Ciro Scotto
Professor of Music Theory and Chair of Music Theory
Ciro Scotto’s research in music theory includes creating analytical models of rock music, especially in the area of timbre, creating compositional systems, producing analyses and theoretical models of the music of the 20th and 21st centuries, and mathematical models of music. His current projects include co-editing The Routledge Companion to Metal Composition: Structures, Expressions and Productions for Routledge Press with Lori, which will appear in 2025. His chapter contribution will focus on the structural and functional explorations of guitar riffs. He also contributed a chapter titled “Dream Theater’s The Astonishing: The Unification of the Literary and Musical” to The Routledge Handbook of Progressive Rock, Metal, and the Literary Imagination (forthcoming, 2024). He has also published a chapter titled “The Studio’s Function in Creating Distortion Related Compositional Structures in Hard Rock and Heavy Metal” in Distortion in Music Production (Routledge, 2023). His latest post-tonal work, “Reconciling Order and Content and their Unification in Scherzo for Piano by Charles Wuorinen” appears in Perspectives of New Music. He recently edited the volume The Routledge Companion to Popular Music Analysis: Expanding Approaches along with Kenneth Smith and John Brackett, and contributed the chapter “System 7,” which explores pc-set structures in heavy metal. “The Structural Role of Distortion and Hard Rock,” appears in Music Theory Spectrum and was a finalist for the 2016 Society for Music Theory outstanding publication prize. The article explores the role of distortion in relation to form in hard rock and heavy metal. He also published a large article title “Reexamining Pcset Multiplication, Complex Multiplication, and Transpositional Combination to Determine Their Formal and Functional Equivalence” in Perspectives of New Music. He has published articles in Contemporary Composers, Perspectives of New Music, Music Theory Online, and the Journal of Music Theory, and has delivered conferences papers at SMT, EuroMac, POPMAC, SMA, IMS, AMS, and the American Mathematical Society conferences. He selected twice to attend the Mannes Institute for Advanced Study in Music Theory (2003-Transformation and 2007-Schoenberg and His Legacy). He is on the editorial board member of Perspectives of New Music, and is a member of the Society for Music Theory, MTSNYS, and the College Music Society. Besides his theoretical work, he is an active composer. He is currently composing a series of works title Between the Hammer and Anvil for electric guitar and percussion to be released by Ravello Records. His works Between Rock and a Hard Place (for electric guitar and percussion ensemble) and Between Rock and a Hard Place-Unplugged (for classical guitar and percussion ensemble) composed for the McCormick Percussion Group appears on a CD produced by Ravello Records. His composition Dark Paradise for Piano and Percussion appears on another McCormick Percussion Group CD released by Ravello Records. Other ensembles that have performed his compositions include the New Music Ensemble (UT Austin), Fear No Music, Rainier Chamber Winds, and the Puget Sound Flute Quartet. He was also Composer in Residence at Allegheny College. He earned his BA and MA from the University of California, Davis (1983/1986), and he earned his DMA from the University of Washington (1995). Additional studies include composition and conducting at the Schweitzer Training Institute, composition with Milton Babbitt and conducting with Gunther Schuller. His prior teaching positions include the University of South Florida (2009-2015), the Eastman School of Music (1997-2009), University of Texas-Austin (1995-97), University of California-Santa Barbara (1991-92), and the Cornish College of the Arts (1990-91).
Publications
Forthcoming
- Scotto, Ciro G. . Edited by Ciro G. Scotto and Lori Burns. Routledge Press 2024, Forthcoming.
- Scotto, Ciro. “”. In. Routledge Press, Forthcoming.
2023
- Scotto, Ciro. “”. In Distortion in Music Production, 201-15. 2023. Reprint, London, New York: Routledge Publishing, 2023.
2019
- Scotto, Ciro, Kenneth M Smith, and John Brackett. “”. Routledge, 2019.
2018
- Scotto, Ciro, Kenneth M Smith, and John Brackett. “”. Routledge, 2018.
- Scotto, Ciro. “”. Perspectives of New Music 56, no. 2 (2018): 267-304.
2016
- Scotto, Ciro. “”. Music Theory Spectrum 38, no. 2 (2016): 178-99.
2014
- Scotto, Ciro. “”. Perspectives of New Music 52, no. 2 (2014): 325-44.
- Scotto, Ciro. “”. Perspectives of New Music 52, no. 1 (2014): 134-216.
2004
- Scotto, Ciro. “”. Department of Music Theory, Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester, 2004.
2002
- Scotto, Ciro. “”. Duke University Press, Yale University Department of Music, 2002.
- Scotto, Ciro G. “”. Music Theory Online 8, no. 3 (2002): 1-16.
2000
- Scotto, Ciro. “”. Perspectives of New Music, 2000, 169-222.
Conference Presentations
- 2024 “What is a riff? A Structural Definition and its Analytical Consequences for Process and Form in Heavy Metal (third expansion).” Presented at the Annual Conference of the Music Theory Society of New York State (MTSNYS), Ithaca College, Ithaca New York, April 6-7, 2024.
- 2023 “What is a riff? A Structural Definition and its Analytical Consequences for Process and Form in Heavy Metal (expanded).” Presented at the 34th Annual Conference of the Music Theory Midwest, University of Manitoba, Manitoba Canada, May 5-6, 2023.
