Tonality and Expression in Two

TONALITY AND EXPRESSION IN TWO CHORAL-ORCHESTRAL WORKS BY
JOAQUÍN RODRIGO
by
Terrance D. Pitt-Brooke
__________________________
Copyright © Terrance D. Pitt-Brooke 2019
A Document Submitted to the Faculty of the
FRED FOX SCHOOL OF MUSIC
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of
DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS
In the Graduate College
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
2019

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prepared by Terrance D. Pitt-Brooke. titled Tonality and Expression in Two Choral
Orchestral Worb by Joachin Rodrigo and recommend that it be accepted as fulfiUing the
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STATEMENT BY AUTHOR
This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University
Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library.
Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission,
provided that an accurate acknowledgement of the source is made. Requests for
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or in part may be granted by the copyright holder.
SIGNED: Terrance D. Pitt-Brooke
3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work would not have been possible but through the generous efforts of a great many
supporters. Although I could not possibly name them all, I would like to extend my
gratitude to the following:
The members of my advisory committee:

Bruce Chamberlain, John Brobeck, Elizabeth Schauer,
Thomas Cockrell, and Chad Nicholson
Meg Lota Brown, Director of the University Fellows Program,

for her unflagging encouragement and support
Members of the Arizona Choir, players for my Lecture Recital,

and my graduate choral conducting colleagues for their help
My parents, brother David, daughter Amelia and son Aidan,

for being there when I needed them,
and for waiting for me while I pursued this goal.
4
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES....................................................................................7
LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES ......................................................................................8
ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................10
Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................11

Thesis Statement ......................................................................................................11
Review of Scholarly Literature ................................................................................12
Biography .................................................................................................................14
CHAPTER 2 MÚSICA PARA UN CÓDICE SALMANTINO .......................................18

Introduction to the Work ..........................................................................................18
Analytic Synopsis .....................................................................................................19
Form .........................................................................................................................29
Formal Plan ..............................................................................................................33
Catalog of Characteristic Compositional Features ...................................................36
Non-Dominant Harmonic Succession.............................................................36
Common-tone modulations .............................................................................38
Bitonality.........................................................................................................39
Lydian Mode ...................................................................................................40
Open Cadences ...............................................................................................40
Echo ................................................................................................................40
Flamenco Resources .......................................................................................41
CHAPTER 3 CÁNTICO DE SAN FRANCISCO DE ASÍS ............................................43

Introduction to the Work ..........................................................................................43
Analytic Synopsis .....................................................................................................43
Form .........................................................................................................................48
Catalog of Characteristic Compositional Features ...................................................51
Tonal Symbolism .............................................................................................51
Harmonic Movement by Common Tone .........................................................53
Bitonality.........................................................................................................53
Mode ...............................................................................................................56
Characteristic Sonorities ................................................................................57
Root Succession ..............................................................................................58
Deceptive or Suspenseful Section Breaks .......................................................60
Pedals .............................................................................................................60
Melodic Materials and Their Use ...................................................................62
Textures...........................................................................................................64
Text-Painting and Leitmotif ............................................................................67
CHAPTER 4 COMPARING THE TWO WORKS—

EVOLUTION OR ADAPTATION? ..................................................................68
5
CHAPTER 5 SUMMATION AND CONCLUSION ........................................................72
APPENDIX A Text and line-by-line translation of

Música para un códice Salmantino .....................................................................73
APPENDIX B “Introduction to the Work by the Author” of

Música para un códice Salmantino...................................................................744
APPENDIX C Rodrigo’s program note for Música para un códice Salmantino ...........766
APPENDIX D Text and Translation of Cántico de San Francisco de Asís ...................788
APPENDIX E Motivic Catalog for Cántico de San Francisco de Asís ...........................79
APPENDIX F Copyright permission from EJR for

Música para un códice Salmantino.....................................................................83
APPENDIX G Copyright permission from EAMDC for

Cántico de San Franciso de Asís ........................................................................87
REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................89
Books, Articles, Dissertations and Online Sources ..................................................89
Musical Scores .........................................................................................................90
6
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
Table 1. Stanza-end formula occurrences in Música para un códice Salmantino ............31
Figure 1. Analytic Chart for Música para un códice Salmantino .....................................35
Figure 2. Comparison of the harmony of the Stanza-end formula (mm. 91-95) ..............37
Figure 3. Analytic Chart for Música para un códice Salmantino ......................................46
Table 2. Key associations in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís .......................................52
Table 3. Deceptive or suspenseful cadences in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís...........60
Table 4. Points of imitation in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís ....................................66
Table 5. Comparison of compositional features of Música para un códice Salmantino

and Cántico de San Francisco de Asís ................................................................69
7
LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES
Example 1. Introito subject of Música para un códice Salmantino (mm. 1-9) .................20
Example 2. First entry of solo bass in Música para un códice Salmantino

(mm. 69-76) ..................................................................................................22
Example 3. First occurrence of Stanza-end formula in

Música para un códice Salmantino (mm. 79-81) .........................................23
Example 4. Solo bass and string interplay in Música para un códice Salmantino
(mm. 88-90) .................................................................................................23
Example 5. Bitonality in Música para un códice Salmantino (mm. 128-136) ..................26
Example 6. Stanza-end formula in tenor and winds in

Música para un códice Salmantino (mm. 108-110) .....................................32
Example 7. Extended bass line descent in Música para un códice Salmantino

(mm. 154-167) ..............................................................................................32
Example 8. Internal quotation in Música para un códice Salmantino ...............................33
Example 9. Common-tone modulation in Música para un códice Salmantino

(mm. 153-155) ..............................................................................................38
Example 10. Element R in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (0:1) .................................43
Example 11. Element X in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (0:10-1:2) .........................44
Example 12. Element Y in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (1:3-4) ..............................44
Example 13. Element Z in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (4:2 to 7): .........................44
Example 14. Comparison of Ritornello with Spanish Phrygian and Hijâz Maqâm ..........45
Example 15. Germ passage Q in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (6:9-12)46
Example 16. Quasi-antiphon S in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís

(9:7-8) ..........................................................................................................48
Example 17. Germ passage Q in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (6:9-7:3),

all four choral voices. ....................................................................................50
Example 18. Common-tone modulation in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís

(11:10-12:1) ..................................................................................................53
Example 19. Element X in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (0:10-1:2) .........................54
8
Example 20. Coloristic bitonality in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (15:4-5) .............54
Example 21. “Angelic” bitonality in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (21:1-3) ............55
Example 22. Natural minor in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (19:3-7) ......................56
Example 23. Mixolydian in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (9:5-7) ............................56
Example 24. More mixolydian in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (18:3-6) .................57
Example 25. Falsobordone-like declamation in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís

(19:8-9) .........................................................................................................57
Example 26. Comparison of superposition of fifths, Cántico de San Francisco de Asís ..58
Example 27. Root succession by downward step in

Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (8:9). (Colla voce strings omitted.) .......58
Example 28. Auxiliary root motion in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (16:10 to 17:3)59
Example 29. Root motion by auxiliary and rising step in

Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (4:10-5:1) ...............................................59
Example 30. Element Y in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (1:3-4) .............................59
Example 31. Dissonant trill in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (13:3-8) ......................61
Example 32. Motif R1 in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (4:8-5:1) .............................62
Example 33. Beginning and end of first Q parody section in

