Wen is to be commended and congratulated on having offered the music analysis community so many penetrating musical insights… A valuable resource for scholars, pedagogues, students and musicians alike. Having published a textbook, a workbook, an extensive instructor’s manual, a supplementary commentary on the C major Prelude (which requires a separate study of its own) and a stand-alone analytical monograph, all within the space of just a few years, Wen has brought together years of teaching experience and graphic-analytical work of exceptional quantity and quality.

Music Analysis

Eric Wen’s Graphic Music Analysis: An Introduction to Schenkerian Theory and Practice offers a level of depth unusual for an introductory textbook and presents analyses that will be stimulating to anyone involved in Schenkerian studies. . . . the rigor of Wen’s demonstrations is remarkable, and students will benefit by returning to already-read sections of GMA after some time has passed, and periodically. . . .The star quality of GMA is without a doubt the rare analytical discernment Wen demonstrates, which. . . should be evident to anyone who explores his graphs deeply.

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

Eric Wen has long been known as a leading Schenkerian scholar and a dynamic, inspirational teacher of tonal analysis. Both of these traits are fully on display in this wonderful book—an engrossing and welcoming introduction to the deeper meanings of the great works of the classical, tonal tradition.

Joseph Straus, distinguished professor, CUNY Graduate Center, former president, Society for Music Theory

Wen underlines the close connection between analysis and writing. He explains analytical terms on the basis of their graphic representation and from the beginning applies them to fine examples from well-known and remarkable works of Western tonal music. The book presents a rich variety of compositional possibilities in a balanced mixture of simple and rather complex examples, explained clearly and in detail. Further, Wen offers short and instructive historical information on the pieces and repeatedly highlights the contrapuntal fundamentals of tonal music

Martin Eybl, University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna

The synthesis of artistic intuition and intellectual rigor in Heinrich Schenker’s theory of structural levels has always presented conundrums for any pedagogy; the transmission of his method has usually depended on an oral tradition in which students develop their analytical insights in dialogue with recognized experts. Although no textbook will ever replace this process of apprenticeship, Eric Wen’s imaginative new book comes closer than any text I have seen. Professor Wen, who is one of our most creative analysts, manages to explain the technical complexities of the theory in lucid detail while showing students how analysis can respond to the unique sound world of each musical composition. I would use this book in my classes in Schenkerian analysis and encourage others to do so as well.

Kevin Korsyn, professor, University of Michigan

Richly illustrated, comprehensive in scope, and scrupulous in its attention to musical detail, Graphic Music Analysis lays out paths to understanding the hierarchic nature of common-practice music. Drawing on years of expert teaching, Eric Wen provides students with tools for performing linear analyses of tonal music. The book sets new standards in the domestication of Schenker’s thought for the twenty-first century American classroom.

Kofi Agawu, Princeton University, author of Music as Discourse: Semiotic Adventures in Romantic Music