Generalized Musical Intervals and Transformations

Generalized Musical Intervals
and Transformations
This page intentionally left blank
Generalized Musical Intervals
and Transformations
David Lewin
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
2007
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Copyright © 2007 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
Originally published 1987 by Yale University Press

Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
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without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lewin, David, 1933-2003.
Generalized musical intervals and transformations /
David Lewin.
p. cm.
Originally published: New Haven: Yale University Press, c1987.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-531713-8
1. Music intervals and scales. 2. Music theory. 3. Title.
ML3809.L39 2007
781.2'37—dc22 2006051121
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America

on acid-free paper
For June and Alex
Contents
Foreword by Edward Gollin ix

Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xxvii
Introduction xxix
1. Mathematical Preliminaries 1
2. Generalized Interval Systems (1):
Preliminary Examples and Definition 16
3. Generalized Interval Systems (2): Formal Features 31
4. Generalized Interval Systems (3):
A Non-Commutative GIS; Some Timbral GIS models 60
5. Generalized Set Theory (1): Interval Functions; Canonical Groups and
Canonical Equivalence; Embedding Functions 88
6. Generalized Set Theory (2): The Injection Function 123
7. Transformation Graphs and Networks (1):
Intervals and Transpositions 157
8. Transformation Graphs and Networks (2):
Non-Intervallic Transformations 175
9. Transformation Graphs and Networks (3): Formalities 193
10. Transformation Graphs and Networks (4): Some Further Analyses 220
11. Appendix A: Melodic and Harmonic GIS Structures;
Some Notes on the History of Tonal Theory 245
12. Appendix B: Non-Commutative Octatonic GIS Structures;
More on Simply Transitive Groups 251
Index 255
Foreword to the Oxford Edition
Edward Gollin
It has been nearly twenty years since the initial publication of David Lewin's Gen-
eralized Musical Intervals and Transformations (GMIT), and the work has aged
well. This is due in part to the foundational nature of the book's subject matter.
The work, a methodical examination of the concept of a musical interval, explores
how the familiar notion of interval as "a distance extended between pitches in a
Cartesian space" is merely one specific case of a more general idea, one that can
embrace different kinds of musical objects (durations, meters, Klangs, timbres,
and so on), different (i.e. non-Euclidean) geometries, and different orientational
perspectives (interval as action or gesture rather than as simply measurement of
distance between things). Along the way, the work recasts set theory, the concepts
of transposition and inversion, and notions of musical time in this generalized
image. But the work has maintained its relevance and importance as well because
of the brilliance and musicality of its author. David had a gift for finding musically
significant examples for his sometimes abstract concepts, and a gifted musical
imagination that delighted in finding new ways to hear and understand familiar
musical passages. While GMIT does not offer the extended musical analyses of
his later books, Musical Form and TransformationorStudies in Music with Text,
the work is nonetheless rich with smaller analytical gems.
To be sure, transformational theory has evolved in the years sinceGMITfirst
appeared—the analytical use of Klumpenhouwer networks, the development of
neo-Riemannian theory, and the resurgence of spatial methodologies and metaphors
in analysis all postdate David's seminal study. But each of these subsequent de-
velopments can find its basis in the framework David sets forth in GMIT: Klum-
penhouwer networks apply the Generalized Interval System (GIS) concept recur-
sively to create networks of networks; neo-Riemannian theory, which emerged from
explorations begun in chapter 8 of GMIT, takes families of contextual transforma- ix
tions to be the formal intervals between the familiar set of harmonic triads or sev-
enth chords; spatial methodologies simply extend the idea of transformational net-
works to create graphs that embrace all members of a family of objects (pitches,
pitch sets, rhythmic durations, and so on) related by certain contextually significant
intervals.1
One notable new feature of this edition is an author's addendum (the preface),
drawn from a previously unpublished typescript titled "Updating GMIT," which
presents, in a sometimes synoptic form, concepts or musical examples David had
planned for a future edition of GMIT. The document was likely written in the sum-
mer of 1987 and was used as the handout for a talk given at the Eastman School
of Music in the fall of that same year. It should not be surprising to those who
knew David's incredible industry and the speed with which he could read and sug-
gest revisions to others' work that David would have been drafting plans for a new
edition of GMIT so soon after its publication—for David, it was often difficult to
stop thinking about a project, or tinkering with its ideas, once begun, and the docu-
ment clearly represents David's residual energy following the writing of GMIT. The
examples explored in the addendum are diverse, although certain themes recur.
For one, David seems to have been particularly concerned with examples that in-
volve non-commutative groups of operations, no doubt because such groups often
defy our accustomed and familiar intuitions about the way intervals work. For an-
other, David seems to have been interested in finding examples that do not simply
involve individual pitch classes (transformations of melodies, of Lagen in triple
counterpoint, of ordered hexachords), again because these are less familiar, and
often reveal less intuitive aspects of interval.
Although the document is perfectly intelligible, some sections of "Updating
GMIT" deserve additional comment.
1. The error in figure 8.2 (g minor instead of g# minor) that prompted David's
commentary in section I has been corrected in this edition. The first section of
David's notes was expanded to become his article "Some Notes on Analyzing
Wagner: The Ring and Parsifal" (19th-century Music 16.1, 1992, reprinted in David
Lewin, Studies in Music with Text [Oxford University Press, 2006]).
2. David developed and expanded section IV into a pair of unpublished exer-
cises for his math and music course at Harvard University. Exercise 5 (2 pages) di-
rects the student to discover the elements of the Q-X group acting on the aug-
mented triads of sc (014589) and then find transformations of the "rapture of the
1. David has written articles on each of these topics subsequent to the publication of GMIT.
Klumpenhouwer networks are the topic of two articles: "Klumpenhouwer Networks and Some Iso-
graphies that Involve Them," Music Theory Spectrum 12.1 (1990): 83-120, and "A Tutorial on
Klumpenhouwer Networks, Using the Chorale in Schoenberg's op. 11, no. 2," Journal of Music The-
ory 38.1 (1994): 79-101. David's most significant post-GMIT contribution to neo-Riemannian theory
is the article "Cohn Functions," Journal of Music Theory 40.2 (1996): 181-216. Two of David's con-
tributions to graphical methods of analysis are "The D-major Fugue Subject from WTCII: Spatial Sat-
uration?" Music Theory Online 4.4 (1998), and "Notes on the Opening of the F# Minor Fugue from
x WTC I," Journal of Music Theory 42.2 (1998): 235-239.
strife" figure under Q4, Q8, and X5 in Schoenberg's Ode to Napoleon (as in
David's example 2 from the addendum). An optional part of that exercise encour-
ages students to explore transformations of characteristic tetrachords in Schoen-
berg's Ode using the members of the same Q-X group. Exercise 8 (3 pages) ex-
plores the simple transitivity of the Q-X group and has the student find the
(interval-preserving) elements of the commuting group, {T0, T4, T8, I,, I5, I9).
David's article "Generalized Interval Systems for Babbitt's Lists, and for Schoen-
berg's String Trio" (Music Theory Spectrum 17.1 [1995]: 81-118), in particular
"Part 5: Background on Non-Commutative GISs," explores the relationship be-
tween non-commutative GISs and their commuting groups.
3. David similarly developed and extended section V into an exercise for his
math and music course (exercise 9,4 pages). The Daniel Harrison article to which
David refers was published as "Some Group Properties of Triple Counterpoint and
Their Influence on Compositions by J. S. Bach" (Journal of Music Theory 32.1
[1988]: 23-49). David inserted a manuscript page into the "Updating GMIT" type-
script that presents a TPERM and VPERM analysis of Bach's c-minor fugue from
the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I. The manuscript notes that the diagram is mod-
eled after Schenker's "Table of Voices" from "Das Organische der Fuge" in Das
Meisterwerk in derMusik, Band II, p. 59, and further observes that the Lagen sym-
bol "'A' can mean 'Subject,' 'B' can mean 'Countersubject' and 'C' can mean 'any
third part of roughly characteristic rhythm'" (emphasis Lewin's), suggesting that
the methodology is not bound to works in strict triple counterpoint. David's dia-
gram, however, has not been incorporated into the author's addendum of this vol-
ume because David wrote no accompanying text for it—creating new text would
have adversely disrupted David's prose in the rest of the section. David, however,
did use the c-minor fugue analysis as part of exercise 9 in his math and music
course, which I present below for interested readers to explore if they wish (ter-
minology has been adapted to conform to the text of "Updating GMIT"):
PART I OF EXERCISE 9: (a) Complete the partially-filled diagram
below, which pertains to the c-minor fugue in Book I:
Meas. Stufe Lage <hi-mid-lo> TPERM interval VPERM interval

1 i <B-C-A>
11 m <A-C-B>
15 V <B-A-C>
20 i <A-B-C>
26.5 i <C-B-A>
(b) Discuss features of the construction which you find revealed by

the double intervallic analysis. For instance, does the use of 3-cycles
bring out any aspect of the structure? Do the TPERM and VPERM xi
analyses coincide as they did [in the A-major Prelude]? What aspects
of the piece are bound together by repetition of TPERM intervals?
By repetition of VPERM intervals?
4. Section VI considers the GIS structure of a family of 12-tone-row transfor-
mations that David first explored in his article "On Certain Techniques of Re-
Ordering in Serial Music" (Journal of Music Theory 10.2 [1966]: 276-287).
David refers in the section to "an excellent work, as yet unpublished" by Andrew
Mead. That work was published in two parts as "Some Implications of the Pitch-
Class/Order-Number Isomorphism Inherent in the Twelve-Tone System: Part One"
(Perspectives of New Music 26.2 [1988]: 96-163) and, more pertinent to Lewin's
addendum, "Some Implications of the Pitch-Class/Order-Number Isomorphism
Inherent in the Twelve-Tone System Part Two: The Mallalieu Complex: Its Ex-
tensions and Related Rows" (Perspectives of New Music 27.1[1989]: 180-233).
David, of course, never created a second edition ofGMIT, an undertaking that,
he wrote, would have involved "[fixing] a lot of errata & corrigenda; some major
rewrites here and there; a reasonable amount of bibliographic updating."2 This edi-
tion ofGMIT, while retaining the text of the original, does incorporate the correc-
tions indicated by David's errata list. Moreover, while it does not attempt to identify
or alter passages that David felt needed rewriting, the articles cited in this fore-
word give a picture of David's evolving ideas about transformational theory. And
while David may have wanted a new edition of GMIT, rather than a second print-
ing, he was also eager to make GMIT available to students and scholars. In these
respects, this Oxford edition fulfills David's wishes—that his ideas be available to
all who seek them, so that they may grow, evolve and multiply.
2. 1995 e-mail correspondence, recipient unknown.
xii
Preface
I. The following figures redo those of figure 8.2 on p. 179. Music examples la
and b present scores of the relevant passages.
L = LEITTONWECHSEL; +- = MAJOR-MINOR;
S = "BECOMES SUBDOMINANTOF".
EXAMPLE la xiii
Preface
b) Modulating section of Valhalla, Rheingold II,5ff.
EXAMPLE Ib
The analysis is better than that in the book. It brings out a clear isography between
the passages. Figure 8.2a in the book is not a well-formed "graph" by the later defi-
nition. (SUBM is not = LT SUED on major as well as minor Klangs: (C,+)
SUBM = (e,-) but (C,+)LT SUED = (e,-)SUBD = (b,-).) The symbol "(G,-)"
on figure 8.2a is a misprint for (Gt,-).1 The discussion of section 8.1.2, pages
179-180, still applies: a group that contains L, S, and +— operations on Klangs
will not be simply transitive in equal temperament. (For instance, (C,+)SSSS
=(E,+), but (C,+)L +- also = (E,+).)
xiv 1. See item 1 in the foreword, p. x.

Preface
Later in the Ring, Wagner develops the relationship of Valhalla and Tarnhelm
themes very ambitiously. Figures c) through f) below analyze a transformation
that occurs at the climax of Walkure 11,2: Woton, coming to realize the full impli-
cations of Valhallagate, ironically gives his blessing to Hagen ("So nimm meinen
Segen, Niblungen Sohn!"). Music examples Ic through le are coordinated with the
figures.
EXAMPLE Ic-e
Figure Ic) shows the Valhalla Kopf put into At major and 4/4 meter, with the
original harmonization. Figure d) is the +- transform of c). Figure e) transforms
d) so that the subdominant inflection of c)—d) is applied not to the tonic but to the
Leittonwechsel of the tonic; also the inflected Klangs change mode as they go, via
+ — . Music example le is essentially the upper part of the accompaniment for
Wotan's pronouncement (there is more beneath!). The Tarnhelm network infects
the diatonic aspect of Valhalla here. Figure f) brings that out by rewriting e) in a
format that suggests a). In the Waltraute scene of Gotterdammerung, the idea gets
even more overloaded ... rather like the picture of Dorian Grey. JCV
Preface
II. An interesting transformation network is used by Lora L. Gingerich, ". . .

Melodic Motivic Analysis in ... Charles Ives," MTS 8 (1986), 75-93. The net-
work appears as her example 24, page 90.
III. Let s be the twelve-tone row of Schonberg's Fourth Quartet. Let S be the fam-
ily comprising the 48 forms of s. Let TTO be the group of forty-eight twelve-tone
operations. TTO is simply transitive on S (given forms s and t, there exists a
unique member OP of TTO such that OP(s) = t.) It follows that we can develop a
CIS structure for S in such wise that the members of TTO are exactly the formal
transposition operations for the GIS (GMIT1A. 1, pp. 157-58). The standard prac-
tice, in which forms of the row are labeled by their TTO-intervals from a "tonic"
referential row-form—as "RI3," "17," etc.—instances the LABELing practice dis-
cussed in chapter 3 of GMIT.
If s is any one of the 48 forms, then there exists a unique inverted form of s (in
this case) which shares the same three tetrachordal segments with s. Define a
transformation TETRA on S: given a sample s, TETRA transforms s into this in-
verted tetrachordal associate. For instance:
TETRA (Ob78 312a 6549) = 780b 4659 123a;

TETRA (5012 6a9b 4378) = 6ba9 5120 7843.
The transformation TETRA is a formal interval-preserving operation of the

GIS under discussion (GMIT 3.4.6, p. 48). Similar operations for this particular
row, like TRI and HEXA, are also interval-preserving operations. In his disserta-
tion on Moses undAron (Yale, 1983), Michael Cherlin argues that transformations
of this sort, engaging the forms of the Moses row, are highly constructive features
of Schonberg's compositional method in the opera.
IV. Appendix B in GMIT outlines two possible non-commutative GIS structures

for the octatonic set. It develops two simply transitive groups of operations on that
set; either may be taken as the group of formal transpositions for a GIS; the other
then becomes the group of formal interval-preserving operations.
A similar situation obtains for set-class 6-20. Taking S as [modeled by] the six
numbers 0,1,4,5,8, and 9 mod 12, two simply transitive groups of operations may
be defined on S as follows. The group Gl comprises the operations R0= identity,
R4 = pc transposition by 4, R8 = pc transposition by 8, Jl = pc inversion with
index number 1, J5 = pc inversion with index number 5, and J9 = pc inversion
with index number 9. (In the GIS determined by this simply transitive group, all
the six operations are formal "transpositions" for that GIS.)
The group G2 comprises the six operations RO, Q4, Q8, XI, X5, and X9, de-
xvi fined as follows:
Preface
RO = identity operation.
Q4 takes pcs 0,4, and 8 to pcs 4, 8, and 0 resp.; takes pcs 1,5, and 9
topes 9,1, and 5 resp.
Q8 takes pcs 0,4, and 8 to pcs 8,0, and 4 resp.; takes pcs 1,5, and 9
to pcs 5, 9, and 1 resp.
The Qs are "queer" operations, as opposed to the "rotations" R.
XI exchanges each pc of 6-20 with that pc which lies ic 7 away.
Thus XI maps 0 to 1,1 to 0,4 to 5, 5 to 4, 8 to 9, and 9 to 8.
X5 exchanges each pc with the pc that lies ic 5 away.
X9 exchanges each pc with the pc that lies ic 3 away.
Both the groups Gl and G2 are simply transitive on S. Either group may be
taken as the group of formal transpositions for a formal GIS involving S; the other
group thereupon becomes the group of interval-preserving transformations.
The pertinence of G2 is manifest in Schonberg's Ode to Napoleon. Music ex-
ample 2 shows some prominent thematic motives of the piece, all interrelated by
operations of G2. Example 2a projects a six-note series that is mapped into ex-
ample 2b by Q8. 2b' retrogrades 2b; 2c shows the series of 2b' in action. Example
2d is the Q4-transform of series 2a; 2e shows series 2d in action. Example 2f is the
EXAMPLE 2 xvii
Preface
X5-transform of series 2a; 2g is a combinatorial inversion of series 2f, and 2h

shows series 2g in action. The motives of 2a, 2c, 2e, and 2h appear frequently in
the work, at a variety of pitch levels, retrograded (= inverted), etc.; the various six-
note series generate characteristic tetrachordal segments that are ubiquitous mo-
tivic germs in the music. (These tetrachords are all G2-forms of one another).
V. Daniel Harrison, in a recent study of triple counterpoint, has made interesting

analytic use of GIS structures.2 I adapt his procedures to my terminology here.
Let us suppose three tunes, A, B, and C, that work in triple counterpoint. Let
us suppose three voices, 1, 2, and 3, in which the tunes can appear. We can con-
sider the six various possible dispositions of the three tunes in the three voices; let us
call each such disposition a "Lage." We can model each Lage by a three-element
series: thus the series <B-C-A> models "tune B in voice 1, tune C in voice 2,
and tune A in voice 3."
Let LAGEN be the family of the six possible Lagen. Given two members of
LAGEN, there are two "natural" ways to conceptualize a transformation taking
the first Lage into the second. For instance, suppose s and t are the Lagen <B-C-
A> and <C-A-B> respectively. We can imagine the tunes as being permuted,
to get from s to t: tune B (in voice 1) becomes tune C; tune C (in voice 2) becomes
tune A; and tune A (in voice 3) becomes tune B. Thus, in getting from s to t, we
permute tune B to tune C, tune C to tune A, and tune A to tune B. We can sym-
bolize this permutation of tunes by the symbol (ABC): A becomes B, B becomes
C, and C becomes A. But there is also another "natural" way of conceptualizing
getting from s to t: we can imagine the voices as being permuted. Thus, in passing
from s = <B-C-A> to t = <C-A-B>, we can note that tune B, in voice 1 for
s, goes into voice 3 for t; tune C, in voice 2 for 5, goes into voice 1 for t; tune A,
in voice 3 for 5, goes into voice 2 for t. In sum, voice 1 of s becomes voice 3 of t;
voice 3 of s becomes voice 2 of t; and voice 2 of s becomes voice 1 of t. We can
symbolize this permutation of voices by the symbol (132): 1 becomes 3, 3 be-
comes 2, and 2 becomes 1.
There are six possible permutations on the symbols {A,B,C}; the six permu-
tations can be used to label six transformations on LAGEN; those six transforma-
tions form a group of operations on Lagen which we shall call TPERMS, for
"tune-permutations." There are six possible permutations on the symbols {1,2,3};
those six permutations can be used to label six transformations on LAGEN; and
those six transformations form a group of operations on Lagen which we shall call
VPERMS, for "voice-permutations."
Both the groups TPERMS and VPERMS are simply transitive on LAGEN.
Either group can be taken as the group of formal transpositions for a GIS whose
xviii 2. See item 3 in the foreword, p. xi.

Preface
family is LAGEN; the other group thereupon becomes the group of formal interval-
preserving operations for the GIS. This situation is as in the last paragraph of ap-
pendix B, GMIT.
Harrison analyzes the D-major 3-part invention, observing most of the fol-
lowing structure. "A" is the lead-off theme in the rh; "B" is the counterpoint that
runs along in sixteenths; "C" is the counterpoint which steps down in leisurely
suspensions.

3.5 V <C-A-B>
(ACB) (123)
6 I <B-C-A>
(ACB) (123)
10 vi <A-B-C>
(BIG MIDDLE SECTION)
19 IV <C-B-A>
(ACB) (132)
21.5 I <B-A-C>
(ACB) (132)
23.5 I <A-C-B>
The columns headed "TPERM interval" and "VPERM interval" are read as
follows: from Lage <C-A-B> (m.3.5) to Lage <B-C-A> (m.6) the formal in-
terval of transposition in the TPERM GIS is (ACB), while the formal interval of
transposition in the VPERM GIS is (123). From Lage <C-B-A> (m.19) to Lage
<B-A-C> (m.21.5) the formal interval of transposition in the TPERM GIS is
(ACB), while the formal interval of transposition in the VPERM GIS is (132).
Harrison points out that all six Lagen appear. He notes that the articulation
into the two subfamilies of 3 Lagen each, before and after the middle of the piece,
is "natural." He points out that in the first half of the piece, the tunes "sweep down"
through the voices, while in the second half of the piece, the tunes "sweep up"
through the voices. (He does not use the VPERM GIS to discuss this, but expresses
it by investigating specific properties of the group TPERMS.) He makes a number
of other cogent observations about the TPERM structure of the piece. Among
those, he notes that the second half of the piece is TPERM-isographic to the first
half, even though the tunes "sweep down" the voices in the first half and "sweep
up" the voices in the second half. In GMIT terminology, this can be expressed by
noting that in the VPERM GIS, the second half of the piece is ann'-isographic to
the first half: (132) is the inverse of (123) in VPERMS.
Harrison analyzes other works, including the f-minor invention. Here is my
analysis of Lagen in the A-major Prelude from Book I: xix
Preface

1 I <A-B-C>
(ABC) (132)
4 V <B-C-A>
(ABC) (132)
8.5 I <C-A-B>
(ABC) (132)
12 vi <A-B-C>
(ABC) (132)
16.5 I <B-C-A>
(AB) (13)
19 I <A-C-B>
This analysis is useful to contrast to the D-major invention. Here only four Lagen
are used. The idea seems to be that the final tonic Lage has a special function here:
it breaks the otherwise incessant chain of (ABC) or (132) intervals. Harrison's
analysis of the f-minor invention provides still a different idea, for laying out vari-
ous Lagen.
The whole enterprise smells of Marpurg; perhaps the way in which he formu-
lated "Rameau's" (i.e. his) theories of chord inversion might bear similar updat-
ing, perhaps even in a somewhat isomorphic vein.
VI. Let us consider the family SPECIAL of 12-tone rows whose order-rotation
beginning on order-number 4 is the same as their T4-transpose. An example of a
SPECIAL row is Ob56439a8712: starting the row at order-number 4 and proceed-
ing therefrom, we derive 439a8712 [and around the end to] Ob56; this order-rotation
is the same as T4 of the original row.
To fix a notation, we consider each SPECIAL row as a function s mapping the
order number ord [mod 12] into the pc number s(ord) [mod 12]. The SPECIAL
row of the above paragraph is thus conceived as a function s: s(0) = 0, s(/) = b,
s(2) = 5, ...,s(a) = l,s(fc) = 2.
Using this notation, we can write out the algebraic property that characterizes
SPECIAL rows:
SPECIAL PROPERTY: for all ord, s(ord + 4 = s(ord) + 4.
[all addition mod 12]
Of interest to us here is the fact that the family of SPECIAL rows admits a
simply transitive group-of-operations G in a natural way. Therefore, according to
the discussion of GMIT, the family of SPECIAL rows has a natural GIS structure,
a structure in which the operations of G play the role of formal transpositions.
What follows is a semi-formal development of the group G, and a semi-formal
xx indication that G is simply transitive on SPECIAL.
Preface
To begin with we consider certain operations ADD{j,m}, where j is some

multiple of 4 mod 12 and m is some multiple of 3 mod 12; i.e. j = 0, 4, or 8, and
m = 0,3,6, or 9. The operation ADD{j,m}, when applied to the SPECIAL row s,
adds the pc interval j to the mm, the (m+4)th, and the (m+S)th notes of s. For ex-
ample, let us take the SPECIAL row of the first paragraph above and apply the op-
eration A{8,3} to it, adding the pc interval 8 to its 3rd, 7th, and b\h notes:
o r dnumbers: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 a b
pc numbers of s: O b 5 6 4 3 9 a 8 7 1 2
We add 8 to 3rd, 7th, and Mi, +8 +8 +8
obtaining pc numbers of ADD{8,3}(s): O b 5 2 4 3 9 6 8 7 1 a
In the example, we note that ADD {8,3}(s) is still a row. That is because s is
SPECIAL: since s(ord + 4) = s(ord) + 4, it follows that the pc numbers s(3), s(7),
and s(&)—that is the 3rd, 7th, and 6th notes of s—form an augmented triad. In the
example above the augmented triad comprises the pc numbers 6, a, and 2. When
we add the interval j = 8 to each of these pc numbers, we simply permute the
members of that augmented triad among themselves, without disturbing the other
pcs in the other order-positions of the row.
Thus, in the above example, order-positions 3, 7, b

contain pcs 6, a, 2
of the row s; when 8 is added to each of
those pc numbers, the same order-positions
then contain pcs 2, 6, a
of the row ADD{ 8,3}(s), while the other pcs of s "carry on
down" to ADD{8,3}(s), unchanged in their order-positions.
This observation can be made rigorous and general, to show that each opera-
tion ADD{j,m}, when applied to any SPECIAL row s, yields a row. Furthermore,
it can be proved what is intuitively obvious: the new row ADD{j,m}(s) will itself
be SPECIAL.
The following formulas are easily verified, for j and k any multiples of 4 mod
12, and for m and n any multiples of 3 mod 12:
FORMULA 1: ADD{j,m} ADD{k,m} = ADD{j+k,m}
FORMULA 2: ADD{j,m} ADD{k,n} = ADD{k,n}ADD{j,m}
ADD{0,m} is the identity operation, for each m: it leaves [the pcs of] any sample
SPECIAL row unchanged. It follows, via formulas 1 and 2, that the collection of
all operations that can be written in form
ADD{jO,0} ADD{j3,3} ADD{j6,<5} ADD{j9,9}
is a group of operations. We will call this group "ADDINGS." The group is com-
mutative. It has 3-times-3-times-3-times-3 members, ie 81 members. xxi
Preface
Now we shall develop another group of operations on SPECIAL rows, a group

we shall call "PERM." A PERM operation X{p} is defined by any permutation p
that acts upon the four symbols 0,3, (5, and 9. Here the permutation p is to be con-
sidered as any 1-to-l function that maps the family of four symbols onto itself. The
PERM operation X{p} is determined by the
PERM DEFINITION: X{p}(s)(m +/) = s(p(m) + j )
where m symbolizes a multiple of 3 mod 12
and; symbolizes a multiple of 4 mod 12.
Fix m = 0 in the formula of the definition, and let; run through the values 0, 4,
and & The formula tells us that the Oth, 4th, and 8th notes of the X{p}(s) will be
respectively the p(0)th, (p(0)+4)th, and (p(0)+5)th notes of s. Similarly [for m = 3]
the 3rd, 7th, and £th notes of X{p}(s) will be respectively the p(3)rd, (p(3)+4)th,
and (p(3)+S)th notes of s. And so forth [for m = 6 and m = 9].
For an example, fix p to be the permutation p(0) = 3, p(3) = 0, p(6) = 6, p(9)
= 9. Then, according to the work we have just gone through, X{p}(s) will have in
its Oth, 4th, and 5th order-positions the 3rd, 7th, and bth notes of s respectively,
while X{p}(s) will have in its 3rd, 7th, and bth order-positions the Oth, 4th, and
5th notes of s respectively; otherwise X{p}(s) will maintain the [other] notes of s
in their respective order positions. The diagram below shows this X{p} applied to
the specimen special row used before.
o r dnumbers: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 a b
pc numbers of s: 0 4 8
b 5 39 71
6 a 2
pc numbers of X{p}(s): 6 a 2
b 5 39 71
0 4 8
For any SPECIAL row s, and any permutation p, X{p}(s) is a SPECIAL row.
If p and q are permutations, then we have
FORMULA 3: X{p} X{q) = X{qp}.
The PERM operations on SPECIAL rows form a group (anti)-isomorphic to the
group of permutations on the four symbols 0,3,6,9. PERM therefore has 4! = 24
members. The group is not commutative.
The following formula can be proved:
FORMULA 4: ADD{j,m} X{p) = X{p} ADD{j,p(m)}].
In general, therefore, members of PERM do not commute with members of
ADDINGS. However, formula 4 tells us that the collection of all operations which
can be expressed as some-ADDING-following-some-PERM is a closed family of
xxii
Preface
EXAMPLE 3 xxiii
Preface
operations: following one such by another such will generate a third such. It fol-
lows that this collection of operations is a group of operations. It is our desired
group G. A specimen member of G can be written in
CANONICAL FORM: ADD{jO,0} ADD{j3,3} ADD{j6,<5}

ADD{J9,P} X{p}.
The chromatic scale is one SPECIAL row. It is straightforward, if tedious, to

show that given any SPECIAL row s, there is a unique member of our group G
which transforms s into the chromatic scale. (Set kO = s(0), k3 = s(3), k6 = s(6),
k9 = s(9); since s is SPECIAL, each of the k's must lie within a different aug-
mented triad; apply four appropriate ADDs to obtain a new s' in which the set of
k'-values is 0,3,6, and 9; permute the row s' into the chromatic scale. Etc. etc.) It
follows that the group G is simply transitive on SPECIAL rows: given any two
SPECIAL rows s and t, there is a unique member of G, in the canonical form
above, which transformes s to t. (Transform s into the chromatic scale; then trans-
form the chromatic scale into t.)
Thus the family of SPECIAL rows has a natural GIS structure, as discussed
above. The group G has cardinality 81-times-24 = 1944; that then is also the num-
ber of SPECIAL rows.
SPECIAL rows become more interesting when one notes their relation to
"semi-Mallalieu" rows. Andrew Mead, in excellent work as yet unpublished, has
investigated semi-Mallalieu rows exhaustively; some interesting insight can be
shed on his work by placing it in a GIS setting.3 Pertaining to our SPECIAL rows
are those semi-Mallalieu rows whose every-third-note transform is identical with
their T4-transposition. Every-ninth-note of such a row will then be its T8-trans-
position. (Every-ninth-note = retrograde-of-every-fourth-note.)
Such a row, for example, is a premise of my piano piece Just a Minute, Roger
[PNM 16.2 (SS 1978), 143-45]: Ob45732681a9. Right at the opening of the piece,
one hears quite clearly that every-third-note of this row is its T4-transpose: in
meas. 1-4 (music example 3a), the total texture is governed by the row, while the
right hand picks out every-third-note, thereby projecting T4-of-the-row. Later on,
in meas. 30-35 (example 3b), the total texture is governed by the T4-form of the
row, while the right hand picks out every-fourth-note-of-T4, thereby projecting
the retrograde of every-ninth-note-of-T4 = the retrograde of T8(T4) = the retro-
grade of the original row.
We shall focus in on these rows for the nonce, calling them SEMI-MALLALIEU.
The point is, that the family of SEMI-MALLALIEU rows and the family of SPE-
CIAL rows, along with their characteristic properties, are mathematically equivalent
in structure under a transformation that makes each row in one family correspond
xxiv 3. See item 4 in the foreword, p. xii.

Preface
uniquely to a row in the other. I discuss that transformation in ITO 2.7 (October
1976), 8.
The upshot of this is that the SEMI-MALLALIEU rows also form a natural
GIS, whose formal transposition operations are the members of a natural simply
transitive group G' that corresponds to the group G we have just explored.
Mead's procedures enable one to find the equivalent of our G or G' for any
operation OP on order numbers that can be written as four permutation-cycles of
order 3 on the order numbers. OP generalizes "rotation-by-4" in the case of SPE-
CIAL rows, or "every-third-note" in the case of SEMI-MALLALIEU rows.
VII. The injection function, discussed in chapter 6 of GMIT, can be generalized

even farther. Let S and S' be any two families of objects—we allow here for the pos-
sibility that S' may be a different family from S. Let X be a (finite sub)set of S; let
Y' be a (finite sub)set of S'; let f be any function from S into S'. Then the injection
number into Y' for f, denoted INJ(X,Y')(f), is the number of elements s in X such
that f(s) is a member of Y'. We can also develop a twin concept, not developed in
GMIT: the surjection number of X into Y' for f, denoted SURJ (X,Y')(f), is the num-
ber of elements s' in Y' such that s' = f(s) for some member s of X. If f is not one-
to-one or onto, SURJ(X,Y')(f) may be a very different number from INJ(X,Y')(f).
EXAMPLE:
Take S to be the family of numbers
{0,1,2,4,6,8,10,14,16,18,19,20,22,23,24,26,27,28}.
Take S' to be the family of pitches

{A3,CH,D4,E4,F4,G4,A4,BI4,D5}.
Take the function f to map S into S' according to the following table:
s= 0 1 2 4 6 8 10 14 16 18 19 20 22 23 24 26 27 28
f(s)= D4 E4 F4 E4 D4 A4 D5 A4 BW G4 E4 A4 F4 D4 G4 E4 C#4 A3
The function f is onto but not one-to-one, f models certain aspects of the theme
from Bach's d-minor Concerto.
Take X to be the set of all numbers in S divisible by 4; thus

X = {0,4,8,16,20,24,28}.
Take Y' to be the triad {D4,F4,A4} within S'. XXV

Preface
We have f(0) = D4, f(8) = A4, and f(20) = A4. Otherwise f(s) is not a member of
the set Y' when s is a member of the set X.
The three members 0,8, and 20 of X are mapped by f into members of Y'. Hence
INJ(X,Y')(f) = 3.
The two members D4 and A4 of Y' are attacked, during this passage, at time-points
that are multiples of 4. Hence SURJ(X,Y')(f) = 2.
xxvi
A cknowledgmen ts
The time and leisure I needed to do this work were afforded by a Senior
Faculty Fellowship from Yale University and by a Guggenheim Fellowship.
The Guggenheim Foundation also provided a subvention toward publication.
The excerpt from the score of Elliott Carter's String Quartet No, 1 is
used by permission of Associated Music Publishers, New York. Material
from Arnold Schoenberg's songs, Opus 15, from his Six Little Piano Pieces,
Opus 19, and from Pierrot Lunaire, Opus 21, is used by permission of Belmont
Music Publishers, Los Angeles, California 90049. Arnold Schoenberg's
Phantasiefor Violin with Piano Accompaniment, Opus 47, is copyright 1952 by
Henmar Press Inc. It has been used by permission of C. F. Peters Corporation.
The excerpt from the score of Anton Webern's Four Pieces for Violin and
Piano, Opus 7, and material from the third movement of his Variations for
Piano, Opus 27, are used with these permissions: "Anton Webern—Four
Piecesfor Violin and Piano, Op. 7. Copyright 1922 by Universal Edition. Copy-
right renewed 1950. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission of European
American Music Distributors Corporation, sole U.S. agent for Universal
Edition" and "Anton Webern—Variations for Piano, Op. 27. Copyright 1937
by Universal Edition. Copyright Renewed 1965. All Rights Reserved. Used
by permission of European American Music Distributors Corporation, sole
U.S. agent for Universal Edition." Analytic sketches for works by Bartok and
Prokofieff appear with the following permissions: "Syncopation # 133 from
Mikrokosomos (volumes 1-6) Bela Bartok © copyright 1940 by Hawkes &
Son (London) Ltd.; Renewed 1967. Reprinted by permission of Boosey and
Hawkes, Inc." and "Prokofieff: Melody # 1 from Melodies Op. 35. Reprinted
by permission of Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. Copyright Owner." xxvii
Introduction
The following overview of the book will provide a good point of departure.
Chapter 1 is purely mathematical; it presents terminology and notation that
will be needed later, along with a few important theorems. I am not happy to
begin a book about music with a mathematical essay. On the other hand, I do
feel that it is helpful for the reader to have this material collated and isolated
from the rest of the book. Chapter 1 can be used for quick reference where it
stands, and the material obtrudes only minimally into musical discussions
later on. Readers who find themselves put off or fatigued in the middle of this
chapter are urged to move on into the rest of the book; they can return to
chapter 1 later, when later applications of the material make the reference
back seem natural or desirable.
Chapter 2 takes as its point of departure the general situation portrayed
schematically by figure 0.1.
FIGURE 0.1
The figure shows two points s and t in a symbolic musical space. The
arrow marked i symbolizes a characteristic directed measurement, distance, or
motion from s to t. We intuit such situations in many musical spaces, and we
are used to calling i "the interval from s to t" when the symbolic points are xxix
Introduction
pitches or pitch classes. Chapter 2 begins by running through twelve examples

of musical spaces for which we have the intuition of figure 0.1. Six involve
pitches or pitch classes in melodic or harmonic relations; six involve aspects of
measured rhythm. The general intuition at hand is then made formal by a
mathematical model which I call a Generalized Interval System, GIS for
short. A few basic formal properties of the model are explored. Then the
twelve examples are reviewed to see how each (with one exception) instances
the generalized structure.
Chapter 3 concerns itself with further formal properties of the GIS
model. In that model, the points of the space may be labeled by their intervals
from one referential point; this has advantages and disadvantages. New GIS
structures may be constructed from old in various ways. A passage from
Webern is examined in connection with a combined pitch-and-rhythm GIS
constructed in one such way. Generalized analogs of transposition and inver-
sion operations are explored. So are "interval-preserving operations"; these
coincide with transpositions in some GIS models but not in others, specifically
not in GISs that are "non-commutative."
The bulk of chapter 4 explores one non-commutative GIS of musical
interest. The elements of the system are formal time-spans. Extended dis-
cussion of a passage from Carter's First Quartet demonstrates the pertinence
of this GIS to exploring music in which there are functional measured rela-
tions among time spans, but no one overriding time span that acts as a unit to
measure all others. After that, chapter 4 presents two examples of timbral
GISs, and ends with a methodological note on the relations of music theory,
perception, and the intuitions of a listener. Some motivic work by Chopin is
considered in this connection.
Chapter 5 begins a study of generalized set theory, that is, the interrela-
tionships among finite sets of objects in musical spaces. The first construction
studied is the Interval Function between sets X and Y; this function assigns
to each interval i in a GIS the number of ways i can be spanned between a
member of X and a member of Y. Then the Embedding Number of X in Y
is studied; this is the number of distinct forms of X that are subsets of Y. To
study that number, we have to establish what we mean by a "form" of the set
X, a notion that involves stipulating a Canonical Group of operations. Both
the Interval Function and the Embedding Number generalize Forte's Interval
Vector. Passages from Webern, Chopin, and Brahms illustrate applications
of the constructs.
Chapter 6 continues the study of set theory, generalizing the work of
chapter 5 even farther. The basic construction is now the Injection Function:
Given a space S, finite subsets X and Y of S, and a transformation f mapping S
into itself, INJ(X, Y) (f) counts how many members of X are mapped by f into
members of Y. This number is meaningful even when S does not have a GIS
xxx structure, and even when the transformation f js not so well behaved as are
Introduction
transpositions, inversions, and the like. Passages from Schoenberg and from
Babbitt are studied by way of illustration.
Instead of starting with a GIS and deriving certain characteristic trans-
formations therefrom, it is possible to start with a family of characteristic
transformations on a musical space and derive a GIS structure therefrom.
That is, instead of regarding the i-arrow on figure 0.1 as a measurement of
extension between points s and t observed passively "out there" in a Cartesian
res extensa, one can regard the situation actively, like a singer, player, or
composer, thinking: "I am at s; what characteristic transformation do I
perform in order to arrive at t?" Chapter 7 explores this conceptual inter-
relation between interval-as-extension and transposition-as-characteristic-
motion-through-space. After developing the mathematics that shows a logical
equivalence between GIS structures and certain structures of transformations
on spaces, the work proceeds by example. Passages from Schoenberg, Wag-
ner, Brahms, and Beethoven indicate how suggestive it can be to consider
networks of "intervals" and networks of "transpositions" (modulations, and
so forth) as various aspects of the same basic phenomenon.
The morphology of such networks can be carried over to that of networks
involving other sorts of transformations. Chapter 8 studies networks involv-
ing transformations of Klangs in the sense of Riemann, networks involving
serial transformations of various sorts, and networks involving inversional
transformations. The Beethoven example from chapter 7 is reconsidered, and
there are further examples from Wagner, Webern, and Bach.
Chapter 9 develops the formalities of transformation networks in a
rigorous way. The structure of a network allows us to assign a formal "input"
function to some things and a formal "output" function to other things; these
functions seem of considerable musical interest in some cases. The networks
have intrinsic rhythmic properties which can also be studied formally. Net-
work structure can accommodate hierarchic levels in a quasi-Schenkerian
setting, as an example shows.
Chapter 10 applies the network concept in a variety of ways to passages
from Mozart, Bartok, Prokofieff, and Debussy.
Note on Musical Terminology

All references to specific pitches in this book will be made according to the
notation suggested by the Acoustical Society of America: The pitch class is
symbolized by an upper-case letter and its specific octave placement by a
number following the letter. An octave number refers to pitches from a given
C through the B a major seventh above it. Cello C is C2, viola C is C3, middle
C is C4, and so on. Any B# gets the same octave number as the B just below it;
thus B#3 is enharmonically C4. Likewise, any Cb gets the same octave number
as the C just above it; thus Q?4 is enharmonically B3. xxxi
Mathematical Preliminaries
1
A mathematician would begin by saying, "Let S be a set." Unfortunately,

music theory today has expropriated the word "set" to denote special music-
theoretical things in a few special contexts. So I shall avoid the word here.
Instead I shall speak of a "family" or a "collection" of objects or members.
When I do so, I mean just what mathematicians mean by a "set." For present
purposes, it will be safe to leave the sense of that concept to the reader's
intuition.
1.1 DEFINITION: Let S and S' be families of objects. The Cartesian product
S x S' is the family of all ordered pairs (s, s') such that s is a member of S and s'
is a member of S'.
1.2.1 DEFINITION: A function or mapping from S into S' is a subfamily f of

S x S' which has this property:
Given any s in S, there is exactly one pair (s, s') within the family f which
has the given s as the first entry of the pair.
We say that s', in this situation, is the value of the function f for the
argument s; we shall write f (s) = s'.
If we think of fas a table, listing members of S (arguments) in a column on

the left and corresponding members of S' (values) in a column on the right,
then the defining property for functionhood stipulates that each member of S
appear once and only once in the left-hand column. (Some members of S' may
appear more than once in the right-hand column. Some members of S' may
not appear at all in the right-hand column.) 1
1.2.2 Mathematical Preliminaries
1.2.2 DEFINITION: Given families S and S', we shall say that the functions f
and g from S into S' are the same, writing f = g, if f and g are the same subsets
of S x S', that is if they produce the same table.
This special definition of functional equality is worth stressing. We shall

soon see why.
1.2.3 DEFINITION: Let f be a function from S into S', and let f' be a function
from S' into S". Then the composition function f'f is defined from S into S" as
follows: Given an argument s in S, the value (f'f)(s) is f'(f(s)).
1.2.4 Let me draw special attention to the orthographic convention whereby

f' appears to the left of fin the notation for the composition function f'f. That
convention follows logically from another orthographic convention, the con-
vention of writing the function name to the left of the argument in the
expression "f (s)." The reader is no doubt used to this convention. One can
read "f (s)" as "the resulting value, when function f is applied to argument s."
Then "f'f(s)" is "the result when f is applied to the result of applying f to s."
These conventions will be called left (functional) orthography.
Right functional orthography is preferred by some mathematicians for
all contexts and by most mathematicians for some contexts. In right or-
thography, one writes "sf" or "(s)f" for "the operand s, transformed by the
function f." This value is what was written "f(s)" in left orthography. The
composition function which we called "f'f" in left orthography is called "ff "
in right orthography, so as to be consistent: "(s)ff'" in right orthography is
"s-transformed-by-f, all transformed by f'." This is what was notated "f f (s)"
in left orthography.
In the following work we shall use left orthography almost exclusively.
We shall use right orthography only once, when its intuitive pertinence seems
overwhelming. At that point in the text, the reader will be reminded of this
discussion. Right orthography would abstractly be more suitable for our
eventual purposes, but the reader's presumed familiarity with left or-
thography seemed decisive to me in making my choice.
1.2.5 Suppose that f t and f 2 are functions from S to S'; suppose that f{ and f'2
are functions from S' to S"; suppose that f" is a function from S to S". We can
consider the truth or falsity of functional equations like f^ = f", fif t = f 2 f 2 ,
and so on. Our discussion of "functional equality" in 1.2.2 tells us how to
understand these equations, in evaluating their truth or falsity. The first
equation above asserts, "for any sample s, the result of applying f[ to ^(s) is
the same as the result of applying f" to the given s." The second equation
above asserts, "for any sample s, applying f{ to f^ (s) yields the same result as
2 applying f 2 to f2(s)."
Mathematical Preliminaries 1.3.1
For an example, let us take S, S', and S" all to be the family of positive
integers. Let f^s) = s + 3, f{(s) = 2s, f2(s) = 2s, and f^s) = s + 6. The four
specified functions satisfy the functional equation f'1f1= f^. That is, given
any integer s, if we compute fjfi(s), multiplying by two the result of adding 3
to s, we obtain the same net result as we do when we compute f^Cs), adding 6
to the result of multiplying s by two.
For another example, let us take S, S', and S" all to be the family of the
twelve pitch-classes. Let f(s) = s transposed by 2, f(s) = s inverted with
respect to the pitch class C, and f"(s) = s inverted with respect to the pitch
class B. The three specified functions satisfy the functional equation f'f = f".
That is, given any pitch class s, if we compute f T(s), inverting about C the
result of transposing s by 2, we obtain the same net result as we do when we
compute f"(s), inverting the given s about B.
1.2.6.1 DEFINITION: The function f from S into S' is onto S' if every member of
S' is the value of some argument. (Every member of S' appears at least once in
the right-hand column of the function table.)
1.2.6.2 DEFINITION: The function f from S into S' is 1-to-l if no two distinct
arguments share the same value. (No member of S' appears more than once in
the right-hand column of the function table.)
1.2.6.3 DEFINITION: Let f be a 1-to-l function from S onto S'. Then f"1, the
inverse function off, is defined as the family of pairs (s', s) within S' x S such
that (s, s') is a member of f.
1.2.6.4 THEOREMS: Given the situation as in 1.2.6.3 above, then f ~* is indeed

a function in the sense of 1.2.1. f - 1 is in fact a 1-to-l function from S' onto S.
The inverse function off" 1 is, of course, f.
The theorems are stated without proof.
1.2.6.5 THEOREM: Let f and f' be functions from S into S' and from S' into S
respectively. Suppose that the functions satisfy the two conditions (A) and (B)
following. (A): for every s in S, f'f(s) = s. (B): for every s' in S', ff'(s') = s'.
Then f and f' are both 1 -to-1; they are respectively onto S' and onto S; and they
are inverse functions, each of the other.
The theorem is given without proof.
1.3.1 DEFINITION: A function from a family S into S itself will be called a

transformation on S. If the function is 1-to-l and onto, it will be called an
operation on S. 3
1.3.2 DEFINITION: Given a family S, a collection F of transformations on S is

called closed if, given any members f and g of F, the composition fg is a
member of F. A closed collection of transformations on S will also be called a
semigroup of transformations on S.
1.3.3.1 DEFINITION: The identity operation on a family S is that operation 1

on S which assigns the value 1 (s) = s to any argument s.
1.3.3.2 THEOREM: For any transformation f on S, the functional equations

If = f and fl = fare true (in the sense of 1.2.5 above).
1.3.3.3 THEOREM: A transformation f on S is an operation (i.e., 1-to-l and

onto) if and only if there exists a transformation f on S satisfying the
functional equations f T = 1; ff' = 1. If this be the case then f' is the inverse
operation of f.
The theorem follows from the various matters studied over section 1.2.6.
1.3.4 DEFINITION: By a group of operations on S we shall mean a family (i.e.

collection) G of transformations on S which satisfies conditions (A) and (B)
following. (A): G is a closed family, a semigroup of transformations in the
sense of 1.3.2. (B): Given any member f of G, there exists a member f of G
satisfying f'f = ff = 1.
Condition (B) guarantees that the members of G are indeed operations,

via 1.3.3.3. (B) also guarantees that G contains the inverse operation for each
of its member operations. (A) and (B) together imply that G contains the
identity operation 1, provided that G contains any members. Whether we call
G a "collection" or a "family" is immaterial; for us the terms are synonymous
with each other as they also are with the terms "ensemble" and "set-in-the-
mathematical-sense."
1.3.5 The work of section 1.3 so far has explored certain algebraic behavior
characteristic of transformations on S. The transformations compose one
with another, f with g to form the transformation fg. There is an identity
transformation 1, which composes left or right with any f to yield f itself:
If = fl = f. Certain transformations, the operations, have inverses; if f is such
then f"1 is characterized by the algebraic relations f -1 f = ff" 1 = 1.
These algebraic features of the situation are abstracted and generalized
by the study of "abstract" semigroups and groups, a study we shall shortly
commence. Before we do so, we should note one more aspect of transforma-
4 tion algebra which the abstract study will generalize. This is the associativity
of transformational composition. That is, the composition of transformations

obeys the Associative Law f(gh) = (fg)h: Given any sample s, the result of
applying f to the (gh)-transform of s is the same as the result of applying (fg) to
the h-transform of the given s.
1.4 Now we begin the abstract study. We fix a family (i.e. collection) X of
abstract objects x, y, z,..., and develop abstract algebraic systems that model
the behavior of transformational algebra. First we must specify how the
objects of X are to "compose" one with another.
1.4.1 DEFINITION: A binary composition on X is a function BIN that maps

X x X into X. We write BIN(x, y) for the value of BIN on the pair (x, y).
1.4.2 DEFINITION: A binary composition on X is associative if BIN(x,

BIN(y, z)) = BIN(BIN(x, y), z) for all x, y, and z.
A familiar non-associative binary composition on the natural numbers

is exponentiation: BIN(x, y) = x-to-the-y-power. For example BIN(3,
BIN (2,3)) = 3-to-the-(2-cubed)-power, or 3-to-the-eighth-power, while
BIN(BIN(3,2), 3) = (3-squared)-to-the-third-power, or 9-cubed. Nine-cubed
is 3-to-the-sixth, not 3-to-the-eighth.
1.4.3 DEFINITION: A semigroup is an ordered pair (X, BIN) comprising a

family X and an associative binary composition BIN on X.
It is traditional to write the binary composition for a semigroup using

multiplicative notation when there is no reason to use some specific other
notation. Thus we shall generally write "xy" to signify BIN(x, y) in a semi-
group, failing some reason to write "x + y" or "x * y" and the like. The
Associative Law for BIN then reads "x(yz) = (xy)z." This notational conven-
tion simplifies the look of the page. It is important, though, not to carry over
into our general study intuitions about numerical multiplication which may
not be valid within a specific semigroup at hand.
It is also important to remember that in order to define a particular
semigroup, we must specify not only the family X of elements but also the
composition BIN under which the elements combine. Despite this, it is cus-
tomary to refer (improperly) to "the semigroup X" when the binary compo-
sition is clearly understood in a given context.
1.5.1 DEFINITION: A left identity for a semigroup is an element 1 such that for
every x, Ix = x. A right identity is defined dually: For every x, xr = x. An
identity is an element e which is both a left identity and a right identity. 5
1.5.2 THEOREM: If a semigroup has both a left identity 1 and a right identity r,
then 1 and r must be equal. Hence there can be at most one identity for a
semigroup. If a semigroup has one, we can therefore speak of "the" identity
element.
Proof:lr must equal r since 1 is a left identity. Ir must also equal 1 since r is
a right identity.
There are, incidentally, semigroups that have an infinite number of left

identities. (By the theorem above, a semigroup that has more than one left
identity cannot have any right identities.) There are, in fact, both finite and
infinite semigroups in which every element is a left identity. To illustrate this,
take any family X and define on X the composition BIN(x, y) = y for all x and
all y; (X, BIN) is such a semigroup.
1.6.1 DEFINITION: Given a semigroup with identity e; given an element x, a

left inverse for x is an element 1 satisfying Ix = e. A right inverse for x is an
element r satisfying xr = e. An inverse for x is an x' which is both a left inverse
and a right inverse.
1.6.2 THEOREM: If an element x of a semigroup with identity has both a left

inverse 1 and a right inverse r, then 1 = r. Hence x can have at most one inverse.
If x has one, we can therefore call it "the" inverse of x.
Proof:1 = le = l(xr) = (lx)r = er = r.
1.6.3 In multiplicative notation for a semigroup with identity, the inverse of

an element x that has one is denoted x"1.
1.7 DEFINITION: A group is a semigroup with identity in which every element

has an, inverse.
The abstract definitions of "semigroup" and "group" (1.4.3; 1.7) are

consistent with the earlier use of those terms in connection with families of
transformations (1.3.2; 1.3.4).
1.8.1 DEFINITION: Given a binary composition BIN on a family X, elements x

and y commute if BIN(y, x) = BIN(x, y), that is, if yx = xy in multiplicative
notation. The composition BIN is commutative if every pair of elements
commutes. A semigroup or group is commutative if its binary composition is
commutative.
The group of transposition and inversion operations on the twelve pitch-

6 classes is non-commutative. To illustrate this, let T2 be the operation of
transposing-by-2; let I, J, and K be the respective operations of inverting-

about-C, inverting-about-B, and inverting-about-Cft. Then, as we observed
earlier, IT2 = J (1.2.5). On the other hand, T2I = K. Thus the operations T2
and I do not commute. (Remember that we are using left orthography.
"IT2 = J" means: "Given any sample pitch-class s, if you invert-about-C the
2-transpose of s, you will obtain the inversion-about-B of the given s."
"T2I = K" means: "Given any sample pitch-class s, if you transpose-by-2
the inversion-about-C of s, you will obtain the inversion-about-C# of the
given s.")
1.8.2 DEFINITION: Given a binary composition BIN on a family X, an

element c of X is central if c commutes with every x in X. The family of all
central c is the center of the system (X, BIN).
1.9 In this section we shall develop the conceptual structure and terminology
for equivalence relations on a family S (not necessarily a semigroup). We
shall see in particular how the notion of an equivalence relation is inti-
mately connected with the idea of mapping S onto another family S' by some
function f.
1.9.1 DEFINITION: Given a family S, an equivalence relation on S is a sub-

family EQUIV of S x S that satisfies conditions (A), (B), and (C) following.
(A): For every s in S, (s, s) is in EQUIV. (B): If (s, t) is in EQUIV, then so is
(t, s). (C): If (r, s) and (s, t) are in EQUIV, then so is (r, t).
The three conditions are called the "reflexive," "symmetric," and "tran-
sitive" properties of the relation. The conditions express formally some of our
intuitions about things that are "equivalent." (A) matches our intuition that
any object s should be equivalent to itself. (B) matches our intuition that if s is
equivalent to t, then t should be equivalent to s. (C) matches our intuition that
if r is equivalent to s and s is equivalent to t, then r should be equivalent to t.
1.9.2 THEOREM: Let f be a function from S onto S'. Define a relation EQUIV
on S by putting the pair (s, t) in the relation if and only if f (s) = f (t). Then
EQUIV is an equivalence relation.
Proof: (A) f (s) = f (s), so (s, s) is in the defined relation. (B) If (s, t) is in the
defined relation, f (s) = f (t). Then f (t) = f (s), so that (t, s) is in the defined
relation. (C) If f(r) = f(s) and f(s) = f(t) then f(r) = f(t).
We shall see soon that every equivalence relation on S can be regarded as

being generated in precisely the above fashion, for some suitable choice of S'
andf. 7
1.9.3 THEOREM: Let EQUIV be an equivalence relation on a family S. For

each s in S let E(s) be the subfamily of S comprising exactly those members of S
which are in the EQUIV relation to s, i.e. those t such that (s, t) is in the
EQUIV relation. Then, giveu any s and any t in S, either (A) or (B) below will
be true.
(A): s and t are equivalent; E(s) and E(t) are the same collection.
(B): s and t are not equivalent; E(s) and E(t) are disjoint (have no
common member).
Proof: Suppose first that s and t are equivalent. Then, by the symmetric and
transitive laws, r is equivalent to s if and only if r is equivalent to t. In other
words, r is a member of E(s) if and only if r is a member of E(t). Thus E(s) and
E(t) are the same collection. (A) of the theorem obtains.
Now suppose that s and t are not equivalent. Then there can be no r which
is both a member of E(s) and a member of E(t). For if there were such an r,
then r would be equivalent to both s and t; by the symmetric and transi-
tive laws, we could infer that s was equivalent to t, which we have supposed
is not the case. Thus E(s) and E(t) are disjoint. (B) of the theorem obtains,
q.e.d.
1.9.4 By virtue of Theorem 1.9.3, an equivalence relation partitions S into

the set-theoretic union of mutually disjoint subfamilies E^,.. .,En,... These
subfamilies are called the equivalence classes of the relation. For each s in S,
there is precisely one equivalence class En to which s belongs, s is a member of
the class En if and only if En = E(s), where E(s) is the family defined in 1.9.3,
the family of objects equivalent to s.
Indeed, it would be possible to define any equivalence relation by par-
titioning S into mutually disjoint subfamilies S l f ..., S n , ... One could then
define the pair (s, t) to be in a relation REL if both s and t lie in the same
subfamily of the partition. One could show that REL is an equivalence
relation, and that the members S j , . . . , S n ,... of the given partition are exactly
the equivalence classes for that equivalence relation.
1.9.5 DEFINITION: Given an equivalence relation EQUIV on a family S, the

family of equivalence classes is called the quotient family of S modulo EQUIV.
We shall denote it symbolically by S/EQUIV.
The function E of 1.9.3 maps S onto S/EQUIV, mapping each argument s
to the value E(s), the member of the quotient family that contains s. The
function E is called the natural map of S onto S/EQUIV.
We may now regard every equivalence relation as potentially generated

in the manner of 1.9.2. Given EQUIV on S, take S' = S/EQUIV and take
f = E, the natural map of S onto S'. s and t are then equivalent under the given
8 relation if and only if f (s) = f (t).
1.9.6.1 EXAMPLE: Let S be the family of all pitches under twelve-tone equal
temperament. Define EQUIV by putting (s, t) in EQUIV if s and t have the
same letter name, give or take enharmonic equivalence. The quotient family
S/EQUIV comprises the twelve pitch classes. The natural map E takes each
pitch s into its pitch class E(s).
1.9.6.2 EXAMPLE: Let S be the family of all beats in a certain waltz. Define a
function f from S into the numbers 1,2, and 3: f (s) = 1 if s is the first beat of its
measure; f(s) = 2 if s is the second beat of its measure; f(s) = 3 if s is the third
beat of its measure. A dancing master might construct this function by calling
"one-two-three," over and over again as the beats go by. The function f
induces an equivalence relation on S by the method of 1.9.2: s and t are
EQUIValent if they share the same f-value. The three equivalence classes can
be called the "beat classes" of the relation; they comprise the first beats, the
second beats, and the third beats of the waltz.
1.9.6.3 EXAMPLE: Let S be the family of all collections of pitch classes. Put the
pair (s, t) into the relation SAMETYPE if the collection t is a transposed or
inverted form of the collection s. (Transposition-by-zero is considered a
formal transposition here.) SAMETYPE is an equivalence relation. The
equivalence classes are Forte's set-types.1 The class 3-11, in Forte's nomen-
clature, contains the twenty-four major and minor triads. The class 3-12
contains the four augmented triads. And so on.
1.9.7 OPTIONAL: This section of the work is for those who are curious to
explore the material in a bit more depth.
Given a function f from S onto S', define EQUIV as in 1.9.2; i.e. put (s, t)
into the EQUIV relation if and only if f(s) = f(t).
Given any member s' of S'; since f is onto, there is some s in S satisfying
f(s) = s'. The family of all s satisfying f(s) = s' is an equivalence class En; En
contains just those arguments for f having the given s' as their f-value. We
write En = ARGS(s').
ARCS is a function from S' into S/EQUIV. ARGS maps S' onto
S/EQUIV: Given any equivalence class En, let s be a member of En and let
s' = f(s); then ARGS(s') = En; the given En is an ARGS-value. The function
ARGS is also 1-to-l: If s' and t' are distinct members of S', then the equiva-
lence class ARGS(s'), comprising those s such that f(s) = s', is obviously
different from the equivalence class ARGS(t'), comprising those t such that
f (t) = t'.
By the method of its construction above, the function ARGS satisfies
1. Allen Forte, The Structure of Atonal Music (New Haven and London: Yale University
Press, 1973). 9
1.10 Mathematical Preliminaries
formula (A) below.

(A): ARGS(f (s)) = E(s) for all s in S.
We have observed that the function ARGS is 1-to-l and onto. Hence it
has an inverse function, which we shall call f/EQUIV. ARGS maps S' 1-to-l
onto S/EQUIV as in formula (A) above. f/EQUIV maps S/EQUIV 1-to-l
onto S'. Applying f/EQUIV to both sides of formula (A), we obtain formula
(B).
(B): f (s) = (f/EQUIV) (E(s)) for all s in S.
f/EQUIV is called the induced map on S/EQUIV. While f may map many
of its arguments onto the single value f (s) in S', f/EQUIV maps exactly one of
its arguments onto that value. Via formulas (A) and (B), the mutually inverse
functions ARGS and f/EQUIV set up a 1-to-l correspondence between the
members f (s) of the image family S' and the members E(s) of the quotient
family S/EQUIV, the family of equivalence classes.
1.10 When we shift our attention from an arbitrary family S to a semigroup

(X, BIN), certain sorts of equivalence relations on X are of special interest
because of the ways they interact with the algebraic structure of the semi-
group. We shall study here some special equivalence relations called con-
gruences. They interrelate with special sorts of functions on semigroups,
functions called homomorphisms. Homomorphisms map semigroups one
into another in a special way that engages algebraic structure.
1.10.1 DEFINITION: An equivalence relation on a semigroup is a congruence if

it has this property: Given xt equivalent to y x and x2 equivalent to y 2 , then
\1x2 is equivalent to yâ-
1.10.2 THEOREM: Given a congruence on a semigroup, let C^ and C2 be any

congruence classes (equivalence classes for the congruence). Then there is a
unique congruence class C3 such that whenever X A and x2 are members of C t
and C2 respectively, the composition x t x 2 is a member of C3.
Proof: Take any specimen y: in Q and any specimen y 2 in C 2 . Let C3 be
the congruence class containing y^. C3 is the class whose existence the
theorem asserts. To see this, suppose that x t and x 2 are any members of C x and
C 2 respectively. Since Xj is congruent to y : and x 2 is congruent to y 2 , x t x 2 will
be equivalent to y^ (1.10.1). Hence XjX 2 will lie within the same congruence
class as y x y 2 . That is, x x x 2 will lie within the constructed C3. q.e.d.
1.10.3 THEOREM: Let CONG be a congruence on the semigroup (X, BIN).

Then the quotient family X/CONG (i.e. the family of congruence classes)
becomes a semigroup itself under the binary composition BIN/CONG de-
w fined as follows. Given congruence classes Cj and C2 (members of X/CONG),
Mathematical Preliminaries J.JO.4.2
the composition (BIN/CONG) (C 1 ,C 2 ) is the congruence class C3 of

Theorem 1.10.2, that is the unique congruence class which contains
BIN(x 1 ,x 2 ) whenever x1 belongs to C t and x2 belongs to C 2 .
Sketch of proof: The heart of the theorem is that the binary composition
BIN/CONG is well defined. Given Cj and C 2 , the value of C3 does not depend
at all on the specimen \v and x2 we may select to represent C t and C2. C3
depends only upon the classes C1 and C2 themselves.
Having noted that, it is not hard to prove that BIN/CONG is associative.
1.10.4.1 EXAMPLE: Let (X, BIN) be the group of all integers, positive, nega-
tive, or zero, under addition. Define a relation CONG: the pair of integers
(x, y) is in this relation if the difference y — x is an integral multiple of 12.
CONG is reflexive: (x, x) is in the relation since x — x = 0 = 0-times-12 is an
integral multiple of 12. CONG is symmetric: If (x,y) is in the relation, then
there is some integer n such that y — x = n-times-12; then there is some integer
m such that x — y = m-times-12 (take m = — n); then (y, x) is in the relation.
CONG is transitive: If y — x = m-times-12 and z — y = n-times-12, then
z — x = (z — y) + (y — x) = (n + m)-times-12.
So CONG is an equivalence relation. It is in fact a congruence, for it
satisfies the requirement of 1.10.1: If y t — x t is a multiple of 12 and y2 — x2 is
a multiple of 12, then (yt + y 2 ) — (xj + x 2 ) is a multiple of 12.
We write C(x) for the congruence class containing x. Since C(x) = C(x-
plus-or-minus-any-multiple-of-12), every congruence class is one of the twelve
classes C(0), C(l), ..., C(ll). The quotient semigroup, then, contains just
those twelve members. For each i between 0 and 11 inclusive, the class C(i)
contains exactly those integers that can be written as i-plus-some-multiple-of-
12. Composition of the twelve congruence classes within the quotient semi-
group follows the rule of addition modulo 12. That is, C(i) + C(j) = C(i + j)
if i + j is less than 12; otherwise C(i) + C(j) = C(i + j - 12). Thus
C(5) + C(8) = C(l). According to 1.10.2, we can read this as stating cor-
rectly: "Any number divisible by 12 with a remainder of 5, added to any
number divisible by 12 with a remainder of 8, produces some number divisible
by 12 with a remainder of 1." The equation "C(5) + C(8) = C(l)" in the
above context is customarily abbreviated: "5 + 8 = 1 (mod 12)."
The quotient semigroup is called "the integers modulo 12." It is in fact a
group. We shall see later that the quotient semigroup of any group must itself
be a group. If we replace the modulus 12 in the above construction by an
arbitrary integer N greater than 1, we obtain "the integers modulo N" as a
quotient group.
1.10.4.2 EXAMPLE: Let (X, BIN) be the group of all rational numbers that
can be expressed as x = 2a3b5c, where a, b, and c are integers (positive,
negative, or zero); BIN is multiplication. We can consider these numbers to
model all possible ratios of pitches in just intonation. 11
1.11 Mathematical Preliminaries
Define a relation CONG: The pair (x, y) is in this relation if the number y
is some power of 2 (positive, negative, or zero) times the number x. In our
intervallic model, this will be the case when the intervals x and y differ by some
number of octaves.
For example, any one of the numbers 12/5, 6/5, 3/5, and 3/10 is in this
relation to itself or to any other one. The four numbers model the four
intervals of a minor tenth up, a minor third up, a major sixth down, and a
major thirteenth down.
As an exercise, using the procedure of 1.10.4.1 as a guide, the reader may
verify that CONG is a congruence. (Remember to verify first that it is an
equivalence relation!) The quotient group models all pitch-class intervals in
just intonation. That is, each congruence class consists of one interval, give or
take any number of octaves.
Mathematically, C(x) = C(2x) = C(4x) = • • • = C(x/2) = C(x/4) = . .
From this, it can be proved: Given any x, there is a unique member x' of C(x)
which lies between 1 (inclusive) and 2 (exclusive). In this way, the members x'
of X that lie between 1 and 2 provide a plausible system of labels for the
congruence classes C(x'). (The various pitch-intervals between the unison and
the rising octave can be used to label the various intervals-modulo-the-
octave.)
It can also be proved: Given any x, there is a unique member x" of C(x)
which can be expressed as x" = 3b5c. So the numbers x" that have factors of 3
and 5 only in their rational expressions provide another plausible system of
labels for the congruence classes C(x"). (x" = 3b5c labels the pitch-class inter-
val of "b dominants and c mediants, modulo the octave.")
1.11 When we studied an equivalence relation on a family S, we made a

number of observations about the natural map E, the function that maps each
element s of S into the equivalence class E(s) of which s is a member. When the
family S is a semigroup X and the equivalence relation is a congruence, we
shall replace the name "E" of this natural map by the name "C": C maps each
element x of the semigroup X into the congruence class C(x) of which x is a
member. We have already used this nomenclature in examples 1.10.4.1 and
1.10.4.2 above.
Everything that we observed earlier about the natural map E (1.9.3,1.9.4,
1.9.5,1.9.7) is true for the natural map C, which is only a special notation for E
in the particular event that S is a semigroup and the equivalence relation is a
congruence. Beyond that, C has special properties that engage the algebraic
structure of the semigroup X and the quotient semigroup X/CONG. Specifi-
cally, the natural map C of X onto X/CONG satisfies law (A) below.
(A): C(x!)C(x2) = C(XiX 2 ) for all x x and x 2 .
72 Indeed we defined the binary composition "C(x1)C(x2)" in X/CONG
precisely so as to satisfy this law. That was the work of 1.10.2 and 1.10.3.
Mathematicians express property (A) above by saying, "C is a homomorph-
ism of X onto X/CONG." The crucial term "homomorphism" is defined in
1.11.1 below.
1.11.1 DEFINITION: A function f from a semigroup (X, BIN) into a semigroup

(X', BIN') is a homomorphism if it satisfies the law:
BIN'(f( Xl ),f(x 2 )) = f(BIN( Xl ,x 2 ))
for all Xi and all x2 in X. One can express this law colloquially by saying, "The
combination of the images is the image of the combination." Using multi-
plicative notation for both semigroups, the law looks simpler:
f( Xl )f(x 2 ) = f( Xl x 2 ).
Certain sorts of homomorphisms are of special interest.
1.11.2 DEFINITION: A homomorphism is an isomorphism (into) if it is 1 -to-1

If f is an isomorphism of (X, BIN) onto (X', BIN'), we say the two semigroups
are isomorphic (via f). In that case the inverse map f -1 is an isomorphism of
(X', BIN') onto (X, BIN).
1.11.3 OPTIONAL: Let f be a homomorphism of a semigroup (X, BIN) onto a

semigroup (X', BIN'). We have already seen (in 1.9.2) that an equivalence
relation is defined if we select as equivalent just those pairs (x, y) satisfying
f (x) = f (y). We can show that the relation in this case is in fact a congruence
CONG.
From earlier work (1.9.7) we know that the mapping ARGS of X' into
X/CONG is 1-to-l and onto. (ARGS(x') is the congruence class comprising
exactly those x such that f (x) = x'.) In this case, f being a homomorphism, we
can show that ARGS is a homomorphism of the semigroup (X', BIN') into the
quotient semigroup (X, BIN)/CONG.
Here is a sketch for the proof of that. We want to show that for all \l and
for allx 2 ,ARGS(f(x 1 ))ARGS(f(x 2 )) = ARGS(f(x1)f(x2)). In this equation,
the symbolic product of the two ARGS-values on the left means the binary
composition of those values in the quotient semigroup; the symbolic product
f(Xi)f(x 2 ) within the equation means the binary composition of those
two f-values in the semigroup (X',BIN'). Now f(x t )f(x 2 ) = f(x 1 x 2 ), since
f is a homomorphism, and ARGS (f (any thing)) = C(that thing), as per
1.9.7(A). Hence the equation we have to show reduces to the equation
C(x1)C(x2) = C(\1x2). And the latter equation is indeed true, since CONG is
a congruence (1.11 (A)).
Since ARGS is 1-to-l, onto, and a homomorphism, it is an isomorphism
of the two semigroups (X', BIN') and (X, BIN)/CONG. Colloquially speak- 13
ing, we can say that the image semigroup is isomorphic with the quotient
semigroup in this context. f/CONG, the inverse map of ARGS, the induced
map of the quotient semigroup onto the image semigroup, is therefore also an
isomorphism.
This is very significant. It means that any homomorphic image (X', BIN')
of a semigroup (X, BIN) "is essentially" some quotient semigroup of
(X, BIN), and the generic homomorphism f of (X, BIN) onto that image "is
essentially" the natural map of (X, BIN) onto that quotient. The words "is
essentially" here must be interpreted with some care. They express the idea of
identification up to within isomorphism of the image semigroups. With that
understanding, we can say that it suffices to study the possible congruence
relations on (X, BIN), in order to know all possible homomorphisms which
can map (X, BIN) onto other semigroups, and all possible other semigroups
which are homomorphic images of (X, BIN).
1.11.4 One more term should be introduced here. An anti-homomorphism of

one semigroup into another is a function f satisfying f(x!)f(x 2 ) = f^x^.
Given a semigroup (X, BIN) we can define another binary composition
ANTIBIN on the family X: ANTIBIN (x l 5 x 2 ) = BIN(x 2 ,x 1 ). ANTIBIN
is associative, so (X, ANTIBIN) is a semigroup. (X, ANTIBIN) is anti-
isomorphic to (X, BIN) under the map f (x) = x. In the obvious sense, every
anti-homomorphism of (X, BIN) is a homomorphism of (X, ANTIBIN) and
vice-versa. Thus we will not normally have to concern ourselves with anti-
homomorphisms. We will only have to do so when we have to deal with both
homomorphisms and anti-homomorphisms of the same semigroup at the
same time.
Such a situation will in fact arise later on. We shall be studying a certain
group whose elements are i, j, k ...; we shall also be studying various families
of transformations on a certain family of objects. One such family will be
called "transpositions"; for each i there will be a corresponding transposition-
operation TJ. Another such family will be called "interval-preserving oper-
ations"; for each i there will be a corresponding interval-preserving operation
PJ. The P-operations will combine according to the rule PjPj = P^; the T-
operations will combine according to the rule T;Tj = T^. The map of i to P;
will be an isomorphism, while the map of i to T, will be an anti-isomorphism of
the same group.
In such a situation we must perforce deal with the concept of anti-
homomorphism. We could change BIN to ANTIBIN in the index group i, j,
k . . . so as to make the mapping of i to Tj an isomorphism, but then the map-
ping of i to PJ would become an anti-isomorphism. Using right orthography
for the operations T; and P; would have the same effect.
1.12.1 THEOREM: Let f be a homomorphism of the semigroup (X, BIN) onto

