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7/26/2019 Middleground Motives in the Adagietto of Mahler's Fifth Symphony
1/12
Middleground Motives in the Adagietto of Mahler's Fifth SymphonyAuthor(s): Allen ForteSource: 19th-Century Music, Vol. 8, No. 2 (Autumn, 1984), pp. 153-163Published by: University of California PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/746760Accessed: 28/07/2010 15:01
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2/12
Middleground
ot ives
i n
t h e
A d a g i e t t o
O f
M ah le r s
F i f t h
Symphony
ALLEN
FORTE
TheSignificanceof the Motive in Mahler'sMu-
sic.
The
melodic
surface
of
Mahler's
music,
with
its wealth
of detail and florid
exploitation
of
traditional
polarities
such as
the
suspension,
is
surely
one of its
most
immediately
attractive
features.
Embedded
in this
surface are
the
atomic
melodic
components
which
we know as
motives,
the
lucid and
memorable
musical
ele-
ments
which
are combined
in the most artistic
and often "simple" ways to form melodies.
Among
these
motives are some
which
appear
o
have
the
deepest
symbolic significance
in the
composer's
music-for
example,
the
turn,
the
octave
leap,
and
the
appoggiatura,
symbols
which
elicit
direct and
strong
responses
from
the sensitive listener even without benefit of
learnedtheoretical
explanations.
Although
the
present
article
proceeds
from
this traditional
idea of
motive,
it
extends that
familiar
concept
in
three directions.
First,
the
motive
is
regarded
as
fundamentally
an inter-
vallic
structure,
hence can
occur
in
simplest
form as
a
simultaneity.
(The
Adagietto
contains
striking
instances of this
phenomenon.)
Sec-
ond, the motive is not restricted to the fore-
ground
stratum,
but
may
occur
at
the
middle-
ground
evel
in
expanded
orm.
Finally,
as it will
be
shown,
one can
appropriately peak
of "moti-
vic
counterpoint"
in
Mahler's
music,
and that
term
offers
a
significant degree
of
analytical
advantage.
Because the article
incorporates
certain
novel features
in its
approach
o
the
study
of
the
music, a few words of explanation, including a
disclaimer,
are in order. First the
disclaimer:
Musical
examples
for
this
article
were
preparedby
Melvin
Wildberger.
19th-CenturyMusic VIII/2 Fall1984).? by the Regentsof
the
University
of California.
153
7/26/2019 Middleground Motives in the Adagietto of Mahler's Fifth Symphony
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19TH
CENTURY
MUSIC
while
the
graphic
form of the
examples
reflects
an
orientation
which is
Schenkerian in
na-
ture-in
particular,
a
belief
in
the
reality
of
structural levels and a reverence for the truth
and
beauty
embodied
in
the
consonant triad-
these
graphs
do not
always
follow Schenkerian
paradigms
and
may occasionally
bend textbook
norms.'
The basic
rationale for
these occasional
departures
resides,
of
course,
in the
music
itself,
a
prime
exemplar
of late
nineteenth-century
music and
a work which contains
many
of the
innovative and non-traditional
aspects
associ-
ated with that periodof music history.
In
addition,
it should be said that the
single
movement
which is the
primary
ocus of the ar-
ticle is not
an
isolated
example
of
middleground
motives
(a
Schenkerian
concept)
and related
phenomena-neither
isolated with
respect
to
Mahler's
ceuvre nor
with
respect
to late
nine-
teenth-century
music
in
general.2
Finally,
although
the article does
not include
an explicit theoretical apparatus, t does imply
one
in the
analysis
of motivic structures and
substructures
and
in
the
analytical
determina-
tion of
motivic
identity
under some transforma-
tion
(such
as a
transposition)
or combination of
transformations.
The
Motive
in
Late
Nineteenth-Century
Music:
An Historical-Technical View. The brevity of
the musical motive
in
the music of the late
nineteenth
century
is discussed
in
an interest-
ing essay
by
Carl
Dahlhaus that focuses
mainly
upon
the
music
of
Wagner
and
Brahms.
Dahlhaus writes
persuasively
of "the
close and
intricate
relationship
between
. .
. aesthetic
principles and the technical compositional is-
sues.... These
are
the
pre-eminence
of
original-
ity,
the
shrinking
of thematic material in in-
verse
proportion
to the
ambition to create
arger
forms."3
However,
he
apparently
does not
per-
ceive
the extension of the atomic
motives to the
level
of
middleground
structure-a Schenker-
ian
concept,
as indicated
above.
If this
is a
gen-
eral
feature of late
nineteenth-century
music,
as
is believed, then the thematic motive has a
significance
far
beyond
that which
accrues to
it
merely
as
a result of its
presence
in the fore-
ground.
In the same
essay,
Dahlhaus
discusses
the ex-
istence
of
"padding"
n
music of the
Classical
period,
in
particular. Again,
this
notion,
while
commonly
held,
is at odds with the Schenker-
ian
view
that even
commonplace
musical
mo-
tions, such as those surroundingthe neighbor-
ing
tone,
acquire
a
unique
structural
meaning
in
each
individual art work.
