Scillinger and ET

[Les Smith]

On Wed, 25 Mar 1998, ralph m martin wrote:

> Hi Peter
> 
> Joseph Schillinger was a German born Russian who approached music , past,
> present and future, mathematically. His two texts are actually
> collections of lectures that were taught, originally at Julliard and many
> other great schools of music. 
> 
> He was a man with no musical snobery. He would analyze Beethoven and then
> re-write a portion of one of his works and actually IMPROVE it in most
> musicians opinionsIn the very next lecture he was analyzing Jazz with
> equal fervor.
> 
> It remains, today, the backbone of the Julliard method of composition...

Hi, Ralph

I'm afraid that I just can't resist commenting. In the "good old days",
long before the days of Lincoln Center, Henry Mancini and "Moon River",
the backbone of "the Juilliard method of composition and theory" was a
book called "THE MATERIAL USED IN MUSICAL COMPOSITION", written by
Percy Goetschius, who just happened to teach at Juilliard, too. The book
is piano-specific, drawing all its examples from the great composers of
the past--Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Chopin, and many others. For
those with an interest in such music, Percy's explainations, observations,
and illustrations remain as valid today, as when the book was first
written. In my highly prejudiced opinion, it's the best and clearest
treatment of the subject I've ever seen. Any large library should have a
copy, unless someone--recognizing the value of the book--has decided to
keep it for himself and just pay the fine. (I would never recommend such
a course of action, of course!) :)

All the best,

Les Smith