RECONSTRUCTING TONAL PRINCIPLES IN THE MUSIC OF BRAD MEHLDAU

Daniel J. Arthurs

Submitted to the faculty of the University Graduate School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University May 2011

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Accepted by the Graduate Faculty, Indiana University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Doctoral Committee

Frank Samarotto, Ph.D.

Kyle Adams

Marianne Kielian-Gilbert

Luke Gillespie

Ramon Satyendra

May 3, 2011

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 2011 Daniel J. Arthurs ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

iii

Acknowledgments I have benefited from the help of many throughout the process of completing this work, and would like to acknowledge them individually: my committee members, Kyle Adams, Marianne Kielian-Gilbert, Luke Gillespie, and Ramon Satyendra; Henry Martin, who briefly but importantly shared his thoughts about jazz tonality early in my research; and my adviser, Frank Samarotto, who played an essential part in the way I have come to understand music in general, and who demonstrated great patience when I brought him (often in overabundance) new ideas about the music explored here. I also would like to thank Indiana University, the Jacobs School of Music, and the Music Theory Department, who provided financial support through the Dissertation Year Fellowship (2009-2010), which was vital to this works completion. Finally, I would like to thank Brad Mehldau, whoin addition to taking time during his busy professional schedule to correspond with megranted me permission to reproduce selections of his music (including 29 Palms, Sehnsucht, and Unrequited), which can be purchased from the composer at http://www.bradmehldau.com.

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Daniel J. Arthurs RECONSTRUCTING TONAL PRINCIPLES IN THE MUSIC OF BRAD MEHLDAU This study reconstructs tonal principles in selected works of New York jazz composer and pianist Brad Mehldau through a combination of analytical approaches, including Schenkerian analysis, which are informed by his writings and stylistic characteristics. The contrapuntal idiosyncrasies that have come to define Mehldau as a composer and performer suggest the applicability of Schenkerian analytical techniques. Mehldaus expressed interests in classical norms and a linear approach motivates the analysis of contrapuntal frameworks in terms of consonantdissonant requirements pursued in this study. The analyses demonstrate the central role of traditional triadic harmony in dissonance resolution, Mehldaus characteristic means of employing melodically directed motion and, ultimately, the large-scale forms of goal-orientation that correspond to the beginningmiddleend schemes fundamental to Schenkerian theory.
Primary works analyzed are featured in Mehldaus Art of the Trio, Volume 3: Songs (1998), including Sehnsucht, Unrequited, and Convalescent, among other works and arrangements. That

rich analytical results are available through a Schenkerian perspective draws attention to significant problems in work that seeks to apply traditional tonal analysis to other jazz music.

Table of Contents List of Examples ................................................................................................................ ix List of Figures ................................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 Part 1. An Introduction to Brad Mehldau and to the Study ............................................ 1 Biography and Overview of Musical Style ................................................................. 1 Writings on music ................................................................................................... 2 Mehldaus Reconstructed Tonal Principles ............................................................. 3 Jazz Chord Symbols ................................................................................................ 5 Part 2. The Problem of Jazz Analysis. .......................................................................... 10 Four Hypotheses ....................................................................................................... 12 Counter-example: Vince Guaraldis Christmastime is Here ................................. 16 Harmony and Counterpoint (Historical Context) ..................................................... 21 Defining Tonality ...................................................................................................... 22 Chapter 2: Literature Review and Methodology .............................................................. 31 Part 1. Literature Review: Theoretical Contexts of Jazz Music ................................... 31 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 31 I. Conceptual Bases of Tonal Jazz Theory (Russell, Baker, Levine) ....................... 32 II. Schenkerian Applications to Tonal Jazz (Strunk, Martin, Larson) ...................... 39 Part 2. Methodology...................................................................................................... 55 Reconciling Chord Symbols and Voice-Leading ..................................................... 55 Schenkerian Analysis ................................................................................................ 56 Plasticity Analysis..................................................................................................... 57 Transcription ............................................................................................................. 57 vi

Chapter 3: Sehnsucht and the Suspension......................................................................... 60 Part 1. The Suspension and the BeginningMiddleEnd Paradigm ............................. 60 Suspensions in Jazz Music ........................................................................................ 65 Part 2. Analysis of Sehnsucht........................................................................................ 72 Foreground and Middleground ................................................................................. 79 Deep Middleground/Background.............................................................................. 93 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 94 Chapter 4: Temporal Plasticity and Solo Voice Leading in Unrequited .......................... 96 Part 1. Temporal Plasticity ............................................................................................ 96 Part 2. Temporal Planes .............................................................................................. 102 Part 3. Analysis of Improvisation. .............................................................................. 110 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 110 From Thematic Voice Leading to Solo Voice Leading .......................................... 112 Larry Grenadiers Bass Solo ................................................................................... 117 Foreground .......................................................................................................... 117 Mehldaus Solo ....................................................................................................... 121 Skewing Tonal Durations: micro-analysis of chorus 1, mm. 6-8 ....................... 122 Chorus 1 .................................................................................................................. 124 mm. 116 ............................................................................................................ 127 mm. 1732 .......................................................................................................... 129 Chorus 2 .................................................................................................................. 131 Chorus 3 .................................................................................................................. 135 Special note regarding temporal planes and the climax...................................... 141 Part 4. Aspects of Closure ........................................................................................... 143 vii

Summary ..................................................................................................................... 148 Chapter 5: Aspects of the Free Fantasy in Convalescent ................................................ 149 Part 1. Aspects of the Free Fantasy ............................................................................. 153 I. The Pedal Point.................................................................................................... 153 II. The Free Fantasy Transformed .......................................................................... 164 Part 2. Analysis of Convalescent ................................................................................ 173 Formal Analysis ...................................................................................................... 173 Voice-Leading analysis: Preliminaries ................................................................... 175 CD ambiguity .................................................................................................. 177 Voice transfer ...................................................................................................... 177 MajorMinor ambiguity (B versus B)............................................................... 178 Piano solo, chorus 1 (0:53 1:56) ...................................................................... 179 Piano solo, chorus 2 (1:56 3:20) ...................................................................... 187 Bass solo ............................................................................................................. 201 Return of the theme ................................................................................................. 202 The Coda ................................................................................................................. 202 Considerations regarding large-scale structure ....................................................... 203 Summary ..................................................................................................................... 205 Chapter 6: Conclusions ................................................................................................... 206 The Anxiety of Influence in Jazz ................................................................................ 206 The Nature of a Style .............................................................................................. 210 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................213

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Examples 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 29 Palms, score, mm. 116 ......................................................................................7 29 Palms, harmonic analysis of mm. 1516 ............................................................7 Christmastime Is Here (Vince Guarldi, 1965), A section, voice-leading analysis .......................................................................................................18 29 Palms, mm. 128 (A and B sections), with form annotations ..........................27 29 Palms, mm. 14, harmonic realization and analysis .........................................27 29 Palms, mm. 34, hypothetical phrase ending in C minor .................................29 29 Palms, mm. 1316, voice-leading analysis.......................................................30 Aldwell and Schachters example 27-18 ...............................................................47 Larsons example 2.4, A Chain of Ninths and Thirteenths ...........................50 A 913 LIP rendered into a two-part keyboard figuration ....................................51 A chain of 98 Suspensions in Sehnsucht, mm. 2528 .........................................56 Sehnsucht, score, with annotations ........................................................................63 Three voice-leading interpretations of Bsusadd3 in Sehnsucht, m. 17.....................67 For All We Know, chorus (Coots and Lewis, 1934) ..........................................70 For All We Know, transcription of Mehldaus right hand, with bass ................70 Chopin, mazurka, op. 17, no. 4, mm. 114 ............................................................73 Schumann, Aus meinen Thrnen, Dichterliebe, Op. 48, no. 2, opening ............76 Sehnsucht, mm. 15, transcription and voice-leading analysis .............................78 Sehnsucht, foreground and middleground voice-leading (mm. 1-22) ...................81 Chain of 98 Suspensions in Sehnsucht, mm. 2528 ............................................87 BACH motives in Sehnsucht, mm. 2935 .......................................................93 ix

3.11 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4

Sehnsucht, deep middleground and background ....................................................94 Unrequited, score ...................................................................................................97 Skewed harmonic durations in Unrequited, mm. 14 .........................................100 Unrequited, theme, complete voice-leading analysis ..........................................101 Unrequited, piano transcription, from Art of the Trio, Volume 3: Songs, 0:001:25 .................................................................................................103 Unrequited, three-voice species model and temporal planes (whole note = one measure) ............................................................................................107 Analogous tonal plans in Unrequited, mm. 116 and 1621 ..............................109 Solo voice-leading choices compared to thematic voice-leading (mm. 1632) ..115 Larry Grenadiers bass solo in Unrequited, with voice-leading analysis ............119 Mehldaus solo, chorus 1, mm. 116 ...................................................................125 Unrequited, piano solo, chorus 1, with voice-leading analysis ...........................126 Bifurcation of harmony in chorus 1, mm. 816 ...................................................127 Unrequited, piano solo, chorus 2, with voice-leading analysis ...........................132 Unrequited, chorus 2, middleground ...................................................................134 Unrequited, piano solo, chorus 3, with voice-leading analysis ...........................137 Unrequited, score, coda (mm. 3339) .................................................................144 Unrequited, coda, with voice-leading analysis ....................................................146 Two scenarios for concluding with a picardy third .............................................147 A transcription of Convalescent, theme (with annotations).................................151 Convalescent, theme, complete voice-leading analysis .......................................152 Convalescent, opening melodys two-part counterpoint (mm. 17)....................153 C. P. E. Bachs figure 402....................................................................................153 x

5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 5.17 5.18 5.19 5.20 5.21 5.22 5.23

Tonal cycling in Convalescent and in an illustration by C. P. E. Bach ...............155 Naima (John Coltrane, 1959), harmonic reduction..............................................158 Green Dolphin Street (Bronislau Kaper and Ned Washington, 1947), A section, harmonic reduction .....................................................................159 Green Dolphin Street, with classical realization of harmony over tonic pedal ...160 Black Narcissus (Joe Henderson, 1975) ..............................................................161 Conclusions of chorus 1 and chorus 2 .................................................................165 C. P. E. Bachs figure 477, Broken chords must not progress too rapidly or unevenly .................................................................................................167 Convalescent, coda ..............................................................................................171 Harmonic processes within the coda....................................................................172 Convalescent, piano solo, chorus 1, with voice-leading analysis ........................180 Convalescent, piano solo, chorus 1, middleground .............................................182 Convalescent, piano solo, chorus 2, with voice-leading analysis ........................188 Convalescent, piano solo, chorus 2, middleground and background ...................190 Chorus 2, opening melodic figure (1:59) .............................................................191 Voice-leading stages in chorus 2, 2:042:08 .......................................................192 Interplay between Mehldau and Grenadier, 2:142:25........................................195 Chorus 2, 2:302:59, voice-leading .....................................................................198 Three similar passages in the piano solo of Convalescent ...................................200 Register transfer/transcendence in Convalescent.................................................204

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Figures 1.1 1.2 1.3 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 4.1 5.1 5.2 5.3 Henry Martins tonal cues in twentieth century music ..........................................23 Martins criteria for tonality as typified by modern jazz .......................................24 Martins criteria for tonality not followed by modern jazz....................................25 David Bakers illustration of the bebop scale (with annotations) ..........................34 Bakers non-contextual substitution of a major chord ...........................................36 Bakers non-contextual substitution of a Dmi7 chord ...........................................37 Bakers non-contextual substitution of a G7 chord ................................................38 Bakers example 3, a chart illustrating a matrix which [Baker] evolved and developed based on the Coltrane changes ................................................38 Henry Martins examples 2-5 and 2-6 (opening measures to a Bach partita) .......40 Martins examples 2-7 and 2-8 (Charlie Parkers solo from Shaw Nuff) .............41 Interrupted voice-leading structure in Unrequited ...............................................136 Summary of solo durations in Convalescent .......................................................165 Three temporal planes in Convalescent ...............................................................169 Synopsis of rounded binary form of Convalescent, theme ..................................174

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Chapter 1: Introduction Part 1. An Introduction to Brad Mehldau and to the Study Biography and Overview of Musical Style Brad Mehldau (b. 1970), like many jazz pianists, was first trained in the classical tradition. Apparently discovering jazz only by his teens, he quickly received local attention in his home of West Hartford, Connecticut. After graduating from high school, he moved to New York and attended the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music while playing and recording as a sideman. At the New School Mehldau studied with Fred Hersch, Junior Mance and Kenny Werner. He also was enrolled in music courses that taught musicianship skills and history (which included a core music class with jazz theory scholar, Henry Martin).1 Leaving the New School in 1993, Mehldau gained notoriety as a sideman, but quickly developed into a leader. His trio, featuring Larry Grenadier on bass and Jorge Rossy on drums, began touring worldwide by the late 1990s. Five of Mehldaus earlier albums with Grenadier and Rossy were grouped by him under the collection title, Art of the Trio.2 This study will focus primarily on Mehldaus 1998 album, Art of the Trio, Volume 3: Songs. The albums track listing typifies the diversity of music in his albums, featuring several of his own compositions, a couple of arrangements of standard jazz repertory, an adaptation of a song by contemporary rock group Radiohead (Exit Music [for a Film]), and an adaptation of a 1968 song by the late British singer/songwriter Nick Drake (River Man).3

1. From a discussion with Henry Martin (personal communication). 2. For a select discography, see the bibliography. 3. For a complete track listing, see the bibliography.

2 In 2005 he began collaborating with Jeff Ballard on drums, replacing Rossy, and from 2006-2008 he collaborated with world-renowned jazz guitarist Pat Metheny. Today, Mehldaus trio continues to tour worldwide. Critics, from early in his career, have noted the fusion of classical and jazz elements in his music.4 Further, many have identified an idiosyncrasy within his style (which, I will later argue, is due in large part to a linear approach to harmony). This idiosyncrasy includes the use of imitation and dialogue between left and right hands in both his compositions and improvisations.5 Writings on music Mehldau is outspoken on his opinions in support of an autonomous artwork. He strives to blend the extemporaneous with the preconceived. His official biography states, [Mehldau] has a deep fascination for the formal architecture of music, and it informs everything he plays. In his most inspired playing, the actual structure of his musical thought serves as an expressive device. As he plays, he is listening to how the ideas unwind, and the order in which they reveal themselves. Each tune has a strongly felt narrative arch, whether it expresses itself in a beginning and an end, or something left intentionally open-ended.6 Though written in the third person, these words are likely penned by Mehldau. The erudition expressed in this quote is typical of his numerous other writings (many of which are catalogued in the first section of the bibliography). Through his writings

4. See, for instance, Adam Shatz, A Jazz Pianist with a Brahmsian Bent, Arts and Leisure, New York Times, July 27, 1999, section 2, p. 31. 5. For a recent stylistic assessment of Mehldaus style, see Ted Gioia, Assessing Mehldau at Mid-Career, entry posted December 31, 2007, http://www.jazz.com/features-and-interviews/2007/ 12/31/assessing-brad-mehldau-at-mid-career (accessed 28 January 2009). 6. From his website, http://www.bradmehldau.com, accessed April 14, 2008.

3 Mehldau claims his music has strong European influences. The classical influence in his style of jazz he describes as located in the compositional process: That came about as a result of studying a lot of the contrapuntal aspects of classical music. I tried to get away from a one-note melody and a chord under it, and tried to explore the relationships between several notes moving independently. The idea of generating a whole composition from a small amount of thematic material is very alluring to me, and resulted from studying the compositions of great classical composers like Beethoven and Brahms.7 Mehldaus Reconstructed Tonal Principles Essential to this study is an underlying hypothesis: that the triad plays a central role in dissonance resolution. The analyses will demonstrate the existence of a clear contrapuntal relationship establishing specific consonancedissonance conditions, ultimately promoting motion and goal-directedness, all in a traditional sense.8 I examine selected tonal works from Mehldaus output that illustrate in novel ways how tonal motion can promote a unified whole. The means by which he deploys these principles will serve as evidence that a traditional tonal approach to music can thrive in a post-tonal era. That the triad serves as contrapuntal basis for Mehldaus music situates these pieces within a reconstructed tonal space as defined by Schenker in his theories of tonality. The following techniques are among the most important that will be examined in this study: (1) use of suspensions with keyboard figuration typical of the tonal era (e.g., mordents or trills); (2) linear intervallic patterns of a tonal nature (i.e., 105, 710, etc., exclusive of extended tertian patterns9); (3) 76 chains and 56 exchanges; (4) chromatic

7. The Brad Mehldau Collection (Milwaukee: Hal Leonard, ca. 2002). More excerpts of Mehldaus writing can be found in part 2 of this chapter. 8. I explore various criteria towards a more specific idea of what is meant by in a traditional sense in part 2, Defining Tonality. 9. See chapter 2, Linear Intervallic Patterns, p. 48ff.

4 third progressions, requiring enharmonic reinterpretation; (5) melodic turn figures and other idioms suggestive of the tonal era; (6) tonal puns on important melodic pitches; and (7) functional tonal cycling.10 This study works out intuitions I had about Mehldaus music long before I encountered his writings. As I became familiar with his music, it became apparent that classical and jazz elements were being combined: my classical knowledge more frequently informed my understanding of his jazz music, rather than my jazz knowledge informing my understanding of his traditional tonality. From a young age, jazz style has been my second language with classical styles as my first. The cultural reasons for this are many, and makes for a project not to be explored here. But I believe it is important for American musicians and scholars to understand why the inequality between classical and jazz languages exists in the hopes of understanding how one musical language can inform the other. For example, many pianists who specialize in jazz first train classically.11 While the ability to improvise competently in the jazz style sets apart spectator and specialist, all musicians who attend the university are required to go through a music-theory curriculum that stresses one language over the other. Students reconstruct tonal principles all the time, particularly when the task is to compose model compositions in a certain style. They are evaluated on how well they

10. In many ways this study departs from Joseph N. Strauss definition of prolongation in tonal music; see Joseph N. Straus, The Problem of Prolongation in Post-Tonal Music, Journal of Music Theory 31, no. 1 (1987): 1-21. 11. Among the most prominent jazz pianists who first trained classically are Herbie Hancock, Dave Brubeck, Armen Donelian, John Medeski, Andr Previn, Cyrus Chestnut, Bill Cunliffe, and Hal Galper. All these can be confirmed in brief biographical sketches found at www.oxfordmusiconline.com (accessed January 28, 2009). It should be noted that many non-pianists also first trained classically (Benny Goodman being one of the most famous examples), but I would hypothesize that a higher percentage of jazz pianists first studied classical music.

5 employ tonal principles. Melodic turns of phrases help accomplish their task, but without a proper knowledge of certain harmonic principles, model compositions can stray from the desired style. Even when the style is achieved, model compositions are generally not intended to pass as masterpieces, but serve as demonstrations of earlier styles and genres. Model compositions recreate the wheel, as it were, but are not normally intended to achieve the status of a unique work of special inspiration. In a post-modern world, where collages of musical styles are the norm, Mehldau has singled out the use of tonal principles not unlike those learned in model compositions, perhaps invigorated by a jazz setting. By integrating tonal principles with the jazz tradition, his compositions surpass the status of model composition. Indeed, these tonal principles in part define his voice as a composer and improviser, distinguishing him from other jazz pianists of the last fifty years. Reconstructing tonal principles in Mehldaus music, then, shows us how his art transcends the model composition, and, indeed, how these principles become a springboard to compositional innovation. Jazz Chord Symbols Jazz chord symbols do not reveal long-term relationships. Interrelationships from chord to chord frequently instantiate the IIVI formula. This formula often has shortterm implications for prolonging the third chord, as can be demonstrated at the foreground level in a Schenkerian analytical context. Nevertheless, root motion through the circle of fifths is the underlying principle for such a formula. Beyond the circle of fifths, jazz chord symbols frequently do little to demonstrate specific functional connections from chord to chord. The information provided by each jazz chord symbol

6 alone cannot illustrate the perceived motion, or voice-leading, from chord to chord. In this study I demonstrate how linear analysis can meaningfully reveal what happens in motion between chords, superseding the information provided by chord symbols on a score. To be sure, the decision to stress melodic over harmonic approaches has been a recurring point of contention throughout the history of music theory. I do not wish to downplay the importance of jazz harmony (or even classical harmony) so much as I wish to elevate an awareness of contrapuntal situations that are not normally apparent in jazz music. While Mehldaus music at times is strikingly different from traditional jazz, his own practice of accompanying his published themes with chord symbols is a traditional jazz practice: the symbols name vertical arrangements of a given collection of melodic and harmonic material at specific points within the music, usually one to two chords per measure. Given the contrapuntal approach to many of Mehldaus compositions, though, chord symbols cannot tell us the linear story that animates the rich surface of the music. In example 1.1, the final three chords to Mehldaus 29 Palms is shown in mm. 1516.12 The tonic is approached by a second inversion dominant seventh in the key of B major, which is notated on the score as G7/D. This symbol is intended to illustrate an inversion of a G flat dominant seventh, with D flat in the bass. In B major, it functions in tonal theory as a passing V$ harmony, or an F sharp dominant seventh (enharmonically reinterpreted from G flat). Three of the four voices are suspended over the tonic with a chromatic neighbor note, G natural, added to the texture. This is indicated on the score as
12. 29 Palms is an ABA form, so this progression, illustrated only midway through the score, effectively concludes the piece. 29 Palms is performed in Brad Mehldau, Places, Warner Bros. 9 47693-2 (CD), 2000; the chord symbols are Mehldaus.

7 Example E 1.1. 29 Palms, score, s mm. 116 1

13

Example E 1.2. 29 Palms, harmonic h an nalysis of mm m. 1516

#### 5 & # 4 ? #### 4 5 #

B:

G b/D b

V$

w .. n .. w

G/B

n ~~~~~~~~ ~~ I%

G G /B. Note th hat F is prov vided by the e melody yet t is absent in n the chord sy ymbol. This s ch hord suggest ts a tonic arr rival on B with w both susp pensions and d an upper n neighbor, wh hich is s illustrated in i figured ba ass notation in example 1.2. These d dissonances appropriatel ly re esolve on the e second hal lf of m. 16 to o the tonic tr riad, which i is indicated o on the score as

13. I would w like to tha ank Brad Mehl ldau for grantin ng me permiss sion to reprodu uce his lead she eet to 29 9 Palms, Sehns sucht (example e 3.1), and Unr requited (exam mple 4.1). Thes se are intended d for analytical pu urposes, and ar re not intended d for performan nce.

B.

14

8 As an analytical listener of both jazz and classical music, I do not experience the

three chords as they are indicated on the score of example 1.1. The chord symbol notation indicated by Mehldau differs from how I hear the final three chords as a unit. I instead attend to the motion between each chord that signals an approach, suspension, and repose that constitutes a cadence, illustrated in example 1.2. The traditional tonal processes that describe a suspension instead aptly illustrate my experience of the final bars: (1) a dominant harmony serves as consonant preparation for (2) the suspension of dominant harmony over the tonic arrival, with the additional dissonance of a neighbornote, G,15 followed by (3) resolution to the tonic triad. Mehldaus creative use of G/B to explain the double suspension that takes place in the penultimate measure to 29 Palms is a clear example of a reconstructed tonal principle that one would be hard pressed to identify in a typical tonal jazz piece. For instance, by incorporating the melody one can label the harmony with complex chord symbols as G-75/B or G795/B. Both symbols accurately account for the harmonic content of the penultimate chord. Instead, Mehldau does away with a major or minor distinction and invokes three syntactical musical elements to render the identity of the double suspension: the chord symbol of a diminished triad (G), the bass-pedal symbol (/B), and the melody (F4). In addition, by using the diminished symbol, Mehldau is perhaps sensitive to the state of suspension by not choosing a symbol that identifies a
14. Here the triangle seems to be indicating a major triad, without the customary major seventh (as informed by the performance). 15. The G itself can function as the flat-nine of a dominant, or seventh of a leading-tone diminished seventh chord, both of which represents prolongation of the dominant. In this case, the G is not prepared as a suspension, hence its neighbor-note designation. In tonal analysis, the penultimate harmony is heard as a vii7/V over a tonic pedal.

9 major or minor connotation over a non-tonic harmony, as in the two alternatives I provided above. In both cases, G is not the root harmonywhether major, minor, or diminishedsince B major is the ultimate goal. This complex coordination of symbols and music realizes a somewhat straightforward voice-leading situation. That there is no better way to demonstrate this simple voice-leading situation to a jazz musician (on the score) underscores the friction that motivates this study. More importantly, this study raises questions about the assumptions of tonal jazz as it relates to linear analysis, particularly in a Schenkerian orientation. While jazz music often emphasizes parsimonious voice-leading, the motions just described between harmonies are not a given stylistic requisite in jazz music, not even in the tonal jazz repertory. In 29 Palms tones are activated as a source of harmonic tension in a specific way. These contrapuntal tensions are driven by a goal-orientation towards a tonic triad. Triadic goal-orientation is not a requisite, nor is it preferred, for much tonal jazz music.16 The above example demonstrated specific functions for each scale degree, namely, the neighbor note and the suspensions. Neither of these functions are made evident by the chord symbols. To be sure, this study is not a critique of jazz practice, such as chord-symbol notation in Mehldaus music or in jazz in general. Rather, this study points to the friction evident between two languages and how one jazz composer appropriates his musical style from the nineteenth-century German Romantic tradition (as
16. Jazz musicians are taught from an early stage that it is outside the style to emphasize anything as basic as a triad; students are encourage to substitute triads with acceptable extended tertian hamonies. Consider this statement from Walter Piston, who wrote, Students of jazz techniques will recognize that an entire harmonic vocabulary based on the complete set of added-sixth chord and non-dominant sevenths and ninths exists in that art, indeed defining the normative chordal states in a harmony where pure triads are rare. Walter Piston, Harmony, 5th ed. (New York: W. W. Norton, 1987), 483.

10 evinced in his writings) in order to create a renewed sense of tonality in this post-modern age. Part 2. The Problem of Jazz Analysis. In traditional analysis of jazz music, scholars have debated over the influences of the Western European tradition. The main argument is that jazz, deriving primarily from West African music culture, is incompatible with Western European analytical techniques. That is, the analyses that aim to understand the constituent parts of a jazz work should not resemble those applied to Western European music. More recently, an African-American literary theory by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has been applied to music of West African origin: Samuel A. Floyd, Jr. has applied Gatess term, signifying, to the performer in jazz music.17 Signifying essentially involves the art of misdirection. When applied to literary theory, it is a play on word meaning; when applied to music, it becomes sonically oriented as an act involving the performers play on musical meaning as directed towards the listener. The performer need not concern himself with communicating to the audience. The performer, in fact, strives to signify on the audience in such a way as to exert a kind of artistic domination. For example, Miles Davis was known to turn his back on the audience in many of his live performances, as if not only to ignore but to refuse to acknowledge his audiences presence. This antagonistic approach to the performance of jazz has been historically situated within

17. See Henry Louis Gates, Jr. The Signifyin Monkey: A Theory of African-American Literary Criticism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), and its application to music in Samuel A. Floyd, Jr., The Power of Black Music: Interpreting its History from Africa to the United States (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995).

11 certain reactionary impulses brought on by social and cultural contexts, particularly with regard to racial equality and civil rights.18 Without reference to cultural issues, Alex Lubet has argued from a pragmatic position that jazz music is process-oriented, based on the traditional West African practices of performing to certain environmental cadences, whereas Western European music is governed by philosophical principles of teleology; its analytical application to jazz music therefore is fundamentally incompatible.19 The reasoning lies again in the argument that jazz music owes its development to West African musical tradition, not Western European tradition, and therefore the notion of goal orientation as an analytical premise is misplaced in jazz analysis. While there is some truth to this argument, the problem is in attributing the term jazz to such a wide variety of music. Lubets argument, for instance, ought not to be applied to Mehldaus music. Yet Mehldaus music is considered jazz, which falls under Lubets broad umbrella. Based on his criteria, Lubet might not even consider Mehldaus music jazz, given Mehldaus clear admission of Western European influence. While the typical apparatus for jazz analysis has been questioned, one will still find Western musical analytical techniques applied to jazz music from Schenkerian analysis in tonal jazz to set theory in free jazz. The application of tonal forms of analysis to jazz music has required some modification, however. Indeed, the fact that one cannot find

18. See Floyd, Jr., Power of Black Music, Gates, Jr., Signifyin Monkey, as well as Robert Walser, Out of Notes: Signification, Interpretation, and the Problem of Miles Davis, The Musical Quarterly 77, no. 2 (1993): 343-365. The application of Gatess theory of signifying has been applied to rap music as well; see Richard Littlefield, Frames and Framing: The Margins of Music Analysis (Matra: International Semiotics Institute, Semiotic Society of Finland, 2001). 19. Alex Lubet, Body and Soul, Annual Review of Jazz Studies 7 (1994-95):163-80.

12 unmodified applications of tonal analysis would support those who would contend for a distinction between Western European and West African music. Four Hypotheses In response to the above contentious positions, I propose four hypotheses to situate Mehldaus music within the ongoing debate between jazz and Western European classical music. The music explored in this study operates within a reconstructed tonal space, which is often accompanied by the following activities: 1. reviving the traditional tonal language (reconstructed at the end of the 20th century). 2. recreating the self-contained work with a beginningmiddleend paradigm. 3. erasing jazzs distinction between the composed and improvised material. 4. reasserting the autonomy of the artwork independent of source material (arrangements of jazz standards, rock music, etc.), thereby removing the music from a context with which it was inextricably linked. To demonstrate these hypotheses, I will apply Schenkerian analytical methods to Mehldaus music. Operating from within a reconstructed tonal space, essentially there is no analytical modification to the methodology, since the music is free from struggle with the past, in the sense of Joseph Strauss application of Harold Blooms anxiety of influence.20 By removing such historicized, contextual parameters, I will show that the music is readily engaged by traditional methods of analysis. Writers have already identified similarities of Mehldaus music with a wide range of classical composers (J. S. Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Schubert, Schumann, and Brahms

20. See Joseph N. Straus, The Anxiety of Influence in Twentieth-Century Music, The Journal of Musicology 9, no. 4 (Fall 1991): 430-47 and Remaking the Past: Musical Modernism and the Influence of the Tonal Tradition (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1990).

13 to name those cited by Mehldau and his critics), and particular musical elements in his compositions have warranted these comparisons. When a piece features surface counterpoint, for instance, some have referred to it as having similarities to Bach; when the piece is dramatic, Beethovens persona is conjured; when his music exploits motivic development, Brahmss name is evoked; etc. Rather than identifying his music by these musical stereotypes and proposing that Mehldau is recreating the music of each of these composers, I suggest that the numerous musical traits these composers share constitutes the reconstructed tonal space of Mehldaus music. In a recent communication with the composer, Mehldau states, One of my pet peeves is that tonality itselfyou could also say functional harmonyis bypassed in much writing about new music in general, perhaps because it requires some more specialized knowledge. The unfortunate result is that people are missing where the action is[engaging in] a tonal language.21 Mehldau adopts a Romantic aesthetic in his music, which explicitly removes it from socio-political contexts (to which jazz has traditionally been intimately linked). The apparently unbiased nature of the work allows for multiplicity of meanings, a plurality which Mehldau himself has made known: My interpretations are interchangeable and contingent. There is no need for an analogue to this music, one could argue, whether it involves sex, death, flowers or airplanes. To the extent that music is about anything, it generates its story from within, and spins a wordless narrative that simply tells us of its own presence and the distance it keeps from us. This Kantian idea of the autonomous artwork is particularly appealing for music because it gives its nonlinguistic aspect a privileged status. The dualistic rub of speech communication takes place between a word that signifies and a concept that is signified. Between those poles are cognitive badlands. Something is always lost or mutilated in the journey from thought to utterance, but music would seem to provide a more direct perceptual experience for the listener.

21. Brad Mehldau, e-mail message to author, August 18, 2009.

14 Because it doesnt clearly signify anything outside of itself, when we listen to it we engage in a kind of pure consciousness, unfettered by any referent concept.22 Mehldaus music demonstrates a clear triadic melodic and harmonic relationship. The interacting contrapuntal lines can be more than the source of harmonic tension: they can serve as a motivic basis for the subsequent improvisation and interplay in the trio. This interplay ultimately culminates in a final musical product of novel artistic creation. I would hypothesize that Mehldaus music conveys a cohesiveness that sounds as if he were creating a unified whole from beginning to end extemporaneously. To further impress upon the listener the complexity of such an illusion, it will be argued that the traditional interplay of the trio (i.e., the ability to communicate musically on the spot whereby rhythmic, harmonic, and/or melodic elements are in alignment) conveys a collectively improvised, fully-unified work (see in particular the analysis of Unrequited in chapter 4). Interpreting Blooms anxiety of influence, Straus asserts that composers know that the lost Eden of the tonal common practice can never be regained in its original fullness. In this postlapsarian world, composition becomes a struggle for priority, a struggle to avoid being overwhelmed by a tradition that seems to gain in strength as it ages.23 On the contrary, Mehldaus music does not exhibit a struggle with the past, but more or less embraces it as if by willful suspension of disbelief. The lack of selfconscious anachronism in Mehldaus music makes it particularly apt for the current study, since it readily allows one to enter into a tonal environment.

22. Brad Mehldau, Brahms, Interpretation, and Improvisation, Jazz Times (February 2001), reprinted on Mehldaus website http://www.bradmehldau.com/writing, accessed 22 February 2008. 23. Straus, Anxiety of Influence, 447.