Cántico de San Francisco de Asís ................................................................63
Example 34. Recapitulation of W in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (20:4) ................63
Example 35. Element Z of section I in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (4:2-7) ...........64
Example 36. Preview motif in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís ....................................65
9
ABSTRACT
Although simple in means and modest in both forces and proportions, the
choral-orchestral works of Joaquín Rodrigo charm the listener with a distinctive and
subtle approach to harmony and tonality. This study is an introduction to the harmonic
and tonal language of Joachín Rodrigo as shown in Música para un Códice Salmantino
(1953), the earliest of Rodrigo’s choral-orchestral works, and Cántico de San Francisco
de Asís (1982), his last. A comparison of the two works can give insight into the
evolution of this composer’s style over three decades.
Each work was analyzed in detail to build a catalog of compositional devices and
their expressive and formal significance. The two catalogs were then compared to answer
the question: do the differences show an evolution in Rodrigo’s compositional style? The
comparison reveals that the compositional language of the earlier work has been retooled,
with the addition of a few new techniques, to serve the needs of a very different text, and
that the main difference between the two settings is not a difference of technique, but of
expressive stance.
10
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Although simple in means, and modest in both forces and proportions, the
choral-orchestral works of Joaquín Rodrigo charm the listener with a distinctive and
subtle approach to harmony and tonality. This study is an introduction to the harmonic
and tonal language of Joaquín Rodrigo as shown in Música para un códice Salmantino.
(1953) and Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (1982), and an inquiry into which elements
of this language are essential, and which have evolved. In addition to harmony and
tonality, other elements of Rodrigo’s style will be considered, including texture,
registration, voice-leading, and orchestration. The aim is to connect Rodrigo’s use of
harmony, tonality and other compositional elements to the expressive qualities of his
choral-orchestral music. Each piece has been analyzed in detail to build a catalog of
compositional devices and their expressive and formal significance. The two catalogs are
then compared to answer the question: do the differences reveal an evolution in
Rodrigo’s compositional style?
Thesis Statement
Although separated by almost three decades, Joaquin Rodrigo’s choral-orchestral
works Música para un códice Salmantino (1953) and Cántico de San Francisco
de Asís (1982) share a distinctive compositional and harmonic language, within which
can be seen an evolution in the application of certain techniques.
11
Review of Scholarly Literature
Surprisingly, for one of the pre-eminent Spanish composers of the twentieth
century, the critical literature on Rodrigo’s music is scanty, and scholarship on his choral
music is nonexistent. The Choral Journal has never published an article on Rodrigo’s
works, nor can any dissertation on Rodrigo’s choral music be found in ProQuest
Dissertations and Theses Global. There exist some analyses of Rodrigo’s instrumental
music but while they raise interesting points, they are not detailed enough for a mapping
of compositional gesture to expressive result. Nevertheless, they provide starting points
for new lines of inquiry.
José A. Donis’s thesis on the influence of Rodrigo’s musicological studies on his
composition stresses the influence of Rodrigo’s study of sixteenth-century vihuela music,
quotation of works from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and his use of formal and
technical resources found in sixteenth through eighteenth century music.1 Another important
theme is the influence of casticismo and later, neocasticismo, an artistic movement seeking to
reflect and restore the glories of sixteenth-, seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Spanish art. 2
Donis’s analyses of Concierto de Aranjuez, Fantasia para un Gentilhombre and Concierto
Madrigal amply demonstrate the neocasticismo of Rodrigo’s composition, but are not
sufficiently detailed to demonstrate the connection between harmony and expression or to
1
José A Donis, “The Musicologist Behind the Composer: The Impact of Historical Studies Upon
the Creative Life in Joaquín Rodrigo’s Guitar Compositions” (MM thesis, Florida State University, 2005),
http://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/etd/709 (accessed October 30, 2016).
2
Casticismo is a term unique to Spanish culture. Tomás Marco, the noted scholar of twentieth
century Spanish music, says that the essence of Casticismo, as applied to music, is a love and respect for
“authentic traditional values and ethnic roots.” (Tomás Marco, Spanish Music in the Twentieth Century,
trans. Cola Franzen (Cambridge [MA]: Harvard University Press, 1993), 33). Neocasticismo, arising in the
years leading up to the Spanish Civil War (1936), added the element of cultural nostalgia—the desire to
restore the most glamorous aspects of Spanish culture from the golden ages of Spanish history, the fifteenth
to eighteenth centuries. Marco lists some of these: “aristocracy, majeza [nobility from eighteenth-century
Madrid], bullfights, saraos (festive regional parties), and guitar playing” (Marco, 129).
12
characterize Rodrigo’s distinctive harmonic language in its totality. 3 Donis notes that Rodrigo
weaves a variation of an idea from an earlier part of the Concierto Madrigal into a later
section. 4 This technique is also used Música para un Códice Salmantino, as when the
Subject of the Introito appears repeatedly as a ritornello and an accompaniment (and likewise
with the flute and horn ritornello of the Cántico). The “wrong-note” harmony noted by
Donis—the addition of major seventh or ninth degrees to chords—is found in abundance in
both choral works studied here.5
Although Lawrence Newcomb’s dissertation “The Six Works for Guitar
(or Guitars) and Orchestra by Joaquín Rodrigo” does not treat the harmonic language of
these works in any depth, he notes a fondness for the minor second dissonance as a
general trait of Rodrigo’s music, pointing out examples in the Adagio of the Concierto de
Aranjuez,6 in the guitar transcription of Sones en la Giralda,7 and in the Concierto para
una Fiesta.8 A sustained semitonal dissonance can be heard in mm. 98-108 of Música
para un códice Salmantino, as the strings and harp sustain a C-G-A¨ pedal while the other
voices proceed through a succession of harmonies in C minor. The very same pedal
shows up in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís in the same instruments in the musical
3
Donis, “The Musicologist,” 63-91.
4
Ibid., 84.
5
Ibid., 86.
6
Lawrence B. Newcomb, “The Six Works for Guitar (or Guitars) and Orchestra by Joaquín
Rodrigo” (PhD diss., University of Florida, 1998), 59. In ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global,
http://ezproxy.library.arizona.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy3.library.arizona.edu/docvie
w/304425474?accountid=8360 (accessed November 12, 2016).
7
Ibid., 98.
8
Ibid., 166.
13
representation of “our sister corporeal death” at m. 21:1. 9 Finally, in the last movement
of the Concierto de Aranjuez, mm. 104-106, Newcomb observes the same root
succession that occurs with great prominence in Música para un códice Salmantino:
scalewise root progression in groups of three. 10
Biography
Any attempt to enumerate the most important Spanish composers of the twentieth
century would have to include Joaquin Rodrigo. Beginning in the second year of the
century and ending in its last year, Rodrigo’s life encompassed almost the entire
twentieth century. Rodrigo had his primary training and his first great success in his
homeland before departing for a period of study in France. In Paris he studied
composition with Paul Dukas (1865-1935), and musicology at the Sorbonne. Rodrigo
returned to Spain after the Spanish Civil War to find a country depleted of many of its
most talented young composers. He became the leading light of neocasticismo, the
artistic movement that found inspiration in the glories of Spain’s Golden Age—the
sixteenth through eighteenth centuries. In the second half of the century, Rodrigo
inherited the mantle that Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) had worn in the first—of the most
respected, senior composer in the country. In Rodrigo, the folkloric sounds of Spain, his
exposure to the vibrant core of twentieth-century music in Paris, and his study of and
respect for pre-common-practice music fused in a perfect synthesis.
9
The score of Cántico de San Francisco de Asíś, published by Schott, has no bar numbers. To
specify points in the score, I use rehearsal figures and bar numbers starting with that figure, thus “9:1” is
the first measure of rehearsal figure 9. The very first bar of the score is “0:1”.
10
Newcomb, “The Six Works,” 76.
14
Rodrigo was deprived of his sight by diphtheria at the age of three, so study and
composition presented extraordinary challenges.11 Rodrigo’s accomplishments were
made possible by an exceptional partnership with his wife. Victoria Kamhi (1905-1997),
born into a prosperous Jewish family in Constantinople, showed an early aptitude for
both music and languages. She was studying piano in Paris in 1929 when a colleague of
Rodrigo’s asked her to translate a letter requesting the return of one of Joaquín’s scores
from a German conductor.12 In 1933 Joaquín and Victoria were married in Spain and she
began her life’s work as his amanuensis, editor, translator, librettist, and literary advisor.
Joaquín Rodrigo was born in the Valencian city of Sagunto on November 22,
1901, the son of landowner and businessman Vicente Rodrigo Pierats and Juana Vidre
Ribelles, and was the youngest son in a family of ten children. By the time he began
formal lessons with Francisco Antich (1860-1926) starting at age 14, Joaquín was already
a proficient pianist and violinist. The family employed a secretary, Rafael Ibáñez, to read
to Joaquín and copy his compositions. The success of his first orchestral work, Juglares,
and the Cinco Piezas Infantiles (which took second prize in the National Composition
Contest), emboldened Rodrigo to move to Paris in 1927 to further his studies. He enrolled
in the École Normale de Musique and studied for five years with Paul Dukas (1865-
1935), and, starting in the fall of 1935, musicology at the Sorbonne.13 Motivated by
deteriorating conditions in Paris, Joaquín and Victoria returned to Spain in 1939 and the
11
Rodrigo was legally blind from age three, although he could see color and light. An operation at
age 4 helped his vision a little—see Victoria Kamhi de Rodrigo, Hand in Hand with Joaquin Rodrigo: My
Life at the Maestro’s Side, trans. Ellen Wilkerson, Discoveries (Pittsburgh, PA: Latin American Literary
Review Press, 1992), 65.
12
Kamhi, Hand in Hand, 61.
13
In the spring of 1936, Rodrigo presented a paper “La Vihuela y los Vihuelistas en el Siglo XVI”
(“The Vihuela and Vihuelists in the Sixteenth Century”) (Kamhi, Hand in Hand, 91).
15
enormous success of the guitar concerto Concierto de Aránjuez (which premièred in
1940), propelled Joaquín to the first rank of Spanish composers and international
stardom.
Almost all of Rodrigo’s music bears the sonic stamp of his homeland. Of the
many dozens of songs he wrote, only a tiny handful are in French14 and the rest are in
Spanish. The images, ideas, and sentiments of Rodrigo’s music prior to the 1960s are
Spanish, and many of them, like Música para un Códice Salmantino, celebrate an
idealized vision of Spain’s past. 15 Whether you were a music fan or a patriot, Rodrigo
was easy to cheer for. When he returned to Spain in 1939, Rodrigo was one of the few
composers of the first rank still in the country. His activities as a teacher, public lecturer
and performer, educator for the blind, and critic, as well as his composing, helped ease
Spain’s musical isolation that started with beginning of the Spanish Civil War and
extended well beyond the end of the Second World War. He kept the Spanish thinking
about music and gave the world something positive to think about Spanish culture while
the institutions devastated by the Civil War could be rebuilt and a new generation of
composers could emerge.
That Rodrigo was a fundamentally conservative composer is well known. His art
is rooted in that of his Spanish predecessors, and his advanced training was with Dukas,
himself a conservative figure. It looks back to the golden era of Spanish glory, the
sixteenth through eighteenth centuries. In the concertos particularly, critics have accused
14
These were only written for popular publication in Paris with the hope of a quick payday when
funds were low (Ibid., 106).
15
Starting in the 1960s he participated in the worldwide fascination with the discovery of the Dead
Sea Scrolls with his work for three sopranos, men’s chorus and chamber orchestra Himnos de los Neófitos
de Qumrán, and in the 1970s, space exploration with the symphonic poem A la busca del más allá.
16
Rodrigo of repeating the same formula over and over.16 As Marco says, “He himself has
acknowledged his modest outlook, expressing it this way: ‘Even though my glass may be
small, I still drink from my own glass.’”17 It is this glass, which, while modest, contains
whole worlds of the imagination, that we now raise.
16
Raymond Calcraft, Grove Music Online, s.v. "Rodrigo, Joaquín,” https://doi-
org.ezproxy3.library.arizona.edu/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.23647 (accessed March 16,
2018); also, Marco, Spanish Music, 131.
17
Marco, Spanish Music, 132.
17
CHAPTER 2
MÚSICA PARA UN CÓDICE SALMANTINO
Introduction to the Work
The work was commissioned by the University of Salamanca to commemorate
the 700th anniversary of the granting of a Royal Charter by King Alfonso X in 1254, and
was premièred October 12, 1953 by soloist Joaquín Deus and conductor Odón Alonso.18
The text is drawn from Oda a Salamanca, by longtime Rector of the University, Miguel
de Unamuno (see Appendix A for the text and translation). Unamuno had published the
poem in his 1907 collection Poesías, and it reflected his conviction that renewal of
Spanish culture lay in rediscovering the “hidden history” 19 in the ancient places and
countryside of Spain:
For this ode of thirty-one stanzas, Unamuno uses the cuarteta sófica of
seventeenth-century poet and Latinist Esteban Manuel de Villegas: three
unrhymed hendecasyllables and a pentasyllable, thus opposing an ancient and
learned technique to the rhymed alexandrines of his modernist rivals.20
Thus, even the choice of text reflects Rodrigo’s dedication to casticismo as well as the
dedication of this particular work to the illustrious past of the University. Ten of the
original thirty-one stanzas were chosen for Rodrigo’s text.
Rodrigo’s “Analisis de la Obra por el Autor” (see Appendix B for this text and its
translation), published with the original edition of the score, emphasizes that Rodrigo’s
primary objective was “to evoke.” It confirms that the subject of the Introito has “cantiga
18
Enrique Martinez Miura, [Liner Notes from] Rodrigo Complete Orchestral Works [No.] 7:
Retablo de Navidad (Christmas Carols and Songs), translated by Susannah Howe. Naxos 8.557223, 2003.
19
Michael L. Perna, "Miguel de Unamuno (29 September 1864-31 December 1936)," In
Twentieth-Century Spanish Poets: First Series, edited by Michael L. Perna, Dictionary of Literary
Biography, vol. 108 (Detroit: Gale, 1991), 294. In Dictionary of Literary Biography Complete Online
http://link.galegroup.com.ezproxy1.library.arizona.edu/apps/doc/LKIRWX277524065/DLBC?u=uarizona_
main&sid=DLBC&xid=ddde7349 (accessed March 15, 2018).
20
Ibid.
18
inflections,” and that Rodrigo associates it with medieval times. As for the part of the
work that follows the Introito, Rodrigo says it “hovers between the cadences of Gregorian
chant and popular Castilian song.” Rodrigo makes it clear that he intends the instrumental
complement to be made up of solo players. He refers to major major seventh chords and
speaks (somewhat poetically) of a “harmonic atmosphere … balanced upon the dual modality
of an ambiguous tonal scheme.” The final paragraph claims the call of the cuckoo as his
“rúbrica indispensable,” and places it in his arsenal of tools of evocation. 21
Analytic Synopsis
Because the Música para un Códice Salmantino forms an uninterrupted arc of
musical narrative, the features of the work are presented in sequential fashion to give the
reader a sense of how the elements fit together. This section concludes with a discussion
of form.
The word Rodrigo chose for a subtitle for the instrumental introduction to the
work, Introito, means introduction or prologue but it can also have the meaning of introit
and it is this latter meaning with its suggestion of an academic procession that Rodrigo
invokes with this introduction.
The structure of the canonic subject merits a closer look. Its core is an motif (A)
in which auxiliary motion creates a feeling of gentle rocking (see example 1).
Compressed by omission of the third note, the motif appears a step lower (B); this
completes a subphrase. This subphrase is repeated with a small variation at the end, the
two subphrases together forming the antecedent part of the subject. In the first four
21
Joaquín Rodrigo, “Análisis de la Obra por el Autor,” Música para un Códice Salmantino
(Salamanca: Universidad de Salamanca, 1954), n. p.
19
measures, the tonality might appear to be Ab major, but the consequent part of the subject
moves down a third, establishing F minor as the tonality. In the Introito, the tonality is
further confirmed by the introduction of a pedal on F in the English horn (m. 10). This
subphrase is repeated, and is rounded with the end of the B motif, closing the subject
formally while maintaining a melodic suspension that invites the next entry. There is a
sense of rocking at the motivic and subphrase level, even at the level of the subject as a
whole. The choice of pitches, without leading tone or other altered notes, creates a
folkloric or modal feel (example 1).
Example 1. Introito subject of Música para un códice Salmantino (mm. 1-9)
The Introito is a canon at the unison (and octaves) that is sustained for 68 measures—in
performance, two and a half minutes of duration. How does Rodrigo sustain interest for
such a long time? Although the degrees of freedom are few, they are cunningly
deployed.
1. Time interval of entries. The second voice enters after nine measures—the full
duration of the subject. The next entry occurs four bars later. Entries occur with
increasing frequency, getting as close as half a measure to one another. With each
subsequent entry comes a varying and increasingly complex sonority, as well as
an increasing event density. Toward the end of the Introito, the entries are spaced
more and more distantly.
2. Pitch level of entries. The first entry is in the viola, slightly above the middle of
the orchestral compass. The pitch compass of the ensemble is extended up by the
flute and down by the cello. The compass is extended until the piccolo and
contrabass enter within four measures of each other. After the piccolo drops out at
m. 45, the compass gradually shrinks back to the viola and horn.
20
3. Octave doubling of entries. Close to the maximum compass and density, Rodrigo
boosts the intensity by employing octave-doubled entries in the harp, and cello
plus contrabass.
4. Rhythmic distortions of the subject. The end of the subject is varied as early as the
second statement in the flute (m. 19) Just before the point of maximum density,
these rhythmic distortions become more elaborate and add to the chaotic quality at
this point.
5. Change in instrumental technique. At the climax, Rodrigo indicates hooked bows
rather than long bows to create more intensity. At the end of the Introito, the viola
and horn enter muted, enhancing the perception of increasing distance.
6. Fragmentary entries. As the density of entries and number of voices decline
toward the end of the Introito, the viola enters with the consequent phrase of the
subject (m. 51) and the subject is then passed to the horn. This gives a sense of a
distant exchange which breaks into our perception. At the end of the Introito, the
horn sounds a fragment at the end of the antecedent phrase of the subject, which is
never concluded. Thus the Introito ends with a feeling of suspension which
prefigures the end of the whole work.
The only element in the Introito which is not the Subject is a tonic drone, which
coincides with the second entry of the subject, and is sustained by the English horn for
almost the entire duration of the Introito. The drone evokes a bagpipe, which, as an
instrument whose use stretches back to medieval times and beyond, is consistent with
Rodrigo’s stated goal of evoking music-making in the court of King Don Sancho.22
The first stanza of the text is set almost monodically, the solo bass intoning the
text on a flow of pitches clearly derived from the Introito subject (example 2).
22
See Appendix B: “Introduction to the Work by the Author.”
21
Example 2. First entry of solo bass in Música para un códice Salmantino (mm. 69-76)
This is the “‘arioso’, or ‘free melody,’”23 which is the second of three elements Rodrigo
claims make up the piece. This is accompanied by bold gestures: a descending F-minor
arpeggio (A) in unison strings (which evokes the descent of “father sun of Castile”), an
A¨ major cadence (B), brightening the sky for “that adorns the cloudscape,” trumpet and
horn doubling the solo bass (C) on “of his fire, the father.” This last passage, gilded as it
is by the brass, prefigures the end of the work. These are the first few of many examples
of text-painting.
The stanza finishes with what will become a defining gesture: a cadence over the
chords F minor ninth, E¨ major ninth, D¨ major major seventh (see example 3). The
violins move upward like a pair of natural horns, while the cello and contrabass, on the
roots of the chords, descend by step, creating a gesture with great contrapuntal
momentum. The melody in the solo bass descends by step to the tonic. The melody,
harmony and distinctive voice-leading, I collectively term the Stanza-end formula, and in
23
Ibid.
22
some form or other, it will be heard at or near the end of each of the ten stanzas of the
text. The first occurrence of the Stanza-end formula is shown in example 3.
Example 3. First occurrence of Stanza-end formula in Música para un códice Salmantino (mm. 79-81)
The cadential echo in the horn is accompanied by the linked stepwise progression D¨
major major seventh, C dominant seventh with added fourth, B¨ minor. Given the context
established by the Introito, the lack of dominant progression and the root movement by
step suggest pre-tonal compositional procedure.
As the first stanza was an apostrophe to the sun of Castile, the second addresses
and blesses “mi Salamanca.” Unison strings carry the underlying E¨ scale that is
ornamented in the solo bass. As these “Woods of stone…drew out history from the
bowels of the earth,” so the scale rises powerfully to C—another example of text
painting. Solo bass and strings exchange auxiliary figures, which are a suspended form of
the Stanza-end formula (example 4).
Example 4. Solo bass and string interplay in Música para un códice Salmantino (mm. 88-90)
23
This second stanza ends with the Stanza-end formula at the same pitch as the first. The
cadential echo is the same too, but is followed by the antecedent phrase from the Introito
(sounded by the English horn, the only instrument never to have carried the subject in the
Introito). This echo of the Introito closes the first section. The phrase continues to be
used as a ritornello throughout the work.
In the first and second stanzas of the poem, textures have been relatively open,
and focused on the solo bass. The pitch palette has been low, rhythmic density low,
harmonic rhythms slow, and the harmonic language modal in character. The listener is
presented with a solo storyteller. In the third stanza, the choir enters (m. 98), the music
becomes more metrical, and the textural density vastly increased. The harmonic
language is more tonal, and the pitch center is changed (to C minor), and continues to
change. Throughout this section , a dissonant pedal (C, G, Ab) is sustained by the harp
and upper strings. This pedal provides a constant harmonic “pressure,” pushing the
narrative before it. The listener is swept into the action. The stanza ends with the
Stanza-end formula, but now disguised, with the melody in the tenor so as not to unduly
disrupt the flow to the fourth stanza.
While there is no harmonic extension of the Stanza-end formula, the melodic
echo, shifted down a fourth, is worked into the motivic material for the fourth stanza.
This stanza begins with a period of harmonic ambiguity. The tritone between the new
pitch E, and the established B¨ dominates m. 111. This has a parallel in the seventh and
ninth stanzas, where the winds and voices will emphasize a tritone in relation to the string
harmony. Measures 112 to 114 are dominated by the F augmented major seventh, which
24
could also be understood enharmonically as an ornamented dominant of D minor.24 It’s
worth noting that this chord, F, A, C# (=Db), E (with ornamental C), also includes the
pitch set of the string pedal at the beginning of third stanza, transposed: A, E, F (also F,
C, Db). Thus, this latter sonority, used both in Música and the later Cántico de San
Francisco de Asís, is connected to the sound of the augmented major seventh chord. A
string echo follows, and the choral bass, cello and contrabass dive into a powerful rising
A minor scale.25. Another semitonal pedal, on E and F, appears in the harp, signaling a
renewed forward momentum. The Stanza-end formula concludes the stanza on D, but the
melody of the echo in the solo bass is extended, carrying the opening words of the fifth
stanza. As the winds and choir drop out, the solo bass and strings cadences in m. 126 on
an open D-A.
This opens the way for one of the most evocative moments in the piece. At the
beginning of the fifth stanza (m. 123), the solo bass has just sung:
Duerme el sosiego y la esperanza duerme; Tranquillity sleeps and hope too is sleeping,
de otras cosechas y otras dulces tardes, of other harvests and other sweet evenings,
24
This bitter-sounding sonority sets the following text:
Y de otro lado, por la calva Armuña, On the other side, by barren [treeless] Armuña,
25
The F# in cello and bass at m.117 could be considered as part of an A dorian scale, but I regard
it as a chromatic inflection that enhances the upwards-striving quality of the passage.
25
These lines are followed by a remarkable passage of bitonality (example 5).
Example 5. Bitonality in Música para un códice Salmantino (mm. 128-136)
The entry of the piccolo introduces the first layer of bitonality; this is confirmed when the
flute sounds the cuckoo call in the same key. The entry of the solo bass at 133 swings the
overall tonality to Db minor. His words are as follows:
las horas, al correr sobre la tierra, the hours, running over the earth.
dejan su rastro. leave their tracks.
Less than two measures later, the flute continues to sound the cuckoo call in G minor.
The tonality of the cuckoo call has remained the same, while the underlying tonality has
shifted. This is a musical analog to our memories, which remain within, untainted and
unchanging, while we, and the world around us change. The stanza concludes with the
26
melody of the Stanza-end formula in the solo bass (mm. 135-136), ending on a chord of
G¨ major major seventh. The strings and harp sustain this chord as the Introito subject is
sounded in B¨ minor in the muted brass. This will be echoed at the end of the piece,
where the Introito subject sounds in A¨ minor over a sustained D¨ major major seventh
chord in the strings.
The sixth stanza opens with a completely new mood and musical idea: a fanfare-
like passage. In contrast to preceding sections, the music is antiphonal in character, with
the solo bass, choir and instrumental groups exchanging short utterances. The tonal
center, D¨ major, has been prepared from m. 133 onwards (and in fact, the first statement
of the Stanza-end formula in mm. 79-80 ends with a D¨ major major seventh chord), but
this is the first sustained major harmony in the work. Harmonic successions are
dominant-based. The text deals with the edifice and collective memory of the
University26. From the Db major harmony of m. 152, the Ab is taken to become the third
of E major in m. 153. The next measure starts with a C# minor chord which begins the
Stanza-end formula in C#. This is the first common-tone modulation in the piece, and its
expressive qualities are discussed below.
The Stanza-end formula on C# ends on an A major major seventh chord (m. 155),
and A major is taken as the jumping-off tonality for the new section, the seventh stanza,
which, like the third, is developmental, imitative, and forward-moving. At the first entry
of this stanza, the strings sustain an A major chord but the first choral entry contains a
26
Al pie de tus sillares, Salamanca, At foot of thy blocks of stone, Salamanca,
de las cosechas del pensar tranquilo, of the harvest of tranquil thought
que año tras año maduró en tus aulas, that year after year ripened in thy halls,
duerme el recuerdo. sleeps the memory.
27
D#, giving a Lydian feel that lends poignancy to the text “Duerme el recuerdo la
esperanza duerme” (“Memory sleeps and hope sleeps”). Throughout this stanza the
instrumental bass line descends by step, so the entire stanza could be considered an
extension of the bass line movement in the Stanza-end formula. Bridging the seventh and
eighth stanzas, mm. 166-169 (“lento y seguro”) recalls the fanfare quality, and,
momentarily, the D¨ major tonality of the sixth stanza, evoking again the institution of
the University. The suggestion of a return to the fanfare is brief, however, for at the
opening of eighth stanza (m. 168), the solo storyteller environment returns as the text
recalls the students’ lessons in love. The texture (solo singer plus solo plectral
accompaniment), chordal harp accompaniment and Andalusian Cadence—F minor, E¨
major, D¨ major, C major—in mm. 172-173, evoke a flamenco singer and guitarist. 27
The key recalls the F minor of the first stanza, but now in major mode. The soprano and
alto at m. 174 reiterate the trumpet-horn version of the Introito subject heard at m. 137, in
E minor, while the harp sounds its pedal figuration (sounding again one of the
characteristic sonorities of the work: E-B-C, which recalls the fourth stanza). The stanza
ends with the Stanza-end formula in E minor.
The beginning of ninth stanza (m. 179) strongly recalls the seventh stanza. The
winds and voices have switched roles, and the solo bass follows the outline of wind
entries heterophonically. The pitch center has changed—C Lydian for A Lydian—and the
winds and choir have exchanged motifs. It also recalls the restlessness and development
of stanza 4, as Unamuno makes his pledge to keep Salamanca in the depths of his heart.
27
The Andalusian cadence is discussed in detail below. For more information, see Peter Manuel,
“Flamenco in Focus: An Analysis of a Performance of Soleares,” in Analytical Studies in World Music,
edited by Michael Tenzer (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006).
28
The parallel to the seventh stanza holds even to the turn of the instrumental bass line at
the end (mm. 186-188). The move to the fanfare is real this time, as the solo bass and
chorus exchange declamations. The solo bass continues in the voice of Unamuno, while
the chorus repeatedly responds with the same phrase of music on the text “y cuando el
sol.” (“and when the sun”). The motifs here are based directly on those of stanza 1: mm.
197-198 is based on mm. 71-72, for example, and mm. 205-206 quotes mm. 77-78
exactly. There is also a sense of tonal tension, with the chorus repeatedly answering in A¨
major to the solo bass’s D¨ major. No dynamic indication is given, but I choose to
interpret this as an echo dying away with each repetition of the choir getting softer. This
provides a contrast for the bass’s final entry with the marcato strings and brass. In this
final line of the poem, the fortissimo “de lo eterno heraldo” (“of the eternal herald”)
yields to the piano “di tu que hesido” (“say that I have been”) on the Stanza-end formula
exactly as it was heard at the end of the first stanza. The bass, having finally acceded to
the chorus’s A¨ major, returns here to the F minor of the first stanza. The strings sustain
the concluding D¨ major major seventh of the Stanza-end formula to the end. Over them,
the winds first echo the chorus’s “de lo eterno heraldo” (in A¨ major) and then divided
sopranos sound the Introito subject in A¨ minor and winds echo in fleeting fragments.
The poet’s plea for immortality in the memory of the university hangs on the wind.
Form
One of the most striking features of Música para un códice Salmantino is the
Introito. Given the overall proportions of the work, it is huge, accounting for a quarter of
the eleven-minute overall running time of the piece. It is monolithic, never varying from
29
F minor and using only the canonic subject as melodic material. While Rodrigo’s concept
for the performance environment for the piece is unclear, it’s impossible to deny that the
Introito may have been conceived as music to accompany an academic procession. If so,
it would act as a kind of frame for the rest of the work, and the source of most of its
melodic material. It is also directly referenced as a ritornello. For the director with the
right resources, having the singers process in to the performance space while the Introito
progresses would be an effective performance strategy.
The source text of Música para un códice Salmantino, Oda a Salamanca is a
strophic poem (see Appendix A for the full text and translation of the text of Música).
While the meanings of the stanzas are often linked (for example, the first four stanzas
describing the town and its surroundings, form a definite progression), each stanza
functions as an independent sentence in which the five-syllable last line acts as the focal
point or goal of the meaning of that stanza, followed by a full stop. While Rodrigo’s
setting is by no means strophic, he always acknowledges the ends of stanzas with a
harmonic and melodic formula, which I call the Stanza-end formula: three root-position
chords descending by step from do to la with the vocal melody descending by step to the
tonic (see example 3, above). The last chord of this formula is often the first of another
trio of downwards-stepping root position chords, with a melodic echo at the same pitch
level (also as in example 3). The Stanza-end formula is sometimes supplemented by an
echo of the first phrase of the Introito subject. This recollection gives a deeper level of
formal articulation, and also becomes symbolic of the act of remembrance, in some sense
a leitmotif of memory.
30
Table 1. Stanza-end formula occurrences in Música para un códice Salmantino
Stanza-end formula Introito subject

