The Work of Music Theory: Selected Essays

404 Pages·2016·23.333 MB·English

by  Thomas Christensen

THE WORK OF MUSIC THEORY
This collection brings together an anthology of articles by Thomas Christensen, one of
the leading historians of music theory active today. Published over the span of the past 25
years, the selected articles provide a historical conspectus about a range of vital topics in
the history of music theory, focusing in particular upon writings from the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries. Christensen examines a variety of theorists and their arguments within
the intellectual and musical contexts of their time, in the process highlighting the diverse and
idiosyncratic nature of the discipline of music theory itself.
In the first section of the book Christensen offers general reflections on the meaning and
interpretation of historical music theories, with especial attention paid to their value for music
theorists today. The second section of the book contains a number of articles that consider
the catalytic role of the thorough bass in the development of harmonic theory during the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In the final two sections of the anthology, focus turns to
the writings of several individual music theorists, including Marin Mersenne, Seth Calvisius,
Johann Mattheson, Johann Nicolaus Bach, Denis Diderot and Johann Nichelmann.
The volume includes essays from hard-to-find publications as well as newly-translated
material and the articles are prefaced by a new, wide-ranging autobiographical essay by
the author that offers a broad re-assessment of his historical project. This book is essential
reading for music theorists and seventeenth- and eighteenth-century musicologists.
ASH GATE CONTEMPORARY THINKERS
ON CRITICAL MUSICOLOGY
ehT titles in siht series bring together a selection of previously published and some unpublished
essays yb leading authorities ni the dleif of critical musicology. ehT essays era chosen morf
a wide range of publications and os make yek works available in a more accessible .mrof
ehT authors have lla made a selection of their own work ni eno volume with an introduction
which discusses the essays chosen and puts them otni context. A lluf bibliography points the
reader ot other publications which might not eb included in the volume rof reasons of .ecaps
ehT previously published essays era published using eht facsimile method of reproduction ot
retain their original pagination, os that students and scholars can easily reference the essays
in their original .mrof
Titles published in the series
Music and Historical Critique
Gary Tomlinson
gnikaT Popular cisuM Seriously
Simon Frith
Music, Performance, Meaning
Nicholas Cook
Reading Music
Susan McClary
Sound Judgment
Richard Leppert
Music, Structure, Thought
James Hepokoski
Musical Belongings
Richard Middleton
Sounding seulaV
Scott Burnham
Musical elytS and Social Meaning
Derek B. Scott
Music-in-Action
Tia DeNo ra
Music Education sa Critical Theory dna Practice
Lucy Green
The Work of Music Theory
Selected Essays
THOMAS CHRISTENSEN
University of ,ogacihC ASU
ASH ETAG CONTEMPORARY THINKERS
ON CRITICAL MUSICOLOGY
First published 2014 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
117 Third ,eunevA New ,kroY NY 10017, USA
Routledge si na imprint of the rolyaT & Francis ,puorG na informa business
thgirypoC © 02 41 samohT nesnetsirhC
Thomas Christensen has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, ,8891
to be identified sa the author of this work.
llA rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised ni any mrof or by any
electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or ni any information storage or retrieval system, without permission
ni writing morf eht publishers.
Notice:
Product or corporate names may eb trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only rof identification
and explanation without intent ot infringe.