15 This study will investigate in Mehldaus music fundamental concepts of tonality that are currently taken for granted by jazz musicians: the passing tone, neighbor note, and suspension, among others. A passing tone is active in a prolongational context in which it becomes articulated as a dissonance that bridges two consonances; jazz generally has no requirement for specific consonancedissonance conditions within harmonic progressions. The suspension is perhaps the most complex of foreground phenomena that, in its very nature, suggests melodic motion among chords. Harmonically, jazz music embodies Schoenbergs notion of the emancipation of dissonance. Jazz theorists regard the dominant thirteen an independent entity. A sus chord is not considered to require a resolution (see chapter 3 for more on sus chords). Jazz harmony, in all its complexity, represents the reification of linear phenomena, frozen into a vertical form. Though received jazz methodologies teach smooth voice-leading when incorporating successions of complex harmonies, the focus is upon the law of the shortest way: parsimony and close proximity of pitch materials from one chord to the next. Parallel motion of consonant fifths and dissonant sevenths are permitted in jazz methods. As I will demonstrate in the literature review, below, the use of the term voiceleading is fundamentally different from the kind of voice-leading that lies at the foundation of tonal structure. With the multiplicity of tonal and non-tonal styles in a post-modern world, Mehldau has at his disposal a variety of compositional choices. That he gravitates so frequently to a nineteenth-century approach to tonality suggests that he simply chooses to compose anxiety-free in a post-modern time. While some argue that composers today can never regain the original fullness of common-practice tonality (one simply cannot be

16 in the eighteenth/nineteenth century), Mehldaus explicit pursuit of and indulgence in a Romantic aesthetic challenges the twenty-first century composers acceptance of the loss of the tonal tradition. What this study ultimately hopes to expose is how a tonal theoretical system for analysis can apply to music of a post-tonal world, and potentially what that says about its application to common-practice music. Counter-example: Vince Guaraldis Christmastime is Here Linear motion in modern tonal jazz is latent at times, which can lead to problematic linear analyses. Often jazz music avoids the contrapuntal goal-directedness that one would find in traditional tonal music. Consider the voice-leading of Christmastime Is Here by Vince Guaraldi (1965), a popular song that, to my ear, reflects the idiosyncrasies of tonal jazz during the 1960s (see example 1.3). In the A section (which subsequently concludes the piece, and can represent the final closing moments), the bass line arpeggiates the tonic triad by prolonging the melodys A4 through both tonic and subdominant regions. The bass line Stufen appear normative upon first glance. There is a problem, however, understanding the counterpoint between the melody and bass. How does one interpret the melodys opening scale degree (^7) in relation to the tonic bass? How does one interpret the tonic scale degree belonging to the dominant bass in m. 7, beat 3? Finally, how do we reconcile the ending ninth chord over the tonic?24 A traditional reading explains how ^7 relates to the opening tonic: the opening seventh chord is part of a descending (extended-tertian) arpeggiation of a tonic triad that

24. A similar issue is addressed in Michael Buchler, Laura and the Essential Ninth: Were They Only a Dream? Em Pauta 17 (2006): 5-25.

17 leads to the more traditional Kopfton, ^3, by m. 2. (Refer to the foreground and middleground levels, example 1.3.) There is harmonic tension with the arrival of the Kopfton, since the bass note descends a whole tone, to E flat. This transforms the arrival of ^3, A4, into the sharp-eleven of the E711 harmony of m. 2. The E flat in the bass, however, could be interpreted as an incomplete neighbor to the opening tonic of F. One foreground detail exposes the cross relation of the E natural of the melody in m. 1 and E flat in the bass in m. 2, drawing attention to this melodicharmonic problem. Addressing how the eleventh belongs to the dominant (of a V11 in m. 7, beat 3) is harder to explain in a traditional voice-leading context. The melodys arrival on F (^1) in m. 7 is indeed part of a three-measure prolongation of the subdominant. The F is suspended over the dominant, perhaps implying a resolution to the leading tone. What happens, instead, is an ascent to the ninth of the final F9 chord in m. 8. Another explanation (not shown) could suggest that the melody, through arpeggiation down from ^7 (E5) of m. 1, has taken seven measures to finally make its way to the tonic (i.e., E5C5A4F4). This would require connecting the melodic F4 of m. 7, beat 3, to the tonic bass of m. 1: a highly skewed, and hyperbolized, representation of tension concerning the Fs relation to the tonic bass. This reading, however, is not supported by the events that take place starting at m. 5: a fairly dramatic shift to B-natural in the bass initiates a 75 linear intervallic pattern that prolongs the subdominant. By the time the melody arrives on F, it is effectively detached from its tonic origin of mm. 1-4. The ending ninth over the tonic is essentially impossible to understand in a traditional voice-leading analysis. While representing its own form of poetic closure, the

18 sentimentality expressed by the cozy F harmony, a Schenkerian analysis cannot regard

9

that ninth as a form of closure, other than to pose a hypothesis that the final G in m. 8 represents a belated arrival of ^2 over the dominant bass of m. 7 (via suspension), and that the closure of the song is purposely denied. In example 1.3, I illustrate how the normative suggested background becomes an open-ended version. Example 1.3. Christmastime Is Here (Vince Guaraldi, 1965), A section, voice-leading analysis

On the other hand, an alternate reading in example 1.3 (bottom-right of the example, labeled ALT.) results in a highly atypical background: an ascending third

19 progression (which is in no way related to the foreground or middleground analyses of example 1.3). In this alternate and unorthodox background, the opening melodic tone (^7) is prolonged over the tonic. This dreamy, tonic F7 harmony resolves up from ^7 to ^1. In this reading, ^1 is not related to the tonic but represents the prolongation of the dominant through a standard V11 chord. This subsequently resolves to an even dreamier tonic harmony, F9, with ^2 representing the ultimate melodic goal, the result of this melodic ascent transcending a more normative resting place on ^1. This background is incongruous with traditional voice-leading analysis since the Urlinie resolves up, the scale degree progression of the background is not typical of tonal music (^7^1^2), and the melody is not supported by triadic harmony. In a traditional analysis, the way I just described the ascent past a normative tonic triad member suggests a passage filled with tension, dissonance, and an improper tonal resolution. Yet the music does not reflect such tension. I would argue the music is nostalgic, comforting, warm, the perfect music for a wintertime carol. Comparing the two backgrounds presents us with two fundamentally incompatible voice-leading backgrounds in traditional Schenkerian terms. To recognize that one background is derived from another (as in example 1.3), reveals a paradox of tonality in Christmastime. The traditional tonal reading minimizes the events of the song, characterizing it as essentially triadic in origin. The alternate background, while more reflective of the song, on the other hand, is quite implausible in Schenkerian theory. The alternate background of Christmastime provides a voice-leading picture that does not lend itself well to Schenkerian analysis. Though a traditional Schenkerian

20 analysis might highlight unresolved tensions and dissonance, as in the alternate background foil of example 1.3, the stylistic norms of jazz allow for poetic closure on a major ninth chord: the dreamy feeling of Christmas time is timelessly epitomized in Guaraldis progression.25 The music is not filled with tension, in spite of what traditional tonal analysis might reveal. Indeed, had Guaraldi chosen to close on a tonic triad, providing the kind of closure a Schenkerian analysis could identify with, the ethereal quality of the music would be lost, the affective content rendered ineffectual. A palette emphasizing harmonic color perhaps motivated Guaraldis melodic choices. The chordal roots could have served as a template for any number of melodic/harmonic choices. As much as I have analyzed Christmastime using a method intended for music of the tonal era, an important feature of this song sets apart this music from traditional tonal music: the melody appears derived from the extended tertian harmonies, and is not concerned with consonance/dissonance conditions so important to Schenkerian theory. The analysis required speculation about hidden functions of passing tones and suspensions that led to some fanciful linear interpretations. The only unambiguous neighboring note occurs in the bass, and serves as the primary hint of traditional tonal tension. While this piece is tonal, it reflects a different dialect of tonality. Therefore, it may prove fruitful to establish criteria defining tonality before proceeding with linear analyses of jazz.
25. This is perhaps why, since 1965, A Charlie Brown Christmas has been televised every year, transcending the musical changes that have taken place in forty years and serving as an important cultural icon in the United States. There are other important factors to consider that are beyond the realms of tonal analysis: the childrens choir suggests an endearing innocence that puts everyone in a sentimental mood during the holiday season. Considering the descent from a fairly high pitch, E5, into an arpeggiation of a major seventh chord, the childrens voices are never quite in tune. This does not detract from the performance but indeed points to the innocence and youthfulness of the choir, and possibly encourages non-musicians to join in without worrying about their own vocal ability.

21 Harmony and Counterpoint (Historical Context) Considering the historically contentious positions between melodic and harmonic perspectives will help in establishing a useful definition of tonality. Some of the more important historical landmarks should first be recounted. Jean-Philippe Rameau developed the analytical distinction between seventh chords (called dominantes; dominant sevenths were called dominante-toniques) and triads. He was attempting to identify actual physical reasons for the generation of melodic motion in music.26 Rameau countered the current trend, that melody was the incidental cause of harmony, instead asserting that harmony drove melodic motion. As influential as his tonic/dominant polarity was to compositional theory, his original intent to demonstrate the implications of harmonic motion was lost over the next few centuries. The kind of chordal analysis that Rameau inadvertently sparked over the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries can be traced to todays use of romannumeral analysis in the undergraduate classroom, which can mask the linear motion that pervades classical music. Today, a student of jazz theory learns that a chord symbol is available for nearly any collection of pitches. In jazz theory, only secondarily is there an emphasis on traditional consonancedissonance-based counterpoint, let alone the kind of recursive contrapuntal voice-leading that Schenker discovered in his theories. Schenker attempted to reinvigorate contrapuntal laws to remedy the static description of roman numerals, and, further, to show that contrapuntal models were recursive by nature. He developed his analytical techniques from the masterworks of

26. In particular, Rameau imparted to his readers that pitch followed the same scientific principles as light, particularly those principles discovered by Newton. See Thomas Christensen, Rameau and Musical Thought in the Enlightenment (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 142-44.

22 the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. To be sure, Schenker probably never would have applied his analytical techniques to jazz music. But while it is easy to assert such a dismissal based on the more obvious cultural differences between jazz and classical styles, it is not without justification: a large body of tonal jazz is not conceived contrapuntally. Mehldaus music, however, is conceived contrapuntally, as he himself states and as can be analytically demonstrated. This characteristic allows him to explore a tonal world similar to that of German romanticism. Mehldau shares an affinity to the reckless counterpoint found in the music of Schumann, the intense modes of expression of melodic tension like that of Mahler, and the enigmatic treatment of tonal elements like that found in the music of Chopin or Brahms.27 Defining Tonality Henry Martin has argued that twentieth-century music tends to be inconsistent in establishing itself as either tonal or atonal.28 Indeed, the content of much music of Hindemith, Shostakovich, Bartk, and Copland (among others) can enter into both tonal and atonal contexts. Martin, in his attempt to refine our understanding of tonal versus atonal grammar, presents nine tonal cues that are shown in roughly decreasing order of importance (figure 1.1).29 Martins fifth cue seems to be the strongest evidence to support the assertion that Christmastime is tonal: presence of Stufen arising from
27. My reference to reckless counterpoint comes from Bo Alphonce, Dissonance and Schumanns Reckless Counterpoint, Music Theory Online 0, no. 7 (1994), http://mto.societymusictheory .org/issues/mto.94.0.7/mto.94.0.7.alphonce.art.html (accessed January 28, 2010). 28. Henry Martin, Seven Steps to Heaven: A Species Approach to Twentieth-Century Analysis and Composition. Perspectives of New Music 38, no. 1 (2000): 129-68. 29. Ibid., 132.

23 hierarchical, nested prolongations that ultimately give rise to tonal center and key.30 His second and third ranked cues, on the other hand, create difficulty in asserting that the song is tonal: absent is a normative dependence of dissonant intervals on consonant ones, and whether one reviews the foreground analysis or the alternate background, and the music does not fit the criterion of functional harmonic succession based on triads, since it is mostly based on extended tertian harmony. The succession of Stufen in Christmastime shares many similarities with traditional tonal techniques inherited from the Western tonal tradition, but yields no further evidence that the melodic material follows the contrapuntal norms Schenker codified. While Schenker ultimately used his analytical method to evaluate artistic merit, I am using it to demonstrate how the tonality of modern jazz differs from the kind I will examine in Mehldaus music, where, I argue, there is a traditional relationship between bass and melody. The tonality of Christmastime contrasts with the kinds of tonally directed melodic motions found in Mehldaus music. Figure 1.1. Henry Martins tonal cues in twentieth century music
1. principal pitch-class collections usually reducible to major or minor scales; 2. normative dependence of dissonant melodic intervals on consonant intervals prolonged at a higher structural level; 3. functional harmonic succession based on triads; in two-part writing, on consonances that may imply functional harmonic succession 4. harmonic rhythm arising from functional harmonic succession; 5. presence of Stufen arising from hierarchical, nested prolongations that ultimately give rise to tonal center and key; 6. norms of melodic writing in which conjunct intervals predominate; 7. half, full, and deceptive cadences; 8. meter; 9. phrase and section groupings that project two-, four-, and eight-bar symmetries.
30. Martin, Seven Steps to Heaven, 132.

24 Returning to Martins tonal cues, I would contend that jazz music follows only a selected part of his list, whereas Mehldaus music follows all of them. If one were to measure the degree of tonality in jazz music, one may be comfortable with the characterization that most tonal jazz has meter, and from that, phrase and section groupings that often project two-, four-, eight-, sixteen-bar and larger symmetries. On the other hand, most tonal jazz music departs from displaying normative dependence of dissonant intervals on consonant intervals prolonged through higher structural levels (Martins second-most important tonal criterion in figure 1.1). The third criterion is also atypical of much tonal jazz music, since jazz is not based on triadic harmony, nor can that harmony be revealed when boiled down to two-part writing. These criteria can help draw a distinction between the tonal language evident in Mehldaus music and, say, the music of Bill Evans (see chapter 6). Many examples of tonal jazz music that seem amenable to Schenkerian analysis follow Martins criteria 1, 4, 5, 8, and 9 (extracted into figure 1.2). Figure 1.2. Martins criteria for tonality as typified by tonal jazz
Harmonic rhythm arising from functional harmonic succession; Principal pitch-class collections usually reducible to major or minor scales; Presence of Stufen that ultimately give rise to tonal center and key; Meter [note: previously Martins eighth cue]; Phrase and section grouping that project two-, four-, eight-, twelve-, sixteen-, or thirty-two-bar symmetries.

The remaining criteria repeated in figure 1.3 do not seem to be followed consistently in modern tonal jazz music. Melodic writing is frequently disjunct, as a result of emphasizing chordal arpeggiations within extended tertian

25 harmonies; tonal jazz music emphasizes extended tertian chords;31 dissonant intervals are independent from consonant ones; and cadences are variable in the jazz idiom (many IIVI progressions are not in the home key, and traditionally full cadences imply a resolution to a tonic triad, which is atypical in modern jazz practice). Figure 1.3. Martins criteria for tonality exempted from modern jazz
Normative dependence of dissonant melodic intervals on consonant intervals prolonged at a higher structural level Functional harmonic succession based on triads; Norms of melodic writing in which conjunct intervals predominate at deeper levels; Half, full, and/or deceptive cadences.

Another useful set of tonal criteria is provided by Joseph Straus. His definition (with minimal revision) will serve as the basis for my approach to Mehldaus music, including the historical context into which I believe Mehldau places his music. Straus writes: Traditional common-practice tonality, the musical language of Western classical music from roughly the time of Bach to roughly the time of Brahms, is defined by six characteristics: 1. Key. A particular note is defined as the tonic (as in the key of C or the key of A) with the remaining notes defined in relation to it. 2. Key relations. Pieces modulate through a succession of keys, with the keynotes often related by perfect fifth, or by major or minor thirds. Pieces end in the key in which they begin. 3. Diatonic scales. The principal scales are the major and minor scales. 4. Triad. The basic harmonic structure is a major or minor triad. Seventh chords play a secondary role.
31. This observation is supported by James McGowans study on what defines consonance in tonal jazz music; he adapts the idea of consonance as being a triad with the addition of a fourth member, an added sixth, a major seventh, or a minor seventh (see also n. 15 supra). James McGowan, Consonance in Tonal Jazz: A Critical Survey of Its Semantic History, Jazz Perspectives 2, no. 1 (2008): 69-102.

26 5. Functional harmony. Harmonies generally have the function of a tonic (arrival point), dominant (leading to tonic), or predominant (leading to dominant). 6. Voice leading. The voice leading follows certain traditional norms, including the avoidance of parallel perfect consonances and the resolution of intervals defined as dissonant to those defined as consonant.32 Of course, not all tonal music from the time of Bach to Brahms always follows these principles to the letter. Many interesting moments throughout the history of tonal music occur when these principles are not followed. Nonetheless, they represent norms from which departures may be clearly marked as such. As clearly as tonal principles operate in Mehldaus music, the music itself is open to unexpected possibilities, such as an off-tonic opening. Returning to 29 Palms (example 1.4), the piece appears to begin in the key of C major, but by the final cadence (m. 16) the music has modulated to B major. In fact, it is not clear whether 29 Palms begins off-tonic and corrects its course by the arrival of tonic in m. 4, or if the piece begins in C major and gradually modulates to the distant key area of B major. During an introductory vamp, Mehldau adds an anacrusis G in the bass (not shown in the score, but illustrated in example 1.5). This effectively establishes the key of C major with a common blues idiom. After the vamp, however, something rooted more in the classical style emerges: a chromatic descending bass (example 1.5). The chromatic descent of the first four bars makes the arrival at B major all the more unexpected.

32. Joseph N. Straus, Introduction to Post-Tonal Theory, 3rd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2005), 130.

27 Example E 1.4. 29 Palms, mm. m 128 (A A and B sect tions), with f form annotat tions

fine

D.C. al l fine

Example E 1.5. 29 Palms, mm. m 14, har rmonic reali ization and a analysis

28 Without absolute pitch, the listener might justifiably be confused as to the concluding harmony in B major. First, we hear C major in m. 1. In m. 2, mixture brings a sense of flat keys into the foreground, which can be interpreted in B-flat major. Following the IV6 in m. 3, though, the bass descends one more semitone, which poses a problem of enharmonic interpretation: If heard in C major, is the chord a secondary dominant of B (VII) or C flat (I) major? If analyzed in B flat major, is the chord a secondary dominant of C flat (II) or B (I) major? The shift, while abrupt, retains a common tone in the melody: E flat becomes the thirteenth of the G7 harmony (m. 4) before resolving to C flat notated as B major (often resolved as a triad, despite Mehldaus own indicated chord symbol of B7). Note that Mehldau himself seems unsure of the enharmonic solution, as he indicates chord symbols from both keys, C flat and B major, in the progression G7 to B7. Had the E flatD sharp resolved down by step to C sharp, this resolution would be identified as a normative suspension. Nor would a jazz composer have likely employed this type of tonal shift to B, based on norms of jazz voice-leading. For instance, if a jazz composer were given the first three bars of 29 Palms and were asked to finish the phrase, the adept composer would recognize the move to the flat side in mm. 23, and possibly conclude the phrase with a cadence to C minor, while incorporating typical jazz harmony (example 1.6).

29 Example 1.6. 29 Palms, mm. 34, hypothetical phrase ending in C minor

Mehldau is aware of the mixture toward C minor, as he continues through the B major arrival at m. 4 and tonicizes C minor by m. 6 (refer to example 1.4). The phrase ending signified by the melodic repose of m. 4 competes with the bass lines descending momentum. This continuation propels the harmonic progression forward, and departs for the present to B major. When I first referred to 29 Palms, I illustrated how this piece features contrapuntal treatment of pitch materials, particularly in the final cadence of m. 16 (example 1.2). This cadence differs from a typical cadence of the tonal era in that there is no root position dominant to root position tonic, though the final chord is a triad (which, again, stands apart from typical jazz resolutions, often permitting added sixths, sevenths, or other extensions). Considering that the identity of the piece is defined by a stepwise descending bass, it becomes clear that an unfolding of the root position dominant explains this particular use of the second inversion dominant in m. 15 (see example 1.7). Because of the stepwise descent in the bass, on the surface the Urlinie is transferred to the bass, and replaces the melodys normative stepwise descent. (This register transfer becomes normalized in the middleground level.) The music thus avoids parallel motion between bass and melody by featuring ^5 prominently in the top voice.

30 Example 1.7. 29 Palms, mm. 1316, voice-leading analysis

B/G b
13

E b-/G b ^3
3

A b-/G b

B b/F

E b-

G b/Db ^2
3

G/B ^1

# 5 ## ( #)# # #. &4 # ?5 4 #.
@

#.

( # ) # # # . # ## # # n # # #
$

#.

# #

#
##
^2

.
##

from:

?4 5

# # #

^3

^1

B: V@~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Having sampled Mehldaus music, and posed a few of the problems of tonality in jazz music, in the following chapter I will investigate further some historically important approaches to tonal jazz. From those approaches I will then establish the analytical methodology for the remainder of this study.

Chapter 2: Literature Review and Methodology Part 1. Literature Review: Theoretical Contexts of Jazz Music Introduction The following literature review is organized to show how two groups of writers have fundamentally differing approaches to jazz theory. The first group includes writers such as George Russell, David Baker, and Mark Levine. Russell and Baker represent notable composers who witnessed first-hand the emergence of bop. Levines work is practical, used by many jazz practitioners today, and he is generally a more accessible writer on the subject. These writers have demonstrated at length ideas that I consider fundamental to the jazz language: scales are intimately related to chords on the surface of the music, and chord types can be substituted with an extremely broad array of other chords and chord types. The way the first group of writers prescribe the use of the jazz language fundamentally differs from the way the second group of scholars have analyzed jazz through Schenkerian analytical techniques: Steven Strunk, Henry Martin, and Steve Larson. I re-examine some of the methodological problems encountered in the use of Schenkerian analysis; this is particularly an issue in bop and post-bop music which lack the tonal goal-orientation and traditional consonance/dissonance conditions that would enable one to engage this music through linear analysis. I use the first groups description of key aspects of the jazz tonal language to reveal some of the flaws inherent in applying Schenkerian analysis in certain situations.

31

32 I. Conceptual Bases of Tonal Jazz Theory (Russell, Baker, Levine) a. Scale versus chord Even though modern tonal jazz music shares many similarities with traditional tonal music, the evolving conceptions of harmonic and melodic interaction in jazz fundamentally differ from tonal systems of preceding centuries. George Russells The Lydian-Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization (1959) begins a tradition that marks a symbiotic relationship between scale and chord.1 Note that the title to his influential work omits any direct reference to jazz or bebop, a style in which he had established notoriety as a composer.2 In this work, Russell was attempting to demonstrate a unique theory of tonality. This theory was influential in the following decades, particularly in its applications to jazz composition and pedagogy. The relationship of chord and scale has led to a generalized system that puts chords in terms of scales, presumably because the linear collections of scales is easier to understand in a spontaneous (i.e., improvisational) situation compared to the more difficult arrangements of stacked thirds. Russells use of linear arrangements of pitches to demonstrate fluid motion among harmonies fundamentally differ from a tonal system built on systems of dominant/tonic poles and other specific contrapuntal voice-leading relationships, such as suspensions. His book ultimately spreads a simple but effective principle: when confronted by complex harmonies encountered in chord changes, it is easiest to relate them to scales.
1. George Russell. The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization. 4th ed. Brookline, Massachusetts: Concept Pub. Co., 2001. 2. See, for example, the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestras famous performance of Cubano-Be/CubanoBop (1947), a composition of Russells that exploits the octatonic collection, all while introducing a decidedly Latin-American sound to the current jazz style.

33 This principle becomes systematically organized in Mark Levines The Jazz Theory Book.3 At the beginning of chapter 3, Chord/Scale Theory, Levine posits that in the 1950s and 1960s, jazz musicians began to think horizontally (in terms of scales) as much as they did vertically (in terms of chords).4 He goes on to say, Were less likely to think of [pitches in general] as a series of 3rds. Because we learned the alphabet as ABCDEFG, and so on, its not easy to think of every other letter of the alphabet, as in DFACEGB.The reason jazz musicians think of scales, or modes, when they improvise, is because its easier than thinking in terms of chords [original emphasis].5 What perhaps sets Levines theory book apart from other jazz pedagogical manuals is his systematic enumeration of scales and scale types, which at times comes dangerously close to undermining his message of simplicity. The writings of David Baker, on the other hand, provide nuanced historical precedents to support his assertions of certain scales and terminology. Baker goes beyond Russell and Levine by attempting to incorporate aspects of motion, rhythm, and meter into his discussion of scales. In particular Bakers codification of the term bebop scale represents an important milestone in scale/chord theory history, because it elevates metric and rhythmic importance in his description of pitch collections (see figure 1.4).6 The bebop scale is an eight-note scale that includes a strategic chromatic insertion into a diatonic scale (the underlying harmony determines where the chromatic insertion

3. Mark Levine, The Jazz Theory Book (Petaluma, CA: Sher Music, 1995), 31-102. 4. Ibid., 31. 5. Ibid., 31-32. 6. See David N. Baker, Arranging and Composing, rev. ed. (Van Nuys, CA: Alfred Publishing, 1988), 67-76.

34 occurs). This chromatic passing tone serves to adjust the seven-note scale so that it has chord tones placed on strong beats. Figure 2.1. David Bakers illustration of the bebop scale (with annotations) (chromatic insertion) (goal)

chord tones on beats

Baker describes the evolution of the bebop scale in three stages: (1) bebop performers strove to incorporate chromaticism as a sign of complexity while seeking to retain tonal coherence; (2) scales based on seven-note collections were incongruent with standard time-keeping in jazz, thus necessitating a smoothing out of linear melodic content;7 (3) chromatic passing tones emerged over the years (Baker notes that this conclusion is based on his analysis of more than 500 solos from Louis Armstrong through Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins, among others).8 In the predecessors to bebop, Baker explains that artists use of chromaticism is arbitrary and awkward, and that Charlie Parkers solos apparently solved this use of chromaticism through the logic that Baker defined in the bebop scale. Furthermore, the bebop scale promotes forward motion, an essential part of the frequently high-tempo repertory.9

7. A historian of music theory will undoubtedly note Bakers recreating the wheel of melodic consonance paired with metrical consonance, such as in A.B. Marxs discussion on the rhythmicization of the tone succession. See A.B. Marx, Die Lehre von der musikalischen Komposition, praktischtheoretisch, which can be found in A.B. Marx, Musical Form in the Age of Beethoven: Selected Writings on Theory and Method, trans. and ed. Scott Burnham (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 39-44. 8. Baker, Arranging and Composing, 67. 9. Ibid.

35 Baker is not only describing a recipe for the composer or performer of jazz, but he implies a specific process of goal-orientation within the jazz style. Essential for the proper stylistic employment of the bebop scale includes such aspects as a descending melodic direction, the strategic use of chromaticism in order to help propel the melodic line to the downbeat, and the requirement of consonant tones on the beats within the measure (one can begin on a non-chord tone, which Baker demonstrates in numerous examples, as long as it ends with a harmonic tone on a downbeat [beat 1] or other strong beat [beat 3]). In a dominant-seventh chord change (such as F7 in figure 2.1), the bebop scale emphasizes the essential chord tones of root, seventh, fifth, and third on each beat (1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively). It is important to recognize the seventh here is considered a chord tone, a remnant of the common practices acceptance of a dissonant interval belonging to a chord. Unlike the common practice, the chord following a dominant seventh varies, and has no required resolution. b. Substitution Traditional voice-leading in jazz improvisation is for the most part accidental. This is illustrated by Baker when he discusses chord substitution. The simplest form of substitution would be simply to re-spell a chord that accounts for the same pitch content, such as in the substitution D-6 for B7.10 Baker then goes on to define two types of substitution: contextual and non-contextual.

10. Baker, Arranging and Composing, 140.

36 Beginning with non-contextual substitutions Baker states that they seem to work relatively independently of the musical context.11 Beginning with major chord substitutions, Baker provides a list of substitutions that begin as logical possibilities, such as replacing the bass while accommodating the same pitch content of a major-based harmony (figure 2.2). The list begins systematically by illustrating chords that share common tones, but the list eventually breaks down by the final prescription, which states, For the major chord substitute any other major chord.12 Figure 2.2. Bakers non-contextual substitution of a major chord

For minor chord substitutions, Baker asserts that a minor seventh chord may be substituted with a dominant seventh chord that lies a perfect fourth above the root of the minor chord, such as substituting G7 for D-7. He goes on to depart from parsimonious third-related chord substitutions when he suggests that a minor seventh chord can be substituted with chords which have their roots in the same diminished chord and their accompanying resolutions, as in the following examples: Dmi7, Fmi7, Ami7, and Bmi7 all have their roots in the same diminished chord; therefore, the following substitutions for Dmi7 are possible according to the preceding rule (see figure 2.3).13

11. Baker, Arranging and Composing, 140. 12. Ibid. 13. Ibid.

37 In figure 2.3, Dmi substituted with Ami7 is quite striking, considering there are
7

no common tones. D7, while sharing one common tone is still striking in the substitution by a root down a semitone (note that tritone substitutes always approach their goal from a semitone above) and changing its chord type to a dominant seventh. Again, the systematic illustration culminates with the final prescription: substitute any other minor seventh type chord.14 Figure 2.3. Bakers non-contextual substitution of a Dmi7 chord

Dominant-seventh chord substitutions are the final category of Bakers noncontextual substitution types. A similar formula as minor chord substitutions permits any dominant seventh that shares its root with a fully diminished seventh chord of the originating chord (figure 2.4). As before, Baker goes on to state that any other dominant seventh may be substituted, as well as any minor seventh chord. In contextual substitutions, Baker illustrates how a formulaic chord progression (in particular, IIVI) may feature individual chord substitutions that ultimately lead to the same goal: the tonic. Building on principles illustrated in non-contextual substitutions, Baker develops a chart that he calls Coltrane changes (originating in John Coltranes Giant Steps, which exploits symmetrical third-relations).
14. Baker, Arranging and Composing, 140.

38 Figure 2.4. Bakers non-contextual substitution of a G7 chord

Of figure 2.5, Baker states, Any chord in any column can be substituted for any other chord in the same vertical column.15 Figure 2.5. Bakers example 3, a chart illustrating a matrix which [Baker] evolved and developed based on the Coltrane changes16

15. Baker, Arranging and Composing, 143. 16. Ibid., 142.

39 As can be seen, while the term substitution is shared by both jazz and classical traditions, it imparts different meanings. Illustrated in the previous examples, jazz chord substitution has a considerably wider application. In traditional tonal music, one may substitute a IV-chord with a II-chord, which is quite different from substituting a IVchord with any other major chord. In Schenkerian terms, the tonic may be prolonged by an upper-third divider (III). Or the upper-third may be substituted with a lower-third divider (VI). The more distant the substitution, including those permitted in jazz composition, the more difficult it becomes to demonstrate tonal coherence. The next section demonstrates how a group of scholars have attempted to explain these extratonal substitutions while remaining faithful to Schenkerian theory. II. Schenkerian Applications to Tonal Jazz (Strunk, Martin, Larson) a. Voice Extraction and the Case for Linearity The theoretical and compositional manuals provided by Russell, Baker, and Levine provide evidence of this underlying assumption: even with a goal-directed approach to improvisation, the chords are still considered a succession of root-based vertically-arranged pitches, with no broader connection. In spite of the problem this poses for long-range tonal hearing and the Schenkerian concept of prolongation, Henry Martin, Steven Strunk, and Steve Larson have argued for its application. For example, Henry Martin demonstrates similarities in voice-leading between passages of a Bach partita and a Charlie Parker solo from Shaw Nuff (figures 2.6 and 2.7, respectively).17 In the Bach partita analysis, Martin extracts four voices from a single melodic line (based

17. Henry Martin, Charlie Parker and Thematic Improvisation (Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, 1996),15-20.

40 on registral connections). In so doing, the Bach passage is now animated vividly by hearing the de facto syncopation of the voice leading (figure 2.6). 18 Figure 2.6. Henry Martins examples 2-5 and 2-6 (opening measures to a Bach partita)

By extracting several voices from a single melodic line, Martin demonstrates a built-in rhythmic complexity (which he calls syncopation) when focusing on one voice over another. He then compares this rhythmic complexity as a result of voice extraction to an improvised melody by Parker. While the melodic line of the Bach partita readily suggests multiple voices (out of the French baroque stile bris tradition), the Parker solo presents more of a challenge. In figure 2.7, one will note that Martin again extracts four voices. Some of these voices are in the same register, however. That G4 and F4 represent
18. Martin, Charlie Parker and Thematic Improvisation, 16.

41 two voices is a difficult assertion (circled on figure 2.7, second system). The voiceleading that accompanies this voice extraction suggests that G4 is harmonically supported by an inner-voice E flat, which is absent in m. 2 of the example. The voice-leading suggests a @ double-neighbor over the root, B flat. A jazz musician would not infer E flat from Parkers solo during the span of B7, however, while G represents a thirteenth extension to this dominant seventh harmony.19 Nevertheless, the G is of registral importance, though it is not consonant (in the traditional sense) with the present B flat harmony. Martin thus elevates its status to a separate, upper voice. Figure 2.7. Martins examples 2-7 and 2-8 (Charlie Parkers solo from Shaw Nuff)20

19. Mark Levine would call the E flat, the fourth of the B7 harmony, an avoid note. 20. Martin, Charlie Parker and Thematic Improvisation, 16.

