Books by Henry Martin

In this remarkable book, Henry Martin invites us to study in close detail van Gogh's painting 'The Good Samaritan', and the famous parable told by Jesus of Nazareth. He asks what lessons we can learn from meditation upon the imagery and each of the characters portrayed.Questions for discussion and reflection on each chapter help us to relate the themes and challenges of the parable to our lives and the world we live in today. The book is also an engaging, personal study of van Gogh, the tragic genius of his life, and the struggles he faced which may have informed both his process and his spirituality. Martin has translated many of van Gogh's letters, and, as an artist himself, brings a unique perspective to our understanding of both the painter and the parable.

Counterpoint is a textbook for use as a stand-alone text in a course on species counterpoint or as a supplementary text for standard college-level courses in music theory. It is based on Heinrich Schenker's (1868-1935) two-volume study of counterpoint. It is intended to help all students of theory or composition to improve their musicianship by examining the voice-leading that underlies Western tonal music. The book proceeds by developing species counterpoint in the tradition of Johann Joseph Fux and his famous Gradus ad Parnassum (1725), but with attention to Schenker's more in-depth study. For the sake of brevity, musical examples are available on the Scarecrow Press website (www.scarecrowpress.com), rather than within the text itself. Everyone from beginning music theory students to composers to graduate composition students will greatly benefit from the methods presented here. Rather than actually teaching a student to compose, working through these exercises will improve musicianship as it applies to both composition and understanding music theory.

Martin provides a new overall assessment of the importance of Charlie Parker through an analysis of his improvisations in a variety of genres. Earlier studies of Parker argue that his style is based on an extensive network of melodic formulas that are combined to create solos. Because the same formulas appear throughout his improvisations regardless of the theme, these studies concluded that the solos do not usually relate to the original melodies. Charlie Parker and Thematic Improvisation provides a much-needed reassessment by showing that Parker's solos are often related to the original themes in unexpected and sometimes ingenious ways. The conclusion sums up features of Parker's style and discusses his contribution in the context of Western music history. Numerous transcriptions are provided. This groundbreaking technical study will be of interest to musicologists and serious students of jazz.

Showcases professional work in the arena of jazz theory. Among the contributors are scholars of jazz theory as well as musicians, including four of the founding members of the jazz section of the Society for Music Theory.