Two Neo-Riemannian Analyses

Author(s): Michael Siciliano

Reviewed work(s):
Source: College Music Symposium, Vol. 45 (2005), pp. 81-107
Published by: College Music Society
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 Two Neo-Riemannian
Analyses
Michael Siciliano

DavidLewinsummarized hisideasabout"transformational theory" in Gener-

alized Musical Intervalsand Transformations,1 it has become an increasingly
fruitfulapproachtothinking aboutmusic.Inparticular, onegroupoftransformations has
provenusefulin approaching nineteenth-century chromaticism. Thesearetheonesde-
rivedfromsomerelations exploredby Hugo Riemann and thus called"neo-Rieman-
nian."2However,whendiscussingtransformational theory with musicians in general
andnon-theorists I haveconsistently
in particular, runup againstthreetypesofresis-
understandable
tance.First,thereis an entirely suspicionofyetanother "theory."Sec-
ondis a difficulty
grasping what is "transformational,"and therefore new andnecessary,
abouttransformational theory.Third,thecommonresistance to "math"in analysisis
exacerbated bythelanguageofmathematical grouptheory in whichneo-Riemannian
ideas are frequentlyexpressed.
I wouldliketopresent analysesoftwoSchubert songs,"DerJüngling undderTod"
(D. 545, March 1817) and "Trost" (D. 523,January 1817), thatI have found helpfulin
and
addressing overcoming these resistances.They have two additional features that
recommend them.First,theyarebothanalysesoffairlyshortsongs,so theirstructures
are easy to grasp.Second,thestructures createdby theneo-Riemannian relationsin
thesetwosongsaredifferent from, yetcomplementary to, those in the onlyotherfull-
pieceanalysispublished, of
RichardCohn'sanalysis Schubert's B-flat Sonata.3

Theory
Transformational

Of thethreetypesofresistance I mentioned,theuse of mathematicallanguageis

theeasiesttoaddress,simplybyavoidingsuchlanguage,oratleastminimizing it.The
othertwo,thesuspicionofyetanother theoryand thedifficulty what
grasping is "trans-
formational" addressedbya briefintro-
aboutit,arecloselyrelatedandcanbe initially
ductionto transformational
theory in general.The question"whydo we needyetan-
othertheory,"whenaskedin goodfaith,can be answeredbydemonstrating thatthere
aremusically orinteresting
significant phenomena wellbyexisting
thatarenotexplained
theories.
For transformational
theory,thestandardexampleof sucha phenomenon is an
cycle,themotion - bymajororminor -
third through
equalinterval enharmonically usually
a completeoctave.4Example la shows thescoreofthe completemajorthirdcyclefrom
thecoda of Schubert'sE-flatTrio,D. 929, withthetriadsofthatcyclelabeled.5Our
existing andevenournotation,
theories, areunabletoaccurately ourexperience
reflect
•David Lewin, GeneralizedMusical Intervalsand Transformations.
Henceforth, GMIT.
2RichardCohn, "Introductionto Neo-RiemannianTheory,"providesa historyof thisapproach,and the
restof thatvolumeprovidesa samplingof approachesbased on neo-Riemannian ideas.
3RichardCohn,"As Wonderful as StarClusters."
4RichardCohn, "MaximallySmoothCycles," illustratesthis using the major thirdcycle on E major,
exemplifiedby a passage fromtheBrahmsConcertoforViolin and Cello (pp. 9-15).
5Cohndiscussesthispassage in muchthesame way in "As Wonderfulas StarClusters."
82 COLLEGE MUSIC SYMPOSIUM

Examplela. Completemajorthird B>MajorTrio,D. 929.

cyclefromSchubert,

ft». | JV

*^ .... Í * • • ?
(G+) G+ g.

li p^ .... - ^--r
vi.gt..*.."..,.", j I I J IT J J> .iY
l...g A-Â^áJll.
p,.{l.,j:.,,f, V
j.J^." Wr ftt\f
ifl *..{! ^...(-■ii- I "1
■*■í [y-'f-N-f-
--¿-i-
^Jpj
 TWO NEO-RIEMANNIANANALYSES 83

ofthepassage.Sinceitis a sequence,we heara passageofmusicthatleads smoothly

toitstransposed repetition.We thenhearitlead in thesamewayto yetanother repeti-
and
tion, again inthe sameway to returntotheoriginalkey.We have no languagewithin
conventionalanalysiswithwhichtodescribethisdualexperience thatreflectsboththat
we movebythesametypeofrootmotionbetweenlegs of thesequence,and thatwe
returntoourstarting point.Ifwe movebymajorthird threetimes,conventional theory
insistswe havein factmoveda total an
of augmented seventh(thebottomarrowson
Examplelb). Thatis,from E>majortoO majoris a majorthird. Ifthenextstepis infact
anothermajor third itshould takeus toA^ Another
major. majorthirdwouldthentakeus
toFW»major,an augmented seventh below theinitial
E\ If,however, we insistwe have
returnedto thesamekey(i.e.,movedan octave),thenone ofthe"majorthirds"must
have been a diminished fourth (thetop arrowson Examplelb). We mustresortto
invoking"enharmonicism" andvaguelywavingourhands.Theproblem is ofcourseso
deeplyentwined in ourtheory(i.e., thelanguagewe use to describemusic)thatit is
embeddedinthenotation: Schubert hastoincludean enharmonic shift,thediminished
secondbetweenO major and B minor.

labelingoftriads.
withtraditional
Examplelb. Conflicts

P8

r\r\rx
r^ M3 Dim.4 M3 ^^^

E->+ eh Ch- b- G+ g- Eh-

\M3 M3
^t^^
Aug7

labelingoftransformations.
Examplelc. Consistent

r\r\r\
PL PL PL

Em- eir Ch- b- G+ g- Eh-

kJ\y v^P kJ
L
vj1
P
kJ
Vp L L^r

I
84 COLLEGE MUSIC SYMPOSIUM

The problemarisesbecauseourtheorieslabel "objects"(i.e.,chords,roots,inter-

vals, etc.) butwhatwe are hearingare relationsand transformations betweenthose
objects.The essenceof whatmakestransformational theory"transformational" (the
secondpointofresistance) is thatittriesto focusattention on therelations, noton the
objects.David Lewin illustrates thiswitha picture, Example2.6 Our traditional ap-
proachesstartwiththeobjects"s" and "t" and treattherelationbetweenthem(the
arrow"r") as secondary;therelationis determined by or derivedfromtheobjects.
Transformational theory startswith thearrow "r" and treatstheobjects"s" and"t" as
secondary;theobjectsare derivedfromthetransformation. For instance,giventhe
transformation anda starting the
object, resulting object is determined (i.e.,thereis only
onepossibility). given
Similarly, the transformation and the resultingobject,thestarting
objectis determined. ElsewhereLewinhas triedtodescribethe"transformational atti-
tude"as thepointofviewfromwhich"theinterval labelsthetransformation itself;itis
a namefor'a wayofmoving'(fromanywhere to somewhere else),rather thana rela-
tionbetweenfixedpointsinmusicalspace."7

Example2. Thebasictransformational
situation, GMIT,Figure0.1.
following

Transformational theorycan clearlybe a hugesubject,and one of thevirtuesof

Lewin'sexplorations of itis thewidevariety of differenttypesof transformations he
explores.8 each
Essentially, piece can suggestthose transformationsthat areparticularly
pertinentto itself,andno twopiecesneedto explorethesametransformations. How-
ever,one groupof transformations has provenrepeatedly usefulin a variety of nine-
teenth-centuryharmonic contexts, the
including equal interval
cycle.These are thetrans-
formations among triadsderived from the workof HugoRiemann, forming thebasisof
thesubsetof transformational theoryknowas "neo-Riemannian Theory."9 For most
purposes we need only three of these known
relations, bythe lettersL, R, and P.
The easiestway to understand theserelationsis thattheyare thethreewaysto
relatetwoconsonant triads(i.e.,majororminor)thatsharetwopitchclasses.P stands
for"Parallel"andrelatestwotriadsthatcouldbe tonicsofparallel-related keys.Thus,P
transforms a C majortriadintoa C minortriad,andalso transforms a C minortriadinto
a C majortriad.The triadsC majorandC minorsharethetwopitchclassesC andG.
Similarly,R standsfor"Relative"andtransforms a C majortriadintoanA minortriad,

