Music & Letters, Vol. 86 No.

1, Oxford University Press 2005; all rights reserved

doi:10.1093/ml/gci004, available online at www.ml.oupjournals.org

BRUCKNER AND THE PHRYGIAN MODE

BY A NTHONY F. C ARVER

T H E R E - E M E R G E N C E O F M O D A L I T Y 1 in the music of the nineteenth century is a fascin-

ating phenomenon whose history has yet to be told in detail.2 Thanks to the universal
adoption, by the second half of the eighteenth century, of majorminor tonality articu-
lated by an emphasis on tonic and dominant harmonies, modal elements in melody or
harmony are hardly ever found in music in the Classical style. A rare example, from the
very end of the eighteenth century, is a momentary Aeolian effect in bars 723 of the first
movement of Haydns Fifths Quartet, Op. 76 No. 2; a flattened leading note arises in the
viola part as it doubles the motto a tenth above the cello. The context does not suggest a
melodic minor progression. Modality still survived in plainchant, of course, and in poly-
phonic form where the church music of the Renaissance was still heard. It is probable
that Haydn intended a brief quasi-Palestrinian effect to arise from the threefold canon
at this point and was using the Palestrina style momentarily as a topic, or perhaps a
subtopic, of what Ratner, following Koch, calls the strict or learned style.3
In the nineteenth century modality was certainly invoked for purposes of antique,
ecclesiastical, or rustic colour. Beethoven, for example, evokes the spirit of the sixteenth
century in the Dorian modality and imitative texture of the Et incarnatus est in the
Missa solemnis. In the famous alternating passages of the third movement (Heiliger
Dankgesang) of the A minor Quartet, Op. 132, he wrote strictly in the Lydian mode. In
these instances there is a sense in which the use of modes suspends or interferes with the
normal functioning of tonality. The Dorian mode has this effect because in its pure
form, like the majority of modes, it lacks a sharpened leading note and thus strong
dominanttonic progressions; and the Lydian because its sharpened fourth continually
pulls the music towards the dominant and prevents the use of counterbalancing
subdominant harmony. Thus these evocations of aspects of the Palestrina style seem to
communicate a metaphysical otherness, as if time, represented by harmonic progression,
is suspended.4
1
By modality here is meant the use of modes other than major and minor keys, specifically the modes commonly
referred to as the church modes, plus those added in the 16th c. on A (Aeolian) and C (Ionian), the latter of course being
equivalent to C major.
2
It is mentioned in passing by many writers on the period, for example Carl Dahlhaus, Nineteenth-Century Music, trans.
J. Bradford Robinson (Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London, 1989), 30, 311; Rey M. Longyear, Nineteenth-Century Romanticism
in Music, 2nd edn. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1973), 168, 2645. For a historical investigation of the Phrygian mode, includ-
ing some 19th-c. examples (though none by Bruckner), see Saul Novack, The Significance of the Phrygian Mode in the
History of Tonality, Miscellanea Musicologica, 9 (1977), 82177; pp. 8791 contain a useful list of the peculiarities of the
mode in a polyphonic context. Strangely, in view of the Renaissance practice of transferring Phrygian characteristics to
3
`
A within E Phrygian pieces, Novack finds (p. 91) the use of B totally contradictory to E Phrygian.
Leonard G. Ratner, Classic Music: Expression, Form and Style (New York and London, 1980), 234.
4
In the Et incarnatus est of the Missa solemnis the modal writing captures the mystery of the means of the Incarnation, the
ensuing strong D major at Et homo factus est its reality for the believer. Dahlhaus, Nineteenth-Century Music, 30, relates com-
posers attempts to recapture the aesthetic of the sixteenth-century ecclesiastical modes to a sense of longing also expressed in
the exploded time scale, a statement highly germane to the Brucknerian concept of the symphony. Of course in Renaissance
practice leading notes were often sharpened at cadences and Bs often flattened in Lydian pieces, rendering the music less
modally pure than 19th-c. revivals of modality (see below in relation to Beethovens and Bruckners Lydian examples).

74
 It is no coincidence that the nineteenth-century revival of plainchant and sixteenth-
century polyphony, particularly the music of Palestrina, and the rise of Cecilianism5
parallel the re-emergence of modality within the music of Romantic composers. Two
major figures who, unusually for their generation, made significant contributions to
sacred music were Liszt and Bruckner; although not by any means endorsed by the
Cecilians, their church music is noteworthy for its dialogue with church styles of the
past. Presumably as a result of his practical encounters with plainchant and the music of
late Renaissance masters such as Palestrina,6 Bruckner in particular absorbed modality
into a harmonic idiom very much of his era.7 Modality even impacted on his symphonic
style, usually as a passing colour but at times as an important element in the tonal
argument.

