Pitch Order and Duration Order in Boulez' Structure Ia

Author(s): Lynden Deyoung

Source: Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 16, No. 2 (Spring - Summer, 1978), pp. 27-34
Published by: Perspectives of New Music
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/832676
Accessed: 09-01-2016 13:27 UTC

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/
info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content
in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship.
For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Perspectives of New Music is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Perspectives of New Music.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 129.96.252.188 on Sat, 09 Jan 2016 13:27:27 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 PITCH ORDER AND DURATION ORDER
IN BOULEZ' STRUCTURE Ia

LYNDEN DEYOUNG

In his analysisof Boulez' StructureIa,1 Gy6rgyLigeti makes rele-

vant comparisonsbetween that work and an importantearlier serial
composition.Mode de valeurs et d'intensite's, by Olivier Messiaen.2
Division I of Messiaen's compositionis based on a twelve-noteset that
begins with a thirty-secondnote, and each succeeding duration is
increasedby that value, so that the last is a dottedquarternote. Ligeti
pointsout thatBoulez employedboth the pitchset and the durationset
fromDivision I of Mode de valeurs; moreover,Boulez used ordinal
numbersthatdesignatepitchplacementin P0 as multipliers of a thirty-
second note,and therebyprovideddurationsforall pitchsets.A dura-
tionsetderivedfromP0 in thisway would be:

ordinalnumbers: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
pitch: EE D A Ab G F# E C# C Bb F B
duration: J J J
A durationset derivedfroma reorderingof P, forexample RI4, would
be:

orderin Po of (12 11 9 10 3 6 7 1 2 8 4 5)
pitchesin RI4: B F C Bb A F# E Eb D C# Ab G
resulting
durationset: J.
L,)L),.
1See "Pierre Boulez (Decision and Automatism in Structure Ia)", by GySrgy
Ligeti,Die Reihe,Vol. 4 (1960), pp. 36-62.
2 Mode de valeurs et d'intensitis is discussed in "Messiaen/Goeyvaerts, Fano/
Stockhausen, Boulez", by Richard Toop, in Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 13,
No. 1 (1974), pp. 141-169.

This content downloaded from 129.96.252.188 on Sat, 09 Jan 2016 13:27:27 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
28 PERSPECTIVES OF NEW MUSIC

Ligeti, however,could findno directrelationshipbetweeneach pitch

set and its note values (the durationset derivedfromRI4 is applied to
pitchset Po); he thereforeconcludesthat,in StructureIa, "the choice
of durations,thoughin itselflogical (as an arithmeticalseries), is all
thesame arbitrary".3
Ligeti looked toward Messiaen for a clue to relationshipsbetween
pitch sets and duration sets in StructureIa, and found none. If we
look in another direction,however, toward Anton Webern's Piano
Variations,a directrelationshipbetweenpitch orderingand duration
sets becomes apparent. It is well-known4that the second movement
of Webern'sVariationsdisplaysa set of dyads formedby verticalcom-
binationsof P and I. The basic set comprisesa chromaticprogression
outwardfroma unisonto an octave a tritoneaway:

AA Bb B C C# D Eb
G# G F# F E D#
In its firstappearance in the movement,the set resultsfroma com-
binationof P4 and 16:

P4: G# AF GE C F# C D Bb B Eb
I6: Bb A C# B D F C F? E G G D#

When taken out of musical context and representedonly by letter

names,as above, the P-I set containstheVA-Ebpairingsplus fivedyads
A-D?
withtheirinversions.
In the music,inversionsper se may not be present(Bb, forexample,
always appears above G#), but the dyads are otherwiseaudible, and
help to obscure a canon by contrarymotion between the hands. In
subsequent passages the dyads recur in a differentorder each time.
Webernmade use of the propertythatif a P-I pairingbeginswithone
of the dyads,such pairingwill produce all of the dyadsin theset.5And
Webern's rows overlap: the last notes of each P-I pair are the first
notesof thepair to follow.

3 Ligeti, op. cit., p. 39.

4 This famous work has been analyzed by several writers. "Webern and 'Total
Organization' ", by Peter Westergaard, appeared in Perspectives of New Music,
Vol. 1, No. 2 (1963), pp. 107-20.
5 See "Twelve-Tone Invariants as Compositional Determinants", by Milton Bab-
bitt,in Musical Quarterly,XLVI (1960), pp. 246-59.

