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This dissertation proposes a new speculative model for understanding how a listener attends to music. I rely on and build upon concepts already familiar to music theorists, such as Grouping Theory, Implication-Realization Theory, and Gestalt Theory. I also borrow concepts from Information Theory, which is sourced in mathematics and used in communication transmissions. With the confluence of the aforementioned I will explain the model I name Dynamic Grouping. The dynamism of the grouping process is owed to the listener’s changing expectation for what musical content the listener expects and when the subject expects it. A listener expects continuation of a delineation. I will describe the particular listener for whom this theory applies. A listener establishes delineation between points of congruity as recognized per each basic domain, which then serves to precipitate expectation for progressive continuation of such content along the same musical delineation. The temporal point and syntactical relations for when the subject expects this musical content to occur is derived from extrapolations of syntactical and temporal regularities (rhythm) sourced from previous groupings. Unlike the five basic domains that form delineations independently, of which I list pitch, timbre, dissonance, volume, and location, rhythm is a super domain because rhythmic delineations are formed sourcing any combination of the basic domains. But because the listener also recognizes syntactical regularities, rhythm is a super meta domain: a listener recognizes patterns of patterns. The temporal size of each group increases when preceding music offers realization of a listener’s expectation and decreases in size when it stymies expectation. I correlate patterns of dynamic grouping rhythm and dramatic moments in music. I explain means by which a listener will delineate music per each of the domains, as delineation per each domain is achieved differently. I offer a bottom-up analysis of the basic domains for a movement from a Beethoven Symphony. I use pop music to show how my theory for delineation formation also applies for rhythm. This single theory sufficiently accounts for much of what we witness in the music of the Common Practice Period. I also propose means by which composers may explore other means for creating drama not commonly used in current practice. My engagement with music cognition scholarship herein is limited to the specific confines of the theory. I chose a variety of musical examples for use in the paper. I include two Beethoven symphonies because they, in particular, are most often found in similar theoretical writings. For many of my musical choices that are meant to explicate most poignantly theories of rhythm I turn often to American Popular Music. I am familiar with the controversial lyrics of The Rolling Stones’s song, but I assure the reader that I will only cover the opening guitar riff and its immediate development through the introduction. / Music Theory

Published Article / A retired physicist attempting to master elements of music theory in a short time found the Mental Model of the keyboard layout invaluable in overcoming some of the related learning challenges and this has been followed up in collaboration with a professor of Music Education. Possible cognitive mechanisms for his response are discussed and it is concluded that his engrained learning habits, which emphasise models as found in physics, are potentially of wider applicability. A survey of the use of Mental Models among competent young musicians indicated that although various models are widely used, this is largely subconscious. The practical question of whether exposure of students to the keyboard would assist them in mastering music theory remains unresolved.

Arnold Schoenberg's development of twelve-tone serial ism in the early 20th Century had profound and far-reaching impact on the musical world. As Schoenberg himself grew and matured as a composer, so did the compositional technique of, and indeed his proficiency with, serialism. The opera Moses und Aron was composed in Schoenberg's third compositional period that lasted from 1923 through Schoenberg's death in 1951 and was characterized almost exclusively by this new technique of twelvetone serialism. Moses und Aron's first two Acts (as well as the libretto for the third) were written from 1930 to 1932 and based entirely on a single tone row. Though the opera itself was composed in the early 1930s, it had its beginnings as a religious play, similar to Schoenberg's earlier work, Oer Biblische Weg. Schoenberg left the opera as it was in 1932 and failed to return to score the libretto in Act III. Despite remaining unfinished, Moses und Aron is still widely regarded as one of Schoenberg's finest works and displays a composer working at the height of his skill. This project brings to light the brilliance of the tone row Schoenberg chose as his foundation for Moses und Aron through examining the various tone row transformations used throughout the opera as well as their specific setting and orchestration within the context of each scene. More than simply a musical background for the dramatic events of the Exodus narrative, the tone row becomes a character in-and-of itself, transforming and shifting to mirror dramatic events and becoming a driving force throughout the opera. In addition to informing dramatic content and context, the way in which Schoenberg scores the tone row also helps to illuminate the large scale musical form of each scene and is even essential to the dramatic tension and characterization within the narrative. In addition, this project endeavors to show that Moses und Aron displays Schoenberg's mastery of the compositional technique of twelve-tone serialism by examining in detail the significance of the functional orchestration as well as the divisions, or partitions, of Schoenberg's twelve-tone row. Inseparably connected with a discussion of the functional orchestration and partitioning of Schoenberg's tone row is a discussion of the different kinds of counterpoint that often occur as a result of such partitioning within the choral and instrumental orchestration of Moses und Aron. These concepts of functional orchestration, partitioning, and multiple forms of counterpoint are defined and unpacked in the upcoming chapters. As counterpoint functions as such an important aspect of the partitioning of the tone row, a brief discussion of counterpoint in serialism, specifically in Moses und Aron, accompanies the discussion of functional orchestration and the row partitioning. This understanding of the function of counterpoint in twelve-tone serial atonality is essential to this study. Much has been written, specifically by Michael Cherlin, about the formal and dramatic organization of Moses und Aron and how Schoenberg's permutations of his tone row both influence and are influenced by the formal and dramatic context. Cherlin has also given significant attention to defining links between tone row partitions and dramatic events or characters within Moses und Aron. An important part of my research, therefore, includes examining the analytical findings of Cherlin as well as those from other scholarly sources. This project also challenges or supports these findings based on my own analysis and discusses what I believe to be a new facet of the organization of Moses und Aron not previously revealed in other studies. In Chapter 5 of this project, I bring to light two specific partitions of the row that occur within the choral counterpoint of the opera and have not been mentioned in any study of Moses und Aron that I have discovered in my research.

Inaugural-Dissertation. / "Curriculum vitae": p. [68]-[69]

Inaugural-Dissertation. / "Curriculum vitae": p. [68]-[69]

Analysis of sōkyoku jiuta, Japanese traditional music of the Edo period for koto and shamisen, has in the past relied primarily on static tetrachordal or hexachordal models. The present study takes a transformational approach to traditional Japanese music. Specifically, it develops a framework for six-pitch hexachordal space inspired by Steven Rings’s transformational approach to tonal music. This novel voice-leading space yields insights into intervallic structure, trichordal transposition and hexachordal voice leading and transformations of this music at both its surface and large-scale levels. A side-by-side comparison with Rings’s approach highlights differences between the hexachordal and diatonic systems.