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A study in contrast
Forrest Wakeman
This paper is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Musical Arts
In considering the composers of the early twentieth century, Bartok and Stravinsky are two names
that come to the top of the list as significant innovators. There are many similarities between them – they
both enjoyed success in Europe, both were outstanding pianists, both utilized folk music in various ways
in their compositions, both explored alternate approaches to harmony, rhythm, and pitch organization, and
both eventually relocated to the United States, although under very different circumstances. Taruskin
actually went so far as to say, “[Stravinsky] and Bartok ought by rights to have become a
historiographical pair, a cliché like Bach and Handel, Mozart and Haydn, Debussy and Ravel.”1
Both composers also utilized many of the same raw harmonic materials, including considerable
use of the octatonic collection. However, their approaches to octatonic materials were very different,
from both a theoretical and an aesthetic perspective. This study will explore each composer’s approach to
the octatonic collection individually and will attempt to compare and contrast the two, highlighting
similarities and differences in an effort to bring some new insight into a sometimes thorny area of
To lay a bit of ground work, it is important to understand that the octatonic collection, as referred
to in this study, is a symmetrical collection of pitch classes featuring alternating half and whole step
intervals. In Allen Forte’s set theory analysis method, it is given the identifying set number 8-282. The
octatonic collection is limited to only three possible unique transpositions (shown in example 1). It is
typically presented in most texts as an ordered collection, but it is often not used as an ordered collection.
Many people even mistakenly refer to it as a scale, but the word scale typically implies a clear tonic as
well as a specific ordering of pitches in relationship to that tonic. Due to its symmetrical structure, it is
impossible to establish a true functional tonic within the octatonic collection – as a matter of fact, later we
1
Richard Taruskin, “Why you Cannot Leave Bartok Out,” Studia Micologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, T.
47, Fasc. 3 / 4, Bartok’s Orbit: The Context and Sphere of Influence of his work. Proceedings of the International
Conference held by the Bartok Archives, Budapest (22-24 March 2006). Part I (September 2006): 271
2
Forte’s system provides an analysis for only the half-step first arrangement of the octatonic collection; the whole-
step first arrangement can be easily derived from his set # 8-28 by rotation.
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will see that some Stravinsky scholars purport that there are at least four possible pitches that could serve
as a “tonic” within the octatonic collection; to me, even this seems like a stretch, as tonality within the
confines of a symmetrical collection of pitches is most commonly established by assertion rather than by
When dealing with works by Stravinsky and Bartok that often have an established tonal center,
the question that begs answering is what nomenclature to use when discussing the octatonic collection.
For the sake of clarity and consistency, in cases such as this, I will refer to the octatonic collection
beginning on the tonic note (i.e. the first movement of Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, which is clearly
built on a tonal center of E, would utilize the octatonic collection built on E). Note that this does not
imply E as the tonic of the collection; rather, it is a method of organizing symmetrical material for the
Part I - Stravinsky
Stravinsky’s use of the octatonic collection is not surprising, as he worked closely as a student of
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, who utilized the octatonic collection (and to a lesser extent the whole tone and
other symmetrical collections) in much of his own music.3 In Stravinsky’s earliest works we can hear the
octatonic collection employed in a manner that nearly mirrors that of his mentor and other significant
Russian composers of the time (including Mussorgsky and Glinka). Walsh, in describing the Scherzo
Fantastique, says: “Here we find, taken to the point of obsession, the typical artificial scales based on
equal divisions of the octave (the augmented triad, the diminished seventh, the whole-tone and octatonic
scales) which had been the stock-in-trade of Russian musical magic since Lyudmila’s abduction…”4
The basic premise of Rimsky-Korsakov’s use of the octatonic collection centered around the
symmetrical aspects of the collection. Harmonically, he would use the diminished seventh chord (Forte
#4-28) either as an entity unto itself or as an organizational factor. He also utilized familiar triads (major,
minor, and dominant seventh quality) built on the four pitches that equally subdivide the octave (0,3,6,9)
in the octatonic collection (see example 2). 5 Melodically, he extensively utilized the 0235 tetrachord
(Forte # 4-10). This tetrachord had dual purposes in terms of its function. It could be derived from the
octatonic collection (using the whole-step first rotation of the collection), but it also shared pitches with
the first half of the traditional minor scale (see example 3) and the Dorian mode, which is actually
comprised of two 0235 tetrachords in sequence. This allowed for fairly seamless transitions between
octatonic material and more diatonic material within a piece of music (see example 3a).
