Smither, 1964

Yale University Department of Music
The Rhythmic Analysis of 20th-Century Music

Author(s): Howard E. Smither
Source: Journal of Music Theory, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Spring, 1964), pp. 54-88
Published by: Duke University Press on behalf of the Yale University Department of
Music
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54
The Rhythmic Analysis
of
The following study deals with two related questions. First,

to what extent can the analyst limit the personal element in de-
scribing musical rhythm? "Personal element" here means the
opinions regarding interpretation that are peculiar to the indi-
vidual analyst. Second, how useful is such description for the
comparison and classification of rhythmic styles in twentieth-
century music ? *1
Numerous writers have pointed out that interpretation, rather

than description, is the goal of musical analysis, and that the
task of the analyst is to explain how the music should be played
and heard in order that the composer's intentions may be fully
revealed*2. Interpretation has been the purpose of most of the
theories of musical rhythm written in the past 100 years. But
description is a necessary first step in analysis. If the analyst
55
20th-Century
Music
HOWARD E. SMITHER
is to be fully aware of the nature and extent of his interpreta-
tion, he must be equally aware of the nature of the uninter-
preted work. The latter awareness in regard to the music of
certain styles might result from a cursory glance at the score,
but the more complex rhythmic styles of twentieth-century
music require a more cautious and systematic descriptive
procedure.
The analysis of rhythm in the music of any historical period is

one of the most difficult tasks that confront the analyst, and
the obstacles presented by rhythm in twentieth-century music
often seem insurmountable. In the face of such difficulties the
present study makes no pretense at having arrived at complete
and final answers to the questions posed above, but a general
viewpoint and some provisional answers will be set forth in
56
the hope that they will be useful for further studies in the the-
ory of rhythm. t
PART I: Fundamentals for the Study of Musical Rhythm
Curt Sachs, in his Rhythm and Tempo, commented upon the

confusion that has existed since ancient times regarding the
definition of rhythm, but he considered the "tedious rehashing"
of the "different meanings that authors have given to the word
'rhythm' in two and a half thousand years" to be useless, bor-
ing, and a waste of space*3. The present study will avoid such
a rehashing and will assume, as a working definition, that
rhythm is order in time. The term "order" is to be inter-
preted in its most general sense as any harmonious relation,
rather than as a regular arrangement. This definition with its
general concept of order is similar to that stated in numerous
writings, both ancient and modern*4.
But the above definition does not determine the object of study
for the present investigation. Will the object be order in time
as conceived by the composer, as notated in the score, as
performed, or as perceived by the listener? Let us begin our
answer to this question by considering a few truisms: Music
is an art of sound, not of visual design upon paper. A score,
which is only a plan for the music, corresponds approximately
to the composer's conception, but it cannot fully represent that
conception in every detail. The performer will interpret the
score according to his understanding of the requirements for
transforming it into a work of art in sound. Every perform-
ance of a composition will differ, to some extent, from every
other performance. The pitch relationships of melody and
harmony will differ minutely or not at all, but relationships of
time are liable to differ considerably. A performer seldom
renders a composition in a mechanical way, rigorously obeying
the time ratios indicated by the score; rather, he modifies
these ratios according to his conception of the music. Just as
t After this manuscript was received three relevant articles ap-

peared to which the author, obviously, was unable to refer in
his discussions of the literature. These are: Milton Babbitt,
Twelve-Tone Rhythmic Structure and the Electronic Medium.
In: Perspectives of New Music 1 (1962), 49-79. Robert Erick-
son, Time Relations. In: Journal of Music Theory 7 (1963),
174-192. Peter Westergaard, Some Problems in Rhythmic
Theory and Analysis. In: Perspectives of New Music 1 (1962),
180- 191 - Editor.
57
various performers interpret the same score in various ways,

so different listeners to the same performance perceive the
music differently; the listener's perception is conditioned by
such factors as his musical training, familiarity with the style
and the composition perceived, and psychological and physical
constitution. Thus, one might be tempted to conclude that such
a profusion of variables makes the study of musical rhythm a
virtually hopeless task.
For the analysis of style to be generally convincing, it must

concentrate upon an examination of facts. In a recent study,
Jan LaRue demonstrated the importance of this principle, and
stated it as follows: "The larger the personal element. . .the
smaller the basis for general agreement on musical questions.
In a balanced process of style analysis, the arguments are not
so much right or wrong as convincing or unconvincing. The
strongest conviction emerges from unadorned musical facts. "
*5 The analysis of musical rhythm should not be considered
different from that of other elements of style with regard to
the importance of facts.
But where are the facts of musical rhythm? The answer basic
to the present study is that they must be selected from musical
notation and understood in terms of psychological principles of
perception. As stated above, notation does not fully represent
the composer's conception; nevertheless, with reference to
twentieth-century art music in which such traditions as those
of improvised ornamentation need not be taken into account,
the score represents a reasonably close approximation to his
conception. It has also been stated that the performer's in-
terpretation is an important factor in the transformation of
notation into sound; but, despite differences of interpretation,
certain of the musical relationships represented by the score
will remain essentially the same in various performances.
These will be termed "factual relationships" or "musical facts";
they constitute the object of study for the present description
and classification of rhythmic styles in twentieth- century music.
It is important for a theory of rhythm to distinguish symbols of
notation that represent musical facts from those that represent
interpretive relationships. Such a distinction will be made
below in connection with musical examples.
The notion of rhythm as a kind of flow or continuity is useful

for the understanding of and communication about musical
rhythm. Curt Sachs pointed out that various ancient Greek
connotations of the word rhythm reflect the concept of organ-
ized fluency*6; likewise, modern writers often consider flow
58
or continuity to be an essential quality of rhythm*7. While the

term flow as applied to musical rhythm is a metaphor, the use
of which might seem to undermine the factual basis of analysis
espoused above, it by no means does so. On the contrary, the
metaphor is used in the present study because it provides a
convincing and widely accepted framework for factual analysis.
Rhythmic flow is the notion, on the part of the observer, of

continuity that is divided, articulated, or limited in some way,
yet respected. The continuity of musical rhythm is like a
stream of varying tensions that constitutes a durational ex-
perience comparable in some respects to Henri Bergson's
metaphysical "real duration" (la durIe re'elle). Bergson's
philosophical treatment of duration has exerted an important
influence on the aesthetics of music, and certain elements of
his thought are also useful for gaining an understanding of mu-
sical rhythm*8. In the first paragraph of the following quota-
tion from his "Introduction 'a la Metaphysique" Bergson de-
scribes the process of intuition by which one seizes from with-
in the real duration; in the second paragraph he presents an
account of real duration that is strikingly close to a descrip-
tion of musical continuity.
When I direct my attention inward to contemplate my own

self. . ., I perceive at first, as a crust solidified on the
surface, all the perceptions which come to it from the
material
more world.
or less .. Next,
adhere I notice
to these the memories
perceptions which
and which serve
to interpret them. . .. Lastly, I feel the stir of tendencies
and motor habits - a crowd of virtual actions, more or
less firmly bound to these perceptions and memories ...
But when I draw myself in from the periphery towards the
centre, if I search in the depth of my being that which is
most uniformly, most constantly, and most enduringly
myself, I find an altogether different thing.
There is, beneath these sharply cut crystals and this fro-
zen surface, a continuous flux which is not comparable to
any flux I have ever seen. There is a succession of states,
each of which announces that which follows and contains
that which precedes it. They can, properly speaking, only
be said to form multiple states when I have already passed
them and turn back to observe their track. Whilst I was
experiencing them they were so solidly organized, so pro-
foundly animated with a common life, that I could not have
said where any one of them finished or where another com-
menced. In reality no one of them begins or ends, but all
59
extend into each other*9.
Bergson's description of this continuous flux, this succession

of states which extend into each other, is his description of
interior duration initially experienced as indivisible or con-
tinuous, yet divided or articulated in retrospect; the perception
of musical rhythm reveals an analogous duality. The continuity
of musical rhythm might be understood as a unified, perceptual
flux which is analyzed by the mind as a series of events, or as
arising from the activity of the mind by which separate events
are related and grouped. But regardless of the mode of un-
derstanding that one may adopt, the duality of continuity and
articulation remains important for the present study.
Certain principles of the perception of rhythm as formulated

