Leonard Gilbert Ratner (July 30, 1916 – September 2, 2011), was an American musicologist, Professor of Musicology at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, He was a specialist in the style of the Classical period, and best known as a developer of the concept of Topic theory.

Raymond Monelle Raymond Monelle (19 August 1937 in Bristol, England – 12 March 2010 in Edinburgh, Scotland). was a music theory, music theorist, teacher, music critic, composer and jazz pianist. Monelle wrote three books, dozens of articles on music, and ...

, ''The Sense of Music:Semiotic Essays'' Princeton Univ. Press, 2000

Biography

Ratner was born in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. After studying the violin and viola, and studying composition with

Frederick Jacobi Frederick Jacobi (May 4, 1891 – October 24, 1952) was a Jewish-American composer and teacher. His works include symphonies, concerti, chamber music, works for solo piano and for solo organ, lieder, and one opera. He taught at Juilliard School o ...

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

Ernest Bloch Ernest Bloch (July 24, 1880 – July 15, 1959) was a Swiss-born American composer. Bloch was a preeminent artist in his day, and left a lasting legacy. He is recognized as one of the greatest Swiss composers in history. As well as producing music ...

, and

Arthur Bliss Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss (2 August 189127 March 1975) was an English composer and conductor. Bliss's musical training was cut short by the First World War, in which he served with distinction in the army. In the post-war years he qu ...

, he received a Ph.D. in musicology in from the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

under

Manfred Bukofzer Manfred Fritz Bukofzer (27 March 1910 – 7 December 1955) was a German-born American musicologist. Life and career He studied at Heidelberg University and the Stern conservatory in Berlin, but left Germany in 1933 for Switzerland, where he obt ...

, the first such degree to be given by that university.Kofi Agawu, "Leonard G. Ratner, 1916-2011" ''Ad Parnassum: A Journal of Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Instrumental Music '' 10 (19), April 2012, 190-194

Career

In 1947, he joined the newly formed Department of Music at

, and continued there until his retirement in 1984 composing, teaching, and conducting research on music theory. He composed a chamber opera, '' The Necklace'', and several chamber works. He taught composition and theory to advanced students and coached chamber music; he also taught elementary music appreciation courses for undergraduates, Stanford alumni, and the general public. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for1962, and elected as a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

in 1998. His research was devoted to emphasizing "sonata form's harmonic underpinnings as an antidote to the thematic perspective" and developing a theory of musical period and form.

Publications

Books

*''Music: The Listener's Art'' NY: McGraw-Hill. 1st ed. 1957; 2nd. ed 196; 3rd ed. 1977 *''Harmony, Structure, and Style'' NY: McGraw-Hill, 1962 *''Classic Music: Expression, Form, and Style'' NY: Schrimer, 1980 **Review by Jane Stevens, ''Journal of Music Theory'' 27 (1983) *''The Musical Experience: Sound, Movement, and Arrival'' NY:Freeman, 1983 *Romantic Music: Sound, and Syntax'' NY: Schrimer, 1992 *''the Beethoven String Quartets: Compositional Strategies and Rhetoric'' Stanford: Stanford Bookstore, 1995

Academic journal articles

*"Harmonic aspects of Classic Form" ''

Journal of the American Musicological Society The ''Journal of the American Musicological Society'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal and an official journal of the American Musicological Society. It is published by University of California Press The University of California Press, othe ...

'' 2 (3), Autumn, 1949 p.159-68 *"Eighteenth-Century Theories of Musical Period Structure" ''

Musical Quarterly ''The Musical Quarterly'' is the oldest academic journal on music in America. Originally established in 1915 by Oscar Sonneck, the journal was edited by Sonneck until his death in 1928. Sonneck was succeeded by a number of editors, including Car ...

'' 42(4) Oct. 1956 p 439-454 *"On the nature and value of theoretical training" ("A Forum: Music theory for the Layman") ''

Journal of Music Theory The ''Journal of Music Theory'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal specializing in music theory and analysis. It was established by David Kraehenbuehl (Yale University) in 1957. According to its website, " e ''Journal of Music Theory'' fosters c ...

'' 3 (1959) 58-69 *"Approaches to Musical Historiography of the Eighteenth Century" ''Current Musicology'' 9 (1969) 154-57 *"Key Definition: A structural problem in Beethoven's Music" ''Journal of the American Musicological Society, 23(3) Autumn, 1970 472-83 *"Texture: A Rhetorical element in Beethoven;s Quartets" ''Israel Studies in Musicology'' 2 (1980) p. 51-62 *"Topical content in Mozart's Keyboard Sonatas" ''

Early Music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad musical era for the beginning of Western classical m ...

19 (4) (1991) 615-19 *"'Mozart's Parting Gifts" ''

Journal of Musicology ''The Journal of Musicology'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal of musicology published by University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the ...

'' 18(1) Winter, 2001, 189-211

Other

*"Development" and "Sonata Form" in ''Harvard Dictionary of Music'', 2nd ed., 1969. *"Koch, Heinrich Cristoph" "Period" and "Riepel, Joseph" in ''New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' 1980

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ratner, Leonard 1916 births 2011 deaths People from Minneapolis University of California, Berkeley alumni Stanford University faculty American musicologists