Dissertation Index
Author: Yorgason, Brent Title: Expressive Asynchrony and Meter: A Study of Dispersal, Downbeat Space, and Metric Drift Institution: Indiana University Begun: October 2003 Completed: August 2009 Abstract: In this study, I examine the ways in which expressive asynchrony can affect our experience of a work’s meter. There are three main aspects to this study. First, I investigate dispersal, which is the slight spreading-apart of the elements of a rhythmic event in performance. Second, I describe the act of “placing the beat” in expressively performed music and propose that we can experience elongated downbeats (beat events which occur in downbeat space or “inframetrical time”). Third, I examine musical contexts involving continuous asynchrony and describe the experience of metric drift in passages involving asynchronous metric streams. I begin this study by outlining the phases of the meter cycle and describing the different positions of observation that one can take within this cycle. I also discuss the importance of incorporating aspects of the measuring experience into metric analysis. In Chapter 2, I examine the temporal and aesthetic effects of dispersal in keyboard music, as well as its expressive functions. In Chapter 3, I outline some of the important characteristics of dispersive ornaments, such as their manner and speed of execution and their placement in relation to the beat. In Chapter 4, I explain that beats can have different perceptual qualities and describe the experience of downbeat space. I illustrate how elongated downbeats may act as temporal and textural pivots or as ornamental phrase-links, separating out temporally the multiple concurrent functions of a downbeat. In Chapter 5, I examine performance practice evidence in historical descriptions of classical rubato and in the recordings of late-nineteenth-century pianists. In Chapter 6, I consider the effects of expressive asynchrony when used as a continuous effect and describe how our metric attention can imperceptibly drift between interrelated metric streams. In the final chapters I introduce a method of graphically representing a listener’s measuring experiences (using a path of metric focus diagram), provide supporting evidence for my ideas in the findings of studies undertaken by scholars in the fields of music perception and cognition, and outline some possible future directions for the study of expressive asynchrony and meter. Keywords: meter, asynchrony, downbeat, performance, perception, dispersal, metric drift, metric streams TOC: Introduction 1 Focus on performance 6 Previous studies and analyses 8 Organization of the study 10 Chapter 1: Measuring and the Meter Cycle 13 Mapping out the phases of the meter cycle 13 Positioning ourselves within the meter cycle 32 Incorporating the measuring experience 40 Chapter 2: Dispersal 46 Artistic delay 51 Softening and sharpening effects of dispersal 53 Voice independence 55 Dispersal location 60 Dispersal as structural marker 65 Dispersal as textural or temporal pivot 70 Effects of dispersal 73 The broken attack 75 Motivic use of dispersal 77 Progressive dispersal 82 Chapter 3: The Characteristics of Dispersive Ornaments 89 Grace notes and small notes 91 Arpeggios 96 "Composed-in" ornaments 110 Chapter 4: Downbeat Space 124 Placing the beat 125 Downbeat space, the elongated downbeat, and inframetrical time 132 Separating out the concurrent functions of the downbeat 148 Comparable concepts in other fields of research 161 Summary 187 Chapter 5: Rubato and Asynchrony in Performance 188 Classical rubato 189 Notated classical rubato 192 Historical recordings 202 1. Chord-spreading 203 2. Hand-breaking 205 Historical performance practice 216 Chapter 6: Continuous Asynchrony and Metric Drift 218 The rhythmic effects of continuous asynchrony 219 Metric streams 227 Metric dissonance 239 Influences on our metric focus 251 Metric drift 263 Chapter 7: Tracing the Path of Metric Focus 291 Chapter 8: Measurements and Models 322 Problems and limitations 323 Early studies 328 Vernon’s asynchrony study 330 Repp’s asynchrony study 335 Repp’s arpeggio study 341 Melody lead 348 Locating the beat 355 Perceptual onsets and ensemble timing 358 Timing of grace notes 361 Models 362 Chapter 9: Conclusion 372 Interaction of expressive asynchrony with higher levels of meter 372 Expressive asynchrony in music for other solo instruments 377 Expressive asynchrony in music for left-hand piano 380 Expressive asynchrony in music meant to imitate other instruments 380 Expressive asynchrony in chamber and orchestral music 382 Expressive asynchrony in vocal music 386 Limitations of this study 389 Summary 390 Appendix 1 393 Glossary of Terms 395 References 410 Discography 420 Contact: Brent Yorgason Assistant Professor, Music Theory Marietta College 215 Fifth Street Marietta, OH 45750 brent.yorgason@marietta.edu |