Status of the blog

This blog is now closed for new content. It began as a place to present multiple examples of analysis of a single composition, the thirteenth number from Schubert's Valses sentimentales, D. 779 (1825). Several related topics emerged soon in the work, ranging from social dance in Vienna to contemporary form theory. I eventually organized a Guide to the blog (link) according to the four main areas given attention:

Topics 1: Analyses of Schubert, Valses sentimentales, n13, Waltz in A Major
Topics 2: Schubert, Playing for Dance, Dance in Vienna 1815-1830
Topics 3: Formal Design and Functions in Music for Social Dance
Topics 4: Responses to Criticism of the Ascending Urlinie

Since publishing the Guide in July 2016, I have made about 15 new posts to the blog, almost all of which have been notices of essays published on Texas ScholarWorks.

A related blog, Ascending Cadence Gestures in Tonal Music, remains active: link.

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Update December 2 2022:

"Essays published on the Texas ScholarWorks platform, 2012-2022" updates earlier indices for all topic areas I have explored over the past decade. Here is the link.  Entries for each essay include title, abstract, and link.

Here is the abstract:

This is a list of essays I have published on this platform in the past decade. Topics include documentation of ascending and upper-register cadence gestures in European and European-influenced musics, studies of the major dominant ninth chord, and formal functions (after Caplin) in music by Mozart and his contemporaries.

OR go to the front page of the UT Faculty/Researcher Works section: link. If you click on Filters/Author, my name will come up as one of the most frequent contributors.

Here are three other blogs I have written and maintained over the years: Ascending Cadence Gestures in Tonal Music; Dance and Dance Music, 1650-1850; On the Dominant Ninth Chord.

Index to Ascending Cadence Gestures: updated

I have published Index to Ascending Cadence Gestures in Essays Published on the Texas ScholarWorks Platform: Update 2020 on the Texas ScholarWorks platform: link.  Here is the abstract:

This file updates the Index published in January 2019. There are two sections. The first is a progress report on the project Ascending Cadence Gestures, A New Historical Survey. The second is an updated list of all compositions with ascending or upper-register cadence gestures, as mentioned in my article "The Ascending Urlinie" (1987), in essays published on the Texas ScholarWorks platform, and in work files prepared for remaining numbers in the new historical survey.

New blog: On the Dominant Ninth

The number of blogs I maintain has recently grown to four. This was the first of them: it was (and still is) meant to create rich contexts for that curious A-major waltz that is so out of place in the Valses sentimentales, D. 779 (publ. 1825). As material accumulated on ascending cadence figures (which D. 779n13 offers in the most direct and both structurally and expressively consequential way) and on formal designs in early waltzes and related dances (there also D. 779n13 is an anomaly), two new blogs emerged as spin-offs, the goal in both being primarily to document occurrences and patterns, primarily in 19th-century music but also in earlier music where relevant. These blogs are Ascending Cadence Gestures in Tonal Music and Dance and Dance Music, 1650-1850.

Continuing the derivations, On the Dominant Ninth is a spin-off mainly from Ascending Cadence Gestures, given (1) that it was treatments of scale degree ^6 in the major key that enabled the ascending cadence lines that one finds already in Schubert and then more and more often in others as the 19th century moved on; and (2) that in the majority of cases the chord of the dominant ninth was involved. In the new blog, however, the work is not restricted to cadences or to rising figures. Instead, it "is intended to document [the variety of treatments of scale degree ^6 as the ninth of a dominant ninth chord], especially in the essential 19th century European repertoires of the musical stage and music for dance" (quote from the first post to the blog, 21 June 2018).

The new blog has also inspired two publications on the Texas ScholarWorks platform: most recently Dominant Ninth Harmonies in American Songs around 1900; before that Dominant Ninth Harmonies in the 19th Century. A new series on the blog—documenting presentations of the dominant ninth in theory textbooks and treatises in the 19th century—began with a post today on Catel's Traité d'harmonie.

New historical survey

I have published two sets of files on the Texas ScholarWorks platform for a series Ascending Cadence Gestures, New Historical Survey.  Part 1 is the general introduction: link.  Part 2 surveys European Modal Music (to 1650): link.