Indeed,
this is
one of
the
miracles
of
tonal
music: the enormous di-
versity
of musical structures
generated
from a
very
small stock
of
basic musical
motions
which
are
determined
by
the constraints
of the
particular
harmonic
and
contrapuntal syntax.
As
will be
seen,
the
Adagietto
movement
of
Mahler's Fifth Symphony is a particularly
poignant
and
elegant
manifestation of this
re-
markable
feature
of
tonal music.
1: The
Second
Song
of
Kindertotenlieder.
As a
way
of
approaching
he
Adagietto
and introduc-
ing
some
of the
analytical
nomenclature and
techniques
to
be
used
in
the main
part
of the ar-
ticle,
I turn first to the second
song
of Mahler's
Kindertotenlieder (ex. la). Mahleriansknow, of
course,
that the
opening subject
of this
song
is
closely
related to the
opening
of the
Adagietto.
Indeed,
a literal
replica
of the
subject
of the Ada-
gietto
occurs
at the end of the
song
(m.
67).
The
chronological
relation between the
two,
al-
though interesting,
cannot be
discussed,
since
there are
no definitive dates of
composition.
Both were
composed during
the
period
1901-02,
'Such,
for
example,
as
those
presented
in
Allen Forte
and
Steven
E.
Gilbert,
Introduction
to Schenkerian
Analysis
(New
York,
1982).
2See
Allen
Forte,
"Motive and
Rhythmic
Contour
in
Brahms's Alto
Rhapsody,"
Journal
of
Music
Theory
27
(1983),255-71. Also in this connection thereadermaywish
to
referto
CharlesBurkhart's xcellent
article,
"Schenker's
'Motivic
Parallelisms',"
Journalof
Music
Theory
22
(1978),
145-75,
which deals with the
enlargement
of
foreground
motives
in a wide
range
of
tonal
works,
including composi-
tions
by
Brahmsand
Debussy.
With
respect
to
middlegroundorganization
n
general,
the
only published
Schenkerian
analyses
of
works
by
Mahler are
in Felix
Salzer,
Structural
Hearing
(New
York,
1952);
n
Peter
Bergquist,
"The FirstMovement of Mahler's
Tenth
Symphony:
An
Analysis
and
an
Examinationof
the
Sketches,"
Music
Forum 5
(1980),
335-94;
and in V.
Kofi
Agawu, "The Musical Languageof KindertotenliederNo.
2," JournalofMusicology
2
(1983),
81-93.
In
addition,
copi-
ous
analytical
sketches
will
appear
n
Stephen Hefling's
Yale
dissertation,
Mahler's
Todtenfeier:
A
Documentary
and
Analytical
Study
(1985).
3Carl
Dahlhaus,
"Issues in
Composition,"
n Between Ro-
manticism and
Modernism,
trans.
Mary
Whittall
(Berkeley
and
Los
Angeles,
1980),p.
76.
154
7/26/2019 Middleground Motives in the Adagietto of Mahler's Fifth Symphony
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Ruhig,
nicht
schleppend.
o i c e
Ciekt
urTickhalleand
PIANO
.
-._
Nun
seh'
ich
wohl.
war
- um
so
dunk-le
Flam
men ihr
9
S-P -
,3-
__
r
J
J_
Au - gen
Gleich
-
sam,
um
voll in
ei-
nem
,
*t
w
t
t
.
.
-
II
-
L,
,
LJ
LW
&6U
V ' '
ALLEN
FORTE
Mahler's
Fifth
Symphony
Example
Ib: Motivic
Featuresof
Nun
seh'
ich
wohl.
155
7/26/2019 Middleground Motives in the Adagietto of Mahler's Fifth Symphony
5/12
19TH
CENTURY
MUSIC
but which came first is
entirely
a
matter of
spec-
ulation at
the
present
time.
Some
of
the most
prominent
motivic fea-
tures of Nun seh'
ich
wohl
are
summarized
in
ex. lb. Here
and in
the
study
of the
Adagietto
which follows there are three
basic
graphic
symbols.
Lower case
Greek
letters
designate
motives delimited
by
brackets,
while
the
prime
appended
to a
Greek letter
indicates that the
motive is modified
in
some
way
and
does not
replicate
the motive without
prime.
The
bar
placed
above
a
Greek letter
symbolizes
ordinary
contour inversion.
Motive
ac
(ex.
ib)
comprises
the
ascending
line
that
spans
a fourth.
By rhythm
and
phrasing
a articulates two
submotives
marked
P
and
y,
the
ascending
minor
second and the
ascending
major
third,
respectively.
A third
component
of
ax,
he
ascendingmajor
second
designated
8,
will
prove
to be of
special
importance
when it
ap-
pears
in the
Adagietto.
Motive a' immediately follows axn the mu-
sic
(m. 3).
