schumann revisions

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Robert Schumann's Metrical RevisionsAuthor(s): Harald KrebsSource: Music Theory Spectrum, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Spring, 1997), pp. 35-54Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the Society for Music TheoryStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/745998 .

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Robert Schumann's Metrical Revisions

Harald Krebs

Many authors have commented on the abundance of various types of metrical conflict in Robert Schumann's works. As early as 1865, August Reissman referred to the "exceed- ingly pleasing handling of syncopation" as the "primary characteristic of Schumann's music," and in 1912, Christian Knayer prepared a long though not exhaustive list of examples of metrical conflicts in Schumann's keyboard works.1 More recent Schumann literature continues to draw attention to Schumann's use of syncopation and related devices. In 1982 Arnfried Edler wrote, "Rhythmic complications are unquestionably characteristic of Schumann's personal style; they are already to be found in his earliest compositions, and they proliferate in the later works, particularly from the chamber music year onward."2 In an article that appeared in the same year, Dieter Schnebel also devoted a great deal of attention to rhythmical and metrical complications, particularly to their potential connection with Schumann's psycho- logical development.3 References to metrical conflict in Schu-

'August Reissman. Schumanni (Berlin. 1865). 152: Christian Knayer, "Robert Schumann als Meister der rhvthmischen Verschiebungen: Eine An- regung fur das Studium seiner Klavierwerke." Musikpiidagogische Blatter 37 (1912): 177-79. 201-3: 231-33. All translations are by the present author.

2Arnfried Edler. Schlumann trid seine Zeit (Laaber: Laaber Verlag, 1982), 161.

3Dieter Schnebel. "Ruckungen-Verrickungen: Psvchoanalytische und musikanalytische Betrachtungen zu Schumanns Leben und Werk," in Musik- Konzepte: Sonderband Robert Schumann II, ed. Heinz-Klaus Metzger and

mann's music are by no means restricted to the Schumann literature; the authors of a number of recent articles and books on rhythm, for example, use excerpts from Schumann's music to illustrate a variety of metrical devices.4

Schumann's consuming interest in metrical conflict is amply demonstrated not only by his completed works but also by his autographs; his sketches, continuity drafts, and fair copies contain many examples of revisions of metrical structure-of the adjustment of existing conflicts, of the addition of conflict to metrically unruffled passages, and of the elimination of conflict. While numerous authors have studied Schumann's autographs, none has investigated his metrical revisions in detail.5 In this article I study some examples of

Rainer Riehn (Minchen: edition text + kritik, December 1982): 4-89. Schnebel's title is a clever pun on metrical displacement and insanity.

4For example, Carl Schachter, "Rhythm and Linear Analysis: Aspects of Meter," Music Forum 6 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1987), 33- 36, and Harald Krebs, "Some Extensions of the Concepts of Metrical Con- sonance and Dissonance," Journal of Music Theory 31 (1987): 104, 107, 113. I investigate Schumann's metrical structures in greater detail in Metrical Dis- sonance in the Music of Robert Schumann (Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming); parts of the present article are drawn from that book.

5The most significant collections of Schumann autographs are located at the Universitatsbibliothek in Bonn, the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek in Berlin (both Haus 1 and Haus 2), the Schumann-Haus in Zwickau, the Heinrich Heine Institut in Disseldorf, the archive of the Gesellschaft der Musik- freunde in Vienna, and the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. (I thank the staffs at these institutions for their kind help and for their permission to



36 Music Theory Spectrum

such revisions and speculate about Schumann's reasons for making them.

TERMINOLOGY

I begin by briefly illustrating the kinds of metrical conflict that abound in Schumann's music and outlining the terminology to be employed in this discussion. Example 1 is replete with levels of regular motion.6 The fastest continuous level- the pulse level-proceeds in quarter notes. Regularly recurring accents of various types impose upon the quarter-note pulses a number of slower-moving "interpretive" levels.7 One

reproduce autograph materials, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Re- search Council of Canada for making possible my visits to these locations.) Selected autographs are investigated in the following works (among others): Wolfgang Boetticher, Robert Schumanns Klavierwerke, Teil I: Opus 1-6

(Wilhelmshaven: Heinrichshofen's Verlag, 1976) and Teil II: Opus 7-13

(Wilhelmshaven: Heinrichshofen's Verlag, 1984); Jon W. Finson, Robert Schumann and the Study of Orchestral Composition: The Genesis of the First

Symphony op. 38 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989); Rufus Hallmark, The Genesis of Schumann's 'Dichterliebe': A Source Study (Ann Arbor: UMI Press, 1979); Hans Kohlhase, "Die klanglichen und strukturellen Revisionen im Autograph der Streichquartette op. 41," in Schumanns Werke: Text und

Interpretation, ed. Akio Mayeda and Klaus Niemoller (Mainz: Schott, 1987), 53-76; Linda Roesner, "Structural Revisions in the String Quartets Opus 41 of Robert Schumann," Current Musicology 7 (1968): 87-95.

6The term "levels" (or "strata") comes from Maury Yeston's book, The

Stratification of Musical Rhythm (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1976),, 38-54. John Roeder has applied the term "pulse streams" to the same phe- nomena in "Interacting Pulse Streams in Schoenberg's Atonal Polyphony," Music Theory Spectrum 16 (1994): 231-49.

7The categories of accent to which I refer are drawn primarily from Joel Lester, The Rhythms of Tonal Music (Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1986), 13-44. In "Some Extensions" (in which I first

presented the terminology that I summarize here), I emphasized pattern repetition rather than accent as a determinant of levels of motion. I now believe that accent is more significant in this respect, pattern repetition (and grouping in general) being secondary factors. A given repeated pattern potentially creates numerous levels of motion; one could posit levels determined by the

such level, moving in durations of three pulses-in other words, having a "cardinality" of three-is created in part by the succession of textural accents (density peaks) at the be- ginnings of the notated measures. The simultaneous initiation of a registrally prominent repeated-eighth-note motive contributes to the accentuation of these time-points and hence to the creation of a level of motion congruent with the notated meter. In addition, this metrical level is established in the preceding section, and is here automatically maintained by the listener. Another interpretive level of cardinality three, or "3-level," is created by the regular recurrence of durational accents in the melodic line; within its durational succession "2-1-2-1..." (where "1" represents a quarter note), the longer values are accented. In addition to these 3-levels, the passage includes a prominent 2-level, delineated by registral accents on the recurrent low A octave in the bass.8 Every third attack of this level is missing, but the level can nonetheless readily be inferred. Finally, a 6-level is determined by the recurrence of a durational accent in the bass in the even-numbered measures. The various interpretive levels mentioned here are shown in Example 1 by integers placed below each of their pulses. Parenthesized integers indicate attacks that are only implied.

