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Smith - Brahms's Motivic Harmonies and Contemporary Tonal Theory-1
Smith - Brahms's Motivic Harmonies and Contemporary Tonal Theory-1
Smith - Brahms's Motivic Harmonies and Contemporary Tonal Theory-1
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PETER H. SMITH
Introduction
Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK
and 350 Main Street, Maiden, MA 02148, USA
Vnl
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the Ursatz, will inevitably strive to hear striking harmonic gestures anchored to
a governing diatony. Neo-Riemannian approaches, by contrast, are much more
willing to regard sonorities and progressions irrespective of their possible func-
tion in an all-consuming hierarchy. Indeed, the motivation for a transformational
Ex. lb Brahms, String Sextet in G major, Op. 36/i, graph of bars 1-53
5
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Let us begin with more detailed observations about the Sextet in order further to
explore how Brahms integrates his individualised harmonies into a functional
framework. As we have already seen in Ex. la, the first of the Sextet's chromatic
chords emerges out of the opening tonic. Note the similarity with the C-AJ>
progression in the String Quartet. For Schenkerians, these are both examples
of prolongation of the 5-6 paradigm from second-species counterpoint, which
here serves to expand tonic function, as Exs. lb and 2b illustrate. For neo-
Riemannians, they represent distinct transformations: a Leittonwechsel in the
Quartet and, in the Sextet, a type of combined transformation merging a parallel
(P) motion with a Leittonwechsel. Ex. 3a illustrates these contrasting conceptu-
alisations. The example also shows that the Sextet engages a similar compound
transformation (LP) in the progression to the mediant at the beginning of the
main theme's Β section.15
Cohn's four hexatonic systems, reproduced in Ex. 3b, provide one possible
musical space in which to contextualise Brahms's harmonies relative to a uni-
verse of symmetrical third progressions.16 The G, Et and Β triads have the
potential to form a cycle of major thirds around the clock face of Cohn's Western
2nd species
1 diatonic 2 chromaticised
5 - 6 5- b6
3 - b3
E~/ 'c~
I Northern |
/aI>+
Eb+ Gi_ Db+
G+^-
B- D+ A-
ny ^'~
I Southern 1
F#+' /ßb+
Bb-
( III ι ^^ggfgC^^^^
%" ι pi^z· p r f ' L ■ l- ρ kr Ί*- ,. *f r . f ί ■
1,1=1
^*- %"
:
: ιJ.
ι J -r φJp I ^==
' :i L J=■ yι l-=ξ Γ'Iρ ιI = '* =p
,. ^= *I. ' :±F=
5
I3
! i^g^^ J.
k^==M^
jl
V4
tonic-f
third relations.
The same is true for developments involving the Β triad in the passage from
the coda in Ex. 5. Brahms finally draws Β and Β into a more direct relationship
by substituting Β as harmonisation for the main theme's Β neighbour. This
reharmonisation hints at the PL relationship of Β and Β through the common-
tone function of B, as Ex. 6 illustrates. Up to this point, the tonic area has
exploited this transformation only to move from the tonic to either of these
symmetrical thirds - not to carry us directly from Β to B. Now the substitution
·*
·* ρ ρ espress. ir M " 1 "
J1 espress.
1^ 'p ρ espress.
I^J J J J J J ÏJJJJjJ Mi J J J J ^JJJJ ^gzgEJ^È J J J^g
j>
j II' ^
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(Ff °7)_| F#-to-FN"k(FN V7)
b Vw *r I il
(Ft °7) -|Al|-to-Abl·» (Ab V?) - | sup. Gb |-» (Ab major)
A C
DN UV7 (-Eb ( vii°7 ) Al|-] V7J Ab
n' ' ' V J ) icN
' xv CN y /
D
Music Analysis^ 28/i (2009) © 2010 The Author.
Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Pub
Ex. 8a Brahms, String Quartet in C minor, Op. 51 No. 1/i, bars 62-82
of bars 1-8
~ - ρ dolce - - ^-
y^
[ibj ^^V^-
Ν
Ν
'
'
'
72 rm ^
~ ρ Ρ . ϋΞ>-
diminished sevent
a harmonic linkag
dissonant against
returns to its orig
Recognition of th
across prolongati
Ex. 8a Continued
exposition repeat
- « - ^- cresc.
