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NOTES ON THE OPENING
FROM WTCI
David Lewin
235
GRAPH
236
6 101 11 12 15 16
2 4 5 9
1 3 7 13 14 17
MUSIC EXAMPLE
point of departureat the lower left (form labeled "5"),on the way filling
in (form labeled "4")some of the paththatit had hoppedover on its way
up. The Subjectthus constitutesa somewhat"closed"spatialgestureon
the figure, form 5 being at the same spatiallocation as form 1. And the
motivic structureof the Subjectis reflectedin the spatialmotif thattakes
us two-ranks-up-and-one-column-right on the figure.
The Answercomprisesformslabeled 6, 8, 12, 15, and 16. Being a real
answer,it tracesout a path,on the figure,thatis an exact gesturalanalog
to the path traversedby the Subject.
Now let us examine the Countersubject,the melody thataccompanies
the Answer.It begins by presentingforms 7 and 9. On the figure,we see
how form 7 fills in the one "missing"form in the region traversedby the
subject(forms 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Form9, which restatesform 4, is not neces-
sary to do any work of filling-in. Form 9 ratherhas a particularmotivic
gesturalrelationto form 7, which directly precedes it within the Coun-
tersubject.Specifically, the move from form 7 to form 9 is down two
ranks and over one column to the left. That is the inverse gesture to the
move "up-two-ranks-and-over-one-column-to-the-right," the motivic ris-
ing move within the Subject. To be sure, the inversional
relationbetween
the openingof the Subjectandthe openingof the Countersubjectis man-
ifestly audiblein the pitch intervalsand contoursof the music itself; we
do not need the fancy spatial map of the figure to hear the relation as
such. What the map does bringout is the way in which the particularin-
versionalrelationof the forms employedfills in a connectedspatial re-
FIGURE
1, 5, 10 {a f g#J {e#fx g#} 12
{e# g#1} 11
{e# f# d#} 8
15 {e f# d#}
6, 16 {e c#d#}I
{b c# d#} 14, 17
{b#c# aJ} 3, 13
7 {b c# a#J
2 {b g#a#J
{bg#a 4,9
{ff g#a 1 1, 5, 10
237
gion on the figure.Thatregion comprisesthe forms labeled 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
7, and9. Even thoughthis tally neglects the temporallyinterveningforms
6 and 8 of the music as a whole, the observationis still cogent, for forms
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 9 are indeed temporallyconsecutive within the indi-
vidual voice thatopens the fugue with the Subjectandthen continues on
to the Countersubject.
Form 10, which involves the first (013)-vertical cross-talk between
Answer andCountersubject,solidifies the narrativeso far by restatingthe
same trichordas that of forms 1 and 5, the incipit-and-cadencetrichord
of the Subject.The readercan see on the upperleft of the figurehow form
10, as discussed earlier,suturestogetherthatplace on the figurewith the
lowerleft, modularizingthe geometry.Thereaderis reminded,in thiscon-
nection, thatform 10 is the "tonic"(013) of the fugue, and that its pcset
is the only pcset of the figurewhich appearsin two locations thereon.
Continuingto examine the upperhalf of the figurewe can follow the
Answer,which proceedsthroughforms 6, 8, 12, 15, and 16. The one gap
on the figure left unfilled by the Answer is the gap at form 11. The spa-
tial function of form 11 (which sounds temporallyin the middle of the
Answer) is now clear. Form 11 does for the Answer what form 7 did for
the Subject:it fills in a gap to connect the spatialregion traversedby the
Answer.
Form 11 also connects to the "Answer-region"the form labeled "1, 5,
10",thatis the form which characterizesthe beginningof the Subject,the
end of the Subject,and the firstcross-talkbetweenAnswer and Counter-
subject.In sum, we see how the two cross-talkforms 10 and 11 have spe-
cial spatial functions on the figure, in suturingtogether and connecting
the spatialrealms of SubjectandAnswer.5
Form 14, the final form of the Countersubject,has a like function:it
connects the "highpoint"of the Subjecton the map, form 3, recalled as
form 13, to the (local tonic) "lowpoint"of theAnswer,form6. The cross-
talk of CountersubjectandAnswer,at form 17, cements the connection.6
And so, when we reach the end of the passage at issue, at the end of the
Answer-cum-Countersubject, the entire map of the figure is fully filled
in, is completelyconnected,and is cyclically closed-the {a f#g#} at the
top left linking cyclically with the {f# g# a} at the bottomleft.
As suggestedearlier,the readermay wish to use the same graphto see
how the choraleprelude"DurchAdamsFall"surfsits regionof the graph.
The emphasison the (013) trichordthereseems to takeits originfromthe
cadentialF-E-D of the choralemelody, at the text "ganzverderbt."
238
NOTES
239