by experimental psychologists are useful for understanding the
facts of musical rhythm. The principle of "subjective rhythm,"
a term which refers to the grouping of stimuli by a perceiving
subject, is one which, in its simplest form, seems virtually
self-evident; it has been verified by experiments undertaken in
the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries*10. The prin-
ciple may be summarized as follows: stimuli that are repeated
identically at equal intervals of time tend to be organized by a
subject into groups of two, three, or four*11. Contrasts in-
troduced into the series of stimuli modify the subject's group-
ing. Herbert Woodrow's experiments*12 indicate that the most
important contrasts functioning as determinants of subjective
grouping are those of intensity and duration, and that a subject
interprets an accent of intensity as the beginning of a group
but an accent of duration as the end. While the data gathered
from all the subjects participating in his experiment, "The
Role of Pitch in Rhythm", seems to indicate that they recog-
nized patterns of pitches as rhythmic groups most of the time,
none of the subjects consistently designated either a higher or
lower pitch as the beginning or end of a group; furthermore,
the apparent grouping effect in each instance was extremely
weak, far weaker than that created by contrasts of intensity
or duration, and the subjective group was easily destroyed by
slight modifications of intervals of duration between the differ-
ent pitches. This inconsistency and weakness of subjective
grouping, together with the possibility that some of the slight
indications of apparent grouping in the data resulted from er-
rors of measurement inherent in all such experiments, forced
Woodrow to conclude that pitch creates neither a group-begin-
ning nor a group-ending effect.
The "law of Prkgnanz" and its corollary the "law of good con-
60
tinuation" are basic tenets of Gestalt psychology that are use-

ful for understanding the perception of musical rhythm. Kurt
Koffka formulates the law of Prignanz as follows:
Psychological organization will always be as 'good' as the

prevailing conditions allow. In this definition the term
'good' is undefined. It embraces such properties as regu-
larity, symmetry, simplicity and others. . ..*13
The term "good" is used in a similar manner in the law of good

continuation, according to which "a perceived element, such as
a line, tends to continue in its established form: e.g., the are
of a circle tends to be perceived as continuing to finish the
circle.*14 This law is intended to apply to both spatial and
temporal organization, including music*l5. Bothlaws are basic
to Leonard Meyer's treatise on aesthetics, where he elabo-
rates the law of good continuation as follows: "The perception
of a line or motion initiates a mental process, and it is this
mental process which, following the mental line of least re-
sistance, tends to be perpetuated and continued". He com-
ments further on the application of both laws to the perception
of accents in music: "A tone or group of tones may appear to
be accented, not because of any particular distinction which it
possesses per se, but because a previously established group-
ing tends to perpetuate itself, making this type of organization
the simplest". *16
In evaluating the psychological principles cited thus far with

regard to their usefulness for the analysis of musical rhythm,
it must be recognized that the experiments on which they are
based were not performed within a musical context; not all of
the conclusions of such experiments are suitable to be trans-
ferred to the theory of music. A composition is, of course, a
far more complex "series of stimuli" than are those normally
used in the psychological laboratory. For example, Woodrow
used only three pitches in his experiment, "The Role of Pitch
in Rhythm". Nevertheless, some of the general conclusions
reached by psychologists lead to convincing results when ap-
plied to musical analysis. The present study accepts the
Gestalt laws of Prignanz and good continuation, the principle
of subjective rhythm, and the theory that contrasts of intensity
and duration tend to be more important determinants of rhythm
than those of pitch. But Woodrow's conclusion concerning the
group-beginning and group-ending effects of accents of inten-
sity and duration will not be employed in this study; in twen-
tieth-century compositions the durations of tones are usually
too great in variety and complexity of organization for that
61
conclusion to be convincingly applied in analysis. From Wood-

row's conclusion regarding the inability of pitch to create a
group-beginning or group-ending effect, it does not follow that
pitch change in a musical context cannot provide an accent.
The present study will reject such an inference for the view
that pitch- change can provide an accent in certain contexts; but
accents of pitch will be considered secondary in importance to
those of intensity and duration.
In the following treatment of the facts of musical rhythm, the

term "accent" will be used, as it has been above, in a general
sense widely accepted in writings about music, and expressed
by Leonard Meyer as follows:
Basically anything is accented when it is marked for con-

sciousness in some way. Such mental marking may be
the result of differences in intensity, duration, melodic
structure, harmonic progression, instrumentation, or any
other mode of articulation which can differentiate one
stimulus or group of stimuli from others. . ..*17
The present approach to analysis will be based upon an exam-

ination of notated accents of length, intensity, timbre, har-
monic progression, and melodic change of pitch; these, to-
gether with the "unified group, " will be considered the facts
of musical rhythm.
The unified group is a succession of notes which, when per-

formed, tends to be perceived as a unit for reasons of duration,
pitch, intensity, timbre, or style of performance. ("The term
"motive" will be avoided for reasons to be made clear below.)
A wide variety of unified groups is possible, but among those
that occur most frequently in the analyses of this study are:
(1) A pattern of pitches repeated identically or approximately
in an ostinato or a melodic sequence. (2) A repeated pattern
of durations. (3) A series of notes that is made to stand out
in its context by a sudden change of dynamics, instrumentation,
legato performance in a staccato context, staccato performance
in a legato context, and so on. The unified group is a type of
accent, since it is a group of stimuli differentiated from others
and, thus, marked for consciousness. But it differs from the
accent created by a single note; the latter calls attention to a
"point" within the rhythmic flow, while the unified group calls
attention to a succession of notes without defining an accented
point within the succession.
The term "agogic accent" in the analyses of this study will be
62
used to designate a note that is longer in notated duration than

others in its context. This use of the term is a modification
of that found in the writings of Hugo Riemann who reserved it
for the slight lengthening, to be supplied by the performer, of
the note falling at the strong point (Schwerpunkt) of the meas-
ure-motive (Taktmotiv) and the subdivision-motive (Unter-
theilungsmotiv)*18. While the term is still used today to des-
ignate an accent of length supplied by the performer, the mean-
ing employed in this study is also common*19.
In a melodic line with tones of varying lengths, some will

be more effective agogic accents, that is, more prominently
marked for consciousness by virtue of their lengths, than
others. The determination of the relative accentual effects of
agogic accents is often an extremely difficult task. It is doubt-
ful that any formula could be devised that would convincingly
determine relative accentual effects in all possible contexts,
but the following definitions and principles serve as useful
guides for analysis. (A) In a melodic line, an agogic accent
is the longer of any two successive notes. The accent may be
considered to function as a restraint or delay of the rhythmic
flow in contrast with shorter notes which tend to accelerate it.
(B) The accentual effect of an agogic accent depends upon three
factors in the following order of importance: (1)the "absolute"
or notated length of the note, (2) the "relative" length of the
note as determined by the ratio between the length of the accent
and that of its shorter neighboring note or notes, and (3) the
"position" of the note. There are three possible positions for
an agogic accent: the position in which it is (a) preceded and
followed by shorter notes, (b) preceded but not followed by a
shorter note, (c) followed but not preceded by a shorter note.
In position (a) the accent tends to be more effective than in the
other two, as it contrasts with both of its neighboring notes.
In position (b) it tends to be more effective than in (c), for in
(b) its tendency to restrain or delay the rhythmic flow may be
perceived immediately upon hearing the note performed; in
position (c) this restraining tendency may be understood only
after the following note has been played. To summarize, while
neither a binding nor a comprehensive rule is intended, the
following generalization is useful and often yields convincing
results: one agogic accent is more effective than another (1)
if it is of greater absolute length, (2) if it is of the same abso-
lute length but of greater relative length, (3) if it is of the
same absolute length but in a more effective position.
The principles set forth above for the analysis of agogic ac-
cents are illustrated in Example 1*20. The absolute lengths
63
example
1 SCHUMANN: PIANO CONCERTO IN A MINOR
Abs.Lengt6 4 3 5 4 3 4
Ret. Length -:4:3 -:3:1 1:5:1 1:4:3 -:3:1 1:4:2
Poit ion c c 0 a C 0
Allegro offettuoso (Je s)

