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Society for Music Theory

Dimensions of Harmonic Rhythm


Author(s): Joseph P. Swain
Source: Music Theory Spectrum, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Spring, 1998), pp. 48-71
Published by: on behalf of the Society for Music Theory
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Dimensions of Harmonic
R h y t h m
Joseph
P. Swain
It is one of t h e more
deligh t f ul paradoxes
t h at a
piece
of
music can h ave an
ut t erly consist ent ,
relent less
pulse
and
y et
give
t h e same
impressions
of rest and
mot ion, pause
and
accelerat ion,
t ension and resolve t h at f reer
rh y t h ms migh t
give.
Consider t h e
opening
of t h e Bach A
Major
Prelude
(WTC II) given
in
Example
1: t h ere is never a moment wh en
an
eigh t h -not e
durat ion is not sounded somewh ere in t h e
t ext ure.
Indeed,
such is not at all unusual: t h ere must be
t h ousands of
composit ions, ch ief ly
in
Baroque st y le
but also
in ot h er
st y les,
t h at could make t h e same
claim, including
most of t h e ot h er
pieces
in t h e t wo volumes of Th e Well-
Tempered
Clavier.1 Yet it is one of t h e
great
ach ievement s
of Bach 's art t h at no sense of const raint at t ends t h is
eigh t h -
not e obsession. On t h e
cont rary ,
t h e
dy namic
of t h e Prelude's
t ensions mocks it s
rh y t h mic unif ormit y .
Wh en t h e dominant
h armony
of t h e second measure moves back t o t h e t onic in
'Bach is t h e t ext book case f or t h is ef f ect .
Maury
Yest on writ es "Th e
consist ent rat e of at t acks in
regular
sixt eent h not es is t h e reason t h at Bach 's
music h as so of t en been used t o illust rat e t h e
principle
t h at a
sequence
of
st eady pulses
must be dif f erent iat ed
by
some ot h er crit erion in order t o creat e
aest h et ically signif icant rh y t h m." Maury Yest on, Th e
St rat if icat ion of
Musical
R h y t h m (New
Haven: Yale
Universit y Press, 1976),
40.
t h e t h ird, t h ere is
barely any
of t h e
expect ed
resolut ion. In-
st ead,
a subt le t ension
begins
t o build over t h e t onic
pedal
sounding t h rough out ,
a sense of
somet h ing
h eld back wh ich
y earns
t o
proceed,
a
power suddenly
loosed in t h e f ourt h
measure int o a brief
glory
t h at
quickly
subsides int o recom-
mencement in t h e dominant
key .
To be
sure,
t h e t h ird bar h as t wo voices
sh aring
t h e
eigh t h -
not e
pulse
f or t h e f irst
t ime;
t h e f ourt h h as it t raded bet ween
t wo voices on
every dot t ed-quart er
beat f or t h e f irst
t ime;
and
t h ere is
somet h ing
about t h e bass line
st art ing
in m.
4,
using
rest s as
part
of it s
melody
f or t h e f irst
t ime,
t h at
implies
f ast er
ch ord
ch anges.
But a lit t le
t inkering,
as
suggest ed
in
Example
2,
t o
put
t h e same f eat ures in t h e
opening
bars
produces
no
ef f ect like
Bach 's;
t h ese
explanat ions
of t h e
paradox
are at
best
part ial,
if not
simplist ic.
And t h e
long
t onic
pedal
in t h e
alt o
(m. 3) h ardly suggest s
t h e t ension t h at seems t o build t h e
longer
t h e not e is h eld.
Crit icism of
Baroque
music h as
languish ed
wit h out an an-
aly t ical t ech nique
f or h armonic
rh y t h m. Virt ually any
music
could
prof it
f rom a bet t er
underst anding
of t h is
complex
ef -
f ect ,
but in t h e case of
Baroque music,
and
perh aps
f or Bach 's
music above
all, t h e underest imat ion of h armonic
rh y t h m
blocks essent ial
underst anding
of t h e
st y le.
Th e musical lan-
guage
t h at evolved in t h e sevent eent h
cent ury depends upon
a consist ent
rh y t h mic pulse-mot or rh y t h m-as
it s ch ief
means of
cont inuit y ,
it s
primary
means of
connect ing
local
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Dimensions of Harmonic
R h y t h m
49
Example
1. J. S. Bach ,
Prelude in A
Major
f rom Th e
Well-Tempered Clavier,
Book
II,
mm. 1-6
I
rI
Text ure
JIJ J~
J
Tm JT3 |
r
Ph enomenal
BassPit ch
J bJ J JJ b| J
R oot 1
J J) J b J);; J.
A EA E A b A c f E
Densit y
R oot 2
I|:~Terf h i
T M f L-
U1rL
r3 m7m T
h lm 6m
m
JrJ
JJ
SbJ
[
Im
JJ- mmm
J~.
f J
dIJ
f l g$ A A g A g A b D A gi A gJ A gJ A bD A
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
0o
A
o.
E
J.
A
Funct ion
J . J J J J
|J J I,
J.
A: I V I V I V I IV V
0.
A: I
J
dlJ
IV V I
I
0.
V
-bJ DJ-;7J.-
V I V V I V
J.
IV
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50 Music
Th eory Spect rum
Example
1
[cont inued]
4ext ur
J
r
STe
7im m
m
\JI*
m m m mm
Ph eno ea
BassPit ch J J J J)
R oot I J J* J17Ji
D b c b
gI
D
J J
71J
7
gi ct E A f l c f b D
J 3 J TJ J
JJ
g E b A b Ag AE B
go
E b A b A
go
E A E B
Densit y
.. . . . .. I I I
R oot 2 J
. J. . J. J. J. J iJ.
D b go A
f t gl A gt A E
Funct ion
A: IV VIV V I I IV I IV V I IV
J.
v I IV I V I V
J. J. IJ. J. J. J.
V I IV V I V
'J.
A: IV
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Dimensions of Harmonic
R h y t h m
51
Example
2. R evision of
Example 1,
mm. 1-2
A M'-
J-
-
-f
bLf
^ , ._
. _ ,
I
st ruct ures and
building percept ible
h ierarch ies wit h t h em.2
Because t h e
primary
element t o
organize
t h at
pulse, along
wit h
met er,
is f unct ional
h armony ,
an
underst anding
of Ba-
roque
h armonic
rh y t h m
amount s t o
not h ing
less t h an an un-
derst anding
of st ruct ures and musical ef f ect s at t h e most ac-
cessible level of t h e
list ening experience.3
Considering
t h e
long
t radit ion of h armonic
t h eory
in t h e
West ,
it is
surprising
t h at t h e
explicit concept
of h armonic
rh y t h m
is but a
h alf -cent ury old,
at t ribut ed t o Walt er Pist on.4
Here is Pist on's def init ion of h armonic
rh y t h m
in t h e 1944
edit ion of t h e Harvard
Dict ionary of
Music:
21 use "musical
language"
not
only
as a
met aph or,
but in t h e t ech nical
sense t h at I describe in Musical
Languages (New
York: Nort on, 1997),
es-
pecially ch apt er
8.
Very brief ly ,
I t ake musical
language
t o be a mode of
h uman
cognit ion,
h eld in common
by
members of a musical
communit y ,
t h at
ent ails an
invent ory
of discret e sounds
(ph onology )
wit h rules of combinat ion
(sy nt ax)
t h at
t oget h er produce ranges
of semant ic ef f ect s wit h in
specif ic prag-
mat ic cont ext s
(genres).
3I use t h e
problemat ic
t erm "st ruct ure" h ere and elsewh ere in t h is
paper
ch ief ly
in it s connot at ion as
"organizat ion,"
as
somet h ing
t h us
responsible
t o
h uman
percept ion
and
cognit ion.
See
Joseph
P. Swain,
"Wh at is Meant
by
'Musical St ruct ure'?" Crit icus Musicus 2/12
(1994):
20-44.
4Mary
Irene Arlin, "Harmonic
R h y t h m
in Select ed
Fugues
f rom Th e
Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I"
(M.
M. t h esis. Indiana
Universit y , 1965),
6.
Th e
rh y t h mic
lif e cont ribut ed t o music
by
means of t h e
underly ing
ch anges
of
h armony .
Th e
pat t ern
of t h e h armonic
rh y t h m
of a
given
piece
of music,
derived
by not ing
t h e root
ch anges
as
t h ey occur,
reveals
import ant
and dist inct ive f eat ures
af f ect ing
t h e
st y le
and
t ext ure. Ch ief of t h ese are t h e
f requency
of t h e h armonic
ch ange,
and t h e
rh y t h mic qualit y
of t h at
ch ange.
It is a
f airly
broad
def init ion, encompassing
not
only
t h e ex-
pect ed
"root
ch anges"
and
"f requency
of h armonic
ch ange,"
but also
"rh y t h mic qualit y ." Clearly , h owever,
t h e
ch ange
of
root was t h e
aspect
of t h e def init ion wit h t h e most immediat e
t ech nical
applicat ion
and relevance in Pist on's own t ext -
books,
as well as in t h e f ew st udies of h armonic
rh y t h m
t h at
h ave
appeared
since t h en.5
Th e lit erat ure of h armonic
rh y t h m
is
small, despit e
t h e
undeniable
signif icance
of Pist on's
insigh t ,
because inh erent
complexit ies
conf ound it s
applicat ion.
Th e t roubles wit h
ot h er kinds of
rh y t h mic analy sis
come t o mind:
bey ond
t h e
list ing
of durat ions and t h eir obvious role in mot ivic con-
st ruct ion,
no one h as f ound a consist ent
sy nt ax
of
durat ions,
per se, except
met er. Th e
t h eory
of met er and it s
percept ion
5See
ch apt er
1 of Arlin, "Harmonic
R h y t h m,"
f or an overview of t h ese
st udies t o 1965.
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52 Music
Th eory Spect rum
h as
encouraged
a
signif icant
lit erat ure
indeed,6
but
alt h ough
h armonic f unct ion is of t en ment ioned as a f act or in est ab-
lish ing
a
met er,
t h e act ual h armonic
rh y t h m
h as f ound no role
in met ric
t h eory . Ironically ,
it is t h e h armonic element t h at
provides
t h e ent ree f or
rh y t h m
int o a more mult i-leveled
sy nt ax.7
But t h e main
problem
t h at h as blocked all
progress
in t h e
analy sis
of h armonic
rh y t h m
is t h e def init ion of a h armonic
event .
Calculat ing
durat ions is a
simple
mat t er,
but wh at are
we t o count as a ch ord?
Th e
applicat ion
of Pist on's
simple f ormula-ch anges
of
root -t o Bach 's Prelude in A
major
runs int o t rouble almost
immediat ely .
Th e f irst measure
present s
no
problems t h rough
t h e f irst
eigh t eigh t h -not e pulses,
but we t h en encount er an
all-t oo-f amiliar
dif f icult y .
Sh all t h e B-D
dy ad
in t h e bass and
alt o on t h e nint h
eigh t h -not e pulse
be considered a new root
ch ange,
wit h a
missing
f if t h ? Th at view would be consist ent
wit h t h e
pat t ern
of
ch anges
t h us
f ar,
but we must t h en
ignore
t h e
soprano (a pedal t one?)
and t h e
dy ad's pat ent
linear
cont inuit y .
