Musical time and information theory entropy

Many theorists have connected information content in music with the listener's perception of the passage of time. This thesis uses the construct of information theory entropy, developed in the 1940s by Bell Labs engineer Claude Shannon, to describe the passage of time in Webern's music. Entropy scores are computed based on pitches, intervals, CSEGs, and pc-sets; these scores are then used to examine the first of the Five Canons, op. 16, and the fourth of the Five Movements for String Quartet, op. 5.