Now, however,
since
ax
as
undergone
compression
and
traverses
a diminished
fourth,
it
is
designated
a'.
Similarly,
y
now
spans
a mi-
nor
third and
is called
y'.
While
y'
represents
a
rhythmic
contraction with
respect
to
y
in m.
1,
0 (beginning
n m.
3)
expands
rhythmically
with
respect
to its
original
form in m. 2.
Motive
8 dis-
appears
rom within
ac';
ather,
t
is
replaced
by
anotherstatement of 3,with the result that p is
intensified
by
repetition,
ex.
lb.
After
the
statement of
a
and
ax',
which
com-
prises
the
first
two
phrases
of
a traditional
bar
form,
the voice enters in m.
5 with a on the
same
pitch
classes as the
original
form of a in m.
1. A recurrence
of a motive in this
way
is called
pitch-class
specific
with
respect
to some other
occurrence.
If the
recurrence nvolves the same
pitches-that is, if it is not registrallydistinct--
it is
called
pitch specific,
with
reference o
some
other
occurrence
of the
motive.
As the
voice enters
in
m.
5 with
a,
the orches-
tra
joins
in,
doubling
ca
a third lower. While the
intervallic
span
of
both remains that
of
a
fourth,
the
lower form of
ax
has a different internal
structure.
(This
new form is not
given
a
separate
name,
since
such a distinction is
inconsequen-
tial for the purpose at hand. What it provides,
however,
is
analytical
evidence that
Mahler
re-
gards
as
equivalent
motives that traverse the
same
interval,
all other factors
being equal.)
In mm. 10-13
ax'
appears
wice in
direct
suc-
cession,
the
second form a
transposition
of the
first
by
a minor
third
(see
ex.
ib).
Here
P
is
asso-
ciated
with the word
"Augen,"
which is central
to the
meaning
of the
poem thoughout
this
song.
In both
cases the
rhythmic shape
of
P
cor-
responds
to that of its first
appearance,
n m. 1.
In m.
14
the
upper
voice
begins
with
P
as
though
it
would
present
ax';
however,
it
falls
back
in
m.
15
to form
8,
the
major
second.
As
the
orchestra
plays a'-g'
the voice
sings gl-al.
The
resulting
exchange
of
voices creates
a harmonic
or simultaneous
formof 8 and 8
(see
ex.
Ib).
From the
analytical standpoint,
this
opening
music
of KindertotenliederNo. 2 illustratessix
fundamental
and
general aspects
of the motive
in Mahler's
compositions,
as listed below.
I. Rhythmic
shape
is variable:the
same
pitch
motive
may
occur
in
different
rhythms
and
yet
retainits
identity.
ii.
The
intervallic
boundary
of
a motive
may
bechanged,
as in the contraction of
ac
o forma'.
iii. The
effect of a contraction
(or expansion)
is to
modify
the
internal
structure,
the submo-
tives,
of
a
motive. For
nstance,
not
one
but two
forms
of
p
occur
within
ax',
reating
an
expres-
sive
intensification.
iv.
A
motive
may
be
transposed
without los-
ing
its association
with
the
original
form.
v.
A
motive
may
be
inverted without
losing
its essential identity.
vi. The
interval
of a
motive-its
intervallic
span-may
be
presented
as a
simultaneity.
2: Basic
Motives
in the
Foreground
of
the Ada-
gietto.
Example
2
displays
the basic
stock of
aA
6
E Y')
AM bE
Example
2: Basic
Motives in the
Foreground
of
the
Adagietto.
156
7/26/2019 Middleground Motives in the Adagietto of Mahler's Fifth Symphony
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motives of the
Adagietto.
Motive
a is
the same
as
oa
n the
song
discussed
above;
in
the Ada-
gietto,
however,
a has an inverse
image
called
1&.
Similarly 3,the ascendingminor second,has an
inverse labelled
j,
as
do
y
and 8.
Moreover,
y
has a condensed
counterpart,
y',
that
spans
the
interval of a minor
third;
and since
y'
has an
in-
verse,
the
symbol -'
comes into
play--the
most
complicated
of motive
names to be used in
this
analysis.
Finally,
there is
another
motive, E,
which,
like
y',
descends over a
minor third. Its
relation to
y'
will
be
explained
in due
course.
The music begins, as shown in the analytical
sketch,
ex.
3,
with the
interval of
a
minor
third,
y' (violas
and
harp).
This
proves
to be one
of the
principal
motivic
components
of the
music and
one
which,
fittingly,
predominates
in the
clos-
ing
music
(ex.
9).
Against
the
cello-bass
motion
a-g-f
(y)
the
first violins introduce
what is
surely
the
moti-
vic
hallmark
of
the
Adagietto,
a.
Three submo-
tives are identified on the analytical sketch in
ex.
3:
p,
the
tail
of the
motive, 8,
the head of the
motive,
and
-5,
he
inverse
of
the bass
motion.
In
the
very opening
music we
thus
have an
in-
stance
of
motivic
counterpoint
as
a
in
violins
unfolds
against y
in
cellos.
