Harmonic Function in the Late Nineteenth-Century Chromatic Tonality of Wagner and Strauss: a Study of Extensions to Classical Prolongational Practices
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Harmonic Function in the Late Nineteenth-Century Chromatic Tonality of Wagner and Strauss: A Study of Extensions to Classical Prolongational Practices by Kyle Hutchinson A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Music University of Toronto © Copyright by Kyle Hutchinson 2020 Harmonic Function in the Late Nineteenth-Century Chromatic Tonality of Wagner and Strauss: A Study of Extensions to Classical Prolongational Practices Kyle Hutchinson Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Music University of Toronto 2020 Abstract That mid-to-late nineteenth-century chromatic tonality challenges diatonic-based prolongational models of tonality is a well-known assertion. Recently, the field has embraced alternative frameworks, especially neo- Riemannian and transformational approaches, to account for coherence in the works of composers such as Richard Wagner or Richard Strauss. These approaches, however, only occasionally capture the extent to which this repertoire exhibits the prolongational procedures operative in classical tonality despite the unfamiliarity of the chromatic syntax. My dissertation investigates how this chromatic syntax can be approached as an extension of familiar diatonic models. My broader theoretic basis involves recognizing a proliferation of harmonic polysemy, whereby chords that have commonplace sonorities do not function in ways traditionally associated with that sonority. To account for this disjunction, I develop a model of Functional Interval Progressions (FIPs), which proposes dominant function is a product not of sonority, nor an isolated leading tone, but rather a combination of a univalent dissonance (a tritone or diminished seventh) combined with its conventional resolution: in short, I suggest function is a product of motion. I apply this principle in various ways. Firstly, I postulate the possibility of chromatically altered diminished-seventh chords: these chords often have the sonority of commonplace tonal chords, such as ii dominant or half-diminished sevenths, but their behaviour is more consistent with diminished-seventh chords. The presence and resolution of a diminished-seventh interval, I posit, overwrites the centrifugal nature of the chromatic alteration. I then export this principle to triads, arguing that a similar half- enharmonic reinterpretation can explain what Lorenz (1933) refers to as apparent consonances. Contrary to Cohn (2004/2012), I view these triads then as tonal dissonances, rather than as acoustic consonances. Lastly, I argue for a contextual remodeling of chordal inversion, following Schenker’s (1922) notion of “the roothood-tendency of the lowest tone,” suggesting that in certain cases inverted chords project the function of their bass, rather than their root. I conclude by applying these principles to larger-scale analysis, proposing that through a more thorough understanding of the surface-level harmonic syntax, deeper-level prolongations— and their relationships to one another—can be adduced with greater certainty and clarity in highly chromatic music. iii Acknowledgments Seven is an important number for several reasons, and so I want to split the acknowledgments and dedication seven ways: 1. My Parents, Virginia and Ron, whose love and support helped me through these past 23+ years of school, as well as the rest of my family who have also been a source of support. Thank you for everything you’ve done. 2. My advisor, Professor Ryan McClelland, who kept me focused, on track, and offered numerous valuable insights throughout the last six years. Thank you for putting up with me, and fixing all of my run-on sentences: there were many, especially at the beginning, a lot of which had to do with my overuse of the colon construction, but it got better, I think, over the last five years. 3. Don McLean, our incredible Dean, who supported me in numerous ways over the last six years, offered me an abundance of his valuable insight, and made it possible for me to finish this degree. 4. Professor William Marvin (Eastman School of Music), my external reviewer who offered valuable suggestions and insight in this last stage of my dissertation, as well as Professor Steven Vande Moortele and Professor Sherry Lee, my other two committee members, who also offered a wealth of guidance on issues I often hadn’t considered. 