~Mee. 4
Oboe eiprello f .o
Abs. 31 2 4 31 3 4
ReL 4:6:I 1:2:- 2:4:- -'3"i: ? 1:6:2 14:2
Pos. a b b c e a
-- J I I "
"e" _ _ ' __I ! i-..,, , -._. -
2 MOZART: PIANO SONATA IN D MAJOR, K.284L
Abs.Length 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Rel. Length 1:2:(1) :2:1 1:2:(1) 1:2(1) 1:2:(1) 1:2:(1) 1:2:-
Position a a a a a a b
Allegro Vor. X11
1 II !
Alb. 4
Ret. 1:4:(2)
Pos. ?
64
of agogic accents are designated in eighth-note units. The
relative lengths, that is, ratios between the lengths of agogic
accents and their neighboring notes, are designated either in
eighth-note or sixteenth-note units. The most effective posi-
tion is indicated by the letter a, the next most effective by b,
and the least by c.
The first note of the melody has an absolute length of four

eighth notes. The designation of the relative-length ratios be-
gins with a dash, since there is no preceding note. (For the
present purpose this example is treated as it stands, without
considering the introduction which precedes it in the score.)
The ratio between the first agogic accent and the following note
is 4:3. The position is c, the least effective one. The second
note is also an agogic accent in the least effective position; its
absolute length is less than that of the first note, but its rela-
tive length is slightly greater. The relative-length indication
for the second note begins with a dash because that note is an
agogic accent only by virtue of a following shorter duration
rather than a preceding one. The next agogic accent is the
most effective of the example; its absolute and relative lengths
are greater than any other, and it is in position a. The fourth
agogic accent, like the first, is four eighth notes long, but it
is of greater effect than the first because of its position. (The
higher pitch and the dynamics, to be treated below, also con-
tribute to the accentual effect of the fourth agogic accent.) The
remaining accents have been analyzed in a similar manner.
The analyses of the seventh and tenth agogic accents are ques-
tionable because of the indefinite durations of the ornaments
that follow them. The seventh agogic accent would be slightly
shorter than three eighth notes if time were taken from it to
perform the ornament, and there would be a short agogic ac-
cent following the ornament; on the other hand, if the ornament
were played together with the following note as a triplet of six-
teenth notes, an agogic accent would be created on the penulti-
mate eighth note of the measure. The ornament of measure 7
would probably borrow time from the preceding note.
In measures 1-4 of Example 1, the agogic accents at intervals

of two or four quarter notes establish a regular pattern of em-
phasis which, according to the law of good continuation, will
tend to be continued in perception throughout the remainder of
the passage, despite the accents that oppose it in measures
5-7. There are no agogic accents that satisfy the listener's
expectation of regular emphasis in measures 5 and 7, and only
a slight accent does so in measure 6; but an effective accent
at the beginning of measure 8 tends to reaffirm the regular
65
pattern of emphasis.
The agogic accents of Example 1 have been analyzed in terms

of the melodic line alone; in that passage the lower harmony
parts generally follow the duration patterns of the melody (see
Example 4). But in the analysis of a passage of two or more
parts differing in time values, either in homophonic or contra-
puntal texture, a useful procedure is to consider agogic accents
with reference to the motion of all the voices in the texture.
This has been done in the analysis of Example 2, in which the
quarter notes of the melody are sometimes agogic accents only
with reference to the accompanying eighth notes. In the melo-
dy of Example 2 the first quarter note of measure 1 is not an
agogic accent, as it would probably be dissolved in the per-
formance of the appoggiatura into two eighth notes. If the ap-
poggiatura is thus performed, the quarter note on the second
beat is preceded by eighth notes in both the melody and ac-
companiment. The attack of the D2 on the second beat of the
measure in the right hand is, of course, simultaneous with
that of the Al in the accompaniment, but the latter then moves
to an F 1 on the second half of the beat. This F sounds with
the D2 of the melody, contrasts with it in time value, and
throws it into relief, contributing to its effect as an agogic
accent. Thus, in the relative-length designation 1:2:(1), the
1 in parentheses indicates a note sounded before the completion
of the accented note. In the relative-length designation of the
second agogic accent of measure 3, the terms 2:(1) 1 indicate
that the ratio 2:1 is that between the accent and an accompany-
ing note sounded before the completion of the accent, as well
as between the accent and the following melody note. In Ex-
ample 2 the agogic accents are responsible for the regular
pulse at quarter-note intervals, while the organization of quar-
ter notes into groups of three is a result of harmonic rhythm
and unified groups, to be discussed below.
The term "dynamic accent" will be applied to any notated stress

of intensity. The only principle followed in comparing dynamic
accents in the present study is: the louder the accent, relative
to the non-accented notes, the greater the accentual effect.
Naturally, from the standpoint of interpretation in perform-
ance, there is apt to be a wide variety of subtle dynamic ac-
cents, many of which will not be notated. While the perform-
er's added interpretive accentuation is of extreme importance
for the effect of the music as sounded and perceived, such
dynamics cannot convincingly be made a part of the factual
aspect of stylistic analysis of twentieth- century music.
OO
The notated dynamic accents to be considered facts of rhythm

are those indicated by traditional accent signs, by a sudden
change to a higher dynamic level, by the culmination point of
a crescendo, and by the addition of more notes to the texture.
In certain media, in orchestral music for example, the addi-
tion of more notes to the texture is often an accent of timbre
as well as, or even in place of, an accent of dynamics. The
culmination of a crescendo as a point of dynamic accentuation
is illustrated by Example 1 in measures 3 and 5. In both meas-
ures the dynamic accent coincides with an agogic accent, fur-
ther intensifying the accentual effect of that point in the rhyth-
mic flow.
Walter Piston has defined harmonic rhythm as "The rhythm

life contributed to music by means of the underlying chan
of harmony"; he has termed its two main features "frequen
of harmonic change and the quality of that change. "*21 Re
garding quality, Piston designates certain root progressio
as strong and others as weak, and he speaks of longer time
values as rhythmically heavy in contrast with shorter values.
He considers the "agogic element" to be first among the fac-
tors influencing the rhythmic quality of harmonic change, *22
and this is the element of harmonic rhythm to be treated in the
analyses of the present study. The agogic accent of harmonic
rhythm is an important factor contributing to the rhythmic life
of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century music; it still functions
as a significant element in some twentieth-century styles, while
in others its effect is negligible*23.
The rhythmic structure of Example 1, which has been analyzed

above in terms of agogic and dynamic accents, is further clari-
fied by an analysis of the agogic accents of its harmonic rhythm
as indicated in Example 4. Two possible analyses of harmonic
rhythm are shown; the upper analysis indicates every root
change, while the lower one is more general, treating some
root changes as non-essential. The lower analysis shows only
two agogic accents in the harmonic rhythm, the first coinciding
with the first agogic accent of the melody in measure 1; the
agogic accent indicated in the harmonic rhythm at the beginning
of measure 6 assumes that the G2 is perceived in retrospect
as an appoggiaturato the D minor chord entering on the second
beat of the measure. According to the upper, more detailed
analysis of harmonic rhythm, the regularity established by the
agogic accents of the melody is opposed at the end of the first
measure. The agogic accent of the harmonic rhythm also op-
poses that of the melody at the beginning of measure 5; since
the harmonic change occurs at the beginning of the measure,
67
ex ample
4 SCHUMANN: PIANO CONCERTO IN A MINOR
Rhythm
?j
5 STR
Tempo giust
C*. ff I 1
I I
the agogic accent of the harmonic rhythm contributes to the
tendency to continue in perception the regular pattern of group-
ing established in the first four measures. In Example 2, the
function of the harmonic rhythm is to create a pattern of group-
ing in units of a dotted half note in duration.
Woodrow's psychological experiments cited above indicate that

a change of pitch creates neither the beginning nor the end of a
rhythmic group. Yet, the theory that a melodic change of pitch
can create an accentual effect has found some acceptance a-
mong musicians, particularly in discussions of the so-called
"tonic accent, " or accent of higher pitch*24. In such discus-
sions, higher pitchesand larger skips are sometimes said to
derive their accentual value from greater effects of tension,
energy, or climax than are produced by lower pitches and
smaller skips. In dealing with melodic changes of pitch, it
is necessary to remember not only the doubt cast upon their
rhythmic effect by psychological experiments, but also that a
full explanation of their effects depends in part upon theories
of melody and harmony; since the formulation of such theories
is beyond the scope of the present study, all matters of pitch
accent will be treated as more speculative and tentative than
accents of intensity and duration. The following principles, to
be considered as secondary in importance, will often contrib-
ute to a convincing analysis. (1) A notethat is higher or lower
than its neighboring notes will tend to stand out as an accent.
(2) A note that is preceded by a skip will tend to be perceived
as conveying a greater accentual effect than one preceded by
stepwise motion. The two types of accents just defined will be
termed "contour accent" and "skip accent", respectively. (3)
Upper contour and skip accents tend to be of greater accentual
effect than lower. (4) The larger the skip, the greater the
tendency toward accentual effect.
Example 1 offers several instances of melodic accents of pitch.

