Weitzmanns Regions, My Cycles, and Douthetts Dancing Cubes (Cohn 2000)

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Society for Music Theory

Weitzmann's Regions, My Cycles, and Douthett's Dancing Cubes


Author(s): Richard Cohn
Source: Music Theory Spectrum, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Spring, 2000), pp. 89-103
Published by: {oupl} on behalf of the Society for Music Theory
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Weitzmann's Regions, My Cycles,
and Douthett's Dancing Cubes

RichardCohn

Recent developments in neo-Riemannian transformational their contemporaries and successors; for Marx (1837) and for
theory have stimulated the recognition of affinities between late- Hauptmann (1853), among others, the proximity of a pair of
twentieth-century American pitch-class theory and some mid- chords was gauged by the number of tones that they shared;3
nineteenth-century German conceptions of harmonic Verwandt- Marx and Hostinsky (1879) emphasized parsimonious voice-
schaft.' Neo-Riemannian theory maps the group structure of triadic leading;4 and Oettingen (1866) and Riemann (1880) advanced
transformations in an equal-tempered (twelve-pitch-class) envi- transformational views of triadic progression.5 The single aspect
ronment, with special attention to those transformations that opti- of recent theory that does not first appear in nineteenth-century
mize pitch-class intersection, and, more generally, voice-leading writings is the mathematical theory of groups, which furnishes
parsimony. With a single exception, each of these concepts was neo-Riemannian theorists with a systematic framework for the co-
familiar to harmonic theorists in nineteenth-century Germany. ordination of these concepts.
Equal temperament was advocated by Vogler (1802) and by
Weber (1817),2 although it was vigorously resisted by a number of
-Adolf Bernhard Marx, Die Lehre von der Musikalischen Komposition,
praktisch-theoretisch,vol. 1 (Leipzig: Breitkopf und Hartel, 1837); Moritz
Versionsof this paperwere presentedat the 1996 annualmeetings of Music Hauptmann, Die Natur der Harmonik und der Metrik: zur Theorie der Musik
Theory Midwest and the American Musicological Society, under the title (Leipzig: Breitkopf und Hartel, 1853). For an exposition of the attitudes of
"Weitzmann'sRegions and Cycles," which at thattime bore a subtitlethat now Marx and Hauptmanntoward triadic relations, see David Kopp, "A Compre-
strikes me as insufficientlycautious: "An Early Group-TheoreticApproachto hensive Theory of ChromaticMediant Relations in Mid-Nineteenth-Century
TriadicRelations."In preparingthe currentversion,I benefitedfrom the help of Music"(Ph. D. diss., BrandeisUniversity,1995), 73-97.
RobertBowers, who collaboratedin the preparationof a workingtranslationof 4Marx, Die Lehre; Ottokar Hostinsky, Die Lehre von den musikalischen
Der iibermdssigeDreiklang; BertholdHoeckner,who recommendedimprove- Klangen: ein Beitrag zur aesthetischen Begrundung der Harmonielehre
mentsto the translation;andAdrianChilds, who taughtme aboutgraphtheory. (Prague:H. Dominicus, 1879).
'See Richard Cohn, "Introductionto Neo-RiemannianTheory: A Survey 'Arthur von Oettingen, Harmonie in dualer Entwickelung: Studien zur
and a HistoricalPerspective,"Journalof Music Theory42/2 (1998): 167-79. Theorie der Musik (Dorpat/Leipzig:W. Glaser, 1866); Hugo Riemann,Skizze
2Georg Joseph Vogler, Handbuch der Harmonielehre undfuir den General- einer neuen Methode der Harmonielehre (Leipzig: Brietkopf und Hartel, 1880).
bass, nach dem Mannheimer Tonschule (Prague: K. Barth, 1802); Gottfried On the transformationalaspects of these writings, see Michael Kevin Mooney,
Weber, Versuch einer geordneten Theorie der Tonsetzkunst, vol. 1 (Mainz: B. "The 'Table'of Relationsand Music Psychology in Hugo Riemann'sHarmonic
Schott, 1817). Theory"(Ph. D. diss., ColumbiaUniversity,1996), 71-77, 236-39.

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90 Music Theory Spectrum

These affinities provide an informative context in which to Wason also observes that Weitzmann's treatise identifies two
read one of the most self-consciously progressive treatises of the properties of the augmented triad that were to become crucial to
nineteenth century, Carl Friedrich Weitzmann's 32-page mono- its unique role in atonal composition and theory: its status as an
graph on the augmented triad.6 Der iibermdssige Dreiklang was equal division of the octave, and hence as a group generator; and
the first of five brief harmony treatises published between 1853 its role as cross-producer of the twelve-pitch-class universe, in
and 1861 in which Weitzmann sought to lay a theoretical basis for tandem with the diminished-seventh chord.9Although Weitzmann
the harmonic innovations of the "New German School" of Liszt does not articulate his observations with anything like the lan-
and Wagner. The most comprehensive of these publications, the guage just used, he demonstrates these properties graphically. A
Harmoniesvsten of 1860, was a lightning rod to Weitzmann's figure on p. 13 of his treatise, reproduced here as Example I,
contemporaries, largely because of its licentious attitude toward shows the equal division of the octave, by marking out each
parallel fifths. From a late-twentieth-century standpoint, however, (enharmonic) major third via the notation "4/2" (which refers
it is the earlier treatise on the augmented triad that is the more rad- undoubtedly to the interval of four semitones). Another figure on
ical document. R. Larry Todd finds significance in Der iibermds- p. 22, given here as Example 2, situates the twelve pitch classes
sige Dreiklang's view of the augmented triad as an independent into a 4X3 matrix in order to show that "each of the diminished-
harmonic entity rather than a byproduct of linear motion, and seventh chords takes for the construction of its four voices one
speculates on some ways that the treatise may have both reflected tone from each of the four different augmented triads, and like-
and influenced the developing compositional practice of Liszt.7 wise each of those triads takes for the construction of its three
Robert W. Wason values the treatise for its recognition of equal voices one tone from each of the three different seventh chords.""'
temperament and enharmonic equivalence, and as the first thor- In addition to those aspects that attracted the attention of
ough exploration of the augmented triad's Mehrdeutigkeit (multi- Todd and Wason, another feature of Weitzmann's treatise is of
ple meanings).8 interest to the neo-Riemannian theorist: the emphasis on parsi-
monious voice-leading. Stepwise voice-leading is prominently
featured throughout Weitzmann's writings, but the focus on semi-
6Carl Friedrich Weitzmann, Der iibermiissige Dreiklang (Berlin: T.
tonal melodic motion is particularly acute in the case of the aug-
Trautweinschen,1853).
7R. Larry Todd, "The 'Unwelcome Guest' Regaled: Franz Liszt and the mented triad, whose dissonant status circumscribes the roster of
AugmentedTriad,"19th CenturyMusic 12/2 (1988): 92-115; reprintedwith re-
visions as "FranzLiszt, Carl FriedrichWeitzmann,and the AugmentedTriad,"
in The Second Practice of Nineteenth-CenturyTonalitv,ed. WilliamKinderman Invarianceas a Cognitive Structure:'Multiple Meaning' in the Early Nine-
and HaraldKrebs(Lincoln:Universityof NebraskaPress, 1996), 153-77. It is teenth Century,"in Music Theory in the Age of Romanticism,ed. lan Bent
of particularinterest that WeitzmannanticipatesSchoenberg in invoking the (Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress, 1996), 211-32.
rhetoricof emancipation,when he writes thatthe augmentedtriad"is worthyof 9Thislatterfeaturehad earlierbeen recognizedby John Rocco Rea, "Franz
attainingfull rightsas a citizen in the kingdomof tones"("wiirdigsei, das volle Liszt's 'New Pathof Composition':The 'Sonatain B minor'as Paradigm"(Ph.
Burgerrechtim Reiche der Tone zu erlangen,"4). D. diss., PrincetonUniversity,1978). 68.
8RobertW. Wason, "ProgressiveHarmonicTheory in the Mid-Nineteenth ?'"Jederder oben stehendenvermindertenSeptakkordenimmt zur Bildung
Century,"Journal of Musicological Research 8 (1988): 55-90. The triad's seiner vier Stimmen von jedem der vier verschiedenen ibermassigen Drei-
Mehrdeutigkeit was already identified in Vogler's Handbuch der Harmo- klange einen Ton, und ebenso nimmtjederjener Dreiklangezur Bildung seiner
nielehre (vol. 1, 103, 109; vol. 2, 8), but without elaboration.This featureof drei Stimmen einen Ton von jedem der drei verschiedenenSeptakkorde."Der
Vogler's work is discussed in JannaK. Saslaw and James P. Walsh, "Musical iibermissige Dreiklang,22-23.

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Weitzmann (1853): propriedades das tríades aumentadas, dividindo a oitava
em partições uniformes de tríades, do mesmo modo que a tétrade diminuta!

Weitzmann's Regions, My Cycles, and Douthett's Dancing Cubes 91

Example 1. Weitzmann'sindicationof equal divisions

Grundlage Zweite Umkehrung

4/242 -2 /2
C cis d dis E f fis g Gis a ais h C cis d dis E

Erste Umkehrung

Example 2. Weitzmann'smatrixshowing the twelve-tone gamut as a cross-productof diminished-seventhchords and augmentedtriads

1. ): itt eis gis h d


Die
sammtlichen Die
verminderten {

2.9: n cis e g b 12 Tne


Septakkorde unseres
verschiedenen Systems.
Klanges: 3. !)9:,I'lI a c es ges

):#11i :
II9:11 IIpl:n1" 9llf II
I. II. III. IV.

Die sammtlichenubermassigenDreiklange
verschiedenerTonung.

resolutions. In the first part of this article I review some of cent work by Jack Douthett that covers and unites these comple-
Weitzmann's observations concerning the semitonal connection of mentary conceptions. Part 3 interprets Weitzmann's approach to
augmented triads to their consonant-triad resolutions. In Part 2 I semitonal connections in a transformationalframework, and sug-
examine the complementary relationship that holds between gests some new ways that his monograph may have influenced
Weitzmann's observations and my own work on semitonal con- Liszt. Part 4 speculates on the position of Der iibermassige
nections between pairs of consonant triads, and explore some re- Dreiklang against a broad historical background.

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92 Music Theory Spectrum

lation of nebenverwandt would be neologistic ("next-related" or


"neighbor-related"),and I retain the German throughout this arti-
Despite his advocacy of equal temperament and his attention to cle. Modern readers tend to conceive of this relationship in asym-
properties of the twelve-tone chromatic gamut, on the question of metric terms of a major dominant inflecting a minor tonic. For
acoustic generability Weitzmann appears to have been more ag- Weitzmann, a nebenverwandt pairing also represents, with equal
nostic than atheist. His abiding acoustic allegiances are implicit in strength, the inflection of a major tonic by a minor subdominant.
his account of the genealogy of his monograph's subject. Chapter Hence the relationship is fully and symmetrically dual. 3
6 is entitled "Natiirliche Entstehung des einer jeden Tonart In the immediately subsequent chapter, "Ausgebreitete Ver-
wichstigsten iibermassigen Dreiklanges," or "the natural origin of wandtschaft des iibermassigen Dreiklanges" [extended relations
the augmented triad most important to each key." (Note that of the augmented triad], Weitzmann demonstrates that the same
"Entstehung"might also be translated as "generation,"although it augmented triad can be extracted, by analogous means, from two
is unclear whether Weitzmann wishes to frame his account in other triadic unions: E major with A minor, and Ab major with Db
specifically biological terms.) The chapter begins as follows: minor. He then shows that any of the six Klange from the three
If we addto a given tonic, for exampleC, both upwardsanddownwards generating triadic unions is related to that augmented triad by a
by a majorthirdand perfectfifth, then we obtaina majortriadupwards single semitonal displacement, with the remaining two tones
but a minor triad downwards."

