Composition.

The activity or process of creating music, and the product of such activity. The term belongs to a large
class of English nouns derived from the participial stems of Latin verbs (here composit-, from
componere: put together) folloed by the suffi! -io/-ionem. Etymologically, the primary senses of
composition are the condition of being composed and the action of composing. "ince the #$th
century the English ord and its cognates in other languages have been applied to pieces of music
that remain recogni%able in different performances as ell as to the action of ma&ing ne pieces.
'oth the creation and the (nterpretation of compositions in this restrictive sense are commonly
distinguished from (mprovisation, in hich decisive aspects of composition occur during performance.
The distinction hinges on hat performers are e!pected to do in various situations and on ho they
prepare themselves to meet such e!pectations.
)any societies place great value on songs, instrumental pieces, dances or ceremonies that have
been received as gifts or ac*uired by inheritance, study, theft or purchase. +otions of the proper uses
of e!isting compositions range from insistence on accurate reproduction to demands for continual
reinterpretation and revision. "tories about the ac*uisition of songs, dances and ceremonies may or
may not mention composers, persons or non,human agents to hom the invention of a -enreor the
production of specific items ithin a .epertoryis attributed. (t is li&ely that efforts to remember
compositions and their histories have accounted for a significant proportion of human mental activity.
The fact that humans are capable of musical composition led the anthropologist /laude L0vi,"trauss
to call music the supreme mystery among the human sciences. 1is point is confirmed by the great
number of myths that bear on musical creativity and by the veneration accorded to compositions and
composers in many societies. 2et it is no less common for composition ithin the constraints of a
genre (e.g. lament) to be numbered among the basic obligations of social life.
3erformers and informed listeners generally have some conception of the provenance of a
composition. (t may have been nely received in a vision or ac*uired from an e!isting repertory
through study (or by other means) and prepared for performance. 3erhaps it is composed or
recomposed during performance by an individual or by members of an ensemble4 perhaps it has been
nely created or revised by an individual or by members of an ensemble in advance of a specific
performance. The music performed on one occasion may combine several types of composition, as
hen musicians improvise a prelude before presenting a nely revised version of a piece they have
studied for years. "uch combinations can endo a performance or a ceremony ith a rich spectrum
of historical references.
#. -enres and repertories.
5. .itual and ceremony.
6. )yths of creation and transmission.
7. Terminology and theory.
8. /ompositional resources.
$. /ounterpoint.
9. :or&s, styles and ideas.
;. )odernity.
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"TE31E+ 'L>)
/omposition
1
1. Genres and repertories.
)ost societies recogni%e different genres of performance, that is, ays of acting that are appropriate
under certain conditions. 3erformers sometimes learn to sing, dance or play instruments ithout
learning a repertory of compositions4 names of genres often carry more eight than any names
assigned to songs, dances and instrumental pieces. The re*uirements of a genre may include
advance preparation of ne or old compositions, variation or recomposition of e!isting pieces during
performance, spontaneous composition of a performance suited to the occasion or some combination
of these.
The names given to genres and compositions help people to learn and remember ho they ought to
respond. (n many cases the name of a genre also stands for a repertory of pieces sharing the same
function. =ccording to ?oseph )ac@onald (Compleat Theory of the Scots Highland Bagpipe, compiled
c#9$5), gatherings ere the most animating of pipe compositions, as they ere originally intended
to assemble the highlanders under the respective chiefs upon any emergency A Every chief had a
gathering for his name. :hen composition during performance is more important than the
reproduction of e!isting compositions, a musicianBs repertory is apt to consist largely of conventional
subCects, procedures, models and formulae (some of hich may very ell carry their on names4 see
D8 belo).
@epending on the genre and its function, performers may be re*uired to follo models that severely
limit the scope of permissible variation, or they may be e!pected to discover ne ays of treating
familiar resources. The to types of demand may be seen as mutually reinforcing, or as an opposition
beteen e!act reproduction of e!isting pieces and creation of holly original or&s or
performances. <ne motivation for formulations that approach one or the other e!treme is to assert
oneBs competence or authority to evaluate either the fidelity or the originality of performances.
=rguments concerning criteria for Cudging the effectiveness of performances have played an important
role in the development of musical thought and music theory.
(n many cultures compositions are valued, above all, as a repertory of items that can be recomposed.
The creation of a ne ekisoko among the -anda people (see >ganda, D((, 5) involves the
modification of an e!isting song by interpolating references to current events4 inventing the te!t and
tune of a song is a very different process, called okuyiiya. = successful ekisoko may assume its on
place in the repertory, possibly to be recomposed in its turn. The practice presupposes the e!istence
of listeners ho are familiar ith the history of specific compositions.
<bligations to praise a patron or to lament the death of a relative are to of the more common
incentives for composition during performance (hich is sometimes called oral composition).
Evaluation of such performances may focus attention on the e!tent to hich se*uences of sounds
and motions have been made to fit ith one another and ith pertinent aspects of the immediate
situation. @etailed planning in advance of the performance is not appropriate in situations here a
prefabricated piece might be ta&en as a sign of the performerBs lac& of involvement. (n circumstances
here musical ensembles compete, hoever, they may need to compose and rehearse ne pieces
for the occasion (as happens ith panpipe ensembles in =ndean 3eru). )usical notations may be
designed in ays that enable musicians to perform the notated music at sight or that re*uire a long
process of interpretation (called dapu in the case of the e!tensive repertory for the /hinese seven,
string %ither qin).
(n certain performance genres of the Ealuli people (3apua +e -uinea), an act of spontaneous
composition creates a path (tok) so that composer and listeners can simultaneously e!perience a
progression of lands and places and a progression of deeply felt sentiments associated ith them
(Feld, #G;5, p.#8#). Listeners ho are familiar ith the places named and ith the techni*ues of
performance have no ay of &noing in advance Cust ho the composer ill connect and coordinate
place names, melodic shapes and ays of using the voice.
2
The vocabularies of musicians in many parts of the orld have included terms for paths, roads or
ays. .ather than creating or discovering ne paths during performance, musicians may retrace
paths inherited from their predecessors or revealed to them in visions. = 'ard ho has mastered a
large repertory of resources for composition during performance might boast that ( am self,taught,
and a god has planted in my soul every ay HoimosI of song, as 3hemius tells <dysseus (Odyssey
!!ii.679J;4 see =oidos). The path (indlela) adopted by a Kulu singer is a melodic shape that can be
adCusted to fit different ords by changing some of the pitches. =mong the Temiar of )alaysia, the
term n (path) designates not only the songs taught to mediums by their spirit guides in dreams but
also the genres of performance (e.g. n tahun : annual fruit ay).
/omposition
2. Ritual and ceremony.
3eople ho repeatedly carry out a prescribed series of actions are engaged in ritual or ceremonial
behaviour. "pecialists ho must remember and teach the proper se*uences of ritual actions often
have good reason to isolate and name certain components of those se*uences and to distinguish
multiple levels of organi%ation (paths ithin paths). )any rituals lin& together a number of
performance genres and re*uire coordination of simultaneous as ell as successive actions. The
purposes of a ritual may call for greater or lesser degrees of fle!ibility in re,enacting its constituent
se*uences. 3articipants may be obliged to create or reproduce compositions in ays appropriate to
their specific roles.
Larious types of composition during performance are particularly important in shamanic rituals here
they may function to induce a state of trance in the shaman, support his Courney to another orld or
convey his report of the Courney or the messages of a spirit that has possessed him. (t is doubtful
hether shamans could operate effectively by restricting themselves to the reproduction of e!isting
songs and dances, important though these may be in a shamanBs repertory.
.ituals that call upon deities or spirits to respond appropriately may ell include compositions that
can be recogni%ed by all concerned. :hen pieces (niyo, sing. r!iyo) for the "hona lamellophone
m"ira da #adimu are played during possession rituals in order to attract the spirits of ancestors (see
Kimbabe), it is appropriate for players to select hatever piece a particular spirit is &non to prefer.
The norms of m"ira performance re*uire a high level of improvised variation, hich the spirits and
other participants ould both e!pect and appreciate. The repertory of pieces is, in effect, a repertory
of models or frameor&s for improvisation, ith no re*uirement that pieces be played in a
conventional order.
(n contrast, the ordering of songs and drumming patterns associated ith the deities in the 'ra%ilian
candom"l$ religion and other =frican,derived religions of Latin =merica and the /aribbean follos the
re*uirements of a liturgy. (n the first part of the public ceremonies &non as or% in 'ahia, the gods are
greeted and called in a fi!ed order as the leader selects songs associated ith each god in turn, ith
the aim of bringing some of that godBs initiates into a state of possession (see Latin =merica, D((().
Leaders ho control large repertories and are familiar ith initiatesB preferences are best able to Cudge
hich songs may prove most effective at different points in the ceremony4 the initiates of each god ill
have accumulated rich funds of e!perience lin&ed to certain items in that godBs repertory.
The demands of ritual and ceremony have long furnished compelling incentives to organi%e,
rearrange, enlarge or abridge repertories. "uch actions are often attributed to legendary sages or to
saints (e.g. the pope -regory (, said in the prologue of the Gth,century cantatorium of )on%a to have
composed this boo& of musical art). The &nalects of /onfucius mention a reform in hich the
pieces in the .oyal songs (ya) and 3raise songs (song) all found their proper places (i!.#7, trans.
Legge). /riteria for determining the proper places are not alays immune to pressures for change.
3
:hen songs and ceremonies are performed according to a ritual calendar, it may be necessary to
create ne compositions at certain times of year. (n "an ?uan 3ueblo, a Tea,spea&ing community of
+e )e!ico, ne songs are composed each year for the Turtle @ance (okushare), held after the
inter solstice, and for the -ourd @ance (pogonshare) or 'as&et @ance (tunshare), one of hich is
performed before the installation of the summer chief. The composers, appointed on the basis of their
musical talent, may elect to recycle portions of earlier songs, perhaps altering ords or melody.
:hatever is borroed must remain in its original position ithin the conventional form of five parts in
the se*uence &&BB&.
The various respects in hich ritual practices emphasi%e composition during performance or
reproduction of compositions provide valuable evidence of the social relationships that the rituals are
designed to maintain among humans, spirits and divinities. :ithout the composition and performance
of ceremonies, humans ould never have learnt to live in communities or to create larger political
entities.
/omposition
3. Myths of creation and transmission.
The importance of composition ma&es it an appropriate (though not an inevitable) subCect of myth and
of discourse and riting that dra on the resources of myth. )yths may focus on the ac*uisition of
songs, dances, ceremonies or musical instruments ithout identifying composers or inventors. (n
learning to perform se*uences of songs and ceremonies, it is not alays necessary to learn ho,
hen and by hom they ere created. )yths may treat compositions simply as te!ts ith specific
uses, or they may account for the creation as ell as the uses of the te!ts.
= poerful rationale for reproducing an e!isting series of compositions is provided by beliefs that the
series preserves the flavour or scent of an ancestor. (n the 3itCantCara language of southern =ustralia
mayu has the dual meaning of sound and flavour, and inma mayu is a melodic contour associated
ith an ancestor ho created a series of songs for the benefit of his descendants (see =ustralia, D((,
7). (n the =randa language the verb tneuma or tnauuma, derived from the root etna (name, verse),
refers e!clusively to the composition of sacred verses by totemic ancestors ("trehlo, #G9#, p.#5$).
>pon emerging from the earth, each ancestor called out his on name, then named specific features
of the surrounding landscape, animals and humans as they ere created. 1aving gained the poer to
control all he had named, the ancestor provided his descendants ith access to this poer by
teaching them to sing his cycle of sacred verses. The ordering of songs in the cycle follos the
ancestorBs itinerary4 hence different portions of a large cycle may be oned by members of different
social groups. Those ho learn to perform the songs and associated ceremonial actions correctly
dra upon the energies deposited by ancestors at particular sites. "ecrecy is indispensable if the
compositions and the art of performance are to be preserved4 accurate &noledge of songs and
ceremonies is not easily ac*uired. "ingers may first learn a false front (inma ngunt'i: untruthful
song) before coming to understand the true song (inma mulapa).
