Annotation for William E. Benjamin

A Theory of Musical Meter

Annotation (by Stephen Simms):

In a five-section article, Benjamin explores his own theories of rhythm and meter. As the point of departure Benjamin cites other rhythmic theorists ( Westergaard, Berry, Lerdahl and Jackendoff, Schachter, Riemann, Cooper and Meyer) and then attempts to formulate a theory of rhythm that fits within the constraints of them all. The first, and in some ways the clearest, section of the article deals with clarifying relationships between accent, group, and meter. In the second section Benjamin deals with the aesthetic and practical functions of metric perception. The third section focuses on grouping and accent and their relationship to meter. The fourth and final sections attempt to apply Benjamin's concepts to metric distortion and to deeper levels of meter, respectively.
Benjamin asserts that the two primary ways of partitioning musical time are by grouping and by accent, and one of his main points in the article is that these time span structures do not necessarily coincide or correspond with units of metric division. Ironically, he repeatedly emphasizes the complexity of these interactions while trying simultaneously to explore them all in one article. Another important feature of the article is Benjamin's parametric method of analyzing points of accent. The method is reminiscent of a Berry-style analysis, except that Benjamin uses a numeric rating system rather than a descriptive list. Benjamin assigns specific numeric values to the presence of certain parameters to symbolize their accentual weight. For example, a change in harmony gets a higher numerical rating than a large leap. It is these irregular patterns of accents that help support Benjamin's contention that the unity of Western classical music is not a unity of conformance.
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