That these
are,
in
fact, motives,
and not
arbitrary
motions of some
kind will become
clear as we
proceed.
In
the
second
part
of
the
opening
melodic
phrase 0 extends from
bb1
to join
~
, a'-g' (ex.
3).
That
is,
the two
submotives of
a
are nverted
and
now
appear
n
reverse order.
Here
the E
ex.
2) designates
the
combination of
p
and
8 .
Un-
like
y
this
is not
an
integral
minor
third,
but
a
concatenation
of minor second and
major
sec-
ond,
as defined
by harmony.
Hence,
it is
both
useful and systematically obligatoryto distin-
guish
between the two motives E
and
y,
al-
though
E n some sense also involves
the minor
third.
The next motion in the
upper
voice
presents
the a
shape, rising
to a climax on c2. As
indi-
cated
in ex.
3,
this form of a
incorporates -',
here
pitch-class
specific
with
respect
to
the
opening
form
of
motive
y'.
And
again,
we
have a
lucid instance of motivic counterpoint, with
the bass
presenting
y'
against
the
ascending
a
motive.
This
form of
y'
is
also
pitch-class
spe-
cific with
respect
to the
opening
form of
that
motive
(interval).
Attached
to the
climactic
pitch
c2
are mo-
tives
8 and
~
,
pitch-class
specific
with
respect
to
the
initial
form of 8
(m.
2).
The entire fore-
ground figure
ends
with
-
c2-b'
in
m.
6,
to
which the bass provides the motivic counter-
point
Ab-G,
also
a
form
of
3.
The
remainder of the
foreground
can
be read
from the
analytical
sketch
in ex.
3.
However,
it
may
not be
inappropriate
o draw
attention to
a
poignant
detail,
the
occurrence of a
vertical
form
of
y' just
as the
a
leads into the new
section
in
the
upbeat
to m.
11
at the end of ex.
3. In this
situation the
pitch
a'
conflicts with the domi-
nant harmony, a beautiful and idiomatic in-
stance
in
which a
statement of a
motive takes
precedence
over
other
compositional
consider-
ations.
ALLEN
FORTE
Mahler's
Fifth
Symphony
5
6E
4-
4-
-3
a C ?
7 - 8
Example: Middlegroundof the Opening Music of the Adagietto.
E x a m p l e i d d l e g r o u n d
th
O p e n i n g
u s i c
th
A d a g i e t t o
3:
Middleground
of
the
Opening
Music
of
the
Adagietto.
We
come now to
consider
the
first
transference of a motive from the foreground o
the
middleground.
This
begins
with
c2,
the
pri-
mary
tone
signified
by
the caret
surmounting
the
numeral 5 abovethe
open
notehead in m.
5.
This climactic
pitch
is
the
head
note of a linear
progression
(in
Schenkerian
language)
which
proceedsdownwardstepwise to gl in m. 9, as in-
dicated
by
the
stem and
beam
notation,
at the
half cadence on
the
dominant: an
enlarged
orm
of
&.
157
7/26/2019 Middleground Motives in the Adagietto of Mahler's Fifth Symphony
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19TH
CENTURY
MUSIC
Within
this is
a
subsidiary stepwise
motion
that
prolongs
bbi
from
m.
6
through
m.
8
by
de-
scending
from
bbi
through
a' to
gX,
s
shown
by
the stems without beams(ex.3).This configura-
tion, too,
is
motivic;
it
is a
pitch-specific
form
of
E,
as
symbolized
on
the
analytical
graph.
The
musical
significance
of
this
event
lies
not
only
in
the
extraordinary
act that it
repli-
cates
in
the
large
a
motive of
small
scale,
but
also in the
general
(Schenkerian)
ense
that it is
a
primary
contributor
to
the
moment-to-mo-
ment
unity
and
coherence of
the
music.
Each
step in the progressionrepresentsaphasein the
determinate
motion
toward
the
final
goal,
the
cadential
gX
bove the
bass C in m.
9-what Fe-
lix
Salzer has
called
"directed
motion."
More-
over,
the head
note of the
progression
is not
placed
in
some random
position
in
the
music;
it
is
precisely
the
terminal note of
the second
form
of
x
in
the
foreground.
And,
of
course,
the
foreground
remains.
No
effort has been made to reduce it out of the ana-
lytical
graph
n
ex.
3,
lest
the reader
receive the
impression
that
it
is
somehow of no
signifi-
cance. On
the
contrary,
each
component
of
the
long
line moves to
the next
by way
of
decorative
motives drawn
from the
openingmusic,
begin-
ning with two formsof 8,followedbythe p mo-
tive combined
with
P,
and
finally
the
pitch-
class
specific
form of
y
which
prolongs
the
penultimate
a' that
precedes
the
cadence.
The richness
of motivic detail in this
opening
music of the
Adagietto
can
only
be
fully appre-
ciated
contextually,
with reference
to the
spe-
cial motivic structures
that
characterize
the
thematic
aspect
of the
composition.
