The Theory of Musical Forces: Filling Some Gapswith Integrations and Expansions

Abstract

Since Steve Larson published the first writings on his theory of musical forces in 1992, manyof the aspects, terms and definitions that he introduced were developed, expanded upon andimproved by himself and other researchers. Larson wanted to expand on his own work andwrite a sequel to his book Musical Forces: Motion, Metaphor, and Meaning. However, he passedaway in 2011, shortly before the publication of his first book on musical forces. His intentionto write a sequel shows Larson's awareness of the incomplete state of his theory and of theopportunities the theory offers for expansion. Several theorists expanded Larson's theory,the most important being Robert Hatten. Through my own work on expanding the theoryof musical forces, I discovered certain perspectives and terminologies that invite furtherexploration and clarification, as is the case with developing theories. Clarification of theseambiguities and an integration of Hatten’s work into the theory are indispensable for furtherwork within the theory of musical forces. The aim of this article is to identify potential gaps inthe theoretical framework, as well as potential areas for further investigation and clarification.I aim to fill some of these gaps for prospective researchers so that it will not be necessary forthem to work on fundamental aspects of Larson's theory. Some of the issues in this article arespeculative, similar to Larson’s work on this developing theory, and will need further researchand refinement. I hope that the work presented in this article will enable other researchers toapply and further expand the theory. Although some of the parts in this article is an expansionof Larson’s work, the aim here is not to offer full expansions of particular aspects, but rather tocontextualise and partly elucidate existing expansions