middleground motives in the adagietto of mahler's fifth symphony

7/26/2019 Middleground Motives in the Adagietto of Mahler's Fifth Symphony

1/12

Middleground Motives in the Adagietto of Mahler's Fifth SymphonyAuthor(s): Allen ForteSource: 19th-Century Music, Vol. 8, No. 2 (Autumn, 1984), pp. 153-163Published by: University of California PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/746760Accessed: 28/07/2010 15:01

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unlessyou have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you

may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.

Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ucal.

Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed

page of such transmission.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
http://www.jstor.org/stable/746760?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ucalhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ucalhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/746760?origin=JSTOR-pdf


2/12

Middleground

ot ives

i n

t h e

A d a g i e t t o

O f

M ah le r s

F i f t h

Symphony

ALLEN

FORTE

TheSignificanceof the Motive in Mahler'sMu-

sic.

The

melodic

surface

of

Mahler's

music,

with

its wealth

of detail and florid

exploitation

of

traditional

polarities

such as

the

suspension,

is

surely

one of its

most

immediately

attractive

features.

Embedded

in this

surface are

the

atomic

melodic

components

which

we know as

motives,

the

lucid and

memorable

musical

ele-

ments

which

are combined

in the most artistic

and often "simple" ways to form melodies.

Among

these

motives are some

which

appear

o

have

the

deepest

symbolic significance

in the

composer's

music-for

example,

the

turn,

the

octave

leap,

and

the

appoggiatura,

symbols

which

elicit

direct and

strong

responses

from

the sensitive listener even without benefit of

learnedtheoretical

explanations.

Although

the

present

article

proceeds

from

this traditional

idea of

motive,

it

extends that

familiar

concept

in

three directions.

First,

the

motive

is

regarded

as

fundamentally

an inter-

vallic

structure,

hence can

occur

in

simplest

form as

a

simultaneity.

(The

Adagietto

contains

striking

instances of this

phenomenon.)

Sec-

ond, the motive is not restricted to the fore-

ground

stratum,

but

may

occur

at

the

middle-

ground

evel

in

expanded

orm.

Finally,

as it will

be

shown,

one can

appropriately peak

of "moti-

vic

counterpoint"

in

Mahler's

music,

and that

term

offers

a

significant degree

of

analytical

advantage.

Because the article

incorporates

certain

novel features

in its

approach

o

the

study

of

the

music, a few words of explanation, including a

disclaimer,

are in order. First the

disclaimer:

Musical

examples

for

this

article

were

preparedby

Melvin

Wildberger.

19th-CenturyMusic VIII/2 Fall1984).? by the Regentsof

the

University

of California.

153


3/12

19TH

CENTURY

MUSIC

while

the

graphic

form of the

examples

reflects

an

orientation

which is

Schenkerian in

na-

ture-in

particular,

a

belief

in

the

reality

of

structural levels and a reverence for the truth

and

beauty

embodied

in

the

consonant triad-

these

graphs

do not

always

follow Schenkerian

paradigms

and

may occasionally

bend textbook

norms.'

The basic

rationale for

these occasional

departures

resides,

of

course,

in the

music

itself,

a

prime

exemplar

of late

nineteenth-century

music and

a work which contains

many

of the

innovative and non-traditional

aspects

associ-

ated with that periodof music history.

In

addition,

it should be said that the

single

movement

which is the

primary

ocus of the ar-

ticle is not

an

isolated

example

of

middleground

motives

(a

Schenkerian

concept)

and related

phenomena-neither

isolated with

respect

to

Mahler's

ceuvre nor

with

respect

to late

nine-

teenth-century

music

in

general.2

Finally,

although

the article does

not include

an explicit theoretical apparatus, t does imply

one

in the

analysis

of motivic structures and

substructures

and

in

the

analytical

determina-

tion of

motivic

identity

under some transforma-

tion

(such

as a

transposition)

or combination of

transformations.

The

Motive

in

Late

Nineteenth-Century

Music:

An Historical-Technical View. The brevity of

the musical motive

in

the music of the late

nineteenth

century

is discussed

in

an interest-

ing essay

by

Carl

Dahlhaus that focuses

mainly

upon

the

music

of

Wagner

and

Brahms.

Dahlhaus writes

persuasively

of "the

close and

intricate

relationship

between

. .

. aesthetic

principles and the technical compositional is-

sues.... These

are

the

pre-eminence

of

original-

ity,

the

shrinking

of thematic material in in-

verse

proportion

to the

ambition to create

arger

forms."3

However,

he

apparently

does not

per-

ceive

the extension of the atomic

motives to the

level

of

middleground

structure-a Schenker-

ian

concept,

as indicated

above.

If this

is a

gen-

eral

feature of late

nineteenth-century

music,

as

is believed, then the thematic motive has a

significance

far

beyond

that which

accrues to

it

merely

as

a result of its

presence

in the fore-

ground.

