Dutch Journal of Music Theory

‘Wie hell grüßt uns heute der Herr!’: Hexatonic Poles and Mystical Transformation in the Act I Grail Scene of Wagner’s Parsifal

Kasper van Kooten

This article scrutinizes the dramatic and symbolical function of hexatonic pole progressions within the Act 1 Grail scene of Wagner’s Parsifal. The notion of a hexatonic pole was introduced by Richard Cohn, and the progression it denotes forms a clear example of the transgressive, transformational harmony so central to much Neo-Riemannian analysis. In this article, a Neo-Riemannian approach to musical syntax is combined with a more traditional outlook on harmony. This outlook takes the circle of fifths as its fundament, and interprets tonal developments within this system from the viewpoint of Tonartencharakteristik and tonal symbolism of light and dark. The analysis shows how the musical and scenic design of the Grail ceremony articulates a distinction between an earthly and supernatural realm, that are reconciled after the revelation of the Grail. This reconciliation is effectuated through harmony, when initial tonal inhibitions are eventually transgressed and overcome by hexatonic pole progressions.

‘Harmonisches Vagabundieren’: Franz Liszts Harmonik und das Problem einer nationalen Emblematik

Eva-Maria V. Adam-Schmidmeier

Obwohl Franz Liszt in Person und Werk im Jubiläumsjahr 2011 große Aufmerksamkeit erfahren hat, sind manche Werkgruppen aus Liszts Oeuvre bis heute einer breiteren Öffentlichkeit unbekannt. Dazu gehören die Liedvertonungen, die bisher nur vereinzelt eine intensive Beschäftigung, besonders mit Blick auf die harmonischen Aspekte, erfahren haben. Immer wieder gab es Versuche, Liszts nationale Identität(en) anhand spezifischer Harmoniewendungen und noch mehr anhand spezifischer Skalentypen zu verorten. Die dabei häufig zu beobachtende Einengung auf eine Nationalität, bevorzugt auf eine ungarische Idiomatik, ist jedoch für Liszts Person und Werk weder zulässig noch aussagekräftig. Bei den derart angestellten analytischen Versuchen blieb Liszts Liedschaffen ebenfalls weitgehend unbeachtet. Aus diesem Grunde soll eine Liedvertonung von Liszt, nämlich Le vieux vagabond (1848), zur Analyse herangezogen werden, um die These einer ‘vagabundierenden’ Harmonik, die frei von nationalen Implikationen ist, darzustellen. Als Grundlage der harmonischen Analyse dient das von Zoltán Gárdonyi entwickelte ‘Distanzprinzip’ bzw. Die daran orientierte und auf der Grundtonfortschreitung basierende Harmonik seines Sohnes Zsolt Gárdonyi – beide Persönlichkeiten, die sich um die Erschließung des Werkes Franz Liszts verdient gemacht haben.

A Musical Rosetta Stone: Chopin’s Songs and their Potential for Decoding Musical Meaning in his Instrumental Music

William Helmcke

Fryderyk Chopin’s nineteen songs have received less analytical attention than his instrumental compositions. This lack of critical inquiry is unfortunate because the lyrics and word painting in vocal music can communicate a more precise degree of musical expression and semiotic meaning than instrumental music alone. In this article I will examine various definitions of musical meaning, illustrate Chopin’s consistent approaches to word painting, and map compositional techniques from his vocal music onto his polonaises. Such an exploration of Chopin’s word painting not only improves our understanding of this treasured body of nineteenth-century songs, but may also yield fresh ways of understanding his instrumental compositions. By triangulating lyrics, word painting, and instrumental music, the proposed approach would represent a musical Rosetta stone that could potentially allow us to decode latent musical meaning in Chopin’s instrumental music.

A Neo-Beethovenian Approach? The Case of Guillaume Lekeu’s String Quartet

Melissa L. Khong

While some scholarly attention has been given to the later works of the Franco-Belgian composer Guillaume Lekeu (1870-1894), the early chamber music of 1885-1888 has hitherto been neglected. In this paper, I focus on Lekeu’s String Quartet in Six Movements (1888), curiously void of the lavish Romanticism that had characterized Lekeu’s preceding works and adopting instead the Classical language of the late-eighteenth century. Through comparative analyses, I argue that Lekeu’s String Quartet can be acknowledged as a direct salutation to Beethoven’s String Quartet in Bb Major, Op. 130, and illustrates a radical revival of the Beethovenian string quartet as a genre in itself.

Reharmonization as Process in Fauré’s Prelude Op. 103, No. 3

Adam Ricci

As William T. Austin and Ken Johansen have observed, Fauré’s Prelude Op. 103, No. 3 harmonizes the pitch-class Bb in manifold ways; as Johansen puts it, ‘the process of trial and error in the harmonization of the melodic Bb can really be considered the “subject” of the piece.’ This paper details the complex interrelationships between the harmonizations of Bb, showing how the recurrence of particular chordal contexts creates a balanced two-part form organized around the primary and secondary keys of the piece, G minor and Eb minor. Integral to the harmonic plan are two remarkable harmonic sequences that carry out the modulations between the two keys.