Here Weitzmann conjoins an F minor and a C major triad along '3This aspect of Weitzmann's thought is filled out most fully in his
a line of thirds in the manner of his teacher Moritz Hauptmann: Harmoniesystem,where he develops the idea that each mode is representedby
both a hard and a soft version. See C. F. Weitzmann,"Gekr6ntePreisschrift:
<F, Ab, C, E, G>. The text continues: ErklarendeErlauterungund musikalischtheoretischeBegriindungder durchdie
Fromthe union of these two nebenverwandtchordsnow originatesthe neuesten Kunstschopfungenbewirkten Umgestaltung und Weiterbildungder
most importantaugmentedtriadof both of the representedkeys, in our Harmonik,"Part 2, Neue Zeitschriftfur Musik 52/2 (6. Januar 1860): 9-10;
case, as the example shows, {Ab, C, E}).2 reprint,Scarsdale:AnnamarieSchnase, 1964. Hard major and soft minor are
equivalentto the usual naturalscales. Soft majorand hardminoruse a lowered
The term nebenverwandt characterizes a binary relationship of the 6 and raised 7, and hence have a minor subdominantand a major dominant;
they are distinguishedfrom each otheronly by the position of 3. Hardminoris
type that holds between C major and F minor, both as a pair of
equivalentto harmonicminor;soft majoris sometimesreferredto as "harmonic
chords (nebenverwandtenAkkorden)and as a pair of keys (neben-
major."
verwandten Tonarten, sometimes abbreviated Nebentonarten). Soft major,which is inversionallyrelatedto hardminor,may reflectthe du-
Arthur von Oettingen, and later Hugo Riemann, characterized the alist influence of Weitzmann'steacher, Moritz Hauptmann,but it also may
same relationship using the term Seitenwechsel. An English trans- stand on a more empiricistbasis. The scale was used extensively by Glinka,
whose music Weitzmannencounteredduringhis decade as concertmasterof the
imperialopera orchestraof St. Petersburg,from 1836 to 1846. (It is likely that
""Fiigen wir einem angenommenenHaupttone,z.B. C, eine grosse Terz he led the orchestrain the premiereof The Life of the Tsarin December 1836.)
und grosse Quinte aufwarts und abwarts zu, so erhalten wir aufwarts einen The harmonicmajorscale became a commonplaceof Russiantheorybeginning
Dur-, abwartsabereinen Molldreiklang."Ibid., 16. with Rimsky-Korsakov'sharmony treatise of 1886. See Ellon D. Carpenter,
'2"Ausder Verbindungdieser beiden nebenverwandtenAkkordeentsteht "Russian Music Theory: A Conspectus,"in Russian Theoretical Thought in
nun der den beiden von ihnen reprasentirtenTonartenwichtigste iibermdssige Music, ed. GordonD. McQuere,Russian Music Studies 10 (Ann Arbor:UMI
Dreiklang,in unseremFalle, wie die Ansicht zeigt, As C E." Ibid. ResearchPress, 1983), 22.

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Weitzmann's Regions, My Cycles, and Douthett's Dancing Cubes 93

holding their positions.14 Example 3, which transposes and refor- Example 3. Klange relatedto IC, E, AN)by single semitonaldisplace-
mats one of Weitzmann's illustrations (Der ubermdssige Drei- ment
klang, 18), shows how the augmented triad {C, E, AN}, in various I I I . I I
enharmonically equivalent spellings, is so related to these six 9.(, >El' iln " II.?
llt'" , IIl fir, 11I 11
consonant Klange.
Weitzmann next observes that, following the same procedure, C major A minor E major Ctminor Ab major Fminor
each of the four augmented triads has its own group of six Klange.
Example 4, transcribed directly from Der ubermdssige Dreiklang,
evenly partitions the twenty-four Kldnge into four groups of six Example 4. Klange related to the four augmented triads by single
Klinge, on the basis of their voice-leading proximity to the four semitonaldisplacement(WeitzmannRegions)
augmented triads. I will refer to the contents of each of these
groups as a Weitzmannregion. Weitzmann's chart initiates a subtle I. C E Gis (und seine enharmonischenVerwechselungen).
but significant figure/ground reversal. Conceptual priority is con- 1. Cdur. 2. Edur. 3. Asdur.
ferred not on the consonant Kldnge from whose union the aug- 4. amoll. 5. cismoll. 6. fmoll.
mented triad is born, but rather on the dissonant harmony that II. Des FA (und seine enharmonischenVerwechselungen).
serves implicitly as the source of those Klange which semitonally 1. Desdur. 2. Fdur. 3. Adur.
displace it. 4. bmoll. 5. dmoll. 6. fismoll.
Following these observations Weitzmann proceeds to show III. D Fis Ais (und seine enharmonischenVerwechselungen).
that each augmented triad is more distantly related to six further
1. Ddur. 2. Gesdur. 3. Bdur.
Klinge, those that share a root with the triads of the region (i.e., 4. hmoll. 5. esmoll. 6. gmoll.
the parallel major and minor chords). These additional Klinge are
IV. Es G H (und seine enharmonischenVerwechselungen).
exactly those with which the region's central augmented triad
holds one tone in common. He demonstrates this some pages later 1. Esdur. 2. Gdur. 3. Hdur.
with a chart, reproduced here as Example 5, that presents the four 4. cmoll. 5. emoll. 6. gismoll.
augmented triads, each accompanied by two tiers of relations.
Weitzmann explains, "the chords next to the augmented triad can Weitzmann has nothing furtherto say about this figure, yet sev-
be reached by a semitonal step of one of its voices; the ones stand- eral aspects of it merit our attention. First, those Kldnge that dis-
ing further away through semitonal steps of two of its voices."'5 place the augmented triad downward are consistently placed to its
left, and, conversely, those that displace its tones upward are
placed to its right, conferring a directional consistency on the fig-
'4FollowingLewin's adaptationfrom nineteenth-centuryharmonictheory, ure: rightward motion in graphic space is associated with upward
the termKlang, pluralKliinge,is used throughoutthe remainderof this paperto (or, more appropriately,"clockwise") motion in pitch-class space.
refer to consonant (i.e., major and minor) triads, both individually and as a
Second, each group of Kliinge appears twice in the figure: those
class.
'5"Diedem ubermassigenDreiklangezunachststehendenAkkordewerden
that appear to the right of a given augmented triad are identical in
durch den Halbtonschritteiner, die ihm entfernterstehendendurch den Halb- content to those that appear to the left of its rightward neighbor,
tonschrittzweier seiner Stimmenerlangt."Der iberniissige Dreiklang,24. and vice versa. Third, the figure is implicitly cyclical: the Klange

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94 Music Theory Spectrum

Example5. Klinge relatedto the four augmentedtriadsby double semitonaldisplacement

- as. As. t- des. Des. a. A . D. b. B. I, es.Es. . h, eh E.


