I. The Motive & Figure
II. The Cadence

Music is language.

Just as the greatest orators will take the elements of language: letters, words, phrases, sentances, and paragraphs and craft them into beautiful ideas presented in the form of acts, scenes, and episodes, so too will the most skilled composers utilize then elements of music and craft them into the various forms we will be discussing throughout this semester.

We will assume that all polyphonic music contains three elements: Melody, harmony and rhythm. In this class we will explore the techniques that join, develop and expand these elements.

1.  The motive is the smallest characteristic unit, distinctive in melodic and rhythmic content whose significance is established in its own development.

a. A motive can be virtually any kind of musical element and can be thought of as the smallest unit of musical structure.
b. A Motive need not immediately appear in the foreground although its development will usually result in it appearing as a foreground element at some point in the composition.

1. Melodic Motive (Beethoven's 5th)
2. Rhythmic Motive (Hungarian Overture)

Melodic Motive

Rhythmic Motive

2.  Motivic Expansion
Motives enter into the larger musical structure via:

a. Literal Repetition

b. Sequential Repetition (repetition at other pitch levels)

c. Rhythmic, melodic, or harmonic variations

d. Imitation

e. Others: including such compositional devices as

1. inversions (plain, retrograde, mirror)
a. Mirror: Creates a mirror image of the specified interval(s). For example if G is a P5 above C than the mirror inversion is a P5 below C
b. Retrograde: Creates a backwards image of the specified interval(s) For example if a melody contains C-D-E-F, the retrograde would be F-E-D-C

`

f. combination

ASSIGNMENT 2: Create 6 expansions of your two favorite melodic motives "a" & "b" to 2 to 3 bars using each of the following: a. Literal Repetition b. Sequential Repetition c. Rhythmic, melodic, or harmonic variations d. Imitation e. Mirror Inversions & Retrograde Inversions f. Combinations of a-e Be sure to include all dynamic, tempi, and articulation markings Pick your Favorite 4 bar expansion and give it the designation "A"

 

The Figure
Unlike the motive, a figure, in and of itself, does not elicit direct thematic or developmental significance. The figure tends to have secondary importance to the motive.

1. Accompanimental Figuration

a. used to support significant structural elements. (Pathetique 2nd theme & FIM 1.15)

2. Episodic Figuration

a. used to bridge thematic groups from which a form arises. (Pathetique 2nd theme & FIM 1.16)

We have seen various cadences in music theory. These have included the full, deceptive, plagal, half , phrygian cadence etc.. In addition to making the arrival or departure point of syntactic harmony (also known as functional harmony), the cadence serves:

a. as a musical punctuation that conveys a sense of arrival or departure (Pathetique)
b. Carrys strong degree of finality in its metric position, harmonic context, direction of individual lines, dynamics, texture and orchestration

c. Since a cadence is defined by more than just its harmonic context, it is possible that other musical elements contribute to a cadential effect even if its syntactic function does not employ a V-I derivitive.

d. An elided cadence is a cadence that marks the end of one unit of structure while simultaneously beginning another unit of structure.