THREE BASIC PREMISES

Instructor Manual (Teaching Notes Only) for Advanced Schenkerian Analysis 1 st Edi�on By David Beach (All Chapters) 1 / 4

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PART I

CHAPTER ONE

THREE BASIC PREMISES

The four examples demonstrating motion by step share a common characteristic. At the surface - by which I mean note to note - the motion is predominantly by leap (arpeggiation); it is only by looking and listening beyond this level that we realize the motion of the various melodic strands or voices is by step. This perception is fundamental to understanding Schenker’s concept of structural levels.

Being aware of the treatment of dissonance - in this case the chordal seventh [V7] - is a crucial component in our understanding of voice leading; this is especially important in circumstances where the resolution is transferred to another voice, is delayed, or seemingly is omitted altogether. No matter how much I have stressed this in courses over the years, I am continually surprised by the number of students who forget or ignore such situations when analyzing a piece of music. Unusual treatment of the seventh, which is actually quite common, should be like waving a red flag in their faces! Example 1.2a demonstrates the temporary delay of resolution in the same voice, and the next two examples show the resolution occurring at two levels, initially transferred to another voice, then resolved in the same voice and register later. Example 1.3 is more complex, perhaps too difficult for some at this point. If so, omit it. In this instance I decided to begin with the underlying model and from it to show its unique representation rather than the opposite process, namely, to derive the underlying model from the music. Pedagogically I find it useful sometimes to approach an issue from a different perspective than normal.

The distinction between chord and [harmonic] scale-step or controlling harmony is tied to Schenker’s concept of voice-leading structure at multiple levels. This is demonstrated most clearly by Example 1.4b, the opening phrase from the second movement of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Op. 10. No.1. Example 1.4c, the opening phrase of the development section from the first movement of Mozart’s Piano Sonata K. 333, is more difficult, since it involves substitution of chromatic chords for diatonic ones. Understanding the passing function of the C7 chord in the second half of the fifth measure of the phrase is most important. I expect this idea may, in some cases, require reinforcement or further explanation by the instructor.

MOZART, K. 333 EXCERPTS

The point of this section is to demonstrate Schenker’s notion of motivic repetition at different structural levels. The commentary about voice leading is quite detailed, and, if appropriate for your class, you may want to simplify. The point is to demonstrate the similarities between the opening phrases of the first and third movements as well as the overall organization of the development section of the former.

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CHAPTER TWO

The individual phrases selected for this chapter present some interesting analytical challenges, in some cases more difficult than the following antecedent-consequent pairs. This is true of the assignments at the end of the chapter as well. It is often a challenge for us as teachers to find the perfect example to illustrate a particular point that does not present at least one “problem” of some sort, since the music we are dealing with is very sophisticated. Each example is unique, requiring a unique solution, and it has always been my philosophy that it is better to confront students with interesting and challenging situations rather than file them away in a drawer.

PHRASES

The initial example from the courante movement of Bach’s first Cello Suite is a closed phrase exhibiting a clear melodic descent of a fifth. A notable feature of this descent is the harmonization of scale degrees 4, 3, and 2 by a single chord, the dominant. The most unusual feature - the one requiring our special attention - occurs in the bass in the seventh measure, where Bach has written a D rather than the expected prepared C, possibly for purely practical reasons (D being an open string). C at that point would have made the following B inevitable, leading to an implied A over the written D as passing on to the concluding G. But Bach does not write the obvious, and we must adjust our analysis accordingly.

The first Beethoven example is often cited as a prototype of the musical sentence as defined originally by Arnold Schoenberg. Though Schenker did not employ this term, in part, at least, because he was not interested in describing formal types, it has generally been accepted today and thus has been adopted in this text.

The second Beethoven example, the opening phrase of the “Pathetique” Sonata, Op. 13, is more difficult to sketch than it first appears. Like the preceding example, it exhibits a linear ascent to the primary tone (5), only here arrival at the goal occurs in conjunction with a modulation to III.The difficulty lies in deciding how the first two measures fit into this larger scheme.

The opening phrase of the Brahms Intermezzo is an elaboration of a descending sequence of seventh chords. First I would like to stress my comment that the G5 of measure 3 does not function here as a neighbor note to the following F5, but rather passes through it on the way to the following E5. To be sure this E5 is not the eventual goal, but its arrival coincides with a change of surface design, the initial statement of the descending third E5 - D5 - C5, which is subsequently repeated and extended over several measures. Second, it is important in dealing with this phrase to understand how Brahms has extended the passing note D5 within the encompassing statement of this third. The result is an expansion of the phrase and a very subtle overlapping with the following consequent.

PARALLEL PHRASES (ANTEC EDENT – CONSEQUENT)

I will keep my comments brief here. The first four examples illustrate Schenker’s concepts of local interruption and closure. Two of these examples (the second themes from Mozart’s Sonatas

• 331 and K. 333) involve descents either to interruption or to closure by means of the cadential 3 / 4

6    six-four. I mention this here only because the myth that the six-four is not legitimate support for scale degree 3 of the fundamental line seems to persist in some circles. There is no musical justification for this notion. The final example, the opening period from the third movement of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Op. 10, No. 3, does not exhibit an interruption because the consequent phrase begins a step higher than in the first phrase and thus there is no restatement of the primary tone. And in the preceding example, the opening of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Op. 57, there is no interruption or closure, but rather  5 is retained throughout the antecedent and modulating consequent. Finally, I urge you to pay particular attention to the motivic parallels noted in three of these examples: the second theme from the first movement of Mozart’s K. 333, the opening period from Beethoven’s Op. 31, No. 2, and the opening of Beethoven’s Op. 57.

ASSIGNMENTS

I will discuss the assignments in the order given at the end of the chapter. However, the two assigned phrases present specific “problems”, and for this reason I suggest they be discussed at the end of the other assignments.

TWO PHRASES

• Beethoven, Piano Sonata Op. 31, No. 2 (III), 1-15

This phrase is a clear example of a musical sentence. The first eight measures present the basic idea, first the tonic form, which is repeated, then the answering dominant form, also repeated.These repetitions are not written out in the graph (Example A2.1). This is followed by the continuation leading to the cadence. The hypermeter is quadruple; however, note that the phrase is fifteen rather than sixteen measures in length, resulting from measure 8 functioning both as the last measure of the second metric group and the first of the following continuation (indicated by the notation 4/1 between the staves in Example A2.1). More will be said about this in chapter three.

Example A2.1 Analytic Graph of Beethoven, Piano Sonata Op. 31, No. 2 (III), 1-16

I have notated the phrase as if it were a complete piece, which I will not do later when we consider phrases within larger contexts. The primary tone, F5 ( 3), which is established by the

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