Music Theory Society of New York State, 1996 MeetingState University of New York at Stony Brook, 13 and 14 April, 1996

MTSNYS 1996 Program CommitteeMarie Rolf, ChairGeorge FisherSarah A. FullerDavid GagnDavid HeadlamShaugn O'Donnell

ABSTRACTS

Session 1: BERIO

Construing Text as Musical Sound in Berio's Thema (Omaggio a Joyce) and Stockhausen's Stimmung

Emily Snyder Laugesen, Columbia University

One of the most striking features of Western vocal compositionsince the second World War is its departure from traditional notions oftext settingin which musical events are conceived primarily in relation tothe text's form and semantic meaningand its shift to a conception of textas sound source. The body of this paper strives to elucidate what itmeans to hear text "as music" by discussing the distinct ways Berio'sThema (Omaggio a Joyce) (1958) and Stockhausen's Stimmung (1967) construesonic aspects of their texts. Of central concern to the analysis of theseworks is the extent to which modes (or habits) of listening are adoptedfrom language perception or from music perception. Drawing on research inphonology, poetics, and auditory scene analysis (including the work ofReuven Tsur, Veronica Forrest-Thomson, Albert S. Bregman, and StephenHandel), I posit that rather than utilizing mutually exclusive modes oflistening for language and for music, we move somewhat fluidly between thetwo, and that there is substantial room for points in between, upon whichthe two works I discuss depend.

Berio's Re-Notation of Sequenza I: Representations of Surface and Structure in Nonmetric Music

Paul Nauert, Columbia University

Sequenza I (1958) was the first-published of Luciano Berio's worksto feature proportional notation. Many considered this notation ideal forthe fluid, nonmetric rhythms of Berio's music, and the composer would seemto agree: he has used it on many occasions since. In 1992, however, Beriopublished a new version of Sequenza I, which differs from the original injust one substantial way: the proportional notation has been replaced by

more conventional rhythmic notation (reportedly to discourage carelessperformances).

Careful analyses of the original Sequenza I and its re-notationsuggest a way to answer several challenging questions: 1. What was theCareful analyses of the original Sequenza I and its re-notation suggest away to answer several challenging questions: 1. What was the attraction of proportional notation to Berio? Did itoffer him greater control, allowing him to represent any duration visuallywith a line of the appropriate length just as he could cut tape to anylength in the electronic studio? Or did it transfer more control toperformers, allowing them to place notes spontaneously in the framework ofthe reference grid? 2. I present a view of perceived temporal structure involving threehierarchic components: grouping structure, a beat hierarchy, and a timespanhierarchy. While the irregular surface of Sequenza I frequently rendersthese structures ambiguous, the performer may clarify them in various ways. What influence does notation have on the performer's structural decisions? And to what extent do the 1958 and 1992 scores therefore imply differentstructures?3. I consider a pair of more general questions: How do performers usenotated meter in performing complex rhythms? To what extent can performersbecome involved with two divergent organizations of the same structuralcomponent? Together, these questions suggest a critique of "referencemeter": in allowing performers to keep strict time, it may limit theirinvolvement with more meaningful aspects of temporal structure.attraction of proportional notation to Berio? Did it offer him greatercontrol, allowing him to represent any duration visually with a line ofthe appropriate length just as he could cut tape to any length in theelectronic studio? Or did it transfer more control to performers,allowing them to place notes spontaneously in the framework of thereference grid? 2. I present a view of perceived temporal structureinvolving three hierarchic components: grouping structure, a beathierarchy, and a timespan hierarchy. While the irregular surface ofSequenza I frequently renders these structures ambiguous, the performermay clarify them in various ways. What influence does notation have onthe performer's structural decisions? And to what extent do the 1958 and1992 scores therefore imply different structures? 3. I consider a pair ofmore general questions: How do performers use notated meter in performingcomplex rhythms? To what extent can performers become involved with twodivergent organizations of the same structural component? Together, thesequestions suggest a critique of "reference meter": in allowing performersto keep strict time, it may limit their involvement with more meaningfulaspects of temporal structure.