The accentual effect of the first note of measure 3 is increased
by its upper contour and skip accents, as is that of the second
note of measure 5; the latter skip accent, because of its larger
skip, is of greater emphasis than the former. The first note
of measure 6 has neither a strong agogic nor dynamic accent,
but the contour and skip accents tend to compensate in part for
their absence and to lend support to the continuation in percep-
tion of the regular system of accentuation established in meas-
ures 1-4. The remaining contour and skip accents in Example
1 may be analyzed either as mild confirmations of or opposi-
tions to the prevailing regularity of accentuation.
b9
The unified group, as pointed out above, is a succession of

notes which, when performed, tends to be perceived as a unit
for reasons of duration, pitch, intensity, timbre, or style of
performance, In Example 5 the unified groups, enclosed in
brackets, are recognized as such by virtue of their repetition.
When a succession of tones is identically repeated the first
presentation of the succession might fail to provide the listener
with sufficient data for him to perceive it as a unit; but after
one or more repetitions of the succession he becomes aware
of a repeated unit of a certain duration, and he tends to expect
it to continue. The brackets enclosing the unified groups in
Example 5, and in the subsequent examples of this study, indi-
cate the length but not the accentuation of the group; the brack-
ets are not intended to imply that the groups are either initially
or terminally accented. The cello part, which is a slightly
modified augmentation of the bassoon parts, exhibits a contour
accent at every bar line and thus helps to create a regular
system of accentuation. Likewise, there are contour accents
at quarter-note intervals in the bassoon parts. Since every
note in all parts is taken by skip, the skip accent is less im-
portant; that is, it stands out less prominently in its context
than does the contour accent. Since every note in the English
horn part is a contour, the analysis of contour accents might
seem to be of little value. In such a line as this, however, it
is possible that the listener would compare the first and third
notes of the group (Ab and Bb) and consider the higher of the
two as a contour accent. If this were the case, the accentua-
tion of the English horn part would differ from that of the bas-
soon parts, although the unified groups of the English horn and
bassoon parts would be of the same duration.
As has been mentioned above, approximate as well as exact

repetitions of pitches are unified groups. In Example 2, for
instance, measure 2 of the accompaniment is a modified repe-
tition of the pattern of measure 1. Thus, the effect of grouping
in units equal to the dotted half note is established by both the
harmonic rhythm and the unified groups.
PART I: Conclusion
The fundamentals for the study of musical rhythm set fort

above are intended to be a step toward limiting the perso
element in the description of musical rhythm. The relati
values of accents have been dealt with only to a limited degre
Certain general hierarchies of accentual values have been es-
tablished, but there has been no attempt to answer such spe-
70
cific questions as whether a certain agogic accent is twice,

three times, etc. as important as a certain dynamic accent or
accent of pitch. Such questions cannot be answered with the
slightest hope of general agreement. It seems doubtful that an
exact, mathematical kind of description of musical rhythm can
be devised that will be generally convincing, unless, perhaps,
electronic equipment is employed.
The bar line and the time signature have not been employed in
the descriptive procedure; they are better considered inter-
pretive elements in twentieth-century music. Matters per-
taining to bar lines and time signatures will be taken up below.
The approach employed here differs from that of well-known

treatises of the late nineteenthand early twentieth centuries*25
as well as from more recent treatises*26 in its avoidance of
subtleties of performance sucn as unnotatea dynamic accentua-
tion and shading, slight separations between certain notes in
performance, minute expressive modifications of tempo, and
the gathering together of notes into groups or motives. In Ex-
ample 1, for instance, various types of accents were observed
and related, but no opinion was set forth as to whether certain
notes should be separated from others, whether the second and
third notes of the example should be grouped with the first note
or with the fourth, etc. Likewise, the discussion of Example 2
called attention to the agogic accentual effects of the quarter
notes and their tendency to be grouped in threes as a result of
factual elements, the harmonic rhythm, and the unified groups
in the accompaniment; but there was no attempt to determine
whether the performer should group the second and third beats
of ameasure with the preceding first beat or with the first beat
of the following measure, that is, whether the passage should
be considered a series of downbeat or upbeat motives.
The determination of motives, as valuable as it is to both the

performer and the listener, is apt to be more a matter of opin-
ion, reflecting an individual's personal musical viewpoint, than
is the descriptive approach employed in this study. Bergson's
account, cited above, of the continuous flux of real duration
which "is a succession of states, each of which announces that
which follows and contains that which precedes it", and his
further comment that while experiencing these states "they were
so solidly organized, so profoundly animated with a common
life that I could not have said where any one of them finished
or where another commenced", may be profitably applied to a
consideration of the determination of motives. Rhythmic mo-
tives often seem to "announce" those which follow and to be
71
conditioned by those which precede them; and rhythmic motives

are often so animated with a common life which fuses them to-
gether that it cannot be said with certainty where one of them
finishes and another begins. To be sure, the performer and
listener will tend to group unaccented tones around accented
ones; but the specific manner of grouping in a given composi-
tion is subject to wide variation and cannot be predicted with
sufficient accuracy to be included as an element of factual de-
scription. More fruitful for description is an approach which
calls attention to accents as "peaks of waves" which divide, yet
respect, the rhythmic flow. It is important to recognize, how-
ever, that the attempt to determine rhythmic motives is nec-
essary for aesthetic analysis from both the performer's and
listener's standpoint. Questions of the performer's and lis-
tener's interpretation must be faced and at least provisionally
answered in any attempt to penetrate the unique expressive
quality of a composition. But personal interpretive elements
should be minimized in the description, comparison, and clas-
sification of rhythmic styles.
PART II: A Classification of Rhythmic Styles

in Twentieth-Century Music
Basic to the classification of styles to be presented below is

the notion of meter as predominantly regular accentuation; this
notion is essential to the meaning of the term found in most
nineteenth- and twentieth- century theoretical treatises*27. But
the present approach differs from that characteristic of trea-
tises written in the past hundred years in its rejection of the
derivation of meter from theoretical interpretations of time
signatures; thus, for the purpose of stylistic analysis, no pre-
conceived system of accentuation, no theory of strong and weak
parts of the measure, will be employed. The regularity of ac-
centuation to be called meter is that derived from the facts of
rhythm. For the study of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century
music there may be sufficient reason for considering time sig-
nature and bar-line placements to be facts of rhythm; but these
aspects of notation have been used in such a variety of ways in
the twefitieth century, often with no apparent strong- and weak-
beat implications and without aural significance, that they are
of questionable use for the stylistic description of twentieth-
century music. Thus, in this study meter and rhythm will not
be considered separate, opposed elements, as they frequently
have been in the past, but will be united in the notion of "met-
rical rhythm" in which the facts reveal a predominance of reg-
ular accentuation.
72
The present approach to metrical rhythm may be illustrated

by reference to Examples 1, 2, and 4. The facts of rhythm in
these examples reveal accents that tend to occur at regular
intervals of time. There are, to be sure, occasional accents
that oppose the regularity, but the facts present sufficient sup-
port for the assumption that the listener will continue in per-
ception a regular accentuation despite the opposition. The reg-
ularity of these examples corresponds in a general way to the
notion of theoretical meter based upon a conventional interpre-
tation of time signatures, although the facts do not, of course,
support the detailed, systematic differentiation of "weights"
of the various parts of the measure that are set forth in nu-
merous nineteenth- and twentieth- century treatises*28.
The classification of rhythmic styles to be presented in this