The abstract:

This new documentation of traditional European and European-influenced music with ascending lines and cadence gestures includes compositions from the fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The work is gathered in five parts, published separately. Part 1 contains the general introduction and a bibliography. Parts 2a-c cover music to 1650, Part 3 from 1650 to 1780, Part 4 1780 to 1860, and Part 5 1860 to the US copyright barrier, which is currently the end of 1923. [Please note: Parts 1-2 are available now. Parts 3-5 will be published as they are completed.] 

Note 10-29-2019: I have published an additional file—2e—which includes seventy compositions found since the publication of Parts 2a-d: link to Part 2e.

Information

This blog began as a place to present multiple examples of analysis of a single composition, the thirteenth number from Schubert's Valses sentimentales, D. 779 (1825). Several related topics emerged soon in the work, ranging from social dance in Vienna to contemporary form theory. I eventually organized a guide to the blog (link updated 2022-02-03) according to the four main areas given attention:

Topics 1: Analyses of Schubert, Valses sentimentales, n13, Waltz in A Major
Topics 2: Schubert, Playing for Dance, Dance in Vienna 1815-1830
Topics 3: Formal Design and Functions in Music for Social Dance
Topics 4: Responses to Criticism of the Ascending Urlinie

Since publishing the Guide in July 2016, I have made just over a dozen posts to the blog, all but two of which have been notices of essays published on Texas ScholarWorks (link to my author page).

New series of essays published

I have published a seven-part essay series titled Formal Functions in Menuets by Mozart. Part 7 is "Contemporaries and Successors, 1780-1828" and includes discussion of named menuets by Schubert.   Link to Part 7.


Here is the abstract.

This final essay in the Mozart series charts formal functions (after Caplin) in named menuets written by other composers during the last ten years of Mozart’s life, 1780-1791, and by three composers active in Vienna thereafter, through the death of Schubert (1828). The repertoire includes menuets by Carl and Anton Stamitz, Franz Joseph Haydn, Luigi Boccherini, Giovanni Viotti, and Adalbert Gyrowetz, and several others. The three later composers are Beethoven, Hummel, and Schubert. Concluding comments return to questions of musical form theory.

Here is a link to Part 1in the series: Formal Functions in Menuets by Mozart, Part 1: Orchestral Works and Independent Sets. And the abstract:

A study of formal functions (after Caplin) in named menuets by Mozart, the larger goal being to historicize more fully form-design practices in European music during the second half of the eighteenth century.

Finally, titles for Parts 2-6:

Part 2: Sonatas and Chamber Music.Part 3: A Comparison with Johann Christian Bach.Part 4: His Older Contemporaries, to 1770.Part 5: More to Theoretical Issues.Part 6: Contemporaries, 1771-1780.

Essay on Die Fledermaus published

In April and May on my blog Ascending Cadence Gestures in Tonal Music, I did a series of posts on Die Fledermaus. I have now gathered those posts, added additional information, and published an essay on the Texas Scholar Works platform: Johann Strauss, jr., Die Fledermaus: Ascending Cadence Gestures on Stage. Link.

Here is the abstract:

Die Fledermaus (1874), today the best-known operetta by Johann Strauss, jr., is also a treasure trove of ascending cadence gestures. This article documents and interprets those multiple instances and their effects.

Music in the notes for The Ascending Urlinie (JMT 1987)

I have published the essay The Ascending Urlinie (Journal of Music Theory, 1987): Studies of Music from the Endnotes on the Texas Scholar Works platform: link. Here is the abstract:

In the endnotes to an article published thirty years ago, I list about thirty compositions as representative examples of different forms of the ascending Urlinie. This document provides analyses and discussion of all those pieces, as well as additional discussion of two pieces from the article’s main text: Bach, Prelude in C Major, BWV 924 (as compositional exercise); Beethoven, Piano Sonata in Bb major, op. 22, III (rising Urlinie and register).

Gallery of Simple Examples, Volume 2

I have posted a sequel to the gallery of simple examples (link to volume 1). The title is A Gallery of Simple Examples of Extended Rising Melodic Shapes, Volume 2: link to volume 2.

Here is the abstract:

This second installment of direct, cleanly formed rising lines offers examples from a variety of sources, ranging from a short early seventeenth century choral piece to Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony, and from Scottish fiddle tunes to Victor Herbert operettas.

