modulation as a dramatic agent in frank loesser’s broadway

35

Modulation as a Dramatic Agent in Frank Loesser’sBroadway Songs

michael buchler

We often think of direct stepwise modulation as a crude way to convey a sense of intensification.Certainly that is how many popular composers have exploited the device, but this article examinesits various guises in four of Frank Loesser’s theatrical songs—“Adelaide’s Lament,” “Luck be aLady,” “How to Succeed,” and “My Time of Day”—demonstrating how the composer utilizes suchmodulations to serve very different rhetorical functions, portraying situational anxiety, gravity,or whimsy. The article suggests that the ways in which we structurally understand (and analyze)direct modulation can be linked to its narrative aim. Two analytical models will be introduced:one represents a coloristic or purely dramatic tonal ascent, while the other represents a more pro-found sense of melodic ascent that reassigns scale-degree function to a different pitch class. Thefour analytical vignettes grow in length and complexity over the course of this article, concludingwith a large-scale reading of the dramatic and tonal paths traversed in “My Time of Day” fromGuys and Dolls.

Keywords: Frank Loesser, Guys and Dolls, Broadway, direct modulation

Abrupt key changes are part and parcel of theBroadway repertoire, and their dramatic effects rangefrom modest to exciting. Particularly in Frank Loesser’s

hands, the structural role of direct modulation often seems in-trinsically related to its rhetorical function. I hope to demon-strate that the manner in which we analytically represent suchmodulations can reflect their dramatic character accordingly.This article both discusses the effect that such modulationsplay on tonal and dramatic continuity and includes analyticalreadings of four theatrical songs by Frank Loesser.

Though many of the analytical observations herein couldapply to works by a range of Broadway composers, there are

several reasons to focus on Loesser (1910–1969). His shows areespecially noted for their tight integration of music and lyrics,and even stock gestures rarely seem to be applied gratuitously.Loesser focused heavily on text, perhaps because, like StephenSondheim, his early successes were as a lyricist and also be-cause, like Cole Porter, he wrote both the music and lyrics to allof his mature songs. Moreover, Loesser’s Broadway songs oftenforward their respective plots rather than suspend them, an at-tribute that lends itself well to a study of the relationship of text(in the broadest sense) and musical structure. Though directmodulation might well seem to be a bit of a facile subject of in-quiry, I believe—and I hope to demonstrate—that in manycases such an impression is deceptive.1

Aspects of this article were presented at the 2006 Society for AmericanMusic Annual Meeting and the 2007 Society for Music TheoryAnnual Meeting.

1 Adam Ricci (2000) has produced a convincing analytical study of itsnon-trivial use in rock music, specifically the group Chicago.

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Not all direct modulations are dramatic, however. To pro-vide greater context, I will begin by briefly discussing utili-tarian modulations and move toward increasingly dramaticones. Duets and dance numbers, in particular, regularlymodulate either to accommodate two different voice rangesor for the simple sake of variety. Modulations often signalchoreographic changes in dance numbers, and the musicaltexture or accompanimental pattern often shifts with thekey. In duets, modulations are most common when thetwo singers perform the same tune consecutively, ratherthan simultaneously or antiphonally.

Both “consecutive duets” in Guys and Dolls (1950) followthis pattern. In Act I, the missionary Sarah Brown begins“I’ll Know” in A major.2 Sky Masterson responds by singingthe same tune (with rather different lyrics and slightly differ-ent accompaniment) a fourth lower in E major. The songnever returns to its tonal antecedent, but ends definitively inE major.3 Likewise, their big love duet, “I’ve Never Been inLove Before” (from the end of Act I) commences with Skysinging in B� major and ends with Sarah a third (tenth)

higher in D major. In both cases, the initiating singer returnsonly during the last phrase to sing in counterpoint to his orher mate.4

In neither “I’ll Know” nor “I’ve Never Been in LoveBefore” do the initial and concluding tonalities seem or-ganically connected. When classical songs and instrumen-tal works begin and end in different keys, analysts willgenerally argue for one of two modes of understanding thestructural relationship between those key areas. If, for ex-ample, rather than looking at “I’ll Know,” we were examin-ing an art song that began in A major and ended in Emajor, we might either claim that the work concluded witha well-tonicized half cadence or else that the initial sectionwas a prolonged subdominant that eventually made its wayto the true home key of E major.5 The first view of discon-tinuous tonality (where the initial key is primary) hasbeen analytically modeled by Deborah Stein’s “directionaltonality” and the latter by Heinrich Schenker’s “auxiliary

36 music theory spectrum 30 (2008)

4 By contrast, “Sue Me,” the famous duet between Nathan Detroit andMiss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, Act II remains in one key throughout.It might be called an “antiphonal duet”: the characters alternatesinging, with one interrupting the other, and both singing essentiallydifferent melodies. A utilitarian modulatory scheme would be difficultunder such circumstances. However, the fight song “Grand Old Ivy,”from Act I of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, is sungby both characters simultaneously (with relatively few antiphonal mo-ments). The two singers project a single persona during that number, sowhen they modulate together it seems more like a solo-song modula-tion of the sort described later in this article. Most of the duets in TheMost Happy Fella feature simultaneous rather than consecutive en-trances, and (perhaps consequently) most remain in a single key.

5 One might find exceptions in the operatic literature, particularly innineteenth century Italian opera, however modulations in such casesrarely occur in the same sort of context (i.e., they do not arrive with asecond hearing of a refrain, but rather are triggered by different the-matic material). Powers (1987) discusses some scene types in ottocentoopera, including various key schemes. Many thanks to an anonymousreader for suggesting this potential connection to earlier dramatic vocalmusic.

2 For readers who are unacquainted with Guys and Dolls: Rogue gamblerSky Masterson has bet one thousand dollars that he can quickly wooany woman, having her accompany him on a forthcoming excursion toHavana. His betting partner, Nathan Detroit, named a pretty, but prim,local missionary (Sarah Brown) who spends her time with a SalvationArmy-type band in a seemingly futile attempt to convert such rogues asSky and Nathan. The story, by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, is looselybased upon Damon Runyon’s characters and short fiction.

3 All musical references are to the original published vocal scores(which were directly prepared by Loesser), not to the sheet music orbooks of “musical selections” that were released after the showopened. Sheet music versions are often abridged and/or simplified,regularly removing modulations and extra verses, while imposing re-composed introductions and endings. Moreover, as with most musicaltheater composers, Loesser did not orchestrate his own songs (thoughhe sometimes included orchestrational annotations in his manu-scripts), so the widely available vocal scores generally provide the mostreliable source material.

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cadence.”6 In both cases, an overarching sense of organi-cism and monotonality leads us to posit an asymmetrical,and ultimately hierarchical, relationship between the open-ing and closing keys.7

Both Stein’s and Schenker’s models square with the aes-thetics of much common practice music. But in “I’ll Know”and “I’ve Never Been in Love Before,” the modulations appar-ently play a rather mundane role: simply to allow both singersto perform in a comfortable range.8 And so it would seemdisingenuous to apply either the directional tonality or auxil-iary cadence model to such situations.9 When both songs end,they sound conclusive; when the first sections of both songsend (in their initial keys), they also sound conclusive. The sec-ond key area substitutes for, rather than dramatically departsfrom, the first. This might explain why modulation in mostconsecutive duets and dance numbers hardly seems dramatic.Indeed, in the 1955 cinematic version of Guys and Dolls, Sarah

Brown (played by Jean Simmons) begins “I’ll Know” in E flatmajor and Sky Masterson (played by Marlon Brando) followsin C major. Not only are these keys different from the originalscore, but they are related by minor third, not perfect fourth.Even this seemingly significant tonal alteration does not ap-preciably change the song.

Such utilitarian modulations were common in duets anddance numbers by Loesser’s contemporaries as well (includ-ing Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe, andAdler and Ross) and motion from one key to the next was al-most always direct: i.e., modulations were not generally pre-pared by a common diatonic chord and smoothly executed,but rather occurred at the beginning of a phrase, sometimesanticipated only by a dominant seventh chord of the new key,if that. Direct modulations tend to be aurally apparent, evento casual listeners, and yet these modulations by third, fourth,or larger intervals rarely carry any dramatic weight. We hearthe modulation, we just do not generally sense that it trans-mits any extramusical meaning, and neither do we particu-larly care that the original key will not likely return.

