12 maart 2009
Cognitive and Aesthetic Aspects of Metrical Ambiguity
While the phenomenon and mechanisms of metrical ambiguity has been studied both by music theorists (Kramer 1988, Hasty 1997, Krebs 1999, Temperley 2001) and music psychologists (Handel 1989, Pressing 2002, Moelants 2005), its aesthetic import has received relatively little attention. This lecture explores the expressive effect of such ambiguity on listeners both individually and collectively. After briefly surveying some principles of aesthetic value, and our basic mechanisms of metrical perception and cognition, a pair of "case studies" of metrical ambiguity from the music of Stravinsky and Steve Reich are examined. Special attention is paid to the social dimension of our experience of rhythm, meter, and mutual engagement, in parallel with the social dimension of our emotional experience of the music.
Justin London is Professor of Music at Carleton College in Northfield, MN, where he teaches courses in Music Theory, The Philosophy of Music, Music Perception and Cognition, and American Popular Music. He received his B.M. degree in Classical Guitar and his M.M. degree in Music Theory from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and he holds a Ph.D. in Music History and Theory from the University of Pennsylvania, where he worked with Leonard Meyer.
His research interests include rhythm and meter, music perception and cognition, the history of the Delta blues, and musical aesthetics. He is the author of several articles in the recent revision of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and the Cambridge History of Western Music Theory. His book, Hearing in Time, (Oxford University Press, 2004) is a cross-cultural exploration of the perception and cognition of musical meter. He is currently involved in joint research on the perception of complex meters with Bruno Repp and Peter Keller, on the perception of anacruses with Ian Cross and Tommi Himberg, and on dynamic systems modelling for complex meters with Edward Large.
Professor London has served on the editorial boards of Music Theory Online and the Music Theory Spectrum, and on the executive board of Music Theory Midwest, the Society for Music Perception and Cognition and The Society for Music Theory . He was co-director of the 2005 Mannes Institute for Advanced Studies in Music Theory on Rhythm and Temporality and in 2005-2006 he was a visiting scholar at the Centre for Music and Science of Cambridge University under the auspices of a Fulbright Foundation grant. In April 2007 he was a Guest Professor at the International Orpheus Academy for Music & Theory (on "Tempo, Meter, Rhythm: Time in Music after 1950") in Ghent, Belgium. He is serving as President of the Society for Music Theory in 2008-2009.
His research interests include rhythm and meter, music perception and cognition, the history of the Delta blues, and musical aesthetics. He is the author of several articles in the recent revision of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and the Cambridge History of Western Music Theory. His book, Hearing in Time, (Oxford University Press, 2004) is a cross-cultural exploration of the perception and cognition of musical meter. He is currently involved in joint research on the perception of complex meters with Bruno Repp and Peter Keller, on the perception of anacruses with Ian Cross and Tommi Himberg, and on dynamic systems modelling for complex meters with Edward Large.
Professor London has served on the editorial boards of Music Theory Online and the Music Theory Spectrum, and on the executive board of Music Theory Midwest, the Society for Music Perception and Cognition and The Society for Music Theory . He was co-director of the 2005 Mannes Institute for Advanced Studies in Music Theory on Rhythm and Temporality and in 2005-2006 he was a visiting scholar at the Centre for Music and Science of Cambridge University under the auspices of a Fulbright Foundation grant. In April 2007 he was a Guest Professor at the International Orpheus Academy for Music & Theory (on "Tempo, Meter, Rhythm: Time in Music after 1950") in Ghent, Belgium. He is serving as President of the Society for Music Theory in 2008-2009.