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Mathis Lussy's "Traité de l'expression musicale" as a Window into Performance PracticeAuthor(s): Michael D. GreenReviewed work(s):Source: Music Theory Spectrum, Vol. 16, No. 2 (Autumn, 1994), pp. 196-216Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the Society for Music TheoryStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/746033 .

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Mathis Lussy's Trait de I'expression musicale as a Window into Performance Practice

Michael D. Green


Michael D. Green


Michael D. Green


Michael D. Green


Michael D. Green


Michael D. Green


Michael D. Green


Michael D. Green

Mathis Lussy was a nineteenth-century Swiss-born pianist and pedagogue who studied and lived for most of his life in Paris. In 1874 he published the Traite de l'expression musicale -accents, nuances et mouvements.' In this highly original treatise, he espouses the view that the basis of a sound musical interpretation is a knowledge that can be codified into laws or rules. Since certain notes and musical figures demand

specific reactions of the performer, musical expression is not a matter of caprice, but is written into "the structure of each

piece and of each phrase."2 To realize such a theory of musical expression, Lussy declares,

we simply have to search for the notes and the passages which have the particular power to impress and excite the sentiment of the performer; to classify them, to discover the cause and to determine

An early version of this article was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Music Theory, Cincinnati, 1991.

1Mathis Lussy, Traite de l'expression musicale-accents, nuances et mouvements (Paris: Heugel, 1874).

2"[L]a contexture de chaque morceau, de chaque phrase" (Lussy, Traite, 8). This and all further translations from the French are my own.


















































the nature of their action on the sentiment; in short, to formulate the law of that action.3

Since these laws are universal, performances of the same

piece do not markedly differ. Differences arise only from the

degree to which individual performers are innately sensitive to and knowledgeable of these laws of musical expression. Fundamentally, the performer is a faithful transmitter of the

composer's intent. This essay examines Lussy's thesis that there is only one

correct way to express a piece of music. After summarizing the foundation of Lussy's theory of musical expression, the examination follows three steps. First, Lussy's laws or rules are applied to those events which he identifies as expressive in an analysis of the opening song from Schumann's cycle Frauenliebe und -leben. On the basis of analytical insights stemming from the application of these rules, the effective- ness of Lussy's theory as an analytical tool for the performer will be evaluated. Second, a performance score for this song will be generated based upon Lussy's directions as to how the

3"[I]l suffit de chercher les notes et les passages qui ont plus particulierement la puissance d'impressionner et d'exciter le sentiment de l'executant, de les classer, de decouvrir la cause et de determiner le mode de leur action sur le sentiment; enfin, de formuler la loi de cette action" (Lussy, Traite, 3).




















































Mathis Lussy's Traite de l'expression musicale 197 Mathis Lussy's Traite de l'expression musicale 197 Mathis Lussy's Traite de l'expression musicale 197 Mathis Lussy's Traite de l'expression musicale 197 Mathis Lussy's Traite de l'expression musicale 197 Mathis Lussy's Traite de l'expression musicale 197 Mathis Lussy's Traite de l'expression musicale 197 Mathis Lussy's Traite de l'expression musicale 197

performer should react to each of the expressive events. As the last step, the tempo variations indicated in this performance score will be compared to the tempo variations in twelve recorded performances of this song dating from 1943 to 1985, in conjunction with a detailed examination of Lussy's theory regarding the uniformity of musical expression.

This essay does not explore Lussy's Traite as an historical document, although this would be a subject of great interest.4 Suffice it to say here that the Traite arises from a locale-Paris-and a time-the end of the nineteenth

century-imbued with the rational methodology of the nat- ural sciences. It stands as one of the first systematic explo- rations of expression in performance and as a reaction to similar treatises of the first part of the century in which musical expression was considered not susceptible to classifica- tion or codification.5

Lussy proposes that music comprises three elements: tonality, meter, and rhythm. He claims that our musical instinct is trained to yearn for the qualities associated with each of these three elements. Our musical instinct hungers after the attraction associated with tonality, whereby notes of the dia- tonic scale relate to a tonic note; our instinct also desires the regularity of meter, which is characterized by the regular recurrence at short intervals of time of an accented note; and

4For a fuller account of the historical precedents to Lussy's theory, see my "A History of the Word 'Accent' in Musical Theoretical Sources from the Sixteenth Century to the Present" (Ph.D. diss., University of Chicago, 1991), 252-69.

5Charles Czerny, Complete Theoretical and Practical Piano Forte School, op. 500 (London: Cocks & Co., 1839), vols. 3, 6.

"[I]l semble impossible de donner des regles pour l'expression" (Frederic Kalkbrenner, Methode pour apprendre le piano a I'aide du Guide-Mains [Paris: By the author, 1832], 16).

For an interesting consideration of the response of one of Lussy's contemporaries to this intellectual milieu, namely Hugo Riemann, see Scott Burnham, "Method and Motivation in Hugo Riemann's History of Harmonic Theory," Music Theory Spectrum 14 (1992): 1-14.

























































lastly our instinct seeks out the symmetry of rhythm, as defined by the periodicity of groups of two plus two, or three plus three, or four plus four measures. Once the mind grasps each of these qualities in a piece of music, it expects their continuation. However, if the qualities are threatened, then the mind responds emotively, causing the performer to react expressively.

Lussy associates a type of accent-a performer's stress- with both meter and rhythm. The accent metrique is located to the right of the notated bar-line, and the accent rhythmique coincides with the first and last notes of each rhythmic group.6 A third type of accent is the accent pathethique, which arises from notes which threaten to break the tonality, meter, or rhythm.

The notes to which the accent pathetique applies grate against the psychological need to preserve the established qualities of attraction, regularity, and symmetry:

[I]t is precisely these unexpected, irregular, exceptional notes, without musical logic, which most particularly have the ability to affect the sentiment ....

The feeling for musical expression is not then only the ability to sense acutely the phenomena of tonality, mode, meter, and rhythm, it is, above all, the extreme susceptibility, the extreme sensibility in the perception of the slightest tonal, modal, metric, and rhythmic ir- regularities. 7

6Lussy does not associate a type of accent with tonality, presumably because he considers it unnecessary for the performer to highlight the tonic.

7"Ce sont precisdment ces notes imprevues, irrdgulieres, exceptionnelles, en dehors de la logique musicale, qui ont plus particulierement la faculte d'impressionner le sentiment. ...

"Le sentiment de l'expression musicale n'est donc pas seulement la faculte de sentir vivement les ph6nomenes de la tonalite, de la modalite, de la mesure et du rhythme, c'est surtout l'extreme susceptibilite, l'extreme sensibilite dans la perception des moindres irregularites tonales, modales, metriques et rhythmiques"(Lussy, Traite, 7-8).



























































198 Music Theory Spectrum 198 Music Theory Spectrum 198 Music Theory Spectrum 198 Music Theory Spectrum 198 Music Theory Spectrum 198 Music Theory Spectrum 198 Music Theory Spectrum 198 Music Theory Spectrum

The accent pathetique is superior to the accent metrique and the accent rhythmique. In Lussy's words, these two accents "surrender their place to the accent pathetique, which sur-

passes and dominates the other two."8 Thus, for example, an

expressive event occurring on the second beat of a measure will be accented in favor of the accent metrique on the first beat. Similarly, if the penultimate note of a phrase attracts an accent pathetique, then the last note loses the accent rhythmique. While the metric and rhythmic accents may be sup- pressed and the meter and rhythm threatened, Lussy makes clear that the meter and rhythm can still be understood. This

point is made clearly in his discussion of syncopation; in this instance, "it is the accent metrique which is destroyed by the

syncopation but not the meter."9 The mental energy created from the friction between the desire to preserve order and the threat to its existence stimulates the performer to vary discreetly the music's tempo or subtly increase or decrease its dynamics. Musical expression is the result of these movements and nuances.

While the foundation of Lussy's theory is well articulated and the detail expressed in its rules is extraordinary, as the reader will observe in this essay, the theory's practical application to a single composition is less well explored. The 560 musical examples in the treatise are short, they often show

8"Ces deux accents doivent . . . ceder la place a l'accent pathetique, qui prime et domine les deux autres" (Lussy, Traite, 12).

9"C'est l'accent metrique qui est d6truit par la syncope mais non la mesure" (Lussy, Traite, 94). While for Lussy meter and rhythm are psychological phenomena, he does not seek their origin in how they are first established in the mind by the music. In practice, they are notated, not expressed structures, a consequence of Lussy's orientation as performer, who has before him the visual aid of the musical score. He does not take the stance of the listener, who potentially has nothing but his ears as guide. This, of course, is counter to contemporary theories which take the listener as source. See, for example, Fred Lerdahl and Ray Jackendoff, A Generative Theory of Tonal Music (Cam- bridge: MIT Press, 1983), 3-4.

























































melodies without harmony, and they illustrate only the rule

being addressed, even though other rules may be applicable. Neither the examples nor the text explain how the three types of accent interact in practice, particularly in complex passages. In order to test Lussy's theory, it must be applied to more extended segments of music.