Notice,
for
example, that the suspensions in m. 8 highlight
the
a
motives,
reflecting
the
suspended
presen-
tation of
p
in
its initial
manifestation. In
this
connection,
I should
point
out that while
the
figured
bass
symbols
which
are
provided
on
the
analytical
sketches
are intended
primarily
to
elucidate the
voice
leading,
they
also
point
to
motives
not all of which
receive
Greek
letters,
with
or
without
primes
or bars.
Thus,
the
figure
4-3 beginningin m. 9 representsthe inner-voice
motion
fl-el,
which is
-p.
Example
4:
Continuationof
First Section
of the
Adagietto.
4:
Continuation
of
First
Section
of
the
Ada-
gietto. This subsection (ex.4) beginsas avariant
of its
predecessor
shown in
ex.
3.
In
m.13
the
leading
tone
g#
1,
introduced as
the second
note
of
~
,
signals
the
forthcoming
harmonic motion
from
tonic to mediant
(A
minor).
Against
the
next
motive
in
the
upper
voice, E,
enters in
the
bass, pitch-class
specific
with
respect
to its ini-
tial
statement
in
m.
3.
Indeed,
as
indicated on
the
analytical
sketch,
the form
of
p
that lies an
octave higher at this point (e-f) is the end of a
complete
statement of
a.
Here
again
we en-
counter an instance of
motivic
counterpoint:
E
in the
upper
voice
moving against P
in the
bass.
In m. 15 the uppervoice
a1
which resolves the
suspended
bI
is the head
note of an
elaborate
form of
y'
in
which the second
and third
notes
appear
n
the octave below
(aX-bb-c1).
he elab-
oration of
y (as
shown in
ex.
4)
consists first of
two forms of W
filling
in the fifth from
a1
down
to
d1.
The
middle
note of
y'
then
enters,
having
been
prepared
within the
Neapolitan
harmony
which
precedes
it.
Finally,
the
last note of
the
motive, c', comes in as the sixth of the cadential
8,
to
complete
this
middleground
statement of
y'.
This
is
not, however,
the end of
the musical
158
7/26/2019 Middleground Motives in the Adagietto of Mahler's Fifth Symphony
8/12
motion,
for
c'
is the head note of the
inverse
of
the
preceding
motive,
that
is,
y',
and in
this
transformation
there
occurs an
expressive
chro-
matic exchange:bbin y' becomes b in y'.
Having
arrived
on the mediant
harmony
in
m.
19,
the
music
commences a coda-like
mo-
tion
of
which all
the melodic
components
are
motivic,
as
shown
on ex.
4
beginning
in m.
19.
Of
these,
p
and
its inverse
image
-
are
most
prominent.
However,
y' puts
in
an
appearance
in the
bassin aform
pitch-class specific
with re-
spect
to the
most recent
form of
y'
in
the
upper
voice.
This delicate
coda ends
with a restatement
of
the
minor
third
of
y' just
before the
reappear-
ance of
thematic
motive
a
(m. 23),
which leads
into
the next
section.
At this
point
it becomes
clear
that
the harmonic
middleground-the
progression
from
I
to
III
and back-is
motivated
by
the
statement
of
y
in its fundamental
inter-
vallic
shape,
the
minor third
A-C,
here
a com-
ponent
of
the
A-minor
triad.
The
fifth of
that
triad,e, belongs, of course, to P andits inverse,
as
remarked
above.
Thus,
the
entire
harmony
of
A minor
is motivic
in
origin
and
significance;
it
is a
harmonic
symbol
that refers
to the
very
opening
musical
gesture
of the
Adagietto.
Measure
23
also contains
a new instance
of
motivic
counterpoint.
a
in its
original
register
s
counterpointed
by
y
in the bass
(as
at
the
begin-
ning,
but
y', spanning
the
interval
from
c2
to a
(the "A-minor" interval), moves in parallel
tenths
with
y
in the
bass,
enriching
the counter-
point.
It
is also
worth
noting
that the relation
between
y'
and
p
becomes
explicit
here:
the
former
ncorporates
he latter
as a
submotive,
as
indicated
in
ex.
4.
ALLEN
FORTE
Mahler's
Fifth
Symphony
i
.
_I
'
,.....1...I.......l..........,....i
v
,-"[4o
7-
/6cuplin
-3
_
6
10 10 10 10
Example
5:
Concluding
Part
of
the First Section.
5:
Concluding
Part
of
the First Section.
Exam-
ple
5
shows
an
analytical
graph
of
the
fore-
groundandmiddlegroundof the finalpart n the
first section
of the
Adagietto
(excluding
the
coda,
mm.
34-38).
This is a variationon the
first
section,
not
only
at
the
foreground
evel,
but at
the
middleground
level as
well,
as will
be ex-
plained.
The
first
foreground
motion
in the
upper
voice
peaks
on
p e2-f2,
then E enters
in a
form
which
is
pitch-specific
with
respect
to its
first
appearance (ex. 3) and prolonged at the fore-
ground
level
through
a
Mahlerian turn.
