The Analysis and Cognition of Melodic Complexity: The Implication-Realization Model

Abstract

In this work, Eugene Narmour continues to develop the unique theories of musical perception and cognition first set forth in The Analysis and Cognition of Basic Melodic Structures. The two books together constitute the first comprehensive theory of melody founded on psychological research. Narmour explains the cognitive operations by which listeners assimilate and ultimately encode complex melodic structures, and goes on to show how sixteen melodic archetypes can combine to form some 200 complex structures that, in turn, can chain together in a theoretically infinite number of ways. Of particular importance to music theorists and music historians is Narmour's argument that melodic analysis and formal analysis, though often treated separately, are in fact indissolubly linked. Illustrated with over 250 musical examples, The Analysis and Cognition of Melodic Complexity will also appeal to ethnomusicologists, psychologists, and cognitive scientists.