This article explores the remarkable tonal qualities of Steve Reich’s Nagoya Marimbas . While most of Reich’s output might be considered diatonic, rarely do those collections move in tonal paradigms. But in Nagoya Marimbas the two melodic voices combine in various canonic patterns to create a background tonal progression in E minor. The two…[Read more]

The music of Billy Joel is long overdue for prolonged attention from the scholarly field. As Walter Everett has acknowledged (2000), Joel’s music is often more in line with common-practice systems than with popular genres, and when combined with his intuitive understanding of numerous popular styles, makes for a rich trove of harmonic interest. O…[Read more]

This article explores the relationship between the visual staging and the musical score in “Lost Objects,” a staged oratorio by Bang on a Can composers Julia Wolfe, David Lang, and Michael Gordon. A unique vertical staging coupled with a multi-aggregate, double-interval cycle in two of the movements create added meaning through their juxtaposition.

This article explores the relationship between the music of John Adams’s Nixon in China and the action taking place on stage. At many points throughout the opera, these forces are at odds, creating dramatic moments that often heighten the previously established sense of sarcasm and reverse the expected narrative roles of the characters. This is a…[Read more]