Transformational theory is a branch of music theory developed by David Lewin in the 1980s, and formally introduced in his 1987 work, Generalized Musical Intervals and Transformations. The theory—which models musical transformations as elements of a mathematical group—can be used to analyze both tonal and atonal music.
The goal of transformational theory is to change the focus from musical objects—such as the "C major chord" or "G major chord"—to relations between musical objects (related by transformation). Thus, instead of saying that a C major chord is followed by G major, a transformational theorist might say that the first chord has been "transformed" into the second by the "Dominant operation." (Symbolically, one might write "Dominant(C major) = G major.") While traditional musical set theory focuses on the makeup of musical objects, transformational theory focuses on the intervals or types of musical motion that can occur. According to Lewin's description of this change in emphasis, "[The transformational] attitude does not ask for some observed measure of extension between reified 'points'; rather it asks: 'If I am at s and wish to get to t, what characteristic gesture should I perform in order to arrive there?'" (from Generalized Musical Intervals and Transformations (GMIT), p. 159)
- ^ Jay Chung, Andrew (2012). Lewinian Transformations, Transformations of Transformations, Musical Hermeneutics, Wesleyan University BMus thesis, p. 10, figure 1.1, note 17: "Generalized Musical Intervals and Transformations, xxix. This figure is one of the most commonly reproduced diagrams in the transformational theory literature.". Accessed 25 October 2019.