Score Reading: Misprints

In Franck’s magnificent E major Chorale, there is an obvious blotch in certain editions which appears right next to the tenor voice of a 4-part texture (see dark blue square, upper left example). Whatever the genesis of the blotch, it has led to what I believe are incorrect performances of the passage.

The blotch clearly includes a large, somewhat circular shape, attached to what appears to be the note B in the space above the bass staff. If the B is indeed the composer’s intention, then it must be observed that 1) the lower right corner of the note head is missing, 2) a fifth, non-doubling voice has suddenly been added to the texture, and 3) the added note results in a dissonant 9 - 8 combination with the accented passing tone C sharp in the soprano, thus significantly changing the sonority of the chord.

If we look at the analogous passage later in the piece, with pedals added, we see that the B is not present. Its absence, however, has nothing to do with the added pedal line: the pedal line is simply an octave doubling of the lowest voice in the manuals.

The only sensible conclusion is that the B is part of the smudge. The middle and lower examples on the left show the large part of the blotch, and then the entire blotch, removed. Why does this problem go undetected? The answer is straightforward. The B is indeed possible - after all, it is the root of the prevailing harmony, the B dominant 7th chord. But why would Franck vary the harmony, by omitting the B, in only one instance throughout the course of the later passage, while what is happening in the music in the first place - in the later passage - is a registrational and textural variant of the initial statement?

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Rhythmic Grouping: Asymmetry

The excerpt quoted above is the third and final verse of Schubert’s song, ‘Heidenröslein’ (The Wild Rosebud), 2/4 meter. The 3 verses of 16 measures each are identical, except, of course, for the text. In the autograph, Schubert wrote the music out only once, with the first verse of the poetry under the vocal line, while the text for verses 2 and 3 appears below the music in block form.

By far, the most typical rhythmic grouping for a 16-measure musical unit is (8 + 8), with each 8-measure phrase subdividing into (4 + 4). Perfect balance, proportion and symmetry operate within these parameters. [See the previous post - ‘Rhythmic Grouping: Symmetry’ - April 4, 2008].

The rhythmic grouping of ‘Heidenröslein’ is asymmetrical: [4 + 6 + 6], subdivided as [(2 + 2)] + [(2 + 2) + 2] + [(2 + 2) + 2]. The asymmetry exists on 2 levels: there are 3, not 2 (or 4) phrases, and the second and third phrases are expanded by way of a 2-measure extension. Clearly, the structure of the text has everything to do with the asymmetry of the music.

Other structural features of the song are worth noting: 1] a modulation to the dominant key takes place from measure 5 to 12; 2] there is a beautiful array of nonharmonic tones in the vocal line, including appoggiatura, passing tone, accented passing tone [on 2 different metrical levels], escaped tone, and accented neighboring tone; 3] strong dissonances occur in measure 9 between the vocal part and the top note of the piano part; 4] the highest note, G5, occurs in the vocal line of the following measures: 4 - root of the tonic, 10 - 7th of the dominant 7th of D major, 12 - root of the tonic, and 13 - 5th of the IV chord.

Rhythmic Grouping: Symmetry

Mozart wrote the Minuet, K. 6 quoted above, when he was 7 years old. It exhibits a tonal organization which is typical of the period: a modulation to the dominant key [measure 5 through 8], balanced by a return to C major immediately after the first double bar. In addition to the structural chromaticism involved in the modulation, there are 4 instances of ornamental chromaticism: C sharp [m.2] and D sharp [m.4] are accented passing tones; D sharp [m.6] and G sharp [m.14] are passing tones. This miniature binary piece also exemplifies perfect symmetry of phrase organization: [(2 + 2) + 4] + [(2 + 2) + 4]. As both 8-measure groups are to be played twice, the Minuet is 32 measures in length.

Studies in Music Theory by Harrison, Martin and Fink, states that ‘Rhythmic grouping occurs when a series of durations coalesces into a single musical unit. Phrases are rhythmic groups, discrete units of connected musical motion that are demarcated by clear beginnings and endings. We distinguish between phrase groupings [which end in a cadence and a convincing point of arrival] and subphrase groupings [shorter groups within phrases]. Caesuras, where breaths may be taken, define the limits of rhythmic groups. Rhythmic groups frequently end with a rest or relatively long note value.’

The symmetry of the grouping of the Minuet lies in the nearly exact rhythmic repetition of the first 8-measure phrase in the second half. Within each phrase are two 4-measure subphrases, the first of which has an internal grouping of (2 + 2) and the second of which is a single connected group. Thus, caesuras occur at the ends of measures 2, 4, 8, 10, 12 and 16, and [perfect authentic] cadences occur only in measures 8 and 16.

A question for further investigation: aside from tonality, what are the differences between the 2 phrases?

In the next post, asymmetrical rhythmic grouping will be the focus.

The example is quoted with the permission of the authors.

Score Reading: Misprints

A passage from the fugue of Franck’s Prelude, Fugue and Variation in B minor, op. 18 is quoted above. I believe it contains a rather serious misprint in the highlighted measure.

Misprints in musical scores can occur for a number of reasons: a slip of the copyist’s pen from autograph to 1st edition or to any subsequent edition, a copyist’s misinterpretation of the composer’s notation, misreading a clef, an editor’s decision, or in rare cases, a mistake on the part of the composer.

