Hummel, German Dance, op. 45n4

Hummel's Opus 45 (1812) is a set of dances meant for performance in the Apollo Saal, one of the largest of such entertainment centers in Vienna, with multiple rooms in which one could dance, talk, eat, or gamble (link to German Wikipedia). As a published collection in piano arrangement, Op. 45 consists of a march introduction, six menuets with trios, six German dances with trios, and a lengthy coda.

The fourth German dance is easily heard with a simple rising line in the first strain and an extended ^8 with double neighbors in the second strain. Performance practice would dictate the likelihood that the first strain would be repeated after the second. An interesting point about the first strain is that the first phrase gives us half-note length Urlinie notes on the strong beat—D5 in bar 2, E5 in bar 4—where the second phrase does the reverse, giving us F#5 immediately in bar 5 and G5 in bar 7. The symmetry makes for an elegant theme.

Alternatively, one might decide to take the initial ^8—which I have called a cover tone above—and regard that as the focal tone, a reading that makes sense given the figures of the second strain, as described above. If so, the result is an ^8-^7-^8 Urlinie with a middleground ascent connecting to ^7 in the second phrase (see ^5 and ^6 in parentheses in the first phrase).

Still another alternative would be to wait till the middle of the second strain to reach ^3, as B5. An initial ascent is easy enough to hear, as is a descent in the cadence. Whether such an expressive toppling of the formal design is justified, whether it makes much musical or artistic sense, is a matter of opinion. Such late placements of the initial focal tone are not uncommon in traditional Schenkerian analysis but are rarely very convincing. Here, of course, if we take performance practice for dance music into account, this reading could only be sustained in the case of AB or ABAB, not if the first strain is repeated to end, ABA or ABABA.

Beethoven, German Dances, WoO8, 6 and 7, orchestral score

In yesterday's post, I wrote about Beethoven, German Dances, WoO8, numbers 6 and 7: link. My comments were based on the keyboard scores, which were published at the same time as the original orchestral versions in 1795.

In n6, I found a proto-background of the triad D5-G5-B5, with a descending line from ^3 in the A section, and a rising line from ^5 in the B section.

The orchestral score complicates that reading. At A1, Beethoven tops the violin melody with ^7-^8 in the oboes. At A2, the oboes repeat the figure but now they are overtopped by the flutes giving the violins' tune an octave higher. The net result, though, is that the descending third-line of my reading remains intact.

In the B section, the violins' accented restatement of triad tones in bars 9-11 (B5 in bar 9, G5 in bar 10, and D6 in bar 11) is undermined by the oboes' definite stepwise ascent from F#5 to B5, which suggests the latter as a goal for the phrase. In the final phrase, however, at C1, C2, C3, the winds' doubling of the violin figure clearly reinforces the sense of the rising line (D5-E5-F#5-G5) as primary.

In WoO8n7, the winds move predominantly stepwise and may be said emphatically to "choose" their candidate for primary voice from among the scales, arpeggiations, and unfoldings. When their input is accepted, there is no other choice but to hear ^3 as the focal tone and a descent to ^1 in both sections.

Beethoven, German Dances, WoO8, numbers 6 and 7

I have used the first number in Beethoven's orchestral dances, WoO8 (1795), multiple times as an exemplar of that turning point—in Viennese dance music, anyway—when the heavily clichéd strictures we associate now with 17th and 18th century figured bass practice and pedagogy begin to be undermined by a richer set of expressive possibilities. Here is the post on this blog: link.

While working on a new, Schenker-related essay project, I realized that two other dances in WoO8 can be heard with ascending background lines. The more direct of the two—and certainly plausible with the usual Schenkerian focal tones—is n7, despite its maze of unfoldings in the beginning. The unfoldings do suggest a role for ^3 as structural alto; through them one can hear an alto-level third-line in bars 1-8 (E5 at the beginning, D4 in bar 7, C4 in bar 8). From that point on, unmistakable lines lead back to ^5 (G5) and then onward to ^8 in the cadence.

Here is standard Schenkerian notation of a reading from ^3. This seems to me to be one case where the "default" reading from ^3 is heavily at odds with the music.

I hear pitch design in n6 as more complex, another case where tonal frames (or proto-backgrounds) help considerably. The boxed triad at the beginning is regained "as is" in bar 12. Note at the beginning that each of the three notes has its moment: ^8 as the first metrically accented note, exaggerated by the sforzando; ^5 with the first linear motion (a neighbor note that receives the second metrical accent); and ^3, whose own neighbor figure is the theme's contrasting idea. In bars 5-8, ^3 is clearly the focus. In bars 9-11, each of the three triad notes appears on the beat (see flagged notes), and the original triad frame is restated in position in the fifth octave. This time ^3 receives the phrase's first metrical accent, ^8 the next one, and ^5 develops and extends its neighbor figure to create a rising line, where its ^6, ^7, and ^8 are all metrically accented. A Schenkerian version of all this is shown below the score.