In the same

essay,

Dahlhaus

discusses

the ex-

istence

of

"padding"

n

music of the

Classical

period,

in

particular. Again,

this

notion,

while

commonly

held,

is at odds with the Schenker-

ian

view

that even

commonplace

musical

mo-

tions, such as those surroundingthe neighbor-

ing

tone,

acquire

a

unique

structural

meaning

in

each

individual art work.

Indeed,

this is

one of

the

miracles

of

tonal

music: the enormous di-

versity

of musical structures

generated

from a

very

small stock

of

basic musical

motions

which

are

determined

by

the constraints

of the

particular

harmonic

and

contrapuntal syntax.

As

will be

seen,

the

Adagietto

movement

of

Mahler's Fifth Symphony is a particularly

poignant

and

elegant

manifestation of this

re-

markable

feature

of

tonal music.

1: The

Second

Song

of

Kindertotenlieder.

As a

way

of

approaching

he

Adagietto

and introduc-

ing

some

of the

analytical

nomenclature and

techniques

to

be

used

in

the main

part

of the ar-

ticle,

I turn first to the second

song

of Mahler's

Kindertotenlieder (ex. la). Mahleriansknow, of

course,

that the

opening subject

of this

song

is

closely

related to the

opening

of the

Adagietto.

Indeed,

a literal

replica

of the

subject

of the Ada-

gietto

occurs

at the end of the

song

(m.

67).

The

chronological

relation between the

two,

al-

though interesting,

cannot be

discussed,

since

there are

no definitive dates of

composition.

Both were

composed during

the

period

1901-02,

'Such,

for

example,

as

those

presented

in

Allen Forte

and

Steven

E.

Gilbert,

Introduction

to Schenkerian

Analysis

(New

York,

1982).

2See

Allen

Forte,

"Motive and

Rhythmic

Contour

in

Brahms's Alto

Rhapsody,"

Journal

of

Music

Theory

27

(1983),255-71. Also in this connection thereadermaywish

to

referto

CharlesBurkhart's xcellent

article,

"Schenker's

'Motivic

Parallelisms',"

Journalof

Music

Theory

22

(1978),

145-75,

which deals with the

enlargement

of

foreground

motives

in a wide

range

of

tonal

works,

including composi-

tions

by

Brahmsand

Debussy.

With

respect

to

middlegroundorganization

n

general,

the

only published

Schenkerian

analyses

of

works

by

Mahler are

in Felix

Salzer,

Structural

Hearing

(New

York,

1952);

n

Peter

Bergquist,

"The FirstMovement of Mahler's

Tenth

Symphony:

An

Analysis

and

an

Examinationof

the

Sketches,"

Music

Forum 5

(1980),

335-94;

and in V.

Kofi

Agawu, "The Musical Languageof KindertotenliederNo.

2," JournalofMusicology

2

(1983),

81-93.

In

addition,

copi-

ous

analytical

sketches

will

appear

n

Stephen Hefling's

Yale

dissertation,

Mahler's

Todtenfeier:

A

Documentary

and

Analytical

Study

(1985).

3Carl

Dahlhaus,

"Issues in

Composition,"

n Between Ro-

manticism and

Modernism,

trans.

Mary

Whittall

(Berkeley

and

Los

Angeles,

1980),p.

76.

154


4/12

Ruhig,

nicht

schleppend.

o i c e

Ciekt

urTickhalleand

PIANO

.

-._

Nun

seh'

ich

wohl.

war

- um

so

dunk-le

Flam

men ihr

9

S-P -

,3-

__

r

J

J_

Au - gen

Gleich

-

sam,

um

voll in

ei-

nem

,

*t

w

t

t

.

.

-

II

-

L,

,

LJ

LW

&6U

V ' '

ALLEN

FORTE

Mahler's

Fifth

Symphony

Example

Ib: Motivic

Featuresof

Nun

seh'

ich

wohl.

155


5/12

19TH

CENTURY

MUSIC

but which came first is

entirely

a

matter of

spec-

ulation at

the

present

time.

Some

of

the most

prominent

motivic fea-

tures of Nun seh'

ich

wohl

are

summarized

in

ex. lb. Here

and in

the

study

of the

Adagietto

which follows there are three

basic

graphic

symbols.

Lower case

Greek

letters

designate

motives delimited

by

brackets,

while

the

prime

appended

to a

Greek letter

indicates that the

motive is modified

in

some

way

and

does not

replicate

the motive without

prime.

The

bar

placed

above

a

Greek letter

symbolizes

ordinary

contour inversion.

Motive

ac

(ex.

ib)

comprises

the

ascending

line

that

spans

a fourth.

By rhythm

and

phrasing

a articulates two

submotives

marked

P

and

y,

the

ascending

minor

second and the

ascending

major

third,

respectively.

A third

component

of

ax,

he

ascendingmajor

second

designated

8,

will

prove

to be of

special

importance

when it

ap-

pears

in the

Adagietto.

