Hauptstimme

Last updated
Hauptstimme
(first violin) and Nebenstimme
(viola) marked in Arnold Schoenberg's Fourth String Quartet, mm. 27-31. Play (help*info) Schoenberg - Fourth String Quartet - Hauptstimme & nebenstimme mm.27-31.png
Hauptstimme (first violin) and Nebenstimme (viola) marked in Arnold Schoenberg's Fourth String Quartet, mm.  27–31. Loudspeaker.svg Play  

In music, Hauptstimme (German for primary voice) or Hauptsatz is the main voice, chief part; i.e., the contrapuntal or melodic line of primary importance, in opposition to Nebenstimme. Nebenstimme (German for secondary voice) or Seitensatz is the secondary part; i.e., a secondary contrapuntal or melodic part, always occurring simultaneously with, and subsidiary to, the Hauptstimme. The practice of marking the primary voice within the musical score/parts was invented by Arnold Schoenberg. [2]

Contents

The terms are used primarily by Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, and Anton Webern, but are not uncommon in scores for string quartet. They are commonly indicated in musical scores with the marks "H" and "N". [3] When the "primary voice" ends in one instrument/staff/part, it may be marked with a closing bracket (such as ¬ ) at the point where it passes to another instrument/staff/part. [4]

Further contrapuntal lines or material may be considered accompaniment. [5]

Other examples of the terms' use include lead and back up vocals, melody and counter-melody.

In a footnote to a musical score, Schoenberg wrote, "The human voice is always Hauptstimme [when present]." [6]

Counter-melody

Primary and secondary melody in Bach's BWV 1079 Play (help*info) Primary and secondary melody BWV 1079, m.1-3.png
Primary and secondary melody in Bach's BWV 1079 Loudspeaker.svg Play  

In music, a counter-melody (often countermelody) is a sequence of notes, perceived as a melody, written to be played simultaneously with a more prominent lead melody: a secondary melody played in counterpoint with the primary melody. A counter-melody performs a subordinate role, and is typically heard in a texture consisting of a melody plus accompaniment.

In marches, the counter melody is often given to the trombones or horns (American composer David Wallis Reeves is credited with this innovation in 1876. [8] ) The more formal term countersubject applies to a secondary or subordinate melodic idea in a fugue. A countermelody differs from a barbershop quartet-style harmony part sung by a backup singer in that whereas the harmony part typically lacks its own independent musical line, a countermelody is a distinct melodic line.

Hauptrhythmus

A Hauptrhythmus (plural Hauptrhythmen) is a rhythmic motif or cell.

The Hauptrhythmus of Alban Berg's Chamber Concerto is: [9]

Hauptstimme

In Unicode

In Unicode, the Hauptstimme, Nebenstimme, and closing bracket symbols are part of the Musical Symbols and are coded as follows:

CharacterOfficial designation
𝆦U+1D1A6 MUSICAL SYMBOL HAUPTSTIMME
𝆧U+1D1A7 MUSICAL SYMBOL NEBENSTIMME
𝆨U+1D1A8 MUSICAL SYMBOL END OF STIMME

See also

Sources

  1. Haimo, Ethan (1990). Schoenberg's Serial Odyssey, p. 38. ISBN   0-19-816352-5.
  2. Gardner Read (1979). "Music Notation: A Manual of Modern Practice" 2nd ed., p. 282-283. ISBN   0-8008-5459-4, 0-8008-5453-5.
  3. Bryn-Julson, Phyllis and Mathews, Paul (2009). Inside Pierrot Lunaire , p. 24. ISBN   978-0-8108-6205-0.
  4. Gardner Read (1979). "Music Notation: A Manual of Modern Practice" 2nd ed., p. 283. ISBN   0-8008-5459-4, 0-8008-5453-5.
  5. Adorno, Theodor W.; Brand, Juliane; and Hailey, Christopher (1991). Alban Berg, Master of the Smallest Link, p. 97. ISBN   978-0-521-33884-4.
  6. Leinsdorf, Erich (1982). The Composer's Advocate, p. 179. ISBN   978-0-300-02887-4.
  7. Benward, Bruce, and Marilyn Nadine Saker (2009). Music in Theory and Practice Vol. 1, p.138. Seventh edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill. ISBN   978-0-07-310188-0.
  8. "U.S. Army Bands in History: Civilian Bands Replace Military Bands". Archived from the original on July 21, 2007.
  9. Hailey, Christopher (2010). Alban Berg and His World, p.213-14. ISBN   9781400836475.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alban Berg</span> Austrian composer (1885–1935)

Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively small oeuvre, he is remembered as one of the most important composers of the 20th century for his expressive style encompassing "entire worlds of emotion and structure".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Counterpoint</span> Polyphonic music with separate melodies

In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradition, strongly developing during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period, especially in the Baroque period. The term originates from the Latin punctus contra punctum meaning "point against point", i.e. "note against note".