It would certainly be easy enough to read from ^3 throughout—and far more plausible than it was in n7—but the effect is still musically distant, something that maps an ideal voice-leading that struggles to be expressive or otherwise musically revelatory.

Gallery of Simple Examples, volume 2

I have posted a sequel to the gallery of simple examples (link to volume 1). The title is A Gallery of Simple Examples of Extended Rising Melodic Shapes, Volume 2: link to volume 2.

Here is the abstract:

This second installment of direct, cleanly formed rising lines offers examples from a variety of sources, ranging from a short early seventeenth century choral piece to Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony, and from Scottish fiddle tunes to Victor Herbert operettas.

Here is a combined table of contents for the two volumes, arranged chronologically and with the volume number indicated:

Praetorius, three-voice motet "Preis sei Gott in der Höhe"       -- vol. 2
Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, Partita ex Vienna, Courante      -- vol. 2
Böhm, Suite in F minor, Courante       -- vol. 1
Anon., Chelsea Stage    -- vol. 2
Anon., The Duchess of Gordon     -- vol. 2
Anon., The Kerry Jig       -- vol. 2
Anon., The Nabob        -- vol. 2
Anon., The Runaway Bride   -- vol. 2
Anon., Shepherds Jigg   -- vol. 2
Anon., Yankey Doodle      -- vol. 2
Mozart, 12 Menuets, K176n1       -- vol. 1
Haydn, String Quartet in D Major, Op76n2, III       -- vol. 1
Haydn, Symphony no. 86, III      -- vol. 1
Beethoven, 12 German Dances, WoO8n1       -- vol. 1
Hummel, from 6 German Dances & 12 Trios, op. 16      -- vol. 2
Schubert, Wiener-Damen-Ländler, D734n15       -- vol. 1
Schubert, Valses sentimentales, D779n13       -- vol. 1
Schubert, Ländler, D814n4       -- vol. 1
Schubert, Deutscher Tanz, D769n1       -- vol. 1
Schubert, Grazer Walzer, D924n9       -- vol. 1
Johann Strauss, sr., “Champagner Galop,” Op. 8      -- vol. 2
Johann Strauss, sr., Das Leben ein Tanz, oder Der Tanz ein Leben!, Op.49       -- vol. 1
Johann Strauss, sr., Exotische Pflanzen, Op.109       -- vol. 1
Johann Strauss, jr., Künstlerleben, op. 316       -- vol. 1
Brahms, “Über die See”       -- vol. 1
Tchaikovsky, The Nutcracker, March       -- vol. 1
Herbert,  Sweethearts, n7: "Jeannette and Her Little Wooden Shoes"      -- vol. 2
Herbert, Naughty Marietta, n17: "The Sweet Bye and Bye"      -- vol. 2
Herbert, Babette, n23: Finale III      -- vol. 2
Prokofiev, Classical Symphony, Gavotte      -- vol. 2
Gershwin, Shall We Dance, "Slap That Bass"      -- vol. 2
Waxman, Rebecca, "Hotel Lobby Waltz”      -- vol. 2 

Weber, Allemandes, Op. 4

In 1801, a young Carl Maria von Weber composed his Opus 4, a set of 10 allemandes with trios. He turned fifteen that year—and the set was published fifteen years later. "Allemande" here means Deutscher-Tanz or German dance, the foil to the Laendler in the first quarter of the nineteenth century and closely related to late-period menuets (after about 1790). For more on the distinction between Deutscher and Laendler, see these posts on my Schubert blog: link 1; link 2.

None of the allemandes or their trios has a simple rising line from ^5, but several are interesting nonetheless for their open cadences or figures focused on ^8.

The trio of n1 does have the ^6 down to ^7-^8 cliché common to the early waltz, but ^3 (as F5) is defined so clearly at the beginning, and ^2 at the beginning of each continuation phrase, that there is really no plausible way to hear a rising line. The cadence is open, but the implication of C6 in the final bar of each strain is fairly weak by comparison with many others we've seen in previous posts.

 N5 does have an emphatic rising cadence in the second strain, at (d), but here again it's very difficult to sort any of the previous material in a way that points toward a prolonged ^5 to precede the ^6-^7-^8 in the final two bars.

N6 runs neighbor notes about ^8 in the first strain -- not, I would guess, an uncommon feature of (the relatively rare) dance strains that begin in minor and end in major.

The trio of n9 uses another familiar cliché—the long scalar form of the "fall from the dominant"—but in the first strain the easiest figure to hear is ^8 (across the first phrase), then ^6-^7-^8 (all circled) in the second phrase. In the second strain the line begins plainly from C6 (bar 13) and continues by step down ("up") to ^8 (as F4), a reasonably convincing cadence figure despite the lack of definition of ^5 in the first phrase of strain 2.