14 the semigroup (X', BIN'). If e is an identity for (X, BIN) then f (e) is an identity
Mathematical Preliminaries 1.13
for (X', BIN'). In that case, if x has an inverse x * in (X, BIN) then f(x-1) is an
inverse for f(x) in (X', BIN').
Proof: f(e)f(x) = f(ex) = f(x); f(x)f(e) = f(xe) = f(x). Thus f(e) is an
identity for the family of all f(x). Since f is onto, every member of X' can be
written as the value f (x) of some argument x. Hence f (e) is an identity for all of
X'. If x has an inverse then f(x -1 )f(x) = f(x-1x) = f(e) = the identity in X';
likewise f(x)f(x-1) is the identity in X'. So f(x-1) is the inverse in X' for f(x).
Thatis, f(x~ 1 ) = (f(x)r1.
1.12.2 THEOREM: A homomorphic image of a group is a group.
The theorem follows at once from 1.12.1.
1.12.3 THEOREM: Any quotient semigroup of a group is a group.
The theorem follows from 1.12.2, since the natural map of the given
group onto its quotient semigroup is a homomorphism (1.11 (A)).
The quotient construction is one common way to derive new semigroups
or groups from old. Another way is to form "direct products" as sketched
below.
1.13 Let SGPi = (X t , BINO and SGP2 = (X2, BIN2) be semigroups. The
direct product of SGPj and SGP2 is a semigroup SGP3 = (X3,BIN3)
constructed as follows. X3 is the Cartesian product Xt x X 2 . Given
(x ls x 2 ) and (y1}y2) in X3, BIN3((xl5x2), (y l5 y 2 )) is defined as the
element (BIN^x^yj), BIN 2 (x 2 ,y 2 )) of X3. In multiplicative notation,
(Xi,x 2 )(y 1 ,y 2 ) is defined = (x 1 y 1 ,x 2 y 2 ).
BIN3 as defined is associative, so that SGP3 is indeed a semigroup. To
symbolize that SGP3 is the direct product of SCPj and SGP2 we write
SGP3 = SGP 1 ®SGP 2 .
If ej and e2 are identities for SGPj and SGP2, then e3 = (e ls e 2 ) is an
identity for SGP3. If xl in Xt and x2 in X2 have inverses in their respective
semigroups, then (x^SxJ 1 ) is an inverse for the element (Xj,x 2 ) of SGP3. It
follows: If SGPj and SGP2 are both groups, then so is their direct product
SGP3.
75
2 Generalized Interval Systems
(1): Preliminary Examples
and Definition
In conceptualizing a particular musical space, it often happens that we con-

ceptualize along with it, as one of its characteristic textural features, a family
of directed measurements, distances, or motions of some sort. Contemplating
elements s and t of such a musical space, we are characteristically aware of the
particular directed measurement, distance, or motion that proceeds "from s to
t." Figure 0.1 on page xi earlier symbolized this awareness, using an arrow
marked i extending or moving from a point marked s to a point marked t to
help us render visible our intuition. When s and t are pitches or pitch classes we
are comfortable with the word "interval" as a term to use in connection with
the i-arrow. That is why I have decided to keep using the word "interval"
when generalizing our intuitions about the i-arrow to musical spaces whose
objects s, t, and the like are not necessarily pitches or pitch classes.
It will be helpful to explore some specific musical spaces informally in this
connection, before proceeding more formally later on. "int(s, t)" will provi-
sionally denote our intuition of a directed measurement or motion behaving
like an "interval from s to t." Later on we shall attach a more formal
significance to the expression "int(s, t)."
2.1.1 EXAMPLE: The musical space is a diatonic gamut of pitches arranged in

scalar order. Given pitches s and t, int(s, t) is the number of scale steps one
must move in an upwards-oriented sense to get from s to t. Thus int(C4, C4)
= 0, int(C4,D4) = 1, int(C4,E4) = 2, and int(C4,C5) = 7. Int(C4,A3) =
— 2, since moving " — 2 steps up" amounts to moving 2 steps down.
Using these measurements, if we take 2 steps up (e.g. from C4 to E4) and
then take 2 more steps up (in this case, from E4 to G4), we have taken 4 steps
16 up in all (in this case, from C4 to G4). Symbolically, int(C4, E4) = 2,
Generalized Interval Systems (1) 2.1.5
int(E4, G4) = 2, int(C4, G4) = 4, and 2 + 2 = 4. The intervallic mea-

surements of the model thus interact effectively with ordinary arithmetic. This
obviates a defect in the traditional measurements which tell us, for example,
that a "3rd" and another "3rd" compose to form a "5th." (3 + 3 = 5 ???)
2.1.2 EXAMPLE: The musical space is a gamut of chromatic pitches under

twelve-tone equal temperament. Given pitches s and t, int(s, t) is the number
of semitones one must move in an upwards-oriented sense to get from s to t,
not counting s itself. Thus int(C4, D4) = 2, int(C4, G4) = 7, int(C4, C5) =
12, int(C4, F3) = -7, and int(C4, F2) = -19.
2.1.3 EXAMPLE: The musical space comprises the twelve pitch-classes under
equal temperament. If we arrange the pitch classes around the face of a clock
following the order of a chromatic scale, then int(s, t) is the number of hours
that we traverse in proceeding clockwise from s to t. For instance, if s is at 8
o'clock and t is at 1 o'clock, int(s, t) = 5. Note that the number int(s, t) does
not depend on which pitch class is positioned at 12 o'clock. In any case,
int(E, E) = 0, int(E, F) = 1, and int(F, E) = 11.
2.1.4 EXAMPLE: The musical space comprises seven pitch-classes, corre-

sponding to the seven mode degrees of system 2.1.1. If we wrap the scale
around the face of a seven-hour clock, then int(s, t) is the number of hours
that we traverse on that clock, in proceeding clockwise from s to t. Thus
int(D, D) = 0, int(D, E) = 1, and int(D, C) = 6.
We could produce analogs for the linear spaces of examples 2.1.1 and
2.1.2, using other sorts of scales. And, for systems in which octave equivalence
is functional, we could derive analogs for the modular spaces of examples
2.1.3 and 2.1.4. For example, we could investigate octatonic-scale space in the
manner of 2.1.1 and 2.1.2; we could derive there from a modular space of eight
pitch-classes, wrapping the octatonic scale around an eight-hour clock and
measuring intervals modulo 8.
2.1.5 EXAMPLE: This musical space, harmonic rather than melodic, com-
prises pitches available from a given pitch using just intonation. If we write
FQ(s) to denote the fundamental frequency of the pitch s, then int(s, t) is the
quotient FQ(t)/FQ(s). That quotient will be some number of the form 2a3b5c,
where a, b, and c are integers, positive, negative, or zero.
It is not immediately clear what intuitions of "distance" or "motion"
we are measuring by these intervals. Personally, I am convinced that our
intuitions are highly conditioned by cultural factors. In particular, I do not
think that the acoustics of harmonically vibrating bodies provide in them-
selves an adequate basis for grounding those intuitions. For instance, when we 17
2.7.5 Generalized Interval Systems (1)
write int(C4, F#4) = 45/32 (= 2~ 5 32 5), I do not believe that we are intuiting a
common partial frequency F#9 for both C4 and F#4, a partial which is
intuited forthwith in some harmonic space as both the 32nd partial of F#4 and
the 45th partial of C4. Nor do I believe that we intuit a path in harmonic space
which corresponds directly to a compound series of individual multiplications
and divisions by 2,3, and 5. That is, if we take the 5th partial of the 3rd partial
of the 3rd partial of C4, and then find the frequency of which that is the 2nd
partial, and then find the frequency of which that is the 2nd partial, continuing
on in this way and so arriving eventually at F#4,1 do not believe that the way
of getting from C4 to F#4 which we have intellectually reconstructed in
harmonic space is in any sense an intuition of distance or gesture being
measured by the composite ratio 45/32 = 5 times 3 times 3 divided by 2
divided by 2 and so on.
In order to describe an actual harmonic intuition, I would rather proceed
as follows. When we hear or imagine the succession C4-F#4 in its own context
and try to intuit a harmonic sensation, we intuit a tonic followed by the leading
tone of its dominant. And we intuit the secondary leading tone harmonically
as the third of a harmony whose root is the dominant of the dominant. Con-
structing a fundamental bass representative for that root, i.e. some D below
the F$4, we will locate that D in register as D3, to keep it completely beneath
the "soprano line" C4-F#4. For the same reason, in constructing a funda-
mental bass for the note G4 that we imagine following F#4 in the soprano, a
fundamental bass representing the implicit role of dominant harmony in the
context, we will locate the bass G as G3. In this way we intuit the enlarged
harmonic context of figure 2.1 (a) from the given stimulus C4-F#4.
FIGURE 2.1
The arrows on figure 2.1(b) show the path in harmonic space which I
believe we actually intuit in this enlarged context. Starting at C4 as a local
tonic, the first arrow takes us to G3, a fundamental bass for the dominant
harmony where we hear the implicit enlarged context closing. The second
arrow shows G3 inflected by its own dominant immediately preceding; the
arrow points to the fundamental bass D3 for that event. The third arrow
points to F#3, the major third of the harmony over D3. The fourth arrow
points to F#4, the octave above F#3. Collating the entire path, we can retrace
18 it and express it in prose: F#4 lies an octave above the major third of that
Generalized In terval Systems (1) 2.1.5
dominant which lies a fourth below that dominant which lies a fourth below
C4.
Now we can finally see in what sense the number 45/32 is a valid measure-
ment for some intuition of a characteristic way from C4 to F#4 in harmonic
space. We do have clear intuitions for a number of basic harmonic moves; we
can measure those moves, and we have intuited (not just constructed) a chain
of them. Our belief in the validity of mathematics carries us the rest of the way.
Specifically, we intuit clearly the relation "t lies an octave above s," and we
accept empirically the measurement FQ(t) = 2FQ(s) as a valid reflection of
that intuition. We also intuit clearly the relation "t is the major third of the
s harmony," and we accept the measurement FQ(t) = (5/4)FQ(s) as valid
in connection with that intuition. Finally, we intuit clearly the relation "t
is that dominant which lies a fourth below s," and we accept the measure-
ment FQ(t) = (3/4)FQ(s) as valid in that connection. Applying those basic
measurements to the arrows of figure 2.1(b), we get FQ(F#4) = 2FQ(F#3),
FQ(F#3) = (5/4)FQ(D3), FQ(D3) = (3/4)FQ(G3), and FQ(G3) =
(3/4)FQ(C4). Applying mathematics to this chain of measurements,
we infer that the equation FQ(F#4) = 2FQ(F#3) = 2(5/4)FQ(D3) =
2(5/4)(3/4)FQ(G3) = 2(5/4)(3/4)(3/4)FQ(C4) is valid as measuring an
intuited chain of intuitions, that is, not simply as an empirical fact. Observe
that the number int(C4, F#4) = FQ(F#4)/FQ(C4) = 45/32 arises here not
as the product of 2~ 5 and 32 and 5, which is its most "natural" mathematical
factorization. Rather, 45/32 arises as the product of the four factors 2, (5/4),
(3/4), and (3/4), reflecting its "natural" way of measuring an intuited chain of
intuitions in the given situation.
I should stress again not only the sophistication and complexity of this
system (compared, for example, to the melodic system of example 2.1.1) but
also its heavy reliance on cultural conditioning. A brief review of just how the
noteheads got onto figure 2.1 will emphasize the point: Cultural conditioning
is obviously important in our construction of the extended mental/aural con-
text, given only the acoustical stimulus C4-F#4 and the intent to think/hear
"harmonically." That intent, in turn, is itself a cultural phenomenon. Imagine
a culture whose members, when they hear the notes of figure 2.1, are able to
override the melodic relation of F#4 to the G4 which follows, as a primary
structural determinant for a system of music theory that addresses such
passages! The amount of time it takes the reader to discover that the last
sentence is ironic indicates the greater or lesser extent to which we are all still
within the grip of that culture.
Then too, our interest in the harmonic system under study depends to a
considerable extent on a cultural predilection for harmonically resonating
instruments (with one degree of freedom) producing sustained (steady-state)
sounds. In fact, much of the traditional theory pertinent to the system was
developed under the supposition that the domain of investigation could be 19
2.1.6 Generalized In terval Systems (1)
adequately represented by aspects of one or more stretched strings. Despite its

problems, that representation had the great advantage of enabling theorists to
connect their intuitions of musical intervals with the measurement of visible,
tangible material distances along the strings. This Cartesian modelling of
harmonic intervals as res extensae, in a space outside the minds and bodies of
the musicians, enabled harmonic theorists of earlier times to avoid having to
confront such complex and problematic gestural intuitions as those of figure
2.1.
2.1.6 EXAMPLE: The musical space comprises the pitch classes generated by
the space of example 2.1.5 above. Given pitch classes s and t, int(s, t) is the
ordered pair of integers (b, c) such that t lies b dominants and c mediants from
s. Here, if p and q are pitches belonging to the classes s and t respectively, then
there is some integral power of 2, say 2a, such that the interval from p to q in
the system of 2.1.5 above is 2a3b5°.
We have int(C, G) = (1,0), int(G, D) = (1,0), int(D, F#) = (0,1), int(C,
F#) = (2,l), int(C,F) = (-l,0), int(C,Ab) = (0,-l), and int(C,Db) =
(—1, —1). (Since we are in just intonation, there are many distinct pitch
classes that have any given letter name C, G, D, F#, F, A(7, D|?, and so on. I am
supposing above that we are considering the simplest possible harmonic
relationship in each case. Later discussion will clarify the exact issues
involved.)
This system modularizes the system of 2.1.5 by reducing out all octave
relationships among both pitches and intervals. Its utility is clear in connec-
tion with figure 2.1. The most salient aspect of our harmonic intuition there
was that the pitch class F# represented the mediant of the dominant of that
dominant of the pitch class C. Our having to manipulate precise registers in
the figure, particularly registers for a fundamental bass, made the working out
of that intuition more complicated and problematical than necessary in this
case. Now that we have available the modular harmonic system of the present
example, we could get from C4 to F#4 more simply by a new chain of
intuitions. Contemplating the succession of pitches C4-F#4 as before, we
arrive as before at the intuition that F#4 is a leading tone to a dominant of C,
and therefore functions harmonically as a mediant for a dominant of the
dominant. We have now intuited int(C, F#) = (2,1) in modular harmonic
space. We know that the pitch interval between two pitches whose pitch
classes are in a tonic/dominant relation is validly measured by some-power-
of-2 times 3/2. We also know that the pitch interval between two pitches whose
pitch classes are in a root/mediant relation is validly measured by some-
power-of-2 times 5/4. Hence we infer from our intuition of the pitch-clas
interval int(C, F#) = (2,1) the validity of measuring the pitch interval
int(C4, F#4) as = some-power-of-2 times (3/2)2 times (5/4). We know that a
20 rising interval between two pitches lying closer than an octave is validly
measured by a number between 1 and 2. So we infer that int(C4, F|4) is validly

measured by the number 2a times (3/2)2 times (5/4), where the integer a makes
the product greater than 1 and less than 2.
We can visualize modular harmonic space as a two-dimensional map or
game board in the format of figure 2.2.
FIGURE 2.2
On this map, if int(s, t) = (b, c) then the pitch class t lies b places to the
right of s and c places above s. (—b places to the right is b places to the left.)
The subscripts help us keep track of the mediant dimension: If s has subscript
m and t has subscript n then int(s, t) will be of form (something, n - m).
The subscripts and the visual format more generally clarify the functional distinc-
tions in this space between pitch classes with the same letter-name but differ-
ent subscripts; they are at different places on the map. Since we are assuming
just intonation, the frequencies involved will differ by factors involving the
syntonic comma and the pitch classes C_,, C0, C,, ... will be distinct acousti-
cally. But even in equal temperament, the visual format of figure 2.2 portrays
a conceptually infinite harmonic space, whose distinct places correspond to
subscripted pitch-classes. (Subscripted pitch-classes can be expressed formally
as ordered pairs; for example A\>3 can be expressed as the pair (A|>, 3).)
We can conceptualize the intervals of modular harmonic space as charac-
teristic "moves" on the game board of figure 2.2. For example, in going from
CQ to Ffj, we move 2 squares to the right and 1 square up. The number-pair
(2, 1), which is int(C0, F|j), can thereby be conceptualized as a label for this
particular form of the "knight's move" on the game board, i.e. the knight's
move east by northeast. The same move (interval) takes us from Al to D#2, or
from DL, to G0. 27
We could reduce the system of 2.1.6 farther if we considered pitch classes

to be equivalent when they shared the same letter name, differing only by
subscript. Then C_ l 5 C0, Cj, C 2 ,... C n ,... would all mean the same thing; so
would £_!, E0, E l 5 E 2 , . . . , E n . In this case, moving one square north on the
game board of figure 2.2 would be functionally equivalent to moving four
squares east. The north/south dimension of the board would functionally
disappear, and we could reduce our map to a one-dimensional east/west
succession of dominant-related pitch classes... E|?0, 6(70, F0, C0, G0, D0, A 0 ,
E0, ... Because of the equivalence relation that led to this series, we may as
well consider the reduced pitch classes to represent pitches in quarter-comma
mean-tone temperament: Four new "fifths" (that were steps east on figure 2.2)
are pitch-class equivalent to a "major third" (that was a step north on figure
2.2). There is no reason to keep the zero subscripts in the series of mean-tone
pitch classes, so we can just write... E[?, 8(7, F, C, G, D, A, E,... The intervals
of this reduced system are integers measuring steps "east" on that chain; since
we have lost the north/south dimension of our earlier figure, we may as well
say "to the right" rather than "east."
We could reduce the mean-tone system even farther by declaring the
enharmonic equivalence of Gl? with F#, of Dfr with C#, and so on. The infinite
series of mean-tone pitch classes thereby gets wrapped around the face of a
clock, and we find ourselves back at the system of 2.1.3, only now measuring
intervals-modulo-the-octave by (equally tempered) fifths rather than by
semitones.1
We have explored six examples, and suggested some further examples, of

musical spaces in connection with which we traditionally use the word "inter-
val" to denote a directed measurement, distance, or motion. All six of these
musical spaces, melodic or harmonic, had pitches or pitch classes for their
elements. Now we transfer our attention to some musical spaces whose
elements are measured rhythmic entities of various sorts. We presuppose a
context that makes us sensitive to time in segments that can be measured by
some temporal unit, whether this unit is some local pulse within a piece or
some conceptual span, like the minute that underlies metronome markings.
2.2.1 EXAMPLE: The musical space is a succession of time points pulsing at

regular temporal distances one time unit apart. Given time points s and t,
1. Maps like figure 2.2 have been especially common in German theories of tonality since
the eighteenth century, generally in connection with key relationships rather than root relation-
ships (though some theories do not dwell on such a distinction). The closest precedent I can find
for the actual configuration of figure 2.2 itself appears in Hugo Riemann, Grosse Kompositions-
lehre, vol. 1, Der homophone Satz (Melodielehre und Harmonielehre) (Berlin and Stuttgart: W.
Spemann, 1902). Riemann's map is on page 479. He illustrates intervals as moves on the board, on
22 page 480.
int(s, t) is the number of temporal units by which t is later than s. (—x units
later is x units earlier.)
2.2.2EXAMPLE: The musical space is the preceding one, wrapped around the
face of an N-hour clock. We can imagine this as modeling the imposition of an
N-unit meter on the earlier space, so that barlines appear regularly every N
pulses. The present space has N members, which we shall call "beat classes,"
labeling them by numbers from O through N — 1. Beat-class 0 comprises all
the pulses of 2.2.1 that occur at some bar-line; beat-class 1 comprises all the
pulses of 2.2.1 that^ occur one unit after some barline;...; beat-class (N — 1)
comprises all the pulses of 2.2.1 that occur one unit before some barline. If s
and t are beat classes, int(s, t) is the number of hours clockwise that t lies from
s on the N-hour clock. Thus, in twelve-eighths meter (N = 12) the interval
from beat-class 10 to beat-class 5 is 7.
We discussed the notion of beat classes earlier (1.9.6.2), as exemplifying
the concept of equivalence classes. We observed there that a dancing master
often calls out beat classes over and over as the pulses go by, using numbers 1
through N rather than 0 through N — 1, e.g. "ONE-two-three, ONE-two-
three,..." Conductors and conducting students will also be familiar with the
notion kinetically. For them, beat classes are associated with definite spatial
positions of the hand, positions which are numbered on pedagogical dia-
grams. Intervals of 1 between beat classes correspond to minimal unbroken
hand gestures for the conductor, gestures that proceed from each beat class to
the next along smooth arrows on the diagrams, tracing a characteristic
gestural path through this modular space over and over again. This is the path
along which we ride "from s to t," making int(s, t) gestural articulations along
the way.
Milton Babbitt has worked with a system of 12 beat classes that behaves
formally exactly like the traditional 12-tone system for pitch classes.2
2.2.3 EXAMPLE: The musical space is a family of durations, each duration

measuring a temporal span in time units. And int(s, t) is the quotient of the t
and s measurements, t/s. If s spans 4 time units and t spans 3 time units, then
int(s, t) = 3/4. t is "3/4 the length of" s.
We may, if we wish, identify each duration with the beat for a certain
tempo. The numerical quotients of our durations then measure the inverse
quotients of the corresponding tempi in tempo-space.3
2. He describes the system in "Twelve-Tone Rhythmic Structure and the Electronic

Medium," Perspectives of New Music vol. 1, no. 1 (Fall 1962), 49-79.
3. Influential compositions whose rhythmic textures involve such proportions include
Elliott Carter's String Quartet no. 1 (1950-51), Conlon Nancarrow's Studies for Player Piano
(1951-), and Gyorgy Ligeti's Poeme symphonique for 100 metronomes (1962). 23
2.2.4 Generalized Interval Systems (I)
2.2A EXAMPLE: We reduce the system of 2.2.3 by a durational modulus M

greater than 1. Two durations are conceived as equivalent if one is some
integral power of M times the other. This leads us to a modular musical space
whose elements are duration-classes (i.e. equivalence classes of durations
under the defined equivalence relation).
The intervals of 2.2.3 are reduced in the same manner: Two numerical
quotients or proportions are conceived as equivalent if one is some power of
M times the other. The ratio-classes can be used as formal intervals in the
reduced system. Mathematically, the reduction from 2.2.3 to 2.2.4 is exactly
the same as the reduction from a system of pitches and pitch-ratios, to a
system of pitch classes and ratio-classes modulo powers of M = 2, that is pitch
classes and intervals-modulo-the-octave.
To illustrate, let us take M = 2 for a rhythmic modulus: Two durations,
or two numerical proportions, are conceived as equivalent if one is twice the
other, or four times the other, or eight times the other, or half the other, or
one-quarter of the other, and so on. One equivalence class of durations is then
the family r = (...,5/32,5/16,5/8,5/4,5/2,5,10,20,...). Another equiva-
lence class is the family s = (..., 1/96,1/48,1/24,1/12,1/6,1/3,2/3,4/3,
8/3,...). Yet another equivalence class is the family t = (..., 7/80,7/40,7/20,
7/10,7/5,14/5,28/5,...). With reference to these particular classes r, s, and t,
int(r, s) is the ratio-class that contains the number 16/15. The members of this
ratio-class are exactly the numbers of form (some-power-of-2)-times-(16/15).
If p is any member of class r and q is any member of class s, then the ratio q/p
is (some-power-of-2)-times-(16/15). In similar wise, int(s, t) is the ratio-class
that contains 21/20; the members of this class are exactly the numbers of form
(some-power-of-2)-times-(21 /20).
If we allow irrational durations (or tempi with respect to the time-unit),
we can consider the equivalence class u = (..., n/4, n/2, n, 2n, 4rc,...).
Int(s, u) is the ratio-class that contains the number 3?r/8; the members of this
class are exactly the numbers of form (some-power-of-2)-times-(37c/8).4
2.2.5 EXAMPLE: The musical space is a family of durations. Int(s, t) is the

difference (NB not the quotient) of time units between s and t: Int(s, t) =
(t — s) units. So if r, s, and t are respectively 3, 4, and 8 units long, then
int(r, s) = (4 — 3)units = 1 unit, int(s, t) = (8 — 4)units = 4 units, and
int(t,r) = (3 — 8)units = — 5 units. In the earlier system of quotients (2.2.3),
the corresponding intervals would have been 4/3, 2, and 3/8.
4. Karlheinz Stockhausen argues the plausibility of system 2.2.4, with M = 2, in "... how
time passes ...," trans. C. Cardew, Die Reihe (English version) vol. 3, pp. 10-40. He also argues
there the interrelatedness of his rhythmic system with traditional pitch systems. A clear view of
how Stockhausen uses these ideas for the tempi of Gruppen (1955-57) is provided by Jonathan
Harvey, The Music of Stockhausen (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press,
24 1975), 55-76.
The additive system now under study measures intervals in units of time;
the earlier system of quotients measured intervals as pure numbers (ratios).
The difference between the systems here becomes striking if we set the time
unit as "one sixteenth note." Then the durations r = 3, s = 4, and t = 8 can be
symbolized respectively by a dotted eighth, a quarter note, and a half note.
The additive intervals int(r, s), int(s, t), and int(t, r), computed above as 1 unit
4 units, and — 5 units, can be expressed as "plus a sixteenth," "plus a quarter,"
and "minus a-quarter-tied-to-a-sixteenth." The corresponding multiplicative
intervals are simply the numbers 4/3, 2, and 3/8, numbers that express ratios
involving the durations.
2.2.6 EXAMPLE: To simplify matters, we restrict our attention to the dura-

tions of 2.2.5 that are exactly the positive integral multiples of some basic
small duration, which we take as the temporal unit. We wrap these durations
around an M-hour clock, accordingly reducing the system to a modular
system. The modular space comprises M duration-classes: Two durations
belong to the same duration-class if their lengths differ by some integral
multiple of M. The interval between duration classes s-units-mod-M and t-
units-mod-M is (t — s)-units-mod-M. t — s is the number of hours clockwise
from s to t on the M-hour clock. The duration t is int(s, t) units longer than s,
give or take any number of M-unit "measures".
For example take M = 16; take s = 8 and t = 4 units mod 16. Then
int(s,t) = 4 — 8= — 4 = 12 units mod 16. If we represent the unit as a six-
teenth note, then the M-unit "measure" lasts a whole note. The duration-class
s = 8 is represented by a half note, give or take any number of whole notes tied
on. The duration-class t = 4 is represented by a quarter note, give or take the
same. The interval int(s, t) = 12 is represented by "plus a dotted half," give or
take the same. Our arithmetic mod 16 above reflects this observation: A
quarter note, tied to an extra whole note for free, is a dotted half longer than a
half note.
We have now explored six rhythmic spaces as well as six tonal ones. To
the extent we intuit these spaces, we intuit "intervals" in connection with
them. Later on we shall explore yet other spaces, including some more
rhythmic ones and some timbral ones. At this point, though, it will be helpful
to stop and develop some formal generalities.
All of the examples in this chapter so far have certain structural features
in common. Foremost among these is our intuition in each case of a group,
explicitly or implicitly defined, within which the intervals lie. If i and j are
intervals (characteristic measurements, distances, motions, or the like) we
intuit being able to compose them in some characteristic way (e.g. by addition,
addition mod 12, multiplication, multiplication mod powers of 2, concatena- 25
tion of moves on a game board, and so on). And we intuit the composition ij
of the intervals i and j to be itself an interval of the system (characteristic
measurement, distance, motion, and the like). Indeed, we intuit that for any
elements r, s, and t of the musical space, the interval-from-r-to-s composes
with the interval-from-s-to-t to yield the interval-from-r-to-t. Symbolically:
int(r, s)int(s, t) = int(r, t).
We intuit the composition of intervals to be associative: i(jk) = (ij)k. We
intuit an identity interval e, that composes with any interval j to yield j: ej =
je = j. Indeed, we intuit that each object s of the space lies the identity inter-
val from itself: int(s, s) = e.
We intuit that each interval has an "inverse interval" in the sense of
measurement, distance or motion: i""1 measures, extends, or moves in the
reverse sense from i. We intuit that this intuitive inverse is also a group inverse:
'i-1i = ii"1 = e. Indeed, we intuit that if i is the interval from s to t, then i"1 will
be the interval from t to s. Symbolically: int(t, s) = int(s, t)"1.
We can collate all these intuitions to construct a formal generalized
system. As we shall see, all our examples so far with one exception suggest
specific instances of the generalized system.
2.3.1 DEFINITION: A Generalized Interval System (GIS) is an ordered triple

(S, IVLS, int), where S, the space of the GIS, is a family of elements, IVLS, the
group of intervals for the GIS, is a mathematical group, and int is a function
mapping S x S into IVLS, all subject to the two conditions (A) and (B)
following.
(A): For all r, s, and t in S, int(r, s)int(s, t) = int(r, t).
(B): For every s in S and every i in IVLS, there is a unique t in S which
lies the interval i from s, that is a unique t which satisfies the equation
int(s, t) = i.
Condition (B) of the definition is a new idea. We shall discuss it shortly.
Condition (A) has already been discussed. But what about the other equations
involving the function int, equations we also discussed above? Should we not
also stipulate these other equations in defining a GIS? It turns out that we do
not have to, because they are logically implied by the group structure and
Condition (A). We demonstrate that in the form of a theorem.
2.3.2 THEOREM: In any GIS, int(s, s) = e and int(t, s) = int(s, t)"1 for every s
and t in S.
Proof: int(s, s)int(s, s) = int(s, s), via Condition (A). Multiply both sides of
that equation by int(s, s)"1; we obtain int(s, s) = e as asserted.
int(s, t)int(t, s) = int(s, s) via Condition (A). We have just proved
that int(s, s) = e; hence int(s, t)int(t, s) = e. Multiply both sides of that
26 equation on the left by int(s, t)"1; we obtain int(t, s) = int(s, t)"1 as asserted.
Now let us turn our attention to Condition (B) of the definition. Essen-
tially, it guarantees that the space S is large enough to contain all the elements
we could conceive of in theory. The idea is: If we can conceive of an element s
and if we can conceive of a characteristic measurement, distance, or motion i,
then we can conceive of an element t which lies the interval i from s. In certain
specific cases, application of this idea may require enlarging practical families
of musical elements, to become larger formal spaces that are theoretically
conceivable while musically impractical. For instance, we shall need to con-
ceive supersonic and subsonic "pitches" in order to accommodate the idea of
being able to go up or down one scale degree from any note, in connection with
example 2.1.1. Figure 2.2 affords another good example: Obviously no finite
musical context can explore the entire extent of this map, which accommo-
dates the idea of being able to conceive the dominant, mediant, subdominant,
and submediant of any pitch class.
This is the methodological point: We must conceive the formal space of a
GIS as a space of theoretical potentialities, rather than as a compendium of
musical practicalities. In a specific compositional or theoretical context, the
space S of a GIS might be perfectly accessible in practice. Such is the case, for
example, with the "twelve-tone" GIS pertaining to example 2.1.3: Every one
of its twelve pitch-classes is easily referenced by any pertinent music. On the
other hand, in other compositional or theoretical contexts, the space S of a
GIS might be pertinent as an entirety only to the extent it is suggested or
implied by the actually stated musical material, plus the characteristic re-
lationships actually employed. In just this way a painting or statue might
suggest or imply the entire extension of Euclidean two-or-three-dimensional
space, or some other geometrical space. (I am thinking in particular of the
parabolic space in some of Van Gogh's late work.)
Let us consider figure 2.2 yet again in this connection. In order to conceive
the extension of the entire map, we need only three things: one (tonic) place on
the map, the characteristic idea of a "just dominant" relation involving pitch
classes, and the characteristic idea of an independent "just mediant" relation.
In other words, we need only the pitch classes and the intervals we can infer
from one tonic triad (!) in order to generate the entire conceptual group of
intervals, and thereby to infer the conceptual extension of the entire map, as a
terrain within which a particular composition or theory may occupy some
particular region.
Another feature of Condition (B) also requires discussion. Given s and i,
the condition demands not just some t that satisfies int(s, t) = i, but a unique
such t. We might consider weakening the condition, replacing the words "a
unique," where they appear in 2.3.1(B), with the word "some." Let us call the
weakened condition "(weak B)". Could we gain even greater generality by
using (weak B) instead of (B)? Not really. Under condition (weak B), the space
S would be partitioned into equivalence classes: s and s' would be equivalent if
and only if int(s, s') = e. Given s' equivalent to s and t' equivalent to t, it would 27
2.4 Generalized Interval Systems (1)
be true that int(s', t') = int(s, t). We could thus think of the intervals as being
from one equivalence class to another. We could replace S by the quotient
family S/EQUIV, the family of equivalence classes, and obtain a GIS thereby.
(That is, Condition (B) would apply to the function int on equivalence
classes.) It is hard to see what we could possibly want to do with S that we
could not do as well or better with the reduced space S/EQUIV of equivalence
classes.
2.4 At this point, let us briefly review all our examples, noting the various
GIS structures which they suggest. 2.1.1 suggests a GIS in which S is the
indicated gamut, extended indefinitely both up and down. In this GIS, IVLS is
the group of integers under addition and int(s, t) is the number of steps up
from s to t. — i steps up is i steps down. The reader may verify that Conditions
(A) and (B) of Definition 2.3.1 are satisfied. As we observed informally during
the earlier discussion of this example, the non-traditional numbering of the
scalar intervals is necessary so that the algebra of Condition (A) can obtain.
The GIS suggested by example 2.1.2 consists of the indicated space S, a
chromatic scale extended indefinitely up and down, the group IVLS = in-
tegers under addition, and the function int(s, t) = number of semitones up
from s to t, not counting s. Again, — i up is i down. The reader may verify that
Conditions (A) and (B) of 2.3.1 are satisfied.
The GIS for example 2.1.3 consists of the space S = the twelve pitch
classes as indicated, the group IVLS = the integers under addition modulo 12,
and the function int(s, t) = number of hours clockwise from s to t on a 12-hour
clock. The GIS for example 2.1.4 consists of the space S = the seven mode
degrees as indicated, the group IVLS = the integers under addition modulo 7,
and the function int(s, t) = number of hours clockwise from s to t on a 7-hour
clock. The GIS for example 2.1.5 has for its space S the extended family of all
"pitches" conceptually available from a given pitch using just intonation. The
group IVLS here is the multiplicative group comprising all rational numbers
that can be expressed in the form 2a3b5c, where a, b, and c are integers. The
function int here is the quotient int(s, t) = FQ(t)/FQ(s).
To conceive the GIS for example 2.1.6, we take as our space S the "game
board" of figure 2.2. IVLS here is the group of ordered pairs of integers (b,c)
under componentwise addition: (b^c^ + (b 2 ,c 2 ) = (bt + b 2 ,C! + c2).
(IVLS is thus the direct product of the-integers-under-addition with itself.)
The function int is as discussed: int(s, t) = (b, c), where t lies b squares east and
c squares north of s on the game board.
The GIS for example 2.2.1 has as its space S the indicated succession of
time points, conceptually extending indefinitely both backwards and for-
wards in time. IVLS here is the integers under addition, and int(s, t) is the
number of time units by which t is later than s, — i later meaning i earlier. For
28 example 2.2.2, the GIS consists of S = the N beat-classes, IVLS = the integers
Generalized Interval Systems (1) 2.4
under addition modulo N, and int(s, t) = the number of hours clockwise that
t lies from s on an N-hour clock.
The GIS for example 2.2.3 depends upon just what proportions among
durations we wish to allow. IVLS in any case will be some multiplicative group
of positive numbers. If we allow only the basic proportions of 2 and 3, then
IVLS will comprise those numbers of form 2a3b, where a and b are integers; S
will then comprise exactly such durations as are in those proportions to any
given duration. S is conceptually extended to allow indefinitely short and
indefinitely long "durations." If we allow basic rhythmic proportions of 5 and
7, as well as 2 and 3, then IVLS will comprise all numbers of form 2a3b5c7d,
and S will contain the corresponding extra members. Or we might take, as
basic rhythmic proportions, the square root of 2 (2(1/2)) and the square root of
3 (3(1/2)); then IVLS will contain exactly those numbers of form 2(a/2)3(b/2),
where a and b are integers, and S will contain the corresponding durations in
proportion to any one given duration. And so on. In each case, the function
int(s, t) is given by the quotient t/s = (t units)/(s units).
When we reduce the space of 2.2.3 to the space of 2.2.4 by the modulus M,
we also reduce the group of intervals for 2.2.3 to a quotient group, the new
group of intervals for 2.2.4. Specifically, intervals i' and i for 2.2.3 are declared
congruent if one is the other multiplied by some integral power of M: i' = iMa.
This relation is indeed a congruence in the group-theoretic sense (1.10.1): It
is an equivalence relation, and if j' is congruent to j (f =jM b ), then i'j'
is congruent to ij (i'j' = (ij)M(a+b)). The congruence generates a quotient
group, imposing a group structure on the family of congruence-classes. Those
congruence-classes are the "ratio-classes" of example 2.2.4. The function int
for 2.2.4 can be derived mathematically from the function int for 2.2.3, along
with the declared equivalence and congruence relations on the space and
group of 2.2.3. We shall explore this derivation formally in chapter 3, where
we shall study the general construction of a "quotient GIS" from a given GIS
and a given congruence on its group of intervals.
Example 2.2.5, exceptionally, does not lead at once to a GIS structure. If
we try to find a pertinent GIS, we will take IVLS to be some additive group of
numbers i, j, ..., for as durations s and t vary in the family S of durations, t
may be ±i, ±j,... units longer or shorter than s. And int(s, t) = (t — s)units
But S, IVLS, and int here cannot satisfy Condition (B) of Definition 2.3.1. For
instance, try s = 3 units and i = — 8 units; then there is no duration t in S
satisfying int(s, t) = i. If there were such a t, then (t — s)units = (t — 3)units
would have to equal i units = — 8 units, t — 3 would equal — 8, and t would be
— 5 units in duration. But S does not contain "negative durations," and failing
some convention not yet specified, it is not clear what intuition we could
possibly be modeling, when we stipulate a duration t that lasts not only less
than no time at all, but also measurably less than no time at all. The modeling
problem here is different in kind from those involved in other spatial exten- 29
2.4 Generalized In terval Systems (1)
sions we have made conceptually. E.g., while we cannot hear a "pitch" of .001
Hertz fundamental, or of five trillion Hz fundamental, we can conceive such
pitches. That is, we are at ease with the notion of periodic vibration at those
rates, and we can imagine that other creatures might be sensibly aware of
them. In the same sense, we can conceive indefinitely short and indefinitely
long "durations," and we can conceive "time points" that lie indefinitely far
back in the past or ahead in the future. But we can not conceive, in such a sense,
a duration lasting precisely 5 units less than no time at all, which is thereby
precisely 2 units longer than a duration lasting precisely 7 units less than no
time at all. So example 2.2.5 does not lead to a GIS.
Example 2.2.6 can be regarded as one means of salvaging example 2.2.5 in
this connection, by providing a convention that attaches meaning to the
concept of a negative duration-class. E.g. we can think of duration-class
" — 5" as that class containing all durations lasting just 5 units less than some
multiple of the modulus duration. " — 5" thus means the same as "M — 5," or
the same as " — 5, modulo M." Example 2.2.6 has a GIS structure. The space S
comprises the M duration-classes. The group IVLS is the additive group of
integers modulo M. int(s, t) is the number of hours t lies clockwise from s when
the duration-classes are wrapped around an M-hour clock. The reader can
verify that (S, IVLS, int) is indeed a GIS. In particular, Condition (B) of the
definition, which failed for example 2.2.5, obtains for example 2.2.6.
30
Generalized Interval Systems
3 (2): Formal Features
There is a familiar convention whereby the twelve pitch classes in equal

temperament are labeled by their intervals from a referential pitch class C. C,
C#, D, ..., Bb, B are thereby labeled 0, 1, 2, ..., 10, 11 (mod 12). This
convention can be generalized. That is, in any GIS we can always use the
intervals of the group IVLS to label the members of the space S by their
respective intervals from an assumed referential object in S. We can make the
notion formal by introducing some new terminology.
3.1.1 DEFINITION: Given a GIS (S, IVLS, int) and a fixed referential member
"ref" of S, the function LABEL, mapping S into IVLS, is defined by the
equation
LABEL(s) = int(ref, s).
3.1.2THEOREM: Whatever the element ref, the function LABEL maps S

1-to-l onto IVLS, and it satisfies the formula
int(s,t) = LABEL(s)~1LABEL(t).
Proof: Given the element ref and any interval i, there is one and only one s
in S satisfying int(ref,s) = i, by Condition (B) of Definition 2.3.1 for a GIS.
Since int(ref, s) is LABEL(s), we have observed the following: Given any i,
there is some s satisfying LABEL (s) = i; furthermore, there is only one such s.
Thus the function LABEL is onto; furthermore it is 1-to-l.
Now we prove the formula of the theorem. By definition 3.1.1,
LABEL(s)"1LABEL(t) = int(ref,s)~1int(ref,t). In that equation we can
substitute int(ref, s)"1 = int(s, ref), via 2.3.2. The equation then states:
LABEL(s)~1LABEL(t) = int(s, ref)int(ref, t). And the expression on the 31
right side of that equation equals int(s, t) as desired, via Condition (A) of
Definition 2.3.1. q.e.d.
The LABEL function can be very useful, particularly for computations

involving members of S. On the other hand, its use in some contexts can be
problematic, both conceptually and computationally. Conceptually, there
may not always be adequate musical reasons for assigning a special referential
status to ref. Why, for example, should I assign this status to the pitch class C a
priori? Perhaps, in a certain context, I hear no referential pitch class at all, but
rather notes related only to each other, and not to any one given note. Or
perhaps I hear E as referential in this piece; then why should I call E "4" in a C-
LABELing system, rather than "0" in an E-LABELing system? But the
violins and string basses have actually decided how E will sound by tuning
their Es a certain interval from A; then would it not be methodologically most
accurate to use an A-LABELing system? And so on. Some of the conceptual
issues will be familiar from similar issues in fixed-do and movable-do systems
of solfege. Conceptual difficulties aside, computations themselves can be
muddled, when we use a LABELing system, by the algebraic influence of
irrelevant intervals, intervals arising from irrelevant relations of ref to the
objects s, t , . . . , whose interrelations we actually wish to compute.1
Now we shall explore some ways in which we can formally construct new
GIS structures from old. We have observed one such construction used
informally again and again during our survey of examples 2.1 and 2.2 earlier;
that is the construction of a "quotient GIS" from a given GIS and a stipulated
congruence relation on IVLS. Whenever we spoke informally about "modu-
larizing" one system to obtain another, we invoked such a notion. Soon we
shall make the notion formal. By way of preparation before doing so, we shall
examine a bit more carefully just how it applies in one specific and familiar
case.
We consider for this purpose how the "chromatic scale" GIS of 2.1.2
gives rise to the "twelve-tone" GIS of 2.1.3. Let us call the two systems
respectively GISj = (SÎVLSîntO and GIS2 = (S 2 ,IVLS 2 ,int 2 ). S t is a
chromatic scale extended conceptually up and down indefinitely. IVLSi is
the integers under addition. int: (s, t) is the number of semitones up from s to t.
When "modularizing" GISX to obtain GIS2, we use a certain congruence on
the group IVLSi. Intervals i and i' are congruent if i' = i plus or minus some
integral multiple of 12. This relation is indeed a congruence in the group-
theoretic sense of 1.10.1. That is, it is an equivalence relation; furthermore,
i' + j' is congruent to i + j whenever i' is congruent to i and j' is congruent to
1. I discuss these matters further in "A Label-Free Development for 12-Pitch-Class

32 Systems," Journal of Music Theory vol. 21, no. 1 (Spring 1977), 29-48.
j. As we saw in chapter 1, the congruence gives rise to a quotient group

IVLSJCONG. The elements of this group are the congruence classes,
and the binary combination of these elements in the quotient group is well
defined (!) by the formula (class-containing-i) 4- (class-containing-j) = (class-
containing-(i + j)). In this case the quotient group is the integers modulo 12.
And that is IVLS2, the group of intervals for GIS2.
In modularizing GlSi to GIS2 we also invoked a certain equivalence
relation on S^ Pitches s and s' were declared equivalent if they differed by
some integral number of octaves. The condition for equivalence of s and s' can
be expressed by using the congruence relation on IVLSj (and that is impor-
tant): s and s' are equivalent as defined if and only if int^s, s') is divisible by
12, which is the case if and only if intl (s, s') is congruent to the identity interval
oflVLSj.
The equivalence relation reduces the family S! of pitches into the family
S2 of pitch classes. S2 = S1/EQUIV: The 12 pitch classes are precisely the 12
equivalence classes of pitches, under the constructed equivalence relation.
Finally, in modularizing GlSt to GIS2, we implicitly invoked a signifi-
cant interrelation between the congruence on IVLS^ and the equivalence relation
on Sv: If pitches s and s' are equivalent (different by some number of octaves),
and if pitches t and t' are also equivalent, then the intervals int^s.t) and
int^s'jt') are congruent (different as integers by some multiple of 12). We
can put this another way, significant for our purposes: The congruence class to
which intj(s, t) belongs depends only on the equivalence class to which s
belongs and the equivalence class to which t belongs, not on any specific s' and
t' chosen to represent those equivalence classes.
This feature of the situation enables us to see how the function int2 works
for our present example: Given pitch classes (equivalence classes) p and
q, int2(p, q) in IVLS2 is the congruence class (interval mod 12) to which
int1(s, t) belongs, whenever s and t are any pitches belonging to the pitch
classes (equivalence classes) p and q respectively. For example, let p and q
be the pitch classes C and F. If s and t are middle C and Queen-of-the-Night
F, then int^s.t) = 29 (semitones). If s' and t' are high C and contra F,
then intjCs'.t') = -55 (semitones). The integers 29 = 24 + 5 and -55 =
— 60 + 5 belong to the same congruence class mod 12, "congruence-class 5."
If s" and t" are any other pitches belonging to p and q (i.e. named C and F),
then intj (s", t") also belongs to congruence-class 5. That is what gives rigorous
meaning to our saying "int2(C, F) = 5." Otherwise, our clock-face model for
GIS2 would remain only arbitrarily or vaguely related to GISj.
Indeed, we could use the relationships under present discussion to define
int2'. int 2 (p,q) is that unique congruence class which contains any and all
values of inti(s, t), s being any member of p and t being any member of q.
Everything noted about OK^ and GIS2 in the example just studied can be
generalized so as to define a "quotient GIS," given any GIS and any con- 33
gruence relation on its group of intervals. The work of section 3.2 following
will be devoted to this generalization.
3.2.1 THEOREM AND DEFINITION: Let (S, IVLS, int) be a CIS; let CONG be a
congruence on the group IVLS. Then an equivalence relation EQUIV is
induced on S by declaring s and s' to be equivalent whenever int(s, s') is
congruent to the identity e in IVLS. EQUIV will be called the induced
equivalence on S.
Proof: int(s, s) = e, so EQUIV as defined is reflexive. If int(s, s') is
congruent to e, then int(s', s) = int(s, s')"1 is congruent to e; thus EQUIV as
defined is symmetric.2 Finally, if int(s, s') and int(s', s") are both congruent
to e, then int(s, s") = int(s, s')int(s', s") is congruent to e-times-e = e. Thus
EQUIV is transitive.
3.2.2 LEMMA: Let (S, IVLS, int) be a GIS; let CONG be a congruence on
IVLS. Then the following is true. Suppose s and s' are equivalent in S under the
equivalence induced by CONG; suppose t and t' are also equivalent under that
equivalence relation; then int(s, t) and int(s', t') are congruent members of
IVLS.
Proof: int(s,t) = int(s,s')int(s',t')int(t',t). Now both int(s,s') and
int(t', t), by supposition, are congruent to e. Hence int(s, t) is congruent to
e • int(s', t') • e. That is, int(s, t) is congruent to int(s', t'). q.e.d.
3.2.3 THEOREM: Let (SÎVLSînti) be a GIS. Let CONG be any con-

gruence on IVLSj; let EQUIV be the induced equivalence relation on S^
Let S2 be the quotient space Sj/EQUIV, the family of equivalence classes
within §! under the induced equivalence. Let IVLS2 be the quotient group
IVLS ! /CONG, whose members are the congruence classes within IVLS^
Then a function int2 from S2 x S2 into IVLS2 is well defined by the
following method: Given equivalence classes p and q (members of S2), the
value int 2 (p, q) is that congruence class (member of IVLS2) to which int1(s, t)
belongs, whenever s and t are members of p and q respectively.
Furthermore, (S 2 ,IVLS 2 ,int 2 ) is itself a GIS.
Proof (optional): Lemma 3.2.2 assures us that int2 is well defined by the
indicated procedure: Given p and q, if s and s' are any members of p, and if t
and t' are any members of q, then int^s', t') belongs to the same congruence
class as int^s, t). That congruence class thus depends only on the equivalence
classes p and q, and not on the particular s-and-t, or s'-and-t', which we choose
2. The reader may prove as an exercise the necessary lemma: If x is congruent to e in a
group, then x"1 is also congruent to e. After that, prove this: If x is congruent to y, then x"1 is con-
gruent to y-1. (Hint: x"1 y is congruent to x"1 x; apply the preceding lemma. Alternatively, but less
elegantly, one can bludgeon out all the desired results as corollaries of 1.11, 1.12.1, and related
34 results already established.)
to represent p and q. And it is that congruence class which is thus well defined,
asint 2 (p,q).
We now prove that (S2, IVLS 2 ,int 2 ) is a GIS. To do so, we must show
that Conditions (A) and (B) of Definition 2.3.1 are satisfied. We show first
that (A) is satisfied. Given equivalence classes o, p, and q in S 2 , we want to
show that int2(o, p)int2(p, q) = int2(o, q). Let r, s, and t be elements of Sj that
are members of classes o, p, and q respectively. The congruence class contain-
ing inti(r, s) combines in the quotient group with the congruence class con-
taining int^s, t), to yield the congruence class containing int^r, s)int1(s, t)
(1.11). And, since (SÎVLSîntJ is a GIS, int^r, 8)111^(8,1)1 = int^M).
Hence the congruence class containing int^r, s) combines in the quotient
group with the congruence class containing int^s, t), to yield the congruence
class containing intj(r, t). Or, by the definition of int 2 in the theorem,
int 2 (o,p)int 2 (p,q) = int 2 (o,q), as desired. So the system (S 2 ,IVLS 2 ,int 2 )
satisfies Condition (A) of 2.3.1.
It remains to show that the system also satisfies Condition (B) of that
definition. Given any equivalence class p (member of S 2 ) and any congruence
class J (member of IVLS2), we must show that there is a unique equivalence
class q that satisfies the equation int2(p, q) = J. Let s be a member of the given
p; let j be a member of the given J. Since (S:, IVLSi, intl) is a GIS, we can find
a (unique) t in Sj which satisfies the equation int t (s, t) = j. Let q be the
equivalence class containing this t. q is that class (member of S 2 ) for which we
are searching. First of all, q satisfies the equation int2(p, q) = J. That is so
because int^s, t) = j, s belongs to p, t belongs to q, and j belongs to J; int2 was
defined precisely so as to make this happen. Furthermore, q is a unique
solution for the equation int2(p, q) = J. To see this, let us suppose that
int 2 (p,q') = J; we shall show that q' must equal q. Let t' be a member of q';
then by the nature of int 2 , in^ (s, t') lies in the congruence-class J. So intj (s, t')
is congruent to int^s, t). Thence, applying the second lemma of footnote 2,
we infer that int^s, t')"1 is congruent to int^s, t)"1. Or: int^t', s) is congruent
to int t (t,s). Then int^t', s^nt^s,t) is congruent to int^t,s)int 1 (s,t). Or:
inti(t', t) is congruent to int^t, t) = e. But then t' is equivalent to t under the
induced equivalence relation: The interval between them is congruent to e.
Hence t' and t lie in the same equivalence class; that is, q' = q as asserted,
q.e.d.
3.2.4 DEFINITION: Given the situation as in 3.2.3, the GIS(S 2 ,IVLS 2 ,int 2 )
will be called the quotient GIS of (SÎVLSîntJ modulo CONG. We write
GIS2 = GIS1/CONG.
Thus, to review yet once more the specific example discussed just preced-
ing 3.2.1, let (S l5 IVLS15 int x ) be the GIS such that S t is an infinite chromatic
scale, IVLSj is the additive group of integers, and int x (s, t) is the number of 35
semitones up from s to t. Let CONG be the relation on IVLSj that makes i

congruent to i' when the intervals differ by any integral multiple of 12 semi-
tones. Then the quotient GIS(S2, IVLS2, intj), constructed by the method of
section 3.2, has these components: S2 is the family of twelve pitch-classes,
IVLS2 is the integers modulo 12, and int^p, q) is the reduction modulo 12
of the integer intj(s, t), where s and t are any pitches belonging to the pitch
classes p and q respectively.
Here is another specific example. S, is the family of all pitches that can be
conceptually generated from a given pitch using just intonation. IVLSj is the
group under multiplication of all rational numbers that can be written in
the form 2a3b5c, where a, b, and c are integers. int,(s, t) is the fundamental
frequency of t divided by the fundamental frequency of s. (Sp FVLSj, intj)
is a GIS. It was studied earlier in example 2.1.5. When we informally "modula-
rized" that GIS to obtain the "modular harmonic space" of example 2.1.6,
we were actually constructing a quotient GIS, using a certain congruence rela-
tion on IVLSj. Specifically, we declared intervals i and i' within IVLSj to be
congruent if i' was some-power-of-2 times i. As we noted earlier (in example
1.10.4.2), this relation is indeed a congruence on IVLSj: It is an equivalence
relation; further, if I' is some-power-of-2 times I and j' is some-power-of-2
times j, then i'j' is some-power-of-2 times ij.
Using this congruence, we can note how the formal constructions of sec-
tion 3.2 go through for the GIS at hand, producing the GIS for example 2.1.6
as a quotient GIS. By Definition 3.2.1, the induced equivalence on Sj makes
s equivalent to s' if and only if intj(s,s') is some-power-of-2. Thus s and s'
enjoy the induced equivalence relation here if and only if the pitches lie some
number of octaves apart. The equivalence classes (members of S2) are thus pre-
cisely the pitch classes determined by the pitches of S,. And, given pitch classes
p and q, int^p^) in the quotient group is well defined as the congruence class
to which intj(s, t) belongs, whenever s and t are members of p and q. If the
intervals, i, i', i", . . . all belong to this congruence class, then we can write
i = 2a3b5c, i' = 2a'3b5c, i" = 2a"3b5c, ... and so on. So we may identify the
congruence class with the number-pair (b, c). When s and t are members of p
and q, then t, give or take some number of octaves, lies b twelfths and c major-
seventeenths from s. Taking some octaves, we can say that t, give or take some
number of octaves, lies b fifths and c major-thirds from s. Returning our at-
tention to the pitch classes p and q, of which s and t are members, we can
say that q lies b dominants and c mediants from p. That is, on the game board
of figure 2.2, q lies b steps east and c steps north from p. The quotient GIS
here is thus the GIS associated with that game board in example 2.1.6.
As a further specific example, the reader can work out how the formal
constructions of section 3.2 apply to the "diatonic scale" GIS associated with
example 2.1.1, together with the congruence which collects octave-related in-
36 tervals (those here which differ by multiples of 7 scale steps), to give rise to a
quotient GIS which is in fact the GIS of example 2.1.4, a GIS of seven scale-
degrees. In similar fashion the GIS associated with the time-point space of
example 2.2.1, together with the congruence which collects time intervals
differing by multiples of "N beats," gives rise to a quotient GIS which is in fact
the GIS of example 2.2.2, the GIS associated with the space of N beat-classes.
Likewise, the GIS of example 2.2.3, together with a suitable congruence, gives
rise to the GIS of example 2.2.4 as a quotient GIS; the discussion of example
2.2.4 may be reviewed in this connection.
The reader may also review further the discussion of example 2.1.6, to see
how the GIS of just pitch-classes, corresponding to the game board of figure
2.2, can give rise to a quotient GIS whose space is an infinite one-dimensional
chain of dominant-related pitch classes in quarter-comma mean-tone tem-
perament. The congruence at issue declares two "moves" (b, c) and (b', c') on
the game board of figure 2.2 to be congruent if there is some integer N such
that b' = b + 4N while c' = c — N, that is, if b' steps east is the same as b steps
east plus 4N steps east, while c' steps north is the same as c steps north and
then N steps south. ( — N east, north, etc. means N west, south, etc.) If we take
b = 0, c = 0, and N = 1 in the above arithmetic, then b' = 4 and c' = — 1.
Thus going four squares east and one square south on the game board is a
move congruent to "staying still." The reader may verify that the defined
relation is a congruence, and that the induced equivalence relation on the
game board renders equivalent just those pitch classes that share the same
letter-name (differing, if at all, only by subscript).
Each of the specific examples above instances, in one setting or another,
the general and abstract relation of a given GIS, modulo a given congruence,
to a quotient GIS. We can see thereby how ubiquitous the quotient construc-
tion really is, as a method of generating new GIS structures from old. Another
useful method is the construction of a "direct-product GIS." Before proceed-
ing to an abstract discussion of that idea, let us study some examples of it.
3.3.1 EXAMPLE: Let GISj be the GIS of example 2.1.3: Sj is the twelve
equally-tempered pitch classes; IVLSi is the integers modulo 12; int^p, q) is
the number of semitones up, mod 12, from any pitch within class p to any pitch
within class q. Let GIS2 be the GIS of example 2.2.1: S2 is an indefinite series
of equally spaced time-points; IVLS2 is the integers under addition; int2(s, t) is
the number of beats from time-point s to time-point t.
We construct a new GIS, GIS3, as follows. S3 is the Cartesian product
of S x and S2, that is, S3 = Si x S2. S3 is thus the family of ordered pairs
(p, s), where p is a pitch class in Sj and s is a time point in S2. IVLS3 is the
direct-product group of the groups IVLS! and IVLS2; that is, IVLS3 =
IVLSj (g) IVLS2. A sample member of IVLS3 thus has the form (ij, i 2 ), where
ij is an integer mod 12 (member of IVLSj) and i 2 is an integer (member of
IVLS2). The members of IVLS3 combine under the law of 1.13 for direct- 37
product groups: (ilt\2) + (JiJ 2 ) = Oi + Ji,i 2 + J2>; here the sum h + Ji is

computed mod 12 in IVLS l9 while the sum i 2 + J 2 is the ordinary integer
sum in IVLS2. The function int3 works as follows. Given two members
(p, s) and (q, t) of S3, each a pitch-class-cum-time-point pair, the interval
int3((p, s),(q, t)) is taken as the pair (int 1 (p,q),int 2 (s,t)) within the group
IVLS 1 (g)IVLS 2 = IVLS3.
(S3, IVLS3, int 3 ) as constructed is in fact a GIS. The reader may take this
on faith or verify it as an exercise. Later on we shall call this GIS the direct
product GIS of GlSi and GIS2, writing GIS3 = GISj ® GIS2. Right now, let
us explore what GIS3 models.
One sample member of S3 is the pair (C#, 35), which models a reference to
pitch class C# at time 35. Another member of S3 is the pair (F,46), which
models a reference to pitch class F at time 46. The interval between the two
cited objects is (int^Cft, F),int 2 (35,46)) = (4,11). The compound interval
(4,11) models the spanning of pitch-class interval 4 between events happening
at time-points 11 beats apart.
FIGURE 3.1
Figure 3.1 will be used to suggest the relevance of GIS3 for musical
analysis and theory. It transcribes the opening of the third movement from
Webern's Piano Variations op. 27. The brackets on the figure display some
GIS3-intervals of interest, using the written quarter note as the temporal unit.
Temporal intervals between time-points are calculated between attacks of the
notes. Thus the bracket from E|? to D on figure 3.1 is labeled by the GIS3-
interval (11,5): A pitch-class interval of 11 is spanned between the attack of
the Eb and the attack of the D, 5 beats later. Similarly, the bracket on the
figure between D and C# is labeled by the GIS3-interval (11, 5): A pitch-class
interval of 11 is again spanned between two time-points 5 beats apart, here
between the attack of the D and the attack of the C#. The GIS3-interval (11,1)
labels the brackets extending from B to B[? attacks, from C# to C attacks, and
from A to G# attacks; in each case, the pitch-class interval 11 is spanned
between events happening 1 beat apart.
38 The recurrences of GIS3-intervals on figure 3.1 are of analytic interest,
for not many GIS3-intervals occur more than once in this passage. The re-
current GIS3-interval (11, 1) is associated with a quiet slurred figure in the
left hand which we shall call "the accompaniment figure"; this figure occurs
in the music at B-B|> and again A-G#. However the musical presentation of
C#-C, also associated with the GIS3 interval (11, 1), does not project the ac-
companiment figure; rather, it is loud and staccato. The recurrence of the
GIS3 interval (11, 1) on figure 3.1 imbues the pitch-class interval 11 with a
special function: As the passage unfolds in time, pitch-class interval 11 be-
comes bound up with defining the beat. That is, pitch-class interval 11 re-
curs significantly in connection with beat-interval 1, forming the GIS3-inter-
val (11, 1). And no other pitch-class interval recurs in conjunction with
beat-interval 1.
This special beat-defining function for pitch-class interval 11 gives special
meaning in turn to the recurrence of GIS3-interval (11, 5) on figure 3.1, a
GIS3-interval which also involves pitch-class interval 11. Via the recurrent
GIS3-interval (11, 5), the temporal interval of 5-beats-later becomes associ-
ated with the pitch-class interval 11, a pitch-class interval of special mensu-
ral status. "5 beats later" thereby acquires a special mensural status itself,
linking it with "1 beat later" via the pitch-class interval 11 that is shared by
the recurrent GIS3-intervals (11, 5) and (11, 1). This special mensural status
for "5 beats later" is not the only reason many analysts hear the music "in *
meter," but it does endow the possibility of such a hearing with a special
meaning and thematic richness.3 I myself believe that pertinent statements in-
volving GIS3-intervals provide a more exact and less problematic account of
the mensural structures at issue here, then does the notion of "^ meter."
Figure 3.1 also shows the recurrence of the GIS3-interval (3, 2), spanning
B-attack to D-attack and also E-attack to G-attack. The recurrent (3, 2) seems
to have a cadential function in the music, to my ear, "2 beats later," the "2"
of the GIS3-interval (3, 2), engages the notated meter of the music, which "5
beats later" does not. In these connections, the pitch-class interval 3, as it re-
curs within the GIS3-interval (3, 2), has its own special function, to my ear
a cadential function. Hearing a cadence on the D and another on the G is
consistent with the maximal amount of time we wait, after the attack of the D
and again after the attack of the G, before hearing the next attack in each case.
It is curious that the next attack after this maximal wait comes precisely "5
beats later" in each case. Indeed if we start measuring spans of 5 beats starting
3. A \ "cross-meter" is heard as one of several contending temporal patterns by Edward T

Cone, "Analysis Today," Problems of Modem Music, ed. Paul Henry Lang (New York: W. W.
Norton, 1962), p. 44. Elsewhere, we can read that the first three notes we hear form a rhythmic
group which "is clearly *; the motion of the two quarter notes into the next downbeat defines the
meter precisely." This is the hearing of James Rives Jones, "Some Aspects of Rhythm and Meter
in Webem's Opus 27," Perspectives of New Music vol. 7, no. 1 (Fall-Winter 1968), p. 103. Later,
still on page 103, he refers to "the \ meter" as "already ... established" by the cited criterion. 39
3.3.1 Generalized Interval System (2)
at the attack of the opening El., then the D and the G on figure 3.1, with the
rests that follow them, each fill one such span. I do not know what to make
of this. The idea of quintuple "perfections" seems a better metaphor for my
hearing this aspect of the music than does the idea of quintuple "meter."
Figure 3.1 also shows the recurrent GIS3-interval (2, 7), interlocking the
mensural function of "7 beats later" with the pitch-class interval 2. The first
(2, 7) recurrence links the two notes of the B-B[> accompaniment figure to
the corresponding two notes of the C|-C figure, 7 beats later. The second
recurrence (third occurrence) of (2, 7) links the attack of the cadential G to
the beginning of the accompaniment figure A-G| 7 beats later. In sum, the
recurrent GIS3-interval (2, 7) links aspects of the recurrent accompaniment
figure with other events of the music.
FIGURE 3.2
Figure 3.2 summarizes the discussion of figure 3.1 so far, in the form of
a table. It shows how the recurrence of GIS3-intervals gives special meanings
40 to the pitch-class intervals 11, 3, and 2, as those interrelate with the temporal
intervals 1,5,2, and 7, all in connection with various compositional features of

the music.
83-elements GIS3-interval vectors of S3 sets
FIGURE3.3
Figure 3.3 applies to the opening of the passage a theoretical construction

suggested by the temporal aspect of GIS3. The left-hand column of the figure
lists the first six members of S3 in their order of appearance during the passage.
First comes pitch-class Eb at time-point 0, instancing element (Eb,0) of S3.
Next comes pitch-class B at time-point 3, instancing element (B, 3) of S3. At
this time (i.e. just after time-point 3), we become aware of a 2-element S3-set,
that is, the set ((Eb, 0), (B, 3)). The elements of this set form one GIS3-interval
with a positive time-component, that is, the interval (8,3) from (Eb,0) to
(B, 3). The GIS3-interval (8,3) is listed in the second row of the second column
in figure 3.3; that interval is the sole constituent within the interval vector of
the 2-element S3-set.
Now the pitch class 8(7 occurs at time-point 4, providing the new
S3 element (Bb,4) for the third row of column 1 on figure 3.3. At this
time (i.e. just after time-point 4), we become aware of a 3-element S3-set,
((Eb,0),(B,3),(Bb,4)). Besides the GIS3-interval of (8,3) already listed in
row 2, the elements of the 3-member set produce new GIS3-intervals of (7,4)
(= int 3 ((Eb,0),(Bb,4))) and (11, !)(= int 3 ((B,3),(Bb,4))). These new con-
stituents for the interval vector of the expanded 3-element S3-set are listed in
the third row of column 2 on figure 3.3; the old interval vector expands to
include the occurrences of the two new intervals.
When pitch class D enters at time-point 5, the 3-element S3-set expands
to a 4-element S3-set ((Eb,0),(B,3),(Bb,4),(D,5)), and the interval vector
of the 3-element set expands to adjoin new occurrences of the GIS3-intervals
(11,5)(= int 3 ((Eb,0),(D,5))), (3,2)(= int 3 ((B,3),(D,5))), and (4,1)
(= int 3 ((Bb,4),(D, 5))). The new intervals are listed in the fourth row of
column 2, on figure 3.3. At this time (i.e. just after time-point 5), we become 41
aware for the first time that some pitch-class intervals are predominating over
others, and that some temporal intervals are predominating over others, as we
note the various intervals going by. In earlier work I have suggested that our
becoming aware of such predominances is associated with our marking such a
time-point as an "ictus."4 The present analysis supports that theoretical idea,
since time-point 5 is both a notated barline, indeed the first notated barline,
and also audible to some extent as marking the attack of an intuitively
"strong" quarter.
These considerations lie behind my bracketing the first four entries of
column 1 on figure 3.3, as belonging together in a special way. According to
the theory just sketched, it is only when the 4-element S3-set has been com-
pletely exposed, i.e. it is at and only at a moment just after time-point 5, as we
listen along, that we first become sensitive to any regular mensural structuring
in the passage. Just after time-point 5 we become aware that temporal interval
1 is predominating over other temporal intervals; we can then (and only then)
hear temporal interval 1 as a beat with which to measure other temporal
intervals. In that sense the GIS3-structure of figures 3.1-3.3 really "begins"
for a listener at (and only at) time-point 5, the first written barline and the first
perceived ictus; any GIS3-structure preceding time-point 5, according to this
theory, is reconstructed^ a listener at (or following) time-point 5. Not only is
the beat established at time-point 5, the pitch-class interval 11 is also es-
tablished at the same time, as a predominating pitch-class interval. Pitch-class
interval 11 is thus bound psychologically to the establishment of mensural
structure in the piece, as part of one and the same Gestaltist experience that a
listener will be having just after time-point 5.
FIGURE 3.4
Figure 3.4 symbolically collates the ideas discussed just above. The figure
also suggests how the temporal interval of "5 beats later" has already acquired
a special significance at the moment the listener hears time-point 5. "5 beats
later," namely, spans the temporal distance from the opening attack to the
first ictus. Figure 3.4 shows how that temporal distance is already clearly
associated with the structural function of the recurrent pitch-class interval 11,
4. David Lewin, "Some Investigations into Foreground Rhythmic and Metric Pattern-
ing," Music Theory, Special Topics, ed. Richmond Browne (New York: Academic Press, 1981),
42 101-37.
the pitch-class interval between the opening Eb and the D of the first ictus, 5
beats later. These considerations enable us to analyze with greater precision
how the idea of "being in 4" might arise, and how it would become associated
with the compositionally thematic E(?-D gesture.5
Let us now inspect the fifth row of figure 3.3, investigating how our
impressions develop when C# is attacked at time-point 10, introducing new
manifestations of the GIS3-intervals (10,10), (2,7), (3,6), and (11,5). We now
hear a second pitch-class interval of 3, but simultaneously we also hear a third
pitch-class interval of 11. The latter interval, by recurring yet again, continues
to predominate over other pitch-class intervals. Indeed, its predomination
itself recurs. Furthermore, we now (i.e. just after time-point 10) hear for the
first time the recurrence of a GIS3-interval (not just of a temporal interval or
pitch-class interval). The recurring GIS3-interval is (11,5), recently discussed
in connection with the possibility of asserting a "thematic | meter"
listening at time-point 5. The sensations prompting such a possible assertion
are thereby intensified at time-point 10. Time-point 10 is experienced as an
"ictus" in the formal sense of the theory mentioned earlier. Dynamic and
registral accents at time-point 10, the loud low C# attack, support the possible
hearing of a "strong beat" there, should one want to assert "| meter" beyond
purely mensural considerations. We can then expand figure 3.4 to figure 3.5,
which portrays a provisional impression one might have while listening just
after time-point 10.
FIGURE 3.5
Now let us turn to the sixth row of figure 3.3, investigating our im-
pressions when C is attacked at time-point 11, introducing new manifestations
of the GIS3-intervals (9,11), (1,8), (2,7), (10,6), and (11,1). (11,1) here is a
recurring GIS3-interval; it confirms our already developed sensations about
the beat-defining and other mensural functions of the pitch-class interval 11.
The GIS3-interval (2,7) also recurs at time-point 11. This builds up another
5. My analysis of listener psychology just after time-point 5 partly elaborates, partly quali-
fies, and partly takes issue with the thought-provoking approach to this passage by Christopher
Hasty, in his important methodological and analytic study, "Rhythm in Post-Tonal Music: Pre-
liminary Questions of Duration and Motion," Journal of Music Theory vol. 25, no. 2 (Fall 1981),
183-216. 43
mensural matrix that tries to expropriate (11,1) for its own purposes, trying to
put an ictus at time-point 11, rather than time-point 10. Figure 3.6 sketches
this notion.
FIGURE 3.6
The ictus on C in figure 3.6 corresponds to a written barline; this was not
the case with the conflicting ictus on C# in figure 3.5. That C# was 5 beats after
the D-ictus of figure 3.4; the C of figure 3.6, which picks up the Hauptstimme
D in register, is 6 beats after the D-ictus. The mensural conflict of "5 units
after" (D-ictus to C#-ictus) and "6 units after" (D-ictus to C-ictus) is highly
thematic in op. 27 as a whole.6
The mensural reading of figure 3.6 tries to associate the C#-C event in the
music with the "accompaniment figure," the figure that projected the B-B[?
event. In contrast, the mensural reading of figure 3.5 tried to associate the
D-C# descent with the thematic E[?-D descent. Figure 3.5, of course, "did not
know about" the forte and staccato C natural coming up right after the forte
and staccato C#. We have already discussed how the recurrent GIS3-interval
(2,7) interacts with the accompaniment figure more generally.
This completes the exegesis of figure 3.3. The theoretical notion of an
"unfolding interval vector," made abstractly available by the temporal aspect
of GIS3, was analytically useful for examining our impressions of figure 3.1 as
those developed note-by-note, and for discussing to a significant extent our
impressions of the music beyond that. GIS3 was particularly useful because it
enabled us to consider pitch-class structure and mensural rhythmic structure
in conjunction with each other, rather than as independent features of the
passage. That is the essence of GIS3 in its capacity as what we shall soon call
the direct product of GISt and GIS2.
6. A conflict between mensural distances of 5 and 6 units figures in the relation of the rhyth-
mic ostinato to the written meter at the opening of the first movement. A reprise of this rhythmic
conflict occurs at the opening of the coda in the last movement (mm. 56-62). The written meters
are functional, in ways too complex to indicate here. Special accents attach to the loud and dense
trichord-pairs of the middle movement. The lower chords of the trichord-pairs attack at the bar-
lines of measures 4, 9, 4 bis (6 measures after 9), 9 bis, 15, 20, 15 bis (6 measures after 20), and
20 bis. The resulting pattern projects alternating spans of 5 and 6 written measures. Indeed this
may well be the strongest mensural function for the written measure as a temporal span in the
44 movement.
3.3.2 EXAMPLE: Let GISj be the GIS involving time-points, that just figured
as "GIS2" in the preceding example. For the present example, let GIS2 be
a GIS of durations as in 2.2.3 earlier: S2 is a certain family of "durations"
x, y,... related by certain stipulated proportions; IVLS2 is the multiplicative
group of such proportions; int2(x, y) is the quotient y/x.
We construct a new GIS, GIS3, as follows. S3 is the Cartesian product
S x x S2, that is, the family of pairs (s,x), where s is a time-point and x is a
duration. We can conceive (s, x) as modeling an event that begins at time-point
s and extends for a duration of x (units) thereafter. IVLS3 is the direct-product
group IVLSj (8) IVLS 2. Each member of IVLS3 is a pair (il5i2), where ilis
a member of IVLSj (representing a number of beats between time-points)
and i2 is a member of IVLS2 (representing a quotient of durations). (i ls i 2 )
and (Ji,j 2 ) combine in the direct-product group IVLS3 according to the
rule (i 1 ,i 2 )(Ji»J2) = fli + Ji^zJa)- int3(( s » x )>(t,y)) is defined as (int^s,!),
int2(x,y)), that is, loosely speaking, as (t — s,y/x). To put it another way, if
int3((s, x), (t, y)) = Oi, i2), then event (t, y) begins i t units of time after event
(s, x) and extends for i2 times the extent of event (s, x).
The reader can take it on faith that GIS3 as constructed above is indeed a
GIS. It will not be necessary to produce an analytic example, I think, in order
to convince the reader that this GIS is a useful theoretical tool. It combines
two aspects of our mensural rhythmic intuition, as they impinge upon us
conjointly, into one compound structure. We are still and again presuming a
fixed unit of time here, by which we measure durations and distances-between-
time-points.
In both example 3.3.1 and example 3.3.2 we combined a given OK^ with a
given GIS2 in a certain manner, obtaining a new GIS that modeled the
conjoint action of the two given GIS structures. We can make our proce-
dure formal and general, as a means of combining any given GlSi and any
given GIS2 into a "direct-product GIS." The following definition gives the
procedure.
3.3.3 DEFINITION: Given G^ = (S l5 IVLSîntJ and GIS2 = (S2, IVLS2,

int2), the direct product of GISa and GIS2, denoted GIS1 <g) GIS2, is that
GIS3 = (S3, IVLS3, int 3 ) which is constructed as follows.
S3 is Sj x S2, the Cartesian product of S x and S 2 . That is, the elements of
S3 are pairs (s l5 s2), where Si and s2 are elements of Sj and S2 respectively.
IVLS3 is IVLSÎVLSi, the direct-product group of IVLSj and
IVLS2. That is, the members of IVLS3 are pairs Oi,i 2 ), where ij and i2 are
members of IVLSi and IVLS2; further, the members (i l5 i 2 ) and (j l f j 2 )of
IVLS3 combine (to form a group) under the rule (ii,i 2 )(j l 5 j 2 ) = (iJi.iJa)-
The function int3, from S3 x S3 into IVLS3, is given by the rule
int 3 ((s 1 ,s 2 ),(t 1 ,t 2 )) = (int 1 (s 1 ,t 1 ),int 2 (s 2 ,t 2 )). 45
It is straightforward to verify that GIS3, as defined above, is indeed a