Stanza Measure Key harmony Echo harmony Next key following
1 79- 81 Fm Fm9-Eb9-Dbmaj7 Dbmaj7-Cm7add4- Fm no

Bbm9
2 91- 93 Fm Fm9-Eb9-Dbmaj7 Dbmaj7-Cm7add4- Cm in English Horn, in
Bbm9 Fm
3 109-110 Gm Gm9-F9- Ebmaj7 * Cm? no

unstable
4 122-123 Dm Dm9-C9- Bbmaj7 Bbmaj7-Am7add4- Am in Flute in Am

Gm9
5 135-136 Dbm Dbm-Ab-Gbmaj7* ** Dbm in Trumpet in Bbm
6 154-155 C#m C#m9-B9- Amaj7 ** A lydian no
7 163-165 G# E-D#°7-G#m* ** Fm no
phryg?
8 178-179 Em Em9-D9- Cmaj7 ** C lydian no
9 184-186 B Am9-G-F#m7 ** Db no
phryg?
10 207 Fm Fm9-Eb9-Dbmaj7 ** ... in Soprano in Abm
* harmony does not follow formula

** no echo
31
At the end of the third stanza, the melody of the formula is disguised by placing it in an
inner voice in the choir, doubled by horn and English horn, after a cadence on C minor.
Example 6. Stanza-end formula in tenor and winds in Música para un códice Salmantino (mm. 108-110)
Between stanzas 6 and 7, the formula is linked not to a discrete echo, but to a bass
line descent that encompasses the whole following stanza. The descending quarter notes
of the winds are also derived from the Stanza-end formula melody (example 7).
Example 7. Extended bass line descent in Música para un códice Salmantino (mm. 154-167)
32
To sum up, Stanza-end formula articulates the end of each stanza, and acts as a ritornello-
like element that helps bind the piece into a unity.
The text is steeped in images of late afternoon and sunset. This can be seen as a
metaphor for the author’s sense of his own mortality, which is explicitly described in the
second-last stanza. In Rodrigo’s setting, the stepping down of the bass line and the
harmonic progression is symbolic of the sunset of the poet’s life. The use of a melodic
descent to portray death is also seen in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís.
Formal Plan
This is a text about recollection, whose end directly references its beginning, and
as such is ideal for setting in a closed musical form.
Alto soto de torres que al ponerse Tall grove of towers that, at his setting
tras las encinas que el celaje esmaltan, behind the oaks that embellish the cloudscape.
dora a los rayos de su lumbre el padre gilds with the rays of his fire the father
sol de Castilla; sun of Castile.
(from Stanza 128)
Y cuando el sol al acostarse encienda And when the sun, in retiring, ignites
el oro secular que te recama, the ancient gold that embroiders you,
(from Stanza 1029)
The setting of the final stanza references the Introito and reprises the Stanza-end formula
in its original form and F minor key from the end of the first stanza. Moreover, the lowest
sounding pitch at the end of the work is an F. The solo bass’s line at mm. 77-78 in the
first stanza is also quoted in the last stanza (example 8).
Example 8. Internal quotation in Música para un códice Salmantino

mm. 77-78: mm. 205-206
28
Ibid.
29
Joaquín Rodrigo, Música para un Códice Salmantino (Madrid: Ediciones Joaquín Rodrigo,
1996), n.p.
33
Thus the end of the work ties together three other places including the Introito and the
first stanza. But references to previous gestures occur throughout and sections are
delineated by changes in forces, textures, and quality of motion as well as the Stanza-end
formula.
Overall, recurrent musical elements fall into four main expressive categories.
1. The Voice of the Poet.

