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Complex Hemiolas, Ski-Hill Graphs and Metric Spaces

Author(s): Richard Cohn


Source: Music Analysis, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Oct., 2001), pp. 295-326
Published by: Wiley
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RICHARD COHN

COMPLEX
HEMIOLAS,
SKIHILLGRAPHS
ANDMETRICSPACES

for David Lezvin

When a span of time is trisected in place of an anticipatedbisection, a hemiolais


said to occur.* More broadly, under current usage, the term refers to any
successive or simultaneous conflict between a bisection and trisection of a
single time-span.l Thus a hemiola can be said to arise whenever pulses in a 3:2
ratio are perceived to conflict. In an earlier article, I proposed the term double
hemiola to characterise the relationship between symmetrical divisions of a
time-span that simultaneously bear 3:2 conflicts at two adjacent levels of the
metric hierarchy.2This article explores the relationships between symmetrical
divisions where such conflicts occur at three or more distinct levels, a
phenomenon that I shall refer to generically as a complexhemiola.
I begin by reviewing some features of double hemiolas. My point of
departure is David Lewin's analytical remarksconcerning the opening bars of
Brahms's Capricciofor piano, Op. 76 No. 8.3 These remarks are recast using
terms developed in my earlier work, and in the work of Harald Krebs.4 Lewin
notes that the Capriccio juxtaposes three different ways of symmetrically
grouping twelve crotchet pulses, adding up to a dotted breve that Brahms
notates across two 6 bars. Ex. 1 represents the three groupings that Lewin
observes, by aligning into columns the durational symbols that represent their

Ex. 1
Bars 34 Bars 1-2 Bars9-10

=- =. =.

O < > o- o-

J J J.
J J J

* Versions of this article have been presentedat SUNY-Buffalo ( 1994), Universityof Texas-Austin
(1995), and at an AmericanBrahmsSociety conferenceat Harvard(1997). My thanksto Ann Besser
Scott, whose comments on the last occasion stimulatedme to a richer view of Von ezvigerLiebe.

Music Analysis, 20/iii (2001) 295


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296 RICHARD COHN

respective pulses. Each column is framed by the dotted breve at the top and the
crotchet at the bottom; they differ in their pairing of interior values. Each
grouping, or metric state, is consonant, which is to say that adjacent pulses are
related by integral (either duple or triple) ratios.
The pulse values of Brahms's opening two-bar hypermeasureare aligned in
the central column, and include dotted semibreve (the notated downbeat pulse)
and minim. The second hypermeasure,represented in the left-hand column,
preserves the minim pulse, but replaces the downbeat pulse with a new (plain)
semibrevepulse that cuts acrossthe internalbar boundary.The new pulse comes
into conflict with the listener'sprojectionof the formerdownbeatpulse, inducing
what Krebs refersto as an indirectmetric dissonance.(The point of dissonanceis
identified in Ex. 1 via a double-headedarrow connectingOand ff symbols.)
Following a repetition of this four-bar metric scheme, the fifth
hypermeasure (bars 9-10) introduces a new metric state, whose pulses are
represented in the right-hand column of Ex. 1. The initial downbeat pulse is
restored, but Brahms introduces a new 2.pulse that indirectly conflicts with the
a pulse that had been present in all previous bars. (This conflict is
represented
by a second double-headed arrow on the right-hand side of Ex. 1.)
Each pair of states is in a dissonant relationship, but the degree of
dissonance varies. The initial state, representedby the central column of Ex. 1,
conflicts with both of the subsequent states at a single pulse level, and thus is in
a relationship of simple hemiola to each. The latter two states, represented by
the outer columns of Ex. 1, conflict at two distinct pulse levels and thus stand
in a relationshipof double hemiola. The initial state is thus more closely related
to its rivals than they are to each other. The graphic centrality of the initial
state in Ex. 1 captures its conceptual centrality.
Ex. 2 presents an abstract version of Ex. 1. Here, the three metric partitions
are indexed by citing the bars in which they first occur. Lewin notes that the
relative disposition of these three metric states resembles the classic three-term
dualism between a tonic, subdominant and dominant.5 Reinforcing the
analogy, he observes that, just as the acoustic tonic stands in a 3:2 ratio to
its dominant and subdominant, so also the 'rhythmic' tonic stands in a 3:2 ratio
to its 'dominant' and 'subdominant' metres.6 Moreover, Lewin observes that
the Capriccio's path between these three metric states is synchronised with a
journey between the three analogous harmonic states, interpreted as
Riemannian functions rather than literal harmonies.
The interplay between the three symmetricalpartitions of a 12-unit span is
quite common in nineteenth-centurymusic. Examples abound, particularlyin

Ex. 2
| Bars 34 | | Bars 1-2 ] | Bars 9-10 |

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Timp. > | sz t {}- ] a- 1

ANDMETRICSPACES
HEMIOLAS 297
COMPLEX

Ex. 3 Dvorak, SymphonyNo. 7, Scherzo, bars 155-62

F1.

Ob.

Clar.
(A)

Fg.

(F)

Cor.

(D)
wv btt V It btD V < J5h >5h

PP
v F F F F

vlz

Vla

Vlc.

Cb.

the music of Beethoven:all three subdivisionsare employedin the opening of Fur


Elise; in the finales to the 'Tempest' Sonata, the 'Emperor' Concerto and the
Triple Concerto;in the first movements of the E minor 'Rasumovsky'Quartet,
the 'Ghost' Trio, the Eighth Symphony and the 'Appassionata'Sonata; and in
the Scherzo of the Ninth Symphony.7 And Krebs demonstrates the frequent
interplayof such partitionsin Schumann'smusic, for examplein the Finale of the
Piano Sonata, Op. 11 and the first movement of the Third Symphony.8

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298 RICHARD COHN

Ex. 3 continued

> ^ accelerando 160

mf cresc.
i - - $ ::t Cft
mf Cf
cresc. hCftCft tr
-ibb db; ; ; fb; Jw J bnW nW n bnW nt n
mf cresc.

Lv$ 4$rtr 't rtr$42$2$S$ r-t rwS


mf cresc.

l( -e - - -

t S ;A:kS'- <e mf
: j :N j cresc.:1 i; :E +d
[9t fJ: JRJ {:;: JRJ I: E: E: nl: E: E: El
mf cresc.

| i ; h ; 2 h m LD JJ
t i$ - Jh; [: J;;5UJ J.IJ J
cresc.
47;9pS;P7:Xf
PP SS5
mf cresc.
; v " rFr rr rXr r r r r r r r r r r r
_ _ _ _ _ _
g A _ g _ _ _ _

jJJJJXJ jXJ; JcJ jSJ. FJ. FJ. jFJ. Fi. FL.


Tr >q 6 6 Tr
sr 6 6 !

Tr- t - 6 &
mf

accelerando

The situation characterisedabove is a manifestation, and indeed the simplest


one, of a yet more general phenomenon. Ex. 3, an eight-bar excerpt from the
Scherzo of Dvorak's Seventh Symphony, shows an instance several degrees
more complex. Like the Brahms Capriccio, Dvorak's Scherzo is in 6 metre, and
bears a two-bar hypermetric pulse at the level of the dotted breve. Unlike the
Capriccio, whose two-bar hypermetres were metrically consonant in them-
selves, the conflicting metric states of the Scherzo are sounded simultaneously.