Hummel, from 6 German Dances & 12 Trios, op. 16

Hummel's Opus 16 was published in 1804, the first in a substantial list of music for both social and professional dancers. (Items drawn from a works list on IMSLP.)

Op.16 - 6 German Dances (1804)
Op.22 - Piano Trio No.3 in F Major (1807)
Op.23 - 7 Hungarian Dances (1806)
Op.24 - 12 Minuets (1806)
Op.25 - 12 German Dances & Coda (1807)
Op.26 - Ballet Music, Helene & Paris (1807)
Op.27 - Dance for Apollosaal No.1 (12 Minuets) (1808)
Op.28 - Dance for Apollosaal No.2 (12 German Dances) (1808)
Op.29 - 12 German Dances for Redout-Deutsche (1808)
Op.31 - Dance for Apollosaal No.3 (6 Waltzes) (1809)
Op.33 - Ballet Music, Das Belebte Gemählde (1809)
S.80 - Contredanses in Bb major for Orchestra (1810)
S.81 - 5 Ecossaisen for Orchestra (1810)
S.82 - 7 Landler for Orchestra (1810)
S.84 - 3 Pieces for Ballet or Pantomime (1810)
Op.39 - Dance for Apollosaal No.4 (4 German Dances & Coda) (1811)
Op.40 - 12 German Dances for the Roman Emperor (1811)
Op.41 - Ballet Music, Quintuor des Negares du Ballet Paul et Virginie (1809)
Op.44 - 12 German Dances & Coda for Redout-Deutsche (1811)
Op.45 - Dance for Apollosaal No.5 (March, 6 Minuets, 6 German Dances, & Coda) (1811)
Op.46 - The Magic Ring or Harlequin as a Spider (Pantomime Music) (1811)
S.92 - Der Zauberkampf, Pantomime Music (1812, WoO.34)
S.88 - Das Zaubershloss, Ballet Music (1814, WoO.32)
Op.70 - 6 Polonaises for Piano (1814)
S.104 - 12 Waltzes & Coda for Orchestra (1817)
Op.91 - Six Waltzes with Coda (for orchestra; Dance for Apollosaal No.6) (1820)
Op.103 - 3 Waltzes for Piano (1824) [concert pieces?]
Op.112 - 12 Waltzes for Piano (1828) [concert pieces?]

As the title suggests, each of the six German dances in op. 16 has two trios. Those pieces of interest to us are the second trio to n1 and the first trio to n3. The score was digitized by the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, which holds a copyright to the digitization. I am reproducing short excerpts with added annotations and commentary.

Of the eighteen pieces total, 11 are in small binary form, 7 in small ternary form. Oddly, only one of the German dances is in small ternary form; the other six using that design are all trios, including both of those to n1. In the second trio to n1, the definition of ^5 and the run up to ^8 above V7 are primary.

The first trio to n3 is the only piece I know, with the exception of "Do, a Deer" from The Sound of Music, that presents an entire octave's worth of rising line. The progress is in parallel sixths with the bass, along with octaves at either end. Note that Hummel goes out of his way to harmonize the scale in a very different way in the reprise, a signal to musicians, I would guess, that he knows he is waltzing to the "rule of the octave."

Counterpoint and the rising cadence gesture

As we saw in yesterday's post, 16th century cadences with interval pairs 3-1 or 6-8, could be the ground or motivation for a rising melodic gesture, but the odds were against it, mainly because of suspension figures that provided additional downward momentum into the cadence.

In the abstract counterpoint exercises that were derived from 16th century music, the potential for rising cadential figures was, ironically perhaps, much greater than it had been in the actual repertoires those exercises were trying to model. There were two reasons for this: (1) the separation of figures into "species" served to isolate suspensions into a single type of exercise; (2) in two-voice instruction, it was routine to write one exercise with the ground or cantus above, then another with the ground below, a situation that guaranteed trading off the 3-1 and 6-8 cadences.

Beethoven studied strict counterpoint with Johann Albrechtsberger while Haydn was away in London. And it is here that the potential of a rising melodic gesture in counterpoint exercises came to fruition in music. Beethoven was apparently one of the first dance composers to make direct use of a rising cadence (but see below for a precedent from Mozart). Beethoven's 12 Deutsche Tänze, WoO8, were composed only three months after he finished his counterpoint studies with Albrechtsberger, but the first dance in the set follows an unexpected trajectory. It begins with a stepwise ascent from ^1 to ^3, elaborated and harmonized with an 8-10-10 voice-leading figure with the bass—this is one of the conventional figures of the partimento tradition. The second strain leads the melody in a determined way upward to ^8. The first dance in a set such as this one—like the menuets in WoO7, these waltzes were for a public ball—was often used as a refrain, so that Beethoven would have had incentive to make it memorable.

As it happens, Mozart had anticipated Beethoven by twenty years. His set of 12 menuets, K 176, opens with a similar promenade/refrain, and it uses virtually the same opening and closing figures.