I vii°VV *
[c[£vü°7V^ V i i^T«^) i
function. The first of the diminished sevenths (bar 76) nests within a prolonga-
tion of the exposition's main middleground Β scale step; the second (bar 80a) is
part of a transitional motion from this Β to V/C; and the third (bar 2b) embel-
lishes the opening tonic scale step of the repeat. A line of continuity is audible
only if we admit the possibility for a subsidiary harmony to transcend its
embellishing role and forge connections with other subsidiary chords, which are
themselves embedded within different prolongational spans. The schematic rep-
resentation of Ex. 8b illustrates the manner in which the path cut by the dimin-
ished seventh twists through various levels and across multiple boundaries of the
tonal structure.
Nor does the harmonic linkage consist of simple associative connections
among functionally equivalent chords in parallel progressions, in the manner of
a motivic parallelism. Rather, a motivic relationship arises between two funda-
mentally different types of seventh chord. This is where neo-Riemannian thought
- with its willingness to hear relationships among sonorities irrespective of
traditional functional categorisation - can step in to fill a void in our analytical
response. Linkage with the first ending's viio7/G establishes a vertical ontology
that the common-tone harmony of bar 2b otherwise lacks, thereby solidifying
ι |Eb:| 1 1 I vH
ii^^
βλ r h ^r ^
V V V ' - --»j ψ
fit] vii°
Gl»-F (cf. Ex. 2a, b. 9) ' - 1
32 ^ g
leading to closure in Ex. 8a, where the applied chords of bars 69-
shadow the codetta's viio7/BI> and its subsequent enharmonic reinter
C minor. The process then continues with the return of the diminish
as a common-tone chord in the main theme. Through a process of
sition, the harmonically incidental common-tone chord retrospective
itself as the source for the somewhat more vertically independent ap
monies in the secondary area.34
Thus far my analysis has focused on connections between differen
of the diminished seventh chord. But what of the relationship I h
between the diminished seventh and the main theme's F dominant? This con-
nection also emerges in the codetta, but now as the passage leads to the devel-
opment, as seen in Ex. 10. The second ending retains a Gi> function for the
chordal seventh even as Brahms again respells the pitch as Ft. That is, Gt/Ftt
sinks down to R in bar 81, thus yielding a V7/V chord in the local key of Ek
Yet in the familiar V7/German sixth reinterpretation, Brahms resolves the chord
to an Ak minor cadential % at bar 82. At first glance, this reinterpretation might
seem to call into question the idea that the passage cements a relationship
between the common-tone and V/R harmonies. Immediately after the F domi-
nant resolves as a German sixth chord, however, it returns twice as VAII in the
Pá minor progressions that follow, as indicated by the Roman numerals in
Ex. 10. Thus it turns out that the semitonal inflection that differentiates the
diminished and dominant seventh harmonies becomes the basis for the devel-
opment's first modulation, while the new A minor context nevertheless sus-
tains a V/BI» function.
With this connection in mind, we might even speculate that emphasis on the
F dominant earlier in the secondary area grows motivically from the F source
chord and by extension from the diminished seventh chord. In bar 62 of Ex. 8a,
Brahms begins an extended prolongation of F as V7/V in Ek This prolongation
continues with the shift to emphasis on viio7/B^ and vii7Bl>, as alternatives to the
applied dominant, in the passage that follows. Recall that these are the very vii°
chords that foreshadow the arrival of the diminished seventh of the codetta.
Thus, the F dominant connects with both the source diminished and dominant
seventh chords in a step-by-step process: V7/B1> in bar 62 shifts to viio7/Bl> or vii°/R
in bars 69-72. The diminished seventh chord then returns in the codetta, where
Brahms eventually reinterprets it as viio7/G. Through tonal transformation, the F
dominant has become the Fit diminished seventh. Then, after the diminished
seventh returns in its guise as common-tone chord when the main theme returns
in the exposition's repeat, the F dominant re-emerges as V/B!> within the con-
tinuation ofthat theme (bar 4b).
But to return to the development: let us observe how the source chords
further influence the movement's tonal trajectory. Following the ΑΊ tonicisation,
the development continues with tonicisations of Ε and Β in an ascending circle-
of-fifths sequence. This pattern breaks with the arrival on Β in bar 108 of Ex. 1 1,
at which point the rising motion continues by means of a 5-6 stepwise sequence.
