Introduction

The following overview of the book will provide a good point of departure. Chapter 1 is purely mathematical; it presents terminology and notation that will be needed later, along with a few important theorems. I am not happy to begin a book about music with a mathematical essay. On the other hand, I do feel that it is helpful for the reader to have this material collated and isolated from the rest of the book. Chapter 1 can be used for quick reference where it stands, and the material obtrudes only minimally into musical discussions later on. Readers who find themselves put off or fatigued in the middle of this chapter are urged to move on into the rest of the book; they can return to chapter 1 later, when later applications of the material make the reference back seem natural or desirable. Chapter 2 takes as its point of departure the general situation portrayed schematically by figure 0.1.

FIGURE 0.1 The figure shows two points s and t in a symbolic musical space. The arrow marked i symbolizes a characteristic directed measurement, distance, or motion from s to t. We intuit such situations in many musical spaces, and we are used to calling i "the interval from s to t" when the symbolic points are

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Introduction

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pitches or pitch classes. Chapter 2 begins by running through twelve examples of musical spaces for which we have the intuition of figure 0.1. Six involve pitches or pitch classes in melodic or harmonic relations; six involve aspects of measured rhythm. The general intuition at hand is then made formal by a mathematical model which I call a Generalized Interval System, GIS for short. A few basic formal properties of the model are explored. Then the twelve examples are reviewed to see how each (with one exception) instances the generalized structure. Chapter 3 concerns itself with further formal properties of the GIS model. In that model, the points of the space may be labeled by their intervals from one referential point; this has advantages and disadvantages. New GIS structures may be constructed from old in various ways. A passage from Webern is examined in connection with a combined pitch-and-rhythm GIS constructed in one such way. Generalized analogs of transposition and inversion operations are explored. So are "interval-preserving operations"; these coincide with transpositions in some GIS models but not in others, specifically not in GISs that are "non-commutative." The bulk of chapter 4 explores one non-commutative GIS of musical interest. The elements of the system are formal time-spans. Extended discussion of a passage from Carter's First Quartet demonstrates the pertinence of this GIS to exploring music in which there are functional measured relations among time spans, but no one overriding time span that acts as a unit to measure all others. After that, chapter 4 presents two examples of timbral GISs, and ends with a methodological note on the relations of music theory, perception, and the intuitions of a listener. Some motivic work by Chopin is considered in this connection. Chapter 5 begins a study of generalized set theory, that is, the interrelationships among finite sets of objects in musical spaces. The first construction studied is the Interval Function between sets X and Y; this function assigns to each interval i in a GIS the number of ways i can be spanned between a member of X and a member of Y. Then the Embedding Number of X in Y is studied; this is the number of distinct forms of X that are subsets of Y. To study that number, we have to establish what we mean by a "form" of the set X, a notion that involves stipulating a Canonical Group of operations. Both the Interval Function and the Embedding Number generalize Forte's Interval Vector. Passages from Webern, Chopin, and Brahms illustrate applications of the constructs. Chapter 6 continues the study of set theory, generalizing the work of chapter 5 even farther. The basic construction is now the Injection Function: Given a space S, finite subsets X and Y of S, and a transformation f mapping S into itself, INJ(X, Y) (f) counts how many members of X are mapped by f into members of Y. This number is meaningful even when S does not have a GIS structure, and even when the transformation f js not so well behaved as are

Introduction

transpositions, inversions, and the like. Passages from Schoenberg and from Babbitt are studied by way of illustration. Instead of starting with a GIS and deriving certain characteristic transformations therefrom, it is possible to start with a family of characteristic transformations on a musical space and derive a GIS structure therefrom. That is, instead of regarding the i-arrow on figure 0.1 as a measurement of extension between points s and t observed passively "out there" in a Cartesian res extensa, one can regard the situation actively, like a singer, player, or composer, thinking: "I am at s; what characteristic transformation do I perform in order to arrive at t?" Chapter 7 explores this conceptual interrelation between interval-as-extension and transposition-as-characteristicmotion-through-space. After developing the mathematics that shows a logical equivalence between GIS structures and certain structures of transformations on spaces, the work proceeds by example. Passages from Schoenberg, Wagner, Brahms, and Beethoven indicate how suggestive it can be to consider networks of "intervals" and networks of "transpositions" (modulations, and so forth) as various aspects of the same basic phenomenon. The morphology of such networks can be carried over to that of networks involving other sorts of transformations. Chapter 8 studies networks involving transformations of Klangs in the sense of Riemann, networks involving serial transformations of various sorts, and networks involving inversional transformations. The Beethoven example from chapter 7 is reconsidered, and there are further examples from Wagner, Webern, and Bach. Chapter 9 develops the formalities of transformation networks in a rigorous way. The structure of a network allows us to assign a formal "input" function to some things and a formal "output" function to other things; these functions seem of considerable musical interest in some cases. The networks have intrinsic rhythmic properties which can also be studied formally. Network structure can accommodate hierarchic levels in a quasi-Schenkerian setting, as an example shows. Chapter 10 applies the network concept in a variety of ways to passages from Mozart, Bartok, Prokofieff, and Debussy.

Note on Musical Terminology

All references to specific pitches in this book will be made according to the notation suggested by the Acoustical Society of America: The pitch class is symbolized by an upper-case letter and its specific octave placement by a number following the letter. An octave number refers to pitches from a given C through the B a major seventh above it. Cello C is C2, viola C is C3, middle C is C4, and so on. Any B# gets the same octave number as the B just below it; thus B#3 is enharmonically C4. Likewise, any Cb gets the same octave number as the C just above it; thus Q?4 is enharmonically B3.

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