MODALITY IN BRUCKNER S SACRED WORKS

It is in his small-scale sacred works,8 rather than in the orchestral masses or Te Deum,
that we find the clearest examples of Bruckners use of modality. Only in one instance,
Os justi of 1879, did he attempt, quite consciously, to create a harmonic language
entirely circumscribed by a modein this case the Lydianwithout using an actual
chant as a basis.9 Like Beethoven in the Lydian sections of his Op. 132 Heiliger
Dankgesang, Bruckner is stricter in this motet than Renaissance composers ever were
in this mode: their treatment of the F modes 5, and particularly 6, approaches F major,
often with a B flat signature, in order to avoid tritonal melodic progressions and
diminished-fifth harmony.10 Effectively, therefore, Beethovens and Bruckners concept
of the Lydian mode is more a theoretical construct than a revival of Renaissance
practice, and the result can seem rather curious. One tends to hear Os justi as really in C
with the actual tonic sounding like the subdominant; intermediate Mixolydian closes on
G reinforce this effect. To counteract it in the closing bars, Bruckner suppresses the note
B altogether after bar 56, and a four-bar dominant (C) pedal from bar 61 underpins an
extended 43 cadence. Yet the denial of Lydian colouring at this point seems an evasion
of the essential character of the very mode that the composer is supposedly evoking; he
unintentionally underlines the reasons why the Lydian modes tended to be modified in
Renaissance practice.11

5
See James Garratt, Palestrina and the German Romantic Imagination (Cambridge, 2002).
6
Bruckners acquaintance with plainchant seems to have begun in his earliest period at St. Florian, but Renaissance
music was not performed there until later, including the time of his second sojourn. See Walter Pass, Studie ber Bruckners
ersten St. Florianer Aufenthalt, in Othmar Wessely (ed.), Bruckner-Studien 18241974 (Vienna, 1975), 1151.
7
Crawford Howie, in his Traditional and Novel Elements in Bruckners Sacred Music, Musical Quarterly, 67 (1981),
54467 at 557, has pointed out that Liszt, by contrast, tends to present heterogeneous stylistic elements . . . in quick
succession.
8
Anton Bruckner, Kleine Kirchenmusikwerke, ed. Hans Bauernfeind and Leopold Nowak (Smtliche Werke, 21; Vienna,
1984). There are analyses by Timothy L. Jackson of Vexilla Regis (Bruckners Metrical Numbers, 19th-Century Music, 14
(19901), 11431) and Christus factus est (The Enharmonics of Faith: Enharmonic Symbolism in Bruckners Christus factus
est (1884), Bruckner Jahrbuch, 1987/88, 720). Howies Traditional and Novel Elements deals principally with the three
masses.
9
It is composed without sharp or flat, as Bruckner wrote to Ignaz Traumihler on 25 July 1879, quoted in Hans
Redlich, Bruckner and Mahler, 2nd, rev. edn. (London, 1963), 723.
10
Josquins Missa LHomme arm sexti toni is a typical example. The same is true of many plainchant melodies assigned
to modes 5 or 6, such as the Marian antiphons Alma Redemptoris Mater and Regina caeli; see Liber Usualis (Tournai, 1961),
273, 275. See also Novack, The Significance of the Phrygian Mode, 856.
11
To my ears, Beethoven encounters similar problems in the Lydian passages of Op. 132, which are juxtaposed with
an unequivocal D major. Heinrich Schenker, Neue musikalische Theorien und Phantasien, i: Harmonielehre (Stuttgart, 1906), ed.
Oswald Jonas, trans. Elizabeth M. Borgese as Harmony (Chicago and London, 1954; repr. 1972), 606, argues that
Beethovens maintenance of the Lydian mode is a fiction created by merely avoiding the B-flat and hence the sub-
dominant chord and dominant seventh. See below for Schenkers approach to modality in general in Harmonielehre.

75
 While the mode at which Bruckner was aiming in Os justi is obvious, categorization in
some cases can be problematic; sometimes, perhaps, he simply wished to convey a gen-
eral aura of ecclesiastical modality.12 In pursuit of this aim he apparently composed the
chant-like passages found in some of his smaller liturgical works.13 Passages of unaccom-
panied monophony are found in Asperges me no. 2 in F major (1845), Salvum fac populum
tuum (1884), and Ecce sacerdos (1885). In the Asperges me no.1 in A minor (1845), chant-like
material in octave unison is accompanied by a figural organ part. Derek Watson
assigned this work to the Aeolian mode,14 but there are surely strong Phrygian elements,
not least the final E major triad. Os justi ends with a chant-like setting of the succeeding
liturgical item, the Alleluia, including its verse; the Alleluia is unaccompanied, the verse
supported by severely modal organ chords. The only time Bruckner appears to have
harmonized a pre-existing chant is in Veni Creator Spiritus (1884), which surprisingly he
renders in the major key (transposed to F) instead of the Mixolydian mode 8.15 Most
intriguing of all in this context is Ave Regina coelorum (1885/8), a chant-style setting of the
antiphon with chordal organ accompaniment. It is essentially in the Phrygian mode
the central concern of this studyto which I now turn.

THE PHRYGIAN MODE

The Phrygian mode is unique intervallically in that it not only has no raised leading
note but also possesses a semitone between 2 and 1; although this presents no particular
problem in monophonic cadences, in polyphonic contexts the unavailability of a triad
on the dominant renders VI perfect cadences impossible. Thus in sixteenth-century
music Phrygian cadences are different from the cadences constructed in any other
mode. If they end on an E harmony, the relatively weak vii6i cadence (Ex. 1) is
employed, with semitonal movement in the bass rather than in the treble. Thus the
treble 7 8 movement (cantizans) proceeds by a whole tone, the bass 2 1 (tenorizans)
by a semitone.16 In practice the cadences of many sixteenth-century examples, especially
when there are four or more voices, conclude with an A triad, either by combining
Phrygian voice-leading in soprano and tenor with a plagal bassizans, as in Ex. 2(a), or by
treating A as a quasi-Aeolian final (Ex. 2(b)).

