"Musical Forces provides an authoritative yet accessible treatment of a topic that lies at the core of the emotional experience of music: the intuition of forces that tug, pull, and resolve melodic motion. Lay listeners and professionals alike have much to learn from this important contribution to music theory and psychology."--Fred Lerdahl, Fritz Reiner Professor of Music, Columbia University "Steve Larson distinguishes between thinking in music and thinking about music, and it is clear from his final opus that he did both very well. With striking originality, this book reconciles "conflicts" between music-cognitive principles and Schenkerian music analysis, and shows how metaphors and physical embodiment inform our musical expectations. This book may change what you think about how music moves."--Elizabeth West Marvin, Professor of Music Theory, Eastman School of Music and Brain & Cognitive Sciences, University of Roc "Musical Forces presents an original and important theory of melody, centered on the idea that we experience musical motion metaphorically through our experience of physical motion. The study sheds new light on musical expectation, compositional practice, and the role of metaphor in musical experience and discourse. Musical Forces is a major contribution to musical scholarship.
"--David Temperley, Eastman School of Music "Musical: Forces: Motion, Metaphor, and Meaning in Music will find a ready place in academic collections supporting study in advanced theory and musical cognition. It is well written, easy to understand, and full of good examples. The introduction by itself is a fine survey of the dialogue concerning musical meaning. By giving such an introduction, Larson's theories may well be understood as a part of an ongoing discussion."-- Music Reference Services Quarterly "The potential benefits of Larson's theory of musical forces include a more explicit understanding of how we make meaning from musical experience, which in turn includes a richer understanding of the aspects of music cognition and metaphoric reasoning ."-- Music Theory Online "It's hard to talk about music without using the language of motion. Steve Larson thoughtfully integrates several seemingly disparate disciplinary threads in music theory and cognitive science in an attempt to understand why we experience music this way. His account places three musical forces--gravity, magne- tism, and inertia--at the center of the explanation.
April 2013"-- Music Perception "One can read between the lines that the publication of this book was a labor-of-love for Editor Robert S. Hatten, who describes it as 'a fitting memorial to his (Steve Larson's) visionary ideas, his love of music, and his passion for sharing both.'August 2013"-- TRIANGLE MAGAZINE.