William Rothstein 2003-04 Endowed Chairholder in Music Theory

William Rothstein studied Schenkerian analysis with Ernst Oster (New England Conservatory) and Allen Forte (Yale University). He has taught Schenkerian analysis at the University of Michigan, Queens College, and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where he is currently Professor of Music Theory. His Ph.D. dissertation, "Rhythm and the Theory of Structural Levels" (Yale, 1981), is a detailed exploration of Schenker's ideas on musical rhythm and the implications of Schenker's theories for the study of rhythm. Rothstein's articles on Schenkerian theory include "Rhythmic Displacement and Rhythmic Normalization" (in Trends in Schenkerian Theory, ed. Allen Cadwallader), "On Implied Tones" (Music Analysis 10), and "Transformations of Cadential Formulae in the Music of Corelli and his Successors" (forthcoming in Schenker Studies 3). Analytical articles include "The Form of Chopin's Polonaise-Fantasy" (in Music Theory in Concept and Practice, ed. James Baker, David Beach, and Jonathan Bernard) and "Circular Motion in Chopin's Late B-Major Nocturne" (in a forthcoming Festschrift for Carl Schachter). Articles on other aspects of Schenker's thought include "The Americanization of Heinrich Schenker" (in Schenker Studies, ed. Hedi Siegel) and "Heinrich Schenker as an Interpreter of Beethoven's Piano Sonatas" (19th-Century Music 8). He is also author of the book Phrase Rhythm in Tonal Music (Schirmer Books, 1989). He has delivered papers at all three International Schenker Symposiums held at Mannes College of Music in 1985, 1992, and 1999.

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