M. «r <r
«r <r
Β Λ J ^>,
|Eb:| iN
[Ã] Ger.|
Βί>ί?,ι
^ ?' (Ger.f)
V'
A connection with the main theme is most obvious in the return of the theme's
head motive as the basis for the 5-6 pattern. The sequence also culminates on
a Gt 3 chord at bar 1 1 1, an enharmonic version of the At source sonority, which
now prepares a dramatic tonicisation of the Neapolitan. This tonicisation never
actually cadences on the Neapolitan, despite a number of attempts. The result is
an emphasis on the Gt dominant, now in root position and with its seventh. Not
only has the At chord returned in its original guise as a consequence of a 5-6
motion above C/Bf at bar 111; it also re-acquires, at bars 111 and 115, the
motivic Q/FI that binds it more closely to the source diminished seventh. Just as
a parsimonious Gt/R inflection connects the diminished seventh to the motivic F
Ex. 1 1 Brahms, String Quartet in C minor. Op. 51 No. 1/i, 5-6 sequence
of AI» motivic sonority
|c
Γ·*
j> cresc.
I p cresc.
$ ^ " sjO I
b^
V V3g
J J
^# 3
#
I'
V/ bll
within main theme here
J1' y jj
ii'iJJ
f &
Transition Transition
bs 31-37: material of la theme bs 18
returns as part of expansion of
E7 (ii7D)
bs 38-51: standing on A bs 190-203: standing on D dominant
dominant
vm l$"Kt I - I - I - I - Ι -ξ^
Aê
Vlc
iii
pizz.
Β echo B echo
15 I I _^ ^_^
Ex. 14 Continued
Β echo
^ ^.
*f 4 4 4 f - "
Ger.!^
Β echo
in passing 4
5
.
Ξ J
PyVyj-
6 6 6 6 6 '^^ ^ ?
iii
th
on a submediant character.
First let us note that aspects of the larger formal context are less definitive on
this point than we might assume: D conventionally functions as a secondary key
in both Β minor and G major. This point would be trivial, however, in the
absence of equivocation between Β and G elsewhere in the form. In order to
bring the interaction between Β and G into sharper focus, it will be helpful to
begin with details of the main theme as perceived in a local context before we
consider three additional formal areas where the harmonies intertwine: the first
refrain, the retransition at the end of the development and the coda, where the
ambiguity intensifies before finally resolving.
We can launch the discussion with an obvious point: by opening in Β minor,
the movement relegates G to a subsidiary temporal position. The initial
sequence of events can be heard as a tonic-submediant motion just as easily as
it can be heard as a G auxiliary cadence. The transition at bar 9 develops the
potential for the characteristic harmonic equivocations of tonal pairing that
these alternative interpretations imply. The modulatory passage begins like a
consequent phrase, but the parallelism quickly dissolves in favour of a pro-
gression to G at bar 11. This G chord, however, does not enter strongly
enough to articulate a prolongational shift away from B, as Ex. 15a indicates.
Only with the repetition of the B-G motion do we finally arrive on G as the
controlling harmony, coincident with the entrance of the theme group's second
idea (lb) at bar 13.
The passage, however, is not as unproblematically univalent as the graph in
Ex. 15a implies, despite the support this interpretation receives from the imbal-
ance between the G articulations. The thematic parallelism between the two
motions to G encourages an alternative interpretation characterised by a har-
monic overlap in prolongational space. This B-G overlap provides the first
manifestation of the tonal pairing that will come to underlie the movement. The
graph in Ex. 15a indicates that Β is in control unequivocally until G moves to the
χ Ι χ' χ
Ξ A v Jl v?
forefront with the arrival of the lb idea. The interpretation of Ex. 15b hears both
an anticipation of G within the Β prolongation, in prospect, and a suspension of Β
into the gradual emergence of G, in retrospect. The contrasting functions of the G
harmonies in bars 11 and 13 of Ex. 15a contradict the notion of an aural con-
nection between them. By contrast, the analysis in Ex. 1 5b depicts the entrance of
G in bar 1 1 as the leading edge of the gradual emergence of the G scale step.
Perhaps somewhat trivial, but still worth noting as an aspect of this tonal
overlap, is the L relationship between the Β and G tonics. The closeness of the
harmonies, with only the Ftt-G semitone separating them, accounts to some
degree for the fluidity of shifts between them. Ex. 15b also suggests a connection
between the Β % and V7/G chords based on their common D bass and mutual
melodic emphasis on Β and D - that is, the R transformation indicated in Ex. 1 5b.