6DavidLewin,GMIT,p. xi.
attitude"on pp. 232-34.
7DavidLewin, "Forte'sIntervalVector,"227ff.He mentionsa "transformational
8DavidLewin,GMIT, and, in a less math-intensive Musical Formand Transformation.
presentation, These
books providea convenientsamplingof the manysystemsof transformations Lewin has explored.
9RichardCohn, "Introduction
to Neo-Riemannian Theory,"is a good introductionto the varietyof ideas
and approachessubsumedby therubric"neo-Riemannian Theory,"and theentireissue of thatjournalprovides
an overviewof thatvarietyof approaches.
 TWO NEO-RIEMANNIANANALYSES 85

andanA minortriadintoa C majortriad.ThetriadsC majorandA minorsharethepitch

classesC andE. L standsfor"Leittonwechsel" whichmeans"leadingtoneexchange."10
Itis thethirdwayofrelating twotriadsthatsharetwopitches.L relatesa C majortriad
to an E minortriad,andan E minortriadto a C majortriad.The triadsC majorandE
minorsharethepitchclassesE andG.
It is worthstressing thatalthoughwe are accustomed to theparalleland relative
relations betweenkeys,thetransformations P and R (andalso L) aredefinedon triads,
notkeys.Sincewe willtherefore be talkinga lotmoreabouttriadsthankeys,I will
continue toindicatekeysconventionally bytheirletter nameand"major"or"minor."I
willindicate triadswith thefollowing shorthand: a capitalletter followedbya "+" will
indicatea majortriad(e.g. C+ fora C majortriad),anda lowercase letter followedby
a "-" willindicatea minortriad(e.g. a- foranA minortriad).
Thesetransformations allowus tocapture ourexperience oftheequalinterval cycle
inExample1 as a sequence,ina waythattraditional analysisdoesnot.As thearrowson
Examplelc show,betweenlegs of thesequencewe hearan L transformation, as a
minor triadis transformedinto themajor triadwith root a major thirdbelow (like - to
e^
O+). Within eachlegofthesequencewe heara P transformation, as a majortriadgives
way to the minor triadon the same root. Because we are labelingthetransformations
andnottheobjectstransformed we nolongerhavetoinvokeenharmonicism. Moreover,
becausewe arelabelingtransformations, we can labeltherelationsof thelegs of the
sequenceas all thesame,"PL." Thislabelingreflects ourthreefold experience ofthis
passage more accuratelythan conventional analysis. Within each leg of the sequence
we hearthesame process,a P transformation; betweenthelegs we hearthe same
process,a PL transformation; andat theendwe return to wherewe started, thatis,the
cumulative effectoftheseP andL transformations is an I, oridentity,transformation.

l0WhyRiemanncalled thisrelationa leadingtoneexchangeis confusing, and in factirrelevant to itscurrent

usage. Michael Kevin Mooney,in "The 'Table of Relations',"providesa good discussionof Riemann'ssystem
and of whytherelationbetweenC majorand E minorshouldbe a "Leittonwechsel"
of triadrelations, or "leading
tone exchange."There are two ways to understandwhyRiemanncalled thisrelationa Leittonwechsel, both
dependent uponhis thoroughgoing harmonicdualism.In Riemann'sdualismeverything in minoris theinversion
of thecorresponding thingin major.Specifically, sincea majortriadis consideredas beingbuiltof a majorthird
and perfect above a generating
fifth pitch(a root),a minortriadis consideredas builtof a majorthirdand perfect
fifthbelow the generating pitch(its "root").Thus whatwe call E minorhe would call B minor.This sounds
counter-intuitiveat first,but Lewin exploresa varietyof examples whereit seems reasonableto hear minor
triadsin thisway,in pp. 41-45 of "A FormalTheory." (A lengthier defenseof Riemann'sdualismcan be found
in Daniel Harrison,HarmonicFunction.)In thiscontextthen,the relationbetweenC majorand E minoris a
"leadingtoneexchange"because in each case the"root"(C in C major,B in E minor)movesto its leadingtone
(B in C major,C in E minor).The leadingtonein minoris theinversionof theleadingtonein major,and thus
above theroot. This understanding alignsbestwithCohn's emphasison maximally-smooth voice leadingin, for
instance,"MaximallySmoothCycles,"and it is implicitin Hyer'sdescriptions, forinstanceon p. 115 of "Tonal
Intuitions."The otherway of construingit, foundin Mooney,"The 'Table of Relations',"is thatthereis a
consistent"Wechsel"operationthatexchangesthe two triadsthatsharea "root,"forinstanceC majorand F
minor.A "Leittonwechsel"would thenbe a "Wechsel"followedby transposition to the leadingtone.Thus C
majoris transformed to its "Wechsel"F minor(whichhe wouldcall "C minor"),whichis thentransposed to the
leadingtoneof C, "B minor,"whichwe wouldcall E minor.Conversely, E minor(whichhe wouldcall B minor)
is transformed to its "Wechsel"(B major)whichis thentransposedto the leadingtoneof "B minor,"C major.
As I said above,thisis all irrelevant to its currentusage. In neo-Riemanniantheory,"L" is simplythethirdway,
along withP and R, of relatingtwo triadsthatsharetwo pitches.
86 COLLEGE MUSIC SYMPOSIUM

Maps

Beforeturning tothetwosonganalyses,we needtoexploretheworldoftheseneo-

Riemannian transformations a littlemoreclosely.As I said above,L, R, andP can be
understood as thethreepossiblewaysof relatingtwo triadsthatsharetwopitches.
SinceL, R, andP giveus a majorthirdrootrelation, a minorthirdrootrelation, anda
modechangerelation, we can relateanytwotriadsbya chainofL, R, andP relations.
ForinstanceC+ andCt+couldbe relatedbythechainRPLP as follows:R takesC+ to
a-; P takesa- toA+; L takesA+ to ct-;andP takescl-to Q+. The relations thuscreate
a senseofrelative distanceamongtriads, proportionate to how manysteps itwould take
to linkthem.Morespecifically, sinceL, R, andP relatetriadsthatsharetwopitches,
theserelationsencourageus to thinkof triadsthatsharetwopitchesas "closelyre-
lated."In contrast, therelationship betweentonicanddominant triads, the"closerela-
tionship" intraditionaltonaltheory, is nowa two-step relation (L takesC+ toe-,R takes
e- to G+).
Sincethesenseofdistancecreatedbytheserelations is so different fromwhatwe
areaccustomed to,itis usefulto havea mapthatshowshowL, R, andP relatetriads.
Sucha mapis easilydrawnbystarting witha triad,
linking itbyL, R,andP tothreeother
triads,and then linking those in turn to others,alwaysadopting a convention thateach
relationis represented by the same directionon the map. The resultis shown in Example
3.11As indicated bythelegend,on thismapanymoveintheNorth/South direction is a
P relation,any move NE/SW is an R and
relation, any move NW/SE is an L relation.
As withall suchmaps,howwe definetherelations willaffect thegeometry ofthe
map.Forinstance, becausethethreerelations linktriadsbasedon twosharedpitches,
thereareno axes on thismap."R," forinstance, is notsimplyan NE/SWaxis.We can
moveby R NE, say fromC+ to a-, butthereis nothing one stepfurther NE froma-.
Further motionNE froma- wouldinvolvea leap acrossa hexagon,toD+. Instead,ifR
relatesC+ to a- becausetheyshareC andE, thenanother movebyR mustmovea- to
thetriadwithwhichitsharesC andE, andthusmustreturn us toC+. To getanywhere
on thismapwe mustuse multiple relations.Thatis,ifR takesus fromC+ toa-,we will
needtouse something otherthanR togetanywhere else. Similarly, a repeatedapplica-
tionofL orP willreturn us towherewe started. Thetechnical expression forthisis that
thesetransformations aretheirowninverses.
However,ifwe conceivetherelationbetweenC+ and a- differently, we can geta
different for
geometry, instance, one with axes. Lewin has defined the relation between
C+ anda- as "MED," a transformation through whichonetriadbecomesinterpreted as
themediant ofthenexttriad.12 ThusC+ "becomesthemediant" ofa-. Thisdescription
of thetransformation betweenC+ and a- createsan axis. A repeatedapplicationof

uSuch a map can also be derivedfromvarious"Tonnetze," mapsof relationsamongpitchesor pitchclasses

that were of interestto some nineteenth-century theoristsand have attractedrecentattention.The main
difference
is thatTonnetzeare maps of pitchrelations,whilethismap is a map of triadrelations.For a history
of suchTonnetze,see Mooney,"The 'Table of Relations';"fora discussionof therelationbetweenthismap and
Tonnetzesee Michael Siciliano, "Neo-RiemannianTransformations;" some aspects of the relationare treated
moreformallyin RobertMorris,"Voice-LeadingSpaces."
12Lewin,GMIT, 176-77.
 TWO NEO-RIEMANNIANANALYSES 87

Example3. TheLRP map.

