The study of African rhythm as a model for understanding rhythm in two representative twentieth-century American works
This paper explores a model for the analysis of rhythm in music, based on theories drawn from the Western experience of African rhythm. It is proposed that the attention paid to broader issues of musical context in a tradition which is not Western may offer new systems of categorization. Here, categories derived from theories of African rhythm suggest questions to ask about rhythm in a different musical culture: the 20th-century American art music tradition, represented by two works--the Piano Sonata of Aaron Copland, and the String Quartet #2 of Milton Babbitt.
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign