- Felix Salzer
Felix Salzer (
June 13 ,1904 –August 12 ,1986 ) was anAustria n-American music theorist, musicologist and pedagogue. He was one of the principal followers ofHeinrich Schenker , and did much to refine and explainSchenkerian analysis after Schenker's death.He was born in
Vienna , and studied musicology withGuido Adler at theUniversity of Vienna , finishing his Ph.D. in 1926 with a dissertation onsonata form in the works ofFranz Schubert . At the same time he studied music theory and analysis with Heinrich Schenker and Hans Weisse. In 1939 Salzer emigrated to the United States, and became a citizen in 1945. While in the US he taught at several schools, including theMannes College of Music , and Queens College of theCity University of New York .His contributions to Schenkerian theory were twofold: first, he brought Schenker's ideas to the attention of American music theorists and musicologists, and second, he applied the analytical technique to music outside of the common-practice era music in which Schenker had exclusively worked, particularly to the music of the Renaissance, the Middle Ages, and to some music of the 20th century. Later theorists applied Schenkerian techniques to
popular music as well.Some of the specific refinements Salzer made to Schenkerian theory involve aspects of voice leading, and the differentiation of chords into structural versus contrapuntal categories.
Salzer's works include "Structural Hearing" (1952 and 1962), "Counterpoint in Composition: The Study of Voice Leading" (with
Carl Schachter , 1969), and the periodical "The Music Forum" (initiated 1967).References and further reading
*
* Allen Forte. "Schenker, Heinrich" in ibid., xvi, 627-628.
* "The Concise Edition of Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians", 8th ed. Revised by Nicolas Slonimsky. New York, Schirmer Books, 1993. ISBN 0-02-872416-XExternal links
* [http://www.nypl.org/research/manuscripts/music/mussalze.xml Felix Salzer papers] in the [http://www.nypl.org/musicdiv Music Division] of [http://www.nypl.org/research/lpa/lpa.html The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts] .
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