Motive a' immediately follows axn the mu-

sic

(m. 3).

Now, however,

since

ax

as

undergone

compression

and

traverses

a diminished

fourth,

it

is

designated

a'.

Similarly,

y

now

spans

a mi-

nor

third and

is called

y'.

While

y'

represents

a

rhythmic

contraction with

respect

to

y

in m.

1,

0 (beginning

n m.

3)

expands

rhythmically

with

respect

to its

original

form in m. 2.

Motive

8 dis-

appears

rom within

ac';

ather,

t

is

replaced

by

anotherstatement of 3,with the result that p is

intensified

by

repetition,

ex.

lb.

After

the

statement of

a

and

ax',

which

com-

prises

the

first

two

phrases

of

a traditional

bar

form,

the voice enters in m.

5 with a on the

same

pitch

classes as the

original

form of a in m.

1. A recurrence

of a motive in this

way

is called

pitch-class

specific

with

respect

to some other

occurrence.

If the

recurrence nvolves the same

pitches-that is, if it is not registrallydistinct--

it is

called

pitch specific,

with

reference o

some

other

occurrence

of the

motive.

As the

voice enters

in

m.

5 with

a,

the orches-

tra

joins

in,

doubling

ca

a third lower. While the

intervallic

span

of

both remains that

of

a

fourth,

the

lower form of

ax

has a different internal

structure.

(This

new form is not

given

a

separate

name,

since

such a distinction is

inconsequen-

tial for the purpose at hand. What it provides,

however,

is

analytical

evidence that

Mahler

re-

gards

as

equivalent

motives that traverse the

same

interval,

all other factors

being equal.)

In mm. 10-13

ax'

appears

wice in

direct

suc-

cession,

the

second form a

transposition

of the

first

by

a minor

third

(see

ex.

ib).

Here

P

is

asso-

ciated

with the word

"Augen,"

which is central

to the

meaning

of the

poem thoughout

this

song.

In both

cases the

rhythmic shape

of

P

cor-

responds

to that of its first

appearance,

n m. 1.

In m.

14

the

upper

voice

begins

with

P

as

though

it

would

present

ax';

however,

it

falls

back

in

m.

15

to form

8,

the

major

second.

As

the

orchestra

plays a'-g'

the voice

sings gl-al.

The

resulting

exchange

of

voices creates

a harmonic

or simultaneous

formof 8 and 8

(see

ex.

Ib).

From the

analytical standpoint,

this

opening

music

of KindertotenliederNo. 2 illustratessix

fundamental

and

general aspects

of the motive

in Mahler's

compositions,

as listed below.

I. Rhythmic

shape

is variable:the

same

pitch

motive

may

occur

in

different

rhythms

and

yet

retainits

identity.

ii.

The

intervallic

boundary

of

a motive

may

bechanged,

as in the contraction of

ac

o forma'.

iii. The

effect of a contraction

(or expansion)

is to

modify

the

internal

structure,

the submo-

tives,

of

a

motive. For

nstance,

not

one

but two

forms

of

p

occur

within

ax',

reating

an

expres-

sive

intensification.

iv.

A

motive

may

be

transposed

without los-

ing

its association

with

the

original

form.

v.

A

motive

may

be

inverted without

losing

its essential identity.

vi. The

interval

of a

motive-its

intervallic

span-may

be

presented

as a

simultaneity.

2: Basic

Motives

in the

Foreground

of

the Ada-

gietto.

Example

2

displays

the basic

stock of

aA

6

E Y')

AM bE

Example

2: Basic

Motives in the

Foreground

of

the

Adagietto.

156


6/12

motives of the

Adagietto.

Motive

a is

the same

as

oa

n the

song

discussed

above;

in

the Ada-

gietto,

however,

a has an inverse

image

called

1&.

Similarly 3,the ascendingminor second,has an

inverse labelled

j,

as

do

y

and 8.

Moreover,

y

has a condensed

counterpart,

y',

that

spans

the

interval of a minor

third;

and since

y'

has an

in-

verse,

the

symbol -'

comes into

play--the

most

complicated

of motive

names to be used in

this

analysis.

Finally,

there is

another

motive, E,

which,

like

y',

descends over a

minor third. Its

relation to

y'

will

be

explained

in due

course.

The music begins, as shown in the analytical

sketch,

ex.

3,

with the

interval of

a

minor

third,

y' (violas

and

harp).

This

proves

to be one

of the

principal

motivic

components

of the

music and

one

which,

fittingly,

predominates

in the

clos-

ing

music

(ex.

9).

Against

the

cello-bass

motion

a-g-f

(y)

the

first violins introduce

what is

surely

the

moti-

vic

hallmark

of

the

Adagietto,

a.

Three submo-

tives are identified on the analytical sketch in

ex.

3:

p,

the

tail

of the

motive, 8,

the head of the

motive,

and

-5,

he

inverse

of

the bass

motion.

