Journal of Schenkerian Studies

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History

The journal was run by graduate students for the publication of its first four volumes. It was thereafter, until 2020, run under the guidance of Timothy L. Jackson and Stephen Slottow. [2] The journal was until 2020 edited by Benjamin Graf. [3] In May 2021, the University of North Texas launched a search for a new editor or editorial team to "restructure and rebrand the journal to promote its long term viability." [4]

The first 11 volumes are freely available online. Vol. 12 was unavailable as of August 2020, but its table of contents and pp. 126–214 are available elsewhere. [5]

2020 Special issue

In 2020, the journal released a special issue responding to a keynote address at the 2019 conference of the Society for Music Theory by Philip Ewell, [1] titled "Music Theory's White Racial Frame." Ewell's thesis was that because of Schenker's widely acknowledged racism, it was important for contemporary music theorists to consider how using his analytical techniques may lead to bias in modern music scholarship. [6]

In the special issue, Jackson argued that the "fundamental reason for the paucity of African-American women and men in the field of music theory is that few grow up in homes where classic music is profoundly valued." [7] Other authors rejected Ewell's notion that Schenker's racism was connected to his method of analyzing music. [8] [9]

In response, the executive board of the Society for Music Theory released a statement criticizing the journal for its "anti-Black statements and personal ad hominem attacks" on Ewell, as well as its neglect of peer review and failure to invite a written response by Ewell. [10] The Yale University Department of Music also released a statement criticizing the special issue. [11]

In response, the University of North Texas convened a panel to review the circumstances around the creation of the special issue. The panel was composed of five current or former scholarly journal editors from outside the institution. The panel was charged only with reviewing the circumstances around the creation and editing of the issue, and not the contents of the articles themselves. The panel concluded that best scholarly practices were not followed in creation of the issue and recommended significant changes to the editorial structure and policies of the journal. [12] Following the release of the report, the chair of the department told Jackson via email that he could not "support a plan according to which [he] would remain involved in the day-to-day operations of the journal, and its editorial process in particular, given the panel's findings of editorial mismanagement." [13]

On January 14, 2021, Jackson filed a lawsuit against eight members of the University of North Texas Board of Regents, seventeen faculty members in the Division of Music History, Theory, and Ethnomusicology, and one PhD student and teaching fellow, alleging violation of his First Amendment rights and defamation of character. [13]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heinrich Schenker</span> Galician-born Austrian music theorist (1868–1935)

Heinrich Schenker was a Galician-born Austrian music theorist whose writings have had a profound influence on subsequent musical analysis. His approach, now termed Schenkerian analysis, was most fully explained in a three volume series entitled Neue musikalische Theorien und Phantasien, which included Harmony (1906), Counterpoint and Free Composition (1935).

Schenkerian analysis is a method of analyzing tonal music based on the theories of Heinrich Schenker (1868–1935). The goal is to demonstrate the organic coherence of the work by showing how the "foreground" relates to an abstracted deep structure, the Ursatz. This primal structure is roughly the same for any tonal work, but a Schenkerian analysis shows how, in each individual case, that structure develops into a unique work at the foreground. A key theoretical concept is "tonal space". The intervals between the notes of the tonic triad in the background form a tonal space that is filled with passing and neighbour tones, producing new triads and new tonal spaces that are open for further elaborations until the "surface" of the work is reached.

Voice leading is the linear progression of individual melodic lines and their interaction with one another to create harmonies, typically in accordance with the principles of common-practice harmony and counterpoint.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fundamental structure</span>

In Schenkerian analysis, the fundamental structure describes the structure of a tonal work as it occurs at the most remote level and in the most abstract form. A basic elaboration of the tonic triad, it consists of the fundamental line accompanied by the bass arpeggiation. Hence the fundamental structure, like the fundamental line itself, takes one of three forms, according to which tonic triad pitch is the primary tone. The example hereby shows a fundamental structure in C major, with the fundamental line descending from scale degree :

The Urlinie offers the unfurling (Auswicklung) of a basic triad, it presents tonality on horizontal paths. The tonal system, too, flows into these as well, a system intended to bring purposeful order into the world of chords through its selection of the harmonic degrees. The mediator between the horizontal formulation of tonality presented by the Urlinie and the vertical formulation presented by the harmonic degrees is voice leading.