42 Without separating Parkers solo into several voices, a traditional voice-leading analysis would treat G4 as an appoggiatura that resolves by step to F4, a chord tone of the B flat harmony. The consonance of F4 is fleeting, however, occurring on the last half of the last beat of the measure. The G4s non-chord tone status, and its treatment as such, makes a strong case for the kind of rhythmic complexity Martin seeks to expose in Parkers music, albeit through traditional means. Martins larger goal is to demonstrate thematic improvisation, a term coined by Gunther Schuller. Schuller provides an evocative interpretation of an improvised solo by tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins in his 1958 article, Sonny Rollins and the Challenge of Thematic Improvisation.21 Schuller first distinguishes between two types of improvisation: paraphrase and chorus improvisation. He writes, The former consists mostly of an embellishment or ornamentation technique, while the latter suggests that the soloist has departed completely from a given theme or melody and is improvising on nothing but a chord structure (emphasis added).22 The term variation is used commonly in the jazz vernacular and Schuller is careful to note, what we all at times loosely call variation is in the strictest sense no variation at all, since it does not proceed from the basis of varying a given thematic material but simply reflects a players ruminations on an unvarying chord progression (original emphasis).23 He focuses much of his attention on chorus improvisation (which he likens to the rhetorical strategy of

21. Gunther Schuller, Sonny Rollins and the Challenge of Thematic Improvisation, The Jazz Times (1958); repr. Musings: The Musical Worlds of Gunther Schuller (New York: Oxford University Press, 1986), 86-97. 22. Ibid., 86. 23. Ibid., 87.

43 inventio) to show how one can introduce thematic elements in a work that is guided only by harmonic structure. Schuller criticizes most solos in general for lacking a general unifying organization. The challenge is for the artist to create something thematic on which to develop throughout the improvised solo (in the example Schuller gives, Sonny Rollins exhausts a motive built on three notes, which leaves one questioning the difference between motivic and thematic improvisation, a theme usually being a much larger unit than a motive). The analysis is clearly motivic, but it is worth noting Schullers emphasis on demonstrating coherence in an improvisation, a standard by which he judges the success of Rollinss improvisation. Martins Charlie Parker and Thematic Improvisation builds on some of these earlier issues Schuller identified in Rollinss solo. Martin asserts that there are latent thematic references in the improvisations of Parker.24 While Schullers approach was purely motivic, Martin codifies several ways to elaborate on a theme, couching these within a modified Schenkerian system of analysis. These concealed parallelisms may be unconscious to the performer and are not necessarily a question of intent, argues Martin, but when one examines them through a prolongational approach, one can trace thematic parallelisms between the improvisations and the melody of the tune.25

24. Martin, Charlie Parker and Thematic Improvisation, 35-36. 25. It should be noted that Martins theory of thematic improvisation seems to be a response to Thomas Owens, Charlie Parker: Techniques of Improvisation, Ph.D. diss. (University of California, Los Angeles, 1974). Owens catalogs melodic formulae in Parkers improvisations, subtly undercutting the notion of ingenuity required in truly spontaneous improvisation. He reveals that Parker had a melodic vocabulary to utilize like a grab bag of ideas, but Martin seeks to revitalize Parkers improvisational ingenuity by employing structural analysis.

44 With Martins study comes a shift to an explicit application of Schenkerian theoretical tenets to jazz music.26 There is a friction in its theoretical application with the tenets of jazz theory established by jazz practitioners such as Russell, Baker, and Levine. In the following, I will survey those scholars who apply Schenkerian analysis to jazz, and then delve into some of the philosophical underpinnings of Schenkerian theory, in particular, goal-orientation and closure. Steve Larson has proposed extensive applications of Schenkerian analysis to tonal jazz music.27 Larsons justification is derived from an interview of Bill Evans with Marian McPartland.28 The interview reveals Evanss approach to long-range tonal structure in the course of an improvisation. Larson interprets Evanss frequent use of the word structure as evidence of a Schenkerian application of structural levels to the music and treats linear aspects of melody and harmony within a larger harmonic framework made explicit by Evans in the interview. Larsons argument is built from Evanss own description of musical events as they interact with harmonic structure. Some questions still remain at the end of his study, though. For one, does this analytical method apply only to the music of Bill Evans? Larsons answer is tentative in that he concedes Evans was particularly intellectual (neurotically so) when it came to his musical practice. In the present study, as Larson did with Evans, I build analytical claims from Mehldaus own assertions of his approach to music, invoking my own voice-leading
26. There are predecessors to Martins application of Schenkerian theory to jazz. See, for instance, Milton L. Stewart, Structural Development in the Jazz Improvisational Technique of Clifford Brown. Jazzforschung 6, no. 7 (1974-75): 141-273. 27. Steve Larson, Analyzing Jazz: A Schenkerian Approach, Harmonologia: Studies in Music Theory, no. 15 (Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press, 2009), 4-32. 28. See Marian McPartlands Piano Jazz with guest Bill Evans, The Jazz Alliance TJA-12004 (CD), 1978.

45 analyses to reveal complex structures similar to those found in nineteenth-century tonal music. Another question pertaining to Larsons study concerns the need for modification to traditional Schenkerian theory, which will now be explored in more detail. b. Modifications to Schenkerian Theory The music that Larson studies is not entirely similar to the tonal analysis I propose to use for Mehldaus music. Larson admits that lines are blurred between the poles of dominant and tonic in modern and post-modern jazz, and thus modifications to Schenkerian analysis seem inevitable. Steven E. Gilbert, noted Gershwin scholar, refers to similar modifications to Schenkerian analysis in its application to tonal jazz standards: Gershwin wrote basically tonal music, [and thus] it is reasonable that we adopt a modified Schenkerian approach. However, the word modified must be stressed. The main point of difference is that in Gershwin's harmonic language the dissonance had at least been partiallyto use Schoenbergs wordemancipated. The triad was still necessary for closure, but dissonances such as ninths and socalled thirteenths did not require resolution.29 Larson seeks to explain phenomena of ninths, elevenths, and thirteenths as linear entities within a Schenkerian framework. Citing the work of Edward Aldwell and Carl Schachter, Larson summarizes their account of dissonant ninths, elevenths, and thirteenths, as having implicit resolutions. This is important in Schenkerian theory, since, as Larson states, They may not be explicitly resolved in their own register. They may appear simultaneously with the tone to which they will resolve. They may resolve to notes that are [also] dissonant.30 Larson also cites Aldwell and Schachters explanation that extended tertian chords are best put into contrapuntal terms within an octave,

29. Steven E. Gilbert, Gershwins Art of Counterpoint, Musical Quarterly 70, no. 4 (1984): 423; Larson sympathetically cites this passage in Analyzing Jazz, 9. 30. Steven Larson, Analyzing Jazz: A Schenkerian Approach, 5.

46 demonstrating that elevenths and thirteenths are actually fourths and sixths, respectively.31 These fourths and sixths, in turn, have appropriate resolutions to thirds and fifths (and not tenths and twelfths). It is important to consider, first, that Aldwell and Schachters harmony text addresses music of the tonal era (essentially 1700 to 1900). Second, they are explicit in distinguishing situations that involve melodic (by which they mean contrapuntal) content from situations involving actual stacked thirds, hence, extended tertian harmony. Larson, after quoting from Aldwell and Schachter, states, As an example of dissonant chords that really do result from the piling up of thirds, Aldwell and Schachter cite a passage from Ravel. Even for this passage, they offer an explanation that invokes Schenkerian principles of voice leading and structure (emphasis added).32 This last statement must be placed in context. The full text by Aldwell and Schachter reads: Partly because these tones typically appear in the highest voice, some theorists refer to such 4ths and 6ths as 11ths and 13ths. These terms also result from the erroneous idea that such dissonances are chordal in origin, that 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths result from adding 3rds above the seventh chords. In some twentiethcentury music, dissonant chords might really result from the piling up of 3rds [emphasis added]. In example 2718 [i.e., the Ravel excerpt, reproduced below as example 2.1], for instance, a II7 chord is sustained while first a 9th and then an 11th are added to it; eventually all six tones sound at once.33 Aldwell and Schachter use the Ravel passage to show the exceptional case of the stacking of thirds. They place this example into an intermediate category.34

31. Larson, Analyzing Jazz: A Schenkerian Approach, 5. See Edward Aldwell and Carl Schachter, Harmony and Voice Leading, vol. 2 (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1979), 132. 32. Larson, Analyzing Jazz: A Schenkerian Approach, 5-6. 33. Aldwell and Schachter, Harmony and Voice Leading, 132. 34. Ibid., 133.

47 Example 2.1. Aldwell and Schachters example 27-1835

They continue with a provocative speculation that Larson uses to support his primary argument: that the extended tertian chords in jazz have origins in simpler melodic motions. Aldwell and Schachter state: But in earlier music, dissonant chords originate in melodic motion, not in the piling up of vertical intervals. There is no reason, therefore, to regard 11ths and 13ths as anything but 4ths and 6ths that replace, rather than resolve to, 3rds and 5ths belonging to seventh chords.36 After illustrating a Bruckner symphony excerpt that also appears to implement stacked thirds as chordal entities, they add a caveat to this hypothesis: In some ways the manner in which the dissonances enter and their lack of clear contrapuntal function [emphasis added]the passage seems closer to the Ravel than to the [more normative examples from] Chopin and Schumann of excerpts quoted earlier.37 They never actually attempt to explain either the Ravel or Bruckner examples as being controlled by contrapuntaland implicitly, Schenkerianprinciples of voice-leading.

35. Aldwell and Schachter, Harmony and Voice Leading, 133. 36. Ibid. 37. Ibid.

48 To summarize, Larson makes his case for jazz harmony as essentially contrapuntal, departing from two exceptional examples presented by Aldwell and Schachter, who ascribe them to an intermediate category. Nevertheless, to illustrate systematically how one can derive thirteenths and elevenths from fifths and thirds, Larson builds on the concept of linear intervallic patterns, which was first applied to jazz music by Steven Strunk.38 c. Linear Intervallic Patterns Strunk, borrowing from the work of Allen Forte and Steven Gilbert, demonstrates how linear intervallic patterns (LIPs) can occur in jazz music. In Strunks examples, he demonstrates LIPs with extended tertian harmonic chains (e.g., 139, 99, among others).39 These patterns are more recently refined by Larson, in order to support a prolongational environment that construes jazz harmony as having origins in traditional counterpoint. In example 2.1, Larson illustrates the linear intervallic pattern 913 as having origins in the 85 linear intervallic pattern. Linear intervallic patterns in jazz music rely on chords, and cannot be rendered into a two-voice contrapuntal species model. The LIP of example 2.2 leaves the analyst with an interpretive decision: depending on the musical context, can the analyst reduce a 913 LIP to an 85, in order to show its contrapuntal origin? Evolving the typical 85 LIP into a 913 is quite different from demonstrating essentially a two-voice contrapuntal framework. Extending LIPs to include ninths,

38. Steven Strunk, Linear Intervallic Patterns in Jazz Repertory, Annual Review of Jazz Studies 8 (1996): 63-116. 39. See Strunk, Linear Intervallic Patterns in Jazz Repertory, and Allen Forte and Steven E. Gilbert, Introduction to Schenkerian Analysis (New York: W. W. Norton, 1982), 83-100.

49 elevenths, and thirteenths is certainly appropriate for traditional jazz harmony. Distinguished from seconds, fourths, and sixths, these compound intervals require support by simple intervals, as Larson demonstrates in example 2.2, where sevenths and thirds are always present in the middle staff of each level. Larson effectively demonstrates that there cannot be a two-voice model to support compound intervals in a jazz LIP. This is important for Schenkerian theory, since a first species model of counterpoint is the basis for the Ursatz. In example 2.3, I pose a similar theoretical rendering of a 105 LIP that is expanded into a 913 chain, for comparison with Larsons illustration of example 2.2. When the Baroque melodic figuration is retained, the counterpoint between melody and bass become distorted to the point of sounding more like Hindemith than Bach. Though LIPs are not Schenkers terminology, Forte and Gilbert coined the concept to identify important contrapuntal patterns within a Schenkerian analytical context. In jazz music, Strunk and Larson seem to argue that extended tertian harmonies are generated from stacking thirds of a chord. Larson argues for its application by creatively misreading a demonstration by Aldwell and Schachter, in which they show an anti-tonal example where harmony is generated by stacking thirds, as in the Ravel waltz (example 2.1). To Schenker, harmony is projected from the overtone series, not by stacking thirds. The establishment of motion in music is dependent on the craft of the composer who can create a fundamentally sound two-part contrapuntal relationship that unites the vertical (tonic triad) with the horizontal (the fundamental line).

50 Example 2.2. Larsons example 2.4, A Chain of Ninths and Thirteenths40

40. Larson, Analyzing Jazz: A Schenkerian Approach, 8.

51 Example 2.3. A 913 LIP rendered into a two-part keyboard figuration

I will argue throughout the study that extended tertian harmony in Mehldaus music frequently can be understood as suspensions in the traditional sense of their contrapuntal origins.41 Rendering a 913 LIP into a two-voice representation is not necessary in his music, since 9ths resolve to octaves, 13ths (or 6ths) to 12ths (or 5ths), as in the means by which Aldwell and Schachter explain them in the music of the common practice. For instance, in the B section of Mehldaus Convalescent (see chapter 5 for a

41. See example 2.4, and chapter 3 for numerous examples. For a thorough definition of the suspension and its musical effects, see Arthur J. Komar, Theory of Suspensions: A Study of Material and Pitch Relations in Tonal Music, 2nd print. (Austin: Peer Publications, 1979), 72-73.

52 complete analysis), Mehldau composes a 510 LIP in the midst of a circle of fifths sequence (see chapter 5, example 5.2). Scholars who have applied Schenkerian concepts to jazz have had to redefine essential parts of the theory. The dependency of inner voices with jazz LIPs, for instance, is perhaps how Strunk and Larson distinguishes between linear intervallic patterns in jazz music versus common practice music; otherwise, the phenomenon would already be sufficiently defined by Forte and Gilbert. I am convinced that Mehldaus music operates within a reconstructed tonal space precisely because the music demands no modifications to Schenkerian theory (see chapter 1, Mehldaus Reconstructed Tonal Principles, p. 3ff).42 To build on a Schenkerian analytical construct would seem, then, to dismiss in large part the scale/chord symbiosis that has been demonstrated at great lengths in the works of Russell, Levine, and Baker. There is no distinct goal-orientation in this type of voice-leading, which, as Agawu has argued, goal-orientation fundamentally underlies Schenkerian analysis (see BeginningMiddleEnd Paradigms, below).43 Counterpoint at times seems incidental, rather than essential. It is perhaps for these reasons that scholars who apply Schenkerian analysis to jazz music do so with some trepidation. Like Larson and Strunk, Martin encounters difficulties explaining jazz idioms such as extended tertian harmonies within a Schenkerian context. On the one hand, Martin states, Analysis of small-scale voice leading in bop thus proceeds along lines established in tonal theory: nonchord tones, such as passing tones, neighbors, suspensions,

42. Also see Joseph N. Straus, The Problem of Prolongation in Post-Tonal Music, Journal of Music Theory 31, no. 1 (1987): 1-21. 43. See V. Kofi Agawu, Concepts of Closure and Chopins Op. 28, Music Theory Spectrum 9 (1987): 1-17.

53 anticipations and appoggiaturas function similarly.44 Yet he undercuts this assertion by later proposing that the fundamental structure be altered to depict a final descent of ^3 ^3^1, accommodating a V13 for the middle harmony.45 The fundamental structure is dependent on the non-chord tones identified by Martin. A traditional Schenkerian approach rejects this alteration since (1) the melody lacks fluidity by leaping from ^3 to ^1 and lacks the important consonant passing tone, (2) the middle harmony, V13, is not a triad, and (3) there is no distinction between dissonance and consonance. More recently James McGowan has suggested that scholarly discourse about tonal jazz needs a new conception of consonance and dissonance, in order to fight the urges to adjust a system of tonality, such as Schenkerian theory, to the jazz dialect.46 d. BeginningMiddleEnd Paradigms: Closure in Jazz Music Jazz works tend not to end with tonic triads. Music of the common practice ends most of the time on a tonic triad to mark a works closure. While extended tertian harmonies are the norms of the jazz vocabulary for the middle of a work, it is particularly within the norms of the style to end a work with chords that include ninths, elevenths, or thirteenths. Jazz musics tonal closure is brought to bear only by the final chords root.47

44. Martin, Charlie Parker and Thematic Improvisation, 14. 45. Ibid., 29. Martin calls these Common Bop Background Forms. 46. James McGowan, Consonance in Tonal Jazz: A Critical Survey of Its Semantic History, Jazz Perspectives 2, no. 1 (2008): 71. 47. For an example of typical jazz closure, see the analysis of Vince Guaraldis Christmastime is Here (1965) in chapter 1, part 2, pp. 16ff.

54 Mehldau, on the contrary, frequently ends his compositions with tonic triads, unusual for the jazz style.48 This is a natural common-practice strategy employed in his music and is significant evidence for his reconstructing a tonal language within the jazz tradition. Not only are harmonic compositional traits retained from classical tradition, but refraining from the jazz practice of employing dissonant harmony at the end of his compositions is a signal of closure that aligns Mehldaus music with the commonpractice. This study frames aspects of closure within the broader Western aesthetic theory of beginningmiddleend paradigms, which has been rigorously applied to tonal music by Kofi Agawu, particularly as it interacts with Schenkerian structure.49 More recently, Mark Anson-Cartwright makes clear within existing scholarship the historical distinctions between tonal closure and chronological closure and their interaction.50 Anson-Cartwright stops short of proposing a theory of closure, though he acknowledges Agawus rhetoric-oriented theory of closure in the music of Chopin as the most fullyworked out. This approach will set the stage for interpretive features encountered in Mehldaus music.

48. See chapter 1, n. 16. 49. See Agawu, Concepts of Closure and Chopins Op. 28, and Playing with Signs: A Semiotic Interpretation of Classic Music (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991). 50. Mark Anson-Cartwright, Concepts of Closure in Tonal Music: A Critical Study, Theory and Practice 32 (2007): 1-18.

55 Part 2. Methodology. Reconciling Chord Symbols and Voice-Leading I examined some of the problems of using standard jazz chord symbols with voice-leading analysis in Part 1 of this chapter. The analyses in the following chapters will sometimes treat chord symbols differently from their contrapuntal function. In particular, the roots indicated by chord symbols will sometimes be incongruent with the root of the harmony as demonstrated through voice-leading analysis. For instance, in chapter 3 I uncover a chain of 98 suspensions in Mehldaus composition, Sehnsucht. Example 3.9, reproduced here as example 2.4, illustrates how the chord symbols mask the parallel motion that is broken up through the use of the 98 suspension. The first two chord symbols of example 2.4 indicate roots of E flat and D flat, but the voice-leading analysis reveals consecutive first inversion triads moving in parallel motion, all in support of the local key of B flat minor. While the chord symbols do not deter the voice-leading analysis, they will become important for interpreting improvisational decisions during solo sections. This is especially important for the decisions made by soloists other than Mehldau. For instance, bassist Larry Grenadier appears to contradict the voice-leading structure in Unrequited (chapter 4), but these decisions are in agreement with the chord symbols indicated in the score. Reconciling the melodic lines as represented by chord symbols versus the harmonic structure become an important topic in chapter 4.

56 Example 2.4. A chain of 98 Suspensions in Sehnsucht, mm. 2528

Schenkerian Analysis Mehldaus music satisfies the tonal criterion of exhibiting a specific tonal goaldirection, and develops motivic material within concerted group collaboration: all work together in order to convey a reconstruction of tonal principles within a jazz medium. Therefore, the methodology I find best suited to Mehldaus works in this study is Schenkerian analysis. To be sure, Mehldau frequently uses the same colorful harmonies that have given jazz music its identity. The music demonstrates clear contrapuntal origins, such as those found in linear progressions. I use implied tones in a Schenkerian way, such as, say, when another register supersedes the obligatory register. The analyses do not replace pitches that belong to an extended tertian harmony, as in the way Aldwell and Schachter speculated in order to understand a passage from the music of Ravel, which Larson used

57 to justify certain linear relationships in jazz music. The music analyzed in this study does not demand such a modification. Where tonal conflicts are presented in the music, they are treated as compositional challenges of a linear nature: problems that reveal tensions of tones in conflict with an underlying bass line progression. These kinds of problems are the sort one would expect to find in the music of Schumann or Brahms.51 I sense a genuine effort in the music to establish tonal puzzles within a tonal construct. Plasticity Analysis The complexity of harmonic rhythm within a Schenkerian framework and the manipulation of contrapuntal structures makes Mehldaus music apt for the application of techniques codified in Frank Samarottos theory of temporal plasticity.52 The reduction of basic melodic/harmonic materials to a species counterpoint model is used to illustrate aspects of plasticity, such as skewed tonal durations, compression, and elongation of tonal events. This will be a prevalent form of analysis in chapter 3, where I examine Unrequited. Transcription Transcriptions of improvised solos as well as available published scores will be utilized for analysis. Scholars have lamented the inadequacy of transcription into standard music notation, frequently citing the inability to render with precision bended tones, inflections, as well as to capture the overall timbral conditions exhibited in a jazz
51. For more on outer-voice conflicts in Brahms, see Peter H. Smith, Outer-Voice Conflicts: Their Analytical Challenges and Artistic Consequences, Journal of Music Theory 44, no. 1 (2000): 1-43. 52. Frank Samarotto, A Theory of Temporal Plasticity in Tonal Music: An Extension of the Schenkerian Approach to Rhythm with Special Reference to Beethovens Late Music, Ph.D. diss. (The City University of New York, 1999).

group collaboration.

53

58 In addition, rhythm is particularly difficult to indicate precisely,

and even when transcriptions of famous performances are catalogued, I find most of them do not accurately depict the true rhythms as performed. Mehldaus music is adequately interpretable through standard notational transcription, however, which further illustrates the musics alignment with Western European musical tradition. The Brad Mehldau Collection is the only publication to feature transcriptions of selected works, some of which are found in Art of the Trio, Volume 3: Songs.54 The transcriptions suffer from incorrect lead sheet chord analysis and arbitrarily assigned pitch designations (i.e., incorrect enharmonically equivalent pitches), probably as a result of using software designed to transcribe and analyze (no author is attributed to the transcriptions). The basic factual pitch content in this publication is helpful in confirming my own transcriptions, however. In particular, I consulted this source for transcriptions of Sehnsucht and Unrequited (chapters 3 and 4, respectively). At times, conventions of jazz chord symbols within a transcription can conceal the linear aspects found within Mehldaus music (as seen in the analysis of 29 Palms; see chapter 1, part 1), even when the chord symbols are provided directly from the composer. By using his music as a case study for separating the music from such traditional conventions, I hope to later expand on the possibility that jazz harmony in other situations might also benefit from such a separation (i.e., removing it from its traditional

53. For a discussion of such notational problems and proposed solutions, see Milton L. Stewart, Grid Notation: A Notation System for Jazz Transcription Annual Review of Jazz Studies 1 (1982): 3-12. On the inadequacies of transcription for reflecting timbre, see Robert Hodson, Interaction, Improvisation, and Interplay in Jazz, New York: Routledge, 2007. 54. The Brad Mehldau Collection, Milwaukee: Hal Leonard, c. 2002.

59 chordal orientation and placing it into a contrapuntal context), but such far-reaching conclusions will be consigned to future research. As stated, Mehldaus use of standard chord symbols at times masks the true nature of the voice-leading made evident by both his score and performance. Sometimes Mehldaus music seems resistant to standard jazz nomenclature due to the linear nature of the musical context (recall examples 1.1 and 1.2 in chapter 1). In some cases, identifying a chord as a simple vertical arrangement of pitches is misleading. These incongruities are significant for my argument that vertical interpretations exhibited by chord symbols may be more pragmatic for the performer while the analyst requires a better syntactic explanation.55 I will therefore use Mehldaus chord symbol notation only when I should like to contrast the meaning of those chord symbols with my own linear application in support of the musical surface. Convalescent (chapter 5) presents two challenges: there is no published score, and the solo section is free improvisation. The first challenge is met by my own transcription of the theme. For the second challenge, voice-leading analyses will reference time points from the recording, in the absence of measure numbers. The following analyses are a result of my personal account of salient musical phenomena.

55. For a demonstration of the performers and analysts perspectives of jazz chord symbols and voice-leading, respectively, see chapter 1, Jazz Chord Symbol Notation, pp. 5-9. Also see chapter 3, part 2, Analysis of Sehnsucht, p. 77ff, and chapter 4, From Thematic Voice-Leading to Solo Voice-Leading in Unrequited, p 112ff, and particularly example 4.7, mm. 17-20, on p. 115.

Chapter 3: Sehnsucht and the Suspension In this chapter, I will demonstrate how contrapuntal norms are at work, particularly the suspension, in Mehldaus composition Sehnsucht, from the 1998 album Art of the Trio, Volume 3: Songs. I will argue that the suspension creates the effect of musical motion and goal-orientation. Together, these characteristics promote the perception of beginningmiddleend that is essential to a Schenkerian analysis of music from the common practice. In part 1 I review the suspension as it resembles the beginningmiddleend scheme in miniature, and its implications for longer-range tonal hearing. Then I will review how the suspension is an unusual technique in jazz music in general, which places Mehldaus music in opposition to standard jazz practice. In part 2 I analyze Sehnsucht in light of the above considerations. Sehnsucht, which generally means yearning or longing, serves as the impetus for the notable tonal ambiguity of this piece. While a voice-leading analysis will help to clarify this ambiguity, it is the suspension that connotes the expressive frame of German Romanticism. Part 1. The Suspension and the BeginningMiddleEnd Paradigm The suspension is a non-harmonic tone defined by specific rhythmic and contrapuntal situations. To review, the process of the suspension in tonal music takes place in three stages: (1) consonant preparation of one or more tones, (2) dissonant suspension of the tone(s) in a metrically strong position, (3) consonant resolution of tone(s) by stepwise ascending or descending direction. The procedure requires dissonances to resolve in a specific way, with melodic and rhythmic considerations. The suspension represents a beginningmiddleend scheme on the surface of the music. I

60

61 believe this surface feature is analogous to the long-range principles of Schenkerian structure.1 The fundamental structure (Ursatz) embodies the contrapuntal process that establishes a pieces tonality. The fundamental line (Urlinie) begins and ends with members of the tonic triad. The steps between the tonic triads members are passing tones. If the bass line does not arpeggiate the tonic by moving to the fifth, or dominant, the passing tones would be dissonant. In the simplest presentation of the fundamental line, ^3^2^1, the Urlinie is supported by a tonic bass that leaps to the dominant in support of ^2. The passing tone is now consonant.2 This passing tone bridges what would otherwise be an arpeggio of the tonic, which in turn is necessitated by principles of melodic fluidity (i.e., stepwise motion). More importantly, the fundamental line embodies motion.3 In order to support ^2 as a consonance, however, the bass move off the tonic, up to the dominant, itself a member of the tonic triad.4 ^2 is thus considered both a passing tone (secondary to the other melodic members of the tonic triad) and a

1. See V. Kofi Agawu, Concepts of Closure and Chopins Op. 28, Music Theory Spectrum 9, no. 1 (1987): 1-17 and Playing with Signs: A Semiotic Interpretation of Classic Music (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991). 2. The fundamental line unfolds a chord horizontally while the counterpointing lower voice effects an arpeggiation of this chord through the upper fifth. Heinrich Schenker, Free Composition, trans. and ed. Ernst Oster (New York: Longman, 1979), 4. 3. Since it is a melodic succession of definite steps of a second, the fundamental line signifies motion, striving toward a goal, and ultimately the completion of this course. Schenker, Free Composition, 4. 4. [T]he arpeggiation of the bass signifies movement toward a specific goal, the upper fifth, and the completion of the course with the return to the fundamental tone. Schenker, Free Composition, 4.

62 consonance (supported by the bass arpeggiation).5 A remarkable conflict thus exists at the background: members of the tonic triad are combined in union with passing tones. The three parts of the suspension is thus analogous to the three-line Urlinie.6 The suspension is quintessentially tonal since it explicitly depends on establishing a relationship between consonance and dissonance. Post-modern music does not require all the parts of a suspension; consonance and dissonance are generally not distinguished from each other. In jazz compositional practice, the subject of consonance and dissonance has been a contentious topic, whether consonance and dissonance even applies to jazz the way it applies to music of the common practice. James McGowan proposes a redefinition of consonance, allowing sevenths, ninths, and other extended tertian members of jazz chords to be redefined as consonant.7 While appropriate for much jazz music, redefining dissonance and consonance is generally not needed in Mehldaus works. Consider the score to Sehnsucht, where Mehldau provides direct evidence to the traditional treatment of consonance and dissonance used to create a suspension (example 3.1). Perhaps unusual to a jazz score

5. See Allen Cadwallader and David Gagn. Analysis of Tonal Music: A Schenkerian Approach, 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), 107, example 5.6. 6. See Heinrich Schenker, Counterpoint, Book 1: Cantus Firmus and Two-Voice Counterpoint, trans. John Rothgeb and Jrgen Thym, ed. John Rothgeb (New York: Schirmer Books, 1987). In Counterpoint, Schenker attempts to describe the suspension as the deletion of what would otherwise be a passing tone on a weak beat (266-67). Earlier, Schenker attempts to base the suspension (from fourth species) on the passing tone (from second species). He notes, for instance, that in both [suspensions and passing tones], the dissonant element is situated only between two consonances (260). The only difference is their metrical placement (260-61). What unites them is the essential course of events is the same: ConsonanceDissonanceConsonance! In this light even the dissonant syncope is fundamentally nothing but a type of passing dissonance, a part of the general problem of dissonance altogether (262). 7. James McGowan, Consonance in Tonal Jazz: A Critical Survey of Its Semantic History, Jazz Perspectives 2, no. 1 (2008): 69-102.

63 Example E 3.1. Sehnsucht, score, with annotations a

conceptual inne er voice

ob bbligato inner-voices ind dicate suspensions

(4

3)

becomes literal inner voice

(4 (

3)

(4

3)

(4

3)

(4

3)

is s the inclusio on of obbliga ato inner voi ices. In m. 1 12 the inner voice indica ates a 43 su uspension of f a dominant t seventh cho ord (D7) in th he local key y of G major. . The G3 in ndicated on the t downbea at of m. 12 is s consonantl ly prepared b by the previo ous measures A7

64 chord. Despite the resolution of the suspension mid-bar, one will note that the chord symbol only indicates a suspension (D7sus13) for all of m. 12. (That two chords are not indicated in m. 12 to illustrate the suspension and its resolution may be due to the works general harmonic pacing at one chord per measure.) A perfect authentic cadence reinforces the local key of G major in m. 13. A 43 suspension takes place in mm. 1314, from C4 to B3, respectively. Note that in m. 13 the chord indicated is not Gsus but C/G, though both the score and performance do not indicate the presence of a melodic E over the bass G in m. 13. Let us focus, then, on the 43 suspension. The C4 indicated on the score is prepared in the melody at m. 12. Interestingly the melodys C4 represents a conceptual inner voice, the result of a compound melody from mm. 1012. With the arrival of the cadence in m. 13, the C4 represents an inner voice, resolving to B3 in m. 14. From conceptual to literal, the innervoice presented first by the melody in m. 12 prepares the suspension in m. 13, represented as an obbligato inner voice. This obbligato inner voice continues into the next phrase, mm. 1516, continuing through a descending second sequence the 43 suspension. This time both the suspension and resolution are indicated by two chord symbols: F7sus9 in m. 15 and F7 in m. 16. These chord symbols indeed indicate two suspensions, 98 and 43. The melody represents the 98 while the continuing inner voice provides the 43 resolution. These suspensions are telling for Mehldaus contrapuntal thinking. Other traditional suspensions that will be identified in the voice-leading analysis of Sehnsucht include the 76 (mm. 24, 9) and 98 (mm. 2528) (see the foreground analysis, example

65 3.8). Other contrapuntal techniques are employed throughout Sehnsucht as well, and they will be explored in detail in the second part of this chapter. Suspensions in Jazz Music The traditional, three-stage suspensions as found in Mehldaus works are generally not common in jazz. Jazz music often removes the rhythmic and contrapuntal conditions in order to isolate a chords properties (i.e., its color), preferring the qualities of a verticalized sound at the moment of suspension. In jazz harmony, chord symbols indicating a suspension are exempt from the conventions of preparationsuspension resolution. I would consider suspensions in jazz music reifications of the suspension stage, omitting preparation and resolution. Jazz sus chords are thus the result of linear motions (borrowed from the common practice) frozen into vertical arrangements, utilized for their sound quality. Henry Martin, comparing bop to the common practice, writes, rarely [are suspensions] prepared and resolved as in common-practice theory.8 While true in much jazz music, refer to mm. 3536 of Sehnsucht (example 3.1), where Mehldau does prepare and resolve them as in the common practice, indicated on the score with both chord symbols (AsusA) and inner voices. This is in distinct contrast to the way jazz composers normally incorporate a sus chord. With the heavy association of chord to scale in jazz theory (refer to chapter 2, part 1), Mark Levine associates sus chords with the mixolydian mode, itself having strong

8. Henry Martin, Charlie Parker and Thematic Improvisation, (Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, 1996), 14.

