Paul Wilson (music theorist)
Encyclopedia
Paul Wilson is a music theorist
and Professor of Music Theory
and Composition
at the University of Miami
Frost School of Music
, in the United States
. He holds a B.A. from Harvard University
, a M.A. from the University of Hawaii
, and M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees from Yale University
, where he studied with Allen Forte
. He is the author of:
Paul Wilson is a professor of theory and composition at the University of Miami Frost School of Music where he chairs the committee to design and implement the Frost Experiential Music Curriculum. An expert on Schenkerian theory, he also teaches traditional undergraduate music theory and musicianship, counterpoint, analysis, analysis of 20th-century music, and music-theory pedagogy. Paul Wilson is an internationally recognized expert on Hungarian composer Béla Bartók
.
In 1992 Yale University Press published his probing work The Music of Béla Bartók. In this book, Wilson begins by discussing a number of fundamental musical materials that Bartok employed throughout his oeuvre. Using these materials as foundations, he then describes a series of flexible, behaviorally defined harmonic functions and a model of pitch hierarchy based on the functions and on several connective designs. Wilson shows how these hierarchical structures provide meaningful forces for coherence and for dynamism and progressional drive in the music. After analyzing the five works from Bartok's oeuvre, he concludes by explaining the philosophical similarities between his theory and the work of David Lewin
and Charles Taylor
in the related fields of perception and hermeneutics.
in 2008 he delivered an address on sonata form in Bartók’s Fourth Quartet to an international conference on the Bartók Quartets.
Wilson is currently working on studies of the music of Sergei Prokofiev
. Professor Wilson holds a B.A. degree from Harvard University, an M.A. in music theory from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and M. Phil. and Ph.D. degrees in music theory from Yale University.
Music theory
Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
and Professor of Music Theory
Music theory
Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
and Composition
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
at the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
Frost School of Music
Frost School of Music
The Phillip and Patricia Frost School of Music or Frost School of Music of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, known from 1926 to 2003 as University of Miami School of Music, is a music school in the United States....
, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He holds a B.A. from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, a M.A. from the University of Hawaii
University of Hawaii
The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...
, and M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, where he studied with Allen Forte
Allen Forte
Allen Forte is a music theorist and musicologist. He was born in Portland, Oregon and fought in the Navy at the close of World War II before moving to the East Coast. He is now Battell Professor of Music, Emeritus at Yale University...
. He is the author of:
- Wilson, Paul (1992). The Music of Béla BartókBéla BartókBéla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
. ISBN 0-300-05111-5.
Paul Wilson is a professor of theory and composition at the University of Miami Frost School of Music where he chairs the committee to design and implement the Frost Experiential Music Curriculum. An expert on Schenkerian theory, he also teaches traditional undergraduate music theory and musicianship, counterpoint, analysis, analysis of 20th-century music, and music-theory pedagogy. Paul Wilson is an internationally recognized expert on Hungarian composer Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
.
In 1992 Yale University Press published his probing work The Music of Béla Bartók. In this book, Wilson begins by discussing a number of fundamental musical materials that Bartok employed throughout his oeuvre. Using these materials as foundations, he then describes a series of flexible, behaviorally defined harmonic functions and a model of pitch hierarchy based on the functions and on several connective designs. Wilson shows how these hierarchical structures provide meaningful forces for coherence and for dynamism and progressional drive in the music. After analyzing the five works from Bartok's oeuvre, he concludes by explaining the philosophical similarities between his theory and the work of David Lewin
David Lewin
David Lewin was an American music theorist, music critic and composer. Called "the most original and far-ranging theorist of his generation" , he did his most influential theoretical work on the development of transformational theory, which involves the application of mathematical group theory to...
and Charles Taylor
Charles Taylor
Charles McArthur Ghankay Taylor was the 22nd President of Liberia, serving from 2 August 1997 until his resignation on 11 August 2003....
in the related fields of perception and hermeneutics.
in 2008 he delivered an address on sonata form in Bartók’s Fourth Quartet to an international conference on the Bartók Quartets.
Wilson is currently working on studies of the music of Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
. Professor Wilson holds a B.A. degree from Harvard University, an M.A. in music theory from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and M. Phil. and Ph.D. degrees in music theory from Yale University.