Texture Pitch centers Localities
Bass solo in recitative texture F minor Stanza 1 and stanza 2, mm. 61-96
Stanza 8, mm.168-179
2. Motion and Development.
Imitative choral and antiphonal or C minor Stanza 3 and stanza 4, mm. 98-123
imitative instruments A minor Stanza 7, mm. 155-167
D minor Stanza 9, mm. 209-215
3. Dreamy.
Fragmentary bass solo and polytonal Stanza 5, mm. 124-141
instruments Stanza 10, mm. 209-215
4. Fanfare
Texture Pitch center Localities
Antiphonal groups of instruments, Db major Stanza 6, mm. 142-154
chorus and solo bass Stanza 9, mm. 192-208
The distribution of these categories is shown graphically in figure 2.
Starting after the Introito, the piece can be divided into two parts: the first starts
with the static recitative section in F minor, and proceeds through a period of
development that culminates in the dreamy section that ends in B¨ minor (superimposed
on a sustained G¨ minor). The second section opens in D¨ major with a totally new
idea—the fanfare. There are periods of development, related to those in first half by key
and motif, which are interrupted by a recollection of the bass recitative. There is a return
to the fanfare, and the second half is rounded by a recollection of the dreamy section. The
section ends with the strings sustaining a D¨ major major seventh chord while the
34
sopranos and winds sound the Introito subject in A¨ minor. The result is a roughly binary
form, in which the second part starts with new material, and recalls more and more of the
first, tied to it by a multitude of motivic, tonal and textural connections. The end of the
second section recalls the F minor tonality of the beginning of the work, but finishes
where the second section started, on D¨ major, albeit with an overlay of A¨ minor.
Figure 1. Analytic Chart for Música para un códice Salmantino

voice of the poet
61-72 74-78 79-82 83-87 88-90 90-96
1 SEF 2 SEF IS (E.H.)
F minor Ab major F minor Eb major* F minor
developmental
98-108 109-110 110-112 112-115 116-122 122-125 126-127
Part I
3 SEF 4 SEF extension

C minor overall V/d D minor
dreamy
128-129 130-132 133-136 137-141
5 IS (fl) IS (tpt, hn)
A minor Am+Gm Dbm+Gm Dbm+Bbm
fanfare developmental
142-153 154 155-165 163-165 166-167
6 SEF 7 SEF var.
Db major C# minor C# minor** C#m
voice of the poet developmental
168-173 173-177 178-179 180-185 186-188 189-191
Part II
8 IS (SA) SEF 9 10 SEF var

F major E minor C lydian
fanfare dreamy
192-204 205-206 207-208 209-215 *or mixolydian
SEF IS (SA) **or A lydian
Db major F minor Db+Abm
Key: Line 1: Major expressive areas

Line 2: Measure numbers
Line 3: 1, 2, etc Stanza number, beginning of stanza
SEF Stanza-end formula
IS Introito subject (with instrument)
Line 4: Key
35
Catalog of Characteristic Compositional Features
Non-Dominant Harmonic Succession
In common-practice music—European art music of the latter seventeenth through
nineteenth centuries—the most significant successions from one chord to another were
those that represented root movement by falling fifth (dominant) or rising fifth
(subdominant), reflecting the relative importance and function of the tonic triad and
dominant triad in the tonal palette, and the tendency of composers to compose chains of
root succession that can be characterized as strings of falling fifths (e.g. vi-ii-V-I). I
prefer the word succession because it sidesteps the statements of function (that, is words
like “strong” or “weak”) with which the term progression is associated. Rodrigo’s music
is utterly tonal, yet in Música para un códice Salmantino, root movement by fourth or
fifth are not given pride of place. Root movement by step or third, which I term non-
dominant harmonic succession, is a common, indeed, characteristic feature of this work.
The most prominent example of this is in the Stanza-end formula. In this formula,
roots proceed downward from the tonic by step within the diatonic collection. All chords
are in root position. In the first occurrence, the bass solo cadences very strongly on F,
supported by the harmonic succession F minor major ninth-Ebmajor major ninth-Db
major major seventh. This is similar to the common-practice deceptive cadence, but there
is another process at work here. Consider the overlap between the Stanza-end formula
and the echo: if the following chord, c minor seventh with added fourth were instead
major, the progression from the F minor major ninth would conform precisely to the
Andalusian Cadence, the characteristic cadential harmonic progression of Flamenco
36
music.30 The “resolution” of this Andalusian Cadence overlaps with the cadential echo in
the horn. The chart that follows is a schematic depiction of Example 3, above.
overlap with cadential echo
Stanza-end Formula Fm9 Eb9 Dbmaj7 Cm7add4 Bbm9
Andalusian Cadence: f Eb Db C
Figure 2. Comparison of the harmony of the Stanza-end formula (mm. 91-95) with Andalusian Cadence.
The destination chord in each progression is underlined.
The first two stanzas of Rodrigo’s setting contain almost exclusively
non-dominant harmonic successions, the exception being m. 74, where the cadence on Ab
major tonally prefigures the more dominant-oriented fanfare passages of Stanzas 6 and 9.
Some passages (for example, mm. 154-164 and mm. 178-187) feature long passages of
descending, scale-wise, root-position chords.
In passages where Rodrigo is trying to convey a sense of movement and
development—for example, at the beginning of the third stanza—he uses dominant-based
successions, but even in these cases, he inserted stepwise successions, as at mm. 102-104.
In the fanfare-like sixth stanza, Rodrigo uses dominant-oriented successions, but even
here (mm. 142-152) root movement by rising fourth is preferred. This is consistent with
Flamenco’s use of the chord on the fourth degree as a secondary tonic. In the ninth
stanza’s antiphonal alternation between solo bass and chorus, the dialogue is dominant-
oriented, but harmonic motion within each phrase is by step or third.
In the environment of natural minor established by the Introito and the avoidance
of the leading tone in voice-leading, the use of non-dominant harmonic successions
evokes pre-common-practice harmonic practice. This is consistent with Rodrigo’s
avowed evocation of antiquity in the work.
Manuel, “Flamenco in Focus,” 97.

30
37
Common-tone modulations
The piece has two common-tone modulations, each in an expressively significant
location. The first is just after the call of the cuckoo and before the solo bass “las horas al
correr sobre la tierra” (mm. 132-133—see example 5 above) in the dreamy fifth stanza.
The E which had been part of an A minor layer is taken up by the solo bass, and becomes
the third of the D¨ minor chord. The resulting harmonic slippage, occurring, as it does,
with the text “the hours run over the earth,” is wonderfully expressive of the fleeing of
time described by the text.
The second common-tone modulation takes place at the end of the fanfare section
of the sixth stanza. The A¨ of the D¨ major figurations in m. 152 is held over to become
the G# of E major in m. 153. This is succeeded in the next measure by its relative minor,
C# minor major ninth. What is the reason for the digression to E major when Db major
could have proceeded straight to C# minor? This measure of E major functions as a
harmonic echo or island, which, like the infusion of an audio track with reverb, creates an
illusion of distance. This telegraphs the meaning of the text the solo bass sings next:
“Remembrance sleeps.” (example 9).
Example 9. Common-tone modulation in Música para un códice Salmantino (mm. 153-155)
38
There are two other moments that sound similar, but are functionally different. At
mm. 166-168, coming out of a passage in G# Phrygian, the succession G#-minor-C#-
major is followed suddenly by B¨-minor-F-major. The C#-major has been
enharmonically reinterpreted as a Db-major and used to head out for new harmonic
territory. Similarly, in mm. 189-192, the succession B minor-E major is followed by Db
minor, which initiates a passage in D¨ major. In both of these instances, the sensation for
the listener is similar to the two previous cases: a feeling of slippage or substitution.
Bitonality
Bitonality is an important part of the sonic palette for this piece. In the fifth stanza
(see Example 5, above), the flute and piccolo sound in G minor in mm. 131-132 over the
established A minor sonority. The prevailing sonority moves by common-tone to Db
minor in m. 133 while the flute remains in G minor. Considering the brevity of the
passage, the critical reader may wonder if this is really bitonality? On balance, it must
be, because the gestures—the Introito subject, the call of the cuckoo, and the Stanza-end
formula—have been established as recognizable units, each bearing a definite tonal color.
While not polytonal in the sense of two extended streams, each with identifiable
progressions in different keys, these units, when layered or juxtaposed, form a collage
which is definitely bitonal.
In the last stanza, mm. 204-205, the solo bass, declaiming on the dominant of D¨
minor, turns to the Stanza-end formula and cadences on F. The last chord of the formula
is D¨ major major seventh, and this is sustained in the strings while divided sopranos
sound the Introito subject in Ab minor, and the work ends with this suspension of A¨
39
minor over D¨ major major seventh. Again, the recognizabilty of the suspended
fragments make this final moment definitely bitonal. The end of both first and second
sections of the piece are bitonal, thus, in addition to expressing the text locally, the
bitonality also helps articulate the overall form of the work.
Lydian Mode
In the seventh stanza, against the background of an A-major chord, the alto and
bass melodies in the choir contain a D#, giving a Lydian feel (see example 7 above).31
The text is “duerme el recuerdo la esperanza duerme” (“remembrance sleeps and hope
sleeps”). Similarly, in the ninth stanza (mm. 180-181), melodies unfold in G major over
a sustained C-major chord, again resulting in a Lydian flavor. The text is about
Unamumo pledging to keep the University in the depths of his heart.
Open Cadences
Taken together with elements like non-dominant harmonic succession and leading
tone avoidance, cadences to an open fifth or unison suggest pre-common practice
harmonic practice. Examples can be found at mm. 108 and 125 to 127. Quotes of the
Introito subject, with its evocation of antiquity, usually end, when harmonized, with open
sonorities. Examples can be found at mm. 141 and 178.
Echo
In a work that is about memory and time, echo is a powerful metaphor. The use of
echo is so pervasive in this work that it can be considered characteristic. From the first
31
The passage in mm. 154-158 also contains an Andalusian cadence in G# Phrygian.
40
time it is heard after the Introito, the first phrase of the Introito subject is used as a kind
of leitmotif of remembrance, in effect, an echo of a distant part of the piece. The Stanza-
end formula is echoed immediately in stanzas 1, 2, 4, and 9. An echo of the Introito
subject provides further articulation at stanzas 2, 5, and 10. These last instances articulate
major formal divisions: the end of the first structural unit, the end of the first half, and the
end of the piece, respectively. There are also momentary instrumental responses and
echoes that represent more of a local interplay between forces than a structural function.
Examples include mm. 88-90, 105, 114-115, 190-191, and 206.
Flamenco Resources
Rodrigo’s use of sustained dissonant pedals suggests the cadential dissonance
created by the enrichment of dominant bII sonorities with open strings in Flamenco guitar
playing.32 This motivated a search for elements of Flamenco harmonic practice in the
Música para un codice Salmantino. Current analyses assert that Flamenco music uses a
Phrygian mode descended from the Bayâti and Hijâz maqâms of Turko-Arabic musics.33
An examination of the melodic materials of the Música to find Phrygian mode turned up
little. A closer examination of the dissonant pedals showed that this dissonance, typically
on the fifth and minor sixth degree of a tonic pedal, is not functionally the same as in
Flamenco, where long-held dominant bII chords are often enriched with open strings on
the tonic note, heightening the anticipation of resolution. The harmony of the Stanza-end
formula, however, did show a remarkable similarity to the Andalusian Cadence, the
32
Manuel, “Flamenco in Focus,” 97.
33
Peter Manuel, “Modal Harmony,” 71-73. See also Chapter 2, following Analytic Synopsis,
below
41
characteristic cadential succession of Flamenco. The chords of the Stanza-end formula
descend in root position, just like those of the Andalusian Cadence, but the melody
cadences one chord earlier, with the resolution of the Andalusian cadence overlapping
with the cadential echo of the Stanza-end formula (see Example 3 and Figure 3 above).
Often, the succession will conclude with a minor rather than the major chord that
would be expected in the Andalusian Cadence. So is the Stanza-end formula a deliberate
allusion to Flamenco harmony, or is the similarity just a coincidence? The spot that
settles this question is at mm. 170-173. The texture is reduced to solo bass and harp,
emulating the characteristic texture of Flamenco, and there is an ideal Andalusian
Cadence, strongly supporting the view that the Stanza-end Formula is based on the
Andalusian Cadence of Flamenco music.
42
CHAPTER 3
CÁNTICO DE SAN FRANCISCO DE ASÍS
Introduction to the Work
Early in 1981, Rodrigo received a commission to compose an oratorio34 for the
projected celebrations of the octocentennial of the birth of St. Francis of Assisi in 1982.
The text appears with translation in Appendix D. The first performance was in 1986 in
London, by the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, under the noted champion of Rodrigo’s works,
Raymond Calcraft. It was to be Rodrigo’s last work for either chorus or orchestra.
Analytic Synopsis
The most conspicuous similarity between Cántico de San Francisco de Asís and
Música para un códice Salmantino is the extensive instrumental introduction which
provides motivic material for the subsequent vocal writing, and which pointedly refers to
music of the distant past. In Música para un códice Salmantino, the introduction is a huge
canon at the unison. In Cántico de San Francisco de Asís, it is an interplay between four
very distinct elements: (1) a modal-sounding flute melody, R (or Ritornello,
example 10);
Example 10. Element R in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (0:1)
34
Kamhi, Hand in Hand, 273.
43
(2) celesta playing figurations on pairs of open fifths related by semitone: X
(example 11);
Example 11. Element X in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (0:10-1:2)
(3) pairs of unvoiced chords from the choir, always stepping upwards, Y (example 12);
Example 12. Element Y in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (1:3-4)
and (4) descending thirds (later fourths) in the violins, harmonized by seventh and ninth
chords in the upper strings over a pedal in the horn, Z (example 13).
Example 13. Element Z in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (4:2 to 7):
The construction of a formal structure through variations in the pitch level, order,
introduction or absence of these elements brings to mind the groups of varied size,
instrumentation and dynamic construction of the early Baroque concertato style, and the
profusion of “homophonically conceived melodic subjects” and “interpenetration of solo
44
and tutti material” in Vivaldi’s Estro Armonico concerti.35 For this reason, I have termed
the introductory section Concerto. After the entry of the choir, elements of the Concerto
continue to re-appear. making it feel like the choir is being added as another element in
an ongoing concerto structure. The sparseness of the textures, the distinctiveness of the
elements, and some of the semitonal and nontriadic quality of the harmony were
anticipated in Rodrigo’s 1965 work Himnos de los neófitos de Qumrán.
The evocative flute melody that begins Cántico de San Francisco de Asís is heard
almost verbatim (sometimes truncated, modestly varied, with or without horn echo) eight
times over the course of the piece, and always precedes the words “Loado” (Praise) or
“Bienaventurados” (Blessed). I have named it R (for Ritornello). Although the choir
never sings it in its original form, themes derived from R form a good portion of the
choir’s melodic material. This melody has a distinctive mode, heard nowhere else in the
piece. The augmented seconds suggest either harmonic minor (D harmonic minor with
the tonic chord altered to major) or the Spanish Phrygian of Andalusian folk music and
Flamenco (A Phrygian), with its fourth degree, D, acting as a secondary tonic
(example 14).
Example 14. Comparison of Ritornello with Spanish Phrygian and Hijâz Maqâm
* F quarter sharp
35
Claude V. Palisca, Baroque Music, 2nd ed., Prentice-Hall History of Music Series (Englewood
Cliffs (NJ): Prentice-Hall, 1981), 161-166.
45
Either interpretation is valid; the former has been chosen because it integrates
better with the tonality of the rest of the work. On the other hand, the use of a Phrygian
ritornello recalls the practice of alternating Phrygian falsetas36 with tonal coplas in
Andalusian folk song types such as the Fandango.37
Most of the rest of the choir’s melodies are derived from the choir’s second entry,
which is designated Q (example 15).
Example 15. Germ passage Q in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (6:9-12), melody only
(soprano)
This germ is never heard again in its original form, but provides melodic material
for most of the rest of the work. All of the motivic materials, tonal structure and textures
can be seen in the following Analytic Chart. Motivic symbols refer to Appendix E:
Motivic Catalog for Cántico de San Francisco de Asís.
Figure 3. Analytic Chart for Música para un códice Salmantino
Key
Line 1 6 rehearsal numbers
6 measure numbers between rehearsal numbers
Line 2 (after Concerto) text incipits
Line 3 motifs (see APPENDIX E Motivic Catalog for Cántico de San Francisco de Asís)
Line 4 sonority lowercase = minor
UPPERCASE = major Ritornello
underline = tonality
plain = chord
italic = single pitch Quasi-antiphon S
Bo = B-F#
BX = B-F#-C-G
36
Coplas are the vocal verses of a Flamenco performance; falsetas are guitar interludes. For more
details about the performance structure of Flamenco music, see Manuel, “Flamenco in Focus,” 98.
Peter Manuel, “Modal Harmony in Andalusian, Eastern European, and Turkish Syncretic
37
Musics,” Yearbook for Traditional Music 21 (1989), 73. www.jstor.org/stable/767769. (accessed May 30,
2018).
46
1 2-4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5
R Re X Y
Concerto
G#
d DX g A
X
6 7-9 10 2 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 3 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 4 2 3-7
R Re X Y X Y Rfrag Re Y ZGped
D# Abo F# b b
a AX d E BX b c c Db Gb E coll
x Do x
8 9 10 5 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Most high, good Lord,
R1 X Y ZDped ZEb
ped
Invocation
F# F# F b
F dorian C DX DX GX F# x o Bb C E coll
x x Bo
9 10 7 2 3 4 5 6-8 9 10 8 2 3 4 5 6-8 9 10 9 2 3 4 5 6
To you be all praise, glory… To you alone, Highest, are due..
Q Qe R Re Qβ1 Qγβ W Rfrag Re
b
A mixolydian e A f# E D C# c#
7 8 9 10 10 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 2-4 5-10 12 2-4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Praises be to you..for all your creations, especially brother sun
S Qγ1 Qγ2 R1a R1b Rβ2 R1β’ R1b Rβ2 Rβ1 S
b E
A D coll c# A F G C E A C F E
mix
13 2 3 4-6 7 8 9 10 1 2 14 4 5 6 7-9 10 15 2 3 4 5 6-9 10 16 2 3
…for sister moon… Praises…for sister wind Praises…for sister water…
Rfrag S2 Rα1 Rα2 Qα1 Wfrag S Rfrag
A
f C+7 F C c F# +f0 Bb bb
Litany of Thanks
mix
4 5 6-9 10 17 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 18 2 3 4-6 7 8-10 19 2
Praises…for brother fire Praises be to you, my Lord, for…Mother Earth
W1 S Rα1 Rα1 Rα1 S S3 S3' R frag'
G# A+ D A
D7add6 C# B C# F7 C+F A d coll f# c#
+C# E mix mix
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 20 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Praises…for those who forgive… Blessed are those who suffer in peace
for by you they will be crowned.
RQ1 Rfrag'' W' Qα2p
f# D A} a A E g#
21 2 3 4 5 6 7 8-10 22 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 23 2 3 4 5-8 9 10 24
Praises be to you… for our sister..death Blessed..who die doing your will
alas for those who die in mortal sin the second death will not harm
Qα2 Qα2' Qα2'' Qβ1'
R frag'' Qγ1' Qα3 R Re
f g add D b d D F# F#o f#
Conclusion
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 25 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 26 2 3 4 5 6 7
Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks and serve him with great humility.
S' S'
B
47
Form
St. Francis’s Cántico, like a biblical canticle, is a poetic text in the form of a
prayer (which is, of course, a sermon). First, God is apostrophized as “the most high,
omnipotent,” “worthy of all praise,” whose name “no man is worthy to utter.” Then
follows a succession of descriptions of God’s gifts to humanity, each introduced by a
psalm antiphon-like formula, for example, “Praised be you, my Lord, for sister moon.”
Finally, there is a concluding formula:
Praise and bless my Lord.