The manner in hich processes of creation and transmission are represented in a peopleBs myths and
cosmologies directs attention toard the attitudes and disciplines that are most appropriate in each
case. The +avaCo ceremonial practitioner Fran& )itchell (#;;#J#G$9) compared the reproduction of
songs, ceremonies and stories ith the agricultural cycle, from seeds through mature plants to ne
seeds. "ince the first thing the 1oly 3eople did as to ma&e a song and a prayer for the plants on the
earth so the earth ould be fruitful, these ere also the first song and prayer that he learnt.
/ompositions are recogni%ed as discrete items hen they can be e!changed for other goods. (n the
'lac&foot (ndian myth of the origin of the beaver medicine bundle, the first human oner of the bundle
receives a series of songs from beaver in return for prepared animal s&ins, ithout ma&ing any
4
particular effort to remember the songs. =lthough subse*uent oners are not li&ely to have learnt the
same poerful songs, the medicine songs used in the beaver cult ould once have been received
from animals or other figures in visions, li&e all other poerful songs. .egularities in formal structure
must have contributed to the relative ease ith hich 'lac&foot songs ere learnt in visions (as +ettl
has argued). (n giving songs to one another, 'lac&foot singers perform them as complete units, Cust
as donors are said to have done in visions. The fact that, in visions of the "alish or Flathead (ndians,
donors almost alays repeat a song several times as they move toards the receiver has been
interpreted as a symbolic reflection of the actual process of composition, though it might also be
understood as evidence of recalling or recomposing songs ()erriam, #G$7). (n the terminology of
the <glala "iou!, giving birth to a song involves to types of transmission: secular songs are made
and caught, but religious songs must be taught and learnt in visions.
:ith respect to the products and processes of composition, divinities and spirits may be represented
as ideal auditors, donors, sources of &noledge and poer, or (less fre*uently) active composer,
performers. (n some cosmologies gods find uses for compositions that resemble those of humans.
The Muich0 )aya (opol #uh (/ouncil boo&) tells ho the tune Hunahpu )onkey received its name
hen the heroic gods 1unahpu and Nbalan*ue played it in order to call their stepbrothers (later the
patron deities of arts and crafts) to dance before their grandmother.
3oet,musicians have portrayed gods as both creators and recipients of instruments and compositional
models. (n the fourth 1omeric 1ymn, 1ermes gives the lyre he has Cust invented to =pollo, informing
him that the instrument teaches through its sound all manner of things that delight the mind so long
as the player en*uires of it cunningly (ll.7;6J8). 3indarBs telfth 3ythian <de (7GO bce) attributes to
=thena the art e!ercised by aulos players in competitions: imitating the ailing of the -orgon Euryala,
she made a melody of all voices for auloi and named it the nome ith many heads. 'oth passages
suggest that successful performance re*uires highly interactive relationships beteen musician and
instrument, musician and model. Li&eise, the singer of the si!th 1omeric 1ymn, hoping to gain
victory in a competition, as&s =phrodite merely to prepare my song, hich still leaves much of the
or& to him.
The uses of myths and legends about relationships of composers to suprahuman sources of energy
and inspiration have not been e!tensively investigated by scholars. (n some cultures, stories of the
composerBs vocation follo a conventional format, ith each ne instance replicating the basic myth.
The a*+k of Tur&ey and =%erbaiCan may receive his vocation hen an =levi religious leader and a
beautiful oman appear to him in a dream, after hich he finds himself able to play the long,nec&ed
lute and to create ne verses and melodies (see Tur&ey). The a*+k receives his subCect matter
(mystical love) and his motivation before ac*uiring his techni*ue4 in other vocation narratives
motivation and techni*ue come before subCect matter. /aedmon, the ;th,century poet,singer
mentioned in 'edeBs ,cclesiastical History of the ,nglish (eople (iv.57), received the gift of singing
freely by the aid of -od in a dream but needed to learn from his fello mon&s the stories and
doctrines he could no convey by means of song.
Location narratives serve to perpetuate conceptions of gender roles. "tories of men ho are inspired
to create songs by love for a oman they have glimpsed in a vision or a picture are far more
idespread than any such stories about omen poet,singers. The #idas of the 3rovenPal troubadours
are a rich source of e!amples (see Troubadours, trouvQres, D(, 5). (n modern Europe the
misconception that omen ere incapable of musical composition as perpetuated, in part, through
the standard plot,lines of composer biographies.
/omposition
4. Terminology and theory.
5
=ttributes of compositions are among the most common topics of discourse about music.
/omposition is an appropriate term hen specific parts or elements of songs or instrumental pieces
can be enumerated, yet the e!tent to hich musicians spea& of Coining together or coordinating
several components is a cultural variable. :ords for such actions as ma&ing, forming, finding and
receiving may or may not imply an interest in the construction of the music that is made, formed,
found or received.
(n the language of the =r0Bar0 of )alaita (sland, the term supaaha designates a composition that has
to, three or four melodic segments (ro-u mani -au or toku mani -au: Coints of a piece). @ifferent ays
of connecting sounds (noroana) and intervals (aahoa) ithin the segments are identified hen
musicians tell stories about composers ho chose to imitate sounds, intervals or rhythms produced
by birds, frogs, humans or other sources of sound.
Technical terms in many languages name the components or factors that must be coordinated in acts
of composition, hether simultaneously or in succession, by a group of collaborators or by a single
composer. (n the 3acific island &ingdom of Tonga, a ne composition may have three composers
(pulotu or fa-u, depending on the genre), ho are responsible in turn for the poetry (ta-anga), its
melodic and rhythmic setting (hi#a) and the arm movements that interpret the poetry (haka)4 a
composer ho can create all three components deserves to be called punake rather than pulotu or
fa-u.
)any practices of singing and recitation are based on pre,composed verbal te!ts that are memori%ed
and performed according to conventional procedures. Ledic recitation (see (ndia, D(, 6(i)) is the classic
e!ample of this conception. = fe of the #O5; hymns of the .g-#eda (e.g. #.#6O.$, 8.5.##, 8.5G.#8)
compare the composition of verse to the construction of a ell,built agon. (t is the poetBs
responsibility to pronounce crafted formulae (tast/n m0ntr/n) that are also true (saty0). "uch
language underlines the importance of maintaining the integrity of the pre,composed te!t in every
performance. /onceptions of the appropriate musical procedures for presenting fi!ed te!ts vary
greatly among the orldBs religions, as does the technical terminology applied to the te!ts and to their
modes of presentation. 3erformers ho reproduce religious te!ts may in some instances believe that
ords and melody ere created as a single entity.
"ung poetry is an effective medium in hich to describe an act of composition or its outcome. To
eulogies in the ancient /hinese Shi 1ing: ('oo& of odes) identify the composer of poem and tune as
ell as the person to hom the composition as offered: Ei,fu has made HuoI the eulogy HsongI4 its
verse HshiI is very great, its air HfengI is e!tensive and fine4 it is presented to the prince of "hen (trans.
Earlgren4 nos.58GJ$O in the te!t of the )ao school). :hether Ei,fu created an e!tensive air to fit his
poem or adapted an e!isting tune, the process of ma&ing the eulogy re*uired coordination of verse
and air. The ancient -ree& lyric poet =lcman (fl c$6O bce) boasts of having devised ords and
melody by organi%ing the tongued cry of partridges (frag.6G). (n the initial strophe and antistrophe of
his third <lympian <de (79$ bce), 3indar spea&s of blending the melodies of phormin! and aulos
ith the setting HthesisI of the verses and of discovering a bright and ne fashion HtroposI by fitting
together a specific metre and tone,system.
=ccounts of individual acts of composition may suggest an implicit theory of music, but e!plicit
theories consist of generali%ations, supported more often than not ith references to e!amples. The
terms in hich theorists treat compositional issues are shared to varying degrees ith other areas of
speculative activity (e.g. cosmology, mathematics, linguistics) and other practices (e.g. architecture,
oratory, painting). (mplications for musical thought lie close to the surface in such metaphysical
statements as the ?eish and /hristian doctrine that -od ordered all things by measure and number
and eight (2isdom of Solomon, !i.5#). For many centuries, and in a number of civili%ations, an
understanding of the universe as composed of harmonious ratios and proportions provided
composers of music ith poerful incentives and constraints.
6
(f there is one compositional issue that has generated more discussion than any other, it is ho to
coordinate poetry, song, dance and instrumental parts. -iven the difficulty of reconciling the claims of
these four components, normative statements about the proper relationship beteen any to of them
are common, ith varying degrees of emphasis on priority (as in 3rima la musica, poi le parole) or on
interdependence. =ccording to 3lutarch (Symposiakon, 979cJ97;"), dancing and sung poetry are
fully associated and the one involves the other, most notably in the genre hyporch3ma4 such
statements need not imply that the to components have e*ual eight.
Theories of music invariably treat more than one level of temporal organi%ation. The section on music
in the famous 4/tya-5/stra attributed to the sage 'harata (see (ndia, D() opens ith statements about
coordinating song (g/na), instrumental music (#/dya) and acting (n/tya) into a unity and combining
notes (s#ara), time,cycles (t/la) and ords (pada) to produce g/ndhar#a (the art named after the
celestial gandharvas, as -ree& mousik3 as named after the )uses). :hatever its point of
departure, any theory specifies a number of components of larger entities and recogni%es constraints
on possible combinations. )ental capacities deemed indispensable to composition and performance
may be e!plicitly ac&noledged or simply ta&en for granted by theorists. =ccording to @attila, hose
treatise overlaps in content ith the 4/tya-5/stra, gandhar#a is a group of notes ell measured
through rhythmic beats Ht/laI and set to ords HpadasthahI hen rendered ith HdueI intentness
Ha#adh/naI (trans. Lath). =s one of the conditions of compositional activity, intentness is comparable
to intuition or understanding (synesis) in the theory of =risto!enus (5nd half of 7th century bce).
'oth terms denote a capacity that enables musicians to coordinate several factors.
=risto!enus devised a set of terms ith hich to analyse speech (le6is), melody (melos) and bodily
movement (kinesis), progressing in each case from points (letters, notes, cues) to conCunctures
(syllables, intervals, figures) and groups (ords, systems). 1is Harmonic ,lements and ,lements of
.hythm enumerate the pertinent variables of melodic composition (melopoiia) and rhythmic
composition (rhythmopoiia). The conse*uences of =risto!enian theory for the musical cultures of
Europe and the +ear East are incalculable, not least in the treatment of tonal organi%ation and
rhythmics as separate branches of musical &noledge.
The chapters on melodic composition in the 7it/" al-m8s9q9 al-ka"9r (-reat boo& on music) of al,
FRrRbi(d G8O) and in the )icrologus of -uido of =re%%o (d after #O66) have long been seen as
fundamental contributions to the music theory of the +ear East and Europe respectively. The
conventional analogy beteen letters and notes, syllables and intervals is treated very differently in
the to or&s. -uido, ho compares the construction of verse ith that of vocal melody in general,
e!tends the analogy to poetic feet and ritten neumes (see +otation, D(((, #), then to lines of verse
and melodic phrases. /omposers of melodies should aim for harmonious correspondences among
neumes and phrases that are sufficiently differentiated4 visual metaphors are appropriate to the
perception of such correspondences, as in -uidoBs li&ening a melodic inversion to the reflection of a
face in a ell.