;-\ ,*-?x ,*-s\ /-fx

rK ;-\ r\ /~\ j
\ r\ rK ?~\ rK
o_O
a_?
o._B „ T
/ +\ / \ / \ / \ /
*&. Pf 03 »y i frf ~ f*s O t**1

+\ /+\ /+\ /+\ /+\

;-íx ;-ív ;-í, ;-ív ;

s\ /-"vo-n /-pv 7~7na-« /-?x
r_BB ft Ç-O 4
/ +\ ./ \ / +\ / T\ 7 i£
\re- m/ *\ - / +\ - 3 / +\M - a / +\ •" ^^
7, j ^ S
/ +v ./ +\ / +\ / +\ /
\ ;-°x /-^ ;-™x /-?x
;-?v /-?x 7-fx ;-?x ;
\ Ü / +\ p. W
/ \« BO/ +\ *jj/ +\
çu *p -Ç»
/ +\ /' *\ / \ / +\ /
w ^ - es o- O .S - 9 eu- O
+\ / +\ / +\ / *\ / +\
/ \ / +\ / \ / +\ /
+\ / +\ / \ / +\ / +\
/ \ / +\ / +\ / +\ /
> »- > sr- S? a-- as <?- o
+\ / +\ / +x /' +x / +\

< /-< )-< )-< >-<

T1
;-?x no ._ , /-s
/-*v oís 3>
;-s\ «« «,„,,,.•>
/-?v a* 00
;
+
\ / +\ /' +\ / \ /' +\
a. - ffl a - m ~, - jg.- 5 «?
^
/N / \ / \ /'+\ /
+
\ / \ / +\ / \ /
«_>
ç-^ f__W 7_f
88 COLLEGE MUSIC SYMPOSIUM

MED doesnotreturn us toC+ butcarriesus further away;a- "becomesmediant of F+,

F+ "becomesmediantof d-,etc.To getbackfroma- to C+ wouldinvolvea different
operation,"SUBMED," read"becomessubmediant of."
Indescribing howtoderivethemapinExample3 we usedthemostgeneralpossible
description oftherelations. R forinstance, directlyrelatestheabstract entity "C+" to
theabstract entity "a-." Either C+ or a- can be in
presented any number of voices, and
thereis no implication thatspecificpitchesinonerelatetospecificpitchesintheother.
For instance,whileC+ and a- maysharethepitchesC and E, thereis no need to
supposethatthevoicewithC in theC+ triadmuststayon C in thea- triad.R simply
relatessomething we can call "C+" to something we can call "a-." Underthesecondi-
tionswe cannotdistinguish betweendifferent versionsofC+, so anyoccurrence ofC+
on themap is indistinguishable fromanyother.In principlethismeansthatthetwo
dimensional maprollsinonitselftobecomea torus(a donut).13 Thatis,wecouldrollthe
topdownso theC+ in thetoplinelinesup withtheC+ themiddleline,androllthe
in
bottomup so theC+ in thebottomlinelinesup withtheC+ in themiddle,forming a
cylinder.We could then rollthecylinder, and twistit,so the C+s at eachend line up,and
havea donut.In practiceourintuitions abouttherelations ofpointson thesurfaceofa
torusare vague at best,so I findit mostusefulto leave themap unrolledintotwo
dimensions andjustremember thatanyC+ is thesameC+, and themap showsonly
twenty-four possiblepositions(one foreachmajorandminortriad).In otherwords,if
you startat C+, and head generally NW untilyoureachC+ again,you have in fact
returned to whereyoustarted. Similarly, ifyouheadgenerally NE untilyoureachC+
again,you have again returned toyourstarting point.All threeof these,andeveryother
C+ on themap,arethesameplace.
The transformations L, R, andP betweentriads,however, areusuallydefinedless
that
abstractly, is tosay, with specificpitch-to-pitchrelations. Perhapsthemostcommon
ofthesedefinitions areas "contextually defined inversions."14 Withfamiliar pitch-class
inversion,thepitchesofC+ canbe relatedtothoseofa- (an R relation) byan inversion
operation, specifically I4.However,I4 is notthesameas R becauseit also relatesthe
pcs ofF+ tothoseofe-,whereasR relatesF+ tod-.15In eachcase itrelatesC toE, but
independent ofthecontext(i.e.,triad)in whichC occurs.Witha contextually defined
inversion, theeffect on C will be different depending on context. For instance,as a
contextually defined inversion, R might be describedas inverting a around
triad itsmajor
third.WhenR relatesC+ to a-, it will act as I4 and relateC to E; however,whenR
relatesF+ tod-,itwillactas I2andrelateC toD. A contextually definedoperation acts
on pitchesonlyina specificcontext.
Thisdefinition ofR impliesa specificpitch-to-pitch connection, showninExample
4. Becausethisvoiceleadingis basedonpitch-class inversion, a voicethatstarts onthe

13BrianHyer,"TonalIntuitions," pp. 196-99,describestheway such a map rollsback on itselfbutdoes not

use the word"torus."Cohn describesit explicitlyas a torusin "Neo-Riemannian Operations,"pp. 17-20.More
recently,JackDouthetand PeterSteinbach,"ParsimoniousGraphs,"discuss the geometryand tryto draw a
pictureof such a torus,whichtheycall a "chickenwiretorus."
14DavidLewin,"A FormalTheory."Also, Jonathan Kochavi,"Some Structural Features,"discussesthemin
a moreformalsetting.
1 F+ (F, A, C) to e- (E, G,B).
specifically,I4 willagainrelateC to E, andA to G,butalso F to B, thusrelating
 TWO NEO-RIEMANNIANANALYSES 89

Example4a. VoiceleadingofR as a contextually

definedinversion.

D b

Example4b. VoiceleadingofR as a contextually

definedinversion,
scoreformat.

m. 233 (b2) m,239

via Ha \ y^

a
ven =\o -.
2 11- ;
Vcl
6y '™ »

rootofa triadwillmovetothefifth ofthenexttriad.However, becauseL andP arealso

describedas contextually defined inversions,another steponthemapreturns thatvoice
to theroot.Thisreflects thefactthatinversions combineto formtranspositions. Be-
causetriadsofthesamemodearealwaysevennumbers ofstepsaparton themap,and
thusinvolvean evennumber ofinversions, a voicethatstarts on therootofa triadwill
alwaysbe on therootofanytriadofthesamemode,andwe willagainnotbe able to
different
distinguish occurrences of,say,C+.
However, not all work
definitions likethis.Another commonwayofdescribing the
invokes"maximally
relations smoothvoiceleading,"16 as inExample5. Inthesedefini-
tionsthetransformations aredescribed as holdingtwonotesconstant whilemovingthe
thirdnoteby the smallest amount to createanother triad.For L and P thatsmallest
amountis a half-step. ForR itis a whole-step. Withthistypeofdefinition we can now
different
distinguish occurrences of thesame triad.

l6RichardCohn, "Maximally SmoothCycles," providesthe most thoroughexplorationof such voice

leading. Recently,Mathew Santa, "NonatonicSystems,"explores relationsbetweentriadsand incomplete
seventhchordsusingmaximallysmoothvoice leading.
90 COLLEGE MUSIC SYMPOSIUM

Example 5a. Voice leadingof R as a maximallysmoothrelation.

