Leonard Gilbert Ratner (July 30, 1916 – September 2, 2011) was an American musicologist and Professor of Musicology at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. He was a specialist in the style of the Classical period and is best known as a developer of the concept of topic theory (see

music semiology Music semiology (semiotics) is the study of signs as they pertain to music on a variety of levels. Overview Following Roman Jakobson, Kofi Agawu adopts the idea of musical semiosis being introversive or extroversive—that is, musical signs within ...

). Raymond Monelle, ''The Sense of Music: Semiotic Essays'' Princeton Univ. Press, 2000

Biography

Ratner was born in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. He studied the violin and viola, as well as composition with

Frederick Jacobi Frederick Jacobi (May 4, 1891 – October 24, 1952) was a Jewish-American composer and teacher. His works include symphonies, concerti, chamber music, works for solo piano and for solo organ, lieder, and one opera. He taught at Juilliard School o ...

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-centu ...

Ernest Bloch Ernest Bloch (; ; July 24, 1880 – July 15, 1959) was a Swiss-born American composer. Bloch was a preeminent artist in his day, and left a lasting legacy. He is recognized as one of the greatest Swiss composers in history. Several of his most no ...

, and

Arthur Bliss Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss (2 August 189127 March 1975) was an English composer and conductor. Bliss's musical training was cut short by the First World War, in which he served with distinction in the army. In the post-war years he qui ...

. Under

Manfred Bukofzer Manfred Fritz Bukofzer (27 March 1910 – 7 December 1955) was a German-born American musicologist. Life and career He studied at Heidelberg University and the Stern conservatory in Berlin, but left Germany in 1933 for Switzerland, where he o ...

, he received a Ph.D. in musicology from the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

, the first such degree to be given by that university.Kofi Agawu, "Leonard G. Ratner, 1916-2011" ''Ad Parnassum: A Journal of Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Instrumental Music '' 10 (19), April 2012, 190-194

Career

In 1947, he joined the newly formed Department of Music at

, and continued there until his retirement in 1984, composing, teaching, and conducting research on music theory. He composed a chamber opera, '' The Necklace'', and several chamber works. He taught composition and theory to advanced students and coached chamber music; he also taught elementary music appreciation courses for undergraduates, Stanford alumni, and the general public. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship (1962) and elected as a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1998. His research was devoted to emphasizing "

sonata form The sonata form (also sonata-allegro form or first movement form) is a musical form, musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of t ...

's harmonic underpinnings as an antidote to the thematic perspective" and developing a theory of musical period and form.

Publications

Books

*''Music: The Listener's Art'' NY: McGraw-Hill. 1st ed. 1957; 2nd. ed 196; 3rd ed. 1977 *''Harmony, Structure, and Style'' NY: McGraw-Hill, 1962 *''Classic Music: Expression, Form, and Style'' NY: Schrimer, 1980 **Review by Jane Stevens, ''Journal of Music Theory'' 27 (1983) *''The Musical Experience: Sound, Movement, and Arrival'' NY:Freeman, 1983 *Romantic Music: Sound, and Syntax'' NY: Schrimer, 1992 *''the Beethoven String Quartets: Compositional Strategies and Rhetoric'' Stanford: Stanford Bookstore, 1995

Academic journal articles

*"Harmonic aspects of Classic Form" ''

Journal of the American Musicological Society The ''Journal of the American Musicological Society'' is a triannual peer-reviewed academic journal and an official journal of the American Musicological Society. It is published by University of California Press and covers all aspects of musicol ...

'' 2 (3), Autumn, 1949 p.159-68 *"Eighteenth-Century Theories of Musical Period Structure" '' Musical Quarterly'' 42(4) Oct. 1956 p 439–454 *"On the nature and value of theoretical training" ("A Forum: Music theory for the Layman") ''

Journal of Music Theory The ''Journal of Music Theory'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal specializing in music theory and analysis. It was established by David Kraehenbuehl (Yale University) in 1957. According to its website, " e ''Journal of Music Theory'' fosters co ...

'' 3 (1959) 58–69 *"Approaches to Musical Historiography of the Eighteenth Century" ''Current Musicology'' 9 (1969) 154–57 *"Key Definition: A structural problem in Beethoven's Music" ''Journal of the American Musicological Society'', 23(3) Autumn, 1970 472–83 *"Texture: A Rhetorical element in Beethoven's Quartets" ''Israel Studies in Musicology'' 2 (1980) p. 51-62 *"Topical content in Mozart's Keyboard Sonatas" ''

Early Music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750) or Ancient music (before 500 AD). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad Dates of classical ...

19 (4) (1991) 615–19 *"'Mozart's Parting Gifts" '' Journal of Musicology'' 18(1) Winter, 2001, 189–211

Other

*"Development" and "Sonata Form" in ''Harvard Dictionary of Music'', 2nd ed., 1969. *"Koch, Heinrich Cristoph" "Period" and "Riepel, Joseph" in ''New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' 1980

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ratner, Leonard 1916 births 2011 deaths People from Minneapolis Pupils of Ernest Bloch Pupils of Arnold Schoenberg University of California, Berkeley alumni Stanford University faculty American musicologists Beethoven scholars Haydn scholars Mozart scholars Schubert scholars