Pitch Centricity without Pitch Centers Stanley V. Kleppinger, University of Nebraska–Lincoln (kleppinger@unl.edu)

Annual Conference of the Society for Music Theory, November 7, 2014 Example 1. Schoenberg, Drei Klavierstücke, Op. 11, No. 3, opening [without pitch center]

Example 2. Stravinsky, Octet, I, principal theme [Eb as pitch center via salience conditions and elements of common-practice tonality (e.g., the three-flat diatonic collection)]

Kleppinger, “Pitch Centricity without Pitch Centers,” 2

Example 3. Copland, “There came a wind like a bugle” from Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson, conclusion [centered on E? A?]

Definitions:

Pitch centricity: The projection of one pitch class into perceptual prominence to a significantly greater extent than other pitch classes. (This is a preliminary, insufficient definition.)

Tonal: Adjective form of tonality used specifically to connote “systematic arrangements of pitch phenomena and relations between them” (Hyer 2002, 726).

Common-practice (CP) tonality: The approach to tonal structure grounded in elements of functional harmony and traditional voice-leading shared by most Western music of the later baroque, classical, and romantic eras.

Kleppinger, “Pitch Centricity without Pitch Centers,” 3

Example 4. Perceptual criteria

Salience Criteria

A pitch event becomes relatively more salient when it…

(S1) begins in the span of music it is meant to represent;

(S2) is in a relatively strong metrical position;

(S3) is relatively loud;

(S4) is relatively prominent timbrally;

(S5) is in an extreme (high or low) registral position;

(S6) is relatively dense;

(S7) is relatively long in duration;

(S8) is relatively important motivically;

(S9) is next to a relatively large grouping boundary (such as the beginning or end of a phrase, section, movement, or work);

(S10) parallels a similar event already granted salient weight earlier in the piece.

[Paraphrased from Lerdahl 1989, 73–74; see also Forte 1955, Hasty 1981, and Tymoczko 2011]

CP-Cueing Criteria

Features of CP tonality that influence perception of pitch centricity include (but are not limited to)…

(CP1) stable (i.e., major and minor) triads

(CP2) interval class 5

(CP3) functional progressions (e.g., authentic cadences)

secondary: (CP4) diatonic collection

Vectoring of Musical Space

Larson’s “musical forces” (1997a, 1997b, 2012), Schenker’s Tonwille, Zuckerkandl’s “dynamic quality of tone” (1956, 19–21), Hatten’s “gestural energy” (2004, 115–17) Example 5. Webern, Fünf Sätze fur Streichquartette, Op. 5, No. 3, opening [C# emphasis = C# as pitch center?]

Kleppinger, “Pitch Centricity without Pitch Centers,” 4

Example 6. Vectoring bait: catalysts for perception of vectoring toward particular pitch classes

1. CP Cueing 2. Consistent pitch-class emphasis via salience criteria 3. Consistent opus-specific musical devices (e.g., motives, harmonic successions)

Example 7. Tower, Purple Rhapsody (Concerto for Viola and Orchestra, reduction by the composer), opening

Example 8. Hindemith, Ludus Tonalis, Fugue in A

Opening

Conclusion of First Section

Kleppinger, “Pitch Centricity without Pitch Centers,” 5

Example 9. Vaughan Williams, Symphony No. 5, III (“Romanza”), opening [possible pitch centers in italics]

Example 10. Bartók, Ten Easy Pieces, “Aurora,” opening

Kleppinger, “Pitch Centricity without Pitch Centers,” 6

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