Harmony and Voice Leading

in the Music of Stravinsky

Joseph Straus

Graduate Center, City University of New York

ABSTRACT: A great deal of Stravinskys music from throughout his career is based on two structural fifths separated by some interval. Typically, one of those fifths is deployed harmonically (with various possible harmonic fillings) and the other is deployed melodically as a perfect fourth (with various possible melodic fillings). The harmony and voice leading of Stravinskys music thus often elaborates and prolongs a fundamentally bi-quintal structure. Examples are drawn from many of Stravinskys compositions from Petrushka (1911) to Agon (1957). The dominant current approach to the analysis of Stravinsky music is based on scales (especially octatonic and diatonic scales) in relation to which harmonies and melodies are understood as partitions. This paper reverses the polarity and sees scales as by-products of harmony and voice leading.

Example 1. Petrushka, first scene (The Shrovetide Fair), mm. 1-11. Model 2 (D/E). Harmonic fifth, D-A, filled in as D-E-G-A. Melodic fourth, E-B, filled in as E-D-C#-B.

Example 2. The Rite of Spring, Part 1, Introduction, mm. 6-12. Model 1 (C#/D). Harmonic fifth, C#-G#, expressed as perfect fourth and then filled in as C#-D#-F#-G#. Melodic fourth, D-A, filled in as D-C-B-A, with an emphasis on C as principal upper-voice tone.

Example 3. Les Noces, first scene, mm. 11-20. Model 6 (Bb/E). Harmonic fifth, Bb-F, without fill. Melodic fourth, E-B, partially filled in as E-D-B.

Chart 1. Six models of harmony and voice leading in Stravinsky.

C+C

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Mode

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Example 4. Petrushka, Scene 1. Two representations of Model 2, the first with harmony D-E-G-A and melody E-D-C#-B, the second with the same harmony and a melody transposed to C-Bb-A-G.

Example 5. Les Noces, first scene, first three textural blocks. Model 1 (D#/E), Model 6 (Bb/E), and a return to Model 1 (D#/E). Melody centered on E within E-B melodic fourth harmonized first by D#-(A#) within Model 1, then by Bb-F within Model 6, and finally by D#-A#, marking a return to Model 1.

Example 5 (continued)

Example 6. Pribaoutki, Song 2 (Nataska or Le Four). Model 1 (D/Eb) leading to Model 4 (D/F#). The first phrase juxtaposes D-E-(A) harmonically with Eb-Db-C-Bb melodically. In the final phrase, D-centered harmony is retained as D-F-A, both harmonically and melodically, but now juxtaposed with a contrasting harmony on F#, F#-A# (=Bb)-C#.

Example 7. The Rite of Spring, Dance des Adolescents, at R13 and R14. Model 1 (Eb/E). The harmony superimposes E-B, represented as an Fb-major triad, and Eb-Bb, represented as an Eb-major-minor seventh chord. The structural fifth Eb-Bb is also realized and partially filled melodically as Eb-Db-Bb (035).

Example 8. Mass, Gloria, mm. 1-10. Model 2 as A-E, filled in as A-C#-E and spanned by E-F#-G#-A and E-D-C#-B-A, versus B-F#, stated as a harmonic fourth and fifth and spanned by B-A-G#-F#.

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Example 9A. Concerto for Two Pianos, third movement, Variation 1. Model 3 (E/G) with harmony based on G-D supporting a melody that spans E-B.

Example 9B. Concerto for Two Pianos, third movement, Variation 4. Model 1 (F#/G), with harmony based on G-D supporting a melody that spans F#-C#.

Example 10. The Rakes Progress, Act I, Scene 1. Model 5 as A-E, expressed harmonically as A-B-D-E and A-C#-E and melodically as A-G#-F#-E, heard in relation to D-A, heard harmonically as D-E-A and melodically as D-C#-B-A.

Example 11. Serenade in A, first movement, mm. 1-14. Model 4 (F/A) followed by Model 1 (A/Bb), with oblique motion between the structural fifths. The principal melodic span, A-G-F-E, is found in both blocks, decorated with an upper-neighbor Bb.

Example 12. Agon, opening. Two realization of Model 3 (D/F, then E/G).

Example 13. Symphony of Psalms, I, R2-2 to R4+2. Model 3 (E/G) realized as E-D-C-B in melody harmonized by either E-B or G-D, with variable fill.

Example 14. Petrushka, Scene 1, Russian Dance. Symmetrical contrary motion from Model 3 (E/G) to Model 5 (A/D).