) ^-e CE-=f+t a. A. I f fc.bfb. B. fis. Esh.s. es. A
...' c_ E.
e..7/F F.
c. C.ZZZLLf f| c.
cis. Cis..^ 'fis.
E .es.
Fis. d. D. g. G. Es. as. As.

SSD = single semitonal displacement, ou: deslocamento simples por semitom.

that appear at the far right of the figure are identical to those that Example 6. Graphof SSD-relationsbetween the twenty-fourKliinge
appear at its far left. Combining these three considerations, it is and the four augmentedtriads(Weitzmanln
graph)
easy to imagine a more efficient version of Example 5, reconfig-
ured into a cyclic graph with each Klang appearing once rather {C, E, Ab}
than twice. We will explore such a configuration shortly.
The implication that the augmented triads bear conceptual pri-
ority, with the Klange receding into secondary status, is reinforced
by Example 5, and is confirmed by Weitzmann's characterization
of it: "the Klinge that originate [N.B. 'entstehen'] from the fol-
lowing augmented triads-all the distinctly sounding ones-are
indicated by letters next to them [i.e., next to the appropriateaug-
mented triad]."'6The figure/ground reversal implied earlier is here {E, G, B} {C#,F,A}
rendered explicit.

II

We now interpret some of Weitzmann's figures as formal


graphs, in order to invite comparison with some neo-Riemannian
formulations that appear in graphic form. In each of the graphs
presented in this section, the vertices represent consonant or aug- {D, F#,B,}
mented triads, and edges join chords related by a single semitonal
displacement (SSD). edges joins a Klatg to the augmented triad to which it is SSD-
We begin by translating Example 4 into a formal graph, given related. The four isomorphic components of the graph depict the
as Example 6, which we shall refer to as a Weitzmanngraph. Its four Weitzmann regions of Example 4.
twenty-eight vertices represent the twenty-four consonant triads Example 7 reproduces a graph introduced in an earlier article
(Klange) and the four augmented triads. Each of the twenty-four of mine.'7 The vertices of this hexatonic graph represent only the
'"6'[Auf solche Weise] entstehen aus den folgenden iibermiassigenDrei- '7RichardCohn, "MaximallySmooth Cycles, Hexatonic Systems. and the
klangen, den sammtlichenverschiedenenKlanges, die neben denselben durch Analysis of Late-RomanticTriadicProgressions,"MusicAnaIlsis 15/1 (1996):
BuchstabenangedeutetenDreiklange."Ibid. 9-40 [171.

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Weitzmann's Regions, My Cycles, and Douthett's Dancing Cubes 95

Example 7. Graph of SSD-relations among the twenty-four Kldnge augmented triads of Example 5. Each sextet of Klange in Example
(hexatonicgraph) 5 is flanked by two augmented triads, and each constituent Klang
shares two pitch classes with one of the flanking augmented tri-
C+
ads, and one pitch class with the other. (In the case of the Northern
E- C- cycle, the flanking depends on our conceiving of a wrap-around
effect for the entire figure.)
Northern
Example 8 extracts the Northern cycle from the hexatonic
graph and sets it as a three-voice counterpoint in order to empha-
E+? A +
size some details of pitch-class progression. Ties connect common
G#- tones, and arrowheads indicate the location and direction of semi-
tonal displacements. The right side of the example, which presents
B+ Db+
a pitch-class inventory for the three voices, shows that each tog-
Eb- WB- F- /\C#- gles between a pair of pitch classes related by semitone. One can
view the contrapuntal cycle of Example 8 as an endless three-
Western Eastern voice canon of interlocked upward and downward togglings.
We now retrace some work that Jack Douthett offered in re-
Eb^
+ KG+ F+ A+ sponse to my presentation of the hexatonic systems.'8 Douthett
A-
noted that the voice-toggling of Example 8 lends itself to model-
G-
ing via binary code. The lower note of the semitone-related pitch
D+ classes in each voice is assigned the binary numeral 0; the higher
note is assigned 1. Beneath the score in Example 8, the stacking of
F#- 1D-
the three numerals from bottom to top corresponds isographically
Southern with the vertical stacking of the three voices. Thus, the initial C
minor triad is represented, from bottom to top, as <1, 0, 0>, indi-
F#*+ Bb+ cating that the bassus selects the higher member of the C/B semi-
tonal pair, while the upper voices select the lower members of
Bb-
their respective semitonal pairs. At the second chord, the upward
shift G -Al in the cantus is signified by substituting 1 in place of
0 in the highest entry in the array,yielding <1, 0, 1>, and so forth.
twenty-four Klange. Each vertex in the graph has a degree of two, Since each of the three voices has two possible values, there
representing the fact that, for example, C major transforms to C are 23 = 8 possible combinations. The six combinations that
minor via E - Eb, and to E minor via C - B. Each of the graph's occur in the cycle, the consonant triads, are those that mix 0 and 1
four isomorphic cyclic components is identical in content to one
'8JackDouthett, personal correspondence,December 1992. Some of this
of the triadic clusters in Weitzmann's figure replicated as Example work appears in Jack Douthett and Peter Steinbach, "ParsimoniousGraphs:
5. For example, the content of the "Eastern"cycle of Example 7 is A Study in Parsimony,Contextual Transformations,and Modes of Limited
identical to the Klinge appearing between the first and second Transposition,"Journalof Music Theorv42/2 (1998): 241-63.