Direct stepwise modulation generally occurs in rather dif-ferent circumstances, and it reflects a wholly different sce-nario. Loesser’s songs (and, for that matter, songs by Rodgersand Hammerstein or Adler and Ross, among others) thatmodulate by step tend to be solo numbers and the modula-tion, which usually occurs just before the repeat of a refrain,often carries some dramatic significance. At very least, songsthat modulate up by step (either half or whole) tend to con-vey a sense of intensification. Loesser often motivically andtextually foreshadowed his intensifying modulations, result-ing in more interesting and elaborate musical junctures thanthe wanton up-a-step modulations that have at times metwith critical derision.10

modulation as a dramatic agent in frank loesser’s broadway songs 37

10 Indeed, Patrick McCreless referred to “‘Barry Manilow’ tonality” and thenotion that such modulations are “immediate, automatic, and mechani-cal” (1996, 106). Certainly, those qualities are not all present in the songsdiscussed herein, particularly “How to Succeed” and “My Time of Day.”

6 Regarding directional tonality, see Stein 1995 and Stein and Spillman1996. Schenker (1979) most famously described the auxiliary cadencemodel (89); Krebs (1981), Burstein (1988 and 2005), and Anson-Cartwright (2001) offer particularly cogent recent explorations of theauxiliary cadence and its applicability.

7 Some might argue that it is no more appropriate to compare nineteenth-century art song with duets like “I’ll Know” than it would be to compareart song to nineteenth-century opera. To a certain extent, that is true, butGuys and Dolls is a numbers musical in which songs (with only a singleexception) do not run into one another, but are separated with unsungprose. Broadway songs that gained popularity were often performed andrecorded individually, quite apart from their dramatic context.

8 Similarly, in “My Darling, My Darling,” a love duet between the char-acters Jack and Kitty from Loesser’s Where’s Charley (1948), he beginsin B� major, she then enters (singing the same tune) in D� major. Whenthey finally sing together at the end, however, they perform in Cmajor—a musical compromise, of sorts.

9 Robert Bailey’s double tonic complex (Bailey 1985) is a model thatseems even more foreign to Loesser’s music. While two keys in a showtune might be thought of as equal in some sense, there is generally noorganic connection between the two and also no sense of tonal fluxua-tion (in the sense of the tonal relationships often found in Wagner andother chromatic music).

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“Adelaide’s Lament,” from Guys and Dolls, provides a rela-tively straightforward example of this sort of modulation. Inthe comedic but heartfelt song, Miss Adelaide (the musical’sonly main character without a last name) bemoans NathanDetroit’s avoidance of commitment. Adelaide is a burlesquesinger in small nightclub and the scene preceding her lamenttakes place in her dressing room, just after her final (diegetic)performance of the night—the upbeat “Bushel and a Peck.” Abackstage conversation between Adelaide and Nathan revealsthat the couple has been engaged for fourteen years and thatmany years ago Adelaide informed her mother in Rhode Islandthat she and Nathan were already married and had producedfive children (this was news to Nathan). Nathan, who earns hisliving by staging the “oldest established permanent floatingcrap game in New York,” has continually promised Adelaideboth that they will soon get married and that he will give upgambling. It has become obvious to Adelaide that he plans tomake good on neither promise. She tries to pressure Nathan bytelling him about her doctor’s conjecture that marital anxietiesmay have trigged her persistent cold-like symptoms.

Disconcerted by Adelaide’s talk of commitment, Nathanquickly leaves her dressing room after condescendingly as-suring her: “You’ll feel better tomorrow; come on, cheer up,honey. Let’s see that old smile. That’s my happy girl. See youtomorrow” (Swerling, Burrows, and Loesser 1951, 26).“Adelaide’s Lament” begins as Adelaide picks a big psychol-ogy book and reads:

It says here[singing]The average unmarried female, basically insecureDue to some long frustration may reactWith psychosomatic symptoms, difficult to endureAffecting the upper respiratory tract. [Looks up from book.]In other words, just from waiting around for that plain little

band of goldA person . . . can develop a cold.

In each verse, Adelaide sings of some ailment that can bepsychosomatically induced by a boyfriend who avoids

marriage.11 The song repeats the verse and refrain once be-fore featuring a third and final rendition of the refrain, trans-posed up a half step (from G� to G). A diagram of the formand tonal regions appears in Example 1. The fleeting transi-tion from G� to G, shown in Example 2, consists of a re-peated dominant of G, set, burlesque-style, with a repeatedtriplet gesture.

Aside from some chromatic double neighbors that mark(and motivically connect) both the verse and the refrain,there is little that musically anticipates this song’s modula-tion from G� to G. Indeed, a pre-publication draft of thesong shows that it initially remained in G� throughout.12

Without the dramatic modulation, the song’s lyrics conveythe same meaning, but they lose some intensity andLoesser’s depiction of Adelaide’s emotional state seems lessvivid. This sort of direct upward modulation produces asurge of dramatic power, rather like increasing amplitudeand/or adding performing forces.13 In this case, the modula-tion also conveys Adelaide’s increased anxiety and, given herrelatively low social status, it imbues the song with a certainunpolished authenticity. It also musically paints Loesser’slyrics which (at that point) sound like an extemporized con-tinuation: “And furthermore, just from stalling and stalling


11 Both phrases in the first refrain cadence with the warning “a person candevelop a cold.” Likewise, the end of the second refrain cautions “a per-son can develop a cough,” and the feared illness in the final refrain andcoda is “la grippe” (influenza). In many regards, the lyric here resembles“The Physician” (1933), Cole Porter’s whimsical song of medicine andavoided romance.

12 Many thanks to Joseph Weiss at Frank Loesser Enterprises for callingthis to my attention. The draft was from a hand-copied conductor’sscore. It isn’t clear whether the modulation was added before or afterthe musical opened on Broadway. That score might have been usedduring Guys and Dolls’ trail run in Philadelphia.

13 This phenomenon has also been called the “pump-up modulation,”David Huron discusses its psychological effect in his recent book, SweetAnticipation (2006, 285).

MTS3001_02 7/19/08 6:03 AM Page 38

and stalling the wedding trip, A person . . . can develop Lagrippe.” The lyrics and well-placed modulation effectivelyextend a short list of symptoms into something of a litany.

Like the duets mentioned earlier, the ascending half-stepmodulation in “Adelaide’s Lament” does nothing to chal-lenge our sense of tonal unity. The G� and G major tonicsplay the same role: neither is hierarchically central, and nei-ther anticipates or is anticipated by the other. When weabruptly move to G major, it simply substitutes for G�.Accordingly, the melodic head tone, 3, is dually interpretedas B� or B�), with the latter merely serving as a different“shade” of the former. Again, this does not behave like alarge-scale auxiliary cadence both because the modulationfrom G� to G fulfills no implicit tonal goal and, more

broadly, because coloristic/utilitarian modulations carry notonal force.

Example 3 includes a somewhat unconventional-lookingforeground reading of the refrain from “Adelaide’s Lament.”To convey the intensification of scale degree analytically, Iprecede the raised scale degree by a small upward arrow (e.g.,3 versus ·3). Functionally, they are both 3, but one is a bithigher. This differs considerably from the phenomenon ofmode mixture, whereby two versions of a scale degree (often3 or 6) are equated. Mode mixture provides an analytical ac-knowledgement that the major and minor forms of mostchords (those that carry no dominant function) serve a func-tionally similar, if dramatically contrasting, role in a progres-sion. Comparatively, 3 and ·3 enjoy a far less dichotomous


� � � � � � � � � � � � � �� per - son can de - vel- op a cough And further-more just from stalling and stalling and

� � � � � � � � � � � � � ��

� � � � � � � � � � � � � ��

27 28 29

G �: V64 I G: V77

3 I

Verse (mm. 1–16) Refrain (mm. 17–28) Refrain (mm. 29–40) Extension (mm. 40–49)

8 + 8 (4 & 4 + 4 & 4) 4 + 8 4 + 8 10 incl. 1-bar overlap/elision

—————— G� major —————— —————— G major ——————

: :

example 1. Form diagram of “Adelaide’s Lament” (sections, phrase structure, tonality)

example 2. Transition from G� major to G major in “Adelaide’s Lament” (measures 27–29). “Adelaide’s Lament” from Guys and Dolls byFrank Loesser © 1950 (Renewed) Frank Music Corp. All Rights Reserved.

