Illustration of successive downbeats
successive downbeats
- Definition:
Successive downbeats arise when
tonal rhythm and
durational rhythm impart intiative impulses to beats occurring
consecutively at the same metric level. Example A illustrates successive
downbeats occurring within
compound 4/4 meter. The cadential resolution of phrase 1 coincides with a
metric accent. The
third beat of m.2 gains an initiative impulse since it marks
the beginning of phrase 2. The succesive metric accents at
the half-note level in m. 2 result in a
mid-bar downbeat.
Example B illustrates successive downbeats occurring at a
hypermetric level. In terms of the two-bar
hypermeter suggested by the whole note in m.2, m. 5 commences at the
accented hyperbeat within an incomplete
hypermeasure. The beginning of phrase 2 imparts a hypermetric accent to the
downbeat of m.6. Successive hypermetric downbeats therefore
occur in mm.5-6. The term "successive downbeats" is introduced in
William Rothstein, Phrase
Rhythm in Tonal Music (New York: Schirmer Books, 1989):
58-63.
Burkhart (1994) discusses successive
downbeats in connection with mid-bar downbeats.
