{"product_id":"playing-with-signs-a-semiotic-interpretation-of-classic-music-paperback","title":"Playing with Signs: A Semiotic Interpretation of Classic Music - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eV. Kofi Agawu\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn award-winning account of the importance of semiotic play in Classic instrumental music, including that of Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOf all the repertories of Western Art music, none is as explicitly listener-oriented as that of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Yet few attempts to analyze the so-called Classic Style have embraced the semiotic implications of this fact. In \u003ci\u003ePlaying with Signs\u003c\/i\u003e, Kofi Agawu proposes a listener-oriented theory of Classic instrumental music that encompasses its two most fundamental communicative dimensions: expression and structure. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eUnits of expression, defined in reference to topoi, are shown here to interact with, confront, and merge into units of structure, defined in terms of the rhetorical conventions of beginning, continuing, and ending. The book draws on examples from works by Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven to show that the explicitly referential, even theatrical, surface of Classic music derives from a play with signs. Although addressed primarily to readers interested in musical analysis, the book opens fruitful avenues for further research into musical semiotics, aesthetics, and Classicism.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eV. Kofi Agawu \u003c\/b\u003eis Distinguished Professor of Music at the City University of New York Graduate Center. His books include \u003ci\u003eOn African Music\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eT\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003ehe African Imagination in Music\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e; \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eMusic as Discourse\u003c\/i\u003e; and \u003ci\u003eRepresenting African Music.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 166\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.36 x 10 x 8 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e March 25, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53100530303283,"sku":"9780691273631","price":66.85,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0300\/5595\/6612\/files\/EnzwQvCY979780691273631.webp?v=1772486180","url":"https:\/\/www.vysn.com\/products\/playing-with-signs-a-semiotic-interpretation-of-classic-music-paperback","provider":"VYSN","version":"1.0","type":"link"}