Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares.

Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020

Toggling Cycles, Hexatonic Systems, and Some Analysis
of Early Atonal Music
MICHAEL SICILIANO

Richard Cohn uses "maximally smooth cycles" of consonant triads (set-class 3-11[037]) to gener-
ate the "hyper-hexatonic system," which has provided insight into the analysis of nineteenth-
century chromaticism. This paper shows that the same hyper-hexatonic system can be generated
by "toggling cycles" of set-classes 3-3[014] and 3-4[015]; it uses toggling cycles to analyze several
passages from Arnold Schoenberg's atonal repertoire; and it suggests ways to use the basic neo-
Riemannian operations L, R, and P to describe relations within and between these three set
classes.

I
n "Maximally Smooth Cycles, Hexatonic Systems, and
the Analysis of Late-Romantic Triadic Progressions,"
Richard Cohn re-contextualizes the consonant triad.'
Traditionally, theorists have focused on the overtone series
and asserted a privileged status for the consonant triad, then
derived diatonic systems in which the consonant triad is de-
ployed. Cohn focuses instead on properties of maximally
smooth voice leading. He demonstrates that the consonant
triad is privileged among pitch-class sets, and uses this triad
to derive a "hyper-hexatonic system."
This paper extends Cohn's efforts. Part I reconsiders
maximally smooth cycles through the notion of toggling cy-
cles. 2 Toggling cycles can generate the same hyper-hexatonic
system as the maximally smooth cycles, but with other tri-
chords besides set-class 3-11[037]. Part II explores the ana-
This paper has benefited immensely from readings by, and feedback
from, Richard Cohn, Robert Cook, David Dies, and Lynn Hooker.
i Cohn 1996.
2 Richard Cohn first used the term "toggling" in this sense in Cohn
1994, 10.
lytical usefulness of toggling cycles in atonal passages by
Schoenberg. Part III re-examines toggling cycles, paying
particular attention to the interaction of neo-Riemannian
operations and the familiar TA group of transpositions and
inversions among pitch classes.
I
Cohn introduces the idea of a "maximally smooth cycle"
to ask: "Why should triads have any status at all, except as
optimal acoustic objects?" 3 Triads have always enjoyed privi-
leged status as acoustic objects, but their behavior in late
Romantic music creates contradictions within the diatonic
and scale-degree systems premised on those acoustic charac-
teristics. Specifically, as composers began to exploit equal in-
terval cycles, one of the apparently "equal" intervals would
have to be understood as a different kind of interval (i.e., in a
cycle of major thirds, either one third is a diminished fourth,
3 Cohn 1996,12.

22I

222 MUSIC THEORY SPECTRUM 27 (2005)
or the cycle covers an augmented seventh instead of an oc-
tave). Cohn demonstrates that, in addition to their acoustic
properties, consonant triads have special voice-leading prop-
erties. These properties allow triads to create maximally
smooth cycles. Such cycles have more than two components
that are all of the same set class; these components are all
linked by the displacement of a single voice by a single half
step, as shown in Example 1. 4
In the twelve pitch-class universe, six set classes (forming
three complementary pairs) can produce maximally smooth
cycles. In addition to the trivial one-note set and its eleven-
note complement, these set classes include the consonant
triad and its nine-note complement, and the diatonic collec-
tion and its pentatonic complement. The maximally smooth
cycle of the diatonic collection yields the chromatic circle of
fifths. The sets of one, five, seven, and eleven notes are inver-
sionally symmetrical, and the cycles that involve them move
through all transpositions of the set class before returning to
their beginning. The consonant triad and its nine-note com-
plement are not inversionally symmetrical; their cycles move
through only six members of their respective set classes.
Thus, they divide the twenty-four consonant triads into four
subsets of six triads each. As Cohn summarizes, "what is
unique about [the consonant triad], together with its nine-
note complement, is the capacity of its member sets to form
an ordered set of maximally smooth successions that is long
enough to be perceived as a cycle ... yet short enough that it
does not exhaust all the members of its set-class." 5
Example 2 shows the system of four maximally smooth
cycles, called the hyper-hexatonic system. Cohn labels the
cycles, for ease of reference, by their location on the page:
Northern, Eastern, Southern, and Western (represented by
N, E, S, and W). Motion around any of the four cycles is
maximally smooth; however, maximally smooth motion re-
stricts us to a single cycle. Cohn examines several short pas-
4 Cohn 1996 defines maximally smooth cycles on p. 15.
5 Cohn 1996, 17.
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares. Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020
a
e- E+ ab- Ab+ c- C+
EXAMPLE I. Maximally smooth cycle.
sages from Brahms and Wagner that manifest maximally
smooth cycles, but observes that surfaces of pieces seldom
restrict themselves to a single cycle for long. Because each
triad occurs in only one cycle, the cycles can be treated as
distinct harmonic regions within the larger hyper-hexatonic
system. Motion between triads in different cycles can be un-
derstood as motion between different harmonic regions.
Cohn shows several longer passages from Liszt and Franck
that move among those regions. 6
Maximally smooth voice-leading alone cannot model the
relations among cycles and harmonic regions. ? In the pas-
sages from Liszt and Franck, motion between cycles is ac-
complished by transposition. In Schubert's Sonata in 136
major, motion between cycles is governed by regular diatonic
relations: the cycle with the tonic triad is treated as the tonic
6 Cohn's analytical explorations of maximally smooth cycles considered
the regions as regions, independent of their methods of generation. In
his shorter examples (such as the passage from Parsifal in Cohn 1996,
23), the cycles are usually abbreviated, and are most characteristically
expressed as the opposition of two polar triads—triads on opposite
sides of a region with no pitch classes in common. Such polar opposi-
tion evokes a region, but it neither implies the pertinence of the re-
maining triads in the cycle nor implies maximally smooth relations
among missing members. Even passages that explicitly present entire
cycles may not be maximally smooth, since transposition is often in-
voked. Furthermore, surfaces seldom remain in one cycle for long. This
is perhaps the chief advantage of the hyper-hexatonic system: we can
identify regions by single triads or even dyads.
7 Cohn 1996, 25 suggests as one metric "total voice-leading distance," a
rough count of the total undirected displacement of pitch classes in
moving from triad to triad.
 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares. Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020
TOGGLING CYCLES, HEXATONIC SYSTEMS, AND SOME ANALYSIS OF EARLY ATONAL MUSIC 2 23

D+

a#-

EXAMPLE 2. Cohn's hyper-hexatonic system.

key (the primary harmonic region), the cycle with the domi-
nant triad is treated as the dominant harmonic region, etc. 8
In these approaches, relations between cycles are treated dif-
ferently than relations within a single cycle. In order to treat
relations between the cycles in a similar manner as relations
within a cycle, the cycles have been generalized from a neo-
Riemannian perspective as "LP Cycles," the result of apply-
ing in alternation the operations "L" and "P." 9 This general-
8 Cohn 1999.
9 This idea is implied in Cohn 1997, 33 in the discussion of binary
chains and mod-12 cycles. It is a bit more explicit in Cohn 1996, 12.
ization allows the relations between cycles to be treated in
the same manner as the relations within a cycle, while those
within a cycle retain special interest as a sub-group within
the larger group. 1°
10 As frequently happens with such reconceptions, the maximally smooth
cycles and the LP cycles are not strictly identical. Cohn models the
maximally smooth cycle with a group of "Transposition" operations,
with T 1 transforming C+ to e-, e- to E+, E+ to g#-, and so on around
the cycle. An LP cycle cannot be similarly modeled. L transforms C+
to e-, but e- back to C+. No neo-Riemannian operation transforms C+
to e-, and, when applied again, transforms e- to E+. The result is that
the group of "transpositions" is a commutative group (it doesn't matter

