Bruckner and ‘Satzmodelle’. An Analysis of the Beginning of the Seventh Symphony In my presentation I will analyze the famous and much discussed beginning of Bruckner's Seventh symphony from a perspective of harmonic-contrapuntal patterns (‘Satzmodelle’). The aim of my analysis is twofold: on the one hand the goal is to shed light on the specific use of ‘Satzmodelle’ in Bruckner's harmonic language, on the other hand it is also meant as a contribution to the general discussion of how ‘Satzmodelle’ are used and integrated in the musical language of the 19th century. At the beginning of my presentation I will discuss some harmonically and contrapuntally striking moments at the beginning of the symphony. In the following I will connect these moments to an ‘openly’ composed instance of a Romanesca-model beginning in m. 18 which gives some clues to the understanding of the previous passage. As I will show, one aspect of the extraordinary hovering atmosphere of the symphony's opening is that the actually sounding three voices are based on a counterpoint of 4 or 5 voices in which some voices and especially the bass line are only alluded but not fully realized as sounding voices. |
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