GIS, i.e. that GIS3 satisfies Conditions (A) and (B) of Definition 2.3.1.
This finishes our investigation into methods of constructing new GIS
structures from old in a general abstract setting. Now we shall see how the
notions of "transposing" and "inverting" elements of a space S arise naturally
in any GIS; we shall see how operations of transposition and inversion
interrelate characteristically with intervallic structure, and we shall explore
how the operations combine among themselves. We shall also explore other
characteristic operations, the "interval-preserving operations"; these may or
may not be the same as the transposition operations, depending upon whether
the group of intervals is or is not commutative.7
3.4.1 DEFINITION: Given a GIS; given an interval i of IVLS; then transpo-

sition by i, denoted Tj, is defined as a transformation on S as follows.
Given a sample element s of S, the i-transpose of s, T;(s), is that unique
member of S which lies the interval i from s. That is, T;(s) is well defined by the
equation
int(s,T,(s)) = i.
This definition conforms to our abstract intuition that the i-transpose of a

given element s should lie the interval i from s. The definition also conforms to
the way in which we already use the word "transposition" in connection with
some GIS structures, namely those involving pitches and pitch classes. T;(s) is
indeed well defined by the equation within the definition. Condition (B) of
2.3.1 assures us that given i and s, there exists a unique t such that int(s, t) = i;
it is precisely this t which we are now calling "the i-transpose of s," Tj(s).
3.4.2 THEOREM: Each Ts is an operation; that is, it is 1-to-l and onto as a

transformation on S. The transposition operations form a group of operations
on S. That group is anti-isomorphic to the group of intervals. Specifically, let
us consider the map f, defined from IVLS onto the family of transpositions by
the formula f(i) = T^ then f is an anti-isomorphism. That is, f is 1-to-l as well
as onto; and TjTj = T^.
Pr00/(optional): We shall prove the assertions of the theorem in an order
different from that in which the theorem states them. First we show that f is an
anti-homomorphism, i.e. that TjTj = T^.
Given intervals i and j, given a sample s in S, then we write int(s, Tj(Tj(s)))
as the group product of the two intervals int(s, Tj(s)) and int(Tj(s), T;(Tj(s))),
using Condition (A) of 2.3.1. Now int(s, Tj(s)) = j, by the defining equation of
Definition 3.4.1. And by the same equation, int(Tj(s), Tj(Tj(s))) = i. Hence
7. All the groups in our specific examples of GIS structure so far have been commutative.
46 Later on, in chapter 4, we shall study a non-commutative GIS of musical interest.
int(s, Ti(Tj(s))) is expressed as the group product of the two intervals j and i.
That is, int(s,Ti(Tj(s))) = ji. Thus Tj(Tj(s)) lies the interval ji from s. So it is
equal to TJJ(S). We have shown: For any sample s, TjTj(s) = TJJ(S). So the
transformation TjTj has the same effect on S as does the transformation T^;
the functional equation TjTj = T^ is true, as claimed.
So the map f is an anti-homomorphism. We show now that it is an anti-
isomorphism. We have only to show that f is a 1-to-l map. Supposing that the
functional equation Ts = Tj is true, we wish to prove that i and j must be the
same interval. Fix any s. Since Ts = Tj by assumption, Tj(s) = Tj(s). Then, by
Definition 3.4.1, i = int(s,Ti(s)) = int(s,Tj(s)) = j, which is what we had to
show.
It remains only to prove that each Tj is an operation, and that the family
of transpositions is a group of operations. To prove all this, it suffices to show
that the family of transpositions satisfies Conditions (A) and (B) of 1.3.4
earlier, namely (A) that the family is closed and (B) that for each Tj there is a
TJ satisfying TjTj = TjTj = 1. Condition (A) is evident from the formula
TjTj = Tjji The composition of two transpositions is a transposition. In order
to prove Condition (B), we shall prove a lemma: Te is the identity operation 1 on
S. That is true since, given s in S, Te(s) is the member of S which lies the identity
interval from s; hence Te(s) = s. Or Te(s) = l(s); that being the case for any
sample s, Te = 1 as asserted by the lemma. Now we can prove Condition (B).
Given any interval i, take j = i"1. Then ji = ij = e. Tj is the transformation
demanded by Condition (B): TjTj = Tjs = Te = 1; likewise TjTj = 1. q.e.d.
3.4.3 THEOREM: Fix some referential member ref of S; then LABEL(Ti(s)) =

LABEL(s) • i.
Proof: LABEL(Ti(s)) = int(ref, T,(s)) by definition of LABEL in 3.1.1,
= int(ref, s)int(s, Ti(s)) by 2.3.1 (A),
= LABEL(s)int(s, Tj(s)) by 3.1.1,
= LABEL(s)-i by 3.4.1.
Theorem 3.4.3 tells us that no matter what ref is chosen for LABELing
purposes, the label for the i-transpose of s is the label of s, right-multiplied by
i in IVLS. The natural question arises: What happens when we left-multiply
ref-LABELs by i? We shall explore that right now.
3.4.4 DEFINITION: Fix some referential member ref of S. Given any interval
i, the transformation Pj (more exactly P[ef)is defined on S by the formula
LABEL(Pj(s)) = i • LABEL(s),
which is to say the relation
int(ref, Pi(s)) = i • int(ref, s). 47
3,4.5 Generalized Interval Systems (2)
Given ref, i, and s, Condition (B) of 2.3.1 tells us that a unique member
of S, call it t, satisfies the relation int(ref, t) = i • int(ref, s). Definition 3.4.4
takes that unique t, given ref, i, and s, and calls it Pj(s). Note that the specific
value of Pj(s) depends on ref as well as on i and s. In contrast, the value of
T.(s) was well defined in 3.4.1 independent of any choice of ref.
3.4.5 THEOREM: The transformations P. form a group of operations isomor-

phic to IVLS under the map f(i) = P}. In particular, the formula PjP. = Pr
is valid.
Proof (optional): LABEL(Pj(p.(s))) = i • LABEL(P.(s)) = i • (j • LABEL(s))
= (ij) • LABEL(s) = LABEL'S)). The elements Pj(Pj(s)) and Py(s) thus
have the same LABEL (lie the same interval from ref). So they are the same:
PjPj(s) = Pjj(s). This being the case for any sample s, the functional equa-
tion PjP. = P.. is true.
The map f of the Theorem is thereby a homomorphism of IVLS onto the
family of transformations P.. To prove that f is an isomorphism, it remains
only to show that f is 1-to-l. Suppose P. = P.; we are to infer that i = j.
Fix any s; then i • LABEL(s) = LABEL(pj(s)) = LABEL(Pj(s)) by supposi-
tion; and that = j • LABEL(s). In sum, i • LABEL(s) = j • LABEL(s). Hence,
multiplying that equation through on the right by the inverse of LABEL(s),
i = j as desired.
We can now use arguments just like those we used in the proof of 3.4.2,
to show that the family of P. is a group of operations.
The operations P. have a special property. They are what we shall call the
"interval-preserving" transformations. 3.4.6 and 3.4.7 develop the formalities.
3.4.6 DEFINITION: Given a GIS (S, IVLS, int), a transformation X on S will

be called "interval-preserving" if X has this property: For each s and each t,
int(X(s), X(t)) = int(s, t).
3.4.7 THEOREM: No matter what ref is chosen, the interval-preserving trans-

formations on S are precisely the P..
Proof (optional): We show first that P. preserves intervals. We can write
inters), P,(t))
=LABEL(P i(s))-1LABEL(Pi(t)) by 3.1.2,
=(i • LABELS(s))-!(i • LABEL(t)) by 3.4.4,
=(LABEL(s)~1 • i-])(i • LABEL(t))
=LABEL(s)-1LABEL(t)
=int(s, t) by 3.1.2.
48 Thus P. preserves intervals. Now suppose X is any interval-preserving
transformation on S. We shall show that there exists some interval i such that
X-P,.
The i we want here is LABEL(X(ref)) = int(ref, X(ref)). Given any s, we
can then write LABEL(X(s)) = int(ref, X(s))
= int(ref,X(ref))int(X(ref), X(s)) via 2.3.1 (A),
= i • int(X(ref), X(s)) by construction of i here,
= i • int(ref, s) because X is interval-preserving,
= i • LABEL(s) by the definition of LABEL,
= LABEL(Pi(s)) via 3.4.4.
In sum, we have LABEL(X(s)) = LABEL(Pj(s)). Since X(s) and Ps(s)
have the same LABEL, we infer that X(s) = Pj(s). Since s here is an arbitrary
sample member of S, X = Pi as a transformation on S. Thus our interval-
preserving X is in fact this particular P{. q.e.d.
Because of 3.4.7 we can conceive the transformations P5 as somewhat less

dependent on the choice of ref. It is true that a transformation labeled "Pj" by
one choice of ref might be labeled "Pj" by another choice of ref. However the
interval-preserving transformations en masse, literally "as a group," remain
the same family of transformations en masse, no matter what ref is chosen.
The interval-preserving property does not depend on the choice of ref, and
that property is sufficient to define the family of transformations as a group.
3.4.8 THEOREM: Given an interval i, Conditions (A) through (D) below are
all logically equivalent: If any one of them is true, then they are all true.
(A): T; preserves intervals.
(B): For some choice of ref, Tj = P}.
(C): For any choice of ref, Tj = Pj.
(D): i is central in IVLS. That is, i commutes with every j in IVLS (1.8.2).
Proof (optional): Suppose (A) is true; we prove that (C) follows.
Fix any ref. Since Tt preserves intervals by assumption, 3.4.7 tells us that
Tj = Pj for some j. For any s, LABEL(s) • i = LABEL(T;(s)) by 3.4.3
that = LABEL(Pj(s)) since T, = Pjj and that = j • LABEL(s) by 3.4.4. In
sum, LABEL(s) • i = j -LABEL(s) for any s. Consider s = ref in particular
LABEL(ref) • i = j • LABEL(ref). But LABEL(ref) = int(ref, ref) = e. Henc
i = j. Tj = Pj as desired.
Clearly the truth of (C) entails the truth of (B). Now suppose (B) is true;
we prove that (D) follows. We are supposing Ts = Pj for some ref. Then for
every s, LABEL(Tj(s)) = LABEL(Pj(s)). Then for every s, LABEL(s) • i =
i • LABEL(s) (3.4.3 and 3.4.4). It follows that i commutes with every j, which
is Condition (D) as desired. For given any j, find the s which lies the interval
j from ref; then LABEL(s) = j; substituting j for LABEL(s) in the most recent
equation involving i, we obtain ji = ij; i commutes with the given j. 49
3.4.9Generalized Interval Systems (2)
Now we close the logical chain by showing that the truth of (D) entails the
truth of (A). When we have done this, we shall have shown that (A) implies
(C), (C) implies (B), (B) implies (D), and (D) implies (A); hence the truth of any
one entails the truth of all the others.
Supposing (D) is true, then, we show that (A) will be true. Fix any ref.
Given any s and any t, we write int(Ti(s), Tj(t))
= LABEL(Ti(s))-1LABEL(Ti(t)) by 3.1.2
= (LABEL(s) • i)~1(LABEL(t) • i) by 3.4.3
= (r1 • LABEL(s)'1) (LABEL(t) • i)
= i"1 • (LABEL(s)-1LABEL(t)) • i
= i - 1 -mt(s,t)-i by 3.1.2
= int(s, t) by the assumption
of Condition (D), that i is central. In sum, assuming Condition (D), then
int(T;(s), T;(t)) = int(s, t) for every s and t. Or, assuming Condition (D), Tj
will be interval-preserving. Or: (D) implies (A) as desired, q.e.d.
3.4.9 COROLLARIES: (A): In a commutative GIS (a GIS whose group of

intervals is commutative), the transposition operations are precisely the
interval-preserving operations.
(B): In a non-commutative GIS, there exist transposi-
tions that do not preserve intervals, and there exist interval-preserving
operations that are not transpositions.
3.4.10 THEOREM: Any transposition operation commutes with any interval-

preserving operation.
Proof: Fixing any ref, consider T; and Pj. We apply 3.4.3 and 3.4.4 to
various LABELS. Taking any sample s, we have LABEL(Pj(Ti(s))) = j •
LABEL(Tj(s)) = j • (LABEL(s) • i) = (j • LABEL(s)) • i = LABEL(Pj(s)) • i =
LABEL(Tj(Pj(s))). Thus PjTj(s) and T,Pj(s) have the same LABEL; they
lie the same interval from ref; so PjTj(s) = TjPj(s). This being the case for
any sample s, the functional equation PjTj = TjPj is true: Ts commutes with
Pr q.e.d.
We are now ready to define and study "inversion operations" on an

abstract GIS. For each u and each v in S (v may possibly equal u), we shall
define an operation I*, which we shall call "u/v inversion." Figure 3.7 helps
us visualize an appropriate definition for the operation, conforming to our
spatial intuitions.
The figure shows how we conceive any sample s and its inversion I(s)
(short for !„($) here) as balanced about the given u and v in a certain intervallic
proportion. I(s) bears to v an intervallic relation which is the inverse of the
50 relation that s bears to u. The inverse proportion is symbolized by the mirror
FIGURE 3.7
relation of the two arrows on figure 3.7. The interval from v to I(s), which is the
inverse of int(I (s), v), will then be the same as the interval from s to u. That is, we
intuit int(v, I(s)) = int(s, u). We can use this equation to define !„ formally in
any GIS.
3.5.1 DEFINITION: Given any u in S and any v in S, the operation !„ of u/v

inversion is defined by the equation
int(v, Iu(s)) = int(s, u) for all s.
The operation is well defined by the equation: Given any s, set i =

int(s, u) and find the unique t which lies the interval i from v. That t, which
satisfies the equation int(v, t) = int(s, u), is precisely the value for IJ^s).
We have been referring to the "operation" I* prematurely; so far we have
constructed a transformation, but we have not verified that the transforma-
tion is indeed an operation, i.e. onto and 1-to-l. The reader may verify, as an
exercise, that I* as defined is onto and 1-to-l. (Given t, find an s such that
ru(s) = t. Prove that if IJ(s') = IJ(s), then s' = s.)
3.5.2 THEOREM: Fix a referential element ref of S. Set i = LABEL(v) and

j = LABEL(u). Then
LABELTOs)) - i • LABEL(s)'1 • j.
Proof: To save space, we write "I" for "!„" here.
int(v, I(s)) = int(s, u) (3.5.1). So
int(v, ref )int(ref, I(s)) = int(s, ref )int(ref, u) (2.3.1 (A)).
Thence,
LABEL(v)'1LABEL(I(s)) = LABEL(s)~1LABEL(u) (3.1.1; 2.3.2)
Or: T1 • LABEL(I(s)) = LABEL(s)'1 • j

Or: LABEL(I(s)) = i • LABEL(s)"1 • j q.e.d. 51
The formula of this theorem is very useful despite the dependence of all
the LABELs (including i and j) on a possibly arbitrary ref. We shall use the
formula to analyze this question: When are lvn and I* the same operation on S?
In the familiar GIS of twelve chromatic pitch classes, for instance l£ = l£{ =
IA' = ID» = IB'anc* so on- 'îat *s' ^^ mversi°n nas the same effect on any
sample pitch class as does F|/F# inversion, or A/Df inversion, or DJt/A in-
version, or B/C| inversion, and so on. In this special GIS one can intuit that
l£ and I* will be the same operation if and only if the pitch class w is the C/C
inversion of the pitch class x. One might thereby conjecture that I* and I* will
be the same operation, in a general GIS, if and only if the thing w is the u/v
inversion of the thing x. This conjecture is valid if the GIS is commutative.
When the GIS is not commutative, we must be content with the broader view
provided by the following theorem.
3.5.3 THEOREM: I* = I* as an operation on S if and only if w = I*(x) and

the interval int(x, u) is central.
Proof (optional): Imagine ref fixed. Let i, j, k, and m be the respective
LABELS for v, u, w, and x. Then, via 3.5.2, given any s,
LABEL(I^(s)) = i LABEL(s)-1 j, while
LABEL(I*(s)) = k LABEL(s)-1 m.
Hence the condition that I* be the same operation as I* is equivalent to the
condition that
i LABEL(s)'1 j = k LABEL(s)-1 m for all s in S.
Now as s runs through the various members of S, the inverse of its LABEL
runs through all the various intervals in IVLS. Hence the condition under dis-
cussion is equivalent to the condition that
inj = knm for every n in IVLS.
And that condition is equivalent, via group theory, to Condition (A) below.
(A): (k-1i)n = nOnj"1) for every n in IVLS.
In sum, F[ = I* as an operation if and only if Condition (A) above is satisfied.
Now we shall prove that Condition (A) is satisfied if and only if w = I*(x)
and int(x, u) is central. That will prove the theorem as stated.
Suppose, then, that Condition (A) is true; we shall show that w = IJJ(x)
and int(x, u) is central. Condition (A) being true by supposition, it is true for
n = e; therefore k~ ! i = mj"1. Let us call this interval c. Condition (A) then
tells us that en = nc for every n in IVLS, so c is central.
c was taken equal to mj"1. It turns out that c also equals j"1!!!. To see that,
we write mj"1 = c; thence m = cj; thence, since c is central, m = jc; thence
52 j-1m = c as asserted.
Let us review: Assuming Condition (A), we have so far shown that k 4 =

mj-1 = j^m = c is central interval. Now k~M = LABEL(w)~1LABEL(v) =
int(v, w), via 3.1.2. Likewise j-1m = int(x, u). Thus we have shown: int(v, w)
= int (x, u) and int(x, u) = c is central. Now the relation int(v, w) = int(x, u)
is exactly the relation which tells us that w = IJj(x) (Definition 3.5.1). Thus,
assuming Condition (A), we have proved that w = I^(x) and int(x, u) is cen-
tral as desired.
Now we prove the converse half of the theorem: Supposing that w =
I*(x) and that int(x, u) is central, we prove that Condition (A) is satisfied.
w = I*(x) (by supposition). So
int(v, w) = int(x, u) (3.5.1). Or:
LABEL(w)-1LABEL(v) = LABEL(u)~1LABEL(x) (3.1.2). Or:
k~U = j-1m (meaning of i, j, k, m).
Furthermore, we have supposed that j^m, which is LABEL(u)~1LABEL(x),
which is int(x, u), is a central interval. Let us call this central interval c.
j^m = c; thence m = jc; thence m = cj; thence mj"1 = c. So
l
k H = mj = c, a central interval.
c being central, en = nc for every n in IVLS. Substituting k~!i = mj"1
for c, we obtain
(k~ ] i)n = n(mj-1) for every n in IVLS.
And that is precisely Condition (A), q.e.d.
We used ref and LABEL in our proof of Theorem 3.5.3. Note, however,
that the statement of the theorem does not depend on a choice of ref.
3.5.4 CORROLARY: I* = IJJ if and only if int(v,u) is central.

Proof: Applying the formula of Definition 3.5.1 to the algebraic truism
int(v, u) = int(v, u), we infer that u = I*(v). Then, by the logic of Theorem
3.5.3 just proved, 1^ = IJJ if and only if int(v, u) is central.
The corollary tells us that in a general GIS, v/u inversion may well not be
the same operation as u/v inversion, despite the relations v = I*(u) = I"(u);
u = I^(v) = IJJ(v). The operations I* and l^ both transform u to v, and v to u.
But there may be some other s, other than u or v, such that IJj(s) is not the
same element as I^(s). Indeed the corollary assures us there will be some
such s if int(v, u) is not central. These considerations indicate how carefully
and rigorously we must proceed hereabouts; intuitions based on our familiar-
ity with a number of commutative GIS structures will not always be reliable.
3.5.5 COROLLARIES: In a commutative GIS, I* always = I|J; generally, I* =

I* if and only if w = I»(x). 53
In a non-commutative CIS, there will always be some inversion operation

Iy which is not the same as 1^. (For there will always be some int(v, u) which
is not central.)
Now we shall see how inversion operations I* combine with transposi-

tions Tn and interval-preserving operations P.
3.5.6 THEOREM: For any transposition Tn and any inversion I*,

(A): T n l^ = I* where x = Tn(u).
(B): I v u T n = I* where w = T-^V).
(C): Tn commutes with 1^ if and only if n is central and nn = e.
Proof (optional): We shall fix some ref and use LABELs to help our
computations. Let i = LABEL(v); let j = LABEL(u). Then
LABEL(TnIvu(s)) = LABEL(Ivu(s)) - n (3.4.3)
= i-LABELS)-1-j-n (3.5.2)
= LABEL(I^(s)),
where x is the member of S whose LABEL is jn (3.5.2). Since LABEL(x) =
jn and LABEL(u) = j, x = Tn(u) (3.4.3).
Now Tnl*(s) I*(s) have the same LABELs, via the chain of computations
above. Hence Tnl*(s) = I*(s). (Both lie the same interval from ref.) Since s
was an arbitrary sample member of S, Tnl^ = I* as an operation. This proves
(A) of the theorem.
To prove (B), we start with a similar chain of computations.
LABEL(PuTn(s)) = iCLABELCT^s)))-1] (3.5.2)
= i(LABEL(s) • n)-1] (3.4.3)
= in~1LABEL(s)-1j
= LABEL(I-(s)),
where w is the member of S whose LABEL is in -1 (3.5.2). Since LABEL(w)
= in"1 and LABEL(v) = i, w is the n"1 transpose of v (3.4.3). Since T"1 =
T"1, we can write w = T~!(v). (The map of n to Tn is an anti-isomorphism;
n"1 maps to T"1.)
We go on to infer the operational equality of the operations I*Tn and 1^,
exactly in the way we inferred an analogus equation when proving (A) of
the theorem. This proves (B) of the theorem.
Using the formulas of (A) and (B) that we have now established, we see
that Tnl^ = I*Tn if and only if I* = I* x and w being as in (A) and (B) of
the theorem. By Theorem 3.5.3, this will be the case if and only if w = I*(u)
and the interval int(u, x) is central. That will be so, according to 3.5.1, if and
only if int(v, w) = int(u, x) and int(u, x) is central. But int(u, x) = n, since
x = Tn(u), and int(v, w) = n"1, since w = T"1^). So, in sum, Tn will
commute with I* if and only if n = n"1 and n is central. This proves (C).
54 q.e.d.
(C) of the theorem shows that, given any interval n in a general GIS, either
Tn commutes with every inversion operation or Tn commutes with no inversion
operation. In the familiar GIS of twelve chromatic pitch-classes, T6 commutes
with every inversion operation: If you invert and then transpose by a tritone,
the net result is the same as if you transpose by a tritone and then invert (about
the same center or axis). In that GIS, no other interval of transposition has this
property, save for the trivial interval of zero. (T0 is the identity operation.) In
fact, no other Tn in that GIS will commute with any inversion operation. (C) of
the theorem shows us that this situation is related to the fact that 6 + 6 = Omod
12, while n + n does not = 0 mod 12 for any other non-zero interval mod 12.
Theorem 3.5.6 gave us insight into how inversions combine with transpo-
sitions. An analogous theorem will give us analogous insight into how inver-
sions combine with the interval-preserving operations P.
3.5.7 THEOREM: For any interval-preserving operation P and any inversion

Iu»
(A): PI* = I? where w = P(v).
(B): i;;P = I* where x = P~1(u).
(C): P commutes with !„ if and only if P = Tc for some transposition Tc
such that c is central and cc = e.
Proof (optional): We fix a referential element ref. Setting n =
int(ref, P(ref)) = LABEL(P(ref)), we write P = Pn in the manner of 3.4.4
earlier. We can then manipulate pertinent LABELs to prove (A) and (B)
exactly as we proved (A) and (B) for Theorem 3.5.6 above.
To prove (C), we begin in a manner similar to that by which we proved
3.5.6 (C). Using (A) and (B), we note that PI* = I^P if and only if I£ = I*,
where w and x are as in (A) and (B). Via 3.5.3, this will be the case if and only if
int(v, w) = int(u, x) and int(u, x) is central.
Now LABEL(u)=j and, since x = P~'(u) = Pn-»(u), LABEL(x) =
n-1 • LABEL(u) = n-1j (3.4.4). Therefore LABEL(x)~1LABEL(u) =
(n'M)"1 j = T1 nj. And int(u, x) is precisely LABEL(x)"1 LABEL(u) (3.1.2). So
int(u, x) = j"1 nj. We have now showed: P = Pn commutes with I* if and only if
int(v, w) = int(u,x) = j-1nj and the interval j-1nj is central.
A little group theory provides the proof for the following lemma: The
element j-1nj of a group is central if and only if n is central. Thus either n is
central, in which case j"1 nj is of course simply n; or else n is not central, in which
case j~*nj is not central. We have now proved: P = Pn and I* commute if and
onlyifint(v,w) = int(u,x) = n and n is central. The rest follows from 3.4.8 and
3.5.6(C). q.e.d.
We have now seen how inversion operations combine with interval-

preserving operations. Earlier we saw how inversions combined with transpo-
sitions (3.5.6), and how transpositions commuted with inversion-preserving
operations (3.4.10). Earlier still, we noted that the transpositions formed a 55
group of operations among themselves (3.4.2), combining according to a cer-

tain formula; the interval-preserving operations also formed a group among
themselves (3.4.5) combining according to another formula. It remains to ex-
plore how the inversion operations combine with each other, and we proceed
to do so.
3.5.8 THEOREM: Fix ref, and let the LABELs of v, u, w, and x be respectively
i, j, k, and m. Then
TVTW = rp— IT~IJ
A A x
u x im k
Proof: Given any s, then 3.5.2 tells us that
LABEL(I^(s)) = i-LABEL(s)- 1 -] while
1
LABEL(I*(s)) = k • LABEL(s)- • m. Hence
LABEL(IvuI-(s)) = KLABELa^s)))-1]
= i(k • LABEUXT1 • mr'j
= i(m-1LABEL(s)k~1)j
= (im-1)LABEL(s)(k-1j)
= LABEUPrjT-^s)) (3.4.3; 3.4.4).
In sum, I*I*(s) and P^T^s) have the same LABELs, and are therefore
the same element of S. Since s was an arbitrary sample member of S, the
functional equation of the theorem is true, q.e.d.
3.5.9 COROLLARY: I|J is the inverse operation to I*.

Proof: Given u and v, take x = v and w = u in the formula of Theorem
3.5.8 above. Then m = i and k = j, as those intervals are defined in that
theorem. So im"1 and k-1j are both equal to e; the formula of the theorem tells
us in this special case that !„!" = PeTe, which is of course the identity oper-
ation. By the symmetry of the situation (reversing the roles of u and v), PJI*
is also the identity operation, q.e.d.
3.5.10 COROLLARIES: Let T and I be any transposition operation and any

inversion operation in a commutative GIS. Then
(A): r1 = I and
(B): IT = T-'I.
Proofs: (A) follows at once from 3.5.9 and the first remark of 3.5.5.
To prove (B), set J = IT. Via 3.5.6(B) we know that J is an inversion
operation. Then, invoking (A) just proved above, we infer that J = J"1. It
follows: IT = J = J-1 = (IT)"1 = T'1!'1 = T~]I; the last step is again a
consequence of (A) just proved, q.e.d.
We have now explored how various types of operations on the space of

56 an abstract GIS compose among themselves and with each other. Standing back
from the niceties of the specific formulas involved, we can get a useful global
picture.
3.5.11 THEOREM: Let PETEY be the family of all operations on S that can be
expressed as (functionally equal to) something of form PT, where P is some
interval-preserving operation and T is some transposition. Let PETINV be
the family PETEY plus the family INVS of all inversion operations. Then
(A) PETEY is a group of operations and (B) PETINV is also a group of
operations.
Proof (optional): We already know that PSVS, the family of interval-
preserving operations, and TNSPS, the family of transpositions, are each
groups of operations (3.4.5; 3.4.2). Let PT and PT' be any two members of
PETEY. Set P" = PP' and T" = TT. Since PSVS and TNSPS are groups,
P" is interval-preserving and T" is a transposition; then P"T" is a member
of PETEY as PETEY was defined. Furthermore, the composition of the
given PT with the given FT' is precisely P"T", this member of PETEY. For
(PD(FT') = P(TP')T = P(PT)T' (3.4.10) = P"T". So PETEY is a closed
family of transformations.
To prove PETEY a group, it suffices via 1.3.4 to show that PETEY-as-
defined contains the inverse of each of its member operations. Given PT in
PETEY, then P"1 and T-1 are respectively members of PSVS and TNSPS, so
that p-1T-1 is a member of PETEY-as-defined. And p^T"1 is the inverse of
the given PT: PT = TP (3.4.10), so PT(P~1T~1) = TP(P~1T~1) = 1 and
(p-iT-i)PT = (P-1T-1)TP = 1. So (A) of the theorem is proved.
We use the criteria of 1.3.4 again to prove (B) of the theorem. We know
that PETEY, since it is a group, contains the inverse of each of its members; we
also know via 3.5.9 that INVS contains the inverse of each of its members.
Hence PETINV, the set-theoretic union of the two families PETEY and INVS,
contains the inverse of each of its members. It remains only to prove that
PETINV is a closed family of operations.
Suppose that X and Y are members of PETINV; we have to show that XY
is (operationally equal to) a member of PETINV. We can distinguish four
possible cases, which we take up one at a time below.
Case 1: X and Y are both members of PETEY. Then XY, being a member
of PETEY, is a member of PETINV.
Case 2: X is a member of PETEY and Y is a member of INVS. Say X =
PT and Y = I. Now TI is some inversion-operation J (3.5.6(A)). And PJ is
some inversion-operation K (3.5.7(A)). Then XY = PTI = PJ = K is a mem-
ber of INVS, and therefore a member of PETINV as desired.
Case 3: X is a member of INVS and Y is a member of PETEY. By an
argument analogous to that of Case 2, now using 3.5.6(B) and 3.5.7(B), we
conclude that XY is a member of INVS, and hence of PETINV as desired.
Case 4: X and Y are both members of INVS. Then XY is a member of
PETEY (3.5.8). So XY is a member of PETINV as desired, q.e.d. 57
We have seen that transpositions are naturally related in a number of ways

to interval-preserving operations. We might conjecture that inversions should
be naturally related to "interval-reversing" transformations, in the sense of the
following definition.
3.6.1 DEFINITION: A transformation Y on the space S of a GIS will be called

interval-reversing if
int(Y(s),Y(t)) = int(t,s)
for all s and all t in S.
There is something to our conjecture above. Specifically, if the GIS is

commutative, then the inversions are precisely the interval-reversing operations
on S. But if the GIS is now-commutative, then there will not be any interval-
reversing transformations at all! We shall now prove these facts, starting with a
lemma.
3.6.2 LEMMA (optional): Let Y be an interval-reversing transformation; let ref

be fixed; then there is an interval i such that
LABEL(Y(t)) = i • (LABEL(t))-1
for every t in S.
Proof: int(Y(s), Y(t)) = int(t, s) by supposition. So
LABEL(Y(t))~1LABEL(Y(s)) = LABEL(s)~1LABEL(t) (3.1.2).
Take s = ref in the above equation, so that LABEL(s) = e. Set i =
LABEL(Y(ref)) = LABEL(Y(s)) in the above equation. Then
LABEL(Y(t))-1 • i = LABEL(t). So
LABEL(Y(t))~1 = LABEL(t) • T1 and
LABEL(Y(t)) = i • LABEL(t)-1, for any t.
3.6.3 THEOREM (optional): If IVLS is commutative, then the inversion oper-

ations reverse intervals, and every interval-reversing transformation is some
inversion-operation.
Proof: Fix some ref. The result of Lemma 3.6.2, in conjunction with the
formula of Theorem 3.5.2, tells us that any interval-reversing transformation
must be some inversion, specifically some Vtcf. It remains to show that any I*
reverses intervals. Setting i = LABEL(v) and j = LABEL(u), we can write
intai(s), W)) = LABELS))-1 LABEL(I^(s)) (3.1.2)
= (iLABEL(t)~1j)-1(iLABEL(s)-1j) (3.5.2)
= j~1LABEL(t)i-1iLABEL(s)-1j
58 = LABEL(s)~1LABEL(t),
since IVLS is commutative! And that

= int(t,s) via 3.1.2. q.e.d.
3.6.4 THEOREM (optional): If IVLS is non-commutative, then there exists no

interval-reversing transformation on S.
Proof: We suppose that Y is an interval-reversing transformation and
arrive at a contradiction.
For all s and all t,
LABEL(Y(t))~1LABEL(Y(s)) = LABEL(s)-1 LABEL(t),
as in the proof for Lemma 3.6.2. Having the formula of that lemma at our
disposal now, we can substitute for the LABELs of Y(s) and Y(t) in the above
equation, using the special interval i of the lemma. We get the new equation
(i(LABEL(t)r1)-1 • iLABEL(s)-1 = LABEL(s)~1LABEL(t). Or:
(LABELCOrîLABELts)-1 = LABEL(s)~1LABEL(t). Or:
LABEL(t)LABELCs)-1 = LABEL(s)~1LABEL(t).
But that equation, holding for all s and t, says that IVLS is a commutative
group. And that contradicts the premise of the theorem, q.e.d.
59
4 Generalized Interval Systems
(3): A Non-Commutative GIS;
Some Timbral GIS Models
During the discussion of transpositions, interval-preserving operations, and

inversions, the reader may have been puzzled by the care with which non-
commutative GIS structures were separated from commutative. After all, we
have so far not encountered any specimen GIS which is non-commutative.
Why should we be concerned at all about the non-commutative case? Why not
save ourselves some trouble, and just stipulate in the definition of a GIS that
the group IVLS should be commutative? The work of the present chapter
will respond to these concerns by exploring a musically significant non-
commutative GIS. I have already presented some of the work elsewhere, but
it will have a special impact in the present context.1
4.1.1 DEFINITION: By a time span, we will understand an ordered pair (a, x),
where a is any real number and x is any positive real number. The pair of
numbers is understood to model our sense of location and extension about a
musical event that "begins at time a" and "extends x units of time" thereafter.
The family of all time spans will be denoted TMSPS.
We have already encountered one rhythmic GIS whose objects were

certain time spans; that was example 3.3.2. There, we restricted the values for
the numbers a to integers, and we restricted the values for the numbers x to
certain proportions. Using the same direct-product construction, we could
also construct a GIS for time spans in which the number a could assume any
rational value, and the number x any positive rational value. Using the direct-
1. David Lewin, "On Formal Intervals between Time-Spans," Music Perception vol. 1,
60 no. 4 (Summer 1984), 414-23.
product construction, we can also construct a GIS for all time spans in the
manner of 4.1.2 following.
4.1.2 EXAMPLE: Take S = TMSPS. Take IVLS to be the direct-product

group of the real-numbers-under-addition by the positive-reals-under-
multiplication. Define the function int, from S x S into IVLS, by the formula
int((a,x),(b,y)) = (b-a,y/x).
Then (TMSPS, IVLS, int) is a GIS. It is commutative. The interval
(b — a, y/x) measures our presumed sense that time span (b, y) begins b — a
units after time span (a, x) and lasts y/x times as long.
This commutative GIS is useful and relatively simple, but it is not

adequate as a model for the way we perceive time spans interacting under all
circumstances. We shall now investigate why that is so. First we shall examine
the family of time spans as a conceptual space independent of any particular
compositional context; then we shall examine how time spans behave in
various specific musical contexts.
To begin, then, let us focus on the time span (a, x) as a conceptual object
in a conceptual space, modeling our sense that something "begins at time
point a" and "extends for x time-units" thereafter. We can ask, what is this
absolute conceptual time-unit? In practice, we often proceed as if it were the
minute. We do so, that is, when we write metronome marks which reduce
various contextual units, in various pieces or passages of music, to fractions of
a minute. The minute is not commensurate with our sense of a "beat," but we
can use the second for that purpose if we wish, dividing all the metronome
numbers by 60. Neither the minute nor the second, though, is very satisfactory
as a would-be absolute conceptual time unit; both are derived from certain
relative periodic motions of the earth, the sun, and the moon. Scientists today
find these motions so erratic and irregular that they use other conceptual units
of time for precise measurements. But even those units, deriving from certain
sub-atomic motions, are clearly contextual. And that does not even begin to
engage other technical problems involving Relativity and quantum mechanics
in connection with such sub-atomic "fixed" units of time.
In short, if we declare any one time-unit to have absolute conceptual
priority, that is a matter of computational convenience, or of scientific,
sociological, or religious convention, rather then manifest musical reality.
Abandoning this approach, we can make our absolute time-unit a matter of
notational structure: We can call it "the brevis" or "the perfection" or "the
whole note" or "the notated beat," for instance. But then we are throwing the
whole problem back onto some notational convention that is highly restricted
socio-historically, a convention that indeed already presupposes a highly
structured theory of measuring time by some pre-existing absolute unit. And
that will not help us in our inquiry. 61
We might try to assert that, though we cannot conceive an absolute time-

unit clearly, there will be some clear contextual time-unit, which we can
identify and use for theoretical purposes, in any music that we may want to
analyze. Such an assertion is reasonable in connection with a large body of
music, and not only European music of the Classic-Romantic period. But the
assertion is still not valid as a universal proposition about music, unless one is
willing to restrict the use of the word "music" circularly, i.e. in precisely this
way. Making that restriction would involve at least a broad aesthetic
contention. An even then, many critics who might feel no qualms about
excluding as "music" say certain improvisations of John Coltrane, or Stock-
hausen's Aus den sieben Tagen, would feel less comfortable excluding as
music certain Tibetan chants, or sections of Elliott Carter's String Quartet
no. 1. Figure 4.1 (pp. 64-65) reproduces measures 22-35 of the Carter score.
What could one assert as "the" (one clear contextual) time-unit for measures
22-32?2
Figure 4.1 shows that our philosophical musings above do not simply
come down to a matter of mensural versus non-mensural perceptions. Mea-
sures 22-32 of Carter's piece have a very strong mensural character, despite
our difficulty in pinning down "the" beat. The mensural profile of the passage
is especially—one might even say unusually—strong within each of the
individual instrumental parts. For example, the first violin's A in measure 26
and G in measure 28 each last precisely half as long as every other note in the
first violin from measure 22 to measure 30; a player who does not hear this
mensural relation will not project the passage effectively. For another
example, the B-F|-D-C|-D# of the cello at measure 32 and following is
heard not only in syncopation against the otherwise regular half-note beat of
measure 33 and following (half-note = MM90), but also as a rubato of the
earlier cello melody C-G-E1>-D-E, appearing eleven semitones lower in
measures 2729. The earlier melody is presented in notes of constant duration
whose beat, every five written eighths, is at MM48, not MM90. A cellist who
does not hear the rhythmic relation of the transposed melodies will not project
measures 32-35 completely effectively.
In sum, the notion of "an" abstract conceptual time-unit, a unit by which
we measure the number x of the formal time span (a, x), is a notion fraught
with methodological problems. The number a of the time span (a, x), as well as
the number x, is measured by our conceptual time-unit. For when we say that
we perceive something that "begins at time-point a," we mean implicitly that it
2. I am grateful to Jonathan W. Bernard for engaging my interest in this passage through

his lecture, "The Evolution of Elliott Carter's Rhythmic Practice," delivered to the meeting at Yale
of the Society for Music Theory on November 11, 1983. Bernard's observations engaged many
of the rhythmic relations I shall be discussing. The uses to which I shall put those observations,
62 as I expound my CIS-theories, are of course my own responsibility.
begins just that number of conceptual time-units after some referential time-
point, "time-point zero." Having noted this, we see that we must discuss not
only the conceptual time-unit in this connection, but also the conceptual
"time-point zero." What is this abstractly privileged moment that contributes
toward measuring the number a of the time span (a, x)? Is it the moment of the
Big Bang, or of the Biblical Creation? Is it a completely arbitrary moment very
long ago? (And if so, why should we select an arbitrary moment to play a
uniquely referential role?) Should we select "time-point zero" by a notational
convention, e.g. as the first vertical line on the score of whatever piece we are
analyzing at the moment? Or should we presume to assert, explicitly or
implicitly, that there must always be some one uniquely privileged moment, in
the score or the performance of any passage we want to discuss, which we can
unequivocally label as a contextual zero time-point for the occasion? These
methodological expedients involve difficulties similar to those discussed above
in connection with the referential time-unit.
In one way at least, the choice of a zero time-point is less problematic
than the choice of a temporal unit: The former choice does not affect the
numbers attached to intervals in the GIS of 4.1.2, while the latter choice does
affect those numbers. To see this, first suppose that we move our referential
zero time-point back by m units into the past. Then the percept that was for-
merly manifest over the time span labeled (a, x) in the old scheme will now
be manifest over the time span labled (a + m, x) in the new scheme: What
used to begin a units after (old) time-point zero will now begin a + m units
after (new) time-point zero. Similarly, the time span labeled (b, y) in the old
scheme will correspond to the time span labeled (b + m, y) in the new scheme.
In the GIS of 4.1.2, the interval between the old labels is int((a, x), (b, y)) =
(b — a, y/x). In the same GIS, the interval between the new labels is
int((a + m, x), (b + m, y)) = (b + m - (a + m), y/x) = (b - a, y/x). So,
in transforming each old time span (a, x) to the new time span (a + m, x), we
have not transformed the intervals involved: The interval between a pair of
transformed spans is exactly the same as the interval between the correspon-
ding pair of spans prior to transformation. That is, int((a + m, x), (b + m, y))
= int((a, x), (b, y)).
Now let us suppose we keep the same referential time-point zero but
change the unit of measurement so that what was x old units becomes xu new
units, the factor u corresponding to the change of scale in measurement. Then
percepts formerly corresponding to the time span (a, x) and (b, y) in the old
scheme will now correspond to the time spans (au, xu) and (bu, yu) in the
new scheme: What used to begin a old units after time zero and extend x old
units therefrom will now begin au new units after time zero and extend xu new
units therefrom. We can see that this transformation does change the numbers
attached to intervals in GIS 4.1.2: int((a, x), (b, y)) = (b - a, y/x), while 63
FIGURE 4.1
64
FIGURE 4.1 (continued)
65
int((au,xu),(bu,yu)) = (bu — au,yu/(xu)) = ((b — a)u,y/x). Intuitively, the

second percept we are discussing used to begin b — a units after the first
percept; now it begins (b — a)u units after the first percept, the "unit" having
changed. Of course the GIS of 4.1.2 knows nothing of "percepts" or "units";
it simply knows that int((a, x), (b, y)) = (b — a, y/x) is not the same pair of
numbers as ((b — a)u, y/x) = int((au, xu), (bu, yu)).
Lest the host of methodological problems under discussion appear in-
superable, we should recall that we can finesse them all by restricting our
attention to music in which we can identify and assert a referential time-unit
and a referential zero time-point contextually. Then we can use the GIS of
4.1.2 without problems. There are plenty of pieces and passages for which we
can sensibly take this tack. On the other hand, there are also pieces and
passages in which we cannot identify such referential entities contextually,
music which we would agree nonetheless to consider highly structured men-
surally, music within which it seems analytically valid—even necessary—to
articulate time spans engaged in mensural interrelationships. We have already
begun to explore the Carter example in this connection; we shall continue that
analysis soon. Another example is provided by Stockhausen's Klavierstiick
XL Stockhausen tells the pianist to look at the sheet of music and begin with
any group of notes from among nineteen such groups dispersed over the score,
"the first that catches his eye; this he plays, choosing for himself tempo ...,
dynamic level and type of attack. At the end of the first group he reads the
tempo, dynamic and attack indications that follow, and looks at random to
any other group, which he then plays in accordance with the latter indica-
tions," and so on and on. "When a group is arrived at for the third time, one
possible realization of the piece is completed." 3 Each of the nineteen groups
is notated quite traditionally as regards pitches and internal rhythmic propor-
tions. But each group might be played at any of six tempi, ranging from very
slow to very fast. Indeed, even during one performed realization, any group
might be played two different times at two different tempi. The tempo of each
performed group (after the first) depends on the instructions which appear at
the end of the group just played, which might itself occur at any of the six
tempi. In this context it makes no musical sense to speak of "the" referential
time-unit, beyond the interior of each performed group at its performed
tempo. And yet, mensural relations among time spans from different groups
(especially consecutive groups) are highly audible, and therefore at least
perceptually functional in any given realization.
We have already mentioned, in footnote 3 of chapter 2, other examples of
highly mensural music without a fixed time-unit. Nancarrow's Studies for
Player Piano contain many pitch-canons involving elaborately changing
3. The cited text is from the Performing Directions by the composer on the score (Universal
66 Edition no. 12654 LW, 3d ed., 1967).
tempo proportions.4 Ligeti's Poeme symphonique is performed by winding up

100 clockwork metronomes to varying degrees of tension, setting them at a
variety of tempi, and releasing them, allowing them to run down over the
course of eighteen to twenty minutes.5 The effect includes an ironic poetic
commentary, among other things, upon the very issue of the "contextual time-
unit."
To some extent in all this cited literature, and to a great extent in much
of it, any time span has the potential for becoming a local contextual time-
unit, setting a local tempo. By "local," I mean here not only over a certain
temporally connected section of the total texture, but possibly also within a
certain part, instrument, or instrumental group. For example, there is a more
than clear mensural structure within the part played by any single metronome
within Ligeti's piece. For some less extreme examples let us return once more
to figure 4.1, the Carter passage discussed before. The viola moves in notes of
constant duration from its entrance at measure 25 up to the middle of measure
35; these local time-units "beat" the tempo of MM 180. The first violin "beats"
constant local time-units at MM36 over measures 22-30, except for the A of
measure 26 and the G of measure 28 which, as observed earlier, are each half
the local time-unit in duration. At measure 33 the first violin starts to project a
new constant local time-unit, that beats at MM90. The cello beats constant
local time-units at MM 120 over measures 22-26; then over measures 27-31 it
beats new constant local time-units at MM48. Finally at measure 32 and
following, it stops moving in notes of constant duration as it plays a pitch-
variation on measures 27ff., where MM48 began. This variation was discussed
earlier. The second violin beats its own constant local time-unit at MM96
from measure 22 through measure 26. Then over measures 27-30 it runs
quickly through a number of local time-units at MM 120, MM 160 (m. 27j),
MM96 (m. 28|), MM80 (to be discussed later), and MM60 (m. 30). Finally it
settles into a more stable local time unit in measure 31, beating at MM90.
4. Some of Nancarrow's recent work involves irrational proportions like n. For the reader
who may at first think such an idea is too bizarre to have any musical meaning, I append a brief
exercise in conducting the tempo relation of n. Imagine a horizontal line segment at chest height
in front of you and somewhat to your right. (I am supposing that you conduct right-handed.)
Move your hand (arm) back and forth along the line at a constant speed, beating a horizontal \
allegro vivo. Now imagine the line segment as a radius of a circle whose center is at the leftmost
point of your beat. As you reach the rightmost point of your beat, start swinging your hand (arm
around and around the circumference of that circle counterclockwise, taking care always to keep
your hand moving at the same constant speed. The amount of time it takes you to swing once
around the circle is n times the duration of your earlier horizontal \ measure.
5. The composer specifies very precisely how this is to be done. He also specifies that the
piece is to be played after an intermission, so that the returning audience finds the metronomes
already underway, with no persons on stage. The metronomes are to be arranged on risers, like a
chorus; the slow beaters are at the lowest level and the fast beaters at the highest. I am indebted to
Martin Bresnick for supplying me with this report, based on a personal communication from the
composer. 67
Figure 4.2a collates and tabulates these various metronome marks, that reflect
the various tempi beat by the various local time-units in the individual
instruments over the passage.
FIGURE 4.2b
Figure 4.2b takes the numbers of figure 4.2a and represents them as
pitches. This device will help clarify for musicians the numerical ratios in-
volved among those numbers. The number 180, which labels the fastest beat
on figure 4.2a, is represented on figure 4.2b by the highest pitch, high C.
Slower tempi, in their numerical ratios to MM 180, are represented on figure
4.2b by lower pitches in the corresponding frequency ratios to high C. For
instance, on figure 4.2a the opening tempo of the cello is MM 120, 2/3 of the
68 tempo MM 180 coming up in the viola. On figure 4.2b the tempo MM 120 is
represented by the opening pitch F5 in the cello, a pitch whose fundamental is

2/3 the frequency of the high C coming up in the viola, the high C which
represents the tempo MM 180.
The euphony of figure 4.2b is striking. It makes very clear the network of
"numerical consonances" displayed by the tempo relations of figure 4.2a,
which are also the proportional relations of the various local contextual time-
units. If we imagine a quartet actually playing figure 4.2b, we can get an even
clearer idea of how this numerical network affects interactions among the
performers. Here are some, and only some, of the relations the players will
heed. (1) The 48 of the cello at measure 27 will lie a good numerical octave
below the opening 96 of the second violin. (2) The 120 of the second violin at
measure 27 will match the opening 120 of the cello. (3) The 120-to-160 relation
in the second violin during measure 27 will match in its ratio the 36-to-48
relation between the first violin and the cello thereabouts. (4) The 80-to-60
relation in the second violin over measures 29-30 will retrograde, an octave
lower, the 120-to-160 relation discussed in (3) above. (5) The 60-to-90 relation
in the second violin, measures 30-31, will match an octave lower the earlier
120-to-180 relation between the cello at the opening of the passage and the
viola entrance. (6) The 90 of the first violin at measure 33 will match the 90 of
the second violin at measure 31, which in turn will match, an octave lower, the
persistent 180 of the viola. (7) The 36-to-90 profile of the first violin part as a
whole will match in transposed retrograde (or inversion) the 120-to-48 profile
of the cello part up to measure 33.
Exactly these numerical relations, and others of the same sort, must be
projected to make the rhythmic structure of Carter's passage come to life and
communicate, not only between the players and their listeners, but also among
the four players themselves. We shall discuss the above seven performance
notes some more later on.
On figure 4.2b, it is curious how the D[?4 of the cello can be heard as a
root whose major harmony is elaborated by the symbolic pitches of the figure
over measures 22-30, along with a major seventh and an added sixth. To be
sure, it is doubtful that our tonal perceptions of roots, triads, harmonic
sevenths, and added sixths can be used to assert analogous functions in the
realm of tempo relations. And yet there is a certain suggestiveness in the idea
that the cello part of measure 27 and following has a rhythmically "ground-
ing" function somehow analogous to the tonal root function of the symbolic
D|?4 on figure 4.2b. This suggestion is useful for the cellist who wants the
MM48 tempo at measure 27 and following to feel stable and referential, rather
than syncopated and intrusive. The suggestion is also useful for understanding
why just this tempo of MM48 (symbolized by the pitch D|?4 on figure 4.2b) is
permitted to launch into a wide and free rubato at measure 32 and following
in the cello (symbolized by the "cadenza" on figure 4.2b), just at the time the 69
other three instruments are all finally agreeing upon the new referential tempo
MM90-or-180 (symbolized by the prominent pitch class C at m. 32ff. on figure
4.2b). Over the second-violin part of figure 4.2b as a whole, D|» moves clearly
to C. But the cello is still refusing to change its earlier D\> for C as we leave
the passage, though its D\> has been abandoned. All of these remarks amplify
the idea suggested above, that the cellist should refer the rhythm of the part
over measures 32-35 not just to the beats of the upper instruments at MM90
but also to the earlier beat of the cello itself, MM48 at measure 27 and fol-
lowing. Figure 4.2b shows by analogy how the symbolic pitches of the "ca-
denza" in the cello at measures 32-35 are heard not only in relation to the
Cs of the upper instruments there, but also in relation to the earlier Dl> of the
cello itself at measure 27 following.
However interesting it may be to think of MM48 as a numerical "ground"
organizing the tempi of measures 22-31, it is still clear that the players of
the three upper instruments will not treat the cello part of measures 27-31
as a succession of referential time-units. That is, they will not adjust their
own beats to conform in proper proportion with the cello beat of measures
27-31. Nor will the cello and the two violins treat the constant beat at
MM 180 in the viola from measure 25 on as a succession of referential time-
units for the entire passage; at least they will not do so until after measure 30.
During measures 22-24, in particular, the MM36, MM96, and MM 120 of the
two violins and the cello will not be referred to a beat of MM 180 in the viola,
for the viola has not yet entered there. Once the viola is in, at measure 25 and
thereafter, its constant MM 180 will provide a useful check for the ensemble
rhythm without necessarily establishing itself as referential, just as the sus-
tained high C on figure 4.2b provides a useful check for the ensemble's into-
nation without necessarily establishing itself as a root. Of course MM 180 does
eventually become much more referential during measures 33-35, along with
its lower octave MM90; just so, on figure 4.2b, the pitch class C comes to
dominate the tonal texture.
The players may decide on purely notational grounds to use MM 120
(changing to MM 180 by measure 33) or MM60 (changing to MM90 by mea
sure 33) as a referential tempo for the entire passage. This makes a certain
practical sense for early rehearsals, but it can hardly be recommended for an
effective performance. We have all heard and seen players fighting their way
through slow lyric lines, supposedly tranquillo like that of the first violin in
measures 22-32 or sostenuto e cantabile like that of the cello in measures
27-32, all the while jerking their feet up and down spastically in an erratic
approximation of some distantly related notational "beat." These lyric lines
are not syncopated, as such a method of production makes them sound to
both player and listener. Rather, each line has its own autonomous local time-
unit, with respect to which it should project an essentially "first-species"
70 character.
Indeed, the search for any one overriding referential time-unit, to govern
all of measures 22-31, is bound to fail. It must fail because it misconceives the
nature of the temporal space at hand. That space comprises a multitude of
locally referential time-units, in various more-or-less consonant numerical
relationships among themselves. Only by recognizing that character of the
space can one hear the music progress over the passage, and not just "be."
What I mean will be amplified by the following review of the earlier perfor-
mance notes, (1) through (7).
(1) The MM48 of the cello at measure 27 will lie a good (numerical)
octave below the opening MM96 of the second violin. That is, at measure 27
the cellist should hear the cello line moving at half the rate the second violin
has been moving so far. This would be easy to hear if the cello came in a
sixteenth-note later. In fact there is no problem within measure 27, getting the
attack of the pitch C2 at the right time-point: The player need only continue
beating MM 120 up to that point. But once the new melody has entered, its
tempo may sound arbitrary and its character "syncopated" unless the player
hears the melody taking over, albeit out of phase, from the preceding tempo of
the second violin, projecting its own local referential time-unit.
(2) The MM 120 of the second violin at measure 27 will match the
opening MM 120 of the cello. MM 120 is the notated pulse. Still, the second
violin should not simply be playing that pulse (with spastic foot-tapping or the
like). What makes measure 27 come alive and communicate in this connection
is an exchange of local referential beats, between the two instruments. The
second violin takes over the preceding beat of the cello, while the cello—as we
noted in (1) above—is about to take over the preceding local beat of the
second violin, a rhythmic octave lower (and out of phase). The cellist and the
second violinist should hear this "voice-exchange with octave transfer," to
hear themselves conversing with each other in a quite familiar tradition of
chamber music. Figure 4.2b, showing the exchange of the symbolic pitch
classes D|? and F in the two instruments at measure 27, serves as a guide to that
tradition here. Just as the players would match those pitch classes if playing
figure 4.2b, so they should match their exchange of tempi at measure 27 when
playing the Carter passage.
(3) The MM 120-to-160 relation in the second violin, later in measure 27,
will match the MM36-to-48 relation between first violin and cello hereabouts.
Assuming that everything else has gone right so far,this will happen automati-
cally if the second violin plays the dotted eighth (beating MM 160) as a precise
3/4 of the quarter note (beating MM 120). That is not so easy to do as it is to
say, but the ability should be available to a well-trained player of twentieth-
century music. Here, the two quarter notes of the second violin in measure 27
will function as locally referential timespans for the player.
(4) The MM80-to-60 relation in the second violin, measures 29-30, will
retrograde the MM120-to-160 relation of (3) above, one rhythmic octave 71
lower. Here "MM80" is projected only by the E|?-triad-event in measure 29 of

the score; the tempo is not beat by any recurrent durational unit. Nevertheless
a conceptual MM80 is useful to the player in a manner indicated by figure 4.3.
FIGURE 4.3
The figure transcribes the rhythm of the second violin from the middle of
measure 26 through measure 30 into a new notation, using MM 160 as a new
notational tempo of reference, that is, the tempo at which the new notated
quarter beats. This transcription brings out clearly how the rhythmic peripate-
tics of the second violin are structured by the indicated relationship, that is
MM80-to-60 answering MM120-to-160. The transcription "modulates" our
rhythmic hearing exactly as the second through sixth notes of the second
violin on figure 4.2b would sound "modulated" if we listened to them in B[>
minor, rather than D|? major. Just as the Fs of figure 4.2b would sound
primarily as fourths below the adjacent locally referential Bjjs, in our modu-
lated pitch-hearing, just so the tempi of MM 120 and MM60 on figure 4.3
sound in rhythmic proportions 3 :4 and 4: 3 to the adjacent locally referential
tempi of MM 160 and MM80, that lie alongside them.
Figure 4.3 demonstrates a logical internal structure for the second-violin
passage as a rhythmic entity in itself; this structure will surely not emerge if the
player adjusts each individual tempo of figure 4.3 only to the beats of the viola
at MM 180 hereabouts, or to the notated beat of the score at MM 120. It is
in order to bring out the quasi-palindromic structure of figure 4.3 that the
"tempo" of MM80 is represented, exceptionally, by only one time span.
(5) The MM60-to-90 relation in the second violin, measures 30-31, will
match, a rhythmic octave lower, the earlier MM120-to-180 relation between
the cello at the opening of the passage and the viola entrance. This needs no
further discussion; the relation of the relations will emerge without special
attention if the players are otherwise temporally "in tune."
(6) The MM90 of the first violin at measure 33 will match the MM90 of
the second violin at measure 31. Obviously. Here MM90 is a referential local
time-unit. Likewise the MM90 of the second violin at measure 31 will have
matched the MM 180 of the viola so far, using MM 180 as a referential time
unit.
(7) The MM36-to-90 profile of the first-violin part as a whole over the
72 passage will match in transposed retrograde (or inversion) the MM120-to-48
of the cello part as a whole up to measure 33. It is much harder to hear the large
rhythmic proportion here than it is to hear the corresponding symbolic pitch
proportion on figure 4.2b. Nevertheless, it will aid communication between
cello and first violin, as well as projection between ensemble and audience, if
the first violinist hears the MM90 entrance at measure 33 speeding up the
earlier MM36 of the instrument in exactly the same ratio as the MM48 of
the cello at measure 27 slowed down that instrument's earlier MM 120. The
proportion can be sensed when the two instruments rehearse the pertinent
music by themselves. Via this proportion, the MM90 of the first violin at
measure 33 engages and completes a large mensural structure functioning
over measures 22-35; it is not simply a surrender of the first violin passively
to the beats of the second violin and viola at measure 31 and following. Of
course the first violin will use those beats to find its new tempo at measure 33.
To sum up: When performers confront the score of the Carter passage
and the numerical network of local tempi or time-units displayed in figure
4.2a, they should not concern themselves with the question, "Which one of
these is the overall unifying referential tempo?" That question, a rhythmic
analog to the sorts of questions asked about pitch structures by Rameau,
Riemann, and Hindemith among others, has no definite answer here. Even if
we try to force an answer by selecting MM48, or MM 180, or MM60-then-90
as a "root" tempo on the basis of this or that criterion, we shall still not be
engaging thereby the temporal relationships that make this music progress and
communicate. Those temporal relationships, some of which were discussed in
performance notes (l)-(7) above, involve patterns of local tempo "conso-
nances," patterns in which many different tempi can assume locally referential
roles. This attitude toward the numerical network of figure 4.2a, and the
symbolic pitch network of figure 4.2b, is more in the spirit of Zarlino: It asks
not for one overriding referential unity, but rather for a splendid variety of
consonant ratios among the entities involved, as they underlay and succeed
one another, projecting a logical compositional idea.
In this way of hearing the rhythmic space through which the passage
moves, any time span has the potential for becoming locally referential, or
behaving as if it were. For example, let time span r be the span covered by the
first note of the cello in measure 22 of the score; let s be that time span covered
by the F# of the first violin in measures 25-26; let t be that time span covered
by the A of the first violin in measure 26. We can say if we-wish that t begins
16j r-spans after the beginning of r, and lasts If times the duration of r. But
this way of listening corresponds to the "foot-tapping" performance of the
first violin's melody. We can also say that t begins 1 s-span after the beginning
of s, and lasts 1/2 the duration of s. And that way of listening corresponds to a
much more musical shaping of the melody. Taking s' as the time span covered
by the opening D of the first violin in measures 22-23, we could also say that t
begins 4 s'-spans after the beginning of s', and lasts 1/2 the duration of s'. This 73
way of listening corresponds to an even more musical shaping of the melody.

Adopting the above attitude to Carter's rhythmic space, we implicitly
deny the relevance of GIS 4.1.2 as a model. Given abstract time spans s and t,
we want to be able to conceive t as beginning a certain number of s-beats after
s, rather than a certain number of possibly irrelevant "referential units" after
s. If s is the span (a, x) and t is the span (b,y), the old GIS of 4.1.2 assigned
int(s, t) = (b — a,y/x): t begins b — a referential units after s, and lasts y/x
times as long. We want to replace that old notion of time-span interval by a
new function: int(s, t) = ((b — a)/x, y/x). The new interval tells us that t begins
(b — a)/x x-lengths (s-beats) after s, and lasts y/x times as long. The new
interval uses s itself as a measuring rod, to tell us how much later t begins.
FIGURE 4.4
Figure 4.4 shows how our new "interval" works. On the figure, four
numerical time-spans are indicated: Sj = (a^Xj), i1 = (b^y^, s2 = (a 2 ,x 2 ),
and t2 = (b2, y 2 ). We shall see later that it does not matter at all, for our new
model, what the formal numerical time-point zero is, or what the formal
numerical time-unit is. That is, it does not matter to what percept we attach
the numerical time-span label (0,1). On the figure, we can imagine an "upper
instrument" projecting s x and ^ at a slow tempo, and a "lower instrument"
projecting s2 and t2 at a fast tempo. The dotted slurs arching above the upper
instrument mark off x1 -lengths, durations that mark a contextual (potential)
Sj-beat. The dotted slurs arching below the lower instrument mark off x2-
lengths, durations that mark a contextual (potential) s2-beat. Using our new
interval construct, we write int^,^) = (4,2): t1 begins 4 Sj-beats after s 1?
74 and lasts twice as long. Arithmetically, (b: — a^/Xj = 4 and y!/x x = 2. Using
Generalized Interval Systems (3) 4.1.3.2
the new interval construct, we also write int(s 2 ,t 2 ) = (4,2): t 2 begins 4 s2-
beats after s2, and lasts twice as long. Arithmetically, (b2 — a2)/x2 = 4 and
y 2 /x 2 = 2.
Note that our new "interval from s2 to t2" is the same as our new
"interval from sl to t^': int(s 2 ,t 2 ) = m^Su^) = (4,2). We shall discuss the
implications of this a lot more later on. Note particularly that sx precedes s2
on figure 4.4 in the obvious sense, while t x , the (4,2)-transpose of s^, follows
t 2 , the (4,2)-transpose of s 2 . One sees that our intuitions about formal "trans-
position" will not be completely reliable in our new non-commutative GIS.
(Our intuitions about interval-preserving operations will be trustworthy.)
We are of course still far from having constructed a formal GIS in which
our new notion of "interval" is to work. It is high time to do so now.
4.1.3.1 LEMMA: Let IVLS be the family of pairs (i, p), where i is a real num-
ber and p is a positive real number. Then IVLS forms a group under the
composition
0,p)(j,q) = (i + pj,pq).
In this group, the identity is (0,1) and the inverse of the element (i, p) is the
element ( — i/p, 1/p). The group is non-commutative.
The proof of the Lemma will be left as an exercise for the interested
reader. Do not forget to show that the defined composition is associative:
((i,p)(j,q))(k,r) = (i,p)((j,q)(k,r)).
4.1.3.2 THEOREM: Let int be the function that maps TMSPS x TMSPS into
the group IVLS of Lemma 4.1.3.1 according to the formula
int((a,x),(b,y)) = ((b-a)/x,y/x).
Then (TMSPS, IVLS, int) is a GIS.
Proof (optional): We must show that Conditions (A) and (B) of Defini-
tion 2.3.1 obtain.
(A): Given time spans (a,x), (b,y), and (c, z), we are to show that
int((a, x), (b, y))int((b, y), (c, z)) = int((a, x), (c, z)). We write
int((a, x), (b, y))int((b, y), (c, z))
= ((b-a)/x,y/x)((c-b)/y,z/y)
by the formula defining int in the theorem. This
= (((b - a)/x) + (y/x)(c - b)/y, (y/x)(z/y))
by the group composition in IVLS. Canceling factors of y in the
numerators and denominators, we see that this
= ((b — a + c — b)/x, z/x) which = ((c — a)/x, z/x).
And that number pair is indeed int((a, x), (c, z)). 75
(B): Given the time span s = (a, x) and the interval (i, p), we are to find a
unique time span t = (b, y) which lies the interval (i, p) from the time span
s = (a, x). If any such b and y exist, they must satisfy the relation
int((a, x), (b, y)) = (i, p), or
((b - a)/x, y/x) = (i, p), or
(b — a)/x = i and y/x = p, or
b = ix + a and y = xp.
So there can be at most one time span t in the desired relation to s
and (i, p): That is the time span t = (b, y) = (ix + a, xp). And in fact this
particular t is in the desired relation: int(s, t) = int((a, x), (ix + a, xp)); this =
(((ix + a) — a)/x, xp/x) by the formula defining int; that = (ix/x, p), which is
indeed (i, p) as desired, q.e.d.
At long last, we have before us a non-commutative GIS of musical

interest. The GIS has important formal properties, which we shall now study.
4.1.4 THEOREM: GIS 4.1.3 has properties (A) and (B) below.
(A): For any real number h, the interval from time span (a + h, x) to time
span (b + h, y) is the same as the interval from (a, x) to (b, y).
(B): For any positive real number u, the interval from time span (au, xu)
to time span (bu, yu) is the same as the interval from (a, x) to (b, y).
Proof:
(A): int((a + M),(b + h,y))
= (((b + h) - (a + h))/x, y/x) (4.1.3.2)
= ((b - a)/x, y/x) (algebra)
= int((a,x),(b,y)) (4.1.3.2).
(B): int((au, xu), (bu, yu))
= ((bu - au)/xu, yu/xu) (4.1.3.2)
= ((b - a)/x, y/x) (algebra)
= int((a,x),(b,y)) (4.1.3.2).
q.e.d.
Some commentary on this theorem is in order. The time spans (a, x),
(b, y), and so on still rely numerically on an implied referential time-unit and
an implied time point zero: (a, x) begins the number a of referential units after
the referential zero time-point, and lasts the number x of referential units. The
essence of Properties (A) and (B) in the theorem above is that the numerical
function int for the GIS under present discussion does not depend at all on the
choice of time point zero, or on the choice of referential time-unit.
To see this, suppose first that we move the referential zero time-point
back h units into the past (= forward ( —h) units into the future). An event
originally associated with the time span (a, x) will now be associated with the
76 time span (a + h, x): The event will begin a + h units later than the new zero
time-point. Similarly, another event originally associated with the time span
(b, y) will now become associated with the time span (b + h, y). Property (A)
of the theorem says that in GIS 4.1.3, the formal interval between the time
spans associated with the two events is not affected by this transformation.
Even though the time spans themselves, as number-pairs, change from (a, x) to
(a + h, x) and so on, the interval between transformed spans is the same as the
interval between the original spans.
Now suppose we change the referential unit of numerical time, so that the
old unit is u times the new unit. A duration of x old units is then the same as a
duration of xu new units. And the number a of old units after time-point zero
is the same as the number au of new units after time-point zero. Hence the
events that were associated with time spans (a, x) and (b, y) in the old system
will be associated with time spans (au, xu) and (bu, yu) in the new system.
Property (B) of the theorem says that in GIS 4.1.3, the formal interval be-
tween the time spans associated with the two events is not affected by this
transformation.
Thus, in the GIS of 4.1.3 the function int(s, t) will always deliver one and
the same pair of numbers (i, p), no matter what the referential time-unit and
the referential zero time-point by which we calculate numerical durations and
distances from time-point zero. To put this intuitively: Given event 1 and
event 2 in a piece, we can play the music whenever we want and at any tempo
we want, without affecting at all the pair of numbers (i, p) which GIS 4.1.3 will
deliver to us as the formal interval between the numerical time spans as-
sociated with the two events for any particular analysis.
The same can not be said for the commutative GIS of 4.1.2, studied
earlier. In that GIS the interval between time spans (a, x) and (b, y) was
(b — a, y/x); accordingly, if we replace the referential time-unit so that events
once associated with those time spans now become associated with the new
spans (au, xu) and (bu, yu), then the interval between the new spans is differ-
ent. It is not (b — a, y/x), but rather (bu — au, y/x). We noted this earlier. In
our present terminology, we can say that GIS 4.1.2 does not enjoy Property
(B) of Theorem 4.1.4.
In fact, a remarkable theorem is true. Not only does GIS 4.1.3 enjoy the
two Properties of Theorem 4.1.4, but it is also essentially the only possible GIS
involving time spans as objects that enjoys those two Properties. The meaning
of the word "essentially" in the above sentence is made clear by Theorem 4.1.5
following.
4.1.5 THEOREM: Let GIS' = (TMSPS, IVLS', int') be any GIS with time
spans for its objects that also enjoys Properties (A) and (B) of Theorem 4.1.4.
Then the group IVLS of GIS 4.1.3 and the group IVLS' of the given GIS' are
isomorphic via a map f such that, for all time spans s and t,
int'(s,t) = f(int(s,t)). 77
4.1.6.1 Generalized Interval Systems (3)
Some commentary is in order before we launch into a proof. The idea of

isomorphism between (semi)groups was discussed in 1.11.1 and 1.11.2 earlier.
To review here: If G and G' are abstract groups, a function f from G into G' is
"an isomorphism of G with G'" if f is 1-to-1, onto, and a homomorphism. f is a
homomorphism if f (mn) = f (m)f (n) for every m and every n in G.
Supposing f an isomorphism of the abstract groups G and G', then the
two abstract groups will have exactly the same algebraic structure under the
identification of m in G with its image f(m) in G'. So the first thing Theorem
4.1.5 says is that IVLS and IVLS' have essentially the same algebraic structure,
when we identify the member m of IVLS with its image f (m) in IVLS'. Second,
Theorem 4.1.5 says that if we take the member m of IVLS to be int(s, t) in
particular, then the function f whose existence is asserted makes the image
f (m), a member of IVLS', equal precisely to int'(s, t). Thus the function int' is,
so to speak, naught but the isomorphic image of the function int under the
isomorphism f whose existence the theorem asserts. In this sense, the given
GIS' is "essentially" the same as GIS 4.1.3.
The (optional) proof of Theorem 4.1.5 is lengthy. To help break it into
manageable sections, we shall prove two lemmas. The lemmas appear below
as 4.1.6.1 and 4.1.6.2. After that, we shall go on to the proof of the Theorem
proper.
4.1.6.1 LEMMA (optional): Let G and G' be abstract groups. Let f be a func-
tion from G into G' such that for all m and all n in G, ^m)"1^) = f^n^n).
Then f is a homomorphism.
Proof of (optional) Lemma: Set m = n = e in the given formula; we get
f (e)"1^) = f(e). It follows that f(e)"1 is the identity in G'; hence f(e) is the
identity in G', e'.
Now set n = e and let m vary in the formula of the Lemma. We get
f(m)"1f(e) = fCnT1). Since f(e) = e', we have f(m)-1 = f(m-1) for all m.
Then we can rewrite the formula of the Lemma as
f(m~ 1 )f(n) = ftm^n) for all m and all n.
As m runs through the various members of G, m"1 = o runs through the
various members of G. Substitute o for m"1 in the rewritten formula; we then
obtain the formula
f (o)f (n) = f (on) for all o and all n in G.
And thus f is a homomorphism, as claimed.
4.1.6.2 LEMMA (optional): Within the group IVLS of 4.1.3.1,

(i,pr1(j,q) = ((j-i)/P,q/p)-
78 Proof of (optional) Lemma: We already verified in 4.1.3.1 that (i,p)-1 in
Generalized Interval Systems (3) 4.1.6.2
this group was the element (- i/p, 1 /p). Then (i, p)1 (j, q) = (- i/p, 1 /p) (j, q) =
((-i/p) + (l/p)j,(l/p)q) = ((j - 0/P,q/P) as asserted.
Now we are ready for the (optional) Proof of Theorem 4.1.5. We take the
time span (0,1) as a referential object within the space of GIS' for purposes of
LABELing. That is, we set ref = (0,1). Then the function f for which we are
looking, the isomorphism of IVLS with IVLS', is defined by formula (i) below.
(i) f(i,p) = LABEL'(i,p) = int'((0, l),(i,p)).
On the left of formula (i) the number-pair (i, p) is considered as an
interval, a member of IVLS, while in the middle and on the right of the
formula, the same number-pair is considered as a time span, a span being
LABELed in GIS' by its GIS'-interval from the referential object ref = (0,1).
The number-pair (i, p), as a pair of numbers, can be interpreted either way.
Now we can write f (i, p)"1 f (j, q)
= LABEL'(i, p)'1 LABEL'(j, q), by formula (i). This
= int'((i,p),(j,q)) by 3.1.2. This
= int'((0, p), (j — i, q)), since GIS' enjoys Property (A) of Theorem
4.1.4 by supposition. And this
= int'((0,1), ((j — i)/p, q/p)) since GIS' enjoys Property (B) of
Theorem 4.1.4 by supposition. And that
= f ((j — i)/p, q/p) by formula (i) above. And that
= f((i,p)~ 1 (j,q)) by Lemma 4.1.6.2.
Putting together the whole string of equalities we have just noted, substituting
m for (i, p) and n for (j, q), we see that we have proved
f(m)-1f(n) = f(m-1n)
for every m and every n in IVLS. By Lemma 4.1.6.1, we conclude that f is a
homomorphism. Since the LABEL' function is 1-to-l from TMSPS onto
IVLS' (3.1.2), the function f is 1-to-l from IVLS onto IVLS'. Thus f is an
isomorphism of IVLS with IVLS'.
It remains to prove that f(int(s,t)) = int'(s,t). Set s = (a, x) and t =
(b, y). Then int(s, t) = ((b - a)/x, y/x) and
f(int(s, t)) = int'((0,1), ((b - a)/x, y/x)) (formula (i))
= hit' ((0, x), (b - a, y)) (since GIS' enjoys Property (B))
= int'((a, x), (b, y)) (since GIS' enjoys Property (A))
= int'(s, t). q.e.d.
To recapitulate: Theorem 4.1.5 shows that GIS 4.1.3 is essentially the

only possible GIS involving the family TMSPS whose function int is com-
pletely independent of the referential time-unit and referential zero time- 79
point. To put it more intuitively, GIS 4.1.3 is the .only such GIS, essentially,
that will return one and the same element of IVLS as the interval between the
numerical time spans associated with two musical events in a piece, regardless
of when you play the piece and what tempo you take. GIS 4.1.3 thereby has a
privileged theoretical status, as well as a special plausibility for modeling
events in the Carter passage and other pertinent music.
Since GIS 4.1.3 is non-commutative, it will provide a useful example for
illustrating and reviewing the work of sections 3.4 and 3.5 earlier, work that
formulated the abstract theory of transpositions, interval-preserving opera-
tions, and inversions.
4.1.7 NOTES: Within GIS 4.1.3, the following formulas and facts are true:
(A): Given an interval (i, p) and a time span (a, x), the transposition of the
given time span by the given interval is
T(iip)(a,x) = (a + ix,px).
(B): If we fix (0,1) as ref, a referential time span, then the number-pair
(a, x), as a member of IVLS, is the LABEL for the time span (a, x):
LABEL(a,x) = int((0, l),(a,x)) = (a,x).
(C): The (i, p)-transpose of the time span (a, x) is the number-pair given
by the composition in IVLS of the two intervals (a, x) and (i, p). T(i(p)(a, x) =
(a,x)(i,p).
(D): Using the number-pair (a, x) in the same way, as both a time span
and an interval, we can show that the interval-preserving operation P(h)U)
transforms the time span (a, x) into the time span
p
<h,u)(a, x) = (h, u)(a, x) = (h + ua, ux).
(E): The only central member of IVLS is the identity interval (0,1).
(F): No transposition preserves intervals, and no interval-preserving
operation is a transposition, the identity operation T(0>1) = P (O ,D excepted.
(G): The operation of (c, z)/(d, w) inversion, applied to the time span
(a, x), yields the time span
I!c;?(a,x) = (d + (c - a)w/x,zw/x)
= (d,w)(a,x)~ 1 (c,z).
(H): Given time spans s, t, s', and t', then !£'. = I, as an operation on
TMSPS if and only if s' = s and t' = t.
(I): There are no interval-reversing operations on TMSPS.
Proofs and commentary: (A): Via 3.4.1, the transposition of (a, x) by (i, p)
is that time span (b, y) which lies the interval (i, p) from the time span (a, x), i.e.
which satisfies the equation int((a, x),(b,y)) = (i,p). Thus (b, y) satisfies the
equation ((b — a)/x, y/x) = (i, p); whence (b — a)/x = i and y/x = p. So b =
80 a + ix and y = px. The transposed time span (b, y) = (a + ix, px) can be
Generalized Interval Systems (3) 4.L7
described as follows: b lies i x-spans later than a; y lasts p times as long as x.