Levels of motion interact in one of two ways: they either align (Lester uses the term "nest") or they do not.9 I refer to a state of alignment or nesting of levels of motion as "consonance," and a state of non-alignment as "dissonance.""

recurrence of any given point within the repeated segments. Consideration of accentuation permits one to extract from this plethora those levels that have a significant perceptual impact.

8The bass line alludes to the bass of the main theme of the first movement (mm. 53-54).

9Lester, The Rhythms of Tonal Music, 145. ''Using this metaphorical terminology derived from pitch theory in writ-

ings about rhythm dates from the early nineteenth century: see Hector Ber- lioz, "Berlioz on the Future of Rhythm," in Jacques Barzun, Berlioz and the



Robert Schumann's Metrical Revisions 37

Example 1. Schumann, Sonata in F# minor, op. 11: Scherzo e Intermezzo, mm. 51-56

pii Allegro.

1=J

pp - _ leggierissimo

( D3+2 3 3 3 3 3 3 G3/2 3 3 3 3 3 3

2 2 (2) 2 2 (2) 2 2 (2) 6 6 6

When states of alignment or non-alignment result from the interaction of levels whose pulses are metrical or hypermetrical beats, the designation "metrical" consonance or dissonance is appropriate. The adjective "metrical" is also justified because, at least in tonal music, both consonant and dissonant combinations of levels usually include those interpretive levels that are perceived as meter-producing. The notated meter of a given tonal work can, in fact, be characterized as the "primary metrical consonance" of that work, and metrical dissonance can, for practical purposes, be defined as dissonance against the notated meter.

Romantic Century, 2 vols. (New York and London: Columbia University Press, 1969), 338; a translation of "Feuilleton du Journal des Ddbats," Nov. 10, 1837. I thank Mary Arlin for drawing my attention to this feuilleton. In the twentieth century the terminology has been used, for example, in Charles Seeger, "On Dissonant Counterpoint," Modern Music 7/4 (1930): 25-31; Leonard Meyer and Grosvenor Cooper, The Rhythmic Structure of Music (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1960), 108 and 165; and Maury Yeston, The Stratification of Musical Rhythm, 89-118. In the present article, the term "dissonance" applies to meter rather than pitch, unless otherwise indicated.

Another glance at Example 1 clarifies these terms. The passage contains some metrical consonance: the primary metrical 3-level and the 2-level established by the recurrent A octave both align with the hypermetrical 6-level to create two distinct consonances (indicated by the periodic alignment of the 3s, 2s, and 6s below the example). The predominant impression conveyed by this passage, however, is one of non- alignment or dissonance. It incorporates two types of metrical dissonance: superpositions of levels of different cardinalities (3 and 2), and also of non-aligned levels of identical cardinality (3). In earlier papers, I labelled these two types of dissonance "type A" and "type B," respectively.1l In his dis- sertation on the piano cycles of Schumann, Peter Kaminsky refers to the two types by the more descriptive terms "grouping" and "displacement" dissonance.12 I adopt Kaminsky's terms in the remainder of this article.

1Krebs, "Some Extensions," 103. 12Peter M. Kaminsky, "Aspects of Harmony, Rhythm and Form in Schu-

mann's Papillons, Carnaval and Davidsbiindlertanze" (Ph.D. Diss., Univer- sity of Rochester, 1989), 27.




Example 1 illustrates a simple method for the labelling of metrical dissonances. Grouping dissonances are labelled by a "G" followed by the cardinalities of the levels involved, represented as a fraction. Displacement dissonances are labelled by a "D" followed by the shared cardinality of the

interpretive levels, a plus sign to denote displacement, and an integer designating the amount of displacement. The latter

integer results from counting the number of pulses between each attack of the metrical level and the following pulse of the antimetrical level. It seems appropriate that the primacy of metrical levels be acknowledged by using their attacks rather than those of antimetrical levels as reference points when labelling displacement amounts.

Since dissonance intensity is often a focus of Schumann's revisionary procedures, some remarks about this matter are

required here. Whereas it is intuitively obvious that metrical dissonances are not all of equal intensity, it is by no means obvious precisely how the intensity of dissonances should be ranked. I make no attempt to rank dissonances of different

types in terms of intensity-that is, I see no reason to assume that grouping dissonances are inherently more dissonant than

displacement dissonances, or vice versa. Individual dissonances of a given type can, however, be said to be more or less inherently dissonant than others of that type. One factor that determines inherent intensity of grouping dissonances is the length of what Gretchen Horlacher has called the

"cycle"-that is, the number of pulses that elapses before attacks of the levels coincide.13 Thus, G3/2, with a 6-pulse cycle, is inherently less dissonant than G5/4, with a 20-pulse cycle. The principle governing inherent intensity of displacement dissonances appears to be proximity to consonance; the more closely a given displacement dissonance approaches a state of alignment, the more strongly dissonant it is. Thus,

13Gretchen Horlacher, "The Rhythms of Reiteration: Formal Develop- ment in Stravinsky's Ostinati," Music Theory Spectrum 14 (1992): 174.

D4 + 1 and D4 + 3, only one pulse removed from a state of alignment, are inherently stronger metrical dissonances than D4 + 2, which is two pulses away from alignment, and, for the same reason, D6 + 1 and D6 + 5 are inherently stronger than D6 + 2 or D6 + 4. The principle of proximity to consonance is also operative in the domain of pitch; the intervals of a major seventh or minor second are, in tonal contexts, very strongly dissonant partly because they so closely ap- proach the unison and the octave, respectively.