The opening song of Schumann's Frauenliebe und -leben, "Seit ich ihn gesehen," proves to be an excellent subject for the application of Lussy's theory for several reasons. First, the accent pathetique occurs in each measure, sometimes more than once. Since this accent supersedes the other two accents, we need not be concerned with a comparison of the

performer's response to meter, rhythm, and expression. We

may understand the meter and rhythm to be comprehended by a listener without overt, accentual intervention by a performer. This is not to say that we will not be interested in the interaction of the accent pathetique with meter and

rhythm, only that the task is simplified with respect to dis-

criminating between three different forms of accent. Second, the song conforms to the period and style most directly represented in Lussy's text.10 And third, the presence of a text affords an important advantage: it permits an objective measure of the apposite quality of Lussy's rules for the accent

pathetique. In other words, their worth may be measured by how well they provide the vocalist insights into Schumann's

rendering of the text.

m'Lussy's primary concern is with highly melodic music of the first half of the nineteenth century. The majority of the 560 examples fall into three categories: the operatic music of Bellini, Donizetti, Meyerbeer, Rossini, and Verdi; the instrumental music of Beethoven and Mozart; and the piano music of a myriad of nineteenth-century composers, some well known (for example, Chopin, Field, Mendelssohn, and Schubert) and some less well known today (for example, Leybach, Lysberg, Ravina, and Schulhoff).









































































Mathis Lussy's Traite de I'expression musicale 199 Mathis Lussy's Traite de I'expression musicale 199 Mathis Lussy's Traite de I'expression musicale 199 Mathis Lussy's Traite de I'expression musicale 199 Mathis Lussy's Traite de I'expression musicale 199 Mathis Lussy's Traite de I'expression musicale 199 Mathis Lussy's Traite de I'expression musicale 199 Mathis Lussy's Traite de I'expression musicale 199

I

Schumann's song is a setting of a two-verse poem in which we hear a woman enraptured by her first love. Since the musical setting of the second verse is almost identical to the first, this analysis will concentrate on the first verse. The text reads in translation:

Since I have seen him I think myself blind; wherever I look I see him only. As in a waking dream his image hovers before me; out of the deepest darkness it rises ever more brightly.'1

The grouping structure beneath the music of Example 1 shows that this verse comprises four phrases, the first incor-

porating a one-measure piano prelude and the last a short

piano postlude. Of these phrases, only the second is rhyth- mically closed, in the sense that no grouping overlap or elision occurs. The strength of this close helps to divide the verse into two periods.12

Since the accent pathetique arises from a threat posed to the rhythm, meter, or tonality, we may follow Lussy's lead by classifying the various types of accent pathetique according to which phenomenon is involved. Thus, in Example 1 arrows above the music point to the notes which receive pathetic accents, and letters above the arrows explain what phenom-

I The Ring of Words: An Anthology of Song Texts, trans. Philip L. Miller

(New York: Norton, 1973), 6-7. '2In the chapter on rhythm, Lussy outlines a grouping hierarchy com-

prising incise, hemistiche, rhythm, and section. He also discusses the tech-

niques of phrase extension, contraction, and elision, and cites Antoine Reicha's Traite de melodie (Paris: J. L. Scherff, 1814) and Alexandre Choron and Juste de la Fage's Manuel complet de musique vocale et instrumentale

(Paris: Roret, 1836-38) as historical sources. For commentary on the dis- semination of Koch's ideas in the nineteenth century, see Nancy K. Baker's "Heinrich Koch and the Theory of Melody," Journal of Music Theory 20 (1976): 1-48.

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enon is involved: threats to the rhythm and meter are indicated by "R" and "M" respectively; threats to the tonality are defined by harmonic dissonances and suspensions ("HD" and "HS" respectively) and by tones foreign to the tonality ("T").

In the following analysis, each type of accent pathetique is discussed in turn, with observations as to its role in the song. In this process, it is hoped that the strength of Lussy's accent pathetique as an analytic tool for the performer will become evident.

Lussy's discussion of the threats to rhythm contains twelve rules. These rules describe circumstances that break a pattern in a single parameter (for example, duration or interval), whether that pattern is established within a single phrase or by comparison to a preceding, parallel phrase. Of the twelve rules, six apply to this song and are notated in Example 1: the upper neighbor note (R1), the long note (R2), the high note approached by a leap (R3), the exceptionally higher note (R4), the temporal repetition (R5), and the high note at the beginning of a rhythmic group (R6).13 For each of these

events, Lussy's rule will be cited in full and its analytic significance in the music will be discussed.

R1. But the note which above all other requires the pathetic accent is the upper neighbor note: (1) if it falls at the beginning of a rhythm; (2) if it is very long; (3) if it falls on the penultimate beat of a rhythm; (4) if it comes after a rest.'4

The upper neighbor note is found only in the verse's beginning (mm. 1, 2, 4 [incomplete], and 5) and end (mm.14 and

'3For a fuller consideration of Lussy's definition of rhythm and the other rhythmic exceptions which do not play a role in this song, see my "A History of the Word 'Accent,'" 232-48 and 481-91.

'4"Mais la note qui, plus que toute autre, exige l'accent path6tique, c'est la note voisine aigue: 1? si elle tombe au commencement d'un rhythme; 2? si elle a une plus grande valeur; 3? si elle tombe sur l'avant-dernier temps d'un rhythme; 4? si elle vient apres un silence" (Lussy, Traite, 101).



























































200 Music Theory Spectrum

Example 1. Above: Analysis employing Lussy's accents pathetiques; Below: Grouping structure analysis

M HD HD R2 R2 R2 HD R3 HS R1 R5 R2 R6 HD R5(R1) RI R5 R2 R6 R5 R5 HD R2 R5 HD

I \ i -

\ - \ AP r \

W- 1;,L;1;;sj}A 122t: 21XsF515 - 71 Seit ich ihn ge- se-hen, glaub'ich blind zu sein; wo ich hin nur bli- cke, seh'ich ihn al-lein. Wie im wachen Trau- me schwebt sein

l5f ^ : jj :} hb| 2 34 5 j j6 gj 7 -. 8

p,-,- .i --._- ---^^Lj---* ' -rtard

\ \1. \2. \3. j \4. \5. \6

\1. \2. ! \3.

\1. / \2.

HD T HS HS HS HD HS R3 R5 R5 R5 R2 R5 R2 R2 R4 R4 R4 R2 HS HS R2 HS R5 R1 R2 RI

Or ~l

I

- I - IJ Bild mir vor, taucht aus tiefstem Dun- kel heller, hel-ler nur empor. Sonst ist licht- und

, 110 _-_11 -- 13 '14 Jl5 _

16

2_ 3 17 18

*

Jb i j dJ , r .N

/ 7 __ 8. 1 \9. \10.

"~ ~ ~ ~~~~~_ _~~~4-:~ \"~ ~~3\5. \3.

Key: R1 Upper neighbor note R6 Initial high note R2 Long note M Syncopation R3 Approach by leap HD Dissonance R4 Exceptionally higher HS Suspension R5 Temporal repetition T Foreign Tone




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Mathis Lussy's Trait6 de l'expression musicale 201 Mathis Lussy's Trait6 de l'expression musicale 201 Mathis Lussy's Trait6 de l'expression musicale 201 Mathis Lussy's Trait6 de l'expression musicale 201 Mathis Lussy's Trait6 de l'expression musicale 201 Mathis Lussy's Trait6 de l'expression musicale 201 Mathis Lussy's Trait6 de l'expression musicale 201 Mathis Lussy's Trait6 de l'expression musicale 201

16). When introduced in m. 1 the upper neighbor falls on the second beat and thus detracts from the accent rhythmique, which normally falls on the first and last notes of the phrase, and the accent metrique, which for Lussy is indicated by the notated bar-line. The absence of melodic reinforcement of the downbeats of the first measures in the piece is particularly significant to the music's realization of the text to follow. Through muting the effect of both the metric and rhythmic accents, this accent pathetique helps to convey a musical fluidity which appropriately mirrors the emotional state of the woman enraptured by her first love. This fluidity continues in m. 2 and in m. 5, where the downbeat placement of the first words of the first two lines is de-emphasized in favor of the words "ihn"-the object of attention-and "hin"- referring the attention away from the subject to the object. The return of the neighbor note at the verse's end indicates the potential of the accent pathetique to articulate the verse's musical structure, as well as its textual content, a potential which will be fully realized as we apply more of Lussy's rules.