MTS3001_02 7/19/08 6:03 AM Page 39

relationship than, for example, 3 versus �3. Also, 3 and ·3 aregenerally used in identical musical contexts.

* * *

The degree to which stepwise modulations reflect narra-tive events varies, and the examples herein progressivelymove toward more dramatic and musically complex uses ofthis device. Like “Adelaide’s Lament,” “Luck be a Lady” fea-tures intensifying ascending half-step modulation, but in this

musical and dramatic context the gesture carries a substan-tially different set of associations. Sky Masterson needs toprove himself to the missionary Sarah Brown, and he haspromised to populate her mission hall with sinners for amidnight revival meeting. For Sarah, the future of her mis-sion hangs in the balance; for Sky, his honor and his chancesfor love are at stake. In desperation, Sky bets each of thegamblers one thousand dollars against “their souls” on a sin-gle roll of the dice. He sings “Luck be a Lady” immediatelybefore rolling the dice, and the song highlights the big craps


� � � � � � � � � � �� In other words,

wedding is on or off person can develop cough

� � � � � � � ��

�

� � � � � � � � � � � � � �� you can spray

- cocci lurkhotel clerk person can develop cold. And furthermore . . .

� � � � � � � � � � � � � ��

�

just from worrying whether

17

21

A B

B

( )3̂ 2̂ 1̂

3̂

V64 V7I 6 ii6 7� 7

3

9I add6

7]�[

Refrain

streptoyou can give . . . shot just won’t work tired

3̂ 2̂ 1̂

V64I iv7 I add6

7]�[

IV � 73

9IV5 6

10[V]

II add6

fish-eyed

�

( )3̂

example 3. Foreground sketch of the second refrain and bridge from “Adelaide’s Lament” from Guys and Dolls

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game held in a New York City gutter (a beautiful art decogutter in Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s 1955 cinematic rendition).

Rolling the dice is a climactic moment in the story, and“Luck be a Lady” plays an almost exclusively intensifyingrole. It does not exactly further the plot, but builds tensionwhile delaying the dramatic climax.14 The analytical sketchin Example 4 highlights some of the refrain’s prominenttonal events while depicting the relatively static voice leadingthroughout its A sections. Like many popular songs, the re-frain of “Luck be a Lady” follows an AABA design, butLoesser added a tonal twist. It begins in D� major, thenmodulates to D major at the second chorus, and furthermodulates to E� major at the bridge (B section), before re-turning to D� for the concluding chorus.

Foreshadowing these modulations are the harmonic oscil-lations that permeate each refrain. Example 5 gives theopening refrain measures of “Luck be a Lady,” but the samehalf-step harmonic swaying persists throughout the refrain’s

A sections.15 Those D� and D harmonies (which respectivelycarry tonic and dominant functions) at the outset prepare usfor the abrupt modulation to D at the second chorus, andthe subsequent D and E� oscillations prepare us for therather less abrupt modulation to E� at the bridge.16

Arguably, the half-step modulations are further antici-pated by some surface chromaticism at the beginning of theintroductory verse. Example 6 shows the melody in measures1–17. From the outset, the melodic contour and metrical ac-cents strongly emphasize the chromatic semitone motion:“They call you ‘Lady Luck.’ But there is room for doubt. Attimes you have a very un-lady-like way of running out.” Theparallels between the melodic inflections at the italicized syl-lables, the refrain’s surface harmonic oscillations, and thelarge-scale ascending half-step tonal motion seem particu-larly clear.


15 In this regard, the refrain of “Luck be a Lady” resembles much of“Fiddler on the Roof,” the title number from the musical by Jerry Bockand Sheldon Harnick.

16 D7 is heard to function as the dominant of D� because it shares the dis-tinctive tritone of D�’s diatonic dominant seventh chord. ExchangingV7 for a dominant seventh chord a tritone away is commonly knownamong jazz musicians as “tritone substitution.”

14 McMillin (2006) similarly describes the dramatic role of “Luck be aLady” as follows: “Remove the number and Sky will still win his bet.The plot will be intact, but the scene will lose its power, because thedramatic interest is in the elaboration that the song-and-dance numbergives to the gamblers’ concern for ‘Lady Luck ’” (44).

� � � � � � � � ��

�

27 45 63 79

I IID :�VV7

V I(!)

5̂ 5̂5̂ 5̂6̂= –

A1 A2 B A3

example 4. Middleground voice leading and harmonies in “Luck be a Lady” (refrain). “Luck be a Lady” from Guys and Dolls by FrankLoesser © 1950 (Renewed) Frank Music Corp. All Rights Reserved.

MTS3001_02 7/19/08 6:03 AM Page 41

Like “Adelaide’s Lament,” each modulation in “Luck be aLady” merely intensifies; these gestures seem coloristic ratherthan like points of embarkation on some chromatic tonaljourney. One could, of course, understand the initial modula-tion as a large-scale motion from tonic to Neapolitan and,perhaps more persuasively, as a melodic motion from aclearly prolonged 5 to �6. Though this sort of reading wouldcapture some sense of the local ascent that I think we do

feel, the primary melodic tone in the second chorus receivesexactly the same treatment as 5 in the first chorus. So, again,the motion from 5 to ·5 to ··5 seems like the more musi-cally plausible, if slightly unwieldy, description.

The least conspicuous of the direct modulations comes atthe transition to the bridge (B section). Like the first ascend-ing stepwise modulation, the progression is abrupt: a tonicchord in the first key is followed by the dominant seventh


� � � � � � � � � � � �� Luck be a la - dy to - night.

� � � � � � � � � � � ��

�

��

�)(

27 ��

example 5. Harmonic oscillation in “Luck be a Lady,” measures 27–30. “Luck be a Lady” from Guys and Dollsby Frank Loesser © 1950 (Renewed) Frank Music Corp. All Rights Reserved.

� � � � � � � � �� They call you “La - dy Luck.” But there is room for doubt. AtYou’re on this date with me. The pick - ings have been lush. And

� � � � � � � � �� times you have a ve - ry un - la - dylike way of run-ning out. You’re on . . .yet be - fore this eve-ning is o - ver you might give me the brush.

mm. 1–9:mm. 9–17:

� � (mm. 9–10)

�

example 6. Introductory verse of “Luck be a Lady,” measures 1–9 (�10–17). “Luck be a Lady” from Guys and Dollsby Frank Loesser © 1950 (Renewed) Frank Music Corp. All Rights Reserved.

MTS3001_02 7/19/08 6:03 AM Page 42

chord in the next key, and that subsequently resolves at thefirst measure of the next section.17 But here, the (melodic)tonic note (D) upon which the second A section comes torest is reinterpreted as the leading tone of E� as the B sectionbegins. Because the bridge is the only section that does notdoggedly sit on 5, it provides the sole opportunity for a moreflowing modulatory transition.

Unlike the relatively smooth approach to the bridge, thereturn from E� to D� at the A section’s reprise unquestionablyforms the song’s most jarring modulation. Though the keyrelations (E� to D�) are tonally closest (lying only two fifthsapart), the sudden drop down a step, feels like the bottomhas fallen out of our musical vessel. There’s a bit of a musicalparadox in this modulation: the two ascending half stepmodulations (from D� to D and from D to E�) seem em-phatic, not structural, and neither is surprising. The harsh ef-fect in moving from E� to D� may be at least partially attrib-utable to the fact that descending stepwise modulations aretruly extraordinary in this genre, but in this case the descentalso feels like a grand undoing of the song’s overall ascendingmotion. Moreover, it serves as a wonderful tonal analog toLoesser’s lyrics. Throughout the first three refrain sections(AAB), the LUCK ‡ LADY metaphor becomes more thor-oughly structured as other facets of ladylike behavior are ex-plicitly mapped onto the domain of luck. In this sense, theselyrics construct a well-grounded example of what Lakoff andJohnson call an ontological metaphor, a broad category thatincludes personification metaphors such as LUCK ‡ LADY

(2003, 25–34).18 Unlike most metaphors that structure ourcommon turns of phrase, these lyrics obviously deconstructthe familiar phrase “lady luck,” explicitly drawing attention

to its metaphorical function, and listing an assortment of la-dylike behavior that could also describe attributes of luck.19

Example 7 reproduces the lyrics to the first refrain. Thefirst A section (A1) simply introduces the metaphoricalmapping (LUCK ‡ LADY). A2 develops the metaphor, with


19 One might read Loesser’s lyrics as creating a blended space (like thosedeveloped in the conceptual integration networks of Gilles Fauconnierand Mark Turner) in which the good fortune and ladylike behavior areexplicitly cross-mapped. This form of linguistic analysis is receiving in-creased play in recent music-theoretic literature (cf. Cook 2001,Zbikowski 2002, and Chattah 2006). In this case, however, my sense is

17 Some might liberally consider this a pivot chord modulation becausethe new dominant could also be construed as an unrequited Germanaugmented sixth chord in the initial key.