Praise and thank him,
and serve him with all humility.
Like the text, Rodrigo’s work has four overall sections:

I. Concerto (beginning to 4:7)
II. Invocation (4:8 to 9:6)
III. Litany of Thanks (9:7 to 24:1)
IV. Conclusion (24:2 to end)
The Invocation begins with the entry of the choir, but carryover of sections from the
Concerto blurs the border between the first two sections and makes it seem as if the choir
is being folded into the continuing concerto structure. The Invocation ends with a
statement of the Ritornello, and the beginning of the Litany of Thanks is marked by the
appearance of a new motif S (example 16) which is associated with the recurring text
“Loado seas, mi Señor” (“Praise be to you, my Lord.”)
Example 16. Quasi-antiphon S in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (9:7-8)
This motif engenders a number of secondary motifs and is used to articulate form for the
rest of the work. The beginning of the Conclusion is made very clear by stereotypical use
48
of timpani, a novel (yet extremely well-prepared) tonality, and by the gathering of
woodwinds and brass for colla parte entries. The frequent reiteration of verbal and
musical formulas, and certain stereotypical gestures, such as the conclusion of a section
with choral homophony culminating in a melodramatic half-cadence or sudden harmonic
change of direction, together with a kaleidoscopic succession of different textures and
colors, create a strongly episodic feel that attenuates any sense of overall structure.
At the surface level, Rodrigo’s setting of this text reflects its episodic character,
however, Rodrigo creates larger structures using tonal means. The first three statements
of the Ritornello are in D minor, A minor, and C minor, respectively. D major is
important in the tableau enumerating the virtues of Brother Fire, arguably the climax of
the work, and also is used for the passage describing the blessedness of those who Death
finds doing God’s will. In the latter instance, it gives way to a preparation in F# minor for
the final section in B major.
The significance of the tonality of the second statement of the ritornello, A minor,
is revealed as A major becomes the main tonality of praise, and is associated (although
not infallibly) with the quasi-antiphon S. One of the ways of defining the “middle
section” of the work depends in part on the recurrence of A major and related tonalities.
The tonality of the third ritornello statement, c minor, prepares the subsequent entry of
the choir: the beginning of the Invocation.
The pitch center of the Invocation is F. Starting with an F-major chord, it is
immediately inflected to F dorian, resulting in a succession of mostly major sonorities.38
The sudden, unexpected entry of the choir, together with the new sonority, creates a sense
38
With F-minor altered to F-major and C-minor altered to C-major, this is F-minor, Eb-major, Ab-
major, Bb major minor seventh, and C major (see example 29).
49
of a new section. Later, Rodrigo uses F-minor to set the praises of corporeal death (21:0-
22:1).
The motivic germ passage Q is in Ab major. The parallel movement on “y el
honor,” is reminiscent of the Stanza-end formula of Música para un códice Salmantino,
and a sense of mixolydian inflection anticipates the quasi-antiphon S (example 17).
Example 17. Germ passage Q in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (6:9-7:3), all four choral voices.
*mixolydian inflection
On the other hand, Db major, also prominent, connects the passage strongly to other
places in the work: the long and joyful section celebrating brother fire in D major
concludes on a quasi-half cadence on C# (16:10-17:3), and the following passage—
bitonal echoes of “Praises”—starts also in C# mixolydian. Moreover, Db minor depicts
the horror of an unshriven death (22:2-4). Although it’s perhaps coinicidental, it’s
interesting to note the significance of Db in Música para un códice Salmantino: the tonal
center of the dreamy fifth stanza, and of the opening and conclusion of the second half.
Further exploration of this tonality in Rodrigo’s works might have interesting results.
It seems curious that Rodrigo would conclude the work with a long, assertive
section in a completely new key, B major. The immediate impression is of a similarity to
the “Amen” of a Handel chorus in texture and in function. I believe the reason for the use
of a new key is symbolic—see below at Tonal Symbolism.
50
Many of the occurrences of the Ritornello are in the (minor) dominant of the
preceding passage; as such, they are part of an overall strategy of ending a section with a
half-cadence—see “Deceptive or Suspenseful Section Breaks” below. This includes the
Ritornello occurrences starting at mm. 9:2, 14:2, 19:2 and 19:10. The fragment of
Ritornello at 19:10 can be thought of as a modal auxiliary—its A minor contrasting with
A major before and after. The last two Ritornello occurrences prepare what follows: D
minor at m. 22:5 preparing the following D major, and F# minor at m. 23:4 preparing the
B major of the Conclusion.
Catalog of Characteristic Compositional Features
Tonal Symbolism
Rodrigo’s use of tonality in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís extends beyond the
formal realm. Like his predecessors back to Bach and beyond, Rodrigo uses keys to
symbolize the subject matter of the text. Traditionally joyful and bright keys like D major
are used where we would expect them. The key used to give thanks for corporeal death,
F minor, is the key described by C. F. D. Schubart as “Deep depression, funereal lament,
groans of misery.”39. Table 5 correlates locations in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís.
their keys and affects with Schubart’s key associations as tabulated in Steblin.40
In addition to correspondences to traditional key associations, consistent internal
associations become clear when tonalities are surveyed for the whole piece. A sense of
humility and trust in God connects all the sections in A major, A mixolydian, F# minor
39
Rita. K. Steblin, “Key Characteristics In the 18th And Early 19th Centuries: A Historical
Approach” (PhD diss., University of Illinois, 1981), 163. In ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.
(303143661). Retrieved from http://ezproxy.library.arizona.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-
com.ezproxy1.library.arizona.edu/docview/303143661?accountid=8360 (accessed April 7, 2018).
40
Ibid.
51
and F# mixolydian, whereas D major is used for fire and those who die doing God’s will.
The sun is painted with F major (and shortly after, C major), and the moon and death
with f minor.
Table 2. Key associations in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís. Schubart’s associations are as they appear
in Steblin. If Schubart doesn’t supply an association, the space is left blank.
In Cantico de San Francisco de Asis

Tonality Subject Location Schubart's association
C major sun (with Ab and E major) 11:1-12:8
F major sun 10:8-10:10 "Complaisance and calm"

F minor death 21:6-7 "Deep depression, funereal
lament, groans of misery"
F dorian praise 4:8-5:1
G minor inescapability of death 21:8-22-1 "Discontent, uneasiness,"
"resentment and dislike"
G minor with dying in mortal sin 22:2-4

Db pedal
Ab major praise 6:9-7:3 "The key of the grave".
A major unworthiness of humanity 8:2-9:1 "innocent love," "youthful

before God cheerfulness and trust in God"
A major those who suffer in peace 20:1-7
A mixolydian praise 14:4-5, 9:7-9:10

A mixolydian weather, mother earth 14:5-10, 18:1-6
D major fire 16:4-17:3 "Triumph, Hallelujahs"
D major, blessedness of those who 22:6-23:6
moving to F# die in the Lortd
major
E mixolydian praise 12:10-13:2 "Noisy shouts of joy" (E major)
F# minor those who forgive and 19:3-9,18:7-10 "Gloomy"
suffer
F# mixolydian water 15:4-15:9
B major conclusion 24:2-end
52
The key of the Conclusion, B major, is used nowhere else in the piece, and the
traditional associations—“anger, rage, jealousy, fury, despair”41—don’t fit. I think the
answer lies in the implications of the text for the Christian believer: after death comes a
new beginning and a new life, and this calls for a new and fresh key.
Harmonic Movement by Common Tone
Movement to a tonally distant pitch center by means of a common tone is so
frequent as to become almost a cliché. Here is a typical example (example 18):
Example 18. Common-tone modulation in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (11:10-12:1)
Bitonality
The first hint of bitonality in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís is in element X of
section I, in which [0,5] diads related by semitone sound in right and left hands of the
celesta. Each of these could relate tonally to the other hand of the succeeding pair of
diads, while relating by tritone to the succeeding diad in the same hand (example 19).
41
Schubart, quoted in Steblin, “Key Characteristics,” 164.
53
Example 19. Element X in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (0:10-1:2)
The resulting sensation can be characterized as a feeling of suspension or “shimmer.”
Like the cinematic dissolve that indicates the beginning of a flashback, I believe this
incipient bitonality suspends our temporal frame, preparing us to hear St. Francis’s voice
directly from his time.
At m. 13:3, the sustained F minor with added B¨ hints at bitonality as it depicts
sister moon’s character as silvery, shivery counterpart to the daytime sun. There is a
similar example at m. 15:3: an F#-major sonority is sustained, to which the flute, cello
and celesta add Fª and Cª . To my ear, this sounds like bitonality because these “outside”
notes of the flute and celesta sound consecutively. The main text-painting device is the
quality of motion: rapid upwards arpeggios in flute, descending arpeggios in the celesta.
But the shimmer between F# and F also contributes to the portrayal of the never-still,
protean quality of water (example 20).
Example 20. Coloristic bitonality in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (15:4-5)
54
After the formally significant cadence at m. 16:9, there is another episode of
bitonality. Over a sustained C#-major chord in the strings, sopranos and altos sing a block
of G#-major. On the common tone of E# (=F), the strings move to an F-major chord, and
the choir answers with C-major. Finally, on the common tone of A, the strings move to
A-major, and the choir answers with E-major. This sequence of moments, unconnected
by conventional tonal mechanisms, evokes a sense of spatial disconnection, of differing
directions, while the bitonality evokes spatial distance. It sounds like the choir is coming
from afar, singing “Loado,” the first word of the Antiphon, “Praised be you, my Lord.”
Is it a chorus from the past, or angels? This question seems to be answered at m. 21:1,
where the tenors and basses sing the praises of corporeal death in the traditionally
appropriate key of F minor, which sopranos and altos answer with “Loado” on C-major,
creating a decidedly angelic affect (example 21).
Example 21. “Angelic” bitonality in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (21:1-3)
Thus, as it does in Música para un códice Salmantino, bitonality can have formal
significance, creating a new beginning after the cadence at m. 17:2. It can express a
sense of spatial distance, but can also suggest the shimmer of moonlight, the flowing
quality of water; or render sopranos and altos angelic.
55
Mode
Simple major mode appears much more frequently in Cántico de San Francisco
de Asís than in the Música para un códice Salmantino. The whole of the conclusion, for
example, is in B major.
There are passages (mm. 18:1 to 18:10, for example) that are in natural minor (as
was much of the Música para un códice Salmantino) but the modal character of the
following (example 22) is obscured somewhat by the veil of seventh and ninth chords
accompanying it:
Example 22. Natural minor in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (19:3-7)
The quasi-antiphon S, with its lowered seventh, suggests mixolydian. Because it
is often repeated and all its derivatives share this quality, this is probably the most
significant modal quality in the piece. (examples 23 and 24).
Example 23. Mixolydian in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (9:5-7)
56
Example 24. More mixolydian in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (18:3-6)
In some spots, many syllables are declaimed on a single pitch, creating the impression of
a reciting tone, or falsobordone.
Example 25. Falsobordone-like declamation in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (19:8-9)
These are just modal inflections, or hints of modal flavor. Some passages using almost
entirely major chords defy any sense of mode (see example 17). All in all, treatment of
mode in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís could be summed up by the word pastiche—a
succession of discrete, distinctive modal approaches.
Characteristic Sonorities
As in Música para un códice Salmantino, seventh and ninth chords are common
in Cántico, but instead of being used as a consistent part of the harmonic syntax, they
appear in dense aggregations (like the Z gesture) which contrast with surrounding
sections of common major and minor triads.
Added sixth chords are also in evidence as a result of superposition, as at m. 16:4,
where D and A sound simultaneously with B and F#, resulting in an impression of D
57
major with added sixth. Although the successions and sense of harmonic rhythm are very
different, these superpositions are identical to those found in element X of the Concerto
(example 26).
Example 26. Comparison of superposition of fifths, Cántico de San Francisco de Asís