ISBN 9781472430557 (hbk)
British Library Cataloguing ni Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book si available from the British Library
Library of Congress Control Number: 2013953786
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Introduction xi
TRAP ENO REFLECTIONS ON EHT HISTORY FO MUSIC THEORY
.1 cisuM Theory dna stI seirotsiH (1993) 3
.2 Music Theory ni Clio's Mirror (2002) 53
.3 Fragile ,stxeT Hidden Theory (2011) 55
TRAP TWO THOROUGH-BASS AND MUSIC THEORY
.4 Fundamenta Partiturae: Thorough Bass and Foundations of Eighteenth-Century
Composition Pedagogy (2008) 77
.5 ehT Spanish Baroque Guitar dna Seventeenth-Century Triadic Theory ( )2991 101
.6 ehT Regie ed /'Octave in Thorough-Bass Theory and Practice (1992) 341
.7 Thoroughbass sa Music Theory 02( 1 )0 171
TRAP THREE EHT SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
.8 Harmonia Temporis: Calvisius and Musical Chronology (2008) 207
.9 ehT Sound dlroW of Father Mersenne 02( )21 522
TRAP FOUR EHT EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
I .0 nnahoJ Nicolaus hcaB sa cisuM Theorist (1996) 257
.11 Bach among the Theorists ( )8991 562
.21 Sensus, Ratio, and Phthongos: Mattheson's Theory of enoT Perception (1994) 289
VI THE WORK OF MUSIC THEORY
.31 Nichelmann contra C.Ph.E. :hcaB Harmonic Theory and Musical Politics at
eht Court of Frederick eht Great (1990) 113
.41 Diderot, Rameau, and Resonating :sgnirtS New Evidence of an Early
Collaboration (1994) 343
.51 Bemetzrieder's :maerD Diderot dna the Pathology of lanoT Sensibility ni the
sno;reL ed clavecin (2001) 563
Acknowledgements
The chapters ni this volume er a taken morf the sources detsil .woleb ehT editor dna publisher
wish to thank the original publishers dna copyright holders rof permission to use their
material sa follows:
'Music Theory dna stI Histories', ni divaD Bernstein dna Christopher hctaH ,)sde( cisuM
yroehT and eht Exploration of eht ,tsaP University of Chicago ,sserP (1993), .pp 9-39.
Copyright© I 399 yb the University of Chicago.
'Music Theory in Clio's Mirror', in Andreas Giger and Thomas .J Mathiesen (eds), Music ni
eht :rorriM Reflections no eht History of Music Theory and Literature for eht Twenty-First
Century, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, (2002), .pp l-19. Copyright© 2002 by the
University of Nebraska Press.
'Fragile ,stxeT Hidden Theory', Keynote address to the annual meeting of the German
Gesellschaflfiir Musiktheorie, ,nreB Switzerland, December .1102
'Fundamenta :earutitraP Thorough Bass and Foundations of Eighteenth-Century
Composition Pedagogy', ehT Century of Bach and Mozart: Perspectives no ,yhpargoirotsiH
,noitisopmoC ,yroehT and Performance, Cambridge: Harvard University Press (2008),
.pp 17-40. Copyright© 2008 yb the President and Fellows of Harvard College.
'The Spanish Baroque Guitar dna Seventeenth-Century Triadic Theory', Journal of cisuM
,yroehT 1/63 (Spring ,)2991 .pp 1-42.
'The Regle ed I 'Octave ni Thorough-Bass Theory and Practice', Acta Musicologica, 2/46
(1992), 91-117.
'Thorough ssab sa Music Theory', Partimento and Continuo Playing ni yroehT and ni
Practice, :nevueL Orpheus Institute (2010), .pp 9-41.
'Harmonia :siropmeT Calvisius and Musical Chronology', English translation of an article in
Gesine redOrhcS (ed.), supmeT Musicae-Tempus :idnuM Untersuchungen zu Seth Calvisius,
Hildesheim: Olms galreV (2008), .pp 117-37.
'The Sound dlroW of Father Mersenne', ni Susan McClary (ed.), Structures of Feeling ni
Seventeenth-Century Cultural Expression, University of Toronto ,sserP (2012), .pp 60-89.
Copyright© 3102 The Regents of the University of California. Published yb the University
of otnoroT sserP ni association with the UCLA Center rof Seventeenth- dna Eighteenth
Century Studies dna the mailliW Andrews Clark Memorial .yrarbiL
Vlll THE WORK OF CISUM THEORY
'Johann Nicolaus hcaB sa cisuM Theorist', hsilgnE translation of na article ni Bach Jahrbuch,
82 (1996), .pp 93-100.
'Bach Among eht Theorists', Bach Perspectives, 3 ,)8991( .pp .64--32 Copyright © 8991
University of Nebraska Press.
'Sensus, ,oitaR dna :sognohthP Mattheson's Theory of enoT Perception', ni leahpaR Atlas
dna Michael Cherlin ,)sde( Musical Intuitions and ;snoitamrofsnarT syassE ni Honor of
David Lewin, :notsoB Ovenbird sserP (1994), .pp 1-22. Copyright © 4991 leahpaR Atlas
dna leahciM Cherlin.