EX. 1. vii6i Phrygian cadence

cantizans

tenorizans

12
His concept of mode was probably influenced by Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurgs Abhandlung von der Fuge, in Simon
Sechters revision (Vienna, 1843). See Walter Schulten, ber die Bedeutung der St-Florianer-Jahre Anton Bruckners (18451855)
(Aachen, 1960), 201. The eight traditional church modes are listed, and specimen fugal openings in them are given
(Marpurg/Sechter, 44 ff.). Potential ambiguities are mentioned between the Phrygian mode and the plagal Aeolian on
the one hand and E minor on the other; both possibilities are relevant to the discussion below. In 1822 Sechter himself
composed a Messe in der lydischen Tonart (ed. Louis Dit (Vienna, 1947)). It is not as strongly Lydian as the examples by

` `
Beethoven and Bruckner mentioned above, despite its lack of a B signature: Bs tend to function as leading notes to the
dominant, C, and B s occur frequently. In short, the piece follows the compromises of many Renaissance examples. Further
investigation of Sechters huge compositional output might well shed light on concepts of modality in the 19th c.
13
See Nowak, preface to Kleine Kirchenmusikwerke, pp. viiiix and the commentaries at the end of the volume (183, 1856).
14
Bruckner (London, 1975), 92.
15
Cf. Liber Usualis, 8856.
16
The terms cantizans, tenorizans, etc., denoting cadential voice-leading, are used by Bernhard Meier in his Die
Tonarten der klassischen Vokalpolyphonie (Utrecht, 1974) after 17th-c. usage. See Cristle Collins Judd, Some Problems of
Pre-Baroque Analysis: An Examination of Josquins Ave Maria . . . Virgo serena, Music Analysis, 4 (1985), 20139 at 21417.

76
EX. 2. Two Phrygian cadences in Palestrina: (a) In diebus illis, bb. 911 (Le opere complete, ed.
R. Casimiri, iii (Rome, 1939), 61; (b) Congratulamini mihi, bb. 67end (ibid. 96)

(a) cantizans

tenorizans

bassizans

(b)

Example 2(a) shows that in relation to sixteenth-century music, what we have come
to think of as tonic harmony may need to be distinguished from the linear expression of
mode. As we shall see below, in Bruckners Sixth Symphony linear elements of the
Phrygian mode on E are expressed in the harmonic context of an A tonic. His Ecce sacerdos
magnus (1885) ends with a perfect cadence on A but has strong E Phrygian elements, not
least a pseudo-chant doxology that is clearly Phrygian: it is closely related to the fourth
psalm tone (see below, Ex. 8) but with a semitone step above the tenor as well as above
the final, a double Phrygian effect. The piece is most striking, however, for its Rameau-
like enharmonic mediant progressions.
Ave Regina coelorum sheds light on Bruckners concept of the Phrygian mode. There are
some chromatic notes, producing triads of G minor, D major, and B major as well as
the major triads of the twin finals A and E, but a clear sense of the mode remains. Of six
melodic cadences on E, two are harmonized in E with a 2 1 bass (Ex. 3(a)), four as plagal
cadences in A (Ex. 3(b)). Two melodic cadences on A harmonize A as 3 of F (Ex. 3(c)).

EX. 3. Three cadences in Bruckner, Ave Regina coelorum

(a) (b) (c)

6 6

While in the examples cited so far Bruckners modes can be related to the traditional
finals (e.g. F for Lydian, E for Phrygian), we shall see later that in the context of
nineteenth-century tonal language modal phenomena are likely to be transposed to
other pitches.

77
 Because of its characteristic semitone between 2 and 1 the Phrygian is perhaps the
most distinctive of the modes, but there is still potential for ambiguity in identifying it in
relation to other nineteenth-century tonal phenomena. We must be especially careful to
distinguish Phrygian 4 3 2 1 descents from time-honoured 8 7 6 5 melodic
minor descents to the dominant, which they closely resemble (see Ex. 4). There is also a
distinction to be made between Phrygian and Neapolitan harmony. This hinges on the
proximity of the raised leading note: pure Phrygian modality presents the unraised
seventh, i.e. 7 , alongside 2 . The Neapolitan inflection is borrowed from the Phrygian
` `
scale, but it usually appears in a pre-dominant context, alongside 7 in other words,
the Neapolitan harmony is to be understood as a substitution of II for diatonic II. In
truly Phrygian writing, 2 acts as a kind of inverted leading note, the chord of which it is
` `#
a part (typically vii6) substituting for the dominant.17