Session 2A: TONAL ANALYSIS AND RHYTHMGeorgy Conus's Metrotectonicismas a Theory of Metric Structure

Eugenij Kosiakin, Eastman School of Music

The theory of metrotectonicism ("measured construction") createdby Russian theorist and composer Georgy Conus is an original attempt tobuild a complete theory of metric structure independent from any othercomponent. As early as in the beginning of the 20th century Conusintroduces the terms very similar to hypermeter and hypermeasure, draws aclear distinction between hypemeter and phrase grouping. His originalview on symmetry and periodicity as two ways of building complex compoundmetric structures allows him to project the concept of meter tolarge-scale constructions and to establish a hierarchy of metric levelsthroughout the entire musical work.

An interesting possibility of testing the theory can be providedthrough its application to the works of Conus's contemporary A. Scriabinwhose method of composition shows close similarity to metrotectonicapproach. The analysis of Scriabin's Sonata No. 9 reveals a strict logicof metric proportions based on exact symmetry, while the presence of thesame asymmetrical construction in the middle of both development andrecapitulation contributes to the synthetic function of therecapitulation.

Schumann's Hypermeter and Phrase Rhythm: Beyond the Duple Norm

Jocelyn Neal, Eastman School of Music

Robert Schumann's music is frequently noted for its rhythmiccomplexity at the surface level within an apparently regular duple phrasestructure. However, not all of Schumann's music is based on unrelievedduple hypermeasures. Schumann's compositions incorporate multiple levelsof irregular grouping structures: rhythmic complexity at the surface,conflicts between metric and phrase groupings, and irregularities in thephrase structure itself. This paper examines Schumann's use of thesestructures and analyzes representative pieces from two early pianocollections: Phantasiestuecke, op. 12, and Kinderscenen, op. 15.

Two analytical approaches, stemming from Rothstein's andSchachter's Schenkerian based rhythmic techniques on the one hand, withLerdahl and Jackendoff's cognitively based generative grammar on theother, are employed. In combination, these approaches are used toinvestigate specific compositional techniques that generate irregularhypermeter and phrase rhythm in much of Schumann's music.

Two detailed analyses from op. 12 and op. 15 are presented. Onereveals a structure governed by phrase shape, where the irregular phraselengths generate an irregular and ambiguous hypermeter and accentuatestructural tonal events. The other illustrates juxtaposed sections whereone is based on regular duple hypermeter and the other is governed bymotivic groups which generate an irregular hypermeter. The analyses

illustrate ways in which non-duple hypermeter and irregular phrase rhythmare significant components of Schumann's compositional style.

Temporal Disjunction in Beethoven's Op. 109, First Movement

Frank Samarotto, University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of Music

This paper introduces a new analytical tool, which I call temporaldisjunction, to the arsenal of Schenkerian techniques of analyzing rhythm. Like most analytical approaches, Schenkerian theory tends to emphasizecoherence and continuity over conflict and discontinuity. Yet disruptionsto the even flow of time can be a fundamental element of the music of manycomposers, Beethoven prominently among them.

Of course it is commonplace to speak of disjunct rhythms where anygreatly differing durational values appear in succession. The concept oftemporal disjunction generalizes this still further: it assumes thatmusical time (as opposed to chronological time) is continually created notjust by durational values but also by pitch, texture, dynamics,articulation, and any other factor that might be deemed musical.

Points of temporal disjunction have the potential to becomefissures in musical time, places where temporal continuity and musicaldiscourse can break apart and create underlying ambiguities invoice-leading and temporal structure. These issues are explored in thefantasia-like first movement of Beethoven's Op. 109.

Confronting the SublimeThe VII_ in Beethoven's Op. 18, No. 3and Haydn's Piano Trio No. 16

L. Poundie Burstein, Mannes College/Hunter College-CUNY

The first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Quartet for Stringsin D Major, Op. 18, No. 3, is one of a handful of sonata-form works inwhich the development section ends on a VII_ chord (functioning locally asa V of III). The resultant stress on the VII_ chord creates severalharmonic, chromatic, and formal disturbances, posing several compositionalchallenges. Beethoven rises to the occasion by ingeniously integratingthe emphasized VII_ chord into the tonal and motivic fabric of thecomposition. His solutions evince the influence of Franz Joseph Haydn,who also used VII_ at the end of development sections in a number of hispieces. Indeed, examination of works such as Haydn's Trio for Piano andStrings in D Major, Hob. XV/16, I, reveals many of the structural featuresfound in Beethoven's work. Much of the dramatic energy and meaning in hisquartet results from Beethoven's ability to exploit these structuralpossibilities.