66 associations with the dominant seventh chord.9 By associating sus chords with the dominant, Levine provides a link from the tonal tradition to jazz, specifically identifying a sus chords role within the context of a beginningmiddleend paradigm: In traditional harmony, the 4th of a sus chord usually resolves down a half step to become the 3rd of a dominant 7th chord. In contemporary music, the 4th doesnt resolve, which gives sus chords a floating quality.10 To be sure, that floating quality is a result of promoting the middle of a three-part progression, removing the contrapuntal stages that provide beginning and end. Because the sus chord is in traditional harmony part of a multi-stage process, Levine is explicit in his description of the sus chord in jazz as a sound effect, absent of contrapuntal requirements. Sus chords are employed as one type of colorful harmony, where the fourth often replaces the third above the bass.11 Furthermore, Levine allows the third to remain in sus chords along with the fourth. Levine states, A persistent myth is that the 4th takes the place of the 3rd in a sus chord. This was true at one time, but in the 1960s, a growing acceptance of dissonance led pianists and guitarists to play sus voicings with both the 3rd and the 4th. Note that the 3rd is always [voiced] above the 4th.12 This final qualification is an important reconciliation of the simultaneous use of both the third and fourth as separate voices, whereas a traditional suspension is carried out in one conceptual voice.

9. Mark Levine, The Jazz Theory Book (Petaluma, CA: Sher Music, 1995), 43. 10. Ibid. 11. Ibid., 46. 12. Ibid., 46.

67 Curiously, Mehldau manages to include the third and fourth in the same voice, and represent it in a chord symbol. In m. 17 of Sehnsucht, Mehldau indicates Bsusadd3. The suspension and third occur in the same voice, according to the melody. Here I believe Mehldau is offering a provocative interpretation of the harmonic content in m. 17. Moreover, his chord symbol points to an essential jazz trait: dissonances and consonances are not distinguished from each other. I offer three possible interpretations in example 3.2. Example 3.2. Three voice-leading interpretations of Bsusadd3 in Sehnsucht, m. 17

Each interpretation is considered in relation to the score, provided at the top of example 3.2. In the first interpretation (a), the suspension conceptually spans all of m.

68 17, resolving in m. 18. This interpretation is appealing since it is similar in duration to the suspension of mm. 1516, illustrated by the obbligato inner voice (see example 3.1). However, the chord strikingly changes color in m. 18 to a G major triad in first inversion, representing a mode change and 56 exchange, and the resolution to D sharp would need to be replaced by D natural. Even given this chromatic adjustment, the suspension conceptually works. This first interpretation emphasizes the sus part of the chord symbol while minimizing the add3 modifier. The performance and lead sheet both indicate a clear arrival of D sharp on the downbeat of m. 17, making this first interpretation most problematic. The second interpretation (b) provides a complex interpretation giving full consideration to the complete chord symbol, Bsusadd3. This interpretation suggests that the suspension takes place conceptually on the first half of m. 17 before resolving midbar. However, the D sharp that arrives on the downbeat is a lower neighbor-note (LN), anticipating the resolution proper of D sharp midway through the measure (see example 3.2). Normally a consonance, the third of the triad (D sharp) arrives prematurely on the downbeat, in the same voice that is representing the fourth of a 43 suspension. This chord symbol suggests two different levels of dissonance occurring simultaneously: the sus, representing a linear dissonance through the standard suspension, and the add3, representing a triadic dissonance (D sharp) that interferes with the time span of the suspension. The third interpretation (c) shows no suspension at all, acknowledging the primary role of D sharps arrival on the downbeat of m. 17. This final interpretation

69 emphasizes the add3 modifier to the chord symbol while minimizing completely the sus indication. The second interpretation is filled with contradictory voice-leading information, but this is a result of the equally contradictory chord symbol. I would argue that this type of complex linear interpretation is generally not demanded in traditional jazz music, where distinctions between consonance and dissonance are not definite. This provocative chord symbol (Bsusadd3) highlights the struggle a contrapuntal thinker like Mehldau encounters when trying to communicate harmonic content through conventions of jazz chord notation. As a sound effect, sus chords in jazz must be sharply distinguished from the use of suspensions in Mehldaus music. In Mehldaus music, suspensions draw attention to goal-orientation. This goal-orientation creates a perception of motion, which is enabled by a traditional consonancedissonance relationship, which can be captured effectively by a Schenkerian voice-leading analysis. To highlight the difference between jazz tonality and Mehldaus traditional tonality, I will show how Mehldau is able to reveal new insights in a classic jazz standard that may not have been composed with a linear compositional predisposition. In Mehldaus ballad arrangement of the 1934 foxtrot, For All We Know, he draws our attention to a certain linearity not previously heard in this standard. The melody arpeggiates the tonic triad (E flat major) in the first two bars of example 3.3. The change of harmony from E to F9 in the second bar transforms the third of the tonic triad, G, into a ninth, which requires no resolution in jazz practice (it too represents a frozen verticality utilized for its sound color rather than for its contrapuntal

70 implications). In this case, the G is seen as an extension of the F chord of the second bar. As sung, one will note the opportunity for a performer to utilize portamento technique in ascending a major sixth from B3 to G4 in the first two bars, calling attention to this colorful harmonic extension. The compound melody of the vocal part would seem to welcome a 43 suspension as B3 lingers into the second bar before resolving. But the piano accompaniment and chord symbol both indicate an immediate change to the F9 chord of the second bar. Whatever potential exists for a 43 suspension, it seems to be of little concern to the composer. Example 3.3. For All We Know, chorus (Coots and Lewis, 1934)

Example 3.4. For All We Know, transcription of Mehldaus right hand, with bass13

Turning to Mehldaus performance, from Art of the Trio, Volume 3: Songs, a transcription of the right hand (example 3.4) illustrates how the B flat in the first bar is
13. Brad Mehldau, The Art of the Trio, Volume 3: Songs, Warner Bros. 9 47051-2. (CD), 1998.

71 accented and sustained well into the second bar. Mehldau seizes an opportunity to present a 43 suspension, a suspension that does not exist in the original score (indicated by the arrow in example 3.3). The initial B flat is a conceptual inner voice that prepares the suspension of the B flat as a literal inner voice in the second bar, as illustrated in example 3.4. Since the piano cannot utilize portamento technique as a vocalist would, I would argue the same effect is created on the piano as a result of sustaining the B flat as it melodically leaps to G4. Mehldau not only highlights the beauty of the vocal lines compound melody turned into a 43 suspension, but this has the additional effect of imitating portamento vocal technique. The 43 suspension adds another horizontal dimension to the vertically indicated ninth chord of the second bar: the melodys G sounds like a 98 suspension that also needs to resolve, not merely a consonant ninth chord falling within the practice of traditional jazz music. Mehldaus performance, as illustrated in the transcription of example 3.4, results in a double suspension in the second bar, treating both B flat and G as linear dissonance that must resolve to the consonance of A and F, respectively.14 Drawing attention to two voices that originated from a single melodic line helps one hear two separate contrapuntal strands of a tonal fabric promoting E flat major. The G4 of the second bar no longer sounds like an extended tertian harmony added to the F7, as one might gather from the vocal scores indicated chord symbol. Mehldau has paid tribute to this colorful ninth chord by reverting to a tradition that was probably not considered when the original foxtrot tune was composed. Consequently, the creation and

14. Further referencing the classical tradition, Mehldau includes an ornamented resolution of the 43 suspension, through the use of an anticipatory trill on the B flat to A.

72 performance of suspensions encountered in the opening to For All We Know is an expressive affect within much of Mehldaus music, whether composed or arranged. This section has attempted to sharply contrast the suspension as used during the common practice period against modern jazz practice. A glimpse into Mehldaus score to Sehnsucht illustrated a treatment of suspensions in a traditional contrapuntal setting. I then compared Mehldaus use of suspensions with sus chords of modern jazz practice. The suspension as tonal technique is seldom found in modern jazz,15 yet Mehldau has utilized it with such regularity that I believe it represents an expressive affect of Mehldaus performance style and compositional practice, indeed, providing a linear glimpse into his approach of triadic tonality. The suspension and its effects on a larger scale will now be considered in a comprehensive analysis of Sehnsucht. Part 2. Analysis of Sehnsucht The remainder of the chapter will present a voice-leading analysis of the theme of Sehnsucht in light of the above considerations. In addition to the suspension, other contrapuntal techniques are employed, specifically the 56 exchange, sometimes as a result of other obbligato inner voices indicated in the score. There is also a suggestive tonal pun that is in following with the Romantic style: an acrostic occurs on the name Bach, by employing the notes, B flat, A, C, and B natural throughout the piece. Sehnsucht, first recorded in the 1998 album, Art of the Trio, Volume 3: Songs, features Jorge Rossy on drums and Larry Grenadier on bass. The piece begins with piano

15. A notable exception to this observation is Keith Jarrett, who frequently explores, in openended settings, the tonal harmonic language. Musicians recorded by the ECM label in the 1970s also made frequent use of classical idioms in their music. For a concise historical account of ECM and Jarrett, see Ted Gioia, The History of Jazz (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), 376-81.

73 alone, joined on the repeat of the theme by the rest of the trio. By beginning with solo piano, the piece evokes several possible Romantic counterparts. Consider the Chopin mazurka in A minor, op. 17, no. 4 (example 3.5). The enigmatic sotto voce opening begins with an unprepared dissonance. When the espressivo melody enters at m. 5, tonic harmony is avoided, beginning on ^2^3^4. Only at mm. 1112 does the tonality of A minor emerge with the arrival of a half cadence (itself on an unstable seventh chord). Example 3.5. Chopin, mazurka, op. 17, no. 4, mm. 114

The striking unprepared dissonance at the opening of the mazurka exposes a tritone between top and middle voice (F and B, respectively). When the B resolves to C, the F fails to resolve to E, and this seems to force the inner voice to ascend again to D, on the downbeat of m. 2 (causing the bottom voice to expose a weak second inversion D minor triad). The delay of resolution in the top voice and resulting rising third in the inner voice is the impetus for the opening melodys motive BCD when it enters in m. 5. The mazurka ends with the same material as the introduction of mm. 14, the last time with a fermata over the chord of m. 4, leaving the work open and with no clear

74 resolution. (This ternary piece includes a middle section in the parallel major, which is heavily repeated, as if overcompensating for the outer sections ambiguous tonal center.) The time period within which Chopin operated suggests that he wanted to promote a Romantic sensibility of longing by avoiding a tonic triad in the beginning and end of the piece. Chopin plays on the traditions of the common practice, which allowed for such incomplete, fragmentary tonal gestures to remain through the end of the piece. Turning to the opening of Sehnsucht, there are intertextual relationships worth noting, beginning with a similar striking unprepared dissonance, represented by A-/G. The piece is also in A minor, but, like the mazurka, there is little harmonic support for A minor at the opening. While Chopin avoids A minor in the opening melody, Sehnsucht provides a hint of A minor by outlining the tonic triad in mm. 12. Both the mazurka and Sehnsucht share the same opening melodic contour. The mazurka provides contrasting thematic material in mm. 912 (see example 3.5), characterized by descending leaps with a rhythmic pattern alternating short and long durations. Sehnsucht uses similar contrasting thematic material in mm. 1012 and mm. 2528 (refer back to the score, example 3.1). While the mazurka ends with an unresolved tonic triad, Sehnsucht ends with an unmistakable one, complete with picardy third. Mehldau has composed a piece in an era that has considerably less tonal expectations, unlike the Chopin mazurka. Sehnsucht provides tonal closure in a way that Chopin attempts to thwart in the mazurka. Because Chopins audience expected a tonal ending, he is able to play on those expectations by ending with a first inversion F major triad (or an A minor triad substituted with an unresolved sixth).

75 Mehldaus audience might expect a jazz piece to operate with an expanded harmonic palette, where a triad is one of the least expected concluding chords.16 Mehldau thus provides a specific tonal context by ending with a tonic triad, which is further enhanced by the concluding 43 suspension. Mehldau is not as free as Chopin to play on the listeners expectationsby avoiding a tonic triad, for instancesince the evasion of tonic triads in jazz music is the norm in Mehldaus time. The closural tonic in Sehnsucht invites further consideration into a complete tonal trajectory, from beginning to end, especially because a tonal center of A minor is especially unclear in the opening moments. The suspensions will serve as the primary foreground material that drives the theme towards a final tonic triad, establishing this works tonal identity. The opening of Sehnsucht has what Schenker might have identified as a mentally prepared tonic chord. This suggests a double passing tone in the bass and tenor voice of the left hand (see example 3.7). Another intertextual observation may be telling: the opening to Sehnsucht is similar to Schumanns second song from Dichterliebe, especially referencing the sonority in m. 1, second eighth-note (indicated in example 3.6). The previous song ended on a dominant chord, C7, and thus makes this opening ambiguous: with the tonality of F sharp minor lingering in the listeners mind, the opening dyad suggests an incomplete F sharp minor chord, and not the incomplete A-major, or tonic, harmony. The entrance of the dyad, an upbeat that is sustained over the downbeat of the first measure, also blurs metric clarity and tempo and focuses attention on the sonority Mehldau references. Had the song begun with the passing tone enclosed in example 3.6,
16. It is worth repeating Walter Piston, who notes, Students of jazz techniques will recognize that an entire harmonic vocabulary based on the complete set of added-sixth chord and non-dominant sevenths and ninths exists in that art, indeed defining the normative chordal states in a harmony where pure triads are rare. Walter Piston, Harmony, 5th ed. (New York: W. W. Norton, 1987), 483.

76 a tonal hearing that eventually establishes A major would still be possible. In Sehnsucht, the opening dissonance of G, B, and C in the left hand and the A in the right hand does not compromise tonal clarity. The music, rather, begins as if it is in the middle of a double passing tone. Example. 3.6. Schumann, Aus meinen Thrnen, Dichterliebe, Op. 48, no. 2, opening

The melodys compound melody, featuring the Kopfton, C5, and alto voice, E4, initiates a third progression. This progression is complemented by a 76 chain between the alto and bass. Tonal ambiguity is created by the immediate turn to D minor, which functions as the dominant in the subsequent modulation to G minor (not shown in example 3.7; see the voice-leading analysis of example 3.8). The opening of Sehnsucht makes an excellent example for setting apart Mehldaus use of extended tertian harmony from their use as a departure from the tonal tradition. The piece begins with a complex linear progression. The top voice in the melody presents consecutive fifths with the bass in mm. 25 (see example 3.7, middle system). This parallel voice-leading is hidden in part by a compound melody, where an inner voice provides an implied 76 suspension in mm. 23, suggesting a first inversion

77 D minor # chord in m. 2 (in spite of the chord symbol indicating F7). This D minor chord is prolonged through m. 5 as a dominant of G minor. (The indicated F7 is not a real seventh chord, since contrapuntal norms require the seventh, E4, to resolve to the chords root, D4.) The resolution to D4 is delayed to m. 3 and functions as the seventh of a true seventh chord, E-11NO9, a II chord that tonicizes D minor through a customary II VI progression (see example 3.7, bottom system). The inner voice D4 resolves to C4 in m. 4 of the secondary dominant chord A79. While the multiple voices created by the compound melody help mask the parallel motion, a 98 suspension created by the insertion of the A7 chord of m. 4 further breaks up the parallel fifths in the outer voices. Another suspension, the 43, takes place in the left hand in mm. 24. This suspension in the opening moments of Sehnsucht argues strongly for Mehldaus conscious awareness of strict contrapuntal norms. Focusing on the bottom system of example 3.7, one will note the preparation of a consonant A3 in m. 2, dissonant suspension in m. 3, and resolution to G3 in m. 4. The suspension takes place over the unusual chord symbol E-11NO9. The instruction to not include a ninth is indicative of the specific voice-leading Mehldau is trying to convey through jazz chord symbols. One might freely insert a ninth as part of a typical jazz voicing, but here 11 indicates the fourth of a 43 suspension. The suspension resolves to a dissonant seventh, however, of the following A79. The seventh is dissonant but a chord tone, belonging to the secondary dominant seventh chord. In the common practice, suspensions were allowed to resolve to dissonances that represented chord tones. This is how triads interacted with seventh

78 chords, but the allowance of this dissonant chord tone did not extend to ninths and thirteenths, which are found in abundance in jazz music.17 Example 3.7. Sehnsucht, mm. 15, transcription and voice-leading analysis

Perhaps most evocative of these first five measures is the final chord, D-11. This chord appears to initiate another 43 suspension, as E-11 does in m. 3 (refer to the bass staff). The eleventh, G, is not performed by the left hand, though it is represented in the chord symbol. This G is represented in example 3.7, m. 5, bottom two systems as a
17. Examples of ninths and thirteenths as chord tones is well documented in the works of Steve Larson, Steven Strunk, and Henry Martin (see chapter 2, Modifications to Schenkerian Theory, p. 45ff).

79 suspension that never resolves to F. Drawing further attention to the unresolved fourth in mm. 56, the harmonic rhythm slows for the first time (normally one harmony per measure) when D-11 is repeated for two measures (refer to the score, example 3.1). With the repetition of D-11, the G continues to conceptually exist until m. 7 (not shown in example 3.7), where a C-6 chord functions as a subdominant chord in G minor. That Mehldau sets up several voice-leading expectations through the suspensions of mm. 14, he is free to play on these expectations when he does not resolve the fourth of the D harmony of m. 5. Recall the way Chopin was able to create a sense of Romantic longing by not resolving his final tonic harmony, based on the conventions of tonal norms. By establishing traditional voice-leading principles in the opening measures, Mehldau sets enough voice-leading constraints to cause a musical effect when the music denies an expected resolution, in this case the fourth above the D harmony. I would contend this voice-leading effect is made possible only through previously established contrapuntal practices, though this type of departure from voice-leading is utilized sparingly in Sehnsucht. This ultimately promotes ambiguity, without descending into vagueness.18 A longing is effectively created by m. 5: begging for harmonic continuation, an unresolved dissonance (the suspension) is extended for two measures. Foreground and Middleground The following voice-leading illustration (example 3.8) combines elements from both the published score and Mehldaus performance from Art of the Trio, Vol. 3.

18. As Edward T. Cone notes, [A]mbiguity, to be artistically effective, must be bounded. Not all instances of ambiguity admit of resolution, but the most successful are delimited by a context of relative directness and clarity. Unbounded ambiguity results in what we call vagueness; ambiguity resolved or successfully delimited is described as subtle. Edward T. Cone, Attacking a Brahms Puzzle, The Musical Times 136, no. 1824 (February 1995): 72.

80 Mehldaus performance mostly reflects the score, though two discrepancies stand out: m. 18 on the score indicates a C sharp passing tone that is performed as C natural. I believe the C sharp is a misprint. Secondly, mm. 2021 on the score shows G4 as the outer voice when Mehldau performs it in Art of the Trio an octave lower, transferring G into an inner voice. The scores obbligato inner voice of D4 to B3 is actually the outer voice in the performance, and I reflect the performance within the voice-leading analysis. Otherwise, the voice-leading analysis can be assumed to accurately depict both score and performance.

Example 3.8. Sehnsucht, foreground and middleground voice-leading

81

Example 3.8 (continued)

82

83 Measures 122 Though it will be demonstrated that Sehnsucht is in the key of A minor, this is not immediately clear at the opening, beginning with the chord, A-/G. The fleeting appearance of the tonic triad over a G in the bass in m. 1 is overshadowed by a tonicization of D minor in mm. 36 and G minor in mm. 723. D minor functions as the dominant pivot to G minor, which arrives at m. 13 (though the cadence in G is decorated by a picardy third). The unexpected appearance of the major mode is corrected to minor at a second cadence at m. 21. The theme outlines an A minor triad in mm. 1-2, but lacks sufficient bass support to otherwise clearly indicate the key of A minor. The opening chord A-/G could suggest a I% chord, with the bass functions as a passing tone. At the end of the score, a IIV progression in A minor is directed for use during the solo section, which strongly suggests the key of A minor. The tonic, then, seems to be suppressed at the beginning, replaced by a passing tone in the bass. I thus interpret the opening as beginning in the middle of a progression, as if stepping down from the tonic, A passing through G (the first indicated bass note) to F, which serves as a pivot to the tonicization of D minor in m. 5. This suppressed tonic chord, A minor, is shown in parentheses in the foreground voice-leading analysis of example 3.8. An octave coupling of the implied tonic at m. 1 brings the bass to A2 at m. 11. The coupling is broken into two stages: a sixth progression from mm. 17 and a third progression from mm. 711. The sixth progression in mm. 17 brings the bass from A to C, and is combined with a descending third progression in the melody, from C to A. This voice exchange is then mirrored in mm 711 when the bass descends a third (completing

84 the octave progression) and the melody ascends a third, composing another voice exchange. In middleground 2 a single asterisk denotes two similar third progressions: the melodic descending third progression in mm. 17 and the bass line third progression in mm. 711. The melodic ascending progression composes out the opening motive, AB C, and reclaims the Kopftons register of C5. This boundary play results in the transformation of C over (suppressed) tonic to C over supertonic (II) in G minor. Functioning locally in G minor, the melodic C becomes a seventh over the dominant D7 at m. 12, which directs it to resolve to B flat upon the arrival of G minor in m. 13 (though this G minor chord unexpectedly reverts to the major mode at m. 14). Middleground 1 of example 3.8 normalizes these melodic tones to occur directly over the bass (in mm. 12 and 13), while closer to the surface they are displaced by a bar, as in middleground 2 and the foreground (occurring in mm. 11 and 12). Following the establishment of the local key of G minor, the melody begins an octave progression that is similarly broken into a third and sixth progression. A kind of textural inversion effectively swaps voice-leading techniques from the bass in mm. 111 to the melody in mm. 1221. (On middleground 2, two asterisks accompany the octave couplings in the bass of mm. 111 and the melody of mm. 1221 to highlight these similar progressions.) The coupling of the melodys B4 to B3 is in turn broken into two progressions. A third progression in mm. 1213 first establishes the local key of G minor (with picardy third in an inner-voice in m. 14). A sixth progression completes the octave coupling of B flat in mm. 1321. The sixth progression is characterized by sudden changes of register in the theme, which at the foreground masks melodic fluency. A sudden ascent in the

85 melody at m. 16 seems to be in reaction to the bass lines continued descent past the local tonic of G2 in m. 13 to F sharp2 in m. 15. At m. 15 the basss descent to F sharp creates a double suspension in the theme and inner voice (98 and 43). The melodic suspensions resolve at the downbeat of m. 16 before ascending a minor seventh from F4 to E5. The ascent of the melody is then imitated in the bass, which in turn ascends to B2, with the resolution to a B major harmony, or upper third divider in the local key of G minor, in m. 17. This bass line mode mixture temporarily calls G minor into question. The arrival of B major at m. 17 seems to be in reaction to the mode shift to G major at m. 14 in the melodys inner voice. The half-diminished II# chord in m. 19 effectively returns the mode to minor. It is as if the bass, in consideration of the melodys fickle turn to major in m. 14, tries to suit in mm. 17-18, only to be thwarted again by the melodys sudden decision to return to minor in mm. 1921. To further complicate the melody, the sequenced opening third motive in mm. 1718 is paired with a sudden departure to the lower register, completing the octave coupling to B3 in m. 21. Mehldaus performance departs from the score, which illustrates G4 as the outer voice, not B3. This subtle change to the theme serves two purposes: the lower B flat completes the octave coupling from m. 12, and provides continuity to the bass lines octave coupling from mm. 111. Second, the scores G4 is in the same register as the cadence at m. 13, which creates a monotony of register; the lower B flat thus creates greater contrast in the register shifts of mm. 1521. Measures 2336 As will be revealed in the deep middleground and background voice-leading (refer to example 3.11), the dramatic reversal on the foreground from G minor, to major,

86 and back to minor is all in service to the dominant prolongation of scale degree 2. A minor is indeed stretched to near incomprehension during the stretch from mm. 13-33. The next phrase, from mm. 2129, confirms B flat as the prolonged melodic tone by tonicizing B flat minor at m. 29. The progression by analogy builds on G minor (the III of V, E major) by supporting B flat minor, stacking another lowered mediant over the local harmony of B flat. Upon the arrival of B flat minor at m. 29 another 56 exchange takes place at m. 30, outlining a G flat major triad. This dramatic move to the flat side of the circle of fifths perhaps overcompensates for the use of B natural in mm. 1421. Let us first retrace how the music arrives at B flat minor in mm. 2129. The 56 exchange in mm. 1718 that transforms G major into B major is employed in mm. 2224 to transform G minor into E flat minor (see example 3.8, where numerals indicate this 56 exchange). This differs from the previous voice-leading in that the bass voice is also transformed chromatically, from G to G flat. This effectively pushes the bass down chromatically toward F, the dominant of B flat. At this point there is an insertion that prolongs the dominant of B flat from mm. 2528. The music here suddenly becomes contemplative, with the piano presenting a four-voice texture, which presents a complex 98 chain of suspensions (example 3.9). The first two chord symbols indicated on the score appear more complex than the voice-leading suggests. The first chord, E-6 is used to indicate a C flat major triad in first inversion. The F in the outer voice is mentally prepared by the previous F7 harmony in m. 24 (not shown in example 3.9) before resolving to E flat. The second chord, D75 is a fairly standard jazz chord symbol, here executed by its natural voice-leading tendency: a double suspension represented by the major seventh, C (not shown or

87 performed, but implied), and the sharp five converging on B flat of a B flat minor chord in first inversion. The additional 98 suspension adds further complexity to this fairly standard jazz chord. This four-measure phrase also unfolds an upper melodic third, from E flat to C; the arrival of B flat minor at m. 29 answers this with an unfolded third that connects the incomplete neighbor of E flat at m. 23 with D flat at m. 29 (these unfoldings are illustrated in middleground 2 of example 3.8). Example 3.9. Chain of 98 Suspensions in Sehnsucht, mm. 2528

The 56 exchanges of mm. 1718 and 2123 motivate the most chromatic 56 exchange of the piece in m. 29. Here, Mehldau integrates a common jazz poly-chord, B7/B, through a scenario that represents the culmination of all voice-leading techniques used in Sehnsucht. The foreground and second middleground level of example 3.8

88 illustrates both a 43 suspension and 56 exchange occurring simultaneously. Each voice of this complex chord shall be explained, from the least important to the most essential to the voice-leading. First, the C flat in the melody functions as a chromatic passing tone. This tone is paired with a B natural in an obbligato inner voice on the score (example 3.1). A connection to the B natural/flat conflict in the G major/minor section of mm. 11-21 seems evident here both in melodic content and chord symbol notation (B7/B). The voiceleading analysis treats the obbligato inner voice from the score, B, as an incomplete neighbor note to B flat (i.e., C flat to B flat in the tenor voice of the voice-leading analysis, example 3.8). Second, an E flat (notated as D sharp in the score at m. 29) functions as the fourth of a 43 suspension, prepared by E flat of the F7 chord at m. 28. Locally, the resolution of the 43 suspension is unclear: does the E flat resolve to D, or does the enharmonic equivalent D sharp resolve to C sharp in m. 30? (The score indicates both D and C sharp.) This matter will be taken up in a moment. Third, and most essential to the voice-leading, while not indicated on the score, Mehldau performs an F, the fifth above the bass on the downbeat of m. 29. This F moves to G flat in the melody at the last eighth note of m. 29, completing a 56 exchange. Together, mm. 2930 represent the greatest moment of tension in the piece. First, it appears to overcompensate for the move to B natural in support of G major as it first appeared in m. 14. The 43 suspension resolves to both a major and minor third over the bass, as the E flat of m. 29 resolves to both D and D flat (or D sharp to C sharp) in m. 30. Though the score indicates m. 30 as a sharp-nine chord, the configuration of voices is a

89 rendering atypical for jazz, since both voices appear in the same register. This voicing serves a higher purpose in terms of the tonal narrative, however, by conflating resolutions to B flat major and minor, culminating with an atonal gesture, a split-third chord. To further complicate things, a 56 exchange transforms the B flat chord into a kind of G flat chord (GBDD, a split fifth, perhaps). The arrival of B flat serves to extend the dominant as an upper third divider to the upper third divider of G minor (refer to the deep middleground, example 3.11, where this relationship is made clear). An astonishing reversal takes place over this tonally distant, flat chord: the melodys G flat of m. 30 is enharmonically reinterpreted as F sharp, or ^6 in the home key of A minor (see the foreground of example 3.8). The melodic ascent in m. 31 seemingly recaptures the Kopfton, C, in m. 32. The rising gesture repeats the opening motive of an ascending third, though it is somehow unsupported by a true tonic chord. This is due in part to the split third (A9) chord of m. 32. The split third chords bass, A, at m. 32 functions as a neighbor note within the prolongation of the dominants upper-third divider. The melodys C is a passing tone within a third progression that prolongs ^2. This progression returns the melody from an outer voice that was the result of reaching over at m. 23. The dominant is absent during certain portions of this piece that helps conclude the Urlinie, and requires further attention. The end of the 34-bar tune (which serves as a structure for improvisation during the solo section) is particularly complex because it fails to provide bass support for the Urlinie prior to the solo section. At m. 31 there is an arrival of A in the bass, which remains as a pedal point through m. 34 (indicated by smaller note heads connected with

90 dotted slurs in the foreground analysis). In mm. 33 and 34 the score indicates separate chord changes, for solos and head. The performance of Sehnsucht follows the standard jazz sequence of headsoloshead. On the score, an A pedal is indicated following the split third chord of m. 32, B7/A in m. 33 and E7/A in m. 34. The tonic pedal covers the bass lines dominant harmonic support of the Urlinie, specifically ^2, B, in mm. 3234. During the solo section, however, the tonic pedal is replaced by the normative bass line arpeggiation in support of the Urlinies closure, B7 and E7, or II and V. The roles of these two important bass notes need further refinement. While on the surface B7 and E7 provide the standard IIV progression in the key of A minor, the B does not belong to the bass line Stufe. The B represents an inflection from B flat that was previously understood as an upper third divider of G minor, itself an upper third divider of the dominant, E. The A split-third chord of mm. 3132 is a neighbor note in the bass that connects the B flat of m. 29 to the B natural at m. 33 (see example 3.11). The tonic pedal in the head forces the appearance of tonic, while remaining weakened in lieu of a root position dominant. While A minor appears fleetingly at m. 1, the forced assertion of a tonic bass at the end of the form, despite its four-bar duration, is equally suspect of establishing Sehnsuchts tonality. The head alone is not enough to establish a convincing tonality of A minor. By design, Sehnsucht gains its full tonal strength by incorporating the improvised solo section with the composed score, providing the only root position dominant bass note. Sehnsucht exposes a conflict by avoiding tonal closure in the head, the performance of the theme that begins and ends the piece,

91 while fully establishing those elements that would bring tonal closure during the middle of the piece, the solo section. I would argue that the presence of the essential bass line progression that outlines a IIV sequence during the solo section imparts an unmistakable tonal imprint. This imprint remains after the solo section has ended and the head returns. Dominant support is conceptually present, even when the bass line reverts back to the tonic pedal point of mm. 3334 within this dominant prolongation. The foreground (example 3.8) thus illustrates the bass line of the solo section at mm. 3334. This bass line supports tonal closure, and is preferred at the middleground and background. To summarize, the head provides a superficial bass line in support of an A tonic, through the extended four-bar pedal, while the solo section provides the essential bass line support of the works tonal identity. This identity, once established, is unmistakably present throughout, which is illustrated through the deepest level of tonal structure. I believe the tonal ambiguity that characterizes the open and close of Sehnsucht is an important reference to its title, and creates a subtle form of tonality much like the Chopin mazurka that was considered earlier. Sehnsucht longs for tonal identity: remarkably, the theme and bass line Stufe are never presented simultaneously in the head. The Urlinie, when it arrives on ^2 at m. 3233, remains unsupported by a root position dominant. Likewise, the bass line that would support the Urlinie occurs during the solo section, where the composed theme is replaced by improvisation. The two components, bass line and melody, remain on two separate planes of existence, only united through a long range hearing that imagines the Stufen and Urlinie co-existing on one plane.

92 Astonishingly, Sehnsucht never produces a perfect authentic cadence in the key of A (i.e., a root position dominant to root position tonic). The suppressed root position tonic chord at m. 1 needs to be re-visited. When the root position dominant is presented in the solo section, one imagines its goal is to a cadence in A minor at the repeat of the head at m.1. This is never realized on the score or in the performance, though, as the first chord always begins with a an A-/G chord. On the score there are two final measures indicated as Head out only. These final two measures serve to realize the root position tonic chord that has been avoided throughout. (Recall that the pedal A major chords in mm. 3134 are within a prolongation of the dominant.) The root position dominant in m. 34 of the solo section helps connect it to the final A major chord of mm. 3536 of the head. A perfect authentic cadence can only be imagined. This is illustrated on the foreground (example 3.8) where the bass line dominant connects directly to the root position tonic (the final moment of the piece). Hidden Motives: BACH Sehnsucht has been demonstrated to be in the key of A minor; though the final chord includes mixture to A major, tonal indicators otherwise suggest a minor mode. Secondary key areas include G major/minor (mm. 14, 21), and a brief appearance by B flat minor (m. 29). These key areas support melodic tones of A, B flat, B natural, and C, notes that suggest the traditional cipher for the name Bach. The BACH motive is a well-documented tonal pun. Considering the amount of time prolonging B flat and B natural, all within an Urlinie that descends from C to A, I find it reasonable to infer it in Sehnsucht. Consider the way in which the theme concludes, where one can identify a chain of transposed BACH motives from mm. 3135

93 (see example 3.10). Furthermore, these transposed forms of the motive are encapsulated by the bass and melodys explicit statement of the motive in the closing moments. This fitting demonstration of Schumannesque tonal wit is evidence of Mehldaus Romantic sensibility. Example 3.10. BACH motives in Sehnsucht, mm. 2935

Deep Middleground/Background The background, which is aligned with the deep middleground in example 3.11, illustrates how an upper third-divider to the dominant prolongs ^2 for much of the piece. Mehldaus frequent use of chromatic third relations is one justification for this specific type of long-range hearing (chromatic thirds are also observed in Unrequited, in chapter 4). At m. 13, ^2 is prolonged through an unfolding of G minor, which brings mixture to ^2. As the tonicized harmony of G major/minor serves to extend the dominant, E, so too does the motion to B flat minor at m. 29 relate by an upper third to G (see example 3.11, deep middleground).