R2. A long note receives a strong accent when exceptionally introduced after several short notes.15

In mm. 2 and 5 the melodic dotted-quarter note, which is preceded by two eighth notes, is expressively accented not only because of the upper neighbor note, but also because this exceptionally long note detracts from the accent rhythmique that should apply to the first note of these phrases.16

'5"S'il se presente exceptionnellement une grande valeur, apres des pe- tites, elle prend une 6nergie tr6s-grande" (Lussy, Traite, 95).

In this analysis I show as accented only those dotted-quarter notes which follow a series of eighth notes. It may be argued that the dotted-eighth notes in mm. 4 and 7 should also receive this accent, but they are only minimally longer than the preceding eighth notes.

16It is one of the inconsistencies of his theory, one which Lussy does not care to unravel, that the long note is accented in itself and in addition helps to define the accent of the upper neighbor note. In the case of the upper











































Like the upper neighbor note, the long note returns in m. 4, where the upper neighbor is incomplete, and in the final phrase (mm. 14 and 16). Unlike the upper neighbor note, however, the long note also occurs in the third phrase (mm. 8 and 10) and in the first half of the last phrase (mm.12 and 13). In these measures the accentpathetique does not interfere with the projection of the meter; on the contrary, the meter is reinforced by the placement of this accent on the downbeat. The clear articulation of the notated meter now consciously marks for the listener the passage of musical time, a metaphor for the woman who is no longer blind ("Glaub ich blind zu sein"), but who sees her beloved as in a waking dream ("Wie im wachen Traume").

The return of the long note as an upper neighbor in m. 14 marks a shift from where the word accentuation and metrical notation are in agreement ("taucht aus tiefstem dunkel") to where they are, as in the opening, out of phase. The shift is achieved by the repetition of the word "heller" ("heller, heller nur empor)." The changing placement of the accent pathetique with respect to the meter gives to the verse a beginning, a middle, and an end. At the very close of the song, the noncongruence has a textual as well as a structural mean- ing, since the opening two lines of the poem return, recalling that the woman thinks herself blind.

R3. Strongly accent a high note which is approached either by an anacrusis or by a large ascending leap, especially if this leap is preceded by notes in conjunct motion.'7

neighbor note, Lussy is evidently attempting to say that not all upper neighbor notes are accented, but only those which occur at the beginning or end of a rhythm or, if they occur elsewhere in the phrase, are highlighted by also being relatively long or preceded by a rest.

17"On accentue fortement la note haute qui vient par grand saut ascendant, surtout si elle est precedee de notes se succ6dant par degr6 conjoint ou de notes d'elan" (Lussy, Traite, 98).







































The leap across the bar-line to the high note on the downbeat of m. 8 marks the first appearance of this kind of accent. It also signifies a shift from the accentual fluidity of the opening of the song to a temporal directness which characterizes the third phrase. Since the prevailing intervallic motion of the

melody within each half-phrase rarely exceeds a step, the

unprecedented leaps to Eb in mm. 8 and 10 impart a special emphasis to the words "wachen" and "Bild." This emphasis reflects the vividness of the woman's dream ("im wachen

Traume") and of the image of her beloved ("schwebt sein Bild mir vor"). These leaps are exceptional, neatly setting this

phrase apart from the previous two phrases, thereby rein-

forcing the highest melodic pitch of the entire song and the

change to a more direct metrical articulation.

R4. One accents notes which are higher or which are preceded by intervals greater than their equivalents in a preceding parallel rhythm.18

The third phrase comprises two parts, the second part an almost exact repetition of the first. The principal change is in pitch: Bb becomes B1 in mm. 10-11, and the descending semitone, Bb to A, becomes ascending, Bl to C, in m. 11.

Thus, the accent pathetique applies to the last three notes of the third phrase. The textual significance of these accented notes is not hard to understand: the raised pitches are a suit- able rhetorical device for the hovering image of the woman's lover. The accents these notes receive, coming as they do at the end of the third phrase, also heighten our anticipation for the events to follow.

18"On donne de l'accent aux notes du 2e rhythme qui exceptionnellement sont plus hautes, ou qui proc6dent par plus grand invervalle que celles qui leur font pendant dans le premier rhythme" (Lussy, Traite, 97).














































































R5. Absolutely every exceptional temporal repetition demands the pathetic accent.19

Lussy defines a temporal repetition as a repeated pitch which

proceeds from an unaccented to an accented part of the notated measure.20 The temporal repetition, like the upper neighbor note, the long note, and the leap, plays a significant role in the structural articulation of the song by virtue of its

placement within the phrase. In the first three phrases (at mm. 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, and 11) the

accent pathetique created by temporal repetition occurs at or near the close of the half-phrase and phrase. However, in the fourth phrase (mm. 11-12 and 12-13) the accent is placed at the phrase's beginning, sapping the rhythmical strength from the first note of the phrase and placing it on the first beat of the notated measure. This placement change helps to articulate a reversal in the fortunes of the melodic line, which has until this point been ascending by step: F (mm. 1-4), G (mm. 5-6), A (mm. 7-9), B-C (mm. 10-11), and D (m. 12). From m. 12 the melody descends from D to its close in m. 15 on Bb.21 The melodic reversal in m. 12 fulfills the anticipation raised by accents on the exceptionally higher notes at the end of the third phrase. At m. 15 the temporal repetition returns to its former position at the end of the phrase. It is now evident that the long upper-neighbor motive, characteristic of the first two phrases, can be expanded to include the temporal repetition, since the motive in mm. 14-15 is a variation of that in mm. 2-3.

19"Toute repetition temporale exceptionnelle exige essentiellement l'accent pathetique" (Lussy, Traite, 101).

20"Quand une meme note termine une mesure, un temps ou fraction de temps, et commence la mesure, le temps ou la fraction de temps suivante" (Lussy, Traite, 32).

2'For further discussion regarding reversal in the songs of Schumann, see V. Kofi Agawu, "Structural 'Highpoints' in Schumann's Dichterliebe," Music Analysis 3 (1984): 159-80.




























































R6. One particularly accents the highest note of a group when it

begins a rhythm.22

The last rhythmic threat applicable to this piece prescribes an accent pathetique for the highest note of a group when it is also the first note of a rhythmic group. Examples occur in the first two phrases, where the second half commences with the

highest note of the half-phrase. This high note emphasizes a

syllable which is poetically unaccented, as in the first phrase, "glaub ich blind zu sein." The accent given by the music to

"glaub" undermines the poetic accent on "blind." Thus, this accent pathetique adds to the temporal fluidity of the opening, which is also conveyed by the upper neighbor note. It also

brings to the fore the questioning by the woman of what is

reality and what is not. From threats to the rhythm, we can now turn to the one

threat to meter: syncopation (M). Although it may be argued that the third beats of mm. 1, 2, and 5 are syncopated, since the inceptions of these beats lack a note attack, in Lussy's view these long notes do not create true syncopations. Lussy argues that at the level of the measure only the first beat receives a metric accent and that if one does perceive, for

example, the third beat of a triple meter as more accented than the second, it is because it is accented expressively, not

metrically.23 Consequently, the only syncopation in this song

22"La note haute la plus aigue d'un group prend surtout de l'accent quand elle commence un rhythme" (Lussy, Traite, 99).

23"Quoi qu'en disent J. J. Rousseau, Castil-Blaze et tant d'autres, dans les mesures a 3 temps, le 3e temps est faible metriquement; il n'y a qu'une raison de rhythme ou d'expression pathetique qui puisse lui donner de la force [In spite of what J. J. Rousseau, Castil-Blaze, and many others have said

regarding triple meter, the third beat is metrically weak. Only the rhythm or the pathetic expression can give it force.]" (Lussy, Traite, 75).

In the fourth edition of the Traite (Paris: Heugel, 1882), Lussy extends to simple quadruple meter the principle that all beats other than the first are weak.


begins a rhythm.22















begins a rhythm.22















begins a rhythm.22















begins a rhythm.22















begins a rhythm.22















begins a rhythm.22















begins a rhythm.22














occurs at the level of the eighth note in the piano accom-

paniment of m. 4, where the note attacked on the fourth

eighth note is sustained through the third quarter note. This

syncopation breaks down the boundary between the first two

phrases by eliding the close of the first phrase. It also an-

ticipates the vocal line of m. 5, just as the initial entry of the vocal line was anticipated by the piano of m. 1. Indeed, we

clearly identify the syncopated note of m. 4 as an incomplete form of the upper neighbor which appears in its complete form in the following measure.

Lussy divides events which threaten the tonality into those which are harmonic (H) and those which are melodic (T). We will consider each in turn. Harmonic threats are created by chromatically altered chords, discords, suspensions, and, more generally, by "every note which places an obstacle to the arrival of a note which the ear desires."24 Like the ex-

pressive events arising from threats to rhythm and meter, the use of discords (HD) and suspensions (HS) in this song is calculated to serve the projection of its structure. Specifically, discords in the form of appoggiaturas color the closes of the first two phrases and the deceptive close during the fourth

phrase. The accents resulting from these discords usurp the role of the accents rhythmiques which would normally fall on the last note of the second, fourth, and eighth half-phrases.

