Transformational analysis in practice: Music-analytical studies on composers and musicians from around the world: (Series in Music)

'Transformational analysis in practice' is a Must-Have for everyone working in the field or aspiring to develop their music-analytical and theoretical skills in transformational theory. This co-authored book puts together a plethora of analytical studies, diverse both in the repertoires covered and the methodologies employed. It is a much-needed anthology in this sub-field of music analysis, which has been developing and growing in recent years, reaching ever wider outlets in English-speaking countries and beyond, from dedicated conference panels to YouTube videos. The book is divided into four parts based on the repertoires under discussion. Part I encompasses four analytical studies on familiar composers from the European Romanticism of the nineteenth century. Part II analyzes the music of less familiar composers from Brazil and Turkey. Part III offers four contrasting ways to adapt the analytical capabilities of neo-Riemannian theory to the post-tonal music of the twentieth century. Catering to the interests of jazz performers and researchers, as well as those into popular music production, Part IV offers transformational analytical approaches to both notated and improvised jazz, emphasizing John Coltrane's performance. Providing an invaluable synthesis of a wide range of analytical studies, this book will be an essential companion for many musicology students, as well as for performers and composers.

About the Author :
Dr. Bozhidar Chapkanov is a pianist, composer, and researcher who specializes in the field of Neo-Riemannian theory and analysis. His doctoral thesis titled 'Harmony and Tonality in Liszt's Late Piano Music - Functional and Transformational Analytical Perspectives' develops a hybrid methodology for the transitional repertoires of the late nineteenth century, utilizing the strengths of both Hugo Riemann's 'Funktionstheorie' and the innovative approaches of Neo-Riemannian analysis. Commencing his doctoral studies in 2017 at City, University of London, and completing in 2022, Bozhidar Chapkanov has enjoyed frequent appearances at international conferences, presenting his findings in Italy, France, Portugal, Croatia, and the UK. His publication in the 'Italian Rivista di analisi e teoria musicale' titled 'An Analytical Study into Weitzmann Regions in the late Piano Works of Franz Liszt' shows the importance of the augmented triad for Liszt and claims that a visually enhanced Neo-Riemannian methodology can put enough emphasis on this sonority and demonstrate that it was a generator of musical syntax for the composer. Having similar motivations as a starting point for the current book, Dr. Chapkanov believes that transformational analysis can open our eyes and ears to many harmonic details in the music of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, which remain obscure in other modes of analysis. Therefore, the current project is seen as an important step in broadening the reach of his field of research and allowing more music practitioners to understand music better through the aid of transformational theory and analysis.

Review :
"A marvelous volume, and a significant milestone in the maturation of neo-Riemannian thought, shown throughout to be so much more than just L, P, and R. The studies within expand the purview of this system far past its originally envisioned late-Romantic domain, with compelling applications to novel repertoires, versatile new analytical techniques, and robust new formalisms--all presented accessibly. This is the bedside reader that devoted neo-Riemannians have long been waiting for!" FRANK LEHMANN Professor of Music, Tufts University Author of 'Hollywood Harmony: Music Wonder and the Sound of Cinema' (Oxford University Press, 2018) "Following different threads from transformational theory, this collection takes the discipline to many new places. It introduces us to fresh repertoires - from 19th-century Brazil to 20th-century Turkey; from Webern to Coltrane - and offers new approaches - from re-evaluations of the Tonnetz to the field of music production. What a fabulous addition to the body of literature on transformational and neo-Riemannian music theory." KENNETH SMITH Professor of Music Theory, University of Liverpool Author of 'Desire in Chromatic Harmony' (Oxford University Press, 2020)