Harris, "Somewhere"

 Charles K. Harris, "Somewhere" (1906).  An unusual feature of this publication is the inclusion of a version for a male ("barbershop") quartet. I've used it here because it is a nicely concise rendering of the music. Remember that the second tenor carries the melody (see arrow). A clear focal tone ^8 is maintained and a line moves from and to it in an incomplete mirror, or ^8-^7-^6-^7-^8 (this happens twice). I've also provided the solo voice version for the last eight bars.

Voice, final section:

Pauline Viardot, two songs from the 1890s

From March 2026: A post with information and links to galleries of simple ascending lines and to other essays of mine published on the Texas Scholarworks platform: link.

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IMSLP page for "C’est toujours lui," VWV 1159: link. From a manuscript in the Houghton Library, Harvard University; obviously a fragment though musically  complete, but I know nothing more about it. The modern notation is by Pierre Girod. A mirror line, beginning from ^8 with a clear descent to ^5 in bars 6-8, then an even more pronounced, direct linear ascent in bars 13-16.

"Bonjour mon cœur!" is decidedly more complicated. Also a fragment, at least in the sense that it sets only the first verse of Ronsard's famous poem, this has one of the most tangled approaches to a structural cadence I have seen in any repertoire. Therefore, I have worked out three readings of the more abstract levels of melodic direction. These are a bit retrogressive as they are the well-worn three possible Schenkerian readings one teaches students to make: from ^3, from ^5, and from ^8--but they do the job for the present purpose. The harmonic reduction is mine. 

Score for page 1. The IMSLP page for "Bonjour mon cœur!": link.

From ^3:

From ^5:

From ^8:

Each reading has its virtues.

Paul Peuerl, Padouan (1611)

Paul Peuerl (1570-c. 1625?) was a German-Austrian composer, organist, and organ builder. Below is the first pavane in the collection Newe Padouan, Intrada, Dantz und Galliarda (1611). Source: Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich, Bd.70.

The opening -- at (a) and (b) -- gives us a very compact "mirror": from Dorian ^8 down to ^5 and back up again. At (c) and two later places (arrows), an expressive upper note F5. At the end, the figure of (a) is repeated with a repetition of its head (also boxed) and then the cadence line follows: (e), which is a variant of (b). The surprising restriction on range is typical of published instrumental ensemble music through as late as 1650.

Chaminade, The Flatterer, Op. 50

Chaminade, La Lisonjera / The Flatterer, Op. 50 (1890). Design is ABA with an extended coda. Section A, below, is literally repeated.

Because this is in the "thumb region" of the right hand, I have removed the left hand's bass clef in order to trace lines. An octave-line runs through the eight-bar antecedent phase of a sixteen-bar period, from Gb4 at the beginning to Gb5 in bar 9. If one hears that as the Schenkerian initial ascent, then what follows in the consequent phase is a mirror Urlinie: down from Gb5 to Db5 and then returning at the end.

Here is the "mirror" again, with the bass restored.

Shaw's Musical Olio (1814)

An interesting item found on IMSLP: Oliver Shaw (1779-1848), Musical Olio. Comprising a selection of valuable Songs, Duetts, Waltzes, Glees, Military Airs, &c. &c. adapted to the Piano-Forte, with an accompaniment for the Flute or Violin. Selected and published in numbers, by Oliver Shaw. Providence: H. Mann & Co. Of these, four issues are available on IMSLP: March, June, September, and December 1814. The pieces are consecutively numbered. Five of them are presented below.

The term "olio" may seem odd-to-humorous today, but it was a common 19th and even early 20th century term for miscellaneous incidental pieces intended for vaudeville, minstrel shows, and similar kinds of entertainments. More generally it meant "miscellany" or "hodge-podge" (link to dictionary definition). (An internet search will show that "olio" is still very much alive, in periodicals with the older sense of miscellanies, in a food-sharing app, the Anglicized version of the Spanish dish olia, a Los Angeles based rock group, etc.)

9_contentment. The figure is in the 1st voice and might be read as an incomplete mirror, where ^8 drops directly to ^5 (bars 3-4), then returns by line (bars 5-8) -- or as a double neighbor figure about ^8.

17_Belles. A 6/8 country dance that might well have been called a reel. Complicated though this might seem, I hear a principal voice rising from ^1 to ^3 (bars 1-2, again in 5-6 and 13-14), answered by ^6-^7-^8 in the same part in bars 3-4 but in the "discant" in bars 7-8 and 15-16.

19_Himmel waltz. Dance and trio (at the dolce), with the rising figure in the former.

39_Moore. Music repeated for a second verse. Small ternary form in the verse. From ^9 to ^8 in the voice's opening (bar 5), then focus on figures in the tetrachord, ^5-^8.

49_Cottage dance. A simple 2/4 contradance, the music (not the suggested figures) having some of the character of a schottish. Equally simple in design: mirror Urlinie in the first strain, same but leading on the dominant in the second strain. Ends with reprise of the first strain.