224 MUSIC THEORY SPECTRUM 27 (2005)
However, we can proceed in a different manner. Instead
of generalizing the maximally smooth cycle to account for
relations among additional triads (i.e., relations between re-
gions), we can generalize it to account for relations among
additional set classes. Rather than viewing maximally
smooth voice leading as the defining characteristic of the
cycle, we can see it as a result of a more general property: the
toggling of each voice. 11 Toggling refers to a characteristic
aspect of the voice leading suggested by such a cycle. As one
traverses a maximally smooth cycle of triads, each voice is
displaced in turn until all three have been displaced (refer
back to Example 1). Each voice then returns to its original
pitch class. Thus, each voice toggles between exactly two
pitch classes, and when the cycle is complete each voice re-
turns to its place of origin. 12
in what order the operations are applied), while the group of L, P, and
their combinations is non-commutative (for instance, L(P(C+))=A6+,
but P(L(C+))=E+). David Lewin makes a similar observation about the
relations between triads traditionally understood and triads as described
by Riemann, in Lewin 1984. On p. 345 he writes: "The nature and logic
of Riemannian tonal space are not isomorphic with the nature and logic of
scale-degree space. The musical objects and relations that Riemann iso-
lates and discusses are not simply the old objects and relations dressed
up in new packages with new labels; they are essentially different
objects and relations, embedded in an essentially different geometry"
(author's italics).
II This inversion of relation is similar to the process/object inversion in
Cohn 1991. Instead of viewing a collection of sets as prior and looking
for the properties they share, Cohn views certain process as prior, and
shows how the sets are various results of applying the process.
12 Cohn 1997 demonstrates that maximally smooth cycles of triads, in
this context treated as LP cycles, are a different class of cycle from the
other two cycles that can be created by the basic neo-Riemannian oper-
ations, the RP and LR cycles. Regardless of the cardinality of the
pitch-class universe, the analog of an LP (maximally smooth) cycle has
six members; the number of members in the other cycles depends upon
the divisibility of the cardinality. This toggling of three voices between
two pitch classes restricts such a cycle to exactly six members.
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares. Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020
Toggling is a characteristic of a cycle that is independent
of maximally smooth voice leading. For instance, it does not
occur in the maximally smooth cycle for the diatonic collec-
tion (the circle of fifths of keys). To move, say, from C major
to G major we displace a single pitch class, F to F#, as re-
flected in the addition of a sharp to the key signature. We
then successively displace the remaining pitch classes until
we reach C# major (DI, major) and all pitch classes have been
displaced. At this point, though, to move on from DI, major
to Ab major, G6 (F#) does not return to F, but is raised again
to G (Fx). That is, we do not remove sharps from the key
signature, but continue to add them (to remove flats). Thus
when we return to C major (B# major) every voice will have
been displaced up one or two half steps and no voice will re-
tain its original pitch class. 13 Because not every maximally
smooth cycle is also a toggling cycle, we can view either
maximally smooth voice leading or toggling as the defining
characteristic. Rather than view the cycles of consonant tri-
ads as maximally smooth cycles that happen to produce tog-
gling voice leading, we can see them as toggling cycles that
produce maximally smooth voice leading.
This suggests that we can build toggling cycles from
other trichordal set classes. To see what other set classes
might be used, we need to determine what allows the tog-
gling to arise in the cycle of consonant triads. 14 Example 3
13 Curiously, with two more steps, to D major, every voice will be dis-
placed exactly twice and return to its original scale degree.
14 I restrict my consideration here to trichords. It is possible to construct a
single toggling cycle in two voices on a single dyad <0,3>, with one voice
toggling between 0 and 6, and the other toggling between 3 and 9. The
cycle toggles <0,3>, <6,3>, <6,9>, <0,9>, <0,3>. I see no way in which one
might distinguish this cycle from the arpeggiation of a diminished sev-
enth chord, or what might be gained by understanding the voice lead-
ing of such an arpeggiation as toggling by tritone in this way. For sets
larger than three notes (except, of course, for the complements of the
toggling set classes), there are simply too many notes for the motion of
one voice to produce a cycle of more than two members of the same set
class. It may be possible to create cycles where more than one voice

TOGGLING CYCLES, HEXATONIC SYSTEMS, AND SOME ANALYSIS OF EARLY ATONAL MUSIC 225
EXAMPLE 3. Cohn's maximally smooth cycle re-drawn as a tog-
gling cycle on circle of pitch classes.
re-draws Cohn's prototypical maximally smooth cycle (Ex-
ample 1) as a circle of pitch classes. The solid lines between
notes show a voice that toggles between pitch classes. The
dotted lines show one instance of the trichord that produces
this particular toggling. The example shows three pairs of
pitch classes evenly distributed around the circle, thus out-
lining two linked augmented triads, [0, 4, 81 and {B, 3, 71.
The toggling consonant triad is created by starting two
voices on their pitch classes in one augmented triad, say
[0, 41, and the third on its pitch class in the other, say {7}.
Note that if all voices start in the same augmented triad, say
[0, 4, 81, a toggle in a single voice will not reproduce the
same set class (i.e., it will not create another augmented
triad), and thus will not create a toggling cycle.
To find the cycle in which each voice toggles by a major
second, we could link each member of the augmented triad
[0, 4, 81 to a member of another augmented triad a whole
step away, as shown in Example 4(a). Thus 0 toggles with 2,
4 with 6, and 8 with A. The trichord that allows toggling by
whole step is found by starting two voices on their pitch
moves simultaneously but each voice still toggles between only two
pitch classes, or conversely, where only one voice moves, but creates cy-
cles involving multiple set classes.
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares. Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020
classes from the first triad [0, 4} and the third on its pitch
from the other, {A}. The entire cycle produced by set-class
3-8[026] is shown in Example 4(b). As we move around the
cycle, 0 toggles to 2, A to 8, 4 to 6; the pitch classes then
toggle back.
This cycle is not just an abstract construct. Example 5(a)
extracts the accompaniment of measures 15-16 of the ninth
song of Arnold Schoenberg's Das Buch der ht ngenden Gdrten,
op. 15. As analyzed in Example 5(b), the passage moves
through all six members of the cycle, stopping just before re-
turning to the initial trichord. The chromatic appoggiaturas
in the right hand emphasize the three toggling pairs that de-
fine the cycle: [F, G}, [A, B}, and [C#, E6]. 15
Since in the process of "toggling by half step" the toggling
voice moves away and then back by half step, we might de-
scribe "half step" more accurately as interval class (ic) 1. In
principle a voice could toggle by any interval class. However,
in order for the toggling of a single voice to reproduce the
same set class, the toggling pairs need to be evenly distrib-
uted around a pitch-class circle. The need for the three pairs
of pitch classes to be evenly distributed requires that the tog-
gling voices pair up members of augmented triads. Toggling
by ic 4 pairs up members of the same augmented triad, and
thus does not produce a toggling trichord. 16 There are thus
z5 Though they do not emphasize the toggling of those pitches, G moves
back to F in the bass, and E6 moves to C# in the tenor. In general, for
any of these toggling or maximally smooth cycles there are six ways to
connect the three pitch classes in one trichord to the three pitch classes
in the next. Even in the clearest examples of maximally smooth cycles
(such as the Brahms Double Concerto, discussed in Cohn 1996, 14,
Example 2, and the Schubert E6 Major Trio, discussed in Cohn 1999),
maximally smooth voice leading is interspersed with transpositional
voice leading that is not maximally smooth.
16 It produces an overly complex way of describing arpeggiation through
an augmented triad. Pairing 0 with 4, 4 with 8, and 8 with 0, and start-
ing at <0,4,0> we get the cycle <0,4,0>, <4,4,0>, <4,4,8>, <4,8,8>, <0,8,8>,
<0,8,0>, <0,4,0>. This reproduction of an equal division of the octave does
not seem analytically useful.