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COMPLEX
HEMIOLAS
ANDMETRICSPACES 299

Furthermore, each of the four hypermeasures presented here features a


different set of pulses, some of which are dissonant with previous pulses.
Hence these eight bars feature a mixture of what Krebs terms direct and
indirect dissonance.9
Ex. 4a models the first hypermeasure,bars 155-6. The wind and cello are in a
simple hemiola relationship: they articulate identical pulses except for their
conflict at the 2112.level. Moreover, the triplet quaver pulse of the double bass,
which I shall symbolise as '3;', conflicts with the 2 pulse of the cello. Thus, the
situation would seem to be isomorphic with that of Ex. 1: the cello stands in
simple hemiola relationshipto the wind and bass, which are in double hemiola
relationshipwith each other. Yet there is a further complication:assuming that
the measuredtrill in the double bass is interpretedaccordingto a parallelrather
than a switchback scheme,l it bears a triplet crotchet (3J, pulse which also
conflicts with the cello's Jpulse. Hence, the bass and cello conflict at two distinct
pulse levels, and stand in a relationshipof double hemiola. The bass and wind
relate at yet one furtherdegree of distance:they conflict at threedistinct levels of
the metric hierarchy.
Considernow an abstractversion of Ex. 4a, one which, like Ex. 2, featuresthe
cello in the centre, flanked symmetricallyby wind and bass respectively. Such a
graphwould capturethe intermediateposition of the cello with respect to its two
rivals, but would miss the asymmetricdisposition of the rivals. More accurate
would be a graph that included an empty place-holder node between cello and
bass. In terms of the analogy that Lewin cultivates, we might speak here of a
relationshipbetween a tonic, subdominantand double dominant ('the dominant
of the dominant', or V/V). A similar graph would serve for the second
hypermeasure,bars 157-8, where the cello falls into conformancewith the wind,
temporarilyeliminatingthe 2 pulse. Here, the 'cello' node of our imaginedgraph
would become an empty place-holder node, so that the two remaining metric
states (wind and bass) would still be separated by two empty nodes. (The
eliminationof the partiallymediatingmetric state carriedby the cello in the first
hypermeasurehas no impacton the degreeof dissonancebetween wind and bass.)

Ex. 4a
Wind Cello Bass

=- =- =.

O- o- o-

;-< > j j

J J ,3J
D D , 32
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300 RICHARD COHN

Ex. 4b
Violin/ Viola Cello Bass
=- m. m.

< 32 > < 2:3 > O


J< > J J
J J , 3J
;< > 32)

In the third hypermeasure, bars 159-60, while the double bass continues a
measured trill, the violins and viola assume the metric design previously
articulated by the wind. A new pulse, the semibreve that tri-partitions the
hypermeasure,is carriedby the cello, which bisects it into 2 and j pulses. These
lower-level pulses are reinforcedby the wind and timpani, which are, by virtue
of their strict low-level patterning, neutral with respect to any higher-level
grouping, and so do not articulate an independent metric state.
Ex. 4b, which is arranged in the format of Ex. 1, demonstrates that the
upper strings and cello are now in a relationship of double hemiola,
conflicting at the ollo and J11 J.levels. The cello and bass are also in a
relationship of double hemiola, conflicting at the ollo and Jl13J. levels. This
implies, according to the logic of our previous graphs, that the two
peripheral metric states, articulated by the upper strings and bass
respectively, conflict at four distinct levels. Yet this is not the case, since
the upper strings and bass both articulate a o-pulse, and hence are allied at
this level in conflict with the 'central' cello. Each pair of metric states is in
conflict at a minimum of two distinct pulse levels. This suggests that the
cello is no more conceptually central than either rival.
This is the moment when Lewin's line-of-fifths analogy runs out of steam,
as all analogies must: the arrangementof metric states along a linear continuum
is no longer optimal for capturingthe complexity of the relationship among the
metric states. A better model for this complexity (although not the one that I

Ex. 4c

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ANDMETRICSPACES
HEMIOLAS
COMPLEX
301

Ex. 4d
Violin / Viola Cello Bass

=- =- =.

< 3:2 > < 2:3 > O.

c < > c c

< 3:2 > j < 3:2 > 3;


D , 32
shall ultimately adopt) is a triangulargraph as suggested in Ex. 4c. Here, each
edge represents a level at which adjacent metric states fall into 3:2 conflict.
The level of complexity is turned up one further degree in the final
hypermeasure, where the upper strings initiate a :. pulse. This new pulse
presents a 3:2 conflict with the Jpulse of the cello, which is itself in 3:2 conflict
with the Jpulse of the bass. Here, for the first time, there is an exponential
conflict (9:4) at a single level, between the :. and the Jpulse. It is not clearhow the
graphic means introduced so far can capture the increasing complexity of the
direct metric dissonanceof bars 161-2, much less the many more levels of indirect
dissonancethat occur across the entire eight-bar span depicted in Ex. 3.
To refine these models of complex hemiolas, the second part of this article
introduces a new graphic technique, a two-dimensional matrix that I refer to as
a ski-hillgraph. Ski-hill graphs make finer distinctions than the graphic models
introduced up to this point, whilst engaging the intuition of most readersmore
readily than the algebraic models found in my earlier articles. Application of
this graphic technique is initially limited to simple and double hemiolas, and
used to organise some observations concerning bars from Brahms's Violin
Sonata, Op. 78. The third part of this article shows how ski-hill graphs capture
the more complex hemiolas of the Dvorak Scherzo, and introduces the concept
of metric space, which furnishes a systematic background against which to
refine the relationships between metric states that I tried to capture in the
various versions of Ex. 4.
The fourth part of the articleappliesthe ski-hill graphand the theory of metric
space to the analysisof complex hemiolasin Brahms'ssong VonewigerLiebe,Op.
43 (1864). This analysis takes up certain questions recently raised by Harald
Krebs concerning the interaction of a metric narrativewith the narrativeof a
poem that it sets.l l The final partof the articleexploresthe isomorphismbetween
ski-hill graphs and Eulerian models of pitch space, in the context of the
deepening pitch-rhythm analogy suggested not only by Lewin but also by the
successful appropriation(culminatingin Krebs's work, but prefiguredby many
others) of the consonance/dissonanceparadigmto the realm of metre.

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302 COHN
RICHARD

II

5a
Ex. 0-

j/ \c

\j/
such as might be used
Ex.5a presents a 'diamond graph' of a simple hemiola,
approaching cadence. At the top
inan eighteenth-century minuet to signal an
to as the spanpulse.In
ofthe graph is the slowest pulse, which I shall refer
represented as a
mosteighteenth-century cases, this pulse is notationally pulse, at the
The fastest
hypermetricone, articulatingevery second downbeat. as a tactus or
likely to act
bottomof the graph, I shall call the unitpulse;it is
by two distinct paths.
'countingpulse'. Span and unit pulses are connected
consonance of our
The leftward path represents the primary metric
and the unit pulse is
prototypicalminuet: the span pulse is duply divided
The rightward
triplygrouped, activating an intermediate ;. downbeat pulse. hemiola: the span
at the moment of
pathrepresents the metric state present a2
is duply grouped, activating
pulse is triply divided and the unit pulse bar-
cuts across the intermediate
pulsethat replaces the downbeat pulse and
in the hypothesised
line. The metric conflict, which is expressed indirectly
between the two
music, is graphically situated in the relationship whose pulses
the graph
intermediatevalues,; and ;., the only two vertices in
are not integrally related.
divisions (O./2 and ;./2)
In the diamond graph presented as Ex. 5a, both triple
are represented by edges that slope dozvnzvards to the right.Conversely, both
slope downwards to
dupledivisions (O./2.and ;/2) are represented by edges that subsequent graphs
theleft. These correspondenceswill continue to hold in all
that appear in this article.
version, one which
Ex. 5b presents the diamond graph in a more general
the: of Ex. 5a. For example,
allows the unit pulse to be faster or slower than graph models
which case the
the unit could represent a span of eight bars, in in the fugato
as occurs
conflicting divisions of a span of forty-eight bars, such unit might
Or the
that opens the Scherzo of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.l2 case the graph
in which
represent a span as short as a triplet semiquaver (32), of low-level
such cases
models conflicting sub-tactus divisions of a quaver. (In but
articulated explicitly,
'three against two', the counting pulse is usually not common
kind of 'lowest
is nonetheless inter-subjectively present as a