94 Example 3.11. Sehnsucht, deep middleground and background

Conclusion I departed from the use of the suspension, in its use from the common practice, as a means for creating a goal-oriented tonal trajectory. The beginningmiddleend paradigm allows for tonal ambiguity, since a goal remains in sight. Once I established the criteria for Mehldaus use of the suspension, I then illustrated through voice-leading

95 analysis a complex path through the pieces subtle A-minor tonality. This includes an elongated prolongation of the dominant through an upper third-divider, established from early in the piece. In spite of the lack of a perfect authentic cadence in A minor, the events, spread out over the course of a standard jazz order of headsoloshead, suggest a long-range tonal plan sufficiently capable of supporting its tonal identity. The surface forever separates the three-line Ursatz from its bass line, yearning for togetherness, and embodying this pieces title. While the voice-leading analysis focused primarily on a performance of the theme alone, the following two chapters will additionally consider how improvisations are informed by the themes voice-leading, and how the group plays a role in projecting a coherent tonal trajectory. Further, as much as this study seeks to expose tonal norms in a style that does not normally include such techniques, and inasmuch as I try to separate Mehldaus music from his jazz peers, I am also interested in identifying idiosyncrasies of Mehldau that sets him apart from his classical predecessors as well. Recall, for example, the local dominant to B flat minor is prolonged in mm. 2124 through a chromatic 56 exchange involving the bass (from G minor to E flat minor ; the bass, G, becomes G flat). This progression appears in Unrequited using the exact harmonies, and serves as a formula for a much larger tonal plan.19 This idiosyncrasy, demonstrated in light of the pieces sophisticated metrical pacing, will be examined in detail in chapter 4.

19. See chapter 4, part 2, Temporal Planes, and example 4.6.

Chapter 4: Temporal Plasticity and Solo Voice Leading in Unrequited While in the last chapter I established the suspension as a primary indicator of tonal principles at work, in this chapter I will demonstrate further linear complexity through manipulations of rhythm and time in Unrequited, as performed by Brad Mehldaus trio from the 1998 album, Art of the Trio, Volume 3: Songs. (See the lead sheet, example 4.1.) Traditional jazz music bases its aesthetic on manipulations of rhythm and time, and this is especially true of improvisation. In Mehldaus music, however, temporal manipulations begin with the theme, inevitably leading to improvisations that transcend an ordinary jazz performance. First, I will focus on the manipulation of tonal durations in the theme of Unrequited to explain dissonant harmonies as a result of underlying melodic tensions. Second, I examine the shifting of temporal planes, which signal ambiguities in the tonal plan. These two aspects are components for what I regard to be organizing tonal forces. Third, I analyze the improvisations of bassist Larry Grenadier and Mehldau to reveal connections between their improvisations and these temporal manipulations. The chapter concludes with a discussion of closure. Part 1. Temporal Plasticity Frank Samarotto defines temporal plasticity as the manipulation of musical time, manifest as aesthetic experience.1 The notion pits the abstract against the experiential. Two structural forces mediate the two sides: tonal structure (after Schenker) and metric

1. Frank Samarotto, A Theory of Temporal Plasticity in Tonal Music: An Extension of the Schenkerian Approach to Rhythm with Special Reference to Beethovens Late Music (Ph.D. diss., The City University of New York, 1999): 40.

96

97 Example 4.1. Unrequited d, score

98 structure (which is a traditional view wherein a background grid pervades the musical surface). An approach based on temporal plasticity reveals both static and dynamic impulses to account for tensions experienced in the music as a whole. Metrical disruptions need not be solved, or reduced to a simpler form, in a voice-leading analysis. For example, in a transcription of the first four measures of Unrequited, I analyze an apparent E-11 chord in m. 1 as a harmony filled with tensions that seek resolution (see example 4.2).2 A three-voice species counterpoint model in example 4.2a illustrates how the melodys top voice, B4, interacts with the underlying harmonic changes at the most consonant level (melodically moving from B4C5C5B4). Example 4.2b shows how the melodic line becomes more dissonant when elongating the first tone of the top voice: the second harmony is now contrapuntally transformed from a C major harmony to C7. Example 4.2c elongates the duration of the B4 further, providing a high degree of tension in both the apparent A-9 of the third chord and the B79 of the fourth, when the melodys B4 moves to C5. The would-be resolution from B4 to C5 is belated, however, providing the source of dissonance for this dominant flat-nine harmony. Rhythmically, the skewed tonal duration is represented on the musical surface in example 4.2d as a turn figure. This turn figure is motivic, used throughout the head and following improvisations. The skewing of the melodic C5 over the dominant sets up extended tertian harmony of the dominant flat-nine. As argued throughout this study, in traditional jazz music one does not necessarily have to invoke such linear justifications
2. Throughout this analysis, chords revealed by the transcription at times differ from those specified in the score (example 4.1). I specify apparent chords when they differ from the published chord symbol.

99 for arriving at an extended tertian harmony: these chords can simply occur. In this case, there is enough evidence supporting linear origins for every extended tertian harmony. A species contrapuntal model of the musical surface can be similarly traced through the entire theme, as will be shown in example 4.5. While Mehldau clearly establishes a prominent melodic voice in the register surrounding B4, the alto voice represented by F sharp in m. 1 also vies for melodic attention. In example 4.2f, the voice-leading sketch of the opening measures interprets the inner-voice as part of a 98 suspension, apparently with no consonant preparation. However, this is more than just an inference. When examining the voice leading of the entire theme (see example 4.3), one will experience the closure of the Urlinie upon the repeat of the form. A common strategy in jazz composition is the technique of ending a cyclical form on the dominant so that a cadence to the tonic is elided upon the repeat of m. 1. This seamlessly propels the music forward; the ending of the form thus simultaneously functions as beginning. We also observed this, for example, in Sehnsucht (chapter 3). In the case of Unrequited, a melodic paradox is suggested: the apparent inner-voice originates with the final descent of the Urlinie from the Kopfton, ^5 (see example 4.3). The arrival of ^1 thus coincides with the restatement of ^5. The altos F sharp in m. 1 is now heard as belonging to the dominant in m. 32, and like a delayed, suspended resolution of the dominant to the tonic in classical music, the complete musical texture of m. 1 is made complete by the dominant seventh of m. 32. Thus, the opening apparent E-11 is not an idiomatic jazz harmony. Rather, the harmony is

100 Example E 4.2. Skewed har rmonic durat tions in Unr requited, mm m. 14

a) )

b)

c) )

d)

) e)

f) )

Example 4.3. Unrequited, theme, complete voice leading analysis

101

102 a logical extension of the dominant that precedes the tonic, made evident only upon the repeat of the theme. A transcription of Mehldaus performance of the theme in example 4.4 illustrates how the inner-voice becomes more prominent with the repeat of the form. As I have illustrated by the voice leading of the theme (example 4.3), the inner-voice is more active, not because it is in dialogue with the top voice, but because it essentially is the top voice, now continuing from the register of the completed Urlinie. The repeat of the opening B4 now becomes an echo, and, like a traditional canon, we hear two time spans played out simultaneously and in two distinct voices, though the inner voice originates from the outer. In addition to the emergence of an inner-voice through the voice-leading analysis of example 4.3, the transcription reveals an active inner voice that emerges through the eighth-note motor rhythm that accompanies the melody. First, a counterpoint is noted between the melody at m. 24 (circled on the transcription) and the left hand. Then the inner voice takes over with a countermelody at m. 29 (boxed on the transcription), occurring near the end of the theme. This countermelody becomes prominent with the repeat of the theme (see mm. 3335 of example 4.4), precisely at the time the inner voice from the voice-leading analysis concludes its trajectory. These surface features direct the nave listener to an active inner voice. Part 2. Temporal Planes Having revealed tonal tensions in the melody and harmony of Unrequited, I will now examine temporal pacing, or what Samarotto generally describes as temporal planes. The theme is a 32-bar, through-composed form, arguably divisible into two equal halves.

Example 4.4. Unrequited, piano transcription, from Art of the Trio, Volume 3: Songs, 0:001:25

103

Example 4.4 (continued)

104

105 Tracing the bass line of example 4.5, there is a clear hypermetric pacing at one harmony per measure in mm. 116. The change of hypermetrical interpretation in mm. 1728 in part define two temporal planes, which are illustrated by the light and dark bars below the score. The first sixteen measures group into a larger four-bar hypermeter. Measures 17 28 are accompanied by a slower harmonic rhythm of one harmony per two measures. The hypermeter thus slows to half the speed of mm. 116. The final four bars of the form return to the first hypermetrical interpretation of one harmony per measure. The second system of example 4.5 attempts to illustrate how one might predict the symmetrical 32-bar form with the faster-paced harmonic rhythm (marked 58?) against the actual half-time speed of harmonic activity, which suggests a lengthy two-bar hypermetrical grouping (beginning with 1 & 2 3 & 4). Turning to the temporal planes, the first plane can be described as a normaltime plane, which is contrasted by the half-time plane of mm. 2328, at one harmony for every two measures. Measures 1720 represent a disjunctive boundary between the two planes. Measures 2932 returns to the original plane, defined in part by the return of harmonic rhythm to one harmony per measure. In sum, the first plane is defined by a whole-note pacing while the second is defined by a double whole-note pacing. Surface activity is arguably perceived at twice the speed in mm. 2328 than the same activity at mm. 116. That is, a quarter note on the surface of mm. 116 will sound like an eighth note in mm. 2328. The pacing of the melody, however, remains mostly whole notes, and seems to float over the changing harmonic activity. The potential for perceiving such a change to the surface will become

106 evident during the solo section, particularly at the climax of Mehldaus solo (see part 3, Special note regarding temporal planes and the climax, p. 141). The boundary between the two planes, occurring in mm. 1720, represents a disjunctive force, and warrants close inspection. The disruption of harmonic pacing beginning at m. 17 is paired with tonal disorientation and ambiguity. To review the tonal plan leading to this situation, first, in mm. 14 the home key of E minor is established. Second, in mm. 516, following a deceptive motion to a VI harmony in m. 5, this C minor chord is a subdominant pivot to G minor, which is firmly grounded through prolongation of G minors dominant in mm. 815. The tonal plan seems to involve cycling up by minor third. In mm. 1721, then, the music moves from G to B flat minor, which, as the flatted dominant, is problematic in the key of E minor. Instead, the melodic tone of D flat becomes re-interpreted as a C sharp, which the voice leading illustrates as an upper-neighbor to the Kopfton, B. One should note that the score indicates this enharmonic reinterpretation melodically, from D flat to C sharp in mm. 2122 (see example 4.1). The underlying harmony of B flat minor similarly becomes reinterpreted within a prolongation of the tonic as A sharp minor. C sharp is then interpreted as a lower third to the submediant key area of C sharp minor, which is tonicized at m. 29 (refer to example 4.3). The tonal dilemma of enharmonic ambiguity, having reached a climax in m. 21, coincides with other disruptive forces. Mehldau blurs pitches together by way of the damper pedal (see example 4.4, mm. 1719). While the trio drops its dynamic level, it is possibly the motor rhythm of the cluster of pitches in the pianos inner voice that rhythmically hastens a harmonic progression from G minor to B flat minor.

Example 4.5. Unrequited, three-voice species model and temporal planes (whole note = one measure)

107

108 Regarding the voice leading of this disjunctive boundary, at m. 17 G minor is transformed through a 56 exchange. The harmonic accompaniment provides an additional linear exchange: a 34 motion (B flat to C flat) takes place with the original third (B flat) remaining. This represents a kind of splitting of the identity of G minor, with the C flat enharmonically reinterpreted as B natural. Both G minor and G major can be suggested by this 34 exchange (or in this interpretation, a 33 split in mm. 1617). The resulting ambiguous identity of G minor/major suggests an uncertainty not previously experienced in the first temporal plane in mm. 116. Adding to the harmonic complexity, the scores chord symbols suggest that an A flat is present in mm. 1719 (beginning with A-ADD9/G), though no A flat is to be found in a transcription of the theme (refer to example 4.4). That a chord symbol on the score suggests a chord root of A flat is an important detail, as a voice-leading analysis of the performance reveals no A flat-based harmony (no A flat is present in any voice, for that matter). The A flat will play a prominent role in the solo section, however, strictly as a result of the indicated chord symbols (see parts 3 and 4 of this chapter). The voice leading of mm. 1621 is illustrated in example 4.6, where a remarkable parallelism is uncovered: the opening sixteen bars motion from E minor to G minor is paralleled in only six measures from G minor to B flat minor in mm. 1621.3 Having an understanding of the voice leading of this passage enhances this temporal disjunction in light of other musical elements mentioned above but summarized here. First, the pacing of the harmonic rhythm is disrupted (as the music departs the first temporal plane of mm.

3. One will note the passage of mm. 16-21 is very similar to a passage in Sehnsucht, mm. 21-24 (chapter 3).

109 116). Second, this disruption results in the trios sudden drop in dynamic level. Third, there is a subsequent drain of melodic energy, not only as a result of the uncertain pacing, but also due to the enharmonic ambiguity upon the arrival of the structural neighbor note D flat, reinterpreted as C sharp. Despite these foreboding musical indicators that slows musical activity (loss of melodic energy, drop in dynamics, irregular harmonic rhythm), the harmonic progression proceeds through the tonal processes that unfolded over the first sixteen measures, more rapidly now taking only five measures. This disjunctive boundary effectively warps the regular flow of time. Example 4.6. Analogous tonal plans in Unrequited, mm. 116 and 1621

Referring to the foreground analysis in example 4.3, the music exits this time warp at m. 21 in the distant key area of B flat minor, as if brought to a remote region of tonal space. It turns out, however, that the music never escapes E minor in the larger structure. E minor is prolonged through its lower-third relative, ACE (see the voiceleading analysis, example 4.3). The change of voice-leading interpretation from B flat to A sharp coincides with the new temporal plane, established by a double-whole note pace

110 (see example 4.5), which continues the prolongation of the tonic through the submediant C-sharp minor. The tonic is prolonged through the melodic C sharp neighbor note to ^5, B, while the bass A sharp (m. 21) supports the submediant harmonic region, C sharp minor, at m. 29. A few moves through the circle of fifths then bring the music to the dominant. The arrival of C sharp in the bass at m. 29 also reestablishes the initial temporal plane of a whole-note pacing. The experience of contrasting temporal planes in the theme of Unrequited is an important facet of this work, for it sets the stage for complex improvisations during the solo section. In the next discussion (part 3) I will address the difference between thematic voice-leading (after the work of Henry Martin) and solo voice-leading. Then I will analyze the voice leading in solos by both bassist Larry Grenadier and Mehldau. Last, the temporal planes established by the theme will be re-addressed as a primary source of tension during the solo section, brought to the fore by the seemingly incompatible chord symbols on the score as they relate to the voice leading of the theme. Part 3. Analysis of Improvisation. Introduction In this section I will demonstrate an additional separation between Mehldaus music and standard jazz practice. Thus far, my approach to analyzing Mehldaus music places it in opposition to traditional, standard-practice jazz. In particular, I have set his music apart from the general characteristics of jazz music that emphasizes the use of harmonic color with no regard for contrapuntal origin. In addition, jazz music places special emphasis on ex tempore performance within an open form (refer to chapter 1, part 2). Traditionally, in bop and post-bop music there is no real theme on which the

111 improviser elaborates. This has forced analysts to evaluate the manipulations of thematic elements solely within the individual soloists improvisation.4 In Mehldaus music, I argue that at a fundamental level the composition is inseparable from the improvisation. Indeed, the distinctions between composition and improvisation are not entirely clear in many of his trios performances. On the repeat of the main theme of Unrequited, for instance, the elaboration of an inner voice could suggest that the solo section has begun (see enclosures on the transcription of example 4.4). Shown in example 4.4 are some of the seemingly improvised elaborations in the inner voice repeated verbatim (compare mm. 29 and 61, for instance). This casts doubt on their status as improvised figures, presumably remaining a part of the composition. However, when comparing the Art of the Trio version to a 2006 performance with guitarist Pat Metheny, the melodic inner-voice is absent altogether, suggesting that perhaps the version recorded with his trio grew as an improvisatory impulse that became essential to that particular performance. In the Art of the Trio, Mehldau asserts a duet between an upper and lower voice conveyed by his piano performance. In the 2006 performance, the removal of the inner voice may reflect the presence of Methenys guitar, which provides the second voice: the 2006 recording is literally a duet. An important idiosyncrasy of Mehldaus compositions is how his music frequently seems to lie somewhere between composition and improvisation.

4. Henry Martins work on Charlie Parker represents an important exception to this traditional view. See Henry Martin, Charlie Parker and Thematic Improvisation (Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, 1996).

112 From Thematic Voice Leading to Solo Voice Leading Before examining the solos, it is necessary to further consider how other unusual chord symbols do not correspond to the content of the theme or its harmonic accompaniment. Because of disagreements between the transcription and the prescribed chord symbols in the published score, the solos appear to include foreign pitches. In the voice-leading analysis of the theme (example 4.3), I treated only the pitch content provided by a transcription of the piano (and bass, not shown). This approach depicts thematic voice leading. In the solos, sometimes additional voices appear with pitches seemingly incongruent with the themes essential harmonic content. I will refer to these incongruent pitches as comprising solo voice leading, which is in conflict with thematic voice leading. A comparison of the two add further insights to voice-leading analysis. Returning again to m. 17, an A flat is emphasized by the chord symbol A-ADD9/G. Regardless of the function of the thematic voice leading to introduce a 56 exchange, a musician improvising from the chord symbols will likely incorporate the root of the chord symbol: A flat. While not essential to the thematic voice leading, A flat appears prominently in both Grenadiers and Mehldaus solo voice leading. I contend that an analysis needs to reconcile the differences between the way a theme and a solo informs our account of tonality. The disjunctive boundary of mm. 1720 was described as a warping of time, but it also conveys a certain mysteriousness. This mysteriousness is brought to the attention of an improviser who notices the unique chord symbol of m. 17. A-ADD9/G, for example, in Larry Grenadiers first solo chorus contains an A flat melodic minor scale (ascending) beginning on G. By labeling a chord beginning with A flat, Grenadier not only

113 incorporates the root, A flat, during his solo but, by chorus 2, A flat is the only melodic note heard in m. 17. Without the score (example 4.1) and with only the voice leading to work from (see example 4.6), an A flat would indeed be a mystery considering its total absence from the performance of the theme. An A-flat minor chord superimposed over a G minor chord represents a common improvisational technique termed the side-slip, where a performer plays notes a half step away from the indicated chord symbol. H the side-slip is composed rather than improvised. At m. 17, what would normally be a G minor chord is replaced by an A-flat minor chord over a G pedal. This chord change effectively initiates a side-slip for the soloist, who might otherwise not know where to employ this normally improvisatory technique. The use of A-flat minor in m. 17 is best understood as a composed side-slip. This will not affect the essential voice leading. Recall that using a side-slip at m. 17 is significant because of the warping of time; its usage is essential to the temporal disjunction, and I do not wish to underscore this compositional technique in lieu of voice leading analysiss reductive tendencies. By chorus 3 of Mehldaus solo, I will demonstrate how the side-slip represented by the chord symbol of m. 17 serves as a catalyst for other improvised side-slipping. This is particularly important as side-slips prepare the climax of the solo by chorus 3, m. 23. The harmonic content revealed by transcription of the theme goes against the grain of harmonic content revealed by chord symbols used during the solo section. To help better understand the difference between the voice leading of the theme and the solo interpretation of the chord symbols, I have juxtaposed two simultaneous renderings of harmonic content, beginning at m. 16 (example 4.7). There are three aligned staves: the

114 top staff represents the lead sheet, showing both theme and accompanying chord symbols; the middle staff shows what choices a musician has by converting chords into scales (see chapter 2 for an overview of chord/scale theory); and the bottom staff represents the voice-leading analysis of the theme and harmonic content gathered from a transcription of the performance (this essentially corresponds to the harmonic content of the voice-leading analysis of example 4.3 and the transcription of example 4.4). This bottom staff illustrates both essential harmonic content with figured bass numerals. This notation is used, for instance, to illustrate the chords function based on voice leading phenomena (such as the double suspension of a C sharp minor triad in first inversion in mm. 2324 that Mehldau identifies in m. 23 as A/E). As shown, the lead sheet only once refers to a suspension in the form of a chord symbol (in m. 27), and employs eleventh-chord notation where there are additional suspensions (as in mm. 19 and 25). Avoiding the reference to suspensions in these other measures allows for the minor third above the root to be employed during the solos, even though the minor third does not occur in the theme at mm. 19 and 25. Comparing the difference between chord symbols and voice-leading processes does help to separate multiple tasks when they occur simultaneously during the solo. For instance, in chorus 2, the frequent use of A flat in m. 19 explains Mehldaus use of the F blues scale. This takes place the same time the tonal action incorporates the preparation, suspension and resolution of B flat to A in mm. 1920, from right hand to left hand (as will be illustrated in example 4.12 in the voice leading analysis of Mehldaus second solo chorus).

Example 4.7. Solo voice leading choices compared to thematic voice leading (mm. 1632)

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Example 4.7 (continued)

116

117 Throughout the following voice-leading analysis, example 4.7 should be consulted whenever there appears to be a discrepancy between the harmonic content of the theme and the pitch content of the solo. Recalling Grenadiers usage of a seemingly unwarranted A flat in m. 17, example 4.7 reveals that the indicated chord symbol on the contrary encourages the use of the A-flat melodic minor scale, according to standard chord/scale jazz theory. Ultimately, using scales derived from chord symbols imparts musically a distinct jazz style; however, the colorful harmonic content is relegated to the rich surface, and does not import into the foreground, because the fundamental components of the themes structure (i.e., triadic harmony) remain intact. Larry Grenadiers Bass Solo Foreground In Unrequited, the turn figure is the primary motive for ex tempore elaboration. The turn itself is rich with tonal idiomatic reference: a consonant scale degree elaborated by an upper and lower neighbor-note. In example 4.2, the first instance of the turn figure is the result of a skewed tonal duration by means of melodic elongation. Observing Grenadiers bass solo (example 4.8), the turn figure is the first musical utterance. This motive is accompanied by Rossys ride cymbal (annotated in the example), which suggests a preconceived opening plan to the solo (otherwise it is the result of a remarkable ability to coordinate extemporaneously with one another). Grenadiers solo is two choruses in duration. In the first sixteen bars of the solo, Grenadier gradually transforms the opening turn figure into a blues note figure by isolating the lower neighbor note of the turn. This is first observed at chorus 1, m. 13, followed by numerous note bends indicated on the score. This transformation to a

118 blues figure becomes the focus of the solo by chorus 2. The bended note is indicated by a slur preceding the note that represents the goal, and frequently appears on strong beats. During the prolongation of the dominant of G minor in chorus 1, mm. 1116, Grenadier transforms the turn figure into a blues figure. At m. 11 he initiates the turn figure without completing it. In m. 12 the turn figure is expanded as the bass ascends from D to E flat. At mm. 1314 the music twice more begins the turn began in mm. 11 12, this time turning into a bend on the B flat at the top of the turn. The completion of the turn figure at mm. 1516 coincides with the musics arrival at G minor. This blues-note figure consequently becomes the focus of Grenadiers second chorus. Notably, this blues-note figure is linked to the compositionally-derived turn figure in the melody. Though the music and theme alone do not convey a blues style, Grenadier finds a link between a blues style and the themes motivic figure. From a tonal standpoint, this typical blues figure is often represented as an appoggiatura. The figure embellishes important scale steps, similar to the turn figures providing of upper and lower neighbors. In this case the blues figure emphasizes the lower neighbor. At times, however, Grenadier also emphasizes the upper neighbor, as in chorus 2, mm. 2528. Bass solos commonly imply both bass and melody. This dual role affords the opportunity to blur their distinction between voices. For example, both choruses feature a lengthy fifth progression, but each is spun out differently. Grenadier emphasizes a melodic voice in the first chorus and a bass voice in the second.5
5. For lack of better descriptors, I enclose quotes around my distinction of melody and bass, since I am treating them here as agents. This metaphor separates what I believe to be a dialogue of two voices throughout Grenadiers two-chorus solo.

Example 4.8. Larry Grenadiers bass solo in Unrequited, with voice leading analysis

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Example 4.8 (continued)

120

121 The first chorus prolongs the Kopfton for the majority of the chorus, and descends as the Urlinie would, representing a strong closural event. This type of descent plays a strong melodic role. Ironically, this closural event occurs in the first, rather than the second, and last, chorus. The second chorus takes the form of a bass voice, descending in a much more gradual fashion. As a lengthy fifth progression, the bass voice departs from meanings associated with the closure represented by the Urlinie of the first chorus. Devoting roughly equal amounts of time to each melodic member of the progression in chorus 2, each scale degree happens upon the root of the chord provided by the chord symbols. The linear progression of the second chorus is thus closely related to the bass voice, and stands out from the melodic voice of the first chorus. Emphasizing the bass voice in chorus two is more than just a recreation of the Stufen from the themes structure, however. While the first chorus emphasizes an uppervoice that represents melody, there is a shift to exploring a co-equal relationship of bass and melody in the second chorus. Mehldau continues several thematic aspects of Grenadiers solo: the blues figure that emerges from the thematic turn motive, as well as the exploitation of the paradox of melody and bass functioning as one voice. The canonic return of melody as it becomes an inner voice with each repeat of the form is also prominent in Mehldaus solo. These features, along with other tonal manipulations, will be the focus of the following analysis. Mehldaus Solo While Grenadiers solo features clear and separate linear progressions, Mehldaus solo is more holistic: its three choruses create one uninterrupted linear progression. In

122 this voice-leading analysis, I will first revisit Mehldaus use of skewed tonal durations (something that first appeared in the theme) in the opening measures of his solo. Then I will trace the voice leading of his solo, revealing how aspects of the themes voice leading becomes broken down and dramatized over the course of three choruses of improvisation. Skewing Tonal Durations: micro-analysis of chorus 1, mm. 68 Mehldau again skews the tonal durations of non-harmonic tones, as illustrated in part 1 of this chapter. Perhaps in reaction to Grenadiers lack of melodic clarity in the second chorus, Mehldau begins with an unambiguous closing gesture, an irony, considering the contemplative openness of the piece. The melody then becomes fragmented in the right hand into three- or four-beat utterances with approximately one measure of rest between them. At first the right hand loosely follows the thematic contour (see example 4.9). The fragmentation serves two purposes. First, a textural contrast is evoked between the theme and the solo. While the main theme carries an introverted, inquisitive quality, the punctuating solo is extroverted and declarative, as if providing answers to the themes questioning. Second, the spaces between each fragment allows for the left hand to assert itself as an important entity, even an equal, to the right hand. Perhaps originating from the various melodic strands of the main theme, the left hand now takes the role of an inner-voice. This figures prominently at the end of the first chorus and into the second, paralleling the main themes continuation of the inner-voice on the repeat of the theme.

123 At the end of m. 6, a two-beat melodic fragment concludes on C4. This C is a non-harmonic tone to the G-/B passing chord of m. 6. If the C is considered an anticipation, it would belong to the next measures harmony, an A dominant of the dominant in G minor. A chord-scale approach suggests an analysis of the C4 in m. 7 as a sharp-nine extension to the A chord. Such an approach is problematic: rarely will a melodic fragment (as presented here) end with the lowest note of the melodic contour being a sharp-nine. On the other hand, a melodic fragment frequently takes a sharp-nine extension from the top of a figure to a lower point of resolution. This practice is so prevalent in jazz that it is referred to as the Cry Me a River lick (from the opening melody line to the 1953 Arthur Hamilton tune). Understanding that the C4 is not a sharp-nine extension is analytically fruitful because it acknowledges the contrapuntal role it has as an appoggiatura (an incomplete lower neighbor). In this case, the C at the end of m. 6, which is subsequently re-struck on beat 4 of m. 7, represents a blues note, in the same vein of Grenadiers blues-note figures. The C in m. 6 first anticipates its role as a blues non-chord tone that will carry with it the requirement of resolving up to C sharp. Instead of immediately resolving to C sharp in m. 7, though, Mehldau re-strikes the blues note and resolves it in m. 8, after the window of opportunity for the blues note to resolve has passed. The C sharp struck on the downbeat of m. 8 is particularly exposed for its grating major seventh quality against the prevailing dominant seventh (D). A re-composition in example 4.12, mm. 6 8, illustrates what Mehldau could have done (the re-composition is located immediately below the transcription). One might expect the blues-note C to resolve to C sharp in m. 7, while the C sharp becomes sublimated, as it were, to C natural when the harmony

124 changes from A to D. This chromatic semitone is a tonal voice-leading idiom for a circle of fifths progression involving seventh chords. The delayed contrapuntal resolution revisits a motivic parallelism that first occurred in mm. 14 of the theme. It recalls the skewing of the opening pitch, B, into a delayed resolution to C, over IVIIVV (see example 4.2). From my linear perspective, the Cs role as a flatted-ninth extension originates from its delayed arrival in m. 4. The elongation of the opening B is so pronounced that by the time C arrives, it is perceived as a late arrival, and subsequently explains the nature of the upper partial of flat-nine over the dominant harmony. Here, in the solo passage of mm. 68 the delayed resolution to C sharp creates a moment of incongruity when it occurs over a D dominant seventh chord, which analytically cannot be explained by a normal jazz chord symbol. Some of the delayed resolutions and skewing of otherwise coherent tonal voice leading is typical in Mehldaus solo. In the following analysis, I will examine structure through the three solo choruses, providing middleground analyses as they provide a summary of voice leading content illustrated in the detailed foreground pictures. Chorus 1 Two aspects of Mehldaus first solo chorus are notably different from the voice leading of the theme: (1) the music places special emphasis on G minor at m. 9, creating a bifurcation of prolonged harmonies: D major (mm. 815) and G minor (mm. 916); (2) the solo places special emphasis on the structural neighbor note of C sharp in mm. 2129, which, combined with a register transfer, helps prolongs ^5 into the second chorus. This second aspect is particularly important as the music does not convey closure, thus enabling a longer solo narrative that continues into the second and third chorus.

Example 4.9. Mehldaus solo, chorus 1, mm. 116

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Example 4.10. Unrequited, piano solo, chorus 1, with voice leading analysis

126

127 mm. 116 The themes bass line progression (i.e., Stufen), has the potential to remain fixed during the solo section (often the case in jazz music), but there are instances where the Stufen seems to be altered by Mehldaus melodic choices, changing the essential voice leading structure. By emphasizing other melodic scale degrees, he effects a change in the interpretation of the Stufen in the first sixteen measures when compared to the theme.6 This alteration takes the form of a bifurcation, or the unfolding of two harmonies in shared time spans. Mehldaus melodic emphasis on B flat at m. 9 (compared with D in the theme) brings out the contradiction of two simultaneous prolonged harmonies: D major and G minor, local dominant and tonic, respectively (example 4.11). Example 4.11. Bifurcation of harmony in chorus 1, mm. 816

6. Grenadier also changes the Stufen (compared to the theme) in his second solo chorus by placing an unmistakable emphasis on E flat at m. 13 rather than the D of m. 12, which leads to a slightly different voice leading interpretation (compare examples 4.3 and 4.8, chorus 2).

128 One prominent similarity between the theme and improvisation in chorus 1 is the extension of the Kopfton, B, and its chromatic alteration to B flat. The processes that take the music from B to B flat are different, however, which ultimately leads to a different interpretation of the bass line structure. In the theme there is a boundary play that extends up through a third progression to D in mm. 19. (C5 again is implied in an upper voice.) The melodic descent to G4 in m. 5, as in the theme, represents a sudden plunge into an inner voice. In the solo, though, there is no third progression from B4 to D5. Instead, the C functions not as a passing tone but as an upper-neighbor note to B flat, arriving in m. 9. This motion to B flat is brought out on the surface through a 98 suspension over a G minor chord. Compared to the theme, the arrival of B flat is premature. This draws attention to the key of G minor, as the local tonic is thwarted by a suspension over a chord (G-/B). In the theme this was represented within a prolongation of D major, the local dominant to G. In the solo, there is a tonal conflict: is G minor prolonged, or its dominant? At the background the dominant is an arpeggiation of G and is therefore prolonging G minor. At the foreground and middleground, this relationship is less clear. Example 4.11 summarizes the middleground of mm. 816, revealing a bifurcation of the two chords, D major and G minor. This reading interprets both time spans overlapping in mm. 916, which suggests a special type of tonal contradiction. Essentially, both chords unfold over differing time spans, but tonal coherence remains. This middleground interpretation is only informed by the suspension and arrival to B flat at m. 9, an important chromatic alteration of the Kopfton.

