Music as an Art

Scruton (Understanding Music) fastidiously argues for tonality and expression as significant components of musical compositions in this enlightening academic work. Scruton breaks down the various features of individual pieces, such as Rachmaninoff’s grand symphonies and Schubert’s complex melodies. He writes that Schubert, one of his favorite composers, is revered for his ability to retain a single melody while changing the tonal center in each bar of music, but “none of this is trickery; always there is purpose to Schubert’s innovations, and always they enhance the dramatic power and emotional intensity of the whole.” In “Film Music,” Scruton maintains that “John Williams’s Harry Potter scores and Howard Shore’s evocative music for Lord of the Rings exhibit a mastery of harmonic sequences, polyphonic organization, and orchestral effect that would be the envy of many a composer for the concert hall.” Moving on to pop music, Scruton observes how the “melodies of the Beatles... were often highly adventurous, with internal rhyming and modulations into neighboring keys” Scruton is theoretical as he deconstructs certain pieces note for note, but he is aware that not everyone studied music theory: “You don’t need the technicalities in order to hear what is going on.” Music scholars will most appreciate this discussion of tonality. (June)