=l,FRrRbS, comparing the composition of verses ith that of the melodies to hich they are sung, does
not suggest that melodic segments are analogous to groups of syllables. .ather, he emphasi%es
determinations that limit both the number of notes or letters and their natural orderings in entities of
various sorts, from hich poets and composers learn to ma&e appropriate selections. @istinctive
attributes of melodic segments, according to al,FRrRbS and many of his successors, include the e!tent
to hich a given segment is necessary or ornamental, and hether it enhances the salience or the
subtlety of a melodic line. <nce a composer has created a melody, the musicians ho learn and
remember it should &no ho to ma&e suitable alterations, planning them in advance or introducing
them at the moment of performance. .esponsibility for conception and revision of melodies is divided
beteen the se!es in a remar& that al,FRrRbS attributes to the great musician (shR* al,asili (9$9J
;8O): )elodies are te!ts created by men and improved Hin some sources, editedI by omen.
7
The uses for hich compositions are designed have considerable bearing on hich components are
named and hich, if any, are notated. (n remembering the names or reading the notations, musicians
bring into play their habits of associating hatever is named or notated ith other aspects of
composition. )usicologists have underestimated the e!tent to hich notations of poetry can convey
information about rhythm, melody and form to musicians ith the re*uisite training and e!perience. =s
they read a te!t intended for singing, performers may recall or create appropriate rhythms, melodic
contours and formal divisions. )usic historians unfamiliar ith the original conventions of
performance can sometimes ma&e inferences about musical structure from close analysis of poetic
te!ts, as have been shon in a ground,brea&ing study of the /hinese Shi 1ing (3ic&en, #G99).
"ystems of "olmi%ation may assist musicians in remembering songs or in mastering patterns that are
useful in composition during performance. "yllables can represent musical sounds symbolically (as in
most solmi%ation systems) or iconically (hen such phonetic oppositions as tenseTla! and
interruptedTcontinuant are employed to imitate sounds produced on drums, bells, gongs,
chordophones or aerophones). The availability of names for individual sounds and for larger units
increases the degree to hich controls can be e!ercised in teaching and in rehearsal. There is little
need for names in performance genres here the interaction of ensemble members is governed more
by behavioural norms than by any appeal to e!plicit rules or formal schemes. =t the opposite e!treme
stands the ideal of a fully regulated music, in hich discrete elements and units are arranged
according to canonical standards. )usic that is regulated or composed is normally cultivated
alongside other, less restricted idioms, as ?ohannes de -rocheio observed ith respect to 3arisian
musical practice in the #6th century.
/omposition
5. Compositional resources.
(n many times and places musicians have been e!pected to &no not only a repertory of
compositions but also ho! to compose. )usicians ho learn and remember compositions may also
learn ho to revise them. = repertory of compositions may serve as a repertory of models, each of
hich calls for specific types and degrees of elaboration or recomposition during performance. <ther
models are abstractions derived from aural and tactile e!perience, ith or ithout the assistance of
speech or riting. .esources that become familiar to composers through e!perience may also include
conventional formulae, figures, styles and scenarios as ell as individual sounds and intervals.
/omposers often need to ac*uire a command of the movement patterns by hich specific rhythmic
and melodic figures are obtained from instruments.
:hether it is stored in a musicianBs memory or reali%ed in performance, a model summari%es a set of
constraints that applies to one class of compositions or performances, hich is often subsumed ithin
a larger se*uence or cycle (e.g. the minuet and trio ithin a four,movement symphony). =ny model is
composite in certain respects, and some components are li&ely to be mar&ed as more amenable to
variation and rearrangement. )usic theorists adopt various strategies in deciding hich components
and procedures re*uire names and hich are best left unnamed. The history of the pedagogical uses
of models forms a large part of the prehistory of musical analysis. )elodic models figure prominently
in early musical notations, such as the gr/ma, r/ga,demonstrations of the EudumiyRmalai inscription
(9th or ;th century ce) in "outh (ndia and the model antiphons of medieval European tonaries (see
Tonary, D6, and +euma, D#).
The great diversity in human attitudes toards composition ma&es it impossible to formulate general
(that is, cross,cultural) criteria for distinguishing beteen pieces and highly prescriptive models. To
reali%e a model, or to recompose an e!isting piece, musicians must ma&e adCustments so that all
components, hatever their provenance, ill fit together in an appropriate manner. 3layers of the
"ardinian launeddas (a triple clarinet4 see "ardinia) are Cudged by their ability to create subtle
transitions beteen each small melodic unit (noda, from Latin nota) in a conventional se*uence
8
(iskala). Each si%e of launeddas has its on name, its on tuning (cunsertu) and its on iskala, the
basis of composition during performance.
3oet,singers may or may not be e!pected to create ne models that allo for variation in
performance. (n Fulani praise,song (mantoore), a ne model (taakiyaare) is distinguished by its title,
lyrics and performance roles4 the song,as,presented (fi'irde) results from variation (san'a) of the
model. @ifferent verbs are associated ith each of these nouns: one ma&es or comes up ith a
taakiyaareand one brings the fi'irde.
"ome of the simplest models are terms that denote conventional se*uences of actions and help
musicians to remember ays in hich these actions can be performed. (n the funeral songs
("u:ansan) of the @iola,Fogny of "enegal, soloists begin, then proceed to spea& or to praise
before &illing (i.e. terminating) the solo section, an act that cues the ensemble to sing out the
melody. =nother type of model isolates to or more components that must be performed
simultaneously. The 'anda,Linda term ;k.n< (literally, husband or male) designates a simplified
version of any vocal melody or any part in an instrumental ensemble (see /entral =frican .epublic).
Each ;k .n< is, in effect, a formula that can be played or sung in a limited number of ays as it
combines ith other formulae.
)ore comple! sets of models incorporate a number of structural levels. The professional 9gg9! of
)auritania must master a repertory that is organi%ed according to the overall progression of any
conceivable performance and re*uires musicians to select beginnings, continuations and conclusions
from the appropriate categories. )ale players of the tid9n9t (lute) learn a se*uence of four or five
routes (dhuur, sing. dhar4 literally, bac& of a dune) hich must be played in a prescribed order
folloing either the blac& ay or the hite ay. The pieces (e=!aar) and motifs (radd/t) associated
ith each route serve as resources from hich musicians compose their performances. =t all levels
the progression moves from the blac&est entities (connoting youth, strength, ar, honour) to the
hitest (connoting maturity, refinement, love, pleasure)4 hence every performance invo&es many of
the longstanding correlations made by =rab theorists beteen modes and seasons, humours, moral
*ualities and so on (see =rab music, D(, #J6, and )auritania).
Learning such units as the "ardinian nodas or the )auritanian routes and motifs entails learning the
correct, or permissible, se*uences in hich to perform them. The Eorean instrumental genre san'o
(literally, scattered melody,types), developed in the #Gth century as a large,scale frameor& for
improvisation (ch>kh>ng >mak), li&eise places numerous constraints on the ordering of melodic and
rhythmic units (see Eorea). (n the late 5Oth century the san'oof a specific performer on a given
instrument may resemble a fi!ed composition more than a tightly constrained improvisation. The
same observation is often applied to the ce?l m@r (great music, also &non since the #Gth century as
3ibroch) of the "cottish highland bagpipe, in hich variations of a theme (urlar) may once have been
performed in a fle!ible order but are no played in a fi!ed se*uence.
The primary function of such models as the "ardinian iskala and the Eorean san'o is to outline the
basic structure of one performance. )odels of this type, comprising several sections in a prescribed
order, have often provided a focus for competitions, as in the cases of pi"roch and of the ancient
-ree& nomoi. <ther types of competition have favoured nely composed songs that met certain
specifications (for e!amples, see 3uy and )eistergesang, D$). (n numerous instances prescribed
se*uences of melodic formulae and melody types have gradually ta&en on the attributes of fi!ed
compositions.
/ollections of models that are too e!tensive to be treated in full on a single occasion have been
organi%ed in a number of ays, many of hich involve conceptions of mode. "ome modal systems
furnish a limited number of categories for classifying e!isting pieces according to specific features,
such as octave species, =mbitus and Final4 other systems are designed as collections of melody
types that provide guidelines for ne compositions and performances (see )ode, D(, 6, (L, 5, L, 7(i)
9
and L, 7(ii)). = single system may be structured to serve both purposes. = set of categories is easily
associated ith other sets containing the same number of entities (e.g. four seasons or humours,
seven planets, #5 months). Each member of a large open,ended collection of melody types needs its
on personality, a bundle of features that distinguishes it from its neighbours. These may include an
affinity ith particular poetic metres and topics as ell as a vocabulary of characteristic melodic turns
and a se*uence of contrasting melodic registers. "ome bundles of features and options are li&ely to
be far more e!tensive than others, ith the conse*uence that they yield up more of their secrets to
the most e!perienced musicians4 this is notably the case ith the great rRgas of south (ndian music
(e.g. 5ankar/"haranam).
3roper names provide an efficient means ith hich to invo&e the personalities of modal entities and
to specify appropriate se*uences (as in rules of the form y, if used, should follo 6 and precede ).
"ystems that treat mode more as category than as type have less need for proper names4 in such
systems names are more commonly derived from locations in a general scale (e.g. the medieval
European protus, deuterus etc., modelled on the 'y%antine <&tUVchos).
For a troupe preparing a performance of 'eiCing opera, the compositional process ("u'u, arrangement
of the parts) begins ith a decision to use one or both modal systems (erhuang and 6ipi) and perhaps
one or more secondary modes, according to the nature of the dramatic action. +e!t, one metrical type
("anshi) is selected for each group of verses, ith appropriate adCustments and ith attention to the
overall se*uence of metrical types. The resources made available by these decisions are then
employed in composing the specific melodies to be sung by each character.
Large repertories of models can be arranged so as to offer musicians a choice beteen four or more
categories, each of hich contains its on beginnings, continuations and conclusions. The 3ersian
rad9f (ro) is a tightly organi%ed repertory of melody types and relatively fi!ed pieces hich, li&e
san'o, e!ists in different versions for specific instruments (see (ran, D((). )ost versions are subdivided
into seven primary systems (dastg/h) and five secondary systems (/#/), each ith its on
se*uence of smaller units. The rad9f is at once a set of #5 categories and a collection of melody types,
some of hich are strongly associated ith specific poetic metres. /ompetent performers, having
studied the entire rad9f over a period of several years, are capable of ma&ing effective connections
beteen the units they choose to perform on a given occasion4 in this respect the rad9f may be
considered a vast composition designed for pedagogical purposes.
/ompositions that remain recogni%able in any competent performance have also been organi%ed into
large cycles subdivided by tonal category (e.g. the si! suites that ma&e up the TaCi&,>%be&
shashmaq/m4 see /entral asia, D((, 6). To distinguish such cycles from repertories of models is not a
simple matter, especially hen the cycles allo for improvisation at specified points (e.g. the =rab
na!"a or !asla4 see =rab music, D(, $). (n (ra* the term maq/m designates a vocal genre ith
sections in a number of different modes (hich are also called maq/m/t). This feature ma&es the five
suites (fus8l, sing. fasl) of the 'aghdad tradition somehat analogous to the seven primary systems
of the 3ersian rad9f, e!cept that a fasl is regarded as a or& designed to be performed as a hole.
+onetheless, current practice is to arrange the modal components into ne se*uences hile adhering
to the traditional ordering of formal types. (n contrast to the five fus8l, hich are secular, cycles used
in religious ceremonies have retained a prescribed se*uence of modes.
(n the 5Oth century, tendencies to treat large cycles as fi!ed compositions ere more pronounced
than inclinations to assemble older models for use in improvisation. 1istorically these have not been
mutually e!clusive ansers to the *uestion of ho musical resources are understood to have been
organi%ed by earlier generations of musicians. Li&e the invention of a ne genre, the organi%ation of a
collection of models or a repertory of pieces is a compositional achievement fre*uently attributed to
specific individuals, as in the lists of redactors included in #6th, and #7th,century manuscripts of the
=rmenian sharakan (see =rmenia, D((, 5). /onceptions of the pre,formation of musical resources
10
may change rather drastically for many reasons, such as a change in patronage hen a court practice
becomes the national heritage of a modern state.