18 The metaphorical mapping of LUCK ‡ LADY entails a more founda-tional understanding of luck as an entity, one that shares many charac-teristics with ladies. Etymologically, the phrase “lady luck” probablystems from the mythological representation of Fortuna as a woman.

A1 (D� major) Luck be a lady tonightLuck be a lady tonightLuck, if you’ve ever been a lady to begin with,Luck be a lady tonight.

A2 (D major) Luck let a gentleman seeHow nice a dame you can be.I know the way you’ve treatedother guys you’ve been with,Luck be a lady with me!

B (E� major) A lady doesn’t leave her escortIt isn’t fair, it isn’t nice.A lady doesn’t wander all over the roomAnd blow on some other guy’s dice.

A3 (D� major) So let’s keep the party polite.Never get out of my sightStick with me, baby, I’m the fellow you came in with.Luck be a lady —Luck be a lady —Luck be a lady tonight.

example 7. “Luck be a Lady,” lyrics from first full refrain (measures27–104). “Luck be a Lady” from Guys and Dolls by Frank Loesser© 1950 (Renewed) Frank Music Corp. All Rights Reserved.

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references to ladylike kindness and even unladylike promis-cuity. The bridge moves even farther, asking that luck be likea well-mannered lady, one who loyally avoids flirting withothers. As the metaphor becomes more deeply structured,the tonal edifice escalates. By the bridge, Sky Masterson isno longer mentioning the metaphor’s target domain (luck)but is only elaborating its source—those ladylike attributesthat correspond with good fortune. The lyrics at this pointare fully metaphorical and the tonal foundation has reachedits height, having modulated twice by ascending semitone.Only at the point of thematic and tonal return (A3), doesSky return to “reality,” explicitly bringing the dramatic focusback to his impending dice roll. By extension, the startlingdrop back to our initial key starkly reminds us that thosedramatic ascending half-step modulations truly were fleetingsurface phenomena.

* * *

Ascending stepwise modulation conveys different symbolicmeaning in “How to Succeed in Business Without ReallyTrying,” from the 1961 show of the same name. Pitch heightcan be understood as depicting building height, which in turncorresponds to positional status (that old “corporate ladder”).At the musical’s beginning, the protagonist, J. PierrepontFinch, works as a lowly window washer at a big firm. On hisway to work, he picks up the musical’s title Dale Carnegie-styled self-help book at a newsstand and this song primarilysets the putative book’s table of contents, as read by Finch.20

The result is a sort of gradus ad corporate climbing and, atleast in the cinematic portrayal, Finch (played by RobertMorse both on Broadway and on screen) begins the number

just after literally descending on the building’s exterior scaf-folding. As the musical’s first song, immediately following theoverture, it effectively frames the plot. In that sense, it servesthe same role (if in a modern context) as “Comedy Tonight”from Stephen Sondheim’s nearly contemporaneous A FunnyThing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962).21

Like “Luck be a Lady,” “How to Succeed” features two as-cending stepwise modulations, and its melody also sits on 5for long periods of time. Formally, however, it is a far simplertune. “How to Succeed” divides into two similar sections(roughly A A′), with the latter interrupted by some dialogue(at measure 39). The first section essentially functions as anantecedent structure, beginning in F major and ending with ahalf cadence on V of ii (measure 23). After a brief transition,the second section (A′) begins in G major (measure 31) and,like a transposed version of A, it also ends with a half cadenceon (the new) V of ii (measures 49–51), thus failing to provideany sort of true consequent structure. Because of these section-ending half cadences, the modulations from F to G, and thewould-be modulation from G to A come across as less sud-den than those stepwise modulations in “Adelaide’s Lament”and “Luck be a Lady.”22 Eager readers can glance ahead toExample 11 to see a middleground sketch that synopsizes thesong’s form and tonal/contrapuntal goals.

The modulation from F to G that concludes the A sec-tion is the culmination of a tonal force that was previously


that “Luck be a Lady” is far more of a commentary on Sky Masterson’simmediate need for luck than on how women behave. Therefore, thesimpler unidirectional metaphorical analysis seems sufficient.

20 I called it a “putative book,” yet Loesser’s musical was very loosely basedan actual book called How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, aDale Carnegie lampoon by Shepherd Mead (1952). The book that

Finch purchases and follows in the musical, however, is clearly notmeant to be a parody; rather the entire musical is a parody. Thus, thebook in the musical’s diegesis is not the one that truly exists, althoughthere are overlaps between the two.

21 Sondheim’s “Comedy Tonight” features even more extensive use of dra-matic stepwise modulation. Like “How to Succeed,” “Comedy Tonight”is structured in a series of parallel refrains, but is far lengthier. It beginsin G major, the second refrain is in A� major, the third refrain is in Amajor, and the fourth is in B� major. It then restarts in G major andeventually concludes in A� major.

22 Both section-ending half cadences sound strangely conclusive, perhapsbecause they each fulfill long-standing melodic goals.

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(and unsuccessfully) set in motion. The song opens with anextended tonic harmony and, as mentioned, the rather staticmelody lingers on 5. Example 8 provides the first eight mea-sures, omitting a two-measure instrumental introduction. Inmeasures 6–7, G minor (ii) is tonicized, but only two mea-sures later we are jerked right back down to F major, withoutthe grace of an interceding dominant harmony. Textually,there are some obvious associations. At “how to apply for ajob,” Finch is grounded; at “how to advance from the mailroom,” he moves up a step; and at “how to sit down at adesk,” he has gone one step too far. Overreaching too quicklyis something that is penalized at various points in the musical.The musical overreaching is rebuffed, but a later attempt atclimbing to G succeeds.

In measures 9–13, Finch overreaches even farther. “Howto dictate memorandums” moves toward a tonicization of themediant (A minor), and with the next line, “how to developexecutive style; how to commute in a three-button suit withthat weary executive style,” the rapid underlying pulse comesto halt. Finch has not only tonally overreached (and, in sodoing, anticipated his ultimate ascent to the key of A), but hehas entered a sort of dream space, signified both by the ab-sence of the constant grounding pulse and the metrical cessa-tion. Example 9 provides the score. With this uncharacteristicrecitative, the harmonies move non-functionally from iii toV7 of ii to a decorative major I7 chord. That “dream” endsabruptly at measure 18, when Finch comes crashing back toreality (F major) with the return of the song’s driving pulse.


example 8. “How to Succeed,” measures 3–10. “How to Succeed” from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Tryingby Frank Loesser © 1961 (Renewed) Frank Music Corp. All Rights Reserved.

� � � � � �� How to ap - ply for a job . . . How to ad - vance from the mail room . . .

� � ��

�

� � � �

��

��

� � � � � �� How to sit down at a desk . . . How to dic - tate mem- o - ran - dums . . .

� � ��

� � � � � � ��

�

�

� � �

� ��

�z �z �z �z

�z �z �z �z

A3

7

� � � � � � �

� � ��

Finch:

Hn. (stopped)

� � �

� � � � � � � �

�

�)(

444444

MTS3001_02 7/19/08 6:03 AM Page 45

This greatly expanded phrase finally concludes with a half ca-dence in G (or V of ii in F major) at the title lyric “how to,how to succeed” (measures 21–23).

Following an orchestral transition, the music seems torestart at measure 31—the beginning of A′. The initial sec-tion’s inconclusive ending followed by a musical restart comesacross as an interrupted structure in every way except for theconventional return to our initial key. Even so, A concludedwith a half cadence in G, and we subsequently begin A′ in Gmajor. At this point, the initial tonality (F major) has beeneradicated, and there is no residual expectation that we willreturn to it.

