Capítulo 3: El fenómeno de Instagram
3.2. Arquitectura y funcionamiento de esta red
Th e world of white-note progressions and neighbor-note prolongations may seem
anachronistic—a twenty-fi rst-century approach to nineteenth-century music. But although my concern in this book is not with historical precedents for the approaches taken, a brief word about what we’re calling the generative process will suggest connections to traditions that seem far removed from this particular cold room.
Example 4.17 is taken from Simon Sechter’s 1843 analysis of Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony.20 Sechter’s analysis of the passage proceeds from what is given here as
level c through a to b. Level c, closest to Mozart’s but lacking the full orchestral dress reproduced in level d (excluded from Sechter’s analysis), features a theme in the treble imitated canonically in the bass. Sechter writes: “If some readers fi nd the harmony between these two voices not pure enough for their liking, they may care to think of this canonic imitation in the following way [levels a and b in example 4.17].” Level a, then, is an explanatory, white-note progression, revealing the har- monic basis of c, even while conveying the canon between the two voices. Level b in Sechter’s view is an alternative to c; that is, it exists on the same structural level. Passing notes now link all of the thirds, making the lines completely stepwise. From here, it is but a short step to level c, where the eighth-note passing notes (in the fi rst, third, and fi ft h bars in the treble and in the second, fourth, and sixth bars in the bass) are enlarged to quarter-notes.
From our point of view, we could conceivably begin with a diatonic circle- of-fi ft hs progression (see bass notes C–F–B–E–A–D–G) as structural prototype. Level a would fl ow from that, although the specifi c design here cannot be pre- dicted from the circle of fi ft hs. Th en b would fi ll in the blanks while c modifi es the fi lling in by elevating the nonharmonic notes so that the passage sounds more dissonant, more daring.
20. Simon Sechter, “Analysis of the Finale of Mozart’s Symphony no. [41] in C [K. 551 (‘Jupiter’)],” in Music Analysis in the Nineteenth Century, vol. 1: Fugue, Form and Style, ed. Ian D. Bent (Cam- bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), 85.
a b or: c 56 Fl. Ob. Fg. Cor. (C) Trbe. (C) Timp. Vl. Vla. Vc. e B. d
Example 4.17. Sechter’s generative analysis of bars 56–62 of the fi nale of Mozart’s
CHAPTER 4 Bridges to Free Composition
127 Example 4.18 reproduces the fi rst 13 bars of Czerny’s “harmonic groundwork” of Beethoven’s Waldstein Piano Sonata, op. 53. Th is analysis dates from 1854.21 Ihave aligned piece and analytical foil in order to convey their affi nities directly. Th e chorale-like groundwork off ers a concise summary of Beethoven’s more expan- sive, piece-specifi c gestures. Repetitions, certain motivic details, and registers are eliminated in order to render these 13 bars as a framework. As before, playing the framework fi rst and then playing Beethoven’s “realization” should help to convey the structural basis of the work. Czerny calls this a “scheme,” claims that op. 53 was “composed in this way,” and advises the student to compare his harmonic
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6
10
Example 4.18. Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in C Major, op. 53 (Waldstein), bars 1–13,
with Czerny’s “harmonic groundwork.”
21. Carl Czerny, “Harmonic Groundwork of Beethoven’s Sonata [no. 21 in C] op. 53 (‘Waldstein’),” quoted in Music Analysis in the Nineteenth Century, vol. 2, ed. Ian D. Bent (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), 188–196.
In generative terms, the models of tonal motion used by Bach include two kinds of cadence (a perfect cadence and an imperfect cadence) and a circle-of- fi ft hs progression. If we number the sonorities in Ratz’s synopsis as 1–12, we can defi ne their functions as follows. Th e 11–12 sequence is a perfect cadence in the home key, 4–6 is also a perfect cadence but on vi (4 being the predominant sonor- ity, 5 the dominant, and 6 the concluding tonic), 1–2 forms a half cadence (an open gesture), and 7–10 constitutes a circle-of-fi ft hs progression, A–D–G–C.
Th e journey from the white-note level to a black-note one may be illustrated with respect to bars 15–18 of Bach’s invention (example 4.20). At level a is the bare linear intervallic pattern of descending bass fi ft hs in a two-voice representation. At level b, passing notes at the half-note level provide melodic continuity. Rhythmic interest is introduced at level c with the 4–3 suspensions in the second and fourth bars. And from here to Bach’s music (level d) seems inevitable, even without us being able to predict the exact nature of the fi guration.
At an even more remote level of structure lies Tovey’s harmonic summary of the fi rst movement of Schubert’s C Major Quintet (example 4.21).23 He is not
concerned with the generative steps leading from this postulated background to Schubert’s multifaceted surface, but with a synopsis that incorporates a hierarchy refl ected in the durations of individual triads. Th e longer notes are the focal points, the shorter ones are “connexion links.” Although Tovey elsewhere understands and employs notions akin to Schenkerian prolongation, he is not, it appears, concerned with establishing the prolongational basis of the movement as such, nor with
22. Erwin Ratz, Einführung in die musikalische Formenlehre, 3rd ed. (Vienna: Universal, 1973), 55. 23. Donald Francis Tovey, Essays and Lectures on Music (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1949), 150.
1 2 I - V 3 4 5 ii - vi 6 7 8 circle of fifths 9 10 11 cadence 12
Example 4.19. Ratz’s harmonic summary of J. S. Bach, Two-Part Invention in C
Major.
groundwork with the original and thus learn something about “harmonic con- struction” and—in the context of the groundwork for the entire movement—the way in which ideas are ordered.
Th e progression quoted in example 4.19 is Erwin Ratz’s summary of the har- monic basis of an entire composition—and a contrapuntal one at that: the fi rst of J. S. Bach’s two-part inventions.22 As a synopsis, this progression lies suffi ciently
close to the surface of the composition to be appreciated by even a fi rst-time listener. It can also serve as a horizon for appreciating the tonal tendency conveyed by Bach’s sixteenth-note fi gures. Beginning in the tonic, the invention tonicizes V, then vi, before returning home via a circle of fi ft hs.
CHAPTER 4 Bridges to Free Composition
129 exploring the prolongational potential of this progression. Still, the idea is sugges- tive and shares with notions of generation the same procreative potential.2424. In “Schenker and the Th eoretical Tradition,” College Music Symposium 18 (1978): 72–96, Robert Morgan traces aspects of Schenkerian thinking in musical treatises from the Renaissance on. Find- ing such traces or pointing to affi nities with other theoretical traditions is not meant to mute the force of Schenker’s originality.
a b c 4 - 3 4 - 3 15 d
Example 4.20. Journey from white-note to black-note level in bars 15–18 of J. S.
Bach, Invention no. 1 in C Major.
I
1st movement
bIII V I
Recapitulation
bVI I
Example 4.21. Tovey’s synopsis of the harmonic content of Schubert’s String
Quintet in C Major, fi rst movement.