In

the

very opening

music we

thus

have an

in-

stance

of

motivic

counterpoint

as

a

in

violins

unfolds

against y

in

cellos.

That these

are,

in

fact, motives,

and not

arbitrary

motions of some

kind will become

clear as we

proceed.

In

the

second

part

of

the

opening

melodic

phrase 0 extends from

bb1

to join

~

, a'-g' (ex.

3).

That

is,

the two

submotives of

a

are nverted

and

now

appear

n

reverse order.

Here

the E

ex.

2) designates

the

combination of

p

and

8 .

Un-

like

y

this

is not

an

integral

minor

third,

but

a

concatenation

of minor second and

major

sec-

ond,

as defined

by harmony.

Hence,

it is

both

useful and systematically obligatoryto distin-

guish

between the two motives E

and

y,

al-

though

E n some sense also involves

the minor

third.

The next motion in the

upper

voice

presents

the a

shape, rising

to a climax on c2. As

indi-

cated

in ex.

3,

this form of a

incorporates -',

here

pitch-class

specific

with

respect

to

the

opening

form

of

motive

y'.

And

again,

we

have a

lucid instance of motivic counterpoint, with

the bass

presenting

y'

against

the

ascending

a

motive.

This

form of

y'

is

also

pitch-class

spe-

cific with

respect

to the

opening

form of

that

motive

(interval).

Attached

to the

climactic

pitch

c2

are mo-

tives

8 and

~

,

pitch-class

specific

with

respect

to

the

initial

form of 8

(m.

2).

The entire fore-

ground figure

ends

with

-

c2-b'

in

m.

6,

to

which the bass provides the motivic counter-

point

Ab-G,

also

a

form

of

3.

The

remainder of the

foreground

can

be read

from the

analytical

sketch

in ex.

3.

However,

it

may

not be

inappropriate

o draw

attention to

a

poignant

detail,

the

occurrence of a

vertical

form

of

y' just

as the

a

leads into the new

section

in

the

upbeat

to m.

11

at the end of ex.

3. In this

situation the

pitch

a'

conflicts with the domi-

nant harmony, a beautiful and idiomatic in-

stance

in

which a

statement of a

motive takes

precedence

over

other

compositional

consider-

ations.

ALLEN

FORTE

Mahler's

Fifth

Symphony

5

6E

4-

4-

-3

a C ?

7 - 8

Example: Middlegroundof the Opening Music of the Adagietto.

E x a m p l e i d d l e g r o u n d

th

O p e n i n g

u s i c

th

A d a g i e t t o

3:

Middleground

of

the

Opening

Music

of

the

Adagietto.

We

come now to

consider

the

first

transference of a motive from the foreground o

the

middleground.

This

begins

with

c2,

the

pri-

mary

tone

signified

by

the caret

surmounting

the

numeral 5 abovethe

open

notehead in m.

5.

This climactic

pitch

is

the

head

note of a linear

progression

(in

Schenkerian

language)

which

proceedsdownwardstepwise to gl in m. 9, as in-

dicated

by

the

stem and

beam

notation,

at the

half cadence on

the

dominant: an

enlarged

orm

of

&.

157


7/12

19TH

CENTURY

MUSIC

Within

this is

a

subsidiary stepwise

motion

that

prolongs

bbi

from

m.

6

through

m.

8

by

de-

scending

from

bbi

through

a' to

gX,

s

shown

by

the stems without beams(ex.3).This configura-

tion, too,

is

motivic;

it

is a

pitch-specific

form

of

E,

as

symbolized

on

the

analytical

graph.

The

musical

significance

of

this

event

lies

not

only

in

the

extraordinary

act that it

repli-

cates

in

the

large

a

motive of

small

scale,

but

also in the

general

(Schenkerian)

ense

that it is

a

primary

contributor

to

the

moment-to-mo-

ment

unity

and

coherence of

the

music.

Each

step in the progressionrepresentsaphasein the

determinate

motion

toward

the

final

goal,

the

cadential

gX

bove the

bass C in m.

9-what Fe-

lix

Salzer has

called

"directed

motion."

More-

over,

the head

note of the

progression

is not

placed

in

some random

position

in

the

music;

it

is

precisely

the

terminal note of

the second

form

of

x

in

the

foreground.

And,

of

course,

the

foreground

remains.

No

effort has been made to reduce it out of the ana-

lytical

graph

n

ex.

3,

lest

the reader

receive the

impression

that

it

is

somehow of no

signifi-

cance. On

the

contrary,

each

component

of

the

long

line moves to

the next

by way

of

decorative

motives drawn

from the

openingmusic,

begin-

ning with two formsof 8,followedbythe p mo-

tive combined

with

P,

and

finally

the

pitch-

class

specific

form of

y

which

prolongs

the

penultimate

a' that

precedes

the

cadence.

