Theoretical Foundations
Fred Lerdahl · Oxford University Press eBooks · 2005
This chapter summarizes the goals, idealizations, and rule system of the predecessor volume, A Generative Theory of Tonal Music, whose overall goal is to model and explain the musical intuitions of an experienced listener. The theory assumes the musical surface and idealizes to final-state listening. Features of well-formedness and preference rules are reviewed. The components of grouping structure, metrical structure, time-span segmentation, time-span reduction, and prolongational reduction are presented through an analysis of a Bach chorale. Particular attention is paid to the derivation of prolongational structure. On this foundation, ideas within the framework of the prolongational theory are advanced, including prolongational good form, the strict-branching constraint, polyphonic groupings, and abstractions and transformations of underlying events.