Th e
inescapable quest ion,
t o be f aced
again
and
again
in t h is
piece
and t h ousands like
it ,
is: wh at are t h e
rh y t h mic
ef f ect s of st ruct ural versus ornament al
h armony ,
and h ow t o record t h e dif f erence?
Th is leads
direct ly
t o t h e
weigh t ing problem
so f amiliar t o
f ormal t h eorist s. Durat ion alone is
uncomplicat ed:
durat ions
of
single
not es are one-dimensional values and are t h eref ore
6A f ew recent
t h orough going
t reat ment s of t h e
problem
of met er are:
Wallace
Berry ,
St ruct ural Funct ions
of
Music
(Englewood Clif f s, N.J.:
Prent ice-Hall, 1976), ch apt er
3; Fred Lerdah l and
R ay Jackendof f , A Gen-
erat ive
Th eory of
Tonal Music
(Cambridge,
Mass.: MIT Press, 1983), ch apt ers
2 and 4; Joel Lest er, Th e
R h y t h ms of
Tonal Music
(Carbondale
and Ed-
wardsville: Sout h ern Illinois
Univerit y Press, 1986), ch apt ers 3-4; and
William E.
Benjamin,
"A
Th eory
of Musical Met er," Music
Percept ion
1/4
(1984):
355-413.
7In a sense t h at is t h e
approach
carried out in Yest on's
St rat if icat ion of
Musical
R h y t h m,
wh ere Sch enkerian crit eria are used t o abst ract
h igh er
levels
of
rh y t h mic act ivit y .
See
especially ch apt er
3.
commensurat e
by
nat ure. A h alf not e is t wice t h e durat ion
of a
quart er
and t h at is all t h ere is t o it .
Percept ibilit y
does
not ent er int o t h e
quest ion;
it is assumed t h at dif f erent du-
rat ions are
equally comput able.
But h armonies not
only
h ave
lengt h ; t h ey
also h ave
st rengt h
and dif f erent iat ed f unct ion.
Th e f irst t h ree A
major
h armonies in t h e
Prelude,
f or in-
st ance,
all h ave a
quart er-not e lengt h ,
but t h e second is in-
vert ed and t h e t h ird h as t h e lowest bass. Are
t h ey rh y t h mi-
cally equivalent ,
t h en? Th e
concept
of h armonic
rh y t h m
presumes percept ibilit y ,
but h armonic
t h eory
h as
long sup-
posed, t acit ly
or
ot h erwise,
t h at
pit ch
simult aneit ies are not
equally
salient . Wh at t h en of dissonant
ch ords,
such as sev-
ent h s,
or
suspensions?
Does it mat t er t h at a root
ch ange
is
accomplish ed by
t h ree
moving
voices inst ead of one or t wo?
How are t h ese dif f erences t o be reckoned?
Finally ,
t h e h armonic
qualit y
of ch ord f unct ion, it s es-
sent ial
sy nt act ic
role in
ph rasing,
also demands
considerat ion,
cert ainly
in music of t h e
h igh Baroque.
If we discount t h e
weak-beat
passing
t ones f or t h e
moment ,
m. 4 h as a D
major
ch ord on t h e f irst dot t ed
quart er
beat and a b minor on t h e
second. R oot
analy sis
would sh ow a
ch ange,
but f unct ional
analy sis
would sh ow t wo ch ords of subdominant f unct ion.
Can t h ese alt ernat ives be reconciled in one
analy sis?
How
about t h e
pedal
t ones in t h e
opening
t h ree bars? Is t h is ev-
idence of
h igh -level
f unct ion?
In
sh ort ,
a
h armony
in t h e West ern t radit ion h as
mult iple
propert ies
wit h
mult iple
ef f ect s. A
simple
def init ion of h ar-
monic
rh y t h m
as
"pat t ern
of ch ord
ch anges"
is def icient be-
cause it f ails t o
speak
t o t h ose
mult iplicit ies
and
t h ereby
f ails
t o account f or t h e f act t h at a
h armony may ch ange
in some
of it s
propert ies
wh ile
h olding
const ant in ot h ers. If
past
st ud-
ies of h armonic
rh y t h m
seem t o be ch aract erized
by arbit rary
ch oices made in t h e f ace of such
dilemmas,
it is
only
because
t h e t ools of
analy sis
were t oo crude f or t h e
job.
West ern
h armony
is a
complex ph enomenon
wit h
many f acet s,
and it s
h armonic
rh y t h m
calls f or a much f iner dissect ion.
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Dimensions of Harmonic
R h y t h m
53
THE SEVER ALDIMENSIONS OF HAR MONIC R HYTHM
I
propose
t o dif f erent iat e an
analy sis
of h armonic
rh y t h m
along
t h e lines of six h armonic
propert ies,
h ere called di-
mensions. Th is
t axonomy
of h armonic
rh y t h m recognizes
t h e
individual cont ribut ions of root
ch anges
at t h eir several
pos-
sible levels,
of
course,
but also t h e cont ribut ions of h armonic
f unct ion,
t h e bass
voice,
"non-h armonic" t ones and ch ords,
and t h eir relat ions in t h e f ramework of t h e wh ole t ext ure. In
t h is
way , many
of t h e uncomf ort able ch oices f orced
by
a
Pist on-t y pe analy sis
of a work such as t h e Bach Prelude are
avoided,
but not
sidest epped.
Alt ernat ive h armonic values
sh ow
up
at some
place
in t h e
analy sis.
Th e B-D
dy ad
is
recognized
bot h as a "real"
h armony
wit h h armonic f unct ion
and as a melodic
prolongat ion
of an A
major t riad,
each
realit y h aving
it s ef f ect on t h e list ener's
experience.
Th e derivat ion of t h e
analy ses
varies
according
t o t h e na-
t ure of t h e dimension at h and. Some, including
t h e dimen-
sions of
ph enomenal
h armonic
rh y t h m
and bass
pit ch rh y t h m,
proceed
in
st raigh t f orward
f ash ion like an arit h met ical cal-
culat ion;
f ormalized rules could
easily
be writ t en f or
t h em,
if
any one
want s t o. Ot h ers will resist
any
f ormalizat ion t h at
complet ely
excludes
part icular judgment s
because of t h e un-
predict able
and unavoidable ef f ect s of cont ext .8
Since alt ernat ive h armonic values are
represent ed
at dif -
f erent
places
in t h e
analy sis,
t h e f ull benef it of such
repre-
sent at ion obt ains
only
wh en t h e various dimensions are com-
8In f act , t h e
larger
cont ext of t h e crit ical mat t er under
inquiry sh apes
decisively any result ing analy sis.
Some
quest ions may require only
t h e
analy sis
of but one or t wo dimensions, a
part ial pict ure
of t h e h armonic
rh y t h m.
Th e
t ech niques
t h at f ollow are t o a
large
ext ent
separable,
and wh ile it is t rue t h at
t h eir
conjunct ion
allows cert ain kinds of crit ical
int erpret at ions
t h at a less
compreh ensive
view
migh t not , t h ere is no need f or an exh aust ive
analy sis
of
every
dimension if t h e mat t ers under
invest igat ion
do not
require
it . Th e
point
is t o ref lect t h e
complexit y
of t h e
experience
of h armonic
rh y t h m,
it s
mult i-f acet ed real
percept ions,
as t h e basis f or an inf ormed crit icism of t h e
music. Such
complexit y may
not
alway s
be at issue.
pared.
Indeed,
t h e inf ormat ion
given by
cert ain dimensions
could be more
easily
f ound
by
direct
inspect ion
of t h e score.
We sh all
see, h owever,
t h at t h e ef f ort of
drawing
all t h e
dimensions
severally y ields h igh
dividends-an
ent irely
new
view of
poly ph onic
t ext ure
t h at ,
like a
spect rograph ,
sh ows
at a
glance
t h e
dy namics
of
rh y t h mic-h armonic
t ension and
ot h er
relat ionsh ips
in t h e
poly ph ony
t h at would be ot h erwise
h idden.
I. THE R HYTHM OF THE TEXTUR E
Th e f undament al st andard f or
comparing
t h e dimensions
in
any composit ion
is t h e
rh y t h m of
t h e t ext ure.
Th e
rh y t h m
of t h e t ext ure is t h e
pat t ern
of durat ions con-
sist ing
of t h e f ast est
moving rh y t h ms
in
any
voice at
any given
moment . Ot h er t h eorist s h ave called t h is
composit e rh y t h m.9
St rict ly speaking, rh y t h m
of t h e t ext ure is not h armonic
rh y t h m
at
all,
since it
f requent ly h appens
t h at a
h armony
will
be reit erat ed wit h out
ch ange
in
any cont ribut ing voice,
as in
t h e
beginning
of Vivaldi's "Wint er" Concert o
(see Example
3).
It is t h e st andard of
comparison
of all ot h er h armonic
dimensions, h owever,
because it is t h e sum of all
rh y t h mic
act ivit y . Any
new
pit ch
at t ack
regist ers
in t h e
rh y t h m
of t h e
t ext ure.10 In
many Baroque composit ions, part icularly
t h ose
9Joel Lest er discusses t h is
concept
in Th e
R h y t h ms of
Tonal Music, 6.
Wallace
Berry (St ruct ural Funct ions, 204)
uses t h e t erm "t ext ural
rh y t h m"
but
in a more
general way , most ly
t o indicat e t h e ef f ect s of voices
ent ering
and
exit ing
t h e t ext ure.
l?Th is t enet can be derived
logically
once t h e ot h er dimensions of h ar-
monic
rh y t h m
are def ined, as will be seen. I can t h ink of
only
one
possible
except ion:
wh en a consonant or
implied h armony
of unst able f unct ion, such
as a dominant ch ord or dominant
pedal,
is sust ained f or so
long
t h at it
acquires
a local
st abilit y
in t h e list ener's
percept ion.
In t h at case t h ere is indeed a
ch ange
in h armonic f unct ion wit h out
any corresponding ch ange
in t h e t ext ural
rh y t h m.
But not e t h at t h is
ch ange
is unlike
any
ot h er
rh y t h mic ch ange:
be-
cause it is
impossible
t o
ident if y
a
precise
moment wh en t h e
ch ange
t akes
place,
it h as no discret e arit h met ical value, as do all ot h er mat t ers of durat ion.
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54 Music
Th eory Spect rum
Example
3. Ant onio
Vivaldi,
Concert o
Op. 8,
No. 4
"Wint er," I,
mm. 1-12
Ir 'r -r 'Er simile
-A I
A A A A
I.AAAA A..AA .A .- ^ ... * F
iz= rrrr rrrr rrrrrrFrr rrrr rrrr rr r r r FFFFFFFI f - F- T rrrr
^ " -- k -I.I I?
.
I
I I
6L -
I
"'
Text ure
r rrrf r
Ir rrrrlrrrrf rrlrr r rr rrr rrrlrrrrrrr
I
Ph enomenalo
io |o
Jo 0|
?
BassPit ch o
Jo-
I
o
o|
o
R oot I
o |o lo | o |,o |o
?
f e- f
Densit y |
R oot 2 o
[o lo
Lo o
1 o-I
f
Funct ion
o Io Jo
Io,
o Lo
1
f :I V I
o
Lo1 1o
I
Ioo Io? l
I
f : I
--m-----_ .. .......
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .
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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Dimensions of Harmonic
R h y t h m
55
Example
3
[cont inued]
7
Text u re'
f
c'
t
r
f l
I
f r f rrrL
Ph enom. o
I|
o r r
Bass
o
o
Pit ch
R oot ?
|o o I
b~ F G
Densit y , I
R oot o o
, -o
F
Funct ion
co
bf : [I] IV
c
f : IV c: [IV]
V
_ C,o
f : I c: [IV]
O
o
o
f l-
Grr cL=Llr
G c
I . I
0
lo
G
40 1
i: V I
-43- 1
o
I
o
c
Io
I
# CrR rrr rr rUrR r rrr rrrrrrrrr r f LIT-
J-
- - -
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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
56 Music
Th eory Spect rum
of
Bach ,
t h e t ext ural
rh y t h m
will
prove
t o be a st ream of some
const ant
value,
like t h e relent less
eigh t h
not es in t h e A
major
Prelude. Th at is t h e ext reme
expression
of t h e
Baroque sy n-
t ax of mot or
rh y t h m.
Ot h er
composit ions,
of
course,
will h ave
more
variet y .
Wh at ever t h e
case,
t h e
rh y t h m
of t h e t ext ure
is t h e base f rom wh ich t o
compare any
and all of t h e ot h er
dimensions of h armonic
rh y t h m.
2. PHENOMENAL HAR MONIC R HYTHM
Th e A
major
Prelude of Bach not
only
sh ows an at t ack
on
every eigh t h -not e, producing
an ut t er
consist ency
of
pulse,
but also sh ows t h at f or each of t h ose at t acks at least one voice
h as
ch anged pit ch , producing
a new
simult aneit y .
If we
f orget
all about
t y pe
and f unct ion f or a
moment ,
wh at remains of
"h armony "
is t h e f undament al
concept
of t ones
sounding
t oget h er. Any ch ange
in t h at
combinat ion,
wh et h er or not a
dif f erent ch ord is
creat ed,
is a
rh y t h mic
event of h armonic
aspect ,
t h e dimension of
ph enomenal
h armonic
rh y t h m.
Bach
h as
coupled
h is mot oric t ext ure wit h an
equally
mot oric
ph e-
nomenal h armonic
rh y t h m,
not at all an
inf requent
f eat ure
of h is
art ,
and never one t o be underest imat ed.
Th e
analy sis
of t h is dimension involves
import ant
deci-
sions bet ween
pit ch
and
pit ch -class
orient at ions. In t h e
passage
f rom t h e "Et in unam sanct am" aria f rom Bach 's B
Minor Mass sh own in
Example
4,
f or
inst ance,
sh all we count
t h e second and t h ird
eigh t h -not e
combinat ions of m. 4 as a
single quart er-not e
durat ion because t h e t h ird is
just
a re-
ordering
of t h e
pit ch -classes
of t h e
second,
or sh all we view
t h em as t wo dist inct vert ical
ph enomena
because
t h ey
are
clearly
dist inct set s of
pit ch es?
In
my
own
analy ses
I h ave
t aken a st rict "ident ical
pit ch es only " approach , ruling
out
simple
oct ave
t ransposit ions
as ident it ies. Th ere is t oo much
evidence of t h e
percept ual
dif f erences made
by
oct ave t rans-
posit ions
t o
ignore, despit e
t h e undeniable role of oct ave
equivalence
in most west ern
sy nt axes.1' Besides,
t h is
equiv-
alence,
and t h e
pit ch -class
orient at ion in
general,
can be re-
f lect ed in t h e dimension of root h armonic
rh y t h m
lat er on.
Th at is one of t h e virt ues of t h is
t axonomy :
t h e loss of a
cert ain h armonic
aspect
in one dimension can be rest ored in
anot h er.
Once t h e decision about
pit ch
classes is
made,
t h e
analy sis
of
ph enomenal
h armonic
rh y t h m
is
complet ely st raigh t f or-
ward:
simply
record
every
durat ion of
every
vert ical com-
binat ion. A
glance
at t h e
analy sis
of t h e
excerpt
f rom Vi-
valdi's "Wint er" Concert o sh own in
Example
3 sh ows t h at
t h ere can be enormous dif f erences bet ween t h e
rh y t h m
of t h e
t ext ure and t h e
ph enomenal
h armonic
rh y t h m
and t h e root
ch anges bey ond.
In
Bach ,
it is of t en t h e case t h at bot h t ex-
t ural
rh y t h m
and
ph enomenal
h armonic
rh y t h m
are so con-
sist ent ,
and of t en
ident ical,
t h at
combining
t h em in one
graph
is best f or visual
clarit y -as
I h ave done in
Examples
1 and
4-so
long
as
t h ey
are not
f orgot t en
wh en
int erpret ing
t h e
annot at ions.
3. BASS PITCH R HYTHM
Th eorist s h ave
long recognized
t h at t h e bass voice exer-
cises more inf luence on t h e
propert ies
of a ch ord t h an
any
ot h er, t h ough
it is not
necessarily
t h e ch ord root .12 One f a-
mous reason f or
dist inguish ing
bet ween t h e bass voice and
root movement is t h at in so
doing
t h e bass is able t o maint ain
it s own melodic
int egrit y .
But anot h er reason is t h at t h e bass
est ablish es a dimension of h armonic
act ivit y
dist inct f rom
st rict root movement .
"Th e lit erat ure on t h is
subject
is enormous. For a review of some of it ,
see David But ler, Th e Musician's Guide t o
Percept ion
and
Cognit ion (New
York: Sch irmer, 1992) ch apt er
7; and W.
Jay Dowling
and Dane Harwood,
Music
Cognit ion (New
York: Academic Press, 1986), ch apt ers
5-6.
'2Joel Lest er, Composit ional Th eory in t h e
Eigh t eent h Cent ury (Cam-
bridge:
Harvard
Universit y Press, 1992),
25.
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Dimensions of Harmonic
R h y t h m
57
Example
4. J. S. Bach ,
Mass in B
Minor,
"Et in unam
sanct am,"
mm. 1-13
. L >r^ m
>
r
nr1 nrTr P-~ r7w-1
"
I.1
--7 l Im
\r
I r
6ot bw
I
\I
r I r
'm JlJ' IJ-M' -J' I''- Iz- m Im-r m
-n' Im I
A
g# -AE
A
g# -
A
J
J
b
I lJ
mJ h lr'j
A1j.
J
JIJ.
J
E A b E A g# -
,,J=_ ...J I,'J 7
A E c# g# c# g# A A E c#
g#
c#
g#
A
Densit y
I I I
R oot 2 J
_
J
|
J.
A g# - A
Funct ion
J3
J J)| J)
A:IIV I V I
AJ.
L
A: I
I I II I I II i.......
J
EAU
J
AJ.
J
A
J.
b EA b E A g# - A E
IJ.
c#
J.
E
I A:V I VE:[I]
J, J ,
I
E: I IV V I V I
J
A
1J.
J
AJ.
J.
IJ:.
J
h i;J
IJ
IV V I IV V I V "' E: I V IV V
d. i Jl
Text ure
Ph enomena
Bss
pit ch
R oot I
I~~~~~~~- .-- j
MLt
y l7J3' jTj->j
~-JTMJt e
JJ<
~! ii+;
~
-
rt l
b
!,-,.j
J 'J Ai J-. I M
r-
R P'# # XD J Wir MJ 5r
M
J
- d7 I
d# - E d# - E
7 $ 7
A J)J
A d# -E
I
A: V
IV V I
IV
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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
58 Music
Th eory Spect rum
Example
4
[cont inued]
8
Text ure
:7 :n
Jm
Ph enomenal
Bass
pit ch J c f
I
m
B
R oot I J A f J - BJ
A c# f # d# - B
mm r- Jm
m m,
I,
m ;
7-
7
J
7
|J
j.
Il
r,
IJ.
E A d# -E B E c#
7
J
| 1
J
7
J
*
IJ J,
J. I
d_ m ,lJ.
E Ad# - E BE
Densit y ,, i * i
R oot 2 J. J. IJ.
,
. iJ. . . I J. J. I . . I J.
A f # B E A B c# E A B E
iIVV
I v I
I
IVI
lIV
v r1 v I
I
I
J
.
.
I.
IJ I
.
V I I V V I V
J.
IJ
V I
Funct ion
A: I
J.
E: IV
nE:VV
JE:
VIV
VI
/ ..~ h # n,..--, iX ._ I_
_ I
I1
1-
1
r jr
-_ I
rJ
L
J
J
'Sj'^ ^
r
^ r ^ r
Aj IJ I Jo
gr
-
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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Dimensions of Harmonic
R h y t h m
59
Example
5. Giocch ino
R ossini,
II Barbiere di
Siviglia,
"La
Calunnia,"
mm. 42-45
42 BASILIO
4 - 1t n^ TT F
-
I
Dal-la boc-ca f uo-ri u- scen-do
\as~zr-i np
a
7 _ _ _
Th e dimension of bass
pit ch rh y t h m recognizes
t h e
psy -
ch ological signif icance
of mot ion in t h e bass voice.
Simply
put , any ch ange
in t h e bass not e
suggest s
a
ch ange
in t h e
h armony .13
Th is is
somet h ing bey ond
t h e
ph enomenal,
of t en
independent
of root
ch anges.
Th is ef f ect is
perh aps
best
h eard in a
rapid
alt ernat ion of ch ord f act ors
sounding
under
a
single h armony ,
such as
degrees
1 and S under a t onic or
I and S under a
dominant ; Example 5,
f rom music of
R ossini,
demonst rat es. Endless use of such a
t ech nique may
be f ound
in
ninet eent h -cent ury
It alian
opera arias,
in
piano rags
wit h
t h eir
st riding
lef t
h and,
and in much salon music. It is
prob-
ably
no coincidence t h at
examples
f rom t h e ninet eent h -
cent ury
most
easily
come t o
mind,
f or such a bass allowed
composers
t o simulat e a h armonic
rh y t h m
wh ile
maint aining
in t h e act ual root movement t h e slower mot ion so
import ant
t o t h e R omant ic musical
language.
13R oger
Sessions seems t o
agree:
"In individual inst ances, it is t rue, a
ch ange
of
posit ion may
somet imes become
rh y t h mically equivalent
t o a real
h armonic
ch ange; generally
wh en t h is is t rue it is t h e result of a
st riking skip
in t h e bass, or of some ot h er kind of
vigorous cont rapunt al
movement ."
R oger
Sessions, Harmonic Pract ice
(New
York: Harcourt , Brace and
Company ,
1951),
79.
Once
again
t h e issue of
pit ch
versus
pit ch
class
arises,
now
wit h
part icular
relevance due t o t h e
f requency
of oct ave
leaps.
Are t h e oct ave E's in m. 2 of t h e A
major
Prelude
(Example 1)
t o be
regarded
as a cumulat ive
eigh t -beat
not e
or not ?
Again,
I
pref er
t h e st rict
int erpret at ion
of
pit ch es,
not
pit ch classes,
and f or much t h e same reasons as bef ore.
To
argue
ot h erwise would be t ant amount t o
accept ing
t h at
t h e f ive E's could be in t h e same oct ave wit h out delet erious
ef f ect s.
"Wh at is t h e bass voice?" is a more t icklish
quest ion.
Here
t h e
easy way
out - "t h e lowest
sounding pit ch "
-is t h e
wrong
way
out . Th e not ion of "bass voice" invokes a
sy mbolism
t h at ,
like
h armony it self ,
encompasses
a number of dif f erent
aspect s.