The richness

of motivic detail in this

opening

music of the

Adagietto

can

only

be

fully appre-

ciated

contextually,

with reference

to the

spe-

cial motivic structures

that

characterize

the

thematic

aspect

of the

composition.

Notice,

for

example, that the suspensions in m. 8 highlight

the

a

motives,

reflecting

the

suspended

presen-

tation of

p

in

its initial

manifestation. In

this

connection,

I should

point

out that while

the

figured

bass

symbols

which

are

provided

on

the

analytical

sketches

are intended

primarily

to

elucidate the

voice

leading,

they

also

point

to

motives

not all of which

receive

Greek

letters,

with

or

without

primes

or bars.

Thus,

the

figure

4-3 beginningin m. 9 representsthe inner-voice

motion

fl-el,

which is

-p.

Example

4:

Continuationof

First Section

of the

Adagietto.

4:

Continuation

of

First

Section

of

the

Ada-

gietto. This subsection (ex.4) beginsas avariant

of its

predecessor

shown in

ex.

3.

In

m.13

the

leading

tone

g#

1,

introduced as

the second

note

of

~

,

signals

the

forthcoming

harmonic motion

from

tonic to mediant

(A

minor).

Against

the

next

motive

in

the

upper

voice, E,

enters in

the

bass, pitch-class

specific

with

respect

to its ini-

tial

statement

in

m.

3.

Indeed,

as

indicated on

the

analytical

sketch,

the form

of

p

that lies an

octave higher at this point (e-f) is the end of a

complete

statement of

a.

Here

again

we en-

counter an instance of

motivic

counterpoint:

E

in the

upper

voice

moving against P

in the

bass.

In m. 15 the uppervoice

a1

which resolves the

suspended

bI

is the head

note of an

elaborate

form of

y'

in

which the second

and third

notes

appear

n

the octave below

(aX-bb-c1).

he elab-

oration of

y (as

shown in

ex.

4)

consists first of

two forms of W

filling

in the fifth from

a1

down

to

d1.

The

middle

note of

y'

then

enters,

having

been

prepared

within the

Neapolitan

harmony

which

precedes

it.

Finally,

the

last note of

the

motive, c', comes in as the sixth of the cadential

8,

to

complete

this

middleground

statement of

y'.

This

is

not, however,

the end of

the musical

158


8/12

motion,

for

c'

is the head note of the

inverse

of

the

preceding

motive,

that

is,

y',

and in

this

transformation

there

occurs an

expressive

chro-

matic exchange:bbin y' becomes b in y'.

Having

arrived

on the mediant

harmony

in

m.

19,

the

music

commences a coda-like

mo-

tion

of

which all

the melodic

components

are

motivic,

as

shown

on ex.

4

beginning

in m.

19.

Of

these,

p

and

its inverse

image

-

are

most

prominent.

However,

y' puts

in

an

appearance

in the

bassin aform

pitch-class specific

with re-

spect

to the

most recent

form of

y'

in

the

upper

voice.

This delicate

coda ends

with a restatement

of

the

minor

third

of

y' just

before the

reappear-

ance of

thematic

motive

a

(m. 23),

which leads

into

the next

section.

At this

point

it becomes

clear

that

the harmonic

middleground-the

progression

from

I

to

III

and back-is

motivated

by

the

statement

of

y

in its fundamental

inter-

vallic

shape,

the

minor third

A-C,

here

a com-

ponent

of

the

A-minor

triad.

The

fifth of

that

triad,e, belongs, of course, to P andits inverse,

as

remarked

above.

Thus,

the

entire

harmony

of

A minor

is motivic

in

origin

and

significance;

it

is a

harmonic

symbol

that refers

to the

very

opening

musical

gesture

of the

Adagietto.

Measure

23

also contains

a new instance

of

motivic

counterpoint.

a

in its

original

register

s

counterpointed

by

y

in the bass

(as

at

the

begin-

ning,

but

y', spanning

the

interval

from

c2

to a

(the "A-minor" interval), moves in parallel

tenths

with

y

in the

bass,

enriching

the counter-

point.

It

is also

worth

noting

that the relation

between

y'

and

p

becomes

explicit

here:

the

former

ncorporates

he latter

as a

submotive,

as

indicated

in

ex.

4.

ALLEN

FORTE

Mahler's

Fifth

Symphony

i

.

_I

'

,.....1...I.......l..........,....i

v

,-"[4o

7-

/6cuplin

-3

_

6

10 10 10 10

Example

5:

Concluding

Part

of

the First Section.

5:

Concluding

Part

of

the First Section.

Exam-

ple

5

shows

an

analytical

graph

of

the

fore-

groundandmiddlegroundof the finalpart n the

first section

of the

Adagietto

(excluding

the

coda,

mm.

34-38).

This is a variationon the

first

section,

not

only

at

the

foreground

evel,

but at

the

middleground

level as

well,

as will

be ex-

plained.