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COMPLEX ANDMETRICSPACES
HEMIOLAS 303

Ex. 5b

3 2

denominator'. This claim is difficult to substantiate in objective terms, but is


such a commonplace of musicianship pedagogy that it is unlikely to evoke
controversy. I shall refer to such phenomena as 'subjective pulses'.) Although
the perceptual issues involved in hearing metric conflicts across such diverse
segments of real time are different, their structural relationship is invariant.l3
Ex. 6 overlaps two diamond graphs to create a model for a double hemiola.
The upper diamond graph is identical to Ex. 5a, whilst the lower one portraysa
faster hemiola partitioning a ;. span. The intersection between the diamond
sub-graphs consists of the ;. and; vertices, as well as the edge that connects
them. Each of these vertices plays a double role. In relation to the upper
(slower) hemiola, they act as intermediate and unit pulse, respectively; in
relation to the lower (faster) hemiola, they serve as span and intermediate
pulse.
Consider now a piece that animates all of the pulses represented in Ex. 6.
This raises the following question, with significant musical ramifications:how
many states of metric consonance does this ensemble of pulses make available,
and how are they related to each other? To ask this question is to ask about the
number of distinct paths that connect the span pulse o to the unit pulse 2 in Ex.
6, and about their degree of intersection.
The following heuristic will help animate these paths and their relation-
ships. Imagine a skier at the highest (span) vertex, faced away from you
towards the rear cover of the volume or the back of the computer screen. (The
skier must face away from you, in order to share your orientation as reader.

Ex. 6

c / c

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304 RICHARD COHN

You are looking over her shoulder.) She can begin by skiing to the right, take a
turn at the right-most extreme of the graph; and then shoot (a skier would say
'Schuf') directly to the bottom of the graph. Another skier might begin by
shooting down the left-hand side of the graph, take a 90 turn at the left-most
extreme of the graph, and continue down to the bottom. The paths of these two
skiers share no segments in common, intersecting only at the top and bottom
points.
There is another option: a third skier might trace the shape of the letter S,
reversing direction at every opportunity, hewing to the centre of the mountain
and avoiding the extremes. (A skier would refer to such a zig-zag course as a
'slalom'.) This skier's nature is more social and equitable: she shares the top
segment with the first skier, then cuts across the mountain to join the second
skier for the final leg of the journey. These three skiers exhaust the available
paths; a fourth skier would have to duplicate one of the paths skied by the other
three.
Consider now how Ex. 6 models a 6 bar from near the end of the first
movement of Brahms's Violin Sonata, Op. 78, which was composed in the
same year as the Capriccio that is the topic of Lewin's paper. The bar in
question is presented as Ex. 7. Each of the three 'voices' in this excerpt (violin,
piano right hand, piano bass) is in a distinct metric state. The violin, with its
minim and crotchet pulses, is modelled by the right-most Schuf path of the
first skier. The pianist's right hand, with its dotted minim and dotted crotchet
pulses, is modelled by the leftmost Schuf path of the second skier. The
pianist's left hand, with its dotted minim and (plain) crotchet pulses, is
represented by the central slalom path of the third skier. This geometry
captures a salient feature of the music: the bass shares intermediatepulses with
both treble lines; the treble lines share no intermediatepulses with each other.
The violin is in an acute metric dissonance with the right hand of the piano,
but this dissonance is mollified by the bass, which is in a simple hemiola
relationship to both. Ex. 8, which is isographic with Ex. 2, summarises the
relationship between these three states.

Ex. 7 Brahms,Violin Sonata,Op. 78, first movement, bar 235

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ANDMETRICSPACES
HEMIOLAS
COMPLEX 305

EX. 8
Violin PianoLH PianoRH
( 'bass )

Ex. 6 also provides a model for the more dynamic sequence of metric states
that Brahms presents in the opening twenty-two bars of the same movement.
This music is presented as Ex. 9. The movement opens in the state of metric
consonance represented by the slalom path of Ex. 6. A transitional passage
culminates in a dominant prolongation at bar 16, which leads to a modified
counter-statementof the opening materialat bar 21. The dominantprolongation
is in a state of double hemiola, expressed as a direct dissonance between the
violin, which articulatesj and Jpulses, and the piano, which articulates;. and :.
pulses. In these bars, both violin and piano are indirectly dissonant with the
opening metric consonance. The violin appropriatesthe J pulse of the opening
consonance, but conflicts with its ;.; the piano, conversely, appropriatesthe i.
pulse but perturbs the Jone. The resolution of the metric dissonance coincides
with the returnof the tonic and of the principalthematicmaterial.(However, the
principal theme has been subtly altered by the transitionalmaterial:the violin's
transitional:. pulse is apparentat bars 23 and 24, and in the process is revealedto
be latently present in the head motive itself.)
In terms of the ski-hill graph (Ex. 6), the central slalom path of the opening
gives way to a split at bar 11: the piano migrates to the leftwards Schuf path,
while the violin moves towards the rightwards Schuf path, settling into it most
securely at bar 14. The split is resolved at bar 21, as both exterior paths
coalesce back upon the central slalom path.
Lewin observed that, in the opening bars of the Capriccio, metric states
synchronise with analogous harmonic functions. A similar process is evident in
the G major Violin Sonata. Tonic prolongation is matched with tonic metre at
the opening. The simultaneous superposition of 'subdominant'and 'dominant'
metre in the transitional bars synchronises with a dominant prolongation that
is strongly inflected by the subdominant. These inflections are most evident in
the weak beat harmonies of bars 16 and 17, and in the passing IV6 chord at the
second half of bar 18. Furthermore,Riemannianfunctional harmony interprets
the dominant seventh chords on the downbeats of these bars as functionally
mixed with the subdominant, which is represented by the Cb that is present
throughout the five bars leading up to the counter-statement.l4 Note, finally,
that the counter-statement itself inflects the tonic harmony with an FS in the
second half of bar 22, indicating a subdominant presence that is stronger in the
counter-statement than in the original theme. This presence matches the
persistence of the :. pulse amid the otherwise 'tonic' metric state of the counter-
statement.

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Z . J p. m. . v.. dolce ,_

306 RICHARD COHN

Ex. 9 Brahms,Violin Sonata,Op. 78, fi1rstmovement, bars 1-26


Vivace ma non troppo

i$2- '"D'<2 1J 822 $<82 ]


(i$

8f$i i j j 0 t i i
t- f- F- F- f- t- F- t-
l - -
, r _ bL- f-s .E
p JJS? 1f Jf ?;j$bJ;$r$CCCfFtC
l
(sS t} z

tv:$ j: i. i. i j . i. i. i. _.

F F F F F XFF F F
10

$ r::2 ;X ;,L;| ;,U: $D$j--DI$J,; ;-DS-1

sempre
petranquillo
I $ Dn SX aS

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nk t ltfw wft , f, fs | ;f t ;

307
ANDMETRICSPACES
HEMIOLAS
COMPLEX

continued
9
Ex.

f ff It 0p I
i$:f 1$: 87:-r 1f 7p:-C j2

llrl ! frl 11
if t u>_ 2 icrr ;y

?X} >$i. Sti.


