Annotation for Imbrie, Andrew
"Extra" Measures and Metrical Ambiguity in Beethoven
Annotation (by Bill Tilghman):
- In this essay Imbrie is concerned with hypermetrical organization
at the levels closest to that of the notated measure--that is,
with the interpretation of 2- and 4-bar "modules" or
hypermeasures, specifically in the music of Beethoven. He feels
that much of the published work in this area is hampered both by
confusion over the nature of accent, meter, and rhythm and by
reluctance to see how conflicting metric interpretations (or
"metrical ambiguity," resulting from an "extra measure" that
disrupts an otherwise tidy metrical scheme) might themselves
indicate some underlying expressive purpose. In Part I Imbrie
examines the merits of two opposing readings of the opening theme
from the first movement of Op. 10, No. 3. Rather than favoring
one interpretation over the other, the author suggests that the
contradiction itself (and its apparent "resolution" in the
recapitulation) is an essential aspect of the dramatic structure
of the movement. Part II comprises a brief theoretical discussion
of accent and the distinction between meter and rhythm. For
Imbrie, "rhythm is the patterning or proportional arrangement of
sounds and silences with respect to their durations, while meter
is the measurement of the distances between points in time." The
time points that establish meter represent some recurring
accentual pattern, but not necessarily a strictly regular
one. This distinction is important in Part III, where Imbrie
proposes an unusual 3+5 metric structure to explain an ambiguous
situation in the development of the first movement of the Fifth
Symphony. This moment is seen as part of a larger-scale metrical
ambiguity, which is traced back to two contradictory
interpretations of the "horn call" motive that opens the second
theme group of the exposition.
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