Theory and Analysis Answer 8

Example C. Row from Berg’s Lyric Suite (1926)

From Example C, consider a hexachord A to be the prime form. How does hexachord B relate to hexachord A?

a. transposition		d. retrograde inversion
b. transposed retrograde		e. no relationship
c. inversion

The B hexachord is the retrograde of the A hexachord transposed by a tritone.

For further study of twentieth-century compositional techniques, see:

Kostka, Stephan and Dorothy Payne. Tonal Harmony: With an Introduction to Twentieth-Century Music. 5th edition. McGraw-Hill, 2004. (Specifically Chapter 28)

For more in-depth and complete coverage of twentieth-century compositional techniques, see the following resources:

Kostka, Stephan. Materials and Techniques of Twentieth-Century Music. 2nd edition. Prentice Hall, 1990.

Straus, Joseph N. Introduction to Post-Tonal Theory. 3rd edition. Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005.

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