EX. 4. Comparison of Phrygian with other modal and minor key descents

A Aeolian
A melodic minor 8 7 6 5
A Phrygian
E Phrygian 4 3 2 1

E minor 4 3 2 1

The lack of a dominant triad in the Phrygian mode disturbed Heinrich Schenker and
caused him to reject it as a usable tonality,18 understandably in view of the subsequent
development of his analytical theory. Similarly he rejected the Lydian mode on account
of the lack of a subdominant triad.19 He was more equivocal in his approach to the
Dorian and Mixolydian modes, regarding them as instances of his principle of the com-
bination of major and minor.20 Schenkers view of the modes was an evolutionary one;
for him they were primitive steps on the way towards major/minor tonality, which he
clearly regarded as the apogee of the development of musical language. His discussion
of fragments of plainsong and pieces by Hans Leo Hassler and Sweelinck is littered with
pejorative descriptions such as thrown together in a haphazard and irrational fashion,
lacks any organisational principle, disorderly, paucity of result, and so on.21 One
should not perhaps expect Schenker therefore to accept that Beethoven,22 Brahms,23 or
for that matter Bruckner either could or should want to employ modal tonalities.24 In
the analyses below I shall explore the extent to which Bruckner does in fact use the
17
Deborah Stein, The Expansion of the Subdominant in the Late Nineteenth Century, Journal of Music Theory, 27 (1983),
`
15380, gives II as a possible substitute for IV, and deals in turn with the substitution of IV for V as opposite pole to I.
Her examples are drawn from songs by Hugo Wolf, but clearly the principles involved may also be relevant to Bruckner.
18
Harmony, trans. Borgese, 109 ff.
19
Ibid. 11415.
20
Ibid. 86, 90, 93.
21
Ibid. 1347, 16571.
22
See above and n. 11.
23
In his Partsong, Op. 62 No. 7, which Schenker argues is in D minor rather than the Dorian mode (Harmony, trans.
Borgese, 668).
24
References to Bruckner are infrequent in Schenkers writings and not always complimentary; see Larry Laskowski,
Heinrich Schenker: An Annotated Index to his Analyses of Musical Works (New York, 1978), 801. Schenker had of course been in
Bruckners harmony classes at the Vienna Conservatory and University. In a fascinating correspondence with Karl
Grunsky, Schenker professes his admiration for Bruckner as a person, his high regard for the composers ideas, and his
equally low regard for his compositional skill in working them out; see Hellmut Federhofer, Heinrich Schenkers Bruckner-
Verstndnis, Archiv fr Musikwissenschaft, 34 (1982), 198217.

78
Phrygian mode to supplant conventional tonality and demonstrate how he achieves
closure in contexts where the dominant chord is theoretically not available.
Three further pieces in addition to Ave Regina coelorum can be described as essentially
Phrygian; they all have an E tonic but no sharp in the key signature, and their central
harmonic processes reflect modal rather than tonal relationships.25 Pange lingua (1868)
mixes the Phrygian mode with E minor; Tota pulchra es (1878) and Vexilla regis (1892)
combine it also with remote, enharmonic modulation.26
Pange lingua (1868) and Vexilla regis (1892) are both strophic hymn settings that do not
seem to quote chant, though they are close to it in spirit. In the earlier piece, the Phrygian
mode is suggested in a number of ways:
(i) the monotonic E opening in soprano, alto, and bass, recalled at the end for the
reiteration of the final line of text;
(ii) the soaring, widely spaced Phrygian cadence with 76 suspension at the end of
line 2 (Ex. 5(a));
(iii) emphasis elsewhere on the FE semitone in different harmonic contexts at the
ends of lines 3 and 5 (Ex. 5(b) and (c)); the F major/D minor of line 5 and the start of
line 6 (first setting) could be read as a prolongation of the Phrygian supertonic; and
(iv) movement to diatonic areas compatible with the Phrygian mode: G Mixolydian
at the end of line 1, C major at the beginning of line 3 and the end of line 6 (first setting).
C is the repercussion (psalm tone tenor) of mode 3 (see below, Ex. 8), the mode of the
best-known Pange lingua plainchant melody, three of whose phrases end on G. On the
other hand, the sharpening of F in line 4 and in the final Amen converts E Phrygian
6
into E minor. The Amen cadence, iv98 ii 5 I with tierce de Picardie, is very similar to
those concluding Tota pulchra es and the Kyrie of the Mass in E minor. The tonal struc-
ture is summarized in Table 1. Thus Bruckners setting moves between diatonic areas
rather in the manner of the well-known Pange lingua chant, and in the way in which a
sixteenth-century composer might have set it.27
Vexilla regis is similar for the first three of its four lines, though it moves further and
more abruptly on both the flat and sharp sides of the key (see Table 2). The crux of
the piece is in the fourth line, whose harmonic richness requires more detailed elucida-
tion; the dominant of E is separated from its tonic by means of an enharmonic change
25
Two authors have described the Kyrie and Agnus Dei of Bruckners Mass in E minor as Phrygian (Redlich, Bruckner
and Mahler, 73 and Watson, Bruckner, 98), but they are indubitably in E minor, as implied by the one-sharp signature. The
l
prominent F towards the close of the Kyrie (b. 105) is part of V9 of A minor, heralding the subdominant colouring of the
6
final cadence (ivvii 43I). Tonally the Agnus Dei is no more Phrygian than the Kyrie. Its highly expressive leaps and
#
suspensions are certainly retrospective in style, but suggest a 17th-c. model, perhaps the Lotti of the Crucifixus settings.
On the other hand, the mass does betray the influence of the E Phrygian mode in the C major context of the Gloria and
Credo, briefly at the opening of the Gloria (bb. 17), and more strongly in the first section of the Credo, where a rising
sequence beginning in bar 11 culminates at bars 1517 in a falling modal octave with some chromatic embellishment
# # #
(a passing D ) in its tail. That despite the D the tonality is indeed to be heard as Phrygian rather than E minor is con-
firmed by the dramatic effect of the F in bar 28, perhaps significantly on the word lumine. The octave unison writing
evident in both choral and instrumental groups has its counterpart in the orchestral unisons and heterophonies of the sym-
phonies. Modality is not prominent in the F minor Mass, and non-existent in the D minor. Bruckner seems to have been
familiar with music by Lotti. See the postscript to his letter of 21 June 1861 to Rudolf Weinwurm (Anton Bruckner,
Gesammelte Briefe, Neue Folge, ed. Max Auer (Regensburg, 1924), 39). He performed a mass by Lotti on the occasion of the
first performance of his own Ave Maria. Crucifixus settings by Lotti survive in the Austrian National Library (see New Grove II,
xv. 212), but it is not clear whether Bruckner was familiar with any of them. In his St. Florian years, he seems to have
studied the expressive counterpoint of Antonio Caldara (Schulten, ber die Bedeutung, 19).
26
Almost reminiscent of the chromatic experiments of the mid-16th c., such as Lassuss Prophetiae Sibyllarum. See
Karol Berger, Theories of Chromatic and Enharmonic Music in Late 16th-Century Italy (Ann Arbor, 1976), esp. 10416. It is not
known whether Bruckner was familiar with any music in this idiom.
27
e.g. the Kyrie from Josquins Missa Pange lingua. The chant may be found in Liber Usualis, 9579.