One of t h ese is it s associat ion wit h a
specif ic range,
of t en wit h a
specif ic inst rument ,
t h at ident if ies it as a
special
melody
wit h
special
f unct ions in t h e t ext ure. Th e bass is
perf ect ly capable
of
dropping
out of t h at
t ext ure,
and in
f act ,
t h at exit and
subsequent
re-ent rance can creat e
signif icant
rh y t h mic
art iculat ions f or t h e t ext ure as a wh ole. It would be
quit e silly
t o look f or bass
pit ch es among
t h e oboes d'amore
wh en t h e cont inuo is
rest ing
in mm. 6 and 7 of "Et in unam
sanct am"
(Example 4), just
t o f ash ion a smoot h
cont inuit y
wit h wh at
precedes.
On t h e
cont rary ,
t h e absence of t h e bass
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60 Music
Th eory Spect rum
allows t h e oboes' cont ramet ric
progressions
t o become a kind
of
insert ion,
a f unct ional
parent h esis
wit h in t h e h armonic
cont inuit y
of t h e real
bass, barely
maint ained
by
it s almost
insouciant
int errupt ion
on t h e downbeat of m. 7. It is a de-
ligh t f ul
means of
producing rh y t h mic variet y
wit h in an un-
f lagging
st ream of
eigh t h s.
So t h e
analy st
must answer t h e
quest ion
"wh at is t h e bass?" wit h sensit ive considerat ion
of t h e cont ext . Somet imes t h e answer is not uncont roversial.
Is t h e bass st ill a bass wh en it
leaps
an oct ave in t h e t h ird
measure of t h e A
major
Prelude and
begins
t o sh adow t h e
soprano's melody
a t ent h below?
Once t h e bass voice h as been
isolat ed,
derivat ion of t h e
bass
pit ch rh y t h m
is
quit e simple,
as
long
as t wo
t h ings
are
remembered. One is t h at t h e
graph
sh ows t h e
rh y t h m
of t h e
bass
pit ch es,
not
necessarily
t h e individual bass
not es;
wh en
t h e bass voice does
repeat
an exact
pit ch ,
as in m. 2 of t h e
Prelude,
t h e durat ional values of t h e
repeat ed pit ch es
are t ied
t oget h er.
Th e ot h er is
t h at ,
because t h e bass can
drop
out of
t h e
t ext ure,
rest s f ind t h eir
righ t f ul place
in t h e
graph ,
t oo.
Cognit ive
ret ent ions of root
ident it y
and h armonic f unct ion
are
recognized
in ot h er dimensions.
4.
HAR MONIC R OOT/QUALITY
R HYTHM
It is
principally
t h e root
ch anges
t h at int erest ed Walt er
Pist on.14 His
analy t ical sy mbols
are t h e t radit ional R oman
numerals,
wh ich
ident if y
t h e root in t h e cont ext of an es-
t ablish ed
key ,
of course,
but
t h ey
also h int at t h e h armonic
14Again R oger
Sessions
essent ially agrees: "By 'ch anges
of
h armony ' is,
of course, meant
ch anges
wh ich involve real h armonic cont rast -t h at is,
ch anges
of root . A mere
ch ange
of
posit ion,
or a
progression
wh ich includes
only
dif f erent inversions of t h e same root ch ord, involves movement of a
dif f erent
t y pe" (ibid.).
I h ave t ried t o account f or h is second
t y pe
wit h
my
dimension of bass
pit ch rh y t h m.
aspect
of f unct ion. Funct ion is
clearly
relat ed t o
root ,
but is
just
as
clearly
a
separable
mat t er.15
Since t h e
general st rat egy
h ere is t o
compreh end
t h e var-
ious h armonic
aspect s by t easing
t h em
apart ,
h armonic f unc-
t ion,
a
complex
mat t er wit h it s own levels of
art iculat ion,
is
lef t f or anot h er dimension. Th is is a
great simplif icat ion;
it
obviat es
any
need t o declare t h e
key
in ef f ect and relat e t riad
root s t o it . Th e dimension of
root lqualit y
h armonic
rh y t h m
indicat es but t wo
aspect s
of
any
ch ord: it s root and it s t riad
qualit y (major, minor, diminish ed,
or
augment ed). R ecog-
nizing
t h e t riad
qualit y
is
quit e
essent ial: a
ch ange
in t h e t h ird
f act or of a sust ained t riad can h ave t remendous
ef f ect , t h ough
t h ere is no
ch ange
of root . Each durat ional
sy mbol
in t h is line
of
my examples
is
accompanied only by
a
simple
indicat ion
of t h e root
pit ch
wit h a
sign
f or
qualit y : upper
case if t h e t riad
is
major,
lower case if
minor,
an added
plus sign (+)
if
augment ed,
or an added minus
sign (-)
if diminish ed.
In t h e
analy ses present ed
h ere it h as not been
necessary
t o add sevent h s or
h igh er
f act ors.
(Th e
addit ion of a sevent h
may
of course
ch ange
t h e h armonic
f unct ion,
and t h at is so
indicat ed in anot h er
dimension.) However,
in some musical
languages
t h e
qualit y
of t h e sevent h const it ut es
import ant
rh y t h mic art iculat ions,
and t h e
sy mbolic
not at ion would h ave
t o be
amplif ied
t o indicat e t h em.
It is
rarely
in t h e
Baroque composer's
int erest t o
disguise
t h e
ident it y
of a
root ,
but in lat er musical
languages ambiguit y
h as
powerf ul expressive pot ent ial.
To a
great
ext ent ,
graph ing
t h e f orce of
clarit y
in t h e arrival of a new
h armony
is
given
'5Th ey
are not
ent irely separable,
of course, nor does a decision about
root
necessarily precede
one about f unct ion. As I
argue
in
ch apt er
4 of Musical
Languages,
circular or f eedback relat ions are inevit able
consequences
of
per-
cept ual sy st ems. My
decision t o record t h e last
eigh t h -not e
beat of m. 1 in
t h e Bach Prelude as a root
ch ange
is based
part ly
on
my h earing
t h at ch ord
as a weak subdominant f unct ion t h at
proceeds
t o a
st rong
dominant . Th ere
is
not h ing
t o
apologize
f or in
ent ert aining
such cross inf luences; t h ey
are
part
of crit ical
judgment .
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Dimensions of Harmonic
R h y t h m
61
over t o ot h er dimensions of h armonic
rh y t h m
st ill t o come--
densit y
and h armonic f unct ion-but even in
Baroque
music
t h e mat t er of
ident if y ing
root s
may
arise in cases of
single
pit ch es
and
monoph onic
lines. Th ere is no
all-purpose
rule.
In one
case,
such as t h e f irst f our not es of "Et in unam
sanct am"
(Example 4),
t h e
analy st may judge t h at , t h ough
no t riads are
sounded,
t h e
sy mbolic import
of scale
degrees
i, 7,
and S is
st rong enough
t o elicit f amiliar h armonic
pro-
gressions
on at least one and
perh aps
t wo levels. In ot h er
cases,
an
unaccompanied
not e
may clearly
cont inue t h e t riad
last
sounded;
t h is would need t o be ref lect ed in t h e durat ional
sy mbol
f or t h at t riad. In
y et ot h ers,
t h ere
may
be no t riadic
implicat ion
at
all, part icularly
in
analy ses
of non-t onal
music;
t h is dimension t h en
drops
out of t h e
graph
and we f all back
on t h e t ext ural and
ph enomenal
h armonic
rh y t h ms.
Baroque music, h owever, cert ainly
h as it s sh are of am-
biguit ies regarding
wh at will count as a "real"
t riad, including
all t h e at t endant mat t ers of
inversions,
t h eir relat ive
weigh t s,
and so on. Some of t h ese
complexit ies
are solved
by repre-
sent ing
t h eir ef f ect s in ot h er
dimensions;
ot h ers are
expressed
by graph ing root /qualit y ch anges
on more t h an one level. In
t h e f irst measure of
my analy sis
of t h e A
major
Prelude in
Example 1,
f or
inst ance,
t h e f irst level of
root /qualit y ch ange
(R oot 1)
sh ows movement
by quart er
and
eigh t h
not e and
includes
any h armony
t h at is sounded and
spelled
as an au-
dible t riad. Th e second level
(R oot 2)
views t h at ent ire mea-
sure as a
prolongat ion
of a
single
A
major h armony , graph ed
as a dot t ed wh ole
not e,
t h e
lengt h
of t h e measure. Th us we
capt ure
t h e af orement ioned B-D
dy ad
wit h in t h e t h ird beat
as bot h a "real"
t riad,
wit h
palpable
f unct ion t o be
graph ed
lat er
on,
and as melodic elaborat ion of a
governing
A
major
t riad.
Th is f amiliar
solut ion,
of
course, brings
wit h it a f amiliar
problem: est ablish ing
t h e crit eria f or h ierarch ical
analy sis.
Af t er more t h an a h alf
cent ury
of
cont roversy
and
experiment
over t h is
point ,
t h ere is
cert ainly
no def init ive solut ion h ere.
In t h ese
analy ses
I
adopt
but t wo
guiding principles:
con-
sist ency
of
t reat ment ,
and
audibilit y
of t h e
h ierarch y imag-
ined.
Consist ency simply
means
making
t h e same decisions
in similar sit uat ions.
Treat ing
t h e B-D
dy ad
as a real t riad
on t h e f irst level in m. 1
implies
t h at similar
dy ads
are
similarly
t reat ed in measures t h at f ollow. Of
course,
t h e
principle
is
h ardly ironclad; ch anging
cont ext will h ave it s
way .
Th us t h e
t est of
audibilit y .
Mult i-level
graph ing implies
t h at a
passage
can be h eard or
imagined
in
mult iple modes, generally
as
melodic
prolongat ions
of a
root ,
at t h e same
t ime,
each mode
ref lect ed in a level of t h e
graph .
Th is
working
rule
implies
t h at t h e number of levels
may ch ange
in t h e course of an
analy sis,
as t h e t ext ure and h armonic
procedures ch ange,
and
t h ere is
cert ainly
no
prescript ion
f or a cert ain number of
levels t h at one must
h ave,
as such
prescript ions
of t en f ab-
ricat e st ruct ures wh ere none can be h eard.16 So a
complex
piece
like a
prelude
or an aria of Bach
may present mult iple
root st ruct ures as a mat t er of
course,
wh ile a
simpler
con-
cept ion
such as t h e ch orale sh own in
Example
6 calls f or but
one level of
root /qualit y ch ange.
Th is is
not h ing
more t h an
a common-sense ref lect ion of t h e f act t h at musical t ext ure
may
be
simple
as well as
complex.
Th e
part iculars
of t h e
h ierarch y
arise f rom t h e
part iculars
of t h e
composit ion
at h and. Hear h ow
caref ully
Bach insist s
upon
t h e
cognit ive realit y
of t h e f irst level of
root /qualit y
ch ange
in t h e
opening
of h is Prelude. Th ere are
only
t wo
voices,
but t h e h armonic ident it ies are
absolut ely
clear. Not h -
ing suggest s
t h at
any
t one is not a
f ully f unct ioning
t riad f act or
unt il t h e sevent h
beat , wh en t h e
soprano begins
t o
acquire
a
pedal qualit y ,
and wh en some
pit ch es
in t h e lower voices
begin
t o t ake on more ambivalent f unct ions. But
by t h en,
even as t h e
h igh er
level becomes
subst ant ial,
it is much t oo
16For a more f ormal t reat ment of h ierarch ical h armonic
rh y t h m
t h at
does ext end t o
quit e
abst ract levels, see Lerdah l and
Jackendof f , Generat ive
Th eory , ch apt er
11.