3
Pieter VandenToorn, Stravinsky and the Rite of Spring (Berkely: University of California Press, 1987), 119.
4
Stephen Walsh, The Music of Stravinsky (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988), 16.
5
VandenToorn, Rite of Spring, 119.
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by minor thirds.
Example 3 – Octatonic collection showing division into a pair of equal, symmetrical tetrachords.
In The Firebird we find perhaps the purest audible instance of Stravinsky paying homage to
Rimsky-Korsakov’s approach to the use of the octatonic collection. It is used as a kind of harmonic
leitmotif, employed to depict the evil supernatural forces of Kaschei’s kingdom. More traditionally
diatonic material, on the other hand, is employed to portray the princesses, Ivan, and the other human
6
Charles M. Joseph, Stravinsky’s Ballets (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011), 41.
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While the octatonic references in Stravinsky’s earliest works are fairly obvious and clearly pay
homage to Rimsky-Korsakov’s influence, his more mature works (beginning with Petroushka) offer some
significant challenges in terms of how to classify their harmonic and tonal frameworks. A new school of
scholarship emerged, starting with Arthur Berger and expanded greatly by Peter VandenToorn; one of the
key elements of this school of thought focused on the octatonic collection as an overarching
Berger first applies the octatonic collection to one of the most famous sonorities in all of
Stravinsky’s output – the so-called “Petroushka chord”, a simultaneous C major and F# major sonority
that for many years was interpreted as having implications of bitonality. 7 Berger, however, posits that
this sonority can be satisfactorily explained as a hexachordal subset of the octatonic collection (see
example 4a and 4b).8 While Berger avoids making further claims for the Petroushka chord, VandenToorn
expands significantly on Berger’s theory, drawing the conclusion that the octatonic collection offers the
possibility for four distinct tonal centers based on the four symmetrical subdivisions of the octatonic
collection (0,3,6,9, the four pitches making up a diminished seventh chord), and makes a case that
Stravinsky was consciously aware of this relationship in the larger-scale structure of Petroushka9 – the
first instance of the Petroushka chord uses major triads built on 0 and 6 (C and F#), but when the chord
reappears in the Third Tableau of the ballet, it uses major triads built on 3 and 9 (Eb and A). The
aggregate of these four chords forms the complete octatonic collection beginning on C (see example 5).
Taruskin takes this even further, making the claim that the entire Second Tableau of Petroushka can be
7
Interestingly, a study done related to how people perceive music found that most people perceive this sonority
as bi-tonal rather than as octatonic, even though the octatonic explanation makes better sense from a
theoretician’s perspective. See “The Petroushka Chord: A Perceptual Investigation,” Music Perception: An
Interdisciplinary Journal, Vol. 4, No. 2 (Winter, 1986): 153-184.
8
Arthur Berger, “Problems of Pitch Organization in Stravinsky,” Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 2, No.1 (Autumn –
Winter, 1963): 23.
9
Pieter Vandentoorn, The Music of Igor Stravinsky (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983), 463.
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analyzed octatonically, based on an extension of VandenToorn’s ideas.10 This seems to me to be a bit far
fetched – I believe that Taruskin, in his ambition to find a satisfactory explanation, works too hard at
Example 4b – Petroushka Chord pitch classes shown as a subset of the octatonic collection
Example 5 – Octatonic collection aggregate formed by the triads on 0 and 6 in the 2nd tableau and 3
10
Richard Taruskin, “Chez Petrouchka: Harmony and Tonality ‘chez’ Stravinsky,” 19th Century Music, Vol.
