Graphic Music Analysis: An Introduction to Schenkerian Theory and Practice

About the Book

Graphic Music Analysis presents Schenkerian analysis in a practical and engaging manner that will resonate with musicology, theory, and composition students, as well as performing musicians. With over 650 musical examples, Eric Wen guides students through the step-by-step process of creating graphic representations of music and reveals how Schenkerian ideas evolve out of analytical issues in the works encountered. Rather than promoting an analytic method for its own sake, Wen derives structural techniques from their particular musical situations to help students engage directly with the music.

The textbook has an online companion website (textbooks.rowman.com/wen) featuring:

Full scores and recordings of the works discussed in the bookDownloadable workbook of additional pieces to analyzeDetailed commentary on Schenker’s own analysis of J. S. Bach’s Prelude in C from Book 1 of The Well-Tempered Clavier
An instructor’s manual with a step-by-step guide to analyzing the supplementary workbook examples is also available. Please email textbooks@rowman.com for more information.

Table of Contents:

Section 1 – Graphic Music Analysis
Chapter 1: Highlighting Notes and Making Connections between Them
Chapter 2: Figuration
Chapter 3: The Linear Progression
Chapter 4: The 5–6 succession
Chapter 5: Structural Levels
Chapter 6: The Introduction to Mozart’s “Dissonance” Quartet
Section 2 – Semper idem, sed non eodem modo
Chapter 7: The Fundamental Structure (Ursatz)
Chapter 8: Urlinie Descents from 3
Chapter 9: Urlinie Descents from 5
Section 3 – Techniques of Elaborating the Ursatz
Chapter 10: Substitution
Chapter 11: Delaying the Initial Tone of the Urlinie
Chapter 12: Boundary Play and the Obligatory Register
Chapter 13: Sequences
Chapter 14: Non-Structural Harmonies
Chapter 15: Implied Tones
Chapter 16: Mixture
Chapter 17: Relocating the Urlinie
Chapter 18: The Phrygian 2
Chapter 19: The Auxiliary Cadence
Chapter 20: Non-Tonic Expansions
Section 4 – Tonal Structure and Musical Form
Chapter 21: The Parallel Period (A A´)
Chapter 22: Variants of the Parallel Period
Chapter 23: A B A Form
Chapter 24: A B A' Form (with simple A)
Chapter 25: A B A' Form (with compound A)
Chapter 26: Sonata Form in the Major Mode
Chapter 27: Sonata Form in the Minor Mode
Epilogue

About the Author :
Eric Wen is recognized as one of today’s preeminent experts in Schenkerian analysis. He has published numerous academic articles, and presented papers at many universities and conferences, including all five International Schenker Symposiums. A member of the faculty at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia since 1999, Wen has also taught in the doctoral program at The Graduate Center (CUNY), as well as at the Juilliard School and Mannes College of Music in New York. Before then he taught at the University of London, as well as the Guildhall School and Royal Academy of Music in London, where he also served as editor of The Strad magazine and The Musical Times.

Review :
Wen is to be commended and congratulated on having offered the music analysis community so many penetrating musical insights… A valuable resource for scholars, pedagogues, students and musicians alike. Having published a textbook, a workbook, an extensive instructor’s manual, a supplementary commentary on the C major Prelude (which requires a separate study of its own) and a stand-alone analytical monograph, all within the space of just a few years, Wen has brought together years of teaching experience and graphic-analytical work of exceptional quantity and quality. Eric Wen’s Graphic Music Analysis: An Introduction to Schenkerian Theory and Practice offers a level of depth unusual for an introductory textbook and presents analyses that will be stimulating to anyone involved in Schenkerian studies. . . . the rigor of Wen’s demonstrations is remarkable, and students will benefit by returning to already-read sections of GMA after some time has passed, and periodically. . . .The star quality of GMA is without a doubt the rare analytical discernment Wen demonstrates, which. . . should be evident to anyone who explores his graphs deeply. Eric Wen has long been known as a leading Schenkerian scholar and a dynamic, inspirational teacher of tonal analysis. Both of these traits are fully on display in this wonderful book—an engrossing and welcoming introduction to the deeper meanings of the great works of the classical, tonal tradition. Wen underlines the close connection between analysis and writing. He explains analytical terms on the basis of their graphic representation and from the beginning applies them to fine examples from well-known and remarkable works of Western tonal music. The book presents a rich variety of compositional possibilities in a balanced mixture of simple and rather complex examples, explained clearly and in detail. Further, Wen offers short and instructive historical information on the pieces and repeatedly highlights the contrapuntal fundamentals of tonal music The synthesis of artistic intuition and intellectual rigor in Heinrich Schenker’s theory of structural levels has always presented conundrums for any pedagogy; the transmission of his method has usually depended on an oral tradition in which students develop their analytical insights in dialogue with recognized experts. Although no textbook will ever replace this process of apprenticeship, Eric Wen’s imaginative new book comes closer than any text I have seen. Professor Wen, who is one of our most creative analysts, manages to explain the technical complexities of the theory in lucid detail while showing students how analysis can respond to the unique sound world of each musical composition. I would use this book in my classes in Schenkerian analysis and encourage others to do so as well. Richly illustrated, comprehensive in scope, and scrupulous in its attention to musical detail, Graphic Music Analysis lays out paths to understanding the hierarchic nature of common-practice music. Drawing on years of expert teaching, Eric Wen provides students with tools for performing linear analyses of tonal music. The book sets new standards in the domestication of Schenker’s thought for the twenty-first century American classroom. In Graphic Music Analysis Eric Wen draws upon decades of experience to elucidate the layered patterns and underlying linear structures of common-practice period tonal music, all engagingly explained through the analytic system of reduction developed by Heinrich Schenker early in the twentieth century. Clearly written and generously appointed with elegantly executed examples, Graphic Music Analysis offers not just a powerful method of analyzing tonal music, but also a rewarding way of hearing that music, which should be of compelling interest to theorists and practitioners alike. Eric Wen’s Graphic Music Analysis leads gently, but authoritatively, from very simple analytical decisions to nuanced readings of complete pieces. The repertoire, which emphasizes chamber and symphonic works, is a joy. The method is Schenkerian, but the humane approach of Donald Francis Tovey helped to inspire this remarkable text. Drawing upon his extensive experiences teaching the concepts to students, Eric Wen presents a view of Schenkerian analytical techniques in clear and engaging language, with attention to the irreducible significance of the performer’s role in expressing these concepts in performance. The book will be beneficial to students new to Schenkerian analysis, seasoned scholars, and performers alike.