Here is a combined table of contents for the two volumes, arranged chronologically and with the volume number indicated:

Praetorius, three-voice motet "Preis sei Gott in der Höhe"       -- vol. 2
Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, Partita ex Vienna, Courante      -- vol. 2
Böhm, Suite in F minor, Courante       -- vol. 1
Anon., Chelsea Stage     -- vol. 2
Anon., The Duchess of Gordon     -- vol. 2
Anon., The Kerry Jig       -- vol. 2
Anon., The Nabob        -- vol. 2
Anon., The Runaway Bride    -- vol. 2
Anon., Shepherds Jigg   -- vol. 2
Anon., Yankey Doodle      -- vol. 2
Mozart, 12 Menuets, K176n1       -- vol. 1
Haydn, String Quartet in D Major, Op76n2, III       -- vol. 1
Haydn, Symphony no. 86, III      -- vol. 1
Beethoven, 12 German Dances, WoO8n1       -- vol. 1
Hummel, from 6 German Dances & 12 Trios, op. 16      -- vol. 2
Schubert, Wiener-Damen-Ländler, D734n15       -- vol. 1
Schubert, Valses sentimentales, D779n13       -- vol. 1
Schubert, Ländler, D814n4       -- vol. 1
Schubert, Deutscher Tanz, D769n1       -- vol. 1
Schubert, Grazer Walzer, D924n9       -- vol. 1
Johann Strauss, sr., “Champagner Galop,” Op. 8      -- vol. 2
Johann Strauss, sr., Das Leben ein Tanz, oder Der Tanz ein Leben!, Op.49       -- vol. 1
Johann Strauss, sr., Exotische Pflanzen, Op.109       -- vol. 1
Johann Strauss, jr., Künstlerleben, op. 316       -- vol. 1
Brahms, “Über die See”       -- vol. 1
Tchaikovsky, The Nutcracker, March       -- vol. 1
Herbert,  Sweethearts, n7: "Jeannette and Her Little Wooden Shoes"      -- vol. 2
Herbert, Naughty Marietta, n17: "The Sweet Bye and Bye"      -- vol. 2
Herbert, Babette, n23: Finale III      -- vol. 2
Prokofiev, Classical Symphony, Gavotte      -- vol. 2
Gershwin, Shall We Dance, "Slap That Bass"      -- vol. 2
Waxman, Rebecca, "Hotel Lobby Waltz”      -- vol. 2 

Essay on British Isles Dance and Song

I have published an essay titled English, Scotch, and Irish Dance and Song: On Cadence Gestures and Figures. It can be found on Texas Scholar Works: link.

Here is the abstract:

This is a documentation of ascending cadence gestures in some 260 songs and dances from the British Isles, taken from eighteenth and nineteenth century sources, with some emphasis on collections for practical use published between about 1770 and 1820 and on the later ethnographic collections of P. W. Joyce and the anthology of Francis O’Neill.

Addendum to the historical survey, index, published

In early March, I published an addendum to the historical survey (link to that document) on Texas Scholar Works: link to the new document.

Here is the abstract:

This is an addendum to the essay Ascending Cadence Gestures: A Historical Survey from the 16th to the Early 19th Century (published on Texas Scholar Works, July 2016), consisting of posts since that date to my blog “Ascending Cadence Gestures” (on Google blogspot). This is also an index to musical compositions discussed in essays published or re-published on this platform since 2010, through 03 March 2017.

A Gallery of Simple Examples

In March, I published A Gallery of Simple Examples of Extended Rising Melodic Shapes on Texas Scholar Works. Here is the link; and here is the abstract.

Prevailing stereotypes of formal cadences and arch-shaped melodies were especially strong in the eighteenth century, but they did not prevent European musicians from occasionally introducing rising melodic figures into cadences and sometimes connecting those figures abstractly in lines with focal notes earlier in a composition. This essay presents a few of the most direct, cleanly formed rising lines in music from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Michael Pamer, Neue brillante Ländler (1827)

I have published two posts on Michael Pamer's Neue brillante Ländler (12 volumes, 1827): link to the first post. Pamer is widely regarded as the skilled musician who brought the style of the "Linzer Geiger" into dance halls and house balls, though it was his protegés, Lanner and Johann Strauss, sr., who became famous for it.

Administrative post: updated links to some files

Early next year, Dropbox is changing the public folder to a shared folder. Therefore, I have moved all files that were formerly on Dropbox to Google Drive. Here is an alphabetical list with the new links:

Chopin, Prelude in E Major, op. 28n9: link.

Guide to my blog Hearing Schubert D779n13: link updated 2022-02-03.

