‘Harmonic daring’ and symphonic design in the Sixth Symphony: an essay in historical musical analysis

Korstvedt, Benjamin M.

doi:10.4324/9781315089881-8

Cited by 5 publications

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“…If these observations enable us to revisit Jackson's reading pace Sonata Theory, then they also underscore the need to rethink Bruckner's coordination of formal function, harmony and tonal strategy. Pivotal to this objective is what Korstvedt (, p. 188) calls the ‘dissonant tonal complex’: the tonally disruptive elements that Bruckner introduces into primary material, which subsequently acquire formal significance. This habit has been recognised as structurally germinal at least since Paul Dawson‐Bowling (); subsequent contributions include William Benjamin (), Julian Horton (, pp.…”

Section: Form ‘Orbital’ Tonality and Harmonic Discontinuitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Form and Orbital Tonality in the Finale of Bruckner's Seventh Symphony

Horton¹

2018

Music Analysis

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This article investigates questions of form in the Finale of Bruckner's Seventh Symphony, paying special attention to the reversed recapitulation as a problematic category in contemporary Formenlehre. Counterpointing Timothy Jackson's reading of the movement as a ‘tragic’ reversed sonata against James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy's critique of the concept of reversal, it seeks ways of accounting for the movement's novel form‐functional characteristics, which integrate concepts of thematic syntax with a model of chromatic tonality, drawing simultaneously on Schenkerian and neo‐Riemannian theories and the notion of the double‐tonic complex first proposed by Robert Bailey. The argument is contextualised in relation to critical debates about Bruckner's forms that originated during the composer's lifetime, especially claims of material discontinuity and harmonic illogicality, which were common in the symphonies’ pro‐Brahmsian reception and which linger in the discourse up to the present. The article's central claim is that a substantial understanding of both the Finale's form and its critical reception is attendant upon a theory of formal function, which takes seriously the difficulties of harmonic analysis that Bruckner's post‐Wagnerian idiom engenders.

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Section: Form ‘Orbital’ Tonality and Harmonic Discontinuitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Form and Orbital Tonality in the Finale of Bruckner's Seventh Symphony

Horton¹

2018

Music Analysis

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“…For example, William Benjamin has examined the potential of multiple tonalities through the ‘thematicization of harmony’ in the Eighth Symphony (, p. 238). Adopting a similar premise of tonal expansion, Benjamin Korstvedt () discusses how chromaticism and tonal ambiguity in the primary theme of the first movement of the Sixth Symphony affect the musical discourse of sonata structure. In ‘Bruckner's Sonata Deformations’, Warren Darcy () analyses the symphonies with seven hermeneutic concepts derived from what was to become his and James Hepokoski's Sonata Theory.…”

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“…Although some of Bruckner's symphonic movements can be understood with the more modern notion of tripartite design, there are others that do not fit satisfactorily into that paradigm. Moreover, most discussions of Bruckner's bipartite approach to sonata form are pursued as secondary material to the study at hand and thus do not delve deeply into the theory‐practice connection in Bruckner's compositional activity (see Hawkshaw ; Horton , p. 154; Korstvedt , p. 204 n. 26; and Tørring , p. 22). In this article, by using the bipartite structure as a frame of reference, I will focus on a particular formal area in my analysis of Bruckner's symphonies: the music surrounding the onset of the recapitulation.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Bruckner did not use the term Repetition in either the Kitzler‐Studienbuch or the sketches for the Eighth Symphony (which lends further support to his adherence to a bipartite conception of sonata form [Hawkshaw , pp. 19–20]), nor had he ever used the term Durchführung , the German equivalent of ‘development’ (Korstvedt , p. 204, n. 26). For a chronological record of Bruckner's study of Richter and Lobe as reflected in the Studienbuch , see Hawkshaw (), pp.…”

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“…The topic of the non‐congruence of theme and key in Bruckner's symphonic recapitulations has been addressed in Korstvedt () and Howie, Hawkshaw and Jackson (), pp. xix–xx.…”

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The Formal Ramifications of Bruckner's Bipartite Sonata Form

Lai¹

2018

Music Analysis

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As a composer who had received intensive training in music theory, notably through Simon Sechter and Otto Kitzler, Bruckner's understanding of sonata form as a bipartite design as addressed in Formenlehre manuals is no secret to us. By taking as its point of departure an examination of the treatises of Ernst Friedrich Richter and Johann Christian Lobe, which Bruckner had consulted, this paper broadens our understanding of Bruckner's treatment of form and content in the sonata discourse by exploring his compositional approaches within a specific formal area – the music surrounding the onset of the recapitulation – in order to show how the perception of the development plus recapitulation as a unified formal space is reinforced. Analyses of opening movements and finales of his symphonies have revealed three major strategies of projecting the binary construction: ‘false recapitulation’, Type 2 sonata (Hepokoski and Darcy 2006), and what I call ‘enclosure’; the third strategy provides an additional means of evading the boundary between the development and recapitulation. At a time when composers such as Berlioz and Liszt had already discarded sonata form and were experimenting with new formal criteria, tonal‐harmonic options and alternative aesthetics, Bruckner remained faithful to it and expressed his belief in its potential for the symphonic medium.

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Durrr-dur-dur-dur-dur-durrrr-durrrrrr: more than just White Stripes

Dean

2020

Sport in Society

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‘Harmonic daring’ and symphonic design in the Sixth Symphony: an essay in historical musical analysis

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Form and Orbital Tonality in the Finale of Bruckner's Seventh Symphony

Form and Orbital Tonality in the Finale of Bruckner's Seventh Symphony

The Formal Ramifications of Bruckner's Bipartite Sonata Form

Durrr-dur-dur-dur-dur-durrrr-durrrrrr: more than just White Stripes

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