If we turn back to figure 4.4 (p. 74), we will see that the time span tj of the
figure is the (4,2)-transpose of s x : ilbegins at bj, 4 xt-spans aftera t ; t tlasts
a duration of yt , 2 times the duration Xj of s^^. Likewise, t2 on the figure is the
(4,2)-transpose of s2. We noted while studying the figure earlier that s x
precedes s2, while tl follows t 2 . We may say that transposition operations, in
this GIS, do not only fail to preserve intervals, they even fail to preserve
chronology.
(B) of the Notes is a straightforward computation: LABEL(a,x)
= int((0, l),(a,x) = ((a - 0)/1, Ix) = (a,x).
(C) of the Notes applies (B) to the formula of 3.4.3, and (D) applies (B) to
the formula of 3.4.4. The interval-preserving operation P(h u) first blows up or
shrinks the sample time span (a, x) by a factor of u, transforming (a, x) to
(ua, ux), and then moves the latter time span backward or forward in time by h
or (—h) numerical units, transforming (ua, ux) to (h + ua, ux) = P(a, x). Re-
member that these interval-preserving operations are not formal "transpo-
sitions" in our non-commutative system!
(E) of the Notes is proved as follows. Suppose the interval (i, p) is central
in IVLS, that is (i,p)(j,q) = (j,q)(i,p) for all (j,q). Expanding the binary
composition on each side of that equation, we infer (i + pj, pq) = (j + qi, qp)
for all j and all positive q. Then i + pj = j + qi for all such j and q, whence
(p — l)j = (q — l)i for all such j and q. Take j = 1 and q = 1 as one such j and
q; then (p — 1)1 = (1 — l)i or p — 1 = 0; we infer that p must be equal to 1.
Now we can go back to our general equation, (p — l)j = (q — l)i; substituting
p = 1, we infer that (q — l)i = 0 for all positive q. But then i is obviously zero.
So p = 1 and i = 0; our given central interval (i, p) must be the identity interval
(0,1).
(F) of the Notes then follows from Theorem 3.4.8.
(G) of the Notes can be computed from 3.5.2 together with (B) of the
Notes. Or it can be computed directly from the defining formula of 3.5.1, using
the known group structure of IVLS here.
(H) follows from 3.5.3, where we proved that l£ = lls if and only if
t' = Ig(s') and the interval int(s', s) is central. Via (E) above, this will happen
if and only if t' = Ig(s') and s' = s. Since Is(s) = t, this will happen if and only if
s' = s and t' = t.
(I) of the Notes simply restates 3.6.4 in the present context.
We may use figure 4.4 yet once again to picture the effect of an inversion.
On that figure, we noted that int(s 2 ,t 2 ) = int^,^). Hence, via Definition
3.5.1, t2 is the tlls2 inversion of s^ that is, Ij^Sj) = t 2 .
This concludes our study of a non-commutative GIS which is also a

rhythmic GIS of musical interest. We shall now study some timbral GIS
structures. 81
4.2.1 EXAMPLE: Given positive numbers s(l), s(3), and s(5), let the number-
triple s = (s(l), s(3), s(5)) denote the class of all harmonic steady-state sounds
(i.e. periodic wave-forms) whose first, third, and fifth partials have respective
power s(l), s(3), and s(5). Let S be the family of all such number-triples s, as
s(l), s(3), and s(5) range over all positive values.
Given positive numbers i(l), i(3), and i(5), let us imagine at hand one or
more "devices" (e.g. computer procedures) which have this property: When-
ever a harmonic sound is led as input into such a device, the device outputs a
harmonic sound whose first, third, and fifth partials have respectively i(l)
times, i(3) times, and i(5) times the power of the corresponding input partials.
Given i(l), i(3), and i(5), let the number-triple i = (i(l), i(3), i(5)) denote the
class of devices that transform harmonic sounds according to these propor-
tions for the first, third, and fifth partials. Let IVLS be the family of all such
number-triples i, as i(l), i(3), and i(5) range over all positive values. IVLS is a
group under the combination ij = (i(l)j(l),i(3)j(3),i(5)j(5)).
Given harmonic class s = (s(l), s(3), s(5)) and harmonic class t =
(t(l), t(3), t(5)), take int(s, t) to be that member i of IVLS for which i(l) =
t(l)/s(l), i(3) = t(3)/s(3), and i(5) = t(5)/s(5).
Then (S, IVLS, int) is a GIS. That is, Conditions (A) and (B) of Definition
2.3.1 obtain. The GIS is commutative. When int(s, t) = i, any sound in class t
will have i(l), i(3), and i(5) times the power of any sound in class s, at its first,
third, and fifth partials respectively. Another way of regarding the statement
"int(s, t) = i" is to think: Any sound of class s, when led as input to any device
of class i, will cause a sound of class t to be output.
The fundamental frequencies of the sounds are irrelevant here; we are
concerned only with certain aspects of their timbral profiles.
If a given sound is led through a device of class i, and if the resulting
output is then led through a device of class j, the final output will be a sound of
the same class as that which would have resulted, had the original sound been
led through a device of class ij. Or, more simply, a device of class i con-
catenated with a device of class j forms a device of class ij.
We can make many variations on the specific GIS just discussed. For
example, instead of considering partials #1, #3, and #5, we could instead
consider partials #1, #2, and #4. Or we could consider partials #1-
through- # 5, or # 1-through- # 8, or # 1-through- # 8-except-for- # 7, and so
on.
We can use GIS structures of this sort to build more complex GIS
structures of interest. For instance, let GISj be the GIS of the sort just
discussed which considers partials # 1-through-#8 of harmonic sounds. We
shall call an element s = (s(l),..., s(8)) of GISj a "pertinent spectrum." Now
let us take as GIS2 a familiar GIS involving the space S2 of "time points." We
imagine a referential zero time-point and a referential time-unit fixed, so that
82 we can label the elements of S2 by real numbers a. IVLS2 is the additive group
of real numbers and, given time points a and b, intâ, b) is the number b — a
of time units by which b is later than a. (b — a later = a — b earlier.) Let us
explore the direct product GIS3 = GISj (x) GIS2. The elements of S3 =
Sj X S2 are pairs (s, a), where s = (s(l), ... , s(8)) is a pertinent spectrum
and a is a time point. The pair (s, a) models a class of sounds having pertinent
spectral profile s at time a. A finite set of such pairs, say the set DVSP =
((Sj, aj), (s2, a-j), ... , (SN, a^), models a class of sounds that have spectrum Sj
at time at, spectrum s2 at time a^ ... , and spectrum SN at time a,^. We consider
DVSP to be an unordered set of S3-elements, since the chronological order of
the time points an imposes a natural ordering on the member pairs of DVSP,
no matter in what order we list those pairs. For convenience, we shall assume
the members of DVSP to be listed above in chronological order, that is with
aj < 82 < ••• < aN. Supposing the time points an to be reasonably close, then
DVSP will model a class of sounds with a certain "developing spectrum."
Each sound of this class has pertinent spectrum sn at time an.
FIGURE 4.5
Figure 4.5 displays DVSP, with N = 5 in this case, as an array of num-

bers. If we imagine the plane of the page as a base, and erect at each entry
sm(n) a spike of heights sm(n) jutting up from that page, we shall obtain a sort
of sketch for a relief map that shows how the spectrum of the sound develops
over time. Supposing the time points aj through a5 to be dense enough so as
to catch enough salient features of the sound-class involved (e.g. times when
some partial has a pronounced local maximum or local minimum value), then
we can consider this sketch to be a good approximation for a continuous re-
lief map that characterizes the class of sounds with respect to its developing
spectral "signature." This sort of relief-map representation is in common use
today as a means for studying various classes of harmonic sounds, including 83
familiar instrumental sounds in particular.6 As we have seen, any such relief

map can be regarded as approximately a finite (unordered) subset DVSP of
S3. The way that DVSP = ((Sj, a x ), (s2, a 2 ),..., (SN, aN)) develops through its
own intrinsic chronology can be studied in exactly the same way we earlier
studied the unfolding interval vector for a chronologically developing set in
another direct-product GIS. That was in section 3.3.1, where we applied our
study to the analysis of a passage from Webern's Piano Variations.
4.2.2 EXAMPLE: Fix a lower frequency LO and a higher frequency HI; we

shall represent a varying frequency between LO and HI by the variable x. By a
"rational spectrum" we shall mean a function s of the variable x, taking on
real values, which satisfies Conditions (A) and (B) below. Condition (A): The
function s can be written as the quotient of polynomial functions. That is,
there exist polynomial functions p and q in x such that s(x) = p(x)/q(x) for
every x between LO and HI. Condition (B): s(x) is strictly positive for every x
between LO and HI. We shall take as the family S for a GIS the family of all
rational spectra s.
The rational spectra form a group under multiplication. For if s(x) =
Pi(x)Ah(x) and t(x) = p2(x)/q2(x), then p3(x) = p1(x)p2(x) and q3(x) =
q1(x)q2(x) are polynomial functions. Hence (st)(x) = s(x)t(x) can be written
as a quotient of polynomial functions: (st)(x) = p3(x)/q3(x). Furthermore,
(st)(x) is strictly positive since both its factors, s(x) and t(x), are strictly posi-
tive. Thus the product of two rational spectra is itself a rational spectrum.
The function 1 (x) = 1 is a rational spectrum; it is a multiplicative identity fo
the family of rational spectra. If s is a rational spectrum, so is 1/s, where
(l/s)(x) = l/s(x); the spectrum 1/s is an inverse for s within the multiplicative
system of rational spectra. We shall take as the group IVLS for our GIS the
family of rational spectra again, now considered as a multiplicative group.
Given rational spectra s and t, considered as members of S, we shall take
as int(s, t) for our GIS the rational spectrum t/s, considered as a member of
IVLS. It is straightforward to verify that (S, IVLS, int) is a GIS.
The GIS models a system of "linear filter classes." With each rational
spectrum s we can associate a class of filters. Any filter in this class can be built
up from two simple kinds of filters, "all-zero" and "all-pole" filters. Any filte
in class s will transform an input sound to an output sound in such a way that
the power of frequency x in the output is equal to s(x) times the power of x in
the input. The manipulation of sounds and filters in this way is characteristic
6. Good examples of the practice can be found in "Lexicon of Analyzed Tones," a series of
analysis and plotting programs by James A. Moorer and John Grey published in Computer Music
Journal. "Part I: A Violin Tone" appeared in vol. 1, no. 2 (April 1977), 39-45. "Part II: Clarinet
and Oboe Tones" appeared in vol. 1, no. 3 (June 1977), 12-29. "Part III: The Trumpet" appeared
in vol. 2, no. 2 (September 1978), 23-31. There is also a handsome "relief map" on the cover of
84 that issue.
Generalized Interval Systems (3) 4,3
of certain recent work in computer music.7 We can sensibly talk of "transpos-

ing" and "inverting" such filter-classes in our GIS; since the GIS is commuta-
tive, these operations will behave in an intuitively familiar way, following the
laws developed in sections 3.4 and 3.5 earlier.
We can vary our GIS by varying the region within the frequency x varies.
We can change the values of LO and HI; we can even consider disconnected
regions within which x is to vary.
4.3 METHODOLOGY: In both GIS 4.2.1 and GIS 4.2.2, the formal relations
involved match our sonic intuitions only to a certain extent. In either GIS, that
is, we may have int(sp tj) = int(s2, tj), while the intuitive proportion between
Sj and tj does not much "sound like" the intuitive proportion between s2 and
^ The models suffer here by comparison with the constructs of Wayne
Slawson, who has developed an elegant model for an "intuitive" timbral
space.8
Yet such considerations should not necessarily lead us to ignore GIS
4.2.1 and GIS 4.2.2. To relate "natural" mathematical structure with intuition
is a problem in connection with virtually all theories involving sensory stimuli.
For instance, it is mathematically natural to compare the amplitude of two sin
waves by saying that one wave has i times the amplitude of the other; this is
especially natural if both waves are at the same frequency. Yet if s, and tj =
i • Sj are sin waves of the same low frequency, while s2 and t2 = i • s2 are sin
waves of the same middle-range frequency, our intuition about the relative
loudness of Sj and t, may differ considerably from our intuition about the
relative loudness of s2 and t2. Still, nobody would propose that we should feel
free to ignore quotients of amplitudes in a study of musical sounds, just
because they do not always conform to our intuitions of loudness, give or take
some simple transformation.
This is the methodological point: It is unfair to demand of a musical
theory that it always address our sonic intuitions faithfully in all potentially
musical contexts under all circumstances. It is enough to ask that the theory
do so in a sufficient number of contexts and circumstances. Perhaps, too, it is
fair to ask that the theory be potentially able to address our intuitions in any
given musical situation, provided that the situation develops in a suitable
musical manner.
To support the methodological point, let us explore certain thematic fea-
tures from the first movement of Chopin's Bl»-Minor Sonata.
On figure 4.6, (a) symbolizes aspects of the motive from the opening
7. The techniques are explained lucidly by Richard Cann in "An Analysis/Synthesis Tuto-
rial," Computer Music Journal. Part 1 is in vol. 3, no. 3 (September 1979), 6-11. Part 2 is in
vol. 3, no. 4 (December 1979), 9-13. Part 3 is in vol. 4, no. 1 (Spring 1980), 36-42.
8. "The Color of Sound: A Theoretical Study in Musical Timbre," Music Theory Spectrum
vol. 3 (1981), 132-41. 85
4.3 Generalized Interval Systems (3)
FIGURE 4.6
Grave measures, written in augmented rhythmic notation to fit the subsequent

tempo of the Doppio Movimento. (b) symbolizes the motive of the first theme,
(c) symbolizes a motive from the end of the bridge, and (d) symbolizes the
motive of the second theme. At the end of the exposition there is a big push to
cadence, leading to a big dominant of D[? major. Then there is a repeat sign.
Chopin's notation is ambiguous; for this discussion I will assume what I hear
strongly in any case, that the repeat goes back to (a), rather than (b). Then th
opening note of (a) completes the Dt? cadence; one thereby hears F|? as the
second note of (a) all the more strongly, since it is a third of the tonicized Db,
despite the notated E natural and the subsequent leading of the note as E
natural in the bass line.
Here is the assertion I wish to study: The first melodic dyad of (b),
marked y on the figure, belongs to the same interval class as x, the first melodic
dyad of (a). This relation, like the relation of our four sin tones earlier, is
formally "true" but intuitively problematic. At least, the relation of x and y
dyads is hard to hear when we first hear the first theme, the first time through
the exposition. But, I claim, the asserted relation has the potential for becom-
ing audible, and in fact it does become audible, even highly significant, the
second time through the exposition.
To hear this one should take motive (b), rather than motive (a), as a poin
of departure. By the end of the bridge section, motive (b) has been trans-
formed into motive (c). Rhythmically, (c) augments the durations of (b) by
factor of 2, and then augments its own last two notes by yet another factor of
2. Motive (d) introduces the second theme immediately thereafter. Rhythmi-
cally, (d) augments (c) by yet another factor of 2, and exchanges the durations
of the first two notes (counting the rest as part of the note that precedes it).
And then, going around the repeat, motive (a) augments (d) rhythmically by
still another factor of 2. Thus the chain of motive-forms (b)-(c)-(d)-(a bis) is
generated by a very consistent, indeed relentless, process of rhythmic expan-
sion. After the repeat, when we continue on from (a bis) to (b bis), we a
86 leaping from the end of the chain (b)-(c)-(d)-(a), back to its beginning and
Generalized Interval Systems (3) 4.3
motivic generator. In this larger and later context, we recognize that (b) and
(a), the boundary forms of the chain, are rhythmically transformed variants,
each of the other. And so we are much more willing to perceive other sorts of
relationships linking (b) with (a). In particular it is now much easier, I would
say proper and important, to hear dyad y as an ironically scurrying transfor-
mation of dyad x, with its portentous weight. We are helped in hearing this
relationship by the dyad marked z on figure 4.6, which we have by now heard
again and again during the second group. We are also helped by the big D|?
cadence prepared at the end of the exposition, which helps us hear F|? at the
repeat of (a). The first time around we may have had a certain predilection for
E natural because of our associations with the opening of Beethoven's Sonata
op. I l l , even specifically with measures 4| to 5^ of that piece. But the second
time around, when we clearly hear F(? (as well), it is much easier for us to
associate the x dyad, as root-and-minor-third of Dj?, with the y dyad, minor-
third-and-root of B(?, particularly since the two dyads both begin on a D(?.
To repeat my methodological claim: One should not' ask of a theory,
that every formally true statement it can make about musical events be a
perception-statement. One can only demand that a preponderance of its true
statements be potentially meaningful in sufficiently developed and extended
perceptual contexts.
87
Generalized Set Theory (1):
5
Interval Functions; Canonical
Groups and Canonical
Equivalence; Embedding
Functions
In this chapter we shall generalize certain aspects of atonal set theory so as to

apply in the context of any GIS.1
5.1.1 DEFINITION: Given a GIS(S, IVLS,int), we shall mean by a set in the

present chapter a finite unordered subfamily of S.
5.1.2 DEFINITION: If f is any mapping of S into itself and X is any set, we

denote by "f (X)" the set of elements f (s) formed as s varies over X.
That is, if X = (Sj, s 2 ,..., SN), then f(X) is the set whose members are
f(Si), f(s 2 ), ..., and f (SN).
If f is not 1-to-l then some of these f-values may not be distinct; then f (X)
will have a smaller cardinality than X. If f is 1-to-l then the N f-values listed
above will be distinct, and f (X) will have the same cardinality as X.
5.1.3 DEFINITION: Given a GIS, given sets X and Y, then the XjY interval
function is a function IFUNC(X,Y) which maps the group IVLS into the
family of non-negative integers as follows:
For each interval i in IVLS, the value of the function, IFUNC(X, Y) (i),
counts the number of distinct pairs (s, t) in S x S such that s is in X, t is in Y,
and int(s, t) = i.
That is, IFUNC(X, Y) (i) tells us in how many different ways the interval
i can be spanned between (members of) X and (members of) Y.
Usually, the context will make it clear when we are talking about the
1. The agenda, in chapters 5 and 6, parallels and expands upon the presentation of atonal
set theory I developed in my article, "Forte's Interval Vector, My Interval Function, and
88 Regener's Common-Note Function," Journal of Music 77ieor>>vol.21,no.2(Fall 1977), 194-237.
Generalized Set Theory (1) 5.13
function int, which maps S x S onto IVLS, and "the interval function" which,
given sets X and Y, maps IVLS into the non-negative integers.
IFUNC does not figure heavily in the standard literature of atonal set
theory. Let us study some examples to see how it applies to that theory; the
reader may thereby see the point of the construction, both in that specific
application and more generally.
FIGURE 5.1
Figure 5.1 (a) displays the two pitch-class sets Xj = (E, B|?) and Y t =
(F, A, C#) as a sort of symbolic melodic antecedent and consequent. Arrows
drawn from each note of X t to each note of Y t show which intervals can be
spanned, how many ways, between notes of X^ and notes of \l.Here, the
even-numbered intervals cannot be spanned at all, and each odd-numbered
interval can be spanned in exactly one way. Hence IFUNC(X l5 YJCi) = 0 if
i is even, and = 1 if i is odd.
Figure 5.1(b) displays the two sets Xj (as before) and Y2 = (G, A, B) in a
similar format. We see that IFUNC(X1, Y 2 ) (i) also = 0 if i is even, and = 1 i
iisodd.SoIFUNC(X 1 ,Y 2 ) = IFUNC^Y^ as a function on IVLS, even
though Y2 is not the same set as Yt—indeed, Y2 is not even a form of Y t . 2
Figure 5.1(c) displays the new sets X 2 and Y3 in the same format. Here
X2 is different from X x and Y3 is different from either Y! or Y 2 ; yet
IFUNC(X2, Y3) is again the same function of i: Its value is 0 if i is even and
1 if i is odd.
Figure 5.1 (d) displays yet another pair of sets, X3 = (E[?, F, G, A, B, C#)
and Y4 = (E). The X3/Y4 interval function is still and again the same:
IFUNC(X3, Y4)(i) is 0 if i is even, 1 if i is odd. The set X3 here is of different
2. I investigated this sort of phenomenon in an early article, "Intervallic Relations between
Two Collections of Notes," Journal of Music Theory, vol. 3, no. 2 (November 1959), 298-301. Its
style, unfortunately, makes few concessions to a non-mathematical reader. 89
5.1.3 Generalized Set Theory (1)
cardinality from Xj and X 2 ; Y4 is likewise of different cardinality from Y l 5

Y 2 ,andY 3 .
Figure 5.1 (d) is displayed in a contrapuntal rather than a melodic format.
In general, one could also distinguish a set X from a set Y in other formats: by
instrument, by mode of attack (staccato/legato), or by register (as opposed to
"voice"), to give only a few examples. The melodic antecedent/consequent
format, which seems particularly suggestive, was proposed by Michael Bush-
nell during his theoretical studies at Stony Brook in the 1970s. Bushnell also
initiated and carried through the basic work on the specific analysis following,
involving a passage from Webern's op. 7, no. 3, the third of the Four Pieces for
Violin and Piano.
Figure 5.2(a) reproduces the score through the opening of measure 9. The
right hand of the piano over measures 3-8 comprises two melodic phrases,
one filling measures 3-4, the other beginning on the B of measure 5 and
extending through the F# of measures 7-8. This is all the lyric melody there is
in the piece.
Figure 5.2(b) displays as X and Y the pitch-class sets that underlie the
two melodic phrases. The pitch noteheads representing the pitch classes E, C#,
and Eb within Y have been brought down an octave from the music. This is
partly for convenience, but partly too because of an idea which will emerge
later. Figure 5.2(b) also displays the sets Z0 and Z3 projected by the violin
ostinato that accompanies Y. The repeat sign on the figure indicates that we
pass from Z3 to Z0, as well as from Z0 to Z3, during the course of this music.
Figure 5.2(c) displays some interrelations of X, Y, and the Z-forms,
interrelations that all involve the pitch-class interval 3. Each arrow on the
figure indicates a T3 relation of one kind or another. The bottommost arrow
depicts the T3 relation between Z0 as a whole and Z3 as a whole, a T3-relation
of pitches as well as pitch classes. The arrows directly beneath the lower staff
of the figure show T3 pitch-relations between the "fourths" of Z0 and those of
Z3, and also T3 pitch-class relations between the "fourths" of Z3 and those of
Z0, when Z0 is restated directly after Z3. Among all these fourths, Eb-Ab
within Z0 and its T3-transform F#-B within Z3 are of special significance. A
the crossed lines between the staves of figure 5.2(c) indicate, the Eb-Ab that
ends ordered Z0 summarizes in retrograde the Ab-Eb that bounds the total
span of ordered melodic phrase X; analogously, the F#-B that ends ordered
Z3 summarizes in retrograde the B-F# that bounds the total span of ordered
melodic phrase Y.
This phenomenon suggests that we explore some sort of T3 relationship
between ordered X and ordered Y. On the top staff of figure 5.2(c), the Ab-Eb
boundaries of X and the analogous B-F# boundaries of Y are marked by
beamed open noteheads. The medial Bb of ordered X is attached to the X-
beam with a stem from a solid notehead; a corresponding C# = T3(Bb) within
90 ordered Y is notated analogously. To hear a function for C#-within-Y analo-
Generalized Set Theory (1) 5.1.3
FIGURE 5.2a
91
FIGURE 5.2b
FIGURE 5.2c
gous to the function of B(?-within-X, the reader may listen to the following
features of the passage. First, the C# and the F# within Y both receive agogic
accents, marked "a.a." on figure 5.2(c). One may query just what this means,
in the piano register of figure 5.2(a) at the given tempo. It surely means
something, if only something conceptual; the pianist should be thinking like a
singing instrument here. Second, the crescendo that begins at the B[? within X,
a crescendo reproduced on figure 5.2(c), is analogous in some degree to the
crescendo that begins at the C# within Y, even though the latter crescendo
does not get all the way to the final note of its phrase. Third, the beamed B, C#,
and F# of Y, within figure 5.2(c), occur as every-third-note of ordered Y; there
is a serial regularity about their occurrence. Fourth, once the E, C#, and E[> of
Y-within-the-music have been brought down an octave to provide the note-
heads for Y-within-figure 5.2(c), it is easy to hear the latter structure as a com-
pound gesture, counterpointing the rising beamed B-C#-F# (= T3 (ordered
X)) against the falling chromatic counter-gesture-(F-E)-(E[?-D)-. That
"falling chromatic line" on figure 5.2(c) fills in the chromatic space between
92 C# and F#, the medial and final beamed notes of the rising gesture.
The uppermost arrow on figure 5.2(c), then, indicates a structural T3

relation between set X and set T3(X)-embedded-in-Y. It seems secure to assert
this relation between the sets, for it seems reasonable to assert much stronger
T3 relations, e.g. the structural embedding of T3(ordered X) as every third
note of ordered Y, or even the idea that phrase Y as a whole is inter alia a
diminuted (ornamented/troped) version of T3 (phrase X).
Now we shall inspect some IFUNC values, to see how they interact
with these analytic ideas. Figure 5.3(a) tabulates four interval-functions,
IFUNC(Z0,Z3), IFUNC(X, Y), IFUNC(X,Z0), and IFUNC(Z3, Y).
FIGURE 5.3
IFUNC (Z0, Z3) tells us that 4 intervals of 3 are spanned between Z0 and
Z3; hence Z3 = T3(Z0). Likewise Z3 = T9(Z0) as a pitch-class set, since
IFUNC(Z0,Z3)(9) = 4. This T9 relation is concealed, not revealed, by the
registration of the pitches involved in the music. Nevertheless the T9 relation
has a certain rhythmic effect, as portrayed in figure 5.3(b). The pair "(9,7>)"
on that figure is a direct-product interval; it means "a pitch-class interval of 9
is spanned at a distance of 7 sixteenth-notes between attacks." 93
The less prominent values of 2 taken on by IFUNC(Z0, Z3) (less promi-

nent than 4) also have rhythmic implications. Figure 5.3(c) shows how
IFUNC(Z0,Z3)(2) = 2 and IFUNC(Z0,Z3)(10) = 2 articulate the rhythm
of the violin obbligato. (The sixteenth-note symbols are now omitted from the
direct-product intervals.) Figure 5.3(d) shows how IFUNC(Z0,Z3)(4) = 2
and IFUNC(Z0,Z3)(8) = 2 articulate the same obbligato in a different
rhythmic way.
IFUNC helps us to explore these intervallic/rhythmic substructures more
carefully than we otherwise might. (We have plenty of time to do so at the
written tempo.) The rhythmic effect of IFUNC(Z0, Z3) (3) = 4 is of course to
support the quintuple periodicity of the ostinato, as in figure 5.3(e).
Now let us return to the IFUNC table of figure 5.3(a) and inspect
IFUNC(X,Y). Since X has cardinality 3 and IFUNC(X, Y)(3) = 3, this
interval function tells us that T3(X) can be embedded within Y. That is, the
function informs us that such an embedding is "true," and would lead us to
inspect its potential musical significance in the passage at hand if we had not
already done so.
The value of 3 is a maximal possible value for IFUNC(X, Y), just as 4 was
a maximal possible value for IFUNC(Z 0 ,Z 3 ). Both functions take on their
maximal values on the argument i = 3. This sets up a "true" proportion
among the four sets involved: X is to subsequent Y just as Z0 is to subsequent
Z3, so far as a certain property is concerned (having a maximum IFUNC
value at the argument i = 3). Our discussion of figure 5.2(c) has shown that
this theoretical truth in fact reflects a musically significant relationship.
IFUNC(Z0, Z3) also took on its maximum value at the argument i = 9.
But IFUNC(X, Y) does not. Instead, IFUNC(X, Y) has a maximum at i = 8.
This tells us that T8(X) as well as T3(X) can be embedded within Y. Is the
fact musically significant as well as true? To explore the matter, let us first
find the notes of T8(X) as they occur within Y. X = (Ab,B|7,E|7), so
T8(X) = (E, Ftf, B). Within ordered-Y, the members of T8(X) appear in the
rotated order B-E-F#. Inspecting the score again, one asks if these three
notes have any special functions that affect the shaping of phrase Y in the
music. I believe they do. Namely, they are the registral and temporal boundary
tones for phrase Y. That is, B is at once the first note and the lowest note of the
melodic phrase; E is its highest note; F# is its last note. So one can plausibly
assert an overall shape for phrase Y that uses T8(X) as a bounding frame,
along the lines of figure 5.4.
We have been thinking of the set (B, E, F#) as a transposed form of set X,
because that transpositional relation is what IFUNC has brought to our
attention. As a series, the succession B-E-F# is a rotation of E-F#-B, which
is T8 (ordered X). B-E-F# can also be generated as the retrograde series of
94 ordered-X inverted about C#. IFUNC cannot suggest this relation to us; in
FIGURE 5.4
chapter 6 we shall generalize the interval function to an "injection function"

which can. In any case, our noticing that IFUNC(X, Y) (8) = 3 has suggested
a search that has led us to the musical relationship of figure 5.4, a relationship
that deserves serious aural attention. The relationship engages the register of
the high E in the music for phrase Y; we would not hear any boundary function
for E if it were an octave lower as in figure 5.2(c).3
Let us return again to the table of figure 5.3(a). We can notice there an
interesting resemblance between IFUNC(X,Z0) and IFUNC(Z3,Y). Both
functions take on their maximum values at the arguments i = 0, i = 5, i = 6,
and i = 11. Figures 5.5(a) through (d) show how the four intervals 0, 5,6, and
11 respectively govern both a model/expansion relation of X to Z0 and an
analogous model/expansion relation of (unordered) Z3 to Y.
(a) through (d) of the figure show how the two "fourths" of X, transposed
variously by i = 0, 5,6, or 11, map into the two "fourths" of Z0; this projects
the relation IFUNC(X,Z0)(i) = 2 in each case, (a) through (d) of the figure
show analogously how the four possible subtrichords of Z3, all of which are in
Forte's set-class 3-5, can each be transposed by one of the key intervals i = 0,
5,6, or 11 so as to map into one of the two subtrichords of Y that lie in the set-
class 3-5, both boundary trichords in a certain sense; this projects the analo-
gous relation IFUNC(Z3, Y)(i) = 3 in each case.
The latter four mappings, of Z3-trichords into Y-trichords, suggest that
Y can be articulated, when heard "against" Z3, as suggested by figure 5.5(e).
There we hear Y articulated into a beamed temporal "boundary" comprising
the union of its two 3-5 trichords, plus a bracketed temporal "interior"
comprising C#, E\>, and D. The articulation of Y in this fashion is reinforced
by the coincidence of the interior set (C#, Efr, D) with the cadence set
accompanying the melodic Efr that concludes ordered-X in the music. Figure
5.5(f) shows the pitches in the music between the attack of the X-terminating
E|? in measure 4 and the comma in measure 5 that separates X from Y in the
melody. The set of pitch classes heard in figure 5.5(f) recurs as the interior set
of Y, bracketed on figure 5.5(e).
A methodological note is in order. Some readers may feel confused rather

than enlightened by the variety of ways in which we have shaped and arti-
culated Y during our discussion, specifically in figures 5.2(c), 5.4, and 5.5(e).
3. I am indebted to Taylor Greer for suggesting to me (in another connection) that the
"boundary set" of an atonal melodic phrase often has special set-theoretic functions. 95
FIGURE 5.5
If Y "really is" an ornamented version of T3(X), then are we not "wrong"
to consider Y as a spatio/temporal gesture framed by T8(X), or to consider
Y as articulated by figure 5.5(e)? On the other hand, if Y "really is" a spatio/
temporal gesture framed by T8(X), then are we not "wrong" ... (and so on)?
One often hears such notions accompanied by a thought like, "after all, the
pianist must decide which way to play it."
Concerning these issues, the first thing to be said is that the last remark
in the above paragraph seriously under-estimates and misapprehends the
resources available to a good pianist (or performer in general) even in a
context as constrained as that of the Y-phrase in the music. What one can
hear, one can play. Let us suppose now that the possibly unquiet reader does
hear something significant, or at least engaging, about each of the Y-
articulations. (Otherwise there would be no disquiet and no problem.) The
96 disquietude arises intellectually, from considering Y as something which
"really is," independent of any specified environment. The interpretation of Y

manifest in figure 5.2(c) is not an attempt to get at the "real" structure of Y in a
context-free environment; rather it asserts that Y, when heard following X and
in connection with the many intervals of 3 between notes of X and notes of Y, will
tend to be articulated as in that figure. Likewise, figure 5.4 does not pretend to
assert something that Y "really is," context-free. Rather, it asserts a structur-
ing for Y that tends to emerge in the environment, "remembering X and
hearing the many intervals of 8 between notes of X and notes of Y." Finally,
figure 5.5(e) does not try to assert a "real" form for Y either. Rather, it says
that Y will tend to articulate in that way when heard in a complicated
environment involving Z3, the idea that Y expands Z3 in a manner analogous
to the way Z0 expanded X (as in figures 5.5(a)-(d)), and the effect of the
cadence harmony displayed in figure 5.5(f), as that event is recalled in its
various contexts.
The various IFUNC values of figure 5.3(a) are useful tools, as we have
seen, for exploring the multifaceted aspects of Y in various of its environ-
ments. Figures 5.2(c) and 5.4 explore two different ways in which Y-
following-X engages IFUNC; these ways will be of practical interest to the
pianist shaping the lyric melody of the right hand over measures 3-7. As we
noted before, that is all the lyric melody there is in the piece, and since the
melody articulates musically into two phrases, the pianist will naturally want
to explore listening to the various kinds of "logic" adhering to the way in
which Y follows X. Figures 5.2(c) and 5.4 provide that theoretical "logic" in
this environment, the one figure in connection with sensitivity to the interval 3,
the other in connection with sensitivity to the interval 8.
Figure 5.5(e), in contrast, explores Y as it occurs in a different context,
that is as it relates to Z3 in a complex theoretical proportion also involving X
and Z0 as in figures 5.5(a)-(d). The corresponding musical environment is
now not the way the antecedent and consequent phrases of the lyric melody are
shaped in the right hand of the piano, but rather the way in which the violin
ostinato comments upon that melody, and is commented upon by it. The new
musical environment we are now considering involves an interrelation, or
rather several interrelations, between the instruments. This will be of partic-
ular interest to the violinist, trying to keep the ostinato figure fresh and alive
rather than mechanical. In this environment the second appearance of Z3 will
sound different from the first. Figure 5.6 shows what I mean.
(a) and (b) of the figure show how the first Z3, at measures 6-7, com-
ments upon the opening trichord of Y at the intervals of 5 and 11 respectively,
(c) and (d) of the figure, in contrast, show how the second Z3, during measures
7-8, comments (as well) upon the fresh trichord (B, F, F#) within Y, now that
F# has appeared on the scene. The new commentary is at the intervals of 0 and
6. When executing these commentaries, it will help the violinist to listen to Y
articulated as in figure 5.5(e) earlier. 97
FIGURE 5.6
We could of course also consider Y simply in its own environment,

spanning various intervals within itself. This would lead us to examine
IFUNC(Y, Y), which is essentially Forte's "interval vector of Y."
Our study of the Webern passage has made Z0 seem more subordinate
than it sounds in the piece; the study so far has also underplayed the role of the
3-note chromatic set (C#, D, E|?), the set which appeared in figure 5.5(e)-(f).
A brief discussion of figure 5.7 will attempt to right this balance, without
getting fussy about more IFUNC values.
FIGURE 5.7
The figure transcribes the noteheads of the ensemble up through the

cadence at the bar line of measure 5. Over measures 1 through 3 the music
slowly exposes the set W0 = (A, 6(7, A(?). (At the written tempo, this takes
over 20 seconds.) The boundary tones for the exposition of W0 are shown on
the figure with open noteheads: A is lowest and first; Ab is (so far) highest and
last. As the piece continues, the rhythm becomes more active and the registral
space expands. By the cadence at measure 5 we hear new boundary tones, also
shown with open noteheads: E|?5 is a new highest tone; D3 is a new lowest tone
and also a new last tone. The four boundary tones on the figure add up
98 precisely to a large-scale projection of the set Z0 = (A, D, Efc>, Aj?). So Z0 has a
very strong structural meaning in its own right, by the time it enters in the
foreground of measure 6 to begin the violin ostinato.
The progression of boundary tones on figure 5.7 suggests an inversional
relationship: The falling bass, from the opening A3 to the closing D3, sand-
wiches a rising melody spanned by the local high tones A|?4-then-E|?5. Indeed
this rising melody is the X-phrase itself. The injection function, to be discussed
in chapter 6, will allow us to engage such inversional relations within and
between sets; IFUNC cannot do so.
The set W 5 on figure 5.7 is the cadence harmony shown earlier on figure
5.5(f), a set projected in another way by the bracketed "interior of Y" on
figure 5.5(e). Figure 5.7 shows how the cadential W5 responds to the opening
W0. W5 is of course T5(W0). The bass A of W0 as presented, flanked by its
chromatic neighbors B(? and A|? above, progresses over figure 5.7 to the bass
D of W 5 , flanked by its chromatic neighbors Eb and C# above. So the T5
relation of W0 as a whole to W 5 as a whole, as that relation moves structurally
over figure 5.7, expands upon the T5 relation of A to D in the bass register.
This is not lost upon our ears when the violin ostinato begins precisely with
A-D- at measure 6, presenting thereby a highly charged T5 relation in the
foreground. All these considerations dispose us to bracket off W 5 as the
interior of Y with somewhat more aural attention than our earlier discussion
could make plausible.
Having explored the pertinence of IFUNC in the setting of traditional

atonal set theory, let us now return to further study of the formal X/Y interval
function in generalized set theory. We recall Definition 5.1.3: Given a GIS,
given sets X and Y, then IFUNC(X, Y) is that function which assigns to each i
in IVLS the number of ways in which i can be spanned from X to Y, that is the
number of pairs (s, t) such that s is in X, t is in Y, and int(s, t) = i. We shall now
study how IFUNC is affected as the sets X and Y are manipulated and
transformed in various ways.
The first theorem to be noted shows that when the roles of sets X and Y
are exchanged, IFUNC is in a certain sense "inverted."
5.1.4 THEOREM: IFUNC(Y,X)(i) = IFUNC(X,Y)(i-1).

Proof: IFUNC(X, Y) (i-1) is the number of pairs (s, t) such that s is in X, t
is in Y, and int(s, t) = i"1. This is the number of pairs (t, s) such that t is in Y, s
is in X, and int(t,s) = i. And that number is IFUNC(Y,X)(i).
The next theorem shows that IFUNC is not affected when X and Y are
both transformed by the same interval-preserving operation P.
5.1.5 THEOREM: Let P be any interval-preserving operation. Then

IFUNC(P(X),P(Y)) = IFUNC(X, Y) as a function on IVLS. 99
Proof (optional): Let PAIRS be the family of pairs (s, t) such that s is in X,
t is in Y, and int(s, t) = i. Then IFUNC(X, Y)(i) is the cardinality of PAIRS.
Let PAIRS' be the family of pairs (s', t') such that s' is in P(X), t' is in P(Y),
and int(s', t') = i. Then IFUNC(P(X), p(Y))(i) is the cardinality of PAIRS'. So,
to show that IFUNC(X, Y)(i) = IFUNC(P(X), P(Y))(i), it suffices to show that
PAIRS and PAIRS' have the same cardinality. And that will be the case if we
can map PAIRS onto PAIRS' by some 1-to-l function f. We shall construct
such a function f.
Given (s, t) in PAIRS, define f(s, t) = (P(s), P(t)). f(s, t) is indeed a
member of PAIRS', for P(s) is in P(X), P(t) is in P(Y), and int(P(s), P(t)) =
int(s, t) = i (since P is interval-preserving), f is a 1-to-l map because P is
1-to-l: If (P(s,), P(t,)) = (P(s2), P(g), then P(s,) = P(s2) and P(t,) = P(t,),
whence s, = s2 and tj = tj, whence (s,, t, = (s2, tj). It remains only to show
that f is onto PAIRS'. The interval-preserving operations form a group of
operations on S; hence P"1 exists and is interval-preserving. Given (s', t') in
PAIRS', set s = P~V) and t = P"1^'). The reader may verify that (s, t) is
in PAIRS, and that the given (s', t') is the image of (s, t) under the map f. q.e.d.
Now we shall see how IFUNC is affected when X or Y or both are

transposed.
5.1.6 THEOREM: For any transposition operation Tn, the formulas (A), (B),
and (C) below obtain.
(A): IFUNC(Tn(X), Y)(i) = IFUNC(X, Y)(ni)
(B): IFUNC(X, Tn(Y))(i) = IFUNC(X, Y)(in~])
(C): IFUNC(Tn(X), Tn(Y))(i) = IFUNC(X, YXnin'1)
Proof of (A) (optional): Let PAIRS be the family of pairs (s, t) such that s
is in X, t is in Y, and int(s, t) = ni. Then the cardinality of PAIRS is
IFUNC(X, Y)(ni), the right side of Formula (A) above. Let PAIRS' be the
family of pairs (s', t) such that s' is in Tn(X), t is in Y, and int(s', t) = i. Then
the cardinality of PAIRS' is MJNC(Tn(X), Y)(i), the left side of Formula (A).
To prove the formula, then, it suffices to show that PAIRS and PAIRS' have the
same cardinality. And we can show that by demonstrating a function f which
is 1-to-l from PAIRS onto PAIRS'.
The desired function is f(s, t) = (Tn(s), t). The reader may verify that f
maps PAIRS into PAIRS', that f is 1-to-l, and that f is onto.
Proof of (B) (optional): IFUNC(X, Tn(Y))(i) = IFUNC(Tn(Y), XXi'1),
via 5.1.4. This = IFUNC(Y, X)(ni-1, via Formula (A) just proved. And
that = IFUNC(X, YXiir1), again via 5.1.4.
Proof of (C) (optional): IFUNC(Tn(X), Tn(Y))(i) = IFUNC(X, TB(Y))(ni),
via Formula (A) above. And that = IFUNC(X, Y)(nin~!), via Formula (B) just
100 proved, q.e.d.
In contrast to the results of Theorem 5.1.6, there is not much to be said in

general about the effect of applying an inversion operation to X, Y, or both, so
far as IFUNC is concerned. If we restrict our attention to commutative groups
of intervals, though, then we can say something.
5.1.7THEOREM: If I is any inversion operation in a commutative GIS, then

IFUNC(I(X),I(Y)) = IFUNC(Y,X).
Optional sketch for a proof: In a commutative GIS, the inversions are
interval-reversing operations (3.6.3). The present theorem may therefore be
proved by the same technique used to prove 5.1.5 above.
General questions involving IFUNC and other operations on S will be

better pursued using the Injection Function to be developed in chapter 6; that
function will generalize IFUNC among other things. The same holds for
general questions involving IFUNC and complement relations among sets,
where those are relevant. (We have not assumed that S is finite, so the
complement of a set need not be a set according to Definition 5.1.1.)
IFUNC can be given an interesting interpretation as a probability
distribution.
5.1.8 THEOREM: Let X and Y have respective cardinalities M and N. Select a

member s of X at random and a member t of Y at random. Then the number
IFUNC(X, Y) (i)/(MN) measures the probability that int(s, t) will be found to
equal i.
Proof: There are MN possible pairs that can be pulled in this way, and
IFUNC(X, Y) (i) of these pairs will have the desired property, q.e.d.
Theorem 5.1.8 is interesting because we have used IFUNC so far only as a

precision tool; the theorem shows that it can also be used to portray a
statistical texture. For instance, suppose a clarinet is told to improvise for a
time upon the notes of a pitch set X, while a flute is told to improvise for the
same span of time upon Y. A statistical field of intervals will result from this
improvisation, and that field can be modeled by IFUNC(X, Y) according to
the rule of Theorem 5.1.8.
Even when we are not applying IFUNC to such "stochastic" compo-
sitional settings, it is still sometimes useful to regard it as providing a statistical
backdrop for intervallic events. For instance, the notion that a certain interval
i appears "often" or "only rarely" between X and Y is implicitly dependent on
this backdrop: i appears "only rarely," e.g., compared to how often other
intervals appear.
We shall look at aspects of the opening from Schoenberg's Violin Fan-

tasy op. 47, taking this point of view. The violin projects the pitch-class set 101
Y = (Bb, A, C#, B, F, G), while the piano accompanies the violin with the set
X = (Eb, E, C, D, AJ7, Gb). X is the complement of Y and also an inversion of
Y but these relations will not concern us explicitly for present purposes. Figure
5.8(a) displays the values of IFUNC(X, Y).
FIGURE 5.8
Figure 5.8(a) shows that IFUNC counts "many" odd intervals from X
to Y (accompaniment-to-solo, lower-instrument-to-upper-instrument), and
"few" even intervals. The theoretical point at hand is that two appearances
of an interval is not intrinsically "few"—it would not be few e.g. between
two trichords. Rather, the scarce intervals on figure 5.8 (a) are "scarce"
only against the statistical backdrop of the table as a whole. The equation
IFUNC(X, Y) (0) = 0 expresses the fact that X and Y have no common tones.
So the scarce interval 0 does not appear at all between the instruments. The
scarce intervals of 4 and 8 each appear in two different ways between piano
and violin, and those ways are of analytic interest.
Figure 5.8(b) displays the opening noteheads of the piece in order of
succession. Figure 5.8(c) shows how the two intervals of 4 between X (piano)
and Y (violin) appear. One of those 4-intervals appears between Gb, the last
and lowest note, and Bb, the first note and a provisional low note for the
violin. The other 4-interval appears between Eb, the first and highest note of
the piano, and G, the last and lowest note of the violin. Thus all the notes in
figure 5.8(c) are boundary tones of one sort or another for the passage; the
figure shows how the scarce interval 4 binds this spatio/temporal frame for the
phrase.
Figure 5.8(d) shows the scarce interval 8 functioning in a similar way. We
102 have already discussed the Bb and the Eb as boundaries; the B is a high
Generalized Set Theory ( I ) 5.1.8
boundary; the low D is a provisional low boundary until the very end of the
phrase.
Many abstractly interesting questions can be asked about our generalized

IFUNC. One family of questions takes the following tack: Given some prop-
erty that a function from IVLS to the non-negative integers might have, under
what conditions on X and Y will IFUNC(X, Y) have that property? For in-
stance, we may ask under just what conditions on X and Y IFUNC(X, Y)^"1)
will equal IFUNC(X,Y)(i) for all i. Via 5.1.4, this is the same as asking
under what conditions on X and Y IFUNC(Y, X) will be the same function
as IFUNC(X,Y). More generally, we can ask under what conditions there
will exist intervals m and n such that IFUNC(X,Y)(mi~ 1 n) will equal
IFUNC(X,Y)(i) for all i. Satisfactory answers for these questions are not
known even in connection with the standard GIS for atonal set theory.4
Another family of questions generalizes in one possible direction the
traditional topic of "Z-sets." In Forte's theory, pitch-class sets X t and X2
which are not transposed or inverted forms of each other are Z-related if and
only if IFUNCCX^XO = IFUNC(X2,X2), as a function on IVLS. In a
general GIS setting we may ask under what conditions on X x and X2 that
equation will obtain. We know that the relation will hold if there is an interval-
preserving transformation P such that X2 = PCXJ (5.1.5). The relation will
not automatically hold in a non-commutative GIS when X2 is a transposed
form of X t : 5.1.6 shows us that if X2 = T^X^, then IFUNC(X2,X2)(i) will
equal IFUNCtX^X^nhT1), but not necessarily IFUNCCX^XJCi).
Going even further, we may ask under what conditions among the four
sets X l 5 Y!, X 2 , and Y2 we will have the relation IFUNCtX^Y^ =
IFUNC(X 2 , Y 2 ) (as a function on IVLS). Figure 5.1 earlier provided some
examples of this state of affairs, in the relatively well-behaved GIS of tradi-
tional atonal set-theory. This is all a vast open ground for mathematical and
musical inquiry, even in atonal set-theory.
Our questions can be transferred to a more general mathematical setting.

Readers who do not have graduate-level mathematical background should
skip this paragraph. If we use LABEL to identify S with IVLS, we can see that
we are treating S = IVLS as a locally compact group under the discrete
topology; our "sets" are the compact subsets of IVLS, and IFUNC(X, Y) (i) is
the convolution (f * * g) (i), where f and g are the characteristic functions of the
sets X and Y respectively. All of our questions may then be generalized to
questions about the interrelations, in a locally compact group, among the
characteristic functions of compact subsets. E.g: Given compact subsets X l s
4. Eric Regener, "On Allen Forte's Theory of Chords," Perspectives of New Music vol. 13,
no. 1 (Fall-Winter 1974), 191-212. Regener poses essentially equivalent questions in that con-
nection, starting at "Among many other things," on page 204. 703
X 2 , Y t , and Y 2 , with characteristic functions f l s f 2 , g l5 and g2, under what

conditions will fr* * gj and f^ * g2 be the same function? As with the special
case of IFUNC, the study is much simplified when the group is commutative.
Other ways of generalizing our questions about IFUNC will come up
later in connection with the Injection Function.
We now make a big articulation and turn our attention to generalizing

Forte's Interval Vector. To do so, we shall need some further apparatus, in
particular the notions of a "Canonical Group" of operations on S and a
"Canonical Equivalence Relation" among sets. It is worth noting that
IFUNC, and the Injection Function later, can be defined and discussed
without invoking those notions.
Forte considers pitch-class sets X and Y to be canonically equivalent, by
our definition coming up, if Y is a transposition or inversion of X. Here the
canonical group comprises the transposition and the inversion operations.
(They form a group here because the GIS is commutative.) In other systems of
atonal set theory, X and Y are considered canonically equivalent if and only if
Y is a transposition of X; then the canonical group comprises transpositions
only. In still other systems the canonical group includes not only the transpo-
sitions and the inversions but also the circle-of-fifths transformations and
possibly other transformations as well.5
The idea of canonical equivalence allows us to speak about "the forms
of" a set X; those are the sets X' that can be derived from X by operations
in the canonical group, or (what is the same thing) the sets X' which are
canonically equivalent to X. The work coming up in section 5.2 generalizes
these ideas.
5.2.1 DEFINITIONS: In certain connections we shall fix a group of operations

on S and call it "the canonical group." It will be denoted CANON. Sets X and
X' will be called "canonically equivalent" if there exists some canonical
operation A such that X' = A(X).
The defined relation is indeed an equivalence. It is reflexive: X =

IDENT(X). It is symmetric: If X' = A(X) then X = A~l(X'). It is transitive:
If X' = A(X) and X" = B(X'), then X" = (BA)(X).
In any specific context, we suppose there is some good reason for select-
ing one particular group of operations on the family S as canonical. Generally
the good reason will involve intervallic relationships of one sort or another
within a GIS for which S is the family of objects. But formally, we do not
actually need a GIS structure at all. We could carry through our work if we
5. An extended discussion of such matters can be found in Robert D. Morris, "Set Groups,
Complementation, and Mappings among Pitch-Class Sets," Journal of Music Theory vol. 26,
104 no. 1 (Spring 1982), 101-44.
just started with some family S of objects and some group CANON of opera-
tions on S, not concerning ourselves with formal intervals at all. When we look
at things so abstractly, we foreshadow the "transformational" approach to be
taken later on in this book.
5.2.2DEFINITIONS: We shall write /X/ to denote the canonical equivalence-

class containing the set X. /X/ will be called, for short, the "set class of X."
The term "set class" will grate dreadfully on the ears of any mathematical
logician. Still, it is becoming standard usage for atonal theory. In earlier
writing I used the term "chord type." But that term loses its intuitive per-
tinence when we are working with generalized sets of all kinds, including
rhythmic sets, timbral sets, sets in direct-product GIS structures, and the like.
It is important to understand that the notion of set class depends not only
upon the set X at hand but also upon the canonical group CANON selected
for the occasion. For example, let us fix the standard GIS of atonal set theory;
let us select X = (C, E, G). If we choose CANON to be the group of transpo-
sition operations, then /X/, the family of transpositions-of-X, comprises the
major triads. But if we choose CANON to be the group of transpositions and
inversions, then /X/, the family of transpositions-and-inversions-of-X, com-
prises all the harmonic triads, major and minor.
5.2.3 LOCUTIONS: "X' is a form of X" means that X' is canonically equivalent
to X. /X/ may be referred to as "the forms of X."
Given a GIS, it can be a tricky business to decide for any particular

theoretical exercise just which operations on S are to be allowed into
CANON.6 We shall generally want to include at least the interval-preserving
operations in the canonical group. For if P is an interval-preserving operation
andX' = P(X),thenIFUNC(X',X') = IFUNC(X,X)(5.1.5).ThusX'-in-its-
own-context has the same intervallic structure as X-in-its-own-context; this is
a reasonable criterion for wanting X' to be considered "equivalent" to X.
When the GIS is commutative, the interval-preserving operations will be
exactly the transpositions. When the GIS is non-commutative, we may or may
not wish to include the transpositions, as well as the interval-preserving
operations, in the canonical group for a given exercise.
We can now define the Embedding Number, a construct which general-
izes Forte's Interval Vector.
5.3.1 DEFINITION: Given sets X and Y, the embedding number of X in Y,

EMB(X, Y), is the number of forms of X (i.e. members of /X/) that are
included in Y.
6. Morris (ibid.) discusses this at length, in atonal theory. 705

The embedding number depends on the notion of set class, which de-
pends in turn upon the canonical group at hand; this cannot be overem-
phasized. For example, let us work within the standard GIS of atonal theory;
let X be some major triad and let Y be some major scale. If CANON consists
of the transposition operations only, then EMB(X, Y) = 3: three major triads
are embedded in the scale. On the other hand, if CANON consists of
both transpositions and inversions, then EMB(X, Y) = 6: six harmonic
triads are embedded in the scale. Strictly speaking, we should write
EMB(CANON,X, Y) to show that the embedding number varies with the
canonical group as well as the sets X and Y. But our notation is already
cumbersome enough.
If X' is a form of X then /X'/ = /X/; the members of /X'/ are the mem-
bers of /X/ and therefore, via 5.3.1, EMB(X', Y) = EMB(X,Y). If Y' =
A(Y) is a form of Y and EMB(X, Y) = N, let X l f X 2 , . . . , Xn be the distinct
forms of X embedded in Y. Then ApCJ, A(X2), ..., A(X n ) are the distinct
forms of X embedded in Y'= A(Y). So EMB(X,Y') also = N; i.e.
EMB(X, Y') = EMB(X, Y). It follows: If X' is a form of X and Y' is a form of
Y then EMB(X', Y') = EMB(X,Y). We have proved that Definitions 5.3.2
following make sense.
5.3.2 DEFINITIONS: EMB(/X/, Y) will mean the value of EMB(X', Y) for any
member X' of/X/. EMB(X, /Y/) will mean the value of EMB(X, Y') for any Y
in /Y/. EMB(/X/, /Y/) will mean the value of EMB(X', Y') for any X' in /X/
and any Y' in /Y/.
Let us consider the standard atonal GIS, and let us fix CANON as either
the transpositions, or the transpositions plus the inversions. The various 2-
note sets will gather into exactly six "2-note set-classes," SC^ SC 2 ,..., SC6.
(SC4 for instance contains all the 2-note sets whose notes lie an interval of
4-or-8 from each other.) Given a set Y, we can ask for the values of
EMB(SCn, Y) as n runs from 1 through 6, i.e. the values of EMB(/X/, Y) as the
variable /X/ runs through the six 2-note set classes. The function giving us
those six values is Forte's Interval Vector of Y. From our point of view here,
we could call it the "dyad-type vector of Y." By analogy we could study the
"trichord-type vector of Y," that is the function which gives us the values of
EMB(/X/, Y) as /X/ runs through the various 3-note set classes. (There will be
nineteen such classes if CANON contains transpositions only; there will be
twelve if CANON contains both transpositions and inversions.) Leaving the
GIS of atonal theory now, we can generalize such vectors in an abstract setting
by the following definition.
106 5.3.3 DEFINITION: By the "M-class vector of Y," we understand the function
Generalized Set Theory (1) 5.3.5.2
EMB(/X/, Y) as the variable /X/ runs through the various set-classes whose
members have cardinality M.
In case S is infinite there may be an infinite number of M-member set

classes. But since Y is finite it has only a finite number of subsets, which can
belong to only a finite number of set classes. Hence EMB(/X/, Y) must be zero
for all but a finite number of /X/.
5.3.4 THEOREM : Let the cardinality of Y be N. Let M be a positive integer less
than N. Pull M members of Y at random. Then the probability that you have
pulled a set of class /X/ is given by the number EMB(/X/, Y)/COMB(M, N).
Here COMB(M,N) is the number of combinations of M things that can be
extracted from a family of N things; e.g. COMB(13,52) is the number of
possible hands at bridge.
Proof: There are COMB(M,N) different M-member sets \ve might ex-
tract from Y, and EMB(JX|, Y) of those sets will be of class [X|.
COMB(M,N) can be calculated to be Nl/(Mi.(N - M)V), where N! is
factorial N, etc. Theorem 5.3.4 shows us that EMB, like IFUNC earlier, can
be regarded as a statistical measure aside from its uses as a precision tool. The
theorem enables us derive a very strong formula interrelating various M-class
vectors in a general setting. That formula will be proved in 5.3.5.2 below; we
shall first prove a lemma involving some numerical computation.
5.3.5.1 LEMMA: Given positive integers L, M greater than L, and N greater

than M, then
COMB(L,N)/(COMB(L,M)COMB(M,N)) = 1/COMB(N - M, N - L).
Proof (optional):
COMB(L, N)/(COMB(L, M)COMB(M, N))
= N!/(L!(N - L)!) divided by the product of M!/(L!(M - L)!)
andN!/(M!(N-M)!)
= N!/(L!(N - L)!) times L!(M - L)!/M! times M!(N - M)!/N!.
In this product the factorials of L, M, and N can each be cancelled from the
numerators and the denominators of the participating fractional factors. This
leaves the product
= 1/(N - L)! times (M - L)! times (N - M)!
= (N - M)!(M - L)!/(N - L)!. And that is the multiplicative inverse of
COMB(N - M, N - L), as asserted, q.e.d.
5.3.5.2 THEOREM: Let L, M, and N be as in Lemma 5.3.5.1; let ADJUST be

the fraction calculated in that lemma. Let Z be a set of cardinality N and let X 107
5.3.5.2 Generalized Set Theory (1)
be a set of cardinality L. Then

EMB(X, Z) = ADJUST • SUM(EMB(X, /Y/)EMB(/Y/, Z)),
where the SUM is taken over all M-member set-classes /Y/.
Proof (optional): Only a finite number of terms in the sum will be non-
zero, so summing "over all... /Y/" makes sense. (As /Y/ varies, only a finite
number of values EMB(/Y/, Z) can be non-zero.)
Let us imagine first pulling an M-member subset from Z, and then pulling
an L-member subset from that M-member set. In the first pull, the probability
that we have pulled a set of class /Y/ is prob(/Y/) = EMB(/Y/,Z)/
COMB(M,N) (5.3.4). And if we have pulled a set of class /Y/, the proba-
bility that our second pull will yield a form of X is prob(/X/-from-/Y/) =
EMB(/X/, /Y/)/COMB(L, M) (5.3.4). Probability theory tells us how to mani-
pulate these numbers so as to calculate the chances of ending up with some
form of X pulled from Z. Namely:
prob(/X/-from-Z) = SUM(prob(/Y/)prob(/X/-from-/Y/)),
where the sum is over all possible intermediate pulls /Y/, that is over all the M-
member set-classes /Y/. Now in the probability formula above we can sub-
stitute, via 5.3.4,
prob(/X/-from-Z) = EMB(X, Z)/COMB(L, N)
prob(/Y/) = EMB(/Y/, Z)/COMB(M, N)
and prob(/X/-from-/Y/) = EMB(X,/Y/)/COMB(L,M).
The probability formula then takes the new form
EMB(X, Z) = FACTOR • SUM(EMB(X, /Y/)EMB(/Y/, Z)), where
FACTOR takes care of the COMB-numbers in the denominators of the
various probability values above. Calculating FACTOR out, we see that
this fraction specifically equals COMB(L, N)/(COMB(L, M)COMB(M, N)).
And that, via the Lemma, is ADJUST, q.e.d.
The formula of Lemma 5.3.5.1 is not necessary to prove the formula of
the theorem; we could simply define ADJUST to be COMB(L,N)/
(COMB(L,M)COMB(M,N)). But the value 1/COMB(N - M, N - L
will often be much easier to compute. For instance try L = 5, M = 9, and
N = 11: The value 1/COMB(N - M, N - L) gives us 1/COMB(2,6) = 1/1
very quickly.
To give us an intuitive sense of why Theorem 5.3.5.2 is interesting, it will
be useful to study a simple example from Fortean set-theory in connection
with a topological model. Let Z be the pitch-class tetrachord (A, B, C, D); let
X be the dyad (A, C). Here L = 2 and N = 4; we will set M = 3 and examine
just what Theorem 5.3.5.2 is telling us.
108 First let us inspect figure 5.9. It represents the tetrachord Z as a tetra-
FIGURE 5.9
hedron in three-dimensional space; the vertices of the tetrahedron are the

member pitch-classes A, B, C, and D of the set Z. When we inquire about the
2-note subsets of Z, we are inquiring about the boundary edges of this
tetrahedron. The figure lays the boundary edges out for inspection below the
tetrahedron. Of the six edges, one belongs to set-class 2-1, two belong to set-
class 2-2, two belong to set-class 2-3, and one belongs to set-class 2-5. The
embedding numbers at the lower right of the figure express these counts.
Now let us inspect figure 5.10. It first analyzes the tetrachord into its four
triangular boundary faces, and then analyzes each triangular face into its three
boundary edges. Two of the triangles are in Forte-class 3-2; these triangles are
labelled Y2 and Y2' on the figure. The other two triangles are in Forte-class
3-7; these triangles are labelled Y7 and Y7'. 709
FIGURE 5.10
On figure 5.10 the four triangles are lined up beneath the tetrahedron,
and the edges of each triangle are stacked up below that triangle. In the four
resulting stacks, each edge of the original Z-tetrahedron appears twice. That is
because each edge of the tetrahedron belongs to two of the triangles. (Edge
AB, for instance, belongs both to triangle Y2 and to triangle Y7'.) As a result,
when we count how many sticks at the bottom of the figure are in Forte-class
2-3, we must divide that count by two, to arrive at the number of sticks in that
Forte-class we found on figure 9 earlier. For example, figure 5.9 counted two
110 edges-of-Z lying in Forte-class 2-3, namely AC and BD. EMB(class
2-3, Z) = 2. Figure 5.10 counts as edges-of-faces-of-Z twice as many sticks of

class 2-3, namely AC-as-edge-of-Y2, BD-as-edge-of-Y2', AC-as-edge-of-Y7,
and AC-as-edge-of-Y7'.
What Theorem 5.3.5.2 does in this connection is to ADJUST the count
of sticks at the bottom of figure 5.10, dividing it by two to conform with the
stick-count at the bottom of figure 5.9. The theorem knows that two is the
proper number to divide by here, because 1/2 is the present value of
ADJUST = 1/COMB(N - M, N - L) = 1/COMB(1,2) = 1/2. If Z were
heptachordal object in six-dimensional space (N = 7) and the Y hyper-
faces were pentachordal objects in four-dimensional space (M = 5) and
we were again interested in counting edges (L = 2), then we would have to
ADJUST our count of sticks analogously by 1/COMB(N - M, N - L)
1/COMB(2,5)= 1/10.
The probabilistic method we used to prove Theorem 5.3.5.2 will help us
understand figures 5.9 and 5.10 in a somewhat different light. Inspecting
figure 5.10, we see that if we peel a triangular face at random off the tetra-
hedron, the probability is 1/2 that the face will be in Forte-class 3-2 and 1/2
that the face will be in Forte-class 3-7. If we pull an edge at random off a
triangle of Forte-class 3-2, our expectation is 1/3 that the edge will be in
Forte-class 2-3. And if we pull an edge at random off a triangle of Forte-class
3-7, our expectation is 1/3 that the edge will be in Forte-class 2-3. Hence,
according to the theory of probability, our total expectation for pulling
an edge of Forte-class 2-3 off the tetrahedron by a random yank is
((1/3) (1/2) + (1/3) (1/2)) = (1/6 + 1/6) = 1/3. And this agrees (as our work
says it must) with the probability of that event which we infer from figure 5.9:
There we see that of the six tetrahedral edges, two are of Forte-class 2-3; so we
infer that our expectation of yanking an edge of that class in a random pull is
2/6, which is 1/3.
To pursue farther what Theorem 5.3.5.2 has to do with figures 5.9 and
5.10, and with higher-dimensional analogs of those figures, would lead us
deeply into a branch of mathematics called algebraic topology. That pursuit
would be very much worth undertaking, but it would be out of place here.
In discussing how our generalized embedding number applies to the
example of figures 5.9 and 5.10, I have supposed that the reader is already
familiar with Forte's use of the interval vector in atonal theory. Now let us see
how our generalized theory applies in a very different context, one with which
the reader is almost certainly unfamiliar. To that end, we shall study some
examples in connection with the non-commutative GIS of time spans which
we developed in chapter 4.
The first thing we must do is fix the group CANON for our purposes. We
shall take CANON to be the group of all interval-preserving operations here.
We shall not allow transpositions, much less inversions, as canonical oper-
ations for this study. Our reason will become clear. Ill
As we observed in 4.1.7(D), the generic interval-preserving operation

P = P (h>u) transforms the sample time span (a,x) into the time span
(h + ua, ux). The commentary on 4.1.7(D) elaborated upon this: "The
interval-preserving operation P(h u) first blows up or shrinks the sample time
span (a, x) by a factor of u, transforming (a, x) to (ua, ux), and then moves the
latter time span backward or forward in time by h or ( —h) numerical units,
transforming (ua, ux) to (h + ua, ux) = P(a, x)." So if X is a set of time spans
(s l 5 s 2 ,...s n ), where sn = (a n ,x n ), then P(X) is the set (s'^s^,.. . SN), wher
sj, = P(sn) = (h + ua n ,ux n ). We can imagine the set X here as modeling
temporal aspects of a musical "passage" containing N events; then P(X)
models analogous aspects of the passage played u times as slowly (1/u times as
fast), starting the tempo change from time-point zero, all this played h
numerical time-units later ( — h earlier).
For example, let us take "the quarter note" as a numerical unit and "the
beginning of the piece" as a numerical time-point zero. Imagine a motive
consisting of an eighth, a dotted eighth, a sixteenth, and a quarter, played
consecutively starting 10 quarters after the beginning of the piece. We could
model some temporal aspects of this motive by the set X = ((10,|), (10^,f),
(Hi,i), (Hi, !))• Remember that X is formally an unordered set; we have
listed its members "in order of appearance" only for convenience here. Let us
take h = 1370 and u = 4. Then the transformed set P( h>u) (X) first augments
the entire rhythmic setting by a factor of 4, from time-point 0 on; then P(X)
plays the augmented motive beginning h = 1370 quarters later, that is begin-
ning 1370 quarters after time point 40, that is beginning at time point 1410. (The
augmented motive obtained as an intermediate stage began not at time-point
10, but at time-point u • 10 = 4 • 10 = 40.) So the transformed motive modeled
by P(X) consists of a half note, a dotted half, a quarter, and a whole note,
played consecutively starting 1410 quarters after the beginning of the piece.
Expressing this in numbers, P(X) = ((1410,2), (1412,3), (1415,1), (1416,4)).
One can check that each member of P(X) is mathematically related to the
corresponding member of X via the transformation P(a, x) = (h + ua, ux),
here = (1370 + 4a, 4x). For instance, the third-listed members of the sets X
and P(X) are related by the formula P(llii) = (h + u - lli,u-±) =
(1370 + 4- lli,4-i) = (1370 + 45,1) = (1415,1).
There is no need to restrict our attention to sets modeling consecutive
events, as X and P(X) did in the preceding example. We could for instance
consider a passage in which a violin plays four consecutive quarters, while a
viola plays three triplet halves, while a cello rests for an eighth and then plays
two consecutive quarters followed by a dotted quarter. We could model
temporal aspects of this passage by a time-span set Y. Supposing that the
onset of the passage comes 16 quarters into the piece, we can write
Y = ((16,1), (17,1), (18,1), (19,1), (16, f), (17if), (18f,f), (16i 1), (17*. 1),
772 (18-|, l£)). As P varies over the interval-preserving operations, P(Y) models
the ensemble passage, played at (all) different tempos and at (all) different
times. The elements of the unordered set Y above are listed, not "in order of
appearance," but "by parts," as they were described in the text.
Suppose the numerical time-span set Y t models the above passage for
string trio at the precise time the music was first imagined clearly by the
composer. Suppose the different numerical set Y2 models the passage at the
precise time it was played during the first performance. Suppose the still
different numerical set Y3 models the passage at the precise time my trio
played it yesterday, taking a considerably faster tempo. Given one fixed
referential time-point zero and one fixed referential time unit, the numbers
denoting the members of the three sets Y l 9 Y 2 , and Y3 will be very different.
Our formalism, though, enables us to say that the three sets are all (approxi-
mately) canonically equivalent.
That is one powerful methodological reason for choosing CANON here
to be the group of interval-preserving operations. Another good reason for the
choice is provided by the way in which this group relates dyad structure to
interval structure in the GIS at hand. We shall now explore that topic.
By a "dyad" we understand a set containing two distinct members s and t.
By an attack-ordereddyad(AOD) we shall mean a dyad containing say s and t,
ordered in the following way: If s begins before t (as a time span), the order is
(s, t); if t begins before s, the order is (t, s); if both time spans begin at the same
time, the shorter of the two spans is listed first. Since s and t are distinct time
spans, these criteria are sufficient to order the dyad.
Given an AOD D = (s, t), let (i, p) = int(s, t). Then t begins i s-durations
after s begins, and t lasts p times as long as s. Because of the ordering criteria
on D, the number i must be non-negative, and ifi = 0 then the number p must be
greater than 1. Let us call an interval (i,p) of this form a forwards-oriented
interval. We have seen that if D = (s, t) is an AOD, then int(s, t) is forwards-
oriented. The converse is also easily seen: If s and t are time spans such that
int(s, t) is forwards-oriented, then D = (s, t) is an AOD.
We can define (j, q) to be a "backwards-oriented interval" in an analo-
gous way: j must be non-positive, and if j = 0 the number q must be less than 1.
Now in the group IVLS the inverse of the interval (i,p) is ( — i/p, 1/p). It
follows that the inverse of a forwards-oriented interval is backwards-oriented,
and vice-versa. One sees quickly that the members of IVLS can be partitioned
into three categories: the forwards-oriented intervals, the backwards-oriented
intervals, and the identity interval (0,1).
Here now is the crucial manner in which our stipulated canonical group
comes into play: Given AODsDj = (s 1 ,t 1 )andD 2 = (s2,t2), then Dj and D2
are canonically equivalent if and only if int(s l5 t t ) = int(s2, t2). It would take
too long to include here a formal proof of that theorem; such a proof is
appended to the end of the chapter as section 5.6. The theorem is by no means
obvious or trivial. Once we have proved it, we can note that the 2-element set 113
classes correspond 1-to-l with the forwards-oriented intervals. If D = (s, t) is an

