1-4
R-0
P-0 
A
4-8
RI-6 
9-14
RI-6
R-0
15-21
R-0
R-0
RI-6
P-0
B
21-25
I-0
I-0
R-0
26-28
P-0
R-0
A'
28-33
RI-6
33-39
R-0
R-0
RI-6
P-0
B'
39-43
I-0
I-0
R-0
In 1960, Cambridge University Press asked Stravinsky to compose a work to be included in an Anglican hymnal. T. S. Eliot suggested that Stravinsky take the text for this hymn from Eliot's Four Quartets: Little Gidding, Part IV. Stravinsky dedicated Anthem to T. S. Eliot, and presented him with the manuscript score. Anthem demonstrates Stravinsky's method of row succession in a manner similar to Epitaphium. However, Anthem is a larger work (43 MM.) and calls for a four-part mixed, unaccompanied chorus. The poetry for Anthem is given in Table 1.
|
The dove descending breaks the air With flame of incandescent terror Of which the tongues declare The one discharge from sin and error. The only hope, or else despair Lies in the choice of pyre or pyre -- To be redeemed from fire by fire.
Who then devised the torment? Love. Love is the unfamiliar Name Behind the hands that wove The intolerable shirt of flame Which human power cannot remove. We only live, only suspire Consumed by either fire or fire. |
MM. 1-8
MM. 9-14
MM. 14-25
MM. 26-30
MM. 31-33
MM. 33-43 |
In Anthem Stravinsky employs rows horizontally (melodically), so that a complete row is sounded by each voice, and when voices are heard simultaneously they usually each sing different rows. An exception occurs in M. 29 where the tenor and bass voices exchange rows on the word "Name."
The Prime form of the row is taken from the alto voice, which sounds first. Stravinsky's row use implies a pitch center for the work of F, specifically F-minor, since the first two notes of the row (F and Ab, the root and third of an F-minor chord) are the first two notes of the work, the notes of the tenor and bass entrance in m. 17, the pitches of the cadence at m. 25, and the last harmonic sonority of the work. Table 2 shows the standard twelve-tone matrix for Anthem.
int: +3 -5 -2 -2 +1 -2 -1 -2 -3 +2 -4
I-0 I-3 I-10 I-8 I-6 I-7 I-5 I-4 I-2 I-11 I-1 I-9
P-0 F Ab Eb C# B C Bb A G E F# D
P-9 D F C Bb Ab A G F# E C# Eb B
P-2 G Bb F Eb C# D C B A F# Ab E
P-4 A C G F Eb E D C# B Ab Bb F#
P-6 B D A G F F# E Eb C# Bb C Ab
P-5 Bb C# Ab F# E F Eb D C A B G
P-7 C Eb Bb Ab F# G F E D B C# A
P-8 C# E B A G Ab F# F Eb C D Bb
P-10 Eb F# C# B A Bb Ab G F D E C
P-1 F# A E D C C# B Bb Ab F G Eb
P-11 E G D C Bb B A Ab F# Eb F C#
P-3 Ab B F# E D Eb C# C Bb G A F
|
Like Epitaphium, Anthem also employs just four rows, with repetitions, as shown in Table 3. The arrows in the chart show where consecutive rows share an overlapping linking pitch with each other.
| Measures | Soprano Rows | Alto Rows | Tenor Rows | Bass Rows | Form |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1-4 |
R-0 |
P-0 |
|
|
A |
|
4-8 |
|
RI-6 |
|
|
|
|
9-14 |
RI-6 |
R-0 |
|
|
|
|
15-21 |
R-0 |
R-0 |
RI-6 |
P-0 |
B |
|
21-25 |
I-0 |
|
I-0 |
R-0 |
|
|
26-28 |
|
|
P-0 |
R-0 |
A' |
|
28-33 |
|
|
RI-6 |
|
|
|
33-39 |
R-0 |
R-0 |
RI-6 |
P-0 |
B' |
|
39-43 |
I-0 |
|
I-0 |
R-0 |
|
Anthem is composed according to a binary pattern, as dictated by the two-verse structure of the poetic text. Each stanza of the setting is further subdivided into two sections, one section for duet (first soprano and alto, then tenor and bass), the other for full chorus. The rows in the first verse are repeated (with a small adjustment for A') in the same order for the second verse.