When the composer’s autograph is not available, how are we to know which edition to use? Can we trust so-called ‘urtext’ editions implicitly? Fortunately, two or more editions are available for most repertoire, although many performances are indeed based on a single source. It is also fortunate that misprints are extremely rare. What is unfortunate is that they can easily go undetected.

The alleged misprint in the Franck excerpt occurs in the soprano voice - the eighth note D should be a major 6th higher - B on the 3rd line. The evidence supporting this assertion is quite clear. In the measure in question, the soprano voice appears to re-enter, after a brief rest, with two additional connected statements of the characteristic 8th-note motive which is part of the fugue subject. [Actually, the previously existing soprano voice either becomes the alto, or it splits into two voices on the downbeat of the measure - notice the change in stem direction from the 1st to the 2nd measure of the system]. If the D is correct as it appears, this would be the only statement of the motive in the entire fugue which does not conform melodically to all its other appearances. There is more. The voice leading as it stands involves a pair of parallel unisons, again the only such occurrence - in this case of faulty counterpoint - in the fugue. Finally, the augmented 4th, D to G sharp, sounds disturbing, yet the piece is full of augmented and diminished intervals, both melodically and harmonically, which sound perfectly natural.

There are many instances in various editions of Franck’s organ music in which I believe there are misprints of this sort. As responsible musicians, we need to be on the lookout for this potential problem in our daily musical studies. This is especially true in the more complex chromatic styles and those of the 20th century, but we can never be too careful, whatever the style or composer.

Score Reading: The Vocal Clefs

Like his contemporaries and predecessors, J. S. Bach used the soprano, alto and tenor clefs in all of his vocal compositions as well as in numerous instrumental works. The three ‘C’ clefs appear throughout the Cantatas, Masses, Passions and Motets. In the harpsichord and organ works, we encounter Bach’s use of soprano clef, not treble, in the right hand part. He also frequently wrote in the alto or tenor clefs for the inner voices in the organ music.

The first eight measures of a facsimile of the autograph of ‘Dir, dir, Jehova, will ich singen’, one of Bach’s hundreds of chorale harmonizations, is given above. Several features are worth noting. There is a large bow brace joining the four staves. Bar lines do not connect through the system. The key signatures for the soprano and bass voices involve pitches that are above their respective staves. Bach copied both lines of German text four times and assigned each pair of sentences a bow brace. The downward stems of half notes are drawn to the right of the note head. The eighth notes from measure 6 to 7 are beamed across the bar line. There is a thickening of ink in the tenor part in measure 5 and a few smudges above the tenor in measure 6. Not that it interferes in any way with the beauty of the autograph, it appears that the tool Bach used to create the 5-line staves was not calibrated properly: the first and fourth spaces are noticeably narrower than the two inner spaces on each staff. The staves, being hand drawn with the staff tool, are not always straight and parallel.

Structurally, there are many beautiful features. The eight measures are almost entirely diatonic: the only chromaticism is in measure 7 in the alto - a lower neighboring tone. With the exception of the subdominant harmony throughout measure 2 and on the last beat of measure 3, the excerpt is limited to tonic and dominant chords. A prominent motive, first appearing in the soprano in measure 1 and consisting of a quarter note followed by a neighboring tone figure connected to a chord tone skip in eighth notes, is restated in the a] bass - measure 2, b] soprano - measure 6, c] bass - measure 7, and d] tenor and bass - measure 5, a rhythmic variant, in parallel 3rds.

Staff Notation: Clefs and Key Signatures

Some questions for your consideration: 1] What are the clefs and possible key signature[s] of this three-part contrapuntal piece? 2] What is the harmonic basis for each measure? [example: F minor, root position; C# diminished, first inversion]. 3] Where does the greatest distance between any pair of voices occur? 4] The smallest? 5] Where do accented neighboring tones occur? 6] Where do consonant passing tones occur?

Range Limitations: Chopin's Piano

The excerpt quoted above is from Chopin’s Ballade No. 3 in A flat major, op. 47, measures 33 - 36 [6/8 meter, Allegretto]. The entire passage, except for the last two notes in measure 36, is in C major, notwithstanding the key signature of 4 flats. Chopin has modulated to the diatonically unrelated key of the mediant major, or major III. A flat major and C major do have a relationship, however: they are both related to C minor. Also, the common tone C is in both keys. On the downbeat of measure 37, the music is back in A flat major.

What is particularly wonderful about this excerpt is that in the time span of exactly one measure - from the downbeat of m. 35 to the downbeat of m. 36 - Chopin traverses the complete range of the piano of his time. We should try to visualize a keyboard whose range is C1 to F7 - a total of 8 3/8" narrower than today’s 88-key range, and then imagine Chopin presiding over it and knowing that he can’t go any further down or up than its almost 6½-octave range would allow. Chopin probably didn’t give it a second thought. His magnificent oeuvre is a testament to how the range limitations of a musical instrument can be transformed into the most beautiful aesthetic and structural/design enhancements, but only in the hands of a genius.

There are some noteworthy dissonances in the excerpt: m. 33, beat 2 and again on the downbeat of m. 35 - F [RH] appoggiatura against E natural [LH]; m. 34, beat 1 - D natural [RH], also an appoggiatura; beat 2 - five of the seven white key pitches - from bass up - G, C, F, E and A. The logical explanation is: the F in the LH is an accented upper neighboring tone, while the A in the RH is an appoggiatura - all within the prevailing tonic harmony of C major. Chopin probably didn’t give any of this a second thought either.