Cambridge Scholars Publishing The Rhetoric and Symbolism of Forms in Romantic Music

This book explores the contribution of the symbolic aspects of musical forms and structures to rhetoric and argumentation during the Romantic period. While there are several studies on this topic dedicated to the Baroque era, there are much fewer contributions on the Romantic period. This book shows that the aesthetics of Romantic music are very strong, persuasive and expressive, and are paramount for communicating in our everyday life. Investigating the impact of musical structures on our cognitive and psychological attitudes is the central issue of this book. Within a cognitive science perspective, it introduces the different elements of meaning conveyed by music through an analysis of several major works of composers of the Romantic era. As such, the book is an accessible introduction to anyone with a basic background in music, and will be of interest to teachers and researchers in music, psychology, cognition, linguistics and computer science. About the Author Patrick Saint-Dizier, PhD, is a Senior Researcher the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France. He is the author and co-author of a number of journal articles and 11 books which cover topics at the intersection of music, linguistics, argumentation and rhetoric, logic and computer science. He has also authored several analyses of musical works of the Romantic period.