/omposition
6. Counterpoint.
)odern European conceptions of composition, hich are largely a product of the =rs +ova and
.enaissance, ere made possible by the development of an art and theory of /ounterpoint based on
the older theory and practice of @iscant. The underlying idea is the creation and notation of a detailed
plan for coordinating the actions of to or more performers, each of hom sings or plays one part
ithin a polyphonic te!ture. <ne of the fundamental conditions, a notation capable of specifying the
precise durational values as ell as the pitches of each part, as an achievement of the #6th century.
Each step in the gradual development of increasingly precise notations created ne possibilities for
imagining and eliciting specific responses from performers. =lthough early counterpoint as largely a
singersB art, most contrapuntal techni*ues ere readily transferred to instrumental ensembles, mi!ed
ensembles of voices and instruments and instruments that allo one player to perform multiple parts.
The possibility for one instrumentalist to emulate the coordinated interactions of a group counts as
one of the most distinctive achievements of European musical culture. The elaboration of contrapuntal
theory, the refinement of notational practices and the cultivation of specifically instrumental idioms
ere closely interrelated developments.
(n the #7th century the act of ma&ing and notating a polyphonic or& came to be recogni%ed as a
speciali%ed use of the procedures for adding one or more parts in counterpoint ith a Tenor. 'y the
late #8th century some of the men ho produced such or&s ere called composers. The challenge
of controlling the note,relations beteen tenor and discant (and beteen this duet and any additional
parts) proved conducive to e!perimental attitudes, sustained through a number of stages. 3ossible
stages might have included devising and elaborating a plan, communicating it to performers, hearing
their reali%ation, ma&ing revisions and riting out performance instructions in mensural notation.
:riting invites criticism and revision, hether the obCect is a notated composition, a repertory list or a
treatise on the rules of counterpoint.
To ell,&non remar&s of -uillaume de )achaut display a concern ith the integrity of the artefact
as notated (chose faite, apparently Latini%ed in the #8th century as .es facta). )achautBs plea that his
three,voice ballade 4es que on porroit be read from notation as it is made, ithout adding or ta&ing
aay anything (Aoir dit, letter #O), implies that performers ho introduced changes in one or more
voices might damage the delicate balance achieved through the poet,composerBs control of
relationships among the parts. )achautBs statement that he as not accustomed to sending out
something ( ma&e (chose que ie face) before hearing it (Aoir dit, letter 66) suggests that he as
inclined to ma&e further refinements after trying out one or another combination of voices.
Larious implications of the distinction beteen singing that results in counterpoint and composition
based on the rules of counterpoint ere a maCor concern of theorists in the #8th and #$th centuries.
3rosdocimus de 'eldemandis specifies that the rules for note,against,note to,part counterpoint
given in his Contrapunctus (#7#5) apply to the sung as ell as the ritten varieties, both of hich
presuppose e!perience in singing plainchant. = logically superior distinction occurs in TinctorisBs Bi"er
de arte contrapuncti (#799): counterpoint can be made in the mind or made in riting. +either term
e!cludes instrumental performance, and the counterpoint performed on a given occasion might have
been or&ed out and preserved by either (or both) means. "cholars have offered conflicting
interpretations of the distinctions dran by Tinctoris beteen a notated artefact (res facta, cantus
compositus or compositio) and singing upon the boo& (cantare super li"rum). <nly the former has
parts, hich ere notated in succession but ere presumably composed ith attention to the overall
progression of consonances and dissonances. =s defined in TinctorisBs Terminorum musicae
diffinitorium (possibly ritten c#795J8, published #7G8), a cantus compositusis produced through the
11
relation of the notes of one part to another in multiple ays (trans. 'lac&burn, #G;9, p.587). =ccording
to a remar& in his (roportionale musices, the primary part, hich serves as the foundation of
relationships, is normally the tenor but sometimes the upper voice. Tinctoris does not seem to have
assumed that counterpoint produced by singing upon the boo& ould inevitably fall short of the
standards achieved in the best ritten counterpoint, though other riters (e.g. +icolW 'ur%io, )usices
opusculum, #7;9, ii.$) ere convinced that the counterpoint of singers bore little relation to the rules
of composition. Theorists ho attempted to formulate such rules ran the ris& of underestimating the
e!tent to hich their formulations misrepresent compositional practice.
(n praising the achievements of to generations of composers, Tinctoris e*uated the composerBs
dependence on models ith LirgilBs indebtedness to 1omer. The models ere or&s (opera) that
e!emplified the most up,to,date style of composing (componendi stilus). =ccess to such or&s as
immeasurably increased as, from #8O#, they ere distributed in printed as ell as in manuscript form
(see 3rinting and publishing of music, D(, 5). 1istorical consciousness based on evaluation of notated
compositions and on narratives of a gradual perfection of techni*ue left ample room for discussion of
deficient practices, such as the unritten counterpoint that as subCect to chance and to
unforeseen combinations of notes (see "ortisatio). /omposition as often contrasted ith modes of
performance in hich the rules of counterpoint ere ignored or but loosely observed. -affurius
((ractica musice, #7G$, iii.#8) advised the composer of songs that an immobile tenor or baritone part
as not an appropriate option, since only perfect consonances reached by contrary motion ould
delight the discriminating listener. The very name of the canon (see /anon (i)), referring to the rule
by hich singers could produce polyphony from a single notated part, emphasi%es the distance
separating this compositional genre from its largely unritten predecessors (e.g. .ota and .ondellus).
:e do not &no ho many #$th,century musicians shared /oclicoBs belief, hich he attributed to
?os*uin des 3re%, that e!perience in singing e!temporaneous counterpoint provided indispensable
preparation for composition (Compendium musices, #885). Karlino made a somehat contrary claim:
singers lac&ing e!perience in the composition of counterpoint should not attempt to improvise an
additional part to a notated piece4 the thousand errors committed by uns&illed singers in
improvisation ould become evident as soon as the added parts ere notated, though trained
musicians could recogni%e the errors by ear (Be istitutioni harmoniche, #88;, iii.$7). /oclico insisted
that the rules of composition permit more licences than those of improvised counterpoint. 1is
viepoint is consistent ith the capacity of notations to e!pand a musicianBs aareness of options,
not least the option of riting against a given model or set of rules.
@emands for originality coupled ith respect for models ere met in a variety of ays. =n e!tensive
range of possibilities lay implicit in the idea of composing additional voices to a pre,e!isting melody
(/antus prius factus or /antus firmus) and in the complementary idea of fashioning a contrapuntal
or& on a nely invented tenor. (n the #8th and #$th centuries the possibilities ere most fully
e!plored in polyphonic settings of the )ass <rdinary as a cycle of movements and in the motet.
/onceptions of the composerBs field of action ere profoundly modified by techni*ues presupposing a
potential e*uality among all voices. From the late #8th century until the present the term (mitation has
designated the transfer of an identifiable melodic unit from one voice to one or more of the other
voices, as hen one segment of a cantus firmus is presented by each voice in turn (see also Fuga).
The term ac*uired a different meaning ith the techni*ue of composing a mass in imitation of an
earlier or&, retaining some of its counterpoint4 this is no &non as 3arody (i) techni*ue. (<ther
ays of reor&ing e!isting compositions are considered in the articles =rrangement, 'orroing,
/ontrafactum, (ntabulation, Transcription and Trope (i).)
=n aareness of innumerable compositional possibilities is evident in the maCor #$th,century musical
treatises, most notably in KarlinoBs Be istitutioni harmoniche. Karlino defined the subCect as that part
of a composition from hich the composer derives the invention for ma&ing the remaining parts,
adding that the varieties of subCects are infinite in number (Cstitutioni, iii.5$). 1e also spo&e of an
almost infinite number of possible cadences and of many ays in hich composers might evade a
12
cadence (iii.86). To follo the preparation and evasion of cadences, or the changes in a subCect as it
passes from one voice to another, calls for mental agility on the part of performers and listeners, ho
may need to remember and compare passages of diverse time,lengths (e.g. e!tended or abbreviated
versions of a subCect).
"tudents of composition must have learnt to remember and mentally combine the separate parts that
they read from choirboo&s, partboo&s and the notated e!amples in treatises (see illustration).
E!perience at reconstructing a polyphonic hole hile reading each voice separately ould have
contributed to the development of the intellectual s&ills that are apparent in =utograph composing,
manuscripts of the period around #78OJ#$58 (some three do%en of hich are listed in <ens, #GG9,
pp.#5$J6O). This evidence does not bear out Loins&yBs thesis that composers of imitative vocal
polyphony began, early in the #$th century, to use a "core in hich all voices are vertically aligned.
"ome manuscripts sho composers or&ing ith to voices at a time, &eeping one voice in mind as
they notated or corrected a second, then proceeding to rite out another duet. The order in hich
parts are notated on a page or on one opening of a choirboo& varies considerably, as do the formats
adopted in the surviving s&etches, drafts and fair copies (see "&etch). )anuscripts containing
different versions of one piece do not alays use the same format. The only constant is the apparent
absence of any need for vertical alignment of parts in notations of vocal polyphony, e!cept hen vocal
or&s ere arranged for &eyboard performance. /orrections entered in partboo&s indicate that
composers sometimes lost count of the rhythmic unit. (t is reasonable to assume that notations made
by composers and students on erasable tablets (cartelle) used the same formats as the surviving
s&etches and drafts.
The invention or selection of a subCect and the distribution or elaboration of all the parts became
maCor concerns of compositional theory, treated ith varying degrees of reference to doctrines of
rhetoric. /ontrapuntal procedures ere increasingly differentiated in terms of the styles appropriate
to each compositional genre4 seven vocal genres and the instrumental ricercare are discussed in
3ontioBs .agionamento di musica (#8;;), the main source of /eroneBs treatment of this topic in ,l
melopeo y maestro (#$#6). For e!ample, a grave or learned style of counterpoint might be
obligatory, optional or impossible in a given genre. = compositional interest in subtle combinations and
contrasts of chordal and imitative te!tures is particularly evident in madrigals of the #$th century.
1einrich -larean may have been the first to insist that a musician ho invents a ne theme (i.e.
tenor) should not be considered inferior to one ho adds three or more voices to a pre,e!isting tenor
(Dodecachordon, #879, ii.6;)4 his point as echoed and intensified by Francisco de "alinas (De
musica li"ri septem, #899, vi.#). (n arguing that an inborn talent (ingenium) is essential, hether one
invents a natural tenor or composes a mass, -larean e!tended the semantic field of the verb
componere to cover the ma&ing of -regorian chant (and, by implication, all unaccompanied melody).
1e attributed the perfection of chant to the discipline shon by its composers as they displayed
learning Coined ith piety4 ith this ideal in mind he urged composers of polyphonic or&s to refrain
from immoderate e!hibition of their talent (ostentatio ingenii). 2et hen forced to choose, as in his
encomium to ?os*uin, -larean preferred talent and painsta&ing industry to learning and Cudgment,
and he attributed ?os*uinBs pre,eminence to his native disposition (indoles).
-larean as one of several #$th,century riters ho lin&ed doctrines of composition to interpretations
of music history. (n comparing to applications of talent or genius for composition, he broached a
topic that as richly developed over the ne!t to centuries: the confrontation of ancient and modern
musical poetics. To hat e!tent as a compositional practice based on counterpoint compatible ith
the ancient conception of music as a composite of harmony, rhythm and ordsX /ompeting ansers
to this *uestion greatly enlarged the range of compositional options ith respect to te!ture, many of
hich ere Custified ith appeals to one or another conception of genius.
