THE EXPLANATORY GOALS OF MUSIC ANALYSIS David Huron Cognitive and Systematic Musicology Laboratory Ohio State University School of Music Indiana University, October 26, 2005 Abstract Music exhibits a multitude of different kinds of structures. Some of these structures reflect acoustical, biological, cognitive, perceptual, historical, idiomatic, economic, formal, religious, social, cultural, and other factors. This presentation offers a defense of the view that the principal goal of music analysis is to explain music -- in the sense of identifying plausible causes, motivations, or influences. Several illustrative examples are offered. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents * Introduction * Formal Structure * Political Structure * Personal Structure * Functional Structure * Physiological Structure * Perceptual Structure * Evolutionary Structure * Auditory Cuteness * Social Structure * Cultural Structure * Stravinsky's Contra-Meter * Idiomaticism - Fingering Chart * Idiomaticism (II) * Idiomaticism (III) * Idiomaticism (IV) * Idiomaticism (V) * Economics * Review I * Review II * Discussion * Discussion (II) * Conclusion * Conclusion (II) * References ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction * what a 13-year-old learned from Mrs. Lanouette * the world is filled with signs * there are innumerable structures in music awaiting discovery J.S. Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, 1st mov. Haydn, String Quartet in E-flat, Opus 17, No. 3 Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 4, Opus 7 Prokofiev, Concerto No. 4 for left-handed pianist Stravinsky, "Danse Sacrale" from Rite of Spring Anton Webern, Opus 24 Concerto Paul Hindemith, Trumpet Sonate Malcolm Arnold, Fantasy for Trumpet Slovakian folk song German folk song Songs of the Brazilian Mekranoti Gerald Jay Markoe, Melody of Angels Betty Boop, Do Something Frank Sinatra, All or Nothing at All Row Row Row Your Boat ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Formal Structure Webern, Opus 24 Concerto ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Political Structure * Beethoven, Symphony No. 3, (Eroica) 2nd mov. ("Marcia funebre") * initially inspired by Napoleon Bonaparte * in 1804 Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of France -- angering Beethoven * [somewhat simplified history] * [score] "composed to celebrate the memory of a great man" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Personal Structure * B-A-C-H in J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto, No. 2, 1st movement. [score] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Functional Structure * Alan Merriam: "working up courage for battle, celebrating a marriage, grinding grain, divining the future, praising a wealthy leader, toilet training, narrating tales, grieving for the dead, paddling a canoe, easing an infant to sleep, beseeching divine beings, accompanying children's games, celebrating one's clan, drinking, healing disease, and so forth ..." * Mekranoti indians of Brazil (Huron, 2001, 2003) "Get out of bed! The Kreen Akrore Indians have already attacked and you're still sleeping." (Werner, 1984) * when medical staff wash their hands: two rounds of "Row Row Row Your Boat" (~20 seconds) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Physiological Structure * cochlea - basilar membrane * frequency/place mapping "critical band" - a region of interaction along the basilar membrane; roughly 1 mm in distance (Greenwood, 1961; Plomp & Levelt, 1965; Glasberg & Moore, 1990) * There is enough information in Haydn's string quartet Opus 17, No. 3 to accurately estimate the distribution and size of critical bands in the human cochlea (Huron & Sellmer, 1992; Huron, 2001). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Perceptual Structure * Auditory Attention: passive versus active * orienting responses * asymmetry between increasing & decreasing loudness * Sokolov-Bernstein-Naatanen model of auditory attention * ramp archetype * ramps in 14 composers: dynamic markings * Beethoven piano sonatas * New Age works (e.g. Gerald Jay Markoe Melody of Angels) * Muzak ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Evolutionary Audition * ethology - size cues associated with aggression: arching of back; hair bristling * aggression also associated with low pitch Ohala (1984), Morton (1994) * high or rising vocal displays are associated with deference or submissiveness * Bolinger (1964) showed similar results in a wide sample of human cultures * large resonators tend to produce lower-pitched tones, so it is reasonable that low tones evoke perceptions of larger size * 50% of pre-schoolers have learned the association between pitch and size (Hogg & Huron, 1993) * transposing unintelligible speech upward in pitch is judged less aggressive & more polite Ohala (1980) * downward transposition evoke judgments of increased aggressiveness & confidence ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Auditory Cuteness maximum cuteness: * ~20ml resonator activated by small amounts of energy (Huron, 1999) * similar volume to the vocal tract of an infant; * sound evokes nurturing and protective behaviors * consistent with evolutionary goal of evoking parenting behaviors * generalizes beyond infant's vocal tract; e.g. ocarina, sopranino recorder, music box * musical example: Betty Boop Do Something from Boop-Oop-A-Doop (1932) cartoon by Dave, Max & Joe Fleischer. (Sung by Mae Questal; modelled after Helen Kane). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Social Structure Peer-group phenomena: * in the late 1950s, Frank Sinatra was one of the most popular musicians. * Sinatra's rendition of All or Nothing at All. Arthur Altman (music), Jack Lawrence (lyrics). * a Chicago school uses music as a punishment during after-school detentions * detentions last 30 minutes during which the student must listen to recordings of Frank Sinatra * students are not allowed to do homework or to talk; but are invited to sing-along if they wish (Clements, 1993) * the music has made detention hall highly unpopular, and school officials are pleased by the reduced numbers of detentions * The "music" has not changed. The listeners are different. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cultural Structure * culture is geographically correlated * Eastern versus Western European folksongs: studied database of 6,255 folksongs * 13 degrees East longitude forms a rough dividing line between identifiably different repertories * East of 13th meridian, folksongs three times more likely to have phrases that end predominantly or exclusively on the tonic (Aarden & Huron, 2001) [map] [scores] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cognitive Structure: Expectation & Stravinsky's Meters: * rhythm: a sequence of timed events meter: a schema for temporal expectations * meter can be vague, as when downbeats are not well-defined; meter can be ambiguous (as when two meters compete, e.g. 6/8 vs. 3/4) * used oscillator entrainment model Huron & Large study (in progress): * sample: "The Augurs of Spring; Dances of the Young Girls" & "Sacrificial Dance" from Le Sacre du Printemps. * compared randomly reordered segments with original sequence; measured magnitude of oscillator entrainment * entrainment is easier with randomly reordered segments * passages are "contra-metric" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Idiomaticism Bb trumpet fingering difficulty: Valve combination for the consequent note. 0 1 2 3 1-2 1-3 2-3 1-2-3 0: 0.0 1.0 1.0 1.9 1.5 3.0 3.0 3.5 1: 1.0 0.0 2.0 3.0 2.0 4.5 7.5 6.0 2: 1.0 1.5 0.0 5.3 3.0 9.5 6.0 9.0 3: 2.5 4.0 4.5 0.0 7.0 4.0 4.0 5.5 1-2: 1.5 1.5 2.3 7.5 0.0 6.0 6.0 5.0 1-3: 3.5 4.0 9.5 1.5 5.5 0.0 6.0 4.0 2-3: 2.5 6.0 5.5 4.0 5.0 5.5 0.0 3.8 1-2-3: 3.0 4.0 8.5 3.5 6.0 5.0 5.0 0.0 Mean difficulty for finger/valve transitions as judged by two trumpet players. [Balay vs. Clarke] [Hindemith Sonata] Bb trumpet breathing/tonguing difficulty: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Economics * Richard Strauss wrote two major works for orchestra and left-handed pianist. * Maurice Ravel wrote a piano Concerto for Left Hand * Benjamin Britten wrote his Diversions for left-handed pianist * Prokofiev's piano Concerto No. 4 is for left-handed pianist * what accounts for the greater number of works for left-hand versus right-hand? * all commissioned by Paul Wittgenstein ... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Review (I) Factors: * Formal: Symmetrical partitioning of the tone row in Webern's Opus 24 Concerto. * Functional: Defensive vigil and the early morning singing of the Mekranoti indians of Brazil. * Physiological: Critical bands and Haydn's String Quartet Opus 17, No. 3 * Perceptual: Auditory attention and ramp dynamics in Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 4, Opus 7. * Evolutionary: Auditory cuteness and "Betty Boop" singing Do Something. * Idiomatic: Arnold's Fantasy for Trumpet. * Economic: Prokofiev's piano Concerto No. 4 for left-handed pianist ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Review (II) Factors: * Personal: B-A-C-H and J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2. * Political: Beethoven's disillusionment with Napoleon & the 2nd mov. of the Eroica symphony. * Social: Frank Sinatra's All or Nothing at All heard in 1959 versus 1985. * Cultural: Geographical difference between Slavic and Germanic folk cadences. * Linguistic: Rhythmic contrast between Frère Jacques and English Country Garden. * Cognitive: Metric expectations and Stravinsky's "Danse sacrale" from Rite of Spring. * More ... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Discussion * The Psychologist's Conceit: "If music theory is to be scientifically justified, such justification must lie in its relationship to the processing mechanisms of the listener." (Deutsch, 1983, p.2) Why impose such a limitation? There are important structures evident in music that have nothing to do with the listener, or even with psychology (e.g. idiomaticism). * The Theorist's Conceit: Music theory is based on the analysis of autonomous compositions; our scholarship focuses on the music itself. Why impose such a limitation? There are important structures evident in music that have meaning only when related to phenomena apart from the score or the sound (e.g. parody). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Discussion (II) * The Ethnomusicologist's Conceit: [Reality is socially constructed. There are no structures in music outside of a socio-cultural understanding.] Why impose such a limitation? There are structures in music that do not have plausible social origins (e.g. vertical sonorities & the cochlear physiology, or the ramp archetype & auditory attention). * The New Musicologist's Conceit: [Music is a manifestation of power struggles. Musicology is a critical endeavor that aims to expose the powerful, and to empower the oppressed.] A noble goal. But why impose such a limitation on the study of music? Most structures in music appear to have little to do with the exercise of political power. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Conclusion (I) What I learned as a music student: 1. music is artifice; there is no natural account for music 2. ideally one identifies a single "key" that unlocks the hidden secrets of a musical work 3. the goal of music scholarship is interpretation, not explanation 4. methodology is fetish; rigour is a form self-deception ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Conclusion (II) What I have learned as a music scholar: 1. music is the product of innumerable factors -- social, cultural, psychological, biological; the arts are not separate from either the natural or social order of the world 2. there is no single "key" to understanding a musical work; works are shaped by a plethora of phenomena; each work manifests a unique blend of influences 3. explanation is a legitimate and desirable goal for music scholarship -- where explanation is understood in the sense of identifying plausible causes, motivations, or influences 4. methodology is not a fetish; it is simply a way of internalizing the lessons learned from past scholarly mistakes