Cone was born in Greensboro, North Carolina. He studied composition under Roger SessionsatPrinceton University, receiving his bachelor's in 1939 (Latin salutatorian and the first Princeton student to submit a musical composition as his senior thesis). Cone and Milton Babbitt were the first to earn graduate degrees in musical composition from Princeton (MFA, 1942). He studied piano with Karl Ulrich Schnabel and Edward Steuermann. During the Second World War, Cone served first in the army (as a pianist) and later in the Office of Strategic Services. Beginning in 1946, he taught at Princeton. He was the co-editor of the journal Perspectives of New Music between 1965 and 1969.
Cone, known for his contributions to music criticism and analysis, also composed a significant body of music. His scholarly work addressed musical form and aesthetics, particularly questions of rhythm and musical phrasing. He died in Princeton, New Jersey, aged 87. Cone was the companion of Princeton philosophy professor George Pitcher for nearly 48 years.[1]
"The Old Man's Toys: Verdi's Last Operas." Perspectives USA 6 (1954): 114–33. Reprinted in Cone, Music: A View from Delft, 159–75.
"Words into Music: The Composer's Approach to the Text." In Sound and Poetry, edited by Northrop Frye, 3–15. English Institute Essays, 1956; New York, 1957. Reprinted in Cone, Music: A View from Delft, 115–23.
"Music: A View from Delft."The Musical Quarterly 47, no. 4 (1961): 439–53. Reprinted in Perspectives on Contemporary Music Theory, edited by Benjamin Boretz and Edward T. Cone, 57–71. New York, 1972. Also reprinted in Cone, Music: A View from Delft, 13- 27.
"The Not-So-Happy Medium." The American Scholar 30, no. 2 (1961): 254–67. Reprinted in Essays Today, vol. 5, edited by Richard Ludwig, 87- 96. New York, 1962.
"Stravinsky: The Progress of a Method." Perspectives of New Music 1, no. 1 (1962): 18–26. Reprinted in Perspectives on Schoenberg and Stravinsky, edited by Benjamin Boretz and Edward T. Cone, 155–64. New York, 1972. Also reprinted in Cone, Music: A View from Delft, 293–301.
"From Sensuous Image to Musical Form." American Scholar 33, no. 3 (1964): 448- 62.
"A Budding Grove." Perspectives of New Music 3, no. 2 (1965): 38–46.
"On the Structure of 'Ich folge dir.'" College Music Symposium 5 (1965): 77–85.
"Toward the Understanding of Musical Literature." Perspectives of New Music 4, no. 1 (1965): 141–51.
"Conversations with Roger Sessions." Perspectives of New Music 4, no. 2 (1966): 29–46. Reprinted in Perspectives on American Composers, edited by Benjamin Boretz and Edward T. Cone, 90–107. New York, 1971.
"The Power of The Power of Sound." Introductory essay in Edmund Gurney, The Power of Sound, i–xvi. New York, 1966.
"Beyond Analysis." Perspectives of New Music 6, no. 1 (1967): 33–51. Reprinted in Perspectives on Contemporary Music Theory, edited by Benjamin Boretz and Edward T. Cone, 72–90. New York, 1972. Also reprinted in Music: A View from Delft, 55–75.
"Conversation with Aaron Copland." Perspectives of New Music 6, no. 2 (1968): 57–72. Reprinted in Perspectives on American Composers, edited by Benjamin Boretz and Edward T. Cone, 131–46. New York, 1971.
"Beethoven New-Born." American Scholar 38, no. 3 (1969); 389–400.
Review of Donald N. Ferguson: The Why of Music. Notes. 26. 2 (1969): 258–260.
"Inside the Saint's Head; The Music of Berlioz." Musical Newsletter 1, no. 3 (July 1971); 3–12; 1, no. 4 (October 1971); 16–20; 2, no. 1 (January 1972); 19–22. Reprinted in Music: A View from Delft, 217–48.
"In Honor of Roger Sessions." Perspectives of New Music 10, no. 2 (1972); 130–41.
"Editorial Responsibility and Schoenberg's Troublesome 'Misprints.'" Perspectives of New Music 11, no. 1 (1972); 65- 75.
Review of Roger Sessions: Review of Questions About Music. Perspectives of New Music. 10. 2 (1972): 164–170.
"The Miss Etta Cones, the Steins, and M'sieu Matisse." The American Scholar 42, no. 3 (1973); 441- 60.
"Bach's Unfinished Fugue in C minor." In Studies in Renaissance and Baroque Music in Honor of Arthur Mendel, edited by Robert L. Marshall, 149–55. London, 1974.
"Sound and Syntax: An Introduction to Schoenberg's Harmony." Perspectives of New Music 13, no. 1 (1974): 21–40. Reprinted in Music: A View from Delft, 249–66.
Review of Leonard B. Meyer: Explaining Music: Essays and Explorations." Journal of the American Musicological Society. 27. 2 (1974): 335–338.
"In Defense of Song: The Contribution of Roger Sessions." Critical Inquiry 2, No.1 (1975): 93–112. Reprinted in Music: A View from Delft, 303–22.