AOD, then the set class /D/ corresponds to the forwards-oriented interval
(i, p) = int(s, t): Every member D' = (s', t') of /D/, when attack-ordered, has
int(s', t') = (i, p); furthermore, if s' and t' are any time spans such that
int(s', t') = (i, p), then the AOD D' = (s', t') is a member of the set class /D/.
The forwards-oriented intervals thus play exactly the same role here that
Forte's "interval classes" play in his atonal theory: They can be used to label
the distinct set-classes of dyads. They can be so used, that is, z/we take the
interval-preserving operations as CANONical in constructing those set-
classes.
As a result of this structure, we can develop a very strong formal analog
for Forte's interval vector in this particular system (NB). Let X be a set
containing more than two members; let D be a dyad; then EMB(D, X), the
number of forms of D embedded within X, is equal to the number of ways the
forwards-oriented interval (i, p) can be spanned between members of X, where
(i, p) is the interval spanning the attack-ordered members of D. In other
words, EMB(D,X) = IFUNC(X,X)(i,p). In this sense we can speak of
EMB(/D/, X), when /D/ varies over the dyad-classes, as an "interval vector;"
(i,p) will vary concomitantly over the forwards-oriented intervals. Let us
study some actual interval vectors in this system by way of example.
FIGURE 5.11
5.4.1 EXAMPLE: Figure 5.11 shows the mensural skeletons for motives (b),
(c), and (d) from the Chopin sonata studied earlier (in section 4.3). The
rhythmic motives are modeled by sets of time spans, and their interval vectors
are tabulated on figure 5.12.
Forming and reading these interval vectors becomes easy with practice.
The forwards-oriented interval (1,1) labels the set-class of AODs D = (s,t)
such that t begins right after s (1 s-length after s begins) and extends the same
duration as s (1 times the length of s). Within set (b) we count three instances of
such AODs. The AODs are formed by the first-and-second notes of the
motive, its third-and-fourth notes, and its fourth-and-fifth notes. Thus the
number 3 is entered on the table of figure 5.12, in the row of the table headed
by the interval (1,1) and in the column of the table headed "vector of (b)." Set
(c) includes only two AODs in the set-class (1,1): the first two notes of motive
(c), and the last two notes of the motive. Remember: A pair of successive
114 quarter notes in any tempo at any point in the piece (or any other piece any
FIGURE 5.12
time) is canonically equivalent to such a pair of successive eighths or succes-

sive halves or successive quintuplet sixteenths. All the AODs just indicated
belong to the same set-class, the set-class determined by the interval (1, 1)
between the first and second members of each AOD. The two AODs of class
(1,1) embedded in set (c) are counted on figure 5.12 by the number 2, entered
to the right of the interval (1, 1) and in the column headed "vector of (c)." Set
(d) also embeds two AODs of class (1, 1), namely the pair of half notes and
the pair of whole notes at the end of the motive.
Let us now consider the set-class corresponding to the forwards-oriented
interval (3, 2). An AOD D = (s, t) belongs to this class if t begins 3 s-spans
later than s begins, and lasts twice as long as s. The second quarter of (c) and
the first half-note of (c) form such an AOD. So do the last quarter of (c) and the
second half-note of (c). These two dyads are tabulated by the entry 2 in the
(3, 2)-row and the (c)-vector-column of figure 5.12. The entry of 1 in the
(11/2, !/2)-row arises from the AOD formed by the first and third notes of
motive (d).
In section 4.3 we noted a progressive "expansion" from motive (b), through
motives (c) and (d). The progressive broadening of note values, from eighths
to quarters to halves to whole notes, is obviously crucial. Our model does
not address this aspect of the progression. But it does address and ana-
lyze well another aspect of interest, something we might call the "progres- 115
sive diversification" of the motives in their internal rhythmic structures. As

one sees from the first column of figure 5.12, motive (b) concentrates on only
a few intervals, most of which appear more than once. Motive (c) projects only
two intervals that appear more than once (in the second column of the figure);
no interval appears thrice (in that column). Motive (c) projects more intervals,
and more diverse intervals, than (b). Motive (d) projects only one interval that
appears more than once; that interval appears only twice. Motive (d) thus con-
tinues the process of diversification. The insensitivity of our interval vector to
changes in tempo, a defect in some ways, is useful here: It enables us to com-
pare motives (b), (c), and (d), each in its own intrinsic context. We touched on
this idea earlier in connection with IFUNC(Y, Y).
Motive (a), the motive of the opening Grave, does not appear on figure
5.11 or figure 5.12. If one ignores the anticipation of F(? = E natural in the
music, then motive (a) is canonically equivalent to motive (d).
5.4.2 In connection with figure 3.3 (page 41), we earlier studied an "unrolling
interval vector" for a set in a different GIS, a set pertinent to Webern's Piano
Variations. The present GIS, like the earlier one, has an intrinsic chronology,
so we can "unroll" its interval vectors too. The abstract method of doing so
will involve a number of technical finesses.
To begin the abstract study let us consider the imaginary string trio we
discussed a short time ago, and let us imagine another of its passages, which
we can symbolize as in figure 5.13.
FIGURE 5.13
We can model certain temporal aspects of this passage, as we did with the
last one, by a set Y of time spans. The violin projects four time spans, (16,1),
(17,1), (18,1), and (19,1); let us call these spans vnl, vn2, vn3, and vn4
respectively. The viola projects the two time spans (16,|) and (18f,f); let us
call these spans val and va2. The cello projects the two time spans (16j, 2) and
(18^, 1^); let us call these spans vcl and vc2. We can list the members of Y "in
parts" as vnl, vn2, vn3, vn4, val, va2, vcl, vc2. Of course that is not their
116 "order of appearance" in the music. But what isl
We might try attack-ordering to list the members of Y "in order of

appearance." Then we would list them as vnl, val, vcl, vn2, vn3, vc2, va2,
vn4. For many purposes attack-ordering is natural, and we have seen how
cogent it is in connection with dyads, intervals, and the canonical group. But
we shall not want to use attack-ordering in connection with the way we
perceive the members of Y "appearing." To see why not, imagine that we stop
the music of figure 5.13 just after the attack of vn2, that is, just after time-point
17, and suppose that we ask just which time spans we have perceived up
through that time. Obviously we have perceived vnl. But we have not yet
perceived any other spans. True, we have heard both the other instruments
attack other spans. But we do not yet know how long those spans are going to
be, so we cannot claim to have perceived them as spans, using them e.g. to
form intervals in an unrolling interval vector. For all we know as we listen at
time-point 17, the viola may be intending to hold onto its note for 24 quarters.
Now when we unroll the interval vector for Y in connection with figure
5.13, we are going to want precisely to "stop the music" of the figure at various
stages, asking at each stage what intervals we have heard so far. As we have
just seen, when we stop the music at time-point 17, we can be sure of having
perceived only one span, namely vnl; hence we cannot say we have perceived
any proper intervals at all so far. The attack-ordering for Y is deceptive in this
connection. That ordering, beginning vnl, val, vcl, vn2,..., makes it seem as
if the spans val and vcl have "already occurred" by the time vn2 occurs,
attacking at time-point 17; hence it seems (wrongly) as if we ought to count the
forwards-oriented intervals int(vnl, val) and int(vnl,vcl) and int(val,vcl)
as "having already occurred" by the time we "get to" vn2. But this inference is
wrong. As we have seen, no intervals have yet "occurred" by time-point 17, so
far as our perceptions of spans and their interrelations are concerned.
To reflect the true order of our span-perceptions, we shall want to use a
different system of ordering, not attack-ordering but release-ordering. Given
distinct spans s and t, s precedes t in the release-ordering if s ends before t ends,
or if they end simultaneously and s is longer. If s and t correspond to musical
events event 1 and event2, then s precedes t in the release-ordering when we
perceive the time span during which event 1 has happened before we perceive
the time span during which event2 has happened, or if we perceive both spans
simultaneously and recall that event 1 began first.
Release-ordering for the set Y thus enables us to articulate the music of
figure 5.13 into stages that correspond to our evolving perceptions of time
spans "having happened" as we listen. The members of Y in the release-
ordering are vnl, vn2, vcl, val, vn3, vc2, va2, vn4. Furthermore, when we
articulate the music into such stages, we shall want to demarcate the stages by
the time points at which various spans are released, not at which they are
attacked. Thus the finest possible articulation of the set Y = (vnl, vn2, vcl,
val, vn3, vc2, va2, vn4) into stages for our purposes can be realized as follows. 777
Stage 1: We have heard Y t = (vnl, vn2) at time-point 18, the release of vn2.
Stage 2: We have heard Y2 = (vnl,vn2,vcl) at time-point 18^, the release-
point of vcl. Stage 3: We have heard Y3 = (vnl, vn2,vcl,val) at time-point
18f, the release-point of val. Stage 4: We have heard Y4 = all of Y at time-
point 20, the simultaneous release for vc2, va2, and vn4.
By calculating how the interval vectors for Y 1} Y 2 , Y3, and Y4 develop,
each expanding the counts of the last among the various intervals counted, we
shall be able to model how our sense of intervallic structure evolves as we listen
to the musical passage. We shall be able to use our formal model analytically,
just as we used analogous machinery earlier in connection with the Webern
passage and the expanding interval-counts of figure 3.3.
Our work above can now be generalized. Given any set Y of time spans,
first list Y as (s:, s 2 , . . . , SN) in the release-ordering. Next identify N or fewer
"stages" associated with certain subsets of Y as follows. Stage 1 is articulated
at the release of s2; it is associated with a certain subset Y x of Y. Y t = ( s t , s 2 )
unless s3 releases simultaneously with s2; in that case Y t = (s r , s2, s3) unless s4
also releases simultaneously at that time; in that case ... (etc. etc.). After
Y! = ($!, s 2 , . . . , SM) has been found, Stage 2 is articulated by the release point
of s M+1 . Stage 2 is associated with a certain subset Y2 of Y. Y2 = Y1 + (sM+1)
unless s M+2 releases simultaneously with s M+1 (etc. etc.). And so on. Even-
tually one attains the release point of SN and exhausts the set Y. We can regard
the stages as developing in a simple serial rhythm as stage 1, stage 2, stage 3,
and so forth. Or we can regard them as developing in a "perceptual rhythm,"
the rhythm of the various release-points at which the stages articulate. (This is
interesting but it oversimplifies the psychology of what is going on.) As the
stages develop rhythmically, the evolving interval vectors of Y 1} Y 2 , etc. can
be studied. Care must be taken here because the release-ordering of Y does not
necessarily coincide with the attack-ordering. It is possible for sm to precede sn
in the release-ordering, but to follow sn in the attack-ordering. (The different
listings of Y in connection with figure 5.13 illustrate the possibility.) Should
this happen, when we get to the stage that notices (the release of) sn in the
release-ordering, we shall want to tabulate the forwards-oriented interval
int(s n , sm) in our updated interval vector, not the backwards-oriented interval
int(s m ,s n ).
The reader who likes to fool with computer programming and who has a
home computer with a color monitor will enjoy writing an "unrolling interval
vector" program. The program will take a set Y of time spans, arrange it in
release-ordering, determine the articulation-points of the various stages, and
find the corresponding subsets Yj, Y 2 ,..., Y. The program will then compute
the interval vector for Y^ and display it on the screen as follows. For each
forwards-oriented interval (i, p) that is counted, a colored dot appears at the
point (i, logp) on a half-plane grid, (i is always non-negative; log p is positive,
118 zero, or negative.) If the interval appears only once in the set, the dot is violet;
the more times the interval appears, the more the color of the dot moves
toward the red end of the spectrum. (The background of the screen is either
white or black.) After the program has computed the interval vector for Y x , it
will update the count of various intervals so as to obtain the interval vector for
Y 2 , changing the color of some dots on the screen as pertinent. Then it will
update the count of various intervals to obtain the interval vector for Y3, and
so on. The updating can be done quickly following the method of figure 3.3.
(Remember that you may have to adjoin more than one releasing time-span
at any new stage. Also remember to adjust for any new dyads that may be
release-ordered but not attack-ordered.) The rhythmic updating of the screen
can follow either the serial rhythm of the stages or their "perceptual rhythm"
as discussed above, either in real time or suitably scaled for visual effect.
5.4.3 EXAMPLE: The technique of unrolling can be applied to EMB-related

functions beyond the interval vector.
FIGURE 5.14
The "set" Y of figure 5.14, for example, is articulated into four stages.
(We could articulate it farther, but we shall not do so here. Since neither the
time unit nor the point zero is specified, Y is not strictly a numerical "set"
within TMSPS, but I am assuming the reader will not mind a certain looseness
in discourse at this point.) Figure 5.14 also displays "sets" X l 5 X 2 , X'l5 and
X'2, all of which can be found embedded within Y. X\ is a canonical form of Xj
and X'2 is a canonical form of X 2 .
Figure 5.15 shows how the embedding numbers of the set-classes /XJ
and /X 2 / within Y develop, as Y develops over the four stages. The values rise
at Stage 4 because the dotted half releases there and the appearances of X\ and
X'2, augmented (canonical) forms ofXtandX 2 ,can now be counted as
"embedded" in Y. Figure 5.15 shows us how the set-class /X 2 / comes on late
and strong, pulling ahead of (XJ at Stage 3 and then decisively ahead at
Stage 4. 779
FIGURE 5.15
No doubt the reader has recognized Y as interpreting the opening of

Brahms's G-Minor Rhapsody. The idea that "/X2/ comes on late and strong"
is reinforced by the end of the closing group in the music, where the closing
theme is liquidated rhythmically down to a succession of X 2 -forms alternating
on the tonic and dominant of D minor.
The rhythmic interpretation of figure 5.14 does not exclude other pos-
sible rhythmic readings of this music. E.g. one could read triplet eighths where
there are triplet rests on figure 5.14; then /Xl/ and /X 2 / would come out in a
tie on figure 5.15. But such other interpretations just as clearly do not exclude
the reading of figure 5.14. The reader who consults the score will find ways
enough in which the relation of quarter note to accompaniment changes after
Stage 2 so as to support the reading of the figure.
5.4.4 NOTE: Through section 5.4 so far, we have focused upon the interval
vector and more generally the EMB function, in connection with our
non-commutative GIS of time spans. The technique of "unrolling in stages"
which we applied to this study could also be applied in connection with
IFUNC(X, Y), as we unroll either X or Y or both in stages.
5.5 NOTES: Let us return now to the most general abstract setting, that of a
family S and a group CANON of operations on S. Following the suggestions
of my writings elsewhere, we can explore numbers of interest beyond
EMB(X, Y).7 We may define COV(X, Y), for example, the coverfng number
of X in Y, as the number of forms of Y that include X. This is not necessarily
the same number as EMB(X, Y), the number of forms of X that are embedded
in Y. E.g. in atonal theory take X = (C, E) and Y = (C, E, G#); then
EMB(X,Y) = 3 but COV(X,Y)=1. If S is finite then COV(X,Y) =
EMB(Y,X), where Y and X are the complements of Y and X.
7. "Some New Constructions Involving Abstract Pcsets, and Probabilistic Applications,"
Perspectives of New Music vol. 18, nos. 1-2 (Fall-Winter 1979 and Spring-Summer 1980),
720 433-44.
We may also consider SNDW(X,Y,Z), the sandwich number of Y

between X and Z; this is the number of forms of Y that both include X and are
included in Z. If we write 0 for the empty set, then SNDW(0,Y,Z) =
EMB(Y, Z); if S is finite then SNDW(X, Y, S) = COV(X, Y). If Y' is a form
of Y then SNDW(X,Y,Z) = SNDW(X, Y',Z); hence we can write
SNDW(X,/Y/, Z) without ambiguity. But we cannot use /X/ or /Z/ for
sandwich arguments in this way; SNDW(X,Y, Z) depends very much on
the specific forms of X and Z being used as arguments. For example let Z
be the C-major scale; let /Y/ be Forte-class 3-4, which we could write as
/(B,C,E)/. Let Xj = (C, E). Then, allowing both transpositions and inver-
sions as canonical, SNDW(X l5 /Y/,Z) = 2: There are 2 forms of (B,C,E)
that can be sandwiched between (C, E) and the scale, namely (B, C, E) and
(C, E, F). Now let X2 = (F, A). X2 and Xj belong to the same set-class, but
SNDW(X 2 ,/Y/,Z) = 1, not 2: Only 1 form of (B,C,E) can be sandwiched
between (F, A) and the scale, namely (E, F, A).
Another interesting number is ADJOIN(X, Y, Z). This is the number of
forms Y' of Y satisfying both (A) and (B) following. (A): Y' is disjoint from X.
(B): There is some form of Z that includes both X and Y'. To illustrate what
this number is inspecting, let X = (C, E), Y = (D, G), Z = the C-major scale.
(C, E) + (D, G) lies within some major scale; so does (C, E) + (F, 6(7); so does
(C, E) + (F#, B); so does (C, E) + (A, D). Exactly the 4 fourths (forms of Y)
metioned in the preceding sentence have both the desired properties (A) and
(B); other fourths (forms of Y) either contain C or contain E or do not add up
together with (C, E) to lie within any major scale. So ADJOIN((C, E),
(D, G), C-major scale) = 4. Inspecting properties (A) and (B), one sees that
we can write ADJOIN(X,/Y/,/Z/); it follows that we can even write
ADJOIN(/X/,/Y/,/Z/).
5.6 APPENDIX (optional): We prove here the crucial theorem stated earlier,
on the relation of dyads and intervals in our non-commutative GIS for
TMSPS, using the group of interval-preserving operations as CANONical.
Here is that theorem stated again: Given attack-ordered dyads D x = (s^tj)
and D2 = (s 2 ,t 2 ), then Dj and D2 are canonically equivalent if and only if
imXs^tj) = int(s 2 ,t 2 ). The proof follows.
Set Si = (a^xj, t t = (b^yO, s2 = (a 2 ,x 2 ), t2 = (b 2 ,y 2 ). Suppose first
that D! and D2 are canonically equivalent; we shall show that int(s 1 ,t 1 ) =
int(s2, t 2 ). Say that P = P (h%u) is the canonical operation mapping D x onto D 2 .
P maps the members of the first dyad somehow onto the members of the
second; conceivably the operation might transform s t into t2 and s2 into t t .
But in fact that cannot happen in this situation: P transforms st into s2 and t x
into t 2 . To see that, we use the fact that both dyads are attack-ordered. Since
D! is attack-ordered, either ^ < bt or (at = b x and x t < y x ). If a1 < bl then
ua1 < ubi and h + ua x < h + ub^ hence the P-transform of Sj begins before 727
5.6 Generalized Set Theory (1)
the P-transform of il. Since D2 is also attack-ordered, that means that the P-
transform of s t must be s2 and the P-transform of tl must be t 2 . (Otherwise we
would have b2 < a 2 , contradicting the attack-ordering of D 2 .) So the case
a x < bi leads to the desired result; let us investigate the case (a^ = b x and
xi < vi)- In tnat case» h + uai — h + ubi and t < uy^
ux1again we infer that
(P^), P(tj)) is the attack-ordering for D 2 , and so P(S!) = SjandP^) = t 2 as
desired. Now that we have established the relations P^) = s2 and P(ti) = t 2 ,
the rest is easy: int(s 2 ,t 2 ) = int(P(s1),?(!!)) = int^,^) as claimed, because
P is interval-preserving.
Now we shall prove the converse. Supposing that int^, tj) = int(s 2 , t 2 ),
we shall prove that D x and D2 are canonically equivalent. int(s 1 ,t 1 ) =
((bi — aj/x^yjxi) and int(s 2 ,t 2 ) = ((b2 — a 2 )/x 2 ,y 2 /x 2 ). So what we are
assuming can be expressed by equations (A) below.
(A): (bt - aj/xj = (b2 - a 2 )/x 2 ; y1/xl = y 2 /x 2 .
Using some algebra applied to equation (A), we can derive (B); manipulation
of (B) produces (C).
(B): x ^ - x ^ = x 1 b 2 - x 1 a 2 ; yiX 2 = x t y 2 .
(C): x^ - x 2aj = Xib2 - Xjb^ x^ = y2l
Let g be the number such thatx t a 2 — x 2 aj = g = Xjb 2 — x 2 b 1 . Let u be
the number such that x 2 /Xj = u = y 2 /y 1 . From the equation x x a 2 — x 2 a t = g
we infer x^ = g + x 2 a x ; thence we infer a 2 = (g/x t ) -f (x 2 /x 1 )a 1 , or a2 =
(g/Xj) + uaj. In similar fashion, we derive the other equations of (D) below.
(D): a 2 = (g/xO + ua f ; x 2 = ux x
b2 = (g/x1) + ub1; y 2 = uy 1 .
Seth = (g/x 1 ).Then(a 2 ,x 2 ) = (h + uaûxj,while(b 2 ,y 2 ) = (h 4- ub 1?
uyj. Thus, taking P = P (hiU) , we have s2 = P(s^ and ta = P(tj). Since Pis an
interval-preserving operation and D2 = PCDJ, the dyads D! and D2 are
canonically equivalent, q.e.d
722
Generalized Set Theory (2):
6 The Injection Function
This chapter is a pivot in a sort of modulation from the study of Generalized

Intervals to the study of Generalized Transformations. The Injection Func-
tion can be defined, discussed, and applied to musical analysis without invok-
ing the notion of interval or canonical operation at all. In that regard the
Injection Function looks forward to the work lying beyond chapter 6. At the
same time the Injection Function is strongly suggested by IFUNC and EMB,
either of which it can be used to generalize when there is a GIS or a
CANONical group at hand. In that regard the Injection Function logically
continues the work of chapter 5; indeed it elucidates some problems that
chapter 5 left hanging.
It was hard for me to decide, as I pondered this dichotomy, how best to
arrange my exposition of the material for this chapter. At first it seemed
natural to emphasize aspects of continuity, first showing how the Injection
Function grows out of IFUNC and EMB, and then moving gradually to
higher and higher levels of abstraction. But when I drafted an exposition in
that spirit, I did not like the effect. Looking back at IFUNC and EMB gave
rise to so much interesting discussion that an endless time seemed to go by
before I could get to discuss the more radical abstract features of the new
construction. So I decided upon a different method of exposition.
That is why I shall begin by discussing the Injection Function at a high
level of abstraction, emphasizing its novelty in contrast to the material of
chapter 5. Then, once the reader has become familiar with the new construct, I
shall begin stitching in threads from here and there in chapter 5, gradually
sewing together the seam I have created. At any rate, that is my plan. The
reader who is not happy with it will I hope be able to follow along nevertheless
without too much discomfort, once aware of it. 123
6.1 CONVENTIONS: We shall be concerned with a family S of objects, and

with various transformations f that map S into itself. We do not assume that the
transformations are necessarily operations (1-to-l and onto S). Operations
are capable of entering into groups, e.g. canonical groups, groups of inter-
val-preserving operations and/or transpositions in a GIS, and the like. A trans-
formation that is not an operation can have no inverse transformation on S,
and so cannot belong to any group of operations on S.
As in chapter 5, we shall use the word "set" to denote a finite subset X of
S; more exactly, we shall do so until explicit notice to the contrary. (Toward
the end of chapter 6 we shall indicate how the work can be generalized to deal
with infinite subsets of an infinite S.)
6.2.1 DEFINITION: Given sets X and Y, given a transformation f on S, then

the injection number of X into Y for f, denoted LNJ(X, Y)(f), is the number of
elements s in X such that f(s) is a member of Y.
INJ(X, Y)(f) answers the question: "If I apply the transformation f to the
set X, how many members of X will I thereby map into members of Y?" If f
is 1-to-l, then those distinct members of X will map into distinct members of
Y, so that INJ(X, Y)(f) will also be the cardinality of f(X) D Y, that is the
number of elements that the sets f(X) and Y have in common. But when f is
not 1-to-l, this is not necessarily the case. We might e.g. have 5,273,647
distinct members of X all mapping into one member of Y; in this case we might
have INJ(X, Y)(f) = 5,273,647, while f(X) and Y might have only 1 common
member.
6.2.2 EXAMPLE: Take S to be the twelve chromatic pitch classes. Define f as

follows: f(s) is the pitch class C when s is any "white note"; f(s) is the pitch
class F| when s is any "black note." Fix X = (C, C|, D, El», E).
Take Y = (B, C#, D, E, F, F|). Then INJ(X, Y)(f) = 2. The 2 black
notes of X map via f into the member F# of Y; the other notes of X, being
white, do not map into any member of Y. They do not because the pitch class
C, the image of all white notes under f, is not a member of Y.
Now take Y = (F, F#). Then INJ(X, Y)(f) = 2 still and again, for the
same reasons.
Now take Y = X. Then INJ(X, Y)(f) = 3. The 3 white notes of X all map
via f into the member C of Y = X; the other notes of X, being black, do not
map into any member of this Y. (Ff, the image of all black notes under f, is not
a member of this Y.)
6.2.3 EXAMPLE: Take S to be the twelve chromatic pitch classes. We define a

transformation called wedging-to-E, which we shall denote as WE. The trans-
124 formation maps E into E and B\> into B\>. Every other pitch class when wedged
advances one hour towards E along the clock of pitch classes, clockwise or
counterclockwise by whichever route is shorter. The effect of W E on the clock
of pitch classes is portrayed by figure 6.1.
FIGURE 6.1
W E is not an operation; it is neither 1-to-l nor onto. Nevertheless it is a

useful transformation to have at hand for analyzing "Angst und Hoffen," the
seventh song from Schoenberg's Book of the Hanging Gardens op. 15. Figure
6.2 shows the pitches in the two chords that form the opening "Angst und
Hoffen" motto, chords X and Y.
FIGURE 6.2
Here INJ(X, Y)(wE) = 2: When the transformation W E is applied to the

notes of X, 2 of those notes map into notes of Y. The D of chord X,
specifically, maps into the E|? of chord Y and the B|? of chord X maps into the
Bb of chord Y. Thus "two-thirds of X" is mapped into Y by the wedge. If only
the G(? of X wedged into Y then all of X would wedge into Y. That would
happen if the F|j of Y were an F natural. So we can consider the F|j of Y (in this
context!) as a "wrong note" or a "blue note"; it substitutes for the F natural 725
that "should" be there. Indeed, there is a lot of musical action later on in the
song that involves the idea of "getting F|? (or E) to move to F."
The F(? of Y is not just a blue note, though; it is also the point to which the
wedge converges. In that connection it has a tonic character as a potential
point of repose or arrival. We shall see later how this potentiality is realized in
the music.
The operation I = l|j£ = I| is also heavily involved in the effect of the
music sketched by figure 6.2. Inversional symmetry about B|? is very strongly
projected not only by sonic features but also by the visual layout of the chords,
symmetrical about the middle line of the staff. In our new terminology, we can
write INJ(X, X) (I) = 3: f or all of X maps into X under the transformation I.
We can also observe that INJ(Y, Y)(I) = 2: f of Y maps into Y under that
transformation. Once more we can point out that if only F-flat were F-
natural, and so on. (We can presume that F|?-for-F is the pertinent substitu-
tion here, rather than E|?-for-E in the upper register. Replacing E[? by E in the
music here would result in the syntactically implausible chord (F|?, B[7, E).)
Neither IFUNC nor EMB can adequately engage the ideas we have been
considering in connection with INJ here. The injection function enables us to
discuss several thematic functions for the F|? of chord Y: That note is at one
and the same time a substitute for F natural, and the convergence-point of the
wedge, and one center for the operation I. INJ also enables us to distinguish
very different structural functions for the transformations I and W E . Specifi-
cally, I transforms each chord of figure 6.2 into something very like itself"; WE,
in contrast, transforms an antecedent chord into something very like a conse-
quent chord. We may think of I as an "internal" transformation and WE as a
"progressive" transformation in this musical context. We shall pick up the
theoretical implications of that notion later on.
Figure 6.3 helps us hear how the transformational ideas under discussion
persist, develop, and resolve over the last third of the piece. The figure
comprises mainly the notes of the piano over this section, notes which carry
the harmony in a homophonic texture. Figure 6.3(a) labels the chords in-
volved. The last three notes of the vocal part are also included, beamed as an
arpeggiated chord Z5 that belongs in this progression. The progression leads
back to X and Y, "Angst" and "Hoffen," now as an outcome rather than a
point of departure.
Figure 6.3(b) indicates those notes of (a) which participate in E-wedging
activity. Two notes of Z1 wedge into Z2 along the beams, two notes of Z2
wedge into Z3, and two notes (pitch classes) of Z3 wedge into Z4. (Bb of Z3
wedges as a pitch class into Bb of Z4; the registral symmetry of the high and
low Bb pitches about the pitch E4 is nice.) Thus INJ(Z n ,Z n+1 )(w E ) is
consistently = 2 for n = 1,2, and 3. All of Zj-as-2-note-pcset is projected into
its successor set Z2 by the wedge; f of Z2 is projected into its successor, and
726 |ofZ 3 .
FIGURE 6.3
The F-with-a-question-mark, notated above the upper beam at Z4, indi-

cates a "missing" F that breaks an otherwise consistent pattern of wedging
and inversional balance. In this respect the missing F is exactly like the missing
F on figure 6.2 earlier. It is like that F in breaking an E-wedge; it is like that F,
too, in leaving the Eb of chord Z4 bereft of its I-partner, just as the E|? of chord
Y on figure 6.2 was bereft of its I-partner. The note-against-note relations of
figure 6.3(b) show that INJ(Z n ,Z n )(I) = 2 for n = 1 and 2; INJ(Z 3 ,Z 3 )(I)
actually = 3. (Within the set Z3 of pitch classes, D and F# invert into each
other, while B(? inverts into itself.) Hence the abrupt inversional imbalance at
Z4 is all the more strongly felt, since INJ(Z 4 ,Z 4 )(I) = only 1. The metaphor
of "imbalance" caused by "something missing" interacts well with the text:
The singer is in a state of emotional discombobulation caused by the lover's
absence.
Continuing along figure 6.3(b), we hear how, when the progression Zt
etc. recurs as the progression Z\ etc., the singer's final sign-off supplies the
required F natural at the right moment, within the arpeggiated set Z5. The
required Z5, which continues the patterns of wedging and inversion consis-
tently, sets the word begehre = require. (The singer claims not to require the
consolation of any friend.) Once the begehrte Z5 has appeared, the wedge can 727
and does converge all the way to the E of Z6, across the pickup chord Z'4 in
the music. The level of progressive wedge-projection and internal I-projec-
tion is thus restored: INJ(Z'3,Z5)(wE) = 2, INJ(Z 5 ,Z 6 )(w E ) = 3; INJ(Z5,
Z5)(I) = 2,INJ(Z 6 ,Z 6 )(I) = 3.
The convergence of the wedge to its focal point E within Z6 coincides with
and supports a big structural downbeat. The sonority of Z6 has earlier been
associated with the word Seufzer, during the text, "meine Worte sich in
Seufzer dehnen (my words trail off in sighs (or groans))." Figure 6.3.(b)
portrays the sighing and trailing-off ideas very well. It also shows how the
beamed sighing-progressions are framed by the elements (C, A[?) and (E) of
the Seufzer-chord, which (for this reason and for others too) takes a big
downbeat when it appears as Z6.
Figure 6.3(b) shows how the wedging commences yet once more after Z6,
continuing through X to Y, which is the end of the piece. Within X and Y, the
pitches D5 and Et>5 of the music are brought down an octave, to be displayed
as D4 and E|?4 noteheads on the figure; this shows clearly how the pitch classes
D and E[? contribute to the final wedge. In particular, it brings out strongly
how the final progression, Z6-Z7-X-Y, recapitulates the initial wedge-
structure of the opening progression Z1-Z2-Z3-Z4 on figure 6.3(b). The
"blue note" Fb of the final Y, shown on figure 6.3(a), takes on added
significance in its "tonic" function, as it prolongs the downbeat E from the
Seufzer-Z6(Dehnung).
Figure 6.3(c) sketches in a format similar to (b) the influence of a
subordinate wedge and inversion over this passage. That is wedging-to-F#
and the inversion-operation J = Ipj| = l£. The symbols "A|?-G-F#//," at
the beginning at bottom of the figure, show how the inner voice of the chords
attains the goal and center F# of the wedge, getting there "from above" over
chords Zi through Z3. Then from Z\ right on, all the way to X, the outer
voices almost succeed in converging to F#(G[?), except that F is missing in the
lower voice. Again we run into the thematic and structural "missing F!" The
missing F now has a new structural function: It is missing as a semitone
neighbor to Gj? in a wedge converging to G(?, the bass of the Angst-chord X.
The earlier missing F was missing (inter alia) as a semitone neighbor to E in
wedges converging to E, the bass of the Hoffen-chord Y.
The T10-relation between the bass note of X and the bass note of Y is thus
expanded into a larger T10-relation, a relation involving the respective wedges
and inversions about those notes. The larger relation can be expressed by the
1. I discuss these ideas and others of the same sort elsewhere, exploring more systematically
rhythm, meter, text setting, registers, doublings, and other features of the music. The reader who
would like to go deeper into the piece itself will be interested by that article, which is less pre-
occupied than we must be here by theoretical constructions of various sorts. The article is "A
Way Into Schoenberg's Opus 15, Number 7," In Theory Only vol. 6, no. 1 (November 1981),
128 3-24.
transformational equations WE = T^w^T^1; I = T10JT101. Essentially,

these equations "modulate by T10" the wedging and inversional transforma-
tions centering on F#, to obtain the analogous transformations centering on
E. We shall explore the idea of such "modulation" more generally and more
formally later on. The present remarks are meant to prepare that later explo-
ration. The reader can hear in connection with the example at hand that the
relation T10(Gb) = E has to do both with the bass line in the chord-succession
X-Y, and also with the relation of WF* and J, in figure 6.3(c), to W E and I, in
figure 6.3(b). The reader will then be able to summon that musical experience
to mind during the abstract discussion of transformational "modulation"
later on (in connection with Formula 6.7.2(c)).
The formalities of INJ, applied to the transformations W E and I on S,
have engaged figure 6.3(b) only partially. The visual layout of that figure
conveys a good deal more than our formal machinery has so far described. For
instance, the figure shows by its note-against-note layout that we do not
simply have an Ab in Zt wedging to a G in Z2 and, independently, a C in Zl
wedging to a C# in Z2; rather the "I-partnership" of (Ab, C) within Z^ wedges
as a whole to the "I-partnership" of (G, C#) within Z2. In a similar sense, the
missing F of Z4 is not just a missing note; it is a missing I-partner for Eb,
without which the wedge cannot converge; as a missing partner it symbolizes
the absent lover. And in a similar sense, the last line of text, "(that) I require
the consolation of no friend," is symbolized exquisitely by the pitch class E as
goal of the wedge and center of inversion: The pitch class has and needs no
partner; it gets along by itself, perfectly self-centered in its Seufzer. The visual
layout of the figure brings out such ideas; our transformational machinery has
not as yet adequately engaged them.
But it can be formally developed so as to do so. The operation I partitions
the family S into distinct "transitivity sets" (Bb), (A,B), (Ab,C), (G,C#),
(Gb,D), (F, Eb), and (E). I transforms the members of each transitivity set
among themselves: I(Bb) = Bb; I(B) = A and I(A) = B; and so on. Such
transitivity sets enable us to engage the notion of "I-partnerships" in our
formal machinery. Many of the chords under consideration embed an entire
transitivity set; some chords even embed two (e.g. Z3 = X = Angst and
Z6 = Seufzer). Frequently a transitivity set embedded in one chord is trans-
formed as a whole by W E into a transitivity set embedded in the next chord.
Such ideas can be developed very abstractly in connection with the generalized
INJ function. Here, it is formally important that the transformations I and W E
commute. It is not remarkable that the visual aspects of figure 6.3 can be
described by formal aspects of the INJ machinery when suitably extended.
After all, one could hardly conceive the layout of the figure without some
prior intuitions of W E and I as transformations; the formal extensions of the
machinery, in that connection, amount only to making the relevant intuitions
explicit. 729
Our investigations so far have focused on harmony and voice leading, as

we explored the structural functions of various transformations in this song,
using INJ. Now let us use INJ to explore some melodic functions of various
transformations therein.
FIGURE 6.4
Figure 6.4 will help us in this endeavor. The figure transcribes the pitches
from the opening of the voice part, where they set the first line of text.
Schoenberg's spelling projects throughout the phrase a strong visual inver-
sional symmetry about the third line of the staff, where BW would appear as
a center of I. Ordinal numbers 1, 2, ... , 10 appear under the first, second, ...
tenth notes of the figure. The events of the melody are modeled here in a space
S whose members are pairs (n, p), n being an ordinal number and p a pitch
class. As a serial structure, the "melody" is modeled by an unordered set of
ten such pairs; the elements of this set are the pairs (2, G!>), (1, D), (10, El>),
(3, Et), and so on. "(2, G!>)" can be interpreted as saying "The second note
is Gk"
Arrows on the figure indicate transformational relations that will interest
us here. Each arrow is labeled by a pair of symbols comprising a number
(1, 2, 3, 5, or 6) and a letter (I or w). The number indicates how many ordinals
later the transformed pitch class appears. The letter indicates a pitch-class
transformation, w standing for WE. Thus the arrow labeled "6, w" which issues
from the third note of the series, E\>, indicates that the note is transformed into
a note appearing 6 order positions later, via the wedge transformation. The
arrow from A to Cl>, labeled "2, I," indicates that the A is transformed into a
note appearing 2 order positions later, via the / transformation. More for-
mally, the transformation 6, w maps the element (3, E\>) of the melody into the
element (3 + 6, w(EI>)) = (9, Fl>); the transformation 2, I maps the element
(6, A) into the element (6 + 2, I(A)) = (8, Cl»).
The transformations (6, w) and (2, I) are well defined by this formal
method on the space S of pairs (n, p). (6, w) maps the pair (n, p) into the pair
(n + 6, w(p)); (2, I) maps the pair (n, p) into the pair (n + 2, I(p)). The trans-
130 formationsare not operations, w itself is not an operation on the twelve pitch
classes; even beyond that, the ordinal aspect of the mappings prevents the
transformations from mapping S onto itself. E.g. there is no (n, p) in S (with n
a positive integer) such that (2,I)(n,p) = (1, Ab).
The dotted arrows and question marks on figure 6.4 arise from the
possibilities of considering the F|?s as substitutes for F naturals. If the flats
were naturals, the dotted arrows would be solid and the question marks would
disappear.
We shall denote by XJJ, the set comprising the mth through nth events of
the series (i.e. melody-set). Using the subsets XJJ,, we can apply familiar "un-
rolling" techniques to the situation, now using our injection numbers.
For instance INJ(X*, X*) (f) = 2, where f is either (2, w) or (1,1), assum-
ing we allow the dotted lines. The equation states: The set comprising (1, D),
(2, Gb), (3, Eb), and (4, F(b)) contains "2" members that transform into the
set under the transformation (2, w), and "2" members that transform into the
set under the transformation (1,1), supposing that Fb is read "as if" F natural.
This equation engages a significant "unrolling" when compared to the
equation INJ(Xi,Xi)(f) = (only)l for the same transformations f.
We can compare these internal transformations of X| with the internal
transformations of Xf, the next 4-element subset of the melody. Xf comprises
(5, C), (6, A), (7, Ab), and (8, Cb). INJ(Xf, Xf) (2,1) = 2: With respect to the
new tetrad Xf, the transformation (2,1) plays the same internal role that (1,1)
did in connection with the first tetrad X*. And, as the figure shows, (3,w)
plays the same role with respect to Xf that (2,w) played with respect to X^.
That is so even though INJ(Xf, Xf) (3, w) is only 1, not 2. Our arrow diagrams
capture a certain picture of X* on the figure, as it appears bound together
internally in a certain way by (1,1) and (2, w) arrows. The same kinds of arrow
shapes capture a similar picture of Xf on the figure, as it appears bound
together in a similar way by (2,1) and (3, w) arrows.
Our model enables us to observe an interesting augmentation of ordinal
distances, from the arrow transforms binding X| to the arrow transforms
binding Xf. That is, within X* I-relations occur 1 note apart and w-relations
occur 2 notes apart; within Xf these ordinal distances are expanded: I-
relations occur 2 notes apart and a w-relation occurs 3 notes apart. This serial
augmentation is particularly interesting because Xf takes only half the time to
sing as did X?, in the clock time of the music.
Our discussion of X*, Xf, I, and w is enhanced by the observation that no
I-arrows and no w-arrows lead events of the first tetrad to events of the second,
on figure 6.4. In our terminology, INJ(Xf, Xf) (f) = 0 when f is either (n, I) or
(n, w), for any n. This observation specifically enhances our sense that the
melody articulates into X* + Xf + Xg°, when heard in the context ofw and I
relations. The italicized phrase is meant to recall our earlier discussion in
connection with the various contexts of a melodic phrase within the Webern
violin piece. Our sense of X* + Xf + X^0 in this context is further enhanced 737
by the (6, w) arrow on figure 6.4, extending from inside X* over X| to Xg°.
INJ(X}, X*°)(6, w) = 1, after INJ(Xf, X|)(n, w) had been zero for all n.
The ordinal distance over which w functions continues to grow: The first
w-arrow(s) had ordinal span 2 within Xf; the next w-arrow had ordinal span 3
within X|; now a w-arrow has ordinal span 6, between X* and Xg°. In this
context the F flat of (9, F|?) in the melody is "correct"; it is in fact the goal of
the wedge. One notes the care with which the high F[? is distinguished by the
composer from the low F[?.
When we hear the penultimate F|? as "correct" and ignore the last dotted
arrow on figure 6.4, we get a sense of "ordinal expansion" over the phrase as
regards not just w spans but also I spans. First I projects at ordinal distance 1
and w at distance 2; next I projects at distance 2 and w at distance 3; finally I
and w both project at distance 5, and w projects at distance 6.
FIGURE 6.5
The injection function, like IFUNC earlier, enables us to discover and

explore relationships our ears might not otherwise pick up quickly. Figure
6.5 (a), for instance, elaborates on the observation that there are 4 transfor-
mations f of form (n,T6) such that INJpC|,Xg)(f) is non-zero, allowing Ffr
to represent F natural. So there are four T6 arrows on the figure, projecting al
of X* progessively into all of Xf at a variety of ordinal distances. This con-
trasts sharply with the absence of any I or w arrows on figure 6.4 that led from
anywhere within X* to anywhere within Xf. So far as the two tetrads in the
vocal melody are concerned, we may put it that I and w are "internal"
transformations, while T6 is "progressive." The structure of figure 6.5(a) is
hard to pick up by ear alone because its predominant ordinal rhythm of
"3 later" conflicts both with the motivic rhythm of the music, and with the
752 2-later rhythm established in figure 6.4 within X*.
The structure of figure 6.5(b) is also easy to pick up by inspecting

INJ^X^X*), hard to pick up at first by ear alone. It is reasonable to pay
some attention to the hexad X* here because that set spans the transfer of the
low F[? to the high Ffj in the melody, the first repeated pitch-class of the series.
Inspecting the internal structure of the hexad with our machinery, one notes
that there are relatively many transformations f of form (n, T8)-for-some-n
such that INJ(X4,X4)(f) is high or positive. The arrows on the figure show
how this works out analytically. For transformations f involving other T,, not
as many analogous arrows would appear. The strong ordinal rhythm of the
arrows on figure 6.5(b) is supported by the contour of the pitches—C, Ab, and
both the F|?s are all turning points—and also by the rhythm and meter of the
music. In this context, the melodic rise over the octave F[? takes place through
an ornamented arpeggiation of an augmented triad F|?, C, A^, Ffr. One
recognizes the triadic set of pitch classes from earlier discussion. It is Z 6 , the
Seufzer triad into which the E-wedge will converge at the big downbeat near
the end of the piece.
And so on. One could combine the pitch classes or the pitches of the
melody into formal pairs not only with the ordinal numbers 1 through 10, but
also with the durations of the written notes, or with the time points at which
the notes are attacked, or with the time spans of the written notes in our non-
commutative GIS, and so on. One would get interesting results in each case. I
have used ordinal numbers here because they furnish some new kinds of ideas
about non-mensural rhythm, and because they guarantee that none of our
transformations on the space of elements (n, p) can be operations. Even if OP
is an operation on pitch classes, like I, the transformation (5, OP) cannot map
our pair-space onto itself: There is no (n, p) such that (n + 5, OP(p)) = (2, q).
So using the ordinal-number model gives INJ another opportunity to show
how smoothly it handles transformations that are not operations.
So far as the "new kinds of ideas about non-mensural rhythm" are
concerned, we can take note that our pair-space is one useful way to model
serial melody. Later we shall explore other interesting models for representing
series of pitches or pitch classes (or anything else).
As I mentioned earlier, the reader who is interested can find a more ample
analysis of "Angst und Hoffen" for its own sake elsewhere in my writings. The
interested reader might also wish to consult my analytic remarks elsewhere on
"Die Kreuze," Number 14 from Pierrot Lunaire.2 Ideas of wedging and
inversion are also engaged there. The pertinent wedge transformations are
wedging-to-(C/C#) and wedging-to-(F#/G). wc/c# maps F#-to-F-to-E-to-Eb-
to-D-to-C#-to-C# and G-to-A|?-to-A-to-B|Ho-B-to-C-to-C. WF*/G trans-
forms the pitch classes in analogous wise with respect to the focal goal-dyad
2. "Inversional Balance as an Organizing Force in Schoenberg's Music and Thought,"
Perspectives of New Music vol. 6, no. 2 (Spring-Summer 1968), 1-21. The discussion of "Die
Kreuze" is on pages 4-8. 133
F#/G. Figure 6.6 sketches a sense of how these transformations pertain to the
opening of "Die Kreuze."
FIGURE 6.6
No pitch class p satisfies wc/c*(p) = F#. Likewise no p satisfies wF*/G(p)

= D[?. This feature of the transformations is actually projected by the music,
as the figure shows: The first F# and the last Db sit out their respective wedge-
games. Iptf = Ic* naturally functions prominently in connection with the two
wedges. l£ also figures in the music; it structures the second chord of figure 6.6
as an "internal" transformation.
Let us stand back for a moment and think about the analytic uses to
which we have put INJ so far. Nowhere in the discussion of the Schoenberg
pieces have we used the word "interval" or even invoked the concept, except
so far as it is implicit when we label certain operations as T 10 , T8, and so on.
Nowhere, therefore, have we needed to use the fact that the family of pitch
classes is a GIS. Nor did we need to suppose that our melodic space of
elements (n, p) was a GIS, which in fact it was not. We have nowhere needed to
suppose that the transformations we were inspecting were 1-to-l or onto;
many in fact were not. From all this we get some idea of how generally the INJ
construct can be applied in how great a variety of situations. We shall increase
our sense of that variety now by studying another application of INJ to a
situation not directly involving a GIS for the space S of elements.
6.2.4 EXAMPLE: Our space of elements for this study will be the family PROT
of protocol pairs. A protocol pair is an ordered pair (p, q) of distinct (NB)
chromatic pitch classes.3 There are thus 132 = 12 times 11 protocol pairs. A
twelve-tone row can be regarded as a certain set within PROT: The pair (p, q)
3. More generally, we could consider protocol pairs of distinct objects from any finite
family, and the mechanics of our discussion coming up would obtain, so far as the theory was
134 concerned.
is in the set if and only if p precedes q in the row. Note that while the row
imposes a certain ordering on the twelve pitch classes, the set under consider-
ation is an w«ordered subset of PROT, i.e. an unordered collection of pitch-
class pairs.
Besides rows, we can consider other subsets of PROT that are consistent
with our intuitions of "ordering pitch classes." To be consistent in this way, a
set X must satisfy two conditions. First, we cannot intuit both p-preceding-q
and q-preceding-p. Second, if we intuit p-preceding-q and q-preceding-r, then
we intuit p-preceding-r. These two conditions translate into the two formal
properties following, PO1 and PO2, which X must satisfy as a collection of
pairs.
(PO1): There is no (p, q) in PROT such that X contains both (p, q) and
(q,p).
(PO2): If (p, q) and (q, r) are members of X, then so is (p, r).
Mathematically, a subset X of PROT that satisfies (PO1) and (PO2) is
called a (strict) partial ordering of the pitch classes. The special partial order-
ings that correspond to rows are the "linear" or the "simple" orderings L;
these subsets of PROT satisfy in addition the condition (SIMP) below.
(SIMP): For any (p, q) in PROT, either (p, q)
or (q, p) belongs to L.
The set-theoretic condition matches our intuition that either p will pre-
cede q in the row, or q will precede p.
Representing twelve-tone rows as linear orderings is attractive in many
ways. For one thing it makes all rows conceptually equal. That is, it does not
assign explicit or implicit priority to one row (e.g. the chromatic-scale row),
from which other rows are explicitly or implicitly derived. The model assumes
no a priori ordering of the pitch classes; any row orders them as well as any
other row. This is very much in the spirit of the classical twelve-tone method.
Other attractive features of the model will become apparent presently.
In connection with the melody from Schoenberg's "Angst und Hoffen" a
little while ago, we brought attention to the way in which series of pitches,
pitch classes, and the like could be represented by pairs (n, p) consisting of
ordinal numbers n and objects p. Now we have a different way of representing
such series, provided they are non-repeating (NB). Our new representation
allows us to apply set theory to a linear ordering L, together with its various
transforms and other partial orderings X of interest as subsets of PROT. The
old model represents the row of Schoenberg's Fourth Quartet by a family of
pairs (1, D), (4, B|?), (3, A), (2, C#),... and so on: The first note of the row is D,
the fourth note is 6)7, the third note is A, the second note is C#, and so on. The
new model represents the same row by the family of pairs (A, B(?), (D, B[>),
(C#, A), (D, C#),... and so on: A precedes B^, D precedes Bj?, C# precedes A,
D precedes C#, and so on. 135
No matter which formal model we use, it will still be convenient to use the
notation D-C#-A-B[?-... for quick perusal.
Partial orderings that are not rows can model many structures of interest
in twelve-tone theory. The partial orderings X: and X 2 on figure 6.7 exemplify
only two such types of structure from among many.
FIGURE 6.7
Xj models the small linear motive E-A-Bb. As a subset of PROT, X!

contains the three protocol pairs (E, A), (E, 8(7), and (A, 6(7). The reader may
check formally that this 3-element set satisfies conditions (PO1) and (PO2). X t
models our being sure of the three cited precedence relations, and unsure of or
indifferent to any other precedence relations. Ll is what I take to be "the row"
of Schoenberg's Moses undAron; as a subset of PROT, Lj contains the pairs
(A,Bb), (A,E),..., (A,C); (Bb,E), (Bb,D),..., (Bb,C), (E,D),...,
(E,C);...;(B,C).
X2 models an aggregate governing the soprano, alto, tenor, and bass
voices of the four-part texture at the beginning of Variation 3 in Babbitt's
Semi-Simple Variations* X2 contains the twelve pairs (B, D), (B, Eb), (D, Eb);
(G, Bb), (G, F), (Bb, F); and so on. L2 models what I take as the row of the
piece, that is, the succession of pitch classes formed by the first twelve notes in
the soprano voice.
We shall be examining various numbers INJ(L 1 ,X 1 )(f) and INJ(L2,
X 2 )(f) in connection with a few analytic observations on the two pieces.
The transformations f on PROT which will attract our interest are of types
(l)-(4) following. (1) Transpositions of pairs, T;(p, q) = (Tj(p), Tj(q)); (2) in
versions of pairs, I(p,q) = (I(p),I(q)); (3) retrogression of pairs, R(p,q) =
(q, p); (4) combinations of types (1) through (3). These transformations are
all well defined on PROT; they do not map any protocol pair into some pair
(q,q) whose members are not distinct. The transformations are in fact oper-
4. Christopher Wintle provides a very useful analytic study of the piece in "Milton
Babbitt's Semi-Simple Variations" Perspectives of New Music vol. 14, no. 2 and vol. 15, no. 1
136 (Spring-Summer/Fall-Winter 1976), 111 -54.
aliens on PROT. They form a group isomorphic to the twelve-tone group of

operations on rows. Furthermore, when we identify rows with subsets L of
PROT, the sense of any row-operation coincides with the sense of the corre-
sponding set-operation. E.g. if the set L corresponds to a certain row, then
the set T3RI(L), as determined by the operations T3, R, and I on PROT, cor-
responds to the row formed by inverting, retrograding, and T3-ing the given
row.
Let J = 1^, the inversion operation that maps the pitch class A to the
pitch class E. Then the small linear motive X, can be extracted from the row
J(L,). We can see this by writing out the inverted row and italicizing the entries
E, A, and Bl> of the motive Xt as they come along in X,-order: J(Lj) =
E-E\>-A-B-B\>-C-F%-.... Another way of expressing the phenomenon
is to point out that all three of the member pairs of Xj are member pairs of the
inverted row: E precedes A in X} and also in J(Lj); A precedes Bl> both in Xl
and in J(Lj); E precedes Bl> both in Xj and in J(Lj). That is, the three mem-
bers of Xj, (E, A), (A, Bl>), and (E, Bl>), are also all members of J(Lr We
reformulate this observation once more: There are three members of Lj whose
J-transforms are members of Xr And finally, we can reformulate the observa-
tion into our present terminology most concisely: INJ(Lj, Xj)(J) = 3.
Are there other inversion operations I such that INJ(Lj, Xj)(I) = 3? As
it turns out here, there are not: J is the only one of the twelve inversion
operations with that property. Working backwards through the semantic
equivalencies of our observations in the paragraph above, we can interpret
our most recent observation as telling us that J(Lj) is the only inverted form of
Lj that serially embeds the small linear motive Xr We might say that Xj has a
high "signature value" for J(Lj) among the twelve inverted forms of Lt: If we
sense that an inverted form is at hand and we intuit the three protocol pairs of
Xj clearly, that is enough information, abstractly, to identify J(Lj) as the
specific form at hand.
This property of Xj was noted by Michael Cherlin in connection with
events near the opening of act 1, scene 2 in Moses und Aron.5 The scene
portrays the brothers meeting in the desert; it begins with a lot of Aron music,
light-textured, grazioso, piano and pianissimo, scored for solo flute accom-
panied by violins, harp and pianissimo horns. Then, just before Aron starts to
sing, there is one measure of Moses music, scored for loud trombone and
string bass. The trombone plays the short linear motive Xp extracted from the
row-form J(Lj). The "signature motive" Xj is here attached to Moses as he
steps forth on stage. Aron immediately thereafter begins to address Moses,
singing the prime row-form combinatorial to J(Lj) and then J(L,) itself. Xl
sounds particularly powerful here because it rearranges the opening trichord
5. The Formal and Dramatic Organization of Schoenberg's Moses und Aron (Ph.D. diss.,
Yale University, 1983). 137
of L! , a trichord which had a strong tonic character as a harmony during the

preceding (opening) scene of the drama.
Babbitt has published a discussion of just such small linear signature
motives in his own music.6 He gives the row of his compositionReflectionsas
L = C-B-D-A-Db-Bb-E-F-G-Eb-Gb-Ab. Then he points out that the
ordered trichord X = B-D-A is "uniquely characteristic [of the row] t
within the transpositional sub-array, and of [one inverted form] to within the
inversional sub-array." In our terminology, INJ(L, X)(Tj) is less than 3 unless
i = 0; also INJ(L,X)(I) is less than 3 unless I is the one specific inversion J
which Babbitt singles out. He then goes on to discuss the ordered tetrachor
Y = B-D-A-Db. He notes that Y "is unique ... for the total array." In our
terminology, INJ(L, Y) (f) is less than 6 for the forty-seven twelve-tone oper-
ations f other than f = T0; L itself is the only twelve-tone form of L that
contains all of the six protocol pairs of Y. Y is a signature for L among its
forty-eight forms; X is a signature for L among its twelve transposed forms; X
is also a signature for J(L) among the twelve inverted forms of the row.
Now let us turn out attention back to X 2 and L2 on figure 6.7. Th
aggregate X 2 , considered as a subset of PROT, contains 12 member pairs.
Hence INJ(L 2 , X 2 ) (f) can be at most 12, ifis an operation. (In that ca
map N distinct members of L2 1-to-l into N distinct members of X 2 , so that N
must be 12 or less.) The forty-eight specific transformations f that interest us
here are in fact operations. As it turns out, none of our forty-eight operations f
actually embed X 2 in some form of L 2 , satisfying INJ(L 2 ,X 2 )(f) = 12. How-
ever there are operations f that do {£ of the job, satisfying INJ(L 2 ,X 2 )(f) =
11. These operations are f = T! , f = RT7, f = J, and f = RT6 J, where J is the
inversion l£ . Since the row is its own retrograde at the tritone, these four
operations generate only two forms of L 2 , namely T t (L 2 ) = RT 7 (L 2 ) and
J(L 2 ) = RT6J(L2). Figure 6.8 shows how well the ordering of the aggregate
X 2 fits into each of these row-forms.
FIGURE 6.8
6. "Responses: A First Approximation," Perspectives of New Music vol. 14, no. 2 and
138 vol. 15, no. 1 (Spring-Summer/Fall-Winter 1976), 3-23. The discussion is on page 10.
The figure makes it visually clear how X2 fits '4i within" either row.
Figure 6.8 (b) shows how only the pair (C#, F#) of X2 is not within the row
T1(L2); the row contains instead the protocol pair (F#, C#)- Figure 6.8(c
shows how only the pair (Bb, F) of X2 is not within the row J(L2); the row
contains instead the protocol pair (F, B|?). If only the tenor voice of X2 went
E-F#-C# instead of E-C#-F#, then the embedding of figure 6.8(b) would
be perfect. Or, if only the alto voice of X2 went G-F-Bj? instead of G-B[?-F,
then the embedding of figure 6.8(c) would be perfect. Or, yet again, if only
the tenth and eleventh notes of all the rows involved were exchanged, then
both embeddings would be perfect. This urge to "make small adjustments"
with one set or another will be further discussed later. It is a typical feature
of situations in which an INJ function almost attains a theoretical maximum
possible value.
X 2 , as mentioned before, is the aggregate governing soprano, alto, tenor,
and bass voices at the opening of Variation 3 in the Semi-Simple Variations.
Various (12-tone) forms of X2 govern SATB relations throughout Variation
3. SATB aggregates of similar format govern other variations, but none of
those fit more than "{§ within" any form of the row L 2 . To put it in our
terminology, if X is an aggregate governing SATB anywhere in the piece out-
side Variation 3, the INJ(L 2 ,X)(f) is at most 10, for each operation f we are
considering. Thus we can say that the SATB-aggregates of Variation 3 are
maximally compatible with forms of L 2 , compared to such aggregates from
other variations. Statements of this sort are very useful to express structural
differencesamong sections of a piece that sounds at first extremel
geneous in texture throughout. That is particularly so when the statements
can be backed up by precise measurements like -fj, y§, and the like.
INJ helps us pinpoint and explore precisely other structural differences
among sections of the composition. For example, let V and V be SATB-
aggregates from any one variation; then INJ(V, V) (T0) = either 0 or 4. That
is, V and V will either have no common pairs or exactly 4 common pairs. Let
V l 5 V 2 , ..., V5 be SATB-aggregates from the first, second, ..., fifth varia-
tions; then with two exceptions INJ(V m , V n )(T 0 ) is less than or equal to 2.
That is, with two exceptions, aggregates Vn, and Vn from different variations
will have only 2 or fewer common pairs. Since two distinct aggregates in this
format could theoretically share as many as 11 common pairs, we can say that
the level of "ordering cross-talk" between variations is very low, half as low as
the level of cross-talk within each variation (INJ(V, V')(T0) = 4). Indeed that
latter level (4 pairs out of a possible 11) is itself none too high. The two
exceptions are these: INJ(V5, V 2 )(T 0 ) = 4 and INJ(V4, V 2 )(T 0 ) = 5. Wecan
say that Variations 5 and 4 thus "talk with" Variation 2, so far as SATB-
aggregate ordering goes, at a level equalling or even surpassing the level of
cross-talk within each individual variation.
INJ(V4, V 2 )(T 0 ) = 5 is a maximum compared with other values of 139
INJ(Vm, Vn)(T0). This observation suggests we devote special attention to

aggregate-relations between V4 and V 2 . And when we do so, we shall notice a
feature of the composition we might not quickly have come to notice other-
wise. Whichever V4 and V2 we select to represent Variations 4 and 2 respec-
tively, the two SATB-aggregates will share exactly one 3-note linear segment
from among the four segments D#-B-E, Ab-C-G, C#-F#-D, and
B[?-F-A. If Vm and Vn come from variations other than 4 and 2, the two
SATB-aggregates will not share any 3-note linear segments.
Let us call the family of four segments listed above the "pivot aggregate."
Figure 6.9 shows how the pivot aggregate controls the tenor and bass voices of
Variation 2, and the soprano and alto voices of Variation 4. The bar lines on
the figure mark off SATB-aggregates within each variation.
FIGURE 6.9
INJ numbers bring quickly and effortlessly to our attention the fact that
the relationship of figure 6.9 between Variation 4 and Variation 2 is a unique
relationship between variations in the piece; it is not a ubiquitous feature of a
large-scale design. As noted before, this sort of observation is very useful in
bringing to our attention special discriminations within a composition that
sounds at first extremely homogeneous.
6.3 In this section we shall explore further the notion of "if-only adjust-
ments" in connection with INJ. The abstract notion can be formulated as
140 follows. Suppose INJ(X, Y)(f) is near its theoretical possible maximum in a
certain situation. The number might be close to the cardinality of X for

instance, so that almost all of X is mapped into Y by f. Or f might be 1-to-l and
the injection number might be very close to the cardinality of Y, so that the
transformed set f(X) comes close to embedding Y. In such cases, a small
adjustment in X or in Y might enable us to remove the "almost" component of
the situation, bringing the injection number up to its theoretical maximum
value. The parts of X or Y that do not quite fit may come under pressure to
conform, giving rise in the music to urges for generating new material.
We encountered an if-only situation in discussing the Semi-Simple Vari-
ations. Figure 6.8 earlier showed how the SATB-aggregate X2 was almost
embedded in the rows Ti(L 2 ) and J(L2); more precisely "{i embedded."
While discussing the figure, we mused about making if-only adjustments in
either the aggregate or the row, to make the embedding work completely. So
far as I can tell, the speculative adjustments do not correspond with musical
pressures in Babbitt's piece.
But in the Schoenberg song we examined earlier, similar speculative
adjustments do correspond with strong musical pressures. In examining the
progression of the 3-note chord X = Angst to the 3-note chord Y = Hoffen,
we observed that INJ(X, Y)(wE) = 2 out of a maximum possible 3, and that
INJ(X, Y)(I) also = 2 out of a maximum possible 3, "I" here meaning I| =
TjL
^Bb- "If only" the F|? of chord Y were adjusted to F natural, we noted, both
the injection values of 2 above would rise to the maximum 3. In this connec-
tion the if-only speculation led to fruitful analytic ideas about the "missing F
natural," the "missing I-partner," the missing lover, begehren, F[? as func-
tional substitute for F natural, and so on.
The interested reader will find an extensive treatment of if-only adjust-
ment and its analytic implications elsewhere in my writings, in connection
with the opening two chords of Schoenberg's piano piece op. 19, no. 6.7 I call
the chords "rh" and "Ih" for right hand and left hand.
6.4 The cited article goes on to discuss "progressive" and "internal" trans-
formations in connection with the succession rh-lh. "Progressive" transfor-
mations make rh into something much like Ih; "internal" transformations
make rh into something much like itself, or Ih into something much like itself,
or both. The reader will recall that we used this nomenclature earlier, in con-
nection with various transformations pertaining to harmony and melody in
the song "Angst und Hoffen."
We shall now extend the nomenclature and put it into a completely
7. "Transformational Techniques in Atonal and Other Music Theories," Perspectives of
New Music, vol. 21, nos. 1-2 (Fall-Winter 1982/Spring-Summer 1983), 312-71, especially 336-
42.1 am indebted to Michael Bushnell for having observed the rewards that this sort of approach
brings in analyzing the music. He worked with transposition operations only; I enlarge his aural
field to include inversions as well. 141
general theoretical setting, invoking only a family S of elements, certain

transformations f on S, and the INJ function. Given sets X and Y, suppose we
are inspecting the values of INJ(X, Y)(f), MT(X, X)(f), and INJ(Y, Y)(f) as f
varies over a certain family INSPECT of transformations.
For certain transformations f within the family INSPECT, the value of
INJ(X, Y)(f) will be maximal, or at least relatively high subject to the con-
straints of the situation. We shall call these transformations progressive. They
map a lot of X into Y.
For certain transformations f within the family INSPECT, the value of
MT(X, X)(f) or MT(Y, Y)(f) will be high. We shall call these transformations
X-internal or Y-internal accordingly. A transformation which is both X-
internal and Y-internal can be called "internal (for the progression X-Y)."
An X-internal transformation maps a lot of X into X.
Intuitively, an X-internal transformation tends to extend/elaborate/
develop/prolong X in the music, while a progressive transformation tends to
urge X onwards, to become something else (like Y).
Progressive and internal transformations will tend to combine mathe-
matically in certain interrelated ways, by their very natures. If I transform X
to be much like itself, and then transform the result to be much like itself, it is
likely that the composition of the two gestures will make X much like itself.
That is, the composition of two X-internal transformations will tend to be
X-internal. Similarly, the inverse of an X-internal operation will tend to be
X-internal. Similarly, an X-internal transformation followed by an X-Y-
progressive transformation will tend to be an X-Y-progressive transfor-
mation; and an X-Y-progressive transformation followed by a Y-internal trans-
formation will tend to be X-Y-progressive.
As a result, when we inspect the families of progressive and internal
transformations pertinent to a given X-Y situation, we shall find those
families tending to interrelate algebraically according to the considerations
just surveyed.
We can introduce other useful nomenclature. An f such that INJ(X,
X)(f) is minimal or at least relatively small, given the constraints of X and
INSPECT, can be called X-external. Such an f maps X largely outside itself.
We can also define a dispersive transformation to be one that maps X largely
outside Y, makeing the value of INJ(X, Y)(f) minimal or relatively small.
These definitions avoid mentioning the complements of the sets X and Y in
S, which may not be "sets" according to our definition if S is infinite.
External and dispersive transformations tend to enter into typical al-
gebraic relations with themselves, with each other, and with internal and
progressive transformations. An X-internal transformation followed by an X-
external one will tend to be X-external; a progressive transformation followed
by a Y-external one will tend to be dispersive; and so on.
142 A good example of dispersive transformations is furnished by measure 8
of Schoenberg's op. 19, no. 6. This is the cryptic, very dense measure that
precedes the final return of the chords rh and Ih in measure 9. Figure 6.10(a)
reproduces measure 8.
FIGURE 6.10
Forte has noted that the music embeds many forms of the rh chord.8 For
our purposes, we can observe that the music embeds four transposed forms of
rh. Those are the four shown in figure 6.10(b): T2(rh), T5(rh), T7(rh), and
T9(rh). Now if we let the interval i range from 0 through 11, we shall find that
there are six values of i for which INJ(rh, Ih) (Tj) = 0; these values are i = 2,4,
5, 7, 9, and 0. That is, T2, T4, T5, T7, T9, and T0 are the six dispersive
transposition operations, given the progression rh-to-lh. To put it another
way, T2(rh), T4(rh), T5(rh), T7(rh), T9(rh), and T0(rh) = rh are the trans-
posed forms of rh that have no common tones with Ih. As figure 6.10(b) shows
us, four of these six forms are embedded within the music of figure 6.10(a).
(The rest of that music does contain common tones with Ih.) And, as figure
6.10(c) shows us, a fifth dispersive form, T0(rh) = rh, ensues immediately
thereafter, joining the parade of dispersive forms and thereby linking measure
8 to the downbeat of the final reprise at measure 9.
The relevance of external transformations to traditional theory is illus-

trated by the "semi-combinatorial hexachord." If X is a 6-note set of pitch
classes and I is an inversion operation that transforms X into its complement
X, then I is an X-external transformation: INJ(X,X)(I) = 0.
This is a good place to think about exploring how the injection function
relates with set-conplementation when S is finite. We shall soon carry out that
exploration, in section 6.6. Before that, it will be helpful to prove a theorem
and a corollary about INJ(X, Y)(f) when f is an operation OP.
8. The Structure of Atonal Music, example 102 (p. 99). 143
6.5.1 THEOREM: If f is an operation OP, then INJ(X, Y)(OP) is the cardi-

nality of OP(X) n Y, that is the number of common members shared by the
sets OP(X) and Y.
We took note of this theorem informally in the commentary following
Definition 6.2.1 earlier. The fact is important enough to warrant formal
verification.
Proof: Let M = INJ(X, Y)(OP); let N = card(OP(X) n Y). Let x t , x 2 , . . . ,
X M be the distinct members of X that map into Y via OP. Since OP is 1-to-l, the
elements OP(Xi), OP(x2), ..., OP(xM) are distinct members of OP(X) n Y.
Thus OP(X) n Y contains at least M distinct members; N is greater than or
equal to M.
Now let y l 5 y 2 , ..., yN be the distinct members of OP(X)nY. Then
OPîX OP"1^)* ..., OP"1^) are N distinct members of X, each of
which maps into Y under OP. So there are at least N distinct members of X
that map into Y under OP; M is greater than or equal to N. q.e.d.
The injection function applied to operations thus generalizes Regener's

Common-Note Function, which was developed for the special case in which X
and Y are sets of pitch classes and OP runs through the twelve transposition
operations.9
6.5.2 COROLLARY: If f is an operation OP, then

INJ(Y,X)(OP) = INJP^YXOP"1).
Proof: An element z is a member of the set OP~ 1 (X)n Y if an only
if OP(z) is in X and z is in Y; this is the case if and only if OP(z) is in X and
OP(z) is in OP(Y), that is if and only if OP(z) is a member of the set X n
OP(Y). So the transformation OP maps the set (OP~1(X)n Y) 1-to-l onto
the set (XnOP(Y)). Therefore the two sets have the same cardinality:
card(OP(Y)nX) = card(OP~ 1 (X)nY). Applying Theorem 6.5.1 to both
sides of this equation, we infer the formula of the Corollary.
Now we are ready to explore set-complementation in connection with
INJ. It will simplify matters greatly to restrict our attention to transforma-
tions f that are operations OP in this context. We shall then be able to use the
theorem and the corollary we have just proved. We mustjestrict the abstract
setting by supposing S to be finite; then the complement X of a set X will be a
formal "set" by our criterion, i.e. a finite subfamily of S.
6.6.1 THEOREM: Suppose S is finite. Given sets X and Y with complements X

and Y; given any operation OP; then formulas (A) through (E) below obtain.
9. Eric Regener, "On Allen Forte's Theory of Chords," Perspectives of New Music vol. 13,
144 no. 1 (Fall-Winter 1974), 191-212. The Common-Note Function is defined on page 202.
(A): INJ(X, Y)(OP) = cardX - INJ(X, Y)(OP).