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62 Music
Th eory Spect rum
Example
6. Ch orale Herr
Got t ,
Dich Loben Allen Wir f rom t h e Genevan Psalt er
(1551)
0~ ?~. I:J W-
' 801
O
::O 8 J d::y ' loF%er0oI
88~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~4
.
'
I
,
Text ure o
Io
o
Io
Io
I
Ph enom.
I
J J 1o
o o o
o1
Bass pit ch o J J J
I
o o o o
R oot 1 eJ
| bo
0
L
G D e b e D G
I I .
J J J
oI
o o I I J Jloolo
J J
Jl
oo
lo
o
IH
J
Iooloo
J J Joo o o
IJ
J J
I?o
olo
J
Joolo
IoI lJ
J J
JI
D e C G D e DGD G C f # - G
o j J J J J jo
o J JJ J Jo o
o J J J J o o0
D Ge D af # -G D G
I I I I I I II I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
I
Jo
I V I
Ir
o
IV
I
io
o J J
Ii V I
o
io? o4o
V I
J
J
J
I V I
o
0j
o
o
JoJo.
oolo
IV I V IV V I IV V I
JJJJo
IV V IVV
o J 0. 0 o
V I IV V
lat e t o
quest ion
t h e
int egrit y
of t h e f irst level. Th at is
wh y
Bach can
compose
t h e second bar in a much dif f erent
way ,
t h e oct ave
leaps
in t h e bass
nearly causing
t h e f irst level t o
meld wit h t h e
second, only
t o break f ree
again
in t h e t h ird
bar. Th is is but a
glimpse
of t h e kind of
soph ist icat ed rh y t h mic
art iculat ion t o be revealed wh en we allow h armonic st ruc-
t ures t o come in and out of f ocus in
analy sis.
5.
R OOT CHANGE DENSITY
It seems a t ruism t o
say
t h at h armonic
ch anges
can be
emph at ic
or
subt le,
unmist akable or
barely not iceable,
and
y et previous analy ses
of h armonic
rh y t h m
h ave communi-
cat ed
only
t h e f act of
ch ange
wit h out
indicat ing
t h e salience
of t h at
ch ange.
In music af t er t h e
Baroque, emph asizing
an
import ant
h armonic
ch ange
can be as
simple
as
bringing
in
t h e f ull orch est ra or
crash ing
down on t h e
piano key board-
any
kind of
dy namic
cont rast will do. But
passages
of earlier
music of t en
go
a
long way
wit h out
ch anging dy namics
or
t ext ure t o
any signif icant degree, making
t h e
weigh t ing
of
h armonic
ch anges
more
dependent
on subt ler f orces. We ac-
count f or t h ese subt let ies in t h e dimension of root
ch ange
densit y .
R oot
ch ange densit y
is
simply
t h e number of voices t h at
ef f ect a
ch ange
of root .17 Ot h er crit eria could be considered
-
17Yest on discusses t h e
"densit y
of simult aneous at t acks or t h e
densit y
of
simult aneous
pat t erns" (St rat if icat ion of
Musical
R h y t h m, 46),
and ot h er writ -
Densit y
Funct ion
o
I
ol,J
I
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Dimensions of Harmonic
R h y t h m
63
inst rument at ion,
f or
example-but
I h ave f ound t h at t h e
number of
cont rapunt al
voices in t h e t ext ure
gives
t h e most
f ait h f ul ref lect ion of t h e ef f ect of
marking
h armonic
ch anges.
In t h e A
major Prelude,
f ull of
pedals
and
suspensions,
Bach
generally
avoids t h e maximum of t h ree-voiced root
ch anges
unt il h e leads int o t h e modulat ion in m. 5. It is as if t h at
progression,
at
sigh t rh y t h mically
unremarkable,
must be sin-
gled
out f or
special emph asis,
t h us
cont ribut ing
t o t h e sense
of recommencement in m. 6.
Wh en a root
ch ange
arrives wit h less t h an maximal den-
sit y ,
t h ere is eit h er a common t one h eld over f rom t h e last
t riad,
a
st rong-beat
dissonance such as a
suspension
or
ap-
poggiat ura,
or,
as in t h e
Prelude, pedal
t ones. But wh at about
dissonance?
Surely
it could be
argued
t h at a dissonant t one
lends salience t o a root
ch ange
wit h at least as much
power
as a
consonant ,
albeit new t one does.
Th ere
is, h owever,
a t rade-of f in t h is
mat t er,
f or salience
is as much a
product
of
cert aint y
about t h e
ident it y
of t h e new
root as of
ph enomenal emph asis
on it s arrival.
Any
disso-
nance,
wh et h er
arising
f rom ch ord sevent h s or h armonic
f igurat ion, necessarily
makes t h e
ident it y
of t h e ch ord less
explicit ,
since it
present s
t h e
possibilit y
of anot h er root in-
t erpret at ion
wit h t h e dissonant not e it self
being
a t riad mem-
ber. On t h e downbeat of m. 6 in Bach 's
Prelude,
f or
example,
eit h er not e in t h e acoust ic dissonance A-B could t urn out t o
be a ch ord t one
upon
resolut ion: t h e
result ing
t riad could be
A
major
if t h e B resolves
upward,
in wh ich case t h ere would
be no root
ch ange
f rom t h e
previous
beat , or E
major,
t h e
one
act ually
inst ant iat ed wh en t h e A resolves downward.
Indeed, any
dissonant combinat ion of t ones allows at least
ers h ave addressed t h e issue, but not , t o
my knowledge,
wit h t h e
specif ic
h armonic
applicat ion
and def init ion t h at is h as h ere. Lest er comes closest
wh en h e writ es "One
t y pe
of t ext ural accent is caused
by
at t acks in
many
or
all voices of a t ext ure. Th ese
point s
of
densit y
are accent ed in relat ion t o t h ose
point s
at wh ich
only
one or a f ew voices h ave at t acks"
(Th e R h y t h ms of
Tonal
Music, 29).
one ot h er
int erpret at ion
of t h e root :
obscurit y
of
ident it y
t akes
away
f rom wh at acoust ic h arsh ness would
emph asize.
Th e immense
complicat ions
of
weigh t ing
dissonance
(f or
in-
st ance,
are sevent h s above t h e root "real"
dissonances?),
h ave
persuaded
me t o leave t h is issue t o be ref lect ed in t h e
comparison
of root
ch anges
wit h t h e
ph enomenal dimension,
wh ere all
cont ribut ing pit ch es get
t h eir due.
A number of not at ions could indicat e root
ch ange densit y ,
including
numerals. A musical st af f calibrat es t h e bar graph
I use in
my analy ses.
If
only
one voice est ablish es a new
h armony ,
no mark is made. If t wo voices est ablish a new
h armony ,
a bar ext ends
up
t o t h e second
line;
f or t h ree
voices,
it ext ends t o t h e t h ird
line,
and so on. Th e
pat t ern
of t h e bars sh ows t h e t rends at a
glance.
Th is view is
generally
t h e most
inf ormat ive,
f or one can t oo
easily
read t oo much
int o local
densit y
f luct uat ions. R oot
ch anges by
t h e int erval
of a second
obviously
h ave a
h igh er probabilit y
of
relat ively
h igh densit y
because t h ere are no common t ones.
St ill,
sus-
pensions
can
alway s
reduce root
ch ange densit y ,
and t h ere
are
plent y
of inst ances wh ere more voices move t h an would
be
absolut ely necessary
t o ef f ect t h e new root . Th e
endings
of Bach
f ugues
come t o
mind,
wh ere t h e
composer
of t en
abandons a smoot h er t ext ure of sust ained t ones f or a climax
of dense h armonic
rh y t h m. Example
7 sh ows t h ree such end-
ings.
Densit y ,
it
seems,
is a means of
amplif y ing
or
at t enuat ing
t h e h armonic ef f ect s
produced by
root mot ions and t h eir
f unct ions,
a kind of volume cont rol on h armonic
rh y t h m
t h at act s in t wo
explicit
dimensions wit h in it self :
st rengt h ,
sh own
by
t h e
h eigh t
of t h e
bars,
and
pace,
sh own
by
t h e
placement
of t h e bars wit h in t h e normal
rh y t h mic
not at ional
graph .
In t h e
densit y graph
of t h e Prelude
(Example 1),
wh at
st ands out is t h e
consist ency
of t h e
st rengt h
of t h e root
ch anges-all
made
by
t wo voices save t h e alt o ent rance in m.
1-and t h e accelerat ion in m. 3. It is curious t h at in t h e "Et
in unam sanct am" rit ornello
(Example 4)
t h e
densit y
of t h e
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64 Music
Th eory Spect rum
Example
7. J. S.
Bach ,
conclusions t o
f ugues
f rom Th e
Well-Tempered Clavier,
Book I:
Ct major;
D
minor; D# minor
,,.. r 19 I d "I '
IR ~ ~ ~ ~ I
a J
.n..
_
- 6
s 1Z n
n
Jb
;
Text ure
JJJ JT
|
JJ J J J
Ph enomenal
Bass pit ch J c It G CJ
R oot i J IJ n J
Gt Ci dl GO C
JTJJJJJI J. JJT *r JInJ
J. IJ.
:J7J J J.
d De-D e- D
d7n f J7gt IJ
dl f -gl a?gl
b -cx-d I A
. I I I .11 I I I I 1.111 I I I I
progression
declines
radically
as t h e cadence is
approach ed.
Th is comes of Bach 's reduct ion of t h e t wo
independent
oboes
d'amore int o a
single
voice. It is as if h e want s t o undermine
t h is cadence even as h e is
making
it . Th is
passage
recurs six
more t imes in t h e
aria,
and t h e t reat ment of t h e oboes is t h e
same in all but
t wo,
in wh ich
t h ey
are rest ored t o
indepen-
dence, doubling
t h e
densit y
of t h e cadent ial
approach :
one
is a cadence in E
major (mm. 58-60)
at t h e aria's
midpoint
and t h e ot h er is t h e last cadence of t h e
piece. Surely
t h e
h igh ligh t ing
ef f ect of h armonic
densit y
cont ribut es t o t h e
h igh -level
art iculat ion of t h e aria's f orm.
6. HAR MONIC FUNCTION
Insof ar as f unct ional
h armony , perh aps
more t h an
any
ot h er h armonic
aspect ,
art iculat es t h e ebb and f low of musical
t ension t h at is essent ial t o
any
musical
sy nt ax,
t h e dimension
of h armonic
f unct ion
most
f ait h f ully
addresses t h e
sh ape
of
a
ph rase
in t radit ional musical
languages.
For
Pist on,
f unct ion
is t ied t o root
ident it y
and it s movement . Th at
view, h owever,
requires int erpret ing
t h e
sy nt act ic
roles of t h e root s wh ile
simult aneously observing
t h eir movement . But f unct ion is not
sy nony mous
wit h root
ident it y :
it of t en
proceeds
at a dif f erent
Densit y
i
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Dimensions of Harmonic
R h y t h m
65
pace
and deserves a
separat e analy sis
t h at can t h en be com-
pared
wit h an
analy sis
of
pure
root movement .