Because of the tonal continuity from the end of A (wherethe modulation is triggered) to the beginning of A′ (where it isossified), the modulation does not merely feel coloristic or em-phatic in the same sense as those in “Adelaide’s Lament” and“Luck be a Lady.” Rather, it sounds as though we have melod-ically moved from 5 to 6, and that 6 has subsequently beenreinterpreted as another form of 5. Rather than ·5, I use thesymbol 5+ to describe this type of modulatory scale-degreeshift. Both ·5 and 5+ connote the sense that we have main-tained 5 without truly modulating. The difference is that themotion from 5 to ·5 seems like a purely coloristic change(e.g., A1 compared to A2 in “Luck be a Lady”), whereas the


� � � � � �� How to de - vel- op ex - ec - u - tive style . . . How to com-mute in a three-button suit . . .

� � ��

�

11

�� !!

!!

� � �� With that wea - ry ex - ec - u - tive smile.

� � � � ��

�

16

� �

�

!

!

��

"�Str.,Hp.

Recitativo

A tempo

B

C

####

�

�

� ��

� �Str., Gtr., Drums

� �

�


MTS3001_02 7/19/08 6:03 AM Page 46

motion from 5 to 5+ sounds like a true melodic ascent. Thismight be a rather fine distinction in some cases, but generallywhen the entire texture simply shifts up a whole or half step, Ihear the · kind of modulation; when there is more of a transi-tion, and especially when the salient melodic scale degreemoves up before the rest of the texture moves up, I hear the +

sort of modulation.The A′ section of “How to Succeed,” the beginning of

which is provided in Example 10, plays out much like the ini-tial section. At “how to select whom to lunch with; how toavoid petty friends” (measures 33–36), we ascend from G

major to A minor (I to tonicized ii); At “how to begin makingcontacts” (measures 37–38) we tonicize iii (B minor), but as itappears that we are continually heading upward, the music isliterally interrupted for some prose. In the cinematic version,this is represented as another dream sequence, but is executedrather differently. Everyone in the office but Finch freezes ashe looks around and determines that he has indeed found alarge and impersonal enough company that the book’s manip-ulative techniques should work. When the music abruptlycontinues, the song restarts in G major and quickly closes bymoving to another half cadence on V of ii. Implicitly, we end


� � � � � �� How to ob - serve per - son - nel . . . How to se - lect whom to lunch with . . .

� � ��

�

31

� $�

� �

� � � � � �� How to a - void pet - ty friends . . . How to be - gin making con - tacts . . . How to . . .

� � � ��

� � � � � � ��

35

� � � �

� � �� !

!

!�

Finch

E

�ff� � � �

� �

� � � � � � � � � �

� � � � � � � � �

[ ]Stop


MTS3001_02 7/19/08 6:03 AM Page 47

in A Major, the expected key of the prospective next section.Both half cadences set the word “succeed,” which is also theword on which the stepwise ascents occur.

Melodically, the song is relatively static, lingering on 5 ofthe initial key, then moving up to 5 in the second key andthen up to 5 in the third key. Though the melody is always,in some sense, sitting on 5 (as was also the case in “Luck be aLady”), there is nevertheless a clear overall melodic ascentfrom C to D to E. In other words, these stepwise modulationsconvey a real sense of motion, not merely dramatic intensifica-tion. At its core (the background or deep middlegroundlevel), this song moves sequentially, like a grand (if strange)

linear intervallic pattern. Examples 11 and 12, the middle-ground and background sketches, summarize the long-rangetonal and melodic motion. Yet I hope they will not be read asunsuccessful attempts to conform to Schenkerian paradigms.Even without the upward modulations, this song defies theapplication of any standard Urlinie model. Although thesesketches suggest that tonal closure is either not attained orsimply differently attained, they do not signal a true depar-ture from common-practice tonality.

The theoretical repercussions of such an analysis might besomewhat disquieting. In this case, I hear linear motion, butI never sense that a different scale degree is being prolonged.


� � � ��

� � � ��

�

� � � ��

� � � � � � � � � � �

�

( )9 14 18 23

� 3731 40

How to . . .advance fromthe mail-room

How to . . .dictate memorandums . . .Develop executive style . . .

smile

This bookis all thatI need

suc-ceed

How to . . .select whom tolunch with

How to . . .begin making contacts . . .

This bookis all thatI need

suc-ceed

5̂ 5̂F: 5̂ 6̂ 5̂(= G: = F: 5̂+

5̂ 5̂G: 5̂ 6̂ 5̂(= A: = F: 5̂+

I(7)Vii

iiiiiIIF: I V

ii

43

43

iiiiiIG: I V

ii

43

43

�

�

example 11. “How to Succeed,” middleground sketch

MTS3001_02 7/25/08 4:47 AM Page 48

That suggests detaching the concepts of pitch class and scaledegree. In various modes of tonal analysis (including, ofcourse, Schenkerian analysis), it is common to equate chro-matic inflections of the same scale degree. Where stepwisemodulation is concerned, I think we need to reach fartherand draw equivalences among even diatonically differenti-ated pitch classes. Consider that an auxiliary cadential modelfor this song would suggest retrospectively hearing a long-range �3 – 4 – 5 melodic line in A major. On the other hand,the directional tonality model (in which the starting key iscentral) might lead us toward a 5 – 6 – 7 line in F major. If,as I expect, neither of these readings seems to convey thisparticular musical experience, then tonal consistency mightnot be necessary to produce a sense of tonal unity, at least inthis musical genre. A corollary to this observation is thatmotives or melodies that are strongly associated with partic-ular scale degrees might be able to produce (or at leastmimic) a sense of tonal unity without staying in, or evenstarting and ending in, the same key. 23

* * *

Of course, not all stepwise modulations are direct and notall direct and/or stepwise modulations resemble the typesshown previously. The subject of our final analytical vignetteis a song with a relatively frayed tonal and motivic fabric andits ascending modulation is less direct and considerably moresublime than those featured earlier.

Both musically and dramatically, “My Time of Day” isone of Frank Loesser’s most complex and compelling songs.It comes at a pivotal point in Guys and Dolls: the end of Act1. Sky Masterson and Sarah Brown have just returned toNew York from their night-long excursion to Havana. It isvery early in the morning, just before dawn, and it has be-come clear that the relationship between them has shiftedfrom adversarial to loving. But this is less of a love song thana pre-love song. Over the course of “My Time of Day,” Sky,the hardened gambler, exposes his frailties. It immediatelyprecedes and serves as something of a recitative to their biglove duet, “I’ve Never Been in Love Before.” The completescore to “My Time of Day” appears as Example 13.

Arguably, the most stable moment of “My Time of Day”is the very first measure after the instrumental introduction(measure 8). This song begins in F major and, over thecourse of its brief 29 measures (including the seven-mea-sure introduction), either tonicizes or modulates to Gmajor, G minor, B� major, and A� major before concludingin G major. There are no strong cadential points in any ofthese tonal regions, including the opening and closing keyareas. It ends with a five-measure segue that moves from Gmajor to B� major, the opening key of “I’ve Never Been inLove Before.”

None of the various modulations and tonicizations inthis song performs a clear utilitarian function. “My Time ofDay” is Sky Masterson’s confession: it is where he sheds hiscool exterior, revealing his frailties and preparing himself toadmit he has fallen in love with a missionary, a woman heonly courted in order to win a bet. Like both “Luck be aLady” and “How to Succeed,” the ultimate modulation is


23 I have chosen to focus on the musical theater literature, but one mightmake similar analytical claims about certain late-Romantic works. Forexample, Hugo Wolf ’s “Mir ward gesagt” from the ItalienischesLiederbuch is a song in which the second half is a step higher than thefirst. In many ways, its long-range melodic and prolongational struc-tures resemble Loesser’s “How to Succeed.”

� � � ��

� � � ��

5̂ 5̂F: A: 5̂

5̂ 5̂F: 5̂++

or G:

I ViiI V

ii G:F:

'

+

example 12. “How to Succeed,” background sketch

MTS3001_02 7/19/08 6:03 AM Page 49


� � ( ��

� � ( ��

� �

!!

� � � 34� �� My time of day is the dark- time A cou - ple of deals be - fore dawn When the street belongs to the

� � � 34� � � ��

� � � 34��

�

8

� �

� � � 34 44� ��

cop And the jan- i - tor with the mop And the gro - cer - y clerks are all gone When the

� � � 34 44� � � � ��

� ��

� � � 34 44� � ��

�

13

�

��

�

�

### �)(#### �)(

(under dialogue)Dolce (Sky) You’re finding out something I’ve known for quite a while

SkySlowly and freely

� � Tenderly

�

�

example 13. “My Time of Day,” published vocal score. “My Time of Day” from Guys and Dolls by Frank Loesser © 1950 (Renewed)Frank Music Corp. All Rights Reserved.

