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Cover image for book Composition and Cognition

Composition and Cognition

Reflections on Contemporary Music and the Musical Mind
By:Fred Lerdahl
Publisher:University of California Press
Print ISBN:9780520305090
eText ISBN:9780520973251
Edition:1
Copyright:2020
Format:Page Fidelity

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In Composition and Cognition, renowned composer and theorist Fred Lerdahl builds on his careerlong work of developing a comprehensive model of music cognition. Bringing together his dual expertise in composition and music theory, he reveals the way in which his research has served as a foundation for his compositional style and how his intuitions as a composer have guided his cognitively oriented theories. At times personal and reflective, this book offers an overall picture of the musical mind that has implications for central issues in contemporary composition, including the recurrent gap between method and result, and the tension between cognitive constraints and utopian aesthetic views of musical progress. Lerdahl’s succinct volume provides invaluable insights for students and instructors, composers and music scholars, and anyone engaged with contemporary music.