Empirical Musicology Review v4 n4

Abstract

Yeoh and North (2009) believe their findings are a clear indication that musical fit can influence product choice among a non-Western sample; pieces of Indian and Malay music primed the selection of one corresponding type of product over another, while when there was no music played the choices indicated no reliable preference for either Indian or Malay items. However, a closer look at their methods of sampling, stimuli, procedures, and results, makes it clear that these conclusions are unfounded.

Abstract

In “National Metrical Types in Nineteenth Century Art Song” Leigh Van Handel gives a sympathetic critique of William Rothstein’s claim that in western classical music of the late 18th and 19th centuries there are discernable differences in the phrasing and metrical practice of German versus French and Italian composers. This commentary (a) examines just what Rothstein means in terms of his proposed metrical typology, (b) questions Van Handel on how she has applied it to a purely melodic framework, (c) amplifies Van Handel’s critique of Rothstein, and then (d) concludes with a rumination on the reach of quantitative (i.e., statistically-driven) versus qualitative claims regarding such things as “national metrical types.”

Abstract

Leigh VanHandel’s study of metrical locations or phrase beginnings and endings in art songs of the 19th century provides a glance into one property of lyric settings unstudied before. Its fastidious data can be trusted, and yet the study’s hard relevance to matters of musical substance, matters of import to a song’s perception, is questionable.