Review of Carl Schachter,The Art of Tonal Analysis: Twelve Lessons in Schenkerian Theory, ed. Joseph N. Straus (Oxford University Press, 2016)

Abstract

[1] Carl Schachter is widely admired as a leader in the field of music theory and analysis, largely on the basis of his celebrated textbooks, published essays, and conference presentations. However, many of those who have been fortunate to study with him have long felt that it is within the classroom setting that Schachter's skills as a musician and scholar shine the brightest. The transcribed classroom lectures that make up The Art of Tonal Analysis now allow others to share in the experience of Schachter's classes as well.[2] I considered recusing myself from reviewing this book, since I am far from a disinterested judge of it. I have taken or audited around fifteen semesters of Schachter's seminars over the course of more than thirty years, including the class in 2012 that formed the basis of this book, and owing to my attendance in the class I was invited by Oxford University Press to write a blurb that appears on the book jacket. I nonetheless decided to participate in this review colloquium for reasons similar to ones that Carl Schachter offered in his own review of Ernst Oster's translation of Heinrich Schenker's Free Composition (Schachter 1981), for I feel I can offer a special perspective on this text and its approach.[3] The Art of Tonal Analysis is divided into twelve chapters or "lessons," each roughly corresponding to a class session. An appendix offers Schachter's answers to general questions posed by students, followed by a glossary of basic Schenkerian terminology and a bibliography of works cited. Most chapters are devoted to analyzing one or two pieces; the two exceptions are Lesson One, which examines the use of linear progressions and neighbor notes in a handful of compositions, and Lesson Ten, which focuses on issues of rhythm, hypermeter, and phrase structure. The composers Schachter discusses at length are the same ones favored by Schenker: J.S. Bach, G.F. Handel, Joseph Haydn, W.A. Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms, along with some discussion of works by Domenico Scarlatti, C.P.E. Bach, and Felix Mendelssohn. No other composer is mentioned for much more than a single sentence.[4] The analytic discussions sometimes start at the beginning of a piece, sometimes in the middle; sometimes with the foreground, sometimes at a deeper level. At one moment Schachter might address an abstract theoretic concept, the next a down-to-earth practical matter. In each case he allows the reading to emerge gradually during the discussion, rather than simply presenting a completed voice-leading sketch as a fait accompli. The lessons mostly explore the voice leading of a specific composition, but the discussion often strays to the examination of rhythm, form, performance, hermeneutics, editions, text-music interactions, related issues in other compositions, and similar topics. Although Schachter does mention stylistic issues at length, in most cases he examines the compositions as if they were timeless artworks rather than as cultural artifacts of a specific time or culture. The book uses no footnotes and keeps jargon to a minimum.[5] Occasionally Schachter cites works from the scholarly literature. Most of these are classic essays. Unlike many other authors, he does not extensively engage with current music-theoretic trends or publications; the most recent publication Schachter mentions is from 2006. Not surprisingly, the scholar he cites most often is Heinrich Schenker. When relevant to the discussion at hand, Schachter elaborates on various subtleties of Schenker's theories, shedding much light on some Schenkerian concepts that are often misunderstood or overlooked, such as those dealing with linear progressions and motivic parallelisms. He also discusses a few of Schenker's own analyses; a notable instance of this is his brilliant elucidation of the reading in Schenker 1969 of Chopin's Etude in C minor, op. 10, no. 12 (31-43).[6] As one may glean from the description above, the chapters of this book are not organized internally in a rigorously systematic manner. …