The “tselostnyĭ analiz” (holistic analysis) of Zuckerman and Mazel

Abstract

This essay explores “tselostnyĭ analiz” (holistic analysis)—an analytical method developed in the Soviet Union between 1930 and 1980 by Viktor Zuckerman and Leo (Lev) Mazel. The goal of holistic analysis was to understand a musical work as a totality of its interrelated parts, and to do so simultaneously on all levels of structure, content, and context. In the resulting three-dimensional analysis, any one of its aspects would reciprocate with all others, together defining the whole. The method called for an embrace of all existing theoretical systems, brought to center stage the “softer” aspects of music theory, and integrated music theory and history. Both scholars aspired to comprehensive close readings of musical works, and, as both realized, came up short. In reformulating the methodology for holistic analysis in the 1960s, its creators restricted the very scope of the analytical endeavor, fundamentally transforming the original method itself. I use Mazel’s 1971 reading of Chopin’s A-major Prelude, op. 28, no. 7 to examine and critique the holistic method as preached and practiced since the 1960s.

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