Element X (0:10-1:2) Trumpet (same sequence of pitches in brass,
woodwind and string figuration) 16:4-9
In example 31, the description of sister moon ends with two measures of C-E-G-
Ab. Although it functions here as C augmented, it also represents an Ab augmented major
seventh chord—exactly the same sonority that is heard at mm. 112-115 of Música para
un códice Salmantino.
Root Succession
In Cántico de San Francisco de Asís, dominant root succession (that is, root
movement by fourth or fifth) is much more evident than in Música para un códice
Salmantino, but the latter’s characteristic gesture of three downward-stepping, root-
position triads sometimes makes an appearance, though without the characteristic voice-
leading in the other voices (example 27).
Example 27. Root succession by downward step in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (8:9).
(Colla voce strings omitted.)
58
Much more common is alternation of two chords related by whole step alternating as
auxiliaries (example 28).
Example 28. Auxiliary root motion in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (16:10 to 17:3)
The first entry of the chorus contains root motion both by auxiliary and rising step.
Example 29. Root motion by auxiliary and rising step in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (4:10-5:1)
Element Y of the Concerto could be considered the germ of subsequent passages with
upwards-stepping roots (example 30).
Example 30. Element Y in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (1:3-4)
59
Deceptive or Suspenseful Section Breaks
Some sections of Cántico de San Francisco de Asís finish with a prominent
half-cadence which ends those sections with a sense of suspense that might be called
melodramatic. In the locations indicated by asterisks in the table below, this effect is
heightened by the cadence capping a passage of block chords. Alternatively, a cadence
with a common-tone or other unexpected modulation can carry the music in a surprising,
unanticipated direction.
Table 3. Deceptive or suspenseful cadences in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís. At locations marked with
asterisks, the texture is block homophony.
Location Cadence or Transition

4:9* F dorian section cadences on C major chord
9:1* F# minor section cadences on C# major chord
11:5 C major expected; E major substituted
12:1 E major expected, Ab major substituted
12:5 Ab major expected, C major substituted
12:9 C major expected; E major substituted
14:1* F major cadences on C major chord
15:10 B major expected; Bb major substituted
16:4 immediate return from Bb minor to D major
17:3* D major cadences on C# major chord
19:9* D major cadences on A major chord
20:6* A major cadences on E major chord
old section ends with Db minor, new starts in D
20:10
major
Pedals
Pedal notes—often multiple, often dissonant—appear frequently in Música para
un códice Salmantino, as they did in Cántico de San Francisco de Asis.
60
The first appearance is at mm. 13:3-8, where a B¨ trill is sustained in the first violin
against the prevailing F minor sonority (example 31).
Example 31. Dissonant trill in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (13:3-8)
The dissonant pedal at m. 21:1, noted above (example 21), provides an interesting point
of contact with Música para un códice Salmantino: the same G, C, and Ab are sustained
by the same three instrumental sections as at mm. 98-108 of Música. Here, in addition,
an F, acting as tonic pedal to the tenor and bass parts, is repeatedly sounded by the low
strings and timpani. This pedal migrates to G and finally Db. The last pedal in the work,
at the beginning of section IV (24:2), is a conventional common-practice tonic bass pedal
in the timpani, on B and F#.
61
Melodic Materials and Their Use42
A first listening to the Cántico de San Francisco de Asís gives an impression of
an unceasing profusion of new melodic ideas. In fact, all the materials of the work are
derived from three germs: the Ritornello, R, heard at the very beginning, the motivic
germ passage Q, at m. 6:9, and the quasi-antiphon S, first heard at m. 9:7. The motivic
germ passage Q contains three motifs: α, β, and γ, which each gives rise to a distinct
family of motifs. In the Motivic Catalog for Cántico de San Francisco de Asís,
Appendix E, I have categorized derivatives by their phrase of origin. Motifs carried by
instruments tend to be derived from R, while the choir uses motifs from R, Q, and S.
Most derivatives are heard only once. On the other hand, the quasi-antiphon S is heard
repeatedly, and derivatives of the first choral entry, R1, are also re-used (example 32).
Example 32. Motif R1 in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (4:8-5:1)
Because most points of imitation are at the unison, motifs tend to be repeated at
the same pitch level and without variation within sections, which leads to a
non-developmental feel. The most important exception to this is at m. 21:1, where a Qα
derivative is subject to successive variation. This significantly occurs in the emotionally
charged section dealing with corporeal death.
There are four passages in the work which have a motif derived from Qβ, often in
imitation, followed by a passage derived from Qγ or Qα, which is treated homophonically.
These passages can be considered parodies of the original motivic germ passage Q. The
42
Please refer to the Motivic Catalog, Appendix E, and the Motivic and Tonal Analysis chart at
p. 45, above.
62
texts being set are not particularly closely related, but the first three, beginning at mm.
8:2, 9:7, and 14:4, respectively, are in A major, suggesting a possible tonal ritornello
function. The fourth, whose opening recalls the first, starts at m. 22:6, in D major, and
finishes in F# minor. There are two R1 parody passages, starting at m. 10:7 and m. 10:10.
Between them, occurrences of the Ritornello, parody areas, and static layering passages
(explained below) account for almost all of the Litany.
The first Q parody area (mm. 8:2-9:1) begins with a fanfare-like passage derived
from Qβ, and ends with a passage (W) in block homophony, (example 33).
Example 33. Beginning and end of first Q parody section in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís
Beginning of first Q parody area (8:2-4) W, colla voce strings omitted (8:9-9:1).
Reinforcing winds omitted
At m. 20:4 (W’), these are combined into one gesture (example 34).
Example 34. Recapitulation of W in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (20:4)
The texts are strongly related, in the first case speaking of the lowliness of humanity
before God, and the second foretelling how those who suffer in peace will be lifted up by
the Almighty. The two passages are also tonally related, both starting on A major and
63
finishing on C# major or C# minor. These motivic and tonal bookends define an
alternative middle section to the work. Between these two bookends there is another
recollection of W, at the end of the passage praising brother fire (example 28) Its melody
and tonality recall W, but in its texture and rhythmic quality, it anticipates the final
cadence of the work.
Textures
In the highly episodic formal structure of Cántico de San Francisco de Asís, one
mechanism that unifies the work is the consistent use of characteristic textures. The first
and most obvious is the Ritornello, a unison flute melody with its horn echo, which is
repeated throughout the work. The second is found in element Z of the Concerto:
downward cascades of seventh and ninth chords, over a pedal in the horn (example 35).
Example 35. Element Z of section I in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (4:2-7)
This appears in its original form for the last time at m. 6:3 but similar textures also appear
at m. 10:1, m. 18:3, and m. 19:4. It is associated with the text “Loado seas, mi Señor.”
Static layering is another characteristic texture. In these passages the harmonic
rhythm slows down almost to a stop, and there is a sense that the music lay before the
listener, still, like a painted scene. There are sustained chords or trills. Arpeggios or other
figurations sound in two or more layers of augmentation. There is often an implication of
64
bitonality, as at m. 17:4 and following, where sopranos and altos sound G# major over a
sustained C# major in the strings. The quasi-antiphon S is often quoted.
Imitative textures are everywhere in this work, and there are some notable
commonalities among them (see table 4 below for a complete list). Frequently, just two
voices share a point of imitation, resulting in an echo-like effect. Imitations are
sometimes doubled at the octave. Entries are often widely spaced in time, resulting in
minimal overlap between entries, and each voice sings the text only once before dropping
out. All points of imitation are at the unison/octave except for the very first, and all stay
in the same key. A number of these points of imitation build up to four voices, then
continue homophonically, (or quasi-homophonically). These factors combine to give
these passages an unsophisticated, non-developmental quality.
At its simplest, imitation grades into echo. While the horn answer to the flute in
the Ritornello, or the wind repetition of notes just sung by the choir are obviously echoes,
additional entries of a short melody at the unison or octave in a passage of choral
imitation also have the quality of successive echoes. In one instance, at m. 20:9, the
trombone previews a preliminary form of the motif that is heard in the choral bass two
measures later in a more extended form. As such, it is a kind of “echo in advance.”
(example 36).
Example 36. Preview motif in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís

Qα2p (20:9-10). Qα2 (21:1-2).
65
Table 4. Points of imitation in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís.
Motif Imitative Number of parts;

Location name Motif parts interval of imitation
vocal 4-part, at unison, minor

8:4-8:8 Qγβ
and inst. third below, fifth below
9:7-9:10 S, Qγ1 vocal 2-part, at unison
11:1-11:4 R1b inst. 2-part canon at unison
2x2-part canon: first at

R1b, vocal
11:5-11:10 rising fifth; second at
Rβ2 and inst falling fifth
2-part canon at unison,

2:1-12:4 R1b vocal accompanied by running
scales
2x2-part canon; first vocal,

R1b, vocal at unison, then
12:5-12:8
Rβ2 and inst. instrumental, at falling
fifth
2-part at unison; worked

12:10-13:2 S vocal into first static layering
S2.
14:4-14:9 vocal 2x2-part, both at unison
Rα1
3-part at unison; worked

15:5-15:6 S vocal into static layering
2-part, first at rising fifth,

18:1-18:2 S3 vocal then at unison
18:7-18:10 S3' vocal 2-part at unison
3-part at unison;
19:3-19:6 RQ1 vocal countermelody in horn
vocal 4-part at lower 4th, unison,

24:2-24:10 Qβ4 lower 4th, with colla parte
and inst. instruments
4-part at lower 4th, unison,

25:6-26:2 Qβ4 vocal lower 4th, with running
scale accompaniment
66
Text-Painting and Leitmotif
Rodrigo paints the sisters and brothers of Cántico with sonority, orchestration,
contour, and speed of figuration. The sun is painted with vigorously rising overlapping
imitations and running figures in a rainbow of tonal colors. The moon is painted with
shimmering trills, descending arpeggios, and an ambiguously dissonant sonority. Water is
similarly painted with a trill, arpeggios in contrary motion, and a heightened sense of
bitonality. Fire is represented with quick rising arpeggios (like licking flames) and
intense high-register, full-choir homophony. Death in the abstract is painted with one of
Rodrigo’s characteristic sonorities—C-G-Ab—sustained in the strings, and an ominous
rhythmic pedal sounding a tocsin in the timpani and lower strings. The death of the
individual is represented by scales descending a full octave, sung by the tenors and basses
of the choir. This latter device—the descending scale representing mortality and
impending death of the individual—permeates Música para un códice Salmantino. On
the other hand, onomatopoeic gestures, like the bagpipe drone, the call of the cuckoo
(Rodrigo’s melodic monogram), and the evocation of the Flamenco duo in Música para
un codice Salmantino are conspicuously absent. Perhaps this is because Música is
evoking a specific place and Cántico depicts more general, universal gifts to humanity.
St. Francis does not refer to himself in his canticle, but Rodrigo’s setting has the
Ritornello, which, with its pastoral simplicity and distinctively modal character, can be
seen as a leitmotif for the simple friar telling the story.
67
CHAPTER 4
COMPARING THE TWO WORKS—EVOLUTION OR ADAPTATION?
As the following Comparison of Compositional Features (Table 5) shows, the
compositional language of the two pieces have a great many features in common. Of the
differences in the application of some techniques, I feel a number are Rodrigo’s response
to the differing expressive requirements of the texts. Oda a Salamanca is a very personal
contemplation of time, place, and mortality, and a personal plea for the immortality of
memory from a mind that has begun to question the immortality of the body and soul. It
is very place-specific. Rodrigo’s response synthesizes the various elements of his musical
language to produce a continuous and highly self-consistent musical narrative expressing
Unamuno’s personal vision of Salamanca’s place and deep history. St. Francis’s Cántico,
consistent with the image of simplicity cultivated by the saint, is a seemingly naïve,
almost childlike litany of God’s gifts to humanity with the unceasing exhortation to thank
and praise the Lord. It is highly formulaic and episodic. Rodrigo’s response is to create a
series of distinctive tableaus, displaying the wonders of God’s gifts in almost
kaleidoscopic fashion. They are unified by the recurrence of the ritornello, like an icon of
Francis, of the quasi-antiphon motif, S, and a network of internal allusions: tonal,
textural, and motivic.
68
Table 5. Comparison of compositional features of Música para un códice Salmantino and
Cántico de San Francisco de Asís.
Compositional Feature Música Cántico

