The Shaping Forces in Music: An Inquiry into the Nature of Harmony, Melody, Counterpoint and Form (The Dover Series of Study Editions, Chamber Music, Orchestral Works, Operas in Full Score)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.49 (667 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0486233464 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 288 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2015-02-06 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
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. 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.. 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penetrating.New to this edition are a biological introduction by Toch's grandson, Lawrence Weschler; a previously unpublished letter from Thomas Mann to Toch about this book (in English translation); and a complete checklist of Toch's compositions. 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 liste
Great! This is a great book for a musician who wants to go beyond major and minor triads.This is a discussion book rather than a study of harmony and form. You should have a good understanding of harmony and classical repertoire before venturing reading this amazing book.You should have some information about 20th century music as well as a good foundation in theory.Ideally, you would be able to play some piano at an intermediate level so that you can play the examples in t. Great for aspiring composers Chris Robertson A composer friend of mine recommended this book to me as a good introduction to composition. After reading it, I agree. Have you ever wondered why you can write something that obeys all the rules of classical music theory but has no life to it? Toch takes a good look at the practice of composition through the ages and abstracts a set of principles - the shaping forces in music - that give a composition structure and vitality. The things that I found really interestin. Good, but not great This book was a bit too philosophical for me. While it contains a wealth of good information, that information is oftened masked by pendantic writing. I also felt that the musical examples used were not explored enough. In summary, the overall information contained within the book is truly exceptional, and would certainly benefit any aspiring composer. I just found that the "philosophical element" was a bit over-done, and that it often masked what Toch was trying to