Bb g
^ R

Example5b. VoiceleadingofR as a maximally scoreformat.

smoothrelation,

fr° °
FluteIt(fa
Jpk* =n

ObOCfiby =:

[HE r»
Bassoon ^/f *♦; ~~;

Example6 showstheresultofusingthisvoice-leading definition,

startingfromC+,
andalternatingR andP. Thisproducesa chainwhicheventually toC+, butwith
returns
If we had started
a difference. singingtherootin C+, whenwe arriveagainat C+ we
willnowbe singingthethird, E. Although theexampleshowspitchesin specificregis-
ters,and thusseems to show different
inversions oftriads,thephenomenon is reallya
matter ofpitchclass,whichbyitsnature is register-unspecific.
Conceivably therecould
be a fourthvoiceproviding a rootbelowthethreepitcheschartedin Example6, thus
makingall thetriadsbe rootposition.Similarly, therecouldbe reasonsforfollowing an
octavetransfer in one or morevoice,againchangingtheactualpositionof the chord.
Whatremainsconstant is thechangeoforientation ofthevoicetothechord:thevoice
thatstartedon theroot,C, has arrivedon thethird, E. Thuswe can call theseabstract
arrangements "orientations" todistinguish themfrommoreconcrete "positions."Since
thevoicesareall driftingupward(ormoreaccurately, clockwiseona pitch-classcircle),
as we continuealternating R andP,whenwe nextreturn to C+ we willbe singingthe
 TWO NEO-RIEMANNIANANALYSES 91

Example6. RP Cyclewithmaximally
smoothvoiceleading.

* - V>
> s'äi

,2?v ii1

ft
/^1

-. y
O AOS u>Ch

•• > llis:
Niü

=» ,nsf
^ Li!!*

5» L!jl

JO I )5_

" II

-iK
92 COLLEGE MUSIC SYMPOSIUM

fifth,G. We haveto continue yetone moretimethrough thecyclebeforewe return to

singingC ina C triad.Wecanthusdistinguish threedistinctC+ triads;oneinwhichwe
are singingtheroot,one in whichwe are singingthethird, and one in whichwe are
singing thefifth.
Sincewe can nowdistinguish threedifferent C+ triads,ourmapwillhaveto show
threeforms ofeachmajorandminortriad,andthuswillshowseventy-two totalorienta-
tions.Sucha mapis shownin Example7. Again,it shouldbe stressed themapshows
pitch-classrelations, as opposedtotriadrelations. Thedistinction is notwhether a triad
is in"rootposition"or"first inversion,"butwhether thevoicethatstarted ontherootis
againon therootoris nowon another member ofthetriad.Thusthedifferent descrip-
tionsoftheoperations producedifferent relationsamongdifferently definedtriads.For
a chord-to-chord description, ora transpositional/inversionalvoice-leading description,
we can notdistinguish differentformsof thesametriad,and have onlytwenty-four
positions onthemap.Witha maximally smoothvoice-leading description wecandistin-
guishthreeorientations ofeachtriad,so we haveseventy-two placeson themap.
Having introduced the neo-Riemannian transformations, we cannowturnouratten-
tionto somemusic.Schubert wroteroughly twenty songs that start andendindifferent
keys.17 The lackofa singlegoverning keyin suchsongspresents twoimmediate chal-
lenges. The firstis simply how to make the various partsof the piece sound as though
theybelongtogether, andmoreover, as thoughtheybelongin theorderin whichthey
occur.A singletonicusuallycreatestheframework within oraroundwhichwe organize
ourhearingofa piece.In theabsenceof sucha tonicsomething else mustdo thisjob.
and
Second, perhapsonly special a case of the is
first, how to make thepiecesoundas
thoughitis overwhenitis over,andnotas thoughitjuststopped(orwiththesesongs,
ranoutoftext).Again,thereturn tothetonicis a primary wayofestablishing this,and
again, inthe absence of a tonic,something else willhave totake itsplace. Thetwo songs
we willlookat,"DerJüngling undderTod"(D. 545,March1817)and"Trost"(D. 523,
January 1817),bothcan be considered as builtaroundcyclescreatedbyneo-Rieman-
nianrelations tohelpfillinforthelackofa singletonic.18

"Der Jünglingund der Tod"

"DerJüngling undderTod"(Example8) existsintwoversions. fortwo

In thefirst,
voices,thevoicesingingthepartof"DerJüngling" beginsthesonginCfminorandthe
voicesingingthepartof"DerTod,"endsthesonginB^major.Inthesecond,fora single
voice,thepartof"Der Tod" has beentransposedup a fifthtobetteraccommodate the
rangeofa singlevoice,so itendsin F major.The versionforsinglevoiceis themore
oftenrecorded, I willprimarily
buttheversionfortwovoicesis moreinteresting. discuss
l7HaraldKrebs,"ThirdRelationand Dominant,"examinesthirdrelationsin thestandardClassical and early
Romanticrepertoire and thusprovidesa nice catalogof suchworks.He also providesSchenkerian
reductionsand
discussionsof mostof theseworks.
l8Thesediscussions,of course,do notintendto presentexhaustiveanalysesof everyaspectof thesesongs,
merelyto show how the neo-Riemannian operationscan help us understandotherwiseproblematicharmonic
choices. I therefore
mostlyavoid discussingrelationsbetweenthe textand music.
 TWO NEO-RIEMANNIANANALYSES 93

Example7. Themaximally
smoothLRP map.

\ \ \
\
-*.« - -fl>n
/ \ ~y~ \ - owe
«»a. /
=sB£- 3U*S
/ \ / \ / \
\ / \ / \ /
•*%.&- ""»o a0"0-- 5*2 w ° 5- - onn
/ \ / \ / \
O 05 Ö wf> Ô Ö? Ö f» or cs. > H R1 » ft «

a i» o. ~- • O W W 08 <y » ■-- O w tft » n «■•»- ^riti

/ \ / \ / \
- - . Tl 08 Ö ora<">n O O W ** £Ln - - > O **> i» a. -r>

» or » n a > O tn o; a. -■ "C? D
"D
^ r>f)B
/ \ / \ / \
D Oö W * « •*» > n Tfl te S. ^ WOO cr a 9Q
\ / \ / \ /
*
- z&"* - "»o^
/ "\ / \ / \
>flw «•ö-ä - WSS ° ^-^ -
*
\ / \ / \ /
&Ä - £S?£ ^&9!5- woo ^^St - ^S!>
/ \ / \ / \
- « ■**l -
c / \ / <*
o-o« -
/
- > o -a &ê* »wo totuo
n S-00-
cra,^ - °°.SS O rnO & ftS - "Ö ^ >
/ \ / \ / nT
°* n W> « « es ■ ou ^ cr
WÖO && Q W>

cr«w w WO ° ^#... O H> H,^^ O O. 50

/ <* / \ / \
- n mo &.*% - On> a ^ •» - ÖS> &Ä& -
\ '/"'</ \ /
n f> c¿ ~~-~ O W > 9! """"^O *" W
% *"*> °* *&."* - - * O
„JE03

- O^> ¿A'1 - ®S™ o.« a: - dOW ÄS»0" -

\ / \ / \ /
a*** OJ > &&& WOW « * ar MOW
/ \
a ^ o*
/ >C / °
\
Q Tj Oö ö^g. W rtofon tTJQO &&
\T
a« or
/ \ v
/
W> ^
\
« » «
/
m> O
DOW &&
/ \ / \ / \
^ \T
tflO W o m <r
/
.
W£M
\
-*>
/
^
* ti > o
\
-& * ^
/
«. 00 o ° ^ > -H>• o. -
- won S*& - g jtj > a
/ \ / \ / \ _
- w> n a » n - w> n ^ S^^ - u wo ,^.o-a
\ / ^ / "\ /
/ / /
94 COLLEGE MUSIC SYMPOSIUM

Example 8. "Der Jünglingund der Tod" entirescore.

