Chapter VII - "An Eclectic Method for Sound, Form, and Reference"

In this chapter, Dr. Ferrara lays out a step-by-step outline - a method of approach, if you will - for his "Eclectic Method," or as we more often call it, the eclectic analysis.  

Hooray!  

Why am I cheering?  Because this chapter was not only short (comparatively speaking), but also hella useful!  Though I had an idea of the eclectic analysis before and had even begun a bit of it already, now I know exactly how to approach, view, question, answer, and let-be my piece of music (or any piece of music, for that matter!).

Ferrara recommends this order:

1. Historical Background

Traditional questions regarding important dates and categorizations of the composer and the work from a historical perspective.  Ferrara is careful to point out that the questions he suggests are not to be taken as "must-answer" questions, but that the questions may be edited and adapted, added or omitted based on what the work itself calls for.

2. Open Listening

Here the listener gets to know the work in a non-judgmental, open and innocent way, like a child experiencing something, in its immediacy.

3. Syntax

This step of the process is what we would consider a traditional music analysis, roman numerals and all.  Whoo.

4. The Sound-in-Time

A phenomenological description of the piece, creating a nice bridge between steps three and five.

5. Musical and Textual Representation

This step explores the referential meanings of the work...

6. Virtual Feeling

...leading nicely into exploring how the work is expressive of human emotions and feelings, as well as how it affects the listener.

7. Onto-historical World

This step explores the social and cultural world the composer was writing in, the piece was written in, what the piece itself is expressing and what happens when it interacts with present day.

8. Open Listening

A return to the open listening to infuse different elements together, keeping the analytical process "non-static."

9. Performance Guide

This should be a helpful tool for future performers of the work.  Based on what you have discovered through your research, analysis, and experience of the piece, what would you want performers to keep in mind in their approach?

10. Meta-Critique

This is an overall assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the analysis in its entirety.