MTS3001_02 7/19/08 6:03 AM Page 50


� � 44 � �� smell of the rain - washed pave - ment Comes up clean and fresh and cold And the street lamp - light

� � 44 � � � � � � ��

� � 44 � � ��

19

� � � ��

fills the gut - ter with gold That’s my time of day My time of day, And you’re the on - ly doll I’ve ev - er wanted, to

� � � ��

� � � � ��

�

24 � �

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

� � �

� � � � �� share it with me. I've

� � � � ��

�

29

��

��

� �

� �

Proudly

� ��)(

�

ten.

ten.

ten.

accel.

� � �

rit.

rit.!z�

(Sky) they embrace

con moto non troppo

Segue

�� 44

44

44

“You’re the first person I’ve ever told it to”(under dialogue)

��

example 13. [continued]

MTS3001_02 7/19/08 6:03 AM Page 51

foreshadowed by earlier harmonic motions, in this case bypreliminary visits to G major and G minor (measures12–18). Also, both the melodic contrast between B and B�in measures 12–18 and the implicit modulation to B� inmeasure 19 foreshadow the opening key of “I’ve Never Beenin Love Before.”

Each tonal region that is touched upon corresponds to adifferent phase in Sky’s dramatic transformation. The vari-ous tonicizations also generally accompany motivic or the-matic changes, thereby projecting a series of relatively dis-jointed narrative events. Example 14 contains an analyticalforeground sketch. Because this song is short, episodic, andfairly terse, I will tell my analytical tale line by line, dis-cussing tonal regions, counterpoint, and their textual corre-spondences.

My time of day is the dark time (measures 8–9). The songopens with one of the most difficult-to-sing lines in all ofLoesser’s work. In fact, it is widely rumored that Loesserwrote “A Woman in Love” for the cinematic version of Guysand Dolls because Marlon Brando could not handle “MyTime of Day.”24 The awkward melodic leaps include a tritone

between scale degrees 6 and �3 (more properly �2) that paint“dark time,” and the diminished fourth from 1 down to �5 on“day.” These two leaps set a chromatic stage, though both �2and �5 are effectively incomplete neighbors (appoggiaturas)that scoop up to the next highest diatonic tone, they are ac-cented both metrically and agogically and they imbue theirassociated text with greater figurative meaning. “Dark time,”especially, signifies far more than ‘that period between sunsetand sunrise,’ rather it metonymically symbolizes the timewhen gamblers’ elicit activities take place.

A couple of deals before dawn (measures 10–11). The seamy un-dercurrents suggested here receive harmonic and melodic un-derscoring that undermines the stability and tessitura estab-lished at the outset. Rather than resolving to a root-positiontonic in measure 10, the dominant at “dark time” moves to aweak tonic 64 (this truly carries tonic function, if only modestly)at “A couple of,” while the previously active melody gives wayto a low drone on 5. This motion to an interior contrapuntal“voice” seems as tangential as the text it sets. Meanwhile, thetonic destabilization helps lead us away from F major and to-ward G. Indeed, at “dawn” we find ourselves on a pure D majortriad, which leads to the following section in G.


24 Given how completely Loesser incorporated the infectious “AWoman in Love” into the long sequence in Havana [movie timings:1:16:30 until 1:28:55], always diegetically and with a variety ofstyles, it seems difficult to believe that this was a simple matter ofsong substitution. The level of musical integration matches passagesin the famously monothematic film noir Laura (1944). Interestingly,Loesser did not exactly omit “My Time of Day” from the film. Atthe end of the Havana scene, we hear the first 18 bars of the tune(non-diegetically and only instrumentally) [1:34:00 until 1:35:06],and, in the next scene, as Sky and Sarah are walking down the NewYork sidewalk just before he sings “A Woman in Love,” we hear theconclusion to “My Time of Day” (again non-diegetically) [1:35:06until 1:36:04].

Though never sung in the film, for anyone who knows the stagedmusical, the reference to “My Time of Day” is clear, especially

because it underscores Sky Masterson’s prosaic expression of thesong’s sentiment:

Sarah Brown (upon exiting the taxi): “We’re blocks from the mission.”Sky Masterson: “C’mon, a little walk’ll do you good.”SB: “What time is it?”SM: “It’s dawn any minute.”SB: “What makes the light so strange and white?”SM: “Because only in Times Square the dawn gets turned on by anelectrician. . . Listen.”SB: “What?”SM: “Footsteps. Now is the time you can hear footsteps on Broadway.”

Unlike in the original stage version, Marlon Brando’s Sky Mastersonnever tells Sarah his real name and he generally seems less vulnerablethan any Sky Masterson who sings “My Time of Day.”

MTS3001_02 7/19/08 6:03 AM Page 52


� � � � � � � ��

�

�� My time of day is the Dark time before dawn Street Cop Janitor Mop Gone

� � � ��

�

� � � �� smell pavement clean cold Street lamp Fills the gold My time of My time of day only doll I’ve ever share it

� � � � � � ��

�

&

� � � � � � � � � �� I’ve never been in love before . . .

� � � ��

( )

( )

( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

�)(

8 12 16 18

3̂F: N

Clerks

( )

& � ( )fresh

light gutter with and you're the wanted to with me

(end of song)30262319

Trans. #1 Trans. #2 Trans. #3^(3) 3̂(( ))� 3̂! 2̂

Sky and Sarah embrace3̂G: 1̂B :�Interlude (under Sky’s dialogue: “You're the first person I’ve ever told it to”)

V 95

64ii (!) 4

2

II6 ii6 53

[V]IIF:

[V 64( )7] III� [V]7(B � ?)I:

64VVI�= G:

64Vii

7[V ] =B � : 7V II

30

day

7IV

53

�

example 14. “My Time of Day,” foreground sketch

MTS3001_02 7/19/08 6:03 AM Page 53

When the street belongs to the cop, and the janitor with themop, . . . (measures 12–15). The text is set with a sequence ofdescending parallel first-inversion major triads: G, F, E, andD. Though it moves from tonic to dominant in G major, thispassage is non-functional and textually tangential. Theseextra characters (the cop, the janitor, and later the absentgrocery clerks) sharpen our image of the scenario, but theyboth stall the drama and further distract from the love songwe expect Sky Masterson to be singing. Indeed, what seemsset up to be a love song to Sarah instead becomes a tribute toNew York City before the break of day. Similarly, the har-monies here are not explicitly connected to the whole and although G major is where the song ends, this short bit ofharmonic foreshadowing hardly seems connected to the con-cluding G major passage from measure 26 onward. What isclear is that we have left the stable realm of F major and arenow tonally meandering.25

. . . and the grocery clerks are all gone (measures 16–17). Themusic introduces a measure of stability, but also shifts themodality from G major to G minor. The voice exchange inmeasures 16–17 (which appear at the end of the first systemin Example 14) is a tonally grounding gesture in G and ithighlights the clear melodic ascent to B�

4. The arrival onthat pitch is the most convincing return to the song’s origi-nal tessitura, and, in many respects, the B� that sets “gone”appears to stem from the opening melodic note (A4 on“My” in measure 8). This long-range harmonic motion fromtonic to supertonic is not the product of a direct modulation

and G (which locally serves a tonic function in measures10–17) has not in any way displaced F. There is, however, areal sense of shattered tonality as we move from measure 18into measure 19.

When the smell of the rain-washed pavement comes up clean andfresh and cold (measures 19–22). This non-functional series ofparallel root-position seventh chords seems incommensuratewith the fauxbourdon in measures 12–15. There are at leasttwo fundamental reasons that these rather similar melodicsequences produce such different effects: in measure 19, thefirst chord’s quality, metrical and hypermetrical placement,and duration imply either that we have directly modulated toB� major or have at least found our way back to a subdomi-nant in F major; and the former passage (measures 12–15) ischromatic, utilizing entirely major triads, while the latterprogression of seventh chords is markedly pandiatonic fortwo measures (the only such passage in the song, and aunique gesture in Guys and Dolls), before becoming recast aschromatic, and tonally goal-oriented. Moreover, the melodyat measure 19 emphasizes each chord’s least stable member:the seventh. The pitch A4 in measure 19 therefore elicits avery different tonal setting than the A4 on which the songbegins. For this reason, it would seem disingenuous to por-tray their relationship as prolongational, though such a mu-sically strong return to the opening pitch might otherwiseinvite such a reading.26

In my earlier analyses, I made the case for prolongation-ally relating different pitches that nevertheless assume thesame functional role. By contrast, where two salient in-stances of the same pitch elicit quite different structural andnarrative functions, it can be difficult to hear tonal prolonga-tion. Indeed, by measure 19 in “My Time of Day,” we havelost touch with the song’s opening dramatic and tonal focus.