Session 2B:20TH-CENTURY ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES

Residue-Class Sets in the Music of Iannis Xenakis:An Analytical Algorithm and a General Intervallic Expression Evan Jones, Eastman School of Music

In a 1990 article entitled "Sieves," Iannis Xenakis elaboratedupon the description of sieve theory he gave twenty years before in"Towards a Metamusic," which was also included in his seminal monograph,Formalized Music. Xenakis's "sieves" are custom-designed collections,constructed from interwoven chains of elements separated by congruentintervals. The "sieve" label is a metaphor for the set-theoreticalfiltration process involved in restricting the compositionalmaterial--whether pitches, rhythms, timbres, textures, or any otherparameter--to members of carefully chosen sets that exhibit internalrepetition. Individual interval cycles, distinguished by interval size andtranspositional level, are combined by subjecting them to the logicaloperations of union, intersection, and complementation; the complexity ofthe resulting collection may be so great as to completely mask the cyclicaspects of its parent collections.

Constituting an open invitation to achieve informed analysis ofhis own works, Xenakis's thorough formalization of sieve theory has beenlargely neglected as an analytical tool. A complete description of amulti-sieve composition, or of any piece in which internal symmetries areevident to some degree, would explore relationships in both vertical andhorizontal planes--both within a given sieve and between different sievesheard at different times. The twofold purpose of this study, then, is tosuggest an algorithm with which to reach a description of any collectionas a sieve, and to formulate a general intervallic expression thatindicates the transformational distance between two collections in termsof their structure as sieves.

Images of Sound in Xenakis's Mycenae-Alpha

Ron Squibbs, Yale University

Mycenae-Alpha (1978) was composed by Xenakis on the UPIC, a systemdesigned by the composer for the graphic composition of electro-acousticmusic. Analysis of electro-acoustic music has long been problematic dueto the lack of visual analogs appropriate to the sonic structure of themusic. Electro-acoustic works composed on the UPIC, however, areunusually amenable to structural analysis because both their graphicscores and their sonic realizations are products of a single system. Inthis respect, the UPIC system provides a unique opportunity for analystsand composers to examine the relationship between musical ideas, asrepresented by the graphic score, and their sonic realization in theelectro-acoustic medium.

An analysis of Mycenae-Alpha is proposed, beginning with anexploration of the relationship between the visual images in the score andthe sounds they represent. From there the analysis proceeds to anexamination of categories of images/sounds and the structural implicationsof their interrelations as the work unfolds in time. Finally, generalfeatures of the work's temporal structure are considered with respect totheir importance in the creation of formal balance and structural unity. The analysis as a whole is intended to illustrate the intimate connectionbetween sonic design (literally speaking!) and temporal structure in thisfascinating work.

A Model for Non-Equivalent Set-Class Associations:The Interval-Difference Network

Edward Jurkowski, Eastman School of Music

In the search for a theory underlying the harmonic structure ofatonal music, music theorists generally acknowledge as a seminal studyAllen Forte's (1973) classification of the 4095 possible combinations ofpitch classes into 223 set classes equivalent under Transposition andInversion. Other classification systems using different criteria,however, have also been proposed. Some of the more important systems thathave appeared in the literature during the last thirty years include Howe(1965), Morris (1982), Perle (1962), Starr and Morris (1977-78), and Starr(1978).

This paper formulates a means to relate pitch structures in atonalmusic through a new theoretical concept, the Interval-Difference Network. The proposed model of pitch relationships describes associations betweendifferent pitch groups by a network of dyadic subsets, which are markingthe endpoints of the corresponding intervals related by transposition. The model explicates relationships between different harmonies by varioustranspositional processes of these subsets, changing the relativepositions and relationships of the intervals.

A second major component of the paper is voice leading. Previouswork on voice leading may be broadly divided into three categories:"associational," "prolongational," and "permutational." The voice-leadingprocedures employed in the paper are based on permutations of intervals,described by the end-point dyads, in successive chords. The discussionwill demonstrate how the individual pitches and intervals of chords arerelated to each other through the I-DIFF model, followed by a study of howthese constituent elements are transformed and permuted.