A colaboração entre Douthett e Cohn

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96 Music Theory Spectrum

Example8. Voice-leadingof the Klange in a hexatonic system Example9. Cubic graphof SSD-relationsamong and between the six
A A Klange of the Northerncycle and its two flankingaugmentedtriads
b o? . _.-. o Lo oM---
JJ o0.. ,o {C, E, A}

o_o Io #,,
o hooo
c- A6

0) - 0-,
o I
0I 0I ,r 00 0 0
o 0 0 1 1 1 0
1 1 o 0 0 1 I

values. The two remaining combinations are <0,0,0>, the set of all
/i
lowered pitch classes and <1,1,1>, the set of all raised pitch AK-
{B, E;, G}
classes. These combinations represent the two augmented triads
that, in Example 5, "flank"the Northern cycle.
Example 9 presents the cubic graph implied by the above rela-
tions. Six of the graph's eight vertices represent the Klange of the Example 10. Graphof SSD-relationsamong and between the twenty-
Northern cycle, and the remaining two represent the augmented four Klange and the four augmentedtriads(Cube Dance)
triads that flank that cycle. Half of the cube's twelve edges con-
nect Kldnge directly to each other; these edges are drawn in bold {C, E, Ab}
in Example 9. The subgraph formed by these six edges is a com-
ponent of the hexatonic graph (Example 7), where it represents
the Northern hexatonic system. The remaining six edges join one
of the Klange to one of the flanking augmented triads. The discon-
nected subgraph formed by these six edges is also a subgraph of
the Weitzmann graph (Example 6).
Each of the other three cyclic components of the hexatonic
{B, ES,G} {C,, F,A}
graph, when combined with its two flanking augmented triads,
gives rise to a cubic supergraphin the same manner.The union of
these four cubes forms a connected graph presented here as
Example 10, which is a version of the figure that Douthett calls
Cube Dance.'9 Cube Dance originated as an elaboration of my

'9Example10 reverses and rotates the elements of the figure presentedin


Douthett and Steinbach, "ParsimoniousGraphs,"254, in order to preserve
graphicconsistencywith Example6, but the two graphsare formallyidentical. {D, FJ, Bb}

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Weitzmann's Regions, My Cycles, and Douthett's Dancing Cubes 97
As linhas tracejadas indicam semitom entre Aum e tríades Mm (11a)

hexatonic graph, and formally the two graphs are related by inclu- Example11.Two complementarymethodsfor constructingCubeDance
sion. The twenty-four vertices of my graph portray SSD-relations
(a) from the hexatonic graph
between the twenty-four Klinge. Cube Dance introduces four ad-
ditional vertices, representing the augmented triads, and twenty- {C,E, G#}
four additional edges, representing SSD-relations between the
augmented triads and the Kldnge.
Weitzmann's monograph suggests an entirely different path
for deriving Cube Dance. Example 6, the graph of the four Weitz-
mann regions, is a subgraph of Cube Dance. It presents the same
set of twenty-eight vertices, but only half of its forty-eight edges.
These are exactly the twenty-four edges that Douthett added in {B, Eb,G} {C, F,A}
order to construct Cube Dance from the hexatonic graph. From
this, we can see that the hexatonic graph and the WeitzmannGraph
symmetrically partition Cube Dance into two complementary sub-
graphs.
Example 11 graphically portrays this circumstance. 11(a)
copies Example 7, the hexatonic graph that portrays SSD-
relations between pairs of Kldnge, distorts its geometry, and adds
broken edges to represent SSD-relations between augmented tri-
As linhas tracejadas agora indicam os semitons entre as tríade Mm (11b)
ads and single Kldnge. ll(b) copies Example 6, the Weitzmann
graph that portrays SSD-relations between the augmented triads (b) from the Weitzmanngraph
and single Klange, and adds broken edges that represent SSD- {C, E, G#}
relations between pairs of Kldnge. The two versions are identical,
except that broken and unbroken edges are swapped.
In order to show the extent to which Cube Dance reflects
Weitzmann's thinking, let us return now briefly to Example 5,
Weitzmann's portrait of the "Extended relations of the augmented
triad." Earlier we concluded our discussion of Example 5 by not-
ing that it implied a more efficient rendering, a cyclic figure with {B, Eb,G}, {C#,F,A}
each consonant and augmented triad occurring only once. This
more efficient rendering is exactly Douthett's Cube Dance!
The complementarity of Weitzmann's path, vis-a-vis Dou-
thett's, in the generation of Cube Dance casts new light on the fig-
ure/ground duality identified in the first part of this article. As we
contemplate Cube Dance, and toggle, in rabbit/duck style, be-
tween its two complementary modes of genesis-Examples 11(a)

Aqui Cohn corrige o sentido do Cube Dance de


Douthett (1998), posicionando o ciclo no sentido horário

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98 Music Theory Spectrum

and ll(b), with their respective prioritizing of Klainge and aug- Example 12. Transformationalnetworkof a "Weitzmanncycle"
mented triads-the vertices of the graph fade from our attention,
in favor of the edges that connect them. The quasi-acoustic har- R N R N
E + <N
E ^-iA- DA- c- > C+
C+ ~- F-
F- *-~ A+
M+^^- D,-
monies give way to the voice-leading between them. It is this em- R ,
phasis on the relations between objects, rather than the objects
themselves, that is most characteristic of Lewinian transforma- more, in their relative keys, Al major and A minor; and finally in
tional theory in general, and neo-Riemannian theory in particular. the latter's Nebentonarten, Db minor and E major."''
Example 12 graphs Weitzmann's observations. The six triads
III are represented here by their roots; + and - indicate major and
minor respectively. The relations between the triads are repre-
The relationship between the six triadic members of a sented by the symbol R, for relative, and N, for nebenverwandt.
Weitzmann region is paradigmatic: their status in the group de- The graph forms a chain, connecting E major at one end to Db
pends not on their direct relationship to each other, but rather on minor at the other, with alternating N and R links. The broken R
their mutual relationship to an object outside of the group. Yet in link between Db minor (qua C# minor) and E major is not one that
the process of characterizing, simply for heuristic purposes, the Weitzmann mentions. (It does not suit his purposes to do so, since
contents of the regions, Weitzmann suggests a way in which the he has already generated the complete roster of six triads without
contents of each region connect directly and syntagmatically to it. But, given his advocacy of enharmonic equivalence, it would
each other. Having shown "how the most important augmented
surely not have troubled him.) This last link closes a cycle, which
triad in each key arises from the union of its tonic chord with its is generated by the alternation of N and R. We will refer to this
nebenvenvandt chord, and is constructed by means of the most
particular cyclic ordering of a Weitzmann region as a Weitzimann
important neighbor tone of the key represented by that chord," cycle.
Weitzmann now notes that "we also find the same augmented The reference to "cyclic generation" invokes a transforma-
triad, albeit enharmonically concealed, in the relative key of each tional conception characteristic of neo-Riemannian theory. The
of these nebenverwandt keys; finally, the same triad appears once
2'"Sofinden wir in den nebenverwandtenTonartenfmoll und Cdur,ferner
more, again enharmonically transformed, in the nebenvervandt in den Paralleltonartenderselben,in Asdurund amoll, endlich in den Nebenton-
keys of those latter relative keys."20To lighten the load on his artender letzteren,in desmoll und Edurden ubermassigenDreiklangAs C E
reader, Weitzmann offers the following example: "Thus we find und seine enharmonischenVerwechselungen."Ibid. The slippage between
the augmented triad {Ab, C, E} and its enharmonic transforma- chord and key in Weitzmann'spresentationhere requiressome commentary.In
tions in the nebenverwandt keys of F minor and C major; further- the previouschapter(p. 16), he notes thatthe augmentedtriadis diatonicto nei-
ther key the union of whose nebelnerw'andt-related tonic triads serve as its
2'"Wieder wichtigste iibermassigeDreiklang einer jeden Tonart aus der source.In orderto fit the key, the "mostimportantneighbortone"- definedas
Verbindungihres Hauptakkordesmit dem ihm nebenverwandtenAkkordeen- #7 in minor,b6 in major-must be pressed into service, allowing Weitzmannto
steht und mittelst des wichtigsten Nebentones der von jenen Akkorden state that an augmentedtriad simply 'belongs to a key" without having to in-
reprasentirtenTonartengebildet wird.... Aber auch in den Paralleltonarten voke the nebenverwandtpairingat every turn.Because "belongingto a key" is
solcher nebenverwandten Tonarten finden wir denselben tibermassigen mutuallyimplicativewith "arisingfrom thatkey's tonic chordby virtueof that
Dreiklang,wenn auch enharmonischversteckt,vor; endlich erscheintderselbe chord's union with its nebenverwandt,"Weitzmann'slist of the six keys to
nochmals, wiederum enharmonisch verwechselt, in den nebenverwandten which the augmentedtriadbelongs is ipso facto also a rosterof the six Kliinge
Tonartenjener letzterenParalleltonarten."
Der iibermissige Dreiklang, 17. which serve pairwiseas the sourceof thataugmentedtriad.