Sehr langsam. * Der Jüngling.

slngsUmmc-
** * 1 " 1 " 1 " 1" t ? J1
m^
«D
Die

$" r pr p*pir * J ^ r «L*i«i * 7 f8ppp1

Son - ne sinkt o köntu* ich. <> könnt' ich mit ihr sthei - den. mit ¡h • rent

letz - ten Strahl ent-flie - hen, ach die - se na - men - lo - sen Qua - leu meiern und

l-vT» J. 7 T J ' J 3 3 JJP T

'„i J j |,JJ.

ufltJL ,, *, , ,* ' n, | .. .r .
<^Ti B iij' e f"»r j'iJ N t ' P IV tir1 e''1 t>r^
wcir in scfeön- re We« - - - ten xieh'n. und weil inischon - re Wet - len zcih'ni
 TWO NEO-RIEMANNIANANALYSES 95

Example8 (continued)

15 *
iJPMn> r .g-.j- - r^- - iff- _Ji_ hi i , i_ L ~~r- i
_ O kam ■• me Tod und i« * se die - se Ba» ■ de! Ich

* ■ „; .,
,U_
w^ f fiff ftv v u ff
," C^ .^ \ Iv
ff üü Lr ff ? )^rp
Jfyf¿Jj r "y
lach • kr<iir. o Kno - chen-mann,eni - ftll> - re michkñcht in ge-träum- le Lan - de. o kommund

^
Wf"^7 ÜP> Ir r T r If g^

rüh - i« mich doch an, und ruh ■ vt mich doch an, o komm. o komm!

Es ruh) sichkühl und sanft in meinen Ar - men. do

u . > «fwr ##
A ^ ^ ^ u^ ^

» ♦ ^

rufst! Ich will mich- det - ner_ Qua» er • bar • men.

< ÜP
/^P> J^>

^ ^J 'J J U 'H
|

; '
j
96 COLLEGE MUSIC SYMPOSIUM

thetwo-voice version,butat theend I shallalso look at thedifferences betweenthe

two.19
We canunderstand thissongas movingfromCi minortoB^majorbyfollowing an
RP cycle,a chainofalternating R andP relations totheonediscussedinExample
similar
6. In termsofharmonic motionthepiecefallsintotwohalves.Therelevant harmonies
aremarkedon thescore(Ex. 8) withasterisks, andthenextracted intoExample9. In
thefirsthalf(mm.1-18)Schubert establishesQ minor(mm.1-4) andthenalternates
between A+ andE+. A+, as a localtonic,is moststronglysuggestedbythehalfcadence
to E7 (m. 9) and theweak internal cadenceto A+ (m. 15). E+, as a local tonic,is
suggested inthecadencein measures12 and 13,andbythetimewe reachmeasure17
we knowwe areheadedtowarda cadenceto E+ (expectedat m. 19). Throughout this
section,recurringBis inthemelodyatthebeginning ofgestures(mm.8, 10,15) remind
us thatbothA+ andE+ aretobe understood inreferencetotheci- originaltonic.This
firsthalf,then,remainsentirely understandable tonic.Indeed,
intermsofa controlling
sinceE+ winsoutoverA+, theresulting motionfromci-toE+ is themotionfromi toIII
in a
expected piece in minor.

undderTod."
Example9. Reductionof"Der Jüngling

ram.1-4 m.9 mm.12-13 m. 15 (m. 19 m. 19 mm.19-22 m.27 m.31

a * A expected) ,

l¿T*g i i « (I) ing ,; Fs g fl

c* V/A E A e G B>
-
(E) g

i4¥'Si ■doni).^E-_i'Li-|, i
m.m1-18 m. 19 mm.I9-26 mm.27-30 nun.31-33

R P / RPR

RP

In thesecondhalfofthepiece(mm.19-33)themotionis verydifferent. Insteadof

establishinga tonicandwavering between twoapparently subordinate the
triads, second
halfmovessteadilythrough an RP cycle.The E+ triadexpectedat thecadencein
measure19 is replacedwithan e- triad(beat2, a P relation),
whichimmediatelygives
way to G+ (beat4, an R G+
relation). is prolonged for severalmeasures
(mm. 20-27),
confirmed bythecadencetomeasure22 andthehalfcadenceinmeasure24. Fromthis

19TheNeue Schubert-Ausgabe gives the duet as the firstversion(pp. 108-9) and the solo as the second
version(pp. 110-12). Similarly,Otto Erich Deutsch,SchubertThematicCatalogue, 239, says the duet came
As withmostsuch interpretations
firstand the solo versionis the alternate. the argument is symmetrical. I will
argue that the changes made in the solo version are to compensate for the sense of completionlost by
transposingtheendingand disrupting theRP cycle.If in factthesolo versioncame first,thenthesame changes
would reflectthe enhancedsense of completionachievedby followingthe RP cycle.
 TWO NEO-RIEMANNIANANALYSES 97

halfcadencethemusicpreparesa strongconfirming cadenceto G+ in measure27.

However,as withtheexpectedE+ in measure19,theexpectedG+ in measure27 is
replacedwithits parallel,g-. Unlikethee- in measure19, theg- in measure27 is
established forseveralmeasures(mm.27-30).ItgiveswaytoBM-(an R relation)with
thearrival ofF natural inthevoiceinmeasure3 1, andthepieceendswiththeresolution
ofF7 toBi>+in thenextmeasure(mm.31-33).
TheideaoftheRP cyclecanhelpus understand whythevariouspartsofthepiece
soundas thoughtheybelongtogether in theorderin whichtheyoccur.Although the
piece vacillates at firstbetween L or R
movingby (toA+) by (toE+), finally it commits
to R. Indeed,it commitsto R and P, sincethecadencearriveson e- insteadof the
expectedE+. Fromtherethecontinued alternationofR andP givesthepiecea senseof
direction andhelpsitholdtogether.
The problemremains, however,of how B4- can providean end fora piece that
started inct-;thatis,whythepiecesoundsas though itis over,andnotas though itjust
stopped.Following the voice leading of theserelations on themaximally-smooth map
(Ex. 7) canhelpus answerthatquestion.In short, thepiecefollowsthevoiceleadingof
thatmap,andendswhenitreturns toa triadinthesameorientation as itstarted.Usually
we thinkofthereturn ofpitchas thereturn thatprovidesa senseofendingin music.
However, sinceusingthevoice-leading mapwecannowdistinguish amongtheorienta-
tionsoftriads, thepossibility arisesthatthereturn oforientation cancreatethatsenseof
ending. A return to a triadin thesame orientation as the originalallowseach voiceto
return, not to itsoriginalpitch, butto its function
original (root,third, fifth)withinthe
triad.
In thissongthevoiceleadingoftheRP cycleis madequiteaudibleandthecorrect
orientation ofeachtriadis emphasized, as summarized in thereduction in Example9
(thepathcanbe mosteasilytracedonEx. 7 bystarting attheci-inthetoprownearthe
rightedge and movinggenerally SW). In addition,the fact thateachvoicehasreturned
toitsoriginal triadic function is emphasized by melodic contour. Ateachsteparoundthe
cycle,thedisplacement ofa singlevoiceanditsmotiontoa newpitchis clearlyarticu-
lated.Further, ateachstepthevoiceandtheright handofthepianocombinetoempha-
sizethecorrect orientation oftheunderlying triad.
Thepianointroduction is themosttonallysecurepassageinthepiece.Itestablishes
fourmeasuresofuncontested Q minor.Morespecifically, theleap to Q in measure2
establishes O as thehigheststructural voice,whilevoiceson GtandE are started in
measure1.Although ct- the triadof Example 9 does not actuallyoccur on the surface,
thefirstfourmeasureselaboratect-in thatorientation. This orientation is thencon-
firmed bythemelody, whichleapsfromGftoQ (mm.4-5) andthendescendstoGf(m.
6) and finally to E (m. 7), havingfirstleaptback to Q (m. 7) to remindus of the
continuing presenceofthatvoice.20
Thefirst steparoundtheRP cycle,themovebyR toE+, is achievedbydropping
In
theCtto B. thesong,E+ firstarrivesin measure13 as theendofthesecondleg of
a sequence.The sequencemelodically emphasizesthedisplacement ofQ (m. 10) and
20TheE in m. 7 is merelyremindingus of theoriginalregister of "thevoice thatstartedon E." The more
Dt to whichit resolves(m. 8, pn., rh) is of coursea largerlevel motionwithinthatsame voice.
"structural"
98 COLLEGE MUSIC SYMPOSIUM

A (m. 11) byB (m. 12) andG# (m. 13) respectively. Although theB inmeasure12is part
ofa B7 chord(V/E),whenE+ arrivesinmeasure13 thecorrect orientation is doubled
an octavelowerin thepianorighthand.E+ occursagainin thecorrect orientation and
in
now thecorrect octave in measure 18 (with E and Qt in thepiano,rh, and B in the
voice),as thepiecepreparesfortheconfirming cadenceexpectedin measure19.
Thenextsteparoundthecycleis themovebyP fromE+ toe-,whichis achievedby
displacement ofGfbyQ. Thisdisplacement is emphasized bythesubstitution ofthee-
fortheexpectedE+ in measure19,juxtaposingtheexpectedG» withtheactualO\.
Further, e- occursin exactlythecorrectorientation andregister at theconfirming ca-
denceon beattwoof measure19.
As mentioned above,e- movesimmediately byR to G+, a moveaccomplished by
thedisplacement ofE to D. Thisoccursbetweenthethirdandfourth beatsofmeasure
19,andis doubledforemphasisas covertonesinthemelody. Thecorrect orientation of
theG+ triadis presented inthepianoright handonbeat4. As intheE+ section, thevoice
returns to B (m. 22) andthepianoechoesit(m. 26). The B in m. 26 reminds us ofthe
correct orientation (originalregisters) of the in
voices, preparation for the confirming
cadenceintomeasure27. Again,as withtheE+ section, themovebyP fromG+ tog-is
accomplished byreplacing theexpectedG+ inmeasure27 byg-,thusexplicitly displac-
ing BN with BK The correctregister and orientation of the triadarepresent in the piano
right hand(withB^doubledbelowforemphasis).
Finally, g-movesbyR toB4-,a moveaccomplished bythedisplacement ofG with
F inmeasures30-31. Theg-passageis largelya harmonization ofa descending G minor
B^
(or major) scalefrom B^ A F B
(m.27) through (m.27),G, (m.28), (m.29), (m.30), D
C (m. 31), toBk Thiseffectively displacestheoriginalregister downan octaveforthe
finaltriad.This movewas preparedby thedisplacement of theE+ triadat its first
appearance(m. 13). The displacement ofG toF thusoccursin itsnowcorrect octave,
inthetenor(mm.30-31).Itis emphasized bythedoubledG inmeasure30 whichallows
us to hearthesurpriseF naturalin themelodyas an octavedoublingof theF that
displacestheG.TheF inmeasure3 1 arrivesas partofa cadential £ TJiisresolvestoB^+
inthecorrect orientation, whichis repeated twicetobringthepiecetoa close.Thusthe
identity of thethree voices is audible and distinct throughout thepiece.
In additionto emphasizing theorientations ofthetriadsandthevoice-leading dis-
placements betweenthem,Schubertalso emphasizesthereturn of each voice to its
originalfunction within thetriad.Thisreturn is brought outbya retrograde ofmelodic
contour betweenthefirst andlastphrases.Themelodyopenswitha leapupfrom5 (GO
to 1 (Q) followedby a scalardescent(mm.4-7). The melodyendswitha leap down
from5 (F) to 1 (B^), precededby a scalarascent(mm.28-33). This retrograde of
melodiccontour drawsattention tothecorrespondence ofinitialQ tofinalBKandtheir
analogouspositionsas rootsof theirrespective triads.In addition,sincetheF in the
melodyis anoctavedoublingofthestructural F belowit,theretrograde emphasizes that
thestructural voicethatstarted on 5 (Gt)is nowagainon 5 (F). Again,itis worth noting
thatoncethefinalvoice-leading moveis completed andtheBk-triadestablished, the
pieceis over.The pianomerelyrepeatstheB^+ triadseveraltimes.Thisreinforces the
argument thatthe return of the original orientation creates thesense of being over.
 TWO NEO-RIEMANNIANANALYSES 99

Two smallissuesremain.First,I have arguedthatthereasontheBM-can be a

convincing endingfora piecethatstarted inc#- is that,withinthecontext ofthemaxi-
mally smooth LRP map, the BM-triad provides for a returnofthe originalorientation of
thevoices.Thevoicethatstarted ontonicis againontonic,etc.However,thenextstep
aroundthecycle,b>-,is also inthesameorientation, andwouldthusseemtobe ableto
provide the same closure. Indeed, since the BH- passagesetsthewordsof "derTod"
andthereis a longtradition ofsetting deathinminor, ty-mightseemthemoreobvious
ending.Further, sinceearlierexpectedarrivalson majortriads(E+ andG+) hadbeen
elidedandhadslippedtotheparallelminor, a listener wouldhavebeenwellprepared for
a similarelidingofBM-andan endon bk In thecontextoftheRP cyclethough, BM-
remains thebetter stopping point.Movingontob>-wouldre-introduce thepitchD>(i.e.,
Q), theoriginal tonicpitch.Thiscouldoverwhelm theabilityofthereturn oftheoriginal
orientationto createa senseofending,byre-instating theexpectation ofthereturn of
theoriginaltriad.
The secondissuehas to do withtheotherversionofthepiece,fora singlevoice.
My argument has beenthattheexplicitmotionthrough theRP cycle(or at leaststep-
wisemotionon themaximally smoothLRP map)createdthecontext forthereturn of
theoriginalorientation toprovidea senseofending.In arranging thesongfora single
voicehowever, Schubert transposed thepartof"DerTod"upa fifth, thusdisrupting the
RP cycle(andthestep- wisemotionon themap).Atfirst glancethefactthatSchubert
coulddisrupt thismotionseemsto suggestthatitwasn'tso important afterall. How-
ever,a closer look at the changes he made suggests otherwise.
The mostobviouschangeis thatSchubert tackedon to theendthreemeasuresof
cadentialformulae (Ex. 10, mm. 32b-34b). In addition, he rewrote thefiguration inthe
transition
(mm.24b-26b).Finally,
A A
Schubert disrupts the melodic The
retrograde. melody
nowendswitha leap from5 to 3.
These changescan together be understood as compensation fortheloss of the
senseof endingthathad comefromthereturn of theoriginalorientation. The three
measuresofaddedcadentialgestures rhetorically reinforcethesenseofendingthatis
lostbythedisruption oftheRP cycle.Therewritten inthetransition
figuration prepares
theotherwise unprepared cadential gestures. in
Finally, leap themelodyfrom5 to3
the
breakstheparallelism thathadhelpedus focusonthereturn ofeachvoicetoitsoriginal
function.Breaking this
parallelism can be seen as an attempttodistract us from(orat
leaststopdrawing ourattention to) thefunctions of thevoices,and the factthattheRP
cyclethathadgiventhosefunctions meaninghasbeendisrupted.
In "Der Jüngling undderTod,"then,theabsenceof a singlecontrolling tonicis
madeup forby theuse of an RP cycle.The sensethatthepartsof thepiece belong
together,andintheorderinwhichtheyoccur,thatis usuallycreatedbyunderstanding
thosepartsas elaborating a tonic,can notbe thuscreatedherebecauseofthelackofa
single tonic. the
Instead, purposeful motionaroundan RP cyclecreatesthatsense.
Similarly,thesenseofcompleteness attheendusuallycreatedbya return tothetonicis
herecreatedbythereturn ofeachvoiceto itsfunction withina triad.
100 COLLEGE MUSIC SYMPOSIUM

Example10. "DerJüngling
undderTod"alternate
ending.
2i (Der Jüngling.J 24b

ruh - re mich doch an. und ruh - re mich doch a«, o komm, o komm?

25b DerTod.

