While this definition may be useful does it mean that
if there is no melodic line one cant have an accompaniment
figure? What if there is more than just a principal line
and a subordinate figure? And doesnt this make the whopping
assumption that the melodic line is always the principal
figure?
We refer
to different planes of presence as foreground, middleground
and background. By referring to music in a plane of presence,
that is, by referring to it in regards to its stature
in our state of awareness, we can free ourselves of preconceptions
about the function of any given figuration. To this extent
we will define the different planes of presence as ordered
by their prominance in our state of awareness where:
Foreground: Occupies the greatest prominance
in our state of awareness Background: Occupies the least prominance in our
state of awareness Middleground: Occupies a place of prominance between
the foreground and background
So far, we have looked in depth at the
creation and presentation of the foreground.
We have seen how to take a figure, create a motive,
craft a phrase, and develop a period. To a great
extent, our discussion has been one about the
foreground material. We now turn to that which
occupies less prominance in our state of awareness
but, without a doubt is no less critical to the
creation of a masterful composition.
If background and middle ground
material is not to be at the forefront of our
awareness, than what is its purpose? Although
the answer to this question is rather complex,
we can categorize the function of the background
and middle ground into 4 categories.
1. Rhythmic
2. Melodic
3. Harmonic
4. Dynamic
We note that any of the three planes can
combine any one or all of these 4 categories
simultaneously.
Rhythmic Figuration in the
Background and Middleground
1. Rhythmic Coupling: The rhythm of the
foreground is doubled (in full or in part) in
the middle and/or background. (Beet: Op18-6 mvt
1 pg 2 sys 3(18 bars)/ vid@00:45) (Queen Bohemian Rhapsondy 3:08-4:13 "I see a little..w/piano")
2. Rhythmic Contrast : The rhythm of
the foreground is significantly different from
that of the middle and/or background. (Beet:
Op18-6 mvt 4 pg 13 sys 4/ vid@04:00)
3. Rhythmic Syncopation:
The rhythm of the middle
and/or background is offset from that of the
foreground (Dvorak: Op96-12 mvt
3 pg 1 bars 10 & 12 and Rehearsal 1/ vid@00:00) 4. Non Rhythmic: The middle
and/or background does not serve a prominant
rhythmic function(Dvorak:
Op96-12 mvt 1 pg 4 Rehearsal
4/ vid@01:35) 5. Idiomatic or "groove" Establishment:
The rhythm of the middle and/or background is
presented to create a particular genre, style
of groove (ie Waltz, Habanera etc) (Dvorak:
Op96-12 mvt 4 pg 1 bars vid@00:00)
Harmonic
Figuration in the Background and Middleground
1. Vertical Chordal Harmony: The middle
and/or background is used to establish a vertical
chordal harmony. ( Beet:
Op18-6 mvt 4 pg 17 sys 1/ vid@07:24) 2. Arpeggiated Chordal Harmony: The middle
and/or background presents the harmony through
arpeggiation. (Dvorak: Op96-12 mvt 2 pg 1
/ vid@00:00 *note the use of partial coupling
and syncopation in V2) (Queen Bohemian Rhapsondy 0.54-1st verse "mama, just killed a man") 3. Arpeggiated Chordal Harmony w/passing
and/or Neighbor tones: The middle and/or background
presents the harmony through arpeggiation with
passing and neighboring tones.(Dvorak:
Op96-12 mvt 1 pg 5 Rehearsal 5 esp "dim" before
"molto rit"/ vid@02:05 ) 4. Contrapuntal Harmony: The middle
and/or background presents the harmony in counterpoint
to the foreground but is not perceived as
foreground.(Dvorak: Op96-12 mvt 1 pg 1 bar
8 celli pizz /
vid@00:18 ) 5. Scale wise Harmony: The middle and/or
background presents the harmony linearly via
a presentation of the relevant scale. *Note how
the overall consonant tonality of the scale overrides
dissonances presented by note against note counterpoint
(Dvorak: Op96-12 mvt 1 pg 9 2
bars before Rehearsal 13 Celli/ vid@06:48) ( lucy in the sky beatles chorus)
Melodic Figuration in the Background
and Middleground
When we
speak of melodic figuration in the Background and Middleground we must be careful
to confine ourselves to that which is not foreground
material. A melodic statement in a voice that has
been serving a bacground or middleground function
may indeed play a counter melody to the foreground.
However, it may also appear as the foreground even
if for just a moment. A good litmus test (although
not the only one) is to sing what you hear as the
foreground without looking at the score. If that
which you sang was transferred between voices, than
there is a good chance that those voices temporarily
occupied a foreground position. In such cases we
can not say it is a background or middleground melodic
figuration.
