""Fred Lerdahl gave the Schoff Lecture in 2018 and at long last has delivered a full book manuscript based on his lectures. The book focuses on only one of the three lectures: an in-depth study of the musical treatment of the sounds of poetry. It develops a musically conceived, rule-based theory of poetic rhythm, contour, and sound color. Lerdahl's strategy throughout the book is to present components of the theory before discussing related approaches in literary studies or linguistics. After a short initial chapter introducing basic features of musical rhythm, the second chapter presents a model of poetic rhythm. Chapter 3 relates the model to traditional poetic scansion, and chapter 4 discusses relevant research on prosodic rhythm in generative phonology. Chapter 5 advances a model of intonational contour for poetic lines and then considers related work in intonational phonology. Chapter 6 compares predictions of the theory to transcriptions of aural readings by poets and actors. Chapter 7 proffers a hierarchical model of syllabic sound color and reviews its connection to work in music theory. The final chapter briefly summarizes the architecture of the overall theory and suggests future avenues to explore.""-- Provided by publisher.
Poets, literary critics, and lovers of poetry often speak of the “music of poetry.” The Sounds of Poetry Viewed as Music gives substance to the metaphor by building on recent research in linguistics and music theory to propose a theory of the sounds of poetry conceived in musical terms. It develops a rule-based methodology for assigning normative readings to the rhythms and contours of poetic lines. Each component of the theory is compared to earlier treatments both in traditional prosody and in generative metrics and intonational phonology. The theory’s predictions correspond well to recorded readings by poets and actors. The book also advances an original hierarchical treatment of syllabic rhyme, alliteration, and assonance.
The Sounds of Poetry Viewed as Music is a deeply interdisciplinary project. On one hand, it offers a detailed, rigorous treatment of the perceptual organization of poetic sounds. On the other, it supports Darwin’s claim that music and language have a common ancestry in expressive vocalization. This book will engage lovers of poetry, literary scholars, musicians, and philosophers and cognitive scientists interested in the intersection of the musical and linguistic capacities.
Poets, literary critics, and lovers of poetry often speak of the “music of poetry.” This book gives substance to the metaphor by building on recent research in linguistics and music theory to propose a theory of the sounds of poetry conceived in musical terms.
