Reading between the Lines

Hugo Riemann and Beethoven's Op. 31 Piano Sonatas

Datos Bibliográficos

ID23579968
AutoresScott Burnham (Music, City University of New York, autor de correspondencia)
Año2012
Páginas440-461
Fecha de publicación2012-09-18
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoCHAPTER
RevistaThe Oxford handbook of neo-Riemannian music theories (SOURCE_BOOK)
EditorialOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195321333.013.0016
OpenAlexW2729241911
ISBN9780195321333
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas21

This article examines Riemann's most sustained treatment of harmony and meter, as found in his analyses of the Beethoven piano sonatas. In this article, Riemann's analyses are used as a basis, not only to elucidate on how Riemann's theories work but also to demonstrate how they can illuminate Beethoven's music. Focusing on three sonatas of Beethoven's Op. 31, the article reveals the circumstances in which Riemann does not have the luxury or freedom to make abstract or systematic pronouncements, but is instead confronted with the concrete situation of having to make sense of a musical composition. In this article, the focus is on Riemann's rhythmic analysis. It aims to answer how Riemann uncovers periodic logic in Beethoven's labile phrase rhythm, and what this logic means for the examination of Beethoven's compositional trajectory.

Aesthetics · Art · Harmony (color) · Literature · Musical · Pure mathematics · Rhythm · Riemann hypothesis · Visual arts · Mathematics · Music Technology and Sound Studies · Musicology and Musical Analysis · Neuroscience and Music Perception