"Sessions' Concertino." Tempo 115 (1975): 2–10.
"Yet Once More, 0 Ye Laurels." Perspectives of New Music 14, no. 2; 15, no. 1 (1976): 294–306.
"Beatrice et Benedict." Boston Symphony Program (October 1977): 9–15.
"Beethoven's Experiments in Composition: The Late Bagatelles." In Beethoven Studies, vol. 2, edited by Alan Tyson, 84–105. London, 1977. Reprinted in Music: A View from Delft, 179–200.
"One Hundred Metronomes." The American Scholar 46, no. 4 (1977): 443–59.
"Three Ways of Reading a Detective Story-Or a Brahms Intermezzo." Georgia Review 31, no. 3 (1977): 554–74. Reprinted in Cone, Music: A View from Delft, 77- 93.
Review of Hector Berlioz: Review of New Edition of the Complete Works, 9: Grande Messe Des Morts. Notes. 36. 2 (1979): 464–465.
1980–89
"Aunt Claribel's 'Blue Nude' Wasn't Easy to Like." Art News 79, no. 7 (1980): 162–63.
"Berlioz's Divine Comedy: The Grande messe des morts." 19th-Century Music 4, no. 1 (1980): 3–16. Reprinted in Cone, Music: A View from Delft, 139–57.
"The Authority of Music Criticism." Journal of the American Musicological Society 34, no. 1 (1981): 1–18. Reprinted in Cone, Music: A View from Delft, 95–112.
"On the Road to Otello: Tonality and Structure in Simon Bocanegra." Studi Verdiana 1 (1982): 72–98.
"Roger Sessions: Symphony No.6." San Francisco Symphony Stagebill (May 1982): v–ix.
"Schubert's Promissory Note: An Exercise in Musical Hermeneutics." 19th Century Music 5, no. 3 (1982): 233- 41. Revised version reprinted in Schubert: Critical and Analytical Studies, edited by Walter Frisch, 13–30. Lincoln, 1986.
"The Years at Princeton." The Piano Quarterly 119 (Robert Casadesus issue, 1982): 27–29.
"Schubert's Unfinished Business." 19th-Century Music 7, no. 3 (1984): 222- 32. Reprinted in Cone, Music: A View from Delft, 201- 16.
"Musical Form and Musical Performance Reconsidered." Music Theory Spectrum 7 (1985): 149–58.
"A Tribute to Roger Sessions." Kent Quarterly 5, no. 2 (1986): 29–31.
"Twelfth Night." Musiktheorie 1 (1986): 41–59. Reprinted in original English version in Journal of Musicological Research 7, nos. 2–3 (1987): 131–56.
"Brahms: Songs with Words and Songs without Words." Integral 1 (1987): 31–56.
"Dashes of Insight: Blackmur as Music Critic." In The Legacy of R. P. Blackmur, edited by Edward T. Cone, Joseph Frank, and Edmund Keeley, 10–12. New York: Ecco Press, 1987.
"Music and Form." In What Is Music? An Introduction to the Philosophy of Music, edited by Philip Alperson, 131–46. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1994 (1987).
"On Derivation: Syntax and Rhetoric." Music Analysis 6, no. 3 (1987): 237- 56.
"The World of Opera and Its Inhabitants." In Cone, Music: A View from Delft, 125- 38.
"Responses" (to "The Composer's Voice: Elaborations and Departures"). College Music Symposium 29 (1989): 75–80.
1990–99
"Harmonic Congruence in Brahms." In Brahms Studies, edited by George S. Bozarth, 165–88. Oxford, 1990.
"Poet's Love or Composer's Love?" In Music and Text, edited by S. P. Scher, 177- 92. Cambridge, 1992.
"Ambiguity and Reinterpretation in Chopin." In Chopin Studies 2, edited by John Rink and Jim Samson, 140- 60. Cambridge, 1994.
"Thinking (about) Music." Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 138, no. 4 (1994): 469–75.
"Edward T. Cone Makes a Plea for Good Citizenship." Musical Times 135, no. 12 (December 1994): 734–38.
Review of Nicholas Cook: Music, Imagination, and Culture." Music Theory Spectrum. 16. 1 (1994): 134–138.
"The Pianist as Critic." In The Practice of Performance: Studies in Musical Interpretation, edited by John Rink, 241–53. Cambridge, 1995.
"Attacking a Brahms Puzzle." Musical Times 136, no. 2 (February 1995): 72- 77.
"Adding Up Beauty and Truth" (Article Review of Edward Rothstein: Emblems of Mind: The Inner Life of Music and Mathematics). Yale Review 83, no. 4 (October 1995): 121- 34.
"'Am Meer' Reconsidered: Strophic, Binary, Ternary." In Schubert Studies 5, edited by Brian Newbould, 112- 26. Aldershot, 1998.
2000–09
"Repetition and Correspondence in Schwanengesang." In Companion to Schubert's Schwanengesang, edited by Martin Chusid, 53- 89. New Haven, 2000.