■ ' ' ''H1 I' ' ' ' II ' ' in'
|j' Es ruht sich kühl
''MM
und sanft in meiivne» Ar-me«, du rufst. ich will mich-

Ij j
l'">jJ]i[jNfljJ] ij j i i
lJf ." I' ■' [' ?"^=■
30b

iyd-JJrü"1"
iÍlI ff .1.. 1 I ,
dei - ncr«_Qua! er - bar ... - meo?

ä» > >

' "
♦ W 'W "&■
's*/

The secondpiecewe willexamine,"Trost,"D. 523 fromJanuary 1817,is simi-

larlylackinga globaltonic.However,unlikethethrough-composed "DerJüngling und
withfourstanzasoftextsettothesamestanzaof
derTod,""Trost"is setstrophically,
music.21Thus in additionto theissuesraisedby thelack of tonic,thispiece has to
addresstheissueofhowto makethesameshortstanzaofmusicremaininteresting as
ofa
itis repeatedfourtimes.I willsuggestthatthissonguses variouscharacteristics
differentkindofcycletofirst onekeyforthestanza,thendestabilize
establish thatkey,
andthenestablisha differentkey.
2'The of lines of textamongthe stanzas,resultingin the firstline beingset to each of thefour
repetition
lines of music,positivelybegs speculationsabouttext-musicrelations.
 TWO NEO-RIEMANNIANANALYSES 101

Thecycleusedin "Trost"can be calledan LRP cycle.An LRP cycleis anyofthe

hexagonsthatmakeup theLRP map(Ex. 3) andthususes all threebasicneo-Rieman-
nianrelations.The specificcycleusedin "Trost"is shownin Example11.LRP cycles
havetwocharacteristics particularlyworthy of noteindependentof anyactualmusic.
The first,whichhas beennotedby RichardCohn,is thattheyuniteall six triadsthat
sharea singlepitchintoa singlecycle.22In thecase ofthecyclefrom"Trost,"all the
triadsin thecyclesharethepitchB. Such a cycletherefore providesthemaximum
variety ofconsonant supportfora singlepitch.23The secondcharacteristic
ofthecycles
is thatthetriadsin themform"opposite-mode that
arpeggiations;" is, therootsofthe
majortriads inthecycleform a minor triad our
(in case,E+, G+, B+) andtherootsofthe
minortriadsforma majortriad(in ourcase,e-,gt-,b-).

Example11. LRP cycleof"Trost."

L/gl~\R

E+ B+

P P

(e-) b-

The scoreof"Trost,"is shownas Example12.24The songbeginsin Gtminorand

endsin E major.However,at leastat thebeginning of thesecondstanza,thereis a
feelingof returnto as
gt- tonic.25We thusneverhear E majordisplaceGtminorwithin
we hearthefirst
a singlestanza(as inEx. 13a). Rather, stanzaandthebeginning ofthe
secondinGtminor, we hearthefourth stanzainE major,andsomewhere inthesecond
andthirdstanzaswe switchourinterpretation of theentirestanza(as in Ex. 13b).As
statedabove,thepieceusesvariouscharacteristics ofthecycletoaccomplish thisshift,
includingthecommontoneandtheopposite-mode Thefirst
arpeggiation. timethrough,
22Richard Cohn, "Neo-RiemannianOperations,"pp. 42-45.
23"Consonant support"is used here by analogyto Schenkeriananalysis.As withthe orientations in the
previousanalysisit says nothingaboutthepositionof thetriads.It meansmerelythattheLRP cycle provides
a contextin whicha singlepitch-class can be accompaniedby each of thesix consonanttriadsin whichit occurs.
24HaraldKrebs,"Alternatives to Monotonality,"describes"Trost"froma Schenkerianperspectiveas in
E major,and assertsthatthereis a descentfrom5 in thelastmeasures.As I discusslater,I can notfinda descent
withappropriatesupportfromB.
25Thisis easiestto hear if you listenwithoutthe score. The score visuallyemphasizesthatthisis all the
musicthereis and thatit endsin E major,in a way thatcouldnotbe aurallypresentbutthatinevitably influences
our hearing.I recommendlisteningwithoutthe score but thinkingabout wheretonicis, untilabout the third
stanza,at whichpointmostpeople will have shiftedto hearingthe stanzain E majorand seeingthe scorewill
not undulyinfluencethem.
102 COLLEGE MUSIC SYMPOSIUM

themoreimmediate characteristics Q minor.As we repeatthe

of thecyclereinforce
stanzawe focuson different
aspectsof thecycleand thereby weakenG»minor,and,
finally,
bytheendwe focuson still
other and
aspects thereby E major.
establish

Example12. "Trost"entirescore.

I Langsam,mitschwärmerischer
Sehnsucht.
P , MX ... . i , . I - H h K K 1
Sin«sürnme- J,
^T»! j [J j> j jt lj [> 1p- JJ J'^
Kitn - mcr lar» - gc weit' ich hier, btn - - me bald hin •
Korn - me biUd hin - auf /.« dir, Schmer - - - zen. Qua - ten,

***f * ifT~Mt if > \fjpf i

Pianoforte. jfp pp

|3=V*<J, J 1J J J J 1J * lj I

fJ üA
' i . i-ai . ,i . i K i 1 . t,- i i.- - .-i
■■'
^ -^^_J'
*"
»'»^ jJ11't{¿
J"'1' t|#> ' " I*-1 baa» '■ I ■■-■
■■
-p--1y
auf zu dir; tief und still fiik! ich's in mir: hirn-
für und ftir
_-_-___ wü - ihcn in den 8a - sen mir; kotn-

rTf ig it rrpj^M^ irr

,

11
- '
-" "
ffi»' r p 1r *rr J^> ^ j J1J * l l1 > ,11
fl
KlHA-_. . I . _. U L I KI , - I - I -

mer Jan - - - ge weil' ich hier.

tTic h^M hiß * ft*if zu dir

TiefundMiliftihfich'sinmir Nimmerlangeweil'ichhier.
Eine«heissenDrangesGier Kommebaldhinaufzu dir;
Zehn âie Flamm'ininnen)hier, Tiefu&dstillMiV ich'sin mir:
Ttefundstillfühl"
kh's inmir. Nimmer langeweil*ichhier.

Example13a.Understanding
themovefromO minortoE majorwithin
a singlestanza.

Stanza
I I
gl- E+
 TWO NEO-RIEMANNIANANALYSES 103

theentirestanzafirstas Gtminor,
Example13b.Understanding thenas E major,as it
repeats.
Stanza1 Stanza2 Stanza3 Stanza4
I 11 11 Ii I
gl
E+

ApartfromaspectsoftheLRP cycle,therearetworeasonsforhearingthereturn
ofgt-atthebeginning ofthesecondstanzaas a returntotonic.The first
is simplythat
thestanzais so short.Ithasonlybeenabout30 secondssincethebeginning, so we still
havethesoundof Gtminorin ourear,and it seemstoo earlyforan initialkeyto be
displaced.Thesecondreasonis thatwe havehadno realreasontogiveup on Gl minor
as globaltonic;thekeyswe havetouchedonmakegoodsenseinGtminor. As shownin
Example 14 the stanza each
presents ofthefour linesoftextin a key(oron a
different
different
triad)with two ofthechangesmediated an
by interpolated chord.The firstline
is inGtminor,thesecondinB major,thethird inG major,andthefourth inE major.The
movebetweenB majorand G majoris mediatedby an interpolated b-,andthemove
fromG majortoE majoris mediated byan interpolatedB7.