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Liszt provavelmente conheceu o trabalho de Weitzmann (!)

Weitzmann's Regions, My Cycles, and Douthett's Dancing Cubes 99

symbols N and R in Example 12 may be interpreted not only as vided here as Example 13, which occurs near the end of the expo-
static relations between objects, but as dynamic transformations; sition of the first movement, completes two orbits of the Weitz-
in David Lewin's terms, the symbols represent"something one does mann cycle given in Example 12, then begins a third before trun-
to a Klang, to obtain another Klang."22From our late-millenial cating.
perspective, the relational and transformationalconceptions are so We need to be cautious, however, about concluding that
close to each other that we slip in and out of the two discourses as Weitzmann's formulation necessarily influenced Liszt's sym-
effortlessly as we interchange spatial and temporal units of mea- phony. An identical triadic progression occurs in Schubert's C
surement. (Consider how facilely we modulate between "twenty minor ("Tragic") symphony of 1816, and is thematic to the first
minutes away" and "ten miles away.") The transformationalcon- movement of the C major ("Great")symphony of the mid-1820s,
ception, although not explicitly present in Weitzmann's mono- a composition that Liszt heard performed in 1840.25 Although
graph, is not anachronistic, or at least not egregiously so. As we Weitzmann's treatise may have triggered Liszt's imagination, it
have already observed, during the subsequent decade Oettingen did not expose him to the progression for the first time.
interpreted the nebenverwandt relation in explicitly transforma- Example 14 presents the abstract voice-leading of the passage
tional terms. given as Example 13. In this three-voice canon, all upward dis-
It is not clear that Weitzmann recognized the cyclic implica- placements are by semitone, but all downward displacements are
tions of his relations, but there is evidence that his close associate by whole step. Each of the three voices primarily sounds a pitch
Franz Liszt may have. Weitzmann sent Liszt a copy of his mono- of the {Ab, C, E} augmented triad, momentarily departing from
graph upon its publication in 1853, and Liszt scholars have long that pitch to engage its two chromatic neighbors. For example,
speculated that it influenced the composition of the Faust the G# voice (top staff) is displaced up to A, moves down to G,
Symphony, the first version of which was completed a year later.23 and then returnsto G#. At the moment that one voice reengages its
The famous opening of that composition emphasizes augmented central pitch, another voice is displaced. For example, the return
triads to an unprecedented degree, and particularly prolongs the of G# (qua Ab) synchronizes with the displacement of E by F. At
{Ab, C, E} collection, whose three pitch classes serve as the most every moment exactly one voice is displaced from its central
prominent tonics as the symphony unfolds.24 The passage pro- pitch, and so the augmented triad itself never sounds. Despite this
literal absence, one might say that the shadow of the augmented
2'David Lewin, GeneralizedMusical Intervals and Transformations(New triad (Ab, C, E} is cast across the entire passage, since each of the
Haven:Yale UniversityPress, 1987), 177. three voices is dominated by one of its components.
23Thissuggestion was apparentlyfirst put forth by Ernest Newman. See
Dennis Hennig, "Weitzmannand the Liszt Machine," Miscellanea Musico-
logica 16 (1989): 109-34. For more on Weitzmannand Liszt, see Todd, "The 25SeeSchubert,Symphony No. 4 in C minor ("Tragic"),first movement,
'Unwelcome Guest.'" mm. 86-106; and Symphony No. 9 in C major ("Great"),first movement, in
24Thispoint is discussed in Robert P. Morgan, "DissonantProlongations: which a partialcycle at mm. 197-219 is extendedto a full cycle at mm. 304-15
Theoretical and Compositional Precedents,"Journal of Music Theory 20/1 and again at mm. 328-39. Liszt's encounterwith this symphonyis mentioned
(1976): 49-91 [62], and elaboratedin Rey M. Longyearand Kate R. Covington, in Alan Walker,Franz Liszt, vol. 1: The VirtuosoYears,1811-1847, rev. ed.
"Liszt, Mahler,and a Remote Tonal Relationshipin Sonata Form,"in Studien (Ithaca,N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1987), 350. A similar progressioncan
zur Instruinentalmusik:Lothar Hoffman-Erbrechtzum 60. Geburtstag, ed. be found in the Finale of Schubert'sOctet of 1828; this passage is indicatedin
Anke Bingmann, Klaus Hortschansky,and Winfried Kirsch (Tutzing: Hans RichardTaruskin,Stravinskyand the Russian Traditions(Berkeley:University
Schneider,1988), 457-69. of CaliforniaPress, 1996), 1:261.