'Nichelmann contra C.Ph.E. :hcaB Harmonic Theory and Musical Politics at eht Court
of Frederick the Great', in Hans Joachim Marx ,).de( Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach und
eid europaische Musikkultur sed mittleren .81 Jahrhunderts, Gottingen: Vandenhoeck &
Ruprecht (1990), .pp 189-220.
'Diderot, ,uaemaR dna Resonating :sgnirtS New Evidence of na ylraE Collaboration',
Studies no eriatloV and eht Eighteenth Century, .lov ,323 Oxford University sserP (1994),
.pp 131-52.
'Bemetzrieder's :maerD Diderot and eht Pathology of lanoT Sensibility in eht sno;ceL ed
clavecin', ni Linda Austern ( .de ,) ,cisuM Sensation and Sensuality, New :kroY Garland Press
(2001), .pp 39-56.
yrevE effort sah neeb made ot trace lla eht copyright holders, tub if any evah neeb
inadvertently overlooked eht publisher lliw eb pleased ot make the necessary arrangement ta
eht tsrif opportunity.
noitcudortnI
ehT selcitra and syasse collected ni this emulov erew seno I wrote over the span of eht past
52 .sraey Readers ohw know something of ym work lliw not eb surprised ot dnif that yeht
era united yb eht general theme of historical music ,yroeht with a particular emphasis nopu
eht seventeenth dna eighteenth centuries. sihT ,si after ,lla a subject (and period) of yduts
that sah most preoccupied em ni ym scholarly .reerac teY I will ta eht outset ssefnoc that I
dnif the anthologizing of emos of ym own writings ni a elgnis book to eb a bit ,gnilttesnu
sa there si yllausu something of a nocturnal quality about such na ;esirpretne I ylerus hope
that I haven't said my last words just !tey ,llitS it saw oot tempting ot resist the invitation ot
gather a wef of ym articles- emos located ni rather obscure seunev ro published ni a foreign
language- within a elgnis ,emulov dna ot esu the opportunity provided yb eht writing ofthis
introduction ot offer a wef .snoitcelfer
Perhaps eht tsrif observation eht reader might note morf siht anthology si my penchant ot
etirw about eht history of music theory morf a biographical perspective. Over half the essays
ni the present collection sucof on eht work of single theorists. sihT si hardly accidental,
sa I have long been convinced that music theory - however esle ew might enifed it - ,si
above lla ,esle a evitaerc attitude towards music that si articulated yb individuals. Among
eht fascinations that historical writings on music theory hold rof em era their extraordinary
,yteirav their innumerable smrof and ,selyts their euqinu personalities, if uoy .lliw
It yam not eb intuitive rof emos of su ot think of yroeht ni this .yaw After ,lla 'theory' si a
big word ni academia, eno that ew often associate htiw grand answers ot difficult problems,
whether or not ew bring yna positivistic and pseudo-scientific baggage ni .wot But a good deal
of what ew call music theory si anything but .taht It can osla eb desucof on ,llams parochial
;snoitseuq it can have modest pedagogical ;smia ti can eb empirical or speculative, written
ni a private, ykriuq dialect that sedule ysae translation. Indeed, os ylurnu si eht historical
record of music yroeht that ti si even questionable whether eht discipline si held together yb
anything other than the .eman
I desu ot yrrow a good deal about siht problem - and you can read emos of ym anxious
ruminations about ti ni the second chapter of this collection, 'Music yroehT ni Clio's Mirror'.
But over ,emit I have dnuof eht Babelesque ytisrevid of music theory ot eb precisely yhw ti
si os enticing. I have dnuof peace that on systematic order or obvious disciplinary boundaries
can eb deduced morf (or imposed )nopu music .yroeht sihT si yhw I think os much of ym
work sah ended pu gnisucof on individual theorists of such contrasting temperaments dna
intellectual .selyts I rather prefer them ot tell su tahw yeht think era the pressing snrecnoc of
music .yroeht Whether it si Rameau ro Riemann, sirotcniT ro ,yevoT I dnif myself inexorably
drawn ot the particular imaginations of earlier .srevresbo Whatever smialc ot objective,
disinfected purity of thought ew might wish ot hold them ,ot it lla becomes wonderfully
sullied yb eht intrigues of .yhpargoib What egreme era - ot mix my metaphors - snoisiv of
music that era sa much the product of creative imagination sa yeht era of eht etuca .rae sihT