The

first

foreground

motion

in the

upper

voice

peaks

on

p e2-f2,

then E enters

in a

form

which

is

pitch-specific

with

respect

to its

first

appearance (ex. 3) and prolonged at the fore-

ground

level

through

a

Mahlerian turn.

With the

completion

of

this motion on

g'

in

m. 26

begins

the

most

extraordinarypart

of

this

concluding

section:

a

large-scale

middleground

presentationof a, the components of which are

stemmed and beamed

in ex.

5.

Subsidiary

o

and

interruptive

of this

ascending

linear

motion is

the voice

projected

upward

rom the tenor

regis-

ter:

dl-d2,

el-e2,

fl_f2,

shown

by diagonal

lines

on the

analytical

sketch.

Although

this motion

might

be

regarded

as an instance of the ascend-

ing

minor third motive

y',

the

graph

shows that

the

motion

begins

on

cI

in m. 24 and

that the to-

tal configurationis nothing other than a form of

the

primal

motive

a:

cl-dl-(d2)-el-(e2)-fl-(f2).

Thus,

in this section

two forms of

a

intersect,

159


9/12

19TH

CENTURY

MUSIC

but,

in

context,

the

form that

begins

on

g'

should

be

regarded

as the more

fundamental,

since

it

is the

point

of

departure

or

the climax

music, to which I will return below. The coun-

terpoint

for this form of

a,

shown

underneath

the

analytical

sketch

in

ex.

5,

is a

traditional se-

ries of

imperfect

consonances:

6-10-10-10-10.

At the

conclusion

of the

main

middleground

statement

of a

on c2

(at

the end of m.

28)

the mu-

sic moves toward

the

climax on

a2

in m.

30,

where

that note forms the

interval

of

y', pitch-

class

specific,

with the

bass. This is a

particu-

larly effective culmination, since the melodic

motion from m.

29

arches

upward

from

c2

through

f2

again

forming

y

when it reaches

a2.

Thus,

the outer voices from m.

29

comprise

a

motivic

counterpoint

involving

a

single

mo-

tive-in

effect,

an

exchange.

In this

upward

motion

c#2

n m.

29

(equiva-

lent to d62within the Bb-minor riad)providesa

striking

element

of chromatic tension.

Al-

though

it

proves

to

be

a

neighboring

one which

falls back to c2

with

the arrival

on

bass

c

in m.

30,

it has

strong

ascendingpassing-tone

impli-

cations-hence,

the "tension."

In

short,

it as-

pires

to become

the

head note of

3.

Other features

of this

section can be

read

from

the

analytical

sketch. One

that

needs to be

singledout forspecialattention,however,is the

large-scale

bass

motion

A-B1-C

(mm. 28-30),

a

pitch-class

specific

form of the

initial statement

of

-"'.

-

2I

I-r-

.

()Example

6: Final Section

of the

Middle Part

of the

Adagietto.

Example

6"

Final Section of the

Middle Part of the Adagietto.

6:

Final

Section

of

the

Middle

Part

of

the Ada-

gietto.

Since

this

article did not set out to

give

a

complete chronological

analysis

of the

Ada-

gietto,

but

rather to focus on

middleground

manifestations

of

foreground

motivic con-

figurations,

we

do not hesitate to

skip

now

to

the final portion of the middle part,startingat

m. 63

(ex.

6).

Although

Mahler's

key signature

of

two

sharps

here

suggests

D

major,

a statement

of

that

implicit

tonic

sonority

never occurs.

In-

stead,

as shown

by

the

figured

bass

symbols

in

ex.

6,

the

basic

long-range

voice-leading

motion

between

m. 63

and

m.

68

comprises

the

provi-

sional

resolution of

6

to

7

and

the

final

denoue-

4

3

ment on

to

just before the repriseof the opening

music

in

F

major.

The

upper

voice of this

portion

of the music

presents

two

forms of

a,

both

at the middle-

ground

level,

the

longest

of

which

traverses

the

entire section

and is indicated

by

the

upper

beam

in ex. 6. Within this

long

a is nested a

pitch-specific

replica

of

itself which

begins

in

m.

64.

This is also identified

by

a

beam

in

the

analytical sketch.

When the

bass

changes

to

FO

n

m.

67

(violas)

the

upper

voice

momentarily digresses

to

bring

in

C&,

he

fourth,

which

descends

from

e3

o b2via

-

and

-,

with

inverse

forms of each of

those

motives

interpolated

so that the

pattern

folds

back

upon

itself

as 9

-P-0

--8,

a

highly

refined

foreground

configuration

which

is

prefigured

n

the

music at

m.

57

(ex. 8).

The

pitch

b2

which

concludes the small &here then becomes the

second

note

in

the

longer

of the

two

ascending

middleground

forms of

ta.

160


10/12

In m.

68,

with the

progression

of

the

'

to

9,

the

bass

is

prepared

or the

subsequent

descent to

F,

traversing

the

major

third

and

thus

forming

mo-

tive y-.This middlegroundbass motion is pitch-

class

specific

with

respect

to

the

original

form

of

y

(an

octave

lower).