IpsA?Xt
span whose
account for bars 11-13, a
My analysis does not adequately an asymmetric (but maximally even)
subject to
bisection in the violin is establish the minim
adumbratesbut does not yet
2+ 2 + 2 + 3 partitioning that hemiolas has, at present,
no means for
pulse. The theory of complex hypermeasure of irregular length, nor for
of a
accounting for the insertion
of a time-span.
the asymmetricalpartitioning

III
deduced by raw
exactly three paths down the hill of Ex. 6 can be
That there are method is needed for
With larger graphs, a more reliable
enumeration.
Ltd. 2001
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308 RICHARD COHN

counting the number of paths that connect a span pulse to a unit pulse.15 For
this, I shall use the following definitions:

Let s be the 'span' pulse, and u be the 'unit' pulse.


Let L be the length of the span in terms of the unit, i.e. L = N

All edges in a ski-hill graph represent duple and triple ratios. Hence:

L-xmun, where x and y are integers

We are now in a position to define S(L), the number of paths between the span
pulse and the unit pulse, as follows:

( ) ml.nl

In Ex. 6, the span pulse was o and the unit pulse was ;, so L = 12 = 2231.
Extracting the exponents, we get x = 2, y = 1, so

S( 12) = ( 2111) = 2 = 3'

confirming what we already knew: that there are three paths down the
mountain.
Ex. 10 uses a ski-hill graph to model the complex hemiola in bars 155-6 of
the Dvorak Scherzo (from Ex. 3). The unit pulse here is the triplet semiquaver
(32), a subjective pulse suggested by the interplay of 32 (bass) and 2 (cello)
pulses. The downbeat pulse (o) will serve as the span pulse for these bars. The
ratio between these two pulses is 36 = 2232.Extracting the exponents, we have
x = 2, y = 2, and hence

Ex. 10
O-

JX \J

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COMPLEX ANDMETRICSPACES
HEMIOLAS 309

S(36) = ( 2121) = 4 = 6

metric interpretations, reflected as six paths down the hill of Ex. 10.
Each of these six paths is listed first by its intermediate pulse, then by
describing its shape, and finally by assigning it a letter name for ease of
reference.

J J D Left outer A J 3J 32 Right outer F

J J D Left slalom B J J 32 Right slalom E

J J 32 s curve C J J D Zcurve D

The outer paths move in a single direction as far as possible, and then shoot
directly to the bottom; they are the only paths that reach the peripheriesof the
graph. The slalom paths reversedirectionat every node, clinging to the centre of
the graph but favouring one side or the other. The S and Z curves start in one
direction, but cross over at the midpoint, finishing in the same direction as they
started;they are the only paths to have segments on both sides of the graph.
Ex. 11 graphs the abstract relationship between these six metric states.
States are directly adjacent if they are in a relationship of simple hemiola, i.e.
their pulses are congruent at all but one level. Double hemiolas are
characterised by next-adjacencies, complex hemiolas by more remote
relationships. The disposition of the space is symmetrical around the C/D
axis. Not all of the nodes of the space are equally central, however. The degree
of connectedness of the nodes representing the exterior paths (A and F) is one;
the nodes representing those paths that cut across the centre of the mountain
(C and D) have a degree of two; and the nodes representingthe slalom paths (B
and E) have a degree of three.
As we have already seen in connection with the presentation of Ex. 4a, bars
155-6 of the Dvorak Scherzo employ three distinct metric states, which
correspond to the inventory of paths in Ex. 10 as follows:
* the woodwinds ski the left slalom (B) path, employing the ;., J and 2
pulses;
* the cellos ski the Z-curve (D) path, employing the J,Jand 2 pulses;
* the double basses ski the right outer (F) path, employing J, 3Jand 32
pulses.
Ex. 12 displays these metric states against the background of the metric
space that they inhabit. The B and D states, representing wind and cello

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310 RICHARD COHN

Ex. 11

l c l
| A l l B | | E l l F |

| D l

Ex. 12

Wind
bars 155-8 / Bass

Cello

respectively, are adjacent, or 'closely related': they are in a relationship of


simple hemiola. The D and F states (cello and bass) are next-adjacent:they are
in a relationship of double hemiola. Finally, the B and F states are three states
apart:they are almost as distant as any two pairs of symmetrical divisions of a
span of 36 units can be. The only possibility of a more remote relationship
would be if the A state were activated in conflict with the F state of the bass.
(This is precisely what happens at bar 161, when the upper strings employ the
. pulse.)
We have not yet taken into account bars 159-60, whose o pulse in the cello is
not representedin Ex. 10. To include it, we need the enlarged ski-hill of Ex. 13,

Ex. 13

O-
/\ O

J / \ j/ \32

;/ \j/ 3J/

\2/,/ \32/

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COMPLEX
HEMIOLAS
ANDMETRICSPACES 311

whose span pulse has a duration 72 times its unit. 72 = 2332; extracting the
exponents 3 and 2, the following calculation is made:

S(72) = ( 3+21) = 12 = 10

There are thus ten available metric states, reflected in the ten paths down the
ski-hill of Ex. 13. We have already accounted for the six paths that are routed
through the dotted semibreve, and will continue to refer to them using the
letters A to F, although the descriptive rubrics are no longer pertinent. The
remaining four paths begin with a rightward journey to the o value, and are
listed as follows:

o 2 : 2 G

o 2 ; 32 H

o 2 3; 32 I

o 32 3; 32 J

Ex. 14 indicates the metric space formed by the ten metric states of L = 72.
The A-F paths are configured as in Ex. 11; the four new paths are represented
by a new row of vertices at the bottom. The graph of this space is
asymmetrical. Its most central vertex is the one representing the E path,
which uniquely has a degree of four, and which is represented in Ex. 13 as a
slalom from top to bottom.16 Four other vertices (representing B, D, H and I
paths) have a degree of three; three (C, F and G) have a degree of two, and two
vertices (A and J) connect only a single edge.
Ex. 15 shows how the metric states of bars 159-62 of the Dvorak Scherzo
interact against the background of the metric space that they inhabit. In
Ex. 15a, which depicts bars 159-60, the D state, inherited by the wind from
the cello, is central. It is closely related both to the B state, inherited by the

Ex. 14

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COHN
RICHARD
312

15
EX.
l l | Bass |

l 5}L=2
a) 0=-Violin0

| Wind l l

| Cello |

l l | Bass |

b) ] Violin +<'\1 [ > 3


Wind r/- \ l

| Cello |

to the newly created G state in


upperstrings at bar 159 from the wind, and
which remains in the double
thecello. It is next-adjacent to the F state,
double bass and both cello
bass.The most distant relationships, between
bar 161, the upper strings move
andupper strings, are three states apart. At
from each of the other metric
tothe A state, thereby moving further away
previously they stood in a
strands, as shown in Ex. 15b. Whereas
the central D state of the
symmetricalrelationship to the cello around with the more remote
wind, now they stand in a symmetrical relationship
double bass, around the same central state. to suggest some of the
This discussion of the Dvorak Scherzo begins
a graph of abstract pitch space
analyticalpotential of metric spaces. As with
of circles used to graph distances
(suchas a circle of fifths, a concentric pair
or set-class network), a graph
betweenkeys, an Eulerian Tonnetz,or a motivic
of states along a finely-
of 'metric space' allows us to gauge the proximity
thus provides an instrument for
calibratedscale of measurement. Such a graph
coherence of successions of metric
chartingpatterns and assessing the syntactic
that graphs of metric space can
states. The next part of this article suggests
as musical syntax.
offer a window onto musical semantics as well

IV
Liebe is quite static. Each formal
The tonal structure of Brahms's Von ewiger
one, which prolongs B major.
unit begins and ends in B minor until the final
transient. To a considerable
The few tonicisations that occur are relatively
journey and narrative is displaced
degree, the song's sense of musical motion,
Schachter's observation that 'by
onto rhythmic events, calling to mind Carl

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ANDMETRICSPACES
HEMIOLAS
COMPLEX 313

Ex. 16 Brahms, Von ewigerLiebe,Op. 43 No. 1: Wendisch Poem


Dunkel, wie dunkel in Wald und in Feld! Dark, how dark in woods and field!
Abend schon ist es, nun schweiget die Welt. Already evening, now the world is silent.
Nirgend noch Licht und nirgend noch Rauch, ja, No more light anywhere, nor smoke, yes
und die Lerche sie schweiget nun auch. and the lark is also now silent.

Kommt aus dem Dorfe der Bursche heraus The lad comes out from the town,
gibt das Geleit der Geliebten nach Haus, escorting his beloved home,
fuhrt sie am Weidengebusche vorbei leads her past the willow grove,
redet so viel und so mancherlei. speaking of all sorts of things.

'Leidest du Schmach und betrubest du dich, 'If you suffer shame, and you are distressed,
leidest du Schmach von andern um mich, If you suffer shame from others because of me,
werde die Liebe getrennt so geschwind, then let us separate our love quickly,
schnell wie wir fruher vereiniget sind. as quickly as when we were earlier united;
Scheide mit Regen und scheide mit Wind, Depart with the rain and depart with the wind,
schnell wie wir fruher vereiniget sind.' as quickly as when we were earlier united.'

Spricht das Magdelein, Magdelein spricht: Speaks the maiden, the maiden speaks:
'Unsere Liebe, sie trennet sich nicht! 'Our love cannot be divided!
Fest ist der Stahl und das Eisen gar sehr, As strong as Steel and Iron are,
unsere Liebe ist fester noch mehr. Our love is stronger still.

Eisen und Stahl, man schmiedet sie um, Iron and steel, they can be reforged;
unsere Liebe, wer wandelt sie um? Who can transform our love?
Eisen und Stahl, sie konnen zergehn, Iron and steel can melt;
unsere Liebe, unsere Liebe muB ewig, ewig bestehn!' Our love, our love must endure eternally!'

rhythmic means alone . . . Brahms can create the kind of transitional effect that
comes about through the intensification of tonal motion'.17
Ex. 16 reproduces and translates the text of Von ewiger Liebe. Brahms
attributed it to Joseph Wenzig, whose actual role was as translator of a
Wendisch folk poem of unknown provenance.18The first of the three stanzas,
delivered by an anonymous narrator, describes a quiet and dark pastoral
setting, and then populates it with a pair of young lovers who are walking and,
apparently, chatting casually. The second stanza, spoken by the Bursche,
reveals that the chatter is hardly idle. The lad expresses substantial anxiety
about the maiden's devotion to him, and challenges her to abandon him
immediately. The final stanza, spoken by the Magdelein, proclaims the
strength of their love, which she compares favourably to iron and steel.
Ultimately, she concludes, 'unsere Liebe muss ewig bestehen': our love must
endure for ever.
Let us examine Brahms's setting of this final line, and the brief postlude,
which are given as Ex. 17. The 68time-signature, which was instituted at the
turn of the final stanza, is strongly articulated throughout the stanza by the
vocal line, reinforced by a Barcarollefigure in the piano. At bar 113, when the
singer reaches Ft5 (her highest note) and begins her peroration, the piano
replaces its ;. with a; pulse, entering into direct metric dissonance with the
singer's line.19

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:: i W-;- j a-o- ; j #- - : F

RICHARD COHN
314

43 No. 1, bars 111-21


Brahms,
Ex. 17 VonewigerLiebe,Op.

r se - ntrer r DIr fr S
r un -
&##### r se DIr r be, Yl: un - Lie - be mul3 e - wig, e
- re Lie -

R axT
w e
>6#$#h#!9

g Ef j n i j n j X ;:
UU
9###$#
m
6# r # r Z2r
- - - wig be - stehn!'

Wx3 s ; e |
;i$##$#tj >
; 4 .1 q 0 J # Ll | j 6

9$$$$j !

the bass
115, this dissonance begins to resolve. First, suit, so
Beginning at bar right hand follows
the ;. pulse; then, in the following bar, the consonance as
restores
approached in the same state of metric
the vocal cadence is no sooner does
that
most of the preceding stanza. However, pulse of bars
present throughout
was to the;
her final note than the pianist reverts without a
singer
the release
throughout the postlude, although not
113-14.This pulse persists of the penultimate bar,
the left hand restores
in the middle cadential tonic
finalperturbation:
of the cadential dominant. The
the;. pulse over a prolongation reinforcing nor
downbeat and is held by a pause, neither
soundson the
dissonance.
resolvingthis final metric bars, A. Craig Bell attests that
'a few critics,
final eight it is
Concerning these
to be a masterpiece, have ... maintained that
song] love and
whileconceding [the at words declaring her unshakeable
judgement, Platt
surelyan error in Heather
music rock like a boat in a cross-current'.20
faith, to make the interpreted an emphatic
as
'the hemiola in the accompanimentis it does not
observes that
significance of the text', and suggests that
devicethat points to the may be
moments in the piece.21 Yet the j pulse metric
associate with earlier to restore the
systematic terms as well, as an attempt
interpreted in more the dispassionate Arcadian
that began the song, and with it
consonance
consonance was associated.
landscape with which that
(2001)
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Ltd. 2001
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ANDMETRICSPACES
HEMIOLAS
COMPLEX 315

Ex. 18 Brahms, VonezvigerLiebe,Op. 43 No. 1, bars 1-28


MalSig

- I -- 1: j Y 21
Dun - kel, wie

lo

<; $ 8 J <fJ J I: ;D
X Feld! A - bend schon ist es nun schwei - get die

15

- } 1-- t,51-
a - l l -
1 s J-*j. t1 s'
*2 $,
l
}
Nir- gend noch Licht und nir - gend noch Rauch, ja,

The opening of the song, given as Ex. 18, is in 3 metre, and articulatesclear
pulses at the downbeat ;., tactus; and sub-tactus ffi levels. Four-bar and two-bar
hyperpulses are also easily discernible throughout the first stanza. Both
hyperpulses are displaced at bar 12, where the cadence overlaps a two-bar
pianistic Vorimitation of the following vocal phrase, for a net gain of one bar. A
second cadential overlap at bar 21 compensates for this extra bar, causing both
the second half of the first stanza (whose music repeats the first half) and the
second stanza to arrive at the downbeats of bars 25 and 45 respectively, in
hypermetric alignment with the opening.
The first stanza contains only the slightest hint of grouping dissonance. The
parallelismof descending thirds < Ct, A; B, G > in the bass at bar 3 suggests a

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-

316 RICHARD COHN

Ex. 18 continued
20

6$# _ | - 1; sJ[J;:l:::f; $ J
Kommt ausdem Dor- fe der Bur- sche her - aus,

)p$$r -
r Xr l
r Y. SH S?

