Leonard B. Meyer

Leonard B. Meyer (January 12, 1918 – December 30, 2007) was an American composer, author, and philosopher. He made significant contributions to the fields of aesthetic theory in music and compositional analysis. Meyer studied at Columbia University, earning a B.A. in Philosophy and an M.A. in Music, followed by a Ph.D. in History of Culture from the University of Chicago in 1954. He studied composition under Stefan Wolpe, Otto Luening, and Aaron Copland. Meyer began his academic career in 1946 at the University of Chicago, becoming a professor of music in 1961. In 1975, he moved to the University of Pennsylvania as a professor of music and the humanities, retiring as professor emeritus in 1988. His most influential work, "Emotion and Meaning in Music" (1956), utilized Gestalt Theory and the philosophies of Charles Sanders Peirce and John Dewey to explore the relationship between emotion, meaning, and music, impacting music theory and cognitive psychology. His 1967 book, "Music, the Arts, and Ideas," was pivotal in defining the transition to postmodernism in music. Other major works include "The Rhythmic Structure of Music" (1960), "Explaining Music" (1973), and "Style and Music: Theory, History, and Ideology" (1989).