25 This non-functional sequence is akin to the introductory verse of ColePorter’s famous—even notorious—song “Love for Sale” (1930). Thatsong features a pair of non-functional sequences of descending first-in-version chords (first triads, then seventh chords), setting the openingtext “When the only sound in the empty street is the heavy tread of theheavy feet that belong to a lonesome cop” and “when the moon so longhas been gazing down on the wayward ways of this wayward town” inmeasures 5–10 and 15–18, respectively. See Buchler, forthcoming.

26 As I will discuss later in this essay, the passage from measures 19–25might even be interpreted as a dreamlike musical insertion.

MTS3001_02 7/19/08 6:03 AM Page 54

A strong measure of tonal clarity returns with the clause“comes up clean and fresh and cold.” Though this is melodi-cally similar to the “smell of the rain-washed pavement,”Loesser now employs purely functional harmonies—a de-scending fifth progression of sorts (with a possibly ironic tri-tone substitution on “clean”) leads us toward A� major, whichwe “proudly” attain in measure 23.

And the street lamp light fills the gutter with gold (measures23–25). This illuminated gutter is set with the clearest (lo-cally) diatonic passage in the song, but in the scheme ofthings, A� major is a rather distant tonal sphere. The tempo-rary tonic pitch, which plays such a melodically prominentrole in this passage, has very little to do with the song’sopening A� (3). The local diatonicism projects an image ofstability that is further propagated by a melody that does lit-tle more than outline the (A�) tonic triad, coming to rest on 2at an apparent half cadence (“gold”). This last moment be-fore we abruptly return to the song’s opening melody (andalso to its narrative focus) is made especially solemn by theornamented 4-3 suspension, a gesture that routinely signifiesreligiosity among the gamblers (but not the missionaries) inGuys and Dolls.27 Loesser has allowed us to become lost inSky Masterson’s increasingly romantic vision of the night,but the melodic, harmonic, motivic, and, more broadly, dra-matic continuity is shattered with the next line.

That’s my time of day (measure 26).

My time of day, and you’re the only doll I’ve ever wanted to shareit with me. (measures 27–29). This final passage marks thepoetic and motivic return to the opening material.Harmonically, the ascending half-step motion in the voice(from B� to B�) and the corresponding descending half stepin the bass (from E� to D�) require a re-evaluation of the E�major chord in measure 25 as �VI in the key of G major, andthe thematic reprise comes over a strong cadential 6

4 chord(which, like the text, is immediately reiterated in the nextmeasure).28 Despite the new key and the unstable harmonicsupport, the textual and thematic return centers us again.Both tonally and dramatically we had wandered rather farafield, but it seems clear that in measure 26 B�

4 marks the re-turn of 3. Indeed, B�

4 is far more strongly allied with the ini-tial A4 than is either the A4 in measure 19 or the A�

4 in mea-sure 23.29 This seems noteworthy because both measures 19and 23 at least arguably mark phrase beginnings; whereas byvirtue of the retrospectively understood �VI – V6

4 progressionin measures 25–26, the lyrical reprise “my time of day” lieswithin a surprisingly unbroken phrase. That phrase began inmeasure 23 and concludes in measure 29, at the end of thesong’s text.

In fact, the passage that begins at the anacrusis to measure19 and concludes at “gold” in measure 25 might even bethought of as an insertion—a musical and textual interjection.It stands apart from the rest of the song in its tonal focus, har-monic materials (beginning with the unusual pandiatonicism),


28 This return of the opening motto in measure 26 provides a especiallyclear example of what Hatten calls an “arrival 64” (1994, 15).

29 The non-functional return of A4 in measure 12 is shown as a paren-thetical (3) in Example 14. When it is altered to A�

4 in measure 16, itseems farther removed from the initial Kopfton and is represented as((3)). Finally, at the reprise of the initial melody, now up a step, B4 isshown as the renewed ·3. These points also mark the transformationsof Sky Masterson’s narrative (and, arguably, his character).

27 Religious and solemn musical gestures frequently punctuate Guys andDolls and serve, on the one hand, to differentiate the two differentgroups—the missionaries and the gamblers, and also to show how ele-ments of the former group often arise in the latter. Other religiously in-flected songs sung by gamblers include “The Oldest EstablishedPermanent Floating Crap Game in New York” (which ends with aheavily ornamented plagal cadence) and, more famously, “Sit DownYou’re Rocking the Boat” (one of Loesser’s two great gospel-styledshowstoppers—the other being “Brotherhood of Man” from How toSucceed in Business Without Really Trying).

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and text. This passage comes across as dreamlike and surreal:perhaps uncharacteristically rustic in measures 19–20 andmore than a bit solemn in measures 23–25. Indeed, a cleancut could be made from “And the grocery clerks are all gone”(measure 18) to “That’s my time of day” (measure 26), effec-tively removing this portion of Sky’s reverie without affect-ing the overall musical structure.30

Unlike the standard four-measure units that typify musi-cal theater literature, this song’s phrase and hypermetrical

structures are erratic, perhaps even more so than the song’spoetic structure. The seamless, nearly Chopinesque, mid-phrase return that brings “My Time of Day” to a close is onlythe most obvious case of composing against type. Example 15provides the song’s lyric, annotated with its phrase structure.While the poem clearly divides into three stanzas (of unequallength, poetic structure, and rhyme scheme), the units of mu-sical form are far more difficult to delineate. After the un-usual seven-measure introduction, the first four measures ofthe song seem to comprise a phrase. The fourth measure’spallid half cadence on V of ii is both unconventional and un-stable (notwithstanding the fact that both major cadence


30 Many thanks to Matthew Shaftel for first noticing that measures 18and 25 could be stitched together.

example 15. “My Time of Day,” annotated lyric. “My Time of Day” from Guys and Dolls by Frank Loesser© 1950 (Renewed) Frank Music Corp. All Rights Reserved.

Formal units (sub-phrase, phrase) Tonal region

Introduction (instrumental) 7 mm.

My time of day is the dark time 2 mm. 4 mm. 11 mm. FMA couple of deals before dawn 2 mm. +

When the street belongs to the cop 2 mm. 7 mm. GM

And the janitor with the mop 2 mm.

And the grocery clerks are all gone 2 mm. Gm

When the smell of the rain-washed pavement 2 mm. 4 mm. 11 mm. B�MComes up clean and fresh and cold 2 mm. +

And the street lamp light 1 m. 7 mm. = 3 mm. A�MFills the gutter with gold 2 mm. +

�at’s my time of day 1 m. 4 mm. GMMy time of day, 1 m.

And you’re the only doll I’ve ever wanted 1 m.

to share it with me 1 m.

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points of “How to Succeed” arrive at V of ii), and one mightreasonably conclude that the first phrase resists closure untilmeasures 16–18 (“grocery clerks are all gone”).

Even the cadence in measures 16–18 fails to satisfy. Notonly do we come to rest on the supertonic, but the outervoices produce a clear voice exchange—an effective contra-puntal means of expanding a single harmony, but certainlyno cadential model. Despite the weak cadential ramificationsof a dangling supertonic, there is a clear disjunction (an in-terruption of sorts) between measures 18 and 19, the latter ofwhich obviously begins with a new tune (arguably) in a newkey, setting a new sentiment. So it might be prudent to con-sider measure 18 a phrase ending if only because measure 19seems to be a phrase beginning.

The phrase (or formal unit) that commences in measure19 reaches a sort of half cadence in its fourth measure(measure 22), but that “cadential” dominant is sharply dis-sonant (V 9

7 of A�) and it pushes forward toward its resolu-tion in measure 23. Like the song’s first half (measures8–18), one could easily understand the entire second half(measures 19–29) as a single extended phrase. And like thefirst half, the second half ends off tonic. This time, inas-much as we close, it is with a strident dominant seventh inG, containing both a chordal F� and a melodic F�. Ratherthan truly cadencing, the final dominant resolves into thesegue, which begins on a G major triad and works its wayto V7 of B�, serving as an introduction to “I’ve Never Beenin Love Before.”

