“Five-Measure Units in Brahms’s Rhapsody in Eb, Op. 119, No. 4: Their Necessity, Effect and Consequences
Although five-measure phrases and five-beat hypermeters are not regular features of Brahms’s phrase rhythm, they nonetheless appear periodically in prominent musical themes in the composer’s output. The introduction of these idiosyncratic phrasal and hypermetric units in lieu of the more conventional four-measure, eight-measure, and even six-measure constructions raises interesting questions on their functions and ramifications. In this paper, I argue that Brahms’s deployment of five-measure units in the Rhapsody in Eb, Op. 119, No. 4, attains an organic complexity that surpasses his earlier examples. To demonstrate the significance of the initial five-measure unit in the Rhapsody, I will first consider its origin and necessity from the viewpoint of Schenkerian phrase rhythm, and then proceed to analyze the metric dissonance effect created by the tonal content of the unit. Finally, I will borrow Schoenberg’s idea of Grundgestalt to conceptualize the far-reaching consequences of the five-measure unit in the course of the Rhapsody. In particular, I will show that the temporal structure of the five-measure unit acts as a metric “basic shape,” which is subjected to “developing variation” to derive a series of local and global metric structures and proportions that help delineate the overall form.
“Opening Motions to the Submediant in Mozart”
Numerous pieces by Mozart begin with a bass line that reaches the submediant by the third or fourth attack (e.g., in C major: C–G–A–E–F–G–C; C–B–A–G–F–E–D–G; and C–E–G–A etc.). While many examples of these bass patterns (of which the first is a familiar chaconne pattern) involve no particular emphasis on the submediant, some of them do. In such cases, where a break or pause occurs between VI and the next harmony, one may speak of an initial “gesture” that, at least superficially, resembles a deceptive cadence. Two remarkably similar examples of this gesture appear in marches from Mozart’s operas: (1) the march in Act III of Idomeneo that precedes the anticipated sacrifice of Idamante; and (2) the Marsch der Priester that opens Act II of Die Zauberflöte and signals the start of Tamino’s lengthy rite of passage. The pause on VI in each march subtly hints at the crises in each drama that have yet to be resolved.
Motions and, more specifically, “gestures” towards the submediant in Mozart merit comparison with examples from a few works by other composers of the Classical period, including Schubert. In Mozart especially, the pattern is closely associated with a particular tempo (Andante) and key (F major), as well as with specific melodic features. A survey of Mozart’s music provides a context for interpreting Donald Tovey’s claim that the opening theme from the slow movement of Schubert’s Fifth Symphony is related to the rondo theme from Mozart’s Violin Sonata in F, K. 377. Tovey aptly characterizes the symphonic theme (in E flat) as “a Schubertized Mozart,” albeit more serious in tone than the Mozart. In fact, there is a closer resemblance between the slow movement of Haydn’s Symphony No. 90 and Schubert’s theme, especially with respect to melodic contour. Tovey was ultimately right to choose Mozart as an influence. But that influence stems less, arguably, from Schubert’s acquaintance with one particular piece than from a (hitherto unacknowledged) recurring feature of Mozart’s music.