226 MUSIC THEORY SPECTRUM 27 (2005)
(a) Toggling cycle by ic 2.
:._^.:T^..t
r..^•'
^ .^
^.
'
-0- ,...° ao -S-
(b) Voice leading among 3-8[026] trichords in an ic 2 toggling
cycle.
EXAMPLE 4 content alone. Toggling by ic 1, as we saw in Examples 1 and
five distinct toggling cycles, one for each interval class save
ic 4. These cycles fall into two categories. Those that toggle
by even ics behave differently than those that toggle by odd
ics.
Examples 6(a) and 6(b) show the two systems created by
the two cycles that toggle by even ics. The cycle that toggles
by ic 6, shown in Example 6(a), is obviously different: it di-
vides the pitch classes into only two regions that correspond
to the two whole-tone collections. The toggling set class in
this system, 3-6[024], is a whole-tone subset, and the cycle
it produces is equivalent to step-wise progression through a
whole-tone scale. 17 The cycle that toggles by the other even
interval class, ic 2, shown in Example 6(b), is more compli-
17 Again, like the arpeggiation of the diminished seventh chord or aug-
mented triad, this recreates a familiar equal-interval cycle.
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares. Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020
cated. It also divides the pitch classes into the two whole-
tone sets, but does so doubly. That is, the even whole-tone
cycle is produced by the cycle with 0 toggling to 2, but also
by the cycle with 0 toggling to A. Likewise, the odd whole-
tone cycle is produced by the cycle with 1 toggling to 3, but
also by the cycle with 1 toggling to B. Toggling thus pro-
duces two distinct versions of the even and the odd whole-
tone collections. Therefore, an instance of the generating
trichord 3-8[026], although unique to a given whole-tone
cycle, is not unique to a region defined by a toggling cycle.
The regions established by the cycles are distinguished as
much by behavior as by content. The musical implications of
this duplication of regions will be easier to understand after
examining the cycles produced by toggling by odd interval
classes.
The regions produced by the three cycles that toggle by
odd interval classes are shown in Examples 6(c), 6(d), and
6(e). Unlike those cycles that toggle by even ic, the odd ic
cycles produce four regions that differ from each other by
2, produces the four hexatonic regions, each of which can be
thought of as a pair of augmented triads linked by ic 1. For
instance, [0, 4, 8) is paired with [1, 5, 9), with 0 linked to 1,
4 to 5, and 8 to 9. This is illustrated in Example 6(c). If we
instead toggle by ic 3, as shown in Example 6(d), we obtain
the same two triads, but with 0 paired to 9, 4 to 1, and 8 to
5. Similarly, if we toggle by ic 5, as shown in Example 6(e),
we pair 0 with 5, 4 with 9, and 8 with 1. The three cycles
that toggle by odd interval classes independently produce the
same hyper-hexatonic system of regions.
Most of the maximally smooth cycles exhaust all of the
members of a particular set class. Only set-class 3-11[037]
and its complement do not. While no toggling cycle ex-
hausts its set-class members, two distinct types of cycles
arise. The three cycles that toggle by odd interval classes
(ic 1, ic 3, and ic 5) generate the same system of four hexa-
tonic regions, although they represent those regions as cycles
of 3-11[037], 3-4[015], and 3-3[014] respectively. The cy-
 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares. Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020
TOGGLING CYCLES, HEXATONIC SYSTEMS, AND SOME ANALYSIS OF EARLY ATONAL MUSIC 227

F G A - B C# E6
I pesante
poco accel. —1 ^ A
A

y ^

espress.

9' y ^

• 11
I 1
Eb --- C# B (A)
G - F

(a) Schoenberg, Das Buch der hāngenden Gi rten, ix, piano, mm. 15-16.

(b) Reduction of Example 5(a).

EXAMPLE 5

Iles that toggle by even interval classes (ic 2 and ic 6) form
two whole-tone regions.
II
This section explores the cycles generated by set-classes
3-3[014] and 3-4[015], generalizes the hyper-hexatonic
system, and briefly discusses the unique structures of tog-
gling cycles produced by ic 2. Because the three cycles that
are produced by toggling odd interval classes all divide the
pitch classes into the same hyper-hexatonic system, we can
invert the relation between the system and its method of
generation. Rather than viewing the regions as a by-product
of a unique maximally smooth cycle, we can consider the
hyper-hexatonic system to be the conflation of three tog-
gling cycles created by three different trichordal set classes.
Under the guise of toggling cycles, a piece can present the
same hexatonic regions using set classes 3-3[014] and
3-4[015]. In early atonal music, we rarely find passages that
are harmonized by transpositions of a single set class pre-
sented vertically. We more frequently encounter a series of
transpositions of a single set class presented melodically,
with the common tones overlapping. 18
i8 Such a cycle is an example of a relation Lewin calls RI-chaining in
Lewin 1987, 180-88. In RI-chaining an ordered set is followed by its
retrograded inversion, transposed so that the last two notes of the first
set overlap the first two notes of the second. Such a procedure, however,
need not produce a toggling cycle. Indeed, Lewin's Figure 8.8, which
presents a chain of what he calls the FATE' motive from Die Walkilre,
shows a chain of overlapping 3-3[014] trichords that do not create a
toggling cycle. This is because one of the interval classes overlapped
in this chain, the major third, is not unique to a single region, and, in
fact, occurs only once in a given cycle. (In the 3-3[014] cycle of the
Northern region, the interval [0,4) occurs only in the set [0, 3, 4).)
 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares. Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020

228 MUSIC THEORY SPECTRUM 27 (2005)

Even Whole Tone Scale Odd Whole Tone Scale

(a) Toggling by ic 6.

EXAMPLE 6

The clarinet melody in the opening of "Seraphita," the

first of Schoenberg's Four Orchestral Songs, op. 22, displays
such an overlapping presentation. The opening two phrases,
shown in Example 7, are separated by simultaneous rests in
the melody and accompaniment in measure 3. The initial
gesture projects a string of overlapping 3-3[014] trichords.
Example 8 lines up the pitch classes to show that, except for
three sets in parentheses, each succeeding note completes
a new member of set-class 3-3[014]. 19 As we follow the
melody, we first hear three of the 3-3[014] set classes from
the Southern region, arranged to create a toggling cycle (like
those shown in Example 6(e)). The first instance of
3-3[014], <F, Gb , A>, is presented as a leap with an ic 1
below the top note. This is followed by a second 3-3[014],
<Gb, A, BL», with the same leap but an ic 1 above the bottom
note. The symmetry of the presentations helps us hear that F
is displaced by its toggling partner, B. Pitch class D6 com-
pletes the next 3-3[014] in the cycle, <A, Bb, Db>. The open-
19 Arnold Schoenberg [1932] 1964-65, in a paper intended to be read
over the radio, describes the first gesture (mm. 1-2) as "a string of half
steps to which is appended a minor third."
(b) Toggling by ic 2.
EXAMPLE 6. [continued]
ing invokes the rhetoric of a retardation, suggesting that the
G6 properly belongs on the downbeat. The Di, on the second
strong beat of the measure is thereby paired with its toggling
partner, G6. This association is reinforced by the similarity in
the presentation of the two toggling displacements, F to B6,
and GI, to Db. This DI, ends the exploration of the Southern
system.
The entrance of a fourth new note creates the trichord
<B6, D6, C>, which is not a 3-3[014] and which cannot be as-
signed to a single region. However, its components, the ic 3
<Bb, D6> and the ic 1 <D6, C> can be assigned to specific re-
gions. We can see from Example 6(e) that <Bb, Db> occurs
only in the Southern region (the region we have just left);
 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares. Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020
TOGGLING CYCLES, HEXATONIC SYSTEMS, AND SOME ANALYSIS OF EARLY ATONAL MUSIC 229

(c) Toggling by is 1.

EXAMPLE 6. [continued]

<DI>, C> occurs only in the adjacent Eastern region, and thus
suggests a move to that region. This move is confirmed by
the next two trichords, <DI>, C, A> and <C, A, G# >. Both be-
long to the Eastern region, and are (again) presented as part
of a toggling cycle. 20 As with the first two 3-3[014] tri-
20 We could also describe this by focusing on occurrences only of
3-3[014] and noticing that the next 3-3[014] trichord, <D b , C, A>,
overlaps with the last, <A, 136, D6>, by only a single pitch class. To my
ear this description invites hearing a stutter in the otherwise smooth
chords of the Southern region, the displacement of the
toggling pitch class, in this case D6 to G#, is emphasized by
progression of a new set with each new note. Since I hear the passage
as smoothly flowing, I prefer to account for the intervening 3-2[013]
trichords as "bridging" trichords, which smooth the transitions between
the regions (in a manner analogous to common chords in tonal modu-
lations). Also, the fact that the next two motions between regions are
similarly bridged by 3-2[013] trichords suggests a consistency in this
usage.
 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares. Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020
230 MUSIC THEORY SPECTRUM 27 (2005)

(d) Toggling by ic 3.