“My Time of Day” effectively serves as a long preamble toSky Masterson’s declaration of love. Masterson spends mostof the song describing those pre-dawn hours, but his mostheartfelt and vulnerable moment comes during the instru-mental segue where he tells Sarah Brown that his real nameis “Obadiah,” confessing “You’re the first person I’ve evertold it to.” Dramatically and tonally, the song never trulyends. While its splintered design and inconclusive structureare unique in Guys and Dolls, the very natural text setting(moving directly from sung into spoken prose when Sky

truly gets serious) is part and parcel of Frank Loesser’s ma-ture style.31 Loesser was particularly talented at writingsongs that followed a natural flow of speech. His characterssound realistic, not fanciful like those in certain Rodgers andHammerstein musicals (such as The Sound of Music) wherethe beautiful songs call attention to themselves and oftenseem to suspend rather than further the drama.32

The tonal fluctuations, inconsistent phrase structure, andabsence of cadential formulas in “My Time of Day” sharplycontrasts with “Follow the Fold,” one of the first songs heardin Guys and Dolls, and our introduction to Sarah Brown.Example 16 includes a representative excerpt from “Followthe Fold,” a wonderful imitation of Salvation Army bandfare. Loesser composed it in straightforward march timewith four-measure phrases (or subphrases) and almost noth-ing but tonic and dominant triads in C major (a single sec-ondary dominant appears in the bridge). It never modulates,and throughout the show it almost always recurs in Cmajor.33 “Follow the Fold” represents the simple, emotionallydetached life that Sarah Brown had been leading, and thesense of moral clarity that she felt. By the end of the first act,that clarity becomes as fractured as the formal structure of“My Time of Day.” One might even hear a faint intertextualreference to the plain diatonicism and triadic melody of“Follow the Fold” just before the arrival 6

4 in measure 26 of


31 In these regards, “My Time of Day” resembles many of the songs fromThe Most Happy Fella (1956), a musical that is often placed into theopera genre. That show includes very little spoken dialog and often thesongs—especially those that are consecutive within a single scene—aremore like musical interludes: they don’t necessarily have strong endings,but rather proceed directly from one to another.

32 McMillin (2006) argues that most musical theater songs operate on adifferent temporal plane that “interrupts book time” (7–8).

33 “Follow the Fold” is heard six times in Guys and Dolls. The first fiveperformances are peppered throughout the first act. We hear it for thefifth time just before Sarah and Sky go to Havana (in the first act); itdoes not recur again until the just after “Sit Down You’re Rockin’ TheBoat,” near the end of the second act.

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� 24 �� 24 ��

�

� ��

�

9

� � � �� + � � � � �� Fol - low the Fold and stray no more, stray no more, stray no more.

� � � �� + � � � � �� Fol - low the Fold and stray no more, stray no more, stray no more.

� � � �� , � � � � �� Fol - low the Fold and stray no more, stray no more, stray no more.

� � � �� + � � � � �� - low the Fold and stray no more, stray no more, stray no more.

� ��

�

-

.

17

March tempoThe “Save-a-Soul” Mission Band (on Stage)

"

# # # # # # #gliss.

The Citizens gatherSarah

Agatha

Arvide

Corporal

(Orch.)

Fol

example 16. “Follow the Fold,” opening (measures 1–24). “Follow the Fold” from Guys and Dolls by Frank Loesser © 1950 (Renewed) Frank Music Corp. All Rights Reserved.

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“My Time of Day.” At least the beginning of the passage“And the street lamp light fills the gutter with gold” in mea-sures 23–25 echoes the signature 3-5-1 arpeggiation fromthe title lyrics of “Follow the Fold.” The moment where thisespecially solemn rendering of the “Follow the Fold” mottoenters Sky Masterson’s narrative could easily be considered abrief and understated apotheosis.34

* * *

Certainly, Loesser is not unique in deploying direct step-wise modulations for the sake of dramatic intensification.One can find the same technique in songs by most ofLoesser’s contemporaries, including Rodgers, Loewe, Rome,and Adler and Ross. However, Loesser seems to have ap-plied the technique in a diversity of situations unmatched byhis peers and he so frequently foreshadowed the stepwise as-cents with clever musical hints that even when his modula-tions are abrupt, they rarely seem clichéd.

I hope to have demonstrated that not all such intensifica-tions are equally or similarly dramatic and that our analyticalresponses to direct modulations can reflect their rhetoricalpurposes. In this literature, abrupt key changes need notchallenge our overall sense of tonal unity and continuity.Both the · and + notations can help us acknowledge suchmodulations without anchoring us to more classically ori-ented models for progressive tonality.

references

Anson-Cartwright, Mark. 2001. “Chasing Rainbows: Wolf ’s‘Phänomen’ and Ideas of Coherence.” Journal of MusicTheory 45.2: 233–261.

Bailey, Robert. 1985. “An Analytical Study of the Sketchesand Drafts.” In Wagner: Prelude and Transfiguration fromTristan and Isolde, 13–46. New York: Norton.

Block, Geoffrey. 1997. Enchanted Evenings: The BroadwayMusical from Show Boat to Sondheim. New York: OxfordUniversity Press.

Buchler, Michael. 2008. “Every Love but True Love:Unstable Relationships in Cole Porter’s ‘Love for Sale’.” InPopMusicology, ed. Christian Bielefeldt and Rolf Grossman,184–200. Luneberg, Germany: Transcript Verlag.

Burstein, L. Poundie. 1988. “The Non-Tonic Opening inClassical and Romantic Music.” PhD diss., CityUniversity of New York.

———. 2005. “Unraveling Schenker’s Concept of theAuxiliary Cadence.” Music Theory Spectrum 27.2:159–85.

Chattah, Juan. 2006. “Semiotics, Pragmatics, and Metaphorin Film Music Analysis.” PhD diss., Florida StateUniversity.

Cook, Nicholas. 1987. “The Perception of Large-Scale TonalClosure.” Music Perception 5.2: 197–206.

———. 2001. “Theorizing Musical Meaning.” Music TheorySpectrum 23.2: 170–95.

Hatten, Robert. 1994. Musical Meaning in Beethoven:Markedness, Correlation, and Interpretation. Bloomington:Indiana University Press.

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Lakoff, George and Mark Johnson. 2003. Metaphors We LiveBy. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Loesser, Frank. 1948. Where’s Charley (vocal score). NewYork: Frank Music Corp.

———. 1950. Guys and Dolls (vocal score). New York: FrankMusic Corp.


34 Michael Klein beautifully investigates the features and repercussions ofthis sort of “expressive transformation” of a previously simple theme inhis article on Chopin’s Fourth Ballade (2004, 31–32).

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———. 1956. The Most Happy Fella (vocal score). New York:Frank Music Corp.

———. 1961. How to Succeed in Business Without ReallyTrying (vocal score). New York: Frank Music Corp.

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Schenker, Heinrich. 1979. Free Composition (Der freie Satz).Trans. and ed. Ernst Oster. New York: Longman.

Sondheim, Stephen. 1962. A Funny Thing Happened on theWay to the Forum (vocal score). Piano reduction by RobertH. Noeltner. New York: Burthen Music Company, Inc.

Swift, David. 2003. How to Succeed in Business Without ReallyTrying. DVD. Santa Monica: MGM Distribution.

Swerling, Jo, Abe Burrows, and Frank Loesser. 1951. Guysand Dolls (libretto). New York: Frank Music Corp.

Stein, Deborah J. 1995. Hugo Wolf ’s Lieder and Extensions ofTonality. Ann Arbor: UMI Press.

Stein, Deborah and Robert Spillman. 1996. Poetry into Song:Performance and Analysis of Lieder. New York: OxfordUniversity Press.

Zbikowski, Lawrence. 2002. Conceptualizing Music. NewYork: Oxford University Press.

Music Theory Spectrum, Vol. 30, Issue 1, pp. 35–60, ISSN 0195-6167,electronic ISSN 1533-8339. © 2008 by The Society for Music Theory. All rights reserved. Please direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of California Press’s Rights and Permissions website, at http://www.ucpressjournals.com/reprintinfo.asp. DOI: 10.1525/mts.2008.30.1.35


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modulation as a dramatic agent in frank loesser’s broadway

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