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DOI :10.26650/CONS2019-0004   IUP :10.26650/CONS2019-0004    Full Text (PDF)

Schenker Approach in Music Analysis

Ebru Bulur

20th century is a period when composers abandoned traditional norms. Various trends defying norms imposed by tonal harmony and composers who experimented with new forms left their imprint in last century. It is striking that Heinrich Schenker (1868–1935), Viennese music theorist, remained faithful to tonality, structured his analysis on tonic triad and derivations despite new trends. Schenker in this theory explained basic structure of musical pieces and hierarchical relations through technique of prolongation. This article aims to evaluate the Schenkerian analysis, under general headings. Hereby, ideas that Schenker developed over lifetime are provided in general; Schenkerian analysis is observed with examples in general section terms, harmonic structure, melodic notions, graphic notation. Analysis of work is avoided and to describe the technique, selection of samples, chosen from literature is used. Related resources are obtained through literature survey of relevant academic researches and analyses. Some new analysis techniques, that emerged in 20th century are briefly mentioned in essay but not examined in detail since each of them is topic of separate research. Due to limited number of Turkish sources on Schenker’s analysis, this article aims to remedy this deficiency in literature and provide general information on Schenker analysis.
Keywords: Schenker, Musical Analysis, Tonality
DOI :10.26650/CONS2019-0004   IUP :10.26650/CONS2019-0004    Full Text (PDF)

Müzik Analizinde Schenker Yaklaşımı

Ebru Bulur

20. yüzyıl, bestecileri geleneksel kurallardan vazgeçiren bir yüzyıl olmuştur. Tonal düzenin getirdiği kurallara karşı çıkan pek çok akım, yeni denemelere girişen besteciler, çağa damgasını vurmuştur. Viyanalı müzik kuramcısı Heinrich Schenker’in (1868–1935) bu kadar yeni akımın içinde tonaliteye sadık kalan ve tüm analizini tonik akoru ve onun açılımları üzerine kurgulaması, ister istemez oldukça dikkat çekicidir. Bu makale, Schenker analizini, genel başlıklar altında inceleme amacıyla gerçekleştirilmiştir. Schenker’in kariyeri boyunca geliştirdiği fikirler ana hatlarıyla anlatılmaya çalışılmış, Schenker analizi genel kavramlar, armonik yapı, melodik kavramlar ve grafik notasyon, başlıkları altında örneklerle incelenmiştir. İlgili kaynaklara, bilimsel araştırmalara, analizlere, literatür taraması yoluyla ulaşılmıştır. Eser analizi yapılmamış, tekniği anlatabilmek için literatürden seçilmiş örnekler kullanılmıştır. 20. yüzyılda ortaya çıkan yeni analiz yöntemlerinin birkaçına genel olarak değinilmiş, ancak tüm bu yöntemlerin başlı başına başka bir araştırma konusu olması nedeniyle detaylandırılmamıştır. Schenker analizi hakkında Türkçe kaynakların sınırlı sayıda olması nedeniyle bu makale literatür eksikliğini bir nebze gidermeyi ve Schenker analizi hakkında genel bir fikir vermeyi amaçlamaktadır.
Keywords: Schenker, Müzik Analizi, Tonalite

EXTENDED ABSTRACT


Heinrich Schenker, (1868–1935) is a Viennese music theorist. The Schenker analysis is a method of analyzing tonal music using Heinrich Schenker’s theory and analytical techniques. The preliminary conceptual framework for the Schenker analysis first appeared in the analyses that are published in Der Tonwillede (1921-24), however, ideas about fundamental content is not pronounced until the publication of Der Freie Satz (1935). The core of Schenker’s theory can be found in the three volumes of Neue musikalische Theorien und Phantasien: Harmonielehre (1906), Kontrapunkt I-II (1910, 1922), and Der Freie Satz (1935). Schenker’s last work, Der Freie Satz (Free Composition) is published shortly after the death of the author in 1935. 

The principles of this theory that Schenker developed for the study European music of the 18th and 19th centuries (late baroque ― early romanticist) are initially implemented by his pupils and himself. It reached a wider audience owing to the school, which Oswald Jonas and Felix Salzer founded in the USA. Especially after the translation of Der Freie Satz into English in 1979, this theory became a principal analytical method used by many music analysts by the 1980s. By the mid-1980s, two methods of musical analysis approaches became mainstream, one for analyzing tonal music and other for atonal music. One of these methods is ‘the Schenkerian’ analysis whereas the other is ‘the pitch class set’ analysis. As a result, a clear-cut separation between tonal and atonal analysis is set. 