This content downloaded from 129.96.252.188 on Sat, 09 Jan 2016 13:27:27 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 ORDER IN BOULEZ' STRUCTURE Ia 29

Though obscuredby the orderingof note values and by passages in

one, three,and fiveparts,thesesame dyads providea basis fora rela-

Eb-E-A
tionshipbetween pitch order and duration in StructureIa. In mm.
1-7, forexample, onlydyads[Eb-D-A are apparentin a two-parttex-

ture; the notes of each dyad to follow are widely separated in time
(see Ex. 1). This initial dyad set is the resultof a combinationof
P0 and I0.
Po: Eb D A Ab G F# E C# C Bb F B (Piano I)
I0o: E E A Bb B C D F F# Ab C# G (Piano II)

Paired row formscreate the same dyad set to control note values;
dyads are relatedboth to ordinal numbersthat designatepitch place-
ment in Po and to durationsin the music expressedas multipliersof
a thirty-secondnote:

ordinalnumbers: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Po: E D A Ab G F# E C# C Bb F B

durationsPo: x 12 11 9 10 3 6 7 1 2 8 4 5 (Piano I)
durationsIo: x 5 8 6 4 3 9 2 1 7 11 10 12 (Piano II)
If the multipliersare translatedinto ordinalnumbersthat indicatethe
position of each pitch in P0, the followingrow formsemerge, and
carrythe dyad set betweenthem (in mm. 65-72) :

RI4: B F C Bb A F? E Eb D C Ab G (Piano I)
Rs: G C? F? Ab A C D Eb E F Bb B (Piano II)

Both pitch and durationare controlledby the dyad set; RI, provides
notevalues forP,,; R8 providesdurationsforI.

This content downloaded from 129.96.252.188 on Sat, 09 Jan 2016 13:27:27 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
30 PERSPECTIVES OF NEW MUSIC

TrksModdrd = 12o)

Trs Moddrd ( - 120)

PIANO I : i nasito
empre

P
qa[p) 6 8

Copyright ,0 by Universal Edition( Londonj Ltd London

Ex. 1 Structure Ia, mm. 1-7

Copyright 1955 by Universal Edition (London) Ltd., London

This content downloaded from 129.96.252.188 on Sat, 09 Jan 2016 13:27:27 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 ORDER IN BOULEZ' STRUCTURE ia 31
In Ex. 2, the intersections
of row formsthat producethe controlling
dyad sets occur on the 12 x 12 grid at the Eb, which createsa diag-
onal line fromupper leftto lower right-handcorners.P0 and Io inter-
sect at the firstEb in descendingorder; RI4 and R8 crossat the fifth
Eb downward.

0 11 6 5 4 3 1 10 9 7 2 8
I
0 Eb D A Ab G F# E C# C Bb F B
1 E Eb Bb A Ab G F D C# B F# C
6 A Ab Eb D C# C Bb G F# E B F
7 Bb A E Eb D C# B Ab G F C F#
8 B Bb F E Eb D C A Ab F# C# G
9 C B F# F E Eb C# Bb A G D Ab
11 D C# Ab G F# F Eb C B A E Bb
2 F E B Bb A Ab F# Eb D C G C#
3 F# F C B Bb A G E Eb C# Ab D
5 Ab G D C# C B A F# F Eb Bb E
10 G F# F
Cj C E D B Bb Ab Eb A
4 G F# C# C B Bb Ab F E D A Eb RI
Ex. 2 Row from Structure Ia

ThroughoutStructurela, pitchand durationare controlledby dyad

pairingsthat progresstwice throughthe grid over intersections
at Eb.
The firstprogression(mm. 1-64) displaysP-I pairingsforpitch and
RI-R for duration; the second involves combinationsof RI-R for
pitch and I-P forduration.In everycase but one (in which the con-
trollingdyads do not appear), the sum of the transpositionnumbers
of paired rowformsis either12 or 0.
A logical orderingof pitchsetsand of durationsetsthroughthe grid
may be observedif:
1) wherevera three-or five-parttextureappears, a line that fol-
lows is includedin thepairingsforthatpassage;
2) the firstpairingin any sectionwith more than two lines con-

This content downloaded from 129.96.252.188 on Sat, 09 Jan 2016 13:27:27 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 32 PERSPECTIVES OF NEW MUSIC

tains the part for righthand, Piano I; where the upper staff
for Piano I holds two parts, that pairing includes the line
writtenwith stemsupward (a single exceptionexists,begin-
ing in m. 82, where the firstpairing in order in a four-part
textureis playedby lefthands) ; and
3) with regardto duration,where restsoccur theyare added to
the notevalue preceding.

With two exceptionsto be discussedpresently, the orderthat results

(as shown in Ex. 3) is as follows: in mm. 1-64, P-I pairingsforpitch
intersecton the grid at each of the twelveEbs in descendingorder; in
mm. 65 to the end of the piece, I-P durationpairingsintersectat each
of the twelveEbs in ascendingorder.RI-R pairingsbothforpitchand
durationprogressthroughthe grid at Eb intersections in the same way
each time,but no regularorderingthroughthegridcomparableto that
of P-I or I-P is evident.6However,in the firstprogressionthroughthe
grid, if the firstnotes of all P-I (pitch) sets and the last notes of all
RI-R (duration) sets are writtenin order,dyad sets appear in which
RI-R is a retrogradeof P-I (with one exception,at IF 1) :7
IA I
L_.J
firstnotesof P ) Eb E A Bb B C D F F# Ab C# G
P-I order: I ) Eb D A Ab G F# E C# C Bb F B

