EN :

In a bizarre coincidence, three important Canadian women composers from the same generation recently died within five weeks of each other: Barbara Pentland on 6 February 2000, Violet Archer on 22 February 2000, and Jean Coulthard on 9 March 2000. As a tribute to their lives and work, this colloquy gathers remembrances of them by friends and colleagues, ranging from brief anecdotes to extended memoirs. It is thus a collection of primary documents, which yield many new insights into the lives of our composers, ranging from personal habits to the way they taught composition.

EN :

The author here proposes Julia Kristeva's notion of "productivity" as a way of conceiving of the relations between different theories of music. By such a notion, rather than confirming, disconfirming, or exemplifying a theory, a particular musical work (or works) may redistribute the theory. The redistribution, in fact, might not only modify the initial theory—something certainly not original to productivity—but may also bring it into articulation with fundamentally opposed models of musical function, without which, nevertheless, the original theory remains incomplete. An extended example is adduced from Schubert's Schubert's Impromptu in G-flat Major, D. 899, in connection with, first, Schenker's Free Composition (Der freie Satz), and second, Schoenberg's Theory of Harmony (Harmonielehre); Schenker's inconsistent practice with respect to first-order neighbours, along with certain issues in the Impromptu, become the occasion for examining a case of productivity.

EN :

Schubert's Impromptu in G-flat Major is a test case for the varied functions of the upper neighbour. After reviewing Schenker's notion of the upper neighbour, I propose that context is the key to a consistent reading of the upper neighbours in Schubert's Impromptu. The parallelism of neighbours at different levels accounts for much of the organic unity of the composition. Then I reconsider Schoenberg's notion of structural functions, demonstrating the complementary relationship of Schenker and Schoenberg. Finally I revisit the concept of productivity. I argue that most critical approaches employ productivity as a matter of course. The question arises as to which combinations of insight are the most productive.

EN :

This response addresses those of Renwick's critiques that can be addressed briefly: the status of a Schenker analysis not done by Schenker, whether or not the original article was a "deconstruction," and whether Julia Kristeva can be assimilated satisfactorily to structural linguistics. More fundamentally, the response proposes that, despite his stated ambitions, Renwick, in fact, provides a deeply heterogeneous Schenker; and finally, that Renwick's claim for music theory's current practices rests on a conflation of productivity, as I describe it, with electicism.

FR :

La difficulté de situer Brahms dans le camp des conservateurs ou des progressistes résulte probablement du caractère protéiforme de sa musique. Cette flexibilité caractérise également les structures à retour, qui sont les formes thématiques les plus abondantes dans la musique instrumentale de Brahms. Ces formes sont fondées sur le retour d’une idée initiale après un matériau intermédiaire, comme dans la période ou la forme ternaire. L’analyse des deux paramètres fondamentaux de ces structures, le retour et la cadence, montre que leur faveur peut s’expliquer par une bonne adaptation aux nouvelles exigences stylistiques du romantisme, comme le rejet de conventions trop prévisibles du discours, et l’élargissement de l’espace tonal.

FR :

L’ouvrage Les écritures du temps (1981) de Michel Imberty est d’une importance capitale pour la musicologie contemporaine. De la psychologie expérimentale à la psychanalyse, Imberty développe une approche perceptive du style musical dont le but est l’interprétation de la musique en tant que symbolique du temps. Sa démarche est explicable à partir de la sémiologie musicale, qui en clarifie les principes. Imberty construit, avec précision et intelligence, une méthodologie pour l’observation du temps musical, et cela constitue son grand apport à la musicologie contemporaine. Cet essai cherche à mettre en relief les notions et postulats fondamentaux de sa pensée.