Russian Theoretical Thought in Music

Offers readers new ways of conceptualizing music and new insights into music created in Russia.

Since its original publication in 1983, Russian Theoretical Thought in Music has become the standard English-language source of information about music theory as it developed in Russia. Because of the distance of culture and language, music theory developed there largely independent of the traditions of Western Europe. Over the decades of Soviet rule, those traditions flourished and were refined even further into a fascinating world of ideas. Exploring this world offers the reader new ways of conceptualizing music and new insights into music created in Russia.
This compelling volume includes Ellon Carpenter's overview of the development of music theory in Russia, followed by a look into the ideas of six particularly important theorists. Nicolas Schidlovsky examines the theoretical underpinnings of Russian Orthodox chant; Gordon McQuere probes the remarkable ideas of Boleslav Yavorsky and the seminal contribution of Boris Asafiev; and Roy Guenther explores the analytical system of Varvara Dernova.

Contributors: Ellon D. Carpenter, Allen Forte, Roy G. Guenther, Gordon D. McQuere, and Nicolas Schidlovsky.

Gordon McQuere is Professor of Music and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Washburn University.