The art of polyphonic composition could be seen as essential to the cultivation of genius, as in
1ermann Finc&Bs remar& on the di#ersitas ingeniorum: every composer has a certain individual and
13
peculiar Cudgment ((ractica musica, #88$, trans. Loins&y, #G$7, p.7G#). /ontrapuntal techni*ue
could also be seen as an unnatural restraint on human e!pressive capacities, as in the criti*ue of
polyphony that as articulated by -irolamo )ei and carried forard by the members of the Florentine
/amerata. The ideal of a te!ture in hich the energies of a single melodic line ould not be
compromised by other lines ith contrasting ranges, contours and rhythms as reali%ed in (talian
monody of the early #9th century and in opera. The polarity beteen bass and vocal line in monody
resulted from novel applications of some basic principles of to,part counterpoint. The reneal of
musical techni*ue effected through an intense preoccupation ith speech rhythms initiated a long
series of such reneals, hich by the early 5Oth century had affected almost all vernacular languages
of Europe.
= talent or genius for composition as generally regarded as an e!clusively male attribute. (n the
preface to the first of her three collections of madrigals (#8$;), )addalena /asulana decried the vain
error of men, ho so much believe themselves to be the masters of the highest gifts of the intellect,
that they thin& those gifts cannot be shared e*ually by omen (trans. 'oers, #G;$, p.#7O). The vain
error had its foundation in the training of choirboys, ho ere taught singing, counterpoint and, in
favourable cases, composition by their male mentors. (t as amplified through the discourse that
developed as polyphonic music as published and as the merits and defects of compositions ere
assessed. 3reCudice against omen composers remained strong until ell into the 5Oth century (see
:omen in music).
/omposition
. !or"s# styles and ideas.
(n the preface to his Eeistliche Chor-musik (#$7;), "chYt% recommended the study of the
incomparable or&s (un#ergleichliche Opera) composed by the canoni%ed (talian and other classical
authors, old and ne. The recommendation fits ell ith "chYt%Bs argument that e!ercises in strict
counterpoint (ithout 'assum /ontinuum) furnish indispensable preparation for composition in the
concerted style. 'oth components of this pedagogical programme proved to be remar&ably durable
and have often been seen as complementary. =nalysis of model or&s, pinpointing some of the main
compositional decisions, originates in the -erman treatises on musica poetica produced beteen the
late #$th and early #;th centuries (see =nalysis). :or&s of canoni%ed (talian authors became
available to -erman students of composition through the early #9th,century anthologies of
'odenschat%, "chadeus and @onfrid.
:hat "chYt% called the style of church music ithout 'assum /ontinuum as a richer, more
tractable medium than the reinterpretations of #$th,century polyphony that emphasi%ed the absence
of e!pressive figures (see 3rima pratica and "tile antico). )onteverdiBs celebrated distinction treats
first and second practices as appropriate means to different ends, ith no suggestion that
competence in the second presupposes rigorous training in the first. +either practice remained holly
unaffected by the other. For e!ample, in the church music that )onteverdi composed in the prima
pratica, melodic lines may develop momentum as a se*uential descent continues beyond the point
here #$th,century norms ould re*uire a reversal of direction (e!.#). +onetheless, the identity of a
prima praticaor stile antico depends on deliberate avoidance of a host of options (such as
instrumental parts that do not merely double the voices). =lthough the immensely influential #9th,
century classification of church, chamber and theatre styles lin&ed compositional techni*ue to social
milieu and function, none of these large categories as restricted to a single area of techni*ue, and
each alloed for reference to other milieu!. The stile antico as one particularly important option for
church music, narroer in scope than "chYt%Bs style ithout 'assum /ontinuum. "tile
rappresentativo, in contrast, as a comprehensive term for several styles used in monody. The term
emphasi%es the relationship of composer and performer to listener: a representation succeeds only
hen listeners are moved.
14
/onceptions of a timeless art of counterpoint ere not easily reconciled ith proCects orientated
toards representation of the affections (see =ffect, theory of the). <ne solution as to reCect the
notion of timelessness and treat the stile antico or the prima pratica more as a survival than as a
foundation. =nother approach attempted to circumscribe the permissible e!tensions of the strict style
(contrappunto osser#ato). =ll such e!tensions might fall under the heading of contrappunto commune
(as in part 5 of @irutaBs Cl transil#ano, #$OG), or they might be carefully enumerated in the form of
figures (see Figures, theory of musical), as in the treatises of /hristoph 'ernhard. Each of 'ernhardBs
figures as a certain ay of employing dissonances, and each style of counterpoint as confined to
a limited number of figures: four in the stylus gra#is, another #8 in the stylus lu6urians communis and
eight more in the stylus lu6urians theatralis (for illustration, see /ounterpoint, e!.5O). @ifferent lists of
figures, e!tending beyond dissonance treatment, ere dran up by other #9th, and #;th,century
riters (see .hetoric and music, D(). =s contrapuntal theory based on to,part riting as
supplemented or replaced by harmonic theory in #;th,century practices, figures that 'ernhard had
described as irregular resolutions of dissonances ere subsumed ithin familiar progressions of
seventh chords. Figuration became an art of ornamenting the interval,progression of any voice in a
composition hose harmonies ere determined by the bass (see -eneralbass and /ontinuo). The
e!pressive meanings of figures oed as much to their rhythmic and gestural implications as to
contrapuntal and harmonic considerations.
The fact that names for many figures ere borroed from manuals of rhetoric need not imply that the
specific functions of musical figures resembled those of their namesa&es in oratory. )ore important
than the names assigned (hich vary considerably among the sources) as the general idea that a
musical or&, li&e an oration, should be designed and presented in a manner that ould elicit and
shape intense responses from listeners. :ith respect to musical terminology, the most enduring
results of the recogni%ed affinity beteen orator and composer,performer ere distinctions beteen a
subCect or theme and its elaboration, and sets of three or more terms for stages in the compositional
process or for the successive parts of a composition (ultimately including the e!position,
development and recapitulation of sonata form). = composerBs decisions concerning stylistic levels
have also been compared to those of an orator, as in the final chapter of 'urmeisterBs )usica poetica
(#$O$), here the basic distinction beteen grand and modest allos both for a middle and, hen
Custified by changes in the te!t, a mi!ed style. "ome versions of this distinction have focussed, li&e
'urmeisterBs, on the fre*uency of dissonances, hile others have placed greater eight on the social
distance beteen elevated and popular styles.
The proliferation of styles in the #9th and #;th centuries e!tended the composerBs range of options to
include the possibility of fre*uent stylistic contrasts ithin a single or&. <pera, in particular, offered
virtually unlimited opportunities for dramatic Cu!tapositions of styles, such as the scene in )onteverdiBs
Cl ritorno d-Flisse in patria (#$6GJ7O) in hich each of 3enelopeBs suitors oos her in a different style.
=s a result, the operatic repertory of the past four centuries constitutes a comprehensive anthology of
styles and techni*ues. The maCor genres of instrumental music from the late #9th century to the 5Oth
(sonata, concerto, string *uartet etc.) also challenged composers to design coherent se*uences of
te!tural and stylistic oppositions. .elatively prescribed orderings of movements in instrumental cycles
yielded, over time, to increasingly intense demands and desires for originality. @espite their
prominence in #9th, and #;th,century ritings, analogies beteen music and rhetoric do not fully
account for the great variety of situations and interactions represented in opera (and emulated in
instrumental music).
= #9th,century opera and a published set of sacred concertos or trio sonatas are or&s in rather
different senses of the term, reflecting the constraints of the milieu! in hich they ere produced.
/ommercial opera, as developed in Lenice, depended on the collaboration of composers ith
librettists, singers, impresarios and stage designers. The or& as presented on a given occasion
remained subCect to further alterations, and the system of production left ample room for collaborative
or&s involving to or more composers (see 3asticcio). = published set of concertos or sonatas as
a collection, perhaps organi%ed by some &ind of plan but not necessarily intended for performance as
15
a cycle. 3erformers, listeners and students of composition might or might not come to &no the
collection as a hole.
The term opus as first used for such collections as LassusBs posthumously published )agnum
opus musicum ()unich, #$O7) containing 8#$ motets. Liadana as among the first composers to
assign opus numbers to several of his collections according to their order of publication (e.g. op.8,
#8G94 op.5;, #$#5: see <pus (i)). This practice came to be more common for sets of instrumental
or&s, the most famous of hich in the #9th century ere /orelliBs si! opera. /ountless performers
and composers must have &non each sonata or concerto in one or more of /orelliBs collections, all
of hich ent through numerous editions.
:or&s e!plicitly assembled for purposes of compositional pedagogy offered systematic guidance to
various problems of contrapuntal riting. To early e!amples are -.'. LitaliBs &rtificii musicali op.#6
(#$;G) and ?ohann TheileBs )usikalisches 7unstBuch (#$G#, according to a manuscript copy of
c#968J9 in the hand of ?.-. :alther). The achievement that darfs all other efforts in this direction is
the great se*uence of or&s e!tending from ?.". 'achBs Orgel-BGchlein (begun in #9#6) through his
&rt of Hugue (published #98#) J ta&ing in as ell the to,part inventions and three,part sinfonias, Das
!ohltemperirte Cla#ier, the canonic variations on Aom Himmel hoch bv9$G and the )usical Offering.
'achBs mastery in revealing so many effective avenues through hich to address such an e!tensive
series of compositional problems has never been e*ualled.
To of the earliest musical applications of the verb durchfGhren (develop) occur in 'achBs titles for
the Orgel-BGchleinand the inventions and sinfonias: the former offers instruction in developing a
chorale in numerous ays and the latter shos &eyboard players a clear ay A not merely to catch
good in#entiones but to develop the same ell. 'oth underta&ings presuppose the studentBs
competence in reali%ing a thoroughbass, hich as the starting,point of 'achBs pedagogy. Even in the
earliest stages he loo&ed for evidence that a student as capable of inventing ideas (Eedanken), as
/.3.E. 'ach told For&el in a letter of #6 ?anuary #998. (n For&elBs biography of ?.". 'ach (#;O5) this
prere*uisite to instruction in composition became the capacity to thin& musically. For&el speculated
that 'ach himself had learnt to thin& musically by modifying ideas and passages designed for the
violin to ma&e them suitable for the &eyboard4 from this e!perience 'ach had ac*uired the ability to
dra ideas from his on imagination, not from his fingers. For&elBs point might be e!panded to
incorporate 'achBs deep interest in instrumental adaptations of vocally conceived figures, an interest
shared by many of his contemporaries.
From the #;th to the 5Oth centuries discussions of musical thin&ing have referred to many &inds of
composition and performance (including, for e!ample, accompaniment). =ccording to /.3.E. 'ach, a
teacher of accompaniment should demand, as it ere, an accounting of every note, by raising
obCections, to be dispelled Hby the studentI through reasons hy, for instance, this or that note can
function in this ay, not another (Aersuch G"er die !ahre &rt das Cla#ier u spielen, ii, #9$5, p.9). =n
accompanist hose every decision can be Custified is ell prepared for composition, in this
conception. )o%art evidently felt himself capable of Custifying every note in Die ,ntfGhrung aus dem
Serail if, as reported by +iemetsche&, he responded to ?oseph ((Bs complaint of terribly many notes
by saying that his or& contained precisely as many notes as are necessary. The criteria to hich
such statements refer are largely those of the or& itself. This strong conception of a or&Bs
re*uirements as at once a cause and a conse*uence of )o%artBs intense engagement ith each of
the styles and genres he encountered.
The creation of an autonomous art of instrumental music in the late #;th century opened an immense
field for developing musical ideas ithin self,contained or&s. = musical or&, in this ne conception,
has been fully thought out by its composer, and the end result of the composerBs thin&ing calls for
interpretation or rethin&ing on the part of performers and listeners, ho fail to understand the or& if
the composerBs choices stri&e them as arbitrary. Each musical idea in the or& is a small netor& of
relationships that can be reconfigured in unpredictable and potentially meaningful ays as it is
16
connected to other ideas. The or& sustains multiple interpretations as performers and listeners
apprehend and e!perience the processes of alteration and connection set up by the composer.
