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Just in time : towards a theory of rhythm and metre

Just in time : towards a theory of rhythm and metre
Just in time : towards a theory of rhythm and metre

Many musicians (whether composers, performers, or writers) see rhythm as the most fundamental and indispensable element of music. But paradoxically, this general recognition of the paramount importance of the durational parameters of music (rhythm and metre), that ended up working against them: the 'naturalness' of rhythm and metre, made theorists feel too confident that their own aesthetic preferences reflected the essence of these parameters. The result is the subordinate position attributed to rhythm and metre by the traditional music theory, which seeks to understand them in relation to pitch structure. This thesis instead proposes a purely durational approach which assesses the operation and qualities (mainly salience and kinesis) of rhythm and metre, and their interaction with other music parameters. The proposed model is supported by a series of experiments and illustrated in three analytical case studies.

University of Southampton
Lopes, Eduardo
6620eb03-d720-42a3-8cea-529939cecdf8
Lopes, Eduardo
6620eb03-d720-42a3-8cea-529939cecdf8

Lopes, Eduardo (2003) Just in time : towards a theory of rhythm and metre. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

Many musicians (whether composers, performers, or writers) see rhythm as the most fundamental and indispensable element of music. But paradoxically, this general recognition of the paramount importance of the durational parameters of music (rhythm and metre), that ended up working against them: the 'naturalness' of rhythm and metre, made theorists feel too confident that their own aesthetic preferences reflected the essence of these parameters. The result is the subordinate position attributed to rhythm and metre by the traditional music theory, which seeks to understand them in relation to pitch structure. This thesis instead proposes a purely durational approach which assesses the operation and qualities (mainly salience and kinesis) of rhythm and metre, and their interaction with other music parameters. The proposed model is supported by a series of experiments and illustrated in three analytical case studies.

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Published date: 2003

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 464918
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/464918
PURE UUID: 088ed6b4-b343-414b-97c0-ab2924a71ca9

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Date deposited: 05 Jul 2022 00:09
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 19:49

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Author: Eduardo Lopes

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