anti-cartesianism in lewinâs generalized musical intervals and transformations Essay: In Order to Stay Asleep as Observers: The Nature and Origins of Anti-Cartesianism in Lewinâs Generalized Musical Intervals and Transformations henry klumpenhouwer Reading the relevant literature, one has the impression that, generally speaking, theorists conceive David Lewinâs Generalized Musical Intervals and Transformations (GMIT ) as a collection of loosely related music-theoretical technologies, the most important of which are the Generalized Interval System (GIS) and the Transformational Network. This is generally the position taken by contemporary reviewers.1 Because many of its technologies appeared earlier in isolated essays, such a view seems entirely plausible. Many early reviewers mentioned but did not thoroughly explore the long narrative of the book, in which there is a transition from what is called an âintervallicâ attitude to a âtransformationalâ attitude, beyond discussing their technological expressions in the GIS and in the Simply Transitive Group (STRANS) respectively. I intend to focus on this broader theme of the book, a theme that involves an argument about analytical methodology rather than analytical technology. By âanalytical methodology,â I mean something we might also call the philosophy of musical analysis by analytical technology; I mean 1 The reviews I have
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