Editor’s Message

Dear MTO readers,

I am pleased to announce an exceptionally rich and wide ranging new issue of Music Theory Onlinevolume 18.4—with articles on Stravinsky, Russian theory, Lassus, Schenkerian interruption, Robert Schumann, Elliot Smith, and Chopin. Readers will find a radically new format in Joseph Straus’s “Three Stravinsky Analyses” with scores at the center and links to analytical commentary. Philip Ewell’s article “Rethinking Octatonicism” complements Straus’s analyses; Ewell provides a Russian perspective on the much-debated topic of octatonicism in Stravinsky’s music. Timothy Chenette’s “Hearing Counterpoint within Chromaticism” provides new insights into Lassus’s famously enigmatic Prophetiae Sibyllarum, and Chenette includes original performances of the Prologue, Sybilla Persica, and Sybilla Europaea for listening and study. Yosef Goldenberg explores the theoretical challenges and myriad manifestations of “fill” between the distinct branches of Schenkerian interruption structures. Benjamin Wadworth explores structural and expressive aspects of directional tonality in early works by Robert Schumann. Rob Schultz draws connections between tonal pairings and themes of paradox and/or contradiction in songs by the American singer-songwriter Elliot Smith. Finally, Eugene Montague considers “instrumental gestures”—the physical movements required to perform a piece—and their potential for analysis in the case of Chopin’s Ètude in A-flat major op. 25, no. 1.

Volume 18.4 also features timely reviews of three books that will no doubt have prominent places on our bookshelves. Chelsea Burns reviews Analytical and Cross-Cultural Studies in World Music, edited by Michael Tenzer and John Roeder (Oxford, 2011). Jonathan Kochavi reviews the recipient of this year’s SMT Citation of Special Merit award, The Oxford Handbook of Neo-Riemanninan Theories, edited by Edward Gollin and Alexander Rehding (Oxford, 2011). And David Thurmaier reviews three books on the Beatles in the Praeger Singer-Songwriter Collection, focusing especially on The Words and Music of Paul McCartney by Vincent P. Benitez (Praeger, 2010).

My sincere thanks to Karen Bottge (associate editor) for working with me on all aspects of MTO, to Steven Rings (reviews editor) for commissioning the book reviews, to Kyle Adams (guest reviews editor) for editing the three reviews in this issue, to Brent Yorgason (managing editor) for his tireless work behind the scenes, to the editorial board for their thorough and constructive reviews, and to the editorial assistants for all their dedication, hard work, and attention to detail.

We would like to encourage new and creative submissions to MTO. Although we are especially well suited for the publication of articles that incorporate recordings, videos, and other media, we also welcome submissions in any number of formats, including full-length articles, shorter essays and commentaries, conference reports, and entire special volumes.

Comments in response to this issue’s articles may be submitted to the Editor for publication in the next issue. Also, please refer to our submission guidelines, if you are interested in submitting.

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All MTO volumes dating back to our first issue in 1993 can be accessed from the contents page at http://www.mtosmt.org/issues/issues.html. Thank you, as always, for your support of MTO - a Journal of the Society for Music Theory.