of"Trost."
Example14.Reduction

m, 1 ra. 4 m. 6 m. 7 m. 11 m. 12
line 1 line2 line3 line4

, 1. 1. I I. L
lv"ii"»
gt B (b) G <B7) E
gfc i »III (iii) bVÍ/IH (VAVI) ^Vl
E: iii V (v) III (V) I

move,fromgt-toB+, is exactlywherewe mightexpecttomovefromi to

Thefirst
III, andsupports ourinitialimpression ofgt-as tonic.ThemovefromB+ toG+ thenis I
toWI within III, andforSchubert the move to^VIis a commonplacetogo,especiallyin
a secondkeyarea.26Finally, E+ is simplyi»VIof theoriginalgt-tonic,and boththe
chordshelpus hearitas such.The b- interpolated
interpolated betweenB+ andG+ in
measure6 presents G+ explicitly as ^VIofa minortriad,preparingus tohearE+ as t>VT
oftheminorglobal tonicgt-. The B7 between
interpolated G+ and E+ helpsus hearE+
as tVIintwoways.First,byalludingtotheB+ ofthesecondline,itsuggests thattheB+
26Forinstance, thinkof the second themes of the C Major Quintet,D. 956, or the G Major Quartet, D. 587.
And, if it seems too early in the piece to move to a "second theme," thinkof the move to ^VI in the firsttheme
of the B-flat Sonata, D. 960.
104 COLLEGE MUSIC SYMPOSIUM

andG+, thepreviousI^VI pairing, forma closedareawithintheglobaltonic.Second,

bytransforming III ofgt-intoa secondarydominant,theB7 introducesE+ as explicitly
whatIII is V of.At thesametimeit suggeststhatE+ shouldbe
''VI,thatis, explicitly
understood onthesamelevelas thepreviousB+, andtherefore subordinatetotheglobal
gt-.
In addition,though, as statedabove,thetriadsthrough whichthepiecetravelsform
anLRP cycle(alreadyshowninExample11),andtwoaspectsofthatcyclehelpus hear
thegt-ofthesecondstanzaas a return to tonic.The firstis thesimplefactthatitis a
cycle, andthat thereforethe return to gt-completes it.A return tosomething thatis also
a completion ofa processis a passabledefinition ofa tonic,andthusthecompletion of
thecycleachievedbythereturn ofgt-helpsus heargt-as tonic.
The otheraspectof thecyclewe noticein thefirststanzais thecommonpitch
sharedbyall thetriadsinthecycle,inthiscase B. Themelodyprojects thevoiceleading
showninExample14,andemphasizesthesharedB. B firstappears measure3, as 3
in
inGtminor, andis tiedintotheB+ triadonthenextbeat.The sameB returns attheend
ofthethird lineinG+, whereitis againtied,thistimethrough theinterpolated B7 toE+.
Thusthemelodyexplicitly uses B as a link between two pairs of triads from thecycle,
andthussupports B withfourdifferent triads(fiveifyouincludetheb- inm.6).
BecauseB is introduced as 3 ofGtminor, andis supported throughout thestanza,a
Schenkerian hearing wouldlead us to expect some sortof descent from B. We emphati-
callydo notgetit.WhenE majoris reachedin measure12,B drifts chromatically up,
andthemelodycompletesa descentfromGt,apparently in an innervoice(m. 13).As
soon as thisdescenthas arrivedat E in measure13, thepianoreasserts theB in the
sameregister. ThisB nowinitiates a fifth descentoveran E pedal,andthistime,simul-
taneouswiththedescent'slandingon E, thepianoreasserts B intheproperregister (m.
16). In otherwords, the cadence in E is to
major arranged emphasize that B does not
resolve.This undercuts thecadenceto E+ in thefirststanza.It may be the strongest
cadenceto anything yetin the piece, but because B does not resolve, itis apparently a
subordinate cadence.Thusatthebeginning ofthesongthemostapparent aspectsof the
LRP cycle(itscyclicity andcommonpitch)combinewiththebrevity ofthestanzaand
its apparentsensein Gt minorto helpus hearthegt-at thebeginning of thesecond
stanzaas a return to tonic.
However,as thesongcontinues through itssecondandthird stanzas,we continue to
movearoundthesameLRP cycle.Thiscontinued motionaroundthecycleundercuts
thesenseofcompletion associatedwiththereturn ofGt.Itis notunlikemovingthrough
a whole-tone scale.On thefirst completion ofan octavethereis a senseofcompletion,
or "tonicity." However,witheach additionalstepthrough thescale thereis a similar
senseof completion of an octave,and eventually we realizethatno noteis a better
completion thananyothernote.Anypointon thescale couldserveequallywell as a
stopping point.A slightly tighter analogymaybe to an octatonicscale.Whilewe may
prefer notesapproached byhalf-step tonotesapproached bywhole-step (orviceversa),
therearestillfoursuchequivalentstopping points.With the LRP cycle,whilewe can
distinguish betweentriadsapproached byL, R,orP,(although withlessintuitive prefer-
 TWO NEO-RIEMANNIANANALYSES 105

enceforanyapproach)we stillhavetwoofeach.Thusthecontinued motionthrough

thecycleundercuts thesenseofcompletion achievedbythefirst triparound theloop.
Atthesametimethatthecontinued is the
cycling undercutting tonicity gi-,we are
of
also beginning torealizethatthesongis stanzaic,thatwe haveheardall themusicwe
aregoingto,andthatwe aregoingtoendinE major.Wetherefore reinterpretthefixed
unitofmusicwe havebeenhearing, thestanza,as presenting E major,and againtwo
aspectsoftheLRP cyclehelpus do this.
The firstaspectis theopposite-mode arpeggiation. In E majorwe understand the
motionthrough B+, G+, and E+ as V- ^III-I, or an opposite-mode of
arpeggiation the
tonicE. Thus,whilefocusing on thecommontoneB helpedus holdontothegl-tonic,
focusing on theopposite-mode arpeggiation helpsus reinterpret thestanzainE major.
Theotherwaythecyclehelpsus is bythefactthatthee- triadis missing. Wementioned
theb- triadthatwas interpolated betweenB+ andG+ andthathelpsmakethemotion
aroundthecycleexplicit. Thefifth triadofthecycle,e-,is conspicuously absent(indeed,
is replacedbytheinterpolated B7). This missing triad marks E+ as fromall the
different
othersinthecycle.As we travel around the cycle each triad
is approached byitsimme-
diatepredecessor exceptforE+. Evengl-,thefirst triadofthepiece,is approached, as
we cyclethrough thestanzas,byitspredecessor, E+.
Becauseofthevoiceleadinginthecycle,eachtriadmovestothenextthrough the
displacement ofa singlepitch.Becausee- is missing, themotionfromG+ directly toE+
involvestwodisplacedpitches(D toE andG toQ). Thisis analogoustothetraditional
displacement oftwopitchesinthemovefromV toI, andindeedtheinterpolated B7 can
helpus heartheparallelism. E+ is therefore marked as uniqueinthecycle,anduniquein
a manneranalogousto beingprecededby V. Thustheuse of theLRP cyclehelpsus
finallyhearE+ as theglobaltonic.
Overthecourseofthesongthen,whiletheinitialcompletion ofthecycleandthe
unresolved commontoneB helpus hearthefirst stanzaandatleastthebeginning ofthe
secondinGl minor, andwhilethecontinued motionaroundthecyclebeginstoundercut
theeffect of Q minor, theopposite-mode arpeggiation and thefactthate- is missing
fromthecyclehelpus to hearE+ as finallytheglobaltonic.The songstartswitha
stanzaunderstood in Gl minor,and endswiththesame stanza,now understood in E
major.The repetition of thatstanzafocusesourattention on different aspectsof the
cycle,causing us to change our interpretation of the stanza,from Gl minor,toE major.
Together these two a
songsprovide good introduction tothe openedup
possibilities
byneo-Riemannian relations.Theharmonic motion ofthesesongs,whichis problematic
intraditionaltheories, is intuitively simplewiththeneo-Riemannian operations(i.e.,it
tracessimplepatterns on theLRP map). Furthermore, by not having a well-defined
tonic,thesesongsillustrate howtheuse oftheneo-Riemannian operationscan address
compositional goals(creating thefeeling thatthepartsbelongtogether, andthefeeling of
completion at the end)usually addressed with a tonic. Finally,withthe "orientations"in
theRP cycleandthesustained commontone of the LRP cycle,these songsdemonstrate
that,despitetheapparent focuson harmony, thoseoperations also derivetheirinterest
fromcontrapuntal voiceleading.Thesebriefsongsprovidea usefulmeansofaddress-
106 COLLEGE MUSIC SYMPOSIUM

ingandovercoming thecommonresistances
totransformational
theorybyofferingac-
cessibleillustrations andusefulconceptsinthattheory.
ofsomeoftheimportant

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