Thomas Christensen

Bio: Thomas Christensen is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Music & Tonality. The author has an hindex of 8, co-authored 17 publications receiving 519 citations.

Rameau and Musical Thought in the Enlightenment

Abstract: List of illustrations Foreword by Ian Bent Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Rameau and the Enlightenment 2. Rameau as music theorist 3. Precursors of harmonic theory 4. The generative fundamental 5. The fundamental bass 6. The corps sonore 7. Mode and modulation 8. Rameau and the philosophes 9. D'Alembert 10. The final years Appendices Select bibliography Index of subjects Index of proper names.

Aesthetics and the Art of Musical Composition in the German Enlightenment: Selected Writings of Johann Georg Sulzer and Heinrich Christoph Koch

Abstract: Foreword Ian Bent Part I. Johann Georg Sulzer: General Theory of the Fine Arts (1771-74): Selected Articles Introduction Thomas Christensen 1. Aesthetic foundations 2. The creative process 3. Musical issues Part II. Heinrich Christoph Koch: Introductory Essay on Composition, Vol. II (1787) Introduction Nancy Kovaleff Baker Preface Introduction 4. The aim and the inner nature of compositions and, above all, the way in which they arise Index.

Music Theory and the White Racial Frame

Abstract: For over twenty years, music theory has tried to diversify with respect to race, yet the field today remains remarkably white, not only in terms of the people who practice music theory but also in the race of the composers and theorists whose work music theory privileges. In this paper, a critical-race examination of the field of music theory, I try to come to terms with why this is so. I posit that there exists a “white racial frame” in music theory that is structural and institutionalized, and that only through a deframing and reframing of this white racial frame will we begin to see positive racial changes in music theory.

As Wonderful as Star Clusters: Instruments for Gazing at Tonality in Schubert

Abstract: been grateful to a dull description that faithfully guides me to the places where great artistic experiences await."' So rhapsodized Donald Francis Tovey at the end of his 1928 essay entitled "Tonality"--later reprinted as "Tonality in Schubert"-in response to his own description of the D-minor passage preceding the recapitulation of the first movement of the BPMajor Piano Sonata, D. 960, of 1828. Although we will gaze on this music in due time, our telescope first takes the measure of Tovey's metaphor, which is striking for reasons that Tovey probably did not intend. The traditional metaphorical source for tonal relations is the ola system, where positions are determined relative to a central unifying element.2 A star cluster evokes a network of elements and rela-

Defending the Dodecachordon: Ideological Currents in Glarean's Modal Theory

Abstract: Although Heinrich Glarean's assertion of a twelvefold modal system is well known, the diverse ideological forces that guided his inquiry into the nature of mode and its presentation to the public have been only partially explored. Assessment of Dodecachordon from an ideological perspective reveals a remarkable symbiosis among rationalist, religious, and humanist currents, a marked concern for religious orthodoxy, and a strong advocacy of traditional plainchant. A universalist view of the concepts defined in music theory guides Glarean's interpretations of ancient Greek theory and Latin plainsong alike. Cultural factors had a decisive impact upon the exposition of theory in Dodecachordon.

A History of Modern Aesthetics

Abstract: Volume 1: 1. Prologue Part I. Aesthetics in Britain, 1725-1800: 2. Hutcheson to Hume 3. Hogarth, Burke, and Gerard 4. From Kames to Alison and Stewart Part II. French Aesthetics in Mid-Century: 5. Andre to Rousseau Part III. German Aesthetics between Wolff and Kant: 6. The first generation of Wolffian aesthetics 7. German aesthetics at mid-century 8. Coming closer to Kant Part IV. Kant and After: 9. Kant 10. After Kant. Volume 2: Part I. German Aesthetics in the First Half of the Nineteenth-Century: 1. Early Romanticism and idealism 2. In the shadow of Schelling 3. The high tide of idealism 4. In the wake of Hegel Part II. (Mostly) British Aesthetics in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century: 5. Ruskin 6. Aestheticism 7. Bosanquet and Tolstoy Part III. German Aesthetics in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century: 8. In the shadow of Schopenhauer 9. Neo-Kantian aesthetics 10. Psychological aesthetics: play and empathy. Volume 3: Part I. German Aesthetics in the Twentieth Century: 1. German aesthetics between the wars: Lukacs and Heidegger 2. German aesthetics after World War II Part II. Aesthetics in Britain until World War II: 3. Bloomsbury, Croce, and Bullough 4. First responses to Croce 5. Collingwood Part III. American Aesthetics in the First Half of the Twentieth Century: 6. Santayana 7. The American reception of expression theory I: Parker to Greene 8. Dewey 9. The American reception of expression theory II: Cassirer and Langer 10. After Dewey and Cassirer Part IV. Wittgenstein and After: Anglo-American Aesthetics in the Second Part of the Twentieth Century: 11. Wittgenstein 12. The first wave 13. The second wave.

A biological rationale for musical consonance.

Abstract: The basis of musical consonance has been debated for centuries without resolution. Three interpretations have been considered: (i) that consonance derives from the mathematical simplicity of small integer ratios; (ii) that consonance derives from the physical absence of interference between harmonic spectra; and (iii) that consonance derives from the advantages of recognizing biological vocalization and human vocalization in particular. Whereas the mathematical and physical explanations are at odds with the evidence that has now accumulated, biology provides a plausible explanation for this central issue in music and audition.