EXAMPLE 6. [continued]

similar presentations. Here, too, the leap with an ic 1 above
the top note is answered by the same leap with an ic 1 below
the bottom note.
The next pitch class ends the first gesture (m. 2), and
completes another instance of set-class 3-2[013], <A, G#, B>,
whose component parts belong to two regions. The ic 1
<A, G#> belongs to the Eastern region; the ic 3 <G#, B> be-
longs to the adjacent Northern region. This suggests a con-
tinued counter-clockwise exploration of the system. Such a
motion is confirmed with the next two trichords, which are
part of the toggling cycle of the Northern region. Again, a
symmetrical presentation highlights the toggling voice: ic 1
is preserved, and an ic 3 below answers an ic 3 above. There
follows another 3-2[013], which implies a move to the
Western region and completes a tour of the system.
Thus, the first phrase can be understood as a systematic
exploration of the hyper-hexatonic system, presented as tog-
gling cycles, and bridged consistently by set-class 3-2[013],
whose component parts occupy two regions. Each of
the bridging trichords is emphasized on the surface. The
 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares. Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020
TOGGLING CYCLES, HEXATONIC SYSTEMS, AND SOME ANALYSIS OF EARLY ATONAL MUSIC 231

(e) Toggling by ic 5.

EXAMPLE 6. [continued]

<A, G#, B> trichord between the Eastern and Northern re-
gions occurs at the tail end of the first gesture; the <C, E6, D>
trichord that initiates a move to the Western system is sepa-
rated by rests.
The second phrase begins with pitch-class E, which
forms an ic 2 with the final D of the first phrase. The ic 2
does not occur in any hexatonic region, so we cannot assign
it or any trichord that includes it to a region. This E,
then, requires us to "restart" our hearing of trichords. Ac-
cordingly, the first trichord is a 3-3[014], not in the expected
Western region, but back in the Northern region. Indeed, it
is the polar trichord of the last sonority in the first
phrase, <B, C, E6>. As such, all three of its pitch classes have
been toggled, and it thus represents a reconfirmation of
that region. 21 The polar relation is made explicit by the
almost-transpositional relation of the two trichords: B,
21 Even with Cohn's maximally smooth cycles on consonant triads, polar
relations are of special significance. Polar relations are discussed in
Cohn 1996,19 and 23, and Cohn 1999, 218.
 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares. Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020
232 MUSIC THEORY SPECTRUM 27 (2005)

Leicht fliegende J (96 - 100)

molto espress.
H
—

p PP

am Steg
oar nit.tommilom
.. i WI 111n11.11•111.n ..111n0111.
V r..WEINIOMMINIrrl . SM. :111,11111•/ ^
I.V.A111L s^^^ln i 111TMIV /r . IR MINIM I/1 u:>i01•11M1

. il
rAMMIFM1rlr :tn Mr .Mawr11:1 10 it .11M1[ MMIr: :TrMr' II MI
Da CM,. sMIIIMr.IrM.a IVINCIIIMIl WIEMIVICI Oirr .MIU: RE a •imommoos u
/IINJ^^^^^Y.^l rl^^1:n++^.^OA
• P ^ i . r ^
Ur .M.VnVIMIe:a.11n• VIMIMIM IMIMIII:V. VIM. 11111 EMINIMIEF:nrsO
^
^r^Yr .^M^^^^^/L^l ^^^
— —

C ^
mf

EXAMPLE 7. Schoenberg, Seraphita, op. 22, no. 1, mm. 1-6.

F Gb A Bb Db C A G# B C Eb D E G Ab A G# B C Bb B D Eb A
F Gb A E G Ab N Bb B D
G6 A B b
[G A6 A] B D E6
A B6 D6 [A6 A G#] E/N <D E6 A> W/S
(B6 D6 C) S/E (A G# B
D6 C A G# B C// N
C A G E
(A G# B) E/N
G# B C ^

B C E6—^ N
(C E6 D)/ N/W

EXAMPLE 8. Sequential trichords in Ex. 7.


TOGGLING CYCLES, HEXATONIC SYSTEMS, AND SOME ANALYSIS OF EARLY ATONAL MUSIC
C, and E6 in the first trichord toggle to E, C, and G in the
second. 22
Having re-established the Northern region, the next three
sets wander back toward the Eastern region, as if to step
back and regain momentum. Although the trichords are not
members of 3-3[014], we can nevertheless assign their com-
ponent parts to regions. The set <G, A6 A> juxtaposes <G, A6>
, clearest indication of hexatonic regions perhaps appears
from the Northern region with <A6, A> from the Eastern re-
gion. <A6, A, G#> repeats the ic 1 from the Eastern region.
<A, G#, B> bridges the two regions and prepares a return
to the North, with an ic 1 from the East followed by an
ic 3 from the North. Finally, the next set, <G#, B, C>, is a
3-3[014] from the Northern region; moreover, it is the same
trichord that opens the first phrase.
The C that takes us to the end of the gesture is marked by
its length, a hairpin, and a leap. The next pitch class, 136, cre-
ates an ic 2 that (as before) cannot be accommodated in a
hexatonic region. Again, we must restart our parsing. The
first set after this break is a 3-3[014] from the long-awaited
Western region. Indeed, the parallelism of the two descend-
ing major sevenths and the forte emphasizing the second
B help us focus on the shift from <B, C> in the Northern re-
gion to <B6, B> in the Western region. In this manner the
Western region is confirmed and its toggling cycle is sug-
gested by the arrival of E6. Having established the Western
region and engaged all four regions, the melody ends. And it
does so with a tritone, the other interval class that cannot be
reconciled in the system of hexatonic regions.
Thus the hyper-hexatonic system adds to our under-
standing of this melody. The first phrase establishes the sys-
tem by toggling through half of one cycle, and then moving
in a consistent manner (via bridging 3-2[013] trichords)
through two more regions. The second phrase retraces those
steps as if to get firm footing for a leap forward then
22 Again, the representation of ic 5 as both fourths and fifths is inherent
in the process of toggling, because one note in the generating toggling
trichord is always in a different augmented triad than the other two.
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares. Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020
233
lurches across a break in the smooth flow of sets to arrive in
the remaining region.
The hyper-hexatonic system can be a helpful framework
even when its regions are not clearly presented, and even
when the cycles are largely absent. An illustration occurs in
the first song from Das Buch der hāngenden Gdrten. The
in the right hand of the piano in measure 17, shown in
Example 9. The trichord {B, C, E}, a 3-4[015] from the
Northern region, expands to fill out nearly the entire region,
adding first D#, then G#; it omits only G. 23 Not only are five
of the six pitch classes of the region present, but they are in-
troduced in the same order as in a toggling cycle: in the
3-4[015] toggling cycle from [B, C, E}, the displacement of
C by D# would be followed by the displacement of B by G.
Knowing that this trichord is part of a hexatonic region
might lead us to re-examine its previous occurrences in mea-
sures 11-12 and measures 13-14. These are shown in Ex-
ample 10. In both passages this 3-4[015] trichord expands
through a 136-minor triad, 3-11[037], and an F#-diminished
triad, 3-10[036], to arrive at a 3-3[014], [G#, B, G}. This
registral expansion unites in one passage the three character-
istic trichords of the hexatonic systems. The first and last
trichords, 3-4[015] and 3-3[014], belong to the Northern
region. The second, 3-11[037], belongs to the Southern re-
gion. The component ic 3s of the diminished triad, [F#, A}
and {A, C}, belong to the Southern and Eastern regions re-
spectively. The gesture as a whole can be taken to present an
opposition of the Northern and Southern regions (which
share no pitch classes), mediated partly by the Eastern re-
gion (which shares half of its pitch classes with each).
23 While there is a G present in the ostinato/pedal chord in the left hand,
that entire chord, {G, A, C, D}, with its two major seconds, seems to
belong to a separate process in the piece. It first occurs with the thirty-
second notes in mm. 10-11, is transposed through (mostly) its own
internal intervals through m. 13, and remains a pedal through all of
mm. 17-18.