Discords also arise from inversions of the dominant seventh chord. The first appearance of the third inversion closes the first period. Because of this chord's strong desire to resolve, continuity is ensured across the otherwise sturdy boundary between the two periods. The use of second and third inversions in the third phrase is significant since, by their

placement on the third and first beats of mm. 7-8 and 9-10, they actively participate in the shift from temporal fluidity to directness. The tonal threat of suspensions (HS) is reserved





















































































24"Toute note qui met obstacle a l'arriv6e de celle que l'oreille desire pour note de repos" (Lussy, Traite, 113).











exclusively for the fourth phrase (mm. 12-13). Here, the series of suspensions forms a bridge between the temporal directness of the third phrase and the fluidity of m. 14 which recalls the opening measures.

Just as suspensions are confined to the third and fourth

phrases, so the accent pathetique generated by a melodic threat to the tonality (T) is restricted to the chromaticism at the end of the third phrase. On the downbeat of m. 11, the Bt intimidates the prevailing key of Bb major, offering ad- ditional and more specific support to the "hovering image" and the accents pathetiques arising from the exceptionally higher notes. Since Lussy restricts the use of this accent to chromatic notes that are also relatively long or high or the

penultimate note of a phrase, the accent does not apply to the last note of m. 10 (B1);25 nor is the accent applicable to the melodic Abs in mm. 4 and 5 since the local modulation to C minor has already been effected by the nonharmonic tones on the downbeat of m. 4.

The degree to which Lussy's accent pathetique identifies the salient rhetorical gestures in this song is remarkable and demonstrates its usefulness as an analytical tool for the performer. We may isolate five pertinent insights from this anal-

ysis: first, the restriction of the long neighbor-note motive

(R1 + R2) with the phrase-terminating temporal repetition (R5) to the beginning and end of the verse; second, the

change in structural position of the temporal repetition (R5) from the end to the beginning of the phrase in mm. 11-12 to signal the directional change in the melodic line; third, the anticipation of these changes by the exceptionally higher notes (R4) supported by the chromatic alteration (T) at

























































25"Toute note chromatique, c'est-a-dire etrangere a la gamme et au mode dans lesquels la melodie est construite, est forte: 1? si elle a une grand valeur; 2? si, avec une grande valeur, elle est note voisine grave ou aigue, ou sim-

plement note aigue; 3? si elle est p6nultieme d'un rhythme" (Lussy, Traite, 103).















the end of the third phrase; fourth, the inversions of the dominant-seventh chord (HD) and melodic leaps (R3) reserved for the highpoints in the third phrase; and last, the series of suspensions (HS) in mm. 12-13, which provides a means of bridging the change from stronger to weaker articulation of the metrical downbeats by the melody. These

insights, when viewed against the notated meter, reflect the

changing vision of the woman from blindness to a waking dream and reveal the arched structure of the verse. For the

performer, they ensure the identification of the salient ex-

pressive events of the song, even if the performer refrains from consciously relating these events to their purpose in

underlining the substance of the text.

II

In chapters 7 and 8 of the Traite, Lussy explains the two

ways in which the accent pathetique can be discreetly realized in performance: by variations in tempo, or mouvements, and

by variations in dynamics, or nuances. He writes of the stimulus for these expressive gestures:

The effort the sentiment makes to cling to the starting tonic or to the pattern of the first rhythm, the resistance by which it opposes a new tonic and a new rhythm, the energy and the force which must be brought to bear to detach the sentiment from its desires and habits and to impose others on it, naturally manifests itself by a stimulus: that is, in a crescendo or a greater intensity of sound, in an acceleration of tempo, in a production of greater passion.

But this is not all. He adds:







II












II












II












II












II












II












II






These are inevitably followed by a gradual decrescendo, passing through a thousand delicate nuances, and by a proportional slowing down.26








26"Les efforts que fait le sentiment pour se cramponner a la tonique de depart ou au moule du premier rhythme, la resistance qu'il oppose a la tonique











The balance of action and counter-action is essential to the understanding of Lussy's Traite. It is not sufficient that the music has written into it an action; it must also incorporate its counterpart. In this premise we reach Lussy's credo. While it may appear facile in the score of this song to show that in the performance of each half-phrase one should grow louder and get faster in the first part, and do the opposite in the second part, Lussy's point is more subtle. His point is that these responses do not have to be rendered arbitrarily by the performer, but are actually written into the surface features of the music. It is the fingerprint of the style of music which he describes and analyzes in the Traite, and is a measure of Lussy's sensitivity as a musician to this music.

In principle, then, it is only necessary to match the particular accent pathetique to the particular response which Lussy prescribes to generate a sketch of a performance score. The score, presented in Example 2, shall now be described phrase by phrase.

The first noteworthy expressive event in the initial phrase is the long note highlighting the upper neighbor note. Lussy advises that this long note should receive a stress.27 This stress applies equally to the dotted-quarter note in the vocal line of m. 2 and to that stress already notated for the piano in m. 3. More than just greater force, however, the exceptionally long note also requires, according to Lussy, an accelerando

nouvelle et au rhythme nouveau, l'energie, la force qu'il faut d6ployer pour lui faire perdre ses desirs et ses habitudes et pour lui en imposer d'autres se traduisent naturellement par une excitation, c'est-a-dire par une crescendo ou intensite de son plus grande, par une acceleration dans le mouvement, par une production de chaleur plus forte, forcement suivie d'un decrescendo gra- due, parcourant mille nuances delicates, et d'un ralentissement proportionnel" (Lussy, Traite, 7).

27"Plus les notes ont de valeur, plus il faut de force dans l'attaque, afin que leur sonorite soit soutenue [The longer the notes, the greater must be the force with which they are attacked, so that their tone may be sustained.]" (Lussy, Traite, 140).




































and a crescendo to the note. The balancing rallentando is found in the temporal repetition of mm. 2-3 since, as Lussy writes, "there must be a rallentando on the temporal repetitions at the end of the penultimate bar [of a rhythmic group]."28

As a rule of thumb, any slowing should be accompanied by a diminuendo. However, the diminuendo accompanying the temporal repetition in mm. 2-3 is shattered by the piano's notated stress in m. 3. The accelerando which belongs with this long note is immediately countered by the melodic descent of the voice, for the high note at the beginning of the half-phrase should be followed by a rallentando and decrescendo.29 Lussy is careful to add, however, that "when descending passages contain sudden and unexpected obstacles, such as notes which produce modulations or expressive notes, force is necessary in spite of the descending direction."30 Thus, the discord at the beginning of m. 4 must be acknowl- edged with some force by both the voice and piano, in spite of the overall decrescendo in this part of the phrase.

Lussy's concern for the micromanagement of movements and nuances does not generally extend to the expressive control of larger structures, such as the sequence which governs the relationship between the first two phrases. The second phrase is a sequence of the first up one step, melodic change not occurring until the compression of the minor third, Bt to G (m. 3), to a major second, C to B, (m. 6). Following Lussy's logic, this ascending sequence intensifies the drama

28"On ralentit ... sur les r6eptitions temporales a la fin de l'avant- derniere mesure" (Lussy, Traite, 131-32).

29"Il faut employer les decrescendo, graduellement d6penser moins de vehemence et de sonorit6 dans les passages descendants [It is necessary to employ a decrescendo, gradually dissipating the vehemence and sonority in descending passages.]" (Lussy, Traite, 139).

30"[Q]uand les passages descendants renferment des obstacles subits, im- pr6vus, des notes qui determinent des modulations, des notes path6tiques, il faut de la force malgre leur direction descendante" (Lussy, Traite, 139).














































Example 2. Peformance score derived from Lussy's Traite

General Dynamics: -

Specific Dynamics: > - > - > >



General Dynamics: -




General Dynamics: -




General Dynamics: -




General Dynamics: -




General Dynamics: -




General Dynamics: -




General Dynamics: -


Agogics: accel. rail. accel. rall. accel. rail. accel. rail. accel. rail. accel.

\ \1. \2. \3. / \4. /\5. /\6.


\ \1. \2. \3. / \4. /\5. /\6.


\ \1. \2. \3. / \4. /\5. /\6.


\ \1. \2. \3. / \4. /\5. /\6.


\ \1. \2. \3. / \4. /\5. /\6.


\ \1. \2. \3. / \4. /\5. /\6.


\ \1. \2. \3. / \4. /\5. /\6.


\ \1. \2. \3. / \4. /\5. /\6.

