Poundie Burstein, Professor of Music Theory, Hunter College & CUNY

Is the primary goal of music analysis to uncover hidden forces that underpin great works of music? Or is it to enrich the listening experience? As empirical studies suggest, it is extremely difficult to perceive connections between musical events that extend beyond the grasp of short-term memory. As such, some may wonder whether large-scale analyses—such as those that investigate deep-level tonal structures—shed much light on the experiential aspects of music. Nevertheless, in this presentation I propose that long-range coherence plays a significant role in musical experience and expression.

Poundie Burstein is a Professor of Music Theory and Analysis at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). He has served as President of the Society for Music Theory and as Editor of SMT-V. He is the author of Journeys Through Galant Expositions and co-author (with Joseph Straus) of Concise Introduction to Tonal Harmony. He has performed extensively as a pianist for comedy improvisations and serves as an “Ambassador” for vegan website HappyCow.