• Skip to Content
  • Skip to Sidebar
IU

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington IU Bloomington

Menu

Music TheoryIU Jacobs School of Music

  • Home
  • HOME
  • Admissions
  • Degrees
  • Courses
  • Colloquium
  • People
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • Alumni
    • Staff
  • News & Events
  • Search

Prof. Toru Momii Wins Outstanding Publication Award at SMT

Posted on November 15, 2021 by Sarah J. Slover

Congratulations to Visiting Assistant Professor Toru Momii, who was named the winner of the Society for Music Theory’s 2021 Outstanding Publication Award. His article, titled “A Transformational Approach to Gesture in Shō Performance,” was published in Music Theory Online in 2020.

ABSTRACT: Through an analysis of contemporary shō performance practice, this article explores the relationship between instrumental gesture and modal theory in contemporary gagaku. I demonstrate that the idiosyncratic arrangement of the pipes on the shō is closely related to the pitch structure and tonal function of the aitake pitch clusters.

My analysis synthesizes two approaches. First, I adopt David Lewin’s (1987) transformational attitude to conceptualize the aitake not as static musical objects but as processes of motion enacted by the te-utsuri—standardized fingering movements for shifting between two aitake. Second, I treat the aitake as sonic byproducts of a performer’s instrumental gestures to examine how the aitake are related to one another kinesthetically, and whether these relationships correlate with the pitch structures of the aitake.

I argue that relatedness between aitake is determined by the parsimony of te-utsuri. The most parsimonious movements can be enacted between four aitake: bō, kotsu, ichi and otsu. These aitake are identical to the clusters that accompany the fundamental tones of five of the six modes: Ichikotsu-chō, Hyōjō, Taishiki-chō, Oshiki-chō and Banshiki-chō. These findings demonstrate that the pipes of the shō, while seemingly arranged in no discernable order, prioritize parsimonious te-utsuri between each of the aitake accompanying the fundamental modal degrees. An analysis of the pitch structure of aitake through the lens of te-utsuri reveals a striking correlation between gestural parsimony and tonal function.

To read the article, click here.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Additional Content

  • Return to Main Page
  • Music Theory Faculty
  • Graduate Study in Music Theory
  • Exams
    • Validation/Exemption Exams
    • Graduate Entrance Exams
  • Associate Instructor Positions in Music Theory
  • Doctoral Minor Field in Music Theory
  • Diversity & Inclusion
  • FAQs

Recent News

  • René Rusch Visits IU Music Theory for Five Friends Master Class Series Lectures
  • Michèle Duguay and David Geary Featured in MTO
  • IU Alumni Win SMT Awards
  • SMT 2022: IU Music Theory Events & Presentations
  • Prof. Jay Hook’s “Exploring Musical Spaces” Published with Oxford University Press
  • Goldman article in MTO
  • IU Graduate Music Theory & Musicology Associations Host 28th Annual Symposium on Research
  • Prof. Toru Momii Wins Outstanding Publication Award at SMT
  • SMT 2021: IU Music Theory Events & Presentations
  • IU Graduate Music Theory & Musicology Students Present 27th Annual Symposium on Research

FOLLOW US!

IU Music Theory

Search Music Theory

Indiana University

Copyright © 2022 The Trustees of Indiana University | Privacy Notice | Accessibility Help

  • HOME
  • Admissions
  • Degrees
  • Courses
  • Colloquium
  • People
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • Alumni
    • Staff
  • News & Events