Music Theory Commons^™

Romanzen Aus Magelone: Characteristics Of Style, Benjamin Fredrick Hammack

All Master's Theses

Brahms' Romanzen aus Magelone serves as an excellent model for the German lied. Although other musical elements are important, Brahms never sacrifices his melodic lines, which progress diatonically in a wide range. Complex rhythms, with such devices as hemiola and holding over the measure line, are frequent. Although some songs are ternary or strophic, a free-sectional form is generally employed. The textures vary; one song may be both homophonic and polyphonic. A complex piano accompaniment always enhances the text and requires an accomplished pianist.