Carl E. Schachter (born June 1, 1932[1]) is an American music theorist noted for his expertise in Schenkerian analysis.
Born in Chicago,[1] he attended Austin High School, graduating at age 16.[2]
Beginning in 1948 he began studies at the Mannes School of Music. He studied piano with Sara Levee, Isabelle Vengerova and Israel Citkowitz, and conducting with Carl Bamberger [de]. Most significantly he studied with Felix Salzer, who was later co-author with Schachter of the influential text Counterpoint in Composition. He received a Bachelor of Science from Mannes; an MA from New York University (musicology); and a DM from Mannes College of Music.
Schachter's association with the Mannes College of Music began as a student in 1948. After graduation in 1953, Schacter became a member of the Techniques of Music faculty in 1956; Chair of Theory Department, 1958–1962; Dean of Mannes, 1962–1966; and Chair of Techniques of Music Department 1966–1973. He has also served on the faculty of the Juilliard School.
"More about Schubert's Op. 94/1". Journal of Music Theory 13/2 (1969), pp. 218-229.
"Landini’s Treatment of Consonance and Dissonance. A Study in Fourteenth-Century Counterpoint". The Music Forum 2 (1970), pp. 130-186.
"Rhythm and Linear Analysis: A Preliminary Study". The Music Forum 4 (1976), pp. 281-334.
"Schubert, Op. 94 no. 1: A Schenkerian Analysis". Readings in Schenker Analysis and Other Approaches. M. Yeston ed., Yale University Press, 1977, pp. 171-184.
"Diversity and the Decline of Literacy in Music Theory". College Music Symposium 17/1 (1977), pp. 150-153.
"Rhythm and Linear Analysis: Durational Reduction". The Music Forum 5 (1980), pp. 197-232.
"A Commentary on Schenker's Free Composition". Journal of Music Theory 25/1 (1981), pp. 115-142.
"Beethoven's Sketches for the First Movement of Op. 14, No. 1: A Study in Design". Journal of Music Theory 26/1 (1982), pp. 1-21.
"Motive and Text in Four Schubert Songs". Aspects of Schenkerian Theory. D. W. Beach ed., Yale University Press, 1983, pp. 61-76.
"The First Movement of Brahms's Second Symphony: The Opening Theme and Its Consequences". Music Analysis 2/1 (1983), pp. 55-68.
"Analysis by Key: Another Look at Modulation". Music Analysis 6/3 (1987), pp. 289-318.
"Rhythm and Linear Analysis: Aspects of Meter". The Music Forum 6 (1987), pp. 1-59.
"Schenker's Counterpoint". The Musical Times 129/1748 (1988), pp. 524-529
"Either/or". Schenker Studies. H. Siegel ed., Cambridge University Press, 1990, pp. 165-179..
"The Adventures of an F♯: Tonal Narration and Exhortation in Donna Anna's First-Act Recitative and Aria". Theory and Practice 16 (1991), pp. 5-20.
"20th-Century Analysis and Mozart Performance". Early Music 19/4 (1991), pp. 620-626
"The Prelude from Bach's Suite No.4 for Violoncello Solo: The Submerged Urlinie". Current Musicology 56 (1994), pp. 54-71.
"The Sketches for Beethoven’s Sonata for Piano and Violin, Op. 24". Beethoven Forum 3 (1994), pp. 107-125.
"The Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28, No. 4: Autograph Sources and Interpretation". Chopin's Studies 2, J. Rink and J. Sampson ed., Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp.
"Chopin’s Prelude in D Major, Opus 28, No. 5: Analysis and Performance". Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy 8 (1994), pp. 27-45.
"The Triad as Place and Action". Music Theory Spectrum 17/2 (1995), pp. 149–169.
"Structure as Foreground: 'das Drama des Ursatzes'". Schenker Studies 2. C. Schachter and H. Siegel ed., Cambridge University Press, 1999, pp. 298-314.
"Taking Care of the Sense: A Schenkerian Pedagogy for Performers". Tijdschrift voor Muziektheorie 6/3 (2001), pp. 1-20.
"Elephants, Crocodiles, and Beethoven: Schenker's Politics and the Pedagogy of Schenkerian Analysis". Theory and Practice 26 (2001), pp. 1-20
"Che Inganno! The Analysis of Deceptive Cadences". Essays from the Third International Schenker Symposium. Hildesheim, Olms, 2006, pp. 279-298.
"Felix Salzer (1904-1986)". Schenker-Traditionenen. Eine Wiener Schule der Musitheorie und ihre internationale Verbreitung, M. Eybl and E. Fink-Mennel ed., Wien, Böhlau, 2006, pp. 105-111.
"E Pluribus Unum: Large-Scale Connections in the Opening Scenes of Don Giovanni". Essays from the Fourth International Schenker Symposium. Vol. I. Hildesheim, Olms, 2008, pp. 279-298.
"Chopin’s Mazurka, Op. 59, No. 2: A Tribute to Mendelssohn?" New Horizons in Schenkerian Research. A. Cadwallader, K. M. Bottge and O. Schwab-Felisch ed., Hildesheim, Olms, 2022, pp. 73-83.