Offenbach, Pomme d'api (1873), no. 7 Romance

If I had been working through La Pomme d'api in topical rather than chronological fashion, I would have started with no. 7, Gustave's strophic romance "Consultez votre coeur," the only number in the operetta that positions a simple rising line in the structural cadence (without the complications of coda expressions). (For a number list and synopsis of the operetta, see the introduction: link.)

There are two strophes, where a partial line descends in the first, and a simple rising line with ^7 emphasized dramatically (with fermata) closes the second.

At (a), the proto-background frame ^8/^5, as F5-C5 (written). At (b), the frame expands outward with G5 as neighbor; at (c) a firm descent in the cadence, but a wedge is also formed with movement from below A4-A#4-B-nat4-C5. At (d), a reprise of (a) for the consequent, and at (e), the frame is flipped to permit a cadence to F4.

In the consequent phrase of the reprise, note the progress toward the cadence. Overall, the effect is that of the "mirror Urlinie," with descent from ^8 and subsequent return.

Strauss, Die Fledermaus, n2 Trio

The second musical number in Die Fledermaus is a trio for Rosalinde, Eisenstein, and Blind. It opens with a comic Allegro in 2/4: Eisenstein is about to be jailed for insulting an official, and he berates his lawyer (Blind) for failing to defend him. Eisenstein's wife Rosalinde finally intervenes, telling Blind that he ought to leave. This is the first occasion for a rising cadence gesture, quite emphatic even if the harmonic rug is pulled out from under it in the final chord:

In the introductory post to this series, I wrote that, for each number in Fledermaus, I would ask the question "Why does an ascending melodic figure dominate the cadence(s) and not the clichéd falling version inherited from 18th century practice?" In this case, (1) the focus on the upper edge of the register in the main phrase (bars 1-5 above); (2) the repetitions of the pick-up chromatic ascending figure (bars 9-12), which invite continuation in the same direction (bars 12-13); (3) the more and more peremptory "hinaus" (get out!) (bars 12-13); (4) the exaggerated melodramatic humor in the subverted tonic at the end, as Rosalinde hits and holds her high note.

Rosalinde and Eisenstein discuss the situation (Andante mosso, in the style of accompanied recitative) but then Blind returns and the comic Allegro resumes, shortly turning into catalogue patter as Blind lists all his legal skills (un poco agitato). The music builds in energy till it explodes in a Vivace finale with the three singing over each other. The figure—in Rosalinde's part—is a mirror line from ^8 down to ^5 and back again, here with a dramatic superimposed ^9.

The Vivace is a typical operatic ensemble close, whose simple harmonic progressions and repetitious figures are similar to "one more time" passages in Classical-period instrumental codas. After waltzes and polkas, these ensemble endings are the most frequent source of rising cadence gestures in 19th century music.

Three more from Ball's Musical Cabinet

Ball's Musical Cabinet was published in two volumes. The three pieces discussed yesterday are from volume 1. From volume 2, I have chosen three more: "The Carpet Weaver," "Peggy Ban," and "The Tank." The first two of these are well-known tunes, like those in yesterday's post. About "The Tank," I know nothing more.

"The Carpet Weaver" is unusual in its boundary play, a Schenkerian term for melodic figures above the basic line. Here we would assume through the first phrase that the focal pitch is F#5, but in the second phrase of both theme statements, F#5 disappears, and attention goes entirely to the lower register, the end result being a mirror, ^8 down to ^5 and then back up again.

On the other hand, in the second half F#5 gains considerably, but the usual B-section contrast (at "vow'd") and the melodramatic long note (at deny'd him") are still not enough to displace the octave (that is, D5) as the focal note.

"Peggy Ban" (better known as "Peggy Bawn"). The play of ^3, as F#5, above the focal note ^8 is very similar to "The Carpet Weaver."

I've isolated the interval frame (which I would take to be a proto-background) in this version:

"The Tank" is a curious piece -- no song, it is highly violinistic, which character it promptly announces with the octaves in bars 1-2. I put it down to an eighteenth-century contredanse, perhaps put in by the publisher because there was empty space on the page (I have seen more obvious insertions in other collections of the period). Note that every phrase is different. Thus, each strain is what Caplin calls an antecedent + continuation hybrid. I use the term "galant theme" because this particular hybrid is especially common in virtually all types of instrumental music from roughly 1750-1800. Periods are more likely in contredanses (a fact reflected in the themes of many finales in Classical period sonatas and symphonies), so in another sense, then, "The Tank" is unusual.

The second through fourth phrases are quite distinct from the first: all have interesting—but differing—plays on ^3 and ^5 (as F#5-A5).

