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O n M etre in the R ondo of B rahms ’ s O p . 25
Author(s) -
MURPHY SCOTT
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
music analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.25
H-Index - 18
eISSN - 1468-2249
pISSN - 0262-5245
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2249.2008.00261.x
Subject(s) - tonic (physiology) , piano , metric (unit) , mathematics , computer science , physics , acoustics , psychology , engineering , neuroscience , operations management
The rondo from Brahms's Piano Quartet Op. 25 projects a number of different metres which may be organised into various metric spaces modelled on those of David Lewin and Richard Cohn. Although this organisation does not yield the multiple pitch‐time analogical mappings proposed by Lewin and Cohn, it may be fruitfully applied to many works of Brahms and other composers. I argue that a movement's centrally located metre (the work's ‘logical’ metric tonic) tends also to be its primary metre (the work's ‘rhetorical’ metric tonic), and outline a new method for hearing contiguities in certain metric spaces. I conclude by designing a metric space tailored for the metres of the Op. 25 rondo, in which the refrain's ‘tonic’ metre is centrally located in three dimensions.