Featured Articles:

 

The Undivided Ursatz and the Omission of the Tonic Stufe at the Beginning of the Recapitulation by Lauri Surpää

Abstract

Heinrich Schenker’s definition of sonata form regards interruption occurring at the first level of the middleground as integral for a sonata-form movement.  In his view the exposition and the development together encompass the first branch of the interrupted structure and the second branch spans the recapitulation.  This paper examines three works whose structures diverge from this description of sonata form: the first movements of Haydn’s Symphony no. 95, Schumann’s Third Symphony op. 97, and Brahms’s String Quartet op. 51/1.  The paper concentrates on the recapitulations.  In all the works the recapitulations begin, conventionally, with the opening theme of the movement at the original pitch –class level.  Nevertheless, it would seem that these thematic returns are not supported by a structural tonic.  The paper argues that this avoidance of a structural tonic at the outset of the recapitulation leads in these works to an undivided background structure.  

 

Skryabin’s Dominant: The Evolution of a Harmonic Style by Phillip Adrian Ewell

Abstract

Much has been written about Skryabin the atonal or post-tonal composer.  It seems, however, that a simple evaluation of his compositions as modified tonal entities has been overlooked.  This article examines Skryabin ‘s music in terms of the dominant harmony and its ever-changing form.  By showing that there is a continuous evolution of the dominant from his early to his late music, the author posits that the difference between early and late Skryabin is, in fact, not as great as is often thought.  He analyzes six piano miniatures to elucidate his argument: Op. 11/1 Prelude; Op. 42/2 Etude; Op. 42/6 Etude; Op. 57/1 Desire; Op. 63/1 Mask; and Op. 74/1 Prelude.

 

Victor Vaughn Lytle and the Early Proselytism of Schenkerian Ideas in the U.S. by David Carson Berry

Abstract


Victor Vaughn Lytle (1884-1969) was among the earliest American-born Schenker disciples. He studied with Hans Weisse in Vienna, ca. 1928-30, and wrote of his plans to introduce Schenkerian concepts into an American conservatory (Oberlin) at a time that would have pre-dated Weisse's own endeavors at New York's Mannes School. Lytle's 1931 essay, “Music Composition of the Present,” published in The American Organist, offers what may be the earliest English-language explication of several key Schenkerian concepts: tonicalization, Auskomponierung, prolongation, Urlinie, and Ursatz. In this article, I assess Lytle and his work, beginning with what is known about his personal connection with Schenker and the nature of his studies, and then progressing to an evaluation of the ideas presented in his essay. Also considered is the extent to which the article adopted both its rhetorical stance and its theoretical response directly from Schenker's own writings.    

 

A Review by Allen Gimbel:   Schenker’s Interpretive Practice by Robert Snarrenberg , Cambridge University Press, 1997 , 175 pp.