2 34 MUSIC THEORY SPECTRUM 27 (2005)
etwas drāngend
7 r tt tained above the trichord. In the first gesture however, E is
ka- men Ker- zen
.i
(1 )
EXAMPLE 9. Schoenberg, Das Buch der hāngenden Gdrten, i,
m. 17.
Of the three regions, the Eastern region is most weakly
invoked. Its presence is reinforced by the melody above it:
<Ab, A, F> presents a 3-3[014] from the Eastern region. The
melody also reinforces the Northern region of the [B, C, E)
set with the 3-3[014] trichord <E, G# (Ab), G> in mm. 11-
12. These two 3-3[014] trichords are overlapped, as shown
in Example 11. The final G of the first is reiterated after the
first F of the second has sounded. This overlap creates an os-
cillating ic 2, which seems to mark a break between the re-
gions. Similarly, the melody in measure 13 reinforces the
idea of return to the Northern region from the Eastern re-
gion. It returns to the Northern region with the 3-3[014]
trichord <B, G#, G>, with a similar overlapping of A from
the previous 3-3[014] that is marked off by an ic 2.
This sort of ic 2 overlapping can help us hear that the in-
terpenetration of Northern, Southern, and Eastern regions
underlies the piano introduction, shown in Example 12.
The introduction can be heard as a series of four gestures,
which are marked in the example. <F#, D, F>, a member of
3-3[014], begins the first two gestures and makes up the en-
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares. Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020
tire fourth gesture. 24 The relation of E to the <F#, D, F>
trichord is not clear. At the end of the introduction, E is sus-
situated between two trichords, <F#, D, F> and <F#, G#, G>.
We can view this opening as an overlapping of 3-3[014]s
from different regions, mediated by ic 2. Here, the F# that
begins the second trichord recalls the same F# that begins
the first trichord. The entire second gesture is an elaboration
of the Southern region. Its opening 3-3[014] trichord,
<F#, D, F>, and its closing 3-11[037] trichord, <F, C#, A#>,
belong to the Southern region (indeed it is the same
3-11[037] presented in the two passages examined earlier);
additionally, the gesture presents five of the six pitch classes
of the region. The third gesture is the hardest to parse.
It starts with an ic 2, [El), F), that is part of a 3-6[024],
<Eb, F, Db>. What follows is a 3-4[015] trichord, <F, Db,
C>, from the Eastern region; a bridging 3-2[013], <Db, C,
Eb>, with an ic 1 [Db, C) from the Eastern region, and an ic
3 [C, El') from the Northern region; and the confirmation
of the Northern region with a 3-3[014], <C, E b , E>. It is
precisely this Northern E that is sustained, and against
which the Southern trichord <F#, D, F> is restated. Thus,
once again, an opposition of Northern and Southern regions
(the first and fourth gestures) is mediated by motion from
the Southern region (the second gesture) through the
Eastern region to the Northern region (the third gesture).
The previous analyses show that we can invoke a hyper-
hexatonic system independent of a specific generating cycle.
Even when a specific toggling cycle is not explicitly present
on the surface, we can nevertheless assign trichords and even
dyads to regions. Even a trichord such as 3-2[013]—which
is not found in a hexatonic region can serve as a bridge be-
tween two regions.
When we used the hyper-hexatonic system, just identify-
ing a region was analytically useful. The presence of a tog-
24 Forte 1992, 288 hears tetrachords as the basic units of the opening.
 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares. Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020
TOGGLING CYCLES, HEXATONIC SYSTEMS, AND SOME ANALYSIS OF EARLY ATONAL MUSIC 235

rit.
11

schnei- en sach- te Stim- - men ih- re Lei- den kiln- den,

7 9' s 1 q,
b ^ q tt L

13

.t) 7
t#J J lisI JLIJJttl 1 )1 t; 1 b
Fa- bel- tie- re aus den braun- nen Schliin- - den Strah- len in die Mar-mor-bek-ken

f #^ tti
7. bb 114 # 1111 tit# 411
7

14

7 7
8 L 9:
.

• b^- b.,r^ q# f =k)

.## 11- f

EXAMPLE 10. Schoenberg, Das Buch der hāngenden Gi rten, i, mm. 11-14.

gling cycle per se was unnecessary, since triads, dyads, and
cycles could be uniquely assigned to a specific region. We
could understand the regions as prior, able to be presented as
several different cycles. The regions defined by whole-tone
toggling are different. Each whole-tone region is generated
by two distinct whole-tone toggling cycles. Thus, in a piece
where toggling is relevant, the whole-tone region can not be
treated as an independent region. (0, 2, 6) and [0, 2, A) be-
long to the same whole-tone region, but to different toggling
cycles. Simply identifying the whole-tone collection does not
differentiate between these cycles.
III
I have proposed a variant on Cohn's considerations, tog-
gling voice leading, which produces an expanded set of

236 MUSIC THEORY SPECTRUM 27 (2005)
N E N (T1) or invert (I i ). To remove this redundancy and restrict
E G#(Ab) G F G Ab A Ab F B A G# G
EXAMPLE II. Analysis of melody, mm. 11-14.
characteristic trichords but the same hyper-hexatonic sys-
tem. This process can be pushed one step further, to provide
yet another set of considerations that produce the same set
of characteristic trichords but suggest a new system. That
system is an analog of the system of neo-Riemannian opera-
tions, but now defined on a greater variety of trichords and
trichordal interactions. The remainder of this paper adum-
brates this system, and suggests how it might be expressed in
music.
The familiar group of T n and I n operations closely resem-
bles the group of operations that models pitch-class tog-
gling. Specifically, the toggling group models the polar rela-
tions within a cycle, in which every note of a trichord toggles
to its partner. However, this group does not model individual
pitch-class toggling, the type of relation involved in moving
only one step around any of the cycles. To adapt the group to
model individual toggling we can invoke the standard neo-
Riemannian operations (L, R, and P) as contextually-defined
inversions. We can use contextually-defined analogs of L, R,
and P to model individual pitch-class toggling but only in
specific contexts. If we focus not on the type of trichord but
on the type of circle on which trichords are mapped, then we
can use L, R, and P analogs to model the transformations
among the three toggling trichords that generate the hexa-
tonic system.
Consider the familiar T n/I n group of pitch-class transpo-
sitions and inversions. In a sense this group is redundant; it
allows two operations, one transposition and one inversion,
for any transformation of one pitch class into another. For
instance, to transform C into C# we can either transpose
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares. Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020
ourselves to only a single transformation between two pitch
classes, we can extract from the group the subgroup T n ,
which represents all of the transposition operations. (We
could not similarly extract a subgroup, I n , of all inversion op-
erations because any group with inversions necessarily in-
cludes transpositions. 25 )
A group (or subgroup) that has only one operation to relate
any given two of its objects is called a simply transitive group.
The T n group is not the only simply transitive subgroup of the
Tn/I n group; it is not the only way of removing the redun-
dancy. The group composed of only the odd inversions and
even transpositions is also simply transitive. To transform an
even pitch class into another even pitch class (or an odd to
an odd) there is one, and only one, even transposition. To
transform an even pitch class into an odd pitch class (or vice
versa) there is one, and only one, odd inversion. The even
T n s and the odd I n s combine to form only more even T n s and
odd I n s; as a result, they also comprise a separate sub-group.
Unlike the operations of the T n group, the operations of
this even T n/odd I group .do not commute. (For instance,
T2 (I 1 (C))=Eb, but I 1 (T2 (C))=B.) Lewin demonstrates that
such a simply transitive, non-commutative group necessarily
has a partner group that is also simply transitive and non-
commutative, but whose operations do commute with those
of the first group. 26 Lewin's procedure is actually the reverse
of my description: he starts with the partner group and calls
25 Even the trivial group with only a single inversion contains the identity
operation, T o , the result of applying that inversion twice. It can be
somewhat counter-intuitive to think of the T n operations as derived
and the I n operations as fundamental. In a sense, since we can generate
T n operations as combinations of I n operations, but we cannot generate
I n operations as combinations of T n operations, the I n operations are
more "primitive," or fundamental. The group of I n operations necessar-
ily contains the group of T n operations. Because the T n operations are
in this sense derived operations in the T n/I n group, we can separate
them out.
26 Lewin 1995.
 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares. Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020

