As you peruse the readings, please keep in mind some of the binary oppositions which are the focus of these workshops, and notice how they inform the analytical and theoretical discourse. The questions below are meant to stimulate thinking - you don't need to remember them all!

1) Primary distinctions: diatonic vs. chromatic, linear vs. harmonic, essential vs. ornamental, tonal vs. non-tonal. What makes an event or musical object chromatic? How is the chromatic defined in relation to the diatonic? Are there varieties or degrees of chromaticism? Do some types of chromaticism behave tonally while others exist outside of tonal process? What are the boundaries of chromaticism? of coherence in chromatic music?

2) Distinctions of identity and relation: genuine vs. altered, interval vs. chord, chord vs. key, stable vs. unstable, independent vs. dependent, function vs. pattern. Are chromatic events meaningful, structural, and real, or do they require definition in terms of something else? What is their importance in relation to diatonic surroundings? Does chromaticism sustain the key or does it involve other keys? Do various types of chromatic harmony draw on functional relationships or on more abstract qualities of pattern and symmetry?

3) Distinctions of value and effect: function vs. color, unmarked/neutral vs. marked/charged, constructive vs. destructive, strengthening vs. weakening, positive vs. negative. What are the particular effects of chromaticism? In what terms is chromaticism expressed in analysis? Is chromaticism indefinite and coloristic, or definite and definable? Do types of chromaticism work in opposition to diatonicism? Does pervasive or pronounced chromaticism disturb musical or tonal equilibrium? Does chromaticism invoke negative qualities and connotations? Do modern approaches to chromaticism sanitize their subject?

Since my plan is to center our discussions around these topics rather than treating readings individually, the contents of each assignment will not be restricted to individual seminars but will potentially be relevant to all. Our first meeting will focus mostly on the primary distinctions, beginning with the nineteenth-century writers, and moving on to the later approaches.

We will not cover all of the details of these readings. In the Weber, you can skip section 6. In the Mayrberger, concentrate on the introduction and some of sections 3, 7, 9, 11, 15, 16, and 17. For the Kurth, focus on the types of chromaticism he defines and how they are reflected in the music he analyzes. For the Cohn, consider the interaction of chromatic and cyclic phenomena with the functional framework. In the Lewin, note the contrast in treatment of chromaticism with the previous Wagner analyses. For mine, think about the integrity of the chromatic content and its relation to the text.

Readings (please click on authors' names for PDF files)

Weber, Gottfried. "A Particularly Remarkable Passage in a String Quartet in C by Mozart [K465 ’Dissonance’]" (1832). In Ian Bent, Music Analysis in the Nineteenth Century, Cambridge Readings in the Literature of Music (Cambridge University Press, 1994), vol. 1, chap. 10, pp. 161-183.

Mayrberger, Karl."The Harmonic Style of Richard Wagner, Elucidated with Respect to the Leitmotifs of ’Tristan and Isolde’," ibid., chap. 13, pp. 221-252.

Kurth, Ernst. "Romantic Harmony and its Crisis in Wagner’s ’Tristan’." In Ernst Kurth: Selected Writings, trans. Lee Rothfarb (Cambridge University Press, 1991), pp. 110-147.

Lewin, David. "Some Notes on Analyzing Wagner: The Ring and Parsifal." 19th Century Music 16/1 (summer 1992), pp. 49-58.

Cohn, Richard. "As Wonderful as Star Clusters: Instruments for Gazing at Tonality in Schubert." 19th Century Music, 22/3 (spring 1999), pp. 213-232.

Kopp, David. Chromatic Transformations in Nineteenth-Century Music (Cambridge University Press, 2002), section 9.6, pp. 254-263.

Supplementary materials (optional)

Bernstein, David. Excerpts from "Nineteenth-Century Harmonic Theory." In The Cambridge History of Western Music Theory (Cambridge University Press, 2002), pp. 782-800.

Lewin, David. Excerpts from Generalized Musical Intervals and Transformations (Yale University Press, 1987, pp. 169-182). Section 8.1.1 is relevant; surrounding discussions are included for reference.

Kopp, David. Chromatic Transformations in Nineteenth-Century Music (Cambridge University Press, 2002), sections 1.3-1.6, pp. 5-17, and 7.1-7.6, pp. 165-180. Sections 1.1-1.2 also included. The excerpts contain some corrected diagrams which contained errors in the original.

Fisk, Charles, and Richard Cohn. Letter and response regarding Cohn's article above. 19th Century music, 23/3, pp. 301-304.

Schubert, Franz. Score and recording, Die Junge Nonne, analyzed by Kopp.

Wagner, Richard. Score and recording, Prélude to Act 3 of Tristan und Isolde, analyzed by Kurth.