A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Phrasing

by Franklin Taylor

PHRASING. A musical composition, as has just been said, consists of a series of short sections of various lengths, called phrases, each more or less complete in itself; and it is upon the interdependence of these phrases, and upon their connection with each other, that the intelligibility of music depends. The phrases are analogous to the sentences of a literary composition.

The relationship of the different phrases to each other and to the whole work forms no part of our present subject, but may be studied in the article Form; what we have at present to do with is the proper rendering of the phrases in performance, that they may be presented to the listener in an intelligible and attractive form. The process by which this is accomplished is called Phrasing, and is perhaps the most important of the various elements which go to make a good and artistic rendering of a musical composition. Rousseau ('Dictionnaire de Musique') says of it, 'The singer who feels what he sings, and duly marks the phrases and accents, is a man of taste. But he who can only give the values and intervals of the notes without the sense of the phrases, however accurate he may be, is a mere machine.

Just as the intelligent reading of a literary composition depends chiefly upon two things, accentuation and punctuation, so does musical phrasing depend on the relative strength of the sounds, and upon their connection with or separation from each other. It is this close relationship of language to music which makes their union in vocal music possible and appropriate, and accordingly when music is allied to words it is necessary that the musical accents should coincide with those of the text, while the separation of the various phrases agrees with the division of the text into separate lines or sentences. In instrumental music, although the same principles underlie its construction, there is no such definite guide as that afforded by the sense of the words in a song, and the phrasing must therefore be the result of a just appreciation on the part of the performer of the general sense of the music, and of the observance of certain marks by which phrasing is indicated.

If we now consider more closely the causes and consequences of a variety in the strength of the notes of a phrase, we notice in the first place the necessity for an accent on the first note of every bar, and, in certain rhythms, on other parts of the bar also. These regularly recurring accents, though an important part of phrasing, need not be dwelt on here, as they have already been fully treated in the article Accent; but there are certain irregular forms of accent occasionally required by the phrasing, which it is necessary to notice.

In rapid passages, when there are many notes in a bar, it is often necessary to introduce more accents than the ordinary rhythm requires, and the number and frequency of the accents will depend upon the number of changes of harmony upon which the passage is founded. Thus in the first bar of the following example, each couple of notes, after the first four, represents a new harmony, and the bar will consequently require seven accents, while the next two bars will receive the ordinary rhythmic accent on the first note of each group; and in the fourth bar, since the harmony does not change, two accents will suffice In the example the place of the accents is shown by the asterisks.

1. Müller, Caprice, Op. 29, No. 4.

Sometimes these extra accents have the effect of appearing to alter or add to the harmonies upon which the passage is founded, as in Ex. 2, where the additional accents demanded by the composer's method of writing in groups of two notes instead of four, seem to indicate an alternation of the tonic and dominant [App. p.748 "subdominant"] harmonies of C minor, whereas if the passage were played as in Ex. 3 the effect would be that of a single C minor harmony.

2. Schumann, 'In der Nacht.'

On the other hand, there are cases in which the phrasing requires the omission of some of the regular accents. This occurs in quick movements, when owing to the introduction of a melody written in notes of great length, two or even four of the actual written bars combine, and appear to the listener to form a single bar. This is the case in Ex. 4, the effect of which is precisely that of such a bar as Ex. 5, and the whole phrase of four bars will only require two accents, falling upon places corresponding to the first and third beats of Ex. 5. In the movement quoted the effect of the long bars remains in force during no less than 44 of the actual written bars, the original 3-4 rhythm coming into use again on the entrance of the syncopated subject.

4. Beethoven, Sonata, Op. 28.

As a rule, the accent of a passage follows the grouping, the first note of each group receiving the accent; whenever therefore the grouping of a passage consisting of notes of equal length varies, the number of accents in the bar must vary also. Thus in Ex. 6 the first bar will contain four accents, while the third requires but two.

6. Beethoven, Sonata, Op. 14, No. 2.

The signs which govern the connection or disconnection of the sounds are the dash (') or dot (⋅), and the curved line indicating legato. The ordinary use of these signs has already been described [Dash, Legato], and the due observance of them constitutes a most essential part of phrasing, but in addition to this the curved line is used to denote an effect of peculiar importance, called the Slur.

When two notes of equal length in quick or moderately quick tempo are joined together by a curved line they are said to be slurred, and in playing them a considerable stress is laid on the first of the two, while the second is not only weaker, but is made shorter than it is written, as though followed by a rest.

7. Haydn, Sonata.

The rule that the first of the slurred notes receives the accent holds good even when it is in an unaccented part of the bar (Ex. 8). In such a case the slur causes a very effective displacement of accent.

8. Beethoven, Concerto in C minor.
Written.

Played.

Groups of two notes of which the second is the shorter may also be slurred in the same way (Ex. 9), but when the second is the longer note it must be but slightly curtailed, though still perceptibly, and there is no displacement of accent (Ex. 10).

9. Haydn, Sonata.

10. Mendelssohn. Presto Agitato.
Written.

Played.

The slur is often used in combination with staccato notes in the same group (Ex. 11). When this is the case the second of the two slurred notes must be played both weaker and shorter than the notes marked staccato.

11. Beethoven, Concerto in G.
Written.

Played.

When the curved line is drawn over two notes of considerable length, or in slow tempo, it is not a slur, but merely a sign of legato (Ex. 12), and the same if it covers a group of three or more notes (Ex. 13). In these cases there is no curtailment of the last note.

12. Beethoven, Horn Sonata, Op. 17.

13. Mozart, Rondo in F.

But if the curved line is so extended as to include and end upon an accented note, then an effect analogous to the slur is intended, and the last of the notes so covered must be shortened (Ex. 14). A similar effect is also sometimes indicated by varying the grouping of the notes, so that the groups do not agree with the rhythmic divisions of the bar (Ex. 15).

14. Schumann, Humoresken.

15. Schumann, Toccata.

The great value of definite and characteristic phrasing is perhaps nowhere so strikingly manifested as in the performance of music containing imitation. In all such music the leading part must contain some marked and easily recognisable effect, either of variety of force, as in Ex. 16, or of connection and disconnection, as in Ex. 17, and it is by means of the repetition of such characteristic effects in the answering part or parts that the imitation is rendered intelligible, or even perceptible, to the ordinary listener.

16. Haydn, Sonata.

17. Mozart, Gigue.

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