129 An energy gain from mm. 911 results in a melodic ascent through the process of reaching over the B flat of m. 9. The E flat of m. 11 represents an upper neighbor to D, which arrives in m. 12. Balancing this inertial melodic ascent into an outer voice results in a third progression of this outer voice back down to B flat at m. 14. B flat is first presented in the left hand, a shift that reflects an over-compensation of the melodic overshooting of the B flat, this time by a change to a lower register. This is also the first clue that the left hand will play an integral role in the long term of the solo. Regardless of the lower register, the foreground sketch consolidates these registrally compensating forces into a single register, represented by the third progression that arrives locally in the key of G minor. mm. 1732 A comparison of the structure of the theme and the solo choruses reveal remarkable similarities. At other times, differences in melodic content appear to give special attention to some of the tonal problems first encountered within the theme, namely, the enharmonic reinterpretation of B flat minor at m. 21. In the theme (example 4.3), recall that an arpeggiation up from B flat to D flat is reinterpreted as C sharp. In the first solo chorus, this C sharp continues to represent a structural upper neighbor to the Kopfton (example 4.10). While in the theme the neighbor note returns to the Kopfton by m. 29, in the solo, the C sharp coincides with a strong closural gesture that emphasizes strongly the local key of C sharp minor, as if the music has actually modulated to C sharp minor. This modulation is suggested by several indicators. First, the themes C-sharp minor seventh chord at m. 29 is replaced by a triad in the solo. Second, a fourth progression following the bass lines dominant of C sharp

130 (m. 27) enhances the arrival of C-sharp minor. Third, the compression of the final three notes of the progression conveys closure, as embodied by the Urlinie. Changing the emphasis of key to C-sharp minor may seem tonally inconsistent, but it serves a few purposes. The repetitive structure of Unrequited (and other jazz lead sheet compositions) creates a monotonous return to the tonic (E minor). Emphasizing a new key area helps to break this monotony. The arrival of C-sharp minor introduces a new key as if by a true modulation. This also delays any undesired finality in the return to the tonic. By emphasizing the structural upper-neighbor ^6, the Kopfton returns after the brief turnaround, continuing into the next chorus. This time, however, the Kopfton is transferred from the right to left hand in mm. 2932 (see example 4.10), leaving the melodic form unresolved. The emphasis on the upper-neighbor ^6 is like a side-story within a narrative that occurs after all actors are introduced (the theme, in this case). The narrator devotes some time to explore a secondary character (the neighbor note). The first chorus of Mehldaus solo could be likened to one of these side-stories in the large-scale tonal narrative. And as in some of the best narratives, one of the apparent secondary characters might grow to be more essential than the main characters as is the case with C-sharp minor. The arrival of C-sharp minor is followed by the expected harmonic turn-around in re-establishing E minor. At the end of the first chorus, the right hand begins to function as an ostinato, and the left hand functions not as accompaniment but as a new melodic voice. This parallels the themes canonic treatment of melodic time-spans as the Urlinie becomes an inner voice upon the repeat of the form (refer back to the foreground analysis of the theme, example 4.3).

131 Chorus 2 While chorus 1 establishes the Kopfton through expansion of its structural neighbor note, C sharp, a lengthy interrupted fifth progression takes place over the next two solo choruses (i.e., chorus 1 prolongs ^5, chorus 2 progresses from ^5 to ^4, and chorus 3 concludes with an interruption from ^3 to ^2). The most sophisticated voice-leading also takes place in these improvised choruses. First, the left hand emerges as a prominent new voice. The right hand begins in dialogue with the left hand, often echoing or anticipating linear progressions (as will be illustrated in example 4.12). The right hand eventually dissolves into a virtuosic bravura figure, only returning as a melodic voice by the climax of the solo in chorus 3. For the duration of chorus 2 and much of chorus 3, however, the left hand provides the primary voice. In some ways, the shift from the right hand to left hand parallels the differences in choruses 1 and 2 of Grenadiers solo, in the way his bass solo shifts from a melodic to bass voice. Mehldau similarly transfers melodic emphasis from a higher to lower voice. One place where a bass voice clearly emerges takes place in mm. 2528. G sharp takes place over D- in m. 25. Initially, it appears the G sharp is an anticipation of the G sharp chord in m. 27, but it also functions as the eleventh of the indicated chord symbol, which I analyzed as a suspension in example 4.7, m. 25. The resolution to F doublesharp would normally occur in m. 26, but the bass voice skews its resolution, instead occurring a bar late, in m. 27, and pushing the arrival of G a measure later, to m. 28 (see example 4.12).

Example 4.12. Unrequited, piano solo, chorus 2, with voice leading analysis

132

133 The texture of chorus 2 is more complex than the texture of chorus 1, which featured a right hand melody accompanied by left hand chords. In chorus 2 the left hand provides the melody. The right hand continues in motor rhythm, while remaining sotto voce. Rarely is there an accompanying chord present; instead the texture is reduced to two voices (only one vertical chord occurs in chorus 2: m. 20, left hand, downbeat). Adding to the complexity of this two-voice texture is the compound melody of the left hand, suggesting a third voice as it frequently provides an additional inner-voice to the harmony. Summarizing the voice-leading content of chorus 2, the left hand closely follows the structure of the theme, probably due to the complex coordination of the left and right hands. The voice leading, provided by the middleground picture in example 4.13, is comparable to the themes middleground 2 level of example 4.3, especially from mm. 1 26. Two notable exceptions to the similar treatment of structure take place in the final six measures. First, the C-sharp upper neighbor is incomplete in chorus 2. While B sharp in m. 28 should resolve to C sharp in m. 29, the voice instead leaps down to an inner voice, G sharp. In the corresponding place, the theme resolves instead to a C-sharp minor seventh chord, providing the Kopfton, B, over the root of the chord. Throughout the solo section, C sharp minor is treated as a triad, even a key area, instead of as a seventh chord that clearly prepares the return of E minor. On the other hand, the resolution of B sharp to G sharp in mm. 2829 parallels the theme in mm. 45, when the leading tone of C minor, B, is expected to resolve to C, instead leaping down to G to avoid parallel octaves with the bass.

134 Example 4.13. Unrequited, chorus 2, middleground

The C sharp remains an incomplete neighbor-note that proceeds to C natural in m. 30, which supports A minor, resolving with a passing tone to A sharp (or ^4) over the F sharp major chord of m. 31. The note A sharp, instead of resolving to the Kopfton continues down to A natural (a common tonal strategy), emphasizing ^4. This leads to an arrival on tonic, possibly a very weak authentic cadence, at the downbeat of chorus 3, to ^3, continuing a two-chorus-long fifth progression. (Subsequently the voice-leading analysis depicts a double arpeggiation of the tonic bass line, to reflect either a cadence or a re-launch of tonic harmony.) The right hand, while clearly secondary to the role of the left hand, often follows the left hands melodic direction. This creates parallel octaves at times (see example 4.12, mm. 1116, and 1721).7 To help separate some of these parallel octaves, the left hand is always presented as a syncopation relative to the downbeat. The left hand is always an eighth-note behind the downbeat, contrasting the repetitive motor rhythms of the right hand, which often emphasizes the downbeat. The syncopation of the left hand
7. During improvisation, it would seem that parallel octaves might occur as the mind attempts to process information in real time and communicate that information to two hands.

135 often creates suspensions and anticipations, depending on its arrival relative to the chord over which it occurs.8 Throughout chorus 2 the right hand ostinato increases in speed, progressing through three stages. In the first stage (mm. 119) the right hand is in a quartereighth eighth, quartereightheighth pattern. In the second stage (mm. 2024), the right hand takes on a triplet form. These triplets coincide with the blues scale initiated at m. 20. (Recall that the blues idiom began in the bass solos manipulation of the turn motive.) The third stage (mm. 25ff, through chorus 3) begins a sixteenth-note ostinato that conveys a kind of perpetual motion. In all three stages the right hand is secondary to the left hands melody. As secondary to the left hand, starting at m. 21 the voice-leading analysis only considers the voice leading represented in the left hand.9 Chorus 3 Chorus 3 continues the linear energy that has been building throughout chorus 2. a listener not aware of the length of each chorus may not perceive the beginning of chorus 3 as the left hand melody continues seamlessly through the arrival of the tonic in m. 1. The numerous developments of chorus 1 and 2 lead to two climaxes in the final chorus, the second one more intense than the previous. Chorus 3 ends prominently on ^2, which suggests that up to the final solo chorus, the long scale trajectory of Unrequited

8. This kind of reckless counterpoint indeed recalls some of Schumanns piano textures as described by the late Bo Alphonce. See Bo Alphonce, Dissonance and Schumanns Reckless Counterpoint, Music Theory Online 0, no. 7 (1994), http://mto.societymusictheory.org/issues/mto.94.0.7/ mto.94.0.7.alphonce.art.html (accessed January 28, 2010). 9. For a complete transcription of the right hand ostinato figures, consult the published transcription in The Brad Mehldau Collection (Milwaukee: Hal Leonard, c. 2002).

136 takes the music to a divider dominant at m. 32 of the final solo chorus. Figure 4.1 illustrates this long-range tonal process. Figure 4.1. Interrupted voice-leading structure in Unrequited Theme s.d.: ^5 Solos ^5 ^4 ^3 ^2 // V // Theme ^5 ^4 ^3 ^2 ^1 I VI

Stufen: I

The right hand provides the only signal of a new chorus by altering the sixteenthnote ostinato into its most virtuosic form, arpeggiating a three-octave span, reminiscent of the Chopin etude, op. 10, no. 1 in C major. Indeed, intertextual references to Chopin appear in other portions of this chorus (m. 23) and in the coda (as will be discussed in part 4, below). This new bravura figure is made additionally more complex by its three-beat grouping pattern, creating a hemiola against the 2/2 meter. This figure appropriately lasts three measures. The left hand, meanwhile, continues by repeating dotted quarter notes. Together the left and right hand create a complex of syncopation against the prevailing meter. The rhythmic complexity here, combined with virtuoso playing in the right hand represents the first climax. This climax allows the left hand to conclude its melodic function, permitting the return of the right hands melodic control by m. 11. The left hand, in mm. 113, often arpeggiates sixths, filling in the implied harmony of each chord change. The primary register around G3 is set against a higher voice, which in mm. 57, includes a third progression through superposition. This superposition represents a gradual shift to the obligatory register, when the right hand re-

Example 4.14. Unrequited, piano solo, chorus 3, with voice leading analysis

137

Example 4.14 (continued)

138

139 asserts its melodic role at m. 11. The transition to the obligatory register is delayed, however, by the right hands extremely high register of mm. 1114. A two-octave coupling, from D4 to D6 in mm. 1013, and back down to D5 in m. 14, prolongs the dominant of G minor (as in previous choruses) from mm. 915. The composed side-slip at m. 17, discussed earlier, incorporated an A-flat minor chord over essentially a G-minor harmony. The tension created by this chromatic shift, while implied every chorus, is preceded by an improvisatory side-slip in chorus 3, leading to the climax of the solo. This tension is an important indicator that the climax of the solo is imminent. At m. 15 the right hand performs an E-major scale during the prolongation of the dominant of G minor (D/F). This transposes the essential content of the chord symbol up a whole step, rather than a chromatic half step. (Many jazz musicians might presume that an effective side-slip always be off from the prescribed chord by a half step). The left hand accompanies the E-major content with a cluster that can be related to the Gminor chord of m. 16 by a chromatic lower neighbor. This remains on the surface, however, and does not become integral to the foreground. The height of using the technique of side-slip becomes evident at m. 17, at the moment of the composed side-slip, A-ADD9/G: the left hand performs a side-slip to the side-slip! This A chordal accompaniment represents a kind of upper neighbor to the accompaniment in the second half of the bar, as in the way the lower neighbor of m. 15 embellished m. 16. The right hand is completely chromatic at this point, with a scalar descent into m. 18.

140 While most of the side-slips remain on the surface, a third progression associated with a side-slip articulates a parallelism that warrants inclusion into the foreground. The D that becomes transferred registrally from left to right hand in mm. 1015 becomes part of a third progression down to B flat, at the arrival of G minor in m. 16. This very closely follows the voice leading of the theme (see the foreground of example 4.3, mm. 1517). The side slip, however, creates an echo of this third progression in mm. 1617, from C flat to A flat. While not a real third progression (illustrated with brackets on the foreground of the sketch), the melodic line here reaches a maximum level of melodic fluidity, echoing the voice leading of the third progression while continuing through a chromatic scale in m. 17. The C flat to A flat is again emphasized in mm. 1819, arriving on the A flat at m. 19 in the obligatory register. The A flat functions as a lower chromatic neighbor to A natural in m. 20, which is transferred to the left hand. Recalling that the F- of m. 19 functions as a suspension to the F chord in m. 20, the left hand illustrates the function of the A flat enharmonically reinterpreted as G sharp, and its requirement to resolve up to A in m. 20. The climax of the solo takes place in two outbursts, the first setting up the second. In m. 21 the right hand provides a rapid B flat minor arpeggiation that recalls the ostinato of m. 1. This figure emphasizes the structural upper-neighbor of D flat as C sharp. By m. 21, beat 4, the melody anticipates the following, F-, as the voice leading carries to an A by the end of m. 22. The second outburst results in the upper fifth of the structural neighbor, G sharp, which is arrived through another virtuosic rise. The figure in m. 23

141 could be a direct quote from the Chopin Fantasie-impromptu, op. posth. (m. 7), perhaps conjured through a subconscious impulse. The left hand during the climax of mm. 2324 has additional improvisatory complexity: the left-hand music ascends, complete with a passing tone, in a chordal texture, arpeggiating the third of the C-sharp minor triad. Several elements of the climax recalls chorus 1. First, the rise to G sharp references the strong motion to C-sharp minor (mm. 2329). This also brings attention to the unusual structural neighbor note of the theme, as well as the unusual key area of Csharp minor (VI) against the global key of E minor. Second, from m. 26 to 27 the right hand quotes, up an octave, the same melodic figure in chorus 1, m. 27. Third, from m. 28 to 29, the left hand quotes, down an octave, the same melodic figure of the right hand in chorus 1, m. 8. Special note regarding temporal planes and the climax Recalling example 4.5, two temporal planes divide the form into four distinct parts. First, temporal plane 1 occurs from mm. 116, corresponding to the harmonic rhythm of one harmony per measure. Second, there is a transition represented by the disjunctive boundary of mm. 1720. Third, temporal plane 2 takes place from mm. 21 28, and is defined by its half-time harmonic rhythm of one harmony per two measures. Temporal plane 2 also encapsulates the prolongation of the C-sharp minor harmonic region. Fourth, there is a return to the first temporal plane in mm. 2932. The harmonic turn-around of these final four measures reinitiates E minors presence while returning to the harmonic rhythm of one harmony per measure.

142 At this point it will be useful to revisit the question of having a distinction between these two temporal planes. As I discussed in part 2 of this chapter, that the second plane exists at half the speed of the first in mm. 2128 has implications for the surface. If a quarter note is used in mm. 116, it arguably sounds twice the speed in mm. 2128, or as an eighth note. Melodic activity occurring at this slower plane sounds twice the speed. Further, this plane corresponds exactly with the climax of the solo. The twobar melodic figure of sixteenth notes in mm. 2122 comes off to the listener as thirtysecond notes. The climax is thus made cogent by the timing of these virtuosic melodic figures during the half-time plane. The slower temporal plane effectively sets up a dizzying melodic double-time of virtuosity in mm. 2124. Perceiving these two planes explains how one might hear the melodic sixteenthnote figure of mm. 2124 as somehow faster than the sixteenth-note ostinato in the right hand at the beginning of the chorus, mm. 110. Furthermore, one will note that the ostinato figure of the right hand in chorus 2 also proceeds through its acceleration at the boundary between the two planes (chorus 2, mm. 1520), which activates the general perception (even to the amateur listener) of an increase in activity. The calming aftermath of the climax, brought in part by a return to the first temporal plane, returns the music to E minor with a final, interrupted, fifth progression, bringing the entire piece to a climax through the tension brought to bear by this unresolved fifth-progression. While the C-sharp minor key emphasis is accompanied by events that recall the first chorus, the progression up to the interruption includes a summary of events from the second chorus: the left hand compound melody of unfolding

143 sixths and the first rhythmic ostinato figure of the right hand.10 While the interruption sets up the return of the theme and tonic, with the constant multiple arpeggiations of the tonic bass, multiple progressions in subsidiary keys (such as G minor and C-sharp minor), and the descent of the primary keys melodic content, one is left wondering how the work will effectively come to an end. Would a final cadence in E minor be superfluous? Mehldaus solution presents a tonal mystery that warrants special attention. Part 4. Aspects of Closure As revealed by the published score, Mehldau appends a fully composed coda to Unrequited (see example 4.15). Avoiding the obvious solution by simply ending the piece on the tonic, Mehldau replaces the expected authentic cadence with a deceptive one, from V to VI in the bass line. A chromatic descent in the bass and upper-voices draws the piece to a close on the final chord of A flat minor.11 This would seem to be quite an unlikely choice with which to close a piece in E minor. If one considers this a true modulation, this suggests a distant relation, from a one-sharp key signature to a seven-flat key signature. Before analyzing the voice leading of this passage, I would first observe how the close on A-flat minor evokes a Romantic-era effect. First, there is an intertextual reference to Chopins E minor prelude, which is summarized by a harmonic, chromatic descent, in which each voice separately pulling the others down as if by gravitational forces of voice leading. These forces are brought out by the basss descent, creating 76

10. These complex, self-referential quotes from prior choruses consequently blurs the distinction between composition and improvisation. 11. One might connect the choice of ending on A flat to the unusual chords of mm. 1720 (recall example 4.7). The A flat, entirely absent during the theme, is now the final goal of the coda!

144 an nd 43 suspe ensions in th he upper voic ces. This fo orces the upp per voices to follow in an n in nevitable des scent. Secon nd, the specif fic choice of f the key of A flat is also o historically y suggestive of th he Romantic c era. As Eri ic McKee po oints out in a an analysis o of Schoenber rgs Op. 19, no. 6, throughout t the nineteen nth century the t key area as of E and A flat had sug ggestive
12 meanings. m E major (wit th four sharp ps) represent ted life while A flat major (with fou ur

fl lats) represen nted death. These two keys, k when p placed in opp position, not t only represented distant key re elationships, they empha asized this du uality betwee en life and d death. Taken n to it ts extreme, A flat minor (with seven flats) could suggest an a additional l lowness to the ev vocations of f death, and consequently c y burial. He ere, Mehldau u seems enga aged with th hese an nachronistic meanings. This harmon nic descent i is further enh hanced by th he melodic re egistral descent, coexten nsive with the e voice leadi ing. Example E 4.15 5. Unrequite ed, score, cod da (mm. 33 39)

Recalling the cycl lic repetition ns of the toni ic triad that p pervades the e piece including the e solo section), E minor seems to hav ve run its co ourse in the b bass. Perhap ps (i th he tonality of Unrequited d seeks a dif fferent final r resting place e. By understanding the e co odas progre ession to the chromatic mediant, m III, , or G-sharp, , rather than n A-flat, mino or,
12. See e Eric McKee, On the Death h of Mahler: Sc choenbergs Op p. 19, No. 6, T Theory and Pra actice 30 0 (2005): 133-3 36. McKee writes, w Simply stated, the sha arp/flat principl le holds that th he sharp side of f the ci ircle of fifths correlates to the e positive in hu uman experienc ce, the flat side e to the negativ ve (133).

145 the Kopfton, B, is retained in the final chord. The Kopfton is additionally transferred through an octave coupling, returning again to the register of the left hand, bringing continuity to this registers role during the bass and piano solos. A voice-leading analysis illustrates this final melodic descent to G sharp minor (example 4.16). Structurally, the voice leading suggests the bass line composes-out an E major triad, by way of arpeggiating members of the tonic, from E to B (repeatedly throughout the piece), to G sharp (in the coda). Given Mehldaus previous tonal puns and classical borrowings of unexpected changes of modes (as observed in Sehnsucht, chapter 3), I propose that the coda serves to compose out a metaphorical picardy third. First, a picardy third is an embellishment; a minor-keyed piece that ends with a major third over the tonic is still regarded as a minor-based piece. Second, recognizing this embellishing function, Mehldau reserves this embellishment for a space that is beyond the form proper: the coda. The voice leading demonstrates a curious effort to create a kind of unrequited picardy third. In the voice-leading analysis of example 4.16, the tonic pitch is present for the first four measures of the coda, but in an inner-voice. At m. C5 of the coda, the tonic is forced down a half step, however, and the tonal center of E is lost. Eventually the register around this E3 bass voice returns to D sharp in the final measure. All voices have been shifted downward, including the tonic. Composing out a picardy third by way of ending with G sharp in the bass is indeed latent, since on the surface the music presents a minor triad. And yet during the performance, the melody does allude to the major mode when it passes for a brief moment through B sharp (as if about to conclude on a G sharp major harmony). There

Example 4.16. Unrequited, coda, with voice leading analysis

146

147 are a couple scenarios that would effectively produce a literal picardy third. In example 4.17, the first scenario illustrates how Mehldau briefly alludes to the major mode by anticipating the major third of the final chord, A flat. This simply alters the final state of the chord provided in the score. In the performance, however, with only slight hesitation the melody descends a half step further, to C flat, or to the Kopfton, B. In reality the C sharp (D flat in m. C6) serves as a dissonant seventh that passes chromatically through B sharp (or C) to the final pitch, B3 (or C flat). Example 4.17. Two scenarios for concluding with a picardy third

The second scenario illustrates what would happen if the tonic, E, had not been replaced by subposition of a lower bass voice. Elaborations over a tonic bass could generally support the upper three voices descent, with only slight modifications, particularly in mm. C4C7. In contrast to scenario 1, where C4 is the goal, scenario 2 retains the actual pitch of B3 on the downbeat of the final two bars of the coda.

148 While there have been some evocative intertextual references to Chopin, even suggestive quotes from Chopins oeuvre, other Romantic allusions, particularly death, is brought to bear by the codas final descent to A-flat minor in the score. The voice leading of the coda, however, reveals a kind of unrequited picardy third, by ending with the themes Kopfton, B, over a bass that represents the major third of E major, G sharp. Finally, comparing surface to structure, a paradox is revealed by these interpretations of the coda: death on the surface (A flat minor) co-exists with life, represented by the voice leading that composes out a picardy third (E major). Summary Having drawn attention to the conjoining of durational, rhythmic, and metric aspects with tonal analysis, all in a traditional way, Unrequited is an advanced example of tonal music. Viewing this music through the lens of Schenkerian analysis and Samarottos complex Schenkerian approach to rhythm within that analytical context suggests to me a successful revival of tonal principles. In addition, the complex interaction of these tonal forces were revealed to have an important influence on the solos: the motivic turn-figure, multiple melodic strands, and enharmonic ambiguity. In particular, the tension of a structural neighbor serves as the pivotal enharmonic moment of B flat versus A sharp minor at m. 21. This moment is enhanced by modern jazz techniques, such as the side-slip, which was revealed not only as a factor within improvisation, but also as a pre-composed idea represented on the score. The coda provided a particularly unrequited ending to this song without words, merging two opposite meanings into an interpretation of the surface (representing death) and the structure (representing life).

Chapter 5: Aspects of the Free Fantasy in Convalescent In Convalescent, from the 1998 album Art of the Trio, Volume 3: Songs, Brad Mehldau employs the pedal point as a compositional device in a manner reminiscent of the free fantasy of the late Baroque. This chapter discusses how aspects of the Baroque style of fantasy are transformed in Mehldaus jazz setting. Throughout the chapter, I address the question: how does this piece retain a tonal predisposition in the absence of chord changes, meter, and form? The chapter is divided into two major parts. The first part is broken into three sections. In the first section I examine similarities between pedal points used in Convalescent with organ pedals as once demonstrated in C. P. E. Bachs Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments.1 I argue that the traditional use of the pedal point is an essential tonal strategy in Convalescent. Though pedal points in jazz music permit any number of harmonic choices, Mehldau operates within traditional constraints of harmonic and voice leading options reminiscent of the tonal era. The second section considers the eighteenth-century character of Mehldaus combination of pedal point with free meter. Together these musical parameters promote improvisational freedom. This is distinguished from free jazz, however, in that it remains entirely tonal.2 I revisit C. P. E. Bachs Essay in order to locate common ground between Convalescent and the genre of the free fantasy. By way of the free fantasy,

1. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments, trans. and ed. William J. Mitchell (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1949). 2. Though there are similarities with free jazz, the primary focus here is demonstrating the nature of Convalescent as sharing important similarities with the free fantasy once defined by C. P. E. Bach. For a comprehensive study of free jazz, see Ekkehard Jost, Free Jazz (New York: Da Capo Press, 1994).

149

150 Mehldau accesses older means of creating a tonal environment. In spite of the openness of form created by a lack of meter, the tonic pedal ultimately helps to balance open elements of form (i.e., the free fantasy) with the closed (i.e., tonal structure). Part 2 of the chapter consists of a detailed voice-leading analysis of Convalescent. The groups choice to impose tonal constraints supports a reading of this piece as a modern adaptation of the free fantasy. Reconstructing tonal principles in Convalescent thus additionally suggests questions of genre. The voice leading analysis constructs a hermeneutic of convalescence that engages the artists struggle with extemporaneous creation (as will be illustrated in examples 5.14 to 5.17).

151 Example 5.1. A transcription of Convalescent, theme (with annotations)

Example 5.2. Convalescent, theme, complete voice-leading analysis

152

153 Part 1. Aspects of the Free Fantasy I. The Pedal Point The bass plants the seeds of tonality in the opening moments, first by establishing a tonic bass pedal, and then decorating it by leaps to the dominant. The pedal, like a slowly rising curtain, sets the stage with grave affect. Next enters the piano with a sparse two-voice texture, followed by Rossys subdued ride cymbal, merging with the musical texture. Departing from a unison tonic, a melodic duet moves stepwise, and in contrary motion; one hears echoes of a J. S. Bach organ prelude. As the voices depart, they become more independent and progress through a chain of 76 suspensions. Example 5.3. Convalescent, opening melodys two-part counterpoint (mm. 17)

This passage warrants comparisons to an older style. The tonic pedal adds a degree of harmonic tension as the resolutions from each 76 suspension take place in the upper voices. This musical passage recalls a discussion of organ pedals by C. P. E. Bach, who illustrated how the pedal can add harmonic sophistication to straightforward contrapuntal situations, such as in example 5.4. Example 5.4. C. P. E. Bachs figure 4023

(strange signatures)

(ordinary progressions)
3. Bach, Essay, 320.

154 In Bachs illustration, he presents two versions: the first (top) with figures in relation to the bass pedal, the second (bottom) with figures in relation to an inner voice from the first version. This inner voice represents the tenor of the first version, except for the final pitch, which represents the tonic arrival in the bass. Bach discusses how the strange signatures [i.e., figured bass notation when it is built on the pedal] turn out to be nothing more than the ordinary progressions of thorough bass [illustrated in the second version].4 For this reason, the bass [pedal] should be disregarded when considering the harmonic content created by the upper voices that constitute the melody.5 In addition to a more normative progression masked by the bass pedal, the contrapuntal interaction in Convalescent cycles through typical harmonic schemes common of the tonal era, in particular, the TonicPredominantDominantTonic cycle (hereafter TPDT). Indeed, an examination of harmony created by the melody reveals further similarities with figured bass examples illustrated by C. P. E. Bach (example 5.5).6 The pedal point in Convalescent, remarkably similar to illustrations by Bach, differs from typical jazz pedal points. While pedal points are frequently used as a compositional device in post bop jazz, Mehldau distances himself from a post-bop style, favoring an earlier technique.

4. Bach, Essay, 319. 5. Ibid. Interestingly, Bach treats the figures that accompany the second version as the bass, appearing to consider the subdominant, F, an additional bass pedal (presumably the G dominant pedal is the primary focus of this illustration). 6. Bach, Essay, 433. To be sure, the illustration of harmonic activity through the TPDT cycle is not a prescript of Bachs. This is, rather, based on my adaptation of Joseph Strauss fifth criterion for defining tonality, which can be found in chapter 1, part 2, Defining Tonal Principles.

155 Example 5.5. Tonal cycling in Convalescent and in an illustration by C. P. E. Bach

m. 4 8 9 11 12 13 16

Convalescent

g: I

@ @
IV

V I

V IV V

V IV

( ) % ! !

% ()

C. P. E. Bach, adapted from Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments, figure 472, p. 433.

Modern definitions of the pedal have blurred the distinction within which the pedal point operates in tonal and post-modern traditions. Clarifying the differences between modern and eighteenth-century accounts is important for identifying the way pedal points are treated in Convalescent. The pedal point has been defined by several authors as a type of non-harmonic tone (or non-chord tone), unique for its inability to resolve, instead forcing any dissonant harmonies above to resolve back to one that is consonant with the originating bass pedal. Stefan Kostka and Dorothy Payne, in Tonal Harmony, states in their chapter titled Non-Chord Tones [Part] 2, The pedal point is a compositional device that begins as a chord tone, then becomes an NCT as the harmonies around it change, and finally ends up as a chord tone when the harmony is once more in agreement with it. The other NCTsare clearly decorative and are always dependent on the harmony for their meaning. However, the pedal point often has such tonal strength that the harmonies seem to be embellishing the pedal point rather than the other way around.7 There is an acknowledged contradiction in this definition. On the one hand, the pedal represents the dissonance relative to the harmonies (hence, its ascribed status as

7. Stefan Kostka and Dorothy Payne, Tonal Harmony: With and Introduction to TwentiethCentury Music, 6th ed. (Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2009), 202.

156 non-chord tone). Those harmonies, however, are required to move back to a consonant position with the bass because, on the other hand, the harmonies are also dissonant relative to the bass. Historical and stylistic criteria are absent from this definition, clearly intended as a practical, pedagogical aid.8 Walter Piston, in his definition, notes, The pedal is the one exception among the nonharmonic tones in that it is not melodic. 9 Following this caveat, he merges traditional definitions of the pedal point with post-tonal compositional techniques, stating, The term pedal originated as descriptive of the natural procedure of holding down an organ pedal key while improvising on the manuals above. As subsequently developed by composers, however, the device seems far from the implications of its name. The strength of tonality inherent in the pedal makes it a very effective device for establishing or maintaining a key, even though the accompanying harmony may go far afield.10 This last sentence is more indicative of the looser use of a pedal. Piston notes later that the most important means of defining a tonal center, in the absence of a preceding dominant, became and remained the solitary tonic element in itself, asserted vigorously or subtly but always definitely, whether as a triad or as a single pitch used somewhat like a pedal point, or even as a dissonant element in a chord.11 In jazz music, when the pedal is used as a compositional technique, it creates an opportunity for colorful harmonic combinations. Even in works considered to be tonal,

8. In light of this pedagogical clarity, ironically the authors add, This sounds more complicated than it is. Kostka and Payne, Tonal Harmony, 202. 9. Walter Piston, Harmony, 5th ed. (New York: W. W. Norton, 1987), 132. 10. Ibid. 11. Ibid., 483.

157 once the adhesive of a tonic or dominant pedal is applied, any harmony can be applied to the surface without suggesting a loss of tonal center or key. Following the above definitions, one finds typical applications of pedal points in post-bop music that often lead to striking dissonant harmonies, analyzed by jazz theorists as poly-chords and sideslips. Indeed, the pedal point in post-bop music frequently has little to do with establishing tonality and more to do with conjuring exotic imagery, such as in John Coltranes Naima (example 5.6). The pieces slow tempo and quiet dynamics creates a mysterious and otherworldly musical affect. A central characteristic of Naima is the proliferation of sus chords.12 The key of Naima is A flat major.13 The opening bass, E flat, is a dominant pedal. At bar 4 there is a fleeting sense of closure: in the original recording of Naima, the bass resolves to the tonic on the downbeat of bar 4, only to return immediately to the dominant pedal. The B section features a pedal point on B flat, the dominant of the dominant, taking us further from the tonic. The musical effect of the B section is that of a bass standing on the dominant, though it might be construed as a secondary dominant. This leads to further tonal disorientation when it resolves to the E flat in m. 1 (tonic or dominant), since one might expect the resolution of the B-flat dominant seventh to resolve to a tonic.

12. For differences between jazz sus chords and the traditional contrapuntal technique of the suspension, see chapter 3. 13. For convenience, I use key here only to assert a tonic, indicated both through the signature and the closing harmony of AMaj7. I do not wish to confuse the notion of Naima, or any of the following post bop examples, as being of the same tonal dialect that I explore in Mehldaus tonal works (see chapter 1, part 2, Defining Tonality, p. 22ff).

158 Example 5.6. Naima (John Coltrane, 1959), harmonic reduction

Traditionally the pedals function is to impart a clear tonal center. In Naima, however, the use of a pedal point serves not to establish a tonal center, but only to suggest possibilities of a tonal center. Normatively one would expect the A section to confirm tonic, in order to depart to another key area in the B section. Naima infers tonic with the variety of dominant sus chords, fleetingly arriving on tonic at the cadence of bar 4. Likewise the B section suggests the dominant area by including secondary dominant sus chords. Only at the coda does the bass definitively assert the tonic, oscillating tonic and subdominant chords, creating its own sense of tonal closure, and continuing in reverse direction of the circle of fifths, from A flat to E flat, back to A flat and then up to D flat. Ultimately, tonal ambiguity is the main function of the pedal in Naima.