<ne aspect of this ne relationship beteen composer and public as underlined by Theodor EZrner
in his essay [ber /hara&terdarstellung in der )usi& (#9G8): the conceptual universe of Hthe
composerBsI public is enriched through his creation. :ays in hich to e!perience a or&Bs originality
remained one of the principal topics of music criticism from the late #;th century to the 5Oth.
.evieing the first performance of 1aydnBs /loc& "ymphony, no.#O#, on one of "alomonBs
subscription concerts in the 1anover "*uare .ooms, a London critic avoed that +othing can be
more original than the subCect of the first movement4 and having found a happy subCect no man &nos
li&e 1aydn ho to produce incessant variety, ithout once departing from it ()orning Chronicle, 8
)arch, #9G7). =s in this instance, critics have often directed attention to general principles and to the
composers reputation, ith little or no reflection on processes specific to the or& at hand (perhaps
on the assumption that general principles provide sufficient guidance to listeners). The range of
interpretative options available to listeners and performers became increasingly evident ith repeated
performances of chamber or&s in domestic situations and of symphonies in public concerts.
E!ceptionally challenging or&s ere understood to re*uire repeated hearings, as E.L. -erber noted
ith respect to )o%arts compositions (#9GO). (n the late #;th century this as a rather novel demand,
modelled on the repeated readings or vieings that ere ta&en for granted by connoisseurs of
literature and the visual arts. E.T.=. 1offmann, in his famous revie of 'eethovens Fifth "ymphony
(&)I, !ii, #;OGJ#O), e*uated a deep e!amination of the inner structure of 'eethovens music ith a
readers discovery of the inner coherence of a play by "ha&espeare.
The or&,concept that as first articulated around #;OO ith respect to instrumental music as
ultimately e!tended to most categories of sacred and secular music, including opera and oratorio. The
formation of operatic and concert repertories (see /anon (ii)) created an intricate bac&ground against
hich ne or&s ere composed and evaluated. The polarity beteen interpretation of classics and
creation of original or&s gradually reduced the available space for recomposition as a creative
endeavour, the primary e!ceptions being composers revisions or arrangements of their on or&s.
The values attached to the or&,concept in #Gth,century European musical culture ere most
poerfully e!emplified by 'eethovens compositions and by idely diffused images of 'eethoven as
the archetypal creative artist.
)any of the attitudes adopted by composers, performers and listeners toards the great or&s of the
past and toards ne compositions are associated ith the idea of =bsolute music. @ifferent versions
of this idea have treated various factors as e!ternal to musical e!perience. )oreover, claims on
behalf of the autonomy of musical or&s have carried different implications, depending on the values
assigned to autonomy in one or another set of circumstances. The comple! stratification of European
musical culture in the #Gth and 5Oth centuries ensured both that all such claims ould be challenged
from a number of perspectives and that arguments for musical autonomy ould continue to attract
supporters.
The proliferation of aesthetic controversies may have helped composers to discover and create
uni*ue identities. Tensions beteen aesthetic or political dichotomies and compositional problems
proved fruitful in numerous instances. Lis%t, in a letter to :ilhelm von Len% (5 @ecember #;85),
distinguished beteen or&s in hich traditional, conventional form contains and directs
H'eethovenBsI thought and those in hich the thought stretches, brea&s, re,creates and shapes the
form and style to suit its needs and inspirations4 in 'eethovenBs a&e the composer of genius must
overcome this duality and restore the notions of authority and liberty to their original identity. Lis%t
argued that the dialectic of authority and liberty holds feer dangers in the arts than in politics, seeing
the e!ercise of authority by artists of genius as holly beneficial to society. This point as vigorously
contested in the intense debates over :agnerism, hich began in the #;9Os and continued ell into
the 5Oth century. (n European musical life of the #Gth and 5Oth centuries, or&s designed for public
performance ere strongly associated ith images of the composer as a public figure. The ritings
17
and public statements of composers ac*uired an unprecedented importance, and much discussion of
or&s focussed on reciprocal obligations of composers and listeners. @octrines of tonality and
musical form addressed issues involving both compositional craft and listener response.
/laims that a or&, or a body of or&, has effected a synthesis of disparate elements or opposing
tendencies became a familiar topic of discourse on music, as did prophecies envisaging some such
synthesis. (n a letter to his friend L.=. 'ulga&ov (#8 +ovember #;8$), -lin&a declared himself nearly
convinced that it is possible to unite :estern fugue Hi.e. academici%ed counterpointI ith the
re*uirements of our music by bonds of legitimate marriage. )any composers ho have seen
themselves as outsiders vis,\,vis the :est have made similar statements of their hopes and
intentions, replacing the :estern fugue of -lin&aBs sentence ith other techni*ues or conceptions
(e.g. development of musical ideas) hich they ished to assimilate for their on purposes. "ome
marriages have been happier than others and have ithstood repeated challenges to their legitimacy.
(n the >"= one such marriage produced Ca%%, a remar&ably successful fusion of =frican and European
compositional practices.
/omposition
$. Modernity.
'y the end of the 5Oth century musicians in every part of the orld had engaged themselves ith
:estern ideals and techni*ues of composition, often ith the aim of creating original or&s for public
performance or for distribution as recorded sound. :estern techni*ues ere also employed in ma&ing
arrangements of compositions initially designed for different modes of performance. = tendency to
treat compositions as fi!ed te!ts, capable of transmission by means of notation or sound recording,
as strengthened by the national movements of the #Gth and 5Oth centuries, as ell as by e!panding
netor&s of commerce and communication.
@esires for compositions that ould symboli%e a nationBs identity and aspirations have been
e!pressed by countless participants in national movements and by culture ministries in both
established and nely independent nations. "uch terms as fol& music, traditional music and cultural
heritage refer, more often than not, to repertories that belong to a nation or one of its regions. The
organi%ation of a musical heritage normally involves notation of one or more repertories, portions of
hich are then recycled in ne or&s and arrangements. The compositional genres adopted for
nationalist proCects e!tend from the most ambitious (e.g. opera, oratorio, ballet) to those that are fully
accessible to amateur performers. +ationalist composers have dramati%ed vast stretches of their
nationBs history in or&s that Cu!tapose contrasting styles, genres or ensembles, each ith its on
associations4 one such or& is the 1aya )anggala Eita ("ong to the Lictory of 1appiness and
:elfare) of EanCeng .adQn Tumenggung :asitodiningrat (" #GOG), first performed in #G85 on the
seventh anniversary of (ndonesiaBs 3roclamation of (ndependence (see the detailed outline in 'ec&er,
#G;O, pp.6GJ7G). The dissemination of nationalist compositions most often stops at the nationBs
borders4 among the notable e!ceptions are or&s of Lilla,Lobos and "ilvestre .evueltas.
The global diffusion of :estern pedagogical methods resulted in e!tensive use of notations in the
production and distribution of compositions and arrangements. (n the 3eopleBs .epublic of /hina, for
e!ample, the promulgation of ## model operas in the decade beteen #G$$ and #G99 presupposed
an unprecedented reliance on scores4 singers and instrumentalists ere neither e!pected nor
permitted to devise their on versions of prototypical tunes, as they have continued to do in other
/hinese operatic genres. (n no nation have novel uses of musical notations holly supplanted older
ays of gaining competence in composition and performance, and the increasing availability of
notations has led many composers to assess their limitations and e!plore various alternatives.
/ompositional uses of e*uipment for electronic generation and processing of sounds have shed ne
18
light on older ays of controlling the comple! timbres available from human voices and from so,called
acoustic instruments.
.ecording technology made it possible to reproduce and distribute improvised compositions, some of
hich ac*uired the status of classic or&s and ere transcribed for the use of students. This
practice, central to the criticism and pedagogy of Ca%%, is also found elsehere4 si! recordings made
by the blind /hinese musician =bing (#;G6 or #;G;J#G8O) ere notated and taught in conservatories
as or&s given a final form by their composer, ho may have intended to produce performances that
others might choose to emulate rather than or&s that others might ish to reproduce.
<riginal or&s and arrangements ac*uired ne uses and meanings as they began to be distributed
through recording and broadcasting as ell as through printing. )ost or&s circulated through these
media have carried the names of their authors, though in the case of recordings the names of
composers are often overshadoed by those of performers. /laims of authorship are no supported
in much of the orld by copyright agreements. The production of or&s designed for recording or
broadcasting has given rise to ne forms of collaboration among musicians, sound technicians and
e!ecutives of corporations (as in the case of roc& music). (f some compositional aims are best
pursued through the mediation of computers, others re*uire performers capable of responding to
comple! instructions (dran, in some instances, from a composerBs interaction ith computers). The
efforts of ?ohn /age and others to invent compositions that ere indeterminate of their performances
have elicited a long series of creative responses from musicians, dancers and visual artists ithin and
beyond the :est. )usicians ho act on the instructions given by "toc&hausen in his te!ts &us den
sie"en Tagen of #G$; (e.g. no.##, 3lay or sing a vibration in the rhythm of the limbs of a fello player
A) may or may not produce music that they or others could re,create on a subse*uent occasion.
(n the most general terms, a modern composer is one ho must choose from an e!panded range of
options, encompassing not only stylistic alternatives but also the attitudes one may adopt toards
e!isting musical resources and toards the conflicting demands of various interested parties
(including those ho control the netor&s of patronage and distribution). The availability of ne
options may prompt reflection on those that no longer lie close to hand. (n*uiry into the potential
coe!istence of older and neer ays of ma&ing music has ta&en many forms, lin&ing scholarly
investigation of the history, theory and ethnography of music to composition and performance. 'art]&
in 1ungary, 1aCibeyov in =%erbaiCan, Ephraim =mu in -hana and ?os0 )aceda in the 3hilippines are
but four of the many 5Oth,century composers hose music as profoundly affected by their
involvement in research and their insight into the dilemmas posed by culture contact.
The e!tent to hich modern composers have laid claim to creative autonomy distinguishes them from
the great maCority of their predecessors. :hile e ought not assume that musicians in pre,modern
societies never had occasion to replace one set of procedures ith a radically different set, such
actions became more fre*uent in the 5Oth century. )a!ims enunciated in "travins&yBs (o$tique
musicale (#G75) arn against temptations that seldom arose for pre,modern composers (e.g. a mode
of composition that does not assign itself limits becomes pure fantasy). This conception treats
composition as a form of research, in hich alternatives to any e!isting set of presuppositions may be
formulated and tested. = ne or& may e!plore a uni*ue repertory of elements related by affinities
and disCunctions of various &inds.
The technical resources available to :estern composers ere e!tended in numerous directions at the
same time that composers or&ing outside the :est sought to adapt earlier :estern procedures for
their on purposes. (nnovative approaches to the organi%ation of compositional resources have been
described as techni*ues, methods, systems, musical languages and the li&e (as in "choenbergBs
method of composing ith #5 notes and )essiaenBs Technique de mon langage musical, #G77).
)ost such formulations have found at least as many detractors as admirers. (n no earlier century
ere so many compositional doctrines committed to riting and burdened, at times, ith appeals to
historical necessity. +arratives of ineluctable progress became one of the most idespread types of
19
discourse about music during the 5Oth century, used all too often for purposes of intimidation, yet
serving as ell to motivate the creation of profoundly original or&s. The historicism of 5Oth,century
musical life as continually nourished by compositions that suggested novel interpretations of older
music.
= general history of musical composition in the 5Oth century might focus on ays in hich composers
responded to perceptions of their responsibilities toards predecessors, contemporaries and
members of future generations. "uch perceptions on a composerBs part did not alays match those of
other interested parties, and some of the greatest musical achievements of the century (e.g. the #8
string *uartets of "hosta&ovich) ere produced by composers ho had learnt to resist political
pressures. =ccounts of a composerBs formation often emphasi%e a strong relationship ith the music
of one or more predecessors: Eurt^gBs remar& that my mother tongue is 'art]&, and 'art]&Bs mother
tongue as 'eethoven is representative. "uch remar&s need not be interpreted as symptoms of hat
the =merican literary critic 1arold 'loom termed the an!iety of influence. =ssimilating a
predecessorBs oeuvre much as one gradually masters oneBs mother tongue may reveal a rich field of
possibilities, ith ample space for creative activities that are not constrained by a need to contend
ith competitors. = non,agonistic conception of musical composition seems implicit in "ofiya
-ubaydulinaBs statement that she does not construct her or&s but cultivates them.
