The Musical Psyche: Interactions Between the Theories of Heinrich Schenker and Sigmund Freud

Heinrich Schenker and Sigmund Freud both formulated their theories within the intellectual climate of fin-de-siecle Vienna. Both theories involve searching for the unconscious background of the analytic object and restoring a synthesis in our understanding of the unconscious material and its manifestation at the conscious foreground. In particular, Schenker's writings often invoke psychoanalytic metaphors, as in his references to procreative drives, phenomena hidden beneath the surface, and even the mysterious psychology of music. Close examination of these two theories shows that they utilize similar analytic constructs, how these constructs engage current problems in music theory, and demonstrates the potential of a Freudian perspective for Schenkerian analysis.;This dissertation builds upon general references made by many music theorists to connections between the works of Freud and Schenker. It addresses four particular similarities between the two theories: (1) the analytic process, (2) the drives that motivate unconscious processes, (3) the process of transformation from unconscious material to conscious manifestation, and (4) the ideological and political purposes to which they are part. Chapter 1 identifies certain analytical techniques that are common to psychoanalysis and music analysis and shows how music analysis can itself be therapeutic. Chapter 2 unravels the ways in which Freud and Schenker both use the word Trieb and the transformations of both psychical and musical drives moving toward their goal of satisfaction. Chapter 3 develops ideas found in the work of Daniel Sabbeth and Matthew Brown and explores the common transformations in Freud's theory of dream formation and Schenker's generative ideas of musical structure. Finally, Chapter 4 builds on the ideological work of scholars such as Nicholas Cook, Robert Snarrenberg, William Pastille, Leslie Blasius, and others, while exploring how a Freudian perspective can inform an interpretation of Schenker's ideology.