Topics and meter
Topics and meter
The connection between topics and meter was supported by Wye Allanbrook (1983) with references to eighteenth-century authors representing an old tradition of metric notation in which meter was closely related to tempo, affect, and genre. In the late eighteenth century this tradition was continued by Johann Philipp Kirnberger, who posited a standard tempo for each meter: the so-called tempo giusto. But the tradition of tempo giusto was dissolved by another tradition of metric notation in which time signatures had no tempo significance and no affective implications. While the new tradition enabled eighteenth-century composers to include several topics in one piece, it complicates the task of the analyst by making identification of topics contingent on identification of the composed meter and, in some cases, on analysis of phrase structure. This chapter demonstrates the problem of topical identification in relation to the main theme of Mozart’s Symphony in G minor, K. 550/i.
357-380
Mirka, Danuta
94e00890-c90d-4109-b54d-c251008336f1
November 2014
Mirka, Danuta
94e00890-c90d-4109-b54d-c251008336f1
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Book Section
Abstract
The connection between topics and meter was supported by Wye Allanbrook (1983) with references to eighteenth-century authors representing an old tradition of metric notation in which meter was closely related to tempo, affect, and genre. In the late eighteenth century this tradition was continued by Johann Philipp Kirnberger, who posited a standard tempo for each meter: the so-called tempo giusto. But the tradition of tempo giusto was dissolved by another tradition of metric notation in which time signatures had no tempo significance and no affective implications. While the new tradition enabled eighteenth-century composers to include several topics in one piece, it complicates the task of the analyst by making identification of topics contingent on identification of the composed meter and, in some cases, on analysis of phrase structure. This chapter demonstrates the problem of topical identification in relation to the main theme of Mozart’s Symphony in G minor, K. 550/i.
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e-pub ahead of print date: November 2014
Published date: November 2014
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Music
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Local EPrints ID: 393005
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/393005
PURE UUID: e8260f66-c9ec-46dc-998d-4b114dc5ef38
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Date deposited: 20 May 2016 08:46
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 23:53
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Author:
Danuta Mirka
Editor:
Danuta Mirka
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