hemiolic 2 pulse that is weakly supported at bars 9-10, when the same music
sets 'A-bend schonist es, nun schzvei-'.Subsequent texted iterations, however,
clearly reinforce the notated metre- at bar 18 ('Ler-che sie schzvei-getnun
auch'), bar 29 ('Gibt das Ge-leit der Ge-lieb- ten') and bar 39 ('Re-det so viel
und so manch-').
The first significant grouping dissonance occurs at the sub-tactus level.
Throughout the setting of the second stanza, the pianist's right hand
articulates a new 32 pulse that directly conflicts with the continuing 2 pulse
in the bass and vocal line. This sub-tactus dissonance continues into the
eleven-bar interlude that separates the second stanza from the third. The
interlude, which contains the most metrically dissonant music of the song, is
given as Ex. 19. The cadential overlap at bar 68, like the earlier such overlaps
at bars 12 and 32, offers a reversal of hypermetric weight 'per arsis et thesis',
from the odd to the even bars. Yet harmonic factors prevent the full
consummation of this reversal, and by bar 75 the hypermetric weight is
restored to the odd-numbered bars.
Bar 73, whose downbeat in retrospect is hyper-metrically accented, initiates
the point of greatest grouping dissonance in Von ezvigerLiebe. As the sub-
tactus 3:2 conflict continues from the second stanza, a challenge is mounted
against the downbeat pulse, in the form of a 2 pulse that trisects the two-bar
hypermeasure, overriding the intermediate bar-line. This pulse is clearest to

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(s
2 #$$$$
9 ###s
g 2 - :j;24 -0---l --,8 i- - <i 000300--
,> -4 =-0;---
p >'<'i
. L _

COMPLEX
HEMIOLAS
ANDMETRICSPACES 317

Ex. 19 Brahms, Von ewigerLiebe,Op. 43 No. 1, bars 65-83


65

::r r r S- 2 r=--2
schnell wie
C-- #20004
wir fru - her ver - ei - ni - get sind.'

Ziemlich langsam 80
##$$g $ 8-j---0+0X>-<<;:-
-8trT-S;:=Xxyt; yx; j <
Spricht das Mag - de-lein, Mag - de - 1ein spricht: 'Un - se - re

| siol( .

p 8 8 _ _ p 8 8 _ _ p 9 8 vS 8 _ _ p 8 8

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318 RICHARD COHN

the eye at bars 75 and 76, but is already made clear to the ear in the previous
hypermeasure by both the descending arpeggiation of a B minor triad in the
highest register, and the sequential reiteration of a four-note segment
articulating an upper-neighbour and downward passing figure. (These
parsings are notated in Ex. 19.)
The final hypermeasure of the interlude restores the downbeat 2. pulse,
whilst continuing the sub-tactus 32 that was the defining characteristic of
the second stanza. We would seem to be poised for a return to the opening
state of metric consonance. Indeed, the exchange of the 32 pulse for a;
pulse that would bring about such a restoration does occur in bar 79. Yet, at
the same moment, the: pulse, which until now had been the one constant
pulse in the song, is perturbed for the first time. The altered metre
signature installs a rival :. pulse, which persists throughout the third stanza.
It is only at the perorative declaration of 'unsere Liebe' that the return of
the initial metric consonance is suggested, and only at the postlude that it is
secured.
I shall now retell the metric story of Von ezvigerLiebe in a different way,
using the graphic instruments of ski-hill diagrams and metric spaces. This re-
telling will suppress certain elements of the previous narrative,such as the role
of displacement dissonance, but will enrich our understandingof the narrative
potential of grouping dissonance, and provide an opportunity to engage the
metric story with that of the poem and its setting.
The ski-hill diagramrelevant to Von ezvigerLiebe is Ex. 10, whose span pulse
is the dotted semibreve , whose unit pulse is the triplet semiquaver 32, and
whose length is 36, yielding six distinct paths.
The opening metric consonance, articulating dotted minims, crotchets and
quavers, is represented as the left slalom (B) path. The left hand and voice of
the second stanza continue to travel the B path, but the right hand takes up the
S curve (C) path, articulating the 32 pulse in conflict with the voice's quaver.
At bar 73 of the interlude, the right hand substitutes plain for dotted
minims, abandoningthe S curve (C) path for the right slalom (E) path instead.
The left hand undertakes an equivalent substitution, discarding for the first
time its left slalom (B) path, and taking up the Z curve (D) instead.
At bar 75, the left hand throws off its quaver pulse, leaving an unconflicted
32 pulse and achieving a state of metric consonance for the first time since the
end of the first stanza. Yet this is not the initial metric consonance, but rather
an inverse of that state: the right slalom (E) path has replacedthe left slalom (B)
path of the opening. The sense of inversion in the Ex. 10 graph is literal: the B
and E paths reflect into each other around the vertical axis at the centre of the
graph. In musical terms, this geometric inversion reflects the fact that every
level of the metric hierarchy that hosted a triple division in bar 1 hosts a duple
one in bar 75, and vice-versa.

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ANDMETRICSPACES
HEMIOLAS
COMPLEX 319

EX. 20

C
Stanza 2;
RH, bar 77
/ \

A B E F
Stanza3 Stanza 1; RH, bar73 (unused)
postlude
\ /

D
LH, bar 73

Bar 77, which restores the downbeat pulse (2.),marks a return to the S-curve
(C) path. The third stanza moves to the left outer (A) path. The postlude then
restores the initial left slalom (B) path.
Von ezvigerLiebethus skis five of the six available paths; only the right outer
path (F) is unused. Ex. 20 graphs the abstract relationship between these five
metric states against the backdropof the abstract metric space given in Ex. 11.
The B state holds the conceptual status of tonic, and is 'prolonged' until the
end of the first stanza. By introducing the C state in the pianist's right hand,
the second stanza begins a rightward migration which is intensified at the
interlude, culminating in the more remote E state that is introduced at bar 73
and 'tonicised' at bar 75. The restoration of the downbeat pulse at bar 77
initiates a restorative leftward motion to the C state, preparing an apparent
return of the tonic (B) state. The third stanza overshoots the tonic, radically
yanking the metre for the first time to the left side of the tonic metre. The sense
of metric disjunction here is very strong: this is the only metric transition in the
piece that is not 'stepwise', i.e. that exchanges two distinct pulse levels
simultaneously. The promised tonic metre is thus delayed until the pianist
begins to 'rock the metric boat' at bar 113, and is only reinstalled at the
postlude, though not without a lingering hint of the A state in the left hand's
pre-cadential dominant.
Von ezvigerLiebe'sjourney through metric space is in some senses analogous
to a journey through harmonic functional spaces. If we assign dominant status
to the right-hand side of Ex. 20, we find that the song takes us on a familiar
journey: a prolongation of tonic; a motion to the dominant, then to the double
dominant, which is briefly tonicised; a falling back to the dominant; a
wrenching overshooting of the projected tonic, in favour of a subdominant;and
an ultimate restorationof the tonic. This narrativehas significant analogues in
three distinct domains, each of which is of importance in the interpretationof
Von ezvigerLiebe.

