Polyphonic minds: music of the hemispheres

340 Pages·2017·30.233 MB·English

by  Pesic, Peter

Polyphonic Minds

Polyphonic Minds
Music of the Hemispheres
Peter Pesic
The MIT Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
© 2017 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means
(including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from
the publisher.
This book was set in Syntax LT Std and Times New Roman by Toppan Best-set Premedia Limited. Printed and
bound in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
ISBN: 978-0-262-03691-7
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
for
,
my polyphonic minds

Contents
Prelude 1
I POLYPHONY EMERGENT 13
1 Global Contexts and Ancient Origins 15
2 Dispassion and Deification 31
3 The Music of the Blessed 47
4 Oresme and the “New Song” 67
5 Polyphonic Controversies 85
II POLYPHONY TRIUMPHANT 99
6 E pluribus unum 101
7 Polyphony and Power 119
8 Controlling Dissonance 131
9 Contrapuntal Science and Art 149
10 In Bach’s Hands 163
III POLYPHONIC HORIZONS 181
11 Polyphony Extended 183
12 Contrapuntal Radio and Polyphonic Fields 209
viii Contents
IV POLYPHONIC BRAINS 227
13 Polyphonic Selves 229
14 Tuning the Brain 245
15 Music of the Hemispheres 259
Postlude 273
Notes 277
References 299
Illustration Credits 317
Acknowledgments 319
Index 321