When Beach claimed that a composition may be “a veritable autobiography,” she may have had her Piano Concerto in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 45 in mind, as it borrows from three of her own songs. The text, dedications, and dates of composition suggest that Beach was unhappy with socially constructed constraints on women in music. As a virtuosic pianist, she preferred to be a performer; however, her mother and her husband favored a more private lifestyle and strove to withhold Beach from performing. Her husband in particular advocated that Beach focus on composition instead. Consequently, by 1897 when the piano concerto was composed, Beach was one of America’s foremost composers. The text of the three songs used in the piano concerto, Jeune fille et jeune fleur, Empress of Night, and Twilight, was crucial in Beach’s formation of the melodies; she would repeat the texts until music formed from the words. Thus, the meanings of the texts used in a concerto on the instrument Beach was forbidden to play in public can create a hermeneutical extramusical reading of her piano concerto.

Works: Amy Beach: Piano Concerto in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 45.

Sources: Amy Beach: Jeune fille et jeune fleur, Op. 1, No. 3 (401-4), Empress of Night, Op. 2, No. 3 (404-7), Twilight, Op. 2, No. 1 (406-11).

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Devin Chaloux

Amy Beach recommended in her essay “Ten Commandments for Young Composers” that when composers approached a new form, they should choose a work to use as a model for their composition. Her Variations on Balkan Themes may have been modeled after Beethoven’s Six Variations, Op. 34, a work that Beach had in her repertoire throughout her career. There is a similar tonal scheme between the two works, though Beach’s is in minor and Beethoven’s in major.

Works: Amy Beach: Variations on Balkan Themes, Op. 60.

Sources: Beethoven: Six Variations, Op. 34 (369-70).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Devin Chaloux

Amy Beach’s Variations on Balkan Themes, her largest and most difficult piano composition, utilizes four Balkan tunes throughout the work. Beach originally thought these melodies were peasant melodies, but two have been positively identified as Bulgarian urban songs. Though there are four melodies used, titled O Maiko Moya, Stara Planina, Nasadil e Dado, and Macedonia,, they do not receive equal treatment in length and development. For instance, the main theme of the variations is based solely on O Maiko Moya, whereas Nasadil e Dado only appears once in the entire work. The other two melodies had charged political meanings, suggesting that Beach was sympathetic to the Balkan people, especially the Macedonians. The form of the work is best described as “free” or “fantasia” variations since the theme is metrically and harmonically free, allowing for development of motives. In this regard, Beach’s variations are constructed similarly to Dvořák’s Symphonic Variations and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio, Op. 50. The descending-thirds key relationships between several of the variations also resemble Beethoven’s Six Variations, Op. 34, while the oscillation between slow and fast tempos in the sixth variation recalls the lassu-friss style found in Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies. The penultimate variation is a funeral march reminiscent of Chopin’s Piano Sonata in B-flat Minor in its pianism, especially the use of the lower range of the piano.

Works: Amy Beach: Variations on Balkan Themes, Op. 60.

Sources: Anonymous: O Maiko Moya (328-32, 337, 342-43), Stara Planina (328-332, 336-37, 340-41, 344), Nasadil e Dado (328-29, 337-38), Macedonia (328-332, 341-42); Dvořák: Symphonic Variations (333); Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio, Op. 50 (333); Beethoven: Six Variations, Op. 34 (336), Eroica Variations, Op. 35 (340), Diabelli Variations, Op. 120 (340); Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies, S.244 (337); Chopin: Piano Sonata in B-flat Minor, Op. 35 (339-40).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Devin Chaloux

The relationship between Ives’s musical forms and his political beliefs manifests itself in his music, where Ives created progressive sonic backgrounds to house his regressive views of America in the form of American tunes (quoted or otherwise). Ives identified America as New England before the Civil War: a prominently rural, white and Protestant community. His main challenge in creating a true American music was to incorporate tunes of Americana in a musically authentic way. The music needed not to sound American, but intrinsically be American. Ives utilized two compositional techniques to accomplish his aims. The first is the creation of a sparse “acoustic horizon” in which various pieces can be quoted, altered, or layered. The second is a cyclical form that is created when the end of the piece recalls the beginning, though not necessarily the beginning melody. These two methods of composition create the world that Ives thought was destroyed by urban modernity, the old-fashioned America he idealized so much.

Works: Ives: Thanksgiving and Forefathers’ Day (466) and Washington’s Birthday (470) from A Symphony: New England Holidays.

Sources: Ives: Prelude and Postlude for a Thanksgiving Service (466); Edwin Pearce Christy: Goodnight Ladies (470).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Devin Chaloux, Cynthia Dretel, Nathan Landes

In typical discussions of Renaissance polyphonic repertoire, counterpoint and harmony prevailed as indicators of “tonal” structure, but investigating melodic considerations in conjunction with the eight church modes might reveal connections between these tonal structures. Josquin constructed his masses in one of three ways: incorporating a liturgical cantus firmus, incorporating a secular work, or basing the mass primarily on canonic devices. Cadences occur on structurally important pitches determined by the division of the octave into species of a fifth and fourth (final and co-final) as well as the tuba (recitation tone). Stranger tonal structures are created by either transposing the cantus firmus or highlighting an important pitch in the cantus firmus outside the expected tonal structure. The mode of the cantus firmus can confirm the modal structure of the work, as is the case with Missa de Beata Virgine which has different finals in the individual movements, reflecting the different finals of the borrowed chant melodies used in the work. Table 2 (203-20) includes detailed information on cadential plans in all twenty of Josquin’s masses.

