Music Theory II

1
Music Theory II

• New York University

2
Quote of the Day Pt. I (4/25/05)

• Bobby Quit being so selfish, Gene!
• Gene Frenkle Can I just say one thing? I'm
  standing here, staring at Bruce Dickinson! And if
  Bruce Dickinson wants more cowbell, we should
  probably give him more cowbell! And, Bobby, you
  are right - I am being selfish. But the last time
  I checked, we don't have a lot of songs that
  feature the cowbell.

3
Quote of the Day Pt. II (4/25/05)

• I gotta have more cowbell, baby!
• Bruce Dickinson

4
Agenda (4/25/05)

• Homework Review
• Who is Heinrich Schenker?
• What is Form?
• Binary and Ternary Forms
• Rondo
• Rondo in the 20th Century

5
Overview (semester map)

• Review of Theory I (13, 11)
• Diatonic Harmony continued (14-16)
• Applied Chords (21)
• Tonicization and Modulation (22)
• The Period and other small musical structures
  (17-18)
• Sequences (19-20)
• Binary Forms (23) (You are here)

6
Heinrich Schenker (1868-1935)

• Theorist - a student of Bruckner.
• Pervading Schenkers work is a deep, abiding
  interest in preserving and understanding the
  intentions of composers.
• He deplored the intrusive alterations that
  editors had made to works of the past masters,
  because he thought they obscured the composers
  intentions.
• He prepared editions of works by Handel, C.P.E.
  Bach and Beethoven based on first editions and,
  where available, autographs.
• Among the most significant are editions of
  Beethovens last five piano sonatas (the edition
  of op.106 was not completed due to lack of an
  extant autograph).
• Wilhelm Furtwängler, impressed by Schenkers
  treatise on Beethovens Ninth Symphony (1912),
  became a lifelong friend.

7
Yes, but what is Schenker on about?

• Schenkers theory amounts to a probing analysis
  of musical cognition within the tradition of
  Western European music as practised in the 18th
  and 19th centuries.
• In his writings he established the cognitive
  prototypes of musical perception, based upon
  subtle readings of works by composers widely
  recognized as the leading artists in the
  tradition, vigorous examination of his own
  hearing and a thorough study of the evidence
  presented indirectly in the disciplines of
  species counterpoint (according to Fux) and
  thorough-bass (according to C.P.E. Bach).

8
Structural Tonality

• Some common factors are known about tonal music.
• First, nearly all such music begins and ends in
  the same key, which we call the tonic.
• Second, nearly all tonal music then diverges away
  from the tonic in the middle of the piece, often
  to the dominant key or to some other related key
  such as the relative major. Most often it moves
  to the dominant. In fact, this is the plan in
  binary and sonata form.
• From this we can induce a common plan for most
  tonal music, namely I V I. Now this itself, in
  the final analysis further reduces to simply
  tonic. Therefore, all such tonal music finally
  reduces to just tonic, because it starts there
  and ends there.
• That is why we can state that a particular piece
  of music is "in the key of" whatever it may be.
  This is enormously simplifying. It means that all
  such music is really just an elaboration of the
  tonic chord, and the most common divergence is to
  the dominant. So the basic harmonic scheme is I V
  I, with the roots of these chords in the bass.
  This is the Bass Arpeggiation, which we can
  illustrate as follows

9
Bass Arpeggiation

• The bass voice often has a harmonic rather than a
  melodic function.
• It has a tendency to outline essential harmonies,
  especially tonic and dominant.
• Therefore, the bass voice typically leaps by
  fourths and fifths, but it may also have step
  motion that fills in these leaps.

10
Fundamental Line (Urlinie)

• Another Schenker discovery is that there are
  three essential structural soprano lines, which
  can be called Fundamental Lines (Urlinie).
• All of these lines descend. This is due to the
  commonly perceived sense of resolution at the
  end.
• Therefore, there must be a higher energy level
  preceeding that resolution.
• The downward line may be regarded as the graphic
  representation of the dissipation of this energy
  level throughout the course of the music.
• Due to the normal establishment of the tonic key
  at the outset, each Fundamental Line starts with
  a note of the tonic chord, and each can only have
  one of three possible starting notes 3, 5, or 8.
  Additionally, tonal music normally ends with
  structural 1 (tonic) in the soprano. Thus, the
  three schemas are

11
Fundamental Lines (contd)
When a Fundamental Line is combined with the Bass
Arpeggiation, the result is the Primordial
Structure, (Ursatz). The Primordial Structure is
an abstraction and is not the same as the
Background. There are three possible Primordial
Structures
12
Primordial Structures (Ursatzen)

• Schenker believed these to be the fundamental
  structures of tonal composition.
• Through analysis, it has been shown that a large
  number of compositions share these basic
  structures.