159 Green Dolphin Street (example 5.7), on the other hand, features a tonic pedal from the outset, similar to Convalescent. Unlike Convalescent, however, the chord progression does not feature any kind of idiomatic tonal cycling (i.e., through TPDT). In addition, there is no concern for voice leading principles (note the planing of parallel fifths). Green Dolphin Street features an exotic effect through the use of planed descending triads over tonic pedal.14 Parallel harmonic motion is the primary characteristic of the opening phrase.15 Melody is derived from the harmonic content, which outlines all but one of the triads. Each triad is presented in the same register. The melody also exploits the use of consecutive fifths. Example 5.7. Green Dolphin Street (Bronislau Kaper and Ned Washington, 1947), A section, harmonic reduction

The move through the TPDT scheme over a pedal point may be uncommon in jazz. Instead, pedal notes in the bass often allow for dissonant, and often planed, harmonies. Had Green Dolphin Street been composed using traditional voice leading constraints, an idiomatic harmonic sequence would have dramatic implications for both the musical affect and melodic construction (see example 5.8). The exoticism would be lost in this hypothetical composition that recalls C. P. E. Bachs examples. Further, the melody, which outlines the planed harmony, would have to be fundamentally changed in
14. Originally, the A section was played in a Latin jazz style, contrasted with the Swing style in the B and C sections. 15. Consequently, a guitarist might find the opening parallel motion particularly intuitive, following the chord changes with the same finger position, and sliding down the neck.

160 order to accommodate the idiomatic harmonic progression (this re-composition is not shown). Example 5.8. Green Dolphin Street, with classical realization of harmony over tonic pedal

classical version:

Joe Hendersons Black Narcissus (example 5.9) is unusual by jazz theory standards, for the pedal is neither tonic- nor dominant-based. The AAB form features pedals in the A sections and planed, Lydian-based harmonies in the B section. The bass pedal is suggestive of a minor II harmony, as if extracted and frozen within an idiomatic IIVI progression, but with no intention of realizing the VI portion. The opening eight bars of A flat in the bass oscillates A- and B- chords, suggesting a pentatonic collection. The first eight bars material is transposed down a whole step in mm. 916. The contrasting B section beginning in bar 17 destroys any fleeting sense of tonal coherence. As with the previous examples, the use of the pedal here seems primarily intended to blurrather than to establishtonality.

161 Example 5.9. Black Narcissus (Joe Henderson, 1975)

To summarize, there are few specific tonal requirements for the compositional use of pedal points in jazz music. The pedal point typically is an assertion of a single pitch class. Any series of chords may be layered on top of the static bass, with no voice leading constraints. This is probably why jazz theorist Mark Levine broadly defines the pedal as playing a series of chords over the same bass note.16 Exploiting colorful harmonic arrangements is one result. Viewed in this light, as a technique, the use of pedal points in jazz has more in common with post-modern practices of the early twentieth century. The pedal may allude to tonality by assertion. That is, no traditional application of voice leading and typical harmonic schemes are required. In his discussion of pedal points in post-tonal music, Joseph N. Straus states, All tonal music is centric, focused on specific pitch classes or triads, but not all centric music is tonal.17 By no

16. Mark Levine, The Jazz Theory Book (Petaluma, CA: Sher Music Company, 1995), 344. 17. Joseph N. Straus, Introduction to Post-Tonal Theory, 3rd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2005), 131.

162 means is the use of pedals in jazz aimed at establishing a hierarchical tonal environment, intended to govern over the work, such as in Convalescent. In the classical tradition, the pedals primary purpose was to establish the tonal center. For instance, when discussing the improvisation of a free fantasy, C. P. E. Bach states, At the start the principal key must prevail for some time so that the listener will be unmistakably oriented.18 Since any number of keys could be visited, it was essential to establish the tonal center. He later adds that pedals can be used at the conclusion as well (A tonic organ point is convenient for establishing the tonality at the beginning and end).19 I have already discussed the opening tonic pedal in Convalescent as a curtainrise, but the work concludes with a coda that features melodic elaborations over a tonic pedal as well. There are specific principles for establishing the tonal center using a pedal point that Convalescent follows. The pedal serves to prolong the originating harmony. A harmonic progression establishes necessary consonantdissonant conditions to impart a sense of tonality, often accomplished through counterpoint in the upper voices. This harmonic progression is characterized by consonant starting and ending points, with intermediate dissonant harmonies (relative to the stable bass). A tonal trajectory is thus created, moving harmonically away from the tonic, to the predominant and dominant, and returning to the tonic (following the TPDT cycle). Edward Aldwell and Carl Schachter, in Harmony and Voice Leading, state, [A] pedal point can be one of the strongest aids to extending or prolonging a chord, for the
18. Bach, Essay, 431. 19. Ibid., 432.

163 bass tonepersists audibly through the transient, subordinate chords above it.20 The following observations refer to pedal points of the tonal era, but they also capture the opening of Convalescent: Sometimes a pedal point supports a single chord prolonged by figuration or imitative counterpoint. Quite often, however, the motion of the upper voices produces a succession of chords. Some of these chords may be dissonant against the bass; this is perfectly good if the chord succession and voice leading make sense. Leaps involving dissonances against the bass are also good; they need not be resolved. Dissonances among the upper parts themselves, however, must be prepared and resolved normally. Most often a pedal point begins and ends with a statement of the chord it prolongs; the progression I-IV-V7-I is particularly frequent over a tonic pedal (emphasis added). 21 First, Aldwell and Schachter point to surface features associated with pedal points. Indeed, these features are illustrated in the melody of Convalescent, which are characterized by its contrapuntal texture. Second, Aldwell and Schachter provide harmonic constraints for prolonging a harmony. A chord is prolonged by beginning and ending with the originating consonant harmony. The departure away from consonance leads specifically to harmonies of a typical tonal framework (such as TPDT). Convalescent follows all these criteria, from the contrapuntal surface to the sophisticated middleground. The use of harmonies over pedal points in jazz music typically coincide with only some of the criteria enumerated by Aldwell and Schachter. For instance, Green Dolphin Street begins and ends with the same consonant harmony. However, there is no tonal framework that cycles through a TPDT tonal scheme. In addition, dissonances in the
20. Edward Aldwell and Carl Schachter, Harmony and Voice Leading, vol. 2 (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1979), 40-41. 21. Ibid., 41.

164 upper voices are not prepared and resolved traditionally. Jazz compositions that use pedal points seem more aligned with those definitions of Kostka and Payne or Piston that also encompass early twentieth century practice. These definitions permit a variety of harmonic options. Perhaps unrecognized by Mehldau, the tonal criteria observed by Aldwell and Schachter correspond with the compositional approach in Convalescent.22 II. The Free Fantasy Transformed In the absence of a consistent meter, where the music is held together by either a quarter- or eighth-note subdivision suggests that predetermined metric constraints alone cannot predetermine goal-orientation. Mehldau has mentioned that a simple meter begins as a basis for solos, but that it become abandoned, held only by a basic pulse.23 Instead, signals of tonal closure (complete with departure and return to the same tonic, combined with absence of meter) are reminiscent of the free fantasy as once defined by Bach. Due to the open form of the solo sections, solo choruses are difficult to define. This requires the analyst to find other signals by which the soloist might end a phrase. There are two solo choruses in Convalescent.24 Each chorus is a different length, however, since the choruses cannot follow the harmonic events provided in the theme. Since counting bars is not feasible, throughout the analysis of the solos I will refer to time points from the recording (figure 5.1).

22. As a student of the New School (and by extension, Mannes College) in the early 1990s, these tonal criteria indeed may be imprinted in Mehldaus subconscious. 23. As confirmed by the composer in an e-mail message to the author, January 2, 2010. 24. By referring to a chorus, I am keeping with the basic conventions of identifying parts of a jazz solo. In this context, chorus should not be taken literally as something that is distinguished between itself and a verse.

165 Figure 5.1. Summary of solo durations in Convalescent Piano Chorus 1: 0:53 1:56 (63 seconds) Piano Chorus 2: 1:56 3:20 (84 seconds) Bass Solo: 3:20 4:24 (64 seconds) Free improvisation departs from a tonic pedal, and indeed it is difficult to assert that there are any choruses at all from which to distinguish. The articulation of melodic phrase-endings is an adequate indicator that signals the end of each chorus, as illustrated in example 5.10. Each chorus ends with a distinct, scalar descending gesture reminiscent of a Baroque keyboard figure. Example 5.10. Conclusions of chorus 1 and chorus 2

The use of the pedal point and absence of meter are two primary characteristics of Convalescent. As I have argued, these musical elements evoke the genre of the free fantasy. Bach writes, A fantasia is said to be free when it is unmeasured and moves through more keys than is customary in other pieces, which are composed or improvised in meter.25 In the first part of the definition Bach does not quantify what constitutes moving through more keys than is customary, but he later explicitly states the importance of the tonic in relation to other keys: When only little time is available for the display of craftsmanship, the performer should not wander into too remote keys, for the performance must soon come to
25. Bach, Essay, 430.

166 an end. Moreover, the principle key must not be left too quickly at the beginning nor regained too late at the end. At the start the principle key must prevail for some time so that the listener will be unmistakably oriented. And again before the close it must well be prolonged as a means of preparing the listener for the end of the fantasia and impressing the tonality upon his memory.26 Not only does the tonic key frame the composition, but it must be used at a certain proportion to those satellite keys, so as not to lose the tonal center.27 Convalescent achieves an unmistakable tonal center exactly in the way Bach describes the free fantasys principal key. The tonic is asserted at the beginning, which I have discussed at length, as well as at the conclusion, which I will discuss presently. The coda that concludes Convalescent also incorporates a tonic pedal point. Proportionally, the tonic is asserted for a longer time than other key areas. This includes the occurrence of predominant and dominant harmonies that retain, and even promote, a sense of G minor. In concrete terms, while the duration of the theme is fifty seconds, the A section consists only of tonic pedal, lasting thirty-three seconds. The theme itself never modulates, and instills the key of G minor unequivocally during those fifty seconds. The piano solo begins with tonic pedal and does not depart into other key areas until 1:30 of the recording. In addition, G minor is clear (1) at the end of the first and beginning of the second chorus of piano solo (1:542:42, forty-eight seconds), (2) the beginning of the bass solo (3:193:33, fourteen seconds), and (3) from the return of the theme through the
26. Bach, Essay, 431. Schenker construes this passage as one of two essential steps in Bachs discussion that serendipitously constitutes a theory of tonality. The first step involves establishing a principal key; the second step involves using the principal key more than other key areas. Schenker, The Art of Improvisation,in The Masterwork in Music: A Yearbook, vol. 1, ed. William Drabkin, trans. Ian Bent (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), 4. 27. Schenker, in particular, interprets Bachs words, stating, Bach insists on a principal key to be used in equal proportion in longer and shorter fantasies alike. Bach never explicitly states a proportion of equal duration, but Schenker seems to believe psychologically that in order not to lose sight of the tonal center, tonic must be asserted at an equal proportion to the other key areas. Schenker, The Art of Improvisation, 4.

167 coda (4:255:53, eighty-eight seconds). In total, the listener is unmistakably oriented to G minor for 240 seconds, or four out of six-minutes: two-thirds of this piece references the principal key of G minor. The other component of Bachs definition of the free fantasy is just as telling for us: a free fantasy would seem to require a certain metric looseness, or absence of meter altogether. Indeed, those who would assume jazz automatically embodies aspects of the free fantasy might consider that C. P. E. Bachs strict definition excludes pieces improvised in meter. In the absence of meter, Bach did not intend for the pacing of harmonic content to flow discontinuously. 28 He also prescribes that, with the exception of chromatic passages used for a particular effect, improvised chords should be evenly-paced (example 5.11).29 Example 5.11. C. P. E. Bachs figure 477, Broken chords must not progress too rapidly or unevenly30

Bach also remarks on the conventions of metric notation within the free fantasy: As usually notated, common time is indicated, but not prescribed for the divisions of the entire piece. For this reason, bar lines are always omitted.31 Ultimately, a degree of metric looseness imparts a degree of notational imprecision. While this is a challenge

28. Bach, Essay, 430. 29. Ibid., 439. 30. Ibid. 31. Bach, Essay, 153.

168 that I confront in the methodology portion of this study (chapter 2, part 2, Transcription), an additional challenge lies in identifying how the free fantasy works in a piece that contains elements that are metrically clearer (even predetermined), such as in the theme, and elements that are metrically ambiguous, such as in the solos. While the theme contains specific metric indications,32 which is essential for the ensembles coordination, the compulsive shifts of tactus throughout the theme serves as an evocative indicator for metric freeness. Paradoxically, that which is predetermined in the theme seems intended to signal the extemporized. Referring to figure 5.2, I propose three metrical identities in the theme of Convalescent. These identities correspond with three temporal planes.33 The first plane is represented in the A section (parts 1 and 2 of the theme, as labeled in example 5.1). This plane is a stable 2/2 meter (with the exception of m. 6, which is elongated to 3/2). The bass helps to establish the half note pulse, and I identify this plane as having a Grave character. The second plane takes place in the first half of the B section (part 3). This plane is characterized by a pulse twice the speed of the first (now a quarter note). This acceleration takes place alongside a circle of fifths sequence that seems intended to move the action along, and I identify this plane as double-time. The third plane takes place in the second half of the B section (part 4), which returns to a slower pulse. While the first plane had a pulse of a half note, the third plane has a pulse of a dotted half-note, conveyed by the bass line progression. This Ominous section increases the gravity of the music, and trumps the

32. As confirmed by the composer in an e-mail message to the author, January 2, 2010. 33. See Frank Samarotto, A Theory of Temporal Plasticity in Tonal Music: An Extension of the Schenkerian Approach to Rhythm with Special Reference to Beethovens Late Music (Ph.D. diss., The City University of New York, 1999). Also see chapter 4, part 2, pp. 102-110.

169 initial Grave identity of the first plane. Measures 2930 represent a transition to the first plane, providing closure to the theme, and initiating solos. These three planes, imposed by changes of tactus, imparts a sense of freedom, of unbarred music. This recalls a passage by Bach, when he states, Unbarred free fantasias seems especially adept at the expression of affects, for each meter carries a kind of compulsion [emphasis added] within itself. At least it can be seen in accompanied recitatives that tempo and meter must be frequently changed in order to rouse and still the rapidly alternating affects. Hence, the metric signature is in many such cases more a convention of notation than a binding factor in performance. It is a distinct merit of the fantasia that, unhampered by such trappings, it can accomplish the aims of the recitative at the keyboard with complete, unmeasured freedom.34 Figure 5.2. Three temporal planes in Convalescent section: A (parts 1 and 2)
m. 1

B (part 3)
19

B (part 4)
23 30

identity (affect): Grave tactus: primary meter: subdivision:

Double-time

Ominous

Grave

qq

2/2

ee

5/4

qqq
Plane 3

3/4

h.

2/2

qq

Plane 1

Plane 2

(Plane 1)

In the larger context of the album, subtitled Songs, Convalescent is indeed a song without words. In the above passage, Bach refers to the mixing of affects much in the way an operatic recitative includes abrupt shifts in rhythm and meter. While I have identified these perceptual metric shifts in the theme, Bachs analogy of the free fantasy likened to a recitative, the compulsions of rapidly alternating affects, beyond the

34. Bach, Essay, 153.

170 themes shifts of temporal planes, is particularly brought to bear in the coda to Convalescent. A transcription of the coda in example 5.12 illustrates an amalgam of features that point to the free fantasy: the music reaffirms the principal key through the use of the pedal point, and takes place in the midst of free improvisation. Like the A section of the theme, the coda exclusively utilizes tonic pedal. Thematically the coda opens with a melodic outburst derived from m. 19, the beginning of the B section. Like the solo section, the coda is extemporized with only a basic pulse; no prevalent meter is detected. (In the absence of meter, the transcription itself is a loose representation of rhythmic activity. Rests between melodic gestures go unaccounted in this representation. Pitch content is of primary importance, however, and this method will be followed for the remainder of the analysis.) The coda also serves to reaffirm the tonic through harmonic processes representative of the Baroque era (see example 5.13). Some attention to complications of adapting the free fantasy within the context of a small ensemble is in order. Though the free fantasy imparted certain restrictions for the improviser during the tonal era, the genre was designed for soloists whose compositional skill was favored as much as technical competency. An ensemble, such as the trio, by contrast, must coordinate aspects of phrasing and form that would provide tonal coherence. In solo sections, communication has a spontaneous aspect. Consequently, performers rely on other musical parameters to signal to others of changes in harmony and phrase endings. While Rossy provides a common pulse during the solo, Grenadier strives to follow Mehldaus harmonic changes, especially as the music departs from tonic

Example 5.12. Convalescent, coda

171

172 Example 5.13. Harmonic processes within the coda

to other key areas. Convalescent is a difficult composition to understand, even by jazz standards, for it contains both closed forms (represented by the theme) and open forms (represented by the solos, which are not determined by the themes structure). There are superficial musical elements that places this music in an earlier time, but I have also demonstrated that compositional constraints engage precepts of this earlier time. I have suggested that Convalescent can be placed into a late-Baroque or early-Classical context. The genre of the free fantasy is reinvigorated by the ensemble. Listening to Convalescent, I can imagine Mehldau improvising over a tonic pedal in keeping with the prescripts of Bach. The fluctuations that generate three differing temporal planes in the theme add an additional improvisatory effect. The unusually long opening of the tonic pedal, reminiscent of J. S. Bachs organ preludes, allow for contrapuntal interactions in the upper voices to seemingly float over the bass. To place these observations into an analytical context, we must return to Mehldaus interest of the nineteenth century (see chapter 1, part 2, Four Hypotheses). One Romantic-era trait was the appropriation of Baroque music through the revival of J. S. Bach. Convalescent, too, resembles a Baroque musical image as captured

173 through the lens of the Romantics rediscovery of Bach. The theme recalls Baroque compositional strategies that emphasize economy of musical materials and impeccable design while the solo brings out Romantic virtuosic techniques that delve into both introverted and extroverted elements of the psyche. The following analysis will attempt to synthesize the two historical contexts: on the one hand the piece recreates a Baroque genre while, on the other, there is a clear emphasis on the Romantic aesthetic. The title suggests recovery from illness, and has overtones of Romanticism. Convalescence often involves not a full recovery but the acceptance and adaptation of living with a debilitating ailment. A hermeneutic analysis suggests a tonal narrative, beginning with discovery of ailment, to the struggle for recovery, and, finally, to acceptance of the condition. One should note, however, that there is a certain amount of stoicism conveyed in the music. This stoicism comes from the grave character established by the opening pedal.35 This gravity suggests an underlying inevitability, even before one has a chance to come to any terms of acceptance. Part 2. Analysis of Convalescent Formal Analysis Before investigating the qualities of this piece that point to a free fantasy closely aligned with C. P. E. Bachs description, a basic familiarity with the form of the theme is necessary. A rounded binary form is concealed by metric irregularities. Thematic parallelisms, however, reveal that there are recurring elements that create continuity in the theme. A thematic return of the ascending G minor scale at m. 23 confirms the
35. C. P. E. Bach states that the pedal adds a final, appropriate gravity (Bach, Essay, 319).

174 reprise of the opening theme in Convalescent. (The voice-leading analysis of example 5.2 helps reveal the thematic elements that signal a two-reprise form.) First, each section (labeled A and B) symmetrically divides into two subsections. Figure 5.3 presents a schematic for the rounded binary, which uses corresponding labels in the theme (example 5.1) and the voice leading analysis (example 5.2). Figure 5.3. Synopsis of rounded binary form of Convalescent, theme Lead Sheet Labels: A Measures: 1 || B 19 (ant.) HC Formal Description: Main Theme Subsections: Part 1 ||: Part 2 Harmonic activity: Tonic pedal || Digression :|| Part 3 || circle of fifths Rounding Part 4 || || || 23 (cons.)

P-D-T closing ||

Several elements indicate that the new material at m. 19 serves as a digression within the rounded binary model. First, the trio performs rhythmic punctuations together, contrasting its freer interactions within the A section. Second, a circle of fifths sequence breaks from the tonic pedal, and moves the tonal action forward. The sequence around the circle of fifths progression also creates a 510 linear intervallic pattern, alternating seventh chords in first inversion and root position triads (see voice leading analysis, example 5.2). Third, while the trio performs more uniformly, the rhythmic activity increases by incorporating syncopated figures and faster rhythms. Thematically, the digression borrows material from the beginning of part 2 (compare the top voices first three pitches, DFE flat, in m. 19 with the top voices first three pitches of mm. 911). The first time this melodic material is presented, it initiated a build of melodic energy in the duo, ascending through an octave coupling, re-attaining

175 the Kopfton, D. This second time, similar melodic energy is harnessed into a harmonic sequence. The circle of fifths sequence takes the music completely through the progression IIVVIIIIIVIIIV. The end of the circle of fifths takes the music to a half cadence at m. 22. This half cadence represents the point of interruption for the large scale design. Following the half cadence at m. 22 is a clear return of the opening theme. A different metric presentation rhythmically transforms the reprised theme, though. This results in a quicker presentation (as seen in example 5.1). The opening (part 1) featured half notes in 2/2 meter while part 4 opens with quadruplet quarter notes set in 3/4 time. Just as the digression from part 3 borrows thematic material from section 1 to initiate a harmonic sequence, so, too, does this final section share the opening theme of part 1, propelling it through another harmonic sequence. Rather than proceed through the circle of fifths, though, a closural process takes the music through a double arpeggiation in the progression IIVIIVVI (see example 5.2). The bass line supports a final melodic descent that closes on the tonic with no third. The authentic cadence is elided with the beginning of the solo section, bridged by a brief tonic pedal vamp. Voice-leading analysis: Preliminaries Since solos depart from a tonic pedal, new modulatory possibilities are explored in the piano and bass solos. What fundamentally separates this works solo section from traditional tonal jazz pieces is the absence of predetermined phrase lengths, hypermeter, and the predictability of eight-bar subsections.36 For instance, the solo section stands in
36. While not uncommon to perform free improvisations, I am referring to the unusual setting of an ensemble performing in such a free context. Other than free jazz performances that often depart into atonality, I am interested in examining this groups interaction in a free but exclusively tonal environment.

176 complete contrast to the aspects of temporal plasticity discussed in Unrequited (chapter 4). Yet there are predictable voice-leading paths taken in Mehldaus solo that allow for prolongational analysis, even when the harmonic structure is not predetermined and the groups coordination is tested. Mehldaus voice leading, which in his solo includes the use of compound melody, numerous unfoldings (often with suspensions), and modulations to several harmonic regions, seems to retain a broader sense of tonal order. The group meanwhile is free to respond to each others tonal and rhythmic decisions. Grenadier begins by vamping on the tonic pedal. After a IIVI not previously heard in the theme (at 1:11), the piano solo departs from the tonic. This roughly corresponds to part 2 of the theme, having arrived at a secondary dominant of IV at 1:14 of the recording (see example 5.14). The lack of chordal accompaniment is unusual for a jazz piano solo. While multiple voices are brought to bear in the solo, Mehldau foregoes any chordal accompaniment in the left hand. When the left hand takes on the role of melody in the second chorus, the right hand engages in sixteenth-note arpeggiated runs. One will note the similarities of technique between this improvisation and Unrequited.37 The lack of a chordal texture suggests a marked attempt to convey a contrapuntal approach to improvisation and tonality, through techniques involving unfolding, compound melody, neighboring and passing tones, and suspensions. Remarkably, these techniques are without a metrical context. Before analyzing the voice leading, a few important topics

37. The track sequence of the album separates the two pieces, with Unrequited as track 2 and Convalescent as track 6. These are the only two pieces that share this type of presentation of a virtuosic, obbligato right hand to the primary melody in the left hand.

177 from the theme will be addressed, as they motivate the improvisation during the solo. The topics are C D ambiguity, voice transfer, and majorminor ambiguity. CD ambiguity The two voices at the beginning of the theme quickly depart from a unison into a chain of 7-6 suspensions. The bottom voice, functions as the instigator (or agent) for each 7-6 suspension. The top voice accordingly is the patient, and must follow the lower voices descent. Each subsequent resolution (totaling three) of the dissonant seventh to the consonant sixth is slowed through ornamentation, longer sustained tones, and the introduction of chromatic passing tones in the top voice (see examples 5.2 and 5.3). Each resolution is more slowly teased out, and the effects of the dissonance becomes more noticeable, especially when the lower voice arrives on C sharp. This pitch ambiguously functions as either ^4 or ^5. The C sharp moves directly to C natural, however, with the final resolution of the top voice from B to A. Tonal conventions suggest that C sharp is the pitch, but its chromatic descent suggests that it functions simultaneously as a chromatic passing tone, D flat. The same descent takes place in mm. 2326. The score and voice leading illustrates a C sharp in both places. In the solo, Mehldau frequently exploits this pitch as a D flat, particularly when moving into flat keys during the remoter tonal regions explored. Voice transfer The tonic pedal by mm. 78 has sufficiently established the key of G minor. The apparent rest on the dominant in m. 8 may confuse one into losing track of the agent of the initial 76 chain: the lower voice has now come to rest on C4, a dissonant fourth above the bass pedal, G. The Kopfton, or patient, is coupled an octave lower in m. 8.

178 This reverses the roles of the two voices. The top voice now becomes the agent, forcing the bottom voice into the role of patient. Suddenly the voice represented by C4, the fourth of the bass, is the dissonance required to resolve, as if by 23 suspension (ignoring the bass pedal). This reversal sparks a melodic energy between the two voices that initiates a transfer of register for both voices in part 2 of the form (mm. 912). MajorMinor ambiguity (B versus B) One will note that both perfect authentic cadences, at m. 16 and 27, conclude with open octaves and fifths. Neither cadence presents a tonic triad. Despite the lack of third in the final chord, the tonality of G minor is not in question. The constant move to the minor subdominant, C minor, the tonicization of B flat major (which is the relative key), and the final preparation of the dominant in m. 25 strongly asserts B flat in the theme. However, B natural does appear throughout the theme. Parts 2 and 3, for instance, begin with a major-tonic chord and lowered seventh, (a V of IV). This occurs at the beginning of the coda as well. The end of the coda features a suspension of C4 in a middle voice, but it never resolves. This leaves the quality of third forever in question, or completely absent through the final chord (see examples 5.12 and 5.13). This ambiguity would seem to be by design, and represents an ambivalence of modal identity.38 There are implications for the solo section, particularly as Mehldau explores key areas as distantly related as B flat minor and B major. This comes to bear particularly in the first solo chorus, which will now be examined.

38. This evidence extends into two recordings of the same piece. At m. 24 of the present analysis there is a B natural, representing ^3 of the foregrounds Urlinie. An earlier performance from 1993 features a B flat in the same place, see Mehldau and Rossy Trio, When I Fall in Love, Fresh Sound New Talent FSNT 007 (CD), 1993.

179 Piano solo, chorus 1 (0:53 1:56) A complete foreground and middleground analysis (examples 5.14 and 5.15) of the first chorus of Mehldaus solo reveals a composing-out of an octave progression. This usage is suggestive: given the relative rarity of this progression in the tonal repertory, a prevalent emphasis on descent seems to present a challenge to any attempt of recovery from illness as in a hermeneutic reading that reflects the title of the work. Ones deteriorating health could be represented by the descending gestures. Attempts of recovery (either psychologically or corporally), in the form of long-range rising melodic gestures, are notably absent in the first chorus. The initial improvised theme references a disfigured form of the opening melody: from GABD to GABC. (This is bracketed in example 5.14 of the piano transcription.) Even the opening motive is unable to attain the consonant perfect fifth above the tonic, peaking instead at a dissonant tritone. The C sharp and D flat (as it is later interpreted) seem to reference its usage in the theme, as addressed above. There are two phrases in the first chorus: the first phrase is brief, reaffirming the key of G minor, complete with an internal fifth progression (refer to the foreground, example 5.14). The second phrase is developmental, taking the music through the octave progression from ^8 to ^1. This is accomplished through several modulations, particularly en route from ^8 to ^5. Mehldau incorporates boundary play at two separate times surrounding ^7, each time emphasizing transformations between the roles of subtonic and leading tone. The trajectory ultimately proceeds down as the combination of unfolding and implied suspensions in the left hand continually pull all voices downward. The first phrase exploits an enharmonic paradox first uncovered in the theme:

Example 5.14. Convalescent, piano solo, chorus 1, with voice leading analysis

180

Example 5.14 (continued)

181

Example 5.15. Convalescent, piano solo, chorus 1, middleground

182

183 C sharp versus D flat (^4/^5). Beginning with the same contour of the opening theme, Mehldau transforms the Kopfton, D, to C sharp at the peak of the contour. This is repeated two more times. The second time an E flat occurs in the inner voice. Together with the C sharp, tonic pedal, and an additional B flat, this suggests a German augmented sixth chord (EGBC, over G pedal).39 The augmented sixth chord provides an identity for the C sharp in the upper voice. The E flat resolves to D4 at 1:00. In the voice-leading analysis of example 5.14, this implies a resolution of C5 to D5. This also marks the beginning of an internal fifth progression from D to G (^5 to ^1) that constitutes the first phrase. There is more to the play on the ambiguity of C sharpD flat, however. Following the implied resolution to D5 near 1:00, the opening figure is repeated for a third and final time. The inner-voice figure (represented by downward stems) shifts sequentially downward. This includes a resolution from D to C sharp. Like the lower voice from the duo in the theme continuing chromatically downward, the lower voice continues to C4 at 1:09. This is also in imitation to the upper-voices resolution from D flat to C an octave higher. A note that is symbolized by its need to rise has instead become symbolized by imminent descent. The C sharp provides hope for recovery, but against the setting of an acute illness, hope alone cannot succeed in this struggle. This characterization sets the tone for the rest of the chorus, in which all voices attempt a few times to ascend,

39. One may also pose a motivic reference to the blues scale, given the use of ^4/^5, but the figuration does not support a blues scale reading: I would expect the additional use of ^4 (C) with ^5 (D flat), which the melody does not incorporate on the surface.

184 particularly in the plays of meaning on ^7 that will be discussed shortly; ultimately, the downward pull is so compelling that the inevitability of descent promotes a frequent preference towards the flat side of pitch meanings. There are a few noteworthy moments in the first chorus where attempts to shift out of flat-key harmonic region includes a strong move to B minor, such as at 1:36, providing a hint of remedy that may serve as a way out of an inevitable descent. After this brief first phrase, where the primary motivic elements are laid out (the quote of the main theme and an inner-voice turn figure), a circle of fifths sequence occurs beginning at 1:14. Each move through harmonic regions is embellished by a scale figure, often unfolding a dominant seventh in the right hand. These melodic flourishes in the right hand (in the foreground) represent energetic bursts that try to counteract the underlying descent of the voice leading. The inevitability of the descending progression is like quicksand, and the rising scale figures, like someone trying to claw his way out, only accelerates the quicksands potency. The octave progression as observed through the middleground voice leading of example 5.15 is filled with chromatic complexity, starting with the oscillation between the subtonic and leading tone. The subtonic, F, surrounds the leading tone, as if F sharp is treated as a G flat upper neighbor-note. F sharp is thus sublimated to F natural; the leading tones function is replaced by its forced descent to the subtonic (note that through enharmonic reinterpretation, the F sharp could originate as an upper chromatic neighbor, G flat, to the subtonic, though this is not illustrated in example 5.15). Making this relationship more complex, ^7 is put through third progressions twice. Both times these progressions represent motions into and from an inner voice, creating

185 boundary play. Like two alternate realities, both boundary plays are presented as though they are both of the same contrapuntal origin. As an improvisation, this progression provides insight into the composers creative process: Mehldau seems to play out the same idea, first on the subtonic, then again on the leading tone. This recalls a passage where he states, Its such an emancipative experience that counters the Western paradigm of making music: working hard behind closed doors, going through the trial-anderror compositional process and then presenting the finished piece to the world. I let the public see all the struggles encountered in the extemporaneous creation of music.40 I believe Mehldau is attempting to demonstrate this compositional strategy, through trial-and-error voice-leading, that exploits a revealing component to the free fantasy, as Bach describes. The octave descent begins with two passages, one that takes the music through B flat minor and B minor. Each is supported by root position dominants to each suggested key area. These passages are not modulations, and Bach would probably refer to these as feigned modulations. Bach writes about the effect in an improvisation of a free fantasy: It is one of the beauties to feign modulation to a new key through a formal cadence and then move off in another direction. This and other rational deceptions make a fantasia attractive; but they must not be excessively used, or natural relationships will become hopelessly buried beneath them.41 Thus, while I question the extent to which Mehldaus processes counters the Western paradigm, I do hear this trial-and-error process at work in this first chorus. As Bach warns, these modulations may hinder their natural relationships in the larger

40. Dan Ouellette, The Mehldau Effect, Downbeat 74, no. 1 (January 2007): 34. 41. Bach, Essay, 434.

186 tonal context. The octave progression that frames the tonic is what provides large-scale tonal coherence to these remote regions. It is interesting to note from a voice-leading perspective that in this trial-and-error of the subtonic and leading tone, the first trial turns out to be the straightforward solution. The boundary play, achieved with relative ease, however, is attempted again. As if trying to improve on this voice leading, the second attempt instead creates interpretive problems, namely the enharmonic pitch class of F sharp or G flat (as upper chromatic neighbor to the subtonic). The boundary play of the leading tone is re-started on its return to F natural at 1:46 of the solo. This sublimation of the leading tone is recreated at scale degree 4, near the end of the first chorus. ^4 rises momentarily to ^4, supported as a consonant passing tone, which returns to ^4, this time functioning ambiguously as a neighbor note (see example 5.14 and 5.15, from 1:511:57 ). This trial-and-error method has additional implications for the members of the trio, particularly bassist Grenadier, as they try to react to Mehldaus changes of tonal plan. Much of the voice-leading techniques employed by Mehldau imply certain bass line support, and I have taken liberty at times to illustrate these in the voice leading analyses. For much of chorus 1, though, Grenadier more or less locates these bass notes. This suggests that tonal processes revealed by Schenkerian analysis contains within it predictable voice leading strategies. As the voice-leading becomes more complicated, as revealed in chorus 2, Grenadier has to make choices that do not immediately correspond to the surface of Mehldaus solo, but still have implications that confirm the strength of tonal forces at work.

187 To summarize the first chorus, an octave linear progression touches on diatonic and chromatic scale degrees. Only three pitches of the aggregate are left out of the linear progression when viewing the deep middleground: B, E, and A flat. While B does not appear in the linear descent, it appears frequently as an inner-voice that supports the arrival of C minor (see, for instance, 1:14). B also occurs during the problematic boundary play supporting the melodic leading tone. E makes a few melodic appearances as part of a third progression surrounding the boundary play of ^7, commented above. The pitch, A flat, is conspicuously absent for nearly the entire first chorus (used only as a neighbor note just after 1:14 of the solo, when tonicizing C minor). This omission comes to fruition when a significant turn of events takes place in the second chorus, when there is an abrupt arrival of F minor, for the first time in the piece, at 2:43. Piano solo, chorus 2 (1:56 3:20) Notably longer than the first chorus, the second chorus breaks into two sections. The first section (1:592:25) unfolds a sixth progression (from 1:592:14) and is characterized by bop melodic runs. From 2:142:25 there is another octave progression, including some chromatic triadic sequences, particularly in a 105 linear intervallic pattern at the close of the progression. The second half (2:303:20) prolongs ^3 through multiple registers, achieved through an interplay between the left hand (and bass register) accompanied by a virtuosic right hand obbligato.

Example 5.16. Convalescent, piano solo, chorus 2, with voice leading analysis

188

189 Example 5.16 (continued)

189

Example 5.17. Convalescent, piano solo, chorus 2, middleground and background

190

191 The opening gesture captures at a glance much of the action to follow. Example 5.18. Chorus 2, opening melodic figure (1:59)

In the figure, there is a leap down from the upper-register of G, leaving a gap that fills in a melodic rise to ^3, which in itself serves as a parallelism of the unfolding that takes place from 1:59 to 2:14. On the foreground sketch following the opening figure, a side-slip fills in the noticeable register gap left when G5 leapt to D5. The foreground voice leading (example 5.16, 1:592:04) illustrates an attempt by the upper voice to descent a third from G to F to E flat, perhaps realizing a 56 exchange. This exchange would have implications for the bass, perhaps initiating a turn toward the flat side of the circle of fifths. Instead, a second attempt from 2:042:08 alters the pitches to F sharp and E natural on the way to a fourth progression from G to D. Representing another trial-and-error process, the result of arriving on E natural forces the music to the sharp key region of B minor. Example 5.19 illustrates the harmonic stages that transforms G minor into E minor, as it prepares the tonicization of B minor at 2:08. The processes that take G minor to B minor involve an internal fourth progression within the larger sixth progression that unfolds G5 (at 1:59) to B4 (at 2:14). In example 5.19a, the progression is barely acceptable by voice leading norms: there are parallel fifths from G minor to the four-voice presentation of the dominant seventh to B minor. Example 5.19b through a 56 exchange moves directly to an E minor chord, which is an abrupt chromatic move for a standard progression. The expansion in example 5.19c tries

192 unsuccessfully to bridge the gap from G minor to E minor by interpolating a C minor chord. By example 5.19d the upper voices of the C minor chord continue up chromatically and begins to smooth-out the voice leading that takes the progression to B minor. The voice leading of this passage is represented by the fourth progression of example 5.19d. One will also note the parallelism of the basss unfolding from G to B. Example 5.19. Voice leading stages in chorus 2, 2:042:08

transcription:

The sixth progression of 1:592:14 exposes scale steps of the melodic minor scale, while echoing the trial-and-error procedures of the octave progression in chorus 1.

193 This progression also emphasizes two of the three pitches notably absent in the octave descent of the previous chorus: E natural and B natural. In the sixth progression the pitches E and B also make appearances in the bass line, during the circle of fifths progression. This sharp side of the circle of fifths is unusual to this piece, though they play a critical role in the final moments of the solo (3:14). Exploring both flat and sharp keys creates a large-scale balance in the several circle of fifths sequences that appear in choruses 1 and 2. Chorus 1 focuses mainly on the flat side of the circle of fifths while chorus 2 considers the sharp side of the circle from 1:592:14. This sharp side is short lived, though, as a swifter octave progression from 2:142:25 not only reinstitutes flat scale-degrees of ^7 and ^6, but also asserts flat scale-degrees of ^5 and ^4 (D flat and C flat). The voice leading of this octave descent has two halves: the fourth descent that leads from G to D flat, as a result of the circle of fifths sequence. The rest of the descent suddenly changes mid-progression into a descending second sequence. This creates a 105 linear intervallic pattern. The descending second sequence at 2:20 of example 5.16 creates a progression reminiscent of Romantic-era tonality (and prefigured in Chopins Revolutionary Etude, op. 10, no. 3; see mm. 2932 for a similar sequence, different chord roots: GmDmFmCm). The voice-leading picture, while demonstrating Mehldaus improvisatory game plan, does not provide the entire musical picture as Grenadier has trouble accompanying Mehldaus sudden shifts of key areas, particularly during the change of sequence during the octave progression. This reveals special insight into the interplay of two instruments in a freely tonal environment.

194 In example 5.20, a surface transcription with hypothetical bar lines juxtaposes four elements: Mehldaus solo, the implied bass, a voice-leading reduction of these two elements, and Grenadiers bass line. Grenadier begins by following Mehldaus circle of fifths sequence through the F harmony in m. 2. Instead of continuing the circle of fifths to E flat, Mehldau stops on the B-flat minor chord by pairing it with its upper dominant divider, F minor (example 5.20, m. 4). On the example Grenadier initially appears to accompany this F minor chord; however, I argue that this accompaniment does not support the F minor chord, originating, rather, in the F harmony of m. 2. When Mehldau proceeds down to A flat minor in m. 5, Grenadiers choice of pitch becomes inaudible. It is at this point I believe he is grasping for more clues from Mehldau, since it has become clear to him that the circle of fifths sequence has been abandoned. Mehldaus linear descent, however, still has an approaching G-minor tonic in sight. Indeed, the completion of the octave progression allows Grenadier to predict the trajectorys completion, so he begins playing pre-dominant Stufe in a hemiola pattern (example 5.20, mm. 67). I believe this takes place all in reaction to an intuitive sense of closure signified by the scale steps of the octave progression. Without this tonal grounding, Grenadier would not know to begin providing predominant bass notes near the end of the progression. This conflict between Grenadier and Mehldau distorts the voice-leading picture, but the choices made by Grenadier support this studys overarching hypothesis, that tonal forces are brought to bear by a sense of directed motion and goal-orientation. This passage is revealing for its collaborative and extemporaneous tonal play. Grenadiers A in mm. 78 works for either II or V, which leads him to the bolder

195 Example 5.20. Interplay between Mehldau and Grenadier, 2:142:25

196 prediction of the dominant when he plays the leading tone in example 5.20, m. 8, which occurs precisely when Mehldau arrives on the dominant. But I believe Mehldau also reacts to the pre-dominant notes of his bassist, which allows Mehldau to conclude the sequence in m. 8. Feeding off each others sense of closure, then, Mehldau completes his trajectory with confidence. The group has effectively communicated their understanding of the melodic trajectory that completes the octave progression. Following the progression, there is a brief vamp on G minor, which allows the right hand to introduce the virtuosic obbligato that accompanies much of the next part of the chorus. At the same time this vamp has a calming effect to the rapid descent that just took place. Grenadier delays the resolution to the tonic, skewing the arrival of tonic, much in the way the F accompaniment was skewed when the passage became more complex.42 A few concluding remarks and questions about this interaction remain. What is Grenadiers role in Mehldaus solo? Aside from the conventional use of the bass in a jazz trio, I do not believe in Convalescent Grenadier has an obligation to provide harmonic support. For one, Mehldaus melody seems to determine harmonic structure as it develops, and Grenadier has no choice but to follow. In a traditional jazz analysis, with a predetermined chord structure, it is intuitive to assume the bass leads the way concerning harmonic structure. This is not the case in Convalescent. The bass is employed as another voice. In some ways, the interaction with the melody is not far from the way a cornet and clarinet interacted in traditional Dixieland jazz. It represents another voice, along with Rossys drums, completing the total musical fabric.

42. And in following Grenadiers delayed response, so too does Rossy delay his final punctuation in the drums.

197 Further turning the jazz tradition on its head, Rossy is just as sensitive to the phrasing Mehldau incorporates into the solo. The lack of chord structure does not permit Rossy to provide drum fills after every eight bars, for instance. His fills remain subdued, though, and he changes texture only after Mehldau ends a phrase. The second half of chorus 2 focuses on ^3, B flat. It has been rarely developed to this point of the solo (even the entire work). While the D flatC sharp duality has been much of the focus of the first half of the Mehldaus solo in chorus 1 and 2, Mehldau seems interested in prolonging the flat side of the unfolded tonic to its mediant, which was first suggested at the beginning of chorus 2. While the voice leading picture leaves out much of the virtuosic obbligato right hand from 2:30 to 2:59, it focuses primarily on B flat. The voice leading of this section (2:302:59) prolongs B flat by reaching over to an E flat, then descending through a fourth progression that follows the bass through a circle of fifths progression. The voice leading paradigm stems from a 56 exchange that initiates a bass descent of a 76 chain until arriving at the dominant just prior to a cadence at 2:59 (see example 5.21). In this passage, the E flat first comes from Grenadiers accompanying, and not from Mehldaus solo. Without Grenadiers voice, something would be missing from the voice leading in example 5.16, near 2:30. This passage is important considering the piece in its entirety because Convalescent is built upon a tonic pedal. The voice-leading scheme here is a typical recipe that forces the conceptual bass voice, G, to move from its pedal status. Enhancing the startling move away from the tonic root is the mixture invoked by F minor at the start of the fourth progression from 2:432:59.

198 Example 5.21. Chorus 2, 2:302:59, voice leading

All voices in example 5.21 are forced downward. First, the D flatC sharp enharmonic scale degree once again appears in an inner voice; ^5, in becoming reinterpreted as ^4 itself is sublimated down to ^4. Second, ^6, E flat, is infused by Grenadiers bass with a subtle heaviness such that the requirement for it to resolve down is turned into a hyperbolic resolution further, not to D but to D flat. The multiple interruptions on ^2, A, as if by sheer assertion forces the tonic pedal G into a patient. This eventually pushes the G off its bass to F at 2:43. Most surprising in the voice leading is the role of A natural. In a surprising twist it, too, is pulled downward to A flat. As a prolongation of tonic, everything has reverted to a fully flatted state. Not even the bravura work of the right hand, which ascends to its highest register at this point (and will come back in a more important melodic role at 3:05), can stop the imminent depression created by this black hole, vacuuming all melodic voices into its void. It appears that superficially strong forces (represented in the right hand) cannot stop the laws of voice leading. This suggests a metaphor, of futility of hope against an illness alone cannot stop an ailment from progressing into a worse state. The best way to

199 combat nature, then, would be to accept, rather than to deny, its existence. Acceptance appears to be the final stage of the second chorus, beginning at 2:59. The obbligato runs of the right hand, which began as a sextuplet sixteenth note figure, spin rhythmically out of control during the section from 2:302:59. Only at 2:59 does the right hand re-emerge as part of a dialogue that I believe constitutes the first sign of acceptance (of the illness). The right hand restores order, and in fact summarizes much of the previous progressions underscored prolongation of ^3 through the neighbor note group ^3^2 / ^4^3. The right hands re-emergence and its function to restore tonal order, combined with the remaining fifteen-seconds of dnouement accounts for the second choruss unusual length, totaling twenty-one seconds more than each of the first chorus and Grenadiers bass solo to follow. The choruss unusual length has a specific purpose: to perceptibly mark the climax of the piece. The approach to the Kopfton at 3:05 initiates a swift conclusion to the solo while referencing several events that have taken place throughout both this second chorus as well as the first. This creates a sense of motivic cohesion while also serving as conclusion. Regarding the foreground, quotes of the main theme are found, along with a turn figure so ubiquitous throughout the solo. In addition, the lower voice goes so far as to unfold through bifurcation a B flat minor harmony with its dominant (see example 5.16 between time points 3:05 and 3:10, bass staff). An imitative texture between the left and right hands at 3:14 recalls the use of imitation in chorus 1, just prior to 1:46 (indicated with hanging brackets on example 5.16, 3:14), that was part of a third progression representing motion into an inner voice. More

200 importantly, the voice leading involving the resolution of E to D, accompanied by the prominent turn figure references two previous sections, illustrated in example 5.22. Example 5.22. Three similar passages in the piano solo of Convalescent

In the earlier two passages, E resolves to D as part of a tonicization of B minor, from F to B minor, first at 1:37 of chorus 1 and again at 2:06 of chorus 2 (the voice leading of the second passage was illustrated in example 5.19). In the final passage, a tonicization of B flat minor (not shown) is followed immediately by an E minor scale. From the E minor assertion at 3:14 forward, however, Mehldau recalls the second passage (2:04) that led to B minor. By aligning the three passages in example 5.22, we see a kind of amicable solution to the high degree of tonal disagreement that posed interpretive problems in chorus 2 (recall example 5.19). The final passage changes the role of F sharp in the melody. In the previous two passages the F sharp was either directly related to B minor (as in the first passage), or as a passing tone (as in the second passage) on its way to B minor. In the final passage the F sharp serves its true function by prolonging the dominant of the home key, G minor.

201 At all stages, an enharmonic reinterpretation is required at 3:14 to remain connected globally to the home tonic of G minor. Otherwise, each step potentially grows as an extension of the previous B flat minor harmony (see the voice leading analysis, example 5.16), with the potential first harmony of F flat, not E, minor. In the middleground, the rise to F sharp followed by the descent to E and D are considered inner voices, as the B flat continues to be prolonged in the outermost voice. In spite of the several descending progressions in choruses 1 and 2, including two octave progressions and a descending sixth, the highest register is reached melodically at 3:05. In the solo section, B5 represents the Kopfton. The music up to that point functions as an initial ascent, taking the majority of the solo section. This special use of ascent, particularly in its delayed approach to the Kopfton, is fitting for the hermeneutic interpretation posited throughout this analysis: only upon recognition and acceptance of the illness does the recovery process begin. The arrival of the Kopfton also coincides with the termination of the right hand bravura, which was the last emotional outburst of denial to the ailment. The recognition and acceptance leads to the climax of the solo section, indeed, the composition, and now in its higher register, the Urlinie represents a transcendence of register and voice leading, with the complications of life taking place beneath the essential progression represented in the background (example 5.17). Bass solo Commenting briefly on Grenadiers solo, it should be noted that Mehldau does not reciprocate the exercise that takes place when Grenadier followed Mehldau in his solo: only drums participate. To have a bassist extemporize on a tonic pedal seems to be a challenge by the nature of the instrument, so Grenadier employs a few of Mehldaus

202 strategies: he moves to C minor by way of exchanging the tonic triad with an applied dominant, G (3:242:27, 3:403:43). The bass line unfolds 76 linear intervallic patterns. The bass line quotes the motivic turn figure (3:423:49, 4:124:16). Contrasting Mehldaus ascending scales, Grenadier frequently uses descending energetic flourishes, especially in the lead-ins to C minor cited above. He recreates his earlier attempts to follow Mehldau near the end of a linear progression by creating a tonal play on subdominant Stufe from 4:014:10. The solo is characterized by rhythmic complexity and hints of hemiola technique, but the absence of meter softens the effect. The solo overall is brief, lasting 64 seconds, or less than half the length of Mehldaus solo. Return of the theme The return of the theme is nearly identical to its opening presentation. There is more emphasis on the inner voice of the piano part through sharper attacks and articulations, while the rest remains identical. With a remarkably tonally coherent solo section, the theme seems somewhat redundant for restoring the tonics status. While I have demonstrated that many jazz traditions are challenged within this piece, it would seem one conventional scheme remains: themesolostheme. The Coda The coda presents a way to bring together parts of both the theme and solo sections, as a reflection, especially as the theme is too formulaic to introduce anything novel in the solo section.43 It is similar to the narrative character of Beethovens sonata forms, where the coda could serve to wrap up all motivic characters from the development that were not heard in the recapitulation. The coda leads the voices one
43. The coda itself opens by referencing the beginning of the B section from the theme.

203 final time through a chromatic descent. The effect is once again an elaboration that intuitively recreates the atmosphere of C. P. E. Bachs organ pedal that served to establish the initial tonal center. This time the pedal is used to confirm and conclude the works tonal center. The ominous use of pedal this time looms like a shadow over the entire piece, as the constant slide through diminished seventh chords highlights every color associated with the pedal, which concludes with open fifths and octaves. Considerations regarding large-scale structure When considering the complex voice-leading from theme to solos, back to the theme and to the coda, it is worth considering how one might hear this piece from a global perspective. The figure below attempts to combine the performance into a firstorder background picture. First, though, I would like to question the appropriateness of such a long-range hearing. Convalescent is just under six minutes long, and would seem to be of average length for a typical jazz performance (perhaps even on the short side). The order of events is actually quite economical for a jazz piece and conveys a clear sequence. I have attempted to draw out a narrative from the evocative title that suggests how to come to terms with a debilitating ailment, while not being too specific about said malady. For instance, the ailment could be a metaphor for love, and Convalescent could be about coping with an unreciprocated love. The ailment could also be quite literal, perhaps coping with a diagnosis of cancer and coming to terms with both the psychological and physical trauma of facing death. In both cases there is a narrative paradigm at work here: a trajectory that initiates a condition, battles with this condition, and reconciles the condition. This sequence of events provides a great amount of detail

204 in only six minutes, details that can be drawn out over the course of days, months, or years. Indeed, Mehldau commented on the paradox of timelessness in a brief song, saying, I was thinking a lot about what song means to me. It implies a few things simplicity of melody, an economy of material and a short form, but also a strong emotional effect on the listener that hopefully lingers and swells in your consciousness after youve heard it. A song is short and ends quickly, but it should also give you a feeling of endlessness, of something much bigger than its duration. You should sense that youre scratching the surface of something eternal.44 Each solo chorus relates to the components of the tonic triad. While the theme was analyzed with an Urlinie descending from ^5 (D5), Mehldaus solo emphasizes ^8 (G5) and ^3 (B5). Note that each scale degree is encountered at a higher register from the previous. Since ^3 is suppressed in the conclusion of the theme, making it the goal of the solo section I believe is one way of creating a large scale balance. The continual ascent through each tonic triad member further creates an undetected, perhaps subconscious, transcendental quality to the prevalent surface descending progressions. Example 5.23. Register transfer/transcendence in Convalescent

44. From his website, http://www.bradmehldau.com, accessed February 23, 2010.

205 Summary In this chapter we have seen how Mehldau and his trio create a tonal environment in the absence of chord changes. As in the free fantasy described by C. P. E. Bach, a tonic pedal establishes the key, freeing the soloist to explore several other harmonic regions. In a jazz trio setting this results in a free play on tonality, an exercise involving the bassist, Grenadier, who attempts to support Mehldaus extemporaneous linear progressions. This at times results in contradictory harmonic support, but we are given insight into how one follows the tonal path of an improvised linear progression. Because of the predictability of a tonal surface, Grenadier is able to predict the end of Mehldaus phrases by supplying pre-dominant Stufe. This in turn enables completion of the linear progression. Convalescent does not fit so well into the mold that typifies a tonal jazz work because (1) solo sections normally follow a harmonic structure provided in the theme, (2) the harmonic structure usually can be subdivided into hypermetrical units, often delineated by the drummer, and (3) the bassist usually plays the role that supports that harmonic structure. While the interplay and motivic development in the group is similar to techniques involved in free jazz, unlike free jazz that is atonal, the trios commitment to maintaining a triadically-driven, tonal environment adds a new degree of sophistication. The primary argument for such a free play while remaining tonally coherent is the use of a tonic pedal point, which is the basis for elaboration through several harmonic regions, much in the way C. P. E. Bach once prescribed for the free fantasy.

Chapter 6: Conclusions By way of concluding the study, I return to questions of influence. Mehldaus music has been compared by critics to Bill Evans. Mehldau has explicitly stated that he listened to Evans when he was young, but was not impressed (as will be documented below). I hypothesize that Mehldaus love for German Romantic traditions sets him apart from the French Impressionist style of Evans. Having considered Mehldaus explicit use of basic tonal principles, affinity for the German Romantic tradition, and the distancing of himself from a similarly outspoken intellectual jazz pianist, I will now speculate more generally on the nature of style. The music analyzed in this study has revealed tonally complex surfaces and techniques that, while not regularly encountered in the tonal era, is the lingua franca of Mehldaus tonal language. In a remarkable irony of the post-tonal era, Mehldau clears away creative space by returning to an earlier time, and by reconstructing tonal principles. The Anxiety of Influence in Jazz By establishing opposing relationships in jazz theory and tonal theory (in chapters 1 and 2), I made the case that some of Mehldaus music can be analyzed the same way one approaches traditional tonality, thus distinguishing his music from mainstream jazz. Returning to the perspective on influence Joseph Straus adapted from Harold Bloom, one encounters a problem attributing these ideas to Mehldaus music, in particular, the notion of entering into a contest with the past, such as the way Straus suggests with early posttonal composers. 1 Interestingly, Mehldau turns the anxiety of influence on its head by

1. See Joseph N. Straus, The Anxiety of Influence in Twentieth-Century Music, The Journal of Musicology 9, no. 4 (Fall 1991): 430-47.

206

207 embracing the traditions of tonality and employing them with relative ease in a post-tonal era. But this act in its own right is effectively a contest with the past in that it succeeds in clearing away its own expressive space. One need not frame Mehldaus music in terms of historical anxiety; rather, in terms of tonal problems that are worked out on their own terms. By a willing suspension of disbelief one enters into his tonal world, a world where the emancipation of dissonance never occurred and goal-orientation and unity direct compositional strategies. If there is an anxiety of influence to be detected in Mehldaus music, the source of anxiety lies perhaps with his more recent predecessors of the jazz tradition, particularly in the way Mehldau has recently distanced himself from Bill Evans. It is worth quoting at length jazz scholar Ted Gioia, who states, Early in his career, Brad Mehldau was branded as a Bill Evans disciple. Most young pianists would be flattered at the comparison, but Mehldau would have none of it. In what may be the defining moment of his career, Mehldau wrote lengthy liner notes to his Art of the Trio 4: Back at the Vanguard CD, which began not with a description of the music, or thanking his producer, or the typical quasiphilosophical musings we have come to expect in such settings, but rather as follows: The constant comparison of this trio with the Bill Evans trio by critics has been a thorn in my side. I remember listening to his music only a little, when I was 13 or 14 years old, for several months. Mehldau continues by offering evidence. The way Larry and I are abstracting harmony has nothing to do with Bill Evans . . .Often what I am doing in my solo is basing its melodic content on the initial melody of the song. You wont find the model for this approach in Bill Evans.2

2. Ted Gioia, Assessing Mehldau at Mid-Career, entry posted December 31, 2007, http://www.jazz.com/features-and-interviews/2007/12/31/assessing-brad-mehldau-at-mid-career (accessed February 26, 2010).

208 Dan Oullette outlines the history of Mehldaus initial reception, and includes insightful commentary about Evans by both guitarist Pat Metheny and Mehldau, the two having recently collaborated: When Brad Mehldau made his debut as a solo artist in 1995 with Introducing Brad Mehldau, many jazz pundits with equal measures of celebration and denigration proclaimed him as the second coming of Bill Evans. One critic even bundled Mehldau into a pack, misguidedly labeling him as one of the plethora of young jazz pianists who have adopted Bill Evans as their role model. Kurt Andersen interviewed Mehldau and guitarist Pat Metheny about their new duo CD, Metheny Mehldau. Andersen asked if they had been inspired by the Evans/Jim Hall 1960s duo sessions, to which Metheny answered, Whenever I hear people talk about Brad and Bill Evans, I have no idea what theyre talking about.From day one, Ive scratched my head over that. Im happy to report that Brad had never heard that album. Andersen then queried Mehldau on why he hated being compared to Evans, to which he bluntly replied, Its a fiction [i.e., the rumor suggesting that he is influenced by Evans]. No matter how many times I say, No, I barely listened to this guy, its stated as a matter of fact that hes my main influence and, furthermore, that Im inheriting his throne. Then, sounding slightly irritated, Mehldau added, I dont quite understand why hes put on a pedestal. If I can be controversial here, Im not even crazy about his playing.3 The anxiety of influence is particularly evident here. In order to clear away expressive space, it would seem that Mehldau is required to distance himself from Evans, someone similarly known for his intellectual acumen as much as his piano playing. Yet there are important differences separating their musical style. I will consider these differences in light of Steve Larsons work on Evans, where he argues for the application of Schenkerian analysis to jazz music. Larsons argument is based on revealing commentary in an interview of Evans. In the interview Evans steps through the process of elaboration in the jazz standard, The Touch of Your Lips. Important in this interview is the way Evans refers to structure
3. Dan Ouellete, The Mehldau Effect, Downbeat 74, no. 1 (January 2007): 32.

209 (where Evans, asked to clarify what he means by structure, says Im talking about the abstract, architectural thing, like the theoretical thing).4 This, to Larson, is an important indication that Schenkerian structure is evoked by Evanss use of the term, though it remains unclear to what extent Evans was specifically referring to a typical Schenkerian paradigm. Larson bases his argument for the tonal analysis of jazz on Evanss extramusical demonstration of recursive, structural elements. While it has not been my goal to contest the applicability of Schenkerian analysis to Evanss music, I am not convinced Schenkers views of tonality readily suit jazz music. On the other hand, the first time I heard Brad Mehldaus Art of the Trio, Volume 3: Songs, I (intuitively) sensed a predisposition to traditional tonality. After investigating the music further, through transcription and voice leading analysis, I was pleasantly surprised to find numerous essays and liner notes by Mehldau, in which the influence of the past is particularly evident.5 The sampling of music I chose to present in this study included 29 Palms (chapter 1), his arrangement of For All We Know (chapter 3), Sehnsucht (chapter 3), Unrequited (chapter 4), and Convalescent (chapter 5).6 I made the case that these works demonstrated an essential reliance on the triad (rather than the seventh chord) and contrapuntal relationships in which dissonance and consonance are in a tighter relation than is typical of the music of Mehldaus contemporaries. That triads and counterpoint

4. Steve Larson, Analyzing Jazz: A Schenkerian Approach (Harmonologia: Studies in Music Theory, no. 15. Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press, 2009), 10. 5. See the bibliography for selected writings. 6. 29 Palms is from Brad Mehldau, Places, Warner Bros. 9 47693-2 (CD), 2000. All other works are from Art of the Trio, Volume 3: Songs.

210 are both important features to Mehldau led me to identify linear strategies that incorporate a Schenkerian sensibility of dissonance and consonance. I demonstrated how the suspension creates directed motion in Sehnsucht (chapter 3). This directed motion creates a trajectory, leading to closure. Projecting a sense of closure allows for a tonal play upon listener expectations that often are thwarted by the music. This led to creative solutions to the problem of closure in both Sehnsucht and Unrequited (chapter 4). In Unrequited, complex temporal relationships were demonstrated when placing the theme against normative harmonic pacing. Specific tonal markers hold the tonality of the piece together, such as the tonic pedal in Convalescent (chapter 5). This allowed for subsequent improvisations to depart into foreign key areas in the absence of a predetermined chord structure. The Nature of a Style In pointing out the tonal strategies evident in Mehldaus music, I have attempted to uncover idiosyncrasies that align his music with the common practice tradition. In particular, the following techniques were among the most important that I discovered in each piece examined in this study: (1) use of suspensions with keyboard figuration typical of the tonal era (e.g., mordents or trills); (2) linear intervallic patterns of an earlier period (i.e., 105, 710, etc., rather than extended tertian patterns); (3) 76 chains and 5 6 exchanges; (4) chromatic third progressions, requiring enharmonic reinterpretation; (5) melodic turn figures and other idioms suggestive of the tonal era; (6) tonal puns on important melodic pitches; and (7) TPDT tonal cycling. I find it interesting, in light of Blooms theory of influence, that Mehldau embraces a classical tradition of tonal harmony. At one time composers seemed afraid to

211 acknowledge their predecessors. Sometimes composers dismissed any cited influence, classical or modern: they simply wanted to be regarded as unique. Indeed, it is strange (and refreshing) that, by the end of the twentieth-century, Mehldau relates his music to Brahmss.7 Constructing functional harmonic ambiguity, improvising with a sensitivity to voice and register, and manipulating the flow of harmonic events are all hallmarks of a tonal master such as Brahms. No longer worried about the stigma of the tonal era (as it might have been considered to modern composers earlier in the century), Mehldau is instead outspoken against the notion that Bill Evans is an important influence on his style.8 Mehldaus anxiety of influence thus lies instead with his more recent predecessors in American jazz music. Further investigation into this claim will have to wait for a future study. What has emerged from this study is the idea that Western European composers more than a century removed inform his creative space. It is curious that, at the end of the twentieth-century, Mehldau has demonstrated originality by aligning himself with aesthetic and compositional principles from the nineteenth century. Following the post-tonal age that has come to define much music of the twentieth century, could there be a return to tonal procedures in art music, beckoning forth a neotonal age? When looking back in several hundred years, could the post-tonal era of the twentieth century be seen as an historical tangent to an encompassing tonal history?

7. See, for instance, Brad Mehldau, Brahms, Interpretation, and Improvisation, Jazz Times (February 2001), reprinted on Mehldaus website http://www.bradmehldau.com/writing, accessed 22 February 2008. 8. Though one may note the interplay of the trio is rooted in Evanss and Keith Jarretts trios.

212 Mehldaus music suggests to me that tonality is yet to be exhausted, that it is not an outdated craft. A pioneer for the re-awakening of tonality, George Rochberg, foresaw as a source of new possibility the patterns of musical creation that I have come to realize in the music of Brad Mehldau: The cultural mechanism for renewal resides in the courage to use human passion and energy in the direction of what is authentic again and again. The ring of authenticity is more important than the clang of originality. Whatever is authentic about the twentieth century will be preserved, and we need not worry about it. Given the certainty, we can safely leave it alone and get back to the business of writing music without falsely institutionalizing the means we use to produce it. To quote from my notes to the recording of the Third Quartet: I am turning away from what I consider the cultural pathology of my own time toward what can only be called a possibility: that music can be renewed by regaining contact with the tradition and means of the past, to re-emerge as a spiritual force with reactivated powers of melodic thought, rhythmic pulse, and large-scale structure.9

9. George Rochberg, The Aesthetics of Survival: A Composers View of Twentieth-Century Music (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1984), 242.

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Daniel J. Arthurs Education 2011 Indiana University, Ph.D., Music Theory Minor Fields: Music History & Literature, Jazz Studies 2005 Indiana University, M.Mus., Music Theory Cognate: Composition 2003 University of Tulsa, B.Mus., Music Theory, magna cum laude Academic Positions 2010-2011 Instructor of Music Theory and Composition, Eastern Illinois University 2008-2009 Lecturer of Music Theory, Indiana University, Bloomington 2004-2008 Coordinating Associate Instructor, Indiana University, Bloomington 2003-2004 Associate Instructor, Indiana University, Bloomington 2001-2003 Teaching Assistant, University of Tulsa Awards and Honors 2011 Superior evaluation in teaching, Eastern Illinois University 2009-2010 Indiana University Dissertation-Year Fellowship 2003-2008 Indiana University Academic Fellowships 2001-2003 First Prize, Bla Rsza Composition Competition, University of Tulsa 1999-2003 Academic and Music Scholarships, University of Tulsa 2001, 2002 Tulsa Undergraduate Research Challenge 2001 Dennis Bayton Memorial Scholarship (presented by the Tulsa Jazz Society) 1999 Performed at 33rd Annual Montreux Jazz Festival, Montreux, Switzerland Selected Papers 2011 Tonal Motion and the Suspension in Brad Mehldaus Sehnsucht, Music Theory Midwest, University of Nebraska, Lincoln 2009 Reconstructing Tonal Idioms: Temporal Plasticity in Brad Mehldaus Unrequited, Music Theory Conference at the College Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati 2008 Irony and Illusion in the Second Movement of Beethovens Piano Sonata, Op. 101, Music Theory Society of the Mid-Atlantic, Washington, D. C., Library of Congress Publications Review of Miguel Roig-Francol, Understanding Post-Tonal Music, Indiana Theory Review 27, no. 2 (Fall 2009): 187-200. Applying Traditional and Proportional Aspects of Form to Atonal Music, Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy 18 (2004): 1-21. Service 2003-2008 Indiana Theory Review Assistant Editor, Vols. 25-26 (2005-2008) Editorial Review Board (2003-2005)