A Fuzzy Set-Based Methodology for Measuring Centricity in the Neoclassic Works of Stravinsky

Peter Silberman, Eastman School of Music

Stravinsky's Neoclassic works, which range from Pulcinella of 1920to The Rake's Progress of 1951, make extensive use of tonal, orpitch-class, centers. Previous analytical approaches to this repertoireinclude Schenkerian/voice-leading analysis, pitch-class set or scalaranalysis, analysis of tonal axes, or some combination of the three. Whileeach approach has its merits, none gives satisfying answers to the twoquestions that underly this paper: how are pitch-class centersestablished contextually, and what are the relationships of other,non-centric, pitch-classes to tonal centers.

To answer those questions, an analytical approach is proposed anddemonstrated based on concepts from fuzzy set theory, a branch ofmathematics developed in order to model partial values or "in between"states, which has been used extensively in artificial intelligence andmachine control but has only recently made inroads into music analysis.Fuzzy sets are weighted sets, and can be used to model situations in whichsome pitch-classes are more prominent than others, or situations in whicha pitch-class hierarchy has been established. Basic operations on fuzzysets will be shown to yield measurements of the relative salience betweenpitch-classes in a given passage, and the amount of vagueness, or thedegree to which a single pitch-class center is obscured. Finally, amethod for calculating a centricity index, the estimation of the relative"amount" of centricity in a given passage, will be demonstrated and usedin an analysis of Stravinsky's Mass.

Session 3A: GRAPHIC REPRESENTATIONS OF TIMBRE, REGISTER, AND FORM

Towards a Graphic Representation of Timbre:Giacinto Scelsi's Quattro Pezzi Per Orchestra, No. 1

Stefan Eckert, SUNY Stony Brook

Giacinto Scelsi's Quattro Pezzi Per Orchestra (ciascuna su unanota) [Four Pieces For Orchestra (each on a single note)] composed in 1959prove resistant to analysis. This resistance may be explained by the factthat neither pitch nor rhythm play any significant role in thesecompositions. Their unfolding is solely motivated by changes in thequalitative features of sound--that is changes in its timbre. This paperfocuses on the first of Scelsi's four pieces and offers a methodology toapproach it analytically. Due to the nature of Scelsi's composition andthe problems raised by timbral analysis, the proposed methodology reliesequally on the score and on the performance. The score's information isused to generate graphs that represent those aspects most prominent in thepieces unfolding as notated (combination of orchestral instruments,volume, surface characteristic of notes, and register), other graphscapture the analyst's listening experience (timbral and spatialqualities). After the discussion of the methodology, I will incorporate

these graphs as an integral part of my analysis.

Process and Form in Ligeti's Harmonies

Theo Cateforis, SUNY Stony Brook

As one of the more challenging organ works to appear in recentyears, Gyorgy Ligeti's Etude No. 1 for Organ, Harmonies (1967), presentsmany intriguing analysis and performance issues. Ligeti conceivesHarmonies as an exacting technical study, requiring the organist to keepall fingers depressed on the manual for virtually the entire piece, whilesystematically moving one pitch at a time through meticulously determinedpitch clusters. As notated, Harmonies unfolds through various pitch classcollections which outline a symmetrical metastructure and reveal thepiece's architectural design. At the same time, Ligeti incorporates inthe piece various indeterminate factors: He indicates neither tempo normeter markings, and asks that an assistant to the organist frequently (andrandomly) increase or reduce the organ's drawn stops, thus affecting thepiece's intensity, registration, and timbre. Each performance ofHarmonies thus enacts a particular realm of formal characteristics whichpotentially blur or mask the score's precise pitch clusters.

This poses a problematic analytical question: Can we treatHarmonies' two radically different incarnations - the score and itsperformed/recorded interpretation - in analogous terms? This paperapproaches this problem, proposing a methodology whereby we can considerboth Harmonies' score and its performances as graphic representations. Using three different recorded performances, the paper focuses onsimilarities and differences in both the type of formal eventscharacteristic of each performance and the rate at which these processesculminate and disperse. Ultimately, the paper questions the degree towhich comparisons between Harmonies' score and its performances maysupport analytic observations.

