Graphic Music Analysis - by Eric Wen (Paperback)

About the Book

This book approaches Schenkerian analysis in a practical and accessible manner fit for the classroom, guiding readers through a step-by-step process. It is suitable for advanced undergraduates and graduate students of musicology, music theory, composition, and performance, and...

Book Synopsis

This book approaches Schenkerian analysis in a practical and accessible manner fit for the classroom, guiding readers through a step-by-step process. It is suitable for advanced undergraduates and graduate students of musicology, music theory, composition, and performance, and it is replete with a wide variety of musical examples.

Review Quotes

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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

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.