Th e dist inct ion is
clearly display ed
in t h e f ourt h measure
of t h e Bach Prelude
(Example 1).
R oot movement s on bot h
lower and
h igh er
levels
(R oot
1 and R oot 2 in t h e
example)
are
evenly paced, ref lect ing
t h e inexorable drive of Bach 's
count erpoint .
But t h e movement of h armonic
f unct ions,
de-
pict ed
at t h e bot t om of t h e
ch art ,
is much more
varied,
re-
vealing
an
exquisit e
t ension in Bach 's ch oice of h armonies
t h at
gives
t h e
impression
of a
composit ional
f reedom bound
up
in t h e
clearest ,
most
orderly pat t erns.
Th e f unct ions are
Hugo
R iemann's: t h e st able t onic
(I);
t h e
mobile,
t ense dom-
inant
(V);
and t h e
mediat ing
subdominant
(IV). Th ey
are
assigned by considering
t h e t radit ional associat ions of root
wit h R iemann's f unct ions in
conjunct ion
wit h cont ext ual f ac-
t ors such as ch ord
disposit ion,
met ric
st rengt h , durat ion,
po-
sit ion in t h e
ph rase,
and so on.
Th e
analy sis
of levels of h armonic
f unct ion,
wh ile anal-
ogous
t o t h at of root
movement ,
is
signif icant ly
more com-
plex.
An
analogy
wit h
sy nt act ic embedding
in
language
is
appropriat e.18
Wh en we claim t h at t h e second
h armony
of t h e
A
major
Prelude h as a dominant f unct ion on one level and
is cont ained in t h e t onic f unct ion on
anot h er,
we t read close
t o
cont radict ion; y et
t h at is wh at
h appens
in
speech percep-
t ion,
and f luent list eners can
easily accept
a
dualit y
of f unct ion
f or t h at sound in Bach 's f irst measure. In addit ion t o em-
bedding, h owever,
t h ere is a dist inct h ierarch ical
relat ionsh ip
called
parent h esis,
as
suggest ed
in mm. 6 and 7 of t h e "Et in
unam sanct am"
rit ornello,
h igh ligh t ed
wit h vert ical bracket s
in
Example
4
(t h e
h orizont al bracket s sh ow discont inuous
embedded
f unct ions).
In
parent h esis
t h e
progress
of h ar-
monic
sy nt ax
is
act ually suspended
wh ile anot h er unrelat ed
'8Such
analogies
of
sy nt act ic embedding
h ave been described
by
Allan
Keiler, "Th e
Sy nt ax
of
Prolongat ion I," In
Th eory Only
3/5
(1977): 3-27, and
Lerdah l and Jackendof f , Generat ive
Th eory .
ph rase
is insert ed. Wh en t h e
parent h esis
is
f inish ed, t h e su-
perordinat e sy nt ax
resumes. Th e connect ions bet ween t h e
f unct ions of t h e main
ph rase--IV
in m.
6,
V and IV in m.
7-are real and
direct ;
wh at is insert ed is
int egral only
t o
it self . Th at is
wh y
t h e
rh y t h mic
values do not f ill t h e measure.
Th e
rh y t h mic
ef f ect is
pat ent ly audible,
int riguing,
and com-
plex, creat ing
a
special
kind of t ension in t h e rit ornello's
cent er.
Because f unct ions
operat e
and t ake t h eir
very
def init ions
wit h in a
specif ic
t onal
cent er, local t onicizat ions of h armonies
and
h igh er-level
modulat ions not
only
creat e embedded lev-
els of h armonic
f unct ion,
t h ey
cause t h e
percept ion
of
f unct ions of ch ords
gone past
t o be revised. Th e
opening
of
Vivaldi's "Wint er" Concert o
(Example 3) provides
a con-
cent rat ed
sampling
of t h e
analy t ical problems
t h at
may
arise.
Th e
long
F in t h e bass is a t onic
pedal
f or most of it s
lif e,
but at some
point
it must t urn int o a
subdominant , since t h e
f irst cadence is in C minor. Wit h in t h at cadent ial
approach
a number of ot h er t onicizat ions
present
t h e list ener wit h sev-
eral occasions of
ret rospect ive list ening.
Th e B, minor t riad
of m.
7,
at t h e moment of
h earing,
count s as a weak sub-
dominant ,
but wh en t h e bass F is
reint erpret ed
as t h e root
of a V7/iv in t h e next
measure, t h e B b ch ord t urns out t o h ave
been a i6 in
disguise;
a new t onal orient at ion arises. Similar
reorient at ions
pile up rapidly
in t h e next t wo bars: t h e h ar-
mony
of m.
9,
a dominant of
C,
f orces
reh earing
m. 8 as a
subdominant ;
t h e t ent h bar
implicat es
G as a t onal
cent er,
but h as a much weaker f unct ional connect ion wit h t h e G
dominant sevent h
just
h eard.
Th ere is lit t le doubt t h at t h e
working memory
of h uman
cognit ion
can
manage
such
ret rospect ive reint erpret at ions
of
f unct ional
sy nt ax,19
but t h at does not mean t h at it can
alway s
'9Est imat es of t h e t ime
unint erpret ed sensory
inf ormat ion remains in
working memory
run f rom t wo t o f our seconds, plent y
of t ime f or review
af t er t h e f act .
R est rospect ive list ening
is an essent ial
component
of
Eugene
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66 Music
Th eory Spect rum
do so
complet ely
wit h
regard
t o h armonic
rh y t h m.
All t h e
h armonic
rh y t h ms
discussed so f ar t ake t h eir measure f rom
at t ack
point s
locat ed
precisely
in t h e st ream of an
underly ing
pulse
of const ant durat ion unit s,
wh ich in
Baroque
music is
usually explicit
in t h e
rh y t h m
of t h e t ext ure. So wh en t h e
eigh t h
measure of Vivaldi's concert o f orces a reconsiderat ion
of t h e f unct ion of m.
7,
we need not
only
t o
reimagine
t h e
qualit y
of t h at f unct ion,
but also t h e locat ion of it s onset
precisely eigh t pulses
bef ore. Th at is
likely
t oo
great
a st ret ch
f or
working memory .20
Wit h more
rapid
root mot ion
(see
t h e
last ch ords of "Et in unam
sanct am," Example 4, m.5),
such
precision
is
possible,
but ot h erwise it seems best t o
represent
t h e
ret rospect ive
f unct ion in bracket s wit h out
assigning
a
rh y t h mic
value. Inst ead,
t h e
rh y t h mic
ef f ect of
reint erpret ing
is concent rat ed on t h e moment wh ere t h e
reint erpret at ion
is
f orced,
t h e downbeat of m. 8.
Embedded levels of
act ivit y drop
in and out wit h out re-
spect
t o
any predet ermined
number of levels. Th e
rh y t h mic
ef f ect of
adding
or
subst ract ing
a level of h armonic f unct ion
resides in t h e
int ensit y
of
rh y t h mic
art iculat ion, f elt as t h e
h eigh t ened cognit ive act ivit y required
f or t h e
processing
and
appreciat ion
of t h e h armonic
sy nt ax.21
In t h e Vivaldi t h e in-
Narmour, Th e
Analy sis
and
Cognit ion of
Basic Melodic St ruct ures: t h e
Implicat ion-R ealizat ion
Model
(Ch icago: Universit y
of
Ch icago Press, 1990),
203-204.
20Th e limit f or t h e number of it ems in a
cognit ive
"ch unk" of inf ormat ion
h as been est imat ed f rom f our t o seven. For a
summary
of t h e relevant st udies,
see
Joseph
P. Swain,
"Th e Need f or Limit s in Hierarch ical Th eories of Mu-
sic," Music
Percept ion
4/1
(1986):
121-147.
211 t ake t h is
cognit ive
ef f ort in t h e
int erpret at ion
of embedded h armonic
f unct ions t o be
analogous
t o t h at
required
f or t h e
int erpret at ion
of embedded
sy nt ax
in
speech ,
on wh ich
psy ch olinguist s
are
generally agreed.
See Trevor
A.
Harley ,
Th e
Psy ch ology of Language (East
Sussex: Erlbaum, Tay lor
&
Francis, 1995),
163-165. It sh ould also be clear
by
now t h at I do not
agree
wit h Lerdah l and Jackendof f 's
assumpt ion
t h at "t h e ear seeks, insof ar as
possible,
a
regular underly ing
h armonic
rh y t h m" (Generat ive Th eory , 130).
creasing complexit y
of t h e f unct ional
graph depict s
t h e
st eadily rising t ension, support ed by great er
h armonic den-
sit ies and f ast er root
movement s,
t h at
prepares
t h e
explosive
ent rance of t h e violin soloist .
METER
Wh at of h armonic
rh y t h m's relat ionsh ip
t o met er? "Har-
monic
ch ange
is t h e
single
most
powerf ul met er-producing
f act or" writ es Joel Lest er
unequivocally ,
and on t h is t h eorist s
are
generally agreed.22
Th e
very
act of h armonic
ch ange
can
so
easily
accent beat s t o creat e t h e
requisit e h igh er-level pat -
t ern. Th e A
Major
Prelude t h us est ablish es it s lower-level
t riple
met er
unmist akably
f rom t h e out set in it s coincidence
of bass
pit ch ,
root
movement ,
and f unct ion. Funct ion it self
of t en indicat es accent ed beat s wit h t onic f unct ion and un-
accent ed beat s wit h dominant -convent ional associat ions
t h at are nonet h eless
ext remely powerf ul
and ef f icient .23
So t h e inf luence of h armonic
rh y t h m
on met er is unde-
niable. But t h e not ion of a "h armonic met er" t h at is
ent irely
dist inct f rom t h e met ric
pat t ern
of a
passage
will not
f ly .
Met er
requires
t wo element s: beat s of consist ent
lengt h
and
Harmonic
rh y t h m
is not a met er, and it s
f lexibilit y
is it s
great power
t o
art iculat e.
22Lest er, Th e
R h y t h ms of
Tonal Music, 66. Lerdah l and Jackendof f in-
dicat e t h at h armonic
rh y t h m
is t h e
st rongest
f act or in t h eir model of met rical
st ruct ure
(Generat ive Th eory , 84-85).
For a
compreh ensive summary
of
eigh t eent h -
and
ninet eent h -cent ury
t h eorist s' views about t h e
relat ionsh ip
of
h armony
and met er, see William Earl
Caplin,
"Th eories of Harmonic-Met ric
R elat ionsh ips
f rom R ameau t o R iemann"
(Ph .D.
diss.,
Universit y
of Ch i-
cago, 1981).
23Wallace
Berry post ulat es
t h at wh at h e calls t onal f unct ion "is in and of
it self
met rically neut ral," but h e of f ers a
very implausible example (St ruct ural
Funct ions, 330).
To t h e
cont rary ,
wh en I h ave
play ed
f or st udent s t h e be-
ginnings
of
pieces
such as t h e March f rom Fidelio, wh ich
begins
wit h a dom-
inant bass on t h e not at ed downbeat and maint ains t h is
pat t ern
f or t wo bars,
t h e st udent s
invariably
sense t h at t h e
piece begins
wit h an
upbeat .