- 2022 “Dream Theater’s The Astonishing: The Unification of the Literary and Musical.” Presented at Progressive Rock: Geography, Culture, Discourse, The 5th Biennal International Conference of the Progect Network for the Study of Progressive Rock, St. Peter’s College, University of Oxford, Oxford England.
- 2022 “Distortion and the Aesthetics of Drone.” Presented at the Symposium in Honor of Jonathan Bernard at the University of Washington, Seattle (June 17-18).
- 2022 “What is a riff? A Structural Definition and its Analytical Consequences for Process and Form in Heavy Metal.” Presented at the 30th Annual Meeting of the West Coast Conference of Music Theory and Analysis in Irvine California (May 27-28).
- 2021 “Teaching on Zoom.” Roundtable on Virtual Teaching presented at the West Coast Conference of Music Theory and Analysis.
- 2018 “Distortion and Texas Blues.” Presented at The Electric Guitar in American Culture, Texas Tech University (October 12-14).
- 2017 “TC-Generated Pcset Chains and their Transformational Network in sur incises by Pierre Boulez.” Presented at the 40th Annual Society of Music Theory National Meeting in Arlington Virginia (November, 2-5).
- 2016 “Pcset Chains, transformational Networks, and TC-Generated Hexachordal Complexes in Some Recent Music by Pierre Boulez. Presented at the 45th Annual Meeting of the Music Theory society of New York State (April 2-3).
- 2016 Preconcert lecture on Le marteau sans maître at the University of Kentucky, Lexington. Invited by Dieter Henning (March 24).
- 2015 “The Hybrid Compositional System.” Presentation at the West Fork New Music Festival.
- 2015 “Harmonic Process and Formal Structure in Some Recent Music by Boulez.” The Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition 30th Anniversary Conference.
- 2014 “Harmonic Process and Formal Structure in Some Recent Music by Boulez.” European Music Analysis Conference, Leuven Belgium.
- 2013 “Transpositional Combination and Its Relationship to the Serial Structure of “avant “L’Artisanat furieux”” from Le marteau sans maître by Pierre Boulez.” SMT Charlotte, NC.
- 2013 “The Structural Role of Distortion in Hard Rock and Heavy Metal.” The International Conference on the Analysis of Popular Music, Society for Music Analysis, Liverpool England.
- 2008 “The Symbiosis of Disability” American Musicological Society, Nashville.
- 2008 “Reevaluating Complex Pitch-Class Set Multiplication and its Relationship to Transpositional Combination in Boulez’s Le marteau sans maître,” University of Illinois.
- 2007 “Normal Form, Successive Interval Arrays, Transformations and Set Classes: a Re-evaluation and Reintegration,” International Conference of the Society for Mathematics and Computing in Music, Berlin.
- 2007 “Normal Form, Successive Interval Arrays, Transformations and Set Classes: a Re-evaluation and Reintegration,” Eastman School of Music.
- 2005 “Reevaluating Complex Pitch-Class Set Multiplication and its Relationship to Transpositional Combination in Boulez’s Le marteau sans maître,” Society for Music Analysis, London.
- 2003 “Aspects of Saturation and Ordering in Twelve-Tone Music," co-authored with Robert Morris, American Mathematical Society, Baton Rouge, (March).
- 2001 “Transformational Networks, Transpositional Combination, and Aggregate Partitions in Processionalby George Crumb,” George Crumb Festival, Eastman School of Music.
- 2001 “Transformational Networks, Transpositional Combination, and Aggregate Partitions in Processionalby George Crumb,” SMT Philadelphia.
- 1999 “Conflict Between Pitch Class and Timbre Functions in Metallica’s ‘Devil Dance’ and ‘Enter Sandman,’” SMT Atlanta.
- 1996 “The Hybrid System,” SMT Baton Rouge.
- 1990 “Elliott Carter's Night Fantasies: The All-Interval Series as Registeral Phenomenon,” SMT Oakland.
- 1989 “What Do You Hear, Groupwise,” SMT Austin.
- 1988 “The Reinterpretation of Charts in the Recent Music of Milton Babbitt,” SMT Baltimore.
- 1988 “Aggregate Rhythms,” Melbourne Australia.
Compositions
- 2020-21 Dark Star, for Marimba and Electronics. Commissioned by Joseph Van Hassel, University of North Carolina at Pembroke.
- 2016 “Persistence,” third movement of Three Words for Three Guitars.
- 2016 Dark Paradise for Piano and Percussion Ensemble. Commissioned by the McCormick Percussion Group.
- 2014 Cinnamon, for flute and vibraphone.
- 2014 Reframed, for cello and piano.
- 2013 Between Rock and a Hard Place-Unplugged, for classical guitar and percussion ensemble.
- 2010-11 Between Rock and a Hard Place, for electric guitar and large percussion ensemble.
Recordings
Research Areas
Post-Tonal Theory
Analysis
My post-tonal analytical work has focused on the music of Pierre Boulez, George Crumb, Milton Babbitt, and Charles Wuorinen. My analyses model the compositional systems underlying various compositions.
Post-tonal Theory-Composition
Composition Theory
Besides analyzing post-tonal compositions, my theoretical work also focuses on building compositional systems that integrate pitch-class compositional systems with extensions of tonal systems.
Popular Music-Rock
Theory and Analysis
My current theoretical interest focus on building models of the tonal systems for rock music, specifically heavy metal, and analyzing rock compositions through the lens of those systems.