Although either of these relationships may be described without evoking neo-
Riemannian terminology, the transformational idea responds to the manner in
which the passage blurs the boundary between the exit of Β and the entrance of G,
thus creating a blended space of harmonic overlap. Indeed, the neo-Riemannian
R transformation seems almost to be embedded within the theme's motivic
design. The B-Α alternation in the violins' semiquaver neighbour pattern sustains
a shadow of Β minor in the D dominant, while the % position of Β anticipates the
arrival of D. As the movement progresses, we will see that Brahms treats the '
chord above D as a motivic sonority, above all in passages that direct a spotlight on
the B-G pairing.Thus it is the R relation between Β and D, and not the more direct
L relation between Β and G, that becomes paramount in development of the
movement's elemental tonal dialectic.
Another form of voice-leading parsimony - this one also embedded in the
Quintet's melodic figuration - further contributes to the gradual shift in har-
monic function, as the passage maintains continuity between the Β and D
harmonies. The change from Q to O in the figuration of bar 10 and bars 12-13
is decisive in the emergence of the V7/G function. The metrically weak semiqua-
vers - O and A - suddenly come to the fore as chord tones in the V7/G context,
whereas in the Β minor chord it is the strong semiquavers that correspond with
the harmony. The pitches of the Β minor triad nevertheless receive metrical
r p r ptop^jJj^r
[d] ν7 ι [g] v7^- -
I
Γ" ^
aim. ^^^^^^^^^ r
_^ I
^- _^
81 refrain
i'h
[i] vii°VV V^
B ^y* r ?
- τ *
V V
Β arpeggio with C$ as passing note still hint of Β arpeggio but now with Cl)
•Γ I
i 6 V 7/ G emerges
(B minor)- |~r
Ex. 17 Continued
recapitulation of theme lb
ρ Γ ' L - Γ 'Ι - ff
ygr~T «Η^ΓΡΓ ip j a
[α] ν ι ν7 ι
i
ff ρ -U * "^ ^, juj J-
IV IV
(= V/ IV)
Ex. 18 Continued
CT€SC. j CrCSC.
^EyTT" '| il ' I ' 'M^L.' ™ M I JP^ ι ^ 11 1J "* I r I r r "" r I ' " I " "" Ψ ' II ι^Τ^~ rlrM
m^ ^^^T^^^M^^^M^rTi^M"'"M^^^M*M- ** ^ZdEIHZl^-Z^^CZZZlZ^ÎZ^^·^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^Î3IÎZZ^^ZZZZ^Z^Z^ r r r I r II !_^ ^^^^Z ^^Z^^E^h^S^^^^^^^I^^^^b^E^^^Z
BB^^^Z^^^EZ^^CI^C^^^ZH^^^ZI-Ze^^^^Z ** ™T^ Z^^^B^^I^^I^^C^^Lh^h^Z^^^hZZ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^__^^^|^^^^^^Z^^_Z ""^^^^""^^^^m^e^c^^^ ^Ε^Ξ^Ζ^Ξ^Ζ^^^^™!^^™^ΕΕ3Π^^Ζ
cresc. j J cresc.
wy»y ^^^^^^^^^^^^^■■^p^MM^ JfcJ-Jt^J-β- - ^■^■^■^■e- WmJ I mJ Γ' ρ' [ ι ^'1 Γ^ ^%0 ^w^ II· I I I | ■ l^^l^
crejc.
ii6 V
I^Bt2^^*^^t^Z^C^^Ï5^L^^Z^C!3Z^^^ S^^bjpV^E-SE- ^- ^^^H^^M^^^~ ^^■^■^■■■■^■Ib^ZIjC^ÎI^ Z3Ebl23E^^^ZIZ ^^^^^^# » ^^«'i^ju^^l^. ^^^C^p^CSC^E^- ^^^j^^p'jf ' ^/ 11'^? I f "
V IjVI
S ι
harmony: this is the same augmented sixth we first encountered in bars 31-3
Ex. 14, where it similarly reawakened the Β pole of the B-G dialectic. In
coda, the Β sonority functions locally as a dominant, ushering in an Ε m
emphasis within the restatement of the main theme at bar 230. Thus it turns
that the coda does emphasise the subdominant - but the subdominant of B, n
G. The sudden shift in favour of Β continues when the theme leads to an
emphatic arrival on an Ft dominant at bar 239. The coda appears as if it has tilt
the scales towards Β in the kind of rousing shift to major common in post
Beethoven minor-mode sonata forms.