13
J.S. Bach Prelude in C

• Although voice leading is defined by step
  progression, there are many examples, especially
  in instrumental music, where the principle of
  step motion seems to be violated. The following
  well-known example is from Bach's Prelude in C
  major in his Well-Tempered Clavier (WTC), Book I

The notes seem to persistently leap as
arpeggiated chords, the first measure being
tonic and the second being a ii7, the third a V7,
etc. However, a verticalization of the chords of
these four measures discloses the essential
voice leading
14
Prelude in C mm. 1-4

• This example distills the essential voice
  leading.
• Five voices are revealed 2 sopranos, 1 alto, 1
  tenor, and 1 bass.
• Thus, each is moving stepwise as smoothly as
  possible, and each measure is compressed to a
  single chord and contains all the notes of the
  original version.

15
Prelude in C mm. 1-4 (contd)

• Some symbols are introduced to indicate aspects
  of the voice leading.
• Notice that white and black notes are used not as
  rhythmic notations but as hierarchical tonal
  symbols i.e., white notes are structurally more
  important than the black notes.
• The black notes are non-harmonic tones that show
  the step connections between the essential white
  notes, which in this case are those of the tonic
  C major domain chord.
• All of the black notes are neighbor notes in our
  example.

16
Prelude in C mm. 1-4 (contd)

• Solid beams indicate voice leading that is
  changing, whereas the broken beam denotes
  stationary voices (repeating or sustained notes).
• The key to this type of analysis is the
  recognition of step motion moving through the
  harmonies.
• Not only does this reveal important aspects of
  the voice leading, but it is also invaluable for
  developing sight-reading skill by simplifying the
  music and engaging a broader scan.

17
Prelude in C mm. 1-4 (contd)

• On a more "distant" level, or middleground, Ex 3
  simplifies the first four measures as simply a
  prolongation of tonic.
• This is accomplished by deleting notes of lesser
  importance (black).
• Finally, Ex 4 shows these four measures to be
  essentially a tonic which is part of a larger
  directed motion that continues to the end of the
  work, i.e., the background.

18
What is Form?

• The constructive or organizing element in music.
• Might be defined simply as what forms have in
  common, reflecting the fact that an organizing
  impulse is at the heart of any compositional
  enterprise, from the most modest to the most
  ambitious.
• The art of composition is not synonymous with the
  selection of formal templates, and composers
  oblige writers on music to confront the infinite
  flexibility of the relation between form as a
  generic category (such as ternary, canon, sonata)
  and the musical work as the unique result of the
  deployment of particular materials and processes.
• Practice particularizes, just as theory
  generalizes, and discussion of musical form has
  been especially vulnerable to the tensions which
  arise between these very different ways of
  thinking.
• (Arnold Whittall Form', Grove Music Online ed.
  L. Macy (Accessed 12 Sept 2001),
  )

19
Binary and Ternary Forms

• In Chapters 17 and 18, we studied the terminology
  of period formssuch terms as phrase, contrasting
  period, and double period. These terms are widely
  used and have generally accepted meanings.
• The terms used in Chapter 23 are also widely
  used, but writers disagree on important aspects
  of their meanings. In addition, some writers
  recognize and name sub-categories of the formal
  types discussed in this chapter.
• Although we will attempt to find a common ground
  among the various systems, be aware that any book
  on musical form that you might read will disagree
  with our definitions to some extent.

20
Binary and Ternary Forms (contd)

• BINARY FORMS
• The word binary has to do with the concept of
  two-ness.
• In music, a binary form is one that consists of
  approximately equivalent sections, although they
  may be of unequal length.
• Approximately equivalent means that we would
  not use the term binary to describe a piece
  because it has an introduction, since the
  introduction is clearly not equivalent to the
  main body of the work.
• Periods and double periods are binary forms, but
  we do not usually use the term binary for them
  because a term like parallel period is more
  informative.

21
Ternary Forms

• The idea of statement-contrast-return (ABA) is an
  important one in musical form.
• The ABA, or ternary form can provide the
  structure from anything from a short theme to a
  lengthy movement of a sonata or symphony.
• The B section of a ternary form can create
  contrast with the A sections b y using different
  melodic material, texture, tonality, or some
  combination of these.

