Á La Recherche du [cinq] Temps Perdu

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1 Á La Recherche du [cinq] Tems Perdu Few comosers aear to suer rom terminal rhythmic rigidity to the extent o Johannes Brahms, but as is so oten the case, this is due to a miscreant notation that urloins the act that Brahms was raidly aroaching a modern rhythmic sensibility. Brahms attraction to, as in ive-bar or ive-beat hrases, is well known, but while such hrases are not unknown beore Brahms, their use tends to be entirely dierent rom that o Brahms. The earlier use can be thought o as syntactical the comoser lengthens or shortens a hrase or whatever reason, even i only or variety, or to escae the boundaries o the binary. Brahms viewoint is generally quite dierent and can be thought o as rosodic he inds attractive not just because it rovides variety, but because, owing to the lasticity o its comonents, allows him to engineer a conlict between the length o the hrase, and its internal metric. 1 I one were to classiy how Brahms uses, I would, as a reliminary, osit three rimary tyes, although these rarely occur in ure orm, but rather as combinations. The irst tye allows Brahms to distort a metric attern so that the number o eet remain constant, but the comonents either slow down or seed u, thereby creating a eeling o temoral lux. The last movement o the Second Symhony (measures 0-16), rovides a rime examle (ex. 1). 1 A La Recherche du [cinq] Tems Perdu

2 Ex. 1 0 Hr.(D) Trt.(D) Pos. Btb. Pk. u.k.-b. Hr.(D) Trt.(D) Pk. u.k.-b. 11 a 2 a A La Recherche du [cinq] Tems Perdu

3 In this assage one requently hears Brahms at his most turgid and stolid, with every binary beat being boed, but there is a much more interesting solution (ex. 2). The melodic trajectory o the running eighth-notes starting at measure 0-08, quite clearly grous into three units o (the third unit is elongated). The our-bar hrase (measures 0-08) thereore contains three ulses, the irst two o length --, ollowed by a longer last ulse o -6-, and this attern is reeated (measures 09-12). A La Recherche du [cinq] Tems Perdu

4 Ex. 2 Hr.(D) Trt.(D) Pos. 0 Btb. Pk. u.k.-b. 6 w+ w+ w. w+ w+ Hr.(D) Trt.(D) Pk. u.k.-b. 11 a 2 a w. w w V A La Recherche du [cinq] Tems Perdu

5 By abandoning the (measures 1-16), Brahms reserves the three ulses, now with values [6 +2] within the same total duration o our-bars, while also creating a eeling o moving orward, due to the irst two ulses o measures 1-16 being closer to one another. In (ex. 2) Brahms reserved the total duration but changed the internal metric. It is just as likely or him to reserve the metric, but destroy the total duration, and yet still rovide a change o rate. Measures - 0 (ex. ) o the same movement and work artition (at almost the Golden Section) an eight-bar hrase into a ive-bar, ollowed by a three-bar, hrase. Ex. Hr.(D) 0 a 2 cresc. a 2 cresc. a 2 cresc. cresc. a 2 cresc. w+ w+ w+ w+ h. h. h. h. izz. arco cresc. cresc. izz. cresc. cresc. izz. div. arco cresc. cresc. izz. div. arco cresc. arco cresc. (or w?) K.-B. cresc. A La Recherche du [cinq] Tems Perdu

6 The irst ive bars have our units each o length (note the conlicting articulation, where the winds, which have the same material here as in (ex. 1) and (ex. 2), are in this instance slurred with the bar, and against the o the strings). The next three bars still have our units each, but o length, thereby seeding u the metric while reserving our ulses. It is in maniulations such as these that Brahms oreshadows metric modulation, and/or the use o similar rhythmic atterns at (simultaneously) dierent temi. A second tye o Brahms use o rovides lasticity within a hrase. There are robably hundreds o such examles i.e. the Violin Concerto, ous 77, irst movement, measures 0-08, and any other lace in that movement with the same motive; or in Symhony number, ous 98 (measures - 2), which I would interret as in (ex. ), 6 A La Recherche du [cinq] Tems Perdu

7 Ex. Hr.(C) Trt.(E) 0 a 2 a 2 a marc. marc. a 2 marc. marc. a 2 K.-B. 9 7 h+ h q. q 7 9 h h h. 2 but a truly delicious double examle in retrograde rhythmic counteroint may be ound starting at bar 7 (ex. ). 7 A La Recherche du [cinq] Tems Perdu

8 Ex. Hr.(C) 7 60 a 2 a 2 a 2 a 2 izz. izz. K.-B. I one consults the manuscrit (ex. 6) one inds (in the tune ) that the hal-note tied to a quarter-note does not exist, but rather is notated as a dotted hal-note with the dot laced at some distance, 2 and this shorthand notation (i that is what it is) is rom a comoser who knew how to tie one note to another, and in other laces in this very work, did so. 8 A La Recherche du [cinq] Tems Perdu