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Dimensions of Harmonic
R h y t h m
67
a
regular pat t ern
of
accent ing
t h ose beat s.24
Harmony sup-
plies
neit h er one. Since t h e wh ole mat t er of h armonic
rh y t h m
is
grounded
in h armonic
ch anges,
a "h armonic met er" would
demand t h at
h armony ch ange
at some consist ent t ime
durat ions-t h e h armonic beat -ot h er t h an t h ose marked
by
t h e at t ack
point s
of t h e melodies t h at const it ut e t h e t ext ure.
Th is is
impossible,
since it is t h e melodic
ch anges
t h at creat e
t h e h armonic ones.
Indeed,
t h e f ascinat ion wit h h armonic
rh y t h m
is in t h e
variet y
of h armonic
lengt h s,
not t h eir con-
sist ency .
If t h ere is no "h armonic beat " ot h er t h an t h e one
coincident wit h t h e beat of t h e
t ext ure,
t h en t h ere can be no
regular
accent ed
beat , except
one coincident wit h t h e t ext ure.
Is it
possible
t h at a "h armonic met er" could t h en exist out
of
ph ase
wit h t h e normal t ext ural met er? Th is
h appens
in
some sense in Bach 's rit ornello
(Example 4).
Once a met er
is est ablish ed
f irmly
and becomes almost
self -maint aining
ac-
cording
t o t h e Gest alt
principle
of
cont inuat ion,
h armonic
f unct ions can act
against
it
(mm. 6-7).25
But even
h ere,
t h e
displaced
accent s t h at creat e t h is
parent h esis
arise as much
f rom t h e melodic
grouping
in t h e oboes d'amore
(B-C# -
D# -E)
as f rom t h e f unct ional
pat t ern
of t h e
h armony .
It is
24Th ere is
h igh
consensus on t h is
point .
Lest er writ es, "Two
separat e
component s
are t h us
necessary
f or t h e exist ence of a met er: a st ream of beat s
or
pulses,
and an
organizat ion
of t h ose beat s or
pulses
int o accent ed and
unaccent ed ones"
(Th e R h y t h ms of
Tonal Music, 45).
Ot h er t h eorist s
pref er
t o
place
t h e t wo element s in a h ierarch ical
sy st em.
Yest on cont ends t h at
"met er is an
out growt h
of t h e int eract ion of t wo levels-t wo
dif f erent ly
rat ed
st rat a, t h e f ast er of wh ich
provides
t h e element s and t h e slower of wh ich
groups
t h em"
(St rat if icat ion of
Musical
R h y t h m, 66).
See also Lerdah l and
Jackendof f 's model in Generat ive
Th eory , ch apt ers
2 and 4.
25Lest er's ch aract erizat ion of t h is
cont inuit y
is
apropos
h ere: "Once a
met er h as been est ablish ed, it s
power
is so
great
t h at it can overrule t h e act ual
occurrence of a h armonic
ch ange
and h ave us
int erpret
t h at
ch ange
as eit h er
an
ant icipat ion
or a
delay
... of t h e 'act ual'
point
of
ch ange" (Th e R h y t h ms
of
Tonal Music, 79).
A f ormal
approach
t o such int eract ions is evident in
Lerdah l and Jackendof f 's rule of Met rical
St abilit y (Generat ive Th eory ,
164-165).
viable but f or a brief
t ime, only
as
long
as t h e list ener can
maint ain t h e
prevailing
met er in
working memory ,
h ere aided
by
Bach 's bass accent s. Th e ef f ect is a
special
kind of
sy n-
copat ion,
a sust ained met ric dist urbance. If ext ended t oo
f ar,
such h armonic t ricks
simply
est ablish a new met er
alt oget h er.
I cannot see much
pract icalit y
in
t h eorizing
about a "h ar-
monic met er"
independent
of t h e
rh y t h mic
one.
Inst ead,
we sh ould
pay
at t ent ion t o t h e ef f ect s of h armonic
mot ion
int eract ing
wit h t h e
prevailing
met er. At lower st ruc-
t ural levels such int eract ions can creat e rat h er acut e and
par-
t icular t ensions. At t h e
h igh er
levels t h e sensat ion is more
subt le,
as wh en Bach
unexpect edly
moves t o t h e subdominant
f unct ion on t h e weak beat in t h e t h ird measure of h is Prelude
and t h en t ies t h e
h armony
across t h e
barline, creat ing
a del-
icat e
rh y t h mic-met ric
t ension t h at
powers
t h e f ast er mot ions
and
sequences
t o f ollow.
INTER PR ETATION OF HAR MONIC R HYTHM
Wh at
insigh t s
can an
analy sis
of t h e dimensions of h ar-
monic
rh y t h m provide?
To
begin wit h ,
t h e
easy comparison
and t h e
composit e pict ure present ed by
several or all of t h e
dimensions at once of f ers a new
perspect ive
on musical t ex-
t ure.26 In t h e case of "Et in unam sanct am"
(Example 4),
t h e
pict ure
f ills out Wilh elm Fisch er's
t ripart it e
rit ornello model
of
Vordersat z, Fort spinnung,
and
Epilog.27
We see at a
glance
t h e
st abilit y
of t h e
int roduct ory
f irst f our
measures,
t h e t ra-
dit ional h armonic f unct ions allied
st rongly
wit h a
h igh -level
duple met er, h igh densit y reinf orcing
t h e
clarit y
of t h ose
26I t ake "t ext ure" t o mean t h e
qualit y
of t h e combinat ion of simult a-
neously
sounded melodies and t h eir relat ions. Like
h armony ,
it h as
many
aspect s.
27Fisch er
proposed
t h is model in 1915. See Joh n But t , Bach : Mass in B
Minor
(Cambridge: Cambridge Universit y Press, 1991),
60.
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68 Music
Th eory Spect rum
ch anges,
t h e
nearly perf ect congruence
of t h e various di-
mensions. Even t h e
saucy beginning
in t h e cont inuo f inds an
explanat ion: unh armonized,
it is t h e merest
suggest ion
of
low-level
progressions
t h at come alive lat er on. Th en f ollows
t h e
relat ively
acut e t ension of t h e
parent h esis,
wit h it s sud-
denly
f ast er root
movement ,
and it s release int o measures
eigh t
and
nine,
wh en bass
pit ch rh y t h m
becomes
congruent
wit h t h e
t ext ure/ph enomenal
f or t h e f irst t ime. Th e
Epilog
h as
y et
anot h er
ch aract er,
wit h st ill a new bass
pit ch rh y t h m
and
a
curiously
low
densit y
wit h no
st rong
t onic f unct ions unt il
t h e cadence. Th e
pict ure
reveals t h e
magnif icent variet y
of
Bach 's
rh y t h m,
a
variet y
most sensible but h idden and unif ied
under t h e cover of an
absolut ely
consist ent t ext ural and
ph e-
nomenal h armonic
rh y t h m.
It conf irms not
just
Fisch er's ar-
t iculat ions of t h e
rit ornello,
but subt le means of t ransit ion
bet ween t h em. Not ice h ow t h e embedded f unct ions
compli-
cat e t h e t ext ure at t h e end of t h e f irst
ph rase,
bef ore t h e
parent h esis,
and h ow t h e
st eady
second-level root
mot ion,
so
clearly audible,
t ies t h e
suspension passage
af t er t h e
paren-
t h esis int o t h e
Epilog
wit h out
int errupt ion.
Th is new and det ailed
analy t ical
met h od of f ered h ere
sh ould be
especially powerf ul
in t h e
analy sis
of t h ose t ext ures
t h at ent ail a
soph ist icat ed
h armonic
sy nt ax.
A musical
sy nt ax
it self ent ails t h e cont rol of musical
t ension,28
and h erein lies
anot h er kind of
insigh t provided by
t h e
analy sis
of h armonic
rh y t h m.
I
propose
t wo
working assumpt ions: 1)
t h at
rh y t h mic
t ension of one kind rises wit h increase in
speed
of
ch anges;
and
2)
t h at
rh y t h mic
t ension of anot h er kind rises wit h t h e
decrease of
congruence
-
coincidence of mot ions
-
among
t h e
dimensions.29 Bot h of t h ese common-sense
assumpt ions
de-
rive f rom t h e
simple
f act t h at at t h e end of a
composit ion,
28See Swain, Musical
Languages, ch apt er
2.
29In St ruct ural Funct ions
of
Music
(1, 86),
Wallace
Berry ,
wh ose
principal
concern is t h e
descript ion
of t h e course of
"int ensit y "
in music, essent ially
makes t h e same
assumpt ions.
wh en t ension is
resolved,
t h e mot ion in all dimensions ceases
and t h eref ore
congruence among
t h em is at a maximum.
Th e
congruence principle may
be t h e more cont roversial
of t h e
t wo,
but it
explains wh y
t h e t ensions in t h e
Example
6 ch orale seem so
simple
and
placid.
Th e
correspondence
among
t h e dimensions
approach es complet e unif ormit y ; only
t h e
h igh er-level
f unct ion sh ows some variance wit h wh at
h ap-
pens above,
and even so f alls int o line
by
t h e end of
every
ph rase.
Almost all t h e
rh y t h mic
t ension derives f rom
simple
speed,
f ast er mot ion in t h e middle of t h e
ph rase,
and it is
perh aps
not coincident al t h at t h e
only passing
mot ion is re-
served f or t h e end.
Th is is an ext reme
case,
of course. Freer
composit ions
will
sh ow much more
variet y , requiring
a more relat ive and con-
t ext ual
underst anding
of
speed
and
congruence.
In h is "Win-
t er"
Concert o,
Vivaldi creat es a
disjunct ion by
t h e
simplest
means
possible: h ammering
a ch ord
repeat edly
wit h out let -
t ing any t h ing move,
so t h at t h e t ext ural
rh y t h m
is
eigh t
t imes
f ast er t h an
any t h ing
else. Th is calls t o mind Leonard
Mey er's
aest h et ic rule about
expect ing ch ange;
Vivaldi h ere
push es
t h e limit s of our t olerance.
Despit e
t h e
ext remit y
of t h e dis-
crepancy ,
t h e
eigh t h -not e
mot or is not
t ruly
a
part
of t h e
h armonic
rh y t h m
it self
(alt h ough
t h e
incongruous
mat ch be-
t ween t h e
ph enomenal rh y t h m
and
every t h ing
below is
surely
part
of t h e
ef f ect ).
Th e rise in t ension h ere is
powered by
increasing speed
in t h e root movement and most of all
by
t h e
mult iple int erpret at ions
of f unct ion t h at list eners must
per-
f orm,
a t ension
deriving direct ly
f rom t h e st rain on our f ac-
ult ies.
Vivaldi f ash ions t h is climax
by beginning
wit h a
signif icant
discrepancy
bet ween t h e t ext ural
rh y t h m
and t h e ot h er h ar-
monic dimensions. Such a t ension is
magnif ied
in Bach wh en
t h e more immediat e dimensions of
ph enomenal
h armonic
rh y t h m
and bass
pit ch
move at t h e same
pace
as t h e
t ext ure,
f or t h en it is not
simply
it erat ed
pit ch
at t acks
against
all
of
h armony ,
but rat h er t wo massive, incongruent
st reams of
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Dimensions of Harmonic
R h y t h m
69
h armonic
mot ion,
one f ast and one
slow, pulling against
one
anot h er. Th at is
wh y
it is so
import ant
t h at Bach
nearly
al-
way s
unif ies h is surf ace mot or
rh y t h m
wit h const ant
ph e-
nomenal ch ord
ch anges,
and
f requent ly
wit h a
st eady
bass as
well. Th e new and
signif icant
t ension
arising
f rom t h is t ext ure
is h is
personal st amp
on t h e
Baroque
musical
language.