79
EX. 5. Phrygian cadences and progressions in Bruckner, Pange lingua: (a) bb. 913; (b) bb. 1617;
(c) bb. 267

(a)

my ste ri um

cor po ris my ste ri um

(b) (c)

pre ti o si ge ne ro si

(D E ),28 allowing the interpolation of E flat major and C minor and engineering a
# `
Phrygian (as opposed to E minor) ending (see Ex. 6). This close is far bleaker and
uncompromising than that of Pange lingua; we are left very much in the tomb at the end
of Good Friday rather than in the more comforting contemplation of the sacrament.
In Tota pulchra es Maria (1878) Bruckner explores the possibilities of Phrygian writing
on a somewhat broader scale, both linearly and harmonically. Linear descents at

TABLE 1. Tonal areas in Pange lingua

Line Tonal areas Cadence

1 e Phrygian G Mixolydian VIII

2 G Mixolydian e Phrygian ii7vii6I
3 C d (Dorian?) IV
4 d e V43I
5 a d #iv7V
6 (1st setting) d (Dorian?) C VI
6 (2nd setting) e Phrygian iv64 I
Amen e iv98ii65I

TABLE 2. Tonal areas in Vexilla regis

Line Tonal areas Cadence

1 e Phrygian G V43I (Dresden amen)

2 B e V43I
3 a (Phrygian?) F IV6I
4 F e Phrygian ivI (no 3rd)

28
See Jackson, Bruckners Metrical Numbers, for a metaphorical interpretation of this change.

80
EX. 6. Bruckner, Vexilla regis, bb. 2435

dim.
cresc. sempre vi tam,

(v. 1) et mor te vi tam, vi

6
E : ( VI 4 ) I6 V7 vi
3
F: I
c: 6 i
e: ( II) V4
3

e Phrygian: 3 2 1
30 vi tam

tam san gui ne.

c: VI iv 6 I
e Phrygian: VI V43 iv i 85 iv i 85

various pitches, many of them Phrygian, play a significant role in its organization, as the
tonal outline (Ex. 7) and Table 3 show. The prevalence of such descents gives the
impression that Bruckner was thinking in linear modalalmost monophonicterms,
a possibility suggested from the beginning by the initially unaccompanied solo tenor phrases.
As we shall see, this impression is reinforced by the manner of the final resolution.
There is a subtle relationship between the linear modal elements and the pieces harmonic
structure: although some Phrygian descents are subverted to a greater or lesser degree
by their local harmonic context, the over-arching tonal structure clearly defines E Phrygian
as the tonal centre. Both the melodic vocabulary and the tonal structure of the piece
relate to important traditional characteristics of the Phrygian mode as defined by the
particular functions of some of its steps: E (the final), A (the repercussion in mode 4),
C (the repercussion in mode 5), and F (the supertonic, the note from which the semitonal
2 1 tenorizans commences in cadences). To a lesser degree D (the note from which the
whole-tone 7 8 cantizans commences) is also highlighted.
The first sixteen bars, on the white notes except for the tierce de Picardie in bar 16,
are strongly reminiscent of chant in all but their metrical rhythm. Each of the two
phrases is stated unaccompanied by the tenor soloist and then repeated in four-part
harmony by the choir. Deryck Cooke was perhaps deceived by the first phrase, with its
cadence on A, into categorizing this motet as Aeolian.29 However, the second phrase is
derived from the descending Phrygian octave, cadencing on the lower E via a 7 8
cantizans progression. Taken together, the two phrases define the Phrygian mode in the
clearest possible terms. In terms of the old church modes, the overall ee tessitura of the
29
Bruckner, New Grove, iii. 368, work-list, an error corrected by Paul Hawkshaw in the revised edition, iv. 480.