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100 Music Theory Spectrum

Example 13. Liszt, Faust Symphony,firstmovement,mm. 305-11

T'
305 -as-
^, br _ 1, __ I
| t t. r =
f rf _r ~ L

Ali _ __ _ '
#_ i

I^J^F ^ ^"3-^ ^ ^*? ^-^ *' ^# 7 v v J; #X;


7 ^
309

77 J ,_
'TI..
...r

li(1_

[\9: # 7 7 ?7y -#
Oyy 1 I

Example 14. Voice-leadingof Example 13 passage. This formulation connects Weitzmann's observations directly
to some more recent explorations of the chromatic universe. The
A A v A
relationship between an augmented triad and the six consonant tri-
ads that constitute its Weitzmann region can be viewed as a
4DILI~O 0 1.
A L, kit A O o "_"~-9 0
species of a larger class of relations: that between a dissonant
e ctl> .O 0. ~~~O .0.
bo~~o, #
/
symmetric formation and its more consonant deformation. The
0 3
s
60 0 left half of Example 15 indicates the four non-aggregate set
classes that are complete transpositional cycles. Each such set
%^ I
C"-o - 7- - - class is generated by a transposition operator that is a divisor of
E+
E+ A-
A- C+ F-
F- Ab+
A6+ E+ twelve: the tritone (generated by T6), the augmented triad (by T4),
C+ Ct-

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Weitzmann's Regions, My Cycles, and Douthett's Dancing Cubes 101

Example 15. The four transpositioncycles and their SSD-relations

Dissonant/Symmetric (Relatively) Consonant/Asymmetric


Colloquial label Forte-class Forte-class Colloquial label

Tritone 2-6 2-5 PerfectFifth


PerfectFourth

AugmentedTriad 3-12 3-11 MajorTriad


MinorTriad

4-27 Dominant
Fully Diminished7th 4-28 7th
Half-diminished
Whole-Tone 6-35 6-34 Mystic Chord

the chord of the diminished seventh (by T3), and the whole-tone Tristan Prelude, Boretz interprets them as representing the sym-
collection (by T2). The right half of the chart indicates set classes metrical fully diminished seventh chords, which he views as con-
that are SSD-related to the cycles on the left. In all cases, this lat- ceptually central. The role that Boretz assigns to the diminished-
ter set-class contains a perfect fifth where none was previously seventh chord in the Tristan Prelude is precisely analogous to that
present, and so is more consonant than the cyclic set-class that it of the augmented triad in the passage from the Faust Symphony
minimally perturbs. presented here as Example 13.27
The relationship between the fully diminished seventh chords
and the class of dominant and half-diminished sevenths (i.e.,
IV
members of set-class 4-27) was the focus of a major study by
Benjamin Boretz first published in 1970. In an analysis of the
Tristan Prelude, Boretz interpreted the members of 4-27 not as The model of augmented triad relations advanced in Weitz-
tonal signifiers, but rather as semitonal displacements of one of mann's 1853 monograph left little legacy even in his own writings
the three fully diminished seventh chords.26On that basis, Boretz and those of his students. Weitzmann's subsequent discussion of
the augmented triad in his most comprehensive publication, the
partitioned the twenty-four members of the class into three re-
gions of eight chords. Although 4-27 dominates the surface of the 27Boretz's work has been extended more recently in Adrian Childs,
"Moving Beyond Neo-Riemannian Triads: Exploring a Transformational
26BenjaminBoretz, "Meta-Variations:Studies in the Foundationsof Mu- Model for SeventhChords,"Journalof Music Theory42/2 (1998): 181-93, and
sical Thought,"(Ph. D. diss., PrincetonUniversity, 1970); reprintedas "Meta- Edward Gollin, "Some Aspects of Three-DimensionalTonnetze,"Journal of
Variations,Part 4.1: Analytic Fallout (I)," Perspectives of New Music 11/1 Music Theory42/2 (1998): 195-206. For a study of the Mystic Chordas a dis-
(1972): 146-223, and again under the original title (Red Hook, N.Y.: Open placed whole-tonecollection, see Clifton Callender,"Voice-LeadingParsimony
Space, 1995). For a related study, see the analysis of the Preludeto Act III of in the Music of Alexander Scriabin,"Journal of Music Theory42/2 (1998):
Parsifal in Morgan,"DissonantProlongations,"62-72. 219-33.