9 Ex. 6 To my mind, the notation, ar rom being a shorthand, visibly imlies that the two-bar hrase is to be thought o, and layed, as 2 + +, or +, a not uncommon Viennese division o 8. Suddenly, there is a rolic to the hrase that is missing comletely i the accentuation is the tyical cloddish binary. But there is more: Consider the doltish counteroint in the Bassoons, Violas and Doublebasses, and i only to be an irritant, allow me to attemt to aly to that counteroint the metric o the tune (see ex. 7). 9 A La Recherche du [cinq] Tems Perdu

10 Ex a 2 a 2 a 2 Hr.(C) a 2 izz. izz. h. h. h h. h. h h. h. h h. h. h h h. h. h h. h. h h. h. h h. h. K.-B. I I imose this metric reading orward the results are not imressive i.e. one gains little either harmonically or rhythmically; but what haens i we reverse the attern ( + + 2)? To begin with we add rhythmic ulses in laces reviously not reresented in either the tune, or in the dislaced rhythm o the lutes, clarinets and izzicati violins; but ar more imortantly, we emhasize an ascending attern o seconds [A#-B; B-C#; (E-F#) x 2] which, when taken in temoral combination with the seconds o the tune [F#-E; G-F#; A#-B; C#-B] roduce an intervallic variant o the oening theme!! In short, not only does the retrograde alication o the metric make the assage more rhythmically interesting, but it reveals how the assage is related to the very germ o the movement, and entire Symhony. I rovide two examles o the third tye o Brahms use o. Here Brahms views as a duration-ield which rovides him ar greater otions (than the binary or ternary) or arsing total duration. Ex. 8 is the oening o the Violin and Piano Sonata, ous A La Recherche du [cinq] Tems Perdu

11 Ex. 8 Violine Pianoorte h. q. q. h. h. Allegro amabile h. h. q. q. h. h. (q. q.) h. (q. q.) 11 h. h. w. h. h. h. h h h. h (h w) oco cresc. The irst 0 bars o the work consist o six ive-bar hrases, but it is the metric within these hrases that iques our interest. As indicated by the suerimosed values, the irst, second, and ourth hrases, have 6 eet each. Yet another examle o one oot more than the number o bar-lines occurs (in the same movement) at measures 1- (also not shown here) where, in our-bars, there are eet. While (ex. 8) demonstrates instances where there are more eet than barlines, (ex. 9) (Rhasodie, ous 119) rovides ive-bar hrases with only eet, in a ashion so blatant there is no need to discuss it. Ex. 9 h h h. h. h h h. h. h etc. Allegro risoluto A La Recherche du [cinq] Tems Perdu

12 As regards Brahms rhythmic lasticity the above sketch hardly enetrates the surace, and I make no claim that the three tyes I have described above are all that exist. In closing, I must however make two oints. The irst o these is that, to my mind, Brahms use o rhythm maniests a sensibility closer to that o comosers o the 20th century, or at the least, rom a contemorary rhythmic ersective, it is easier to eel a congruence with Brahms rhythmic concerns than with those o earlier classical comosers. Whether this is due to Brahms being rescient, or due to older comositional models held in common (the early olyhonists), or both, is neither imortant or germane. It suices to know that the link between Brahms and today exists, and that link must be ket in mind, and emhasized, i we are to truly love Brahms (aimez-vous Brahms?). My inal oint is rather less clarion - viz: when one erorms, and/or hears Brahms erormed in a ashion that takes into account what I have discussed above, the comoser that emerges is not the usual bombast but rather one ar more subtle, and ar more comlex who, in his intricacy, acing, and erume, almost aroaches the Proustian. As I wish to strongly roose this thesis, erhas I may be orgiven the egregious un in the title o this note. Paul Zukosky Originally ublished (in French) in Ostinato rigore: revue internationale d etudes musicales Issue No. 10, 1997 Musical examles revised in June, A La Recherche du [cinq] Tems Perdu

13 Footnotes 1. In the interest o ull disclosure, much o my thinking is due to an amalgam between my ather s (Louis Zukosky) concern or metric versus line length; the oortunity or me to revisit Greek (and other) rosody because o Messiaen s Traité de Rythme, de Couleur, et d Ornithologie; and rom erorming and recording Milton Babbitt, whose rhythmic motives are temorally scaled to dierent seeds, and originate at any oint in time, thereby rendering the bar-line irrelevant. None o these three worthies, however, are to be blamed or my lights o atahysics. 2. Given the aintness o the slur and the dierence in shae, I assume the slur was laced later, erhas by a coyist.. The examle omits the last 10 bars.. You may ind the irst o these orms in Messiaen, o.cit. I/9, examle B, Forme II, b) 9; one must add a dot to each o the Messiaen values in order to comensate. Brahms Examles 1. 2nd Symhony, last movement, Unmarked score. 2. 2nd Symhony, last movement, Marked score.. 2nd Symhony, last movement, - 0. Marked score.. Symhony, irst movement, - 2. Marked score.. Symhony, irst movement, 7 -. Unmarked score. 6. Symhony, irst movement, 7 -. Facsimile o original. 7. Symhony, irst movement, 7 -. Marked Score. 8. Violin Sonata, ous 100, irst movement, 1 -. Unmarked score. 9. Rhasodie, ous 119, irst age. Unmarked score. 1 A La Recherche du [cinq] Tems Perdu