Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- List of Library Sigla
- Introduction
- I PUBLIC INDISCRETIONS, PRIVATE CONFESSIONS: SCOTT'S LIFE AND INFLUENCES
- II ARTIST, PRIEST, PROPHET: SCOTT'S AESTHETIC THINKING
- 5 Music: Its Secret Influence Throughout the Ages
- 6 The Immortal Artist
- 7 Theory and Practice
- Epilogue
- Select Bibliography
- Index
7 - Theory and Practice
from II - ARTIST, PRIEST, PROPHET: SCOTT'S AESTHETIC THINKING
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- List of Library Sigla
- Introduction
- I PUBLIC INDISCRETIONS, PRIVATE CONFESSIONS: SCOTT'S LIFE AND INFLUENCES
- II ARTIST, PRIEST, PROPHET: SCOTT'S AESTHETIC THINKING
- 5 Music: Its Secret Influence Throughout the Ages
- 6 The Immortal Artist
- 7 Theory and Practice
- Epilogue
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The extent to which Scott's theory of musical affect had an impact on his compositional choices is a question that has received surprisingly little serious attention. Owing to the prevailing reductionist view of Scott's “mystical” or “oriental” interests, there has been some work to discover in Scott's music formal aspects which may be seen to invite an esoteric interpretation. Crystall made an attempt, for example, at discovering fragments of the Golden Section and Fibonacci series in certain of Scott's works, though the argument proves extremely unconvincing, as revealed by Crystall's own analysis. Despite the brevity of Davis' half-page article “Scott's Music Development Linked with Occult Studies,” the author makes some interesting observations which link the use of “freer tonality,” irregular bar-lengths, phrases of seven bar lengths with interchanging 7/8 and 10/8 time, modal, medieval and “Eastern” scales, and whole-tone scales, in Scott's pre-i92os music to some generalised mystical notions. With the benefit of a deeper understanding of Scott's aesthetic development, however, a far more nuanced interpretation may be available.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Aesthetic Life of Cyril Scott , pp. 180 - 219Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2013