, Oswald (1982). "Introduction to the theory of Heinrich Schenker : the nature of the musical work of art". Translated by John Rothgeb. New York and London: Longman. "Most complete discussion of Schenker's theories." (Beach 1983)"

Summaries

*Forte, Allen (1959). "Schenker's Conception of Musical Structure", "Journal of Music Theory" 3. "(Beach 1983)"
*Katz, Adele (1935). "Heinrich Schenker's Method of Analysis," "The Musical Quarterly" 31. "(Beach 1983)"

Pedagogical works

*Forte, Allen and Gilbert, Steven E. (1982). "Introduction to Schenkerian Analysis". W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-95192-8. "Schenker never presented a pedagogical presentation of his theories, this being the first according to its authors."
*Snarrenberg, Robert (1997). "Schenker's Interpretive Practice." Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-49726-4.
*Cadwallader, Allen and Gagné, David (1998). "Analysis of Tonal Music: A Schenkerian Approach". ISBN 0-19-510232-0. "The second major English-language textbook on Schenkerian analysis."
*Westergaard, Peter (1975). "An Introduction to Tonal Theory". New York: W.W. Norton.
*Pankhurst, Tom (2008), "SchenkerGUIDE: A Brief Handbook and Web Site for Schenkerian Analysis", New York: Routledge. ISBN 0415973988 - an introduction for those completely new to the subject.

Expansions

*Salzer, Felix (1952). "Structural Hearing: Tonal Coherence in Music". New York: Charles Boni. "The first book to present a reorganization (as well as modification and expansion) of Schenker's writings from a pedagogical standpoint." Beach (1983)"
*Westergaard, Peter (1975). "An Introduction to Tonal Theory". New York: W.W. Norton.
*Yeston, Maury, ed. (1977). "Readings in Schenker Analysis and Other Approaches". New Haven: Yale University Press.
*Beach, David, ed. (1983). "Aspects of Schenkerian Theory". New Haven: Yale University Press.

Post-tonal expansions

*Travis, Roy (1959). "Toward a New Concept of Tonality", "Journal of Music Theory" 3. "(Beach 1983)"
*Travis, Roy (1966). "Directed Motion in Schoenberg and Webern", "Perspectives of New Music" 4. "(Beach 1983)"

Rhythmic expansions

*Komar, Arthur (1971/1980). "Theory of Suspensions: A Study of Metrical Pitch Relations in Tonal Music". Princeton: Princeton University Press/Austin, Texas: Peer Publications. "(Beach 1983)"
*Yeston, Maury (1976). "The Stratification of Musical Rhythm". New Haven: Yale University Press. "(Beach 1983)"

Criticisms

*Narmour, Eugene (1977). "Beyond Schenkerism: The Need for Alternatives in Music Analysis". Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

External links

* [http://www.schenkerguide.com/ Schenker Guide by Tom Pankhurst]
* Tim Smith's introduction to Schenkerian concepts in a Bach fugue: [http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/wtc/i17.html Shockwave movie] or [http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/wtc/i17s.pdf pdf]