10, No. 3, Special Issue: Resolutions I (Spring, 1987): 269.
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The Rite of Spring is perhaps the most challenging of Stravinsky’s earlier ballets to quantify and
analyze in terms of its harmonic content and structure. Yet, many of its most significant moments appear
to be derived from or informed by the octatonic collection. In fact, VandenToorn calls it “one of the most
thoroughly octatonic of Stravinsky’s works…”11 We find the octatonic collection utilized in melodic
material in the use of 0-2-3-5 tetrachords; we find it used organizationally in terms of its intersection with
other tonally-derived constructs (including diatonic scales, the major triad and the dominant seventh
chord); and we find it used vertically with all eight pitches of the collection used as a simultaneity.
Melodic material in The Rite of Spring is often derived from subsets of the octatonic collection.
The most commonly appearing of these is the 0235 tetrachord (Forte # 4-10). Several sample melodic
passages used in The Rite of Spring demonstrate this tetrachord, lending credence to the possibility that
these melodic ideas were based on the octatonic collection (see example 6 for three of them).
11
VandenToorn, Rite of Spring, 123.
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In the case of the excerpt from Ritual of the Rival Tribes, VandenToorn makes the case that the
melodic materials in the brass form the complementary 0235 tetrachord, and that the two melodic
fragments combine to form a full aggregate of the octatonic collection (see example 7).12
Example 7 – Ritual of the Rival Tribes showing complementary 0235 tetrachords and aggregate
collection.
The 0235 tetrachord demonstrates horizontal (melodic) usage of the octatonic collection;
Stravinsky also uses the collection vertically. In a manner similar to that seen in the Petroushka chord, we
find Stravinsky superimposing two major triads onto one another to create dissonant harmonic structures
that are based on the octatonic collection. One such example is found in the Augurs of Spring. The main
“Augurs chord” is an Eb dominant seventh chord superimposed on an E major triad, which is not strictly
an octatonic collection simultaneity, but a similar sonority, found later in the Augurs of Spring and again
12
VandenToorn believes that the F# in the brass parts is ornamental (Stravinsky and the Rite of Spring, 126), while
Peter Hill proposes that perhaps the G is the ornamental note and that the melodic material in the woodwinds is
actually based on the D dorian mode, for which the 0235 tetrachord is its first four pitches. Stravinsky: The Rite of
Spring (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 48.
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in the Ritual of Abduction, features an Eb dominant seventh superimposed with a C major triad, which
Example 8 – superimposed Eb dominant seventh and C Major chords from Augurs of Spring
The third way the octatonic collection influences the organization of The Rite of Spring is as an
organizing factor for other materials. For example, in the Ritual of Abduction, a series of four major
chords appears, superimposed with one another in various ways. When analyzed, these four chords turn
out to be built on the 0,3,6,9 subdivisions of the octatonic collection built on C, and the pitches contained
in them form the aggregate octatonic set (see example 10). This is one of the most clearly octatonic
13
Hill, The Rite of Spring, 47.
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The final Stravinsky work I would like to reference in terms of the octatonic collection is from his
neoclassical period. The opening movement of the Symphony of Psalms features alternating sections of
diatonic and octatonic materials, linked in a way that demonstrates Stravinsky’s awareness of the
octatonic collection’s ability to intersect with traditional diatonic sonorities. The work opens with a very
uniquely voiced E minor chord, followed by arpeggiated material that is clearly octatonic in nature
(drawn from the octatonic collection on E), but comprised of tonally-derived constructs – a Bb dominant
seventh paired with a G dominant seventh chord. These tonal chords are used non-functionally to
establish the octatonic collection from the outset.14 The octatonic material becomes superimposed with
14
Elliott Antokoletz, The Music of Bela Bartok, (Berkely: University of California Press, 1984), 320.
