Musical Currents from the Left Coast, edited by Jack Boss and Bruce Quaglia, presents a timely snapshot of the analytical concerns and methodologies that have proliferated throughout the current moment in North American music theoretical circles. The repertoire spanned within this volume is extensive. It covers music from J.S. Bach through the late 19th Century and continues finally to the modernist, avant garde, and post-modernist repertoire of the past century. Previously neglected aspects of musical structure, such as rhythm and meter, are presented here on equal footing with the traditional preoccupations of harmony and thematic process. Meter in particular is treated in great depth here: it is explored from the perspectives of both listener and performer and treats repertoire as diverse as Bach, Chopin, traditional African music and the popular music throughout the world that has disseminated from that tradition. The music and ideas of composer Arnold Schoenberg are central to many of the essays presented here. Schoenberg’s oft remarked upon masterpiece, Klavierstuck, Op.11, No.1, forms the focus of an entire section of the book. Four notable Schoenberg scholars of the younger generation revisit this seminal work on the eve of its centenary in order to reflect not only upon the work itself, but also upon the prodigious discourse that has surrounded it since nearly the date of its composition. More broadly, Schoenberg’s compositional and analytical concerns resonate through many of the other essays presented here, too. His concepts of “The Musical Idea” and “Developing Variation” are treated extensively in relation to the music of Anton Webern and Johannes Brahms, respectively. Musical Currents from the Left Coast will be of great interest to any individuals and institutions with an investment in the contemporary discourse of music theory and will be of special interest to scholars beyond that field who are also engaged with the work of Arnold Schoenberg.
Jack Boss is Associate Professor of Music Theory at the University of Oregon, and President of the West Coast Conference of Music Theory and Analysis. His articles on the music of Schoenberg, Beethoven, and Bernard Rands may be found in Music Theory Spectrum, the Journal of Music Theory, Perspectives on New Music, Intégral, and Music Theory Online. He is presently completing the survey of Schoenberg’s twelve-tone music for the Yale University Press “Composers of the Twentieth Century” series.Bruce Quaglia is Associate Professor Lecturer of Music Theory at the University of Utah. He has given numerous presentations throughout the United States on the music and musical thought of composer Arnold Schoenberg and was a Fellow at the 2007 Mannes Institute for Advanced Studies in Music Theory: Schoenberg and his Legacy. Forthcoming publications address the music of Charles Wuorinen, Late Stravinsky, and Luciano Berio. His reviews appear in Music Theory Online and Computer Music Journal. Since 2007 he has served as the Secretary and Treasurer for the West Coast Conference of Music Theory and Analysis.