8f > > _ >

^"T^Vf-^rTtT-^r^T^ ^ - i - J^J J1 Bild mir vor, taucht aus tiefstem Dun- kel hel-er hel-ler nur empor. Sonst ist licht und

o10 l 2------ 2 13 4 _L. 4 L 5) 16 irL' j . 17 178

r r- j I J b; 4i j J I j Jj- j j -

8f > > _ >


o10 l 2------ 2 13 4 _L. 4 L 5) 16 irL' j . 17 178


8f > > _ >


o10 l 2------ 2 13 4 _L. 4 L 5) 16 irL' j . 17 178


8f > > _ >


o10 l 2------ 2 13 4 _L. 4 L 5) 16 irL' j . 17 178


8f > > _ >


o10 l 2------ 2 13 4 _L. 4 L 5) 16 irL' j . 17 178


8f > > _ >


o10 l 2------ 2 13 4 _L. 4 L 5) 16 irL' j . 17 178


8f > > _ >


o10 l 2------ 2 13 4 _L. 4 L 5) 16 irL' j . 17 178


8f > > _ >


o10 l 2------ 2 13 4 _L. 4 L 5) 16 irL' j . 17 178


rail. rail. rail. rail. rail. rail. rail. rail. accel. rall. accel. rall. accel. rall. accel. rall. accel. rall. accel. rall. accel. rall. accel. rall. accel. accel. accel. accel. accel. accel. accel. accel.

/ 7 / 7 / 7 / 7 / 7 / 7 / 7 / 7

rall. accel. rall.

8. /\9.

rall. accel. rall.

8. /\9.

rall. accel. rall.

8. /\9.

rall. accel. rall.

8. /\9.

rall. accel. rall.

8. /\9.

rall. accel. rall.

8. /\9.

rall. accel. rall.

8. /\9.

rall. accel. rall.

8. /\9. \ 10. \ 10. \ 10. \ 10. \ 10. \ 10. \ 10. \ 10.

Key: #f highly accented > moderately accented - slightly accented Key: #f highly accented > moderately accented - slightly accented Key: #f highly accented > moderately accented - slightly accented Key: #f highly accented > moderately accented - slightly accented Key: #f highly accented > moderately accented - slightly accented Key: #f highly accented > moderately accented - slightly accented Key: #f highly accented > moderately accented - slightly accented Key: #f highly accented > moderately accented - slightly accented

> - > -f > > - > -f > > - > -f > > - > -f > > - > -f > > - > -f > > - > -f > > - > -f >




and should require a crescendo and accelerando. This logic is supported by the double temporal repetition which effec-

tively counters the intensity stimulated by the sequence, a fact reinforced by the notated ritardando.

The dynamics of the third phrase (mm. 7-11) are dictated

by the shape of the vocal line. The ascent and descent nat-

urally invokes a crescendo and diminuendo, with the high El

highly stressed (sforzato) because of its approach by a leap. A feature of this passage not alluded to earlier is the contrary motion at the beginning of the phrase.31 Lussy writes that an accelerando should occur "when, at the beginning of a phrase, the melody and the bass move exceptionally in contrary motion."32 This acceleration is stimulated by the accent pathetique resulting from the discord associated with the third inversion of the dominant-seventh chord. The seventh in the bass demands descent and the leading tone in the melody demands ascent. The dynamic ebb and flow resulting from the rise and fall of the melody is thus harnessed to a temporal ebb and flow arising from the interaction of the melody and bass.

The second half of the third phrase is a varied repetition of the first half, with the even eighth notes replaced by a dotted rhythm. Lussy writes, "The more energetic the metrical figure, the greater the force required."33 This suggests that the second half of the phrase, containing the dotted surface rhythm, should be louder than the first. The increased

31This feature was not addressed earlier in this essay because it is not covered in the rules laid down in Lussy's chapter on the accent pathetique. It is described, however, in the chapter "Du mouvement passionnel" later in the Traite. This is one example of several inconsistencies present in the Traite.

32"Quand, au commencement d'un rhythme, le chant et la basse marchent exceptionnellement en mouvement contraire" (Lussy, Traitd, 122).

33"Plus la coupe metrique est energique, plus il faut de force" (Lussy, Traite, 140). This is another matter discussed in the chapter "Du mouvement passionnel" and not in the chapter on the accent pathetique.







































































intensity and passion anticipate the dramatic changes in store at the phrase's end with the change of B l to B . There are

competing signals here with respect to tempo variations. On the one hand, the temporal repetition and unexpected change in melodic direction counsel a deceleration; on the other hand, the chromatic alteration indicates an acceleration.34 How these competing signals are treated in the recordings analyzed below is of particular interest.

The temporal repetition of the D at the beginning of the last phrase (mm. 11-12) is an emphatic gesture that has not occurred before. We noted in relation to the first phrase that when the temporal repetition occurs at the end of a phrase, Lussy specifies that it should be accompanied by a diminuendo and ritardando. While he does not specifically discuss the response to the temporal repetition at the beginning of a phrase, it seems reasonable to infer that he would in this circumstance recommend the opposite: an acceleration. Af- ter this initial accelerando and crescendo the melody begins its structural descent. At this point, the complexity of the

piano writing dictates a slowing down; nevertheless, while the

passage should be slightly slower, it should not weaken dy- namically, since as Lussy writes, "the more complex a passage, . . . the more sonority it requires."35 Thus, contrary to previous phrases which have demonstrated a congruence between mouvements and nuances, m. 12 begins with the

coupling of deceleration and dynamic intensity. The slowing

34"0n ralentit . . . sur la note qui exceptionnellement en remplace une plus haute ou une plus grave, changeant ainsi la direction du dessin rhythmique pr6ecdent [One slows down ... on a note which exceptionally replaces a higher or lower note, thus changing the direction of the preceding rhythmic design.]" (Lussy, Traite, 127).

34"On acc6elre ... sur les modulations qui se d6terminent au commencement ou a la fin d'un rhythme [One accelerates . . . on modulations which resolve at the beginning or at the end of a rhythm.]" (Lussy, Traite, 121).

35"Plus un passage est complexe, . . plus il doit etre sonore" (Lussy, Traite, 141).



































































caused by the suspensions is punctuated by the acceleration accompanying the temporal repetition (mm. 12-13) and the long note (m. 13). Once the series of suspensions has con- cluded, the sustained intensity must be balanced by a decrescendo as the vocal line finally descends to the tonic.

By matching Lussy's comments on mouvements and nuances to those events to which the accent pathetique applies, the expressive events within each of the nine half-phrases dictate for each a temporal and dynamic ebb and flow which helps to articulate their boundaries.36 Since the balance of an expressive ebb and flow, a fundamental dictum of Lussy's theory of performance, is so well attuned to the succession of half-phrases, we must conclude at this stage that the performer can gain a viable interpretation of this score from the rules Lussy provides.

III

But does the performance score resemble the recordings of this song made by artists, who, for our purposes, we must assume to be highly gifted musicians offering expressively acceptable performances? The analysis of tempo variations from a comparison of twelve different recordings made over the past 45 years (Table 1)37 reveals a surface conformity that validates one part of the performance score and, thereby, substantiates Lussy's principle that music expression lies within the surface of the written score.38

The graph in Figure 1 charts the actual length of each quarter note measured in time units as derived from the mean

36The first complete half-phrase commences with the vocal entry on the downbeat of m. 2.

37These recordings were those available to me at the music library of the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 38The tools necessary to measure dynamic variations objectively were not

available to me for this essay. I hope to pursue the role of dynamic variations in these performances at a later date.



III









III









III









III









III









III









III







of the twelve recordings.39 This then is a composite graph revealing the nine complete rhythmic cycles postulated by the application of Lussy's theory to the first sixteen measures of the song. On the graph, these cycles are defined by an accelerando (descent) and a ritardando (ascent); thus, each cycle is bounded by an initial and a terminal highpoint ("HP") and each possesses a single lowpoint ("LP"). (The piano prelude is represented by an incomplete cycle leading to HP1.) Each terminal HP serves as the initial HP for the following cycle; for example, the terminal HP of the first cycle (m. 3.1) is also the initial HP of the second cycle (that is, HP2). The following discussion attempts to correlate Figure 1 and the performance score.

39The data necessary to plot the graphs illustrated in this essay were obtained by the use of a simple BASIC program. This program, employing a loop, allows for the input of a keystroke which I give in reaction to each perceived quarter-note beat. Upon a keystroke, the number of the loop is recorded. Each loop equals one "time unit" and approximates one sixtieth of a second. (This method was preferred to employing the computer's internal clock which is not so accurate). This data is then read into a spreadsheet (QUATTRO). In the spreadsheet, the relative length of each quarter-note beat in time units is calculated by subtracting one number from the previous one in the series.