Grape Juice Reel

The first track on Frank Ferrell's CD Boston Fiddle: The Dudley Street Tradition (Rounder Records, 1995) is a medley of "Mrs. Hogan's Birthday," "Grape Juice," "Mrs. Hamilton's [Reel]," and "The Wind-up." As of this posting, the CD is still available for purchase in major venues, and the medley can be heard in a youtube audio/video file: link.

It's the second tune that is the topic today. In the liner notes, Ferrell reproduces what I take to be the version he says he "found in one of Tommy [Doucet's] old hand-written dance folios." Two contrasting (that is, motivically largely unrelated) strains of 8 bars each close with PACs in the main key, F major. The first strain is entirely diatonic, whereas the second indulges in some slightly unusual chromaticism: cadence to vi (D minor) in bars 11-12, a fully diminished seventh chord in bar 14, and a chromatic ascent in the cadence.

At (a), the violinistic frame of the fifth is established, at (b) it is expanded in both directions: from C5 to F5 upward and F4 to C4 downwards (arrows). At (c), the common one-too-far gesture reaches A5. At (d), the three unfolded thirds that follow from this. At (e), the consequent phrase begins; at (f), the closing figure: ^8-^7-^9-^8, as F5-E5-G5-F5; at (g) the "boundary play" of the upper thirds.

In the second strain, a "mirror Urlinie" where ^8 descends to ^5 -- line from (a) -- then ascends again to close -- line at (b). In both instances, the chromatic figures sit between ^5 and ^6.

JMT series, part 9-2 (Telemann)

n34: This double treatment of the fourth ^5 to ^8. . . .

Telemann, Harmonischer Gottesdienst, cantata no. 9, first aria. My note: where affect and tonal design are nicely linked, as the text is “Liebe, die von Himmel stammet, steigt auch wieder Himmel an" [Love that comes [down] from Heaven, ascends to Heaven again"].

My source was a facsimile of the first score edition, downloaded from IMSLP. I edited the voice part to put it in a modern treble clef.

The violin introduces the two contrasting figures that mimic the text: at (a) descending in eighth notes; at (b) rising sixteenth notes. The voice repeats them -- see (a) and (b) in the third system. At (c) the voice reaches ^7-^8 to end the phrase ("Himmel an") but the harmony undercuts the cadence, which arrives shortly after with the traditional dominant level cadence midway through the A-section of a da capo aria -- see boxed notes in the fourth system.  Beneath the score find the details of the mirror Urlinie reading.

In the second half of the A-section, the violin has a short ritornello on the descending figure, and the voice repeats it, turning quickly toward the minor (another cliché of the da capo aria). The subsequent ascent -- at (d) is expanded: a continuous rise to the tonic ^8 (Eb5) is again undercut by a deceptive close -- at (e) -- which enables another phrase full and a strong close. I have included the violin's closing ritornello and the beginning bars of the B-section for sake of context.

Here are the details of the mirror Urlinie reading:

JMT series, part 9-1 (note 34, mirror Urlinie)

n34: my note: The double treatment of the fourth ^5 to ^8 occurs also in Saint Saëns, Le Carnival des animaux, “Le cygne.”

The melody is distinguished by an expressive leap at the end of the first long phrase; the scale leads us to expect G, but we hear B instead. The original solo is for 'cello; the violin transcription of this phrase is as follows:

From this, I might read any of three plausible backgrounds for a traditional Schenkerian analysis. Version (a) acknowledges B as ^3; that returns (not shown) in the reprise and descends in the final cadence [I will show details in a moment]. Version (b) is the mirror Urlinie; it takes B as a cover tone and works out a longer descent/ascent pair over the course of the reprise. Version (c) is more radical: it assumes the octave line itself -- or even more broadly the motive of the slightly ornamented scale gesture -- as a first middleground, with the neighbor ^8^7^8 as the background. As with version (a), the ascent and close are concentrated in the final cadence.

Here are details of the three readings, using the 'cello solo part. At the bottom of the post is a chordal reduction of the entire piece, again using tones from the violin part.

The reading from ^3 is clear enough. The registrally correct G4 in the leading-tone third line has to be inferred from the sounding G3.

 The reading of particular interest here -- the mirror Urlinie -- is not really all that much more complicated. In the unfolded third of the opening melody, the lower note is considered primary this time. The descent/ascent pair are presented quite plainly across the space of the final phrase.

Finally, the reading with ^8-^7-^8 and a middleground ascending octave line. The background neighbor-note figure creates a very simple tonal frame. The middleground octave line provides a motivic parallel to the ascending eighth-note line in the melody (see the boxed notes -- these of course also occur in the third bar of the opening melody).

For reference a chordal reduction. The design is a small ternary form: A = 1-8; B = 9-17; A' = 18 to the end. The harmony moves from I to iii in the A-section, then by sequence eventually reaching v or V. The reprise works out a broadly cadential progression.

The other piece mentioned in note 34 as having a mirror Urlinie -- a Telemann aria -- will be examined in tomorrow's post.