With the
completion
of
this motion on
g'
in
m. 26
begins
the
most
extraordinarypart
of
this
concluding
section:
a
large-scale
middleground
presentationof a, the components of which are
stemmed and beamed
in ex.
5.
Subsidiary
o
and
interruptive
of this
ascending
linear
motion is
the voice
projected
upward
rom the tenor
regis-
ter:
dl-d2,
el-e2,
fl_f2,
shown
by diagonal
lines
on the
analytical
sketch.
Although
this motion
might
be
regarded
as an instance of the ascend-
ing
minor third motive
y',
the
graph
shows that
the
motion
begins
on
cI
in m. 24 and
that the to-
tal configurationis nothing other than a form of
the
primal
motive
a:
cl-dl-(d2)-el-(e2)-fl-(f2).
Thus,
in this section
two forms of
a
intersect,
159
7/26/2019 Middleground Motives in the Adagietto of Mahler's Fifth Symphony
9/12
19TH
CENTURY
MUSIC
but,
in
context,
the
form that
begins
on
g'
should
be
regarded
as the more
fundamental,
since
it
is the
point
of
departure
or
the climax
music, to which I will return below. The coun-
terpoint
for this form of
a,
shown
underneath
the
analytical
sketch
in
ex.
5,
is a
traditional se-
ries of
imperfect
consonances:
6-10-10-10-10.
At the
conclusion
of the
main
middleground
statement
of a
on c2
(at
the end of m.
28)
the mu-
sic moves toward
the
climax on
a2
in m.
30,
where
that note forms the
interval
of
y', pitch-
class
specific,
with the
bass. This is a
particu-
larly effective culmination, since the melodic
motion from m.
29
arches
upward
from
c2
through
f2
again
forming
y
when it reaches
a2.
Thus,
the outer voices from m.
29
comprise
a
motivic
counterpoint
involving
a
single
mo-
tive-in
effect,
an
exchange.
In this
upward
motion
c#2
n m.
29
(equiva-
lent to d62within the Bb-minor riad)providesa
striking
element
of chromatic tension.
Al-
though
it
proves
to
be
a
neighboring
one which
falls back to c2
with
the arrival
on
bass
c
in m.
30,
it has
strong
ascendingpassing-tone
impli-
cations-hence,
the "tension."
In
short,
it as-
pires
to become
the
head note of
3.
Other features
of this
section can be
read
from
the
analytical
sketch. One
that
needs to be
singledout forspecialattention,however,is the
large-scale
bass
motion
A-B1-C
(mm. 28-30),
a
pitch-class
specific
form of the
initial statement
of
-"'.
-
2I
I-r-
.
()Example
6: Final Section
of the
Middle Part
of the
Adagietto.
Example
6"
Final Section of the
Middle Part of the Adagietto.
6:
Final
Section
of
the
Middle
Part
of
the Ada-
gietto.
Since
this
article did not set out to
give
a
complete chronological
analysis
of the
Ada-
gietto,
but
rather to focus on
middleground
manifestations
of
foreground
motivic con-
figurations,
we
do not hesitate to
skip
now
to
the final portion of the middle part,startingat
m. 63
(ex.
6).
Although
Mahler's
key signature
of
two
sharps
here
suggests
D
major,
a statement
of
that
implicit
tonic
sonority
never occurs.
In-
stead,
as shown
by
the
figured
bass
symbols
in
ex.
6,
the
basic
long-range
voice-leading
motion
between
m. 63
and
m.
68
comprises
the
provi-
sional
resolution of
6
to
7
and
the
final
denoue-
4
3
ment on
to
just before the repriseof the opening
music
in
F
major.
The
upper
voice of this
portion
of the music
presents
two
forms of
a,
both
at the middle-
ground
level,
the
longest
of
which
traverses
the
entire section
and is indicated
by
the
upper
beam
in ex. 6. Within this
long
a is nested a
pitch-specific
replica
of
itself which
begins
in
m.
64.
This is also identified
by
a
beam
in
the
analytical sketch.
When the
bass
changes
to
FO
n
m.
67
(violas)
the
upper
voice
momentarily digresses
to
bring
in
C&,
he
fourth,
which
descends
from
e3
o b2via
-
and
-,
with
inverse
forms of each of
those
motives
interpolated
so that the
pattern
folds
back
upon
itself
as 9
-P-0
--8,
a
highly
refined
foreground
configuration
which
is
prefigured
n
the
music at
m.
57
(ex. 8).
The
pitch
b2
which
concludes the small &here then becomes the
second
note
in
the
longer
of the
two
ascending
middleground
forms of
ta.
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7/26/2019 Middleground Motives in the Adagietto of Mahler's Fifth Symphony
10/12
In m.
68,
with the
progression
of
the
'
to
9,
the
bass
is
prepared
or the
subsequent
descent to
F,
traversing
the
major
third
and
thus
forming
mo-
tive y-.This middlegroundbass motion is pitch-
class
specific
with
respect
to
the
original
form
of
y
(an
octave
lower).