Wakeman - 11
pitches from the e natural minor scale at bar 5; then three bars before rehearsal 2, the piano plays an
extremely clear F dorian mode scale. This is a natural extension of the octatonic collection, as its first
four notes form a 0235 tetrachord based on the octatonic collection (see example 11).
At rehearsal 2, the piano part becomes clearly non-octatonic, and is probably most easily
analyzed as playing the white-note Phrygian mode collection. Still, the octatonic collection holds some
organizational sway here; the half-step between the first two pitches of the E Phrygian collection are
identical to the first two notes of the octatonic collection utilized in the movement, and this relationship
Rehearsal 4 is an example of one of the most truly octatonic passages in all of Stravinsky’s
writing. Here, an ostinato in the woodwind section clearly lays out the full aggregate collection as an
Wakeman - 12
accompaniment for the choral part, which sings a chant-like melody consisting of just two notes – the E
and F that feature prominently as both the first two notes of the octatonic collection and the first two notes
While there are numerous other octatonic elements in the Symphony of Psalms, I will provide one
final example of Stravinsky’s approach to utilizing the octatonic collection. Movement I ends with a
pronounced cadence on a G major triad. This shift from E minor, which is featured at the opening, to G
Major makes sense in light of VandenToorn’s premise that Stravinsky partitioned the octatonic collection
into four parts, each of which can serve as a tonic or key center. The G major triad is preceded by
octatonic material (rehearsal 13) that gives way to G Major and the 3 center of the (0,3,6,9) pitches in the
octatonic collection.
Stravinsky’s approach to the octatonic collection is, in my opinion, at the same time structured
and highly intuitive. He seems to favor materials, especially vertical sonorities, that bring to mind more
traditionally tonal constructs (i.e. major and minor triads, dominant seventh chords), even when he
superimposes them on top of one another. It seems to me that Stravinsky uses octatonic materials
consciously but not conscientiously – if additional coloration was needed, he felt free to add pitches from
related diatonic scales or other chords to serve the sound he was seeking. I also believe that, at least in
the case of VandenToorn’s research, that perhaps there is too much being made of the connection
between the octatonic collection and Stravinsky’s compositional process. I feel like VandenToorn’s (and
in some cases Taruskin’s) efforts at detailed analyses based on octatonic collections tend to suck the life
out of the music and strip it down, making it seem as if Stravinsky were nothing more than a music
generating machine.
Part II – Bartok
Bartok’s music seems to be organized in a very different manner than Stravinsky’s. Where
Stravinsky tended to use entire collections, sometimes even superimposing diatonic and octatonic
materials on top of one another or using the octatonic collection as a point of departure to introduce
material from a different diatonic source, Bartok’s approach was to build his harmonic and melodic ideas
from small cells – at their most fundamental level, dyads – and create a sense of tonal center or overall
Wakeman - 14
“collection” by combining these small cells, usually in symmetrically related ways, to form larger
aggregates. Conversely, analyzing Bartok’s music is often about deconstructing a larger collection of
It is much more difficult to analyze Bartok’s music as completely octatonic; in many cases, his
pieces do not unequivocally state the octatonic collection as a whole and are not controlled by the
octatonic collection for long periods of time; the full collection may appear for only a brief section or
sometimes just a measure or two. Rather, Bartok’s music can be analyzed within an octatonic framework
by considering the subsets (tetrachords and dyads) contained within a given octatonic collection. This
technique also allows for analysis of materials that are not octatonic within the same piece.
There are several chords and harmonic entities that are derived from the ocatonic scale that are
utilized frequently by Bartok in his music. There is, first of all, the entire collection configured as two
diminished seventh chords a half-step away from one another. This configuration is labeled by Lendvai
as Bartok’s “alpha chord” and comprises a particular vertical ordering of the aggregate octatonic
collection (Forte # 8-28).15 From this configuration, a number of derivative four- and five-note chordal
structures are derived, many of which appear frequently in Bartok’s compositions (see example 13).
