A Major Step Forward: Changing Conceptions of Whole Tone and Scale Step in Ancient and Medieval Theory
Oct 28, 2011·
Caleb Mutch
Image credit:Abstract
The relationship between the whole tone and the concept of the scale step within speculative theory played a crucial role in the sixteenth-century reconceptualization of the relative importance of the “horizontal” and the “vertical” dimensions of music. A longstanding medieval-era conflation of these two concepts had suited monophonic music, but prevented the theorizing of a consonant major third. It was only by rejecting this tradition and utilizing different sizes of scale steps, a practice which Zarlino linked to Greek Antiquity, that theorists were able to propose just intonation and to respond fully to contemporary harmonic developments, such as triadic composition.
Date
Oct 28, 2011
Event
Society for Music Theory annual conference
Location
Minneapolis, MN