study is based upon the presence or absence of regularity at
two levels: the "primary level, " which is that of the "beat,"
and the "secondary level, " which is that of units comparable
in duration to two or several beats. The term "beat" will be
used to refer to one of a succession of perceptible accents, or
"points" within the rhythmic flow, that are supported by the
facts of rhythm and that recur at intervals of time comparable
to those designated by the beats of a conductor's hand. But
beats do not necessarily recur regularly; a conductor in some
twentieth-century styles must employ successive beats of dif-
ferent time values. Thus, the terms "equal" and "unequal"
beats will be applied to those recurring at equal and unequal
intervals of time, respectively. The choice of accents to be
considered beats is to some extent a personal one, based upon
an interpretation of the tempo and the rhythmic facts. There
is usually only one succession of accents that may be consid-
ered beats within the framework of this study; if two or more
successions qualify as beats, then the same number of some-
what different descriptions must be considered possible. In
most passages of music which present the possibility of more
than one description, however, the descriptions do not differ
sufficiently to alter the stylistic classification. In some re-
cent styles, of course, there are passages and even entire
compositions without beats as defined above. In such music
the unit which the performer might select to beat time, for
convenience in measuring time values, would not be termed a
beat in the sense used in this study.
A passage of music which exhibits regularity of accentuation

at the primary and secondary levels is metrical at both levels.
Example 2, for instance, is metrical at the primary level,
that of the quarter note, by virtue of the agogic accents; at the
73
secondary level, that of the dotted half note, the harmonic

rhythm and unified groups create the metrical organization.
It is theoretically possible to proceed further in classifying
rhythmic structures by examining the first level of beat-sub-
division, the second level, etc., and also to proceed to ever
higher units above the secondary level until entire formal
structures like the sonata form or rondo are considered rhyth-
mic units. Cooper and Meyer extend the concept of rhythm to
include structures as long as the first movement of Beethoven' s
Symphony No. 8 which they analyze as "an anapest the accent
of which is an amphibrach".*29 Sachs, on the other hand, pre-
fers to limit his discussion of rhythm to shorter units of time,
of perhaps twelve seconds or less, although he admits that
larger forms may be considered in some sense rhythmic*30.
The restriction of the present study to the primary and sec-
ondary levels is based upon the assumption that these are well
within the units of rhythmic organization to which a listener
most readily responds and upon which the most convincing
stylistic description and classification may be based.
An outline of the classification of rhythmic styles to be dis-

cussed and illustrated by musical examples below is as fol-
lows:*31
I Metrical rhythm.
A Equal beats with regular accentuation at the sec-
ondary level.
B Unequal beats with regular accentuation at the sec-
ondary level.
C Equal beats predominating with vague or no accen-
tuation at the secondary level.
II Polymetrical rhythm.
Two or more independent patterns of regular accentua-
tion used simultaneously.
III Metrical-nonmetrical rhythm.

Equal beats with irregular accentuation at the secondary
level.
IV Nonmetrical rhythm.
A Unequal beats with irregular accentuation at the sec-
ondary level.
B Unequal beats predominating with vague or no accen-
tuation at the secondary level.
C Free accentuation which defines neither primary nor
secondary levels.
74
ex ample
O SCHOENBERG: THIRD STRING QUARTET
Molto moderota d = 76
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rm, ~ A L ,, .
Y BARTOK: FIFTH STRING
Allo bulgarese
Vln. I :vivoce, ~, J.-46 )
r, , . - I I, JA] _=r
}-'"~ ~ ~~ P LZ"II I . ; ""?-
ORFF: CATULLI CARMINA
Vivo
o tempo d 112
P AN
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I #t I
.
75
The descriptions of the following examples will be carried out

in a more general manner than were those presented above,
but sufficient detail will be included to make the reasons for
the classifications clear to one who is familiar with the princi-
ples set forth above.
Class I A, metrical rhythm in which there are equal beats with

regular accentuation at the secondary level, is the type most
common in music of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Seldom, either in music of the past or the present, is such
rhythm employed for more than a few measures without ac-
centual oppositions to the basic metrical structure. The op-
posing accents, however, are sufficiently weak that they may
be readily perceived as syncopations, or "displaced" accents,
as are those of Example 1; in other instances, the opposition
to the metrical structure becomes so strong as to effect a
change of meter or even a change to another class.
In Example 6 the meter at both levels is established by agogic

accents and unified groups created by repeated patterns of
pitches and durations. In the first violin parts, the quarter
note is established as the primary level of accentuation by
means of unified groups and agogic accents; the first four eighth
notes constitute a unified group of two eighth notes and its
repetition, and the two quarter notes are agogic accents with
reference to preceding and following shorter notes, both in the
same part and in the other parts of the texture. In the second
measure of the first violin part, which is similar to the first
measure, the quarter-note beat is continued. There is no ac-
centual opposition in the other voices to the quarter-note ac-
centuation at the primary level in the first three measures.
An argument could be made on the basis of rhythmic facts in
support of considering the primary level of Example 6 to be
that of the half-note duration, rather than the quarter note;
and, indeed, the composer designated the tempo in terms of
the half note. But the stylistic classification of this example
will remain the same no matter which of the two values is
chosen as that of the primary level.
The secondary level in Example 6 is that of four beats in dura-

tion and is created by agogic accents in the three lower voices
at the beginnings of the first two measures, as well as by the
similarities of durational and pitch patterns in those measures.
By the time the listener arrives at measure 3, metrical rhythm
at both levels will have been established; he will tend to con-
tinue this structure in perception until such time, relative to
the individual, that opposing accents prompt him to change his
76
mode of perception. In measures 4-8 of this movement there
are some strong accents opposing the original metrical struc-
ture, but the latter is reaffirmed in measures 9-11*32.
Class I B, unequal beats with regular accentuation at the sec-

ondary level, is a familiar style in the twentieth century and
one which was occasionally employed in earlier periods. A
particularly clear instance of this style is illustrated by Ex-
ample 7. The pizzicato notes in the cello part present a re-
peated unified group of nine eighth notes in duration, divided
into three beats per measure in the manner indicated by the
unusual time signature. The first beat of each measure is set
apart from the others by its lower pitch which tends to function
as a lower contour accent. The violin and viola parts, enter-
ing with eighth notes, reinforce the accentual effect of the first
beat of the measure by strong agogic accents. The style of
rhythmic organization represented in Example 7 is clearly re-
tained for the first twelve measures of the movement, after
which opposing accents become more frequent*33.
Class I C, in which equal beats predominate and in which there

is vague or no accentuation at the secondary level, is a type
seldom employed. And whenever such an undifferentiated se-
ries of beats exists in the musical facts, the listener will,
nevertheless, tend to group the beats into larger units, as
psychological experiments in "subjective rhythm," cited above,
have indicated. Yet, in the absence of factual data supporting
a certain choice of subjective grouping or accentuation at the
secondary level, a series of undifferentiated beats may be
classified as metrical rhythm only at the primary level. Ex-
ample 8 is a reduction of a passage for four pianos and eleven
percussion instruments, none of which provides support for a
certain metrical organization at the secondary level. The few
measures that precede this passage in the score, which are
designated molto tenuto and close on a fermata, provide no
reasonable support for the assumption that a listener will sub-
jectively continue a certain kind of grouping. The last two
notes of Example 8 create duple meter at the secondary level
for that measure only, but it is improbable that the duple meter
could significantly influence the listener's understanding of the
preceding four measures. It might be argued that a perform-
er, because of his training, will tend to accent the first beat
of every measure; that the score reader will tend to group the
notes at the secondary level because of the bar line placements;
and that anyone watching a conductor would tend to group the
notes in accordance with his movements. These arguments
are not without merit for a study of the various interpretive
77
possibilities presented by such a passage of music, but they

do not apply to the present study, which is concerned primarily
with the elements that have been defined as musical facts.
Instances of Class I C are seldom as clear as is that of Exam-

