Week 2 (1/9—1/11)
Class notes
for 1/9
Readings:
Conceptualizing Music, chap. 1 (pp. 23-62). Note that the analyses in this chapter focus on musical motives. What is the connection between musical motives and cognitive categories? What other sorts of musical structures might be analogous to a cognitive category?
Analysis:
“Softly, as in a morning sunrise” by Sigmund Romberg, Oscar Hammerstein, Frank Mandel, and Laurence Schwab.
“Auf einer Burg” by Robert Schumann (song #7 from op. 39); text by Joseph von Eichendorff.
Your goal will be to develop an analytical description of a portion (or all, if you are brave) of the musical materials through which we structure our understanding of each of these songs. To get a sense of what is important in each song, begin with a standard analysis (most likely involving some account of the harmony and the melodic structure). Then consider what role processes of categorization might play in our understanding of the music (remembering that categorization is an active process). Finally, write up (with support from musical examples) a description of the structure of one of the musical categories that occur in the piece and explain the part this category plays in our understanding of the piece. You should be able to do this in a page or so (including examples) for each song.
for 1/11
Readings:
Conceptualizing Music, chap. 4 (pp. 137-168); Zbikowski, “The cognitive tango” (ms.), pp. 1-12, from the forthcoming The Artful Mind: Cognitive Science and the Riddle of Human Creativity, ed. Mark Turner (New York: Oxford University Press); available as a pdf.
Analysis:
Beethoven, String Quartet in F major, op. 18 no. 1, first movement. Your assignment here will be to trace the appearances of one of the prominent motives from this movement, and to develop a description of the structure of this motive along the lines offered in my analysis of the Mozart quartet discussed in chapter 4 of CM. This assignment doesn't have to be handed in, but we will use your work here as a basis for class discussion.
Week 5 (1/30—2/1)
Class notes
Preliminary analyses for the final paper are due Wednesday, 1 February.
The style sheet and guide for the reviews of articles and chapters is now available.
for 1/30
Readings:
Susan Goldin-Meadow, “Thought Before Language: Do we Think Ergative?” in Language in Mind: Advances in the Study of Language and Thought, ed. Dedre Gentner and Susan Goldin-Meadow (Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2003), 493-522; pdf available.
Analysis:
Ludwig van Beethoven, the Diabelli variations (op. 120). No doubt about it, this work has some of the more complicated harmonic and tonal language that you’ll find in early 19th century music. Analyzing the piece is made all the more a challenge in that each variation comments not only on the theme but on the previous variations. Extracting variations for analysis is, in consequence, a somewhat tricky business, but I think that looking at a few of Beethoven’s “commentaries” on Diabelli’s theme will be rewarding. Eventually.
I have provided my own fairly straightforward analysis of the theme. Note that I don’t fuss about the “second inversion” harmonies created by the low bass notes in measures 1-2 and elsewhere since these are not part of the functional bass line. They’re instead a rhythmic activation of the harmonic surface, known in the vernacular as a “bounce bass” (because it bounces between the root and fifth of a given harmony). Note also that Diabelli is a bit elliptical—the V7 of mm. 5-8 is lacking its third (save when it is used in the little melodic figure in m. 7). Finally, note the abandonment of tonal progression in favor of voice leading in mm. 9-13 (a sequence in parallel sixths, as I’ve indicated between the staves; a shorter and slightly modified version appears in mm. 25-28). This gesture does not go unnoticed by Beethoven—although he had little good to say about Diabelli’s theme, he exploited this compositional strategy throughout his variations. Which is to say that in the variations you’ll oftentimes have no idea where you’re at harmonically after m. 8, but that you’ll nonetheless be (sometimes magically) brought to some sort of safe landing by m. 16.
Here’s what I’d like you to do with the variations I’ve selected for analysis and discussion:
Var. I—Analyze the harmony in a fashion similar to what I did for the theme; hand in the result. (If it’s been a while since you’ve done this you’ll want to make a photocopy of the variation first, so that you can scribble all over it before making a final—and clean—copy.) In pencil, please!
Var. XI—Analyze the harmony in a fashion similar to what I did for the theme; hand in the result. Note that things get very strange after m. 8 (there’s also a bit of weirdness in the second half)—do the best you can puzzling out the harmonic relationships. Do note, however, that the harmonies on the first beats of mm. 10-12 are created by neighbor notes—the main harmony is on beat 2. (Most recordings make this relationship fairly clear.)
Var. XIII—Analyze the harmony in a fashion similar to what I did for the theme; hand in the result. I recommend that you try playing this one through (whatever your piano chops). It will be simplest if you start your analysis in C major. Feel free to forgo a harmonic analysis for mm. 17-19—there’s not much to work with there. Note that this variation is very much a scherzo, with numerous compositional tricks that mark the type. Again, do the best you can puzzling out the harmonic relationships.
All of this analysis will have given you some sense of how Beethoven conceives of Diabelli’s theme, as well as ways the variations relate to this theme. I’d like to propose that these relationships are analogical—that is, they pertain to structural mappings between the theme and its variations. With this in mind, for the next part of the assignment you’ll need to put your Roman numerals aside and pick up your pen (metaphorically speaking, but for an analogical goal).
