National Metrical Types in Nineteenth Century Art Song
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Date
2009-10
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Empirical Musicology Review
Abstract
William Rothstein’s article “National metrical types in music of the eighteenth and
early nineteenth centuries” (2008) proposes a distinction between the metrical habits of 18th and
early 19th century German music and those of Italian and French music of that period. Based on
theoretical treatises and compositional practice, he outlines these national metrical types and
discusses the characteristics of each type. This paper presents the results of a study designed to
determine whether, and to what degree, Rothstein’s characterizations of national metrical types are
present in 19th century French and German art song. Studying metrical habits in this genre may
provide a lens into changing metrical conceptions of 19th century theorists and composers, as well
as to the metrical habits and compositional style of individual 19th century French and German art
song composers.
Description
Keywords
meter, 19th-century art song, barring, phrasing
Citation
Empirical Musicology Review, v4 n4 (October 2009), 134-145