Neumeyer, handout for 2010 Society of Music Theory presentation: link.

Neumeyer research vita: link.

Schubert dance table: link.

Revised Playford essay published

I have published a heavily revised version of my essay/documentation John Playford Dancing Master: Rising Lines (link to original). The new version is, appropriately, titled John Playford Dancing Master: Rising Lines, Revised and Updated. It can be found on the Texas Scholar Works platform here: link to revision.

Here is the abstract:

This updates and substantially revises two publications of mine on the Texas Scholar Works platform: John Playford Dancing Master: Rising Lines (2010; 2015) and the corresponding section in Rising Lines in Tonal Frameworks of Traditional Tonal Music (2015). The main goal was to provide higher quality graphics, but I have also written a new introduction as well as new analysis and commentary for almost all of the dances.

Minor key essay

On my Ascending Cadence Gestures blog I have just finished a minor key series. I have gathered the posts into an essay that has been published on the Texas Scholar Works platform: Ascending Lines in the Minor Key.

The essay contains all posts from the series, along with a newly written "concluding comment."

Here is the abstract:

The minor key poses obstacles to rising cadence gestures, and the number of compositions with convincing linear ascents is small. This essay assumes a mostly traditional Schenkerian point of view and studies that limited repertoire of pieces, which includes 17th and early 18th century music relying on the Dorian octave, and compositions by a variety of composers from Johann Walther and Thomas Morley, through François Couperin and Beethoven, to Brahms, Hugo Wolf, and Carl Kiefert.

New essay published

I have published a new essay titled Rising Gestures, Text Expression, and the Background as Theme on Texas Scholar Works: link. Here is the abstract:

Walter Everett's categories for tonal design features in nineteenth-century songs fit the framework of the Classic/Romantic dichotomy: eighteenth-century practice is the benchmark for progressive but conflicted alternatives. These categories are analogous to themes in literary interpretation; so understood, they suggest a broader range of options for the content of the background than the three Schenkerian Urlinien regarded as essentialized universals. The analysis of a Brahms song, "Über die See," Op. 69/7, provides a case study in one type, the rising line, and also the entry point for a critique of Everett's reliance on a self- contradictory attitude toward the Schenkerian historical narrative.

Historical survey essay

I have posted a new essay to Texas Scholar Works: Ascending Cadence Gestures: A Historical Survey from the 16th to the Early 19th Century. Here is the link: essay link. And here is the abstract:

Cadences are formulaic gestures of closure and temporal articulation in music. Although in the minority, rising melodic figures have a long history in cadences in European music of all genres. This essay documents and analyzes characteristic instances of rising cadential lines from the late 16th century through the 1830s.

Almost all of the material for this essay came from posts over the past several months to my blog Ascending Cadence Gestures.

The Heartz and D779n13

I have added a post about the Heartz schema to my Ascending Cadence Gestures blog. The last of three examples is D779n13. Link.

Guide to the blog

I have put together a guide to the 200+ entries in this blog: link.

Here is the abstract:

My blog on Google’s blogspot platform has 209 posts as of 03 July 2016. Tags (Google’s “Labels”) are even greater in number. This document offers a “research guide” to the blog, including live links. Four sections discuss topical emphases, ranging from a catalogue of musical analyses to dance culture in Vienna during Schubert’s lifetime. Seven appendices provide lists of the blog posts with links, tags, a list of analyses by category, and a bibliography.

And here is the table of contents:

Introduction

Topics 1: Analyses of Schubert, Valses sentimentales, n13, Waltz in A Major
Topics 2: Schubert, Playing for Dance, Dance in Vienna 1815-1830
Topics 3: Formal Design and Functions in Music for Social Dance
Topics 4: Responses to Criticism of the Ascending Urlinie

Appendix 1: Complete list of blog posts, with links
Appendix 2: Complete list of tags (“Labels”)
Appendix 3: Tally of the analyses of D779n13
Appendix 4: Bibliography (that is, an alphabetical list of all literature citations)
Appendix 5: Blog Ascending Cadence Gestures in Tonal Music, complete list of posts, with links
Appendix 6: Blog Dance and Dance Music, 1650-1850, complete list of posts, with links
Appendix 7: Blogs Ascending Cadence Gestures in Tonal Music and Dance and Dance Music, 1650-1850, complete list of tags (“Labels”)