Sentential Lyric-Types in the Great American Songbook

[1.1] Phrase structure in the songs of Tin Pan Alley and early and mid-twentieth century American musical theatre is, at least superficially, quite straightforward. Eight- and sixteen-measure phrases are the overwhelming norms, as are the AABA and ABAC forms that combine two or four of these phrases into whole songs, and the two- and four-measure sub-phrases that divide them evenly. (1) While some songs depart from these norms, and to great musico-poetic effect, composers and lyricists found room for a remarkably sensitive approach to phrase-type even within the boundaries of regular phrase lengths. (2) The apparent simplicity of this vocal genre conceals a striking complexity that lies at the intersection of two distinct meanings of phrase: a musical one, defined by harmonic progression, melodic design, and meter, and a lyrical one, rendered through rhymes, punctuation, line lengths, accents, thematic content, and overall narrative trajectory. (3) As I will demonstrate below, the interaction of words with music is particularly nuanced in sentential phrases because the repetition, intensification, and cadence of a musical sentence can be exhibited compellingly by lyrical factors on their own. A phrase can be dually sentential, or either words or music can emphasize, compensate for, or even contradict the other. This article disentangles the seeming musical regularity of sentential phrases from their far more challenging musico-poetic features, thereby elucidating the full potential of this one phrase-type within the Great American Songbook.Example 1. From Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, "You Took Advantage of Me. "(click to enlarge and hear the audio)[1.2] Before classifying the interactions of musical sentences with lyrical sentences, I will establish a methodology for identifying each of the two types independently. Musically, a sentential phrase must meet three criteria, all of which are exemplified by the 8-measure A section of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's "You Took Advantage of Me" (Example 1). (4) First, it must begin with a presentation of at least, and almost always exactly, two basic ideas, which is normally but not necessarily tonic-prolongational. (5) For simplicity, I will use n to refer to the musical duration of one basic idea; thus, a typically proportioned presentation, continuation, and entire sentential phrase are 2n, 2n, and 4n in length, respectively. Secondly, the continuation must do something to exceed the n + n repetition of the presentation and build momentum toward a cadence, most typically through acceleration of harmonic or surface rhythm, fragmentation into a proportion such as ½ n + ½ n + n, a harmonic progression away from tonic, or even just an unbroken tonal and/or melodic unit of length 2n. (6) Finally, the phrase must conclude with a half or authentic cadence, inclusive of stylistic norms such as tonic chords with added sixths and half cadences on altered or extended dominants. [1.3] The sentential quality of the Rodgers and Hart phrase is not due to musical factors alone. Hart's lyric would be strongly sentential even if merely spoken, on account of linguistic analogues to the sentential criteria outlined above. The first two lines of the lyric act as basic ideas, the sense of n + n repetition made especially salient by the rhyme between "all" and "fall. " Furthermore, lines 1 and 2 of the lyric are independent and equal poetic ideas, each an expression of despair after a failed love affair. Thus, it is both sonic and semantic relationships that render the pair of lines convincingly presentational. (7) The musico-poetic parallel between lines 1 and 2 and Caplin's description of "basic idea" extends even further. He specifies that a basic idea "is small enough to group with other ideas into phrases and themes but large enough to be broken down (fragmented) in order to develop its constituent motives" (1998, 37). …