On Music Theory, and Making Music More Welcoming for Everyone

Philip Ewell is Professor of Music Theory at Hunter College of the City University of New York.

• AcknowledgmentsIntro: On Music TheoryChapter 1: On Music Theory, Race, and RacismDefining Music TheoryHow Music Theory Has Dealt with Race in the PastRace and Demographic Data in Music TheoryRace and Demographic Data in Music Theory TextbooksFinal Thoughts on “On Music Theory, Race, and Racism”Chapter 2: On White MythologiesWhitenessWhite SupremacyWestern Civilization and Origin MythsThe Western Canon in MusicOne Example of How the Western Canon DiscriminatesHow the Western Canon Creates Racist Policies: The Foreign-Language RequirementEpistemological IgnoranceFinal Thoughts on “On White Mythologies”Chapter 3: On Heinrich Schenker and His LegacySchenker’s RacismWhitewashing SchenkerReframing SchenkerHow Schenker’s Racism Affects His Music TheorySchenker’s SexismTeaching SchenkerFinal Thoughts on “On Heinrich Schenker and His Legacy”Epilogue to Schenker and His LegacyChapter 4: On Volume 12 of the Journal of Schenkerian StudiesWhite Stories, Black Histories, My TestimonyBackgroundRacism in Volume 12Music Theory’s AssimilationismThe Ten Core JSS Response AuthorsReactions to the JSS AffairFinal Thoughts on “On Volume 12 of the Journal of Schenkerian Studies”Chapter 5: On Music Theory’s AntiblacknessThe Society for Music Theory’s Outstanding Publication AwardsHow Music Theory Online Tried to Suppress Publication of “Music Theory and the White Racial Frame”Other Examples of Music Theory’s AntiblacknessFinal Thoughts on “On Music Theory’s Antiblackness”Chapter 6: On Classical Music’s AntisemitismDifferences Between Antisemitism and RacismExamples of Antisemitism in Classical MusicOvercontextualizing AntisemitismAntisemitism and Divisiveness in Music TheoryRecommendations for Confronting Classical Music’s AntisemitismFinal Thoughts on “On Classical Music’s Antisemitism”Outro: On a Path Forward and Music Theory’s FutureThe 1855 ProjectRecommendationsFinal Thoughts on On Music TheoryBibliography

"This book may represent the cusp of a racial reckoning for music theory in the US. [E]veryone—students and faculty—involved in music theory should read it. . . Essential."