Possible error was minimized by three means. First, the loop begins at 1000 so that for a relatively short piece each number contains four digits, thus equalizing the time for each number to be sent either to the screen or to the data file. Second, the primary loop contains a subsidiary loop in order to compensate for the delay when a number is written to the data file as opposed to the screen. Third, for each recording, five data files were obtained. The mean of each quarter-note beat is the number which is plotted on the graphs. And fourth, I was careful to respond to, and not anticipate, each beat, so equalizing as far as possible my reaction time to each beat.

Taking Schumann as an example, and the mean standard deviation of all the quarter-note beats in that performance, there is a 95% probability that each beat will fall within the range + or - 1.6 time units or 3.2% on a mean quarter-note pulse of 50.7 time units. For all twelve recordings, the deviation is + or - 1.7 time units or 3.1% on a mean quarter-note pulse of 54.9 time units. I consider this degree of error to be within reason for the analytical claims expressed in this essay.































Mathis Lussy's Trait6 de l'expression musicale 209 Mathis Lussy's Trait6 de l'expression musicale 209 Mathis Lussy's Trait6 de l'expression musicale 209 Mathis Lussy's Trait6 de l'expression musicale 209 Mathis Lussy's Trait6 de l'expression musicale 209 Mathis Lussy's Trait6 de l'expression musicale 209 Mathis Lussy's Trait6 de l'expression musicale 209 Mathis Lussy's Trait6 de l'expression musicale 209

Table 1. List of recordings analyzed Table 1. List of recordings analyzed Table 1. List of recordings analyzed Table 1. List of recordings analyzed Table 1. List of recordings analyzed Table 1. List of recordings analyzed Table 1. List of recordings analyzed Table 1. List of recordings analyzed

Vocalist Vocalist Vocalist Vocalist Vocalist Vocalist Vocalist Vocalist Pianist Pianist Pianist Pianist Pianist Pianist Pianist Pianist

1. Lotte Lehmann 2. Elisabeth Schumann 3. Kathleen Ferrier 4. Irmgard Seefried 5. Maureen Forrester 6. Leontyne Price 7. Elly Ameling 8. Edda Moser 9. Mildred Miller

10. Evelyn Lear 11. Edith Mathis 12. Hildegard Behrens















Record Label Record Label Record Label Record Label Record Label Record Label Record Label Record Label

Bruno Walter Gerald Moore John Newmark Walter Klein John Newmark David Garvey Dalton Baldwin Erik Werba John Wustman Roger Vignoles Christoph Eschenbach David Syrus








Columbia World Record Club Decca Pearl RCA Victor RCA Red Seal Philips EMI Electrola Musical Heritage Soc. Chandos Deutsche Grammophone EMI








Number Number Number Number Number Number Number Number

ML 4788 SH 175 ACL 307 SHE 556/7 LM 2275 LSC 3169 6500 706 1C 065-30238 MHS 3556 ABR 1009 2531 323 7475512 (CD)








Date of Release/Performance








195? 1971 1949? n.d. n.d. 1971? 1974? 1976? 1977 1979 1981

195? 1971 1949? n.d. n.d. 1971? 1974? 1976? 1977 1979 1981

195? 1971 1949? n.d. n.d. 1971? 1974? 1976? 1977 1979 1981

195? 1971 1949? n.d. n.d. 1971? 1974? 1976? 1977 1979 1981

195? 1971 1949? n.d. n.d. 1971? 1974? 1976? 1977 1979 1981

195? 1971 1949? n.d. n.d. 1971? 1974? 1976? 1977 1979 1981

195? 1971 1949? n.d. n.d. 1971? 1974? 1976? 1977 1979 1981

195? 1971 1949? n.d. n.d. 1971? 1974? 1976? 1977 1979 1981

1943 1946 1949? 1958? 1958? 1971? 1974? 1976? 1977 1979 1981

1943 1946 1949? 1958? 1958? 1971? 1974? 1976? 1977 1979 1981

1943 1946 1949? 1958? 1958? 1971? 1974? 1976? 1977 1979 1981

1943 1946 1949? 1958? 1958? 1971? 1974? 1976? 1977 1979 1981

1943 1946 1949? 1958? 1958? 1971? 1974? 1976? 1977 1979 1981

1943 1946 1949? 1958? 1958? 1971? 1974? 1976? 1977 1979 1981

1943 1946 1949? 1958? 1958? 1971? 1974? 1976? 1977 1979 1981

1943 1946 1949? 1958? 1958? 1971? 1974? 1976? 1977 1979 1981

1985 1985 1985 1985 1985 1985 1985 1985 1985 1985 1985 1985 1985 1985 1985 1985

After the opening piano deceleration, which prepares for the entry of the voice, m. 2.2 is shortened so as to give the

impression of acceleration on the long note. The response to the temporal repetition is a lengthening of m. 3.1 and this

completes the first cycle. While four of the recordings ([Amel- ing],40 Forrester, Miller, and Price) begin this cycle one beat earlier, and four place LP1 one beat earlier ([Ameling], [Lear], Moser, and Price), the majority concur with the po- sitions of HP1 and LP1 in Figure 1, and all recordings agree with the position of HP2.

All performers express the acceleration attached to the initial high note of the second half-phrase by the early entry of the voice and, therefore, the shortening of m. 3.2. The deceleration in the second cycle, accomplished theoretically

40When parentheses or brackets are employed for a performer's name, it signifies that deviation from the expected HP or LP is marginal and within the measurement error for that particular quarter note.




































by the dissonance and the temporal repetition, is recognized in the composite graph by the longer quarters at the end of m. 3 and at the beginning of m. 4.

Two aspects of the composite graph are indicative of less

agreement among performers regarding the close of the first

phrase and the opening of the second phrase. First, the

lengths of m. 3.3 and 4.1 (HP3a) are similar, and second, at m. 4.3 (HP3b) there is a momentary reversal of the acceleration following HP3a. Such interpretive diversity stems di-

rectly from the grouping elision. Ideally, the Lussy performance score suggests a deceleration following m. 3.3. The

question revolves around the treatment of the elision pre- cipitated by the long note struck by the piano on the fourth

eighth of m. 4. Since this long note is syncopated across the third beat of the measure, incorporating portions of the second and third beats, should the acceleration of the third cycle commence on m. 4.1, m. 4.2, or m. 4.3? While most re-

cordings place HP3a at either m. 4.1 or m. 4.2, there are some



































































Figure 1. Quarter-note beat durations: mean composition graph of twelve recordings Figure 1. Quarter-note beat durations: mean composition graph of twelve recordings Figure 1. Quarter-note beat durations: mean composition graph of twelve recordings Figure 1. Quarter-note beat durations: mean composition graph of twelve recordings Figure 1. Quarter-note beat durations: mean composition graph of twelve recordings Figure 1. Quarter-note beat durations: mean composition graph of twelve recordings Figure 1. Quarter-note beat durations: mean composition graph of twelve recordings Figure 1. Quarter-note beat durations: mean composition graph of twelve recordings

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notable exceptions. Seefried, for example, places HP3a at m. 3.3 and accelerates through the following measure, ignoring the close of the first phrase. Ameling, however, decelerates from m. 3.2 to m. 4.3, omitting any sense of the urgency caused by the elision. And Schumann places HP3a at m. 3.3, but then decelerates from m. 4.1 to a subsidiary HP at m. 4.3. Clearly, when the close of a phrase is disturbed, as it is here, the eddies created by the interaction of a cyclic ending and beginning result in less interpretive conformance.

Like the first cycle, the third cycle has a LP in m. 5 which corresponds to the long upper neighbor note. All recordings (with the exception of [Moser]) agree with the position of this point, as they do with the ensuing deceleration. In turn, the fourth cycle matches the second. The parallel response to the first two phrases can be verified by comparing in Figure 1 the directional pattern (down-down-up-down-up) of mm. 2.1-3.3 and mm. 5.1-6.3, and the similar lengths of the parallel beats















within these two portions. The extreme deceleration leading to HP5 is characteristic of most of the recordings (the exceptions being [Mathis], Miller, and Price), a clear response to the double temporal repetition and the notated ritardando.

The composite graph shows that the fifth cycle begins by shortening m. 7.2-that is, by anticipating the expected beginning of the third phrase. This creates continuity across the grouping boundary and induces momentum for the music to follow. Only [Mathis], Miller, and Price see the deceleration of the fourth cycle through to m. 7.2, consequently closing the first period more emphatically than other recordings. Fol- lowing the boundary, the majority of performers accelerate to the long note and melodic highpoint in m. 8 (LP5), and decelerate to the end of the half-phrase in m. 9 (HP6). Only Miller and [Price] demur, placing LP5 at m. 8.3, thus letting the acceleration from the contrary motion (m. 7.3) and long note (m. 8.1) overflow to the following quarter in contra- diction to the score based on Lussy's theory.