The interrupted cadence at bar 248 extends the temporary illusion of a B
major victory. An interrupted progression to (»VI often contributes to a coda's
cumulative effect in sonata-rondo form. Here it additionally underscores G
secondary meaning as submediant across the arrival of what we eventually realis
is the closing tonic scale step. It is true that Brahms remains in G instead of usin
G as part of a progression back to Β or to some other form of Β emphasi
The Quintet's coda, along with the other passages from the finale, illustrates a
point underlying all of my analyses: that context - both temporal and formal - is
indispensable to harmonic interpretation. From the synoptic perspective of a
Schenkerian graph, there is no doubt that G is tonic and that all later-level events
arise from the elaboration of a tonally centred Ursatz. Yet in various, less final
contexts, doubts arise as to whether tonal relations should be reckoned from Β
rather than G. Throughout, formal signals play a key role in creating this seminal
tonal ambiguity. A refrain that emphasises B, a retransition that stands on an Ft
dominant, a coda that highlights B's subdominant and culminates on another Ft
dominant, a resolution of that Ft dominant to G as I>VI - all of these aspects of
tonal-formal interaction sustain the B-G dialectic as the piece unfolds in per-
formance time. Whether one wishes to engage this dialectic in relation to neo-
Riemannian concepts or to notions of a double-tonic complex, or informally
folded into a Schenkerian interpretation, there is no doubt that it constitutes an
essential component of the movement.
Formal signals are equally central to my contrasting conclusions regarding
harmonic interpretation in the Sextet. Design relationships at all levels make it
clear that the chromatic third progressions pose no challenge to the Sextet's G
diatony. Brahms marshalls conventions of ABA7 form, for instance, to confirm
rather than question G's tonic status throughout the primary theme group. I
hasten to add, however, that this point does not negate the potential benefits of
conceiving aspects of development among the Sextet's motivic harmonies in
hexatonic space or through neo-Riemannian concepts more generally.
It is also the case that formal-harmonic interaction bolsters the argument for
motivic relations among what might otherwise be incidental repetitions or trans-
formations in the String Quartet. The enharmonic equivalence of viio7/G and
viio7/Bl> - not to mention the relationship of both seventh chords to a common-tone
seventh, an F dominant and an AI» triad and dominant seventh - remains trivial
unless realised by actual progressions in a composition. That the Quartet does so
at major structural points deepens the motivic resonances as it simultaneously
brings those motivic relations to the surface. But again, my point is not that these
extra-prolongational processes should be used to question the relevance of
Schenkerian analysis, but rather that we need to expand our analytical perspective
using whatever tools seem appropriate for enrichment of our musical experience.
The tight interconnection between motivic harmony and form in all of these
movements brings us back to an aspect of Dahlhaus's Brahmsian criticism that
I mentioned at the outset. Following Adorno, Dahlhaus takes a somewhat critical
stance with respect to Brahms's formal-harmonic integration. The composer's
tendency to bind his motivic harmonies to traditional formal frameworks, he tells
us, reflects conservative resistance to motivic individuality, an assertion that can
NOTES
An earlier version of this essay was read as the keynote address for the
sium presented on 9 April 2007 as part of the yearlong celebration of Br
music, entitled 'Love, Life, Spirit: the Chiara Quartet and Friends Celebra
of Brahms', at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln School of Music in th
College of Fine and Performing Arts. The author wishes to thank Steven
comments and suggestions during the preparation of this final version.
4. Scholars have traced other musical links between Brahms and Wagner and Liszt, of
course. For insightful discussions of the Third Symphony from this perspective, see
Robert Bailey, 'Musical Language and Structure in the Third Symphony', in
George S. Bozarth (ed.), Brahms Studies: Analytical and Historical Perspectives
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990), pp. 405-21; and David Brodbeck,
'Brahms, the Third Symphony, and the New German School', in Walter Frisch
(ed.), Brahms and His World (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1990),
pp. 65-80.