In music, a tone row or note row, also series or set, is a non-repetitive ordering of a set of pitch-classes, typically of the twelve notes in musical set theory of the chromatic scale, though both larger and smaller sets are sometimes found.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melody</span> Linear succession of musical tones in the foreground of a work of music

A melody, also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of pitch and rhythm, while more figuratively, the term can include other musical elements such as tonal color. It is the foreground to the background accompaniment. A line or part need not be a foreground melody.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atonality</span> Music that lacks a tonal center or key

Atonality in its broadest sense is music that lacks a tonal center, or key. Atonality, in this sense, usually describes compositions written from about the early 20th-century to the present day, where a hierarchy of harmonies focusing on a single, central triad is not used, and the notes of the chromatic scale function independently of one another. More narrowly, the term atonality describes music that does not conform to the system of tonal hierarchies that characterized European classical music between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. "The repertory of atonal music is characterized by the occurrence of pitches in novel combinations, as well as by the occurrence of familiar pitch combinations in unfamiliar environments".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arnold Schoenberg</span> Austrian-American composer (1874–1951)

Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School. As a Jewish composer, Schoenberg was targeted by the Nazi Party, which labeled his works as degenerate music and forbade them from being published. He emigrated to the United States in 1933, becoming an American citizen in 1941.

Sprechgesang and Sprechstimme are expressionist vocal techniques between singing and speaking. Though sometimes used interchangeably, Sprechgesang is directly related to the operatic recitative manner of singing, whereas Sprechstimme is closer to speech itself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pipe band</span> Class of musical ensembles

A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term pipes and drums, used by military pipe bands is also common.

Klangfarbenmelodie is a musical technique that involves splitting a musical line or melody between several instruments, rather than assigning it to just one instrument, thereby adding color (timbre) and texture to the melodic line. The technique is sometimes compared to "pointillism", a neo-impressionist painting technique.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Accompaniment</span> Part of a musical composition

Accompaniment is the musical part which provides the rhythmic and/or harmonic support for the melody or main themes of a song or instrumental piece. There are many different styles and types of accompaniment in different genres and styles of music. In homophonic music, the main accompaniment approach used in popular music, a clear vocal melody is supported by subordinate chords. In popular music and traditional music, the accompaniment parts typically provide the "beat" for the music and outline the chord progression of the song or instrumental piece.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Counter-melody</span> Musical component

In music, a counter-melody is a sequence of notes, perceived as a melody, written to be played simultaneously with a more prominent lead melody. In other words, it is a secondary melody played in counterpoint with the primary melody. A counter-melody performs a subordinate role, and it is typically heard in a texture consisting of a melody plus accompaniment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Subject (music)</span> Musical melody on which a composition is based

In music, a subject is the material, usually a recognizable melody, upon which part or all of a composition is based. In forms other than the fugue, this may be known as the theme.

In music, quartal harmony is the building of harmonic structures built from the intervals of the perfect fourth, the augmented fourth and the diminished fourth. For instance, a three-note quartal chord on C can be built by stacking perfect fourths, C–F–B.

Voice leading is the linear progression of individual melodic lines and their interaction with one another to create harmonies, typically in accordance with the principles of common-practice harmony and counterpoint.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Expressionist music</span> Movement in Western music

The term expressionism "was probably first applied to music in 1918, especially to Schoenberg", because like the painter Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944) he avoided "traditional forms of beauty" to convey powerful feelings in his music. Theodor Adorno interprets the expressionist movement in music as seeking to "eliminate all of traditional music's conventional elements, everything formulaically rigid". This he sees as analogous "to the literary ideal of the 'scream' ". As well Adorno sees expressionist music as seeking "the truthfulness of subjective feeling without illusions, disguises or euphemisms". Adorno also describes it as concerned with the unconscious, and states that "the depiction of fear lies at the centre" of expressionist music, with dissonance predominating, so that the "harmonious, affirmative element of art is banished". Expressionist music would "thus reject the depictive, sensual qualities that had come to be associated with impressionist music. It would endeavor instead to realize its own purely musical nature—in part by disregarding compositional conventions that placed 'outer' restrictions on the expression of 'inner' visions".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tacet</span>

Tacet is Latin which translates literally into English as "(it) is silent". It is a musical term to indicate that an instrument or voice does not sound, also known as a rest. In vocal polyphony and in orchestral scores, it usually indicates a long period of time, typically an entire movement. In more modern music such as jazz, tacet tends to mark considerably shorter breaks. Multirests, or multiple-measure rests, are rests which last multiple measures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Part (music)</span> Section of a musical composition

A part generally refers to a single strand or melody or harmony of music within a larger ensemble or a polyphonic musical composition. There are several senses in which the word is often used:

Written between 1845 and 1846, Nocturnes Op. 62 are a set of two nocturnes for solo piano by Frédéric Chopin. They were published in 1846 and are dedicated to Mdlle. R. de Konneritz. These were Chopin's final compositions in the genre, although they were not the last to be published.

A melodic line that is the reverse of a previously or simultaneously stated line is said to be its retrograde or cancrizans. An exact retrograde includes both the pitches and rhythms in reverse. An even more exact retrograde reverses the physical contour of the notes themselves, though this is possible only in electronic music. Some composers choose to subject just the pitches of a musical line to retrograde, or just the rhythms. In twelve-tone music, reversal of the pitch classes alone—regardless of the melodic contour created by their registral placement—is regarded as a retrograde.

Traditional sub-Saharan African harmony is a music theory of harmony in sub-Saharan African music based on the principles of homophonic parallelism, homophonic polyphony, counter-melody and ostinato-variation. Polyphony is common in African music and heterophony is a common technique as well. Although these principles of traditional African music are of Pan-African validity, the degree to which they are used in one area over another varies. Specific techniques that used to generate harmony in Africa are the "span process", "pedal notes", "rhythmic harmony", "harmony by imitation", and "scalar clusters".