Studies in post -tonal symmetry: A transformational approach.
Item
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Title
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Studies in post -tonal symmetry: A transformational approach.
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Identifier
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AAI3083711
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identifier
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3083711
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Creator
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Stoecker, Philip Shawn.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Philip Lambert
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Date
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2003
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Music
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Abstract
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For many centuries, scientists and artists have been preoccupied with symmetry. In the study of twentieth-century music, symmetrical properties have received much discussion. My contribution is to continue this study of inversional symmetry and develop new ways to analyze symmetry in post-tonal music that is more subtle or obscure. In this dissertation, I argue that the analysis of axial symmetry can be profitably rooted in a transformational approach. David Lewin's transformational theory, as fully explained in his Generalized Musical Intervals and Transformations and his Musical Form and Transformation, emphasizes the dynamic connection between musical events, not just the nature of the events themselves. The application of this approach to symmetrical properties yields many revealing insights into the nature of symmetrical structures and the development of useful analytical tools. As I demonstrate, a transformational approach provides us with meaningful ways to describe and analyze inversional symmetry in post-tonal music at both local and background levels.;Each chapter of this dissertation is a study of symmetry, some more theoretical and some more analytical. The dissertation is organized into five chapters. The first chapter outlines different models of symmetry and provides a summary of analytic tools that have been developed to analyze symmetry. In Chapter 2, I focus on Klumpenhouwer Networks and introduce the concept of axial isography. Chapter 3 explores the concept of index zones and large-scale symmetrical layers. Chapter 4 rigorously examines what I call cyclic wedges and convergence points. The final chapter offers an in-depth analysis of symmetrical properties in the music of George Perle.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy Restricted.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.