81
EX. 7. Tonal outline of Bruckner, Tota pulchra es

Cf. Psalm tone 3 choir To ta

Solo

To ta pul chra es Ma ri a. E Phrygian: 3 2

pul chra es Ma ri a.
E Phrygian: 7 8 6 5 4 3

solo Et ma cu la o ri gi na lis
1/ 8 7 8 A Aeolian: v VI

E Phrygian: 7 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 7
11

choir Et ma * cu la o ri gi na lis non est in

2 1 7 8

non est in te. * E Phrygian: 6 7 8 2

16 8

te. solo Tu lae ti ti a, lae

solo Tu glo ri a Je ru sa lem.

1 A Phrygian: 3 2 1

F Phrygian: 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
22

ti ti a, lae ti ti a Is ra el.
* solo Tu ho no ri fi

9 8
* = two-voice framework originating in b. 13 *

melody is that of mode 3; the initial g and ascent to c in bars 12 suggest the opening
intonation of the corresponding psalm tone 3, whose repercussion or tenor is C. The
overall polarity between A and E, set up in the motets opening phrases, is also a charac-
teristic of Phrygian modality, as illustrated in psalm tone 4, whose repercussion is A.

82
Ex. 7 (cont.)

A Phrygian: 6 5 4 3
28 B Phrygian: 3 2 1

cen ti a po pu li no stri. choir Tu ad vo ca ta pec

*
*

C major
9 8 *
*
34 2 1 7 8

ca to rum.
solo O Ma ri a, Ma ri

F major 4 3 as at the opening

40

choir O Ma ri a, Ma ri a!
a! solo Vir go

4 3 4 3 F Lydian (cf. bb. 78) as bb. 912

E Phrygian: 7 8 7 6
46 F Phrygian: 5 4 3 7

choir Ma ter cle men tis si

pru den tis si ma. *

*
A Aeolian: 6 5
52 8

ma. O ra pro no bis. In ter ce de pro no bis ad Do mi num

*

hypothetical bass (see bb. 1719):

*
G Phrygian: 3 2 1

Example 8 gives tones 3 and 4 in their most modally explicit forms.30 The harmonized
statements reinforce the establishment of E as a Phrygian tonic in the first sixteen bars,
with a pull towards the subdominant A in the first phrase in place of the unavailable
dominant, coloured by an interrupted cadence onto F at bars 78, and a vii6I Phrygian
30
In chant practice the endings vary in order to effect a smooth transition to the beginning of the succeeding antiphon.

83
Ex. 7 (cont.)

4 3 2 1
58

Je sum Chri stum, ad Do mi num Je sum Chri stum,

Je sum Chri stum, ad Do mi num Je sum Chri stum,

C major: 6 5 4 3 2 1
aborted
descent (see bb. 69 ff.)
E Phrygian: Do mi num Je sum
8 7 6 5 6 7 8 2 1
63

in ter ce de pro no bis ad

*

in ter ce de pro no bis ad Do mi num Je sum

to F major *
A Phrygian:
6 5 4 3 2 1
Chri stum, ad Do mi num,
68

* 8
E Phrygian: 4 3 2 1 7 6 Ad

Chri stum, ad Do mi num, ad Do mi num Je

tonicization of F E Phrygian: 2 1
*
* * *
74

Do mi num Je sum Chri stum.

sum, *
* *
E minor: 6
I iv [I iv 98 I iv] vii 4 I
3

cadence in bars 1516. As well as its melodic prominence in the opening ascent, C is
emphasized by a metrically accented C major triad when the second phrase is harmon-
ized (b. 14). A briefly becomes a Phrygian tonic (bb. 1719, cadencing III III) before `
acting as the dominant of the D major sequence commencing in bar 23.

84
 TABLE 3. Modal and tonal elements in Tota pulchra es Maria
t de P = tierce de Picardie

Bars Tonality Phrygian elements Comments

14 e Phrygian opening ascent: cf. psalm tone 3 (Ex. 8) monophonic, chant-like (tenor solo)
melodic goal A = repercussion of tone 4