More significant for our purposes than inherent intensity of dissonance is contextual intensity, that is, the intensity with which an individual dissonance is presented within a given context. The general principle determining contextual intensity is perceptibility or prominence of the dissonance which, in turn, depends primarily on the degree of emphasis allotted to antimetrical levels. For example, the more accent types contribute to the formation of the antimetrical levels within a collection, the more intense the dissonance will be. Thus, if an antimetrical level is produced only by durational accents, the resulting metrical dissonance is less prominent and intense than if, for example, durational and dynamic accentuation collaborate to form that level. Dynamic accentuation results in particularly easily perceptible dissonances and therefore significantly influences dissonance intensity. Addi- tional factors affecting contextual intensity are the prominence and quantity of instrumental voices involved in antimetrical levels. If only one voice of a multivoiced texture participates in the establishment of such a level, the resulting dissonance is less intense than if a number of voices partic- ipate. If only an inner voice participates, the dissonance is again less intense than if an outer voice does so. Finally, contextual intensity of dissonances is affected by the degree to which grouping supports accentuation in delineating the antimetrical level; dissonances where both factors collaborate to form the antimetrical level are stronger than those where only one or the other of these factors is active.




We can speak not only of the relative intensity of given metrical dissonances but also of that of metrical dissonance in general within different versions of musical passages. The

degree of dissonance of a musical passage depends to some extent on the intensity of its individual dissonances, but also on the number of dissonances that are involved in it, and on the duration of those dissonances. A passage containing only one dissonance at a time, for example, is less intensely dissonant than one in which two dissonances are simultaneously active.14 A passage in which dissonance is suggested by only a small number of antimetrical accents is less intensely dissonant than one in which metrical dissonance is pervasive.15

SCHUMANN'S METRICAL REVISIONS

Some of Schumann's most daring metrical dissonances seem to have occurred to him in their final form; the first notated version is identical in metrical structure to the published version. The remarkable displacement dissonance in the second theme of the first movement of the String Quartet in A major, op. 41 no. 3 (mm. 46-62) and the duple/triple conflict in the opening theme of the Third ("Rhenish") Sym-

14Richard Cohn similarly argues that dissonances become more intense as the number of subsidiary dissonant relationships contained within them in- creases ("Metric and Hypermetric Dissonance in the Menuetto of Mozart's

Symphony in G Minor, K. 550," Integral 6 [1992]: 13). He restricts his discussion to grouping dissonances.

'5In "Some Extensions," p. 110, I argue that a metrical dissonance can be created only by three or more attacks of a level of motion (because metrical dissonance is defined as an interaction of levels, and a level cannot be properly established by fewer than three attacks). I now believe, however, that a

perceptible effect of metrical conflict is created even by a suggestion of an antimetrical level, and that regarding such momentary conflicts as weak dissonances is preferable to their exclusion from the category of metrical dissonance.

phony, for example, were already in place in the first drafts.16 In many cases, however, Schumann's progress toward the final metrical state involved one or more stages of revision that are documented in the extant autographs. Occasionally, the autographs reveal that Schumann changed his mind about the type of dissonance to be employed. For instance, the sketches of the Abegg Variations, op. 1, found in the first and third of six sketchbooks housed at the Universitaitsbibliothek in Bonn, contain an example of the replacement of grouping dissonance by displacement dissonance. In an early sketch of the end of the first section of the first variation (Example 2a), Schumann established a 3-level in the right hand by registral accentuation, which results in the dissonances G4/3 and G3/2 in interaction with the left hand's eighth-note and implied quarter-note levels. In later sketches, Schumann gradually weeded out the 3-level and the resulting grouping dissonances. In Example 2b, these dissonances are restricted to only a single measure, as opposed to the original three measures. In the final sketch of the passage (Example 2c), a revision of the third measure of Example 2b, Schumann retained the idea of antimetrical registral accentuation, but placed the accents upon the second sixteenth note of each group of four, thereby creating a shifted 4-level and replacing the original grouping dissonances G4/3 and G3/2 with the displacement dissonance D4 + 1.

Intensification of dissonance. Change of dissonance type is rare in Schumann's sketches and drafts. Most of his metrical revisions involve the adjustment of the intensity of the original dissonance, usually in the direction of greater dissonance. He frequently sketched a passage in metrically consonant or

'6The draft version of the second theme of the first movement of op. 41 no. 3 appears in Deutsche Staatsbibliothek Mus. ms. R. Schumann 19, p. 35; that of the opening of the Third Symphony appears on p. 1 of ms. 329 at the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris.




Example 2. Schumann, sketches for Abegg Variations, op. 1

a. Variation 1, mm. 45-48, Universitatsbibliothek Bonn, Schumann 13 (Sketchbook I), p. 55

8va.__._,___ _ _ _ _ __-..-.-_ _ __ _ _ __-- . -.--- ----- ------------- ------ -----------

1 7 . I 1 I^i , 1I

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 (3) G3/2 4/3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

(4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4)

b. Variation 1, mm. 45-47, Universitatsbibliothek Bonn, Schumann 15 (Sketchbook III), p. 6

4,^^^fC^n^t _3bi =

2 4

2 2 4

2 2 4

2 2 4

3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

4 4 4 4

(3) 2 2) 4 /

G3/2,4/3

c. Variation 1, mm. 47-48, Universitatsbibliothek Bonn, Schumann 15 (Sketchbook III), p. 17

v-'- - '

_

, -

- L1( 4 4 4 U" I4 4

4 4 4

relatively weakly dissonant form and subsequently added or intensified the dissonance in a variety of ways.

One of his methods of rendering a passage metrically dissonant is by the addition of voices that create metrical dissonance against the existing ones. A revision of mm. 25-27 of the Preambule from Carnaval illustrates. In an early sketch of the passage (Example 3a), an emphatic, octave-doubled statement of the main motive in both hands is succeeded by two measures of soft repeated chords, then by a restatement

of the motive in the left hand alone. In the final version

(Example 3b), Schumann moves from the octave-doubled motive directly into a left-hand restatement and adds a right- hand imitation. The entry of the imitated motive on beat 2 of m. 27 results in D3 + 1, which Schumann further intensifies with a dynamic accent. In the following measures (28- 30, also 32-34), Schumann adds an "oom-pah" accompaniment pattern whose pairs of quarter-notes interact with the

continuing three-quarter-note motive to form G3/2. Thus, an

.J.