Works: Josquin: Missa La sol fa re mi (202), Missa Una musque de Buscaya (202, 228, 237), Missa L’homme armé super voces musicales (202, 228-30), Missa Ave maris stella (202, 221-23), Missa L’ami Baudichon (221, 223-24, 228), Missa Ad fugam (221, 225-26), Missa Sine nomine (221, 227-28, 233, 237), Missa Hercules Dux Ferrariae (228), Missa D’ung aultre amer (228), Missa Da pacem (228), Missa Gaudeamus (228, 231-36, 238), Missa Faisant regretz (228, 231-32), Missa de Beata Virgine (238-39).

Sources: Alexander Agricola: Si dedero (221).

Index Classifications: 1400s, 1500s

Contributed by: Devin Chaloux

MacDowell knew Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B Minor well and was quite fond of the work. The use and treatment of recurring motives in his Eroica Sonata suggest the Liszt sonata as a model. MacDowell’s treatment and development of the musical motives in the Eroica Sonata follow procedures similar to those in the Liszt Sonata. Even though MacDowell’s sonata has a four-movement design, the basic structure is comparable to the one-movement Liszt sonata. The Piano Sonata in B Minor does not have any explicit programmatic meaning, but several authors have commented on potential programs due to the recurrence of thematic materials. MacDowell hinted at programmatic elements in his sonata, but did not definitively explicate a program; however, the use of recurring motives and their subsequent development suggests a program. In addition, the pianistic writing of the Eroica Sonata parallels some portions of the Liszt Sonata.

Works: Edward MacDowell: Eroica Sonata.

Sources: Liszt: Piano Sonata in B Minor (176-181, 186), Etudes d’exécution transcendante (179-80).

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Devin Chaloux

Schubert’s Sonata in C Minor, D. 958 is often cited as an homage to Beethoven’s Thirty-Two Variations in C Minor, WoO 80. There are, however, several ordinary musical events in common between these two pieces. The use of a passacaglia bass, found in an inner voice of the Schubert, can be traced back to the Baroque era. Both works also set up but subvert a sentential phrase structure (2+2+4 measures) at the beginning of the work, hardly a compositional device unique to either composer. With Derrida’s concept of grafting, meant metaphorically as the “insertion of one text into another by means of a scission,” the concept of a piece as homage or critique can be challenged. Though the Sonata in C Minor appears to be influenced by Beethoven’s Thirty-Two Variations, Schubert’s work is in dialogue with compositional techniques used before the Beethoven. As a result, historical narratives, such as Beethoven’s overwhelming influence on Schubert, need to be reinvestigated. Such reconsideration may write new historical narratives or confirm old ones.

Works: Schubert: Sonata in C Minor, D. 958.

Sources: Beethoven: Thirty-Two Variations in C Minor, WoO 80.

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Devin Chaloux

Many Renaissance composers borrowed musical materials in their compositions. In these cases, the borrowed material is often the first musical idea, offering the opportunity to reconstruct the compositional process. By using modular analysis, analysts can investigate areas where small-scale contrapuntal combinations repeat. Then, the composition can be retraced, informing the analyst on the compositional processes and goals of individual composers. To demonstrate the usefulness of this method of analysis, two Kyrie movements (one by Lassus and one by Palestrina) based on Johannes Lupi’s Je suys desheritée are compared. Lassus used the material to extend the length of the model by inserting new material. Palestrina, on the other hand, aimed for density by squeezing motives from the model together to create a thicker texture.

Works: Lassus: Missa Je suis desheritée; Palestrina: Missa Je suis déshéritée.

Sources: Johannes Lupi: Je suys desheritée.

Index Classifications: 1500s

Contributed by: Devin Chaloux

America’s first important woman composer, Amy Beach, composed one of the first American piano concertos, Piano Concerto in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 45 (1899). In this work, Beach borrows themes from three of her own vocal works. Jeune fille et jeune fleur, Op. 1, No. 3, is used as the secondary theme of the first movement. The main theme of the second movement originates from Empress of Night, Op. 2, No. 3. Twilight, Op. 2, No. 1, is used as the main inspiration of the third movement of the piano concerto, which is through-composed, as well as the third theme in the fourth movement. Beach incorporates these melodies into several standardized forms found in the piano concerto, including sonata-allegro and rondo forms, while including the harmonic rhetoric characteristic of the turn of the twentieth century. In addition, Beach develops the work by transforming four motives derived from the opening of the piano concerto, which are subsequently found in every movement. Characteristics of the motives also can be combined, creating new distinctive transformations.

Works: Amy Beach: Piano Concerto in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 45.

Sources: Amy Beach: Jeune fille et jeune fleur, Op. 1, No. 3 (46-48), Empress of Night, Op. 2, No. 3 (54-59), Twilight, Op. 2, No. 1 (62-65, 73-74, 107-8, 111).

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Devin Chaloux