THE MAIN PRINCIPLES OF THE SET THEORY

Authors

  • Rolands Kronlaks

Keywords:

set theory, musical analysis, atonal music, theory of phonemes

Abstract

The musical set theory is a concept used for the characterization of the musical objects and their relationships. Not only is the set theory popular as a whole but also its separate elements, aspects and terms. Many of the basic axioms – sound set, intervallic vector, etc. – have been rooted in the western music theory so fundamentally, that are being used without special explanations and references to sound set theory as the first source. In the course of the article the historical development of the theory and its main developer Allen Forte is mentioned, whose work The Structures of Atonal Music (1977) is the most famous research of musical set theory. Today the set theory is used not only as a concept of musical analysis but also as an instrument for composing music. Several leading contemporary music composers – Magnus Lindberg, Hanspeter Kyburz and others – use the principles of the set theory in order to organize the parameters of harmony of their compositions.

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References

Forte, Allen. The Atonal Music of Anton Webern. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1998

Forte, Allen. The Structure of Atonal Music. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1977

Hanson, Howard. Harmonic Materials of Modern Music: Resources of Tempered Scale. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1960

Lewin, David. Generalized Musical Intervals and Transformations. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987. Reprinted, New York: Oxford University Press, 2007

Published

02.06.2024

Issue

Section

MUSICAL COMPOSITION RESERACHED BY SCHOLARS OF HARMONY, FORM AND GENRE

How to Cite

THE MAIN PRINCIPLES OF THE SET THEORY. (2024). Mūzikas akadēmijas Raksti, 7, 160–170. https://scriptamusica.lv/index.php/mar/article/view/213