Here
again
the
statement
of
the
motive
appears
to
be the
paramount
mu-
sical concern. More
specifically,
the motivic
counterpoint
created
by
the
completion
of
a
in the
upper
voice
against
the
descending
y
in
the bass would
render
any
other
resolution
in-
artistic-such
as one that would
bring
n a dom-
inant harmony for the tonic F-majorkey at m.
72.
It
is also
completion
of the
middleground
o
motive
in
the
upper
voice which is
responsible
for the
d3
n the
upper
voice of m. 72 and
which
renders the conflict
with the tonic
harmony
so
absolutely
compelling.
The
postponement
from
m. 72 to m. 74 of bass F (bracketedn ex. 6) can
also be
explained cogently
on a motivic basis.
At this moment in the
composition,
Mahler
not
only
returns
to the
beginning
music
but he
also
brings
back
the
characteristic
harp
sonority
from
the
opening,
which has been absent
for
some time
(since
m.
46).
Associated with
the
harp
is
its
original
motive,
y',
and in order
to
highlight
its
interval,
the minor
third,
the com-
poser omits the bass F,which would cover that
delicate
sonority
if
played by
low
strings.
Here
Mahler has
given
us a lesson in motivic
orches-
tration
as well as motivic
counterpoint.
ALLEN
FORTE
Mahler's
Fifth
Symphony
gY':
g2
g
a'
bb'
S
(m.4)
couplingg2
a'
1
A
6
r---16i
-9/
-10
9-10
IV(m,:
1I
V
bVI
Example
7:
The Transition
between
the First
and
Second
Parts of the
Adagietto.
7:
The
Transition between
the First and
Second
Parts
of
the
Adagietto.
Let us
now look
back
and
consider a
section of the work
which does
not
readily yield
up
its
secrets,
the
music
which
connects
the
first
section in F
major
to the
sec-
ond
section,
which
begins
in
G1
major
(ex.
7).
First,the harmonicprogression s unusual. It
seems at
first to be
directed
toward
Bb
major/
minor,
a
motion
which,
had
it
been
consum-
mated,
would have
modulatedto the subdomi-
nant
and
thus,
in
Beethoven
fashion,
elevated
the
bb'
of
the
first
motive to the
status of a
tonic.
The
transition
begins
with
a
prolonged
(middleground)
form of
-'
which terminates
on
el'. However, because of the pitches involved,
c'-d'-eb',
the
final
pitch
of
y
sounds like the
chromatic
counterpart
of el
in the
a
motive,
the
kind of
chromatic
shading
so
characteristic
of
nineteenth-century
music.
Within the
middleground
y'
is
y-',
as shown.
And
following
the
middleground
orm is a
mini-
ature
replica
of that
motive.
Probably
he
most
striking
event in
the tran-
sition is the sudden appearanceof motive 8 in
the
upper
voice of m.
43,
a form
of
the motive
which
is
pitch-class specific
with
respect
to
its
first
appearance
n m. 4.
Following
this
climac-
tic form of
& is a
descending stepwise
chain
made
up
of
the
same
motivic
shape,
indicated
by
beamsin ex. 7. The
resulting change
of
regis-
ter links
g2
o
a',
a
coupling,
in
Schenkerian
an-
guage,
notated
by
the
dotted slur.
Thus,
at the
middlegroundlevel G in the uppervoice is pro-
longed
until
it
moves to
A,
and
A
then
pro-
gresses
to
Bb.
As
shown above
the
upper
stave in
161
7/26/2019 Middleground Motives in the Adagietto of Mahler's Fifth Symphony
11/12
19TH
CENTURY
MUSIC
ex.
7,
this
motion
is
a form of
-'
within
which
P
as
a'-bbI
effects the
final
motion
to the new
key,
Gb.
Here
p
is
pitch-specific
with
respect
to
the first P in the openingmusic: it is the retro-
grade
of
that
motive.
8: First
Section
of
the
Middle Part.
The
y
which
first
appeared
n
the
bass
of
the
opening
music,
is
predominant
here in
the
foreground,
ogether
with its
inverse
image,
I-,
and its
minor third
variant,
y'
(ex.
8). y
also
penetrates
the
middle-
ground:
bb -ab
_-gg
,
the
beamed
structure that
begins in m. 47 of ex. 8.
However,
oa
nd
&
play
significant
roles,
with
oa
iven
more
tenuously,
beginning
on
dV2
n m.
50.
In this
passage
it is
interesting
to hear the
way
in which
'
and
-'
are
incorporated
nto a's
ascending
fourth,
still another
instance of the
elegant ways
the basic
motives interact to form
new
configurations.
In m.
53
the
melodic
pitch
cb3
s attained in
the uppervoice, introduced via motive y, as in-
dicated. From this
point
onward the motion is
directed toward
the
melodic climax
of the sec-
tion,
O
c64-bb3
n m.