5. Tyler my best friend of 23+ years, without whom I may have lost my mind. 6. My friends here at U of T who have been around since the beginning: Matthew, Melissa, Adrian, Massimo. Our discussions about music, Star Wars, puppies, and food have been highlights of my time here (even if we occasionally terrified the people around us with our passionate arguing about harmony…) 7. Finally, all of the students who I taught over the years, many of whom have become good friends. I’ve always said teaching was the best part of every week, and I’m grateful to have met every one of you; you’ve made my time here at U of T better than it otherwise would have been, and I think have made me a better person. Thank you. iv Table of Contents Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………………….ii Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………………..iv List of Tables….……………………………………………………………………………………….vii List of Examples………………………………………………………………………………………viii List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………………………..xi Introduction. The “Prolongation” Problem in Late Nineteenth-Century Chromatic Music, and the Ontological Implications of Theories of Tonal Music .............................................. 1 Chapter 1. Dissociating Sonority and Function: Harmonic Polysemy and Chromatically Altered Diminished-Seventh Chords in Late Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Tonality ............... 45 I. A Theory of Chromatically Altered Diminished-Seventh Chords……………………….....……49 II. Historic Interlude……………………………………………………………………….………...64 III. Analytic Applications……………………………………………………………………….……71 IV. Two Vignettes from Parsifal ......................................................................................................…97 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………105 Chapter 2. When is a Triad not a Triad?: Acoustic Consonance, Tonal Dissonance, and the Dialogue Between Neo-Riemannian and Prolongational Theories of Tonality…………..……................................................................................................................. 108 I. Acoustic Consonance, Tonal Dissonance I: Major Triads……………………………………...113 II. Acoustic Consonance, Tonal Dissonance II: Minor Triads…………………………………….131 III. Three Vignettes Regarding Apparent Consonance…..……………………………………........142 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….……………...156 v Chapter 3. The Abnegating-Sixth Chord and its Extensions: Deriving Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth-Century Harmonic Extensions from Linear Displacements……..…………….159 I. Theoretic Preliminaries and Schenker’s “Roothood Tendency of the Lowest Tone” .......................................................................................................................161 II. Abnegating-Sixth Chords …...…………………………………….…………………………...167 III. Strauss’ Extensions to Abnegating Chords ……………………………...…………………….182 Conclusion: Elektra, Modernism, and Approaching Tonal Rupture...........................................198 Chapter 4. Leitmotivic Auskomponierung : Structural Coherence in Late Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Music………………………………………………………………..…...…. 214 I. The Schenkerian Ursatz : Organicism, Ontology, and Analytic Viability...................................220 II. The Generative Fundamental...…………………………………….…………………………...229 III. Leitmotivic Auskomponierung …………………………………………………………………242 IV. Parsifal , Prelude…………………………………….………………………………………….249 V. Salome , Scene 1………………………………………………….……………………………..262 Conclusion………………………………………………...........................................................274 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 278 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………………288 vi List of Tables 1.1. Variants of B-D-F-Af (vii o7 in C), and Polysemic Analyses ……………………………………….57 vii List of Examples 0.1. Schoenberg’s Analysis of a Passage from Strauss’ Salome ……………...….………………………….17 0.2. Wagner, Tristan und Isolde , Act I, Scene 2, mm. 24–30……………………....………………………..31 1.1a. Liszt, “Ich möchte hingehn,” m. 125………………………………...…………………………….46 1.1b. Wagner, Tristan und Isolde , mm. 1–4………………………………………………...……………....46 1.2. Strauss, “Befreit,” mm. 1–7……………………………………………...………………………….58 1.3. Strauss, Eine Alpensinfonie , RH32……………………………………………...……………………..69 1.4. Strauss, Der Rosenkavalier , Act III, 6 mm. before RH 285…………………...……………………….72 1.5. Strauss, Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche , mm. 46–49…………………………………………………...73 1.6. Strauss, “All mein Gedanken,” mm. 23–31………………………………...………………………..76 1.7a. Strauss, Eine Alpensinfonie , RH88………………...………………………...………………………..79 1.7b. Strauss, Elektra , 2 mm. before RH232…………………………………...…………………........…81 1.7c. Strauss, “Befreit,” mm. 16–23……………………………………………...………………………81 1.8. Wagner, Götterdämmerung , Act I, Scene 3, mm. 1237–1240……………………………...…………....83 1.9. Wagner, Götterdämmerung , Act III, Scene 3, mm. 1155–1160…………………........................................87 1.10. Strauss, Salome , RH6.2–RH7.2…………………………………………………………...………....89 1.11. Strauss, Guntram . Act I, Scene 1, mm. 1–7…………………………………………..….………......91 1.12. Strauss, “Notturno,” mm. 56–67…………………………...……………………………………....92 1.13. Strauss, Salome , Dance, 11 mm. Before RHQ……………………………………………………....93 1.14. Strauss, Elektra ,