The upper voice of a fundamental structure, which is the fundamental line, utilizes the descending direction; the lower voice, which is the bass arpeggiation through the fifth, takes the ascending direction. [...] The combination of fundamental line and bass arpeggiation constitutes a unity. [...] Neither the fundamental line nor the bass arpeggiation can stand alone. Only when acting together, when unified in a contrapuntal structure, do they produce art.

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Charles Burkhart is an American musicologist, theorist, composer, and pianist. He holds the title of Professor Emeritus in the Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College, and the Graduate Center, City University of New York. He is known especially as a scholar in Schenkerian analysis and as a successful lecturer and master class presenter.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Structural level</span>

In Schenkerian analysis, a structural level is a representation of a piece of music at a different level of abstraction, with levels typically including foreground, middleground, and background. According to Schenker musical form is "an energy transformation, as a transformation of the forces that flow from background to foreground through the levels."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylvan Kalib</span>

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This is a glossary of Schenkerian analysis, a method of musical analysis of tonal music based on the theories of Heinrich Schenker (1868–1935). The method is discussed in the concerned article and no attempt is made here to summarize it. Similarly, the entries below whenever possible link to other articles where the concepts are described with more details, and the definitions are kept here to a minimum.

Ernst Oster was a German pianist, musicologist, and music theorist. A specialist in the use of Schenkerian Analysis, he was the English translator of Heinrich Schenker's final work, Free Composition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip Ewell</span> American music theorist (born 1966)

Philip Adrian Ewell is an American professor of music theory at Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center. He specializes in Russian and twentieth century music, as well as rap and hip hop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timothy L. Jackson</span>

Timothy L. Jackson is an American professor of music theory who has spent most of his career at the University of North Texas and specializes in music of the eighteenth through twentieth centuries, Schenkerian theory, politics and music. He is the co-founder of the Journal of Schenkerian Studies. In 2020, he became controversial for editing a special issue of that journal containing articles criticizing Philip Ewell's plenary talk "Music Theory's White Racial Frame".

Matthew G. Brown is a British-American music theorist, musicologist, educator, and artistic director. He is Professor of Music Theory at Eastman School of Music.

References

  1. 1 2 Powell, Michael (14 February 2021). "Obscure Musicology Journal Sparks Battles Over Race and Free Speech". The New York Times . Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  2. Journal of Schenkerian Studies Home page (archived)
  3. Graf, Benjamin, ed. (2020). "Journal of Schenkerian Studies, Vol 12". Journal of Shenkerian Studies. 12.
  4. "Journal of Schenkerian Studies (archived)". University of North Texas. Archived from the original on 2021-05-20. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
  5. "Vol. 12 Symposium" (PDF). Journal of Schenkerian Studies. 12. July 2020. Retrieved 2022-08-15.
  6. Ewell, Philip (September 2020). "Music Theory's White Racial Frame". Music Theory Online. 26 (2). doi: 10.30535/mto.26.2.4 . Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  7. "Music theory journal criticized for symposium on supposed white supremacist theorist". Inside Higher Ed . 7 August 2020.
  8. Burkhart, Charles. "Response to Philip Ewell" (PDF). Journal of Schenkerian Studies.
  9. Cadwallader, Allen. "A Response to Philip Ewell" (PDF). Journal of Schenkerian Studies.
  10. "Executive Board response to essays in the Journal of Schenkerian Studies Vol. 12 | SMT". Society for Music Theory .
  11. "Statement in Support of Philip Ewell | Department of Music". Yale School of Music .
  12. "Report of Review of Conception And Production of Vol. 12 of The Journal of Schenkerian Studies" (PDF). vpaa.unt.edu. University of North Texas. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  13. 1 2 Flaherty, Colleen (28 January 2021). "Countering Allegations of Racism -- In Court". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 19 May 2021.