6th Edition

Materials and Techniques of Post-Tonal Music

By Stefan Kostka, Matthew Santa Copyright 2027
376 Pages 269 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

376 Pages 269 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

Materials and Techniques of Post-Tonal Music provides the most comprehensive introduction to post-tonal music and its analysis available. Covering music from the end of the 19th century through the beginning of the 21st, it offers students a clear guide to understanding the diverse and innovative compositional strategies that emerged in the post-tonal era, from Impressionism to computer music.... Read more

PREFACE

 

1          THE TWILIGHT OF THE TONAL SYSTEM

INTRODUCTION

DIATONIC TONAL MUSIC

CHROMATIC TONAL MUSIC

SOME ASPECTS OF CHROMATIC HARMONY

SUSPENDED TONALITY AND ATONALITY

SUMMARY

MUSIC FROM THE CHAPTER IN CHRONOLOGICAL CONTEXT

NOTES

EXERCISES

 

2          SCALE FORMATIONS IN POST-TONAL MUSIC

INTRODUCTION

FIVE-NOTE SCALES

SIX-NOTE SCALES

SEVEN-NOTE SCALES: THE DIATONIC MODES

OTHER SEVEN-NOTE SCALES

EIGHT-NOTE SCALES

THE CHROMATIC SCALE

MICROTONAL SCALES

SCALAR TRANSFORMATIONS

OTHER POSSIBILITIES

SUMMARY

MUSIC FROM THE CHAPTER IN CHRONOLOGICAL CONTEXT         

NOTES  

EXERCISES      

 

3          THE VERTICAL DIMENSION: CHORDS AND SIMULTANEITIES   

INTRODUCTION      

CONVENTIONAL TERTIAN SONORITIES            

TERTIAN CHORDS WITH ADDED NOTES           

TERTIAN CHORDS WITH SPLIT CHORD MEMBERS     

OPEN-5TH CHORDS

QUARTAL AND QUINTAL CHORDS

SECUNDAL CHORDS

MIXED-INTERVAL CHORDS          

WHOLE-TONE CHORDS     

POLYCHORDS          

SUMMARY       

MUSIC FROM THE CHAPTER IN CHRONOLOGICAL CONTEXT         

NOTES  

EXERCISES      

 

4          THE HORIZONTAL DIMENSION: MELODY AND VOICE LEADING        

INTRODUCTION      

SOME NEW STYLISTIC FEATURES OF POST-TONAL MELODY

SOME ASPECTS OF MELODIC ORGANIZATION            

VOICE LEADING IN POST-TONAL MUSIC         

DISSONANCE TREATMENT           

TINTINNABULI TECHNIQUE         

ALIGNED INTERVAL CYCLES       

SUMMARY

MUSIC FROM THE CHAPTER IN CHRONOLOGICAL CONTEXT

NOTES

EXERCISES

 

5          HARMONIC PROGRESSION AND TONALITY

INTRODUCTION

TRADITIONAL APPROACHES TO HARMONIC PROGRESSION

NEW APPROACHES TO HARMONIC PROGRESSION

ESTABLISHING A TONAL CENTER

TERTIAN AND NONTERTIAN PITCH-CENTRICITY

POLYTONALITY

PANDIATONICISM

ATONALITY

NONHARMONIC MUSIC

SUMMARY

MUSIC FROM THE CHAPTER IN CHRONOLOGICAL CONTEXT

NOTES

EXERCISES

 

6          NONSERIAL ATONALITY

INTRODUCTION

CHARACTERISTICS OF ATONAL MUSIC

PITCH-CLASS SETS

PITCH-CLASS INTERVALS

OCTAVE EQUIVALENCE, TRANSPOSITIONAL EQUIVALENCE, AND NORMAL ORDER

INVERSIONAL EQUIVALENCE AND BEST NORMAL ORDER

PRIME FORMS AND SET CLASSES

THE INTERVAL-CLASS VECTOR

FORTE LABEL

SUBSETS

AGGREGATES

MORE ABOUT SEGMENTATION

INTEGRATING SETS AND SEGMENTS IN ANALYSIS

SET THEORY IN OTHER CONTEXTS

SUMMARY

MUSIC FROM THE CHAPTER IN CHRONOLOGICAL CONTEXT

NOTES

EXERCISES

 

7          DEVELOPMENTS IN RHYTHM

INTRODUCTION

WRITTEN RHYTHM AND PERCEIVED RHYTHM

CHANGING TIME SIGNATURES

NONTRADITIONAL TIME SIGNATURES

POLYMETER

AMETRIC MUSIC

ADDED VALUES AND NONRETROGRADABLE RHYTHMS

TEMPO MODULATION AND POLYTEMPO

SERIALIZED RHYTHM AND ISORHYTHM

THE NEW COMPLEXITY

SUMMARY

MUSIC FROM THE CHAPTER IN CHRONOLOGICAL CONTEXT

NOTES

EXERCISES

 