Instrumentation 11 solo players full orchestra
Soloist bass none
Prominent instrumental introduction canon concerto
Use of an element from introduction as yes yes
ritornello
Melodic material derived from yes yes
introduction
Use of melodic/harmonic formula to Stanza-end formula Ritornello and Quasi-
articulate form antiphon
Use of echo as a formal punctuation yes yes
Tonality articulates form yes yes
Tonal symbolism conforms to historic poor correlation yes
practice
Consistent internal tonal symbolism yes strong
Dissonant pedals yes yes
Modal/chant references yes yes
Cadences on open fifth or unison yes no
Suggestion of ecclesiastic or folkloric yes yes
modes
Non-triadic harmony no element X of the
Concerto
Seventh and ninth chords part of a consistent used coloristically in
harmonic syntax intensive blocks
Expressive use of augmented sonority yes yes
Added 6th chords yes yes
Bitonality used to express used coloristically
temporal dislocation;
articulates form
Common-tone modulation limited, used for pervasive
expressive spots
Non-dominant harmonic succession pervasive; part of episodic, used for local
fundamental harmonic color
syntax
Text-painting yes; sometimes yes, generalized
onomatpoeic and
evocative of place
Heterophony between instrumental and yes no
vocal lines
Imitative textures yes yes
Static layering no yes
69
In contrast to the unity of style seen in Música para un códice Salmantino,
Cántico de San Francisco de Asís appears as a crazy quilt of different styles: the
Andalusian melody of the Ritornello, the avant-garde-sounding element X, modal and
chant allusions, and references to the style of previous works (like the C-G-Ab pedal, or
the mostly-major germ passage Q), to name a few. These are sometimes frankly
juxtaposed, as in the Concerto. Sometimes a modal-sounding passage of choral imitation
that would not be out of place in Música is layered with a bitonal static layering texture in
the orchestra (for example, in the passage depicting sister water, mm. 15:4-10). This
procedure layers styles as well as rates of harmonic change, introducing a contrast—one
might even say a fault-line—between the two layers. This leads inescapably to the idea
that Rodrigo is attempting to maintain two expressive viewpoints at the same time.
In the formal realm, a passage of imitation might be bluntly rounded with block
homophony that ends with a melodramatic half-cadence or common-tone modulation (for
example, in the first Q parody section, mm. 8:1 – 9:1). Imitation is almost always at the
unison, with each voice singing the words only once, and most often only two
contrapuntal voices sounding at a time. These procedures and others result in an
unsophisticated or folkloric quality that is out of tune with our knowledge of Rodrigo’s
mastery. This suggests he may be playing a role. In her 2016 paper on irony in
Beethoven’s late string quartets, Janet Bourne notes that Beethoven, Mozart and others
composed in the voice of “the bungling composer” for humorous or ironic effect.43
43
Janet Bourne, “Perceiving Irony in Music: The Problem in Beethoven’s String Quartets,” Music
Theory Online 22 no. 3 (September 2016) §6.7ff.
http://mtosmt.org/issues/mto.16.22.3/mto.16.22.3.bourne.html (accessed December 23, 2018).
70
I submit that in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís, Rodrigo creates two voices for
himself: ‘Simple Rodrigo’ uses the elements of Joaquín’s youthful style, applied with an
unskilled hand, to paint the Saint’s words with the choir, while ‘Sophisticated Rodrigo’
uses avant-garde technique to set an orchestral halo on the narrative. Thus it could be said
that in his Cántico de San Francisco de Asís, the aging composer succeeds in holding
youthful zest and energy and mature sophistication in his heart at the same time.
71
CHAPTER 5
SUMMATION AND CONCLUSION
In this study, I have analyzed and compared two choral-orchestral works by
Joaquín Rodrigo: one of his first in this idiom (albeit from a time when his style had
already matured) and his very last work for either chorus or orchestra. What are the most
significant findings of these analyses? In Música para un códice Salmantino, the
elucidation of the Stanza-end formula —its various forms, formal significance and
connection to the Andalusian cadence of Flamenco music—is of prime importance to the
formal and sonic understanding of the work. The importance of non-dominant harmonic
succession, whether suggestive of pre-common practice music or evocative of Flamenco,
is an important key to the soundscape Rodrigo has created, as is an understanding of the
characteristic sonorities, and the mechanism and expressive function of bitonality. In
Cántico de San Francisco de Asís, an understanding of the non-developmental, episodic
nature of the music is important to developing an expressive strategy. The same goes for
the static, coloristic use of polytonality, in contrast with its use in Música. It is also
important to know the differences in the techniques of text-painting employed by Rodrigo
in the two pieces. The concept of Rodrigo maintaining two distinct compositional voices
could help performers shape a more effective performance of this challenging work.
The three decades between the two works did not leave Rodrigo’s style unaltered.
In the Avant-garde sixties and seventies he adopted new textural and harmonic
techniques without abandoning his core style. In the eighties, at the twilight of his career,
Rodrigo layers two expressive voices—one expressing youthful zest and naïveté, the
other, avant-garde sophistication—into Cántico de San Francisco de Asís, his farewell
work for chorus and orchestra.
72
APPENDIX A
Text and line-by-line translation of Música para un códice Salmantino44
Música para un códice Salmantino from Oda a Salamanca (Miguel de Unamuno)

Alto soto de torres que al ponerse .................................................. Tall grove of towers that, at his setting
tras las encinas que el celaje esmaltan, .............................. behind the trees that embellish the cloudscape,
dora a los rayos de su lumbre el padre ..........................................gilds with the rays of his fire, the father
sol de Castilla. ................................................................................................................. sun of Castile.
bosque de piedras que arrancó la historia ....................................... great forest of stones that drew history
a las entrañas de la tierra madre, ............................................................. from the bowels of mother earth,
remanso de quietud, yo te bendigo, ...................................................... backwater of quietude, I bless you,
¡mi Salamanca! .............................................................................................................. my Salamanca!
Miras a un lado, allende el Tormes lento, .................. You look out on one side, beyond the slow Tormes,
de las encinas el follaje pardo, ........................................................ on the dark foliage of the (holm) oaks,
cual el follaje de tu piedra, inmoble, ............................................. which, like thy foliage of stone, is still,
denso y perenne. ..................................................................................................... dense and perennial.
Y de otro lado, por la calva Armuña, ............................................... On the other side, by barren Armuña,
ondea el trigo, cual tus piedras, de oro, ........................ ripples the wheat which, like thy stones, is golden
y entre los surcos, al morir la tarde, ......................... and between the furrows, at the death of the evening,
duerme el sosiego. ............................................................................................... tranquility is sleeping.
Duerme el sosiego y la esperanza duerme: ............................ Tranquillity sleeps and hope too is sleeping,
de otras cosechas y otras dulces tardes, ................................ of other harvests and other sweet afternoons;
las horas, al correr sobre la tierra, ........................................................... the hours, running over the earth,
dejan su rastro. ....................................................................................................... leave their tracks.
Al pie de tus sillares, Salamanca, ............................................. At foot of thy blocks of stone, Salamanca,
de las cosechas del pensar tranquilo, ....................................................... of the harvest of tranquil thought
que año tras año maduró en tus aulas, ........................................... that year after year ripened in thy halls,
duerme el recuerdo. ................................................................................................. sleeps the memory.
Duerme el recuerdo, la esperanza duerme, ..................................Memory sleeps and hope too is sleeping,
y es el tranquilo curso de tu vida ......................................................... and the tranquil course of your life,
como el crecer de las encinas, lento, ...................................................like the growth of the oaks, is slow;
lento y seguro. .............................................................................................................. slow and secure.
¡Oh!, Salamanca, entre tus piedras de oro ................................... Oh! Salamanca, midst thy golden stones
aprendieron a amar los estudiantes, .............................................................. the students did learn of love,
mientras los campos que te ciñen, daban .............................whilst the fields that embrace thee have given
jugosos frutos. ...................................................................................................................... juicy fruit.
Del corazón en las honduras guardo ..........................................................In the depths of my heart I keep
tu alma robusta; cuando yo muera, ..................................................................your strong soul; when I die
guarda, dorada Salamanca mía, ...................................................................... keep, my golden Salamanca,
tú mi recuerdo. .................................................................................................. keep thou my memory.
Y cuando el sol al acostarse encienda .............................................. And when the sun, in retiring, ignites
el oro secular que te recama, ............................................................ the ancient gold that embroiders you,
con tu lenguaje de lo eterno heraldo, .......................................................... in thy tongue of eternal herald,
di tú que he sido. .................................................................................................... tell that I have been.
44
Text as it appears in front matter of the 1996 edition score; translation by the author.
73
APPENDIX B
“Introduction to the Work by the Author” published with the score of
Música para un códice Salmantino45
Introducción de la obra por el autor
Esta obra, fechada en Torrelodones a 19 de Septiembre de 1953, corresponde al amplio
género «cantata» y ha sido escrita para conmemorar la fundación de la Universidad de Salamanca
en su séptimo centenario.
Como puede leerse en el título general de la partitura, ésta consigna una voz de Bajo, un
Coro mixto a cuatro voces, y once instrumentos: dos violines, viola, violonchelo, contrabajo,
flautín, flauta, corno inglés, trompeta, trompa y arpa. A nadie, pues, podrá escapar que la reducida
pero abigarrada escolta que acompaña al protagonista de la «cantata», el Bajo, y a su, al veces,
comentarista como antagonista el Coro, nos explica la primera intención o deseo del autor:
evocar.
La genealogía de esta composición (otros más autorizados que yo podrán confirmarlo)
arranca de mi cantiga sobre versos de Gil Vicente (1925), para después culminar en la música al
Cántico espiritual de San Juan de la Cruz, y desembocar en Ausencias de Dulcinea sobre versos
del Quijote. Evidentemente, esta obra es dos veces hermana de Música para un códice
Salmantino. Pero estimo que se parecen lo menos posible.
La temática de la obra consta de lo que podríamos llamar tres elementos: un único tema
con inflexiones de cantiga y de caracter puramente instrumental inaugura la «cantata». Podrá
aparecer más tarde en las voces, pero siempre consideradas como timbres añadidos al equipaje
instrumental de la «cantata».
Segundo, un arioso o si se quiere, canto libre, encomendado al protagonista. Tercero, una
atmósfera melódica que se quebranta entre cadencias gregorianas y tonada popular castellana.
El número generador de la armonía es el acorde perfecto que se estira perezosamente
hasta la séptima mayor que puntúa la cadencia sáfica de los versos de Unamuno. Toda esta
atmósfera armónica se mantiene dentro del mismo clima hasta el final, tendido sobre la
bi-modalidad de una tonalidad equívoca, cuya perfidia se acentúa por los factores sonoros puestos
en juego.
La forma o estructura de la composición, de una duración de unos doce minutos, sigue,
de modo más o menos ajustado y como suele suceder en toda composición vocal, la forma del
«Motete», si bien una involuntaria escapada lírica procura a la obra algunas breves reapariciones
pseudotemáticas que, junto con el tema propiamente dicho de la obra, consiguen, creo yo, esa
unidad a la que estamos acostumbrados después del logro de las formas musicales que podríamos
llamar, con voz generosa, «modernas». Sin embargo, la «cantata» se abre por lo que yo he
denominado «Introito», verdadero Deo Gratias por habernos permitido Dios asistir a esta
conmemoración. Consiste en un canon a la octava y a ocho voces (aunque en buena teoría
contrapuntística sea en mayor número). Concebí este Introito como una suerte de juglería que
hubiera podido inventar aquel maestro de órgano a quien el rey don Sancho encomendó la
enseñanza de la música en esta Universidad. Música puramente instrumental y de una pretendida
objetivación o abstracción sonora.
El canto del cuco (rúbrica indispensable del autor), las salvas sonoras que saludan a
Salamanca y a estas aulas, o el lejano despliegue de los sopranos al conjuro del amor de los
estudiantes, y que acompaña el arpa con vagos puntos de música conocida, son elementos
decorativos que completan el propósito del autor: evocar.
45
As it appears in 1996 score.
74
Introduction to the work by the composer46
“This work, finished in Torrelodones on the 19th September 1953, belongs to the general musical
category of "cantata," genre and was written to mark the 700th Anniversary of the founding of the
University of Salamanca.
As can be seen from the details in the score, the work is composed for bass soloist, four-part
mixed choir, and eleven instruments: two violins, viola, ‘cello, doublebass, piccolo, flute, cor
anglais, trumpet, horn and harp. No one can be in any doubt, therefore, that this restricted but
colourful accompanist for the protagonist of the "cantata,": the bass soloist, and the choir—
simultaneously both commentator and antagonist—explains the composer’s primary intention and
desire in this work: to evoke.
The origins of this composition (others more learned than I can confirm this) stem from my
Cantiga to words by Gil Vicente (1925), through the music for the Cántico espiritual of St. John
of the Cross [Cántico de la Eposa, 1934], to Ausencias de Dulcinea [1948], a setting of lines from
Don Quixote. Clearly, this latter work is doubly related to Música para un códice Salmantino; but
I trust they resemble each other as little as possible.
The material of the work consists of what might be called three distinct elements. One particular
theme with the atmosphere of a mediaeval chant, purely instrumental in character, opens the
cantata. It also appears later in the voice parts, but but always conceived as an element added to
the instrumental music of the cantata.
Secondly, an ‘arioso’, or ‘free melody,’ given to the protagonist. Thirdly, a melodic background
hovers between the cadences of Gregorian chant and popular Castilian song. The basis of the
harmony is the perfect chord, that stretches out lazily to the major seventh that punctuates the
sapphic verses of Unamuno. This whole harmonic atmosphere is maintained within the same
mood to the end, balanced upon the dual modality of an ambiguous tonal scheme, the uncertainty
of which is accentuated by the sonorities employed.
The form or structure of the composition, which lasts some twelve minutes, follows an adapted
form of the ‘Motet’ style, as generally occurs in all vocal composition; even though an occasional
lyrical episode may bring brief recalls of thematic elements. These, together with the principal
theme of the work, achieve, I believe, that unity to which we are now accustomed after the
success of musical forms which we might generously call "modern".Neverthless, the ‘cantata’
opens with what I have called ‘Introit,’ a true ‘Deo Gratias’ to God for having allowed us to be
part of this commemoration. It consists of a canon at the octave, in eight voices (although in good
contrapuntal theory it should be more). I conceived this Introit as a form of minstrel’s music, of
the kind that might have been invented by the organist to whom King Don Sancho entrusted the
teaching of music in this University: a purely instrumental piece, and an objective abstract
creation in sound.
The call of the cuckoo (the composer’s familiar signature), the triumphant salutes to Salamanca
and to its lecture halls, or the distant music of the soprano voices when the magic of student love
is conjured up, which the harp accompanies with touches of familiar music—all these are
decorative elements complete the author's primary intention: to evoke.”
46
Translation by Raymond Calcraft from the 1996 score; printed by permission.
75
APPENDIX C
Rodrigo’s program note, from Hand in Hand with the Maestro 47
MÚSICA PARA UN CÓDICE SALMANTINO

