ANTON BRUCKNER'S LAST ADAGIO: THE DECOMPOSING SELF

This work employs tenets of Group Mental System theory in considering the musical syntax and affective semantics of Anton Bruckner's last adagio. "The main tenet of this theory is that the sole linguistic object of music, language of the emotions, is Self. Musical language qualifies Self by qualifying its affect (emotions, moods, dispositions). ...[I]t is of particular interest to consider those musical works in which alterations to the Self play a direct role." -Jonathan Christian Petty