The sixth cycle, defined by HP6 and HP7a, shows a brief reversal in the deceleration following its LP. This reversal is a reaction to the chromatically raised B on the downbeat of m. 11. This detracts from the height of HP7a and, as a consequence, raises the expectation for the changes at the beginning of the fourth phrase. Only Miller and Price omit this reversal. The closure which is defined by HP7a (m. 11.2) is undermined by Ferrier, Moser, and Seefried, who make the HP two beats before m. 11.2. The consequence of this early HP is an acceleration from m. 10.3 to m. 12.1, a symptom of the ambiguity of the grouping boundary presented by the piano. While the voice would appear to conclude the third phrase with the appoggiatura B to C, the piano interprets this C as a passing tone within the sustained dominant seventh of C. Indeed, this chord does not resolve until m. 12.2-and then equivocally. Although there are differences in the way performers deal with the complexity of these measures, the sensitivity which these artists demonstrate to the competing

























needs of the phrase to close through a deceleration and of the chromatic B~ to excite through an acceleration is testi- mony to the insightfulness of Lussy's Traite.

The seventh cycle is yet more complex. The half-phrase with which it corresponds concludes on m. 13.3, a point with which all recordings bar one (Behrens) concur (HP8). How- ever, within this cycle there is embedded a subsidiary HP7b. This subsidiary peak suitably mirrors the complexity of the piano texture and the expressive leaps of the vocal line in m. 12. The majority of recordings (except [Forrester] and Mathis) concur with the position of HP7b. Thus, the temporal repetition on D is accompanied by an acceleration (mm. 11.3-12.1), the leap down and up on "tief-" generates a deceleration, the temporal repetition on C is joined by an acceleration into the long note, and this acceleration is then balanced by the principal deceleration of the cycle. The cor- respondence to the Lussy performance score is striking.

There is general conformity regarding the last two cycles. Most of the recordings concur with HP8 (except Behrens), clearly marking the repetition of "heller" and, as a result, the shift whereby the long note commences on m. 14.2, not m. 14.1. This long note is suitably shortened (LP8) and the following deceleration is cut short by the delayed deceptive close on the downbeat of m. 15. Thus, HP9 corresponds to m. 14.3. Only two recordings contest this view: [Behrens], whose pianist continues the deceleration to m. 15.1, and Forrester, whose pianist incorporates the entire deceptive close in the eighth cycle. In the ninth cycle, most recordings ignore the long note in m. 16 (it is now less prominent because of the left hand's articulation of m. 16.3) and decelerate from m. 15.3 to m. 16.3. All recordings show a marked acceleration for the first beat of the second verse (m. 17.1).

This overview of the rhythmic cycles of the first verse of this song clearly validates Lussy's theory, since at all points the composite graph and a large majority of the recordings confirm our performance score based on his theory. This is





























true not only in terms of its details, in describing which events will elicit a certain response-such as the Bt at m. 11.1 and the melodic leaps and temporal repetitions in m. 12-but also in terms of its broader claim, that a temporal balance in each half-phrase is essential to an expressive performance.

However, the conformity among responses just described does not speak to the interpretive differences between the recordings which are so apparent to the ear. On the one hand, the majority of artists respond by an accelerando or ritardando in accordance with the performance score; but, on the other hand, the composite graph cannot indicate the degree to which these artists agree with Lussy's dictum that an acceleration is countered by a proportional deceleration.41 An investigation of how these recorded performances relate surface variations in tempo to the musical structure of the song can offer one measure of their interpretive differences.

Indeed, a more detailed analysis of individual recordings reveals two very different interpretive models of this song. The two recordings which best represent these two inter- pretations are those of Elisabeth Schumann and Mildred Miller, their graphs reproduced respectively as Figures 2a and 2b.42

While both recordings generally respond to the same surface events in the same manner, thus substantiating Lussy's thesis, these recordings are distinguished by different atti- tudes toward the articulation of structure. On the one hand, Schumann employs a constant mean quarter-note pulse

41See footnote 26. 42These, and all following graphs, chart two plots: the length of each

quarter-note beat and the mean quarter-note pulse ("MQP") of each cycle (bullet). The scale of the y-axis remains consistent in this and all subsequent graphs to aid in easy comparison.

The mean quarter-note pulse for each cycle (MQP) is the mean of all quarter-note lengths within that cycle, including the initial and terminal HPs. Thus, each high-point is included in two cycles: as the terminator of one cycle and as the initiator of the succeeding cycle.





















































Figure 2. Quarter-note beat durations and MQP per cycle (.) Figure 2. Quarter-note beat durations and MQP per cycle (.) Figure 2. Quarter-note beat durations and MQP per cycle (.) Figure 2. Quarter-note beat durations and MQP per cycle (.) Figure 2. Quarter-note beat durations and MQP per cycle (.) Figure 2. Quarter-note beat durations and MQP per cycle (.) Figure 2. Quarter-note beat durations and MQP per cycle (.) Figure 2. Quarter-note beat durations and MQP per cycle (.)

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("MQP") from cycle to cycle, letting the relative extremes of HPs and LPs articulate the structure of the half-phrase, phrase, and period. This performance might be described as "poetic" to reflect the rhyming exhibited by a particular sen-

sitivity to the relative weighting of HPs and LPs. On the other hand, Miller offers the change in the MQP from cycle to cycle as the means whereby the same structure is articulated. This

performance might be described as "prosaic" to reflect the declamation of the structure through temporal modulation. A more detailed discussion of each performance follows.






















In Schumann's performance, the MQP clearly differentiates the first three cycles from the later cycles. The ritardando which defines the end of the fourth cycle also defines the closure of the first two phrases. The MQP set by the fourth

cycle becomes the MQP for the succeeding cycles of the first

strophe. This constancy in the MQP means that balances of variations in tempo must articulate the structure at the levels of the phrase and half-phrase. A more detailed consideration of Figure 2a shows this is indeed the case.

Of the first four cycles, three observations are noteworthy: first, the twin peaks of HP3 and HP5; second, their balance

by the extreme troughs of LP2 and LP4; and third, the com-

parison of these peaks and troughs to the subsidiary peaks, HPs 1, 2, and 4, and subsidiary troughs, LPs 1 and 3. Through the comparative heights and depths of these HPs and LPs, Schumann differentiates the levels of the half-phrase and

phrase. LP2-HP3 defines the end of the second cycle and the first phrase, just as LP4-HP5 defines the end of the fourth

cycle, the second phrase, and, by the extremity of HP5, the first period. Just as LPs 2 and 4 are of similar depth, so there is a similarity in the timings of the secondary HPs and LPs. The secondary HPs 1, 2, and 4 are of very similar height, and LPs 1 and 3 are of similar depth. That Schumann maintains both a constant MQP within the first three cycles, and at the same time defines the half-phrase, phrase, and the period structure by the measured variation of the quarter-note lengths of the HPs and LPs is testament to the degree of control she brings to this performance.43

43Schumann's performance is an ideal example of the expressive timing model proposed by Neil Todd, in his article "A Model of Expressive Timing in Tonal Music," Music Perception 3, no. 1 (1985): 33-58. The fact that the formal structure is often articulated by a "phrase-final lengthening" has long been recognized in the field of music cognition. For example, Todd cites a similar observation by R. H. Stetson in "A Motor Theory of Rhythm and Discrete Succession," Psychological Review 12 (1905): 250-350. See also
































































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Schumann maintains control over the remaining cycles of the first strophe. In a more exaggerated manner than that conveyed in the composite graph, she differentiates the remaining cycles through the deceleration LP7b-HP8. This di- vision corresponds to the change from the middle section of the strophe, where the expressive accents coincide with the metric downbeats, to the end of the strophe where these accents more often interfere with the meter. As in the first period, we can once again compare the similar heights of HPs 6 and 7 and the similar depths of LPs 5, 7a, and 9. In addition, we may admire the manner in which the subsidiary HP7b does not compete with those HPs which precede and follow it.

With one exception, Schumann is faithful to the perform- ing score based on Lussy. This exception arises in mm. 3-4. Here, HP3a overshadows the subsidiary HP3b, the HP which actually helps to articulate the close of the first phrase. The extreme HP3a is an immediate reaction to the extreme LP2- that is, Schumann's dramatic anticipation of m. 3.3 is countered by her dwelling over the text "glaub' ich." While this can be described as an example of artistic license, she nevertheless maintains the principle of temporal balance, subtly indicates the close of the phrase, and sustains a more or less constant MQP across the first three cycles. This is a remarkable feat of expressive control.