15
Paul Wilson, The Music of Bela Bartok (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992), 25-26.
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When presented horizontally, Lendvai calls the octatonic scale the 1:2 distance model. Example
14 shows the octatonic collection presented horizontally, along with three specific sets derived from it
that have significance in Bartok’s composition.16 Note that each of the sets presented, in both examples
13 and 14, can appear in at least two different transpositions within the overall octatonic collection.
Example 14 – horizontal presentation of the octatonic collection with frequently used sets
An examination of the three subsets presented in example 14 reveals another important aspect of
Bartok’s compositional process that is enabled by the octatonic collection: symmetry. The three
collections 4-9, 4-10, and 4-25, are each symmetrical around a central axis. We have already seen the 4-
10 tetrachord used in melodic material by Stravinsky, but in Bartok’s music, the concept of symmetrical
constructions is taken to almost an excessive level. It could safely be said that much of Bartok’s musical
Antokoletz provides a detailed explanation of Bartok’s use of symmetrical systems based on pairs
of intervals. A brief synopsis: “Any collection of two notes is symmetrical, since the two notes are
equidistant from an imaginary axis. If we join a second dyad to the first, with the two notes of the second
dyad equidistant from the same axis of symmetry, a four-note symmetry results.”18 The resulting
tetrachords can then be reconfigured in different ways as well, changing the axis of symmetry (see
16
Ibid., 26.
17
Antokoletz, Bartok, 68.
18
Ibid, 69.
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the pitches.
Bartok’s Mikrokosmos no. 101, “Diminished Fifth,” is one of his few works where the octatonic
collection is utilized throughout and is a controlling factor for the entire piece. An analysis of this brief
work will provide some examples of how Bartok utilizes symmetrical tetrachords derived from the
octatonic collection.
The piece is based around pairs of 0235 tetrachords (4-11) separated by a tritone. These pairs
combine to form an aggregate octatonic collection. Example 16 shows a breakdown of the tetrachord
pairs (indicated with brackets) and octatonic collections used throughout the piece.
Bartok uses all three possible transpositions of the octatonic collection. Bars 1-11, 20-25, and 35-
41 use the “home” collection for this piece (octatonic collection on A) ; bars 12-19 use the collection built
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on Bb; and bars 26-29 use the collection built on B. Bars 30-34 could be interpreted two ways – as a
modal transitional section (the right hand has the Bb Aeolian mode, the left hand E Phrygian) or as an
octatonic collection built on Bb (same materials as bars 12-19) if you consider the Ab and Gb as “non-
chord tones” of a sort. I would lean toward the octatonic interpretation of this passage, although
Antokoletz prefers the modal analysis.19 The final two bars extend both 0235 (4-10) segments down a
Another brief work, From the Island of Bali (Mikrokosmos #109), demonstrates Bartok’s use of a
different subset of the octatonic collection. This piece features the 0167 tetrachord (4-9), which due to its
construction from a pair of tritones, tends to result in the least traditionally tonal sounding of any of the
tetrachord subsets Bartok uses (see example 17).20 The piece uses only one transposition of the
collection, and treats the tetrachords in a pseudo-canonic fashion in the opening and closing sections (bars
1-11 and 31-42). The second section uses only one of the two tetrachords for the first four bars (12-16)
and adds the second one back in for the second four bars (17-22)21. The third section of the piece breaks
19
Antokoletz, Bartok, 252.
20
Richard Cohn, “Bartok’s Octatonic Strategies: A Motivic Approach,” Journal of the American Musicological
Society,Vol. 44, No. 2 (Summer,1991): 272.
21
The Gn in bar 15 appears once only and doesn’t seem to have any analytical significance.