Th ere is a kind of
paradox
built int o t h e musical
language
of a
Baroque composer,
if t h ese
assumpt ions
about
rh y t h mic
t ension are
righ t
t o
any
ext ent . Th e basic
pulse
of t h e mot or
rh y t h m
will
nearly alway s
move f ast er t h an ot h er h armonic
dimensions, part icularly
in a
cont rapunt al
t ext ure. As t h e end
is
approach ed,
t h en,
t h e
composer
can
only bring
t h e di-
mensions of h armonic
rh y t h m
int o
congruence by speeding
t h em
up,
t h us
convert ing
one kind of
rh y t h mic
t ension int o
anot h er,
or
by composing
a
plagal cadence,
wh ich is essen-
t ially
a
h armonic-rh y t h mic
cush ion t h at absorbs t h e t ension
of dif f erent iat ed
count erpoint
wh ile t h e t onic is maint ained
and t h e
remaining
voices
unif y .
We h ave seen h ow Bach can
accelerat e and
unif y
t h e mot ions in all h is voices at t h e end
of some of h is
f ugues.
He does
somet h ing quit e
similar at t h e
end of h is "Et in unam sanct am"
aria,
sh own in
Example
8.
It is of t en at t h is
point
in h is arias t h at Bach someh ow
sculpt s
t h e
cont inuit y
of h is surf ace
rh y t h m
int o a moment of
special
f inalit y
t h at
proclaims
t h at t h e rit ornello about t o f ollow is
t h e last . Wh en h is
singer
int roduces a diminish ed sevent h
arpeggio
as t h e unison oboes f inish t h eir
f ormula,
t h e ex-
t ension creat es anot h er cadence made wit h out t h eir
h elp
t h at
is more
st riking
and conclusive t h an
any t h ing t h ey
h ave
play ed
in t h is
piece.
Th e ch art sh ows t h e new element s:
f irst ,
t h e diminish ed sevent h builds a
prolonged
dominant f unc-
t ion,
t h e f irst such f unct ion in t h e
aria,
t o
amplif y
t h e last
cadence;
more
import ant , suddenly
all t h e dimensions move
at about t h e same
speed.
One kind of
t ension-discrepancy
of mot ions-convert s t o anot h er kind-sh eer
speed-t h at
is
more
suscept ible
t o
pinpoint
cont rol. It is Bach 's
part -writ ing
t h at
accomplish es
t h is
t ransf ormat ion,
as h is bass sounds wit h
powerf ul f inalit y
t h e root of
every
ch ord wit h maximum den-
sit y
in
rapid
f ire. Th e rit ornello t h at f ollows is a welcome
conf irmat ion of t h is
resolut ion,
not
just
a bookend t o t h e aria.
Such variat ion
among
t h e dimensions is
put
t o work wit h
marvelous result s in t h e A
major
Prelude. In t h e f irst measure
(see Example 1)
t h ere is a
h igh degree
of
congruit y among
t h e
dimensions; only
t h e most abst ract levels of root mot ion
and h armonic f unct ion are
laggard,
and
t h ey
are
barely
es-
t ablish ed h ere.30
Indeed,
t h ere is no
ch ange
in t h em as
y et ,
so
t h ey
can
h ardly
be said t o const it ut e a
rh y t h mic pat t ern
at all. But t h e second measure t ransf orms t h is
easy
and uni-
f orm
swing
wit h out t h e
sligh t est sign
of ef f ort or violence t o
t h e t ext ure.
Every
dimension
except
t h e mot oric t ext ure/
ph enomenal
is
slower;
even t h e bass
pit ch adopt s
a
t h robbing
sy ncopat ion
in
place
of it s t roch ees. Th is
brings
t h e
pedal
t ones int o st ruct ural
prominence,
and makes t h e more ab-
st ract mot ions much more
palpable.
Wh en t h e t h ird measure
ret urns t o t h e f ast er
mot ion-compare
t h e densit ies-and
even accelerat es it in t h e t h ird beat and drives it wit h t h e
bass,
t h ere is t h at ch aract erist ic st rain t o
go f orward,
an elast ic
t ension t h at is released in t h e f ourt h
bar,
ant icipat ed
beau-
t if ully by
t h e
ch ange
of
h armony
on t h e
upbeat .
And t h e most
signif icant
det ail of t h is
st raining t ension is t h at
long, long,
deceiving
t onic
pedal
in t h e
alt o,
because it
st ubbornly pro-
claims t h e
discrepancy
in t ext ure
among
t h e voices t h at is
f lesh ed out in h armonic
act ivit y graph ed
below.-Th e f ourt h
and f if t h measures convert t h is
st raining
t ension int o mobile
t ension,
a release and
y et
a
propulsion
at t h e same t ime. Th e
dimensions now sh ow a
gradat ion
of
durat ions-part icularly
import ant
is t h e
mediat ing
root movement of dot t ed
quart ers,
marking
t h e
h igh -level
beat s as ot h er dimensions mark t h e
300ne f ut ure ref inement of t h is met h od is t h e addit ion of a means of
indicat ing
t h e relat ive salience of t h e various dimensions. Were t h e voice-
leading
not so
persuasive h ere, one
migh t
ch oose not t o indicat e
any rh y t h ms
at t h is level f or t h is measure.
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70 Music
Th eory Spect rum
Example
8. J. S.
Bach ,
Mass in B
Minor,
"Et in unam
sanct am,"
mm. 126-132
126
j[q - - si am,u-nah n san
"
ct am ca- t h o-li-cam et a- po
-
st o -i - cam- ec-cle si - am.
l a
r ^ r
^
rl
_ I _ r 1r
.
_ ~i
I
I
I Ir
I1
. i.^ L
Text ure
Ph enom.
Bass J
7
J 7 IJ
R oot 1 JU T J I J.
Dg# -A
E D f #
7
J
7
J
7 J 7 I mJ
.7
3|,7
,/
-J7
"J7
|
,T
J. I - 7
I-
JJ. d i# - A
7,D
IJ A
h
A
Dg# -
f # A E A d# - B d# -E A E f # Db E A E
Densit y
R oo2 J. J. . J.
DJ. J. I J.
D E f # A D E d# -
IJ
.
J. I|J7- TIJ.
B E AE f # Db E A
Funct ion
iA:IVV I V I
IA:IVV
I V IV I
I
Imml I . J.
IIVV
IV I I V I :V
J
li;
J iJ)J.
11A:V
IV I IV V
I
J. J.
I. IJ.
A: IV V IV
J. I J. IJ.
-
IVIVJ VI I V IV V I
m [
' IJJJJT3-'ml-T
m
._ _ | m
'mJ7"l3|7l"T| |
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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Dimensions of Harmonic
R h y t h m
71
lower. Such a
gradat ion
allows t errif ic
variet y
wit h out cre-
at ing
t h e
incongruous
mot ions of t h e
previous
measure. So
many
dif f erent mot ions cannot creat e so
explicit
a cont rast .
Bach 's
pedal
t ones
compared
t o Vivaldi's
h ammering (Ex-
ample 3) suggest
an
assy mmet rical
f eat ure of t h e
congruence
h y pot h esis:
wh en surf ace event s are
signif icant ly
f ast er t h an
h armonic
rh y t h m,
as in t h e "Wint er"
concert o,
t h e
result ing
incongruence
creat es an almost
placid,
even
t ension,
but
wh en t h e reverse case is
t rue,
as in Bach 's
pedals,
t h e re-
sult ing
t ension is
dy namic, rapidly becoming
more acut e wit h
each
passing
beat . In
part ,
t h is is because Bach 's idea is a
cont radict ion of common
experience.
Wh en
h armony moves,
so must t h e melodies in t h e
t ext ure,
because it is t h e
ch anges
in
pit ch
collect ions t h at creat e new h armonies. How can me-
lodic mot ion be f rozen wh en t h e
h armony
is
driving?
Anot h er
part
of t h is sensat ion is
owing
t o our int uit ive
percept ion
of
t ech nique,
an essent ial
aspect
of our
appreci-
at ion of musical
sy nt ax.31
Vivaldi's idea is
pat ent ly ef f ect ive,
t h ough
it t akes no
great
skill t o reit erat e a ch ord. But look
again
at t h e t en beat s of measures
t h ree, f our,
and f ive in t h e
Prelude,
wh ere Bach not
only aligns
t h e t ext ural
rh y t h m
wit h
t h e
ph enomenal
in
unrelent ing eigh t h -not e beat s,
but also t h e
root mot ion
(R oot 1).
To ach ieve t h ese const ant
mot ions,
Bach must insure t h at t h e
voice-leading
is
sensible,
t h at t h e
result ing
vert icalit ies
y ield
suf f icient
pit ch
inf ormat ion t o
sound a clear
t riad,
and
f urt h ermore,
t h at t h e f unct ions of
t h ose t riads occur in t h e
righ t place
wit h
respect
t o t h e met er.
31See Swain, Musical
Languages, Ch apt er
2.
Th is
coordinat ion,
as
any one
wh o h as t ried it
knows,
de-
mands t h e
h igh est
skills of
composit ional
art .
(Compare again
t o
Vivaldi,
wh ere
voice-leading problems
in t h e viola creat e
inconsist encies in t h e
ph enomenal
h armonic
rh y t h m.)
To
command in addit ion t o all t h ese t h e h armonies of t h e ot h er
dimensions and t h e
pedal
t ones seems lit t le sh ort of mirac-
ulous. Th e t ension is aest h et ic: we h old our
breat h , wait ing
t o h ear wh et h er h e can
really pull
it of f .
Th at t onic
pedal
does not
f igure
in t h e
graph s,
but it cer-
t ainly f igures
in our
appreciat ion
of t h e musical t ension of t h at
moment . We are t h us reminded
t h at ,
as rich as t h e
pict ure
of h armonic
rh y t h m may be,
it is insuf f icient
by
it self . As t h e
sense of h armonic
rh y t h m
arises f rom and
engages
ot h er as-
pect s
of t h at
experience,
so does
any
evaluat ion of h armonic
rh y t h m y ield
it s best
insigh t s
wh en it
engages many way s
of
crit ical
list ening.
ABSTR ACT
Alt h ough undeniably
a most
signif icant aspect
of musical
t ext ure,
h armonic
rh y t h m
h as not been
precisely concept ualized
and ana-
ly zed
since Walt er Pist on f irst def ined it . Th e new
analy t ical
t ech -
nique present ed
h ere at t acks t h e cent ral
problem-ident if y ing
t h e
proper pit ch
simult aneit ies wh ose durat ion
pat t erns
are at
issue-by
dissect ing
t h e various
propert ies
of
h armony
int o
separat e compar-
at ive
analy ses:
t ext ural
rh y t h m, ph enomenal
h armonic
rh y t h m,
bass
pit ch , root /qualit y , densit y ,
and f unct ion. Th e
result ing analy sis pro-
vides a
new,
det ailed view of musical t ext ure
and,
in
conjunct ion
wit h
t wo
h y pot h eses,
a means t o underst and t h e
dy namic
t ension of h ar-
monic
rh y t h m.
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