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320 RICHARD COHN

The first domain consists of the classical conventions of large-scale


harmonic syntax. Dominant prolongations in the middle or near the ends of
compositions frequently find release in subdominants, either directly or
through the mediation of an unstable tonic chord acting as the dominant of the
subdominant. A well-known example of tonic-mediated release occurs in the
final bars of the first Prelude from Book I of the Well-Tempered Clavier;the
direct subdominant move occurs in the apotheosis of Isolde's Transfiguration
('Welt Atems ehendem All'). Brahms himself was a master of economising on
subdominants and choosing the most appropriate moment to deploy them
strategically.He developed this technique early:it is alreadyevident in the first
movement of the F-minor Piano Sonata, Op. 5. This domain encourages us to
hear Vonezviger Liebe'smetric trajectoryagainst a venerable tradition of epics
manifest in the harmonic domain.
The second domain is the harmonic syntax of VonezvigerLiebe.Although
the analogy between metric and harmonic states cannot be pressed too far,
there are three passages in VonezvigerLiebethat support the notion of a co-
ordinated succession of states. In the second stanza, a 'tonic/dominant' conflict
in the metric domain is evident in the superposition of the 'tonic' state of the
bass and voice with the 'dominant' state of the piano right hand. A similar
tension is played out in the domain of harmonic function: the tonic that opens
the stanza is ultimately interpreted as the subdominant of F: minor,
particularly in the light of the modally neutral F: chords at bars 46 and 48,
and the complete avoidance of G or G: from the beginning of the stanza until
the unambiguously cadential dominant at bar 50. The interpretationof the B
minor as the subdominant of the dominant comes into clear light in the second
four-bar segment, which is also the moment when the 2 pulse falls away and 32
begins to stake a clearer claim as the sub-tactus pulse.
The end of the interlude and the beginning of the third stanza present
another passage that supports a hypothesis of a co-ordinated journey through
harmonic and metric space. The motion from a metric 'double dominant' (path
E, bars 75-6) to a 'dominant' (path C, bars 77-8) supports a harmonic motion
from a double dominant (V6 of V at the end of 76) to a dominant prolongation
(bars 77-8).
Finally, the B-major opening of the third stanza suggests not only modal
mixture, but also an applied chord of the subdominant. A: is absent in the
setting of 'Spricht das Magdelein'.22The singer's A: at bar 84, in preparation
for the major subdominant at bar 86, presents a motivation retrospectively for
hearing the initial seven bars of the stanza in terms of V7 of IV.
The third domain in which Vonezviger Liebe'sprogression of metric states
has significant correlatesis the Wendisch folk poem that was Brahms'spoint of
departure for the composition of the first song of Op. 43. The three-term
dualism of the metric narrativepervades the poem as well. The gender-neutral

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COMPLEX
HEMIOLAS
ANDMETRICSPACES 321

narratorof the first stanza is followed by a male narratorin the second stanza, a
female in the third. The first stanza is dispassionate, the second agonised, the
third ecstatic. The first stanza depicts ongoing quotidian flow of time, the
second impulsively seizes upon a nodal moment ('werde die Liebe getrennt so
schwind'), the third projects love into eternity. In each of these domains, the
neutral term is expressed in the first stanza, the two symmetrically disposed
poles in the second and third. The reflection of this narrativein the 'T to D to
S' metric progression could not be more transparent.
The interlude and postlude complicate the interpretationa little, suggesting
that Brahms's role was not merely to translate the poem into music, but to
comment on it as well. The 'dominant' poetic state of the second stanza is only
partially reflected in its metric state: although the 32 pulse predominates, it is
inflected by the continuing presence of the duplet 2 pulse in the voice and bass.
It is only when the 'double dominant' metric state emerges in the interlude that
the 'dominant' metric state achieves security, but only for a moment. The logic
of my analogy suggests that Brahms reads the Bursche's despair as initially
tentative and over-played for dramatic impact. It is only when the poor lad
stops singing that he is overtaken by the anxieties that he has just articulated.
The increase of the level of metric dissonance in the interlude suggests a
disorganised state.23 The subsequent resolution to a new state of metric
consonance, remote from the original, suggests that his despondency threatens
to consolidate into a permanent depression. To dislodge him from this state,
the Magdelein is compelled to pull too hard in the opposite direction.
And what of the end of the song, with its apparently successful struggle to
return to the initial metric consonance, only to be snatched away by the
metrically errant bass at bar 120? Nothing in the poem suggests such a return.
One suspects that the eternal bourgeois bachelor composer, of all people, does
not buy the Magdelein's folk Platonism for an instant. Eternal love has a
pragmaticfunction: the maiden's appeal must be extreme because what it seeks
to contradict is also extreme. For Brahms, the payoff of this appeal is not
eternal love, but rather the restoration of those conditions that were present at
the outset, those conditions that permitted 'reden so viel und mancherlei'. Yet
undercutting that suspicion is the low F: of bar 120, which we might interpret,
in this context, as a lingering uncertainty on Brahms's part, a holding-out of
hope for a love more eternal than he had been able to find in his life so far.

Lewin's suggestion of an analogy between the configuration of harmonic and


metric space is both supported and complicated by the work presented here.
On the evidence of the three metric states of the Capriccio,Lewin posited this
analogy as a three-term duality involving analogues to tonic, dominant and

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322 RICHARD COHN

EX. 21 729 486 324 216 144 96 64


243 162 108 72 48 32
81 54 36 24 16
27 18 12 8
9 6 4
3 2

subdominant. This article suggests that Lewin's linear duality is more properly
included as one dimension of a two-dimensional array whose axes are
generated by duple and triple metric proportions respectively.24 Ex. 21
converts the durational values of the ski-hill diagrams to integer values, and
begins to project them infinitely outwards. The figure is a version of Crantor's
lambda,an arraythat had significance to classical Greek and medieval theorists,
as a generator of pitch-relations.25
Similar two-dimensional representationsare also central to Riemann's work
on harmonic relationships. His Tonnetz,a version of which is given in Ex. 22,
is generated by pure fifths and majorthirds, i.e. by an acoustic interpretationof
the interaction of exponentiated triple and quintuple proportions.26 In this
form, the table originates in the writings of Leonhard Euler, one of the pre-
eminent figures in the history of mathematics.27Ex. 23 is copied from a treatise
of Euler dating from 1773, and which intended to capture certain aspects of
just intonation.28Among Euler's contributions were algorithms for calculating
the number of distinct paths between the co-ordinates of an array. Ex. 24,
copied directly from 'De Harmoniae' of 1773, enumerates the ten 'ski-hill'
paths between F and Bb along the Tonnetzreproduced here as Ex. 22. The
figure is isomorphic with Ex. 13, which also is concerned with the ten paths
that connect the most remote points of a 4 x 3 array.

Ex. 22
Ffl Cfl Gfl Dfl Afl Efl Bfl Fx Cx Gx Dx Ax Ex

D A E B Ffl Cfl Gfl Dfl Afl Efl Bfl Fx Cx

Bb F C G D A E B Ffl Cfl Gfl Dfl A

Gb Db Ab Eb Bb F C G D A E B F

E bb B bb Fb Cb Gb Db Ab Eb Bb F C G D

C bb Gbb Dbb Abb E bb B bb Fb Cb Gb Db Ab Eb Bb

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ANDMETRICSPACES
HEMIOLAS
COMPLEX 323

EX. 23

F C G D

A E H Fs

Cs Gs Ds B

Ex. 24
I. F: C: G: D: Fs: B

II. F: C: G: H: Fs: B

III. F: C: G: H: Ds: B

IV. F: C: E: H: Fs: B

V. F: C: E: H: Ds: B

VI. F: C: E: Gs: Ds: B

VII. F: A: E: H: Fs: B

VIII. F: A: E: H: Ds: B

IX. F: A: E: Gs: Ds: B

X. F: A: Cs: Gs: Ds: B

As a mathematicianwith little practical knowledge of music, Euler's music-


theoretical work was treated harshly by his musical contemporaries, and had
little influence beyond the geometry of the Tonnetz. Although acoustically
reliable, it failed on empirical grounds, making predictions that contradicted
the experience of musicians. Is it possible that Euler's speculative acoustic
work finds a more empirically true application in a situation for which it was
not designed: namely, as a model for the complex hemiolas of nineteenth-
century music?
The idea of a deep affinity between pitch and time is as Platonist as the
Wendisch Magdelein's vision of eternal love. In following this thread, am I
suggesting, like the Magdelein of the poem, that such relationships are more
eternal than iron and steel, with all the dangers that such a suggestion courts?
Or, like the Brahms of the postlude, am I holding out such a possibility as a
mere heuristic, perhaps an effort to balance the trajectory of anxiety in post-
structuralist music scholarship, in order to restore the conditions that
encourage a good hearty bourgeois music-analytical 'redet so viel und
mancherlei'? Like the Brahms who created a metric dissonance with the low
Ft in bar 120 of Von ezvigerLiebe, I am not altogether sure.