8          FORM IN POST-TONAL MUSIC

INTRODUCTION

ONE-PART FORM AND BINARY FORM

TERNARY FORM

RONDO FORMS

OTHER PART FORMS

SONATA FORM

SECTIONAL VARIATIONS

CONTINUOUS VARIATIONS

CANON AND FUGUE

PROPORTION: THE GOLDEN MEAN

NONTHEMATIC DELINEATORS OF MUSICAL FORM

NONORGANIC APPROACHES TO MUSICAL FORM

SUMMARY

MUSIC FROM THE CHAPTER IN CHRONOLOGICAL CONTEXT

NOTES  

EXERCISES

 

9          IMPORTS AND ALLUSIONS

INTRODUCTION       

INFLUENCES FROM THE PAST

INFLUENCES FROM FOLK MUSIC, JAZZ, AND ROCK

MUSIC FROM OTHER CULTURES 

SUMMARY

MUSIC FROM THE CHAPTER IN CHRONOLOGICAL CONTEXT

NOTES  

EXERCISES

 

 

10        CLASSICAL SERIALISM

INTRODUCTION

BASIC TERMINOLOGY

THE TWELVE-TONE MATRIX

A FIRST EXAMPLE

ANALYZING A ROW

COMPOSITIONAL USES OF THE ROW

ROW SUCCESSION

COMBINATORIALITY

THE ANALYSIS OF SERIAL MUSIC

SUMMARY

MUSIC FROM THE CHAPTER IN CHRONOLOGICAL CONTEXT

NOTES

EXERCISES

 

11        TIMBRE AND TEXTURE: ACOUSTIC

INTRODUCTION

NEW TIMBRAL EFFECTS FROM TRADITIONAL INSTRUMENTS

WIND INSTRUMENTS

STRINGED INSTRUMENTS

PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS

THE PIANO

THE VOICE

INSTRUMENTATION AND ORCHESTRATION

TRADITIONAL TEXTURES AND COMPOUND TEXTURES

POINTILLISM, STRATIFICATION, AND SOUND-MASS

SPECTRALISM

SUMMARY

MUSIC FROM THE CHAPTER IN CHRONOLOGICAL CONTEXT

NOTES

EXERCISES

 

12        TIMBRE AND TEXTURE: ELECTRONIC

INTRODUCTION

CONCRETE MUSIC

THE CLASSICAL ELECTRONIC MUSIC STUDIO

DIGITAL SYNTHESIS

THE DEVELOPMENT OF MIDI

SAMPLERS, PERSONAL COMPUTERS, AND RECENT TRENDS IN DIGITAL SYNTHESIS

TAPE AND INSTRUMENT, LIVE PERFORMANCE, AND INTERACTIVE COMPUTER MUSIC          

NOTATION OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC

SUMMARY

MUSIC FROM THE CHAPTER IN CHRONOLOGICAL CONTEXT

NOTES

EXERCISES

 

13        SERIALISM AFTER 1945

INTRODUCTION

INTEGRAL SERIALISM

INTEGRAL SERIALISM IN PERSPECTIVE

OTHER ASPECTS OF SERIALISM  

MUSIC AFTER SERIALISM                        

SUMMARY

MUSIC FROM THE CHAPTER IN CHRONOLOGICAL CONTEXT

NOTES

EXERCISES

 

14        THE ROLES OF CHANCE AND CHOICE IN POST-TONAL MUSIC

INTRODUCTION

CHANCE IN COMPOSITION

CHOICE IN PERFORMANCE

SOME EXAMPLES OF PERFORMER INDETERMINACY

GRAPHIC SCORES AND TEXT SCORES

MUSIC ON THE FRINGE

SUMMARY

MUSIC FROM THE CHAPTER IN CHRONOLOGICAL CONTEXT

NOTES

EXERCISES      

 

15        MINIMALISM AND BEYOND              

INTRODUCTION

MINIMALISM

BEYOND MINIMALISM

SUMMARY

MUSIC FROM THE CHAPTER IN CHRONOLOGICAL CONTEXT

NOTES

EXERCISES

 

APPENDIX: PRIME FORMS, FORTE

LABELS, AND INTERVAL-CLASS VECTORS

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 

INDEX

Biography

Stefan Kostka is Professor Emeritus of Music Theory at the Butler School of Music at The University of Texas at Austin.

Matthew Santa is Professor and Division Head of Music Theory at the Texas Tech University School of Music.