Example 3. Schumann, Preambule of Carnaval, op. 9

a. Sketch of mm. 25-32, Universitatsbibliothek Bonn, Schumann 14 (Sketchbook II), p. 16

maestoso

7: Lff r - - I r -J X - JP S

[?] b. Final version, mm. 24-29

1=J

Piu moto.

sjrfi --- sempre ff

;1w j Ii i i ., m ; !j f= ff brillante epe

sf

(s:~y1~ L Zfb ) Lsf :1? "4~ I - 3 3 3

3 3

2

3 3

2

etc.

G3/2 3 2

originally consonant passage is clad in two types of dissonance by the addition of new textural components.

The prehistory of the passage shown in Example 1 illustrates Schumann's intensification of an existing dissonant state by the addition of a new bass motive. The version shown in Example 4 already contains the displacement dissonance D3 + 2; the 3-level created by durational and dynamic accents of the inner-voice melody is displaced with respect to the metrical level (which is reinforced by the reiterated tonic notes in the bass). In the final version, however (Example 1), Schumann adds even more dissonance: the bass, rather than woodenly reiterating the tonic note, now hops back and forth between the tonic and dominant notes. By pattern repetition and low-point accents, this new, activated bass establishes a

2-level and thus results, in interaction with the triple levels above, in G3/2. Interestingly, Schumann eliminates the inner- voice dynamic accents in the final version, perhaps because he felt that listeners would have trouble absorbing the added grouping dissonance if the displacement dissonance were too prominent.

Similar examples are found in Schumann's chamber music. In the first draft of mm. 81-88 of the first movement of the String Quartet in F major, op. 41 no. 2, for instance, Schu- mann notated only the second violin part, which quotes the opening theme in an entirely consonant manner. He revised the passage in the fair copy, adding a first violin and viola counterpoint in mm. 81-84, and bagpipe-like open fifths in the cello in mm. 84-88, both of which contradict the solid




Example 4. Schumann, sketch for the Piano Sonata, op. 11, Scherzo e Intermezzo, mm. 51-58, Universitatsbibliothek Bonn, Schumann 14 (Sketchbook II), p. 5

i, 1=J

D3+2 | 3

*1-- I , I i I I

9It J-- J ^1 i- I -

| 9: # It X 1 v " - JY r I L JJ r rI

3 3

3 3 3

3 3 3

3 3

downbeats of the theme by initiating sustained notes one

eighth-note pulse before those downbeats.17 At times, Schumann renders a passage dissonant by ad-

justing the alignment of existing textural components rather than by adding new ones. A good instance appears in Ex-

ample 5-which is probably the earliest sketch of the passage shown in Examples 1 and 4. This fragmentary sketch, crossed out in red pencil, shows that Schumann originally conceived the melody of this passage as being in accord with the notated

meter; its durational accents consistently fall on the notated downbeats. In the later, more detailed sketch shown in Ex-

ample 4, he realigned the melody to create the aforemen- tioned dissonance D3 + 2. The remarkable passage in mm. 46-53 of the finale of the Piano Sonata in F minor, op. 14,

replete with displacement dissonance, was similarly gener- ated by the shifting of melodic lines that were originally aligned with the metrical beats.18

17The first version of mm. 81-88 of the first movement of the String Quartet, op. 41 no. 2 appears on p. 18 of Mus. ms. R. Schumann 19 at the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek, Berlin. The revised version appears on p. 3 of the fair copy at the Heine Institut in Disseldorf.

'8The metrically consonant first sketch is on the seventh brace of p. 2 of Ms. autogr. R. Schumann A285 at the archive of the Gesellschaft der Musik- freunde, Vienna.

A unique method of rendering a consonant model dissonant is found in the sketches for the fifth Intermezzo from

op. 4; here Schumann imports a level of motion that aligns with its original metrical context into a different context

against which it is dissonant. Example 6a shows a portion of the earliest sketch relating to the second section of the piece. In the key of C major rather than in the ultimately selected D minor, and scored for a solo instrument (probably violin) plus piano rather than for piano solo, it is quite far removed from its final state. The recurring durational accents resulting from the reiteration of the figure " J J J " and a series of

dynamic accents in mm. 8-10 establish a 2-level. This level interacts with a 4-level produced by "new-event" accents in the harmonic domain (i.e., by the harmonic rhythm) to create a metrical consonance corresponding to the notated alla breve meter. Example 6b shows Schumann's radical reworking of the same material; in every respect, including key, time sig- nature, and instrumentation, this version much more closely approaches the final version (in Example 6c). From m. 5 of

Example 6b onward, the " JT n 7 " motive (already an- nounced in mm. 1-2 of the sketch) becomes particularly prominent. As in Example 6a, reiteration (imitation) of the motive forms a 2-level. In the revised metrical context, the 2-level results in metrical dissonance; it conflicts with the




Example 5. Schumann, sketch for the Piano Sonata, op. 11, Scherzo e Intermezzo, mm. 51-58, Deutsche Staatsbibliothek, Berlin, Mus. ms. R. Schumann 35

Trio

primary metrical 3-level established in the initial measures and upheld in mm. 6-7 by the harmonic rhythm.

Schumann's most common method of introducing or intensifying metrical dissonance is the addition of dynamic accents. This procedure is already evident in Schumann's early compositions. For example, the dynamic accents on metrically weak eighth-notes in mm. 9-11 of the fifth Papillon, those on the third beats in mm. 24, 25, 27, 29 and 31 of the eighth Papillon, and those on metrically weak sixteenth notes in the ninth Impromptu from op. 5, all of which produce striking displacement dissonances, were missing in the earliest versions.19 Frequent creation or intensification of metrical dissonance by the addition of dynamic accents continues in Schumann's later works. Measures 20-22 of the first movement of the Quartet in A minor, op. 41 no. 1, for example, contain numerous dynamic and some registral accents on metrically weak sixteenth notes, resulting in the dissonance D2 + 1 (Example 7a). In the first draft (Example 7b), registral accents in the first violin part (mm. 21-22) and two dynamic accents on a metrically weak sixteenth note (mm. 21