lastnotesof RI) G
C$ Ab F? F D r--I
F#1 B Bb A E Eb
RI-Rorder: R) B F Bb C C# E IA I G Ab A D Eb
In the second progressionthroughthe grid,the last notesof all RI-R
(pitch) sets and the firstnotes of all I-P (duration) pairingscreate
dyad sets relatedby inversion(with an exceptionalorderingof notes
in theI rowthatbeginswithI F~ )
:.
6 In mm. 65-115 the transpositionnumbers for RI-R appear in inversionin the
correspondingI-P pairing.
A fascinating possibilityis revealed with respect to all RI-R pairings if the
transpositionnumbers are interchanged within each pair so that RI4-R8 becomes
RIs-R4, etc. When this is done a new ordering of controlling dyad sets results
and moves in ascending order through the grid twice, with the single exception
mentionedabove in which controllingdyads do not appear.
7 F?-A resultsfrom the pairing
R3-RI6* that appears at in Ex. 3, in the
order of controllingdyad sets.
8 F? is the firstnote in the row
given as I3* in the order of controllingdyad sets.

This content downloaded from 129.96.252.188 on Sat, 09 Jan 2016 13:27:27 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 ORDER IN BOULEZ' STRUCTURE ia 33
lastnotesof RI) G C# Ab F F D C B Bb A E Eb
RI-R order: R ) B F Bb C Cg E Fg G Ab A D E,
firstnotesof I ) B F Bb C C E [t G Ab A D Eb
I-P order: P ) G C Ab F? F D C B Bb A E Eb

FirstProgressionthroughGrid Second ProgressionthroughGrid

measures lines pitch duration measures lines pitch duration

1-7 2 P 0 RI 4 65-72 5
R8P4
'RI4 I 8]

8-15
4 P[1RI
10 R2P10
RI 10 I 2

311
[P6
16
R
R 7 i
RI
1
73-81 3 LR7
I7
RI5
P5
16-23 3 P 7 RI13 ERI3 I 9
I 5 R9J R 9 P 3

8[P8 RI 21 82-89 4 110

24-31 1 I' 4 R 10J 10 P 2
32-39 6 P9 RI 11
1P
R11
RI
[R
I1
11
FRI21

11 RI 87 90-97 4 [RI 9
[P
LI R 3 R 3
I 3*
P9

FP2 RI6*JS RI8 14]

L 10 R 4 R 4 P 8

40-47 2 P3 RI7 98-105 2 RI 7 I 5]

19 R 5J LR 5 P 7
48-56 5 P5 RI 6 106-115 6 RI 6 I 6
L'7 R 6J R 6 P6
P 10 RI 1 RI 1 I 11
LR 11 P 1
P 4
RIO0 rRIO 10
57-64 1 I8 R 01 R 0 PO0
Ex. 3 Brackets indicate pairings that produce the controllingdyads

This content downloaded from 129.96.252.188 on Sat, 09 Jan 2016 13:27:27 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
34 PERSPECTIVES OF NEW MUSIC

Dyad sets for all pitch pairings are expressedin a regular order
throughthe grid frombeginningto end of StructureIa. With respect
to durationdyads, however,two exceptionsto a regularorderingmay
be observed; each occurs in a six-parttextureand aftersix dyad pair-
ings have appeared as expected. During the firstdyad progression
throughthe grid, beginningat m. 32, a direct relationshipbetween
P-I (pitch) and RI-R (duration) is abandoned fortwo setsof pair-
ings:
[P11durationsfrom RIa

[P' durations from RI6*

.Ilo
" " R4 RI6 and R3 intersect
on thegridat a C, thus
PF3 durationsfrom creatinga newdyadset.
I RIJ7
" R5
. . At direct relationshipbetweenpitch
setsP3-I9,
and durationsets throughcontroldyads
is re-established.
Where RI6* appears, above, RI9 is expected; the substitutionof RI6*
forRI9 affectsthe rhythmof thelowestvoice (lefthand) in Piano I.
During the second progressionof setsthroughthe grid a reordering
of values in I3* of an I-P durationset affectsnote values forthe right-
hand part of Piano I, beginningin m. 91. Here 13* (applied to pitch
row RI,) is alteredso that where durations11 and 4 should appear,
durations9 and 6, respectively,appear instead:

9 6
Durationrow I3*: 6 5 9 8 2 1 Af A 3 12 7 10
These alterationsresultin durations9 and 6 occurringtwice in the
row,and thesenumbersare the same as the transpositionnumbersthat
were interchangedin the precedingalteration,whereRI9 was replaced
by RI6.
The exceptionalorderingswithrespectto durationmay be necessary
forstructuralreasons,or theymay comprisean expressionof irration-
alitywithinan otherwiserationalorder.In eithercase theyare excep-
tionswithinan orderedrelationshipbetweenpitch and rhythmthat is
anythingbut "arbitrary".

This content downloaded from 129.96.252.188 on Sat, 09 Jan 2016 13:27:27 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions