Into the Archives - Oxford University Pressglobal.oup.com/.../9780199373697/pdf/exploration_3.pdfof the restrictions Stravinsky’s imposed upon himself. In the details of this score,

Into the Archives

Exploration 3 - Stravinsky’s Mass

Similar in format to her notes for the Symphony in C, Boulanger’s pedagogical notes on the Mass fall into two categories. One set divides the Mass by phrase lengths, noting the duration of sections either by measures or by eighth notes as seen here in her chart for the Gloria movement. The unit of measure depended on how the music in question was constructed. That which unfolded polyphonically, or “horizontally,” was divided by measure, that which unfolded homophonically, or “vertically,” was divided by eighth note. [Scroll for an example of vertical vs. horizontal music.]

Boulanger’s formal charts for Stravinsky’s Mass, [Source: “Stravinsky Documents” I1-I5, ca. 1950, [CINLB]. Reproduced with permission.

Gloria Movement :

Horizontal Vertical (measures) (eighth notes)

4 + 6 + 8 5 e + 23 e + 28 e

4 + 6 +

8 23 +

5 +

Boulanger’s division of the “Gloria” movement, example of horizontal vs. vertical music, R 10-14, MASS by Igor Stravinsky © Copyright 1948 by Hawkes & Son (London) Ltd. Reprinted by permission

All vertical:

4+ 7 + 3

4+ 7 + 3

4+ 6 + 3 + 4

GloriaKyrie Credo Sanctus Agnus Dei

Boulanger’s formal charts for Stravinsky’s Messe, [Source: “Stravinsky Documents” I1-I5, ca. 1950, [CINLB]. Reproduced with permission.

Boulanger’s formal charts capture several of the symmetries found in Stravinsky’s composition. First of all, there is an overarching balance created by the organization of the movements. One could view the entire piece as in arch form. The center of the Mass is the Credo, itself entirely homophonic, excluding the final, six-bar “Amen.” Both movements on either side of the Credo—the Gloria and the Sanctus—are more complex, alternating between polyphony, homophony, and a mixture of the two. Finally, the outermost movements, the Kyrie and the Agnus Dei, are both relatively brief (fifty-eight and forty-five measures respectively). These two movements use a single texture throughout and share similar melodic and thematic elements. Thus, one can hear the Mass as a balanced piece via the content of its parts.

All vertical:

4+ 7 + 3

4+ 7 + 3

4+ 6 + 3 + 4

GloriaKyrie Credo Sanctus Agnus Dei

Boulanger’s formal charts for Stravinsky’s Messe, [Source: “Stravinsky Documents” I1-I5, ca. 1950, [CINLB]. Reproduced with permission.

The Gloria, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei movements also contain internal proportional properties. For example,the first two “horizontal” phrases of the Gloria are both eighteen measures long. Another example occurstoward the end of the piece, just preceding the “Amen.” Showing how this maps onto the score reinforces oneof Boulanger’s major emphases concerning Stravinsky’s music: focus on smaller rhythmic values and ignorethe bar line. [Scroll for musical example.]

3 3

12 e 14 e+

In this example of “mixed” writing, the phrase lengths are 3 + 3 and 5 + 5, but the number of eighth notes used is exactly doubled in the second phrase (12 + 14 becomes 24 + 28). Stravinsky accomplishes this symmetry by changing time signatures and stretching out the musical material introduced during the three-measure phrases. Thus, the key to understanding the balance in those figures is not to rely on the measure length, but to perceive of the individual notes. [Scroll to see the remaining music.]

+

In this example of “mixed” writing, the phrases number as 3 + 3 and 5 + 5, but the number of eighth notes used is exactly doubled in the second phrase (12 + 14 becomes 24 + 28). Stravinsky accomplishes this symmetry by changing time signatures and stretching out the musical material introduced during the three-measure phrases. Thus, the key to understanding the balance in these figures is not to rely on the measure length, but to perceive of the individual notes.

5 +

24 e +

5

28 e

Boulanger considered the music of the miserere nobis and the suscipe deprecationem nostram of Stravinsky’s Gloria movement distinctly touched by the composer’s personality and singled them out in her lectures. Indeed, these measures contain what I identify as a fundamental kernel of Boulangerian-Stravinskian neoclassical analysis. It is this same kernel that Boulanger accentuates in her notes on The Rake’s Progress and that one can hear markedly in the Dumbarton Oaks Concerto and elsewhere.

Here is the music in question. All three phrases contain similar thematic content and all suggest a pitch center of A-major, employing the accidentals of F-sharp, C-sharp, and G-sharp. Also, the bass motion in each moves in a typical ii, V, I progression. I argue it is the relationship this music maintains with circle-of-fifth and overtone-series relationships that marks it as especially Stravinskian as defined by Boulanger, particularly its presence in the final chord of these segments.

a) Miserere nobis (R19-R20-2)

b) suscipe deprecationem nostram (R20-R21-2)

c) Second miserere nobis R21-R22-1

MASS by Igor Stravinsky © Copyright 1948 by Hawkes & Son (London) Ltd. Reprinted by permission

R19-R20-2

R20-R21-2

R21-R22-1

Reduction, Final chord 1

1 Example 3.5a is missing the lower B-natural, but otherwise all three cadences finish on this sonority.

I consider this sonority quartal rather than tertial, with all pitches generated by pursuing a circle-of-fifths progression beginning on A: A, E, B, F-sharp (C-sharp, not present),G-sharp. Stravinsky then arranges these pitches vertically, most often with the placement of the generating pitch—in this case, the A-natural—in the bass, joined by the pitch a second above it. The distribution of the remaining notes is controlled by their place in the overtone series. If one views the fundamental as the A-natural in the bass, the subsequent E4 and E5 all appear as they would in that pitch’s overtone series. The same distribution occurs over the B-natural bass pitch, affecting the F-sharp4 and the B4 above it. This overtone-series explanation accounts for every pitch used in this chord with the exception of the G-sharp.

Overtone series on B

Overtone series on A




Other materials limited in range by the interval of a fifth in this piece are the pitches of the bassoon and second oboe. The remaining instruments, as well as the bass and soprano voices, all perform pedal points either on B-natural or F-sharp—the interval of a fifth. The interior alto and tenor voices are the only pitches that move by step, but both have as their extremes B-natural and F-sharp.




Both the vertical and the horizontal elements of this music, its harmonies and its melodies, are controlled by one interval. Viewed in this light, these moments from the Mass are remarkable for their inventiveness in light of the restrictions Stravinsky’s imposed upon himself. In the details of this score, Boulanger found Stravinsky’s voice, or what she referred to in her earlier lectures as the “manifestation of his personality through respect of strict limitations.” For the remainder of Boulanger’s life, the Mass served as a musical exemplar of who she believed Stravinsky was as a composer and a human being.