19The relevant manuscript pages are: Universitatsbibliothek Bonn, Schu- mann 15 (Sketchbook III), pp. 81 and 95 for the fifth and eighth Papillon, respectively, and ms. 4648-A1 at the Schumann-Haus in Zwickau for the Impromptu, op. 5 no. 9.

and 23) already suggest D2 + 1. By increasing the number of dynamic accents in the final version, Schumann greatly intensifies the dissonance of the passage as a whole. The accents on the second dotted quarter beats in mm. 117-27 of the same movement are also absent in the draft; D6 + 3 is already weakly present because of the ties across bar lines, but the dynamic accents of the final version significantly intensify it. In the draft of the slow movement of the String Quartet in F major, op. 41 no. 2, the striking offbeat accents in the cello in mm. 24-25 are absent (although again the presence of syncopation by tying already suggests the dissonance D3 + 2). The draft of the last few measures of the exposition of the finale of the same work (mm. 42-47) contains none of the offbeat accents of the final version, although slurring across quarter-note beats in mm. 42-43 and the presence of offbeat attacks in the bass of mm. 46-47 already suggests displacement dissonance. The accents on the second eighth notes of mm. 64-67 of the same movement, producing D4 + 1, are also missing in the draft, where the metrical level, clearly expressed by durational accents, remains uncontradicted. In the sketch of the finale of the Third ("Rhenish") Symphony, the weak-beat accents of mm. 47-51 are lacking. Some dissonance (D2 + 1) is present because of the consistent non-coordination of durational accents with the meter; Schumann's subsequent reinforcement of the




Example 6. Schumann, Intermezzo, op. 4 no. 5

a. Sketch, Universitatsbibliothek Bonn, Schumann 15 (Sketchbook III), p. 109, mm. 5-10 of the sketch

A 8

=- , e 'J. I-J -| Ii I I

4 2

4 4 2 2 2 2

4 2

b. Sketch, Sketchbook III, p. 38

3

D31 3 3 33 3 3 3 D 3 3 (

3G312 \ 2 2 2 2 2 2

c. Final version, mm. 20-26

3 3 3 3 D3+l1 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

3 (3 3

4 2

i? -i i, j .f_ii- r ? 'I

y': r"^ ^igI F ' I I

I l_

I w

. . l. t _ ^A-A




Example 7. Schumann, String Quartet, op. 41 no. 1, first movement

a. Mm. 20-23

1i=

^-- ^-7 'sSsf sf~ Sf sf sf z sf

-= \s; ^- x , if x - ifs S sf^ sf S,

:~f --t sf^ sf f ' sf sf

~1 rrs;r;t~8~i~i84 * 1 0

2+1 sf sf sf

1 2 222 2 2 2 2 2 2 D 2 +l 222 2 222 2 2 2

sf sf

2 (2)2

b. Mm. 20-22, first draft, Deutsche Staatsbibliothek, Berlin, Mus. ms. R. Schumann 19, p. 3

i =R 20 f

9 : r rf * r f 9: w p q q 7=g

durational accents by dynamic accents, however, intensifies the dissonance. Many other similar examples could be mentioned.20

In some cases, Schumann intensified metrical dissonance by removing rather than by adding dynamic accents. In the first draft of the opening of the Scherzo movement of the String Quartet in F major, op. 41 no. 2, for example, he placed density accents, harmonic new-event accents and some dynamic stresses on the upbeats (Example 8). In the fair copy (Facsimile 1), he initially retained the draft version (except that he consolidated pairs of 3 measures into measures of 6). He then revised the accentuation by crossing out all dynamic stresses on weak beats and adding downbeat stresses in m. 4 (and in the corresponding m. 12, not shown in Facsimile 1). The draft, with its offbeat stresses, looks strongly dissonant, and the removal of those stresses in the final version might appear to result in a weakening of the dissonance. The actual effect of the revision, however, is precisely the reverse. While the original passage is optically highly conflicted, the conflict is aurally hardly evident because one of the levels involved in the apparent dissonance-the metrical level-is virtually imperceptible. One might hear the first notated downbeat as such simply because the melodic ascent from 3 to i is in tonal music so often associated with an upbeat- downbeat situation, and might then maintain that accentuation to result in a level conflicting with that arising from the third-beat accents. Most listeners, however, would likely hear the level of motion resulting from the dynamic accents as the metrical level, and would perceive no conflict against it. The revised passage in Facsimile 1 (equivalent to the published version after deletion of accents) incorporates features that

D2+12 2 2 2

L..I_..._._.__ I 2 2 2 2 2 22 2

2 (2 2 2 2)

2'The draft of the passage from op. 41 no. 1 appears on p. 5 of Mus. ms. R. Schumann 19 at the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek, Berlin. The passage from the slow movement of op. 41 no. 2 is on p. 21 of the same manuscript, and the passages from the finale are on p. 32. The passage from the Third Sym- phony appears in Bibliotheque Nationale, ms. 329, p. 12v (third brace).




Example 8. Schumann, draft of String Quartet, op. 41 no. 2, beginning of the Scherzo, Deutsche Staatsbibliothek, Berlin, Mus. ms. R. Schumann 19, p. 27

I=J Scherzo-Presto

AI , ? 1 7l . I

iJ > e , I >I, jV ?

9^i= L

J_,J^ -

i,

9:, i.1 X J. J 1 I 2 ? r 6 6 6

clearly convey the metrical level (the added downbeat stresses) while retaining others that establish a displaced 6-level (the density peaks and harmonic new-event accents) with the result that a conflict between non-aligned levels becomes much more clearly apparent.21

A similar revision took place at the opening of the finale of the Piano Sonata in F# minor, op. 11. The opening theme of this movement involves a clear duple grouping of quarter- note beats that conflicts with the notated triple meter. The duple level is created in part by new-event accents in the large-scale harmony and melody; in m. 1, the first two beats reduce melodically to A4 and harmonically to i, the following two beats melodically to C#t5 and harmonically to III, and so on. A reiterated articulation pattern coordinated with these

21Hans Kohlhase discusses Schumann's revision of this passage in "Die

klanglichen und strukturellen Revisionen," 58-59. He agrees that the downbeats become perceptible as such only after the revision.

melodic and harmonic changes-two slurred eighth notes followed by two staccato eighth notes-also contributes to the establishment of the duple level.22 In an early version of the passage, identical to the final version in terms of pitches, durations, and articulation markings, Schumann emphasized the duple level by placing dynamic accents on the first and third beats of the first measure, a tenuto marking on the second beat of m. 2, and similar tenuto markings in mm. 4 and 6.23 Since this is the opening of a movement and the notated meter has in no way been established, this early version, in spite of its appearance, does not sound dissonant, but gives the impression of undisturbed duple meter. The elimination of the dynamic accents in the final version gives the notated triple meter a fighting chance of asserting itself. The pianist, not told to accent the attacks of the duple level, is free to give some subtle accentuation to the notated downbeats so that the conflict between the metrical level and the built-in duple groupings can become audible. It is interesting to note that when restating the opening theme in the final version (mm. 49-57, 190-205, 238-46, and 381-96), Schu- mann does place dynamic accents on alternate quarter-note beats. No doubt he realized that by this time, the listener would have sufficiently grasped the notated triple meter, would maintain it during the theme, and would perceive the dissonance G3/2 rather than duple consonance.

Deintensification of dissonance. While the revisions mentioned at the end of the preceding section only appear to illustrate deintensification of metrical dissonance, there are some genuine examples of that procedure in Schumann's au-

22The articulation pattern beginning on the upbeat-two staccato notes followed by two slurred ones-results in a conflicting duple level and hence in displacement dissonance.

23The early version is found in the second sketchbook (Universitatsbib- liothek Bonn, Schumann 14, p. 5). Wolfgang Boetticher reproduces this version in Robert Schumanns Klavierwerke, Teil II: Opus 7-13, Appendix, Tafel XVII.

_ v , 1- _- - _ - d I v * I I




Facsimile 1. Schumann, fair copy of String Quartet, op. 41 no. 2, beginning of the Scherzo, Heinrich Heine Institut, Dusseldorf, Ms. 78.5025, p. 18. Used by permission.

tographs. Example 9a shows the earliest existing version of a passage from the Papillon, op. 2 no. 10, different from the final version not only in key but also in metrical structure. By registral accents resulting from the placement of high points and low points, the left hand accompaniment pattern expresses the primary metrical 3-level. Melodic new-event accents as well as occasional dynamic accents on third beats result in a prominent displaced 3-level and hence in strong D3 + 2. In a later version, in the final key of C major (Ex- ample 9b), Schumann almost eliminated D3 + 2 by excising all antimetrical dynamic and new-event accentuation. Vir- tually every level of motion in this version aligns with the notated meter; the inceptions of melodic pitches and of har-

monies reinforce the metrical level. Durational accents on the third beats in the accompaniment pattern keep the dissonance D3 + 2 alive, but it is only a shadow of its former self. Ex- ample 9c shows Schumann's final version of this passage. Whereas he maintained his elimination of the melodic syncopation of the first version, he reinstated, in fact multiplied, the dynamic stresses of that version, so that the dissonance D3 + 2 becomes considerably more intense than in Example 9b, but remains weaker than in Example 9a.

Examples 6a and 6b illustrate the increasing dissonance in two versions of the material in mm. 20-26 of the' Inter- mezzo, op. 4 no. 5-transplanting a duple motive into a triple-meter context to create G3/2. The later history of this




Example 9. Schumann, Papillon, op. 2 no. 10

a. Sketch, Universitatsbibliothek Bonn, Schumann 15 (Sketch- book III), p. 88

I= J Papillon

9: -n W A f F F #{$ F F

3 3 3 3 3 3

3 3

b. Sketch, Universitatsbibliothek Bonn, Schumann 15 (Sketch- book III), p. 53

c. Final version, mm. 25-29

A

P? ^S -P1?r,- -,I , , _A #1 F I at I

> _

passage provides an instance of the opposite type of revision: the duple level, and hence the grouping dissonance G3/2, disappear in the final version (Example 6c). Schumann eliminates a dynamic accent and a tie across the bar line that contributed to the establishment of this dissonance; compare m. 3 of Example 6b and m. 25 of Example 6c. After the cadence in m. 26, he excised the imitation of the " J7 J "

motive, thereby eliminating durational accents on alternate beats that also contributed to the formation of G3/2.

Another example of deintensification of dissonance is of- fered by the conclusion of the Papillons (mm. 63-92 of the

Finale). The first version of this passage is quite dissonant.24 The left hand statement of the horn-call-like opening theme cedes in this version to a chromatic progression in contrary motion, moving in steady quarter notes. After four measures of an unbroken series of quarter-note chords, Schumann be-

gins to replace chords with rests, first on the downbeats of four successive measures, then, for six measures, on every second quarter-note pulse, and finally lapses into total silence for one measure. A skeletal cadence concludes the sketch. The suppression of downbeats results in a weak D3 + 1 (since density and new-event accents occur one beat after the notated downbeats), and the elimination of alternate chords forms a duple level that conflicts with the underlying triple meter to form G3/2. In the revised conclusion, Schumann retained the weak D3 + 1 dissonance (in the left hand in mm. 69-88), but abandoned the idea of deleting chords on alternate quarter-note pulses, thereby dispensing with G3/2 and rendering the passage as a whole much less intensely dissonant.

Another interesting example of the weakening of dissonance is found in the fair copy of the first movement of the

24A transcription appears in Wolfgang Boetticher, Robert Schumanns Klavierwerke, Teil I: Opus 1-6, 74.

D3+2 3 3 3; 3 3

:=> . -

3 3

3 3 3 3

D3+2 I 3




Facsimile 2. Piano Quintet, op. 44, first movement, fair copy of mm. 207-10 with revisions, Universitatsbibliothek Bonn, Schumann 5,

Piano Quintet, op. 44. It is apparent from this autograph (in Facsimile 2) that Schumann intended the inception of the recapitulation to be metrically dissonant. He originally gave the right hand of the piano an eighth-note accompaniment pattern which, in the first two bars of the recapitulation, included registral and dynamic accents one eighth-note pulse prior to metrically accented points, resulting in D4 + 3 (where 1 = an eighth note). In the third and fourth measures

of the recapitulation, Schumann dynamically accented all offbeat eighth notes in the accompaniment pattern to create D2 + 1. The fair copy shows Schumann's revision of this early version of the piano part; he completely eliminated the displacement dissonances by crossing out all of the metrically weak eighth-notes and most of the antimetrical accents. The antimetrical accents that remain are inactive vestigial rem- nants, the notes to which they pertain being deleted.