It is worth mentioning that whereas all of the techniques
presented here are of great importance in the creation
of effective middle or background material, the
use of melodic figuration can arguably be viewed
as the most important of these elements. It forms
the core of a coherent composition.
1. Double at pitch: All else equal,
When a voice doubles at pitch, it is very difficult to
distinguish its role from that of the foreground
and we must look to other elements to clarify
its role.
2. Doubling or partial doubling at different
pitch level: The middle and/or background
is used to provide counterpoint as a doubling
of the foreground at a different pitch. The
function of this particular type of figuration
is very subject to interpretation. If a foreground
melody is being doubled at the 3rd or 6th
or some other interval, does the part doubling
the foreground take on a role as a foreground
element or some subsidiary role? ( Dvorak:
Op96-12 mvt 1 pg 5 2
bars before Rehearsal 5 vid@02:00) ( Beatles: Norwegian Wood 0.23 1st Chorus "she asked me to stay") 3.
Creates a countrapuntal countermelody:
a. Via imitation:
Motivic elements from previous
foreground material is presented
as middle or background. ( Dvorak: Op96-12
mvt 1 pg 1 2nd semi phrase of antecedent.
zvid @ 00:00
Notice 16th note rhythm.
Then on page 3 Rehearsal 2 notice
that rhythm is momentarily presented
isolated as the foreground vid
at 00:56. Once it has been called
to our attention Dvorak then immediately
begins to define it as both a background/middleground
element and a temporary foreground
element .
Now, look again at the original
antecedent phrase on page 1. This
time focus your ear on the 16th
note arpeggiation of F major in
the last bar of that antecedent. Throughout
the movement Dvorak presents this
motive as a foreground element.
But notice page 9 rehearsal 13
vid@6:57 Dvorak lets this motive
slide into the middleground subsidiary
to the Celli foreground. Notice
how the Celli statement is in its
extreme register.
b.
Via New Motive: Here the function
of the The middle and/or background
is to present new motivic material which is later
presented in the foreground. Since
the ear is focused on the foreground,
this is a great way of preparing
the new motive for a later appearance
as the foregound. ( Dvorak: Op96-12
mvt 3 pg 22 rehearsal 4.vid@00:46)
Note: This is a tremendous example
of this technique. All else being
equal we hear Vln 1 as the foreground
and Vln 2 as the middleground.
In the remainder of the
piece, Dvorak then goes through
a series of variations of these
two contrapuntal statements that
presents the original vln 2 motive
as a strong foreground element.
A very
interesting example of contrapuntal countermelody in which the
foreground is presented and then moved to the middle ground can be
found in Yes' Roundabout ~ 3.20
Dynamic Figuration
in the Background and Middleground
1. Articulation Contrast: The
articulation (legato or staccato)
of the foreground is contrasted (in full or in
part) in the middle and/or background. (Dvorak:
Op96-12 mvt 4 pg 34 Rehearsal
9/ vid@02:32)
2. Uses of Rests : A rest not only changes the texture of the
composition by thining out the sounding voices but, equally important,
it has the effect of drawing the ear to the attention of that which is
not resting. (Dvorak: Op96-12 mvt 1 pg 8 Rehearsal 10/
vid@06:02) Note how until now we have not
heard a real solo statement in the movement. Notice how your ear is drawn
to this. Here Dvorak uses rests in the background and middleground to
focus the ear on the following contrapuntal material.
3. Textural contrast: The texture of the middle and/or
background is offset from that of the foreground (Dvorak:
Op96-12 mvt 2 pg 20 Rehearsal 8/ vid@06:15) Notice the constant alternation
between pizz and arco. 4. Accent figuration: In this technique,
the bacground and middleground often present
an accent as a motivic function. Beethoven was
extremely fond of this technique.(Beet:
Op18-6 mvt 1 pg 2 sys 1bvid@00:34 Note how the
accent first presented in the foreground V1 is
then carried in the middleground as Vln 1 continues
with differnt foreground material. In effect,
the accent plays a motivic function that is transferred
from the foreground to the middle/background.)
Read and listen to both the Dvorak
and Beethoven string quartets. Find
at least one example of Rhythmic, Harmonic,
Melodic and Dynamic figuration in the
background or middle ground of these
two string quartets. You may not use
examples given on this page or in lecture.
In Class Assignment:
Apply to your in-class assignment from
notes 13, at least one example
of Rhythmic,
Harmonic, Melodic and Dynamic figuration