22
Ternary Forms (contd)

• Many 20th century popular songs, especially those
  composed before the advent of rock music adhered
  to a sectional ternary pattern that we will call
  the American popular ballad form. It consists of
  an eight-bar period that is repeated with a
  different text, followed by an eight-measure
  bridge that is often in another key and a
  return to the opening period.
• The diagram below summarizes this form
• Music A A B
  A
• Text 1 2 3
  4
• Measures 1-8 9-16 17-24 25-32
• Hundreds of songs follow this general format

23
(No Transcript)
24
(No Transcript)
25
Rounded Binary Forms

• Frequently, the last part of what appears to be a
  ternary form returns only half of the A section
• A B 1/2A
• The term often used for this form is the rounded
  binary.
• Often, the phrase structure of a sectional
  rounded binary example will be

26
Rounded Binary Forms (contd)

• This is the form of many traditional tunes, such
  as Oh Susannah.

27
Rounded Binary Forms (contd)

• Rounded Binary Form - In some instances, it may
  be difficult to distinguish between rounded
  binary and ternary form as in the following
  example by Rodgers Hart

28
(No Transcript)
29
Rondo Form

• Rondo. (Classical) An extended Ternary form A B
  A C A D A. . . . B A. The basic principle is a
  repeating A section alternating with new
  material, any number of times. Prototype
  Beethoven's Rondos
• A musical form in which the first or main section
  recurs, normally in the home key between
  subsidiary sections (couplets, episodes) and to
  conclude the composition.
• The familiar Classical rondo had an important
  precursor in the French rondeau of Lully,
  François Couperin and Rameau. Englishmen such as
  Purcell and Germans such as Georg Muffat and Bach
  adopted French forms and techniques, and by the
  mid-l8th century the rondeau of French stamp was
  widely established.
• In the 1770s there began a vogue for rondos of a
  simple, tuneful kind for which opera buffa
  provided much of the impetus.

30
Rondo Form (contd)

• C.P.E. Bach's rondos in the series for
  'Connoisseurs and Amateurs' are extended
  leisurely compositions which stand outside the
  mainstream of the genre's evolution.
• The independent rondo for piano was cultivated
  with yet greater distinction by Mozart (K494 and
  511), Beethoven (op.51 no.1 and 129) and
  Mendelssohn (Rondo capriccioso op.14).
• More often the Classical rondo (ABAC . . . A)
  functioned as a movement within a large
  composition, especially as the finale in a
  sonata, serenade or concerto.
• Haydn began composing rondos in the early 1770s
  examples are found in his symphonies, string
  quartets and piano trios.
• Mozart used the form in a variety of media
  throughout his career.
• Beethoven used it in his early chamber works,
  sonatas and concertos, but later largely
  abandoned it.

31
Rondo form in the 20th Century

• Ill Be Back (Lennon - McCartney)
• CD "A Hard Day's Night", Track 13
• (Parlophone CDP7 46437-2)
• Recorded 1st June 1964, Abbey Road 2
• UK-release 10th July 1964 (LP "A Hard Day's
  Night")
• Key A Major / a minor (A - Tonal Center)
• Meter 4/4
• Form Intro Verse Bridge-1 Verse Bridge-2
  
• Verse Bridge-1
  Verse Outro (fade-out)

32
Ill Be Back (1964)

• You know if you break my heart I'll go
• But I'll be back again
• Cos I told you once before goodbye
• But I came back again
• I love you so
• I'm the one who wants you
• Yes, I'm the one
• Who wants you, oh ho, oh ho, oh
• You could find better things to do
• Than to break my heart again
• This time I will try to show that I'm
• Not trying to pretend

• I thought that you would realize
• That if I ran away from you
• That you would want me too
• But I got a big surprise
• Oh ho, oh ho, oh
• You could find better things to do
• Than to break my heart again
• This time I will try to show that I'm
• Not trying to pretend
• I wanna go but I hate to leave you,
• You know I hate to leave you ,
• oh ho, oh ho, oh
• You, if you break my heart I'll go
• But I'll be back again

33
Assignment (4/25/05)

• Complete Preliminary Reduction Handout - J.S.
  Bach Prelude in C (WTC Bk. I)
• Begin preparing for general review (4/27/05)
• Review of Theory I (13, 11)
• Diatonic Harmony continued (14-16)
• Applied Chords (21)
• Tonicization and Modulation (22)
• The Period and other small musical structures
  (17-18)
• Sequences (19-20)
• Binary Forms (23)