This slightly irreverent guide to opera summarizes the plots of 17 of the worlds great operas; including Aida; La Boheme; and Carmen; and describes their characters; artists; and composers.From the Hardcover edition.
#1626730 in eBooks 2011-06-10 2011-06-10File Name: B005FVPEHS
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Deborah Bradfordnice2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. A great book with some minor didactic flaws.By Brazilian guyTonality and Transformation is a very interesting book. dedicated to explain some intricacies from David Lewins theories. which gave origin to the field of transformational theory. Rings is extremely well-succeeded in this particular task. his examples are clear and adjusted to the goals expressed by the text. offering an illuminating perspective on some otherwise complicated subjects. like GISess structure and its formalization. However. sometimes he looses focus. like when he exposes the sets in the Tonal GIS. at topic 2.4. pp. 55-58. At this particular point he assumes that the reader is capable to follow the previous explanation on heard scale degrees at pp. 46-7. moving to a deeper level like is shown in Figures 2.13 a-b. where a grid opposes the seven scale-degree intervals to the twelve pitch-classes intervals. under IFUNC(X.X) (i). ranging all 84 elements. Rings proposes that a major or a minor triad is defined as X and so he delivers an awkward grid where the intervals are supposed to be in that range. That by "all intervals" is supposed to be considered not only the intuitive ascending intervals - lets assume the A minor triad - (A-C; A-E; C-E) but also the unison (A-A; C-C; E-E) as well the inversions (C-A; E-A; E-C). is left to the readers discretion. after trying to figure out what the crossing slots really mean or stand for. In this particular instance. Rings just drops this enigma and moves forward. practically demanding the reader to stop and try as many as possible combinations in order to discover what is going on. Notwithstanding. as soon the reader is capable to solve this apparent mystery. the resultant grid is really clever. demonstrating how the enharmonic transformation changes the tonal qualia sensed in an A minor triad when it is measured in C#-minor context. Thats the major Rings achievement. his examples are incredibly good and deliver a comprehensive understanding of the musical properties which can be explained through transformation theory. in this case applied to tonal music. This instance illustrates some minor issues one can find in a superb well written book that stands as a major contribution to music theory.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. IncredibleBy A. WhiteTonality. Compelling subject. And when transformation is in the mix too? Wow. Hats off. gentlemen.