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324 RICHARD COHN

NOTES
1. Joel Lester, in The Rhythms of Tonal Music (Carbondale: Southern Illinois
University Press, 1986), p. 267 n. 2, puts in a plea for staunching the flow of the
metaphorical process. Such pleas for linguistic purity are doomed to frustration
in the face of living language.
2. Richard Cohn, 'Metric and Hypermetric Dissonance in the Menuettoof Mozart's
Symphony in G minor, K. 550', Integral, 6 (1992), pp. 1-33.
3. David Lewin, 'On Harmony and Meter in Brahms's Opus 76 No. 8', 19th-
CenturyMusic, 4 (1981), pp . 261-5.
4. Richard Cohn, 'The Dramatization of Hypermetric Conflicts in the Scherzo of
Beethoven's Ninth Symphony', 19th-Century Music, 15 (1992), pp. 188-206;
Cohn, 'Metric and Hypermetric Dissonance'; Harald Krebs, 'Some Extensions of
the Concept of Metrical Consonance and Dissonance', 3fournalof Music Theory,
31 (1987), pp. 99-120; Krebs, Fantasy Pieces: Metrical Dissonancein the Music of
RobertSchumann(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999).
5. For a discussion of Riemannian functions and three-term dualism, see Daniel
Harrison, Harmonic Functions in Chromatic Music (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1994), p. 36.
6. Lewin takes up similar matters, in connection with an analysis of a metrically
complex passage from Carter's First String Quartet, in Generalized Musical
Intervalsand Transformations(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987), pp. 67-
73.
7. On the 'Ghost' Trio, see Harald Krebs, 'Rhythmische Konsonanz und
Dissonanz', Musiktheorie, 9 (1994), pp. 27-39; on the Ninth Symphony, see
Cohn, 'The Dramatization of Hypermetric Conflicts'.
8. Krebs, Fantasy Pieces. See also Carl Schachter, 'Rhythm and Linear Analysis:
Aspects of Meter', Music Forum, 6/i (1987), p. 36.
9. Direct dissonances involve conflicts between simultaneously sounding pulses,
usually in different 'voices'. Indirect dissonances involve conflicts between pulses
presented successively. Krebs writes that 'the listener inwardlycontinues the first
[pulse] as the second begins, so that there arises a brief but clearly perceptible
conflict between the mentally retained Elrst [pulse] and the actually sounding
second [pulse]' (Fantasy Pieces, p. 45). Although direct dissonances are normally
experienced as more acute, structurally they are identical to indirect ones. The
distinction is one of surface 'formatting', not underlying relationship.
10. Concerning the parallel/switchbackdistinction, see Cohn, 'The Dramatizationof
Hypermetric Conflicts', p. 192.
11. Krebs, Fantasy Pieces, pp. 156-71.
12. See Cohn, 'The Dramatization of Hypermetric Conflicts', pp. 197-200.
13. There is a yet a more general version of Ex. 5b, although it will not come into play

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COMPLEX
HEMIOLAS
ANDMETRICSPACES 325

in this article: the intermediate durational values are of distinct prime lengths x
and y, and the longest duration has the value of xy. This allows the diamond to
model such situations as 5 against 3, 7 against 2, etc.
14. The idea that the 4th scale degree always represents the subdominant, even when
attached to a dominant triad as its seventh, has a long history. For a discussion in
English, see William C. Mickelsen, Hugo Riemann'sTheoryof Harmony(Lincoln,
NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1977), pp. 63-6. Ultimately, the idea is
traceableto Rameau's GenerationHarmonique.See Thomas Christensen, Rameau
and Musical Thoughtin the Enlightenment(Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1993), p. 183.
15. A version of this formula is given in Cohn, 'Metric and HypermetricDissonance',
p. 9.

16. The degree of a vertex is equivalent to the number of edges that attach to it.
17. Carl Schachter, 'The First Movement of Brahms's Second Symphony: the
Opening Theme and its Consequences', Music Analysis, 2/i (1983), p. 60.
18. Margit L. McCorkle, 3tohannes Brahms: thematisch-bibliographischesWerk-
verzeichnis(Munchen: G. Henle, 1984), p. 155.
19. For an insightful discussion of the careful process by which Brahmspreparesthis
high point, see Heather Platt, 'Text-Music Relationships in the Lieder of
Johannes Brahms' (Ph.D diss., City University of New York, 1992), pp. 215-24.
20. A. Craig Bell, The Lieder of Brahms (Darley: Graig-Ain Press, 1979), p. 55.
21. Platt, 'Text-Music Relationships', p. 223.
22. At the parallel passage that sets 'Eisen und Stahl, man schmiedet sie um', where
there can be no doubt of B major's tonic status, Brahms recomposes the vocal line
to include an Ap.
23. Metric dissonance is identified with mental instability in the music of Schumann.
See Dieter Schnebel, 'Ruckungen - Ver-ruckungen: Psychoanalytische und
Musikanalytische Betrachtungen zu Schumanns Leben und Werk', in Heinz-
Klaus Metzger and Rainer Riehn (eds.), Musik-Konzepte, SonderabendRobert
SchumannI (Munich: text + kritik, 1981), pp. 4-89. This identiElcationis also a
significant theme of Krebs's Fantasy Pieces.
24. The transformation of a one- into a two-dimensional array recapitulates an
episode in the history of harmonic theory, the absorption of Hauptmann's line of
alternatingmajor and minor thirds into Oettingen's Tonnetz.This conversion has
also been taken up in recent developments in harmonic theory inspired by
Lewin's work. See Richard Cohn, 'An Introduction to Neo-Riemannian Theory:
a Survey and a Historical Perspective',3tournalof Music Theory,42/ii (1998), pp.
167-80.
25. On the origins of the Elgurein Mesopotamia, see Robert R. Stieglitz, 'Numerical
Structuralism and Cosmogony in the Ancient Near East', 3tournalof Social and
Biological Structures, 5 (1982), pp. 255-66; in these oldest sources, the

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RICHARD COHN
326

components exist in a sexagesimal (base-60) system. On the


Elgure'smusical
interpretationin ancient Greece, and its transmission via early
see Ernest McClain, The PythagoreanPlato: Prelude medieval sources,
to the Song Itself (Stony
Brook: Nicholas Hays, 1978), p. 63. One of its forms is the
eschequierof Nicolas
d'Oresme, discussed in Norman Carey and David Clampitt,
of Tonal Spaces', 3tournalof Music Theory,40 (1996), 'Regions: a Theory
pp. 11347.
26. The arrangementof pulses in two-dimensional
arrays, and their relationship to
the harmonic Tonnetz, is observed independently in a
Justin London, 'Some Non-Isomorphisms Between Pitchforthcoming article by
and Time', 3tournalof
Music Theory.London appropriatelyproposes the term
Zeitnetz to characterise
what I term ski-hill graphs.
27. On the relationshipof Riemann's and Euler's
tables, see Michael Kevin Mooney,
'The "Table of Relations" and Music Psychology in
Hugo Riemann's Harmonic
Theory' (PhD diss., Columbia University, 1996).
28. 'De Harmoniae Veris Principis per
Speculum Musicum
LeonhardEuleri Opera Omniae, Series III, Vol. 1 (Leipzig Repraesentatis',
p. 584. and Berlin, 1926),

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