REASONS FOR METRICAL REVISION

The reasons for Schumann's metrical revisions are generally clear. Sometimes the reason is internal to the given passage. The first version of the third section of the Papillon, op. 2 no. 10 (Example 9a), for instance, was rather ugly: the

displaced melodic attacks resulted in unpleasant pitch dissonances against the accompaniment pattern as well as in concealed parallel octaves in the first two measures of the sketch (where the succession B-CI is duplicated, with displacement, by the lower and upper voice).25 The explanations for most of Schumann's metrical revisions, however, are not to be found within the given passage alone but within its context. Some metrical revisions appear to be motivated, for example, by considerations of formal function. Schumann likely eliminated the displacement dissonance at the beginning of the recapitulation of the first movement of the Piano Quintet, op. 44 (Facsimile 2), in order to give that point of the form the feeling of relative repose and resolution that it

generally carries. Elimination or deintensification of metrical dissonance in the final measures of movements or works, as in the Finale of the Papillons, probably occurred for similar reasons.

A number of Schumann's metrical revisions seem to have been motivated by a desire to clarify the form by intensifying contrast among sections. Example 9 provides a simple illus- tration. Example 9a, the earliest version of the passage, was conceived as the opening of a piece (as is suggested by the fact that it is entitled "Papillon" in the autograph). Example 9b, on the other hand, is, like the final version, the third of a number of small sections. The two sections that precede the passage are, again as in the final version, completely con-

25Boetticher suggests the reason for this revision when he refers in his discussion of the sketch to "this harmonically unacceptable rhythmic dis-

placement" in Robert Schumanns Klavierwerke, Teil I, 68.

sonant in terms of meter. Schumann likely felt that the passage, with its very weak dissonance, was not sufficiently set off from the foregoing sections, and thus felt impelled during the final revision to intensify the dissonance.

Many of Schumann's metrical revisions, particularly in his early works, seem to be designed to establish relationships with, rather than contrast against, surrounding passages. Since he composed many of the early piano pieces by gluing together existing fragments, he clearly felt that it was necessary to tie the fragments together, and metrical revision is one means to that end.26 Without the addition of D3 + 1 to the originally consonant second section of the Preambule to Carnaval (Example 3), for instance, a subtle link to the first section would have been lacking; D3 + 1 occurs at two points within that section (mm. 7-8 and 15-16). The G3/2 added later in the second section, on the other hand (shown in the last two measures of Example 3b), relates to subsequent por- tions of the movement (mm. 48-62, 99-109). The tenth Pa- pillon (Example 9) is also relevant here. Had Schumann adhered to the second version's very weak form of D3 + 2, a significant connection between this passage and other Pa- pillons that feature this dissonance-no. 4 (mm. 19-22), no. 6 (mm. 1, 14-15, 32-33), and no. 8 (mm. 24-31)-would have been virtually lost. The intensification of the dissonance in the final revision of the tenth Papillon not only enhances sectional contrast within that piece but also clarifies its connection to the foregoing ones.

Another striking example of the forging of relationships comes from the third movement of the Piano Sonata in Ft minor, op. 11. The emergence of the dissonances D3 + 2 and

26Schumann's construction of pieces and movements by juxtaposing fragments originally composed independently, a process clearly evident from the sketchbooks, has been discussed by a number of authors who have studied those documents, including Gerhard Dietel in 'Eine neue poetische Zeit': Musikanschauung und stilistische Tendenzen im Klavierwerk Robert Schu- manns (Kassel: Barenreiter, 1989), 55 and 57.




G3/2 during revision of the first trio (shown in Examples 1, 4, and 5) results in numerous connections to earlier measures. The movement opens with hints at both dissonances. The accented upbeat to m. 1 and the durational accent on beat 2 of that measure suggest a 2-level (in quarter-note pulses). The fact that the time-spans initiated by these two pulses are both occupied by the resultant rhythm " J J;~ " contributes to the perceptibility of this suggested 2-level. The dynamic accents on the upbeats to the first two measures result, in addition, in the emergence of a displaced 3-level. Hence, the initial measures of the movement suggest the dissonances G3/2 and D3 + 2-only suggest, because the metrical triple level is not yet firmly established and the antimetrical levels are only of short duration. The same hints at dissonance appear again in mm. 4-6.

In the remainder of the scherzo section, Schumann continues to refer to the same dissonances. Measure 8 suggests D3 + 2, and that dissonance is further developed in mm. 20-22 and 24-25. The cadential hemiola in mm. 14-15 hints at G3/2. In mm. 27-32, dynamic accents two quarter-note pulses apart produce an insistent 2-level, which, in interaction with the locally suppressed but subliminally active metrical 3-level, forms the dissonance G3/2. Because the prominent 2-level of mm. 27-32 persists in the listener's memory even after the stabbing dynamic accents cease, the beginning of the return at mm. 32-34 is much more clearly penetrated by duple grouping and hence by G3/2 than were the corresponding opening measures. The first trio, though in many ways quite different from the scherzo section, continues to develop its two main metrical dissonances.

Schumann's metrical revisions of the first trio section seem to have been directed not only toward the forging of connections between adjacent sections of the form but also toward the continuation and climaxing of a long-range metrical process initiated in the first section. Over the first sixty measures of the third movement of this sonata, Schumann grad-

ually intensifies metrical dissonance by increasing the duration of dissonance and by combining dissonances. He begins with short bursts of dissonance (mm. 1-2, 4-6, 14-15, 20- 22), then presents one of them (G3/2) over a six-measure passage (mm. 27-32). The first trio remains dissonant for sixteen measures, and also combines the two main dissonances, thus bringing the intensifying trend, initiated in the scherzo section, to its culmination.