(B): INJ(X, Y) (OP) = cardY - INJ(X, Y) (OP).
(C): INJ(X,_Y)(OP) = cardY - cardX + INJ(X, Y)(OP).
(D): IfcardY_=cardX, then
INJ(X, Y)(OP) = INJ(X,Y)(OP).
(E): (Generalized Babbitt Hexachord Theorem)
If cardX_= ^cardS, then
INJ(X,X)(OP) = INJ(X,X)(OP).
Proofs:_
(A): The operation OP maps each member of X either into Y or into Y. So
cardX = INJ(X, Y)(OP) (the number of X-members mapped into Y) plus
INJ(X, Y)(OP) (the number of X-members mapped into Y). The formula
follows. This argument works just as well for any transformation f.
(B): Here it is essential that OP be an operation, so that we can apply
Corollary 6.5.2. We write INJ(X, Y)(OP) = INJ(Y,X)(OP-1), via 6.5.2.
This, via formula (A) just proved, = cardY - INJ(Y, X)(OP-1). And, apply-
ing 6.5.2 again, we infer that this number is indeed cardY — INJ(X, Y)(OP),
as claimed.
(C): INJ(X,Y)(OP) = cardY = INJ(X,Y)(OP), via (B); this is
cardY - (cardX - INJ(X, Y) (OP)), via (A); this is cardY - cardX +
INJ(X,Y) (OP), as desired.
(D) is an obvious corollary of (C). And (E) is an obvious corollary of (D),
setting Y = X. q.e.d.
The methods of proof I have used are essentially Regener's. I have called
formula (E) the Generalized Babbitt Hexachord Theorem because Babbitt's
theorem, somewhat disguised, is a special case of this formula. For readers
who may feel the disguise is perfect, I shall show the connection. Let X be a six-
note pitch-class set; let OP be a transposition operation Tj. Theorem 6.6.1 (E)
above tells us that INJ(X,X)(TJ = INJ(X,X)(Ti). Theorem 6.5.1 then tells
us that the cardinality of (Tj(X) n X) is the same as the cardinality of
(T;(X) n X). Now the cardinality of (T;(X) n X) is the number of members of
X that lie the interval i from some member of X. In other words, the number is
IFUNC(X, X) (i). Similarly, the cardinalitypf (T}(X) n X) is IFUNC(X, X) (i).
We have shown, then, that IFUNC(X,X)(i) = IFUNC(X,X)(i) for every
i: the complementary hexachords contain the same number of i-dyads for
each i. This is Babbitt's theorem. One sees that 6.6.1(E) is a very broad
generalization.
6.6.2 EXAMPLE: Let us see how the Generalized Hexachord Theorem applies
in another specific context. The reader will recall the space PROT of protocol
pairs which we constructed earlier (6.2.4) in examining some topics from serial 145
theory. We noted that the various twelve-tone rows can be regarded as those
subsets L of PROT that are linear orderings on the pitch classes. In this model,
the retrograde of the row L corresponds to the set-theoretic complement L of
the set L in PROT. For a pair (p, q) is in the complement of the set if and only if
p does not precede q in the row, which is the case if and only if p precedes q in
the retrograde of the row, which is the case if and only if (p, q) lies in that
portion of PROT corresponding to the retrograde row.
The family PROT has 132 = 12 times 11 members. And any row, as a
subset of PROT, contains exactly 66 protocol pairs. To see that, suppose the
pitch classes of the row come in the serial order p l 9 p 2 , ..., p 12 . Then the
subset L of PROT contains 11 pairs of form (Pi,p n ), and 10 pairs of form
(p 2 ,p n ), ..., and 1 pair of form (p u , pn). The cardinality of the set L is thus
11 + 10 H + 1, which is 66.
We are thus in a setting to which 6.6.1(E) pertains. card(S) =
card(PROT) = 132; card(X) = card(L) = 66 = |card(S). In this setting, a
row and its retrograde (complement) play a set-theoretic role formally analo-
gous to that of a hexachord and its complement in traditional atonal theory.
Here, 6.6.1 (E) tells us the following. Let OP be any operation on PROT.
Given any row L with retrograde L, let N be the number of pairs (p, q) in L
such that the pair OP(p, q) is also a precedence relation in L; let N' be the
number of pairs (p', q') in L such that OP(p', q') is also a precedence relation in
L. Then N = N'.
In this connection, OP(L) need not itself be a row. Indeed L itself can be
replaced by any set of cardinality 66 within PROT and the theorem remains
ture, "L" now being simply the set-theoretic complement of L. But the
application is of particular interest when we interpret the complementary sets
L-and-L as row-and-retrograde.
The twelve-tone operations Tj and I are induced on PROT by corre-
sponding operations on individual pitch classes: Tj(p, q) = (Tj(p),Tj(q));
I(p,q) = (I(p), I(q)). But in general there need not be any operation op on
pitch classes such that OP(p, q) = (op(p), op(q)). There is no such op, for
instance, in the case of the retrograde operation R on PROT: R(p, q) = (q, p).
Nor is there such an op for any of the operations to which R contributes, e.g.
RTj and RI. One can also construct fancier operations on PROT not induced
by pitch-class operations op. For example: If p and q are in the same whole-
tone scale, OP(p, q) = (p, q); if p and q are in opposite whole-tone scales,
OP(p > q) = (T3(q),T9(p)).
When L is a row and OP(L) is also a row, then INJ(L, L) (OP) measures
the size of the largest partial ordering on the pitch classes which can be
embedded in both OP(L) and L, i.e. whose protocol pairs are compatible with
both those rows. That is because INJ(L, L)(OP) is the cardinality of
146 OP(L) n L, as we know from 6.5.1.
Now we shall show formally how INJ completely generalizes IFUNC

when there is a GIS at hand.
6.7.1 THEOREM: Let (S, IVLS, int) be a GIS. Then for each interval i and for
all sets X and Y,
IFUNC(X, Y)(i) = INJ(X, Y)(T,).
Proof: Let IFUNC(X, Y)(i) = M; let INJ(X, Y)(Tj) = N. We shall see
that N must be at least as big as M, and that M must be at least as big as N.
Since IFUNC(X,Y)(i) = M, there are M distinct pairs (Xj.yj),
(x2, y2), ..., (XM, yM) such that xm lies in X, ym lies in Y, and int(xm, ym) = i.
For each such pair, ym = Ti(xm). For m and n distinct, x m and x n are distinct
members of X. (Otherwise we would have ym = Ti(xm) = Tj(xn) = yn, whence
the pairs (xm, ym) and (xn, y n ) would not be distinct, contrary to supposition.)
Thus X has at least M distinct members whose i-transposes lie in Y. That is,
INJ(X, Y)(Tj) is at least as big as M. Or: N is at least as big as M.
Now let Zi, z 2 , . . . , ZN be the N distinct members of X whose i-transposes
lie within Y. (There are N such, since INJ(X, Y)(T;) = N.) For each such
z n ,z n is in X, u = Tj(z n ) is in Y, and int(zn, u) = i. Therefore the pair (z n ,u)
was counted as some (xm, ym) above. So every one of the N elements z 1 ,..., ZN
is one of the M elements x l 5 . . . , X M . Hence M is at least as big as N. q.e.d.
The logic of Theorem 6.7.1 can be visualized through the following aid.
Imagine X and Y as two finite configurations of points in the Euclidean plane.
Suppose i is the vector (directed distance) "to the right and up 30 degrees for a
distance of 5 inches." We can ask: "From points of X to points of Y, how
many distinct arrows can I draw that go to the right and up 30 degrees for a
distance of 5 inches?" The answer to this question is IFUNC(X, Y)(i). We can
also ask: "If I move the whole X-configuration to the right and up 30 degrees
for a distance of 5 inches, how many points of the displaced configuration will
then coincide with points of Y?" The answer to that question is
INJ(X, Y)(Tj). One intuits easily that the two questions are logically
equivalent.
Next we shall explore what happens to INJ when the sets X and/or Y are
transformed by some operation A.
6.7.2 THEOREM: Given a family S of objects, given sets X and Y, given a

transformation f on S and an operation A on S, then formulas (A), (B), and
(C) below obtain.
(A): INJ(A(X),Y)(f) = INJ(X, Y)(fA).
(B): INJ(X, A(Y))(f) = INJ(X, Y)(A~ 1 f).
(C): INJ(A(X), A(Y)) (f) = INJ(X, Y) (A'1 f A). 147
Proofs: (A): INJ(A(X), Y)(f) is the number of t within A(X) such that
f(t) is a member of Y. Set t = A(s); then the family of such t is in 1-to-l
correspondence, via A, with the family of s in X such that fA(s) is a member of
Y. And the number of such s is exactly INJ(X, Y)(fA).
(B): INJ(X, A(Y)) (f) is the number of s in X such that f (s) is a member of
A(Y). Now f (s) is a member of A(Y) if and only if A"1 f (s) is a member of Y. So
the number at issue is the number of s in X such that A~ 1 f(s) belongs to Y.
And that is exactly INJ(X, YXA^f).
(C): The formula follows at once from (A) and (B). q.e.d.
Formula 6.7.2(C) is of particular abstract interest. We can imagine that

the shift from X-and-Y to A(X)-and-A(Y) reflects a "modulation" of the
system by the operation A. For instance, if we are in a GIS and A is a
transposition or an inversion, we are transposing or inverting (the sets of) the
system accordingly. It is natural to ask: "If we modulate the system by A, what
effect does that have on the INJ function?" At first one might suppose
that INJ would remain unaffected by the modulation: INJ(A(X), A(Y)) =
INJ(X, Y). But, as formula 6.7.2(C) shows, that is not in fact the case. Rather
the INJ function is itself "modulated" according to the formula.
We noted a specific instance of this general phenomenon earlier, during
our analysis of "Angst und Hoffen." The wedge-structure of figure 6.3(b)
converged on E; it was studied in connection with the transformations W E =
wedging-to-E and I = inversion about E. The wedge-structure of figure
6.3(c) converged on F#; it was studied in connection with the transformations
WF* = wedging-to-F# and J = inversion about F#. To get from the situation
of (b) to the situation of (c), one "modulates the system by T2." The following
equations obtain: F# = T2(E); wF* = T 2 w E T 2 " 1 ; J = T2IT2"1. The first
equation relates the focal points of the two wedges, also the bass notes
of the Angst and Hoffen chords. The second equation leads, via 6.7.2(C),
to the relationship INJ(T 2 (X),T 2 (Y))(w F «) = INJ(X, YXT^w1^) =
INJ(X, Y) (WE). The third equation leads via the same formula to the relation-
ship INJ(T2(X),T2(Y))(J) = INJ(X, Y)(T 2 1 JT 2 ) = INJ(X, Y)(I). Thus,
when we modulate the system from E-centricity to F#-centricity via the opera-
tion T 2 , then the wedge WF* plays the role, with respect to the modulated sets
T2(X) and T2(Y), that the wedge W E originally played with respect to the sets
X and Y. Similarly, the inversion J plays the role, with respect to the modu-
lated sets, that the inversion I originally played with respect to the unmodu-
lated sets. The reader will recall, perhaps, our earlier remarks on this subject
by way of preparation (pp. 128-129).
Here is another, more abstract, example of system-modulation. Let
X be an atonal hexachord that inverts into its complement via the inversion
I = IB. Then INJ(X,X)(I) = 0. Suppose some music projecting X-and-
148 its-complement "modulates" to a new section projecting T5(X)-and-//j-
complement. Here I plays the role of "f" and T5 plays the role of "A" in
Formula 6.7.2(C). We cannot suppose that INJ(T5(X), T5(X))(I) = 0: the
new hexachord T5(X) will not invert into its complement via the inversion I,
B/C inversion. Rather, T5(X), the modulated hexachord, inverts into its
complement by the inversion J = T5IT~^. Formula 6.7.2(C) tells us this:
INJ(T5(X), T5(X))(J) = INJ(X, X)(T-i JT5) = INJ(X, X)(I) = 0.
Using formulas 3.5.6 (A) and (B), we can compute J = T 5 l£T 7 =
I|T7 = Ij:. Thus T5(X) inverts into its complement about E and F (or about
B!> and B). The system having modulated by T5, the transformation J =
T5IT~* now plays the role that the transformation I originally played.
Formula 6.7.2(C) tells us this sort of thing in great generality: When a
system modulates by an operation A, the transformation f = AfA"1 plays the
structural role in the modulated system that f played in the original system, in
the sense that INJ(modulated X, modulated Y(f) = MT(X, Y)(f).
6.7.3 Theorems 6.7.1 and 6.7.2 enable us to generalize the abstract ques-
tions about IFUNC we asked earlier, toward the end of the section 5.1. We
asked, for instance, under what circumstances in a GIS we would have
IFUNCCXj, Xj) = IFUNC(X2, XJ. Via 6.7.1, we can rephrase the question,
asking under what circumstances in a GIS we shall have INJ(Xj, Xj)(Tj) =
INJ^Xj, XjXTj) for every transposition Tr And that question can easily
be generalized: Given any family S of objects and any family INSPECT
of transformation on S, under what circumstances shall we have
INJ(Xj, Xj)(f) = IN](X2, XjXf) for every member f of INSPECT? We do
not have to demand that S be in a GIS, or that INSPECT be a group; indeed,
the question makes sense even if INSPECT is not a closed family (semigroup)
of transformations.
Likewise, we earlier asked under what conditions in a GIS we would
have IFUNC(X,, XJ = IFUNC(Y,, Y2). We can generalize that question
analogouly: Given any family INSPECT of transformations f on a family
S of objects, under what conditions shall we have INJ(X,, X^f) =
MT(Y,, Y2)(f) for every member f of INSPECT?
The ideas of 6.7.2 enable us to expand that question even farther. Sup-
pose we have a family S of objects, a family INSPECT of transformations
f on S, and a group MDLT of "modulating operations" A on S. Under what
conditions, given sets Xj, X^ Y,, and Y2, will there exist some modulation
A such that when we modulate Yj and Y2 by A, obtaining Y', and Y'2, we
shall have DSfJCX,, X^f) = INKY',, Y'2)(f) for every f in INSPECT?
Via 6.7.2(C) this amounts to demanding that ESTJ(X,, X^f) and INJ(Yt,
Y2(A~1fA) be equal numbers, for each member f of INSPECT. In the spe-
cial case where we are in a GIS, where INSPECT is the family of trans-
positions, and where MDLT is the group of transpositions, the question
asks under what conditions, given the four sets, there will exist some interval 149
j such that for every interval i, IFUNCCX^XjXi) = IFUNC(Tj(Y1),

Tj(Y2))(i) = IFUNCCY^Y^Gij- 1 ). (5.1.6 gives us the last equality. It is
consistent with 6.7.2(C) because T^-i = T^TjTji The group of transpo-
sitions is aAm'-isomorphic to the group of intervals.)
Besides using 6.7.1 and 6.7.2 to generalize earlier questions, we can also
use them to help out with computations we earlier found difficult to execute.
The formula following is a good example.
6.7.4 THEOREM: In any GIS let I = !„. Fix any referential element and set
j = LABEL(u). Then for any sets X and Y, and for each interval i,
IFUNC(I(X),I(Y))(i) = INJ(X, Y)(Pk)
where Pk is the interval-preserving operation labeled by k = ji"1]"1.
Proof (optional): IFUNC(I(X), I(Y)) (i) = INJ(I(X), I(Y)) (Tj), via
6.7.1. This, via 6.7.2, = INJ(X, Y)^"1^!). Set I^T,! = OP. It now suffices
to prove that OP = P k , where k = ji"1.)""1.
r1 = 1^(3.5.9). So OP = I^Tji;;. We can compute T^ by 3.5.6(A);
the result is I*, where x = Tj(u). So OP = I"I*. And we can compute the
composition of the two inversions by 3.5.8. It is PmTn, where m =
LABEL(u)LABEL(x)-1 and n = LABELOO^LABELCv). Here n = e, so
we have computed that OP = Pm, where m = LABEL(u)LABEL(x)~1.
Since x = T,(u), LABEL(x) = LABEL(u)-i(3.4.3). Replacing LABEL(u)
by j, we then have m = j(ji)"1 = ji-1j-1 = k. Thus OP = Pk as desired.
6.8 To demonstrate further the generalizing powers of INJ, we shall

now use it to generalize Forte's K and Kh relations. For our generalization we
suppose only a family S of objects and a group of operations on S which we
shall call "canonical" for reasons known only to us. We shall denote the group
by CANON.
The complement of the set X will be denoted X. If S is infinite, X will not
be finite, hence not a "set" in our terminology. Nevertheless we shall speak of
its "cardinality," understanding the value infinity for the expression cardX. If
S is finite, cardX will mean the finite cardinality of the set X.
We shall restrict our attention to sets X and Y such that cardX < cardX
and cardY < cardY. We can do this because Forte's K and Kh relations are
not affected by the restriction. If cardX should be less than cardX, we can
simply exchange the roles of the sets X and X as they do or do not enter into
K or Kh relations with other sets.
Having made that restriction, we may also suppose that cardX < cardY.
Otherwise, we can simply exchange the roles of the sets X and Y in the
arguments coming up.
So our restrictions, in sum, are these: cardX < cardX, cardX < cardY <
750 cardY. Given those restrictions, Forte's K and Kh relations hinge on the
logical combination of two more primitive relations, which we can call K! and
K2.
(K x ): Some (canonical) form of X is embedded in Y.
(K2): Some form of X is disjoint from Y (and hence embedded in Y).
X and Y, subject to our restrictions, enjoy Forte's K relation if they enjoy
either Kj or K 2 ; they enjoy his Kh relation if they enjoy both K^ and K 2 . Now
the relations Kj and K 2 correspond to very natural aspects of INJ(X, Y), as
that function takes arguments from the canonical group. Specifically, K t and
K 2 are respectively equivalent to K\ and K 2 below.
(K;): For some A in CANON, INJ(X, Y)(A) = cardX.
(K'2): For some B in CANON, INJ(X, Y)(B) = 0.
Now we can express Forte's relations, generalized, as follows:
(K): INJ(X, Y) (A) takes on either its theoretical maximum value cardX
(subject to our restrictions), or its theoretical minimum value 0, as A
varies over CANON.
(Kh): INJ(X, Y)(A) takes on both its theoretical maximum and its
theoretical minimum values, as A varies over CANON.
We can use the ideas of "progressive" and "dispersive" transformations
(6.4), to rephrase K\ and K 2 yet once more, into the respective forms of K/{
and K 2 below.
(K'i): CANON contains some maximally progressive transformation
with regard to INJ(X, Y).
(K2): CANON contains some maximally dispersive transformation
with regard to INJ(X,Y).
Let us return to relation K\ above. K't says there is some A in CANON

such that INJ(X, Y)(A) = cardX, but it does not tell us how many such A
there are. In case CANON is infinite, that may or may not be a meaningful
question. When CANON is finite, the question is definitely interesting. By
asking it, we can distinguish multiplicities of K! -ness about the K x relations of
various sets: Some pairs of sets are "more K^-related" than others, Likewise,
when CANON is finite, we can distinguish multiplicities of K2-ness about K2
relations, counting how many members B of CANON satisfy condition K 2
above. We can then attach pairs of multiplicity numbers to sets in the Kh
relation, to indicate the multiplicities of K!-ness and K2-ness involved.
For a specific example, take S to be the twelve chromatic pitch classes,
and take CANON to comprise both transpositions and inversions. Take Y to
be the black-note pentatonic scale. Take X to be the F#-major triad. Then we
may say that X and Y are Kh-related with multiplicity (2,6): There are two
members A of CANON embedding A(X) in Y, and there are six members B of
CANON such that B(X) is disjoint from Y. Now, holding onto Y, take X to be
the set (Ajj, B|?, Dfc>). The new X is Kh-related to Y with multiplicity (4,8).
6.9 Coming back from the specific example, let us return to the general 757
situation with CANON finite, still subject to our conditions on the cardina-
lities of X and Y. For each integer N between 0 and cardX inclusive, we can
ask how many members A of CANON satisfy the equation INJ(X, Y)(A) =
N. Our multiplicity-values aoove asked that question for N = cardX and for
N = 0, but we can just as well ask it for every N in between. The answer we get,
i.e. how many such A there are in CANON, is the value for the argument N
ofRegener's Partition Function, here generalized.10 We shall denote that value
byRGNPF(X,Y)(N).
In this special case (CANON being finite), the Partition Function enables
us to derive the EMB function by the formula below.
RGNPF(X.Y)(cardX)
EMB(X, Y) - RGNpF(X)X)(cardx)-
That is, EMB(X, Y) is the multiplicity of Kj-ness about X-in-Y, divided

by the multiplicity of Kj-ness about X-in-itself. The formula is given without
proof. If X is symmetrical in some way, there may be several distinct members
of CANON, other than the identity, that map X onto itself. If M members of
CANON map X onto itself, then there will be M times as many distinct
operations embedding X in Y, as there are forms of X embedded in Y. RGNPF
counts operations; EMB counts forms. This accounts for the denominator of
the fraction in the formula above.
6.10 OPTIONAL: In all our work so far with set theory, we have supposed the
"sets" under scrutiny to be finite. This section will outline briefly the work
needed to extend our results so that they can be applied to sets "of finite
measure" in certain "measure-spaces." During this discussion we shall relax
the use of the word "set" so as to conform to standard mathematical usage.
Roughly speaking, that usage makes the word a synonym for "family" or
"ensemble" of things.
Given a family S of objects, a family FLD of subsets of S is called a fieldof
subsets if it satisfies (1), (2), and (3) below.
(1): 0 (the empty set) and S are members of FLD.
(2): If X is a member of FLD, then so is its complement X.
(3): If X and Y are members of FLD, then so is X u Y, their set-theoretic
union.
It follows deductively that whenever X and Y are in FLD, so are X n Y
(which is the complement of X u Y), Y — X (defined as Y n X), and so on. A
field of sets is called asigma-fieldif (4) below is also tr
(4): Whenever Xj, X 2 ,... is a countable family of members of FLD, so is
the countable union X = XiuX2u — X here is the set of s such that s
is a member of at least one of the sets X n . "Countable" means "capable of
being put into 1-to-l correspondence with the natural integers."
752 10. Ibid., p. 206ff.

A measure on the field FLD is a function mes that assigns to each member
X of FLD a value which is either a non-negative real number or infinity, in
such fashion that mes(X u Y) = mesX + mesY whenever X and Y are dis-
joint. If FLD is a sigma-field, one supposes mes to be sigma-finite unless it is
specified as not so. The condition for sigma-finiteness is that mes(UNION
X n ) = SUM(mesXn) whenever X 1? X 2 ,... is a countable family of mutually
disjoint members of FLD. The countably infinite sum is understood in the
usual sense, as the limit of its partial sums; that limit may be infinity.
We can deduce that if X is included in Y, then mesX < mesY. For
mesX < mesX + mes(Y — X), mes being non-negative, and that number is
mesY since X and (Y — X) are disjoint.
We shall need one more concept. Given a field FLD of subsets of a family
S, a transformation f on S is called measurable when, given any member Y of
FLD, the set of s mapped by f into Y is also a member of FLD.
Now we can generalize INJ. We suppose a family S, a field FLD of

subsets, and a measure mes on FLD. By a "set of finite measure" we mean just
that, a member X of FLD such that mesX is finite. If X and Y are sets of finite
measure, and if f is a measurable transformation on S, then the family F of s
such that f (s) belongs to Y is a member of FLD, so the family X n F is also a
member of FLD. Furthermore, mes(X n F) < mesX, so X n F is a set of finit
measure. We then define INJ(X, Y) (f) = mes(X n F). This number measures
"how much of X" (according to mes) is mapped into Y by f.
Using this definition for INJ and restricting X, Y, etc. to be sets of finite
measure, we can generalize much of the machinery in chapter 6 as it stands.
Theorem 6.5.1 and the formulas that follow from it must be restricted so
that the operations at hand are "measure-preserving," satisfying mesOP(X) =
mesX. We could derive more flexible and much more complicated formulas by
allowing "measure-scaling" operations; OP is such if for some constant
number "scale," mesOP(X) = scale • mesX. Our work on the Partition Func
tion (6.9) may not generalize easily, since CANON is not likely to be finite if
the sets X, Y, etc. are not finite. But often it will be possible to establish a
"good" field of subsets within CANON, and a "good" measure on that field;
then for any real numbers a and b with 0 < a < b, we can define
RGNPF(X, Y)(a, b) to be the measure, within CANON, of the set of oper-
ations A satisfying a < INJ(X, Y)(A) < b.
The mathematical ramifications of all this lie far beyond the scope of the
present book. The work of chapter 6 up to the present is just one special case of
the general system now being sketched. In that special case, FLD contains all
subsets of S, so all transformations fare measurable; mesX is the cardinality of
X, allowing infinity as a possible value. The sets of finite measure are exactly
the finite sets, what we have been calling "sets" up until now.
For another special case we can consider a non-musical setting. Let S be 753
a Euclidean plane containing a Seurat painting. We take FLD to consist of all

regions in the plane with a well-defined total area, and we use area as our
measure. Let X be the region of the plane consisting of all animals in the
painting; let Y be the region consisting of all plants. Let f be the transforma-
tion on S: move up and to the right at a 45-degree angle for 3 centimeters. Then
INJ(X, Y)(f)/areaX answers the question: To what extent are the animals of
the painting to be found 3-cm.-below-and-at-a-45-degree-angle-to-the-left-of
plants?
We now adopt a new measure, redmes. This measure assigns to each
member of FLD the number of red dots it contains completely.
(red)INJ(X, Y) (f )/redmesX now answers the question: To what extent do red
dots within the animals of the painting lie 3-cm.-below-and-at-a-45-degree-
angle-to-the-left-of plants? If we want to shift our attention to yellow dots,
then (yellow)INJ(X, Y) (f )/yellowmesX answers the analogous question with
respect to yellow dots.
For our next example suppose we are analyzing a certain piece and we
want to ask questions like this: Of the amount of time the violin is playing
above high C during the piece, how much of that time will the clarinet be
playing pianissimo or softer five seconds later? We can use a special case of the
general model at hand. Fixing a referential unit of time and a referential time-
point zero, we take S = the real numbers, as modeling the continuum of time-
points within which our piece occurs. For each real number a, let Za be the set
of numbers s satisfying s > a, and let Za be the set of numbers s satisfying
s < a. Take FLD to be the smallest sigma-field that contains every Za and
every Za. As it happens, there is essentially only one well-behaved measure on
FLD that satisfies mes(Za n Zb) = (b — a) for every pair of numbers a < b.
We shall use this measure; we can think of it as measuring the "amount of
time" in a set. Take X to be the set of time-points in the piece during which the
violin is playing above high C; take Y to be the set of time-points in the piece
during which the clarinet is playing pianissimo or softer. Take f to be time-
point transposition by five seconds: The time-point f (s) occurs five seconds
after s. Then the number we asked for above is INJ(X, Y)(f)/mesX.
For a final example we shall explore the space S of time spans. We
represent S by the Euclidean half-plane of number-pairs (a, x), where x is
positive. FLD will be the smallest sigma-field containing all square-shaped
regions within the half-plane. FLD contains all the sets we shall want to
discuss here; e.g. it would contain the region comprising all animals in the
Seurat painting. There is a unique measure on FLD that makes the measure of
each square region its area; we shall call this measure "area." We may or may
not want to use area as a measure for our musical purposes. There are other
measures that have other desirable properties. For instance, in connection
with our non-commutative GIS, there is an essentially unique measure that
154 makes every interval-preserving operation measure-preserving: mesP(X) =
mesX. We can call this measure "P-invariant measure." It is essentially unique

in this sense: If mes' is any other P-invariant measure, then there is some
positive number "scale" such that mes'(X) = scale • mesX for every member
X of FLD. There is also adifferentmeasure on S, also essentially un
makes every transposition-operation measure-preserving: mesT(X) = mesX.
We can call this measure "T-invariant measure."
If we are analyzing a specific piece, we may also want to use measures like
the Seurat measure earlier that counted red dots. The following discussion will
help develop a "Seurat model" for our analysis. Suppose the piece begins at
the time point BEGIN and extends for the duration EXTENT. Then every
time span that pertains to an event within the piece must satisfy the two
constraints BEGIN < a and a + x < BEGIN + EXTENT. The set of time
spans (a, x) satisfying those constraints forms a triangular region in the half-
plane. This triangle plays a role in our model analogous to that of the rectangle
on which Seurat painted, a bounded region within its plane.
In applying time-span analysis to the piece, we are hearing events with
well-articulated beginnings and durations, events whose temporal location
and extent can be sensibly modeled by time spans. We may then fill in the
triangle-of-the-piece by dots. A dot at the point (a, x) within the triangle
models the location and extent of an event in the piece which begins at a and
lasts x units of time. We can color certain dots red. Say these are the dots
pertaining to stringed-instrument events. We can color certain dots yellow.
Say these are the dots pertaining to events "above middle C." Orange dots will
then pertain to events involving some stringed instrument (s) playing above
middle C. Our model assumes the format of a triangular Seurat painting, and
we can apply the ideas of "red measure," and so on.
Given a time span (b, y), we can construct the family SHADOW(b, y) of
all time spans (a, x) that "happen within" the time of (b, y). We constructed
the shadow of (BEGIN, EXTENT) above; that was the triangle-of-the-piece.
SHADOW (b, y) in general is the set of all spans (a, x) satisfying the two
constraints b < a and a + x < b + y. This set forms a triangular region in the
half-plane. Given two events in the piece, event 1 and event2, let (a, x) and
(b, y) be the respectively pertinent time spans. Then (a, x) is in the SHADOW
of (b,y) if and only if event 1 happens during the time of event2.
Let us imagine a certain section of the piece which begins at the time
point BEGSEC and lasts for a duration of DURSEC time units. Take
X = SHADOW (BEGSEC, DURSEC). X is the set of all time spans pertain-
ing to potential or actual events within the given section of the piece. Let
BRASS be the family of time spans which articulate events played by brass
instruments. (Those spans might be the green dots on our "painting.") Take
Y = SHADOW(BRASS). A time span belongs to the set Y if and only if an
actual or potential event to which it pertains happens or would happen
completely during some brass event, e.g. a sustained brass note or chord. Take 755
f to be transposition-by-the-interval-(4,2) in our non-commutative GIS. Thus

the span f (a, x) begins 4 x-lengths after a, and lasts for a duration of 2x time
units. We may then ask for the value of orange INJ(X, Y) (f). When we do so
we are asking the following question. How many string events pitched above
middle C are there within our given section of the piece such that if you start at
the event, counting "ONE," and then beat three more event-durations, count-
ing "-two-three-four," and then beat two more event-durations yet, counting
"ONE-two," your new count of "ONE-two" will measure a span of time lying
completely within the extent of some sustained brass note or chord?
156
Transformation Graphs and
7 Networks (1): Intervals and
Transpositions
We saw in Theorem 6.7.1 how INJ generalizes IFUNC when there is a GIS at
hand: IFUNC(X, Y) (i) = INJ(X, YXT,). This relationship enables us not
only to generalize IFUNC, but also to replace entirely the concept of interval-
in-a-GIS by the concept of transposition-operation-on-a-space. Instead of
thinking: "i is the intervallic distance from s to t," we can think: "Tj is the
unique transposition operation on this space that maps s into t." We can even
shift our attention, if we wish, from the atomic "points" s and t to the one-
element "Gestalts" X and Y, X being the set that contains the unique member
s and Y being the set that contains the unique member t; then there is a unique
member T; of the transposition-group satisfying INJ(X, Y) (Tj) > 0; the label i
for this unique transformation is i = int(s, t).
7.1.1 By such thinking, we can replace the idea of GIS structure by the idea
of a space S together with a special sort of operation-group on S. This special
sort of group is what mathematicians call simply transitive on S. The group
STRANS of operations on S is simply transitive when the following condition
is satisfied: Given any elements s and t of S, then there exists a unique member
OP of STRANS such that OP(s) = t.
Given any s and any t in the space of a GIS, then there is a unique
transposition-operation T satisfying T(s) = t, namely T = Tint(M). So the
group of transpositions is simply transitive on the space of any GIS. Con-
versely, the following theorem is also true: Let S be a family of objects and let
STRANS be a simply transitive group of operations on S; then there exists
a GIS having S for its space and STRANS for its group of transpositions.
We shall now prove that theorem. Given S and STRANS as described, let
IVLS be an "index family," that is a family of elements i, j,... which can be put
into 1-to-l correspondence with the family STRANS. We shall write "OP;" 757
7.7.2 Transformation Graphs and Networks (1)
for that operation within STRANS that corresponds to the member i of the
index family IVLS. Now we turn IVLS into a group by defining the binary
combination ij = k in IVLS when (OPj)(OPj) = OPk in STRANS. The group
IVLS, by this construction, is anti-isomorphic to the group STRANS.
We have a space S and a group IVLS; next we define a function int from
S x S into IVLS. Given r and s in the space S, we take int(r, s) to be that unique
member i of IVLS such that OPj(r) = s. i is unique because STRANS is simply
transitive.
Holding onto r, s, and i above, suppose that int(s, t) = j in the same sense.
That means OPj(s) = t. Then (OPj)(OPi)(r) = OPj(s) = t. By the group
structure defined for IVLS, (OPj)(OP,) is OP(ij). Hence OP^r) = t. Then, by
the construction of the function int, int(r, t) = ij. Thus int(r, t) = int(r, s)
int(s, t); Condition (A) of 2.3.1 is satisfied.
Now we shall show that Condition (B) of that definition is also satisfied,
so that (S, IVLS, int) is a GIS. Given s and i, set t = OPj(s). By definition of
int, int(s,t) = i. Iff is any member of S satisfying int(s, t') = i, then OPj(s) =
t'. But OPj(s) is precisely t. So in this case t' = t. We have shown that, given s
and i, there is a unique t satisfying int(s, t) = i. So we have shown that
Condition 2.3.1(B) is satisfied.
Thus (S, IVLS, int) is a GIS. And STRANS is the group of transpositions
for this GIS; indeed Tj = OPi for every i in IVLS. To see this, we recall that
T;(s), in any GIS, is the unique member of S that lies the interval i from the
element s. Now in this particular GIS, the member of S that lies the interval i
from s is OPj(s). Hence in this GIS Tj(s) = OP^s). That being the case for
every sample s, T; = OPj as an operation on S. q.e.d.
7.1.2 By virtue of 7.1.1, all the work we have done with GIS structures since
chapter 2 can be regarded as a special branch of transformational theory,
namely that branch in which we study a space S and a simply transitive group
STRANS of operations on S. From a strictly mathematical point of view, this
would have been a more elegant way to develop the material of chapters 2
through 5. We could even have deferred the study of GIS structure until much
later, after a more general exploration of transformations on musical spaces
using CANON, INJ, and other such constructions.
Yet there are also advantages to the order of presentation we have
adopted in this book. By starting with a study of GIS structure, we have built a
link between the historically central concept of "interval" and our present
transformational machinery. To some extent for cultural-historical reasons, it
is easier for us to hear "intervals" between individual objects than to hear
transpositional relations between them; we are more used to conceiving
transpositions as affecting Gestalts built up from individual objects. As this
way of talking suggests, we are very much under the influence of Cartesian
158 thinking in such matters. We tend to conceive the primary objects in our
Transformation Graphs and Networks (1) 7.1.2
musical spaces as atomic individual "elements" rather than contextually

articulated phenomena like sets, melodic series, and the like. And we tend to
imagine ourselves in the position of observers when we theorize about musical
space; the space is "out there," away from our dancing bodies or singing
voices. "The interval from s to t" is thereby conceived as modeling a relation
of extension, observed in that space external to ourselves; we "see" it out there
just as we see distances between holes in a flute, or points along a stretched
string. The reader may recall our touching on these matters in 2.1.5, where we
pointed out how the historical development of harmonic theory has depended
on such a projection of our intuitions into a geometric space outside our
bodies, that is, the "line" of the stretched string, a space to which we can relate
as detached observers.
In contrast, the transformational attitude is much less Cartesian. Given
locations s and t in our space, this attitude does not ask for some observed
measure of extension between reified "points"; rather it asks: "If I am at s and
wish to get to t, what characteristic gesture (e.g. member of STRANS) should
I perform in order to arrive there?" The question generalizes in several
important respects: "If I want to change Gestalt 1 into Gestalt 2 (as regards
content, or location, or anything else), what sorts of admissible transforma-
tions in my space (members of STRANS or otherwise) will do the best job?"
Perhaps none will work completely, but "if only ...," etc. This attitude is by
and large the attitude of someone inside the music, as idealized dancer and/or
singer. No external observer (analyst, listener) is needed.
In 7.1.1 above we sketched a mathematical dichotomy between intervals
in a GIS and transposition-operations on a space: Either can be generated
formally from the characteristic properties of the other. More significant than
this dichotomy, I believe, is the generalizing power of the transformational
attitude: It enables us to subsume the theory of GIS structure, along with the
theory of simply transitive groups, into a broader theory of transformations.
This enables us to consider intervals-between-things and transpositional-
relations-between-Gestalts not as alternatives, but as the same phenomenon
manifested in different ways. Consider figure 7.1 in this connection.
FIGURE 7.1 759

7.7.2 Transformation Graphs and Netw
The figure shows how the melodic motif of the "falling minor ninth
(sixteenth)" is developed over Schoenberg's piano piece op. 19, no. 6, out from
the intervallic structure of the opening chord in the right hand, a chord we
have earlier called "rh." Figure 7.1 (a) displays rh, along with the three falling
pitch-intervals that can be heard within it; they are notated on the figure as
— 5, — 9, and —14 semitones. Figure 7.1(b) shows how the same network of
intervals governs the scheme by which the falling-ninth motif is transposed
over the course of the piece. This is interval-language. Alternatively, we
could use transposition-language to put the matter as follows: The three
transposition-operations T_ 5 , T_ 9 , and T_ 14 , which move the falling-ninth
motif forwards in time over figure 7.1(b), are exactly those members of
STRANS which move the individual pitches of rh downwards in space, as
shown on figure 7.1 (a). "Forwards in time" and "downwards in space" are
phenomena that work together in many ways over the course of the piece.1
But we do not have to choose either interval-language or transposition-
language; the generalizing power of transformational theory enables us to
consider them as two aspects of one phenomenon, manifest in two different
aspects of this musical composition: Intervals structure the referential sonor-
ity rh as an Unterklang; transpositions make the falling-ninth motif move
forward through the piece. This, I think, is the sense in which we accept the
symbol " — 5" on figure 7.1 (a) and the symbol " — 5" on figure 7.1(b) a
legitimately the same, finding the usage suggestive rather than confusing.
The two symbols are pointing at the same phenomenon, not at different
phenomena.
Before we leave figure 7.1, let us note that the chord of (a) and the various
falling ninths of (b) have only one common pitch-class. This emphasizes that
in comparing (a) to (b), we are talking about intervals and transpositions, not
about pitches and pitch-elaboration (diminution). If figure 7.1 (b) were to have
appeared five semitones lower, then one could argue that the basic pheno-
menon involved was that of the pitches B, F#, and A in the chord, elaborated
to become BBt>, F#F, and AG# in the new figure 7.1(b). But this is not the
case; the phenomenon under discussion involves intervals and transpositions,
not pitches or pitch-classes and their structural ornamentation.
The remainder of chapter 7 comprises further examples demonstrating
various interrelationships of intervallic structures with transpositional pro-
gressions in the manner of figure 7.1(a)-(b), over a variety of musical styles.
All these examples will involve intervals among pitches or pitch-classes.
The distinction between pitch or pitch-class elaboration and intervallic/
transpositional interrelationship will not always be so clear, through the
examples, as it was in figure 7.1. We shall concentrate mainly upon the
1. This aspect of the music is brought out very well in the analysis by Robert Cogan and
160 Pozzi Escot, Sonic Design (Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1976), 50-59.
Transformation Graphs and Networks (1) 7.2
intervallic/transpositional interrelationships, for those are our current focus

of study. But we shall also discuss from time to time how those interrelation-
ships interact with pitch or pitch-class elaborations.
FIGURE 7.2
7.2 EXAMPLE: Figure 7.2 shows the beginning of the Zauber motive from
Wagner's Parsifal, so far as pitch classes are concerned. The motive appears
with a variety of rhythms in the music drama. I shall call the serial network of
figure 7.2 "Zauber" or "Z" for present purposes. Forms of the motive do not
appear in the foreground of the music until Kundry's first-act entrance (ride);
figure 7.2 shows Z as its pitch classes appear during the kiss in the middle of
act 2.
Figure 7.3 sketches melody and harmony for the phrase that introduces
the Motive of Faith in the Prelude to act 1. This is long before Z has appeared
in the foreground. Yet the intervallic structure of the Z motive governs the
plan of modulations for the phrase, as the arrows on the figure show us.
FIGURE 7.3 767

7.2 Transformation Graphs and Networks (1)
In figure 7.3 one hears not only the intervals of modulation but also the
specific pitch classes Ab-Cb-Ebb~Eb being tonicized; these are the pitch
classes for Z which were displayed in figure 7.2 above. Of course we hear the
music of figure 7.3 long before the music of figure 7.2 (second-act kiss). On the
other hand, we do hear the local keys of figure 7.3 elaborating a pitch-class
variation on a structure related to Z, namely the Liebesmahl motive that
opened the opera: Ab-C-Eb-F-(etc). In this context, hearing the successive
tonics Ab-Cb-Ebb-Eb of figure 7.3 as a variation on the Liebesmahl helps us
hear Zauber itself, when it appears in the foreground later on, as a variant of
the Liebesmahl.
Figure 7.4 shows the succession of local tonics during the transformation
music of the first act. The principal local tonics are represented by open
noteheads; measure numbers above them indicate where the cadential tonici-
zations discharge. Usually these discharges coincide with entries of important
motives; the names of the motives appear on the figure preceding the measure
numbers: BELL, GRAIL, AG = Agony, and LM = Liebesmahl. Some filled-
in noteheads also appear on the figure; these represent local tonics which
are subordinated to the principal tonics in various ways. The B tonic at
measure 1084 is a structural dominant preparation for the E tonic at measure
1092. The B tonic takes the Grail Motive, not the Bell Motive like other tonics
from measure 1074 to measure 1106. The C tonic at measure 1115 is supported
by no special motivic entry; it is a structural neighbor to the Db = C# tonics
that surround it by open noteheads on the figure. After the neighboring event
and the enharmonic shift, the predominant motive on the figure changes, from
BELL to AG (measure 1123 and following). Then, after measure 1140, AG
762 disappears and BELL returns. The cadence at measure 1140 is deceptive. The
implied tonic is A|>, which appears as an open notehead on the figure; the
substitute root that actually carries the Liebesmahl entry is F(?. The situation
at measure 1148 is similar, in fact sequential.
Up to measure 1140 the open noteheads are organized by serial forms of
the Zauber motive. These forms are beamed on figure 7.4 and labeled as Z t ,
Z 2 , Z3, and Z4, meaning the first Z-form, the second Z-form, and so on.2 Each
Z-form is a retrograde inversion of the Z-form that precedes it, specifically
that RI form which uses for its opening two notes the final two notes of the
preceding form. Thus Z2 begins E(?-E-, taking its point of departure from the
end of Z^-Eb-E. Likewise Z3 begins G-B|?-, taking its point of departure
from the end of Z2,-G-B|?.
It does not much matter whether we call figure 7.4 up to measure 1140 a
pattern of "intervals" among tonics, or of "transpositions" among tonics, or
even of "modulations" among keys: We are talking about the motivic exfoli-
ation of one phenomenon in various ways. "Modulations" is only awkward if
we try to associate the term with Schenkerian notions of pitch or pitch-class
prolongation. That is clearly not happening here (up to measure 1140), and
since Schenker himself rejected the word for his discourse, I feel free to use it in
this non-Schenkerian connection. Indeed I prefer it (for that reason) to the
word "tonicizations."
Continuing along figure 7.4, we note that the open noteheads followin
measure 1140 build up to one beamed form of the BELL motive. It is very
significant that this structural Bell Motive appears "in A|j." The deceptive
cadence at measure 1140, featuring an entry of the Liebesmahl in the trom-
bones, forcefully recalls the same event right at the curtain-rise of act 1. In this
connection, pitch-class relations clearly are important. We are to understand
the Ab of measure 1140 as the tonic of the opera; we are to understand the
structural Bell Motive of measures 1140-50, beamed on figure 7.4, as a
prolongation of that tonic; and we are thereby to understand the mammoth
local tonic C of measures 1150-62ff. as the third degree of that Ab. It is just
this section of act 1 that enables us (with the help of the Parsifal bells) to be
sure that the C tonic which ends the act is indeed a functional III of A(? (inter
alia).
To support this hearing, we can note that the four pitch-classes of the Bell
Motive in Ab, portrayed by the beamed noteheads of measures 1140-50 on
figure 7.4, are in fact a serial permutation of the four pitch-classes that begin
the Liebesmahl (and the opera): Ab-C-Eb-F. The pitch-class relation is very
striking, yet Wagner apparently goes to great lengths to conceal it. The
deceptive cadences at measure 1140 and measure 1148 help to do so; so does
the absence of the Bell Motive in Ab from the foreground of the music here
(and so far as I can recall anywhere else in the music). Whatever private games
2. I am grateful to Thomas Christensen for calling Zj and Z3 to my attention. 163

Wagner may have been playing, it is safer for us as analysts to treat the
permutational relation between the Bell Motive and the Liebesmahl as inter-
vallic, rather than pitch-class prolongational.
Figure 7.4 enables us to explore another motivic relationship involving
BELL. This motive has the same organizing function after measure 1140 that
Zauber had before measure 1140, that is the function symbolized by grouping
open noteheads on the figure with beams. The compositional relationship
invites us to explore the intervals to which those beams give rise in each case,
and indeed we can hear an interesting intervallic relationship now that we are
primed to listen for it.
FIGURE 7.5
Figure 7.5 shows how we can hear BELL as an overall progression of - 3,

elaborated by two subprogressions of 7. Compare this network of intervals to
that of figure 7.2, which displayed Zauber as an overall progesssion of 7,
elaborated by two subprogressions of 3 (inter alia).
Let us now return our attention to the network of Z-forms displayed by
figure 7.4 up to measure 1140. We shall have much more to say later about the
serial technique of Rl-chaining that links successive Z-forms. When this
technique is applied to any given serial motive over and over, alternate forms
of the motive-chain will be transposed forms of each other, the interval of
transposition depending upon the serial structure of the motive. In this
specific case, Z3 = T 10 (Z 1 )andZ 4 = T10(Z2). The repeated Rl-chaining thus
gives rise to "structural sequencing" on figure 7.4: Measures 1096-1140 (with
A[?) "sequence" measures 1074-1100 structurally. (The musical foregrounds
of the two passages are not related sequentially.)
The sequencing-interval of 10 in this particular case is a dispersive
interval for Z as an unordered set: INJ(Z, Z)(T10) = 0; T10(Z) has no com-
mon notes with Z. The dispersive function is clear on figure 7.4, where the
sequencing forms of Z fill up chromatic pitch-class space very diligently.
Indeed, the open noteheads of the figure up through the A|? of measure 1140
constitute a non-repeating ten-note series. (F# and B are missing. It is
amusing, if far-fetched, to imagine them as representing the absent Klingsor.)
7.3 EXAMPLE: Figure 7.6 graphs an intervallic/transpositional structure

164 which we shall call "the nuclear gesture with pickup." The nuclear gesture
FIGURE 7.6
comprises the pitch-class interval (transposition) 4, subarticulated into two

intervals (transpositions) of 2. The pickup gesture consists in approaching
something by pitch-class interval/transposition 5.
Figure 7.7 shows through a variety of examples how the nuclear gesture
dominates intervallic/transpositional configurations over the last movement
of Brahms's Horn Trio op. 40. It may seem awkward to be using pitch-class
intervals in this context, since the piece is so highly structured registrally and is
so diatonic. Our reasons will become clear by the end of this discussion. For
other purposes it would make more sense to use pitch intervals in semitones
up, or diatonic intervals in scale steps up, or degree intervals in scale steps up
modulo 7.
(a) of the figure displays the basic motive of the movement. The nuclear
gesture with pickup governs the first half of the motive; the second half is
governed by what we shall call the "complementary gesture," which articu-
lates 8 into 10 + 10.
(b) of the figure sketches the bass line for the opening phrase. We hear
how it is governed as a whole by the nuclear gesture. Now each stage of that
gesture is inflected by its own pickup. The octave leap on B|?, which appears in
parentheses at the end of (b), is an important motive of the piece. Here it
interrelates with the octave B[? that delimits the ambitus of motive (a).
(c) of the figure shows the melody beginning to descend from its first
climax. The complementary gesture governs the melodic structure as a whole;
each stage of that gesture is inflected by a pickup. The pickup interval of 5 does
not get complemented; it always remains 5, never becoming 7.
(d) shows how the network of (c) gets tightened rhythmically at the
approach to the last recurrence of motive (a) within the first group.
Over (a) through (d), the intervallic/transpositional interrelationships
can be analyzed as fallout from the pitch and pitch-class motives. The nuclear
and complementary gestures are always applied to Ejj-F-G and G-F-Efr.
functioning as degrees 1-2-3 and 3-2-1 in E(? major. The pitch and pitch-
class motives, with their degree functions, can claim priority here: In (a)-(b)-
(c)-(d) we can deduce the intervallic relations of interest from stronger pitch
and pitch-class relations, but we cannot run such deductions in the other
direction. So a traditional Schenkerian approach to (a)-(b)-(c)-(d) reveals
more than does our intervallic/transpositional approach.
The same can still be said of (e), which shows the melody at the opening of 165
FIGURE 7.7
166
FIGURE 7.7 (continued) 757

an episode that begins toward the end of the second group and eventually
leads to the closing theme. The principal pitch-classes that carry the structure
of our (e)-network are still G and F, even though they are now degrees 6 and 5
in Bk (The whole passage takes place over a dominant pedal in that key.)
Intervallically and transpositionally, (e) shows how transposition-by-10, which
governs the sequence, exfoliates from the interval-of-10 between G and F;
this interval of 10 develops the "subinterval of 10" from the complementary
gesture, blowing it up rhythmically. Each stage of the 10-gesture is inflected
by a pickup.
In passages (f) through (h), the intervallic/transpositional networks take
on a life of their own. They become autonomous structures; no longer sub-
ordinated to concomitant local pitch or pitch-class events, they rather interact
with such events or perhaps even determine them, (f) shows an extended
sequential passage from the development section. The model for the sequence
is sketched on (f) over measures' 103-05 "etc." Over measures 104-05, the
pedal note B of the ostinato figure combines with the opening two notes of the
legato theme that follows, projecting the complementary gesture. (At "etc."
the legato theme stops moving stepwise.) The pedal pitch-class B is inflected
by a pickup. To hear the gestures here, one must listen to pitch classes, not
pitches, (f) continues on, showing how the sequence from measure 103 etc,
through measure 113 etc., to measure 123 etc., projects the nuclear gesture.
The mobile harmony of (f) achieves as its goal a reattained dominant of
El> major. Thereupon the horn launches an unusually extended solo passage,
(g) shows first how the opening eight measures of the solo, measures 137-44,
are structured by the complementary gesture with pickup. By projecting that
gesture at this pitch-class level, Brahms finally gets his "octave-Bt" idea to
interact with the system of nuclear and complementary gestures. (The octave-
Bl> idea stood apart from those gestures in passages (a) and (b) above.) As a
result of this interaction Brahms generates a Gl> at the end of the complemen-
tary gesture, a G!> standing in an 8-relation to the initial Bl> of that gesture.
We are aware of the 8-relation from B\> to Gl> as it carries over into the
music of measures 145-47. And that gives us a clue as to what is going on over
measures 145-49 more broadly. Another clue is furnished by rhythmic aug-
mentation: The pickup motive of measure 137 etc. is augmented rhythmically
to measure 145 etc., and the complementary-gesture motive of measure 141 is
blown up rhythmically to measure 149 etc. These clues explain the new
intervallic/transpositional gesture graphed in (g) over measures 145-49 (with
pickup): An overall interval of 4 is subarticulated into 8 + 8. The subinterval 8
of the new gesture identifies with the overall interval 8 of the complementary
gesture—both span Bl>-to-GI> during passage (g). And, just as rhythmic value
are multiplied by 2 in passing from measures 137-44 to measures 145-56, so
intervallic values are also multiplied by 2. Instead of the complementary ges-
168 ture 8 = 10 + 10, we now have an expanded gesture involving twice those
numbers: 2 - 8 = 2-10 + 2-10or, modulo 12,4 = 8 + 8. The new gesture will

therefore be called "the complementary gesture times 2." Our ears follow the
intervallic idea "times 2" here because of the rhythmic augmentation. Each
stage of the new gesture takes its own pickup.
(h) shows how the new gesture was already presented in the first move-
ment, derived in a musical manner that was almost the equivalent of an
algebraic demonstration. While the horn melody in the treble clef chains 10-
intervals into suspension-patterns sequencing through 8-intervals, the con-
comitant bass line indicates how those 8-intervals in turn chain up to form the
complementary-gesture-times-2. Each stage of the times-2 gesture, in the bass
of (h), takes its own pickup; we must use the fundamental bass in this
connection for the first stage. I have chosen for example (h) the reprise-form of
this passage rather than its form in the exposition. That is because the pitch
classes in the bass line of (h) as given make it easy for the reader to hear the
relation of (h) to measures 145-49 in (g).
FIGURE 7.8
7.4 EXAMPLE: Figure 7.8(a) sketches the opening of the Minuet from
Beethoven's First Symphony. The C pedal bass is omitted from the first
complete measure, signifying that we are to understand an F root and a G root
for the two harmonies of that measure in the present context. This is an old-
fashioned way of hearing, especially at the usual tempo for the piece, but we
shall find that the old-fashioned hearing is of interest here. Those who have
trouble hearing an F root, given the C bass, will be helped to do so by
summoning up the memory of the slow movement. That movement, the last
music we have heard before figure 7.8(a) begins, has just ended in F major.
Figure 7.8(b) aligns beneath (a) a sketch for the opening of the entire 769
symphony. In the deceptive cadence of measure 2, a C harmony is understood

as interpolated between the G7 and the A-minor harmonies. This too is an old-
fashioned but consequential hearing in the context. The progression of G to
(interpolated) C is bracketed. On (a) above, the repeated progression of G to C
harmony is also bracketed.
Ignoring the repetition of the bracketed harmonic progression in (a),
counting the theoretically interpolated C harmony in (b), and considering the
first complete measure of (a) to contain F and G harmonies, we can then refer
both passages to a common network governing the progression of roots, a
network suggested by figure 7.9.
FIGURE 7.9
The intervals on the arrows are familiar ratios from fundamental bass
theory. They are expressed here as fractions between 1/2 and 1, to capture the
"falling" sense of the root progressions. The representation of chord-changes
by "intervals" between roots is not quite adequate. We shall improve the
model in chapter 8; meanwhile the somewhat inadequate representation will
serve. The root-intervals have an impressive tradition behind them, exemplify-
ing the desire of earlier theorists to subsume intervals and transformations
(here harmonic changes) into one general phenomenon (the fundamental
bass).
Traditional criticism would describe the relation between the Adagio and
the Minuet by saying that the latter parodies the former, as a passage in a
satyr-play may parody a dramatic theme treated majestically in an earlier
drama of a tetralogy. Our "common network" of figure 7.9 enables us to
propose a different relation between the passages, one that does not infer so
much structural priority for the Adagio from its temporal priority in the
composition. Namely, we can conceive both (a) and (b) of figure 7.8 as
different realizations, in different environments, of one underlying abstract
170 gesture, a gesture symbolized by figure 7.9. The mere possibility of this shift in
critical stance is important, no matter which stance one prefers in viewing the
particular art-work at hand.
Consider this analogy. When one first encounters Mr. X, one sees him in
formal attire, discharging an important and solemn public professional duty.
When one next encounters him, he is surrounded by screaming children and
friends in a park, his mouth filled with potato chips, rushing down a hill
carrying a football in one hand and an open can of beer in the other. Here we
would surely be reluctant to adopt a view analogous to that of the traditional
criticism, claiming that the first X is a norm for X-ness and the second X is a
parody of the first. Rather, our attitude would be analogous to the alternative
view. We might notice in X's body, features, movements, voice, and the like
certain things common to both occasions; from that we would infer a certain
abstract "X-ness," and we would say that this X-ness was being manifested on
both occasions, albeit differently in different environments. A dramatist or
novelist might first introduce us to X either at the public occasion or in the
park. One could also imagine an open-form play or novel, in which the author
allowed either scene to precede the other at the choice of the performers or the
reader. Traditional criticism would attack this idea on the grounds that we
cannot separate our concept of X-ness from the particular way in which we
have built up that concept through time. And so on; having suggested the
philosophical and aesthetic issues our investigations engage, I shall not pursue
the matter farther here.
I do, nevertheless, want to work out some specific critical consequences
that emerge when we take figure 7.9 as a norm for both figure 7.8(a) and figure
7.8(b). First, let us analyze the "tail" on our normative figure 7.9, that goes
from the C harmony to the A-minor harmony, as a secondary feature of the
structure. (The minor harmony is a "secondary triad.") Imagine the node
containing the A-minor harmony, then, as erased from figure 7.9, along with
the arrow labeled "5/6."
It is then possible to analyze the rest of the figure as a succession of three
V-I cadences moving along the circle of fifths. This interpretation of the
graph is projected by the music of figure 7.8(b), the opening Adagio. There we
hear a motive, the motive repeated with harmonic variation, and the motive
repeated again with rhythmic variation. The local tonics for the motive-forms
move along nodes of figure 7.9 located at successive arrowheads, first F, then
C, then G. (We have dropped the tail from the figure.) This music, in sum,
projects a "progressive" reading of figure 7.9-as-norm.
The opening of the Minuet, in contrast, projects a different way of
reading figure 7.9-as-norm. Here the figure is interpreted as manifesting a
sense of balance in its cadence structure, not a progressive chaining of tonics.
To explore the cadential sense of balance, let us construct an intervallic graph
called CADENCE, shown in figure 7.10.
Now let us apply CADENCE to the analysis of figure 7.9-as-norm, 171
7.4 Transformation Graphs and Networks (I)
FIGURE 7.10
always ignoring the tail. The leftmost side of figure 7.9 exhibits CADENCE
formatting the subnetwork C-F; G-C. The rightmost side of figure 7.9
exhibits CADENCE formatting the subnetwork G-C; D-G. This suggests
hearing the entire normative network of figure 7.9 (without tail) as comprising
two CADENCES, the right side of the first CADENCE being elided into the
left side of the second CADENCE. According to this reading, figure 7.9
without tail is to be understood as a contraction of figure 7.11.
FIGURE7.il
This interpretation of figure 7.9 illuminates the repeated G-C pro-

gression within the Minuet theme, marked by the brackets on figure 7.8(a):
That projects the normative repeated G-C progression which we see on figure
7.11.
The pitch classes that fill the nodes of figure 7.11 are the roots of various
harmonies. Some harmonies are (local) tonics; others are dominants. The
tonic pitch classes fill nodes that have arrowheads pointing to them. Figure
7.12 isolates the tonics of figure 7.11 and organizes them in a network of their
own.
This network in fact fills the nodes of the CADENCE graph (figure 7.10)
yet again. The relation is hard to see because the diagonal arrows of figure 7.10
772 go to the right while those of figure 7.12 go to the left. But the CADENCE
FIGURE 7.12
graph, as a configuration of nodes and labeled arrows, knows no "right" and

"left." We are using those visual distinctions here to indicate musical chro-
nology, not graph-structure as such. Musical chronology is naturally crucial.
We may hear a dominant precede its tonic, symbolized e.g. by the right-
pointing diagonal arrows on figure 7.10; we may hear a dominant follow and
inflect its tonic, symbolized e.g. by the left-pointing arrows on figure 7.12.
But in this particular system of root-relations, the normative graph itself
displays only a dominant node and a tonic node connected by a labeled
arrow; chronological distinctions in this system function not as norms but as
different interpretations of the normative graphs. That is a feature of classical
fundamental-bass theory, not of our graphic structures per se. We have many
systems of rhythmic "intervals" at hand within which we could construct
analogous graphs that would enforce musical chronology.
The opening of the Minuet interprets the basic norm of figure 7.9 in the
manner of figures 7.11 and 7.12. The music specifically reads the normative
network as a backwards-laid-out CADENCE of local tonics (figure 7.12),
diminuted into two balanced fowards-laid-out CADENCEs of roots (figure
7.11). We have already noted how the repeated G-C progression within the
Minuet theme helps to bring out this balanced structure. The idea of balance is
also projected melodically to some extent: The first CADENCE of roots
harmonizes the tetrachord G-A-B-C in the principal melodic line; the sec-
ond CADENCE harmonizes the answering similar tetrachord D-E-F#-G.
Of course the irrepressible thrust of the rising scale works against this feeling
of balance, along with other features of the passage. It is curious that figure
7.8(a), so ebullient in its texture, should project a reading of our underlying
harmonic norm as balanced, while figure 7.8(b), so stately and measured in its
texture, should project a reading of the same norm as progressive.
Figure 7.13 continues from the end of figure 7.8, asserting a structural
correspondence between the next four measures of the Minuet, arriving at a
structural dominant, and the continuation of the first movement all the way
up to the dominant which prepares the first big tonic tutti in the Allegro. The
correspondences displayed here are mostly melodic, serial, and motivic, invol-
ving particularly the thematic leading-tone-to-tonic idea. Fundamental-bass 173
FIGURE 7.13
structure is not involved to the extent it was in connection with figure 7.8.
Figure 7.13 is really not our business here, but I think the reader will be glad to
hear it anyway. One would not easily conceive listening for its correspon-
dences without having first noted the correspondences of figure 7.8. Then too,
to the extent one assents to the analytic implications of figure 7.13, that
confirms the propriety of figure 7.8 and our work that issued therefrom. And
of course figure 7.13 is interesting in its own right. It owes an enormous debt to
the theoretical ideas of Schenker.
7.5 The interested reader will find in an article by John Peel a sensitive and
analytically revealing use of small transposition-graphs and networks for
discussing a passage from Schoenberg's String Trio.3
John Rahn has published a discussion of the theme from the second
movement of Webern's Symphony op. 21 that bears very suggestively on ideas
we have been considering throughout this chapter.4 Casting his discussion
in the form of an ear-training exercise, Rahn directs students' attention to
networks of tritones and networks of semitones; he also directs their attention
to concomitant rhythmic structures. One could perhaps construct an appro-
priate GIS for his discourse, a GIS involving pitch and rhythm together in a
direct-product system. Aspects of his analysis might then be recast and
extended, to involve networks of direct-product intervals.
3. John Peel, "On Some Celebrated Measures of the Schoenberg String Trio," Perspectives
of New Music vol. 14, no. 2 and vol. 15, no. 1 (Spring-Summer/Fall-Winter 1976), 260-79.
4. John Rahn, Basic Atonal Theory (New York: Longman, 1980), 4-17.
174
8 Transformation Graphs and
Networks (2): Non-Intervallic
Transformations
Figure 7.9, the normative fundamental-bass network we constructed for the

Beethoven symphony, exhibited a feature we discussed early in chapter 7. On
the one hand, we could conceive of its arrows as signifying intervals between
individual elements, in this case roots. On the other hand, we could also
conceive of the arrows as signifying transformational relations between Ge-
stalts, in this case chords or harmonies, or even potential keys. Resolving the
ambiguity, we could also conceive of the arrows as denoting some tertium
quid, a phenomenon whose manifestations include both harmonic intervals
between pitch classes and transformational relations between chords.
To conceive such a tertium quid, in the form of the fundamental bass and
its progression, was Rameau's supreme inspiration. And some of the prob-
lems to which that conception gives rise are neatly pinpointed by figure 7.9 as
well. That is particularly the case as regards its A-minor "tail," the tail we
conveniently docked before starting our earlier discussion. The interval of 5/6,
which labeled that tail, does inform us correctly that the root A, as a pitch class
in just intonation, is 5/6 of the root C (modulo the pertinent congruence
relation). But the numerical ratio does not tell us that the A harmony is minor
rather than major. If we transpose a C-major chord by the interval 5/6 we
obtain an A-major chord, not an A-minor chord. Thus, when we pass from the
C-node to the A-node on figure 7.9, we are really applying some transfor-
mation other than harmonic-transposition-by-(5/6), some transformation
which is more than a synonym or isomorphic image for that interval.
8.1.1 We can solve this problem very elegantly by adopting and modifying
some ideas from the function theories of Hugo Riemann. Our space will
consist not of pitch classes but of objects we shall call "Klangs" Each Klang 775
is an ordered pair (p, sign), where p is a pitch class and sign takes on the values
+ and — for major and minor respectively. The Klang models a harmonic
object with p as root or tonic, an object whose modality is determined by
the sign. We can transpose a Klang by transposing its pitch class while pre-
serving its sign; thus (C, +) transposed by 5/6 is (A, +). Rather than writing
T(C, +) = (A, +) here, we shall write the symbol for the transformation to
the right of its argument: (C, +)T = (A, +). The reader will recall our having
discussed such "right orthography" a long time ago, in section 1.2.4. Right
orthography will conform much better than left orthography to our intuitions
in the contexts we shall be exploring just here. The one special thing we have to
watch is that the order of composing transformations is reversed under right
orthography: If f and g are transformations, then (Klang)fg = ((Klang)f)g
denotes Klang-transformed-by-f, all transformed by g; this was denoted by
"gf(Klang)" in left orthography.
We define the operation DOM on Klangs: DOM is transposition by the
inverse of the dominant interval. Thus (p,sign)DOM = (q, sign), where q is
that pitch class of which p is the dominant. We can read this equation as telling
us that (p, sign) becomes the dominant 0/(q, sign). On a graph we could have a
(C, +) node, an (F, +) node, and an arrow labeled DOM from the first to the
second. Right orthography conforms nicely to the visual layout of the graph
here: Being at (C, +) and following an arrow labeled DOM we arrive at
(F, +); that is, (C, +)DOM = (F, +).
In a similar spirit we define the operation MED: (p, sign) becomes the
mediant of its MED-transform. For example, (C, + )MED = (A, —), and
(C, —)MED = (Ab, +). If we are at (C, + ) on a graph and follow an arrow
labeled MED, we arrive at (C, + )MED = (A, -).
Now we can rewrite the network of figure 7.9 as a network of Klang-
transformations, rather than fundamental-bass intervals. Figure 8.1 is the
result.
The transformations DOM and MED drive the network of figure 8.1 in a
176 FIGURE 8.1

natural musical way. In general, DOM and MED will always drive similar
Klang-networks in the same way. That would happen even where an instance
of (F, +) occurred in some music followed by an instance of a dominant-
related (C, +). We could use the visual layout of an analytic network to reflect
the musical chronology, having a DOM arrow pointing to the left from a
(C, 4-) node to an (F, +) node. In that case we would be saying: "(C, +) refers
(back), as dominant, to (the preceding) (F, +)." The DOM arrow, here as
before, makes a dependent Klang point at the local tonic Klang to which it
refers. For the configuration of nodes and arrows as a configuration, it is
immaterial whether the DOM arrows point right or left (or up or down).
Our unusual definition of DOM is what makes the graphs move naturally
in this way. The orientation of all the DOM arrows would be reversed if
we had chosen the more usual alternative idea, in defining a "dominant"
Klang-transformation. The usual idea is represented by the transformation
DOM', which takes a Klang and transforms it into its own dominant. E.g.
(F, +)DOM' = (C, +): "Being at (F, + ), take its dominant and obtain
(C, 4-)." Observe how poorly figure 8.1 would fit our kinetic intuitions about
the music under study if we reversed all the DOM and MED arrows, using
DOM' and the analogous MED' instead.
This elucidates one problem with the conceptual structure of Riemann's
function theories. His dominants, other than secondary dominants, do not
point to their tonics via implicit DOM arrows. Rather the tonics point to their
dominants, generating them by implicit DOM' arrows. Then the dominants
just sit around, not going anywhere. This conceptual flaw in Riemann's
approach makes his musical analyses subject to inertia and lifelessness, sel-
dom doing justice to the power and originality of his theoretical ideas.
An even more basic problem for Riemann was that he never quite worked
through in his own mind the transformational character of his theories. He did
not quite ever realize that he was conceiving "dominant" (whether DOM or
DOM') as something one does to a Klang, to obtain another Klang. Here, I
conjecture, he was unduly influenced by a desire to promote his notation as a
substitute for Roman-Numeral notation; I think it was this desire that led him
to conceive "dominant" and the like as labels for Klangs in a key, rather than
as labels for transformations that generate Klangs from a local tonic (along the
lines of DOM'), or that urge the Klangs of a key towards their tonics (along
the lines of DOM).
We may continue to explore other transformations on the family of
Klangs, following or modifying Riemann. We can define SUBD, the formal
inverse of DOM. "(F, +)SUBD = (C, +)" means that F major becomes the
subdominant of C major. Even though SUBD = DOM"1 in a group of
operations, the arrows on the graphic format enable us to distinguish a SUBD
arrow read forwards from a DOM arrow read backwards. We also have left
and right directionality at our disposal in this connection, to represent musical
chronology. Thus, analyzing a plagal cadence in C major, we would draw a 777
SUBD arrow pointing from (F, +) on the left to (C, +) on the right. Analyz-
ing a tonic-dominant progression in F major, say an opening phrase terminat-
ing with a half-cadence, we would still put (F, + ) on the left and (C, -1-) on the
right, but now we would draw a DOM arrow pointing leftwards, from (C, +)
to(F, +).
In similar vein, we can define and explore SUBM, the formal inverse of
MED. We can consider other sorts of transformations too. For example, we
can define REL, the operation that takes any Klang into its relative minor/
major. (C, +)REL = (A, -); (C, -)REL = (Eb, +). REL is not the same
operation as MED or SUBM: (C, -)REL = (Eb, +) but (C, -)MED =
(Ab, +); (C, +)REL = (A, -) but (C, +)SUBM = (E, -). We can also
define PAR, the operation that takes any Klang into its parallel minor/major,
(p, sign)PAR = (p, —sign). We can define Riemann's "leading-tone exchange"
as an operation LT: (C, +)LT = (E, -); (E, -)LT = (C, +). We can also
define more exotic operations on Klangs. For instance we can define an
operation SLIDE that preserves the third of a triad while changing its mode:
(F, +)SLIDE = (F#, -);(F#, -)SLIDE = (F, +). The SLIDE relations be-
tween (F, +) and (F#, —) can be heard in the last movement of Beethoven's
Eighth Symphony, where the F-major theme that begins on the note A, the
third of the triad, is transformed at measures 379-91 into F# minor, where it
begins on the same A; the theme slides back into F major at measure 392. A
SLIDE relation between (C, +) and (C#, —) can be heard over measures
103-10 in the slow movement of Schubert's posthumous Bb-Major Piano
Sonata. Over those measures, thematic material which we expect to hear in C#
minor is presented in C major instead.
Using such transformations to label arrows, we can construct networks
that could not be conceived using only intervals-and-transpositions. For
example, figure 8.2 displays interesting relations between a "Tarnhelm net-
work" (a) and a "Valhalla network" (b).
The Tarnhelm network of (a) takes (B, +) as a tonic for the motive in its
own context; it asserts structural relaxation on that Klang. This seems legiti-
mate; besides, Wagner not infrequently interprets the motive in a larger
context of B minor or B major, e.g. at the end of G otterdammerung I, or at the
end of Tristan. (E, + ) on network (a) is bracketed to indicate that this Klang
functions by implication only; (E, —) substitutes for it in the music.
The Valhalla network, figure 8.2(b), asserts the indicated relations
among the principal Klangs over the first presentation of the Valhalla theme
in Das Rheingold, during measures 1-20 of scene 2. We shall be concerned
with the "modulating" part of the network, the part that extends from
measure 7 onwards. That is why the events of measures 1 -6 are in parentheses.
Graphs (a) and (b) make visually clear a strong functional relationship
between the Tarnhelm progression and the modulating portion of the Val-
178 halla theme, a relationship which it is difficult to express in words.
FIGURE 8.2
8.1.2 Obviously, we could not construct the graphs of figure 8.2 using
intervals-cum-transpositions. The fact is obvious if by "intervals" we mean
intervals between the notes of a fundamental bass. However, might we not be
able to think of "intervals" here in some more extended formal sense? The
matter bears theoretical examination, if only for the sake of review.
The reader will recall how we showed in section 7.1.1 that the entire
notion of a GIS can be developed formally from a given family S of objects
and a given simply transitive group STRANS of operations on S. When a GIS
is developed therefrom, STRANS becomes the group of transposition oper-
ations for that GIS.
Let us take S to be a family comprising a given Klang and all other Klangs
that can be derived from it via any chains of DOM, MED, SUBD, and SUBM
transformations. Let STRANS be the group generated by the four cited
operations. Since SUBD = DOM"1 and SUBM = MED"1, STRANS is
generated by DOM and MED. The reader can now verify that DOM itself
is generable by MED: DOM = (MED)(MED). That is, given any Klang,
if it becomes the mediant Klang of a second Klang which in turn becomes
the mediant Klang of a third Klang, then the first Klang is the dominant
of the third Klang. E.g. ((C, +)MED)MED = (A, -)MED = (F, +) = 779
(C, +)DOM;((C, -)MED)MED = (Ab, + )MED = (F, -) = (C, -)DOM.

Since DOM = MED2, the group STRANS here is generated by MED
alone: The operations of STRANS are precisely the powers of MED, includ-
ing MED° = IDENT and MED~ n = (MED"1)" = SUBMn. Once we have
this insight into the structure of our group STRANS here, it is not difficult
to show that the group is in fact simply transitive on the defined family of
Klangs, whatever the system of intonation we are using. Then we can regard
the powers of MED as formal "intervals" on that family, in the sense of 7.1.1.
We may then regard figure 8.1 as a formal "intervallic" network among
Klangs, since it involves among its transformations only powers of MED.
In this system, the Klang (C, —) is derived from (C, +) by 7 applications
of MED: (C, +)MED7 = (A, -)MED6 = (F, +)MED5 = (Bb, +)MED3 =
(Eb, +)MED = (C, —). Thus MED7, applied to a major Klang in some
systems of intonation, will yield the parallel minor Klang. However, MED7
applied to a minor Klang will not yield the parallel major Klang, no matter
what the system of intonation. E.g. (C, -)MED7 = (F, -)MED5 =
(Bb, -)MED 3 = (Eb, -)MED = (Cb, +). Thus MED7 is not the same
operation as PAR on the family of Klangs at hand.
Now the graphs of figure 8.2(a) and (b) reference both the operations
SUBM and PAR. It follows that we shall not be able to find a simply transitive
group on a suitable family of Klangs that enables us to consider figure 8.2(a)
and (b) as formally "intervallic" graphs. Our group would have to include
both SUBM and PAR; containing SUBM, it would contain MED =
SUBM'1; then the group would contain both MED7 and PAR. Then the
group could not be simply transitive. E.g. given elements (C, +) and (C, —) in
our family of elements, there would not be one unique member of the group
transforming the former Klang into the latter; both MED7 and PAR would
do the job. We could only salvage the formalities of this situation by cleaving
so firmly to just intonation that we were willing to admit an infinite number of
distinct Klangs (C0, +), (Clf +), (C2, +),..., (C0, -), (C,, -), (C2, -),...
and so on, whose roots lay syntonic commas apart. Then (C0, +)MED 7 and
(C0, +)PAR would have different formal values: The former would be
(C_ 1? —) and the latter would be (C0, —). We would end up with a game
board like that of figure 2.2 earlier, only with yet a third dimension reversing
the modality of each Klang on the board. Clearly, this model would be at least
awkward for analyzing Wagner's music. (It does engage some of the perfor-
mance problems, especially for the singers.)
8.2.1 We have seen that non-intervallic transformation-networks can be

revealing in connection with Klangs. They can also be revealing in connection
with serial transformations. Let us consider a series s of pitches or pitch-
classes s 1? s 2 , ..., SN. We can apply to s the Rl-chaining operation RICH.
RICH(s) is that retrograde-inverted form of s whose first two elements are
180 SN-! and S N , in that order. Thus if s = A-C-Eb-E (a form of Zauber), then
RICH(s) is Eb-E-G-Bb, and RICH(RICH(s)) is G-Bb-Db-D. The RICH

transform of RICH(s), being a retrograde-inverted form of a retrograde-
inverted form of s, must always be some transposed form of s. In the Zauber
example above, the interval of transposition is 10: G-Bb-Db-D is the 10-
transpose of A-C-Eb-E.
For another example, let us examine s = Eb-B-Bb~D-C#-C-F#-E-
G-F-A-G#. This is the prime row of Webern's Piano Variations op. 27.
RICH(s) is A-G#-C-Bb-Qf-B-F-E-Eb-G-F#-D, and RICH(RICH(s))
is then F#-D-Db~F- etc. As before, the RICH transform of RICH(s) is a
transposed form of s, but now the specific interval of transposition is different.
F#-D-Db-F-etc. is the 3-transpose, not the 10-transpose, of Webern's row.
In general, when we RICH the RICH-transform of an abstract pitch or
pitch-class series s = s t , s 2 ,..., SN, the transposed form of s that results will
be TJ(S), where the interval of transposition is i = int(s l5 s N ) + int(s 2 ,s N _ 1 ).
(We are supposing that N > 2. The formula is given without proof.) Thus
the interval of transposition for the Zauber series A-C-Eb-E was 10 = 7 +
3 = int(A, E) + int(C, Eb), while the interval of transposition for Webern's
row Eb-BA-G# was 3 = 5 + 10 = int(Eb,G#) + int(B, A).
It follows: When we define the operation TCH as (RICH) (RICH), then
TCH(s) is always some transposed form of s, but just which transposed form
depends on the internal structure of any given argument s upon which TCH is
operating. Specifically, if i = int(s l5 s N ) + int(s 2 ,s N _ 1 ), then TCH(s) = Tj(s).
We shall call i here "the TCH-interval for s." The TCH interval for a retro-
grade or an inverted form of s will be the negative (group inverse) of this i; the
TCH interval for a retrograde-inverted form of s will be the same as the TCH
interval for s itself. (These facts follow from the formula defining i above.)
8.2.2 EXAMPLE: Let us turn our attention once more to figure 7.4, the earlier
example from Parsifal, inspecting the first, second, third, and fourth forms of
Zauber that are beamed thereon and labeled as Z t , Z 2 , Z3, and Z4. Consider-
ing Z as a serial motive, we can graph Wagner's transformational technique
here by figure 8.3.
FIGURE 8.3 181

We have already discussed how the TCH operation makes Z3 the 10-
transpose of Z x and Z4 the 10-transpose of Z 2 . During our earlier discussion
of the passage, we pointed out how the chaining technique creates structural
sequencing as a result. We can "hear" the structural sequence in the note
heads of figure 7.4, even though the foreground events of the music over
measures 1074-1100 are quite different from those of the music over measures
1096-1140.
8.2.3 EXAMPLE: Webern is fond of using RICH and TCH, especially as row-
transformations in his serial works. Figure 8.4 graphs two instances from the
Piano Variations, (a) of the figure coincides with the thematic middle section
of the first movement; (b) coincides with the frantically syncopated variation
in the last movement.
The nodes on figure 8.4 are understood to contain various forms of the
row. On (a) of the figure, T5 is not TCH. The row-form that fills both the
leftmost and the rightmost nodes of (b) is the prime row-form cited earlier, the
form which opens the third movement. The same form also fills the rightmost
node of (a). This is the first occurrence of the prime form in the piece; after
182 FIGURE 8.4

measure 37, the music continues to project the prime form of the row as it
launches the big thematic reprise of the movement. The prime form that fills
the rightmost node of (b) launches the coda of the third movement and the
entire piece. The total rhythm of this coda matches that of the first-movement
theme reprised at 1,37: In both cases we hear a rhythmic ostinato whose
repeated units project four attacks and a rest in steady note-values.
8.2.4 If we excise any four consecutive nodes from figure 8.4(b), along with
the arrows that connect them, we shall have essentially the same graph as that
of figure 8.3. The same transformations are arranged and combined in the
same structure of nodes and arrows, even though the contents of the nodes are
Wagnerian in one case and Webernian in the other. We shall say that the two
networks-of-series are isographic. The isography would not obtain if we wrote
"T10" for TCH on figure 8.3 and "T3" for TCH on figure 8.4(b): T10 and T3
are not the same transformation.
8.2.5 EXAMPLE: Let us define another operation on series, an operation

called MUCH. MUCH(s) is that retrograde-inverted form of s whose begin-
ning overlaps the ending of s to the maximum possible extent. Figure 8.5(a)
shows how Bach chains MUCH and RICH in the first Two-Part Invention.
Figure 8.5(b) shows Bach's transformational technique in a graph which
is very similar to the earlier graphs involving RICH. OP is the transformation
RICH-after-MUCH; OP' is the transformation MUCH-after-RICH. MUCH
and RICH do not commute on the family of all series, but the OP-interval-of-
transposition for any given s is always the same as the OP'-interval for the
FIGURE 8.5 183

retrograde-inversion of s. In the specific example at hand, that interval is 2-

diatonic-steps-down. Bach's foreground sequence is constructed by a method
very similar to that used by Wagner and Webern, in building their structural
sequences. Figure 8.5 shows how artfully Bach's transformational technique
uses the characteristics of his motive to fit his meter.
8.2.6 EXAMPLE: Wagner also uses RICH in the foreground. Figure 8.6
sketches the opening of the "Todesverkiindigung," Die Walkure, act 2, scene
4, starting from three measures before the scene begins.
FIGURE 8.6
The scene is dominated by the Fate motive, whose melodic component

FATE is bracketed over measures 1-2 on the figure. FATE functions both as
a 3-note series and as an intervallic network, 2 = (— 1) + 3 semitones. The
interval 2 of that network is originally spanned from A to B, and the thematic
pitch-idea of "A to B" thereby goes along with the prime form of the FATE
184 motive/series/network. Locally, "A to B" helps us hear FATE as related to the
(head of the) LOVE motive, which has just been repeated over and over in the
melody preceding measure 1.
The repeated LOVE fragment also projects an overall sense of "A to B";
as it repeats, it inflects A by a pickup F# and thereby defines a total ambitus of
F#-to-B. These features enable us to extract the intervallic network of figure
8.7(a).
FIGURE 8.7
Figure 8.7(b) displays the FATE network for purposes of comparison. A