Among the many new and unexpected experiences of humanity in present times, I
want to sing out the experience of a man hearing and listening to himself. A portentous
invention has been able to turn on, once and forever, in inscrutable hieroglyphics, of
furrows and dashes, the voice and words and song of mankind...And man has been able
to hear himself, to have before him a previously unheard image of himself.
So then: I do not know what Eve thought when she was first able to look at and
see herself on that first day that the quiet waters reflected the first face of a woman. But I
imagine the impression she must have had: Eve did not recognize herself. She did not
recognize her own image in the clearest mirror of the clearest waters, just as we who have
heard our works for the first time are unable to get past the very novel experience. This
experience is in itself disheartening, but is also the immediate consequence of and
probably echoes the visual perplexity: we have not recognized ourselves, and we do not
like ourselves. We do not like ourselves, because we had an innate and perhaps necessary
over-estimation of ourselves; that is to say, that our vanity is wounded. And this would
tend to confirm the view of so many psychologists, who apparently paradoxically claim
that it is easier to really understand others than to truly understand one's self.
The external aspect and the internal demonstration, the face and the voice, what is
commonly called the mirror of the soul and the other, what I call the echo of its own
interior, i.e. the voice, have passed through the same trials...and man does not recognize
himself and when he finally does he feels mortified, because he does not care for himself,
because he had had a much better opinion of himself.
We could multiply, repeat in degrees in a lesser category the event of that scrutiny
itself; whenever we become estranged from ourselves, or from our own works, or even
from our own actions—the painter who is distanced from his canvas, the composer upon
listening to his work, as interpreted by others, feels an unspeakable disappointment, and it
seems changed; and if such is the case, how can we serve as our own critics? Yet, the
function of creator demands vigilance, discrimination in application of technique, his
innate and acquired tastes, and his instinct, which in art is replaced by sensitivity. And
then this need and that inability, I believe, give birth to the tremendous doubt that assaults
the creative artist's sense of his value, of the importance or the meaning of his art.
In my case, as always, when I've been asked to say something about my modest
works, I'm restrained by perplexity. I must consider my latest work, its ink still wet,
which time has not yet affected, or granted a sense of distance from the creator.
However, these expressions of modesty are nearly worthless; rebellion, also just
and likewise necessary, forces us to admit that we do in fact know something about
47
Victoria Kamhi de Rodrigo, Hand in Hand with the Maestro: My Life at the Maestro’s Side,
trans. Ellen Wilkerson. (Pittsburgh: PA: Latin American Literary Review Press, 1992), 326-327.
76
ourselves; that we understand a great deal about our own intentions and desires and even
about our works. Although such facts may be altogether precise, the sagacious examiner,
if we do not mislead him by misleading ourselves, can use them to avoid inquires and
deductions that might misdirect or confuse him within the labyrinth of the artist's
intentions and desires.
Truly, if not for the suggestion to do so from my dear friend Don Antonio Tovar,
the Rector of the University of Salamanca, to compose a sort of cantata for the closing
ceremonies of the 700th anniversary of the founding of that university, I would never
have turned my attention to Miguel de Unamuno's poetry, although I consider him one of
the outstanding contemporary poets of the Spanish language. But was it possible for
someone to try to fulfill this difficult duty—doubly honorable—of fusing Salamanca and
its University with Unamuno? With the greatest respect and humble devotion I decided
to approach Unamuno's words, or as he might have.expressed it, to people his poetic
world with sonorous ghosts.
77
APPENDIX D
Text and Translation of Cántico de San Francisco de Asís48
CÁNTICO DE SAN FRANCISCO DE ASÍS CANTICLE OF SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI

Altísimo, omnipotente buen Señor, .................................................... All-highest, omnipotent, good Lord,
Tuyas son las alabanzas la gloria ......................................................................... to you be all praise, glory
y el honor, y toda bendición. ..........................................................................and honour, and all blessing.
A ti solo, Altísimo, corresponden, ..................................................................... To you alone are they due,
y ningún hombre es digno de hacer de ti mención. .................. and no man is worthy to utter your name.¨
Loado seas, mi Señor, con todas tus criaturas, ...............Praised be you, my Lord. with all your creations,
Especialmente el señor hermano sol, ............................................................... Especially lord brother sun,
El cual es día y por el cual nos alumbra. ......................... Who is the day, and by whom we are illumined,
Y el es bello y radiante con gran esplendor; ..............and he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour;
de ti, altísimo, lleva significación. ..................................................... of you, all-highest, he is the symbol.
Loado seas. mi Señor, por la hermana luna, ............................ Praised be you, my Lord, for sister moon,
y por las estrellas, en el cielo las has formado .................... and for the stars: You formed them in heaven,
luminosas y preciosas y bellas. .............................................................shining and precious and beautiful.
Loado seas, mi Señor, por el hermano viento ........................................... Praised be you, for brother wind
y por el aire y el nublado y el sereno ................................. and for the air and the clouds and the clear sky
y todo tiempo ........................................................................................................ and all weather
y por el cual a tus criaturas das susteno. ................................ and by whom you sustain all your creatures.
Loado seas, mi Señor, por la hermana agua, ............................. Praised be you, my Lord, for sister water,
la cual es muy útil y humilde y preciosa y casta. ....who is most useful and humble and lovely and chaste.
Loado seas, mi Señor, por el hermano fuego, ............................Praised be you, my Lord, for brother fire,
por el cual alumbras la noche: .......................................................... through whom you light up the night;
y el es bello y alegre y robusto y fuerte. ..................... and he is beautiful and joyous and lusty and strong.
Loado seas, mi Señor, por nuestra hermana ................................. Praised be you, my Lord, for our sister,
la madre tierra, la cual nos gobierna ................................................................. mother earth, who rules us.
y produce diversos frutos .......................................................................... and produces fruits of all kinds,
con coloridas flores y yerbas. ................................................................... with colored flowers and plants.
Loado seas, mi Señor, por aquellos que ...................................... Praised be you, my Lord, for those who
perdonan por tu amor ............................................................................................. forgive for love of you,
y soportan enfermedad y tribulación, ................................................. and endure sickness and tribulation;
bienaventurados aquellos que la sufren en paz. ................................ blessed are those who suffer in peace
pues por tí. Altísimo, coronados serán. .............................. for by you, All-highest, they will be crowned.
Loado seas, mi Señor, por nuestra hermana ................................... Praised be you, my Lord, for our sister
la muerte corporal, ...................................................................................................................bodily death,
de la cual ningún hombre viviente puede escapar. ..........................from whom no man living can escape.
¡Ay de aquellos que mueran en pecado mortal! ................................ Alas for those who die in mortal sin!
Bienaventurados aquellos a quienes encontrará ............................... Blessed are those whom she will find
en tu santísima voluntad, ............................................................................................ doing your holy will,
pues la muerte segunda no les hará mal. ..................................... for the second death will not harm them.
Load y bendecid a mi Señor, ................................................................................. Praise and bless my Lord

y dadle gracias y servidle con gran humildad. ............... and give thanks and serve him with great humility.
48
Text as it appears in the front matter of the Score; translation by the author.
78
APPENDIX E
Motivic Catalog for Cántico de San Francisco de Asís
Entries are in derivation order. Symbols for germ passages are shown in Bold Face.
First
appears:
Symbol location Motif
R 0 :1
Re 0 :6
R1 4 :8
R1a 10 :7
R1b 10 :10
Rα1 14 :6
Rα2 14 :10
Rβ1 12 :10
79
First
appears:
Rβ2 11 :6
RQ1 19 :3
Q 6 :9
Qα1 15 :1
Qα2p 20 :9
Qα2 21 :1
Qα2' 21 :3
Qα2'' 21 :5
Qα2b 21 :2
80
First
appears:
Qα3 23 :1
Qβ1 8 :2
Qβ1' 22 :6
Qγ1 9 :9
Qγ1a 22 :7
Qγ1b 21 :6
Qγ1c 21 :8
Qγ2 10 :5
Qγ4 26 :1
81
First
appears:
Qγβ 8 :5
S 9 :7
S' 24 :3
S2 14 :4
S3 18 :3
S3' 18 :7
W 8 :9
W' 20 :5
W1 16 :10
82
APPENDIX F
Copyright permission from EJR for

Música para un códice Salmantino
83
84
85
86
APPENDIX G
Copyright permission from EAMDC for

Cántico de San Franciso de Asís
87
88
REFERENCES
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December 23, 2018).
Calcraft, Raymond. "Rodrigo, Joaquín." Grove Music Online.

http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy1.library.arizona.edu/subscriber/articl
e/grove/music/23647 (accessed October 31, 2016).
Donis, José A. “The Musicologist Behind the Composer: The Impact of Historical
Studies Upon the Creative Life in Joaquín Rodrigo’s Guitar Compositions.” MM
thesis, Florida State University, 2005. http://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/etd/709 (accessed
October 30, 2016).
Draayer, Suzanne Rhodes. A Singer’s Guide to the Songs of Joaquín Rodrigo. Lanham
(MD): Scarecrow Press, 1999.
Fernandez-Cid, Antonio. La Musica Española en el siglo XX. Madrid: Fundación Juan

March, 1973.
Hayes, Malcolm. “Music in London: Orchestral, Choral.” The Músical Times 127, no.
1718 (May, 1986): 285-289 [Review of the première of Cántico de San Francisco
de Asís]. http://www.jstor.org/stable/965474 (accessed: October 29, 2016).
“In Memoriam: Joaquín Rodrigo.” The Musical Times 140, no. 1868 (Autumn, 1999):
6-7. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1004483 (Accessed: October 29, 2016).
Jones, Dena Kay. "The Piano Works of Joaquín Rodrigo: an Evaluation of Social
Influences and Compositional Style." DMA document, University of Arizona,
2001. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global
http://ezproxy.library.arizona.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-
com.ezproxy4.library.arizona.edu/docview/304684757?accountid=8360 (accessed
September 18, 2018).
Kamhi de Rodrigo, Victoria. Hand in Hand with the Maestro: My Life at the Maestro’s
Side, trans. Ellen Wilkerson. Discoveries. Pittsburgh (PA): Latin American
Literary Review Press, 1992.
Manuel, Peter. “Flamenco in Focus: An Analysis of a Performance of Soleares,” In

Analytical Studies in World Music, ed. Michael Tenzer, 92-119. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2006.
89
___________. “Modal Harmony in Andalusian, Eastern European, and Turkish Syncretic
Musics.” Yearbook for Traditional Music 21 (1989): 70–94.
www.jstor.org/stable/767769. (accessed May 30, 2018).
Marco, Tomás. Spanish Music in the Twentieth Century, translated by Cola Franzen.
Cambridge (MA): Harvard University Press, 1993. Revision of Historia de la
musica española: Siglo XX, Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 1983.
Meizel, Katherine Lynn. “Eastern Mediterranean Sephardic Tradition in Art Song.”

DMA diss., University of California Santa Barbara, 2004. In ProQuest
Dissertations and Theses Global,
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2016).
Miura, Enrique Martinez. [Liner Notes from] Rodrigo Complete Orchestral Works
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Susannah Howe. Naxos 8.557223, 2003.
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Salmantino. Madrid, Ediciones Joaquín Rodrigo: 1996.
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com.ezproxy1.library.arizona.edu/docview/303143661?accountid=8360 (accessed
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Musical Scores
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_______________. Música para un códice Salmantino. Madrid: Ediciones Joaquín

Rodrigo, 1996.
_______________. Música para un códice Salmantino. Salamanca: Universidad de

Salamanca, 1954.
92

Tonality and Expression in Two

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TONALITY AND EXPRESSION IN TWO CHORAL-ORCHESTRAL WORKS BY

A Document Submitted to the Faculty of the

FRED FOX SCHOOL OF MUSIC

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS

In the Graduate College

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

Date: I -It, -I')

SIGNED: Terrance D. Pitt-Brooke

The members of my advisory committee:

Meg Lota Brown, Director of the University Fellows Program,

Members of the Arizona Choir, players for my Lecture Recital,

My parents, brother David, daughter Amelia and son Aidan,

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES....................................................................................7

LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES ......................................................................................8

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................11

CHAPTER 2 MÚSICA PARA UN CÓDICE SALMANTINO .......................................18

CHAPTER 3 CÁNTICO DE SAN FRANCISCO DE ASÍS ............................................43

CHAPTER 4 COMPARING THE TWO WORKS—

APPENDIX A Text and line-by-line translation of

APPENDIX B “Introduction to the Work by the Author” of

APPENDIX D Text and Translation of Cántico de San Francisco de Asís ...................788

APPENDIX E Motivic Catalog for Cántico de San Francisco de Asís ...........................79

APPENDIX F Copyright permission from EJR for

APPENDIX G Copyright permission from EAMDC for

Table 1. Stanza-end formula occurrences in Música para un códice Salmantino ............31

Figure 1. Analytic Chart for Música para un códice Salmantino .....................................35

Figure 3. Analytic Chart for Música para un códice Salmantino ......................................46

Table 2. Key associations in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís .......................................52

Table 3. Deceptive or suspenseful cadences in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís...........60

Table 4. Points of imitation in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís ....................................66

Table 5. Comparison of compositional features of Música para un códice Salmantino

Example 2. First entry of solo bass in Música para un códice Salmantino

Example 3. First occurrence of Stanza-end formula in

Example 5. Bitonality in Música para un códice Salmantino (mm. 128-136) ..................26

Example 6. Stanza-end formula in tenor and winds in

Example 7. Extended bass line descent in Música para un códice Salmantino

Example 8. Internal quotation in Música para un códice Salmantino ...............................33

Example 9. Common-tone modulation in Música para un códice Salmantino

Example 10. Element R in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (0:1) .................................43

Example 11. Element X in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (0:10-1:2) .........................44

Example 12. Element Y in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (1:3-4) ..............................44

Example 15. Germ passage Q in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (6:9-12)46

Example 16. Quasi-antiphon S in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís

Example 17. Germ passage Q in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (6:9-7:3),

Example 18. Common-tone modulation in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís

Example 19. Element X in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (0:10-1:2) .........................54

Example 23. Mixolydian in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (9:5-7) ............................56

Example 25. Falsobordone-like declamation in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís

Example 27. Root succession by downward step in

Example 29. Root motion by auxiliary and rising step in

Example 30. Element Y in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (1:3-4) .............................59

Example 32. Motif R1 in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (4:8-5:1) .............................62

Example 33. Beginning and end of first Q parody section in

Example 34. Recapitulation of W in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís (20:4) ................63

Example 36. Preview motif in Cántico de San Francisco de Asís ....................................65

evolution of this composer’s style over three decades.

tonality, other elements of Rodrigo’s style will be considered, including texture,

registration, voice-leading, and orchestration. The aim is to connect Rodrigo’s use of

then compared to answer the question: do the differences reveal an evolution in

Rodrigo’s compositional style?

Although separated by almost three decades, Joaquin Rodrigo’s choral-orchestral

can be seen an evolution in the application of certain techniques.