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102 Music Theory Spectrum

Harmoniesystem of 1860, is quite brief, and less systematic than twenty-four dominant and half-diminished seventh chords on the
in Der iibermdssige Dreiklang. Fewer resolutions are presented, basis of their voice-leading proximity to the three fully diminished
and those that are offered are not selected according to any consis- seventh chords, along lines proposed by Boretz a century later.
tent principle.28Even briefer is the treatment of the augmented Yet, writing five years before the Tristan Prelude was first pre-
triad in a handbook written, evidently under Weitzmann's supervi- sented to the public, Weitzmann had an insufficient basis for privi-
sion, by one of his students. Whereas fourteen pages are devoted leging dissonant seventh chords as autonomous harmonies, inde-
to the resolutions of the chord of the diminished seventh, those of pendently of their reconciliation to consonant tonic triads via their
the augmented triad are accorded a mere six sentences.29 mutual membership in a diatonic system.
This discrepancy is particularly striking in light of the treat- Indeed, single semitonal displacement hardly plays any role in
ment of the two sonorities in Weitzmann's earlier writings. In Der verminderte Septimenakkord.Weitzmann shows, in passing,
1854, one year after the appearance of Der iibermdssige Drei- how a fully diminished seventh chord can be led to four distinct
klang, Weitzmann issued a companion publication entitled Der dominant-seventh chords via semitonal lowering,3' but half-
verminderte Septimenakkorde.30The two treatises parallel each diminished seventh chords, as products of semitonal raising, never
other in many particularsof format and content, hardly surprising, enter into consideration. Weitzmann demonstrates that the fully
given the number of properties-dissonance, equal division, diminished seventh chord symmetrically partitions the harmonic
Mehrdeutigkeit-that their topics share. Yet it is the differences universe into three regions, just as he had shown that the aug-
between the two documents that are of particular interest. Al- mented triad partitions it into four. But the objects so partitioned
though it contains many features controversial to Weitzmann's are not seventh chords, but rather, once again, the consonant tri-
contemporaries, Der verminderte Septimenakkorde is a more ads, each of which is reached by the simultaneous stepwise reso-
conservative document than its predecessor. Indeed, its most lution of all four members of the diminished-seventh chord in the
"progressive" features are hardly more so than those of Vogler's manner identified by Abb6 Vogler a half-century earlier.32Voice-
Handbuch of 1802. leading parsimony is no longer a primary factor here: the chord
In contrast to Der iibermdssige Dreiklang, which suggests and its resolution share no common tones. What comes to the fore
affinities between two apparently disconnected theoretical tradi- is the acoustic status of the consonant triad, and the resolution of
tions, Der verminderte Septimenakkordesupplies a lens for view- the fully diminished seventh chord into the appropriate diatonic
ing the distance between Weitzmann's view of chromatic harmony framework.
and our own. Der iibermiissige Dreiklang's partitioning of the The perspective furnished by Der verminderte Septimenakkord
twenty-four consonant triads on the basis of their voice-leading allows us to see that Weitzmann's engagement in 1853 with the
proximity to the four augmented triads might lead the modern voice-leading relationships between Klange and augmented triads
reader to expect from the companion treatise a partitioning of the depended on the traditional privileges accorded to the Klinge by
virtue of their acoustic consonance. His experiments with chro-
28Weitzmann, "Gekr6ntePreisschrift,"Parts 4 and 5, Neue Zeitschriftfur matic triadic progressions based on semitonal displacement led
Musik52/4 (20 Januar1860): 31; and 52/5 (27 Januar1860): 37.
him to the brink of a perspective on musical materials and rela-
29Handbuch der Theorieder Musikvon C. F Weitzmann,ed. Felix Schmidt
(Berlin:T. C. F. Enslin, 1888), 25, 90-91, 160-74.
3?CarlFriedrich Weitzmann, Der verminderteSeptimenakkorde(Berlin: 3'Ibid.,14-15.
HermannPeters, 1854). 32Ibid.,20. CompareVogler,Handbuchzur Harmonielehre,I:133.

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Weitzmann's Regions, My Cycles, and Douthett's Dancing Cubes 103

tions that we would now characterize as bearing group-theoretic ity is resident not only in the augmented triad; it also results from
elements. His suggestion that Klangverwandtschaft can be based the over-determined status of the consonant triad itself, which is
on relationship to a dissonant triad is radical in the context of clas- optimal from the two non-overlapping perspectives of acoustic
sical theory, which views dissonant triads as arising from a pass- generability and voice-leading parsimony.35The consonant triad
ing motion between consonances to which they are subordinate. stands at the junction of these two views of the harmonic Ver-
In making this suggestion, Weitzmann implicitly problematizes wandtschaft, and it is a looking-glass that permits passage be-
the tenet, universally held by all of his predecessors and contem- tween them. Classical acoustic theory allows one to reach through
poraries, that the relationship between two triads is based on their the looking-glass (or across the watershed) and touch the aug-
mutual relationship to a tonal center. Ultimately, what is at stake mented triadjust for a moment, taking great care to keep one's se-
here is no less than the most ancient of musical binary opposi- cure foothold in the diatonic, consonant, asymmetric world.
tions, between consonance and dissonance. Weitzmann's treatise Bringing the augmented triad into his society of fellows encour-
adumbratesthe inversion of this "violent hierarchy"into a new bi- ages Weitzmann to take its standpoint:to occupy a position just to
nary opposition between symmetry and asymmetry, an inversion the other side and to reach back across. It is a slippery slope in the
that became explicit in the twentieth century.33What Der vermin- other direction, and Weitzmann is able to maintain his bearings.
derte Septimenakkordteaches is that he would never have started But the path that he indicated proved irresistible to his successors.
down the path toward this watershed had he not been lured that
ABSTRACT
way by those most familiar of companions, the consonant triads.
The sociological allegory hinted at in the previous sentence CarlFriedrichWeitzmann'streatiseon the augmentedtriad(1853) antici-
makes contact with one developed in the peroration that concludes pates modem chromatic theory in several concrete respects. Weitzmann's
the preface to Der iibermdssige Dreiklang: explorationof semitonalvoice-leadingbetweenaugmentedandconsonant
triads leads him to suggest a configuration of Klang-space that is comple-
[Ourchord]is no transitoryfugitive,butrathera naturalfellow of ourso- mentaryto my hexatonicsystems(1996). Douthett'sCubeDance (1998)
ciety of sonorities.... Thus will one not also hesitateto grantto that unites the two complementary perspectives. Further parallels are noted
which has been many times misunderstoodand bannedhenceforthan betweenWeitzmann'sconceptionof augmentedtriadspace (as reflected
abidingplacein the kingdomof tones.34 in Liszt's Faust Symphony) and Boretz's conception of diminished-
seventh space (as reflected in Wagner's Tristan Prelude). The final part of
From the standpoint of acoustic theory and its attendant theology,
the article explores Weitzmann's position vis-a-vis the evolution from a
Weitzmann is either a victim or a perpetratorof a terrible duplic-
7-gamutto a 12-gamutconceptionof chromaticspace.
ity. The augmented triad is no natural fellow, but, like the equally
symmetric tritone, a Lucifer fraught with temptation. The duplic-

33Thesituationcries out for a Derrideanreadingalong the lines suggested


by David Cohen, "Metaphysics,Ideology,Discipline:Consonance,Dissonance,
and the Foundationsof WesternPolyphony,"Theoria7 (1993): 1-86.
34"Dasser kein durchgehenderFliichtling,sondernein natiirlichesMitglied
der Gesellschaft unserer Zusammenklangesei ... so wird man auch nicht 35Thispoint is somewhat elaboratedat the end of Richard Cohn, "Neo-
anstehen, dem vielfach Verkanntenund Verbanntennunmehreine bleibende RiemannianOperations,ParsimoniousTrichords,and theirTonnetzRepresenta-
Statte im Reiche der Tone zu gewahren." Der iibermissige Dreiklang, 1. tions,"Journalof Music Theory41/1 (1997): 1-66.

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