Var. XVII—In about a paragraph, describe how this variation is analogous to the theme. You may find it useful to review Gentner et al.’s description of analogy; alternatively, you may wish to consult Dedre Gentner and Arthur B. Markman, “Structure Mapping in Analogy and Similarity,” American Psychologist 52, no. 1 (January 1997): 45-56; pdf available.
Var. XXII—In about a paragraph, describe how this variation is analogous to the theme. In another paragraph, consider how something like metaphor may be involved in Beethoven’s reference to Mozart.
for 2/1
Reading:
Raymond W. Gibbs, Jr., Embodiment in Cognitive Science (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), Introduction (pp. 1-13); available as a pdf.
Analysis:
For the preliminary analysis of the piece you've chosen for your project I'd like a summary of the basic analytical insights you've come up with thus far, using the tools with which you are already familiar. This might take the form of a marked-up score (with Roman numerals and the like), a brief written summary, a formal diagram, or whatever else reflects the current stage of your work. I'll look over these materials and then make some suggestions how you might want to proceed with the analysis, and what issues might be explored through using the analytical resources developed in this class.
Week 6 (2/6—2/8)
Class notes
for 2/6
Readings:
Conceptualizing Music, chap. 2, pp. 77-95; Chapter 6, pp. 243-265 (up to “Im Rhein”).
Analysis:
Franz Schubert, “Erlkönig” (op. 1), mm. 1-32. Provide a harmonic analysis of these measures, and then try your hand at sketching a conceptual integration network that can be used to explain how concepts from the text and the music combine (or “blend”) to create a rich imaginative domain (the “blended space”).
for 2/8
Readings:
Conceptualizing Music,chap. 6, pp. 243-265 (up to “Im Rhein”).
Analysis:
Bernhard Klein, “Trockne Blumen,” and Franz Schubert, “Trockne Blumen.” Although these are already discussed in some detail in the chapter, I would encourage you to look at the songs quite carefully to prepare for class discussion.
Week 7 (2/13—2/15)
Class notes
for 2/13
Readings:
Conceptualizing Music, chap. 6, pp. 265-286.
Analysis:
Robert Schumann, “Mein Wagen rollet langsam” (op. 142 no. 4). Please go through the piece carefully and then write up a short account or description of some (or even one) of the analytically interesting aspects of the piece. Although there are certainly some interesting things happening harmonically, you might also consider aspects of phrase rhythm, motivic/thematic materials, or overall form/structure (exploring, for instance, the function of the piano postlude).
Class discussion will focus on the analysis of this song and the application of conceptual blending theory to the combination of text and music it offers.
The text for the song (by Heinrich Heine, and translated by W.S. Mann) is as follows (or you can view it as a pdf):
Week 9 (2/27—3/1)
Class notes
for 2/27
Readings:
David Huron, “Tone and Voice: A Derivation of the Rules of Voice-Leading from Perceptual Principles,” Music Perception 19, no. 1 (Fall 2001): 1-64; available as a pdf.
This is a rather long article, although it is written with a clarity that should make it relatively easy to digest. That said, I would suggest that you try not to get bogged down (at least the first time through) in the more technical material but aim instead for the big picture that Huron is trying to draw.
Please prepare one or two questions or observations about this article for class discussion. Type them up nice and neat so that you can hand them in. To me.
for 3/1
Readings:
Zbikowski, “Cognitive science, music theory, and music analysis,” in Musiktheorie im Kontext: V. Kongress der Gesellschaft für Musiktheorie, ed. Reinhard Bahr and Jan Philipp Sprick, in press (draft copy); available as a pdf.
The opening of this article covers familiar ground, and so feel free to skim the review of processes of categorization. I would, however, like you to read the analysis of different versions of “The Way You Look Tonight” more carefully since this makes a small but significant departure from my earlier work.
Analysis:
Morgan Lewis, “How High the Moon.” How do the melodic and harmonic structure of this tune fit together?
Week 10 (3/6—3/8)
Class notes
for 3/6
Readings:
David Lewin, Studies in Music with Text, chap. 9 ("Auf einer Burg"), pp. 169-179; available as a pdf.
Analysis:
“Auf einer Burg” by Robert Schumann (song #7 from op. 39); text by Joseph von Eichendorff. You have, of course, already looked at this song in another connection, but I invite you to re-visit it as you contemplate Lewin's analysis. I would encourage you to think in particular about the relationship between large scale structure (the relatively abstract voice-leading paradigms discussed by Lewin) and the "surface" of the song. Our first tendency can be to dismiss, or in some other way bracket, such abstract accounts of musical organization. I suggest, however, that you listen carefully to the song with Lewin's analysis in mind to see if there isn't something in the relationships he tries to capture. Were we to find credible such "abstract" structures, how might we account for their cognitive status?
for 3/8
Readings:
Nicholas Cook and Nicola Dibben, “Musicological Approaches to Emotion,” in Music and Emotion: Theory and Research, ed. Patrik N. Juslin and John A. Sloboda (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 45-70; available as a pdf.
N.B.: Completed research papers are due Wednesday, 15 March.