85
58 e Phrygian choir harmonization of 14, ending with
interrupted cadence on A (vVI)
912 e Phrygian descending modal octave (first 2 notes monophonic
reversed) plus cantizans
1316 e Phrygian (t de P becomes e Phrygian cadence: cantizans in soprano, choir harmonization of 912
V of a) tenorizans in bass
1719 a Phrygian 3 2 1 descent in organ bass solo + organ
207 D to b (t de P becomes V of e) #
descending f Phrygian octave in soprano
plagal cadence (cf. Ex. 2(a))
choir
downward sequence of descending 4ths in bass
2730 e (t de P becomes V of a) b Phrygian 1 2 3 2 1 in solo part solo + organ
plagal cadence (cf. Ex 2(a) and 257)
316 C (begins on VI = a) to F a Phrygian descent, 6 1, in soprano choir
334: 4ths sequence in bass + suspensions in
soprano; perfect cadence
3740 a Aeolian as above as bb. 14, monophonic
414 F Lydian choir; new harmonization of bb. 58
 458 a Phrygian as above as bb. 912, monophonic
4952 d to D flat soprano begins e Phrygian as above, choir; variant of bb. 1316 in combination with
deflected to f Phrygian bb. 336 deflected by inflection of 4ths
sequence in bass; perfect cadence, cf. bb. 356
534 whole tone ascent to D [could be harmonized with g Phrygian monophonic (solo + organ doubling)
3 2 1 in basscf. 1719]
556 D to C (VIV in G?) choir from here to the end
5761 C aborted 6 1 descent in a Aeolian in soprano
(bass 4ths) overlapped with 6 1 C (Ionian?)
descent in bass (both with suspensions)
612 C half close on V
636 C to F e Phrygian: emphasis on 8 7 8 2 in
soprano
678 C to d (iV) e Phrygian: emphasis on 2 1 in soprano aborted soprano descent with suspensions &
bass 4ths (cf. 57 ff.)

86
bass insists monophonically on return to F
6971 F e Phrygian 2 1 becomes 6 5 in a 4ths + suspension sequence
Phrygian 6 1 soprano descent
713 e Phrygian Tenorizans monophonic: bass only
7480 e (t de P) elaborated plagal cadenceessentially
#6
#
Iiv vii43 I
EX. 8. Psalm tones 3 and 4

Tone 3, termination on a

Tone 4, termination on e

As already noted, the problem of the Phrygian mode in polyphonydoubly so in

the context of functional tonalityis the unavailability of a dominant chord on B,
reflected in its total absence from the opening gestures of this motet. There are in fact
just two B triads in the piece: B minor in bar 24 as part of the descending sequence
begun in bar 23, and B major at its conclusion in bar 27. This sequence presents an F #
Phrygian descent in the treble, supported by a sequence of descending fourths in
D major extended beyond the octave to end on the relative minor (B) with a tierce de
Picardie. This progression is tonally ambiguous: it can be interpreted as a plagal cadence
in B minor, an imperfect cadence in E minor, or an F Phrygian plagal cadence akin to
#
Renaissance practice. The last possibility clearly arises if we compare bars 267 with
examples already quoted from Palestrina in Ex. 2(a) and Bruckner himself in Ex. 3(b).
Similarly, we can interpret the succeeding solo phrase as a cadential progression in
B Phrygian, now finishing on an E major triad, which again might be heard in conventional
tonal terms as either I of E minor or V of A minor. Only at bars 27 and 30 is there any
suggestion at all of B as a local tonal centre, Phrygian in the latter case. Harmonically,
the phrase that ends the first half of the motet refers to the two keys that will dominate
the remainder of the piece: C major (b. 31 ff.) and F major (b. 34 ff.). The treble descent
in bars 326 ends on A via a possible Phrygian whole-tone cantizans (GA), but the
underlying harmony defines F major: compare the F major harmonization of an
A cadence Bruckner used in Ave Regina coelorum, though without the B (Ex. 3(c)). `
The second half of the piece begins in bar 37 with a varied restatement of the open-
ing sixteen bars. This time the A Aeolian character of the first phrase is virtually
expunged by an F Lydian harmonization (bb. 434), a composing out of the original
interrupted cadence. The choir then varies the second phrase, merging it into material
from bars 316 but incorporating a spectacular flat-side modulation at bar 50. This dis-
torts the E Phrygian descent of bars 1316, pushing its final up to F but harmonizing it
in D with a similar cadence formula to that at bars 326. The plunge into D flat major,
`
though temporary, helps to balance, along with the CF area of bars 314, the sharp-
side harmonic areas of bars 1930. The music is wrenched back from this remote area
by a whole-tone-sounding tenor solo (bb. 534) that reverses the voice-leading of the
soprano in bar 50. The rather crude unison organ support at this juncture is
presumably designed to ensure correct intonation at a hazardous moment.31 From this
point onwards the voice-leading makes increasing use of the descending scalic motif (see
below) of bars 23 ff., often syncopated to produce suspensions and appoggiaturas. Linear
references emerge to A Aeolian (bb. 579), C major (Ionian?) (bb. 5961), E Phrygian
(bb. 639), and A Phrygian (bb. 6971), the last harmonized in F major like that at

31
Actually Bruckner could have reused the organ harmonies of bars 1719 a whole tone lower, producing another
Phrygian descent, as shown in small notes in Ex. 7.