57. The climactic
-
mo-
tive,
however,
occurs within
the context of
a,
the fourth which
ascends from
f3
in m.
56,
and
attached to
the
head
note of
that motive is
I-'.
Thus,
the climax
incorporates
three of the
basic
motivic
shapes
of the
Adagietto,
again creating
a new melodic structure in the foreground.
In
this
section the
middleground
motion of
largest
scale is
the
registral
coupling
from
c63
(m.
53)
to
ck4
(m.
57),
a
coupling
which is
ef-
fected
by
the
stepwise
ascent,
as
shown
on the
analytical
sketch. The reason
P6
c,4-b,4
is the
climactic
motive has to do with its
placement
within
the
prevailing tonality
of
G6
major:
in
that
key pitch
classes
C6
and
B1
are
precisely
the analogues of the original form of- in the
opening
subject,
Bk-A.
Immediately following
the climax on
-
in
m.
57
the
foreground
melody descends,
forming
the motivic succession
p--
-P,
the latter as
d3-
eV3.
The
pitch eV3
hen
appears
above the domi-
nant to establish a
ninth,
as
figured
in the
sketch,
and this
proves
to be the head note of the
beamed
middleground
form of
-,
prolonged
by
5
and 5', as shown in the detail on the graph.
This
is
a
particularly
remarkable occurrence
of
-
in the
middleground,
since the tail note of the
motive, db3,
should resolve
over the
dominant
bass or over the tonic
G6 triad as
a
final refer-
ence
to
db2
of m.
47,
which
derives from the
pri-
marytone of the movement, c2.Instead,the lin-
ear transition to the next
section
begins,
with
the bass
moving
to the
c
just
before the
double
bar,
and the
db3
n
question
ascends
to
d#3.
Here
the
foreground
motivic
structures interlock in a
complicated way. -' just
before the
change
of
key signature picks up
the errant
db3.
With the
motion to
d#3
a form
of
a
is
completed,
creating
the melodic
upbeat
which
introduces the new
section. This
d#3
is then the head note of the
new
foreground
motive,
y.
The
large-scale
bass
progression
rom
the end
of the
G6-major
section
through
the
"E-major"
and
"D-major"
sections
leading,
ultimately,
to
the return of
the tonic F
region
and
the initial
music
in
m.
72,
is
motivic.
Specifically,
this
presents
two successive
forms of
y,
the
descend-
ing
thirds
db-B-A
and
A-G-F.
(The
atter
has al-
readybeen discussedin connection with ex. 6.)
9: The
Closing
Music
of
the
Adagietto.
The
final
section
of
the
Adagietto (mm.
93-103)
fea-
tures
y-'
n its initial
portion,pitch-class
specific
with
respect
to its
first
occurrence.As shownin
ex.
9,
this
motive,
which first
appears
in the
foreground
of the
upper voice,
is then
projected
upwardin a long middlegroundarc, culminat-
ing
on
a3
in m.
94,
which
is the final climax in
the
movement.
Violins
carry
hat
pitch
forward
to
m.
95,
with the
characteristic
performance
instruction "viel
Bogen
wechseln."
Over
the
same
span
of
music
(mm.
93-95)
the bass as-
cends from
A
to
c,
an
expression
of
'.
The
ac-
cessory example
below
the main
part
of ex.
9
provides
an
analytical
sketch which shows the
motivic counterpoint created by the upper
voice and bass: an
exchange
of
y'
and
-'.
Within
this framework the motion
to
c~2
n the inner
voice
suggests,
as
it
did in m.
29
(ex. 5),
a
contin-
uation to
d2,
and this indeed does
occur,
adding
a
third
component
to the
motivic
counterpoint,
namely,
8
and
6
,
in
which
c#2
is a sentient and
axial
passing
tone.
The
two
8
motives then form
the
main bass
configuration prior
to the
final
ca-
dential motion, which expresses y in pitch-class
specific
form
(mm.
99-103).
In
fact,
the bass
motion from
the
beginning
of the section
162
7/26/2019 Middleground Motives in the Adagietto of Mahler's Fifth Symphony
12/12
6(5,
, ,
6
coupling:
.
-7S - J,. "'y.LAL c63 c64m.57
L
z
P13
r_
r
va-
_
----
6t-
I: a
-10-
-10
9
6
I U
M
TT
--to
A
m.63
(y)
Example
8: First
Section
of
the Middle Part.
7 7
4,
4
-::
_-
-
6-
K
6&6
'Example 9 The Closing Music of the Adagietto.
Example 9: The Closing Music of the Adagietto.
ALLEN
FORTE
Mahler's
Fifth
Symphony
strongly
hints
at the
at
motive,
constructed from
y' (A-Bb-c) concatenated with 8 (c-d).
The music of the
Adagietto
closes
as it
began,
with
y
and
y-'
n
the
foreground.
As
the final me-
lodic
gesture
in the first
violins,
5 appears,
an
extraordinaryand perhaps unexpected conclu-
sion to
this
splendid
composition.
163