TOGGLING CYCLES, HEXATONIC SYSTEMS, AND SOME ANALYSIS OF EARLY ATONAL MUSIC 237

Klavier PP,

EXAMPLE 12. Schoenberg, Das Buch der hāngenden Gārten, i, mm. 1-8

......4,
it SIMP, for "simply transitive." He then shows that SIMP's
partner group, called COMM for "commuting group," is ex-
actly the group of even T n s and odd I n s. The relationship is
reciprocal; each group necessitates the other.
The SIMP group, like the COMM group, consists of two
distinct types of operations. Lewin invokes the SIMP group
to relate motives of different set class in Ives, and, in a more
intuitive application, trills in Schoenberg. Thinking in terms
V"........►
of trills, he starts with an operation, X 1 which trills (toggles)
C to C# , D to D# , E to F, etc., around the pitch-class circle, (a) X1 toggles 0 with 1, 2 with 3, etc.
as shown in Example 13(a). Another operation, X 11 , trills C
to B, D to C# , E to D# , etc., as shown in Example 13(b).
Combining these two operations by applying first X 1 and
then X 11 produces a new operation, Y2, which behaves in a B
counterintuitive fashion. Applied to pitch classes in the even
whole-tone collection, Y2 transposes elements two steps
clockwise around the pitch-class circle, as shown in Ex- :
9
ample 13(c). Since the transposed pitch class is in the same
even whole-tone collection, another application of Y2 trans- 8
poses it another two steps clockwise from its starting point.
1\n 7 6
For notes in the even whole-tone collection, Y2 is indistin-
guishable from T2 . However, for notes in the odd whole-
tone collection, Y2 transposes each pitch class two steps (b)X11 toggles 0 with B, 2 with 1, etc.
counter-clockwise, as shown in Example 13(d). For the odd
whole-tone collection, Y2 is indistinguishable from T10. EXAMPLE 13

238 MUSIC THEORY SPECTRUM 27 (2005)
(=X11 X1) transposes even pitch classes by two steps clockwise.
(c)Y
(d) Y2 transposes odd pitch classes by two steps counter-clockwise.
EXAMPLE 13. [continued]
Further combinations yield a group of twelve operations.
Six are X-type, and toggle pitch classes between the two
whole-tone collections; six are Y type, and transpose pitch
classes clockwise within the even whole-tone collection, and
counter-clockwise within the odd collection. 27 Thus, the
27 This sort of group is familiar in neo-Riemannian thought. It is analo-
gous to the Schritt (Y type) and Wechsel (X-type) group derivable from
Riemann's writings (see, for instance, Mooney 1996), although there
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares. Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020
SIMP group of toggling Xn operations and counter-rotating
Y operations is implied by the COMM group, the even T n/
odd I subgroup of the familiar T n/I n group of operations. It
should be stressed that, as described above, this implication
is a matter of logical necessity. We cannot accept the familiar
T n/I n operations without also already accepting the X n and
Yn operations of the SIMP group. Toggling operations are a
necessary by-product of T n/I n operations. This observation
suggests that the notion of toggling is deeply embedded in
our normal understanding of pitch class relations (i.e., in the
T n/I n group).
However, although the toggling operations of this SIMP
group are embedded in the TA group, they do not fully
model the behavior of any (single) toggling cycle. The SIMP
operations act on all pitch classes simultaneously, and there-
fore transform any toggling trichord into its polar-related
trichord. For instance, applying X 11 to {C, E, G} yields the
polar trichord [C6, E6, A6}. Both trichords are members of
3-11[037]. Similarly, applying X5 to trichord [C, C#, E]
transforms each pitch class, directly yielding the polar tri-
chord {F, A6 Al. These trichords are members of 3-3[014].
,
While SIMP does model the polar relations in the cycles, it
does not model the adjacencies in these cycles. In order to
move one step around a cycle, we would have to toggle one
pitch class while keeping the other pitch classes constant. It
would require a huge, unwieldy group to model the stepwise
motion within a cycle. 28
the group operates on twenty-four triads rather than twelve pitch
classes. Robert Cook uses an analogous group to relate eight equiva-
lence classes of triads in Cook 2001, and Lewin works through the
groups for eight and six pitch classes in Lewin 1987, Appendix B.
28 However, since every combination of operations in a group is also an
operation in the group, such a group would necessarily contain the
SIMP group as a subgroup. For instance, X 1 , which pairs 0 and 1, 2 and
3, 4 and 5, 6 and 7, 8 and 9, and A and B, is the result of combining the
six operations that toggle each of those pairs without changing the
other pitch classes. Similarly X 11 is the combination of the six opera-
tions that pair 0 and B, 2 and 1, 3 and 2, etc. The rest of the SIMP

TOGGLING CYCLES, HEXATONIC SYSTEMS, AND SOME ANALYSIS OF EARLY ATONAL MUSIC
The group would be unwieldy because it is defined di-
rectly on pitch classes. One way around this difficulty is to
generalize the neo-Riemannian operations L, R, and P.
There have been various suggestions as to the mechanism
whereby, say, the operation P transforms a C-major triad
into a C-minor triad. 29 Some of the most useful mechanisms
for this purpose involve contextual pitch-class inversion.
In one such definition, P inverts a triad around its perfect
fifth, transforming any triad into its parallel. Such an opera-
tion is defined directly on the triad, and only indirectly on
the pitch classes. 30 This allows a single operation, P, to ac-
count for twelve pitch-class togglings, but only in the context
of a given set class. To use such operations for set classes
other than 3-11[037] we need to create analogs based on
other trichords.
One class of analogs can be developed from the idea of a
contextually defined operation. 31 The process can be de-
scribed as follows. First, we design a template of the opera-
tion, as illustrated in Example 14(a), which shows P. This
template allows us to relate the components of our set class
to each other. Thus the template for P, shown in Example
14(a), does not show a specific pitch-class realization of P. It
shows instead a triangle with legs of lengths 3, 4, and 5, and
shows that vertex b, created by the legs of 3 and 4, moves one
group can be derived as combinations of X 1 and X 1 , and thus would
also have to be a part of the unwieldy group (as, indeed, the COMM
operations would be as well). The remaining T/I operations would not
necessarily be part of the unwieldy group because they are not derivable
from the even T n/odd I n operations.
29 Lewin 1987 and Hyer 1989 characterize triads as ordered pairs (root,
mode), and thus characterize the relations as changing or retaining a
root and changing or retaining a mode. Cohn 1996 describes the rela-
tions as maximally smooth voice leading.
3o Kochavi 1998, 308 emphasizes that a contextual inversion "... is defined
on the top level, and acts only on sets, not on individual pitch classes."
31 Cohn 1997, 2, suggests a different generalization of P, L, and R. His
analogs retain set-class consistency; the ones I shall develop retain the
same template for motion within a specified context.
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares. Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020
239
a
c
(a) Template for P.
EXAMPLE 14
step toward vertex a, while vertices a and c remain fixed.
Notice that the operation described by this template is not a
contextually-defined inversion, in which vertices a and c
would have had to exchange position. This template specifi-
cally models toggling and in this case--maximally smooth
voice leading. To apply this template we can flip or rotate it
as necessary so that its vertices line up with our pitch classes,
then move the indicated pitch classes in the manner indi-
cated by the arrow 32 For instance, to apply the template to a
C-major triad we would line it up with a picture of C major
on a circle of half-steps, find the vertex between the legs of
3 and 4, and move it in the indicated direction, as shown on
Example 14(b). Then, to apply the template to the resulting
C-minor triad we would flip the template to line it up, then
move the indicated vertex in the flipped, or opposite, direc-
tion, as shown in Example 14(c).
Example 15 gives a composite template that shows the
effect on a triad of L, R, or P, the basic neo-Riemannian
operations that relate triads that share two pitch classes. The
32 I am not claiming that we actually follow such a procedure when we
recognize a relation as P, or derive the P relation of a given triad. I am
only saying that such a procedure always provides the same result as the
contextual definition of the operation, and on those grounds is inter-
changeable with the definition.
 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares. Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020

240 MUSIC THEORY SPECTRUM 27 (2005)

a L

P
b
c

(b) Application of template to a C-major triad.

