Central and East European
Society for Phenomenology

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226954

Applications of DFT to the theory of twentieth-century Harmony

Jason Yust

pp. 207-218

Abstract

Music theorists have only recently, following groundbreaking work by Quinn, recognized the potential for the DFT on pcsets, initially proposed by Lewin, to serve as the foundation of a theory of harmony for the twentieth century. This paper investigates pcset "arithmetic" – subset structure, transpositional combination, and interval content – through the lens of the DFT. It discusses relationships between interval classes and DFT magnitudes, considers special properties of dyads, pcset products, and generated collections, and suggest methods of using the DFT in analysis, including interpreting DFT magnitudes, using phase spaces to understand subset structure, and interpreting the DFT of Lewin's interval function. Webern's op. 5/4 and Bartok's String Quartet 4, iv, are discussed.

Publication details

Published in:

Collins Tom, Meredith David, Volk Anja (2015) Mathematics and computation in music: 5th international conference, MCM 2015, London, UK, June 22-25, 2015. Dordrecht, Springer.

Pages: 207-218

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-20603-5_22

Full citation:

Yust Jason (2015) „Applications of DFT to the theory of twentieth-century Harmony“, In: T. Collins, D. Meredith & A. Volk (eds.), Mathematics and computation in music, Dordrecht, Springer, 207–218.