GJ29561

Multilayered Rhythms, Meter, and Notated Meter: Temporal Processes in Elliott Carter's
Second String Quartet

Author(s): Tiina Koivisto
Source: Theory and Practice, Vol. 34 (2009), pp. 141-171
Published by: Music Theory Society of New York State
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41054398
Accessed: 29-12-2017 23:04 UTC
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Multilayered Rhythms, Meter, and
Notated Meter: Temporal Processes in
Elliott Carter's Second String Quartet
Tiina Koivisto
Rhythm and meter in nontonal music pose specific challenges, as nontonal music
presents new resources in pitch language that are associated with a change of
rhythmic language. In his music, Elliott Carter has offered compelling solutions to
deal with the new rhythmic resources. His use of multilayered rhythmic organiza-
tion results in a tremendous sense of energy, motion, and fluidity. In this paper, I
explore how Carter's multilayered rhythmic organization contributes to the formal
design of his Second String Quartet (1959).1 In my analysis, I will illustrate how
Carter's multilayered organization interacts with the notated meter. I will also dis-
cuss how the work's rhythmic organization interacts with its pitch organization.
Since the mid- 1940s, Carter intimately connected his multilayered rhyth-
mic techniques to temporal continuity and form. Asserted Carter at the end of the
1960s, "I tried to think in larger-scale time-continuities of a kind that would be
still convincing and yet at the same time new in a way commensurate with, and
appropriate to, the richness of the modern musical vocabulary."2 Large-scale tem-
poral design was significant for Carter since he felt that local rhythmic solutions
in much contemporary music failed regarding large-scale functionality: "While
there had been a degree of rhythmic innovation on the local level . . . nonetheless
the way all this went together at the next higher and succeeding higher rhythmic
levels remained in the orbit of what have begun to seem to me the rather limited
rhythmic routine of previous Western music."3
Several authors have discussed Carter's multilayering practices.4
Analysts have elucidated the development of Carter's rhythmic techniques, and
there is also an increased interest in the particular ways his techniques contribute
to large-scale continuity. For example, David Schiff notes that metric modulation,
the differentiation of rhythmic strands by instrumental characters, and the plan-
ning of temporal relationships - characteristic techniques of Carter's music -
affect the large-scale design of his music.5 Jonathan Bernard surveys in more
detail Carter's multilayered techniques of the late 1940s to the early 1960s explor-
141
1 42 Theory and Practice
ing the simultaneities of rhythmic strands.6

account of large-scale organization in Carter'
long-range polyrhythms in his works from th
emergence from the 1960s onward of larger
multi-layering rhythmic techniques. He also
the use of polyrhythmic patterns spanning an
characteristic of Carter's later rhythmic idiom
one logical continuation for the multi-layerin
out, long-range polyrhythms were a way to c
layers, to regulate beat divisions in these laye
a global plan provided by the polyrhythmic pa
has explored the questions of rhythm and fo
has investigated the role of large-scale polyrh
and functions of meter, and to the expressive
Multilayered rhythmic organization in Ca
sidered to result in a non-metric quality in which
al. This is not surprising, as the conventional
chical structures based on regular beats, somet
question of meter becomes more interesting,
although Carter strove to warp the continuou
the hierarchic structures built upon such regu
nation of and interaction among different lay
metric profile through their pulsating pattern
the local pulsating patterns to larger-scale tem
How do we examine a temporal space in w
pulsations are in a constant state of "change-
temporal events become related to temporal c
succeeding higher rhythmic levels,"11 but in
sense of rhythmic articulation through accen
David Lewin's models based on generalized int
this regard.12 His models take as their point o
tempi and the forming of processes and progr
Applying Lewin's GIS structures to tempo
temporal structures from the point of view o
dispute the distinction between metric and
speaks instead about the "mensural character"
ter of music may be equally vivid whether it
which there is one clear referential time-unit
unit can become locally referential. As Lewin
one clear contextual referential time-unit is
including that of the European Classical-Rom
space that does not rely on such a time-unit
twentieth-century musical idioms, as well as m
an analytical approach based on processes tha
layers of pulse streams will allow us to draw o
is considered akin to a process and defined as
MULTILAYERED RHYTHMS 143
work, and in which those layers consist of streams of

Lewin examines a passage from Carter's First Str
how the different tempi of its instrumental parts
through the relationships among tempo layers.16 He no
mic space does not ask for "one overriding referential uni
did variety of consonant ratios among the entities inv
succeed one another, projecting a logical composit
employs Lewin's model to explore rhythmic continuit
ining the rhythmic procedures in two of Carter's Eig
(1950).18 Uno demonstrates how the formal layout of t
tions and transformational processes of pulse streams.
the works are shaped by the relationship between two
ity/stability and rhythmic discontinuity/abrupt fluc
view, the unique status of the metric modulation withi
be questioned: Uno writes that "[t]he rhythmic fluidit
tematic changes in the grouping and speed of pulses:
merely as landmarks in the continuous stream of chan
Below I use aspects of Lewin's transformational a
temporal continuities and formal design in Carter's S
approach helps explore the role of meter and notated
rhythmic organization of the quartet. I will show how
streams involves not only the interaction among the t
ways in which this interaction gives rise to local met
tantly, the way all of this is connected to the notated m
In the Second String Quartet, pulse streams are fl
in which they become synchronized with the notated
itself and its tempi change from one section to another
in the sections.22 This fluid linking of the pulse strea
notated meter is emphasized generates temporal proc
meters act as points of references. These processes oc
ly, and affect the overall temporal progression of th
shape of its sections. The role of the notated meter is
significant passages and sections. This role gives the n
quences, since its time-units become referential over lo
fonction at various temporal levels. The rhythmic spa
more controlled and condensed than would be a rhyth
the coordination of the pulse streams. On the other h
more flexible than would be a rhythmic space based ma
The temporal organization of the Second String Q
interesting development of Carter's rhythmic practic
1959, dates from a period during which the composer
ment of multi-layering techniques toward creating
rhythmic space, but had not yet begun to use long-ran
a basis for tempo relations. Comparing the Second Str
String Quartet, which was composed eight years earlie
ing these two quartets now, I get the impression of th
144 Theory and Practice
worlds, the first in an expanded one, the