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Example 17 – From the Island of Bali – summary of tetrachords / pitch content by section
A unique element of this piece that is typical of Bartok’s approach to octatonic material in his
larger works is evidenced in the final two bars. In those two measures, the octatonic collection is broken
into two different tetrachords – 0358 (4-26) – after being dominated for the entire piece by 0167
tetrachords. This exemplifies Bartok’s propensity to utilize different partitions of the same octatonic
collection within a larger work. It also demonstrates Bartok’s desire for emergence – in this and several
other larger Bartok works, the appearance of key elements of the octatonic collection (or even of the full
collection itself) is delayed until near the end of a movement or complete composition.22
In terms of larger works, Bartok’s approach to octatonic materials is similar, but much more
developed. He also (obviously) has more time to develop the sense of emergence for the actual octatonic
materials. In the first movement of his Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, Bartok hints at octatonic
sonorities for much of the first movement, but always dissolves them into something else before allowing
the octatonic collection to finally emerge. Wilson discusses the octatonic collection’s role in the
movement as follows: “it very rarely appears in the movement as an explicit component of the musical
22
Ibid, 275.
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texture. It does, however, supply a series of sets and set types that do so appear, in a great many settings
Example 18 – Wilson’s chart of important subsets of the octatonic collection from the Sonata for
Two Pianos and Percussion, 1st movement
A couple of examples of how these forms appear follow (see example 19). In measure 41, the 5-
32 set serves as the accompaniment ostinato, outlining and hinting at the octatonic collection; however,
the bass note G obscures the reference. In bar 50, a six note collection, also a subset of the original
collection, appears for several bars, but fades away in another transformation. This type of continual
partial revelation of the collection goes on for the bulk of the movement.
23
Wilson, Bartok, 139-140.
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Example 19 – Measures 41 and 50 of the Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion
At the Coda (measure 417) Bartok finally reveals the full collection in a fascinating canon at the
minor third (see example 20). Six bars later, the collection appears in a different format, and then twelve
bars after that it appears in a single simultaneity (measure 434). This is a great example of the
Example 20 – Coda from movement I of the Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion
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A comparison of Bartok’s and Stravinsky’s methods of working with the octatonic collection
yields several contrasts. While both composers utilize the same collection of pitches, their intents and the
Stravinsky seemed to focus his octatonic materials on full sets and their manipulations; uses of
partial octatonic sets are limited primarily to the 0235 tetrachord or to diminished seventh chord vertical
sonorities. Bartok, on the other hand, freely utilizes numerous derivative subsets, including tetrachords,
tonality; Stravinsky loved the major and minor triads, diminished seventh chords, and dominant seventh
chords that could be formed from the octatonic collection; the non-functionality of the collection allowed
him great freedom in how he used these tonal materials in new and different ways. Bartok, on the other
hand, favored subsets of the octatonic collection that were aesthetically distant from tonal constructs (i.e.
the 0167 tetrachord) and usually avoided blatantly tonal sounding materials for any extended period of
time.
Both composers utilized the octatonic collection as an organizational factor in their pieces, but
Stravinsky’s method seems much more free-form and improvisational; Bartok’s methodology seems to be
significantly more controlled and pre-planned. At times Bartok’s system almost seems forced, and the
resulting music, while highly organized, seems to be aesthetically lacking in some ways.
Scholarship related to both composers is extensive; however, in many instances, with both Bartok
and Stravinsky, theorists seem to be so focused on finding a satisfactory system that they force the music
into their methodology, and in the process make the composers seem like mechanical automatons who
were simply following a preconceived system rather than allowing the muse or their musical instincts to
guide their compositional process. If the music sounds good, perhaps that is a perfectly satisfactory
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explanation of it – whether or not it fits within a specific author’s theory of how the octatonic collection
should work.
The octatonic collection has served as musical source material for many of Stravinsky and
Bartok’s most remarkable compositions. It is interesting to note that even after almost one hundred years
theoreticians are still trying to determine exactly what organizational methods and compositional
processes were employed in many of these works. Further study will hopefully continue to reveal new
insights into the performance and appreciation of the music of these two great masters.
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Cohn, Richard. “Inversional Symmetry and Transpositional Combination in Bartok,” Music Theory
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1978.
Hill, Peter. Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
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