12. Cohn hits the nail on the head in his discussion of the hexatonic cycle in t
retransition of Brahms's Double Concerto when he states that the passage 'lead
the retransitional dominant ... [and] thus [has] a role to play in the larger A m
context of the movement as a whole' (Cohn, 'Maximally Smooth Cycles', p. 13)
contrast, I find it difficult to hear Schubert's Bl> major Piano Sonata accordin
Cohn's analysis, which asserts unconvincing premature shifts of tonal reg
both the exposition and the development. As in the Brahms passage, formal si
('leads to the retransitional dominant') make it clear that, contrary to Co
interpretation, the dominant region does not arrive until the third section of
movement's three-key exposition (bar 80) and that the tonic region does
re-emerge until the restatement of the main theme (bar 216) following the d
opment's retransitional dominant (Cohn, 'As Wonderful as Star Clusters: I
ments for Gazing at Tonality in Schubert', 19th-century Music, 22/iii [19
pp. 213-32).
13. I borrow the term 'less-final perceptions' from David Lewin, 'Music Theor
nomenology, and Modes of Perception', Music Perception, 3/iv (1986), p. 373.
14. For a full elaboration of these points, see Steven Rings, 'Tonality and Tra
mation' (PhD diss., Yale University, 2006), pp. 1-43. Also relevant is his 'Pe
spectives on Tonality and Transformation in Schubert's Impromptu in El>, D.
No. 2', Journal of Schenkerian Studies, 2 (2007), pp. 33-63, which is based on t
first part of Ch. 4 of his dissertation. Additional analytical discussions t
combine Schenkerian interpretation with neo-Riemannian insights in way
resonate with my own approach may also be found in Mark Anson-Cartwr
'Chromatic Features of E>-Major Works of the Classical Period', Music Th
Spectrum, 22/ii (2000), pp. 177-204; and Matthew Bribitzer-Stull, 'The Al^-
Complex: the Origin and Function of Chromatic Major Third Collections in
Nineteenth-Century Music', Music Theory Spectrum, 28/ii (2006), pp. 167-90.
A more theoretically oriented comparison between Schenkerian and neo-
Riemannian methodologies - one that attempts to develop 'a theory for compar-
ing theories' in that it compares and contrasts the conditions of possibility that
underlie these and Schoenbergian approaches to analysis - may be found in
Jonathan R. Pieslak, 'Conflicting Analytical Approaches to Late Nineteenth- and
Early Twentieth-Century Tonal Music: an Archaeological Examination', Theory
and Practice, 31 (2006), pp. 97-131.
15. For discussion of some of the properties of the PL and LP transformations with an
insightful application to a passage from Wagner's Die Walküre, see Brian Hyer,
'Reimag(in)ing Riemann', Journal of Music Theory, 39/i (1995), pp. 101-38.
17. Yosef Goldenberg makes this point in 'Schenkerian Voice-Leading and Neo-
Riemannian Operations: Analytical Integration without Theoretical Reconciliation',
Journal of Schenkerian Studies, 2 (2007), pp. 65-84.
25. Here I follow the definition of an apparent seventh chord articulated in Edwar
Aldwell and Carl Schachter, Harmony and Voice Leading, 3rd edn (Belmont, CA
Wadsworth Group, 2003), pp. 553-6.
27. Allen Forte asserts similar connections in the Quartet between his mo
(the ΑΉΟ-Β diminished triad), his motive beta bar prime (C-E^-AJO a
Ft-A-C-B diminished seventh chord in 'Motivic Design and Structural L
the First Movement of Brahms's String Quartet in C Minor', in Michael M
(ed.), Brahms 2: Biographical, Documentary and Analytical Studies (Cambri
bridge University Press, 1987), pp. 193-6.
28. Some relevant articles on the topic include Julian Hook, 'Cross-Type Tr
tions and the Path Consistency Condition', Music Theory Spectrum, 29/ii
1-39; Dmitri Tymoczko, 'Voice Leadings as Generalized Key Signatures',
Theory Online, 11/iv (2005); Graham G. Hunt, 'Transformational Redu
Cross-Analytical Approach to Richard Strauss' Im Abendrot9, in Nico Schu
On Methods of Music Theory and (Ethno-) Musicology: from Interdisciplinar
to Teaching (Frankfurt am Main and New York: Peter Lang, 2005), pp.
Clifton Callender, 'Continuous Transformations', Music Theory Online,
(2004); Richard Conn, 'ATetrahedral Graph of Tetrachordal Voice-Leadi
Music Theory Online, 9/iv (2003); and Jack Douthett and Peter Steinba
monious Graphs: a Study in Parsimony, Contextual Transformations, and
Limited Transposition', Neo-Riemannian Theory, special issue, Journal
Theory, 42/ii (1998), pp. 241-63.
