Saturday, April 25, 2026

J. R. Europe, "I've got the finest man" (1912)

 James Reese Europe, "I've got the finest man" (1912). A proto-background with repeated shifts between the registers, one of the clearest examples I've seen. Overall a wedge figure with the descending line from ^3 above and the ascent below but occupying all of the final phrase. (In this it is very like van Alstyne's "Why Don't You Try": link to the post.) See at the bottom of this post for traditional Schenkerian notation.



Wedge figure with ^3 (making a V13) subbing for ^2: