Abstracts
Abstract
This essay investigates the use of invertible counterpoint within conventional theme-types encountered within Classical-style works. Whereas recent research has focused on how this contrapuntal technique provides a means of creating continuity, this article expands the purview by elucidating how it works in concert with theme-types, forms regulated by cadences (devices that arguably suppress continuity). A basic model provides the theoretical framework with which to analyze excerpts from a selection of works by Beethoven, Haydn, and Mozart. The analyses reveal that some theme-types are more successful than others at integrating invertible counterpoint into their formal design. Moreover, the analyses uncover the purpose of using invertible counterpoint within theme-types.
Résumé
Cet article examine l’utilisation du contrepoint réversible dans le cadre d’oeuvres thématiques conventionnelles de la tradition classique. Alors que de récentes recherches ont étudié comment cette technique contrapuntique peut créer une continuité, cet article contribue à cette question en montrant comment cette technique fonctionne de concert avec l’écriture thématique et les formes organisées par les cadences, et qui ont le propre d’interrompre la continuité. Un modèle de base sert de cadre théorique permettant l’analyse d’extraits tirés d’une sélection d’oeuvres de Haydn, Mozart et Beethoven. Les analyses montrent que certains types d’écriture thématique intègrent mieux que d’autres l’utilisation du contrepoint réversible dans leur organisation formelle. De plus, ces analyses mettent en lumière les divers rôles du contrepoint inversé dans les différentes formes thématiques.
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Appendices
Biographical note
Peter Franck is Associate Professor of Music Theory at Western University, Canada. His ongoing research concerning the role of invertible counterpoint within Schenkerian theory has appeared in Music Theory Spectrum, Indiana Theory Review, and Theory and Practice. He also conducts research on how contrapuntal devices influence formal organization within the music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, an article upon which is forthcoming in Intégral. Recently, he won the Society for Music Theory’s Outstanding Publication Award at its annual conference in 2012 for his article “‘A Fallacious Concept’: Invertible Counterpoint at the Twelfth within the Ursatz,” published in Music Theory Spectrum.
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