The desire to set in motion small- or large-scale metrical processes appears to be an important factor in a number of Schumann's metrical revisions. Comparison of the completed exposition of the first movement of the Piano Sonata in F# minor, op. 11, with an early draft labelled "Fandango" provides another good example of an extensive metrical revision that results in a coherent metrical process. The draft, probably dating from 1832, is reproduced in part in Facsimile 3.27 It begins with D4 + 2 (1 = a sixteenth note); in the first sixteen measures (corresponding to the present mm. 54-70), the bass and/or inner voices are consistently displaced by two sixteenth notes with respect to the dactylic melody (whose durational accents corroborate the metrical level). Schumann abandoned this dissonance in mm. 17-42 of the draft (most of the third through sixth staves), where the dactylic rhythm, its long durations still coordinated with the metrical beats, takes over the entire texture. In mm. 43-46 of the sketch (the first four measures of the last staff on p. 1, which correspond to the present mm. 106-9), dynamic accents on the final eighth notes and initiation of harmonies on the second eighth notes together result in a weak return of the initial D4 + 2.

27Boetticher discusses the dating of the Fandango draft in Robert Schu- manns Klavierwerke, Teil II, 147. The draft continues on the first two staves of a third page, with material anticipating the present mm. 175-90 (the opening of the development section). The remainder of the third page contains material reminiscent of mm. 78-85 from the first movement of the Piano Sonata in F minor, op. 14, and some ideas ultimately used in the introduction of the first movement of op. 11.




Facsimile 3. Schumann, "Fandango," destined to be incorporated into the Piano Sonata, op. 11, first movement, Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien, Ms. autogr. R. Schumann A283, pp. 1-2. Used by permission.

In the continuation of this section (the second and third bars from the end of p. 1), a syncopated inner-voice melody main- tains D4 + 2. The following section (mm. 52-62 of the sketch-the first two staves of p. 2) reverts to the obsessive,

metrically consonant dactylic material (as in the present mm. 123-39). Thereupon Schumann gradually phased out the dactylic rhythm, first relegating it to the bass alone (third staff of p. 2), then abandoning it entirely as a second theme in




steady eighth notes begins (as in the present mm. 140-74). Metrical dissonance appears only once more within this section, namely at mm. 64-68 of the sketch (first five measures on the third staff of p. 2), where quarter-note syncopation in the upper voices results in D8 + 4, an augmentation of the initial D4 + 2. The Fandango draft, in short, begins with a prominent metrical dissonance and returns to it occasionally, but does not develop it in any coherent manner.

The published exposition, completed four years later, em- ploys the initial dissonance much more frequently. It contains intermittent references to D4 + 2 in mm. 76-86 (corresponding to mm. 18-28 of the sketch) by affixing dynamic accents to the second eighth notes of mm. 82, 84, and 86 and by creating registral accents with left-hand reaching-over on the second eighth-note pulses of mm. 76, 78, 80, and 84. Sig- nificantly, the dynamic accents that so aggressively reinforce the metrical level at mm. 89-92 in the final version are not present in the draft; no doubt Schumann felt this reinforcement to be necessary only after he had added the antimetrical accents in the preceding measures. In mm. 94-106, which correspond to an arid stretch of metrically consonant dactylic material in the draft (mm. 32-42 of the sketch), Schumann added continuous D4 + 2. In mm. 94-95, the dissonance arises from new dynamic accents, and in mm. 99-106 from antimetrical slurs and harmonic new-event accents. Finally, he adds inner-voice syncopation and hence D4 + 2 in mm. 150-51 of the final version. In the final version of the exposition, then, D4 + 2 is much more significant as a unifying feature.

Furthermore, Schumann engages D4 + 2 in an intensification process in the final version. The first appearance of D4 + 2, interestingly enough, is somewhat weaker than that at the beginning of the draft; Schumann crouches the better to spring. In mm. 54-57 he conceals the displaced level in inner voices, rather than immediately placing it in a prominent outer voice (the bass). Because of the relative weakness

of this statement, the migration of the displaced level to an outer voice in m. 56 already creates an effect of intensification. In mm. 62 and 66, Schumann offers subtle hints at the manner in which D4 + 2 is to be further intensified: in the former measure, he initiates a new harmony (B minor, replacing B major) on the second eighth note, and in the latter places a dynamic accent on the same eighth note in the bass. Neither hint is present in the draft.

In the final version, the significance of these hints soon becomes clear. At mm. 94-95, D4 + 2 is intensified by dynamic accentuation. In mm. 106-18, the climactic region of the exposition, D4 + 2 appears in an equally intense manner, the dissonance being created by both of the techniques hinted at in mm. 62 and 66: new-event harmonic accents appear on the second eighth-note pulses, dynamic accents on the fourth eighth-note pulses.

The intensification of D4 + 2 is only one component of a general, not exclusively metrical intensification process that spans the first forty-five measures of the completed exposition. Another important component is the rise in register across three statements of the opening theme: the first statement (mm. 54-72) remains quite low, the second one (mm. 74-92) begins to champ at the registral bit with its momentary left-hand excursions into a higher register, and the treble part of the third statement (mm. 94-98) is an octave higher than that of the first. This gradual registral rise is lacking in the draft, which contains no reachings-over, and in which even the third FI-minor statement remains within its original low register. In the completed exposition, an increase in dynamic level in mm. 85 through 94 adds to the overall effect of intensification; this crescendo, too, is missing in the draft. The generally static character might have been acceptable in a Fandango, but Schumann no doubt felt that in a sonata exposition, a greater sense of controlled process was necessary. By means of judicious metrical revision as well as the addition of the other features mentioned above, he successfully




accomplished the transformation of a character piece into a dramatic sonata exposition.

The obvious care that Schumann lavished on the fine-

tuning of metrical dissonances bears out the statements of the writers cited at the beginning of this article: such dissonances are indeed of immense importance in Schumann's music.

Study of his metrical revisions not only confirms the overall

significance of metrical conflict in his music, but also strongly suggests that he consciously and skillfully manipulated metrical structure in order to achieve particular musical ends.

ABSTRACT Study of Robert Schumann's sketches, continuity drafts, and fair copies reveals that many of his revisions had to do with the adjustment of the degree of metrical conflict or "dissonance." He frequently made such adjustments for contextual reasons: for example, in order to increase contrast between sections and hence to clarify form, to create relationships between sections, or to establish large- scale metrical processes.



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