29. My notion of a family of harmonies based on common-tone connections with an
axial diminished seventh chord is similar to ideas developed by Benjamin Boretz in
his Tristan prelude analysis in 'Meta- Variations, Part IV: Analytical Fallout (I)',
Perspectives of New Music, 1 1/i (1972), pp. 146-223. Boretz engages half-diminished
seventh chords in his formulations in addition to dominant and fully diminished
sevenths. He also develops his concepts independently of the idea of neo-
Riemannian transformations, which were not yet current at the time of his
theorising.
30. I explore both harmonic and rhythmic-metric components of linkage in 'New
Perspectives on Brahms's Linkage Technique', Intégral, 21 (2007), pp. 109-54.
31. Roger C. Graybill notes this function for the diminished seventh in 'Brahms's
Three-Key Expositions: Their Place within the Classical Tradition' (PhD diss.,Yale
University, 1983), p. 157.
32. The first reinterpretation of the common-tone chord as viio7/G occurs within the
tonic area itself at bar 18. The B-Ft leap of the first violin in bar 2 returns as an
outer-voice interval at bar 18 to help solidify the connection, as Graybill observes
('Brahms's Three-Key Expositions', p. 139). Brahms follows a similar procedure
in the first movement of the Third Symphony: the common-tone diminished
seventh in the opening motto returns as vii°3/V in bar 6. He may very well have
learned this strategy from Schubert, who features it prominently in the first move-
ment of his C major String Quintet. See the reinterpretation of the common-tone
diminished seventh of bars 3-4 as viio7/V in bars 9, 57 and 75.
33. See Graybill, 'Brahms's Three-Key Expositions', pp. 139-42; and Forte, 'Motivic
Design and Structural Levels', p. 178.
34. The recapitulatory transposition of the secondary material to the tonic level, i.e. by
minor third, dictates that the same vii°7 chords will return, but now to emphasise the
home dominant, in a further manifestation of the motivic relationship between
viio7/G and viio7/Bk
36. See Suurpää, 'The Undivided Ursatz', pp. 84-91, for an analysis that argues
convincingly for a prolongational connection between the Gjt scale step earlier in
the development and the expanded Gt/AI» ' chord of the formal overlap in the
recapitulation.
37. John Daverio explores Brahms's engagement with this type of sonata-rondo hybrid
and its roots in Mozart's compositional practice in 'From "Concertante Rondo" to
"Lyric Sonata": a Commentary on Brahms's Reception of Mozart', in David
Brodbeck (ed.), Brahms Studies, vol. 1 (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press,
1994), pp. 111-38. An earlier, somewhat less comprehensive examination may be
found in Robert Pascall, 'Some Special Uses of Sonata Form by Brahms', Sound-
ings, 4 (1974), pp. 58-63. Joel Galand analyzes movements of this type as part of his
discussion of the eighteenth-century rondo idea and its interaction with various
binary and ritornello forms in 'Form, Genre, and Style in the Eighteenth-Century
Rondo', Music Theory Spectrum, 17/i (1995), pp. 27-52; and 'Some Eighteenth-
Century Ritornello Scripts and Their Nineteenth-Century Revivals', Music Theory
Spectrum, 30/ii (2008), pp. 239-82.
38. On the importance of sensitivity to multiple listening contexts and 'less-final per-
ceptions' for musical analysis, see Lewin, 'Music Theory, Phenomenology, and
Modes of Perception'.
39. Dahinaus, 'Issues in Composition', p. 75.
REFERENCES
Caplin, William E., 1998: Classical Form: a Theory of Formal Functions for the
Instrumental Music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven (Oxford and New York:
Oxford University Press).
Chua, Daniel K. L., 2004: 'Rethinking Unity', Music Analysis, 23/ii-iii, pp.
353-9.
38.
pp. 347-63.
Kinderman, William, 1980: 'Dramatic Recapitulation in Wagner's Götterdäm-
merung', 19th-century Music, 4/ii, pp. 101-12.
22.
pp. 109-54.
Suurpää, Lauri, 2005: 'The Undivided Ursatz and the Omission of the Tonic
Stufe at the Beginning of the Recapitulation', Journal of Schenkerian Studies,
1, pp. 65-90.
Tymoczko, Dmitri, 2005: 'Voice Leadings as Generalized Key Signatures', Music
Theory Online, 11 /iv.
ABSTRACT