Böcker av Bengt Edlund

In what ways can analytic reection be of avail when engaging in music as a musician? What restrictions of the interpreter¿s freedom do musical scores impose? Which licences do musicians in fact allow themselves? Can hierarchical tonal analysis really guide musicians towards artistically rewarding interpretations? Or is perhaps a painstaking and sensitive study of the musical details, revealing continuous processes, a more productive path to telling performances? roughout the book, the views and discussions are amplied by music examples.

This book offers critical demonstrations of various methods and concepts currently used in music analysis. Among the subjects are musical implications, tonal analysis, generative theory, ambiguity, similarity, and the key criteria met with in lawsuits of plagiarism. Finally, can a composer's sexual leanings be derived from his music?

The book offers a criticism of Schenkerian theory and analytic practice. Contrary to what is held, is it really valuable when it comes to musical description and interpretation? What about its relationships to other kinds of analysis, and to linguistic syntax and music cognition?

A great number of reminiscences of Dies Irae are found in Chopin's works, in the preludes as well as in the entire work. The results are used to shed a light on the programmatic content of the Second Ballade. Five preludes are closely analyzed, occasioning critique of previous Schenkerian readings.