Crocker, Richard L.

Richard Crocker, a prominent musicologist, taught at UCB from 1963 to 1994. His major contribution is in the history and analysis of medieval sequence, culminating in The Early Medieval Sequence (1977). His work on music theory and early polyphony has been important in providing the basis for a new understanding of principles of composition in the middle ages, particularly those connected with tonal order.

From the description of Richard Lincoln Crocker Papers, 1967-1994. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122401985

Biography

Richard (Lincoln) Crocker (b. Roxbury, Massachusettes, 17 February 1927). Musicologist. He graduated from Yale College (BA 1950) and completed the doctorate under Leo Schrade in 1957 with a dissertation on the Limoges prosae. After teaching at Yale (1955-63), he was assistant professor (1963-7), associate professor (1967-71), and full professor (1971-94) at the University of California, Berkeley. He became known for his independent ideas in A History of Musical Style (1966) and in his article, The Troping Hypothesis (Musical Quarterly, 1966), for which he was awarded the Einstein Prize by the American Musicological Society. In 1969 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship. His work at Berkeley in developing methods for teaching non-musicians is embodied in Listening to Music (with Ann Basart, 1971). Crocker's major scholarly contribution, however, is to the history and analysis of the medieval sequence, culminating in The Early Medieval Sequence (1977). His work on music theory and early polyphony has been important in providing the basis for a new understanding of principles of composition in the Middle Ages, particularly those connected with tonal order.

(Philip Brett - The New Grove Dictionary of American Music )

From the guide to the Richard Lincoln Crocker Papers, 1967-1994, (The Music Library)