one - although this was hardly a consciou
position."24 The Second String Quartet illu
more clarified temporal space and toward
rhythmic strategies he uses in the quartet
later in rhythmic spaces that employ lon
arise from the way Carter coordinates rhy
create large-scale and local rhythmic tensi
String Quartet these resolutions and goals
the pulsations with the notated meter
polyrhythmic practice this synchronizatio
of the polyrhythmic patterns. In both pr
processes to emphasize the structure of th
key structural moments.25 Such processes
that permeate the global and local tempor
* * *
In my analysis o
describe rhythm
Lewin developed
employs pitch no
tempo relations i
tieth century, Co
already in 1853 H
monic structures
used by Lewin an
When using pitc
pitches. If, for e
tus of 112, the r
octave C3-C4, as
224 and 336 (2:3
tempi 336 and 56
these tempi can r
thus offers a fam
In offering a w
among pulse stre
sider the most si
toward or away f
tions that are ind
type of turning
Several charact
tice are present i
typically connect
shown in Examp
the piece (with th
. A
•n mm 448 y^
i^MM224 1
MM 224 «h
J MM 112 1:2 <T 6V

' v i» ti :
CExamyie
First violin: f
Second violin:
Viola: rubato, expressive
Cello: accelerando and ritardando, impetuous
£xamp(e i£>. Rhythmic and expressive characters of the instruments.
tiples. This speed sometimes coincides with the other instruments' speeds or the
notated meter. When it does not, it is treated in specific ways, one of which is to
form local polyrhythmic patterns. Second, the impetuous cello frequently uses its
accelerandi and ritardandi to create its own layer of rhythmic activity. In addition,
the instruments may bring forward their characters by forming strands of equally-
distanced attack points, thus creating a strong sense of differentiation among con-
trapuntal layers. In certain instances two or more simultaneous tempi, which are
identical with the notated meter, can be displaced in relation to each other or the
notated beat. These discrete ways of forming pulse streams independent from the
notated meter arise from the grouping or accentuation of the events, as well as
from continuous "off-beat" attack points.29
In sections and passages that synchronize with the notated meter, a com-
mon - and traditional - device is the forming of a rhythmic fabric in which sever-
al discrete subdivisions of the notated beat are superimposed. The discrete beat
subdivisions are typically connected to the discrete characters of the instruments.
A second and more distinctive strategy is to use composite rhythms among the
instruments to bring forth the notated meter. This strategy occurs, for example, at
moments of culmination or departure, which thus act as points of initiation or res-
olution for temporal processes. In such processes, the use of composite rhythms
helps bring forth the notated meter while maintaining aspects of the rhythmic pat-
terns of individual layers.
Metric modulations are employed as transitions from the tempi of one sec-
tion to another. Carter discusses the use of metric modulation in his works from
the 1940s and '50s:
Of course, ... all kinds of uses were made of metric modulation, both as a mode
of proceeding smoothly or abruptly from one speed to another and as a formal
device to isolate one section from another.

very often a new section with a different sp
er layer continues in the same speed.30
In the Second String Quartet, metric modul

mal junctures and become one type of turn
pulse streams. These transitions are typical
subdivisions are anticipated in the previous
one instrument that carries over its speed to
part of a different rhythmic context. In som
ulation is the main characteristic of a secti
sages of accelerandi in which all instrumen
* * *
Examples from
cussed above. Ex
mic organization
the movement i
tempi of each
important pitch
the general rhyt
as the main me
shown in the ex
specific ways in
meter function a
An overview o
and concluding s
the middle sect
tive entries base
tinctively mult
(mm. 117-134) b
them by the no
ing the first mo
Example 2b sh
notated beat. Th
tuple subdivision
al subdivision ty
of the notated
Throughout the
lin - thus emph
1 other instrum
each section. Th
more or less act
speeds, but no n
FIRST MOVEMENT
FIRST PART SECOND PART
[35] [57] [óÕ] [75] [88] [98] [ÏÏ7]

FORMAL • "MMU2 J.SMM186.7 J = MM 140 |J=MM140) J.= MM163.3 LP.=
FORMAL LAYOUT |0 enin
Opening section Transition Middle section Closing section I seçtion enin Middle section Closing sec
PITCH First violin's solo Climaxing fíSiS? 1 st violin s dialogue dialogue First violin's Imitative entries imitative entries Final culm
EVENTS (opening motif chords 1 st violin s dialogue dialogue culminating basedon imitative entries climaxing
G#4-B4-A3-C4) (mm. 49-51) Climaxing melody G4-Bb4-G#3-B3 (mm. 129-131)
chords (mm. 78-82) motif
(mm. 70-71)
GENERAL
RHYTHMIC FIRST PART SECOND PART
STRATEGIES
Reference to the
notated meter %
Multilayered '
texture
Polyrhythmic
pattern
íExampfe 2a. Carter, String Quartet No. 2, first movement, aspects of the formal
layout and rhythmic organization.
FIRST PART SECOND PART
Opening section Middle section Closing section Openings. Middle and Closing sections
Section: , = MM112 .' = MM 186.7 .= MM140 . = MM 163.3
Tempo: . „' ./. , '■>•■
duple triple quintuple duple t
""""- n m n. m
Sí-
notated notated
beat. (MM 560) <mm 560) (MM 560) ' /beat.
! m
vu |^ - - - | "
A 560 - j^
Notated ¿y ._. ° __ ' ^»»

beat || y ¿y 'W ._. __ " ! |o
112 186.7 140/70 163.3/81.7
^^^■5:3^"^ 3:4 ^ ■ 7:6 - - ^C3is chosen arbitrarily

to indicate the speed 112.)
CExample 2v. Carter, String Quartet No. 2, first movement, the tempi and the
main subdivisions of the notated beat.
Examples 2a and 2b also show the variety of strategies that organize the
multilayered structures, which in turn shape the overall rhythmic fabric of the
movement. This fabric is the sum total of the specific tempi, the subdivision types
and surface figurations, and the wealth of strategies that organize the layers. In
Carter's music, changes in the overall rhythmic quality emerge as vivid sonic and
visual images and contribute to the large-scale

this manner, the strategies Carter deploys in h
give rise to several conceptual levels of rhyth
one source of the appeal of Carter's temporal w
In the Second String Quartet, both the stra
as well as the overall rhythmic qualities are con
of the instruments. For example, each movemen
instrument lends its character to the movemen
sections are formed through the communicatio
ments. The instruments create dialogues, confro
turn determine the sections' expressive charact
The first two sections illustrate how the o
and the multilayered organization grow out
instruments. In the opening section, where the
meter, the first violin dominates, announcing a
figurations; the other instruments form a rat
with occasional imitations of the first violin's
division types serve as powerful tools to presen
In the multilayered middle section, the zealous
its accelerating lines, and the first violin reced
layered texture is formed by the dialogue betw
is no longer the beat subdivisions but the oth
instruments that differentiate the instrument
tions are, nevertheless, connected by their cu
sections the instruments form a crescendo that
ining the temporal organization of these two se
the strategies that contribute to the culminat
between the sections. Finally, I explore the tem
second section. In the analysis, I want to show
and fluidity emerges in these sections.
Example 3 shows mm. 46-53 of the openin
ing the culmination. The texture is one of free
ing instruments paraphrase the first violin with t
subdivisions. While the first violin is characte
notes, the cello is dominated by triplets, and t
occasional triplets. The second violin participa
nation its attack points coincide with the nota
subdivisions with pitch notation, illustrating
example, the beat level is indicated with an op
a square notehead.)
As the culmination approaches the counterp
ent subdivisions become more superimposed, a
tours rise. In mm. 49-51, with the climaxing f
trai contour is the widest, and the rhythmic te
tion of beat subdivisions ceases. During the
attacks of the instruments are arranged so tha
@ @ H
fp ™fp - "
m/ ,»«,< i >™P mp vspr.
} , . j ■ . r^^ =
1111 jj 4' [4~ 1^^

{0123569t} {124578te} {0235689e}
1013456891 [0134679t| [0134679t]
culminating chords
Example 3. Carter, String Quartet No. 2, first movement, mm

STRING QUARTET NO 2
Music by Elliott Carter
Copyright © 1961 (Renewed) by Associated Music Publishers, Inc. (BMI)
International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved.
Used by Permission.
subdivision, it is now their composite rhythms that carry the notated meter for-
ward, as indicated in Example 4. The example shows how the previously super-
imposed subdivisions are now played consecutively; stems indicate on-beat
events. The example also illustrates how MM37.3 (Fl), the most common bar-
level tempo of the opening section, is embedded in the culmination only to resume
at m. 5 1 as the bar-level tempo.
The metric modulation in mm. 57-60 leads to the multilayered middle
section, and, as a result, the tempo changes from MM112 to MM186.7. The tran-
sition (mm. 57-59 in Example 5) begins with the first violin's / marcato line and
the other instruments '/and ^responses to it. As this passage unfolds, the metric
framework of the opening section is distorted by the accented notes. The accent-
ed notes of the two violins briefly form their own metric framework at MM 140.
Superimposition Composite rhythms Metric Beginning of

of subdivisions during the culmination modulation middle section
(mm. 46-48)
0 H IZlI
%] ♦Vla(andVc) f*^ ^ 3 ^ ♦[
[i I ; 1 !■■■■■ I" m
J=Onbeat ■ 112 ! 3 '373 112 140 186.7 186.7
event ¡ l.
I ra 'jõ] ITTI [57] 0 0

o - BEAT ( ¿y ^ 1 - - 1 ^ k^-- -^ [^ „ ° |Q =g=
□ = BAR ''}' ¿y ^ ^ 1^ - - 1^
i 37.3 o
= 28
= S37.3
a
S37.3 37.3 ë (ô )466
CExampfe 4. Cart
sions with p
As the process co
of MM 186.7. Thi
60 it is stabilized
Example 4 inte
tempo of the sixt
the local beat lev
teenths into grou
center of the me
In the transitio
span. In the open
metric modulatio
ed into five. Here
time-span, but also
The multilayere
pulse streams gra
the notated meter
perse into a layer
culmination. The
first violin's dial
other instrumen
Example 6 illustr
with pitch notat
In the example, s
lines coincide wit
with stems indica
ed meter. Barline
The cello's acce
accelerando from
MULTILAYERED RHYTHMS 1 5 1
MIDDLE SECTION
TRANSITION w. metric modulation [óõ]

[57] (>) *-} =r~J^ =112- «f* = ^(j'= 186.7)
f marc $ <*^ 5 5 " ~=Z =

L > L
(Q)£ i > to
jpH _ Cf (Q)£ fc „ ^ > Hfr-JC-, i > , -hT to
/-== ..l..^^..^.^...^
acce I.
vi I + vi il 5 > > > > > > >
- ^^^ñ - h F^ñ - ^^^ ^^ñ ñ igU ^n

MM 112 MM 140 Via I I I
> >
MM 186.7 ,. ,. ,. ,. ,. ,.
Vc ,. P ,. 1 ,. I
> > > >
[62J [m]
v t==i- ^^ ijj î ' - ^*- ^zi?1 t>U -

~Z^ZZIZ^^^==^- p scherzando ' Itvp ~ ^r=- p '_ ^H^^""
JBi^ TV T^r ^ - ¡ - g - ^
"
p " ' L±J

==~ pp ^ - -
acce/.
CExamvfe 5. Carter, String Quartet No. 2, first movement, m

STRING QUARTET NO 2
Used by Permission.
¿?p / JÎ. & - ==/ > > *?- -

DIZZ "rC0 , _
J ,j ,J JJ1 ' ,
^^^ - w=
=------- -- -- - -- j» cresc. mo/(o / «on iroppo mp ^-===IZZII^ f 2=

poco __.,--
0 > [zìi
hi - mm, rn. Q1 »'h^
> > i... / ff~~f ^
{12478te} {23568e} {124578t} acce/.

[0134679] (0134691 [01346791 {3569e}
(overlapping all-interval tetrachords)
culminating chords
I I ■ »I«
^ -= mp^=^p
(Exampfe 5. (Continued).
MULTILAYERED RHYTHMS 1 53
o = BEAT
□ = BAR
♦ = Polyrhythmic pattern
TRANSITION MIDDLE SECTION J = Onbeat event
J = Onbeat event at MM93.3
0 0 0 0 0 0 H
1 62 I *va |_66j , Njl

vin V- - | l'I =È
tt¿M2 280 tf ¿••^•¿^^-=- N#>J i ¿=

80 186.7
[57] 0 0 0 „«•«■/ -►(*) 0 0 0

<>:,/""
Ve V' i» 1 IV'
/' „> f~■■
■ **| ,.■-••"'"'> '■'>
» * . 1 'I * » 'i ^
;' = ^- y*i :. f 'Ï. * -
74.6 112 186.7 74.6 80 112 186.7 62.2 373.7 '93.3 62.2X80 373.7
¡
i 'A p ■" "p «r i j j f ™~
°Peninë transition mlddle i - / iT " * í
section section ; :
112 186.7 93.3 : during the culmination i

BEAT ¿): " " ,. ° ° I - -
BAR " " _ ii » I ■» =^=
i i i
37.3 37.3 46-6
Example 6. Car
processes w
the opening an
MM74.6 (m. 57
is a half-bar te
tactus of the o
of the tactus o
the beat. These
meter otherwi
independence o
This beginnin
meter interact
the rhythmic
Ftt2-C3-A3-E4
first violin, w
MM80 (Ftt2) in
The cello's ne
tour by movin
ate response,
formed from
the tempo of t
focus around t
The rhythmic strategies help build up th

First, the cello's accelerarteli cease, serving
time-spans from m. 67 onward. Second, the
meter becomes more explicit with the con
MM560, which lead to the culmination in th
Third, as the second violin enters, it form
MM70 against the notated meter. (The polyr
mond-shaped noteheads in the example.) In t
on the beat, and these three instances mar
points of the culmination. In addition, the
emphasize the notated meter.
With the culminating chords at mm. 7
reach their resolutions by becoming synchr
texture expands in register, the notated me
ite rhythms of the instruments, echoing th
the opening section, the composite rhythm
sition of different subdivisions of the nota
they grow out of a multilayered rhythmic
toward the notated meter only gradually in
tion the notated metric framework is imme
last accelerando at m. 70.
The cello's final accelerando, leading away from the culmination, has the
same outline as the one preceding the culmination, as shown in Example 6.41 Both
lines begin with D2, travel through A2, and conclude with A4. The latter line,
however, is condensed and more anchored to the notated meter; it reflects the cul-
mination and prepares a transition to the conclusion of the First Part.
* * *
As described ab
builds motion to
the sense of mo
integration of r
tent by bringin
teristic eight-n
material appears
mutations and h
Thus, as these c
form a culmina
occurrences of
middle sections.4
Points of culm
domains of pitc
the goals of pitc
mal units begin
domains of pitc
MuLTiLAYERED Rhythms 155
J-140 ^
!_, r
ijPi-. .'Wfr ff-_- ffri _ """"'Trff.Jr . F r .f *f . w..=^
'^t ^>p » ■ It wTorn^t ,j]r r r | L bf r^ | r f r ^ , ^

{235689e} [0134679t]
First violin melody, mm. 80-82

(without the "registrai exception" Bt6)
Example 7. Carter, String Quartet No. 2, first movement, mm. 78-82.

STRING QUARTET NO 2
Used by Permission.
That is, when harmonic and rhythmic functions coincide, the resulting musical
moment receives a special significance in a larger context. Such moments become
crucial in formally shaping the work, and they are an important organizational fac-
tor in Carter's music.
In the concluding section of the First Part, as the tempo of the notated
meter changes to the tempo of the second violin, MM 140, the tempi of all the
instruments synchronize, contributing to a sense of closure.47 Example 7 shows
mm. 78-82 of this section. In this concluding section, the events do not culminate
with climaxing chords as before, but with a soft, spacious contrapuntal texture,
above which we hear the first violin's ben infuori melody framed by the first vio-
lin's characteristic interval 3 motifs.48 The melodic line emerges more prominent-
ly through its reference to the pitch events of the opening section: it assembles the-
matic aspects of the opening section's structurally prominent moments.49 This con-
nection also occurs in the domain of rhythm: the melody exhibits a unique
instance of a quintuple subdivision in the final section. The quintuple subdivision,
the first violin's characteristic subdivision in the opening section, is not heard in
the middle section.
* * *
As many scholars
mal procedures,
is an integral asp
stant evolution o
1 5 6 Theory and Practice
textures, where events are in a constant state of

stand how, in each musical situation, more- and
anced and the clarity of the texture is retained.
tional junctures are articulated - that is, how s
novel events, continue the preceding events, and
parallel passages heard previously in the movem
Temporal organization is significant in arti
tion boundaries. Temporal organization function
quality of the rhythmic texture, second, throug
and their tempo relations, and third, through de
domains of pitch and rhythm. The opening sec
fascinating example of these divergent facets of
illuminates how the temporal organization, toge
evokes previously heard events. First, the open
change in the overall rhythmic texture as well
and their coordination strategies - yet the nota
notated meter do not change. Further, metric or
organization, forming a goal-oriented motion. I
intricate ways, through both its rhythmic and it
of the beginning of the movement. Finally, the p
pretation of the metric areas of the two previou
As the Second Part begins, a new rhythm
spaced pitches, forms an imitative texture; suc
nent in the Second Part. Through this imitation
ingly recalls events from the beginning of the
Both thematically and rhythmically, the passag
the opening gestures of the first violin (shown
ing the division of the movement into two part
rated at mm. 88-90 into imitative entries, the
ascending figurations leading to it, and the asce
beginning of an imitative passage. In addition
emphasize the connections between the sections:
portions of the three elements are kept constant
both openings.
At the beginning of the Second Part each instr
lin's motif, <7t8e>. The second violin does so wit
instruments play literal imitations, embedded as
melodic lines. In the imitative passages, each ins
sation, shown in Example 8. The superimposed
featuring proportions of 3:4 and 2:3. These propo
metric A and E centers, and as a result, these lin
pretation of the metric areas of the two previou
m. 91 becomes aligned with the tactus of the no
the imitative passage to closure and leads to the
Both the ascent and the chord form a resolution
their synchronization with the notated meter.
Opening of the first mvt
10 ifr Sf) ~8x*i
J=112 Solo to Fim] ih ^*~-~
10, J 5,j ~8,J
-J> (J-l«) 0
•^ »p j *^ »{^ ^ ~ -= - Uff S J»
MOTIF + (78te) + (03679) ~> |01234569| {78te|

(0135) VI II MOTIF MOTIF + CHORD (036789te) MOTIF
-» 101234569)
G4BM AW Cb3 (01234569)
V
- """"•"■"•»'Ml " j 7 r °T A »--*

P PPJ' F *'r V V TJ U U
vc
Ü4 Bb4 ü#3 B3 ' ' 3
^y^3..j^j^ i- g^p
*"*■ (1135}
IK ' ^^
^^ I ■ J„
{0135} + {2469} ^^ [01234569] /
VIII + VI I accented notes {01234569}
& Vc forte dyads
' w rì ~'
/L # 420 .K
y • 280 :
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CExamvCe 8. Carter, String Quartet No. 2, firs

88-97.
STRING QUARTET NO 2
Used by Permission.
1 5 8 Theory and Practice
M™ SECTION CONCLUDING SECTION

entries
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CExampCe 9. Carter
processes with
The chord soundi

event. In addition to
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passage is framed b
plement {01234569}.
of the motif and rea
chord together form
tion class, thus also
The temporal proc
dle section, whose
includes the tempi
motion from the m
plished. In this proc
forms a ritardando
and the second violin
beat of the beginnin
m. 117, in which the
ed meter. The begin
combines the conver
this manner, this m
end of the temporal
final section.51
The final section
aspects heard earlier
entire movement (se
= JWJ* = 163.3 sempre)
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in the second violin's
polyrhythmic pattern
£xamv(e loa. Carter, String Quartet No. 2, first movement, mm. 117-134.
STRING QUARTET NO 2
Used by Permission.
I 129 I I 130 I >
> p^" pp
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123
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STRING QUARTET NO 2
Used by Permission.
o = BEAT
□ = BAR
♦ = Polyrhythmic pattern
J = Onbeat event
J = Onbeat event at MM8 1.6
^ = Downbeat attack points in the
polyrhythmic pattern
FIRST MVT, CONCLUDING SECTION
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íExampíe 12. Carter, String Quar

temporal progression.
tion, the second violin's fortissimo

passage - a reminiscence of the im
final culminating chords are reach
the instruments bring forward the n
of the harmonic material, becomin
and rhythmic processes.
The cello's accelerando draws th
ly, but also by moving through th
shows the large-scale temporal pro
illustrates how the cello's line refle
significant tempi of its metric cente
of the tactus (or a measure) of tho
the multilayered sections these ref
centers that act as goals and points o
layered temporal counterpoint.
The cello's accelerating line,
the large-scale progression of the
G from the final section.) In the o
meter, the tactus is C3, while Fl s
time-span. In the multilayered mid
A center, and the First Part conclu
of the Second Part, the layered te
the A and E centers, thus condens
a superimposed contrapuntal const
juxtaposition of the opening is "tr
underpinnings on G. Hence, the middle section anticipat

to the concluding section. The progression continues t
cluding section, which is the goal of the cello's acceler
Example 12 also illustrates how local temporal e
relations grow out of and reflect the progression under
In the same fashion, on various levels of the work's te
pulsating layers grow out of the tempi of more global
sider, for example, the layered temporal counterpoint
Second Part that arises from the metric areas of the tw
cello's accelerandi in the middle section of the First Pa
local temporal events become surface manifestations of
ral continuities and receive an added meaning throu
Second String Quartet, the temporal processes are base
are rich - enabling dynamic and plastic progressions - y
fied - acting within the framework of a plan provided
their time-spans.53
* * *
Although Carter
chic structures
standing the tem
tet is based on l
from the coord
templ. The nota
become signific
global temporal
zation of the Se
evolving tempo
and functions in
The "strong m
the notated me
isons with recen
conception of m
tonal music, its
approaches have
inflexible grid
music."56 Such a
music. Further,
acute the questi
Such compari
exploring the c
tions.57 Carter's
rhythmic and m
developments in
tices, the multi
much more varied because the organization is

harmonic and linear pitch language based on t
The uniqueness of Carter's multilayered rhyth
the ways in which it combines the horizontal a
ization of the tempo relations, and in which i
events. As the rhythmic world of Carter's mu
gy and fluidity, it compels the analyst to explore
and the variety of ways in which meter may
NOTES
Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the 2000 annual confere
Music Theory Midwest (Appleton, Wisconsin) and the 2001 annual meeti
Society for Music Theory (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).
1 . The rhythmic organization of the Second String Quartet has been disc
Robert Cogan and Pozzi Escot, Sonic Design: The Nature of Sound and
(Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall 1976), 284-89; Glenn Gass, "Elliott Ca
Second String Quartet: Aspects of Time and Rhythm," Indiana Theory Rev
no. 3 (1981): 12-23; David Schiff, The Music of Elliott Carter, 2nd ed. (Itha
Cornell University Press, 1998); idem, The Music of Elliott Carter (L
Eulenburg Books, 1983); and Jonathan Bernard, "The Evolution of Elliott C
Rhythmic Practice," Perspectives of New Music 26, no. 2 (1988): 164-203.
2. Allen Edwards, Flawed Words and Stubborn Sounds: A Conversation wit

Carter (New York: Norton, 1971), 91. Emphasis in the original.
3. Edwards, Flawed Words, 90-91. Emphasis in the original.
4. Schiff, The Music of Elliott Carter; Bernard, "The Evolution"; John Lin
Range Polyrhythms in Elliott Carter's Recent Music" (Ph.D. diss., City Un
of New York, 1994); David Lewin, Generalized Musical Interval
Transformations (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987); Yayoi Uno
Tempo-Span GIS as a Measure of Continuity in Elliott Carter's Eight P
Four Timpani" Integral 10 (1996): 53-92; Ève Poudrier, "Local Polyrh
Structures in Elliott Carter's 90+ for Piano (1994)," in The Modernist
Essays on New Music, ed. Björn Heile (Farnham: Ashgate Publishing L
2009), 205-34; Tiina Koivisto, "The Drift of Time in Elliott Carter's Anniv
Dutch Journal of Music Theory (Tijdschrift voor Muziektheorie) 15, no. 1
76-84; Andrew Mead, "Time Management: Rhythm as a Formal Determ
Certain Works of Elliott Carter," in Elliott Carter Studies, ed. John L
Marguerite Boland (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 20 10 [forthc
Mead, "Tempo, Polyrhythm, and Meter: A Methodology and Some Observa
about Rhythm in the Music of Elliott Carter," presented at the 2008 meetin
International Conference Tribute to Elliott Carter (Paris, France); and Mea
Tempo Relations," Perspectives of New Music 45,

Carter's multi-layering practices.
Other discussions on Carter's rhythmic practice
Sonic Design, 284-89; Gass, "Elliott Carter's Second
Kramer, The Time of Music: New Meanings, New
Strategies (New York: Schirmer Books, 1988); Cr
Subversion, and Metaphor: Music and Text in Elliott C
Dweir (DMA diss., University of Washington, 1992);
Carter and the Modern Meaning of Time," Musica
644-82; Paul Nauert, "Timespan Formation in Nonme
diss., Columbia University, 1997); Christopher Hasty,
Oxford University Press, 1997); Andrew Mead, "H
Relations," paper presented at the 1999 Annual Meet
Theory (Atlanta, Georgia); and John Roeder, "'The M
in Carter's Mature Style," in Elliott Carter Studies,
Boland (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 201
5. Schiff, The Music of Elliott Carter (1983), 26. Schi

accomplished, but he mentions as an example a group
fourth movement of the Second String Quartet. See
Carter (1983), 30-31.
6. Bernard, "The Evolution."
7. Link, "Long-Range Polyrhythms."
8. Link, "Long-Range Polyrhythms," 34. Link in discusses the abstract properties of

long-range polyrhythmic patterns, gives examples of their construction in several com-
positions from the 1980s, and also considers their relevance for auditory perception.
9. Mead, "Tempo, Polyrhythm, and Meter," and idem, "Time Management."
10. David Epstein, Shaping Time: Music, the Brain, and Performance (New York:
Schirmer Books, 1995), 43, has summarized the notion of hierarchical structures of
meter as follows:
A number of writers have suggested that meter can only be inferred through the interac-
tion of metrical hierarchies. The essence of this argument is that an undifferentiated
sequence of beats, all of them equal in duration, durational spacing, intensity, and so on,
will not be understood as meter until and unless the beats are further perceived in connec-
tion with the next higher metrical framework, that of a measure. The measure imposes
upon the beats the more complex organization of pattern and boundary limits. From these
bounded patterns we infer (or to them we ascribe) the further property of accent(s). This
interaction continues among ever higher levels of metric hierarchy.
Link in "Long-Range Polyrhythms," 39, notes that "Carter said that his interest in
long-range polyrhythms comes partly from 'th

the regular metric pattern that runs through m
1 1 . These are some of the attributes that Carter

Edwards, Flawed Words, 91.
12. Lewin, Generalized Musical Intervals and Tr
15. Harald Krebs defines the meter of a work "as

series of regularly recurring pulses) active wit
Metrical Dissonance in the Music of Robert
University Press, 1999), 23. He also discusses ho
sions shape the form of a work. See Krebs, Fant
"Interacting Pulse Streams in Schoenberg's Ato
16, no. 2 (1994): 231-35, for discussions of the
meter as a set of interacting layers of motion.
18. Uno builds a model, a pulse attribute inter

GIS structures. See Uno, "The Tempo-Span."
19. Uno defines a pulse stream as a succession of p

successive time-spans. See Uno, "The Tempo-
20. Uno, "The Tempo-Span," 76.
21. Roeder, "Interacting Pulse Streams," 234 an

definitions for the term "pulse stream." Here, I
changeably with the term "layer" simply to den
texture. Krebs, Fantasy Pieces, 259 notes how th
have different structural connotations: the use o
vidual layers "suggests an emphasis on the hor
suggests an emphasis on the vertical dimension
from combined streams." In Carter's multilayere
is the ways in which it combines the horizontal
22. I am indebted to Andrew Mead for discussi

Second String Quartet and on Carter's rhythmic
23. Mead, "Tempo, Polyrhythm, and Meter," discusses t

music.
24. Elliott Carter, The Writings of Elliott Carter: An A

Modern Music, ed. Else Stone and Kurt Stone (Bloom
Press, 1977), 274. Gass, "Elliott Carter's Second String Q
the First and Second String Quartets and points out the d
tets. In the Second String Quartet "the relationships amo
cific tempi are explored in depth" in comparison to the "
ent pulse rates" of the first quartet. See also Bernard, "T
25. See Carter's (Edwards, Flawed Words, 1 1 1-13) discus

tion to longer-range polyrhythms. Carter emphasizes tha
in producing with the long-range polyrhythms is "one
polyrhythmic tension, sometimes involving the anticipa
coincidence of all the disparate rhythmic layers at som
Flawed Words, 112-113)." The discussion also shows Cart
the surface events of the underlying temporal process
achieve the desired dramatic point: "If the regularity of
'zero-point' of rhythmic unison were too obvious, it w
effect, and so I began to work at realizing the idea i
(Carter in Edwards, Flawed Words, 113)."
26. Mead, "Hearing and Describing," and idem, "On Tem
27. Henry Cowell, New Musical Resources (New York:

Karlheinz Stockhausen, "... how time passes . . . ," in Di
(1957), 10-40. See also Moritz Hauptmann, Die Natur
(Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel, 1853).
28. Carter, The Writings of Elliott Carter, 245, has noted t

are "in a sense analogous to the changes of key in a pie
Lewin, Generalized Musical Intervals, 69-70.
29. In tonal music Fred Lerdahl and Ray Jackendoff, A

Music, 3rd ed. (Cambridge: The MIT Press. 1987 [1983]),
egories of accents. The first category is a phenomenal ac
emphasis or stress of a musical event on the musical sur
"attack points of pitch-events, local stresses such as sf
dynamics or timbre, long notes, leaps to relatively hig
changes, and so forth (1987, 17)." Temporal layers of Car
often arise from the use of phenomenal accents. It shou
music these layers do not necessarily form regular pul
that accelerate and ritard. In Lerdahl and Jackendoff (
ry of accent is a metric accent, which denotes "any beat
its metrical context." The third accent type, structural
interaction between rhythmic and pitch organi

ic/harmonic points of gravity in a phrase or se
30. Carter, The Writings of Elliott Carter, 356.
3 1 . David Harvey also discusses the form of t

Music of Elliott Carter: A Study in Music Theor
Publishing, 1989), 78 and 229.
32. It should be noted, that in different sections a

combinations are treated in different ways to fo
33. The tempi indicated by the "out of tune, low"

tempi of the triple subdivisions of the opening
by the Gs "in tune." For example, the "low" G4
G4 at MM336.
34. This way of approaching temporality resonates with Carter's comments about the
various ways to experience the temporal dimensions of music. Carter {The Writings,
346) cites Susan Langer's work Feeling and Form, in which Langer {Feeling and
Form: A Theory of Art Developed from Philosophy in a New Key [New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1953], 112) notes, that "the experience of time . . . involves
more properties than 'length,' or interval between selected moments; for its pas-
sages have also what I can only call, metaphorically, volume. . . . The primary illu-
sion of music is the sonorous image of passage, abstracted from actuality to become
free and plastic and entirely perceptible."
35. Kramer {The Time of Music) has discussed the linear and non-linear experience of
time. The non-linear experience of time includes the holistic hearing of the texture
of the music and is a static aspect of our hearing. However, one could argue that in
Carter's music, the total effect of the texture involves plasticity and flow rather than
stasis. See also Kramer's {The Time of Music, 204-07 and 59-60) discussion on
Carter's notion of time.
36. The first movement, Allegro fantastico, derives its character from the fantastical
first violin. The second movement, Presto scherzando, led by the second violin, is
played with rhythmic precision, but the other instruments try to play around the sec-
ond violin's pizzicati at MM140. The third movement, Andante espressivo, derives
its character from the expressive viola. In the fourth movement, all the instruments
are drawn by the cello into an accelerando.
37. Dora Hanninen, "On Musical Dialogue, Analysis, and Elliott Carter's String
Quartet No. 2," paper presented at the 1997 annual meeting of the Society for Music
Theory (Phoenix, Arizona) and Roeder, "'The Matter of Human Cooperation'," dis-
cuss the interactions of the instruments.
38. The similarity between the rhythmic shapes of the ce

57-59 and 61-63) becomes emphasized through their
accelerando during the transition, the cello forcefully lead
the tempo of the middle section. At the beginning of the
plays its accelerando lightly, as if at ease in echoing its pr
39. More immediately, the tempo is anticipated by, and can b

first violin's forte double stops of m. 54.
40. See also Link, "Long-Range Polyrhythms," 36-37.
41 . Once again the similarity of the rhythmic shapes of these

their function: the first leads to the culmination and the s
42. Bernard, "The Evolution," 197-98, also discusses aspects

domains of pitch and rhythm in Carter's music.
43. The use of all-interval tetrachords and their eight-not

music has been discussed by several authors including
Structure in Elliott Carter's String Quartet #3," Perspecti
1-2 (1983-84): 31-61; and Guy Capuzzo, "Q Operations
Ventor Theory and Practice 27 (2002): 85-98.
44. See Tiina Koivisto, "Aspects of Motion in Elliott Carter

Intégral 10 ('996): 19-52.
45. The work's pitch organization has been discussed in m

Later Music of Elliott Carter, Bernard, "Problems of P
Carter's First and Second String Quartets," Journal of
(1993): 231-66; and Tiina Koivisto, "Aspects of Motion
demonstrate, from different points of view, how the wor
based on the two all-interval tetrachords and their various combinations. Both
authors connect the use of all-interval material to the formal layout of the move-
ment and show how their occurrences mark structurally significant moments in the
work. Carter (The Writings of Elliott Carter, 295) presents the seven eight-note col-
lection classes in connection with the Double Concerto, a composition he was
working on during the same period of time as the Second String Quartet. Bernard
("Problems of pitch Structure"), on the other hand, offers alternative approaches for
the work's pitch organization.
46. The term "structural downbeat" originates from Edward T. Cone, Musical Form
and Musical Performance (New York, Norton, 1968), 24-25 and Cone, "Analysis
Today," in Problems of Modern Music: The Princeton Seminar in Advanced
Musical Studies, ed. Paul Henry Lang (New York: Norton, 1962), 45. Cone (1968,
24-25) calls a structural downbeat such a point of "simultaneous harmonic and
rhythmic arrival," which is "so powerful that retrospectively it turns what preceded
it into its own upbeat." This view arises from g

istic of functional tonality, but which also has b
for example, Kramer, The Time of Music, 204
47. There is, however, a specific way to reduc

enhance the flowing character of the music: i
playing at MM70 and MM 140 avoid the downb
the second violin at mm. 79-82 and the viola at mm. 79 and 80.
48. Mead discusses the occurrence of these motifs in the first movement. See Mead,
"The Role of Octave Equivalence in Elliott Carter's Recent Music: A Birthday
Celebration," Sonus 14, no. 2 (1994): 13-37.
49. See a discussion on this aspect in Koivisto, "Aspects of Motion," 50-5 1 .
50. Carter (Andrew Ford, Composer to Composer: Conversations about Contemporary

Music [Australia: Allen & Unwin, 1993], 7) has brought up this issue, noting: "I try
to make my music as clear as I can. . . . What produces the sense of confusion very
often is that the players themselves don't know what the various levels of sound are:
they are not able to keep the dominating thing clearly dominating the things that are
secondary, and the background in the background." Carter (Ford, Composer to
Composer, 7) also considers the expression "complexity" misleading: "The percep-
tion of a human being can reduce complex things to simple things. . . . And I like to
think of my music that, on one level, it is perfectly simple what is happening; on
another level, the texture is rather varied and is constantly changing. ... It is con-
stantly progressing from one idea to another, so that all this seems like a complicat-
ed thing, I suppose, to some people."
5 1 . The downbeat of m. 117 features a prominent occurrence of members of the char-

acteristic eight-note collection classes. Harvey {The Later Music of Elliott Carter,
229) indicates this moment as one of the structurally significant moments with a
prominent use of all-interval tetrachords.
52. This has been suggested also by Schiff, The Music of Elliott Carter (1983), 34.
53. Schiff {The Music of Elliott Carter [1983], 34-5), in discussing the connection
between the tempo relations of the Second String Quarter and the notated meter,
points out that within the "range of notational possibilities the formal development
of rhythm is dynamic." See also Link, "Long-Range Polyrhythms," 34.
54. Lewin {Generalized Musical, 62) writes about the "very strong mensural character," in
the First String Quartet, "despite our difficulty of pinning down 'the' beat." Hasty
{Meter as Rhythm, 208-09) sensitively describes Carter's music: "Without the very
vivid metrical distinctions that help to particularize and articulate this fluency, the
music would be robbed of its energy and vitality and collapse into a relatively incoher-
ent and homogeneous experience in which tonal distinctions, too, would be flattened."
55. These discussions include Richard Cohn, "The Dramat

Conflicts in the Scherzo of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony,"
no. 3 (1992): 188-206; William Rothstein, "Beethoven with and without
Kunstgepräng ': Metrical Ambiguity Reconsidered," in Beethoven Forum vol. 4, ed.
Christopher Reynolds (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1995); and
Krebs, Fantasy Pieces. Cohn and Rothstein examine Beethoven's music, and Krebs
concentrates on Schumann's rhythmic idiom. Hasty in Meter as Rhythm offers an
alternative way of conceiving meter, which is also based on an understanding of
meter as a process, although Hasty does not imply layered structures.
56. Krebs, Fantasy Pieces, 113-14.
57. The origins of Carter's rhythmic practice have been discussed by Schiff {The Music
of Elliott Carter, 1983) and Bernard, "The Evolution." Schiff (1983, 24) proposes
that Carter's rhythmic practice from the late 1940s onward forms a sharp break with
the main tradition of Western concert music. He further emphasizes the connections
of Carter's rhythmic practice to non- Western traditions and Western pre-tonal
rhythmic systems. ("The Evolution," 164-66), on the other hand, has speculated
about the influence of the rhythmic methods of Charles Ives, Henry Cowell, and
Conlon Nancarrow on Carter's rhythmic practice. Bernard ("The Evolution," 166),
however, concludes that "Carter's exposure to these attempts to develop radically
new rhythmic methods impressed him, to the point of convincing him that he could
find a solution of his own." See also Carter's own comments about his influences
in Edwards, Flawed Words, 91-92.

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Multilayered Rhythms, Meter, and Notated Meter: Temporal Processes in Elliott Carter's

Second String Quartet

ing the simultaneities of rhythmic strands.6

work, and in which those layers consist of streams of

worlds, the first in an expanded one, the

J MM 112 1:2 <T 6V

£xamp(e i£>. Rhythmic and expressive characters of the instruments.

device to isolate one section from another.

In the Second String Quartet, metric modul

FIRST PART SECOND PART

[35] [57] [óÕ] [75] [88] [98] [ÏÏ7]

FIRST PART SECOND PART

Section: , = MM112 .' = MM 186.7 .= MM140 . = MM 163.3

Tempo: . „' ./. , '■>•■

duple triple quintuple duple t

Notated ¿y ._. ° __ ' ^»»

^^^■5:3^"^ 3:4 ^ ■ 7:6 - - ^C3is chosen arbitrarily

visual images and contribute to the large-scale

m/ ,»«,< i >™P mp vspr.

1111 jj 4' [4~ 1^^

Example 3. Carter, String Quartet No. 2, first movement, mm

Superimposition Composite rhythms Metric Beginning of

I ra 'jõ] ITTI [57] 0 0

TRANSITION w. metric modulation [óõ]

f marc $ <*^ 5 5 " ~=Z =

jpH _ Cf (Q)£ fc „ ^ > Hfr-JC-, i > , -hT to

vi I + vi il 5 > > > > > > >

- ^^^ñ - h F^ñ - ^^^ ^^ñ ñ igU ^n

v t==i- ^^ ijj ^i ' - ^*- ^zi?1 t>U -

p " ' L±J

CExamvfe 5. Carter, String Quartet No. 2, first movement, m

¿?p / JÎ. & - ==/ > > *?- -

=------- -- -- - -- j» cresc. mo/(o / «on iroppo mp ^-===IZZII^ f 2=

> > i... / ff~~f ^

{12478te} {23568e} {124578t} acce/.

1 62 I *va |_66j , Njl

tt¿M2 280 tf ¿••^•¿^^-=- N#>J i ¿=

[57] 0 0 0 „«•«■/ -►(*) 0 0 0

112 186.7 93.3 : during the culmination i

The rhythmic strategies help build up th

ijPi-. .'Wfr ff-_- ffri _ """"'Trff.Jr . F r .f *f . w..=^

'^t ^>p » ■ It wTorn^t ,j]r r r | L bf r^ | r f r ^ , ^

First violin melody, mm. 80-82

Example 7. Carter, String Quartet No. 2, first movement, mm. 78-82.

textures, where events are in a constant state of

Opening of the first mvt

10 ifr Sf) ~8x*i

J=112 Solo to Fim] ih ^*~-~

10, J 5,j ~8,J

MOTIF + (78te) + (03679) ~> |01234569| {78te|

- """"•"■"•»'Ml " j 7 r °T A »--*

CExamvCe 8. Carter, String Quartet No. 2, firs

M™ SECTION CONCLUDING SECTION

The chord soundi

= JWJ* = 163.3 sempre)

r." t" - 'n rfì? ufi

= / f infiori "^ mf-=Zf i>(=>)

Q fZ===~mf ZZ==^P fp ..MM 39.2

^>JV>-^=^- T^^ j/'fVr ^?7' r ^^=^±y^

r | _^ '>p ^ '>% ^-^

%: = downbeat attack points

I 129 I I 130 I >

) > ?^-^-^ Jt flip P^=^PP attacca

FIRST MVT, CONCLUDING SECTION