3-arrow and a 2-arrow are common to both networks. Another way of
relating the motivic fragments is to regard LOVE as an essential A-to-B
elaborated by an F# pickup 3 below A, while regarding FATE as an essential
A-to-B elaborated by a G# pickup 3 below B. This view attributes emphatic
priority to pitch relations and even pitch hierarchies, at the expense of inter-
vallic relationships per se. We shall see that the intervallic structures of the
"Todesverkiindigung," like those of the Brahms Horn Trio studied earlier,
take on a more autonomous role as the music develops.
We can hear another strong relation of LOVE and FATE in the music
through the harmonization of LOVE that immediately precedes FATE: A-to-
B within LOVE is supported by C-to-B in the bass; the total matrix thereby
projects a pitch-class form of FATE. Figure 8.6 indicates the pitch-class
intervals of the FATE network on the LOVE matrix accordingly. A 2-arrow
connects A to B within the melody of LOVE; that 2-arrow is subarticulated
into a "3"-arrow, from A to the C below, and a (— l)-arrow, from C in the bass
to B in the bass. The bass B supports and doubles the B of the LOVE melody
as a pitch class.
Supposing a fundamental bass for the A minor harmony of LOVE, an A
that goes under and hence conceptually "before" the C of the basso continue,
we can even identify a serial form of FATE embedded in this LOVE music,
namely A-C-B. This is the unique form of the FATE series, other than the
prime form, that embeds the essential A-to-B gesture.
Starting from that A-C-B, we can hear a RICH chain of FATE forms
proceeding along the bass line of figure 8.6. A-C-B before measure 1 chains 185
#.2.6 Transformation Graphs and Networks C2)
into C-B-D across measure 1; C-B-D in turn chains into B-D-C#, which
carries the harmony through the bass of the FATE motive proper. The
chaining continues on in the bass line, through D-C#-E, C#-E-D#, and
even farther (across the DEATH music). We recognize the sequencing of the
FATE bass as a typical TCH sequence, created by Rl-chainmg. The interval
of the sequence, that is the TCH interval for the FATE bass, is 2. Computing
the interval specifically from the series A-C-B, our point of departure in the
bass, we have i = int(A, B) + int(C, C) = int(A, B), which is 2. So we see that
2-as-TCH-interval, governing the sequence, is the "same" 2 as the 2 that spans
A-to-B, that is int(A, B). We do not need such heavy transformational ma-
chinery, just to hear that the 2-sequences of the music are related to the A-B
gesture of the motive. But the transformational machinery clarifies just how
the relation is worked out, and it attributes thereby a special and characteristic
formal function to the compositionally prominent interval in this serial
context.
The FATE series is Rl-chained in the melody, too. Just as the bass chain
began with A-C-B, one form of FATE that embeds A-to-B, so the melodic
chain begins with A-G#-B (measures 1-2), the other form of FATE that
embeds A-to-B. Again the TCH interval is 2 = int(A, B) + int(G#, G#) =
int(A, B). Again the musical sequence from measures 1-2 to measures 5-6 is
carried by a TCH sequence, now in the melody. The melodic chain of measures
1-8, covered by a slur on figure 8.6, is recalled in summary at the end of the
DEATH motive, covered by another slur over measures 10-12 on the figure.
The last stage of FATE under the slur, B-A#-C#, recurs yet again at measure
13, to launch the transposed return of all the FATE music, which starts the
chaining underway all over again. Via the relationships just mentioned, we
can hear that the melodic B-A#-C# of measures 13-14 is in the TCH-relation
to the A-G#-B of measures 1-2. Hence the large sequence, the sequence that
carries all of measures 1-12 into all of measures 13-24, is itself a TCH-
sequence, a product of Rl-chaining.
It would be possible and even legitimate to draw many 2-arrows upon
figure 8.6, e.g. transposing measures 1-4 into measures 5-8, transposing
measures 10-llj of the melody into measures 11-12 of the melody, and
transposing all of measures 1-12 into all of measures 13-24. We are certainly
strongly aware of the interval 2 in these connections. The resulting graph
would be inadequate, though, so far as it suggested that the relations involved
were only transpositional, the results of expanding the interval 2 = int(A, B)
into T2-relations between larger Gestalts. We would miss the function of 2 as
a TCH interval in two independent FATE chains, one in the bass and one in
the melody, each chain launched by one of the two FATE-forms that embed
A-to-B. We would miss hearing how the sequences in the music hang on the
pertinent stages of RI chaining in the outer voices.
186 Figure 8.8 shows how a motive I shall call FATE' is Rl-chained over
FIGURE 8.8
measures 56 and following. This is where Siegmund "looks into the eyes
of the Valkyrie," as Brunnhilde puts it later on. The subinterval 3 of the
FATE network 2 = (—1) + 3 now becomes the overall interval of the FATE'
network 3 = (— 1) + 4; (—1) remains a subinterval of FATE'. The pitch
class A of FATE' is bereft of its FATE-partner B, just as Siegmund will be
lonely in Valhalla, bereft of his sister/wife. The comparison is suggestive
because the F# and A of FATE' recall the F# and A of LOVE, displayed
earlier in figure 8.7(a). Interval 3, the TCH-interval for FATE', is precisely
int(F#, A)(= int(F#, A) + int(E#, E#)). On figure 8.8, the FATE' series goes
through four TCH-sequences. Its course is therefore isographic to the bass-
line chain of figure 8.6, which also went through four TCH-sequences. RICH
and TCH thus enable us to hear a way in which the bass line of figure 8.6 and
all of figure 8.8 project the same overall transformational gesture. Obviously we
could not hear such a relation using T2 in one case and T3 in the other; those
are different transformations.
After Siegmund has looked into Brimnhilde's eyes he goes into an ex-
tended Wagnerian stichomythy, asking a series of questions about Valhalla
which Brunnhilde answers in turn. What really concerns Siegmund, we dis-
cover, is the idea that Sieglinde may not be able to accompany him to Valhalla.
His concern is well founded. As he asks each question, he sings or sings along
with an entry of the DEATH motive. Figure 8.9 tabulates his questions in
brief, along with the keys in which the DEATH melody enters therewith,
during measures 70-133.
FIGURE 8.9 187

We are intensely aware of Siegmund's concern for Sieglinde even before

his final questions, because the keys of figure 8.9 and the intervals among their
tonics project the pitch classes and intervals of the LOVE motive, as dia-
grammed in figure 8.7 (a) earlier. During the repeated LOVE music just before
the scene change, Siegmund had calmed Sieglinde, and she is lying asleep in his
arms during the whole exchange with Brunnhilde.
8.3.1 EXAMPLE: RICH and TCH have provided good examples of serial
transformations that are not intervallic/transpositional but are nonetheless
very suggestive in connection with node/arrow analytic graphs. The retro-
grade operation on series is another such example. So are the various oper-
ations RT and RI, T being some transposition and I some inversion. (For a
given u and a given v, RI* and RICH are not the same operation, as they
operate upon a variety of series.)
Webern's piece for string quartet, op. 5, no. 4, demonstrates other
suggestive serial operations. The operation TLAST transposes a series by its
last interval; the operation TFIRST transposes a series by its first interval.
Hence TFIRST"1 transposes a series by the complement of its first interval.
TLAST makes the last note of a given series the next-to-last note of the
transformed series; TFIRST"1 has a sort of "dual" effect, in that it makes the
first note of a given series the second note of the transformed series. Figure
8.10 shows three series of pitch classes, arranged in a network that involves
TFIRST'1 and TLAST in this "dual" relationship.
FIGURE 8,10
The three series cited by the figure are projected by the three appearances
of a prominent unaccompanied rising motive FLYAWAY in Webern's piece.
Each of these unaccompanied appearances ends a major section of the work.
The order in which figure 8.10 cites the three series is not the chronological
order in which the music presents the forms of FLYAWAY. In the music, the
form that begins on A(7 occurs last; indeed it is the last event of the piece. The
visual "centrality" of this form on figure 8.10 portrays a cadential function
for the event, transformationally "balanced" as it is between the other two
188 forms. Just so, the formal "centrality" of a tonic Klang, balanced between its
dominant and subdominant, is often projected temporally by a final cadence

in which the tonic is the last event. While it would be perfectly possible to label
the arrows of figure 8.10 as "T8" and "T3" rather than TFIRST'1 and
TLAST, the transpositional labels would conceal, not reveal, the balancing
centrality of the form beginning on A|?, the form that ends the piece. The
intervals of transposition are of course very important in other connections.
8.3.2 EXAMPLE: We define operations FLIPEND and FLIPSTART on series

of three pitches or three pitch-classes. FLIPEND transforms the series
S1-s2-s3 into the series s^Sj-a, where a is the inversion-about-s3 of s2.
(a = Is*(s2); int(s3,a) = int(s2, s3).) The inverse operation FLIPEND"1 then
transforms the series ti-t2-t3 into the series ti-b-t^ where b is the inversion-
about-t2 of t3. (To verify this, given t l s t 2 , and t3, set Si = t l 5 s2 = b-as-b-is-
defined, and s3 = t 2 . Then observe that FLIPEND transforms the s series into
the given t series.)
Dually, FLIPSTART transforms S1-s2-s3 into a-s1-s3, where a is the
inversion-about-Si of s2; then FLIPSTART"1 transforms ti~t2-^-3 into
t2-b-t3, where b is the inversion-about-t2oftl. Figure 8.11 shows what
happens when FLIPEND and FLIPSTART"1 are chained in alternation,
starting with one series of three pitches in (a) and another in (b). The arrows
above the staff indicate applications of FLIPEND; the arrows below the staff
indicate applications of FLIPSTART"1.
FLIPEND and FLIPSTART are my own names for transformations
used by Jonathan W. Bernard in studying how Varese's music expands,
contracts, and displaces registral space.1
8.4 The serial transformations just studied, i.e. RICH, TCH, MUCH,
TLAST, TFIRST, FLIPEND, and FLIPSTART, are all easily generalized to
operate on series whose elements are members of an abstract commutative
GIS. In the non-commutative case, it is not clear just how some of the
operations are to be defined; different possibilities are equally plausible. For
instance, given the abstract series s = s l5 s2, ..., a, b within some abstract
GIS, let us try to define RICH(s) abstractly. We can consider three possibly
different series, t, u, and v, as plausible candidates for "RICH(s)." t is the
retrograde of I(s), where I is (a/b)-inversion l£. u is the retrograde of J(s),
where J is (b/a)-inversion I£ = (I*)"1, v is a series constructed as follows. Let
the serial intervals of s be i t = int(s1, s2), i2 = int(s2, s 3 ),..., i N _j = int(a, b).
The series v starts with the element a, and then proceeds according to the
succession of intervals i N _ 1} i N _2 ,... ,i2,i!. Elements a and b will be the first and
second elements of all three series t, u, and v. t and u are both retrograde-
1. Jonathan W. Bernard, The Music of Edgard Varese (New Haven and London: Yale
University Press, forthcoming). 189
FIGURE 8.11
inverted forms of s. The serial intervals of v are the same as the intervals of s in
reverse order. If the GIS is commutative, t, u, and v will all be the same series. If
the GIS is not commutative, t, u, and v may be three distinct series.
8.5 In section 8.1 we studied Klang-transformations as potential labels for

arrows on graphs, arrows that could not be analyzed adequately by intervallic/
transpositional ideas alone. In sections 8.2 and 8.3 we studied a number of
serial transformations in the same connection. Inversional relations between
elements in a GIS, even a well-behaved commutative GIS, may also give rise
to non-transpositional arrows on graphs, that is I-arrows. Consider figures
8.12 (a) and (b).
The pitch classes on the networks stand for the pitches presented at the
opening of the second movement in Webern's Piano Variations. There, the
pitches come in pairs articulated by a rhythmic motive that remains essentially
190 constant over the events portrayed in the figure. Graph (a) analyzes the pitches
FIGURE 8.12
797
of the phrase in an intervallic/transpositional network. One could add more

interval-arrows connecting certain pitches by criteria other than immediate
temporal succession. Graph (b) analyzes the same pitches using not only some
intervallic/transpositional arrows (shown as curved) but also some inversional
arrows (shown as straight). "I" is inversion about the pitch A4.
Graph (b) reflects the rhythmic motif of the music by a visual motif, the
vertical I-arrow. It represents by a visual symmetry the mirror symmetry of the
pitch registration. It makes manifest the row-structure of the passage, and the
way in which that structure interacts with the dux/comes structure of the
musical canon. Graph (b) thus reflects more clearly than graph (a) not only the
compositional structure of the passage but also our foreground perception of
its shapes.
Let us denote by IPAIR the graph consisting of two nodes connected by
a two-way I-arrow. Now "I" will mean pitch-class inversion about A. As a
configuration of pitch classes, network 8.12(b) has four subnetworks mani-
festing the graph IPAIR. Those are the subnetworks relating Bt?-and-G#,
A-and-A, F-and-C#, and D-and-E; the subnetworks are all isographic. The
network of row-forms being used is also isographic: Two row-forms are being
used, each of which is the I-inversion of the other. Also manifesting IPAIR
isographically is a network interrelating the "antecedent" and "consequent"
row forms that respectively control the first twelve and the second twelve
notes of the third movement. Antecedent and consequent forms there are
I-inversions, each of the other. The consequent is presented in the music
isorhythmically to the antecedent. IPAIR, in short, is a thematic graph.
792
Transformation Graphs and
9 Networks (3): Formalities
It is time now to become formal about what we are doing when we draw nodes,
arrows connecting some pairs of nodes, and names of transformations label-
ing those arrows, sometimes also putting pitches, Klangs, series, row-forms,
or other objects "into" the nodes. I have already worked out most of these
formalities elsewhere.1 Their treatment here differs somewhat, mainly in that
the present exposition is more general.
9.1.1 DEFINITION: By a node I arrow system we shall mean an ordered pair

(NODES, ARROW), where NODES is a family (i.e. set in the mathematical
sense), and ARROW is a subfamily of NODES x NODES, i.e. a collection
containing some ordered pairs (N l9 N 2 ) of NODES. We say that nodes N t
and N2 are "in the arrow relation" if the pair (N l 5 N 2 ) is a member of the
collection ARROW. For present purposes, we shall stipulate that every node
is in the arrow relation with itself. That is, we assume that (N, N) is a member
of ARROW for every node N.
On figure 9.1, the nodes Mt and M 2 are not in the arrow relation; neither
are M 2 and Mj. Nodes M4 and M 5 are in the arrow relation; so are M 5 and
M4. Nodes M 5 and M6 are in the arrow relation; M6 and M 5 are not. Arrows
from M! to M! , from M 2 to M 2 , and so on, are all understood on the figure.
9.1.2 DEFINITION: Nodes N and N' in a node/arrow system communicate if

1. David Lewin, "Transformational Techniques in Atonal and Other Music Theories,"
Perspectives of New Music vol. 21, nos. 1-2 (Fall-Winter 1982/Spring-Summer 1983), 312-71.
The formalism there is confined to pages 360-66. The article consists mostly of analyses, together
with exemplary graphs and networks, that will interest the reader who has enjoyed chapters 7 and
8 of the present book. The music studied there overlaps that studied here only slightly. 193
FIGURE 9.1
there exist nodes N 0 , N t , ..., Nj which satisfy criteria (A), (B), and (C)
following.
(A): N0 = N.
(B): For each j between 1 and J inclusive, either (Nj.^Nj) is in the
ARROW relation, or else (NJ5 Nj.J is.
(C): Nj = N'.
The criteria demand a finite unbroken path of forwards-or-backwards

arrows which starts at N and ends at N'. The nodes M t and M 2 of figure 9.1
communicate. But neither Mj nor M 2 communicates with M4.
The communication relation among nodes is easily proved to be reflexive,
symmetric, and transitive. Hence "communication" is an equivalence relation
on the NODES of a node/arrow system. As figure 9.1 suggests, the nodes
within any equivalence class all communicate, each with any other, while
nodes in different equivalence classes do not communicate.
9.1.3 DEFINITION: A node/arrow system is connected if any two nodes

communicate.
The system displayed in figure 9.1 is not connected. It can be analyzed
into two component subsystems, each of which is connected; there is no
communication between any node of one subsystem and any node of the
other. This sort of structure is typical of disconnected node/arrow systems.
Any disconnected system can be analyzed into component connected sub-
systems that do not communicate with one another. Each such subsystem
is a pair (NODESa, ARROWJ, where NODESa is an equivalence-class of
NODES under the communication relation, and ARROWa is that subcollec-
tion of ARROW comprising pairs of nodes from NODEa.
As we proceed, we shall find the following construct necessary and useful.
9.1.4 DEFINITION: An arrow chain from node N to node N' in a node/arrow

system is a finite series of nodes N0, N x , . . . , N, satisfying criteria (A), (B), and
194 (C) below.
(A): NO = N.
(B): For each j between 1 and J inclusive, (N^, Nj) is in the ARROW
relation.
(C): Nj = N'.
The criteria demand a finite unbroken path of forwards-orientedarrows,

starting at N and ending at N'.
We are now ready to "label" our arrows formally with symbolic trans-
formations. At this stage of our work, the nodes do not yet "contain" any
objects to be transformed, so we shall represent the eventual transformations
abstractly, as members of some abstract semigroup.
9.2.1 DEFINITION: A transformation graph is an ordered quadruple (NODES,

ARROW, SGP, TRANSIT) satisfying criteria (A), (B), (C), and (D) below.
(A): (NODES, ARROW) is a node/arrow system.
(B): SGP is a semigroup.
(C): TRANSIT is a function mapping ARROW into SGP.
(D): Given nodes N and N', suppose that N0, N1? ..., Nj is an arrow
chain from N to N'. Suppose that M 0 , M 1 } ..., MK is also an arrow
chain from N to N'. For each j between 1 and J inclusive, let Xj =
TRANSIT(Nj.j^Nj). For each k between 1 and K inclusive, let yk =
TRANSIT(Mk_1, Mk). Then the semigroup product X j . . . x2xi is equal
to the semigroup product yK ... y 2 yi-
FIGURE 9.2
The setting in which criterion (D) holds sway is illustrated by figure 9.2.
Symbolically, the eventual "contents" of N' will be the Xj-transform of the...
of the x2-transform of the x^transform of the eventual "contents" of N. That
is, the contents of N' will be the (Xj... x 2 x ^-transform of the contents of N, in
the sense of our left-orthographic convention. Likewise, the contents of N'
must also be the (yK ... yjy^-transform of the contents of N. To ensure that
no contradiction can possibly arise, we must ensure that the semigroup
products are equal. And that is what Criterion (D) of the definition does.
9.2.2 OPTIONAL: Criterion (D) also enables us to prove that for each node N, 195
TRANSIT(N, N) must be some idempotent member of SGP. Tp prove this,

consider the following two formal arrow-chains from N to N: N0 = N t =
Nj = N; M0 = M j = M 2 = MK = N. Set Xj = TRANSITCN^NO, y t =
TRANSITCM^Mi), y 2 = TRANSIT^, M 2 ). Then, via the criterion,
x =V v
i 2 i- But x1? y1} and y2 are all the same member of SGP, namely
TRANSIT (N, N). So that element is idempotent, as claimed.
Criterion (D) then ensures that whenever M0, M l 5 . . . , MK is an arrow
chain from N back to N, the product yK ... y^ (as in 9.2.1) is equal to the
idempotent TRANSIT(N, N).
The only idempotent member of a group is the identity element. (If zz = z,
then zzz"1 = zz"1 and z = e.) Hence, when SGP is a group, TRANSIT (N, N)
must be the identity.
9.2.3 DEFINITION: An operation graph is a transformation graph in which

SGP is a group.
Now we shall render formal the idea of "putting objects into" the nodes
of a transformation graph, and transforming the objects about as indicated by
the graph and by some appropriate semigroup of transformations. That is the
idea of a transformation network, which we shall now define, distinguishing it
formally from the transformation graph whose nodes its objects fill.
9.3.1 DEFINITION: A transformation network is an ordered sextuple (S,

NODES, ARROW, SGP, TRANSIT, CONTENTS) having the features (A)
through (D) below.
(A): S is a family of objects (that are to be transformed in various ways).
(B): (NODES, ARROW, SGP, TRANSIT) is a transformation graph
such that SGP is a semigroup of transformations on S.
(C): CONTENTS is a function mapping NODES into S.
"CONTENTS(N)" can be read: "the contents of node N."
(D): Given nodes N t and N2 in the ARROW relation; if f =
TRANSIT(N1,N2), then f (CONTENTS^)) = CONTENTS(N2).
To see how feature (D) of the construction reflects our intuition, we can
inspect figure 9.3.
The figure depicts nodes N t and N2 in the arrow relation. On the
graph, the member f of SGP labels the arrow from N! to N2; that is, f =
196 FIGURE 9.3

TRANSIT(N1,N2). f is some transformation on S, according to feature (B)

of 9.3.1. Inspecting figure 9.3 further, we see that $! is the CONTENTS of
N! and s2 is the CONTENTS of N 2 . In this situation, (D) of the definition
assures us that we shall have f^) = s 2 .
9.3.2 DEFINITION: An operation network is a transformation network for

which SGP is a group of operations on S.
9.3.3 THEOREM: Let S be a family of objects. Let GP be a group of operations

on S. Let (NODES, ARROW, GP, TRANSIT) be an operation graph whose
node/arrow system is connected. Let N0 be a node; let s0 be a member of S.
Then there exists a unique operation-network having S for its objects
and (NODES, ARROW, GP, TRANSIT) for its graph such that s0 is the
CONTENTS of N0.
The theorem is given without proof. It says that all the contents of all the
nodes in a connected operation-network are uniquely determined, once we
know the contents of any one node. Intuitively, we can follow some path of
forwards-or-backwards arrows from the given N0 to any other node, since the
system is connected. As we go along that path, we can fill in the CONTENTS
of each node by applying the indicated TRANSIT operation when we traverse
an arrow forwards, or the inverse (NB) of that operation when we traverse
an arrow backwards. Criterion (D) of 9.2.1 enables us to infer that it does
not matter which path we might follow from N0 to a specific other node in
this connection; the end result will be the same as regards the necessary
CONTENTS of that other node. To get some sense of why this works, let us
look at the graph displayed in figure 9.4.
FIGURE 9.4
Here, we are supposing A, B, C, and D to be operations upon some family

S. Fixing some member s0 of S, let us construct an operation-network having S
for its objects and figure 9.4 for its graph, such that s0 is the CONTENTS of
node N0 on the figure. Since s0 is the CONTENTS of N0 and A is the 797
TRANSIT-operation from N0 to N3, the CONTENTS of N3 on the figure

will have to be A(s0). (We know this by 9.3.1(D).) Let us write "s3" for "the
necessary CONTENTS of node N3." Then we shall have to have s3 = A(s0).
Now what about s l5 the necessary CONTENTS of node Nj? Since B is the
TRANSIT-operation from N x to N3, we shall have to have s3 = 6(5!). Since
we have already determined what s3 must be, and we are searching for s1, we
can infer that the Si we are looking for is derived as s t = B"1 (s3). Note how we
have leaned on the fact that B is an operation at this point in our construction.
When we write "Sj = B"1^)," we are using the idea that a unique s t is well
defined by the relation s3 = B^); that idea in turn rests on the supposition
that B is 1-to-l and onto.
So, given our initial s0, we have derived the necessary CONTENTS s3
and Sj for the nodes N3 and N t in the operation network we are constructing:
s3 = A(s0); Si = B'^SS). What about s2, the necessary CONTENTS of N2?
Here, it seems at first that we have two different choices for s2. Since an arrow
labeled D points from N x to N 2 , we must have s2 = D^). But also, since an
arrow labeled C points from N2 to N3, we must have s2 = C"1^). It is just
here that 9.2.1 (D) comes to our rescue. The criterion tells us in this situation
that, in fact, D(SJ) = C~1(s3). Therefore it only seems that we have "two"
choices for S 2 ; in fact the value of s2 is well determined.
Let us see just how we can infer from Criterion 9.2.1(D) that D(SJ) =
C~1(s3). The Criterion notices an arrow-chain going from N x directly to N3;
it also notices an arrow-chain going from N x through N2 to N3. It informs us
that a certain algebraic relation must therefore obtain among the TRANSIT-
operations B, D, and C that link the nodes along those arrow-chains. The
relation must obtain, that is, for us to have spoken at all of a well-formed
"operation graph." The relation given by the Criterion here is B = CD.
Now Si was chosen to satisfy the relation B(Si) = s3. So we can infer that
CD(S!) = s3. And thence we can infer that D^J = C"1^), which is just
what we wanted to show.
Obviously, the sort of situation we have just examined in connection
with the arrow-chains of figure 9.4 can get very complicated on a general
operation-graph. The way in which Criterion 9.2.1 (D) helps us out is basically
the same, though.
During the musical discussions of chapters 7 and 8 we invoked from time

to time the concept of "isography." It would seem that we can now define that
concept rigorously: Two transformation networks are isographic if they
"have the same graph." But that definition is not yet formal enough. For
suppose we want to assert an isography between the networks (S, NODES,
ARROW, SGP, TRANSIT, CONTENTS) and (S', NODES, ARROW,
SGP', TRANSIT', CONTENTS'), where S and S' are different families of
198 objects. Those two networks have the same node/arrow system, but they
cannot have the same graph. The graph of one is (NODES, ARROW, SGP,
TRANSIT); the graph of the other is (NODES, ARROW, SGF, TRANSIT').
SGP', a semigroup of transformations on S', cannot be "the same as" SGP, a
semigroup of transformations on S. And therefore TRANSIT', a function
taking on values in SGP', cannot be "the same as" TRANSIT, a function
taking on values in SGP.
Moreover, the concept of isography is particularly suggestive exactly
when S' and S are different families of objects, as above. S for example might
be the twelve chromatic pitch classes, while S' might be a family of set-forms,
motive-forms, or row-forms; SGP could comprise transpositions and inver-
sions on pitch classes, while SGP' comprised transpositions and inversions of
set/motive/row forms.
To make our intuitions about isography work out formally here, we need
the concept of isomorphism between one transformation graph and another.
We can then define two networks to be isographic if their graphs are isomor-
phic. To define the isomorphism of graphs, we shall in turn have to define the
isomorphism of node/arrow systems.
9.4.1 DEFINITION: Two node/arrow systems, (NODES, ARROW) and

(NODES', ARROW), are isomorphic if there exists a 1-to-l map NODEMAP
of NODES onto NODES' such that for every pair (Ni,N 2 ) of NODES,
(N 1} N 2 ) is in the ARROW relation if and only if (NODEMAP(N1),
NODEMAP(N2)) is in the ARROW' relation.
A function NODEMAP having the indicated property will be called an
isomorphism of (NODES, ARROW) with (NODES', ARROW').
9.4.2 DEFINITION: Given two transformation graphs (NODES, ARROW,

SGP, TRANSIT) and (NODES', ARROW, SGP', TRANSIT'), the two will
be called isomorphic if there exists a pair (NODEMAP, SGMAP) having
properties (A), (B), and (C) following.
(A): NODEMAP is an isomorphism of (NODES, ARROW) with
(NODES', ARROW').
(B) SGMAP is an isomorphism of SGP with SGP'.
(C): For every pair (N x , N2) in ARROW,
TRANSIT'(NODEMAP(N1), NODEMAP(N2)) =
SGMAP(TRANSIT(Nt, N2)).
The pair (NODEMAP, SGMAP) will be called an isomorphism of the
first graph with the second.
9.4.3 DEFINITION: The transformation networks (S, NODES, ARROW,

SGP, TRANSIT, CONTENTS) and (S', NODES', ARROW, SGP',
TRANSIT', CONTENTS') are isographic if the transformation graphs
(NODES, ARROW, SGP, TRANSIT) and (NODES', ARROW, SGP', 799
TRANSIT') are isomorphic. If (NODEMAP, SGMAP) is an isomorphism

of the first graph with the second, then that pair is an isography of the first
network with the second.
9.4.4 EXAMPLE: Figure 9.5 shows some transformation networks, all of

which are isographic. (a), (b), and (c) will be familiar from our recent dis-
cussion (in section 8.5) of Webern's Piano Variations.
FIGURE 9.5
Let us work out the isographies of the figure very formally. We can fix the
node/arrow system that underlies all the graphs and networks: NODES is a
two-element family; every pair of NODES is in the ARROW relation.
Graph (a) has as its SGP the group of operations on pitch classes that
contains the identity E and the operation I = l£. (This is a group, since II =
E.) Graph (a) has as its TRANSIT function the function TRANSIT^, N x ) =
TRANSIT(N2, N 2 ) = E; TRANSIT^, N2) = TRANSIT(N2, Nj) = I.
Graph (b) has the same SGP and the same TRANSIT function as graph (a).
So in this special case, graph (b) is in fact literally "the same as" graph (a).
Graph (c) however is "different" (though isomorphic). Its semigroup
comprises two operations on twelve-tone rows, not two operations on pitch
classes. The row-operations are E (which leaves any row alone) and I (which
inverts any row about the pitch class A). The TRANSIT function for graph (c)
maps ARROW into this new semigroup of row-operations. The semigroup of
row-operations, while "new," is isomorphic with the old semigroup of pitch-
class operations, under the correspondence of pitch-class-operation E with
row-operation E and pitch-class-operation I with row-operation I. We can
take this map of the old semigroup into the new one as our formal SGMAP.
And we can take as NODEMAP the identity map of our fixed NODES onto
itself. The (NODEMAP, SGMAP) is a formal isomorphism of graph (a) (or
graph (b)) with graph (c). Therefore (NODEMAP, SGMAP) is a formal
200 isography of network (a) (or network (b)) with network (c).
Networks (a) and (b) are derived from the opening of the second move-
ment in Webern's piece. Suppose we played the music a semitone higher;
then we could derive networks (d) and (e) of the figure instead. Here J is
inversion-about-B)?. For graphs (d) and (e) the semigroup consists of the
identity operation E on pitch classes and the inversion-operation J on pitch
classes. The new semigroup is isomorphic with semigroup (a) under the map
SGMAP(E) = E; SGMAP(I) = J. Using this SGMAP and the identity map
on NODES as NODEM AP, we establish a formal isomorphism of graph (a)
(or graph (b)) with graph (d) (or graph (e)). Networks (a) (or (b)) and (d) (or
(e)) are thereby isographic.
The notions of isomorphism we have just been exploring can be extended

suggestively to more general notions of "homomorphism."
9.5.1 DEFINITION: Given node/arrow systems (NODES, ARROW) and

(NODES', ARROW), a mapping NODEMAP of NODES into NODES'
is a homomorphism of the first system into the second if (NODEMAP^j),
NODEMAP(N2)) is in the ARROW' relation whenever (N l 5 N 2 ) is in
the ARROW relation. NODEMAP is a homomorphism onto if it maps
NODES onto NODES' in a special way: Whenever N't and N'2 are in the
ARROW relation, there exist N t and N 2 in the ARROW relation such that
N\ = NODEMAP(Ni) and N'2 = NODEMAP(N2). A homomorphism
NODEMAP is 1-to-l as a homomorphism between systems if it is 1-to-l as a
map of NODES into NODES'.
Under these definitions, a 1-to-l homomorphism of one system onto
another is an isomorphism in the sense of 9.4.1, and an isomorphism in that
sense is a 1-to-l homomorphism of the first system onto the second. Here, the
special definition of "homomorphism onto" in 9.5.1 above is crucial. It is
possible for NODEMAP to be a homomorphism of (NODES, ARROW) into
(NODES', ARROW) and also a 1-to-l map of the family NODES onto the
family NODES', without being an isomorphism of the two systems. That is so
because the second system may "have more arrows." For example we could
simply take NODES' = NODES and add more arrows to ARROW for
ARROW'. Then the identity map of NODES into NODES' is a homomor-
phism of (NODES, ARROW) into (NODES', ARROW') and also a 1-to-l
map of NODES onto NODES', but it is clearly not an isomorphism of the
two systems. It is not a homomorphism of the first system onto the second, in
the full sense of 9.5.1.
9.5.2 DEFINITION: Given transformation graphs (NODES, ARROW, SGP,

TRANSIT) and (NODES', ARROW', SGP', TRANSIT'), a homomorphism
of the first graph into/onto the second is a pair (NODEMAP, SGMAP)
having features (A), (B), and (C) below. 207
(A): NODEMAP is a homomorphism of the node/arrow system

(NODES, ARROW) into/onto the system (NODES', ARROW).
(B): SGMAP is a homomorphism of the semigroup SGP into/onto the
semigroup SGP'.
(C): For every pair of nodes (N l 5 N 2 ) in the ARROW relation,
TRANSIT'(NODEMAP(N1), NODEMAP(N2)) =
SGMAP(TRANSIT(N15 N2)).
The graph homomorphism (NODEMAP, SGMAP) is defined to be 1-to-
1 if both NODEMAP and SGMAP are 1-to-l maps, of NODES into NODES'
and SGP into SGP' respectively. According to these definitions, an isomor-
phism of the first graph with the second (in the sense of 9.4.2 earlier) is
precisely a 1-to-l homomorphism of the first graph onto the second.
FIGURE 9.6
9.5.3 EXAMPLE: Earlier (section 7.3), we studied graphs (a) and (b) of figure
9.6 in connection with Brahms's Horn Trio. We called graph (a) the "comple-
mentary gesture," and graph (b) the "complementary gesture times 2." The
intervallic augmentation that transforms graph (a) into graph (b) is in fact a
formal homomorphism.
To verify this, let us begin by attaching the name (NODES, ARROW) to
the three-node node/arrow system common for both graphs. Take NODEMAP
to be the identity map on NODES. NODEMAP is then, trivially, an isomor-
phism of the node/arrow systems involved for the two graphs.
Take SGPa, the semigroup for graph (a), to be the group of the twelve
chromatic pitch-class intervals. Take SGPb, the semigroup for graph (b), to be
(provisionally) the same group. The values of TRANSITa and TRANSIT,, are
as indicated on graphs (a) and (b) of the figure. Take SGMAP to be the
mapping of the interval i into the interval 2i, a map that transforms SGPa
into SGPb. That is, take SGMAP(i) = 2i for each interval i. Then SGMAP
is a homomorphism of SGPa into SGPb: SGMAP (i + j) = SGMAP(i) +
SGMAP(j) (mod 12). As defined, SGMAP is neither 1-to-l nor onto.
Requirements (A) and (B) for Definition 9.5.2 are now verified, as regards
a potential homomorphism of graph (a) into graph (b). It remains to verify
202 requirement (C) of the definition. This is easily done by inspecting the
numbers labeling the three arrows on each graph: If interval i labels any
arrow on graph (a), then interval 2i labels the corresponding arrow on graph
(b). That is, if i = TRANSIT^, N2), then 2i = TRANSIT'(N^Nj). Or,
yet more formally, TRANSIT'(NODEMAPCNO, NODEMAP(N2)) =
TRANSIT'(N15 N2) = 2i = SGMAP(i) = SGMAP(TRANSIT(Nl5 N2)), as
demanded by requirement (C) of the definition. The requirement is also satis-
fied in case N2 = N t = N: TRANSIT'(NODEMAP(N), NODEMAP(N)) =
TRANSIT'(N, N) = 0 = 2 - 0 = SGMAP(O) = SGM AP(TRANSIT(N, N)).
The case N! = N2 = N is trivial here, as it always will be when the semigroups
involved are groups; when the semigroups are not groups, TRANSIT'(N', N')
and TRANSIT(N, N) will be idempotents within semigroups that may have
many idempotents, and the requirement of the definition is not trivially
satisfied.
To make our graph homomorphism here a "homomorphism onto," we
need only redefine SGPb as the group of all even intervals. Then SGMAP takes
SGPa onto SGPb, and the graph homomorphism thereby becomes "onto" in
the sense of 9.5.2. It is not, of course, 1-to-l. (SGMAP is still not 1-to-l.)
9.5.4 EXAMPLE: For this example we shall use the word "tritone" to mean a
collection of two pitch-classes spanning that interval. There are six tritones in
that sense: (C, F#), (C#, G), (D, Ab), (E[>, A), (E, B[?), and (F, B). Transposing
a tritone by a pitch-class interval i has the same effect on the set as transposing
it by interval i + 6. So for instance transposing (C,F#) by 5 yields (F, B);
transposing (C, F#) by 11 also yields the unordered set (F, B). Accordingly, we
can define six formal "transposition operations" on the family of tritones. We
shall call the six operations O-or-6, l-or-7,2-or-8,3-or-9,4-or-10, and 5-or-l 1.
The six operations form a simply transitive group on the family of tritones. We
can therefore construct a GIS having the tritones for its objects and the six
operations for its formal intervals. We write "int((C, F#), (F, B)) = 5-or-l 1,"
and so on.
Consider the map SGMAP that takes pitch-class interval i into tritone-
interval i-or-(i + 6). This map is a homomorphism from the group of pitch-
class intervals, onto the group of tritone intervals. That is, if we transpose a
given tritone by i-or-(i + 6), and then transpose the resulting tritone by j-or-
(j + 6), we shall end up having transposed the original tritone by (i + j)-or-
(i + j + 6), all mod 12 of course.
SGMAP is part of a homomorphism that transforms the graph of
network (a), in figure 9.7, onto the graph of network (b).
We imagine arrows labeled "0" from each node of (a) to itself, and arrows
labeled "O-or-6" from each node of (b) to itself. The NODEMAP for the
graph homomorphism takes the two top nodes of (a) into the top node of (b),
and the two bottom nodes of (a) into the bottom node of (b). The CONTENTS
of various nodes on networks(a) and (b) in the figure help us see why 205
FIGURE 9.7
NODEMAP is a musically plausible function here. But the homomorphism of

the graphs does not depend formally upon the CONTENTS with which the
nodes are filled in the networks. The graphs as such know nothing of these
contents; they know only the node/arrow systems, the semigroups involved in
labeling the arrows, and the TRANSIT functions that provide those labels.
9.5.5 EXAMPLE: Figure 9.8(a) transcribes the opening phrase from the first
example in the Scholica Enchiriadis that shows the Symphony of the Diates-
seron.2 (b) of the figure graphs the melody "Nos qui vivimus"; the numbers
measure steps up or down in the mode, (c) of the figure is a network whose
node/arrow system is disconnected; the network exhibits the vocal lines of
Principalis and Organalis separately. Graph (b) is a homomorphic image of
graph (c). The homomorphism works as follows: NODEMAP takes the first
Principalis node of (c) and the first Organalis node of (c) both into the first
node of (b); NODEMAP takes the second Principalis node and the second
Organalis node of (c) both into the second node of (b); and so on; SGMAP is
the identity map of SGP onto itself, where SGP is the pertinent group of
intervals, that is the group of distances in steps up a scale.
Graph (b) is however not a homomorphic image of graph (d) under the
analogous NODEMAP. For there is no possible SGMAP, mapping our inter-
vals homomorphically into themselves, that satisfies both SGMAP(l) = 1 and
SGMAP(3) = 0. Any homomorphism SGMAP that satisfies SGMAP(l) =
1 must satisfy SGMAP(3) = SGMAP(1 + 1 + 1) = SGMAP(l) +
SGMAP(l) 4- SGMAP(l) = 1 + 1 + 1 = 3 .
The graph of (d) can be constructed as a formal "product" of graph (b)
with graph (e). But that is quite another matter. Network (d) must be distin-
2. The transcription is taken from Oliver Strunk, Source Readings in Music History (New
204 York: W. W. Norton, 1950), p. 130.
FIGURE 9.8 205

guished not only from (c) but also from (f) and (g). (f) is a network whose
graph is (b); each node of (f) contains a network whose graph is (e). (f) is thus
a network-of-networks; the arrows on (f) labeled 1, — 1, and 0 transpose
entire (e)-networks. (f) models the thought, "We are singing (the graph of)
'Nos qui vivimus,' singing diatessera ((e)-networks) as we go."
(g) is a network whose graph is (e); each node of (g) contains a network
whose graph is (b). (g) is thus, like (f), a network-of-networks. It reflects a way
in which Organalis might think: "Principalis is singing 'Nos qui vivimus'; I too
am singing 'Nos qui vivimus,' and my relation to Principalis is governed by the
Symphony of the Diatesseron (the symbol '3' on the graph)."
Our ability to form the "product network" of (d), and the networks-of-
networks displayed in (f) and (g), is heavily dependent on the following
aspects of the situation: The transformations involved in (b), that is T15 T_ l 5
and T0, are all operations; also the transformation T3 involved in (e) is an
operation; also T3 commutes with T l 9 with T_ 15 and with T0. We shall not
pursue the abstract theory of such matters any farther here.3
Earlier, in connection with the vocal line of the song "Angst und Hoffen"
(figure 6.4), and again in connection with our study of twelve-tone rows as
families of "protocol pairs," (section 6.2.4), we discussed various techniques
for modeling series of pitches, pitch classes, or other objects. Figure 9.8(b)
suggests yet another technique: We can regard a series as a certain type of
transformation-network. Just what type is a matter we shall clarify and make
formal later on (in section 9.7.7). The terminology we shall develop there
will tell us that a network can model a series if the node/arrow system is
"precedence-ordered and linearly ordered under that ordering."
The three examples we have just studied, 9.5.3, 9.5.4, and 9.5.5, show us
that there is a lot of variety in the forms that graph-homomorphisms can
assume. In 9.5.3, NODEMAP was an isomorphism of the node/arrow system
and SGMAP was a proper homomorphism of the semigroup, i.e. not an
isomorphism. In 9.5.4, NODEMAP was onto but not 1-to-l, while SGMAP
was again a proper homomorphism. In 9.5.5, NODEMAP was not 1-to-l,
while SGMAP was an isomorphism.
We now turn away from isographies, isomorphisms, and homomor-
phisms, to explore some different matters. When we use a transformation-
3. T3, a gesture which we can call "climb three rungs up on the modal ladder," corresponds
to the concept of dia + tesseron, given the difference in the manner of counting rungs. T3 is not the
same gesture as RISE(4/3), meaning "rise so as to get higher in the harmonic pitch-ratio of 4-to-
3." RISE(4/3) does not commute with the transformations TI and T_j of the example. That is of
course a salient problem of the style. And that is how our machinery views the problem. Our
machinery also provides us with the formally different models of (d), (f), and (g), which give us
206 interestingly different ways of thinking about what is going on in the Symphony.
network to discuss events in a musical passage, the configuration of its

node/arrow system may allow us to isolate and discuss formal properties of
certain nodes that implicitly assert corresponding formal functions for the
CONTENTS of those nodes. In this connection, it is interesting to study
"input nodes" and "output nodes" for node/arrow systems, and hence for
graphs and networks that involve those systems.
9.6.1 DEFINITION: An input node for a node/arrow system is a node IN to

which no proper arrows point. That is, if (N, IN) is in the ARROW relation,
we must have N = IN. Analogously, an output node is a node OUT from
which no proper arrows issue. That is, if (OUT, N) is in the ARROW relation,
we must have N = OUT.
9.6.2 EXAMPLE: In the network of figure 9.9, the node on the left is an input
node and the node on the right is an output node.
FIGURE 9.9
The reader will recognize the graph as the "complementary gesture" from
the Brahms Horn Trio. In discussing figure 7.7(g) earlier, we noted how the
motif of the Bb octave-leap, when led into the complementary gesture,
generates the pitch class G[?. And we explored some consequences of that
generation. Here we can note that our intuitions about "putting in" Bj? and
"getting out" G[? correspond nicely to the formal input and output functions
of the left hand and right hand nodes on figure 9.9.
9.6.3 EXAMPLE: Figure 9.10 shows a network of Klangs whose graph we
FIGURE 9.10 207

earlier called CADENCE, when we were studying passages from Beethoven's

First Symphony (in section 7.4).
The Klang (C, +) that fills the left node of the figure is the same as
the Klang that fills the right node. But the function of the Klang as
CONTENTS(left node) is different from '^function as CONTENTS (right
node). In the former capacity, the Klang is an input; in the latter capacity it is
an output.
The input and output functions for (C, +) in the network reflect very
well in this setting two of the three principal ideas about tonicity that have
governed most theories of tonality since the eighteenth century. The input
function reflects the idea of tonic-as-generator, a tonic that asserts itself in the
very act of sounding a tone, setting a musical process in action, a tonic which
generates other tones through that action. The output function reflects the
idea of tonic-as-goal, a tonic that appears at the end of a completed gesture as
a point of repose towards which events have been moving. The third principal
idea asserts as tonic a center of balance in a well-balanced structure. That idea,
too, is manifest in the visual aspect of figure 9.10: The figure balances about
the two nodes containing (C, +).
We cannot completely translate out input/output formalities into ideas
about tonicity. For instance we do not want to assert (G, +) or (F, +) on
figure 9.10 as "tonics," even though the former Klang fills an input node and
the latter Klang an output node. Nevertheless the input/output formalities are
suggestive in connection with tonal theory.
9.6.4 EXAMPLE: Figure 9.11 shows a network whose nodes are filled by forms
of the FATE motive from the opening of Die Walkiire, act 2, scene 4, the
"Todesverkiindigung." We discussed this network in connection with figure
8.6 earlier.
The horizontal arrows on the figure are labeled by the TRANSIT-
operation RICH; the curved arrows are labeled by TCH. The transformation
208 FIGURE9.il
BIND which labels the diagonal arrows takes a series of pitch classes and
transforms it into that one of its retrograde-inverted forms which has the same
first and last notes. BIND commutes with TCH.
Figure 9.11 has precisely one input node, the node indicated at the lower
left. The input node is filled by the FATE-form A-C-B, which thereby
acquires a special generative function for the network. This formal status of
A-C-B as network-generator corresponds very well with the musical priority
we assigned the motive-form in our earlier analysis. There we noted how the
entire opening of the "Todesverkiindigung" grows out of the measures im-
mediately preceding the scene, measures in which the A-B gesture of the
LOVE motive is harmonized with C-B in the bass, A functioning also as
fundamental bass below C and hence implicitly asserting a relation of A-
before-C. The three protocol pairs (A, B), (C, B), and (A, C) determine the
motive A-C-B as a partial ordering. Dramatically, the (A, B), (C, B) and
(A, C) protocols in the music just before scene 4 represent Siegmund's relation
to the sleeping Sieglinde, a relation which metaphorically lies under the entire
Siegmund/Brunnhilde scene just as Sieglinde lies under it literally.
The input and output functions we have been exploring are essentially
rhythmic aspects of node/arrow systems, in a certain structural sense: Input
nodes "happen before" other nodes with which they communicate; output
nodes "happen after" others with which they communicate. More generally,
one observes that the arrows of any node/arrow system have a formal
rhythmic structure of their own, a structure which can engage musical rhythm
in varied and sometimes complicated ways. Our practice of laying out graphs
visually so that most arrows go from left to right on the page has made it easy
for us to put off investigating the issues that arise when we try to match the
internal arrow-flows of a network with the temporal flow of the music upon
which the network comments. Here, now, we shall attempt to explore some of
those issues, though we can hardly do them justice in one section of one
chapter. We recall the definition of an "arrow chain" from node N to node N'
in a node/arrow system; it is a finite series of nodes N0, N t , . . . , Nj such that
N0 = N, Nj = N', and (N^, N3) is in the ARROW relation for each j
between 1 and J inclusive (9.1.4).
9.7.1 DEFINITION: An arrow chain (as above) is proper if there is at least one
j between 1 and J inclusive such that (Njs N^) is not in the ARROW relation.
Intuitively, the definition demands at least one "one-way arrow" along

the chain. (The implicit arrow between any node and itself counts as "two-
way" in this connection.) Another way of intuiting the definition is to think of
a proper arrow-chain as one that cannot be "walked backwards." 209
9.7.2 DEFINITION: In a node/arrow system, node N precedes node N', and N'
follows N, if there exists some proper arrow-chain from N to N'.
One must be careful to distinguish the relation "N precedes N'" from the
relation "N is in the ARROW relation to N'."
FIGURE 9.12
On figure 9.12, for instance, M t precedes M3 because M1-M2-M3 is an

arrow-chain from M^ to M 3 that involves a one-way arrow (from M 2 to M3).
But M! is not in the ARROW relation to M 3 . M t is, on the other hand, in the
ARROW relation to M 2 . But Mt does not precede M2: There is no arrow-
chain from M! to M 2 which involves any one-way arrow.
9.7.3 DEFINITION: A node/arrow system is precedence-ordered if there is no

pair of nodes (N, N') such that N both precedes and follows N'.
The reason why we speak of a precedence-ordered system as "ordered" is

implicit in the following theorem.
9.7.4 THEOREM: Let (NODES, ARROW) be a precedence-ordered node/

arrow system. Let PRECEDENCE be the family of node-pairs (Ni, N 2 ) such
that N: precedes N 2 . Then PRECEDENCE is a (strict) partial ordering on
NODES. That is, PRECEDENCE satisfies conditions (PO1) and (PO2)
below.
(PO1): There is no pair (N l 9 N 2 ) such that both (N 1 ,N 2 ) and (N^NJ
are members of PRECEDENCE.
(PO2): If (N! , N 2 ) and (N 2 , N3) are both members of PRECEDENCE,
then so is (N 1? N 3 ).
Proof: (PO1) for PRECEDENCE is equivalent to the condition of 9.7.3,
which is true in a precedence-ordered system. (PO2) is obvious: If there is a
"good" arrow-chain from N x to N2 and a "good" arrow-chain from N2 to
N 3 , then there will be a "good" arrow-chain from N! to N3. q.e.d.
The reader will recall (PO1) and (PO2) from section 6.2.4 earlier, where
we invoked them to characterize collections of protocol-pairs that were (strict)
partial orderings on the twelve pitch-classes. Here we use the same mathemat-
ical conditions to characterize (strict) partial orderings on NODES.
A precedence-ordered system is at least potentially compatible with our
270 naive sense of chronology. When used for analytic purposes, that system will
not have to assert that one musical event both "precedes" and "follows"
another, in the strictly formal sense of 9.7.2. There is nothing intrinsically
correct or good about avoiding such assertions, but it is useful to have at hand
a formal criterion that characterizes those particular node/arrow systems
which enable us to avoid them.4
9.7.5 OPTIONAL: We can be quite precise mathematically about what we

mean in saying that a precedence-ordered system is "potentially compatible
with our naive sense of chronology." Readers who do not care can move on
from here to section 9.7.6.
Given the family of NODES, let us review what we mean when we speak
of a (strict) partial ordering on NODES. We mean a collection P of node-
pairs, a collection that satisfies conditions (PO1) and (PO2) following. (PO1):
There is no pair (N t , N 2 ) such that both (N t , N2) and (N2, NJ are members
of P. (PO2): If (N l 5 N 2 ) and (N 2 ,N 3 ) are both members or P, then so is
(Ni, N3). Theorem 9.7.4 told us that P = PRECEDENCE is a (strict) partial
ordering on NODES in a precedence-ordered node/arrow system.
A partial ordering L on NODES is "linear" or "simple" when, given any
distinct nodes N and N', either (N, N') or (N', N) is a member of L.
The following theorem can be proved: If NODES is finite, containing J
nodes, and if L is a linear ordering on NODES, then the members of NODES
can be arranged in a series Nj,, N 2 , . . . , N, such that (NJ5 N k ) is a member of L
if and only if j is less than k.
The partial ordering P is "weaker than" the partial ordering Q, and Q is
"stronger than" P, when every node-pair that is a member of P is a member of
Q, and Q contains some pair that P does not contain. That is, this relation
between P and Q obtains when P is strictly included in Q as a set of node-pairs.
A partial ordering P is "maximally strong" when there is no partial ordering Q
stronger than P.
The following theorem can be proved: Every maximally strong partial
ordering is linear, and every linear ordering is maximally strong. When
NODES is finite, the following theorem can also be proved: Given any partial
ordering P, there exists some maximally strong (i.e. linear) ordering L which
is either equal to P or stronger than P. When NODES is not finite, the same
theorem can be proved if one makes an additional logical assumption which
need not concern us here.
We can apply all these theorems as follows: Given a precedence-ordered
node/arrow system, there exists a linear ordering L of NODES which is either
4. Jonathan Kramer develops a very interesting sense in which he claims that the first
movement of Beethoven's F-major String Quartet op. 135 begins with its ending. Kramer does
this in the article, "Multiple and Non-Linear Time in Beethoven's Opus 135," Perspectives of New
Music vol. 11, no. 2 (Spring-Summer 1973), 122-45. The last movement of Haydn's D-major
String Quartet op. 76, no. 5, might serve as another example. 277
stronger than PRECEDENCE or equal to PRECEDENCE. Assuming that

NODES is finite (which we shall assume from now on), we can then L-order
the notes of this precedence-ordered system as a series Nj, N2, ... , N;, in such
wise that (N, Nk) is a pair within L if and only if j is less than k. Since
PRECEDENCE is weaker than or equal to L, it follows that j must be less
than k whenever N. precedes Nk in the system. So if we imagine a chronology
in which Nj "happens first," N2 "happens second, ". . . , and N; "happens
last," this chronology cannot be violated by the precedence relation of the
system. That is, whenever N. formally precedes Nk, N. will "happen before"
Nk in the L-chronology.
If PRECEDENCE is not itself linear, there will be more than one linear
ordering stronger than PRECEDENCE; accordingly there will be more than
one "linear chronology" of the above sort with which the precedence relation
is compatible.
FIGURE 9.13
For example, in the precedence-ordered system of figure 9.13 we can take

either of the two left-hand nodes as "N," and the other one as "N2," in
imposing a linear chronology; we can similarly take either of the two right-
hand nodes as "N3" and the other as "N4." This reflects the structure of
PRECEDENCE here, which makes each left-hand node precede each right-
hand node, while neither left-hand node precedes the other and neither right-
hand node precedes the other. The groupings of segments within the various
possible linear chronologies are typical.
9.7.6 The gist of section 9.7.5 may be summarized as follows: When a finite
node/arrow system is precedence-ordered, its J nodes can be labeled by the num-
bers 1 through J in such fashion that when j is less than k, it is possible for
the j* node N. to precede the k* node Nk, but impossible for Nk to precede N.
This means that we can always display the system visually on a page (in
theory) using a format in which all one-way arrows go from left to right.
We must be very careful to recognize that the words "precedence" and
"precede" in the paragraph above refer to formal aspects of the node/arrow
configuration, and not necessarily to the musical chronology of any passage
upon which a network using that node/arrow system may be commenting.
212 Even when the node/arrow system is precedence-ordered, it is perfectly pos-
sible for a node N to precede a node N' in a network, while the contents of N
are heard after the contents of N' in the pertinent music. Figure 9.14 will help
us explore the possibility.
FIGURE 9.14
(a) of the figure shows a network of Klangs. All the Klangs are under-
stood to be major, except for the lower-case e|?-Klang, which is minor. The
network models the harmonic progression at the opening of the slow move-
ment in Beethoven's Appassionato Sonata. The Ej?-major Klang is bracketed
to indicate that the Klang is not actually sounded but is theoretically under-
stood. The fourth sonority heard in the music is modeled by two Klangs. It is
first understood as a G(?-major Klang (with added sixth); then it is understood
as an eb-minor Klang (with minor seventh, inverted). This is Rameau's double
emploi. The arrow goes only one way, from G[? to e(? but not back. The
operation REL takes a Klang into its relative minor/major.
The left-to-right format of (a) arranges the nodes in an order that
corresponds to the order of events in the music. This order is not compatible
with the precedence relation of the node/arrow system, even though that 273
system is precedence-ordered. We see this incompatibility on (a) in the form of

some one-way arrows that point from right to left, (b) of the figure rearranges
the nodes on the page, in a new visual format compatible with the precedence-
ordering; on (b), all one-way arrows point from left to right. We shall discuss
later the box containing the word START and the arrow issuing from that
box; the reader should ignore them for the time being.
The left-to-right format of (b), while respecting the one-way arrows,
violates the musical chronology of the passage. A special aspect of this
violation is the clarity with which it accents the input function of the two Gb
nodes. The input function violates musical chronology: Db, not Gb, is what
gets this music under way. The input function also violates our sense of
structural "priority": Db, not Gb, is the Klang structurally prior to all others
here. The Gb Klangs should be manifest as inflecting such a Db "point of
departure" for the tonal structure; the Gb Klangs should not themselves
appear as structural "points of departure," which figure 9.14(b) seems to
make them. These concerns are very well addressed by Schenkerian theory,
which provides us with an apparatus of hierarchical levels, voice-leading
events, and subordinate Klangs harmonizing voice-leading events. With such
a model in mind, we can easily see that the configuration of Klangs displayed
in figure 9.14((a) or (b)) is not an adequate representation for the way tonality
controls this passage. The representation fails to model the middleground
progression Db-Ab-Db supporting a sustained melodic fifth degree; it fails
to model the inflection of that fifth degree by its upper neighbor twice, once
within the opening Db Klang of the middleground and once on the way from
Db to Ab Klangs within the middleground; it fails to show how the Gb Klangs
support that neighboring inflection of the principal tone 5. Later on, we shall
construct a "Schenkerian network" that can address these matters within our
network format. Meanwhile, we can observe that figure 9.14, incomplete as it
is for analytic purposes, still does represent a foreground configu-
ration of Klangs that engages a valid part of our musical experience. It would
impoverish, not refine, that experience to explain away the peripatetics of the
configuration as "merely" incidental, as "naught but" the harmonization of
voice leading, as "only" preparing the eventual dominant, and the like.
More specifically, even though the formal Gb inputs on figure 9.14(b)
must yield somehow to overall D(? priority in a complete analysis, the formal
Gb inputs still reflect an interesting feature of the music, a feature it would be
easy to overlook if one were to plow through the foreground to a middle-
ground level prematurely. One hears this feature upon singing over the music
mentally while looking at network-format (b). The input Gb nodes are then
sensed strongly as "carriage returns," especially the second one. This feeling
of "carriage return" on the Gb harmonies, sensed as one reads figure 9.14(b)
in the musical chronology, interacts very effectively with the phrasing of the
214 passage.
It would be hard to express the carriage-return function so precisely in

any other theoretical vocabulary. The function marks those precise moments
in the listening experience at which we shoot back from right to left on the
figure, violating the sense of the one-way arrows. More formally: The
carriage-return moments are precisely those moments in the listening chro-
nology at which that chronology violates precedence-ordering. At all other
moments, listening chronology is compatible with precedence-ordering. By
using the expression "precedence-ordering," we are implicitly supposing that
the node/arrow system to which we are applying this concept is precedence-
ordered, with all that this entails about left-to-right, and so on. Our theoretical
machinery enables us to pinpoint carriage-return moments, define them pre-
cisely, and attribute a special theoretical function to them.
All this duly noted, we have still not resolved the theoretical problems
raised by the formal priority our model assigns to Gj? nodes over D[? nodes as
"input" to the flow of events, and to the tonal structure. One line of attack on
the problems is suggested by the box on figure 9.14(b) containing the word
START, and by the arrow from that box to the indicated D[? node. We may
formally adjoin the box and the arrow to the node/arrow system, and the
contents START to the network, so as to help ourselves along. The START
node is an input node, and we can declare a formal convention that it
supersedes all other input nodes in function. When we start at the START
node, we cannot reach the G|? nodes without traversing some arrows back-
wards. We might use just that feature of the system as a formal criterion for
assigning a special sort of subordinate status to those nodes. There is no
problem walking arrows backwards here because our transformations are all
operations. Our analytic criterion for pointing the START arrow at the
indicated D[? node could be diachronic (because the music starts there) ar
synchronic (because that node begins the foreground elaboration of a higher-
level tonic function).
Another formal device for modeling a discrepancy between precedence-
ordering and musical chronology is indicated by figure 9.15. The figure
FIGURE 9.15 215

attaches to each node of figure 9.14(b) a certain time span; the musical event
corresponding to the contents of that node occurs over that time span.
Formally, we are constructing a new apparatus which we might call a
"time-spanning network." That is a transformation network together with a
function TIMESPAN that maps each node into a certain time span. In the
case of a network whose contents are already time spans, we could take
TIMESPAN(N) = CONTENTS(N). A time-spanning network could model
via TIMESPAN the exact time spans over which its events occur; that is the
case with figure 9.15. Or TIMESPAN(N) could model a certain range of time
during which CONTENTS (N) might occur.
Instead of attaching time spans to the nodes of a network in this way,
we could also attach time spans to the contents of those nodes. On figure
9.15, for example, instead of a node N with CONTENTS(N) = Gb and
TIMESPAN(N) = (3.5, .5), we could have a node N whose CONTENTS
are the ordered pair (Gb,(3.5, .5)). On the revised figure 9.15, the family
of transformations would have to be more complicated. Each graph-
transformation would be an ordered pair comprising both a Klang-
transformation and a time-span-transformation.
Yet another formal device at our disposal is to incorporate Schenkerian
transformations into a network format. Figure 9.16 indicates one way in
which this might be done.
The contents of the nodes in this network are ordered triples (Klang,
degree, level). Thus (Ab, 5, 2) denotes an Ab-major Klang supporting a fifth
degree in the structural melodic voice at level 2. The operation PROJ + incre-
216 FIGURE 9.16

ments the level of its operand, transforming (Kng, deg, lev) into (Kng, deg,
lev + 1). Klang and degree are thereby PROJected one level closer to the
foreground. The operation PROJ— is the inverse of PROJ + ; it decrements
the level of (Kng, deg, lev), transforming it into (Kng, deg, lev — 1). Since
the objects (Kng, deg, lev) are purely formal, we can always reference levels
"lev + 1" and "lev — 1" formally, even when they have no analytic pertinence
to a given situation. That is desirable here, in order to make PROJ-f and
PROJ — well-behaved context-free operations. To save space on figure
9.16, the PROJ arrows have all been drawn as two-way, signifying PROJ +
or PROJ — as appropriate.
Within each level on the figure, each transformation is specified by a pair
(Klangtrans, degtrans). Klangtrans is the pertinent Klang transformation,
and degtrans is the pertinent degree transformation. Thus an arrow labeled
(DOM, SUST) from (Kng, deg, lev) to (Kng', deg', lev) indicates that the
Klang Kng is the dominant of the Klang Kng', while degree deg sustains to
become degree deg' = deg. An arrow labeled (SUED, N +) from (Kng, deg,
lev) to (Kng', deg', lev) indicates that Kng is the subdominant of Kng', while
degree deg is the upper neighbor to degree deg'.
Distinguishing levels in the manner of figure 9.16 enables us to make
input terminology conform better to our intuitions. The Gb nodes of figure
9.16 are indeed still input nodes, but we can now say that they are "input at
level 3. In the same sense, we can say that the node containing (Ab, 5,2) is
"input at level 2," distinguishing it in this capacity from the node containing
(Ab, 5,3). The Db nodes of level 2 are both output nodes at level 2; the Db
nodes of level 3 are all output nodes at level 3. The Db node of level 1 is both
input and output at that level, according to our definition (9.6.1).
Figure 9.16 may be made to engage rhythmic mensuration by attaching
time spans to its nodes along one of the lines suggested earlier. Determining
where to end the time span for (Db, 5,2) and where to begin the time span for
(A)?, 5,2) is an interesting methodological and phenomenological problem.5 a
number of assertions seem plausible. My own preference is to carry the Db
time span right up to the Ab Klang, and also to begin the At? time span right
after the Db Klang stops sounding. The two time spans would then overlap on
level 2, and the Gb-eb-Eb part of level 3 would all occur during the time span
of the overlap. This satisfies my hearing, and it is also an elegant way to
elaborate the theoretical idea behind the double emploi.
Figure 9.16 as it stands is not equivalent to a Schenkerian reading, which
would devote less attention to Klangs that do not project Stufen, more
attention to the bass line and to the essential counterpoint between the outer
5. Fred Lerdahl and Ray Jackendoff discuss pertinent matters at length in their important
book, A Generative Theory of Tonal Music (Cambridge, Mass, and London: MIT Press, 1983).
The interested reader can explore various ways in which their tonal tree-structures resemble and
differ from transformation-networks of the sort displayed by figure 9.16. 217
FIGURE 9.17
voices.6 I think it likely, though I am not certain, that actual Schenkerian

graphs could be represented in network formats of the sort under present
consideration, when suitably extended.
9.7.7 A short time ago, in connection with our study of "Nos qui vivimus,"
we observed that a series of objects could be modeled by a certain type of
transformation network. Now we are in a position to specify formally just
6. A good Schenkerian analysis of the theme as a whole is presented by Allen Forte and
Steven E. Gilbert in their Introduction to Schenkerian Analysis (New York: W. W. Norton, 1982),
218 154-56.
what type. Specifically, a formal "melody" can be defined as a transforma-

tion network whose node/arrow system is precedence-ordered, and linearly
ordered under that ordering. According to our work so far, that means there
will be one and only one way of labeling the J nodes with the numbers 1
through J so as to be compatible with the one-way arrows of the system.
This concept of "melody" is very elaborate, for it carries within it the idea
of transforming earlier events to later ones, along the arrows of the network,
by transformations from a specified semigroup. That idea was not implicit in
our earlier models for series.
Different configurations of arrows can give rise to one and the same
precedence-ordering on a given family of NODES. When that ordering is
linear, corresponding networks whose nodes have the same contents will
nevertheless be formally different "melodies" by our definition. We should
find a better word than "melody" if we want to continue to work along these
lines. For instance, the two node/arrow systems of figure 9.17(a) and (b) give
rise to one and the same precedence-ordering. Networks (a) and (b) are
formally different "melodies."7
7. "Melody," however, is exactly the proper term if we want to follow and extend the usage
of Ernst Kurth, when he claims that "the basis of melody is, in the psychological sense, not a
succession of tones... but rather the impetus of transition between the tones." Figures 9.17 (a) and
(b) depict different transition-structures. The cited text appears in Grundlagen des linearen
Kontrapunkts (Bern: Drechsel, 1917), p. 2. ("Der Grundinhalt des Melodischen ist im psycho-
logischen Sinne nicht eine Folge von Tonen... sondern das Moment des tfbergangs zwischen den
Tonen.") 279
10 Transformation Graphs and
Networks (4): Some Further
Analyses
FIGURE 10.1
10.1 EXAMPLE: Figure 10.1 sketches some motivic work from the passage
opening the development section in the last movement of Mozart's G-Minor
Symphony, K.550. Up to measure 133, the entire orchestra except horns is
playing the indicated line, allegro assai and essentially staccato. There is one
exception: The quarter note B which appears on the figure at the end of
220 measure 128 is actually an eighth rest and a sixteenth triplet, filling in the
diminished fourth scalewise under a slur. I am supposing that it is legitimate

for us to consider that gesture a variation on the motivic model of the figure,
inter alia.
From the pickup of measure 127 until measure 133, the passage projects
forms of a pitch motive PM, comprising a diminished fourth up followed by a
diminished seventh down. This motive is Rl-chained in the manner familiar
to us by now; the transformation RICH takes us along the chain of PM-
forms (E-Ab-B), (Ab-B-Eb), (B-Eb-Ffl), (Eb-Ffr-Bb), (FJ-Bb-Ctf),
(Bb-Ctf-F), and (C#-F-G#). The TCH interval is a falling fourth. On figure
10.1, the four prime forms of PM are indicated by the brackets numbered 1,2,
3, and 4a/b. The form (C#-F-G#) is bracketed twice, by brackets 4a and 4b.
This reflects an interesting ambiguity about its rhythmic location, an ambi-
guity we shall soon investigate.
Beneath the staff on the figure a series of numerical durations appears.
The numbers label the distances in quarter-note beats between the time points
at which successive notes are attacked. I am supposing that we hear an ictus at
the barline of measure 128. (Later on, we shall hear how the music of measures
125-27 prepares this ictus.) The barline of measure 128 thereby articulates the
duration of five quarters, between the two B naturals, into (2 + 3) quarters.
The three attacks within PM, together with the ictus, define the dura-
tional series 1 + 2 + 2 (quarters) as a rhythmic setting for the pitch idea. We
shall call 1 + 2 + 2 the "durational motive" DM. On the figure, bracket 1 is
placed around PM so as to articulate DM; the corresponding duration-
numbers 1, 2, and 2 below the staff are also bracketed.
Bracket 2 also articulates DM, now as the rhythmic setting for the next
TCH-form of PM. Bracket 3 is placed around the next TCH-form of the pitch
motive, that is around F#-Bb-C#. Here the rhythmic setting is no longer DM
itself, but rather an augmented (rhythmically transposed) form of DM: 2 +
4 + 4. The rhythmic transposition will be denoted as T2, multiplying all
durations by 2.
The next TCH stage of the pitch motive is C#-F-G#. Bracket 4a gives
this stage the durational setting 4 + 4 + 2; bracket 4b gives it the setting 4 +
2 + 2. Both these durational settings are serial transformations of DM. The
series of 4a retrogrades the elements of series 3: 4 + 4 + 2 retrogrades 2 +
4 + 4. The series of 4b inverts the elements of series 3: 4 + 2 + 2 inverts 2 +
4 + 4. We can regard the inversion as multiplicative, about the numerical
product 8: 8 divided by 2,4, and 4 (series 3) yields 4,2, and 2 (series 4b). Or we
can regard the inversion as additive, about the numerical sum 6:6 take away 2,
4, and 4 (series 3) yields 4,2, and 2 (series 4b). Whichever way we think of the
inversion, durational series 4b is a retrograde-inversion of durational series
4a. In fact, series 4b is precisely RICH(series 4a).
Thus the transformational motif of Rl-chaining, very audible in the pitch
structure of the passage, is also projected in the durational structure. The 227
musical effect is bewildering on first hearing, because both the durational

series involved in the RICH relation, that is both 4a and 4b, are heard as
alternative rhythmic settings for one and the same pitch motive. And this
effect strikes our ears just as we are beginning to adapt to a heavy reliance on
motivic listening, having temporarily lost the local tonic.
Bracket 5 shows how the play of durational motives continues on
through the change of texture at measure 133. The durational series for
bracket 5, 2 + 2 + 4, is a retrograde-inversion (multiplicative or additive) of
series 3, just as series 4b was a retrograde-inversion of series 4a. Since series
3 was a multiplicative transposition of DM, durational series 5 is also a
multiplicative retrograde-inversion of DM itself. In fact series 5 is precisely
the RICH-transform of DM, using multiplicative inversion: (multiplicative)
RICH(1 +2 + 2 ) - 2 + 2 +4.
FIGURE 10.2
Figure 10.2 summarizes in a network the transformational interrelations

of the durational motive-forms so far surveyed. On the figure, T is multiplica-
tive T 2 ,1 is the pertinent multiplicative inversion, and RICH is considered to
be defined multiplicatively also.
The RICH-arrow between the node marked "DM = 1; 2" and the node
marked "5" suggests some aural explorations. Going back to figure 10.1, we
can hear the rhythmic RICH-relation between bracket 1 and bracket 5 by
focusing on a linking rhythmic element, that is, the rhythmic identity of
measure 127 (at the end of bracket 1) with measure 132 (at the beginning of
bracket 5). This is exactly the linking aspect of the Rl-chain involved. We hear
that the high Ab of measure 127 and the low G# of measure 132 are the
registral boundaries for figure 10.1. The enharmonically equivalent A(? and
G# are tied together, too, by the diminished-seventh harmony implied over
measure 127; this harmony implicitly recurs under bracket 5.
We can hear the rhythmic RICH-relation between bracket 2 and bracket
5 by focusing on measures 129-30 as an intermediating stage. That pair of
222 measures spans the same durational series as series 5: 2 + 2 + 4. And in
measures 129-30 the series 2 + 2 + 4 is explicitly linked to the end of bracket

2, as the RICH-transform of series 2. This rhythmic RICH-transformation is
easy to pick up aurally because it coincides with a RICH-transformation of
the pitch motives that correspond: B-E|?-F#, with rhythm 1 + 2 + 2, is
transformed into RICH(B-Eb-F#) = Eb~F#-Bb, with rhythm RICH(1 +
2 + 2) = 2 + 2 + 4. It remains then only to hear that measures 132-33, under
bracket 5, reproduce the attack rhythm of measures 129-30, the intermediat-
ing stage. And this is quite possible if one hears measures 127-29 and mea-
sures 130-32 as a pair of three-measure groups, or if one hears measures
129-31 and 132-34 as such a pair.
Let us return now to brackets 6 and 7 on figure 10.1. Bracket 6 applies to
the winds only, whose durational series is 4 + 2 -I- 2 over this span. The series
recapitulates the series of 4b. Despite the radical change of texture, we are
aided in hearing this relation by the boundary tones of measures 133-35,
specifically by the opening high F of measure 133, the final C# at measure 135,
and the low G# at the end of measure 134. Those three notes keep alive in
permuted order the pitch classes C#, F, and G# from the PM-form of
measures 131-32, spanned by bracket 4b.
Bracket 7 shows how the rhythm of the winds during bracket 6 becomes
diminuted approaching the barline of measure 135, into the diminuted series
2 + 1 + 1. This diminution (multiplicative transposition by ^) undoes the effect
of the earlier augmentation (transposition by 2), the augmentation we under-
went in passing from bracket 2 to bracket 3. Accordingly, durational series 7
bears to series 1 = 2 = DM the same relation that series 6 = 4b, the augmen-
tation of series 7, bore to series 3, the augmentation of series 1 = 2 = DM.
Thus series 7 inverts series 1 either multiplicatively or additively: 2 divided by
1,2, and 2 (series 1) yields 2,1, and 1 (series 7); alternatively, 3 take away 1,2,
and 2 also yields 2, 1, and 1.
Figure 10.3 extends figure 10.2 to display some of the new relationships
involving series 6 and series 7. J is the pertinent multiplicative inversion \\.
Our study has shown us how the straightforward Rl-chaining in one
dimension of this music both suggests and conceals a very elaborate transfor-
mational network, also involving RICH-relations, in another dimension. The
whole discussion is grossly oversimplified as regards both dimensions. We
have not, for instance, considered the rhythmic implications of the PM-form
that goes from the G# of measure 132 to the F of measure 133 in the bassoon
(an octave below figure 10.1), and thence through the stepwise filler down to
the C# of measure 135 (again an octave below the figure). This form retro-
grades in register the PM-form of measures 131-32. The stepwise filling-in of
the diminished fourth F-to-C# is a huge rhythmic expansion, in retrograde, of
the tiny sixteenth-note triplet figure that filled in from B to Eb in measures
128-29. We have also not considered the crucial way in which the music gets
to figure 10.1. The Rl-chaining of PM actually begins earlier; it involves the 223
FIGURE 10.3
all-important high D|? of the rocket theme, the main theme of the movement
and the source of the diminished-seventh leaps. Figure 10.4 helps us explore
this a bit.
FIGURE 10.4
The beamed arrows on the figure pick out a PM-form that extends the RI
chain of pitch motives one TCH stage backwards from our earlier analysis.
The rhythmic setting of the PM-form A-D[?-E is not related to DM by any
standard serial transformation. It does, however, interact with the ictus at the
barline of measure 128. Figure 10.4 allows us to hear the source of the 3
quarters' duration between the ictus and the following B. That duration is in
rhythmic sequence with the 3 quarters' duration between the high D[? and the
E natural of measure 126. The 3 quarters' sequence causes the rhythmic
identity of bracket 1 with bracket 2 to extend backwards. Not only do E-
AJ7-B-ictus and B-Eb-Fft-Bb demarcate the same durational series DM =
224 1 + 2 + 2, but also Dj?-E-A[7-B-ictus and ictus-B-Eb-F#-Bb demarcate
the same series 3 + 1 + 2 + 2. In fact, the rhythmic identity extends back

even farther: A-Db-E-Ab-B-ictus and B-ictus-B-Eb-F#-Bb demarcate
the same series 2 + 3 + 1+2 + 2. Only after the Bb of measure 130 does the
rhythmic parallelism break off: After that Bb the first duration of 4 appears,
launching us into the transformational complexities of figure 10.2.
FIGURE 10.5
10.2 EXAMPLE: Figure 10.5 sketches some structural aspects of Bartok's

"Syncopation," no. 133 from Mikrokosmos, vol. 5. Our ability to hear pro-
longation in this sort of context is the subject of an important study by Roy
Travis.1 Travis tries to hear (GBD) + (Eb F#) as a tonic chord for the piece. It
works better to hear (G) + (A#C#D#F#) in that capacity. This is the final
sonority of the piece and the only complete harmony attacked by both hands
simultaneously, an event which occurs at the final barline. That is, it is the only
harmony which does not involve a "Syncopation." The syncopations of the
music bring out a broad variety of structural contrasts between the two hands.
The left hand plays white notes; the right hand plays black notes. The left hand
plays "down" both metrically and sotto; the right hand plays "up" both
metrically and sopra (with its black notes). The white notes in the left hand
arrange themselves into triadic formations within a G Mixolydian mode; the
black notes in the right hand arrange themselves within a pentatonic F# mode.
The left hand's chord of reference is a G-major |, a chord with G on the
bottom; the right hand's chord of reference is an F# added-sixth harmony in 3
inversion, a chord with F# on the top.
Over measures 1-10 of figure 10.5, one sees how these elements contend
during the opening section of the piece. The black notes win out. The opening
(D#F#) of the figure is spelled (EbF#) by the composer, to emphasize its local
dependency on the left-hand G tonic. But as the section progresses, (EbF#)
becomes (EbGb) and shows that it can move down an octave to displace the
1. "Toward a New Concept of Tonality?" Journal of Music Theory, vol. 3, no. 2 (November
1959), 257-84. 225
left-hand G at measure 9. The black dyad celebrates the success of its incursion
by bobbing triumphantly back up to its original register, with a crescendo to
sf; now the composer spells it (D#F#), reflecting its forthcoming orien-
tation towards the right-hand tonic F#.
The next section of the piece, measures 11-25, shows (D#F#) continuing
to exercise its registral mobility: It moves up an octave over that span of the
piece, along with C# and eventually A#. The octave transfer, represented by a
slur on figure 10.5, plows through the climactic D of measure 18. This D, as
fifth of G, shows that left-hand, G-oriented material can also become regis-
trally mobile. Ds and Gs continue to move downwards in register from measure
25 to the end, while the right-hand chord of measure 25 moves up another
octave during that time. Bartok puts (D#F#) back into its original spelling, as
(E|?F#), from measure 25 on. In the right-hand scheme of things, as displayed
on figure 10.5, the climactic D5 of measure 18 is apparently "only" a chroma-
tic passing tone. But D5 is also the pitch about which the sonority A#4, C#5,
D#5, F#5 is inversionally symmetrical. That sonority, as it appears with a
structural downbeat at measure 25, projects the chord-of-reference for the
right hand. Also, the pitch class D is a center of inversion for both the black-
note collection and the white-note collection.
In both the left hand and the right hand over measures 11-25, RI-
chaining provides the means of harmonic progression. The left hand produces
the Rl-chain of registrally ordered trichords A-C-E, C-E-G, E-G-B,
G-B-D. There is even a hint that this process continues on in register, as the
right hand takes over the climactic D5 at measure 18 and leads it on up to F#5.
But the black tonic F# is too clearly foreign to the white-note chain, for this
hint to develop further. Indeed the left hand emphasizes just that point, at
measure 25, by providing the white F natural (not the black F#) as a chordal
third above D, within the sonority G-B-D-F. The F natural breaks the RI-
chain of the left hand, which cannot pass the color barrier.
Just as the Rl-chain of white trichords in the left hand appears beamed
over measures 11-25 on figure 10.5, so do two analogous Rl-chains of black
trichords in the right hand. The first chain breaks at F#-G#-B; rather than
continuing on to the next RICH-stage G#-B-C#, the right hand substitutes a
different form of the same trichord, namely G#-A$-C#, and then starts a new
Rl-chain therefrom. The color barrier is again involved: Once the white B has
been generated by the Rl-chain in the right hand, it must be replaced by the
black A# = Bj?. So, just when the Rl-chaining is about to carry F#-G#-B on
to G#-B-C#, A# substitutes for B and the next trichord is G#-A#-C#
instead. The substitution preserves the outer voices of the trichord involved,
and also preserves its set-class. The replacement of B by A# recapitulates in a
setting of F# tonicity the replacement of B by B[? that we heard earlier, at
measure 3, in a setting of G tonicity.
226 The double Rl-chaining of the right hand over measures 11 -25 is also
FIGURE 10.6
involved with a cadential proportioning (balance) of the trichord forms.

