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Emotion and Meaning in Music (Phoenix Books) | 
| Author: Leonard B. Meyer
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
Category: Book
List Price: $19.00
Buy New: $10.50
You Save: $8.50 (45%)
New (20) Used (16) from $6.80
Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 41552
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 315
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.7
ISBN: 0226521397
Dewey Decimal Number: 780.1
EAN: 9780226521398
ASIN: 0226521397
Publication Date: February 15, 1961
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
"Altogether it is a book that should be required reading for any student of music, be he composer, performer, or theorist. It clears the air of many confused notions . . . and lays the groundwork for exhaustive study of the basic problem of music theory and aesthetics, the relationship between pattern and meaning."—David Kraehenbuehl, Journal of Music Theory "This is the best study of its kind to have come to the attention of this reviewer."—Jules Wolffers, The Christian Science Monitor
"It is not too much to say that his approach provides a basis for the meaningful discussion of emotion and meaning in all art."—David P. McAllester, American Anthropologist
"A book which should be read by all who want deeper insights into music listening, performing, and composing."—Marcus G. Raskin, Chicago Review
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
excellent smooth reading April 1, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I have yet to finish up with the book but it's a very clear thorough book. Meyer explains details that you thought couldn't be explained. I have intuited a lot of the material but it is so darn gratifying to see it written, to see I haven't made it up out of thin air!
Really a must read!!!
A true classic January 19, 2007
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
What can I say? This book is essential reading for anybody who loves music. Period.
A masterpiece in its own right November 15, 2005
20 out of 20 found this review helpful
How many music theory books written over 45 years ago are still taken seriously, never mind still in print?
It was my great pleasure to study with Leonard Meyer at the University of Pennsylvania from '86 through '89. Even though I am a composer and not really a theorist any more, I consider him one of my most influential teachers. His writings and lectures deeply affected me as a composer in that his understanding of music -- how it works, how it affects us, how our individual cognitive processes come to bear on what we are hearing -- found its way into my aesthetic. Even though Dr. Meyer in later years came to argue with himself (this was tremendous fun, by the way: sitting in his lectures, listening to him tell himself why his earlier writings were so wrong), this is great stuff, written by a great man.
Be forewarned that in spite of the title, this is musically technical stuff: don't expect vague, poetic philosophizing. The analyses are intense and detailed and require a strong background in music theory and form.
a truly innovative work April 23, 2004
18 out of 18 found this review helpful
I see that the other reviewers here either hate this book or love it. I fall in the latter category. Having studied music theory extensively, this is the one book that actually deals with music as a communicating art, not as a bunch of symbols on paper. I think that any composer of music (pop, Classical, rock, etc.) could learn valuable pointers on how to write music that is interesting and moving to the listener. One of the problems with much 20th Century music is that it exists on paper as something interesting, but does not reach the ear as such. It appears that Leonard Meyer has been daring enough to admit that music can affect people's emotions and maintain their interest intellectually, rather than just existing as an exercise in note placement (alla Schenker or Forte).
Very good January 30, 2004
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
I found this book quite enlightening, as well as pleasant to read. Like Professor Tolkien's hobbitts, I enjoy books that tell me things I already intuited but had no terms for.The book explains concepts by illustrations from several fields. If you are familiar with even one of the fields, it gives you immediate insights to the others.
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