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Jack Boss presents detailed analyses of Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone pieces, bringing the composer's 'musical idea' - problem, elaboration, solution - to life.
List of contents
1. Musical idea and symmetrical ideal; 2. Suite for Piano, Op. 25: varieties of idea in Schoenberg's earliest twelve-tone music; 3. Woodwind Quintet, Op. 26: the twelve-tone idea reanimates a large musical form; 4. Three Satires, Op. 28, #3: the earliest example of the 'symmetrical ideal' in a (more or less) completely combinatorial context; 5. Piano Piece, Op. 33a: the 'symmetrical ideal' conflicts with and is reconciled to row order; 6. Fourth String Quartet, Op. 37, mvt. I: two motives give rise to contrasting row forms, meters, textures and tonalities (and are reconciled) within a large sonata form; 7. Moses und Aron: an incomplete musical idea represents an unresolved conflict between communicating with God using word or image; 8. String Trio, Op. 45: a musical idea (and a near-death experience) is expressed as a conflict between alternative row forms.
About the author
Jack Boss is Associate Professor of Music at the University of Oregon. His research interests centre around large-scale coherence in Schoenberg's music, and he has published numerous articles relating to that topic in journals such as Journal of Music Theory, Music Theory Spectrum, Perspectives of New Music and Music Theory Online. He has co-edited two collections of music-analytic essays: Musical Currents from the Left and Analyzing the Music of Living Composers (and Others).
