Informationen zu "The Shaping Forces In Music An Inquiry into the Nature of Harmony, Melody, Counterpoint and Form"
Verlag: Dover Publications Inc.
Verlagsnummer: 0-486-23346-4
EAN: 9780486233468
ISBN: 978-0-486-23346-8
Beschreibung
A masterful and original classical composer as well as a renowned composer of
film scores, Ernst Toch (1887-1964) made a permanent contribution to music in
this important and widely praised book. Based on a series of lectures given
at Harvard in 1944 and first published in 1948, this book is a brilliant
examination of the materials and concepts that are the basic building blocks
of music harmony, melody, counterpoint, and form.
An admirable reconciliation of traditional and modern (mainly 12-tone) trends
in composition, this book shows all types of writing must respond to
psychological wants of the listener and how similar goals may be achieved in
seemingly opposed styles. Illustrating his discussion with 390 musical
examples, Toch not only introduces new ideas and approaches, but examines
many age-old problems with clarity and precision consonance and dissonance,
form versus number, and more. His analysis of the expanding harmonic
universe, the wave line of melody, and the formative influence of movement
are particularly penetrating.
New to this edition are a biological introduction by Toch's grandson,
Lawrence Weschler, a previously unpublished letter from Thomas Mann to Toch
about this book (in English translation), and a complete checklist of Toch's
compositions. Intended for all those who have a minimum understanding of
musical notation and theory, this book will appeal to music lovers, practical
musicians and amateurs, and incipient composers.