Here

again

the

statement

of

the

motive

appears

to

be the

paramount

mu-

sical concern. More

specifically,

the motivic

counterpoint

created

by

the

completion

of

a

in the

upper

voice

against

the

descending

y

in

the bass would

render

any

other

resolution

in-

artistic-such

as one that would

bring

n a dom-

inant harmony for the tonic F-majorkey at m.

72.

It

is also

completion

of the

middleground

o

motive

in

the

upper

voice which is

responsible

for the

d3

n the

upper

voice of m. 72 and

which

renders the conflict

with the tonic

harmony

so

absolutely

compelling.

The

postponement

from

m. 72 to m. 74 of bass F (bracketedn ex. 6) can

also be

explained cogently

on a motivic basis.

At this moment in the

composition,

Mahler

not

only

returns

to the

beginning

music

but he

also

brings

back

the

characteristic

harp

sonority

from

the

opening,

which has been absent

for

some time

(since

m.

46).

Associated with

the

harp

is

its

original

motive,

y',

and in order

to

highlight

its

interval,

the minor

third,

the com-

poser omits the bass F,which would cover that

delicate

sonority

if

played by

low

strings.

Here

Mahler has

given

us a lesson in motivic

orches-

tration

as well as motivic

counterpoint.

ALLEN

FORTE

Mahler's

Fifth

Symphony

gY':

g2

g

a'

bb'

S

(m.4)

couplingg2

a'

1

A

6

r---16i

-9/

-10

9-10

IV(m,:

1I

V

bVI

Example

7:

The Transition

between

the First

and

Second

Parts of the

Adagietto.

7:

The

Transition between

the First and

Second

Parts

of

the

Adagietto.

Let us

now look

back

and

consider a

section of the work

which does

not

readily yield

up

its

secrets,

the

music

which

connects

the

first

section in F

major

to the

sec-

ond

section,

which

begins

in

G1

major

(ex.

7).

First,the harmonicprogression s unusual. It

seems at

first to be

directed

toward

Bb

major/

minor,

a

motion

which,

had

it

been

consum-

mated,

would have

modulatedto the subdomi-

nant

and

thus,

in

Beethoven

fashion,

elevated

the

bb'

of

the

first

motive to the

status of a

tonic.

The

transition

begins

with

a

prolonged

(middleground)

form of

-'

which terminates

on

el'. However, because of the pitches involved,

c'-d'-eb',

the

final

pitch

of

y

sounds like the

chromatic

counterpart

of el

in the

a

motive,

the

kind of

chromatic

shading

so

characteristic

of

nineteenth-century

music.

Within the

middleground

y'

is

y-',

as shown.

And

following

the

middleground

orm is a

mini-

ature

replica

of that

motive.

Probably

he

most

striking

event in

the tran-

sition is the sudden appearanceof motive 8 in

the

upper

voice of m.

43,

a form

of

the motive

which

is

pitch-class specific

with

respect

to

its

first

appearance

n m. 4.

Following

this

climac-

tic form of

& is a

descending stepwise

chain

made

up

of

the

same

motivic

shape,

indicated

by

beamsin ex. 7. The

resulting change

of

regis-

ter links

g2

o

a',

a

coupling,

in

Schenkerian

an-

guage,

notated

by

the

dotted slur.

Thus,

at the

middlegroundlevel G in the uppervoice is pro-

longed

until

it

moves to

A,

and

A

then

pro-

gresses

to

Bb.

As

shown above

the

upper

stave in

161


11/12

19TH

CENTURY

MUSIC

ex.

7,

this

motion

is

a form of

-'

within

which

P

as

a'-bbI

effects the

final

motion

to the new

key,

Gb.

Here

p

is

pitch-specific

with

respect

to

the first P in the openingmusic: it is the retro-

grade

of

that

motive.

8: First

Section

of

the

Middle Part.

The

y

which

first

appeared

n

the

bass

of

the

opening

music,

is

predominant

here in

the

foreground,

ogether

with its

inverse

image,

I-,

and its

minor third

variant,

y'

(ex.

8). y

also

penetrates

the

middle-

ground:

bb -ab

_-gg

,

the

beamed

structure that

begins in m. 47 of ex. 8.

However,

oa

nd

&

play

significant

roles,

with

oa

iven

more

tenuously,

beginning

on

dV2

n m.

50.

In this

passage

it is

interesting

to hear the

way

in which

'

and

-'

are

incorporated

nto a's

ascending

fourth,

still another

instance of the

elegant ways

the basic

motives interact to form

new

configurations.

In m.

53

the

melodic

pitch

cb3

s attained in

the uppervoice, introduced via motive y, as in-

dicated. From this

point

onward the motion is

directed toward

the

melodic climax

of the sec-

tion,

O

c64-bb3

n m.

57. The climactic

-

mo-

tive,

however,

occurs within

the context of

a,

the fourth which

ascends from

f3

in m.

