Annotation for Spillman, Robert and Stein, Deborah

Chapter eight: Rhythm and Meter

Annotation (by Jessica Corbin):

Part III of "Poetry Into Song: Performance and Analysis of Lieder," considers the analysis of Lieder in terms of harmony and tonality, melody and motive, rhythm and meter, and form. Chapter 8, "Rhythm and Meter," provides the reader with a general overview of some of the terms and theories regarding rhythm and meter, as well as providing a very complete bibliography for rhythm and meter in Appendix III. This does not so much present new theories as give a performer some issues to consider regarding the rhythm and meter of Lieder. The first section of this chapter, "Rhythmic, Metric and Phrase Norms," gives very general definitions of many of the terms associated with rhythm and meter, including beat, simple and compound meters, accent and stress, grouping, and hierarchies. Following that, the authors suggest that the four-bar phrase (as opposed to the eight-bar phrase) is the norm for Lieder, because four bars are long enough to set a line of poetry yet short enough to perform in one breath. They also propose that these phrases are normally paired into antecedent/consequence phrase structure. As for phrase development, they consider phrase expansion to be the most common, and explain that it can occur at three points of the phrase: at the beginning, as an interpolation within the interior of the phrase, and as an extension at the phrase ending. The six-bar phrase is also considered a norm in Lieder (a four-bar phrase plus a two-bar expansion, not to be confused with three plus three). Also discussed in this section is elision as one way in which phrases combine, and 'rhythm as motive' - i.e., a recurring rhythmic figure that expresses the text of the poetry (text painting). The second section, "Metric, Rhythmic, and Phrase Deviations," present the topics of metric tension and ambiguity (suspension, syncopation, hemiola, etc.) and how they affect the norms discussed in the previous section. Throughout this entire chapter the authors use many examples from the Lied repertoire to illustrate the issues that are being discussed, and all of the topics are explained in a straightforward, easy-to-understand manner. At the end of the chapter are exercises designed to allow the reader to analyze some Lieder in terms of harmonic rhythm depicting poetic elements, phrase structure (normal and irregular), and rhytmic and metric tension and ambiguity. The authors stress the importance of searching through the Lieder for rhythmic, metric and phrase irregularities, and how a performer's "full grasp of the temporal complexities will convey more convincingly to their audience the richness of nuance and complexity so characteristic of the German Lied." (p. 189)