The pitches F and D (the first and last pitches of P-0) act as important pivot notes in many places in Anthem. Throughout the work, two consecutive rows often share a pitch at their beginning or end. As the arrows indicate in Table 11, in M. 4 and in the return of the same material in M. 28, D hinges the P-0 and RI-6 first in the Alto, then the Tenor voice. Further, in MM. 20-21 and in MM. 38-39, F hinges R-0 and I-0 in the Soprano at the same time as D hinges P-0 and R-0 in the Bass (the second member of R-0, F#, occurs out of order one note before, being also the eleventh member of P-0).
All four rows employed in Anthem are related by their starting pitch, which is either the first or last (twelfth) note of the Prime series. Table 4 summarizes Stravinsky's complete row usage in Anthem. This graphical representation lists the four important rows, their directions (in relation to the classical matrix), and their common starting pitches (P-0 and I-0 share F, R-0 and RI-6 share D). The graphic also makes plain the hinge or pivot properties of the rows.
B
Ab
C#
Eb
F
E
^ F#
| G
RI-6 A
P-0 -> C
Bb
F Ab Eb C# B C Bb A G E F# D
D
G <- R-0
A I-0
B |
Bb v
C
C#
Eb
F#
E
Ab
|
Eric Walter White labels the rows differently by taking the first Soprano statement as the Prime form of the row instead of the Alto statement. (Eric Walter White, Stravinsky: The Composer and His Works, 2nd ed., (University of California, 1979), 101. See also the footnote concerning row order, 520, fn. 2.) However, even with White's assessment, the relationship of the rows in the above graphic analysis remains the same, albeit rotated 180 degrees and with alternate names (P-0 becomes R-0, RI-6 becomes I-0, etc.). But, because the graphic analysis primarily is concerned with the relationships between the rows, the name of each row (in the case of Anthem, RI-6 or I-0) is, on the whole, irrelevant. Rather, the important aspects to the analyst of Stravinsky's works are the pitch and row structures and their relationships to each other.
Like Epitaphium, Stravinsky's row usage is dictated by the interval class relationship between the first and last pitch classes in the P-0 row. Where in Epitaphium Stravinsky used beginning and ending pitches from the ic4 cycle (A, C#, F), here he uses beginning and ending pitch classes from the ic3 cycle (F, D, B, Ab). Again, Stravinsky has a preoccupation with economical row usage.
Because Anthem is an unaccompanied work that employs only the four foundational rows, and because these four rows are repeated often in all four voice parts, the conductor can prepare this work by teaching the foundational rows to the performers. In addition, the conductor can explain the form and musical-poetical effects based on Stravinsky's row usage.
Following a brief summary of the traditional practice of the twelve-tone system as a compositional technique, the conductor can teach the foundational rows a number of ways. Singing rows can be incorporated into a choir's warm-up. The row can be chromatically respelled when doing so to aid the choir. Perhaps the simplest way of teaching the rows for Anthem would be to write the Prime row on a chalkboard and practice singing it forwards and backwards. Doing so would teach both the P-0 and R-0 rows. The I-0 and RI-6 rows could also be written on the board, the I-0 form visually below the P-0 form, and the RI-6 form visually to the right of the P-0 form. The conductor should note that the I-0 form and the RI-6 forms are related by transposition and retrograde order. In addition, the conductor should show that the I-0 and RI-6 rows link from the first and last notes of the Prime form. The I-0 form shares its first pitch with the P-0 form, and the RI-6 form shares its first pitch with the R-0 form.
After the four main rows are introduced, the conductor can progress by singing two connected forms together. For example, the P-0 form connects with the RI-6 form by a shared linking note (as in the alto part MM. 1-8, and tenor MM. 26-33). Also, the R-0 and I-0 forms link (as in the soprano MM. 15-25 and 33-43), and the P-0 and R-0 forms link (as in the bass MM. 15-25 and 33-43).
After the choir is able to sing two linked rows, the conductor might begin to teach two voices at once. For example, from MM. 1-8 the tenors and altos could sing the alto part (in their own range) as the sopranos and basses sing the soprano part (in their own range). The same could then be done in MM. 26-33, this time the sopranos singing the bass part in their own range, and the altos joining the tenors.
Finally, based on the his or her previous preparation, the conductor can teach the most complicated sections where four rows occur melodically at once.
As the notes are learned, the conductor can underscore the A-B-A'-B' form of the work, and also point out places where and why Stravinsky breaks the row orders, as detailed above.