Skip to content

Booksellers & Trade Customers: Sign up for online bulk buying at trade.atlanticbooks.com for wholesale discounts

Booksellers: Create Account on our B2B Portal for wholesale discounts

The Musical Image: A Theory of Content

by Laurence D. Berman
Save 17% Save 17%
Current price ₹9,582.00
Original price ₹11,499.00
Original price ₹11,499.00
Original price ₹11,499.00
(-17%)
₹9,582.00
Current price ₹9,582.00

Imported Edition - Ships in 18-21 Days

Free Shipping in India on orders above Rs. 500

Request Bulk Quantity Quote
+91
Book cover type: Hardcover
  • ISBN13: 9780313284342
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • Subject: N/A
  • Publisher: Greenwood
  • Publisher Imprint: Greenwood
  • Publication Date:
  • Pages: 408
  • Original Price: GBP 75.0
  • Language: English
  • Edition: N/A
  • Item Weight: 744 grams
  • BISAC Subject(s): Instruction & Study / Theory and Instruction & Study / Appreciation

A musical phrase, or, for that matter, a musical unit of any size or shape, becomes an image whenever we imagine it to be invested with a content whose origins lie outside music. Such a content, according to the theory developed here, constitutes the image's conventional significance; it accounts for whatever strikes us about the image as having a common and familiar ring. That being so, the origins in question must be coincident with the fundamental ideas--the archetypes--that have been traditionally represented as underlying and unifying Western culture. As the theoretical constructs they are, arehctypes are never encountered directly. It is in the form of their local variants that we make contact with the archetypes, and it is at this local level that the present book sets its sights: style, the typical or shared element in the musical imagery of a time and place, is studies as a function of Zeitgeist, the complex of beliefs, values, and ideals of a community. The approach is both thematic and historical, in keeping with a key objective of archetypal criticism.

Far from repudiating the popular notion that music expresses the human emotions, this study attempts to recast emotion theory by examining musical images for kinds of behavior from which we may infer not only emotion (pathos, effectus) but also personality (ethos). Ethical and affective distinctions are very sharply drawn, in an effort to clarify and widen the vocabulary of musical commentary, as well as to provide cultural and historical backing for contents long considered the cliches of musical expression.

Berman, Laurence D.: -

LAURENCE BERMAN is a pianist and Associate Professor of Music at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, where he gives courses in the history and theory of music. His areas of academic specialization include turn-of-the-century French music as well as music aesthetics and criticism, and he has published articles on composers, most frequently Debussy, in reference books, journals, and essay collections.

Trusted for over 49 years

Family Owned Company

Secure Payment

All Major Credit Cards/Debit Cards/UPI & More Accepted

New & Authentic Products

India's Largest Distributor

Need Support?

Whatsapp Us