Mildred Miller's performance, represented in Figure 2b, offers a very different view of structure. In contrast to Schu- mann, Miller's MQP is not constant from cycle to cycle; however, this does not signify that her performance does not employ expression to delineate form. Miller achieves this

Henry Shaffer, "Performances of Chopin, Bach, and Bartok: Studies in Motor Programming," Cognitive Psychology 13 (1981): 326-76, and Eric F. Clarke, "Structure and Expression in Rhythmic Performance," in Musical Structure and Cognition, ed. P. Howell, I. Cross, and R. West (London: Academic Press, 1983), 209-36.





























relationship through the actual variation in the MQP from cycle to cycle. Thus, for example, the first four cycles alter- nate faster and slower MQPs. This repetition defines the first two phrases. In addition, the end of the first period is articulated by the slower MQP of the fourth cycle as compared to that of the second. Also unlike Schumann, Miller does not differentiate the pulse of the second period from that of the first; rather, the fifth, sixth, and seventh cycles are characterized by a constant MQP, which then slows for the remaining two cycles. The point of change in the MQP in the second period is significant for it corresponds to the point where the interference of expressive accents and metric downbeats returns.

Thus, through different techniques, both Schumann and Miller project the same musical structure and respond similarly to the same surface events. However, Miller's prosaic interpretation does not employ the extremes of variations in tempo to delineate the half-phrases and the phrases. For example, HPs 1, 2, 3, 4, 7a, and 8 are of similar height and LPs 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7b are of similar depth. Indeed, with the exception of HPs 5 and 10 (those which define the close of the two periods), the length of each quarter note is main- tained within a fixed range. This demonstrates a different sort of control than that presented by Schumann.

While the responses of Schumann and Miller to the musical surface are very similar, the differences in the degree of response reflect contrasting ways to project the song's formal structure and, consequently, result in two very different in- terpretations. Based on the interpretive models presented by these two performances, it is possible to define the majority of the remaining ten recordings as either poetic or prosaic. On this basis, it appears that a distinction can be made between those recordings of the 1940s and 1950s and those of the 1970s.

The performances of Seefried (1958?) and Ferrier (1949?) follow the poetic model exemplified by Schumann (1946),
































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although less consistently. Their graphs are illustrated re-

spectively as Figures 3a and 3b. Seefried, in a performance which can be criticized for its turgid tempo and negligible differentiation in its MQP between the two periods, clearly uses a constant MQP and temporal extremes to clarify the formal structure. For example, in the first four cycles the

period structure is articulated by the deceleration LP4-HP5, the phrase by LP2-HP3, and the intervening half-phrases by the similarity of the subsidiary HPs 1, 2, and 4, and the LPs


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1 and 3. Ferrier (Figure 3b) reflects the poetic model most

closely in the clear shift in MQP between the third and fourth

cycles. However, her projection of the phrase and half-phrase within the first period is not clear, as is shown by the lack of differentiation among HPs 1-4 and LPs 1-4. Both Ferrier and Seefried subdue HP7a, giving the impression that HP6-HP9 forms a larger cycle with the melodic reversal on the downbeat of m. 12 acting as its LP. This impression is muted by Schumann, but Ferrier brings it to the fore with her highly articulated and idiosyncratic close to the vocal line.

The prosaic model presented by Miller (1977?) is clearly mirrored by Ameling (1974?) and Price (1971?). Their graphs are illustrated as Figures 4a and 4b respectively. Both Ame-

ling and Price demonstrate the fast-to-slow alternation of the MQP within the first period, a constant or accelerating MQP during the first part of the second period, a shift to a slower MQP for the eighth cycle, and a lack of distinction between the MQPs of the first and second periods. The performance by Lear (1979) and Moser (1976?) are also representative of the prosaic model, although in general their MQPs are less well differentiated in the first period.

While the performances of Lehmann (1943?) and For- rester (1958?) fall between the two interpretive models, those

by Mathis (1981?) and Behrens (1985) do not readily represent either model. Mathis slowly decelerates through the first strophe and the perception of eventually grinding to a

complete halt is hard to escape. Behrens, the most recent

recording analyzed here, represents the most idiosyncratic interpretation of the song (see Fig. 5). This is particularly evident in the second period. There, every temporal change is exaggerated, leading to an interpretation that eliminates

any sensitivity to the formal or arched structure of the song. To my ear, the interpretation is superficial, lacking in control, and ultimately dissatisfying.

With the exception of Lehmann, those recordings which date from the 1940s and 1950s (Ferrier and Seefried) reflect














































































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Figure 4. Quarter-note beat durations and MQP per cycle (e) Figure 4. Quarter-note beat durations and MQP per cycle (e) Figure 4. Quarter-note beat durations and MQP per cycle (e) Figure 4. Quarter-note beat durations and MQP per cycle (e) Figure 4. Quarter-note beat durations and MQP per cycle (e) Figure 4. Quarter-note beat durations and MQP per cycle (e) Figure 4. Quarter-note beat durations and MQP per cycle (e) Figure 4. Quarter-note beat durations and MQP per cycle (e)

(a) Elly Ameling (a) Elly Ameling (a) Elly Ameling (a) Elly Ameling (a) Elly Ameling (a) Elly Ameling (a) Elly Ameling (a) Elly Ameling (b) Leontyne Price (b) Leontyne Price (b) Leontyne Price (b) Leontyne Price (b) Leontyne Price (b) Leontyne Price (b) Leontyne Price (b) Leontyne Price

Figure 5. Quarter-note beat durations and MQP per cycle (e):

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important aspects of the poetic model exemplified by Schu- mann. In contrast, none of the later recordings recognizably adhere to this model but rather follow the prosaic model exemplified by Miller. These recordings, most notably those by Ameling, Lear, Moser, and Price, date from the 1970s. The most recent recordings from the 1980s (Mathis and Beh- rens) fall less readily into either of these models, and their idiosyncrasies imply that the projection of the song's archi- tecture has been sacrificed at the expense of surface novelty.








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This may suggest that they lie further removed from a performance tradition which stretches back into the nineteenth century, a tradition which is better represented by Miller and best represented by Schumann.44

From a personal standpoint, I prefer Schumann's interpretation of this song over those of both her contemporaries and the more recent recordings. My sensibility readily responds to Schumann's apparently effortless control of both the musical surface and her sensitive weighting which brings the formal structure into focus. Her contemporaries blur this clarity by not expressing the same sensitivity with respect to

44This conclusion is by no means proved through the recorded performances of this one song. Indeed, other factors may be at work to distinguish the performances, for instance, the age, nationality, and training of the artist, and the psychological state of the artist on the day of recording. However, the distinction drawn may be worthy of further study.

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a constant MQP and temporal extremes. More recent re-

cordings, however, lack both a constant MQP and the surface projection of structure. This seems to me an intrinsic flaw in recent recordings of this song, although I will admit that others with different sensibilities will respond more

readily to Miller and other contemporary performances than to Schumann.

Although there are interpretative differences between earlier and more recent recorded performances, the degree to which Lussy's Traite de l'expression musicale speaks directly to this song by Schumann is most striking. His theory captures the salient features of the song: the long upper neighbor notes, the temporal repetitions, the leaps, the suspensions, the changes in texture, and the contrary motion between

melody and bass. Moreover, focusing on these features brings to the fore the extent to which the formal syntax is clarified

by their careful placement. It is in Lussy's sensitivity to the ebb and flow of the music that he stamps himself as a

nineteenth-century musician: there is no doubt that he knew this music intimately.

However, although this essay corroborates Lussy's thesis

regarding the uniformity of musical expression when it comes to local detail, further analysis reveals that there is more to a good performance than simply knowing which surface events to respond to. Artists may "manifest identical expressions" and the differences among these artists may result only from "their degree of expressive sensibilities and technical

accomplishment";45 but these differences concern the degree







































































of expressive response to a particular event. Whether a performer slows minutely or excessively to an event is of critical

importance to how a performance integrates local details with their role in shaping the larger musical structure. To my sen-

sibility, it is essential that the common response to individual events be carefully controlled so that the structure is clearly articulated. This is suggested by Lussy's appeal that an ex-

pressive ebb be balanced by a proportionate expressive flow. The interpretative models presented by Schumann and Miller indicate that there may be more than one way whereby this balance is successfully accomplished.

ABSTRACT In his Traite de l'expression musicale of 1874, Mathis Lussy proposes that musical expression is implicit in the musical surface and therefore that sensitive performers respond to the same surface in the same manner. Through an analysis of the opening song of Schu- mann's Frauenliebe und -leben based on Lussy's theory, this paper explores Lussy's proposition. Following the analysis, twelve recordings of this song made over the past 45 years are compared. Lussy's proposition is correct with respect to variations of tempo. However, this same comparison reveals that two very different interpretive models of this song exist when one considers how these variations of tempo aid in the projection of the formal structure. There would appear to be a correlation between a "poetic" model and recordings from the 1940s and 1950s, and between a "prosaic" model and recordings from the 1970s.

45"[L]es artistes manifestent des expressions identiques sans autres differences que celles qui resultent de leur delicatesse de sentiment, de leur virtuosite plus ou moins grande" (Lussy, Traitd, 1-2).













































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