Society for Music Theory

Editor’s Message

It is my pleasure to introduce Animating the “Inside,” a special volume of MTO (15.1) that takes full advantage of our unique format. The seven articles featured here explore the analytical possibilities of transformational theory in new ways, inviting the reader “inside” the music through innovative and interactive computer animations. Opening with a contextualizing introduction by John Roeder, who coordinated the contributions to this volume, each of the articles explores a single work, or section thereof. Authors Robin Attas, Mustafa Bor, Scott Alexander Cook, Stephanie Lind, and John Roeder explore such diverse 20th-Century repertoire as Berg’s “Schlafend trägt man mich” (1909), Bartók’s Op. 14/2 Scherzo (1916), Stockhausen’s Klavierstück III (1952), Pépin’s Toccate no. 3 (1961), Rochberg’s sixth string quartet (1978), Bryars “A Man in a Room, Gambling” (1992), and Adès’s Arcadiana (1994).

Also in this volume are two reviews: Jack Boss examines Michael Cherlin’s fascinating book, Schoenberg’s Musical Imagination, and Don Traut provides an inside look at Henry Martin’s recent textbook, Counterpoint: A Species Approach Based on Schenker’s “Counterpoint.”

I would like to take a moment to recognize the work of Brent Yorgason who, in addition to coordinating the time-consuming preparation of this volume, worked tirelessly with Dave Headlam in order to achieve a (mostly) smooth transition to the new SMT server. In addition, I would like to thank our editorial board members, who have been enthusiastically tackling an unprecedented number of submissions. Finally, I am extremely appreciative of our growing staff of editorial assistants, Sean Atkinson (Florida State University), Gregory Decker (Florida State University), William Guerin (Indiana University), Mitch Ohriner (Indiana University), Crystal Peebles (Florida State University), Sarah K. Sarver (Florida State University), Jennie Smith (Florida State University), and Alan Theisen (Florida State University).

On another note, we always welcome new submissions. Authors may be on the lookout for our new submission guidelines, which will be available online in the very near future. We have decided to move towards an author-date system, reducing the number of clicks required to read in the online format. As you know, MTO is uniquely suited for the publication of articles that incorporate recordings, videos, and other media. We do welcome submissions in any number of formats, however, including full-length articles, shorter commentaries, and entire special volumes. Comments in response to this issue’s articles may be submitted to the Editor for publication in the next issue.

Our dynamic listings for job announcements, upcoming conferences, calls for papers, new dissertations, and new books are updated automatically as soon as we receive and approve any new listing. Readers can check the MTO listings at any time to find current information on recent announcements. We also have links for submitting announcements online. 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!



Matthew Shaftel      
Music Theory Online
Florida State University
College of Music
Tallahassee, FL 32306
U.S.A.