Vasili Byros

Vasili Byros (born 1976) is a Greek-American music theorist, musicologist and pianist.[1] He is best known for his contributions to the field of music schemata theory and partimento.[2]

Education

Byros is an alumnus of the Aaron Copland School of Music, receiving his B.A. in music composition in 2001 and M.A. in music history and music theory in 2003. Byros received his PhD in Music Theory from Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences' Department of Music in 2009. He is currently a tenured Associate Professor of Music Theory and Cognition at Northwestern University since 2010, after spending a year at the Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University as a Post-Doctoral Resident Scholar.[3] In 2017, Byros received the Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence.[4]

Le Sol Fi Sol

One of Byros' notable contributions to Music Schemata Theory is his study of the Le-Sol-Fi-Sol Schema in Ludwig van Beethoven's Eroica Symphony.[5][6]

An example of the Le-Sol-Fi-Sol Schema in Mozart's Requiem

The le-sol-fi-sol is a 4-stage pattern, based on a b6-5-#4–5 bass line. Its most common harmonization is VI–i6/4–#ivo7–V(7), frequently with a cadential 6/4 over the dominant. The function of the pattern's first three stages is equivalent to that of an augmented sixth chord.[7]

Fonte-Romanesca

Byros is also noted for identifying and naming a common music schema popularized by Arcangelo Corelli and still used a century later by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart known as the Fonte-Romanesca, which shares the characteristics of a Fonte[8] and a Romanesca.[9]

A comparison between Corelli and Mozart's use of the Fonte-Romanesca

The Fonte-Romanesca is a chromatic and modulating variant of the so-called Pachelbel sequence. Its main element is a bass 6-7-1 (la-ti-do) progression, which is equivalent to the last three stages of the ascending Rule of Octave. This 6-7-1 progression is successively transposed down a third, each time to a new key, for example Bb major to G minor. Extended versions contain as many as three transpositions: e.g., Bb major–G minor–Eb major–C minor.[10]

Awards
  • Outstanding Publication Award (2017) – Prelude on a Partimento: Invention in the Compositional Pedagogy of the German States in the Time of J. S. Bach – Society for Music Theory.[11]

See also

References
  1. To Graduation, Tossing Obstacles Aside New York Times Profile
  2. Prelude on a Partimento Award Northwestern University
  3. Northwestern Bienen School of Music Northwestern Faculty Page
  4. Northwestern Office of the Provost Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence
  5. The Oxford Handbook of Topic Theory ed. by Danuta Mirka Review by Matteo Magarotto
  6. The Oxford Handbook of Topic Theory ed. by Danuta Mirka Review by John A. Rice
  7. Meyer's Anvil: Revisiting the Schema Concept Musical Analysis, 31/iii, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2012
  8. Compendia of Schemas Schemas in the Galant Style by Robert Gjerdingen
  9. Society for Music Theory Mozart's Vintage Corelli
  10. Mozart's Vintage Corelli: The Microstory of a Fonte-Romanesca Intégral, 31, 63–89, 2017
  11. Society for Music Theory Outstanding Publication Award, 2017

Further reading
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