ple 8; This class is usually one of two alternative choices for
ambiguous passages. Such an instance may be seen in Exam-
ple 9, where there is more factual support for considering the
quarter-note beats to be accented at the secondary level than
in Example 8. But I have placed Example 9 within Class I C
because the accents at the secondary level are weak. In the
first three measures of the example there is a gradual increase
in dynamic accentuation created by the addition of parts, from
one in measure 1 to four at the beginning of measure 3, and
there is a dynamic accent on the first beat of measure 5. A
vague tendency toward grouping might be considered to result
from repeated patterns of pitches such as the descending in-
tervals in the first violin part over the bar line between meas-
ures 2 and 3 and measures 3 and 4 and from the first to the
second beats of measures 5 and 6. The usefulness of skip-
accent and contour-accent analysis is questionable with re-
spect to this example, since these are not contrasting ele-
ments; all the notes are taken by skip, and most of the notes
are contour points. In measures 8-12, which follow this ex-
ample in the score, a duple metrical structure at the second-
ary level, that of the half note, tends to be supported by no-
tated slurs; but this structure is opposed immediately there-
after by conflicting slurs. Thus, Example 9 is not an unequiv-
ocal instance of Class I C, but the equal beats tend to pre-
dominate over the weak accentuation at the secondary level*34.
Class II, polymetrical rhythm, which simultaneously employs

two or more independent patterns of regular accentuation, is
not new but is often considerably more complex in twentieth-
century music than in that of the past. Brief passages of poly-
metrical rhythm based on the hemiola, in which there is a si-
multaneity of duple and triple meter, are found in many styles
of the past and were particularly favored by Brahms*35. But
the brevity and context of such passages usually prompt the
listener to consider them brief moments of syncopation within
a clearly metrical organization of the type described as Class
I A.
In music of the twentieth century polymetrical passages are

likely to continue for a longer time and to be more complex
than the hemiola-type passages just mentioned, although such
a rhythmic style is seldom employed throughout an entire com-
78
position. Polymetrical rhythm in twentieth-century music is

usually created by the simultaneous use of ostinato patterns
constituting unified groups of different durations. Example 10
illustrates polymetrical rhythm which employs four regular
patterns. The lower three are ostinati, and the clarinet part
is a succession of pitches and time values of nine eighth notes
in duration (see brackets in the example) which is repeated a
semitone lower in a modified form. The contrabass, violin,
and cornet parts use metrical rhythm of Class I A. The con-
trabass part has a primary level of a quarter note in duration,
made evident by the upper and lower contour accents, and a
secondary level of a half note in duration. The primary and
secondary levels of the cornet part have durations of a quarter
note and a dotted half note, respectively. In the violin part
the primary level is that of a dotted quarter note; since the
upper contour accents of the cornet coincide with, and thus
tend to strengthen, alternate upper contour accents of the vio-
lin, the secondary level of the violin may be considered iden-
tical with that of the cornet. Thus, the relationship between
the violin and cornet parts is that of the hemiola. The clarinet
part is metrical with a secondary level of nine eighth notes and
a primary level which may be described as having beats of 2,
2, 2, and 3 eighth notes in duration; such a description would
indicate Class I B for this part.
Example 11 is polymetrical with two different meters, both of

Class I B. In the left-hand part, the duration of the secondary
level is that of the ostinato pattern, nine sixteenth notes; at
the primary level the agogic accents fall on the first and sixth
sixteenth notes. These agogic accents are in positions c and
b, respectively. Thus the first and second beats in each repe-
tition of the ostinato pattern have durations of five and four
sixteenth notes, respectively. In the right-hand, the secondary
level has a duration of ten sixteenth notes as indicated by the
brackets over the unified groups; the primary level is defined
by two statements of a unified group, the first an ascending
interval of a minor third constituting a beat of six sixteenth
notes, and the second an ascending interval of a major third
constituting a beat of four sixteenth notes*36. Example 11 is
only the beginning of a longer polymetrical passage; nine repe-
titions of the upper part and ten of the lower would be required
to arrive at the relation between the parts found in the first
measure of the example. Messiaen repeats the upper part only
eight times, completing the series, and stopping just short of
a repetition of the first measure of the example*37.
Class III is that of rhythm which is metrical at the primary
79
example
9 WEBERN: STRING QUARTET, OP.28
V~. Gembcbiich 4 * co.56

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Via.
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80
but non-metrical at the secondary level. In this class there is

definite but irregular accentuation at the secondary level; thus,
it differs from Class I C in which there is vague or no accen-
tuation at that level. In Example 12 the eighth notes are the
only units which qualify as beats; these, it may be reasonably
assumed, are presented with sufficient frequency to result in
the listener's tendency to continue to use them as units of
measurement even during ties and rests. Thus, the music
may be termed metrical at the primary level. But the agogic
accents, which define the secondary level, occur at irregular
intervals of time. As is indicated by the numbers between the
arrows added below the score which point to agogic accents,
there are accents at intervals of 5, 2, 5, 3, 2, 2, and 6 eighth
notes. Thus, the facts of rhythm show no support for a regu-
lar system of accentuation at the secondary level, and the ex-
ample is termed non-metrical at that level*38.
Class IV A is nonmetrical rhythm in which unequal beats are

irregularly accented at the secondary level. Example 13 is
the beginning of a passage which employs beats of two and three
eighth notes in duration. The notes of the second violin part
mark the primary level in the first three measures, and this
level is also accented by the lowest and highest notes of the
melodic figures of the flute and clarinet parts. The secondary
level is defined by modified repetitions of a pattern of pitches,
particularlythat of the flute, and by timbre, since the entrances
of the flute following rests contribute to the definition of that
level*39.
Class IV B, unequal beats predominating with vague or

centuation at the secondary level, is illustrated by
14. In the composer's preface to the group of piano
from which this example is drawn, he speaks of his use of
"variable meters" in the compositions. He uses the term me-
ter, of course, in a different sense than that adopted in this
study. Meter for him evidently means either regular or ir-
regular grouping of a constant unit of measurement, rather
than regularity of accentuation. But from the standpoint of the
present study, Example 14 is metrical neither at the primary
nor at the secondary level. The accents create one beat in
each of the first three measures, three beats in measure 5,
and one beat in each of the last two measures. While neither
measure 4 nor 6 reveals accentual support for division into two
or more beats, both measures would probably be subdivided
by the listener on the basis of a continuation of previous modes
of grouping, or possibly by the performer on the basis of the
connections of eighth-note stems.
81
example
12
MESSIAEN: L'ASCENSION, QUATRE MEDITATIONS SYMPHONIQUES
Tlrs lent @1 majesteux (J~:48)
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1 3 COPLAND: SHORT SYMPHONY NO. 2
secnlCZr , 5:) *~ 7J 5)
82
example
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A Ilegro = 92
235813853<
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,J-140 . __ -- ---
, I t "P -- "' i;"
While Example 14 is classed as nonmetrical at the primary
and secondary levels, it is, of course, metrical at two levels
that are not being considered in this study; the level of the
eighth note (that of beat subdivision) and a higher level of form
than the secondary level. The entire example comprises a
single unit of form, since the accentual sequence of these eight
measures is repeated throughout the composition*40.
Class IV C, free accentuation which defines neither primary

nor secondary levels, is a style that is found occasionally in
the works of Bartok, Schoenberg, and Stravinsky but more fre-
quently in the music of younger composers such as Karlheinz
Stockhausen, Luigi Nono, and Pierre Boulez. Elliott Carter
employs this style in many sections of his Second String Quar-
tet, a passage of which is quoted in Example 15. Here the
tempo is fast, tones frequently enter after rests on fractions
of the theoretical "beats, " and there are scarcely any accents
that would qualify as beats in the sense used in this study.
Thus, neither primary nor secondary levels of rhythmic or-
ganization are defined by the rhythmic facts. Regarding the
context of this passage, there seems to be scarcely any prob-
ability that a listener will continue subjectively an organization
from the preceding measures, since those measures too are
closer to Class IV C than to any other*41.
PART II: Conclusion
An attempt to limit the personal element in describing m

rhythm has resulted in the restriction of this study to a
scription of accents and a classification of rhythmic styles
based on regular and irregular accentuation at two levels of
organization. Thus, some general statements about types of
rhythmic flow in twentieth-century music have been made.
It seems doubtful that the description of musical rhythm can

be profitably extended beyond that undertaken above without
greater reliance upon personal interpretation. As mentioned
above, it is possible to extend analysis to a study of higher and
lower levels of organization than those treated here, but the
determination of accentual effect at those levels appears to
require more interpretation. In a dense and active texture,
for instance, accents tend to be more clearly distinguished at
the primary and secondary than at lower levels; accentual re-
lationships at lower levels tend to be so complex as to require
the kind of judgement that a sensitive performer will bring to
the music, the kind that will vary, and properly so, with each
84
performer and analyst. At the higher levels of organization,