Throughout the 5Oth century musical composition retained its longstanding importance as a primary
medium in hich to represent and enact social relationships, ranging from the most aggressive to the
most cooperative. (n a time hen arfare, famine and other social upheavals cut short or disrupted
millions of lives, the enduring lin&s beteen composition and ritual appear to have been strengthened,
both through or&s that probe the potential meanings of e!isting or imagined rituals (as in
"travins&yBs The 2edding, #G55, and 'rittenBs 2ar .equiem, #G$5) and through the creation of ne
performance genres. <ne of the enduring responsibilities of musicians J to reveal unsuspected, or
forgotten, lin&s among multiple dimensions and domains of human e!perience J has been ell served
by a substantial number of 5Oth,century composers. Their achievements enable us to imagine, and
or& toards, a musical future in hich all human beings are encouraged to cultivate their creative
capacities.
For further discussion of 5Oth,century developments, see =leatory4 =tonality4 /omputers and music,
D((4 Electro,acoustic music4 E!pressionism4 -ebrauchsmusi&4 (nformation theory4 "erialism4 "et4
"tochastic4 and Telve,note composition and articles on individual countries and regions.
/omposition
%&%'&(GR)*+,
general
)EEJ KL7ompositionMN 7.1. SachsO (. CahnO .. 7elter"ornO H. .PsingQ
C. '-.i/0trauss: )ythologiques, i: Be cru et le cuit (3aris, #G$74 Eng. trans., #G$G)
).*. Merriam: The &nthropology of )usic (Evanston, (L, #G$7), #$8J;7
!. !iora: Kur Lor, und FrYhgeschichte der musi&alischen -rundbegriffe, &c), !lvi (#G97), #58J85
!. 'aade: )usik der EPtterO Eeister und )enschenR die )usik in der mythischenO fa"ulierenden und
historischen S"erlieferung der APlker &frikasO 4ordasiensO &merikas und Oeaniens ('aden,'aden,
#G98)
1. )ttali: BruitsR essai sur l-$conomie politique de la musique (3aris, #G994 Eng. trans., #G;8)
R. 2innegan: Oral (oetryR its 4atureO Significance and Social Conte6t (/ambridge, #G99)
G. Rouget: Ba musique et la transeR esquisse d-une th$orie g$n$rale des relations de la musique et
de la possession (3aris, #G;O4 Eng. trans., #G;8)
G. %-hague# ed.: (erformance (racticeR ,thnomusicological (erspecti#es (:estport, /T, #G;7)
20
C.'. %oil-s: >niversals of )usical 'ehaviour: a Ta!onomic =pproach, 2orld of )usic, !!viT5 (#G;7),
8OJ$8
%. 3ettl: The 2estern Cmpact on 2orld )usic (+e 2or&, #G;8)
1.). 0lo4oda: The )usical )indR the Cogniti#e (sychology of )usic (<!ford, #G;8), #O5J8O
,. To"umaru and (. ,amaguti# eds.: The Oral and the Biterate in )usic (To&yo, #G;$)
%. 'ortat/1aco4# ed.: B-impro#isation dans les musiques de tradition orale (3aris, #G;9)
2. 'erdahl: /ognitive /onstraints on /ompositional "ystems, Eenerati#e (rocesses in )usicR the
(sychology of (erformanceO Cmpro#isationO and Composition, ed. ?.=. "loboda (<!ford, #G;;), 56#J
8G
1. 5lsner# ed.: )aqam T .aga T IeilenmelodikR 7oneptionen und (rinipien der )usikproduktion
('erlin, #G;G)
+. Ry"er# ed.: 4e! )usic in the OrientR ,ssays on Composition in &sia since 2orld 2ar CC ('uren,
#GG#)
M. %andur: /ompositioTEomposition (#GG$), H)T
M. 0orce 6eller: "iamo tutti compositori_ =lcune riflessioni sulla distribu%ione sociale del processo
compositivo, Sch!eier 1" fGr )usik!issenschaft, ne ser., !viii (#GG;), 58GJ6##
australia# oceania
T.G.+. 0trehlo7: Songs of Central &ustralia ("ydney, #G9#)
M. Mc'ean and M. (r4ell: Traditional Songs of the )aori (=uc&land, #G98, 5T#G9G)
R. Moyle: Songs of the (intupiR )usical Bife in a Central &ustralian Society (/anberra, #G9G)
+. 8emp: =spects of =r0Bar0 )usical Theory, ,th), !!iii (#G9G), 8J7;
0. 2eld: Sound and SentimentR BirdsO 2eepingO (oeticsO and Song in 7aluli ,6pression (3hiladelphia,
#G;5, 5T#GGO)
C. 5llis: &"original )usicO ,ducation for Bi#ing ("t Lucia, Mueensland, #G;8)
M. Clunies Ross# T. 9onaldson and 0. !ild# eds.: Songs of &"original &ustralia ("ydney, #G;9)
1.M. Rossen: Songs of Bellona Csland K4a Taungua o )ungikiQ (/openhagen, #G;9), ;8J#OG
R. 2irth: Tikopia SongsR (oetic and )usical &rt of a (olynesian (eople of the Solomon Cslands
(/ambridge, #GGO)
).'. 6aeppler: The 3roduction and .eproduction of "ocial and /ultural Lalues in the /ompositions
of Mueen "Rlote of Tonga, )usicO EenderO and Culture, ed. ). 1erndon and ". Kiegler
(:ilhelmshaven, #GGO), #G#J5#G
1.M. Rossen: 3olitics and "ongs: a "tudy in -ender on )ungi&i, ibid., #96J;G
+. 8emp# ed.: ,coute le "am"ou qui pleureR r$cits de quatre musiciens m$lan$siens KM&r$Mar$O Ules
SalomonQ (3aris, #GG8)
south/east asia
1. %ec"er: Traditional )usic in )odern 1a#aR Eamelan in a Changing Society (1onolulu, #G;O)
1. %ec"er# ed.: 7ara!itanR Source .eadings in 1a#anese Eamelan and Aocal )usic (=nn =rbor,
#G;7J;)
M. Roseman: Healing Sounds from the )alaysian .ainforestR Temiar )usic and )edicine ('er&eley
and Los =ngeles, #GG#)
east asia
'.5.R. *ic"en: Telve .itual )elodies of the TBang @ynasty, Studia memoriae Belae Bart@k sacra
('udapest, #G8$, 6T#G8G), #79J96
'.5.R. *ic"en: /hiang EueiBs 4ine Songs for VGeh, )W, !liii (#G89), 5O#J#G
M. Gimm: Das VGeh-fu tsa-lu des Tuan &n-chieh (:iesbaden, #G$$)
'.5.R. *ic"en: "ecular /hinese "ongs of the Telfth /entury, S), viii (#G$$), #58J95
!. )driaans:: = ?apanese 3rocrustean 'ed: a "tudy of the @evelopment of Danmono, 1&)S, !!iii
(#G9O), 5$J$O
21
!. 6aufmann: )usical .eferences in the Chinese Classics (@etroit, #G9$)
'.5.R. *ic"en: The "hapes of the Shi 1ing "ong,Te!ts and their )usical (mplications, )usica
asiatica, i (#G99), ;8J#OG
'ee +ye/gu: ,ssays on 7orean Traditional )usic ("eoul, #G;#)
'.5.R. *ic"en: The )usical (mplications of /hinese "ong,Te!ts ith >ne*ual Lines, and the
"ignificance of +onsense,"yllables, ith "pecial .eference to =rt,"ongs of the "ong @ynasty,
)usica asiatica, iii (#G;#), 86J99
&. 2ritsch: = /omparison of To%anryu and Ein&oryu "ha&uhachi =rrangements for "an&yo&u -asso
)ade from (dentical <riginals, VT), !v (#G;6), #7J6O
%. ,ung: )odel <pera as )odel: from Sha'ia"ang to Saga"ong, (opular Chinese Biterature and
(erforming &rts in the (eople-s .epu"lic of ChinaO XYZYTXY[Y, ed. '.". )c@ougall ('er&eley, #G;7),
#77J$7
).R. Thrasher: The )elodic "tructure of 1iangnan Sihu, ,th), !!i! (#G;8), 569J$6
%. ,ung: Da (u: the .ecreative 3rocess for the )usic of the "even,"tring Kither, )usic and
Conte6tR ,ssays for 1ohn ). 2ard (/ambridge, )=, #G;8), 69OJ;6
).R. Thrasher: 1a&&a,/hao%hou (nstrumental .epertoire: an =nalytic 3erspective on Traditional
/reativity, &sian )usic, !i!T5 (#G;;), #J6O
).R. Thrasher: "tructural /ontinuity in /hinese Sihu: the Ba"an )odel, &sian )usic !!T5 (#G;G),
$9J#O$
3.1. 3ic"son: The .epertoire in .evie: /onflations and /onse*uent E!positions, )usic from the
Tang Court, v (/ambridge, #GGO), 67J#O$
+. de 2erranti: /omposition and (mprovisation in "atsuma 'ia, )usica asiatica, vi (#GG#), #O5J59
5. !ichmann: Bistening to TheatreR the &ural Dimension of Bei'ing Opera (1onolulu, #GG#), #6#J98
8hang ;ue: &kkulturationsph\nomene in der gegen!\rtigen )usikkultur Chinas (1amburg and
Eisenach, #GG5)
1. 0toc": )usical Creati#ity in T!entieth-Century ChinaR &"ingO his )usic and its Changing )eanings
(London, #GG$)
india
M. Ghosh# ed. and trans.: 'harata: 4atyasastra, ii (/alcutta, #G$#)
5. te 3i<enhuis: Cndian )usicR History and Structure (Leiden, #G97), ;OJ#5#
5. te 3i<enhuis: & History of Cndian Biterature, vi: )usicological Biterature (:iesbaden, #G99)
M. 'ath: & Study of DattilamO a Treatise on the Sacred )usic of &ncient Cndia (+e @elhi,#G9;)
).R. Catlin: Aaria"ility and Change in Three 7arnataka 7riti-sR a Study of South Cndian Classical
)usic (diss., 'ron >., #G;O)
R. !iddess: The ./gas of ,arly Cndian )usicR )odesO )elodies and )usical 4otations from the
Eupta (eriod to c.XJ]^ (<!ford, #GG8)
central asia# middle east
). 0hiloah: Le poQte,musicien et la cr0ation po0tico,musicale au )oyen,<rient, VCH)C, vi (#G97),
85J$6
6. Reinhard: @as +aBt des (tr` und seine Lersionen, 1" fGr musikalische Aolks- und APlkerkunde, !i
(#G;7), GJ6O
). 0ieglin: Cnstrumentalkompositionen der tGrkischen 7unstmusik in ihrer Beiehung um )akamO
(e*re# und Sa semai in den )akamen .astO F**ak and Hi_a (1amburg, #G;7)
'.&. al/2aru=i: The "uite in (slamic 1istory and /ulture, 2orld of )usic, !!viiT6 (#G;8), 7$J$8
). 1ung: Wuellen der traditionellen 7unstmusik der Fs"eken und Tadshiken )ittelasiens (1amburg,
#G;G)
5. 3eu4auer: Kur 'edeutung der 'egriffe Eomponist und Eomposition in der )usi&geschichte der
islamischen :elt, Ieitschrift fGr Eeschichte der ara"isch-islamischen 2issenschaften, !i (#GG9),
6O9J$6
22
africa
6.*. !achsmann: The Earliest "ources of Fol& )usic in =frica, S), vii (#G$8), #;#J$
1.9. 0apir: @iola,Fogny Funeral "ongs and the +ative /ritic, &frican Banguage .e#ie!, viii (#G$G),
#9$JG#
*. %erliner: The Soul of )"iraR )usic and Traditions of the Shona (eople of Iim"a"!e ('er&eley,
#G9;)
C. 6eil: Ti# SongR the Sociology of &rt in a Classless Society (/hicago, #G9G), G9J#89
>.6. )ga7u: The (mpact of Language on )usical /omposition in -hana: an (ntroduction to the
)usical "tyle of Ephraim =mu, ,th), !!viii (#G;7), 69J96
0. )rom: (olyphonies et polyrythmies d-&frique centrale (3aris, #G;84 Eng. trans., #GG#)
>. 5rlmann: )odel, Lariation and 3erformance: FulBbe 3raise,"ong in +orthern /ameroon, VT), !vii
(#G;8), ;;J##5
>. 9ehou?: Chants ; penser g"aya (3aris, #G;$)
2. 6atam4a and *. Coo"e: Ssematim"a ne 7ik!a"anga: the )usic and 3oetry of a -anda 1istorical
"ong, 2orld of )usic, !!i!T5 (#G;9), 7GJ$$
G. 6u4i": Theorie, =uffYhrungspra!is und Eompositionstechni&en der 1ofmusi& von 'uganda: ein
Leitfaden %ur Eomposition in einer ostafri&anische )usi&&ultur, HGr EyPrgi Bigeti, ed. /. Floros
(Laaber, #GG#), 56J#$5
M. 3:e7i: )usical (ractice and Creati#ityR an &frican Traditional (erspecti#e ('ayreuth, #GG#), #O#J
69
G. Rouget: Fn roi africain et sa musique de cour (3aris, #GG$)
).). Mensah: /ompositional 3ractices in =frican )usic, The Earland ,ncyclopedia of 2orld )usicO
iR &frica, ed. ..). "tone (+e 2or&, #GG;), 5O;J6#
ancient greece
2.R. 'e.in: Synesis in =risto!enian Theory, Transactions of the &merican (hilological &ssociation,
ciii (#G95), 5##J67
9.). Camp4ell# ed. and trans.: Ereek Byric (London, #G;5JG6)
). %ar"er: Ereek )usical 2ritings (/ambridge, #G;7JG)
%. Gentili: (oesia e pu""lico nella Erecia anticaR da Omero al A secolo (.ome and 'ari, #G;84 Eng.
