Annual Conference of the Society for Music Theory, November 7, 2014
Example 1. Schoenberg, Drei Klavierstücke, Op. 11, No. 3, opening [without pitch center]
Example 2. Stravinsky, Octet, I, principal theme [E b as pitch center via salience conditions and elements of common-practice tonality (e.g., the three-flat diatonic collection)]

Kleppinger, “Pitch Centricity without Pitch Centers,” 2
Example 3. Copland, “There came a wind like a bugle” from Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson, conclusion
[centered on E? A?]
Definitions:

Kleppinger, “Pitch Centricity without Pitch Centers,” 3
Example 4. Perceptual criteria
Salience Criteria
A pitch event becomes relatively more salient when it…
(S1) begins in the span of music it is meant to represent;
(S2) is in a relatively strong metrical position;
(S3) is relatively loud;
(S4) is relatively prominent timbrally;
(S5) is in an extreme (high or low) registral position;
(S6) is relatively dense;
(S7) is relatively long in duration;
(S8) is relatively important motivically;
(S9) is next to a relatively large grouping boundary
(such as the beginning or end of a phrase, section, movement, or work);
(S10) parallels a similar event already granted salient weight earlier in the piece.
[Paraphrased from Lerdahl 1989, 73–74; see also
Forte 1955, Hasty 1981, and Tymoczko 2011]
CP-Cueing Criteria
Features of CP tonality that influence perception of pitch centricity include (but are not limited to)…
(CP1) stable (i.e., major and minor) triads
(CP2) interval class 5
(CP3) functional progressions (e.g., authentic cadences) secondary: (CP4) diatonic collection
Vectoring of Musical Space
Larson’s “musical forces” (1997a, 1997b, 2012), Schenker’s Tonwille, Zuckerkandl’s “dynamic quality of tone”
(1956, 19–21), Hatten’s “gestural energy” (2004, 115–17)
Example 5. Webern, Fünf Sätze fur Streichquartette, Op. 5, No. 3, opening [C # emphasis = C # as pitch center?]

Kleppinger, “Pitch Centricity without Pitch Centers,” 4
Example 6. Vectoring bait: catalysts for perception of vectoring toward particular pitch classes
1. CP Cueing
2. Consistent pitch-class emphasis via salience criteria
3. Consistent opus-specific musical devices (e.g., motives, harmonic successions)
Example 7. Tower, Purple Rhapsody (Concerto for Viola and Orchestra, reduction by the composer), opening
Example 8. Hindemith, Ludus Tonalis, Fugue in A
Opening
Conclusion of First Section

Kleppinger, “Pitch Centricity without Pitch Centers,” 5
Example 9. Vaughan Williams, Symphony No. 5, III (“Romanza”), opening [possible pitch centers in italics]
Example 10. Bartók, Ten Easy Pieces , “Aurora,” opening

Kleppinger, “Pitch Centricity without Pitch Centers,” 6
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