distinctions between accented and unaccented phrases, phrase-
groups, and larger formal sections must be determined by an
interpretation of contrasts of tonality, dynamics, timbre, tex-
ture, and thematic material; in these matters too, because of
complexities introduced by the broader scale, considerable
exercise of the personal viewpoint and sensitivity of the analyst
is required.
Another aspect of rhythm that has been omitted from this study
is the characteristic pattern of durations in a given passage of
music. Whenever patterns of long and short notes have quali-
fied as unified groups, they have been mentioned, but no at-
tempt has been made to isolate and describe them. Such pat-
terns contribute, of course, to the total rhythmic effect of a
composition and must be taken into account in a thorough, in-
terpretive analysis; but to classify and generalize about rhyth-
mic styles in twentieth-century music on the basis of their
being essentially trochaic, iambic, dactylic, etc., seems to
be of doubtful value. If the analyst deals only with factual long
and short durations, he will find in contemporary music a be-
wildering mixture of lengths. If, on the other hand, he groups
notes together to form interpretive long and short durations,
so that each long and each short includes several notes, his
analysis will consist of purely interpretive trochees, iambs,
etc.; these are more useful for explaining the analyst's con-
ception of the music than for describing its rhythmic style.
Yet another aspect of rhythm not treated in this study is that

of "rhythmic density" or "the sum of rhythmic activity at a
given point".*42 But the description of rhythmic density would
require a study of rhythm at levels of organization lower than
the primary; the difficulties of such a study have been men-
tioned above.
The step in analysis beyond description is, of course, that of

interpretation, in which the analyst will take into consideration
aspects of rhythm not treated in this study. But he must make
every effort to be conscious of taking that step and to avoid
confusing opinion and fact.
85
r e f e re n c e s
1 This study is based on Chapter VIII of the author's CornellUniversity disserta-

tion, Theories of Rhythm in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries with a Con-
tribution to the Theory of Rhythm for the Study of Twentieth-Century Music.
(Ann Arbor: University Microfilms, 1960).
2 Recent treatments of the scope and purpose of analysis that set forth this view
are the following: Edward T. Cone, Analysis Today. In: The Musical Quar-
terly, XLVI (1960), 174. Jan LaRue, On Style Analysis. In: The Journal .of
Music Theory, VI (1962), 106.
3 New York, 1953, p. 12.
4 See for example: Plato, Laws, II, 665; Philippe Biton, Le rhythme musical
(Paris, 1948), p. 15; Rene' Dumesnil, Le rhythme musical (Paris, 1921), p.
12; Vincent d'Indy, Cours de composition musicale (4th ed.; Paris, 1912),
I, 21; Lionel Landry, Le rhythme musical. In: Revue philosophique, LII
(1926), 223; Dom Andre'Mocquereau, Le nombre musical gre'gorien, I, 31.
5 Jan LaRue, Significant and Coincidental Resemblance between Classical Themes.
In: Journal of the American Musicological Society, XIV (1961), 234.
6 Rhythm and Tempo, p. 13.
7 For discussions of continuity as essential to rhythm see: Gisele Brelet, Le

temps musical (Paris, 1949), I, 296; Emil Jacques-Dalcroze, Rhythm, Music
and Education (London, 1921), p. 238; Ludwig Klages, VomWesendes Rhythmus
(Kampen auf Sylt, 1934), p. 10; Susanne K. Langer, Feeling and Form (New
York, 1953), pp. 226-27.
8 For discussions of Bergson's thought that have influenced this study see: Brelet,
Le temps musical, I, 46ff., 355ff.; Charles Koechlin, Le temps et la musique.
In: La revue musicale, VII (1926), 45-62; Gabriel Marcel, Bergsonism et mu-
sique. In: La revue musicale, VI (1925), 219-29; an English translation by
Susanne Langer of Marcel's article is included in her Reflections on Art (Balti-
more, 1958), pp. 142-51.
9 An Introduction to Metaphysics, trans. T. E. Hulme (New York, 1912), pp.

9-11. For the original see Introduction a la mdtaphysique. In: La pensde et
le mouvant (5th ed.; Paris, 1934), pp. 206-08.
10 Thaddus L. Bolton, Rhythm. In: American Journal of Psychology, IV (1894),

145-238; Kurt Koffka, Experimental-Untersuchungen zur Lehre vom Rhythmus.
In: Zeitschrift fiir Psychologie und Physiologie der Sinnesorgane, LII (1909),
1-109; Ernst Neumann, Untersuchung zur Psychologie undAesthetikdes Rhyth-
mus. In: Philosophische Studien, X (1894), 249-325, 393-430; Christian A.
Ruckmich, The Role of Kinaesthesis in the Perception of Rhythm. In: American
Journal of Psychology, XXIV (1913), 305-59; Raymond B. Stetson, A Motor
Theory of Rhythm and Discrete Sensation. In: Psychological Review, XII
(1905), 250-70, 293-350.
11 Paul Fraisse, Les structures rhythmiques (Paris, 1956), pp. 9-10.
12 A Quantitative Study of Rhythm. In: Archives of Psychology, XIV (1909), 5-66;

The Role of Pitch in Rhythm. In: Psychological Review, XVIII (1911), 54-77.
86
13 Principles of Gestalt Psychology (New York, 1935). p. 110.
14 Horace B. and Ava C. English, A Comprehensive Dictionary of Psychological

and Psychoanalytical Terms (New York, i958), p. 228. See also Koffka, Prin-
ciples, p. 153.
15 Koffka, Principles, pp. 433-34, 437-39.
16 Emotion and Meaning in Music (Chicago, 1956), p. 92, 104. See also Gros-
venor W. Cooper and Leonard B. Meyer, The Rhythmic Structure of Music
(Chicago, 1960), p. 3, where subjective continuation and simplicity of mental
response are stated as basic principles, and p. 7, footnote 8, where Meyer's
Emotion and Meaning is cited as having provided the theoretical basis of the
viewpoint set forth. Meyer's general application of these Gestalt laws to mu-
sic has been of value for this study, although little of a specific nature has
been derived from his and Cooper's treatment of rhythm.
17 Emotion and Meaning, p. 103.
18 Musikalische Dynamik und Agogik (Hamburg, 1884), pp. 9-14, 98.
19 For the use of the term to designate notated accents of length see: Willi Apel,
Harvard Dictionary of Music (Cambridge, Mass., 1947), p. 6; Harold F. At-
kisson, Basic Counterpoint (New York, 1956), p. 13; Earl Bigelow et al., Cre-
ative-Analytical Theory of Music (Chicago, 1949), II, 20; A.H. Fox-Strang-
ways, Time. In: Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Eric Blom
(5th ed.; London, 1954), VIII, 473; Jacques Handschin, Akzent. In: Die Musik
in Geschichte und Gegenwart, ed. Friedrich Blume (Kassel, 1949-), I, col.
265; Walter Piston, Harmony (3rd ed.; New York, 1962), p. 129.
20 In the interests of clarity and simplicity, examples illustrating basic analytic

procedures have been chosen primarily from familiar music of the eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries. Twentieth-century music will be dealt with in Part II.
21 Harmonic Rhythm. In: Apel, Harvard Dictionary, p. 319. See also Piston,
Harmony, p. 126.
22 Harmony, p. 129.
23 WilliamW. Austin, Harmonic Rhythm in 20th-Century Music (unpublished Ph.D.