EXAMPLE 15. LRP template.

c
b T type operations provide us with a class of such circles.
P
a transform pitch classes into other pitch classes within the
(c) Application of template to a C-minor triad.
EXAMPLE 14. [continued]
arrows labeled L and P each displace the specified vertex by
one step; the R arrow displaces its vertex by two steps. Each
operation leaves the remaining two vertices unchanged.
A repeated application of any operation returns us to our
original triad; C major is P(C minor) and C minor is P(C
major). Repeated application thus produces a toggling of a
voice between two pitch classes. This toggling allows an LP
cycle (a cycle created by applying in alternation L, then P) to
produce the toggling cycle by is 1 (the maximally smooth
cycle).
To create analogs of L, R, and P we need to create
analogs of the pitch-class circle and apply the appropriate
template on those new circles. 33 The SIMP group of X- and
Y type operations and the COMM group of odd I- and even
These two groups treat the twelve pitch classes as two inter-
spersed whole-tone collections. The even T n s, like the Yn s,
same whole-tone collection; the odd I n s, like the X n s, toggle
pitch classes between the two whole-tone collections, trans-
forming one collection into the other and back.
Because the groups treat the pitch classes as two whole-
tone sets, they divide the pitch-class circle, on which we have
represented the operations, into two interspersed whole-tone
sets. Indeed, we can rotate the two whole-tone sets with re-
spect to each other without affecting the representation of
the operations. Example 16 shows the six possible orienta-
tions of the two whole-tone sets rotated with respect to each
other. One is the familiar circle of half steps; another is the
circle of fifths. I call these the 0,1 circle and the 0,7 circle re-
33 This is similar to the way Cohn applies his abstract parsimonious tri-
chord Q on abstract Tonnetze of various cardinalities. See Cohn 1997,
25.

TOGGLING CYCLES, HEXATONIC SYSTEMS, AND SOME ANALYSIS OF EARLY ATONAL MUSIC
0 0
6 6
0,1 (Circle of half steps) 0,3
0 0
6 6
0,7 (Circle of fifths) 0,9
EXAMPLE 16. The six circles derived by rotating one whole-tone collection with respect to the other.
spectively. These labels highlight the relation of the two
whole-tone sets to each other, and allow us to reconstruct
the entire circle from its name. As we move around the 0,1
circle we move through [0, 1, 2, 3, ....); as we move around
the 0,7 circle we move through [0, 7, 2, 9, ...). (Example 16
also shows the inversional mappings among pitch classes in
the circles; thus, the relationship between 0 and 1 applies as
well between 2 and B, 3 and A, etc.)
Example 17 applies the LRP template to each of the six
circles of interspersed whole-tone collections; Example 18
tallies up the resultant set classes. If we restrict ourselves to
the L and P operations, we see that on each circle the tem-
plate creates either 3-11[037], 3-3[014], or 3-4[015]—the
three hexatonic toggling set classes and that L and P al-
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares. Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020
241
0
6
0,5
0
6
0,A
ways reproduce the same set class. Alternating L and P
around any circle reproduces one of our toggling cycles.
Thus, applying the template on these circles allows us to see
the way in which these toggling cycles are all manifestations
of the same procedure in different contexts.
The R template, however, introduces something new. In
two circles it reproduces the same set classes as L and P.
The R template in the circle of half steps reproduces
3-11[037], whereas it reproduces 3-3[014] in the circle of
fifths. In the other four circles, however, the R template
transforms the original trichord into a trichord of a different
set class. However, those resulting set classes are always the
same three, 3-3[014], 3-4[015], or 3-11[0371. The applica-
tion of the R template on the various circles thus provides
 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares. Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020
242 MUSIC THEORY SPECTRUM 27 (2005)

L
^— u
0
B

6
0,1 (Circle of half steps)

L
Ar----- a
0

0,7 (Circle of fifths)

L
iin ii—

0,9 0,A

EXAMPLE 17. The LRP template superimposed on the six circles of Example 16.
 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares. Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020

TOGGLING CYCLES, HEXATONIC SYSTEMS, AND SOME ANALYSIS OF EARLY ATONAL MUSIC 243

Circle Referential Set, x P(x) L(x) R(x) b

0
0,1 [037] [037] [037] [037]
0,3 [037] [037] [037] [015]
0,5 [015] [015] [015] [014]
0,7 [014] [014] [014] [014]
0,9 [014] [014] [014] [015]
0,11 [015] [015] [015] [037]

EXAMPLE 18. Tabulation of set classes resultingfrom application

of the LRP template on the circles of interspersed whole-tone
collections. (a) R template transforms (0, 4, 9) to (0, 4, 7).

a
a way of transforming these trichords into each other, and 0
suggests a way of relating (or moving among) the cycles
produced by them. For instance, we could start with the
3-11[037] toggling cycle that includes [0, 4, 9}, an A-minor
triad. This cycle occurs in both the 0,1 circle (the circle of
half-steps) and the 0,3 circle. (In other words, applying the
L and P templates in alternation produces the same six triads
whether applied on the 0,1 circle or the 0,3 circle.) On the
0,1 circle the R template allows us to move to a different 3-
11 [037] toggling cycle, such as the one that includes [0, 4, 71, (b)R template transforms (0, 4, 9) to (0, 4, B).
a C-major triad. This is shown in Example 19(a). On the 0,3
circle the R template again allows us to move to a different
toggling cycle, one based on 3-4[015]. On this circle the R a
template transforms [0, 4, 91, a member of 3-11[037], into 0
[0, 4, B], a member of 3-4[015]. This is shown in Example
19(b). We could then use the L and P templates to produce
the 3-4[015] toggling cycle on [0,4,B}. Again, this cycle oc-
curs on two circles, 0,3 and 0,5; and the R template on the
0,3 circle allows us to move between the 3-11[037] and
3-4[015] toggling cycles, while the R template on the 0,5
circle allows us to move between the 3-4[015] and 3-3 [014]
toggling cycles. On the 0,5 circle, the R template transforms
[0, 4, B}, a member of 3-4[015], into [0, 4, 11, a member (c)R template transforms (0, 4, B) to (0, 4, 1).
of 3-3[014]. This is shown in Example 19(c). Thus, the R
template applied to the circles of interspersed whole tones EXAMPLE 19
 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares. Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020
244 MUSIC THEORY SPECTRUM 27 (2005)

provides access to a much larger system, but a system that is

still based on the same three trichords.
I shall conclude with two short examples that illustrate
the analytical usefulness of the R template. The first example
reconsiders a detail in a passage we have already discussed:
the beginning of the first song from Das Buch der hāngenden
Gi rten, shown earlier in Example 10. Bridging the rest be-
tween the first two gestures is a 3-4[015] trichord [G, F# D);
,
6
this trichord returns us from the Northern to the Southern re- a
.

gion. We then re-enter the Southern region with [F#, D, F),

EXAMPLE 20. R template on 0,9 circle transforms (G, F#, D} to
a member of 3-3[014]. On the 0,9 circle, the circle on which
{F,F#,D}.
the R template transforms 3-3[014] into 3-4[015], [F#, D, F}
is precisely the R transformation of {G, F#, D), as shown in
Example 20. Here the R template models well the motion
between different regions. Mātige J
A second, more complicated example involves the first IM, MK, MAINInMMIN MN ^^...^^^^^^^^ ^
..^, ^ ^^ .^.^^^ ^. M .^^^
.r..W Al nIIM.i:41,1n11T MEN= ir JIIII MI Min I MIll IIME lIm :rumma
few measures of Schoenberg's op. 11, no. 1, shown in Ex- I.V` aMI nIIM:iAMM L, L^^ir ^uri^^ ^ - ^s ^- .^^^

Ii
r

7
, ,

ample 21. This composition starts with a melody punctuated

p
by two chords that create suspension-like figures. In the first -

figure (m. 2), the G "resolves" to F, at least in part because I^^^ !^T
i
t^:^ •^
mg
f:T!
Y CM, MR 1111M..... =Ma II IM ••:aa
/- !IMO= lnn :7 .. lM111nnIMIVl.Lii1n111
!IMI%- :ilNIIIMM
there is an F in the chord below. In the second figure, the F iIMIII, !ST

sounds as though it "resolves" to E, though it is not so appar-

ent why. The passage can be understood in terms of the R EXAMPLE 2I. Schoenberg, Piano Pieces, op. 11, no. 1, mm. 1-4.
template, which allows us to understand the E as the result
.

