7c /'IO. THE INFLUENCE OF HINDEMITH'S HARMONIC THEORIES ON DAS MARIENLEBEN, OP. 27 THESIS Presented to the Graduate Council of the North Texas State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF MUSIC By Jana L. Kubitza, B.M. Denton, Texas August, 1978 Kubitza, Jana L., The Influence of Hindemith's Harmon- ic Theories on Das Marienleben, op. 27. Master of Music (Theory), August, 1978, 145 pp., 4 tables, 51 illustrations, bibliography, 27 titles. This study attempts to show the relationship of Hinde- mith's harmonic theories and practice in the revision of Das Marienleben, op. 27. The study is based on Hindemith's The Craft of Musical Composition, commentaries on Hindemith's application of his theories, and analyses of Das Marienleben. Chapter One concerns Hindemith's contribution as a theorist, including a synopsis of his harmonic theories, and his appli- cation of the theories in his compositions. Chapter Two concerns Das Marienleben itself, including general informa- tion about the work and its revision, and an analytical com- parison of its two versions. Chapter Three concludes that Hindemith made improvements in the new version in accordance with his harmonic theories through replacing ambiguous har- mony with carefully controlled fluctuation and clearly defined tonalities. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES . ..... iv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS . v Chapter I. PAUL HINDEMITH: A COMPOSER/THEORIST . 1 Hindemith's Contribution as a Theorist Hindemith's theory in historical context Synopsis of Hindemith's theories Hindemith's Own Application of His Theories Hindemith's personal testimony Influence on works other than Das Marienleben Compositional "rules" involving harmonic theories II. DAS MARIENLEBEN. 26 The Work and Its Revision General information about the work Revision of Das Marienleben Analytical Comparison of the Two Versions Criteria for analytical comparison Analytic procedure Problems in the application of Hindemith's system Comparative analysis of representative sections III. CONCLUSION . 101 APPENDIX . 110 BIBLIOGRAPHY . 143 iii LIST OF TABLES Table Page I. Chord-Groups.... ...... .. 12 II. Tonal Centers and Conceptual Symbols.. .... 30 III. Non-Chord Tones ............... ... ....... 39 IV. Summary of Revisions .................... 104 iv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1. Non-Tertian Chords ... ........ 4 2. Series . ................. ........ 5 3. Series2.a.......................... 8 4. Root Determination of Sevenths and Seconds 9 5. Tritone Root Representatives . 9 6. Root Determination by Best Interval 10 7. Determination of Tonal Centers . ... * 15 8. Tonality-Defining Degree Progression . 15 9, Weak Degree Progression 24 10. Returning Tones 39 11. Passing Tones 40 12. Neighboring Tones . 40 13. Anticipations . .. 9.0.0.. .. .0. 41 14. Unaccented Free Tone ............. .. .a. 41 15. Suspensions . *.*. .0 . .0. 1. .. 0. 42 16. Unprepared Suspensions.. .0.. ..... 43 17. Accented Free Tone-..... ........ 43 18. Determination of Harmonic Fluctuation .. 48 19. Dyad Functioning as Type-I Sonority .. 50 20. Song No. 12, mm. 1-2..0 . .g.o. .. 53 21. Song No. 3, original version, mm. 1-2 55 22. Song No. 3, original version, mm. 43-45 56 v Figure Page 23. Song No. 3, original version, mm. 52-54 . 58 24. Tonal Spheres of Section A, Song No. 3, 1923 . 59 25. Song No. 3, 1923, mm. 40-42 60 26. Song No. 3, 1923, mm. 52-54 61 27. Song No. 3, 1948, mm. 1-2 . .0 ... 0 ..63 28. Song No. 3, 1948, mm. 77-78 . .0.. ...64 29. Song No. 3, 1923, mm. 28-29 - and 48........... 64 30. Song No. 3, 1948, mm. 22-30 . .0 .0 . 0.. &. 0. 67 31. Song No. 3, 1948, mm. 71-74 . .0 .0 .0 .0 . 68 32. Song No. 3, 1948, mm. 85-88 . .0 .0 .0 . .0.0 . 68 33. Song No. 7, 1923, mm. 1-4 . .0 .0 .0 .0 . 70 34. Song No. 7, 1948, mm. 1-5 0 .0 . 0.0.. 0. 0. 71 35. Song No. 7, 1923, mm. 60-61 . 72 36. Song No. 7, 1923, mm. 31-33 . 0. 0. 0.. 0. 0. 73 37. Song No. 7, 1948, mm. 156-16(0I . 74 38. Song No. 11, mm. 25-27, 1923 and 1948 versions..4.0..... .76 39. Song No. 1, 1923, mm. 21-23 . .79 40. Song No. 1, 1923, mm. 27-28 . .0 . 0. 0. 0. - 80 41. Song No. 1, 1948, mm. 21-23 . .0 . a. 0. 0. 81 42. Song No. 1, 1948, mm. 27-29 . .o . 81 43. a. Song No. 1, 1923, mm. 47- 59 o.o...... 83 b. Song No. 1, 1948, mm. 43- 57 o.. ..... .84 44. a. Song No. 4, 1923, mm. 1-3 . ... 86 . b. Song No. 4, 1948, mm. 1-3 . 87 vi Figure Page 45. Harmonic Fluctuation, Song No. 4, mm. 3-4 1923 and 1948 versions compared...........88 46. a. Song No. 6, 1923, mm. 1-4 . ....... 92 b. Song No. 6, 1948, mm. 1-4. .... .... 92 47. Song No. 6, 1923, mm. 32-35 .......... 94 48. Song No. 6, 1948, mm. 85-90....... ......... 96 49. Song No. 6, 1923, mm. 90-91....... .......... 97 50. Song No. 6, 1923, m. 90, second beat.. .... 98 51. Song No. 6, 1948, mm. 127-129. ....... 