A Theory for Register in the Music of Witold Lutoslawski

Michael Klein

Since 1956 Lutoslawski has structured pitch material aroundharmonic aggregates -ordered collections containing all twelve pcs inwhich each pc is fixed in a single register. Although others have focusedtheir investigations on the structure of these harmonic aggregates, no onehas examined how Lutoslawski uses them both to structure pitch space andto create musical form. By introducing concepts for the analysis ofregister, we can detail how Lutoslawski achieves musical form particularlyin works of the 1960s. Registral width (the expanse of a pitchcollection), weight, population (the cardinality of that collection,including octave duplications), and density (the opacity of a pitch

collection) will refer to the manner in which harmonic aggregatesstructure pitch space. Registral contraction, expansion, and projection(borrowed from Jonathan Bernard's work on Varse) will show how laterharmonic aggregates transform the musical space of earlier ones. Using agrid notation to plot pitches in pitch-space, the paper includes registralanalyses of Jeux Vnitiens, Trois Pomes d'Henri Michaux and Chain I.

Session 3B: ANALYSIS AND PERFORMANCE

Blah, blah, Ginger:Analysis and Performance of Renaissance Music

Peter Schubert, McGill University

My title refers to Gary Larson's famous Far Side cartoon "What wesay to dogs; what they hear." The idea is that much Renaissance music isperformed as a kind of featureless "blah blah." In this paper I will showhow some theoretical concepts in contemporaneous treatises will enable usto give features to melodic details, provide opportunities for contrast,and articulate the piece into sections. I will use two ricercars byOrtiz, one of the famous Lassus duos of 1577, and a Frescobaldi toccata,with taped performances, to illustrate my points.

The most fundamental principle I will use is the notion that musicis assembled from little thematic units (or passi, as Cerone calls them),and repeated. This repetition gives continuity, while change of passocreates contrast. Repetitions played the same way create groups, whichcan be varied as the motives themselves are varied. Solmization isanother contemporaneous principle I will use to delineate passi.

The exact means by which we reveal similarity and differencematters less than that we reveal it at all. Articulation, tone-color,speed and dynamics can be used in different ways according to the affectof the piece and the taste of the performer. What is important here isthe recognition of the units from which the piece is assembled and theopportunities they offer for lively contrast between and within sections.

Structural Keys to Performing Die Junge Nonne

David Kopp, Yale University

The poem on which Schubert based his magnificent song Die JungeNonne depicts the complex and turbulent psychological state of a youngwoman about to take her vows. Far from casting this moment as an occasionof luminous piety, the poet, Craigher, imagines a melodramatic scenario inwhich a violent storm mirrors spiritual and sexual passions which thislife-altering event elicits in the narrator's mind and body. Sounds ofredemption present within the maelstrom eventually cause her exterior and

interior worlds to merge, guiding her to the elevated state she seeks. Schubert responds to this heady content with an equally complex musicalstructure. He creates a polarity through which he associates certainharmonic elements with particular emotional states: anxiety and earthlytorment, emptiness and death, and calm and spiritual purity. Strongharmonic disjunction provides a means to portray rapid fluctuations ofmood characteristic of the song's highly charged text. Moreover, Schubertdesigns a melody which, through the changing perception of a single pitch,reflects a spiritual striving only fully achieved at the end of the song. An awareness of this structure, and of the meaning of individual harmonicand melodic events within it, can serve to deepen understanding and focusthe means by which singer and pianist bring this drama to life.

Analysis and Performance Reconsidered

Cynthia Folio, Boyer College of Music, Temple University

My title is of course a reference to Edward T. Cone's article thatappeared in Music Theory Spectrum, which reconsiders several points madein his influential book. Musical Form and Musical Performance. Thispresentation continues the discussion, highlighting some of Cone'scontributions, taking issue with others, and extending some of hissuggestive ideas. I also discuss the teaching of analysis and performanceas a course and he types of analysis that tend to have relevance for theperformer.

In the reconsideration of Cone's ideas, I address the conflictbetween Cone's idea of rhythmic weight and hypermeter. One can revisitsome of Cone's analyses and resolve these conflicts by recognizing thedifference between rhythmic accent and metric accent (as noted by JonathanKramer) and the different ways they are perceived.

Even with the increased attention given lately to the relationshipbetween analysis and performance in writings and in theory classes, manyperformers still fail to see how analysis has any relevance to what theydo. I believe some of the problem is in the presentation of the topic intheory classes as well as the types of analytical approaches presented. Ihope to show strategies of analysis (and the teaching of analysis) thatseem to work, giving some specific examples of lessons and assignmentsfrom both the tonal and post-tonal repertoires.