Focal Impulse Theory: Musical Expression, Meter, and the Body

399 Pages·2021·5.931 MB·English

by  John Paul Ito

Music
Ito
“Ito’s Focal Impulse Theory is the best contribution to metrical theory since Hugo Riemann’s
F O C A L
in 1903. It provides a refreshing and ingenious avenue of metrical interpretation, not
one wrinkle more complicated than necessary, largely neglected before (though seeming
obvious in retrospect) providing new insight into our musical natures and sensitive
F
simultaneously to sound, notation, construction and style history.”
O
—DAVID LIDOV, York University
C
I mpulse
A
T H E O R Y
Music is surrounded by movement, from the arching back of the guitarist to the L
violinist swaying with each bow stroke.
I
To John Paul Ito, these actions are not just a visual display; rather, they reveal what it really
m Musical Expression, Meter, Body
means for musicians to move with the beat, organizing the flow of notes from beat to beat and the
and shaping the sound produced. By developing “focal impulse theory,” Ito shows how a p
performer’s choices of how to move with the meter can transform the music’s expressive
u
contours. Change the dance of the performer’s body, and you change the dance of the
l
notes. s
e
As Focal Impulse Theory deftly illustrates, bodily movements carry musical meaning and, in
T
a very real sense, are meaning.
H
E
JOHN PAUL ITO is Associate Professor of Music Theory in the School of Music at
O
Carnegie Mellon University.
R
Y
MUSICAL MEANING AND INTERPRETATION SERIES, Robert S. Hatten, editor
COVER IMAGE: Score: Brahms Clarinet Sonata
Op. 120/2i, 164-66, with focal-impulse notations.
Curve: motion capture data of the author’s bow hand
from a performance of the passage on viola.
iupress.org
ISBN 9780253049957
90000 >
John Paul Ito
9 780253 049957 PRESS
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FOCAL IMPULSE THEORY
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MUSICAL MEANING AND INTERPRETATION
Robert S. Hatten, editor
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F O C A L I M PU L SE
T H E ORY
Musical Expression, Meter, and the Body
John Paul Ito
Indiana University Press
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This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
Office of Scholarly Publishing
Herman B Wells Library 350
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA
iupress.org
© 2020 by John Paul Ito
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by
any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publisher. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum
requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—
Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ito, John Paul, author.
Title: Focal impulse theory : musical expression, meter, and the body /
John Paul Ito.
Description: Bloomington : Indiana University Press, 2020. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019050618 (print) | LCCN 2019050619 (ebook) | ISBN
9780253049957 (paperback) | ISBN 9780253049933 (hardback) | ISBN
9780253049940 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Musical meter and rhythm. | Music—Interpretation
(Phrasing, dynamics, etc.) | Music—Performance—Physiological aspects.
Classification: LCC ML3813 .I86 2020 (print) | LCC ML3813 (ebook) | DDC
781.2/22—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019050618
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019050619
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To the servants of art
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Contents
Accessing Audiovisual Materials ix
Preface xv
Copyright Acknowledgments xix
Part 1. Introduction
1 Introducing the Focal Impulse and Its Theory 3
2 Foundations in Music Theory and Cognitive Science 25
Part 2. Basic Focal Impulse Theory
3 The Basic Concept of the Focal Impulse 55
4 Focal Impulses and Meter: The Simplest Cases 74
5 The Sound of Focal Impulses 84
6 More on Focal Impulses and Meter 103
7 Focal Impulses and Characters of Syncopation 112
Part 3. Expanding Focal Impulse Theory
8 Special Cases of Focal Impulse Placement 129
9 Anticipations and Secondary Focal Impulses 152
10 Inflecting Focal Impulses Downward and Upward 167
11 More Advanced Uses of Inflected Impulse Cycles 199
12 Performing Metrical Dissonance 211
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viii | Contents
Part 4. Connecting Focal Impulse Theory
13 Connections with Psychology 233
14 Connections with Other Music Scholarship 264
Part 5. Applying Focal Impulse Theory
15 Metrical Dissonance in Brahms 279
16 The First Movements of the Brahms Sonatas op. 120 308
Conclusions: Placing Focal Impulse Theory in Larger
Contexts 334
Glossary: Focal Impulse Symbols and Their Definitions 345
References 347
Discography 367
Index 371
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Accessing Audiovisual Materials
Focal Impulse Theory includes two types of supplementary mate-
rials, available online: sound examples and video examples. The official
way to access these materials is through the Indiana University Press website
listed below.
As a convenience to readers, access to these materials will also be provid-
ed via other websites, including my personal website and KiltHub, Carnegie
Mellon University’s online data repository. Internet searches on my name and
focal impulse theory, possibly with added terms such as KiltHub, should bring
these sites up easily.
Note that media examples are available both for streaming and as down-
loads from KiltHub, but as of this writing only for streaming from the In-
diana University Press website; those concerned with obtaining the highest
possible sound quality should use downloaded files.
Three additional items that are not officially part of the book are also
found on KiltHub: they are annotated scores to a portion of the final move-
ment of Schumann’s piano concerto, op. 54, discussed in chapter 15, and to the
first movements of Brahms’s clarinet sonatas, op. 120, discussed in chapter 16.
Finally, the book includes references to a large number of commercial re-
cordings. To the extent possible, given changes in platforms and business models,
I plan to maintain mechanisms that will allow readers quick and easy access
to these recordings. At the time of this writing, I am using Spotify playlists;
my personal website will house whatever means of access are currently in use.
The audiovisual materials can be viewed online at https://media. dlib .indiana
.e du/c ollections/ jw827j548.
Sound 5.1. Haydn, String Quartet op. 74/2, i, mm. 9–20, Allegro spirituoso,
one focal impulse per measure. Stéphane Tran Ngoc, violin, Wen-Lei Gu,
violin, Matthew Michelic, viola, and Janet Anthony, cello. https:// purl . dlib
.i ndiana. e du/ i udl/ m edia/ b 19f16f46n.
Sound 5.2. Haydn, String Quartet op. 74/2, i, mm. 9–20, Allegro spirituoso,
two focal impulses per measure. Stéphane Tran Ngoc, violin, Wen-Lei Gu,
violin, Matthew Michelic, viola, and Janet Anthony, cello. https:// purl . dlib
. indiana . edu / iudl / media / c08h442t0w.
ix
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