Analysing Musical Multimedia is the first study to produce a general theory of how different media - music, words, moving picture, and dance - work together to created multimedia. Though generally associated with contemporary developments, in particular music video and film, a general theory of musical multimedia also encompasses traditional genres such as song and opera. Critical writing in these areas, however, is genre-specific; Nicholas Cook establishes principles, and a terminology for their description, that apply across the whole spectrum of musical multimedia. Beginning with a study of how meaning is mediated in television commercials, Cook concludes with in-depth readings of Fantasia, Madonna's video Material Girl, and Armide (Godard's sequence from the collaborative film Aria). Analysing Musical Multimedia not only shows how approaches deriving from music theory can contribute to the understanding of multimedia, but also draws conclusions from the practice and further development of musical analysis.

Foreword Part I Introduction to Part 1: Music and Meaning in the Commercials 1. Synaesthesia and Similarity 2. Multimedia as metaphor 3. Models of multimedia Part 2 Introduction to Part 1: Steps Towards Analysis 4. Credit Where It's Due: Madonna's Material Girl 5. Disney's Dream: The Rite of Spring sequence from Fantasia 6. Reading film and re-reading opera: from Armide to Aria Conclusion: The Lonely Muse Index

Nicholas Cook , Professor of Music Cambridge University