of a network of transformations.
That these transformations might be pertinent is sug-
gested by the contour of the melody. The melody divides
into two parts that are near transpositions: [B, G#, G} and
[A, F, E). The first set class is a member of 3-3[014], the
second is a 3-4[015]. These trichords are not related by
the R template, however: the R template preserves a dyad
whereas three pitch classes change in this situation.
The first R-template transformation arrives with the first
chord. Against the sustained G in the melody the B from
34 We must invoke the 0,9 circle in this context. Of the six circles, only
measure 1 is repeated an octave lower; this B is supported by
a G6 in the bass. We can thus hear, against the preserved
pitch-class dyad [B, G}, the G# from measure 1 as displaced
by G6 in measure 2. As shown in Example 22(a), this is
precisely what happens when we apply the R template to
[B, G#, G} on the 0,9 circle. 34
Of course, there is a third note in that first chord, F. Taken
together the new notes on beats two and three of measure 2,
[G6, F, At form another member of 3-3[014]. The F in the
melody is sustained into the next measure until the next chord
0,9 and 0,11 allow us to apply the R template to the trichord [B, G#, G).
On the 0,11 circle the R template transforms set-class 3-3[014] into
another member of 3-3[014], while on the 0,9 circle it transforms set-
class 3-3[014] into 3-4[015].
 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares. Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020

TOGGLING CYCLES, HEXATONIC SYSTEMS, AND SOME ANALYSIS OF EARLY ATONAL MUSIC 2 45

b5

(a) R template transforms (B, G#, G} to (B, F#, G). (b) R template transforms (G6, F, A) to (E, F, A).

b7

(c) R template transforms (A, D6, B6) to (A, D6, G#}.

(d) R template transforms (B, F#, G) to (B, E, G}.

EXAMPLE 22

arrives. As in measure 1, against the sustained F in the melody
the A from the previous melody is repeated an octave lower,
highlighting the preserved pitch-class dyad {F, Al. The F in
the melody is followed by E. We can again understand this
trichord, [E, F, At as the result of the R template acting on
the [Gb, F, Al. As shown in Example 22(b), the R template
on the 0,9 circle transforms [Gb, F, A) into [E, F, A). In fact,
this transformation is a whole-tone transposition of the one
in m. 1 (i.e., it is T 10 of Example 22(a)). The second chord
(like the first) introduces new pitch classes that prepare some
of the material that follows. In this case the entire chord
{Bb, A, Db) forms another member of 3-3[014]. The R tem-
plate applied to the 0,9 circle preserves the [A, D b} dyad and
moves Bb to G#, as shown in Example 22(c). The Bb in the
bass in measure 3 moves to G# in measure 4, as expected.
There is another, more abstract observation to make. The
piece opens with an R-template transformation of (B, G#, G)
to [B, F#, G}. Another application of this template on the
same circle would return F# to G#. However, [B, F#, G} also
occurs on the 0,11 circle, in a form to which we can apply

246 MUSIC THEORY SPECTRUM 27 (2005)
the R template; this is shown in Example 22(d). On this cir-
cle the R template holds B and G constant and moves GI, to
E. The final E of the melody can thus be understood as the
application of a chain of R-template transformations on
the original motive. While it might be difficult to associate
the E in measure 3 with the G and B from measures 1-2,
this precise relation is emphasized in the right hand in the
next measure. Thus we can understand the entire passage as
presenting a series of R-template transformations. These
transformations highlight the transpositional relation sug-
gested by the melody, account for the structure of the chords,
and profile E as the culmination of the R-template process.
***
In summary, I have shown that the family of 3-3[014],
3-4[015], and 3-11[037] trichords is special from several
points of view. These are the only set-classes whose toggling
cycles are able to generate the hyper-hexatonic system.
Additionally, these are the only set-classes produced by ap-
plication of contextually-defined LRP templates (as defined
by the SIMP and COMM concomitants of the T n/I n
group). I have also explored the analytical implications of the
R template, and treated the L and P templates as reproduc-
tions of toggling cycles. Because L and R together generate
the entire group of twenty-four neo-Riemannian operations,
any system that employs them both will contain twenty-four
templates. 35 Thus the larger system to which we have gained
access includes these twenty-four templates operating on any
of the six circles. At first glance this might seem unwieldy.
However, we have twenty-four neo-Riemannian operations
to model relations just between consonant triads. It only
makes sense that we would need many more operations to
35 As mentioned above, the neo-Riemannian operations form the same
sort of group as the SIMP group, defined on twenty-four triads instead
of twelve pitch classes. R is analogous to X 1 and L would be X23,
analogous to X 11 (X_ 1 ). Lewin 1995 derives the SIMP group from X 1
and X 11 . For a thorough discussion of which neo-Riemannian opera-
tions combine to generate the entire group see Siciliano, 2002.
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares. Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020
model the relations among three different trichordal set
classes. These expanded trichordal relationships in fact sug-
gest an entirely new galaxy in the neo-Riemannian universe,
a galaxy rich with possibilities.
REFERENCES
Cohn, Richard. 1991. "Properties and Generability of Trans-
positionally Invariant Sets." Journal of Music Theory 35:
1-32.
. 1994. "Generalized Cycles of Fifths, Some Late-
Nineteenth Century Applications, and Some Extensions
to Microtonal and Beat-Class Spaces." Keynote address
to the fifth annual meeting of Music Theory Midwest/
Eighth Biennial Symposium of the Indiana University
Graduate Theory Association, Bloomington, Indiana.
. 1996. "Maximally Smooth Cycles, Hexatonic
Systems, and the Analysis of Late-Romantic Triadic
Progressions." Music Analysis 15/1: 9-40.
. 1997. "Neo-Riemannian Operations, Parsimonious
Trichords, and Their Tonnetz Representations." Journal of
Music Theory 41/1: 1 66.
-
. 1999. "As Wonderful as Star Clusters: Instruments
for Gazing at Tonality in Schubert." Nineteenth Century
-
Music 22/3: 213-32.
Cook, Robert. 2001. "Transformational Approaches to
Romantic Harmony and the Late Works of Cesar Frank."
Ph.D. diss., University of Chicago.
Forte, Allen. 1992. "Concepts of Linearity in Schoenberg's
Atonal Music: A Study of the Opus 15 Song Cycle."
Journal of Music Theory 36/2: 285 382.
-
Hyer, Brian. 1989. "Tonal Intuitions in Tristan and Isolde."
Ph.D. diss., Yale University.
Kochavi, Johnathan. 1998. "Some Structural Features of
Contextually Defined Inversion Operations." Journal of
Music Theory 42/2: 307 320.
-
Lewin, David. 1984. "Amfortas' Prayer to Titurel and the
Role of D in Parsifal; The Tonal Spaces of the Drama
 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mts/article-abstract/27/2/221/1103919 by Universidad Alcalá de Henares. Biblioteca user on 29 January 2020
TOGGLING CYCLES, HEXATONIC SYSTEMS, AND SOME ANALYSIS OF EARLY ATONAL MUSIC 247

and the Enharmonic Cb/B." Nineteenth Century Music

-

7/3: 336-349.
. 1987. Generalized Musical Intervals and Transfor-
mations. New Haven: Yale University Press.
. 1995. "Generalized Interval Systems for Babbit's
Lists, and for Schoenberg's String Trio." Music Theory
Spectrum 17: 81 118.
-

Mooney, Michael Kevin. 1996. "The `Table of Relations'

and Music Psychology in Hugo Riemann's Harmonic
Theory." Ph.D. diss., Columbia University.
Schoenberg, Arnold. [1932] 1964-65. "Analysis of the Four
Orchestral Songs Opus 22." Trans. Claudio Spies. Per-
spectives of New Music 3: 1 21.
-

Siciliano, Michael. 2002. "Neo-Riemannian Transformations

and the Harmony of Franz Schubert." Ph.D. diss., Uni-
versity of Chicago.

Music Theory Spectrum, Vol. 27, Issue 2, pp. 221-248, ISSN 0195-6167,
electronic ISSN 1533-8339. © 2005 by The Society for Music Theory.
All rights reserved. Please direct all requests for permission to photo-
copy or reproduce article content through the University of California
Press's Rights and Permissions website, at http://www.ucpress.edu/
journals/rights.htm.