Micromelodic Analysis

This document studies the contextualized intervallic make up of melodies, and how they are constructed at a motivic level of three and four notes. Though a Bach chorale and Britten sonnet use very different harmonies and melodic collections at the phrase and larger level, when zooming in to examine three- and four-note windows there are many similarities in their intervallic content. Zoomed-in, or micromelodic, analysis illuminates similarities between melodies by Schubert and Britten while also highlighting Webern’s singular approach to melodic construction. Beyond describing the intervallic characteristics of a melody, micromelodic analysis can illuminate formal demarcations, text painting, and provide more evidence to support some 18th-century voice-leading principles. Using a computer program to perform micromelodic analyses on three corpora, SATB Bach chorale harmonizations, SATB Palestrina mass movements, and 71 twelve-tone rows by Schoenberg, Webern, and Berg, this document applies set theory to study patterns in the intervallic make up of diverse vocal repertoire. In addition to the corpora analyses, this document also examines BWV 140.7 “Wachet Auf,” Schoenberg’s Op. 48 Drei Lieder, and Britten’s “Sonetto XXXI” closely to explore the capabilities of micromelodic analysis. Micromelodic analysis provides analysts with a new way to employ set theory to stylistically diverse music that can provide musicians with a deeper understanding of an underexamined element of melodic construction. Along with developing the micromelodic tool, this document aims to provide the framework for a wide variety of future analyses and to kindle excitement about one of the basic building blocks of melodies, the humble interval.