trans., #G;;)
1. +erington: (oetry into DramaR ,arly Tragedy and the Ereek (oetic Tradition ('er&eley and Los
=ngeles, #G;8)
M.'. !est: &ncient Ereek )usic (<!ford, #GG5)
christian chant
*. !agner: ,infGhrung in die gregorianischen )elodienO iiiR Eregorianische Hormenlehre
(Leip%ig,#G5#)
*. 2erretti: ,stetica gregorianaO ossia Trattato delle forme musicali del canto gregoriano, i
(.ome,#G67)
'. Treitler: 1omer and -regory: the Transmission of Epic 3oetry and 3lainchant, )W, l! (#G97),
666J95
'. Treitler: a/entonateb /hant: S"les Hlick!erk or , pluri"us unusX, 1&)S, !!viii (#G98), #J56
+. +usmann: )adrace und "eblata J .epertoireuntersuchungen %u den 1ymnen Ephraems des
"yrers, &c), !lviii (#G9$), ##6J8O
).!. Ro4ertson: Benedicamus Domino: the >nritten Tradition, 1&)S, !li (#G;;), #J$5
6. 'e.y: <n -regorian <rality, 1&)S, !liii (#GGO), #;8J559
1. Mc6innon: The Eighth,/entury Fran&ish .oman /ommunion /ycle, 1&)S, !lv (#GG5), #9GJ559
europe
23
1. %outi@re and )./+. 0chut:: Biographies des trou"adours (3aris,#G8O, rev. 5T#G$7 by ?. 'outiQre)
T. Georgiades: )usik und SpracheR das 2erden der a"endl\ndischen )usik dargestellt an der
Aertonung der )esse ('erlin, -Zttingen and 1eidelberg, #G87, 5T#G974 Eng. trans., #G;5)
5.T. 2erand: Kum 'egriff der a/ompositiob im #8. und #$. ?ahrhundert, C)SC. ACCR Cologne XY]`,
#O7J9
R. Croc"er: @iscant, /ounterpoint, and 1armony, 1&)S, !v (#G$5), #J5#
+. *ohlmann: Die HrGhgeschichte des musikalischen Frhe"errechts Kca.XZ^^TX`^^Q (Eassel, #G$5)
!. !iora: )usica poetica und musi&alisches Eunster&, Hestschrift 7arl Eusta# Hellerer um
sechigsten Ee"urtstag, ed. 1. 1Yschen (.egensburg, #G$5), 89GJ;G
5.5. 'o7ins"y: )usical -enius: Evolution and <rigins of a /oncept, )W, l (#G$7), 65#J7O, 79$JG84
repr. in )usic in the Culture of the .enaissance and Other ,ssays (/hicago, #G;G), i, 7OJ$$
C. 9ahlhaus: )usica poetica und musi&alische 3oesie, &)!, !!iii (#G$$), ##OJ57
). !eis %ent:on: The BauneddasO a Sardinian Holk )usic Cnstrument (/openhagen, #G$G)
5.T. Cone: The Composer-s Aoice ('er&eley and Los =ngeles, #G97)
+./+. 5gge4recht: )usi&alisches @en&en, &)!, !!!ii (#G98), 55;J7O4 repr. in )usikalisches
DenkenR &ufs\te ur Theorie und asthetik der )usik (:ilhelmshaven, #G99), #6#J8#
'. 2inscher: @ie aEntstehung des Eomponistenb: %um 3roblem Eomponisten,(ndividualitdt in der
)usi& des #7. ?ahrhunderts, C.)&S, vi (#G98), 5GJ78
'. Gushee: =nalytical )ethod and /ompositional 3rocess in "ome Thirteenth and Fourteenth,
/entury )usic, &ktuelle Hragen der musik"eogenen )ittelalterforschungR Basle XY[], #$8JG#
*. Coo"e: The 3ibroch .epertory, (.)&, cii (#G98J$), G6J#O5
M. %ielit:: )usik und ErammatikR Studien ur mittelalterlichen )usiktheorie ()unich, #G99)
3. Temperley: The )usic of the ,nglish (arish Church (/ambridge, #G9G)
'. Treitler: .egarding )eter and .hythm in the &rs &ntiqua, )W, l!v (#G9G), 857J8;
6./1. 0achs: @ie a=nleitung A auff allerhand =rth einen /horal durch%ufYhrenb, als 3aradigma der
Lehre und der "at%&unst ?ohann "ebastian 'achs, &)!, !!!vii (#G;O), #68J87
5. )pfel: Eeschichte der 7ompositionslehreR #on den &nf\ngen "is gegen X[^^
(:ilhelmshaven,#G;#4 enlarged 5T#G;8)
+.M. %ro7n: Emulation, /ompetition, and 1omage: (mitation and Theories of (mitation in the
.enaissance, 1&)S, !lv (#G;5), #J7;
M. %ent: .esfacta and Cantare Super Bi"rum, 1&)S, !!!vi (#G;6), 69#JG#
3. *irrotta: )usic and Culture in Ctaly from the )iddle &ges to the Baroque (/ambridge, )=,#G;7)
C.>. *alisca: Humanism in Ctalian .enaissance )usical Thought (+e 1aven, /T, #G;8), 6$GJ766
1. %o7ers: The Emergence of :omen /omposers in (taly, #8$$J#9OO, 2omen )aking )usicR the
2estern &rt TraditionO XX]^TXY]^, ed. ?. 'oers and ?. Tic& (>rbana, (L, #G;$), ##$J$9
%.1. %lac"4urn: <n /ompositional 3rocess in the Fifteenth /entury, 1&)S, !l (#G;9), 5#OJ;7
). Mann: Theory and (racticeR the Ereat Composer as Student and Teacher (+e 2or&, #G;9)
!. 0eidel: 2erk und 2erk"egriff in der )usikgeschichte (@armstadt, #G;9)
*. Cahn: Kur Lorgeschichte des a<pus perfectum et absolutumb in der )usi&auffassung um #8OO,
Ieichen und Struktur in der )usik der .enaissance, ed. E. 1ortschans&y (Eassel, #G;G), ##J5$
C.>. *alisca: The Hlorentine CamerataR Documentary Studies and Translations (+e 1aven, /T,
#G;G)
*. +iggins: Tracing the /areers of Late )edieval /omposers: the /ase of 3hilippe 'asiron of
'ourges, &c), l!ii (#GGO), #J5;
+. 9anuser# ed.: )usikalische Cnterpretation (Laaber, #GG5)
'. Goehr: The Cmaginary )useum of )usical 2orks (<!ford, #GG5)
1. 'ester: Compositional Theory in the ,ighteenth Century (/ambridge, )=, #GG5)
!. !e4er: The .ise of )usical Classics in ,itheenth-Century ,nglandR a Study in CanonO .itual and
Cdeology (<!ford, #GG5)
R. 6ramer: Distant CyclesR Schu"ert and the Concei#ing of Song (/hicago, #GG7)
R.C. !egman: From )a&er to /omposer: (mprovisation and )usical =uthorship in the Lo
/ountries, #78OJ#8OO, 1&)S, !li! (#GG$), 7OGJ9G
*. +iggins: )usical a3arentsb and their a3rogenyb: the @iscourse of /reative 3atriarchy in Early
)odern Europe, )usic in .enaissance Cities and CourtsR a Hestschrift for Be!is Bock!ood, ed. ?.=.
<ens and =. /ummings (:arren, )(, #GG9), #$GJ;$
24
1.). (7ens: Composers at 2orkR the Craft of )usical Composition XZ]^TXb^^ (+e 2or& and
<!ford, #GG9)
*. +iggins: (arents and (receptorsR &uthorityO BineageO and the Conception of the Composer in ,arly
)odern )usical Culture (<!ford, forthcoming)
the americas
).*. %ritton: Theoretical Cntroductions in &merican Tune-Books to X`^^ (diss., >. of )ichigan, #G7G)
).*. Merriam: ,thnomusicology of the Hlathead Cndians (/hicago, #G$9), 6J57
C.1. 2ris4ie and 9.*. Mc)llester# eds.: 4a#a'o Blessing!ay SingerR the &uto"iography of Hrank
)itchell X``XTXYb[ (Tucson, =K, #G9;)
M. 'a >igna: <&ushare, )usic for a :inter /eremony: the Turtle @ance "ongs of "an ?uan 3ueblo,
Selected .eports in ,thnomusicology, iiiT5 (#G;O), 99JGG
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9. Tedloc"# ed.: (opol AuhR the )ayan Book of the Da!n of Bife (+e 2or&, #G;8)
%. 3ettl: Blackfoot )usical ThoughtR Comparati#e (erspecti#es (Eent, <1, #G;G)
). %o7en: The 1istory of .emembered (nnovation: Tradition and its .ole in the .elationship
beteen )usical :or&s and their 3erformances, 1), !i (#GG6), #6GJ96
T. Turino: )o#ing a!ay from SilenceR )usic in the (eru#ian &ltiplano and the ,6perience of Fr"an
)igration (/hicago, #GG6)
G. %-hague: Latin =merican )usic, c. #G5OJc. #G;O, The Cam"ridge History of Batin &merica, !
(#GG8), 6O9J$6
1./M. %eaudet: Souffles d-&maonieR les orchestres tule des 2aycpi (3aris, #GG9)
). 8a": The (oetics of .ock CompositionR )ultitrack .ecording as Compositional (rocess (diss.,
/>+2, #GG9)
25