56,

and

attached to

the

head

note of

that motive is

I-'.

Thus,

the climax

incorporates

three of the

basic

motivic

shapes

of the

Adagietto,

again creating

a new melodic structure in the foreground.

In

this

section the

middleground

motion of

largest

scale is

the

registral

coupling

from

c63

(m.

53)

to

ck4

(m.

57),

a

coupling

which is

ef-

fected

by

the

stepwise

ascent,

as

shown

on the

analytical

sketch. The reason

P6

c,4-b,4

is the

climactic

motive has to do with its

placement

within

the

prevailing tonality

of

G6

major:

in

that

key pitch

classes

C6

and

B1

are

precisely

the analogues of the original form of- in the

opening

subject,

Bk-A.

Immediately following

the climax on

-

in

m.

57

the

foreground

melody descends,

forming

the motivic succession

p--

-P,

the latter as

d3-

eV3.

The

pitch eV3

hen

appears

above the domi-

nant to establish a

ninth,

as

figured

in the

sketch,

and this

proves

to be the head note of the

beamed

middleground

form of

-,

prolonged

by

5

and 5', as shown in the detail on the graph.

This

is

a

particularly

remarkable occurrence

of

-

in the

middleground,

since the tail note of the

motive, db3,

should resolve

over the

dominant

bass or over the tonic

G6 triad as

a

final refer-

ence

to

db2

of m.

47,

which

derives from the

pri-

marytone of the movement, c2.Instead,the lin-

ear transition to the next

section

begins,

with

the bass

moving

to the

c

just

before the

double

bar,

and the

db3

n

question

ascends

to

d#3.

Here

the

foreground

motivic

structures interlock in a

complicated way. -' just

before the

change

of

key signature picks up

the errant

db3.

With the

motion to

d#3

a form

of

a

is

completed,

creating

the melodic

upbeat

which

introduces the new

section. This

d#3

is then the head note of the

new

foreground

motive,

y.

The

large-scale

bass

progression

rom

the end

of the

G6-major

section

through

the

"E-major"

and

"D-major"

sections

leading,

ultimately,

to

the return of

the tonic F

region

and

the initial

music

in

m.

72,

is

motivic.

Specifically,

this

presents

two successive

forms of

y,

the

descend-

ing

thirds

db-B-A

and

A-G-F.

(The

atter

has al-

readybeen discussedin connection with ex. 6.)

9: The

Closing

Music

of

the

Adagietto.

The

final

section

of

the

Adagietto (mm.

93-103)

fea-

tures

y-'

n its initial

portion,pitch-class

specific

with

respect

to its

first

occurrence.As shownin

ex.

9,

this

motive,

which first

appears

in the

foreground

of the

upper voice,

is then

projected

upwardin a long middlegroundarc, culminat-

ing

on

a3

in m.

94,

which

is the final climax in

the

movement.

Violins

carry

hat

pitch

forward

to

m.

95,

with the

characteristic

performance

instruction "viel

Bogen

wechseln."

Over

the

same

span

of

music

(mm.

93-95)

the bass as-

cends from

A

to

c,

an

expression

of

'.

The

ac-

cessory example

below

the main

part

of ex.

9

provides

an

analytical

sketch which shows the

motivic counterpoint created by the upper

voice and bass: an

exchange

of

y'

and

-'.

Within

this framework the motion

to

c~2

n the inner

voice

suggests,

as

it

did in m.

29

(ex. 5),

a

contin-

uation to

d2,

and this indeed does

occur,

adding

a

third

component

to the

motivic

counterpoint,

namely,

8

and

6

,

in

which

c#2

is a sentient and

axial

passing

tone.

The

two

8

motives then form

the

main bass

configuration prior

to the

final

ca-

dential motion, which expresses y in pitch-class

specific

form

(mm.

99-103).

In

fact,

the bass

motion from

the

beginning

of the section

162


12/12

6(5,

, ,

6

coupling:

.

-7S - J,. "'y.LAL c63 c64m.57

L

z

P13

r_

r

va-

_

----

6t-

I: a

-10-

-10

9

6

I U

M

TT

--to

A

m.63

(y)

Example

8: First

Section

of

the Middle Part.

7 7

4,

4

-::

_-

-

6-

K

6&6

'Example 9 The Closing Music of the Adagietto.

Example 9: The Closing Music of the Adagietto.

ALLEN

FORTE

Mahler's

Fifth

Symphony

strongly

hints

at the

at

motive,

constructed from

y' (A-Bb-c) concatenated with 8 (c-d).

The music of the

Adagietto

closes

as it

began,

with

y

and

y-'

n

the

foreground.

As

the final me-

lodic

gesture

in the first

violins,

5 appears,

an

extraordinaryand perhaps unexpected conclu-

sion to

this

splendid

composition.

163

middleground motives in the adagietto of mahler's fifth symphony

Documents