This paper is conceived around an unanticipated analytical breakthrough in a work scholars tend to think we know well: Olivier Messiaen’s ‘Mode de valeurs et d’intensités’ (1949), the second of his four Études de rythme and a longstanding staple of the twentieth-century history and analysis curriculum due to its role as a launchpad for ‘total serialism’.
SMT Conference Proposal Workshop
The Society for Music Analysis is pleased to announce an online workshop on Thursday, January 16 at 6:30 PM GMT (1:30 PM EST). This workshop will focus on the process of writing and submitting a proposal for the Society for Music Theory’s annual conference, with a particular focus on cross-cultural and disciplinary expectations surrounding music theory. This event also reflects increased collaboration between the SMA and SMT, further cultivating music theory’s international landscape.
Call for SMA Award Nominations 2025
The Society for Music Analysis gives several annual awards to scholars in recognition of their exceptional achievement and contribution to the field of music theory and analysis: Pascall Medal Anthony Pople Mid-Career Researcher Award Adele Katz Early Career Researcher Award PhD Thesis Award TAGS Award Undergraduate Award Find full details about this year’s awards on […]
Call for Papers: Manchester Music Analysis Conference 2025
The SMA is pleased to confirm dates for the Manchester Music Analysis Conference (McrMAC 2025), which will take place from Monday 14 to Wednesday 16 July 2025 at the Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama, University of Manchester. The programme committee welcomes submissions in any aspect of music analysis and theory, relating to music of […]
Timbre in Popular Song Conference, McGill University, Montreal QC, Canada, June 5-7, 2025
Call for Proposals: Timbre and Orchestration in Popular Song June 5–7, 2025, McGill University, Montreal QC, Canada Timbre and orchestration are essential aspects of musical experience in any culture or style. They enable us to effortlessly identify different genres of music and are particularly important in popular musics. This centrality is reflected in Timbre […]
Theory and Analysis Graduate Student Conference 2025
RHTAGS25 Royal Holloway, University of London, 30 April – 1 May 2025 The event will provide a supportive and friendly environment in which postgraduates (and undergraduates) can gain experience in presenting their work and meet fellow researchers. The conference offers opportunities for career development and networking in a relaxed atmosphere (including an evening music theory […]
Online Study Day: ‘Beyond Corpus Study’
The Society for Music Analysis’s Formal Theory Study Group, in collaboration with the University of Toronto’s Centre for the Study of Nineteenth-Century Music, is pleased to announce an online study day, ‘Beyond Corpus Study’, occurring on Friday November 29. Framed as a response to Nathan Martin’s recent article “Corpus Studies and ‘Close Listening’”, this day […]
What does it mean to do a PhD in Music Theory and Analysis in the UK today?
An Online Panel Discussion The Society for Music Analysis is pleased to announce an online panel discussion on Thursday, October 17, 1PM BST. This panel addresses what it means to do a PhD in music theory and analysis, particularly in the UK. It seeks to combine practical advice about the application process—particularly relating to research […]
Rachel Gain (Yale) Zoom Colloquium | 6 June 2024
Rhythm tap dance is a musical art form in the jazz tradition in which dancers produce percussive rhythms using their shoes, primarily in the context of solo improvisations. While one might productively transcribe and analyse the rhythms of a tap dancer’s performance, treating the musical instrument of tap as a purely sonic one ignores core dimensions that are equally integral to the form’s musicality.