Figure 10.6 displays this proportioning by a pertinent transformation-
network.
The straight diagonal arrows are RICH transformations. Among its
input and output chords, figure 10.6 manifests a classical "triple proportion":
C#-D#-F# (input) is to Ftf-G#-B (output) as G#-A#-C# (input) is to
C#-D#-F# (output). The triple proportion also involves an isography of the
left side, on figure 10.6, with the right side, on the same figure. That is, the
relation of the material grouped by the two right-hand beams, over measures
11-25 on figure 10.5, is an isography. Intervals of 5 span the trichords and
(therefore) measure the TCH-transpositions. They make the triple proportion
here sound almost like I-IV-V-I, especially since the pitch class F#, appear-
ing at the bottom of the first "I" and at the top of the final "I" in the
I-IV-V-I, has a certain tonicity about it as regards the pitch structure of the
right hand. Perhaps this sound led Travis to hear a functional I-IV-V-I
governing the tonal structure of the piece as a whole.
10.3 EXAMPLE: Figure 10.7 sketches aspects of the opening seven measures
from the first of Prokofieff's Melodies op. 35.1 am indebted to Neil Minturn
for bringing this passage to my attention. The four-fiat signature on the figure
is mine; Prokofieff writes no signature.
The harmony in the music is far from traditional. Yet it is diatonic
enough, and the outer voices are diatonic enough, so that some harmonic
events stand out as "strange." Foremost among these are the cadence har-
monies, E minor over the last half of measure 2 and Eb minor over the last half
of measure 5. At both these cadences we expect Eb-major harmony.
We can analyze the cadential substitutions by using the terminology of
Klangs and Klang-transformations. The network of figure 10.8 (a) does so,
and also brings the D-major Klang of measure 6 into the picture: D major, the
SLIDE transform of Eb minor, bears to the latter Klang the same relation 227
FIGURE 10.8
which E|j major, a Klang heard in the upper voices of measure 1 and expected
at measure 2^, bears to E minor, the Klang actually heard at measure 2j.
Figure 10.8 (a) does not attempt to engage the C-major and F-minor
228 triads of measure 6 in its Klang-network. The proportion among the four
triads of measure 6 (with pickup) is clear enough aurally, supported as it is by a

rhythm-and-contour motive: E[? minor is to C major as F minor is to D major.
But the proportion seems hard to portray by Klang-relations that mesh with
our aural intuitions. Formally, we can of course note that F minor is the minor
subdominant of C major, and that C major is the major dominant of F minor:
(F, -) (PAR) (SUED) = (C,+) and (C, +) (DOM) (PAR) = (F, -). But
how functional are these relations in a context that emphasizes the proportion
(E(? minor)-is-to-(C major) as (F minor)-is-to-(D major), all after a cadence
in Et>? And what sort of Klang relation might we hear in this tempo and
rhythm governing the terms of that proportion? Can we hear, for instance,
(Eb, -)(PAR)(REL)(PAR) = (C, +) here? Our attempt to hear any func-
tional Klang-relation is bound to be hindered by the parallel voice-leading
of the chords involved here.
It seems more fruitful to analyze the triadic formations of measure 6
using the discourse of pitch-class sets and pitch-class transformations. Indeed
we can fruitfully study the triadic formations of the entire passage using that
discourse. Figure 10.8(b) shows the result. To save space, major and minor
triads are denoted there by upper- and lower-case letter names. The new
analysis describes the triadic structure of the passage as follows, ignoring
sevenths and added sixths. First, E minor substitutes for an expected Efc> major
in the cadence at measure 2^; the transformation involved is inversion about
G, as depicted by the leftmost vertical arrow on figure 10.8(b). (Since we are
now talking about pitch-class sets and not Klangs, IQ is a pertinent transfor-
mation while SLIDE, which inverts a Klang about its mediant, is no longer
pertinent.) The pitch class G is a plausible center of inversion; it is highly
accented by its boundary functions within the opening melodic phrase of
measures 1-3. In particular, the substitution of E-minor harmony for E[?
major occurs exactly when the melody reaches its climax G, and the E-minor
harmony remains around while the melody drops back to the low G, where it
sits until its next phrase begins in measure 4 (on that G).
The next vertical arrow on figure 10.8(b) shows inversion-about-F#-and-
G relating the E|?-major harmony we expect to the Ej?-minor harmony we
hear, when the next cadence arrives at measure 5j. This inversion, which
replaces the pitch class G of the E(?-major harmony by the pitch class F# =
G[? of Eb minor, thereby develops the chromatic relation of the pitch classes G
and F#, the relation which governed the first chromatic event of the melody
(and of the music as a whole), when F# appeared on the second beat of
measure 1.
The structuring power of that F# is then developed as shown by the next
vertical arrows on figure 10.8(b). F# becomes a new center of inversion:
Inversion-about-F# relates E^-minor harmony to D-major harmony, and
also (NB) C-major harmony to F-minor harmony, all during the new thematic
material of measure 6 and following. E[? -minor and D-major harmonies mark 229
the temporal boundaries of the little phrase, while C-major and F-minor
harmonies mark its registral boundaries. The repeated rhythm-and-contour
motif within the phrase (of measure 6 with pickup) groups E[j minor with C
major, and F minor with D major. Since all the minor/major relations of
figure 10.8(b) so far have been analyzed as pitch-class inversions, the figure
also explores hearing E[? minor become C major by inversion (about F), and
hearing F minor become D major by inversion (about G). Those inversions
are depicted by horizontal arrows on the figure. Ip and I % thereby inflect the
central inversion, Ip"j|, for the little phrase of measure 6. The structural
centrality of F# between F and G in this arrangement recalls the melodic
position of F# in measure 1, where it mediated between a preceding melodic G
and a subsequent melodic F.
In connection with the vertical arrows of figure 10.8(b), we have noted
how the progressing centers of inversion develop the pitch classes G and F#
which are so characteristic of the incipit motive in the melody. We can also
adopt a purely intervallic stance toward the progression of inversional centers,
and toward the structure of the incipit motive. Figure 10.9 elaborates that
idea.
FIGURE 10.9
(a) of the figure is a network whose nodes contain the inversion oper-
ations associated with the vertical arrows of figure 10.8(b). The T M arrows
mean T n Ig = Ip^ and T n Ip# = Ip*. The family S of operands here is the
family of inversion-operations, and SGP is the group of left-multiplications-
by-transposition-operations, as that group operates on the stipulated S.
Figure 10.9(b) is essentially extracted from the accompaniment of mea-
sure 1, where it supports the thematic G-F#-F gesture of the melody. The
network implied by figure 10.9(b) is isographic to the network of figure
10.9(a).
The networks discussed in connection with figures 10.8 and 10.9 are
230 musically compelling at least to the extent that one would want to show how
they relate to other aspects of the music, as one goes on to explore those other
aspects. These topics, for instance, would repay such a study: the "minor-third
root relations" within measure 6 (with pickup); the chromatic line, rising in
parallel minor thirds, that starts with Eb-and-Gb at the pickup to measure 6
and ends with F#-and-A in the middle of measure 6; the tonal structure of the
bass line, either in Ab major or in a Mixolydian Eb.
10.4 EXAMPLE: The opening section of Debussy's Reflets dans I'eau, up to the
reprise at measure 35, is rich in interrelations between transformational
networks and other sorts of musical structures. A sketch for the passage
appears as figure 10.10.
The opening motive X plays a strong generative role. Particularly full of
import are the transpositions T and T' that respectively take Db to Eb and Ab
to Eb within the motive.
Figure 10.11 (a) isolates this structure for study. Depending on various
contexts to come, we sometimes hear the interval associated with T as one
diatonic step up, sometimes as a major second up, sometimes as two semitones
up, and sometimes as the pitch-class interval 2. The interval associated with T'
varies similarly depending on the GIS supplied by the context.
Figure 10.11 (b) shows how motive Y, which follows X in the music, can
be derived from X. Ab and Eb, connected by the T'-arrow, remain within Y.
The T-relation of 10.11 (a), between Db and Eb within X, is "folded in" both
temporally (serially) and in registral space, to become the T"1 relation dis-
played in 10.1 l(b), between F and Eb within Y.2
The mathematical logic of the X-to-Y transformation has the following
implication: If X should become T-transposed into T(X), then the new T-
relation between the pitches in order positions 1 and 3 of T(X) will specifically
engage the relation Eb-to-F, thereby retrograding the last two pitches of Y.
And in fact X is T-transposed into T(X) right after Y has sounded. The reader
can follow these events along on figure 10.10. The new pitch Bb4 of T(X) is
thereby generated in the principal melodic line. Within T(X), Bb-to-F is in the
T'-relation. And Bb, as the high point of T(X), is the T-transpose of Ab, the
high point of X.
Measures 5-8 repeat measures 1-4. As a result of the repeat, we hear
T(X) return to X via T"1; Bb also returns to Ab via T"1; and so on. Thus the
change from T to T"1, a prominent characteristic of the change from the
internal structure of X to the internal structure of Y, now characterizes on a
larger rhythmic level the change from the progression X-T(X) (measures
1-3), to the progression T(X)-X (measures 3-5).
2. The reader will recall our discussing earlier just such kinds of "folding" transformations
in connection with serial trichords. That was in section 8.3.2, where we examined the transforma-
tions FLIPEND and FLIPSTART. The transformation taking X to Y here is neither of those, but
it is of the same genre. 231
FIGURE 10.10
232
Transformation Graphs and Networks (4) 10,4
FIGURE 10.11
At measure 9 the new motive Zj appears in the melody. The way in which
Zj pulls together the pitches and intervals of X, Y, T(X), and the repeat of
those cells is aurally clear. The transformational situation is already so com-
plex that it would require an inordinate amount of discussion to describe this
synthesis adequately in words. Let us just explore a few of its features, as
displayed by figure 10.12.
FIGURE 10.12
The T"1 relation from F to E|>, which we heard within Y, is recapitulated

at the opening of Z t . The T"1 relation from Bfc> to At?, which we heard when
T(X) returned to X at measure 5, is recapitulated by the last two notes of Z t .
And the relation between those two T"1 relations, within Zj, is an inverse T-
relation. Figure 10.12 shows how this recalls the T'-features of X and T(X).
Beneath Zj in the accompaniment, a new idea makes its appearance. This
idea involves a continuous chromatic rise of a certain object (here a certain
3-note chord), over a total span of three semitones. The graph of this idea will
be called CHR; it is depicted in figure 10.13.
FIGURE 10.13 233

On Figure 10.10 we see how a CHR network fits homophonically

beneath Z^ The first, second, and third of the resulting 4-note chords in
measure 9 all have different structures. The fourth and last 4-note chord has
the same structure as the first. That is because the CHR network in the
accompaniment has risen 3 semitones overall, while Zl in the melody has also
risen 3 semitones overall, from its opening F to its closing Ab- The homo-
phony thus identifies the 3-arrow on the CHR graph with the interval that
spans F-to-Ab across all of Z x . Because of the ways in which Z t synthesizes
earlier motives, the F-to-Ab is heard in turn as part of a permuted Y embedded
within Zj. So the 3-arrow of the CHR graph can ultimately be traced back to
the Ab-F dyad within Y. The homophony between Zj^ and its CHR accom-
paniment is marked by a crescendo. The crescendo is to become a significant
thematic element.
In measure 10 the music of measure 9 is repeated and extended. The
crescendo recurs. In the melody the repetition gives rise to a rotated form of
Z l 5 marked "rot Z:" on figure 10.10. Rot Zl is Bb-Ab~F-Eb; it embeds
serially the original form of Y, Ab-F-Eb, and precedes this Y by its overlap-
ping inverse-RI-chained form Bb-Ab-F. (Bb-Ab-F is RICH'Âb-F-Eb).)
This relationship is more or less inherent in the derivations of X, Y, T(X), their
repetitions, and Z:.
When the music of measure 9 is extended during measure 10, a new
motive Z2 arises as shown on figure 10.10. Z2 is articulated, and associated
with Z l s by its contour and its rhythm. Figure 10.12 earlier analyzed Z x as a
pair of T"1-related dyads in an inverse-T' relation. Z2 can be similarly ana-
lyzed as a pair of T"1-related dyads in a T-relation. Figure 10.14 displays that
analysis.
FIGURE 10.14
The accompaniment below Z2 projects a new network whose graph is

CHR, a new network isographic to the network of measure 9 in the accom-
paniment. The new network is the T-transpose of the old, as indicated on
figure 10.10 by the T arrow leading from under measure 9 to under measure
10. The extended accompaniment within measure 10 rises 5 semitones from its
234 point of departure, in contrast to the accompaniment of measure 9, which rose
FIGURE 10.15
only 3 semitones from the same point of departure. Figure 10.15(a) is a graph
conveying this idea.
Graph (b) of Figure 10.15 is a homomorphic image of graph (a). The two
lower nodes of (a) each map into the one low node of (b), and the semigroups
(groups) of intervals for the graphs are isomorphic. Figure 10.15(c) is a
network whose graph is (b). We recognize that the pitches of (c) build a serial
form of Y in the precedence ordering, namely the series F4-AJ?4-8^4. This is
Y inverted about F4-and-A|?4. The retrograde of the form was Rl-chained
into Y within the rotated Zl motive we recently examined. We earlier noted
that F4 and A[?4 within Y were identified with the 3-semitone rise of the
chromatic accompaniment during measure 9. During measure 10, the F4 and
B[?4 of inverted-Y (that is, of figure 10.15(c)) are similarly identified with the
5-semitone rise of the extended chromatic accompaniment. The inverted Y-
form F4-A(74-B|?4, and the network of figure 10.15(c), are brought out by the
homophony in the same way as was the F-A[> dyad during measure 9: F4,
Aj?4, and Bfc>4 are the three notes of the melody in measure 10 that are
supported by "dominant-thirteenth" harmonies; no other harmony appears
more than twice during measure 10.
Figure 10.16 is a "product network." It adjoins beneath a copy of figure
10.15(c) the bass notes of the dominant-thirteenth chords in an isographic
network. These are exactly the bass notes of measures 9-10 which are in pitch-
class relation 3 to the melody above them. Beyond participating in that
relation, the pitches A|?2 and D|?3 on figure 10.16 also function as temporal
and registral boundaries for the bass line over measures 9-10. The tonality of
the piece further reinforces their structural significance. 235
FIGURE 10.16
Figure 10.16 shows how the pitch and pitch-class interval 3 is proliferat-
ing as a constructive element of the composition. The interval began as a
secondary phenomenon; its complement spanned Ab-to-F within Y, which
appeared as the difference between the T'-related Ab-to-Eb and the T"1-
related F-to-Eb- F-to-Ab then assumed greater prominence in the melody as
the temporal boundary for Z x , supported by the concomitant 3-semitone rise
of CHR in the accompaniment. Figure 10.16 shows how the melodic F-to-Ab
is verticalized in the harmony, and how the interplay of horizontal and vertical
3-intervals next generates a structural Cb in the bass. That Cb is the first
"middleground" chromaticism of the piece; it will take on formidable propor-
tions hereafter, especially after measure 18. In that connection, Cb will often
be heard in conjunction with F and Ab, following its prototypic generation on
figure 10.16.
Returning again to figure 10.10, let us now examine the large structure of
the principal melodic line over measures 1-17. The pitch C5 of measure 10 is
the climax of this line, which has been using the rising T and T'-inverse
transformations to ascend up to that point from the initial Db4. The
line is completely diatonic, so the leading tone C5 makes a strong effect as
a provisional climax. The effect is somewhat concealed by the chromatic
harmonization and by the possibility of hearing C5 as a neighbor to Bb4 on
a subordinate level, even though the harmony does not support the neigh-
boring function. Still, as one listens to the top staff of figure 10.10 by
itself through measure 17, it is clear that there is unfinished business for
the principal melodic voice in its upper register. That business will not be
fully discharged until well beyond measure 35, where our present analysis
will stop. Nevertheless, we shall hear before measure 35 further important
developments engaging C5 and Db5 in the principal melodic voice.
236 After the provisional climax on C5 in measure 10, the principal melody
sits for a while on B|?4 and then returns over measure 14 back down to Dj?4,
its original point of departure. The melodic descent embeds rotated Z l f
Bb-Ab-F-Eb, on the strong sixteenths of measure 14. Figure 10.17(a) shows
this and also shows how a rotated form of T(X) within the figuration proceeds
back down via T"1 to the correspondingly rotated form of X.
FIGURE 10.17
The sixteenth-note appoggiaturas, all by descending whole tones, give the

T"1 idea a heavy workout in the forefront of the melodic texture. Within
measure 14, the second half of the melody, F-Eb-Eb-Db, is in T'-relation to
the first half of the melody, Bb-Ab~Ab~Gb. The T' relations of Bb to F, and
of Ab to Eb, are very familiar by now. Figure 10.17(b) shows a further T'-
relation, one that involves the retrograde CHR gestures in the alto voice of the
same measure. Indeed, the entire second half of measure 14 is in T'-relation to
the entire first half of the measure. Figure 10.10 brackets a pentachord called
MAGIC which it asserts as controlling the first half of measure 14; T'
(MAGIC) then controls the second half.
Tonally, the music has progressed from the tonic pedal of measures 1-8,
through the dominant that opens measure 9, to the dominant-of-the-sub-
dominant that ends measure 10 under the melodic Bb4. After the peripatetic
harmonies that prolong the melodic Bb4, the harmony discharges its sub-
dominant obligation with T' (MAGIC) in the second half of measure 14, and
the tonal idea that carries measures 15-17 is a plagal cadence supporting a
prolonged Db4 in the melody. Figure 10.10 shows how T' (MAGIC) leads into
that cadence. I forego with great reluctance analyzing the music hereabouts in
greater detail, particularly the ingenious chaining of Y, rotated X, and rotated
Zl series in the outer voices of measures 16-17, and the set-theoretic relations
of those formations to the vertical sonorities there.
At measure 17^ and following in the music (represented as measure 18 on
figure 10.10), the cadential F of the plagal 4-3 gesture is confirmed by its
own verticalized Y-form F-D(natural)-C. The first interval of Y thereby ex-
pands in structural power, transposing Y = Ab4-F4-Eb4 into T_3(Y) =
F4-D4-C4. Earlier, figure 10.16 showed us how the original Ab-F dyad 237
FIGURE 10.18
within Y generated Cb, the minor third above Ab; just so, the same Ab-F now
generates D natural, the minor third below F.
Figure 10.18 shows how this idea is expressed very precisely by the three
verticalized Y-forms within measure 18. The music ties T_3(Y) and its D
natural together with Y and with J(Y) = A\?-C\?-D\>, the inverted form
which originally generated Cb in the bass of figure 10.16. J(Y) appeared there
as T3I(Y), where I is inversion about F-and-Ab: J(Y) appeared in the bass of
figure 10.16 coupled at the 3-interval beneath a structural melodic I(Y) =
F-Ab-Bb.
Within the soprano line of measure 18 there are also references to
permuted prime forms of melodic Y and melodic X, as indicated on figure
10.10. These recollections help get the new large section of the piece underway,
by recalling material associated with the opening.
Figure 10.10 also draws attention to the chromatic voice-leadings D-Eb
and C-Cb during measure 18; when the material repeats the voice leadings are
reversed and then repeated. The chromatic notes D natural and Cb involved in
the voice-leading gestures arise as already discussed in connection with figure
10.18.
I shall call the characteristic rhythm and contour that govern the second
half of measure 18 the "ruffling motive"; here the wind first ruffles the surface
of the pond. The ruffling motive is bound together with the Cb events we have
just explored, including the C-Cb voice leading, the vertical Y of figure 10.18,
and the vertical J(Y) of the same figure. The motive arpeggiates a Tristan
chord upwards and then partially arpeggiates a £5 harmony downwards, all
within the registral confines of the bass F3 and the upper note Ab4. The
Tristan chord is in the correct spacing at the right pitch-level, once the
doubling Ab3 of the ascending ruffle is removed.
Over measures 20-21, the Tristan-harmony-cum-ruffle-motive moves up
quasi cadenza in literal sequences, 3 semitones per stage, until it gets essentially
two octaves higher. The Tristan chord no longer contains any doublings.
Figure 10.19 graphs the beginning of the cadenza sequence.
Now that D natural, as well as Cb, is on the scene along with F and Ab,
the minor third or 3-semitone interval can be fully unleashed; the sequence at
hand unleashes it. Figure 10.19 has striking features in common with figure
238 10.16 earlier, where the 3-interval first began to flex its muscles in a chromatic
FIGURE 10.19
context. Both the figures start with their outer voices on the basic 3-dyad F-
and-Ab. In both, the outer voices then move by the melodic 3-interval, to
project Ab-and-Cb (G#-and-B) in the homophony. Both figures project forms
of the Y motive: In figure 10.161(Y) = F-Ab-Bb above is coupled to J(Y) =
T3I(Y) = Ab-Cb-Db below; figure 10.19 embeds Y and J(Y) subnetworks in
the ruffling as shown, and then sequences all Y-forms indefinitely.
I have no idea what private commentary on Wagner Debussy may have
intended by his use of the Tristan chord and his continued sequencing of it by 3
semitones, a sequence which Wagner artfully only suggests in the first-act
Prelude. Debussy's sequential cadenza, unleashing the hitherto restrained 3-
interval, makes perfect sense in his own composition, of course. The first
transposition of the Tristan chord, which Debussy spells as G#-D-F#-B, is a
subset of the MAGIC pentachord D-Cb~Gb-(Bb)-Ab.
Ruffle-cum-Tristan sequences eight times in the music, arriving at mea-
sure 22 essentially two octaves above its point of departure. Figure 10.10
shows the Tristan chord at measure 22 only one octave higher, with its upper
voices rearranged. That is to accommodate the subsequent voice-leading into
measure 24, and thence into measure 27 and measure 30; those events are
pretty clearly in the correct structural registers where figure 10.10 portrays
them. 239
For the music between measure 22 and measure 24, where the cadenza
again becomes mesure and a new theme appears, I hear two possible readings.
One of them, marked "CHR and ret CHR?" on figure 10.10, is reflected in
other notational aspects of the figure hereabouts. This reading takes the
descending minor third from F to D, first introduced on the figure at measure
18, and fills it in by a retrograde CHR line; in counterpoint to this, an as-
cending (prime) CHR line connects the Ej? of Tristan to the G|? of MAGIC;
MAGIC then saturates the music from measure 23^ to measure 27. The
ascending CHR line of this reading, from E|? to G^-within-MAGIC,
retrogrades the opening gesture of figure 10.17(b) earlier, which showed a
retrograde CHR line proceeding from Gb-within-MAGIC to E[?. On figure
10.10, brackets demarcate the CHR groups of four events into which the voice
leading is articulated by this reading. Since the earlier CHR networks of
measures 9 and 10 were associated with thematic crescendi, and since the
retrograde CHR events of measure 14 (figure 10.17(b)) could easily take a
diminuendo, it would be useful to explore in connection with this reading how
best to structure the "poco a poco cresc. e stringendo" that begins at measure
20. Does it stop at measure 22? Does it intensify there and continue on right
up to the arrival of the D natural at measure 23|? Does it continue even past
that, right up to the (subito?) ppp mesure at measure 24, where the low Ab
pedal comes in? I have put parentheses and a question mark on figure 10.10,
together with the crescendo sign under measure 22 there, to suggest and
emphasize these questions.
The other possible reading I hear is indicated on the figure by the
annotation "Voice-exchange Eb/F?" According to this reading, the basic
grouping is not of four CHR events, followed by ppp mesure; rather the basic
grouping is of three events within the Tristan harmony, followed by the arrival
of MAGIC harmony at the D natural that launches the uwmeasured section of
the cadenza, at measure 23^. This is the point where the progressively more
agitated ripples of the water turn into turbulence; at the (subito) ppp mesure
of measure 24 we presume that the burst of wind abruptly stops. The idea of
putting the structural downbeat for the MAGIC arrival not at the obvious
measure 24, but rather just at the moment where periodic wave motion turns
to "aperiodic" turbulence, in measure 23^, is extraordinarily poetic. I would
enjoy trying to play the passage this way for a small group of close friends; I
am not sure how well I could project it to a large public audience. Again, it
would be very helpful to have more indications for tempo and dynamics
between "pp, poco a poco cresc. e stringendo" at measure 20 and "(subito?)
ppp, mesure" at measure 24. As it is, the pianist's decisions about tempo and
dynamics will very much affect the sense of our alternate readings, and vice-
versa. I write "(subito?) ppp" because I can conceive that Debussy heard a
diminuendo from a MAGIC arrival at measure 23^ to ppp at measure 24, even
240 though he did not write such a diminuendo. In that case, one imagines the
wind dying down more gradually, making the turbulence subside gradually
into regular ripples again.
The rippling figuration over measures 24-29 ornaments a basic suc-
cession of two harmonies: The MAGIC harmony just under discussion moves
to a dominant-ninth structure at measure 27, as shown on figure 10.10. The
figure also shows, by notations under the staff, how the progression involves
precisely the two chromatic voice-leading gestures already exposed during
measures 18-19, that is D-to-Eb and Ct>-to-C. Within the overall progression,
each of the two harmonies is prolonged by (or accompanies) a form of a new
motive I call V, marked in parentheses on figure 10.10. V stands for "vari-
able"; the motive always proceeds by step up, third-leap up, step down, step
down, and step down, ending on the same note with which it started, but the
sizes of the "steps" and the "third" vary considerably, sometimes even within
one V-statement, and the rhythm of the motive is also extremely plastic. These
features of V presumably represent the perpetual mutations of things seen
through reflets dans I'eau. (One thinks of Monet's pond at Giverny.) The
descending part of the second V-statement here hooks up with the rippling
figuration just before measure 30, to project the descending hexachordal line
BJ7-A[7-G(?; F-Et?-D[?. We have heard this descending hexachord before,
namely in the melody of measure 14; there the B|?-A[7-Gb segment was also
launched by MAGIC harmony.
At measure 30 the V motive carries the final Dfr of the hexachord on
down to C5. We noted earlier that C5 was an interesting climax for the
principal melodic line over measures 1-17, and that the melody seemed to
have unfinished business in its upper register. Debussy is now, at measure 30,
turning his attention to some of that business. All at once, we hear bursting
forth from the ripples a Z-form in a principal melodic line, a CHR-related
network of trichords in parallel motion, and a crescendo; these were all aspects
of the music during its earlier rise over measures 9-10.
The Z-form Z 3 , articulated like Z2 earlier by rhythm and contour, circles
around the critical pitch C5. It does touch D[?5, but there is some question
as to how essential D[?5 sounds in the melodic line. Hitherto, all motivic T-
relations have been both by one diatonic scale degree and by two semitones (or
by major second). Now we have to respond motivically to a relation that is and
is not the same, between C5 and D|?5. This relation is quintessential^ by one
diatonic scale degree, but it is just as quintessentially by only one semitone (or
by minor second). Is this, or is this not, a bona-fide "T-relation?"
The answer, of course, is "Yes and no." We shall not get far arguing the
question in that form; but it will be very much worth our while to explore the
ways in which the answer is ambivalent. More generally, let us explore further
ways (beyond the issue of T-relation) in which we feel ambivalent about the
idea that the line might rise from C5 to D|?5 here.
The sense of structural rise seems strongly contradicted by the retrograde 241
forms for Z3 and CHR. Since we associated prime Z-forms with rising, over
measures 9-10, we naturally feel that a retrograde Z-form is falling. And of
course the retrograde CHR network is falling very decisively.
But the crescendo is motivically important too. No matter how much the
retrograde motives sound falling, the music is still rising in dynamic, like the
music of measures 9-10 that first led the melody up to C5. Debussy would
surely have written a diminuendo from mf, not a crescendo, had he heard a
completely subsiding effect here. It is difficult but crucial for the pianist to
husband the dynamics scrupulously, so the crescendo can proceed past mf and
on to f without actually attaining ff. (Think of narrow-bore brass!)
To support further the idea that the line might be rising to D[?5, we can
hear that D[?5 gets strong, if fleeting, harmonic support within the Z3-form.
D[?5 is specifically supported by T' (MAGIC) harmony, continuing to follow
the precedent of measure 14. Figure 10.20 shows what I mean.
FIGURE 10.20
Now the Dj? at the end of measure 14, the model for the D|?5 of figure
10.20 in the relation just pointed out, is (or becomes) a very strong cadence
tone; its function as an essential tone is not in doubt. By analogy, the D^S of
measure 30 sounds that much more essential.
But now a new consideration arises. The very strength of the fit between
figure 10.20 and measure 14 reminds us that everything shown on figure 10.10
from measure 22 through measure 30 has in effect been transferred up an
octave from the Tristan chord of measure 20, which served as a launching pad.
Figure 10.20, in particular, is still "an octave up" from measure 14. According
to this reading, the retrograde Z3 at measure 30 is an octave transfer of a form
that actually belongs an octave lower in the large melodic structure. C5 and
Dt? 5 within ret Z3 are to that extent not in the structural climax register at all;
they are octave transfers of C4 and D[?4, from the cadence register. That view
is afforded support by the melodic doublings hereabouts: Both the second V-
statement and the retrograde Z3 motive are doubled in the music an octave
242 below where they appear on figure 10.10.
Still, no matter what the pianist does with the balance of these doublings,
there has been no written dynamic heretofore as loud as mf, let alone mf with a
crescendo to f, and that aspect of measure 30 by itself makes it hard to deny
that we should hear C5 and D[?5 as climactic events to some extent, and not
just as doublings or transfers of C4 and D|?4.
In sum, the C5 and D(?5 of the retrograde Z3 at measure 30 are ambiva-
lent in many ways: It is unclear to what extent they address the issue of
unfinished business in the climax register of the principal line, and to what
extent they represent C4 and D[?4 transferred temporarily up an octave; it is
also unclear to what extent ret Z3 is "rising," and to what extent it is "falling."
The music plays with these ambiguities in the immediate sequel, via the little
descending arpeggios that alternate C with Db first in register 6, then in
register 5, and then in register 4. (The arpeggios are not shown on figure
10.10.) Eventually the ret Z3 figure returns down the octave, as shown on
figure 10.10. Or one could put it that the doubling in the upper octave drops
away. In any case, the registral issue is temporarily resolved in favor of the
lower register. We become particularly convinced of this at measure 35, where
the reprise begins. There we recognize the notes of Z3 in the lower register as
the notes of an alto voice that fits underneath the X motive of the soprano. We
might say that Z3 belonged in the lower octave all the time; it was only tossed
up an octave higher at measure 30 by the agitated activity of the waters, so to
speak, as a rare and curious submarine object that flashed momentarily into
view and then sank again. (One supposes that D|?4 is the surface of the pond.)
As Z3 subsides under the surface at the reprise, the unfinished business in the
climax register remains unfinished.
But the discussion of figure 10.10 has ended. I should discuss, if only
briefly, significant later events in the climactic register of C5 and above. The
key to this analysis is the passage sketched in figure 10.21.
FIGURE 10.21
The tune is supported by a cadential progression in Efr major over a tonic

pedal. The dynamic, ff and crescendo, is uniquely climactic for the compo-
sition. (The unexpected bursting forth of Eb-major harmony a measure before
figure 10.21 is only f, with a hairpin. Again the pianist must husband the
dynamics very meticulously.) Here B[?4 and C5, that could not rise farther at 243
measure 10 and rose to Db5 only problematically at measure 30, finally make
their breakthrough. Indeed, they get as far as £[7 5, with no question about it.
Db 5, significantly, is not on the scene now that we are in the key of Eb. And C5
is not a leading tone in the new key.
The "breakthrough" form of V at measures 57-58 directly follows two V-
essays of a very different character. Debussy tells us that the Bb4 and C5 of the
breakthrough are to be compared with the same pitches in measure 9-10,
by his use of the retrograde T(Z X ) motive. Whereas in measure 10 only the
Bb-Ab of Z x moved up to T(Bb-Ab) = C-Bb within Z2, now all of Zj =
F-Eb-Bb-Ab has moved up to T(Z1) = G-F-C-Bb, which is then retro-
graded in measures 58-59 so as to descend from the climactic V-statement.
Further, the whole tonality of the piece has temporarily moved up from Db to
Eb = T(Db), to accommodate and support the T-transformation of Zl. This
is indeed an extraordinary expansion of the original T-relation which, the
reader will recall, obtained precisely between the notes Db and Eb = T(Db),
the notes which started and ended the initial motive X. The potential for the
change of tonality was perhaps already latent in the transformation of X to
T(X) during measure 3. To the extent that T means "two semitones," T(X)
would have had to be supported by Eb harmony in measure 3 to have the same
"meaning" as X in measure 1.
We suggested in discussing measure 30 that the rise from C5 to Db5
within a Z-form could not be completely convincing because the minor second
(or distance of one semitone) is not completely T-ish in character. Now, over
measures 56 and following, the change of tonality from Db to Eb provides an
appropriate and enormous T-ish boost, enabling the melody to rise defini-
tively beyond C5.3
3. For a sensitive appreciation of dynamics and contours rising and falling over this piece
on a large scale, and also for a convincing view of the E|? major breakthrough as it articulates a
large rhythmic design, the reader is referred to Roy Howat, Debussy in Proportion (Cambridge,
244 England: Cambridge University Press, 1983), 23-29.
Appendix A: Melodic and harmonic GIS
Structures; Some Notes on the
History of Tonal Theory
Chapter 2 surveyed a variety of musical spaces pertinent to theories of

Western tonality. In some of these spaces, our intuitions of directed distance
or motion from one position to another were measured by steps along some
melodic scale, diatonic or chromatic, linear or modular. In other spaces,
our intuitions were measured by numbers reflecting harmonic relationships
of various kinds, or by moves on a game board derived from harmonic
relationships.
The richness of tonal music, and of music in related idioms, is much
enhanced by the ways in which a variety of such intuitions come into play. We
can review in this connection the Protean meanings of "the interval from F to
At?" in Reflets dans I'eau. We sense a harmonic interval within the Dt?-major
triad and the Tristan Chord; we sense also a melodic interval moving two
steps along a diatonic scale in D(? major, or along a diatonic hexachord
(the cadential descending hexachord BÂbGbFEbDj?); to some extent we
can even hear F-to-At? as one melodic step along the pentatonic scale
DbE^FA^Bt?, as we listen to the melody at the beginning of the piece; finally
we also hear F-to-Aj? as spanning three semitones along a chromatic scale,
once the CHROM figure comes onto the scene. A transformational approach
enabled us to sidestep these ambiguities in chapter 10, referring there to
transformations T and T' that mapped D[> to E|? and Aj? to £[7 respectively; we
could conceive T and T' as transpositions by "intervals" in any-or-all of the
conceptual spaces involved; then we could compute a corresponding trans-
formation T-1T' which mapped A(? to F in any-or-all of the spaces, a trans-
formation worked out musically in the change from motive X to motive Y.
Such transformational discourse is particularly useful to discuss archi-
tectural features of Reflets that obtain no matter what sorts of intervallic 245
Appendix A
intuitions one considers. For instance, the tonic of the climactic fortissimo E|?
major is in a T-relation to the tonic of D[? major no matter what kind of
interval, in what kind of melodic or harmonic space, we consider T to be
transposing D(? by. On the other hand, transformational discourse is corre-
spondingly impoverished when it conies to exploring the varieties of spatial
and intervallic intuitions at hand, and the ways in which the music brings
those intuitions into play, each with the others. In connection with the big
climax of Reflets, for instance, the major mode of the fortissimo music in E[?
favors certain kinds of intervallic intuitions over others, when we hear Ej?
major, not E|? minor, in relation to D[? major. The reader may also recall our
discussion of the high C-Db in the principal melodic line, and our question:
"Is this, or is this not, a T-relation?" That question implicitly involves very
broad questions about the premises of the composition: To what extent is the
piece diatonic-melodic, so that one scale-step is one scale-step, regardless of its
acoustical size? To what extent is the melos chromatic, so that one semitone is
something necessarily very different from two semitones, even if both are
spanning one diatonic step? To what extent is "the interval" attached to T
heard in a harmonic context that gives it a size somewhere between 10/9 and
9/8, but not as small as 16/15? To what extent can techniques of melodic
motivic transformation, involving the rhythm and contour of the Z motive in
particular, alter our impressions in any or all of these respects? and so on.
Exactly these ambiguities must be appreciated, if we are adequately to appre-
ciate the conceptual tensions of the local climax involving C5 and D|?5, beyond
its high register and relatively high dynamic level.
We return, then, to the variety of intervallic intuitions surveyed in chap-
ter 2. Pertinent syntheses of these intuitions are essential not only for many
occasions in critical listening and analysis, but also for many abstract theoret-
ical purposes. Indeed, such syntheses are among the greatest triumphs in the
history of Western music theory, and their neglect or failure has led to some of
the more embarrassing moments in that history. Among the latter, we may
cite Rameau's argument that the harmonic intervals of 5/4 and 6/5 may be
exchanged in relative register within the harmonic triad, so as to derive the
minor triad from the major. This may be allowed, he says, since 5/4 and 6/5 are
both "thirds."* But at the time he says this, he has not as yet presented us with
any scale along which we can measure distances of "three" degrees, and he has
assured us very strongly that melody is in any case thoroughly subordinate to
harmony.2
1. Jean-Philippe Rameau, Traite de I'harmonie reduite a ses principes naturels (Paris:

Ballard, 1722). "... la difference du majeur au mineur qui s'y rencontre n'en cause aucune dans
le genre de 1'intervale qui est toujours une Tierce de part & d'autre;..." (p. 13).
2. Ibid. "On divise ordinairement la Musique en Harmonic & en Melodic, quoique celle-cy
ne soil qu'une partie de 1'autre, & qu'il suffise de connoitre I'Harmonie, pour etre parfaitement
246 instruit de toutes les proprietez de la Musique,..." (p. 1).
Appendix A
One might try to replace Rameau's implicitly melodic argument about

the "thirds" by a suitable harmonic argument: The intervals 5/4 and 6/5 are
adjacent within the senario; they divide the interval 3/2 = 6/4 harmonically,
and so arithmetically when reversed; therefore such a reversal is logical. But
one could argue in exactly the same fashion for the intervals 4/3 and 5/4, as
they divide 5/3. Would Rameau, then, have accepted the argument that we
ought to consider the harmony G4-C5-E5 as functionally equivalent to the
harmony G4-B4-E5, by the analogous reasoning? Obviously, he would not
have; such reasoning there would violate the principle of the Fundamental
Bass. Helmholtz, however, might have been willing to entertain the argument;
indeed he actually asserts harmonic equivalence of a certain sort between the
six-four position of the major triad and the six-three position of the minor
triad. Both those positions comprise the highly consonant verticalities of a
fourth, a major third, and a major sixth; having the same vertical-interval
content, they are thereby the "most consonant" close positions for their
respective pitch-class sets.3
Among the triumphal syntheses mentioned earlier a high position must
be reserved for Zarlino's Istitutioni harmoniche.* Book 1 discusses intervals as
phenomena in a harmonic space. Book 3 discusses intervals all over again as
phenomena in melodic space, and synthesizes that approach with the math-
ematical ideas of book K Abstract harmonic ratios are accessible to our
perception (as well as our intellect) because they can be filled in by notes of a
diatonic series in melodic space; conversely, articulated segments of a uni-
directional diatonic series make sense to our understanding (as well as our
perception) because of the harmonic relations obtaining between the bound-
aries of the segments. This way of interrelating harmonic and melodic space
has much in common with central aspects of Schenker's theories, in particular
with Schenker's understanding of the Zug, and even specifically of the Urlinie.
Schenker's mature theory contains another triumphal synthesis of harmonic
and melodic space, understood now in the context of functional tonality.5
Even Zarlino has an embarrassing moment, confusing melodic with
harmonic space, when he comes to discuss the minor sixth. He wants to
analyze the major and the minor sixths as analogous structures. Specifically,
he says that they "are composed ... from the fourth plus the major third, or
3. Hermann Helmholtz, Die Lehre von den Tonempflndungen als physiologische Grundlage
fur die Theorie der Musik, 2d ed. (Brunswick: Friedrich Vieweg und Sohn, 1865). "..., so folgt
hieraus, dass die Quartsextenlage des Disaccords wohllautender ist als die fundamental, und
diese besser als die Sextenlage. Umgekehrt ist die Sextenlage beim Mollaccord besser als die
fundamentale, und diese besser als die Quartsextenlage." (p. 325).
4. Gioseffo Zarlino, Istitutioni harmoniche, 2d ed. (Venice: Senese, 1573). Facsimile re-
publication (Ridgewood, N. J.: Gregg Press, 1966).
5. Heinrich Schenker, Neue musikalische Theorien und Phantasien, vol. 3, Derfreie Satz
(Vienna: Universal Edition, 1935). 247
Appendix A
the minor third." 6 He might have continued: So, in a major mode such as
Ionian, the fourth G3-C4 plus the modal major third C4-E4 yields the major
sixth G3-E4, while in a minor mode such as Dorian, the fourth A3-D4 plus
the modal minor third D4-F4 yields the minor sixth A3-F4. The modal idea
is perfectly clear. Elsewhere, too, Zarlino makes a great point of the modal
relation between major and minor thirds in harmonic contexts; indeed he even
points to this as a specific resource for harmonic variety, beyond the resources
of the senario itself: Some chords have a major third or tenth over the bass,
others a minor third or tenth.7 One wishes, then, that he would have produced
G3-(C4)-E4 and A3-(D4)-F4, to illustrate a modal analogy between the two
sixths as being "composed ... from the fourth plus the major third, or the
minor third."
Unfortunately he does not do so. Probably he was not as sensitive as we
are to the thirds above the modal tonics C4 and D4 in the harmonic structures
above; those thirds are not over the bass notes of the structures. Whatever his
motivation, he attempts to realize the analogy of the sixths as a feature of his
harmonic space rather than his modal theory, and that leads him into confu-
sion. He has to adjoin the number 8 to the senario in order to get the harmonic
ratio 8:5 at hand for the minor sixth, and then he has to argue that the
proportion 8:6:5 is somehow analogous to the proportion 5:4:3 in his
harmonic world. He even claims that 6 is a "harmonic mean term" between 8
and 5; this is simply false if "harmonic" is to mean anything at all in the
context.8 We may fairly put his argument into modern dress by regarding it as
an attempt to draw a direct analogy between the major sixth G3-E4, as
divided by C4, and the minor sixth E4-C5, as divided by G5. Of course this
does not work. In particular, the conjuction of the minor third E4-G4 below
with the fourth G4-C5 above is not at all the same thing as the conjunction of
some fourth below with some minor third above, as in the Dorian modal sixth
A3-(D4)-F4.
Zarlino could also, of course, have analyzed the sixths as arising by
inversion from the thirds. But this approach would have been foreign to his
purpose, for then the sixths would not have been primary features of his
harmonic space, somehow embedded within the senario. Besides, the sixths
that arise from inverting thirds have a very different modal character from the
sixths that interest (or should interest) Zarlino. That is exactly the problem
6. Zarlino, 1st. harm., book 3, chapter 21. "... sono composte ... della Diatesseron et del
Ditono, over del Semiditono;..." (p. 193).
7. Ibid.,book3,chapter31. "... lavarietadell'Harmonia...nonconsistesolamentenella
varieta delle Consonanze, che si trova tra due parti; ma nella varieta anco delle Harmonic, la quale
consiste nella positione della chorda, che fa la Terza, over la Decima sopra la parte grave ...,
overo che sono minori ...; overo sono maggiori..." (p. 210).
8. Ibid., book 1, chapter 16. "... tal proportione tra 8 & 5 termini son capaci di unmezzano
248 termine harmonico, che e il 6;..." (p. 33).
Aooendix A
with his "minor" sixth 8:5 (E4-C5). To the extent that we hear it in a "C-
major" modal context as third-degree-to-octave, inverting tonic-to-third-
degree = C4-E4 = 5:4, a major third, the sixth itself has a "major" modal
character about it, despite its small size. Contrast that with the modal charac-
ter of A3-F4 in a D-Dorian context, as fifth-degree-(through-tonic-)to-third-
degree: This sixth, in its context, has a "minor" modal character as well as a
minor absolute size. Similarly, F4-D5 in D-Dorian, inverting D4-F4, has a
"minor" modal character despite its large size, while G3-E4 in C-Ionian has
both a "major" modal character and a large size.
Zarlino had no Stufen theory that could enable him to make such
discriminations. And yet it is quite possible that, even if one had been available
to him, he might have rejected it. He would have been uncomfortable making
the meaning of his harmonic intervals so dependent on the contextual assign-
ment of a modal tonic. For him this would have weakened the context-free
universality of his harmonic theory. Schenker, quite willing to assign struc-
tural priority to contextual modal tonics inter alia, uses his Stufen theory to
powerful effect in related connections. On the other hand, he finesses certain
problems about the universality of minor harmonic structures which Zarlino
attempts to confront, and succeeds in confronting to a remarkable extent.
Hindemith makes an interesting synthesis of melodic and harmonic
spaces.9 He tries to show that a chromatic scale from C2 to C3 is filled by those
pitches, and only those pitches, which lie in "closest" harmonic relation to C2
within a certain harmonic space. We ignore the overtones of C2; then G2,
within the desired scale-segment, is harmonically "close" to C2 because the
second partial of G2 is the third partial of C2. F2, within the desired scale-
segment, is "close" to C2 since the third partial of F2 is the fourth partial of
C2. And so on, casting away harmonic octave-replicates of pitches already
generated (which, happily, do not lie within the desired scale-segment). For
the most part, this works quite well, though a bit of strain is perceptible in the
construction of certain secondary relationships. The essence of Hindemith's
achievement was not just to find pitch classes that can be represented by
pitches within a chromatic scale. After all, Zarlino and his forerunners could
do that well enough and better. Rather, the achievement was to have shown
how pitches within a melodically well-packed region, a chromatic scale from
C2 to C3, could be regarded as pitches also within a harmonically well-packed
region around the tonic, harmonically well-packed according to Hindemith's
special algorithms for generating harmonic pitch-space. The one pitch with
which Hindemith has trouble is A[?2, the minor sixth above the tonic C2.
Curiously enough, his troubles resemble Zarlino's troubles with the minor
sixth. Hindemith can generate E2, E[?2, and A2 without using partials of those
9. Paul Hindemith, Unterweisung im Tonsatz: Theoretischer Teil (Mainz: B. Schott's

Sonne, 1937), 47-61. 249
Appendix A
pitches, or of C2, that involve numbers greater than 6. E.g.: The fifth partial of
Eb2 is the sixth partial of C2; the third partial of A2 is the fifth partial of C2.
But in order to find A[?2 by this method, he would have to have used an eighth-
partial relationship: The fifth partial of A|?2 is the eighth partial of C2. This
relation would presumably have made A(?2 too "remote" in harmonic space;
besides, it might have given rise to awkward questions about seventh-partial
relationships. (Zarlino has to deal with the analogs of such questions, when he
adjoins the number 8, but not the number 7, to his senario.) Presumably for
reasons of these sorts, Hindemith produces not A[?2 but Afc> 1 by his algorithm;
A)?! is a unique pitch which he generates in this way outside the octave
C2-C3. Then, without much explanation, he brings A|? 1 up an octave, so that
it will lie within his desired scale-segment.10
The foregoing discussion of ways in which some theorists have attempted
to integrate harmonic and melodic tonal spaces, or have failed to integrate
them, is not meant to be exhaustive or even representative. It is rather intended
to show that we do not really have one intuition of something called "musical
space." Instead, we intuit several or many musical spaces at once. GIS
structures and transformational systems can help us to explore each one of
these intuitions, and to investigate the ways in which they interact, both
logically and inside specific musical compositions.
10. Ibid. "The frequency ... of the fourth overtone [of C2] is now divided by 5 ... and so
generates ... Ab 1 ..., whose second overtone ... is inserted in our store of pitches. (Die
Schwingungzahl ... des vierten Obertones c1 wird nunmehr noch durch 5 ... geteilt ... und
erzeugt so ... das lAs ..., dessen zweiter Oberton ... in unseren Tonvorrat eingereiht wird.)"
250 (p. 54).
Appendix B: Non-Commutative Octatonic
GIS Structures; More on
Simply Transitive Groups
Let S be the octatonic family of pitch classes comprising C, Cft, Dft, E, Fft, G,
A, and Aft. Eight of the standard "atonal" operations on the twelve pitch-
classes transform S into itself; these operations are T0, T3, T6, T9, l£*, IG, 1°»
and l£*. The eight operations form a group on the twelve pitch-classes and
therefore, mapping S into itself, induce a group of corresponding operations
on S; we shall call those corresponding operations RO, R3, R6, R9, K, L, M,
and N respectively.
It is not hard to verify that the latter group is simply transitive on S: Given
members s and t of S, there is a unique OP, among the eight cited operations
on S, satisfying OP(s) = t. (If t is in the same diminished-seventh chord as s,
OP will be RO, R3, R6, or R9; if t is in the opposite diminished-seventh chord
from s, OP will be K, L, M, or N.) We shall call this simply transitive group of
operations STRANS1. The operations RO, R3, R6, and R9 may be thought of
as "rotations," to justify the use of the letter R in their names.
We can define another group of operations on S, STRANS2, as follows.
RO and R6 (as above) are members of the group; so are two "queer" oper-
ations Q3 and Q9. Q3 rotates each of the diminished-seventh chords within S,
but in opposite directions; it maps C to Dft, Dft to Fft, Fft to A, A to C, and
also Cft to Aft (not to E), Aft to G, G to E, and E to Cft. Q9 is the inverse
operation to Q3; it maps C to A , . . . , Dft to C, and also Cft to E,..., and Aft
to Cft.
Besides RO, Q3, R6, and Q9, STRANS2 also contains four "exchanging"
operations XI, X2, X4, and X5. XI exchanges pitch classes within S that lie
one semitone apart; it thus maps C to Cft, Cft to C, Dft to E, E to Dft, Fft to G,
G to Fft, A to A#, and Aft to A. X2 exchanges pitch classes that lie two
semitones apart; it maps C to Aft, Aft to C, Cft to Dft, Fft to E, and so on. X4 257
Appendix B
exchanges pitch classes that lie four semitones apart; it maps F# to A#, E to C,
G to D#, and so on. X5 exchanges pitch classes that lie five semitones apart; it
maps A to E, D# to A#, F# to C#, and so on. It can be verified that STRANS2
is a group of operations on S, and that it is simply transitive.
Using the method discussed in 7.1.1, we can develop a GIS structure for S
in which the members of STRANS1 are exactly the formal transposition
operations. We can call this structure GIS1 = (S, IVLS1, intl). In GIS1, then,
applying any one of the operations RO, R3, R6, R9, K, L, M, or N to a
member s of S amounts formally precisely to "transposing" the given s by a
suitable corresponding interval of IVLS1. We must be careful to distinguish
the operations K, L, M, and N, which are "GIS 1-transpositions" under this
formalism, from the operations l£* etc. that gave rise to them; !£* etc. are
inversion-operations in a different GIS, a GIS involving a different family of
(twelve not eight) objects, a different group of (twelve not eight) formal
intervals, and a different function int. Likewise, and more subtly, we must
distinguish the octatonic GIS 1-transpositions RO, R3, R6, and R9 from the
dodecaphonic atonal-GIS-transpositions T0, T3, T6, and T9.
As it turns out, the members of STRANS2 are exactly the interval-
preserving operations for GIS1. Every member of STRANS2 commutes with
every member of STRANS1. In fact, the members of STRANS2 are precisely
those transformations on S that commute with every member of STRANS1.
Using the method of 7.1.1, we can develop another GIS involving the
family S, a GIS for which the members of STRANS2 are exactly the formal
transposition operations. We can call this structure GIS2 = (S, IVLS2, int2).
In this GIS, applying any of the operations RO, Q3, R6, Q9, XI, X2, X4, or X5
to a member s of S amounts precisely to transposing s, formally, by a suitable
corresponding interval of GIS2. The interval-preserving operations for GIS2
are exactly the members of STRANS1; those are in fact precisely the trans-
formations on S that commute with every member of STRANS2.
Either GIS1, or GIS2, or both, might lead to results of interest in
analyzing a variety of octatonic musics. STRANS2 and STRANS1, which
figure as groups of interval-preserving operations in those respective GIS
structures, are thereby also likely candidates for CANONical groups of
operations in a variety of set-theoretical studies. The STRANS1-forms of a set
within S are exactly the dodecaphonically transposed and inverted forms of
the set that lie within S. The STRANS2-forms of a set within S are in general
a more novel sort of family. Taking (C, E, G), for instance, we apply to it
in turn the operations RO, Q3, R6, Q9, XI, X2, X4, and X5; its STRANS2-
forms are thereby computed as RO(C, E, G) = (C, E, G), Q3(C, E, G) = (D#,
Qf, E), R6(C, E, G) = (F#, A*, C|), Q9(C, E, G) = (A, G, AJ), XI (C, E, G)
= (Cfl,DJF,FJF) f X2(C,E,G) = (A#, Ffl, A), X4(C,E,G) = (E,C,D#), and
X5(C, E, G) = (G, A, C). If Y is any one of those eight sets, and Y' is any other
252 one, and f is any one of the eight operations in STR ANSI, then the number of
Appendix B
members of Y whose f-transforms lie within Y is the same as the number

of members of Y' whose f-transforms lie within Y': JNJ(Y, Y)(f) =
INJ(Y', Y')(f). More generally, if f is any one of the eight operations in
STRANS 1, and A is any one of the eight operations in STRANS2, and Y and
Z are any sets whatsoever within S, then INJ(Y, Z)(f) = INJ(A(Y), A(Z))(f):
the number of members of Y whose f-transforms lie within Z is the same as the
number of members of A(Y) whose f-transforms lie within A(Z).
As an exercise, the reader may consider a new family of pitch classes, S
= (C, C|, E, F, Gf, A), and develop on the new S two analogous simply
transitive groups of operations.
More generally, suppose now that S is any family of objects and that
STRANS is any simply transitive group of operations on S. Consider the
family STRANS' of transformations f on S such that f commutes with every
member of the given group STRANS. It can be proved that STRANS' is itself
a simply transitive group of operations on S, and that every transformation A
which commutes with every member of STRANS' is (already) a member of the
given group STRANS. When S is considered as a GIS whose formal transpo-
sitions are the members of STRANS, then the members of STRANS' will be
the interval-preserving operations. Dually, when S is considered as a GIS
whose formal transpositions are the members of STRANS', then the members
of STRANS will be the interval-preserving operations. If STRANS is com-
mutative, then STRANS' will be precisely STRANS itself.
253
Index
ADJOIN, 121 Central: defined, 7; interval, 49, 52-55 pas-

Anti-homomorphism, 14 sim
Anti-isomorphism: 14; i-to-Tj, 46, 47, 150 Cherlin, Michael, 137
AOD: 113-15; and interval-preserving oper- Chopin, Fr£d6ric, B-Flat-Minor Sonata, 85-
ations, 121-22 87, 114, figs. 4.6, 5.11
Argument, of function, 1 Christensen, Thomas, 163n
ARROW. See Node/arrow system Chronology: 173, 177; and precedence,
Arrow chain: 194-95; proper, 209 210-18. See also Precedence
Associative: law, 5; binary composition, 5 Closed, family of transformations, 4
Attack-ordered dyad, 113, 121-22. See also Cogan, Robert, and Escot, Pozzi, 160n
AOD Collection, of objects, defined, 1
Attack ordering, 117 Coltrane, John, 62
Common-note function, 144
Babbitt, Milton: and beat classes, 23; Semi- Commutative: defined, 6; GIS, 50, 53, 56,
Simple Variations, 136, 138-40, 141, figs. 58
6.7-6.9; Reflections, 138; hexachord theo- Complement, of set, 144-45
rem, 145 Composition: of functions, 2; binary, 5
Bach, Johann Sebastian, Two-Part Invention Cone, Edward X, 39n
#1, 183-84, fig. 8.5 Congruence, defined, 10
Bart6k, B61a, "Syncopation," 225-27, figs. CONTENTS. See Network, transformation
10.5-10.6 COV, 122
Beat class, 23
Beethoven, Ludwig van: First Symphony,
169-74, figs. 7.8-7.13, 8.1; Quartet op. Debussy, Claude, Reflets dans I'eau, 231-44,
245-46, figs. 10.10-10.21
135, 2lln; Sonata Appassionata, 213-17,
figs. 9.14-9.16 Diatesseron, symphony of, 204-06, fig. 9.8
Bernard, Jonathan W, 62/», 189 Direct product: of semigroups, 15; of
Binary composition, 5 groups, 15, 61; of intervals, 93-94; of
BIND. See Serial transformations GISs, 37-46, 174
Boundary tones, 94, 95, 98, 102-03, 235 Dispersive. See Transformations
Brahms, Johannes: G-Minor Rhapsody, DOM, 176-78, 229
119-21, figs. 5.14-5.15; Horn Trio, 165- Double emploi. See Rameau
69, 202-03, 207, figs. 7.6-7.7, 9.6 Duration classes, 24, 25
Bresnick, Martin, 67n5
Bushnell, Michael, 90, 141n EMB: defined for sets, 105; for set classes,
106; as probability, 107, 111; properties,
Cann, Richard, 85n7 107-08; topological model, 108-11, figs.
Canonical: group, 104, 106, 111, 113, 150- 5.9-5.10; and Partition Function, 152
52; equivalence, 104, 113, 121-22; forms, Embedding number. See EMB
105, 119 Environment, of a set, 97-98
Carriage return, 214-15 Equivalence classes: defined, 8; canonical,
Carter, Elliott, First String Quartet, 23n3, 104
62, 67-74, figs. 4.2-4.3 Equivalence relation: defined, 7; arising
Cartesian: product, 1; thinking, 158 from function, 7; and partitioning, 8; 255
Index
Equivalence relation (continued) If-only adjustments, 140-41

examples, 9; in quotient GIS, 33-35; IFUNC: defined, 90; examples, 89-99, figs.
canonical, 104 5.1-5.7; maximum values, 94, 95; proper-
External. See Transformations ties, 99-101; as probability, 101; and Z-
sets, 103; questions about, 103-04; un-
Family: of objects, denned, 1; finite, 144- rolling, 120; generalized by INJ, 147; ef-
45 fect of inversion on, 150
FLIPEND. See Serial transformations Induced map, of quotient family, 10
FLIPSTART. See Serial transformations INJ: defined, 124; free of GIS structure,
Forms, of a set, 105 134; and operations, 144-45; and set-
Forte, Allen: 9n, 103, 104, 143, 150; and complements, 144-45; as generalized
Gilbert, Steven E., 218/1 IFUNC, 147; for transformed X and Y,
Function: defined, 1; onto, 3; one-to-one, 3; 147-49; questions about, 149-50; general-
inverse of, 3; and equivalence relation, 7 izing K and Kh, 150-51; for infinite sets,
Functional: orthography, 2; equality, 2; 153, 154, 156
equations, 2-3 Injection function, 95, 99. See also INJ
Fundamental bass, 169, 170, 173, 175, 185, Injection number. See INJ
209, 247 Input: node, 207, fig. 9.9; Klang, 208, 215,
fig. 9.10; motive, 209; trichords, 227
Generalized Interval System (GIS): defined Int, 26
and discussed, 26-28; review of prelimi- Internal. See Transformations
nary examples, 28-30; and intuitions, Interval: intuitions about, xi-xii, 16, 17-20,
250. See also Commutative; Direct prod- 25-26, 74-75, 245-46, figs. 0.1, 4.4; re-
uct; IFUNC; Interval-preserving opera- placed conceptually by transposition, xiii,
tions; Interval-reversing transformations; 157-60, 245-46; scarce, 102-03; forwards
Inversions; LABEL; Non-commutative (backwards) oriented in time-span GIS,
GIS; Octatonic; Quotient; Simply transi- 113-14; between roots, 170; for TCH,
tive group; Timbral GIS; Time spans; 181; varying in Debussy, 231, 245-46; in
Transpositions Rameau, 246-47; in Zarlino, 247-49. See
Graph, 171, 190-92; transformation, de- also Central; GIS; IFUNC; Vector
fined, 195; operation, defined, 196; iso- Interval-preserving operations: and
morphism, 199; homomorphism, 201-06; LABEL, 47; defined, 47-48; form a
product, 204, fig. 9.8(d) group, 48; characteristic behavior, 48-49;
Greer, Taylor, 95n are sometimes transpositions, 49; com-
Group: of operations, 4; abstract, 6; direct mute with transpositions, 50; combined
product, 15; homomorphism, 14-15; quo- with inversions, 55; effect on IFUNC, 99;
tient, 15; of intervals, 25-26; of transpo- in time-span GIS, 111-13; and AODs,
sitions, 46-47; of interval-preserving 121-24; octatonic, 252
operations, 48; locally compact, 103; can- Interval-reversing transformations, 58-59
onical, defined, 104. See also Canonical; Inverse: function, 3; element of semigroup,
Simply transitive group 6; operation, 56
Inversions: defined in a GIS, 50-51, fig.
Harvey, Jonathan, 24n 3.7; and LABEL, 51; when functionally
Hasty, Christopher, 43n equal, 52, 53; combined with transposi-
Haydn, Joseph, Quartet op. 76, no. 5, 211/j tions, 54; combined with interval-preserv-
Helmholtz, Hermann, 247 ing operations, 55; combined one with
Hexachord: semi-combinatorial, 143, 148- another, 56; inverses of, 56; effect on
49; Babbitt Theorem, 145 IFUNC, 101, 150; as graph transforma-
Hindemith, Paul, 75, 249-50 tions, 190-92, fig. 8.12
Homomorphism: of semigroup, 13; and nat- Isography: informally mentioned, 183, 187,
ural map, 14; of group, 14-15; of node/ 192; defined, 198-200; further examples,
arrow system, 201; of graph, 201-06, 235 227, 230, 234
Howat, Roy, 244n Isomorphism: of semigroups, 13; i-to-Pj, 48;
of node/arrow systems and graphs, 199
Ictus, 42-44, figs. 3.4-3.6 IVLS, 26
Identity: operation, 4; element for semi-
256 group, 5 Jones, James Rives, 39«
Index
K, and Kh, 150-51 Non-commutative GIS, 50, 58. See also

Klang: 175-81, 213-14, 216-17, 227-29; in- Octatonic; Time spans
put and output, 207-08, fig. 9.10
Kramer, Jonathan, 211n Octatonic: scale, 17; non-commutative
Kurth, Ernst, 219/t GISs, 251-53
One-to-one. See Function
LABEL: defined and discussed, 31-32; for Onto. See Function; Graph, homomorphism
T,(s), 47; for Pi(s), 47; for Itfs), 51 Operations: defined, 3; group of, 4; on a
Lerdahl, Fred, and Jackendoff, Ray, 217« GIS, 46-59; and INJ, 144-45. See also
Lewin, David, 32n, 42«, 60n, 88n, 89n, DOM; Graph; LT; MED; PAR; REL;
120n, 128n, 141n, 193n Serial transformations; SLIDE; SUED;
Ligeti, Gyorgy, Poeme symphonique, 23/i3, SUBM
67 Ordering. See Attack ordering; Linear or-
Linear ordering: 135,146; and precedence, dering; Partial ordering; Precedence; Re-
211-12, 219 lease ordering
LT, 178 Orthography, left and right, 2, 176
Output: node, 207, fig. 9.9; Klang, 208, fig.
Mapping: defined, 1; of a set, 88 9.10; trichords, 227
Maximum values: of IFUNC, 94; of INJ,
140-41, 142 PAR, 178, 229
Measurable transformations, 153 Partial ordering: of pitch classes, 135-40
Measure: abstract, 153; on time-span GIS, passim, figs. 6.7-6.9; of nodes, 209, 211
154-55 Partition Function, 152
MED, 176-77 Peel, John, 174
Melody, models for, 133, 219, fig. 9.17 Pitch notation, xiii
Minturn, Neil, 227 Precedence: relation, 210; ordering, 210,
Modular musical spaces, 17, 20-25 passim, 219; and chronology, 210-18
36. See also Quotient, GIS Probability: and IFUNC, 101; and EMB,
Modulation of transformational system, 129, 107, 111
148-49 Product: of graphs, 204, fig. 9.8(d); net-
Moorer, James A., and Grey, John, 84n work, 206, 235, figs. 9.8(d), 10.16. See
Morris, Robert D., 104n, 105/j also Cartesian; Direct product
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, G-Minor Sym- Progressive. See Transformations
phony, 220-25, figs. 10.1-10.4 Prokofieff, Serge, Melodies op. 35, 227, figs.
MUCH. See Serial transformations 10.7-10.9
PROT: defined, 134; and rows, 134-35, 146
Nancarrow, Conlon, Studies for Player Protocol pairs, 134, 211. See also PROT
Piano, 23n3, 66-67
Natural map: onto quotient family, 8; onto Quotient: family, 8; semigroup, 10-12;
quotient semigroup, 12 group, 15, 29; GIS, 29, 32-37
Network, 164, 165, 168, 170, 172, 176, 177,
178, 192; transformation, defined, 196;
connected operation, 197; operation de- Rahn,John, 174
fined, 197; isography, 198-200; product, Rameau, Jean-Philippe: 73, 175, 246-47;
206, 235, figs. 9.8(d), 10.16; as model for double emploi, 213, 217
series, 206, 218; Schenkerian, 214, 216- Reflexive property, 7
18, fig. 9.16; and time spans, 215-16, Regener, Eric, 103n, 144, 145, 152
217, fig. 9.15; and melody, 219, fig. 9.17 REL, 178, 213, 229
Node/arrow system: defined, 193; communi- Release ordering, 117
cation in, 193-94; connected, 194; arrow RICH. See Serial transformations
chain in, 194-95; isomorphism of, 199; Rl-chaining: 164, 235; in both pitch and
homomorphism of, 201. See also Prece- rhythm, 221-22; in 1. and r. hands, 226-
dence 27. See also Serial transformations, RICH
NODEMAP. See Node/arrow system, iso- and TCH
morphism of, homomorphism of Riemann, Hugo, 22n, 73, 175, 177
NODES. See Node/arrow system Row, as set in PROT, 134-35 257
Index
Schenker, Heinrich: 165, 174, 214, 247, 249; 112, 154-56, fig. 4.4; and networks, 215-
and networks, 216-18, fig. 9.16 16, 217, fig. 9.15
Schoenberg, Arnold: Violin Fantasy, 101- Time unit: discussed, 61; contextual, 67
03, fig. 5.8; "Angst und Hoffen," 125-33, TLAST. See Serial transformations
148, figs. 6.1-6.5; "Die Kreuze," 133-34, TMSPS, 60
fig. 6.6; Moses und Aron, 136, 137-38, Transformations: and intuition of musical
fig. 6.7; Piano Piece op. 19, no. 6, 141, space, xiii; defined, 3; internal and pro-
143, 160, figs. 6.10, 7.1 gressive, 126, 132, 134, 141, fig. 6.6; ex-
Scholica Enchiriadis, 204 ternal and dispersive, 142-43, 164;
Semigroup: of transformations, 4; abstract, modulated, 148-49; measurable, 153. See
5; multiplicative notation, 5; congruences also Graph; Network; Operations; Serial
and quotients, 10-12; homomorphism and transformations
isomorphism, 13-15; direct product, 15 Transitive property, 7
Transpositions: can replace intervals con-
Serial transformations: RICH and TCH, ceptually, xiii, 157-60, 245-46; defined in
180-88 passim, 221-24, 226-27; MUCH, GIS, 46; form a group, 46-47; and
183, fig. 8.5; RT and RI, 188; TLAST LABEL, 47; sometimes preserve inter-
and TFIRST, 188-89, fig. 8.10; vals, 49; commute with interval-preserv-
FLIPEND and FLIPSTART, 189, fig. ing operations, 50; combined with
8.11; and commutative GIS, 189-90; I, inversions, 54; effect on IFUNC, 100;
192; BIND, 208-09 form simply transitive group, 157; in
Set: mathematical, 1; in a GIS, 88; environ- octatonic GISs, 252
ments of, 97-98; class, 105; in a family S, Travis, Roy, 225, 227
124; transitivity, 129; theory in infinite Tristan chord, 238-40, 242
case, 152-56
SGMAP. See Graph, isomorphism, homo- Unfolding. See Unrolling; Vector
morphism Unrolling: interval vector, 116-19; EMB,
SGP. See Graph, transformation 119-20; IFUNC, 120; INJ, 131
Signature motive, 137-38
Simple ordering. See Linear ordering Value, of function, 1
Simply transitive group, 157; as transposi- Varese, Edgard, 189
tion group, 157-58; on Klangs, 179-80; Vector: unfolding interval, 44; interval, 98,
on octatonic family, 251-53; and its com- 104, 114, fig. 5.12; M-class, 106-07
muting group, 253 Wagner, Richard: Parsifal, 161-64, 181-82,
Slawson, Wayne, 85 figs. 7.2-7.5, 8.3; Tarnhelm and Valhalla
SLIDE, 178, 227 networks, 179, fig. 8.2; Todesverkiindi-
SNDW, 121 gung, 183-88, 208-09, figs. 8.6-8.9, 9.11.
Stockhausen, Karlheinz: rhythmic theory, See also Tristan chord
24n; Gruppen, 24n; Aus den sieben Webern, Anton: Piano Variations, 38-44,
Tagen, 62; Klavierstuck XI, 66 181, 182-83, 190-92, 200, figs. 3.1-3.6,
Strunk, Oliver, 2Q4n 8.4, 8.12, 9.5; Pieces for Violin and
SUED, 177-78, 229 Piano, no. 3, 90-99, figs. 5.2-5.7; Pieces
SUBM, 178 for String Quartet, op. 5, no. 4, 188-89,
Symmetric property, 7 fig. 8.10
Wedging, 124-32 passim, figs. 6.1-6.4, 6.6
Wintle, Christopher, 136n
TCH. See Serial transformations
TFIRST. See Serial transformations Zarlino, Gioseffo, 73, 247-49, 250
Timbral GIS, 82-84, 84-85, fig. 4.5 Zero time point, 63
Time spans: defined, 60; commutative GIS Z-sets: generalized by IFUNC, 103-04;
for, 61; non-commutative GIS for, 74-81, generalized further by INJ, 149-50
258

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Foreword by Edward Gollin ix

Meas. Stufe Lage <hi-mid-lo> TPERM interval VPERM interval

(b) Discuss features of the construction which you find revealed by

b) Modulating section of Valhalla, Rheingold II,5ff.

xiv 1. See item 1 in the foreword, p. x.

II. An interesting transformation network is used by Lora L. Gingerich, ". . .

TETRA (Ob78 312a 6549) = 780b 4659 123a;

The transformation TETRA is a formal interval-preserving operation of the

IV. Appendix B in GMIT outlines two possible non-commutative GIS structures

X5-transform of series 2a; 2g is a combinatorial inversion of series 2f, and 2h

V. Daniel Harrison, in a recent study of triple counterpoint, has made interesting

xviii 2. See item 3 in the foreword, p. xi.

Meas. Stufe Lage <hi-mid-lo> TPERM interval VPERM interval

Meas. Stufe Lage <hi-mid-lo> TPERM interval VPERM interval

To begin with we consider certain operations ADD{j,m}, where j is some

Thus, in the above example, order-positions 3, 7, b

Now we shall develop another group of operations on SPECIAL rows, a group

CANONICAL FORM: ADD{jO,0} ADD{j3,3} ADD{j6,<5}

The chromatic scale is one SPECIAL row. It is straightforward, if tedious, to

xxiv 3. See item 4 in the foreword, p. xii.

VII. The injection function, discussed in chapter 6 of GMIT, can be generalized

Take S' to be the family of pitches

Take X to be the set of all numbers in S divisible by 4; thus

Take Y' to be the triad {D4,F4,A4} within S'. XXV

pitches or pitch classes. Chapter 2 begins by running through twelve examples

Note on Musical Terminology

A mathematician would begin by saying, "Let S be a set." Unfortunately,

1.2.1 DEFINITION: A function or mapping from S into S' is a subfamily f of

If we think of fas a table, listing members of S (arguments) in a column on

This special definition of functional equality is worth stressing. We shall

1.2.4 Let me draw special attention to the orthographic convention whereby

1.2.6.4 THEOREMS: Given the situation as in 1.2.6.3 above, then f ~* is indeed

The theorems are stated without proof.

The theorem is given without proof.

1.3.1 DEFINITION: A function from a family S into S itself will be called a

1.3.2 DEFINITION: Given a family S, a collection F of transformations on S is

1.3.3.1 DEFINITION: The identity operation on a family S is that operation 1

1.3.3.2 THEOREM: For any transformation f on S, the functional equations

1.3.3.3 THEOREM: A transformation f on S is an operation (i.e., 1-to-l and

1.3.4 DEFINITION: By a group of operations on S we shall mean a family (i.e.

Condition (B) guarantees that the members of G are indeed operations,

of transformational composition. That is, the composition of transformations

1.4.1 DEFINITION: A binary composition on X is a function BIN that maps

1.4.2 DEFINITION: A binary composition on X is associative if BIN(x,

A familiar non-associative binary composition on the natural numbers

1.4.3 DEFINITION: A semigroup is an ordered pair (X, BIN) comprising a

It is traditional to write the binary composition for a semigroup using

There are, incidentally, semigroups that have an infinite number of left

1.6.1 DEFINITION: Given a semigroup with identity e; given an element x, a

1.6.2 THEOREM: If an element x of a semigroup with identity has both a left

1.6.3 In multiplicative notation for a semigroup with identity, the inverse of

1.7 DEFINITION: A group is a semigroup with identity in which every element

The abstract definitions of "semigroup" and "group" (1.4.3; 1.7) are

1.8.1 DEFINITION: Given a binary composition BIN on a family X, elements x

The group of transposition and inversion operations on the twelve pitch-