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 | | Introduction to Post-Tonal Theory (2nd Edition) by Joseph N. Straus ISBN-10: 9780130143310 ISBN-10: 0-13-014331-6 ISBN-13: 9780130143310 ISBN-13: 978-0-13-014331-0 Hardcover 1999-10-13 Prentice Hall Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Product Description A primer--rather than a survey--this book offers exceptionally clear, simple explanations of basic theoretical concepts for the post-tonal music of the twentieth century. Emphasizing hands-on contact with the music--through playing, singing, listening, and analyzing--it provides six chapters on theory, each illustrated with musical examples and fully worked-out analyses, all drawn largely from the "classical" pre-war repertoire by Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Bartok, Berg, and Webern. Considers three principal kinds of post-tonal music--free atonal music, twelve-tone music, and centric music. Makes extensive use of transformational graphs and networks to present analytical information; and includes a variety of exercises in theory, analysis, musicianship and ear-training, and composition. For anyone interested in Twentieth-Century Music Techniques and Post-Tonal Theory and Analysis. | ||
Reviews | ||
Fantastic book This book is undoubtedly the best introduction to post-tonal theory available. As with all of Straus's work, the text is easy to read and comprehend. His musical examples are well chosen, and the analyses are thoughtful, insightful, and MUSICAL (note particularly his discussion of Sprechstimme in the "Nacht" analysis). My only complaint is that the twelve-tone discussions seem a bit superficial...but it is just an introduction. The interested reader is given a large bibliography to seek out further information. This book is well worth the purchase for any musician interested in engaging in intelligent discussion of post-tonal music, whether you are a performer (upper level undergrad, or graduate student) taking a required theory class, or if you are a theory PhD student studying for comprehensive exams (supplemented with Forte, Perle, Morris, Babbitt, etc...) | ||
Introduction to Post-Tonal Theory (3rd Edition) I have read this book several times and simply cannot reconcile the text with music as i encounter it. When exactly did tonal music go away? turn on the television and you'll find that the name is itself a fallacy. That out of the way. this is the textbook all Classical Composition majors are required to read. "harmony and melody be damned. serialism and the like have replaced it." if however you actually feel like writing music your first step should be to burn this book. there are better books on the subject many of them mentioned in the bibliography. just like you learn counterpoint in theory class from Fux the sources of this type of theory are more useful and informative than this brief and poorly written distillation. On the other hand since there is already enough ugliness in the world why you would want to write atonal music in the first place is rather a mystery to me. but then i've written some myself in fits of rage so it must be the same reason punk rock came about. ah theres a good analogies for my friends serialism is classical punk rock. angry people venting their frustations. | ||
Great Book - But expensive I used this book in school to get a better grasp on atonal theory, Although most of my initial confusion came from teachers using different methods of computing pitch class sets... see other reviews for arguments based on the "Rahn" Method and the "Forte" method. If your knowledge of basic western harmony is lacking, this book isn't for you yet. But after you have a good handle on your I's IV's and V/iii's and whatnot, you'll find this book helpful and extremely approachable. I really wish it could be reprinted cheaper, as it's price will undoubtedly keep it out of the reach of some while the rest of us fight over the one tattered copy remaining in the library. | ||
great, but no answers This is a well-organized and thorough review of post-tonal theory. And there are great exercises, but there is NO ANSWER KEY! This was a great annoyance to me as I reviewed for an exam. | ||
Uninformed reviewers Reviewers of such a book as Intro. to Post-Tonal Theory should know a bit about set-class theory before trying to discredit Straus's work. "A Reader"'s review (titled "Inaccurate") is itself blatantly wrong. Set [0,3,4,5,8,10,11], this reviewer proposes, does not yield prime form if one applies Straus's methods to it. What the reviewer doesn't seem to realize is that he has failed to apply the first rule of finding normal order, of finding the MINIMUM SPAN of a set, which Straus does tell readers to do. The aforementioned septachord must be put in normal order first with minimum span (that is, 0,1,2,7,8,9) before applying Straus's right-to-left rule. A review must be critical but such a mistaken reading must either be ignorance or willful malevolence, neither of which is appropriate here. "from the real world of music" is arguably a worse review, throwing up a veil of unnecessary "big words," to use the vernacular, to hide a critique based upon nothing. What abuses of terminology, what logical fallacies, and what errors does this reviewer refer to? And if Straus's book is "cliff notes", then what is the real version? I don't discredit these reviews from a difference of opinion on my part but rather I am disgusted by the ignorance present in these reviews. Having said all that, is is no surpise that I firmly believe that Straus's text belongs at the top of a short list of anyone who wishes to pursue pitch class set theory. It is indeed designed as a text and as such is often times clearer and more practical than the Allen Forte original. He engages precisely the repertoire Forte set out to engage (the second Viennese school mainly) and supports his clear explanations with convincing musical examples and step-by-step analyses. The positive reviews here obviously outweight the astoundingly ignorant negative ones. As well, this book has the blessing of the majority of the music theory community behind it, and rightly so. This is a valuable book that deserves a place on any theorist's (or aspiring theorists's) shelves. | ||