In the multilayered structure of his analysis, Schenker aimed to show the basic structure of a musical work through the technique of prolongation and the hierarchical relations. He used a special symbolic music notation in his system of analysis. Schenker with the analysis he made, synchronically synthesized many musical parameters with contrapuntal and harmonic component structure and explained about analyzing in a minimal level. The Schenkerian analysis, which refers to a kind of systematic analysis today continued to grow through the works of the students of Schenker after his death and inspired a variety of other analytical methods in later years. 

In this article, general information about the developments in music analysis in the 20th-century, some analysis methods and Schenker analysis will be given. While there are many works on the Schenker analysis in the relevant international literature, similar studies in Turkish are quite limited in number.

In the first section of the article, the general definition of analysis and some of the techniques of 20th-century analysis are discussed. Amongst 20th-century analysis techniques, Schenker analysis is chosen and examined in general. In the beginning, general concepts of Schenker analysis is introduced. Familiarity with key terms of the Schenker analysis is essential for understanding the theory itself. In Schenker analysis which is a formation of prolongation technique and layered structure, various melodic components used from background to foreground of a musical piece and usage of these components is briefly explained. Also, the peculiar chord system he developed, harmonic structure and the use of harmonic structure with melodic components are briefly mentioned. The graphic notation he applied is elaborated through concrete examples. Rather than attempting to analyze the musical piece, here it is limited to describe the Schenkerian analysis and classical analysis through a selection of examples from the relevant literature. 

In conclusion, it is underlined that there are differences between the Schenkerian analysis and traditional analyses in terms of gradation and while Schenkerian analysis appears to be difficult to understand for the beginners, still the Schenkerian analysis offers a convenient methodology for analyzing tonal pieces. Analysis means an interpretation and no particular method or form of analysis should be accepted superior to others.


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APA

Bulur, E. (2019). Schenker Approach in Music Analysis. Conservatorium, 6(1), 21-46. https://doi.org/10.26650/CONS2019-0004


AMA

Bulur E. Schenker Approach in Music Analysis. Conservatorium. 2019;6(1):21-46. https://doi.org/10.26650/CONS2019-0004


ABNT

Bulur, E. Schenker Approach in Music Analysis. Conservatorium, [Publisher Location], v. 6, n. 1, p. 21-46, 2019.


Chicago: Author-Date Style

Bulur, Ebru,. 2019. “Schenker Approach in Music Analysis.” Conservatorium 6, no. 1: 21-46. https://doi.org/10.26650/CONS2019-0004


Chicago: Humanities Style

Bulur, Ebru,. “Schenker Approach in Music Analysis.” Conservatorium 6, no. 1 (May. 2024): 21-46. https://doi.org/10.26650/CONS2019-0004


Harvard: Australian Style

Bulur, E 2019, 'Schenker Approach in Music Analysis', Conservatorium, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 21-46, viewed 11 May. 2024, https://doi.org/10.26650/CONS2019-0004


Harvard: Author-Date Style

Bulur, E. (2019) ‘Schenker Approach in Music Analysis’, Conservatorium, 6(1), pp. 21-46. https://doi.org/10.26650/CONS2019-0004 (11 May. 2024).


MLA

Bulur, Ebru,. “Schenker Approach in Music Analysis.” Conservatorium, vol. 6, no. 1, 2019, pp. 21-46. [Database Container], https://doi.org/10.26650/CONS2019-0004


Vancouver

Bulur E. Schenker Approach in Music Analysis. Conservatorium [Internet]. 11 May. 2024 [cited 11 May. 2024];6(1):21-46. Available from: https://doi.org/10.26650/CONS2019-0004 doi: 10.26650/CONS2019-0004


ISNAD

Bulur, Ebru. “Schenker Approach in Music Analysis”. Conservatorium 6/1 (May. 2024): 21-46. https://doi.org/10.26650/CONS2019-0004



TIMELINE


Submitted13.03.2019
First Revision10.06.2019
Last Revision16.06.2019
Accepted21.06.2019
Published Online28.06.2019

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