dissertation, Harvard University, 1950).
24 For this use of the term "tonic accent" see Apel, Harvard Dictionary, p. 6;
Fox-Strangways in Grove's VIII, 473; Frangois Michel, Encyclopedie de la
musique (Paris, 1958), I, 241. For a treatment of accents created by notes
that are either higher or lower than their neighbors see Jens Rohwer, Tonale
Instruktionen (Wolfenbuittel, 1951), pp. 336ff.
25 Among the most widely circulated treatises were the following: Jules Com-
barieu, The'orie du rythme dans la composition moderne d'apres la doctrine
antique (Paris, 1897); Mathis Lussy, Le rythme musical (Paris, 1883) and
Traite' de L'espression musical (Paris, 1873); Riemann, Musikalische Dy-
namik and System der musikalischen Rhythmik und Metrik (Leipzig, 1903);
Theodor Wiehmayer, Musikalische Rhythmik und Metrik (Magdeburg, 1917).
87
26 Among the most recent treatises are Cooper and Meyer(see*16) and Friedrich
Neumann, Die Zeitgestalt, eine Lehre vom musikalischen Rhythmus (Vienna,
1959).
27 Among the treatises that employ a definition similar to this one are the follow-
ing: Cooper and Meyer, Rhythmic Structure, p. 4; Moritz Hauptmann, Die
Natur der Harmonik und der Metrik (Leipzig, 1853), pp. 223ff.; Lussy, Traite',
p. 9; Riemann, Musikalische Dynamik, p. 51 and System, p. 13; Gottfried
Weber, Versuch einer geordneten Theorie der Tonsetzkunst (Mainz, 1817-
1821), I, 81; Wiehmayer, Musikalische Rhythmik, pp. 24ff. Curt Sachs on the
other hand, employed a different meaning for the term meter, a meaning re-
lated to an ancient Greek concept, in his Rhythm and Tempo, pp. 27-28.
28 For an extremely detailed system of accentuation of the parts of the measure

see Adolf B. Marx, Allgemeine Musiklehre (Leipzig, 1832), pp. 134-35.
29 Rhythmic Structure, pp. 116, 203.
30 Rhythm and Tempo, pp. 17-18.
31 Classes IA, I B, H, and IV C form parts of Walter Wiora's classification of

European folk music according to rhythmic organization in his Europiische
Volksmusik und abendl~indische Tonkunst (Kassel, 1957), pp. 186-97. Wiora
restricts his analysis and most of his comments to folk music.
32 Other examples of Class I A, in the order of simple (with few opposing accents)
to complex (with numerous opposing accents), are as follows: Igor Stravinsky,
Symphonie de Psaumes, movt. 3, no. 20; Bela Bartok, Sixth String Quartet,
movt. 3, meas. 1-5; Arnold Schoenberg, Concerto for Piano and Orchestra,
Op. 42, meas. 264-69; Robert Palmer, Piano Quartet, movt. 3, letter C,
meas. 3-15.
33 Another clear illustration of the widely used class I B is found in Halsey Stevens'
Quintet for Flute, Violin, Viola, Violoncello, and Piano, at the beginning of
movt. 2, where a pattern of 2+3 eighth notes is used. For a rare occurrence
of this class in the music of Schoenberg see his Concerto for Piano and Or-
chestra, meas. 192-205, where a pattern of 3+3+2+2 eighth notes results from
notated accents and contrasts of timbre; but this passage also contains some
strong accents that oppose the basic organization.
34 For an extensive analysis, from a different point of view, of the first section
of the movement from which Example 9 is taken see Karlheinz Stockhausen,
Structure and Experiential Time. In: Die Reihe, No. 2 (1958), pp. 37-39.
Other illustrations of passages which tend to be borderline cases between class
I C and another class are as follows: Elliott Carter, Sonata for Violoncello and
Piano, movt. 1, meas. 1-10; Stravinsky, Symphony in Three Movements, movt.
1, no. 7, meas. 1-6.
35 An instance of such an organization is found at the beginning of the fourth move-

ment of Brahms' String Quartet Op. 51, No. 2, where agogic accents of the
first violin part present duple meter while the other instruments present triple.
36 The right-hand part of this example illustrates Messiaen's technique of the

"addition and subtraction of the dot". See his Technique of My Musical Lan-
guage, trans. John Satterfield (Paris, 1956), p. 18.
88
37 Other examples of this class are as follows: AlbanBerg, Lyric Suite for String
Quartet, movt. 5, meas. 144ff.; Paul Hindemith, String Quartet Op. 10, Finale,
meas. 433ff.; Schoenberg, Five Pieces for Orchestra Op. 16 (New Version).
Piece No. 1, meas. 64ff.
38 Other examples of this class are as follows: Stravinsky, Concerto en mi

("Dumbarton Oaks"), movt. 1, no. 2; Schoenberg, Fourth String Quartet, Op.
37, movt. 4, meas. 853-60.
39 Other examples of this class are as follows: Bartok, Fourth String Quartet,
movt. 1, meas. 82-87; Messiaen, La Nativite' du Seigneur, movt. 6, "Les
Anges," meas. 1-6; Schoenberg, Five Piano Pieces, Op. 23, Piece No. 2,
meas. 1-5.
40 Other examples of this class are as follows: Schoenberg, Phantasy for Violin,
Op. 47, meas. 29-30; Stravinsky, Le sacre du printemps, "Danse Sacrale,"
nos. 142-44.
41 Other examples of this class are as follows: Pierre Boulez, Le marteau sans
martre, movt. 5, meas. 14-25; Luigi Nono, Il canto sospeso, No. 8, meas.
489-94; Karlheinz Stockhausen, Nr. 5 Zeitmasse fiir flinf Holzbliser, meas.
29-33. For examples representing borderline cases between class IV C and
classes IV A or B see: Bartok, Fourth String Quartet, Movt. 3, meas. 34-36;
Messiaen, Messe de la Pentec8te pour Orgue, Communion ("Les oiseaux et
les sources"), meas. 1-3; Schoenberg, String Trio, Meas. 1-5; Stravinsky,
Le sacre, meas. 1-3.
42 LaRue comments on the difficulties involved in studying this aspect of

in the article cited above, *2.

Smither, 1964

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Yale University Department of Music

The Rhythmic Analysis of 20th-Century Music

The Rhythmic Analysis

The following study deals with two related questions. First,

Numerous writers have pointed out that interpretation, rather

The analysis of rhythm in the music of any historical period is

PART I: Fundamentals for the Study of Musical Rhythm

Curt Sachs, in his Rhythm and Tempo, commented upon the

t After this manuscript was received three relevant articles ap-

various performers interpret the same score in various ways,

For the analysis of style to be generally convincing, it must

The notion of rhythm as a kind of flow or continuity is useful

or continuity to be an essential quality of rhythm*7. While the

Rhythmic flow is the notion, on the part of the observer, of

When I direct my attention inward to contemplate my own

extend into each other*9.

Bergson's description of this continuous flux, this succession

Certain principles of the perception of rhythm as formulated

tinuation" are basic tenets of Gestalt psychology that are use-

Psychological organization will always be as 'good' as the

The term "good" is used in a similar manner in the law of good

In evaluating the psychological principles cited thus far with

conclusion to be convincingly applied in analysis. From Wood-

In the following treatment of the facts of musical rhythm, the

Basically anything is accented when it is marked for con-

The present approach to analysis will be based upon an exam-

The unified group is a succession of notes which, when per-

The term "agogic accent" in the analyses of this study will be

used to designate a note that is longer in notated duration than

In a melodic line with tones of varying lengths, some will

1 SCHUMANN: PIANO CONCERTO IN A MINOR

Allegro offettuoso (Je s)

2 MOZART: PIANO SONATA IN D MAJOR, K.284L

Allegro Vor. X11

The first note of the melody has an absolute length of four

In measures 1-4 of Example 1, the agogic accents at intervals

The agogic accents of Example 1 have been analyzed in terms

The term "dynamic accent" will be applied to any notated stress

The notated dynamic accents to be considered facts of rhythm

Walter Piston has defined harmonic rhythm as "The rhythm

The rhythmic structure of Example 1, which has been analyzed

4 SCHUMANN: PIANO CONCERTO IN A MINOR

Woodrow's psychological experiments cited above indicate that

Example 1 offers several instances of melodic accents of pitch.

The unified group, as pointed out above, is a succession of

As has been mentioned above, approximate as well as exact

The fundamentals for the study of musical rhythm set fort

cific questions as whether a certain agogic accent is twice,

The approach employed here differs from that of well-known

The determination of motives, as valuable as it is to both the

conditioned by those which precede them; and rhythmic motives

PART II: A Classification of Rhythmic Styles

Basic to the classification of styles to be presented below is

The present approach to metrical rhythm may be illustrated

The classification of rhythmic styles to be presented in this

A passage of music which exhibits regularity of accentuation

secondary level, that of the dotted half note, the harmonic

An outline of the classification of rhythmic styles to be dis-

III Metrical-nonmetrical rhythm.

Y BARTOK: FIFTH STRING

ORFF: CATULLI CARMINA

The descriptions of the following examples will be carried out

Class I A, metrical rhythm in which there are equal beats with

In Example 6 the meter at both levels is established by agogic