99 vii CHAPTER I PAUL HINDEMITH: A COMPOSER/THEORIST Paul Hindemith was not only a composer but a highly conscious musical theorist as well. He felt a responsibil- ity for future generations of musicians to pass on to them the benefits of his own experience. It was of concern to him that other composers had not shared this conviction. Is it not strange that since Bach hardly any of the great composers have been outstanding teachers? One would expect every musician to have the desire to pass on to others what he had labored to acquire him- self. Yet in the last century the teaching of compo- sition was looked on as drudgery, as an obstacle in the way of creative activity. Only rarely did a com- poser integrate it as a component part of himself . Thus, one finds in the person of Paul Hindemith this mixture of composer and theorist and in his writings some insight into his conception of theory which was such an integral part of his creative process. Hindemith's Contribution as a Theorist Hindemith's Theory in Historical Context In Unterweisung im Tonsatz (translated by Arthur Mendel, Craft of Musical Composition) Hindemith proposes tc present a new rationale for the technique of musical composition and Paul Hindemith, Craft of Musical Composition (Mainz: B. Schott's Sohne, 1945), p. 3. 1 2 a theory of harmony which would be applicable to all periods of music. In attempting to embrace both traditional and twentieth-century harmonic practices in one all-inclusive theory, he must set aside stylistic prejudices and approach the problem through that which is common to all musical styles--acoustics and the nature of musical sound. Thus, Hindemith joins the rank of speculative theorists in holding that the laws of music are derived from the laws of nature. He believed that music is a manifestation of extramusical, pre-existing, natural relationships which inhere in musical tone. Though Hindemith did not admit to the influence, his work is actually an eclecticism of the theories of Boethius, Zarlino, Descartes, Tartini, Rameau, Helmholtz, and Schenker. An important innovation of Hindemith's theory is the concept of the interval as the fundamental or primordial unit of harmony. Whereas earlier theorists had taken the major triad as the foundation, Hindemith recognized the tri- ad as a sum of smaller units and therefore not as the lowest common denominator of harmony. Through this basic principle, Hindemith formulated a theory applicable to tertian as well as non-tertian music and solved the dilemma of the choice of melody versus harmony as the origin of music. He saw both melody and harmony as products of the same source--the inter- val. The scale is refuted as an organizational basis and is rather viewed as the filling out of the fundamental inter- vals--octaves, fifths, and thirds. 3 revise conventional harmonic In Hindemith's quest to principles common to traditional theory, he attacks four to ac- shows them to be too narrow theories of harmony and chord structures: count for all possible the construction of chords 1. The basic principle for thirds. is the superimposition of are considered invertible. 2. Chords scales or lowering tones of the diatonic 3. By raising 2 the chord supply of a key may be enriched. of various interpretations. 4. Chords are susceptible are un- theory non-tertian chords In conventional harmonic tertian chords incomplete versions of explainable except as tones or substitutions. or as the result of non-harmonic for tones depend on resolution Since, however, non-harmonic re- "dissonant" chord if not their definition, a solitary Hindemith's answer to these solved cannot be defined. super- a rejection of the rule of analytical difficulties is Instead, the construction of chords. imposition of thirds for of the chords are simply the sum Hindemith maintains that intervals of which they consist. of chords also breaks down Conventional invertibility such as chords. Complex chords when applied to non-tertian their to Hindemith, "would lose the following, according 3 rearranged." sense if their members were 2 Ibid., p. 90. 3Ibid., p. 91. 4 Fig. l--Non-tertian chords Earlier systems of theory take the seven-tone scale as a basis of harmonic theory. This diatonic major/minor system is much too limited to justify harmonic practices of all periods. The familiar theory of harmony prevents chords from the free unfolding of their vital urge. For it proclaims as the highest harmonic law the relationship of tones and chords in a key . The chord must blindly subordinate itself and attention be paid to its individual character only as the key allows.4 Seeking a more inclusive theory, Hindemith uses as a basis the chromatic as opposed to the diatonic scale, allowing all semitones to be explainable within a key and dispensing with the concept of altered notes.