In chapter three, Moran discusses the notion of ‘theory’ as it relates to interdisciplinarity. He describes ‘theory’ as being “concerned with big questions about the nature of reality, language, power, gender, sexuality, the body and the self” (75). He goes on to explain how theory provides a framework for people to engage within. After reading this I started to think about music theory prior to the 20th century. 18th-century voice leading is a set of rules in which harmonic progressions must take place. Pitches must move up or down by a specific interval depending on the context of the harmony. For example, one rule prohibits the use of parallel fifths. This occurs when two pitches that are seven semitones away from each other move together by the same interval. This is discouraged because of the hollow sound the fifths create. It is more desirable to move to a non-perfect interval such as a third or a sixth. While this definitely provides a framework for musicians to work within, it seems arbitrary. These strict rules are subjective opinions that have been formed over a long period of time. I will make the jump to say that every time a new rule was added to the practice of voice leading someone had to have made a decision based on their individual opinion of what sounds good. These rules aren’t concerned with the big questions that Moran describes. It’s mysterious to me why musicians followed these rules in the first place since they don’t come from anything other than subjective opinions about what “sounds right.”
Some contemporary art music is composed algorithmically, meaning a composer will follow rules that they have devised themselves in order to make artistic decisions. For example, some composers use the overtone series of a given pitch to make decisions about harmony and melody. I’m not really sure how, but some composers even use computer programing languages to provide them with rhythm and pitch material. Since these styles of music composition are more concerned with the nature of sound itself I think that they better fit Moran’s definition of theory. This may be controversial, but I think that newer methods of creating music better fit Moran’s definition of theory.