In
Schenkerian analysis Schenkerian analysis is a method of analyzing tonal music based on the theories of Heinrich Schenker (1868–1935). The goal is to demonstrate the organic coherence of the work by showing how it relates to an abstracted deep structure, the ''Urs ...
, a structural level is a representation of a
piece of music
Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are calle ...
at a different level of abstraction, with levels typically including foreground, middleground, and background. According to Schenker musical form is "an energy transformation, as a transformation of the forces that flow from background to foreground through the levels."
For example, while details such as melodic notes exist at the lowest structural levels, the foreground, in the background the
fundamental structure is the most basic structural level of all
tonal music, representing the digression from and necessary return to the
tonic that motivates
musical form
In music, ''form'' refers to the structure of a musical composition or performance. In his book, ''Worlds of Music'', Jeff Todd Titon suggests that a number of organizational elements may determine the formal structure of a piece of music, suc ...
. It may be conceived of in a specific piece as the opening in the tonic and the return to the tonic with a
perfect authentic cadence
In Western musical theory, a cadence (Latin ''cadentia'', "a falling") is the end of a phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards. Don Michael Randel ( ...
(V-I) after the
development of
sonata allegro form
Sonata form (also ''sonata-allegro form'' or ''first movement form'') is a musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of the 18th c ...
.
Strata is the translation given by John Rothgeb for ''Schichten'' ("Levels") as described by Oswald Jonas in his ''Introduction to the Theory of Heinrich Schenker''. This translation did not gain wide acceptance in modern Schenkerian literature and the translation of ''Schichten'' as "levels" usually has been preferred.
[The word "strata" can be found in L. D. Blasius, ''Schenker's Argument and the Claims of Music Theory'' (Cambridge, 1996), alongside "level". It appears once in M. Brown, ''Explaining Tonality'' (University of Rochester Press, 2005), p. 138, in a quotation from J. Rothgeb's translation of a text from ''The Masterwork in Musik'', vol. I; Brown otherwise prefers "level". It is not used in F. Salzer, ''Structural Hearing'' (Boni, 1952), in A. Forte and S. E. Gilbert, ''Introduction to Schenkerian Analysis'' (Norton, 1982), or in E. Aldwell, C. Schachter and A. Cadwallader, ''Harmony and Voice Leading'' (Schirmer, 2011), etc., where "level" is used exclusively.]
See also
*
Klang (music)
*
Prolongation
In music theory, prolongation is the process in tonal music through which a pitch, interval, or consonant triad is considered to govern spans of music when not physically sounding. It is a central principle in the music-analytic methodology ...
*''
Urlinie''
Sources
{{Schenkerian analysis
Schenkerian analysis