87
bars 336. The ear is drawn to the repeated emphasis on F and E, 2 and 1 in E Phrygian,
in the soprano at bars 57, 67, and 69.
Harmonically, the final section of the motet initially places emphasis on C major
(bb. 5662). From bar 63 on, this is eroded by F major: three times the music commences
in C major only to turn to F at the end of the phrase (bb. 636, 678, 6971), the third
time with the descending sequence in its fullest form. The basses monophonic insist-
ence on F in bar 68 renders the C in the soprano a red herring and also paves the way
#
for the final tonal resolution, which is in two parts: (i) a clinching monophonic Phrygian
tenorizans in the bass (bb. 713),32 and (ii) an extended plagal cadence of a type used by
Bruckner elsewhere.33 The clinching Phrygian cadential gesture includes no cantizans,
unless we admit the barest suggestion of a DE progression in the alto between bars 70
and 73, with its interpolated C and interruption by rests during the bass tenorizans; it
seems doubtful whether Bruckner would have intended to suggest an under-third
cadence of the early Renaissance type. In the plagal cadence, as in Pange lingua, Bruckner
finally rejects the Phrygian mode in favour of E minor with a tierce de Picardie: in the
6
penultimate harmony, a diminished-seventh chord ( vii43), D is sharpened as an ascend-
#
ing leading note for the only time in the piece. This undeniably makes for a stronger
sense of closurecompare the effect of the Phrygian cadence in bars 1516, which ears
attuned to tonality are likely to hear as a half-close in A minor.34
In one striking respect, despite the difference in scale, this motet parallels tonal pro-
cesses in Bruckners mature symphonies: although it is clearly the tonal centre, E Phrygian
virtually disappears after bar 16 until its much weaker profile in the varied recall of
the opening. Therefore in the choral section from bar 55 onwards Bruckner needs to
re-establish E. He begins, as we have seen, by highlighting E and F in the soprano, leading
to tonicization of the supertonic, F, and then finally to the decisive monophonic step
from F to E effecting the tonal resolution, which is then consolidated by the final plagal
cadence. In the symphonies Bruckners sonata-form movements tend also to have relatively
weak articulation of the tonic in the recapitulation, with the tonal resolution delayed
until very late in the movement, typically in the coda.
While the choice of plagal cadence (leaving aside the interpolated diminished
seventh) is consistent with the Phrygian mode, there is a sense in which it also serves to
sum up an important motif that we have hardly touched on: descending-fourth movement
in the bass, often sequenced with an intervening rising second. The origin of this motif,
which generally incorporates a descending scalic progression in an upper part as well,
lies in bar 13 (alto and bass). Subsequently this two-voice framework (marked with aster-
isks in Ex. 7) is sequenced with added syncopated parallel third or sixth movement.
These sequences (bb. 23 ff., 32 ff., 49 ff., 66 ff., 68 ff.) are modulatory: that at bar 49 is
inflected and rhythmically diminished in producing the plunge to D and the final one `
engineers the crucial move to F major. After this move the bass, in falling to E rather
than rising in bars 723, not only effects the Phrygian resolution but also halts any fur-
ther modulation. The final plagal cadence then allows the falling fourth/rising fifth AE
to be reiterated as a stable cadential entity rather than a disruptive modulatory gesture.

32
The isolation of the bass part at structurally important points is something of a mannerism, also occurring, for
example, in Locus iste, Christus factus est, and Virga Jesse. It suggests that Bruckner thought monophonically at such
junctures.
33
e.g. the concluding cadences of the Kyrie of the Mass in E minor, Christus factus est, and, as we shall see below, the
first movement of the Seventh Symphony. All include a 98 dissonance on the subdominant chord.
34
Bruckner was bolder in Phrygian terms, however, when it came to the final cadence of the Fourth Symphony; see
below.

88
THE PHRYGIAN MODE IN BRUCKNER S SYMPHONIES
Examination of Bruckners employment of the Phrygian mode in his symphonies, as in
his motets, helps to illuminate in some cases a method of closure that seems to eschew
the expected, conventional, strong articulation of dominant and tonic. Naturally there
are differences, principally in relation to the multi-movement nature of the symphonies,
their deference to Classically derived structures and procedures, and above all the need
to sustain the tonal argument on a vastly greater scale. Not surprisingly, therefore, we
do not encounter such fundamental use of the Phrygian mode as a tonal basis in the
symphonies; however, in some instances it is almost as if Phrygian tonality emerges as
an alternative to the major and minor modes of the conventional tonal system.
Passing suggestions of the Phrygian mode colour even Bruckners earliest symphonic
efforts, the Studiensymphonie in F minor (1863),35 the Symphony in D minor (Nullte),36
and the First Symphony (1866). In the Finale of the First Symphony modality is
employed to create an elemental atmosphere. At bars 331 ff., a string semiquaver
ostinato and sustained Es in the wind imply the dominant of A minor, and trombones
begin an A melodic minor descent from E. When they are about to reach G at bar 334,
Bruckner naturalizes the Gs in the strings, and the result is strikingly E Phrygian. After
the drop to pp at bar 338, the E pedal is maintained with F s but still D s, and the effect
# l
is E Aeolian. The harmonic movement to the succeeding C minor (b. 347) is concen-
trated into a semitone step from E to E in the ostinato. This kind of linear movement
`
suggests monophonic thinking, a potent way of utilizing modality in a strongly directed
tonal idiom.
The Third Symphony contains similar Phrygian descents. Examples in the Scherzo
lead, at the end of both exposition and recapitulation, to highly unorthodox structural
cadences, in which the Neapolitan chord is substituted for the dominant.37 An E Phrygian
descent of nearly two octaves is extended chromatically, with the linear effect of a
4
double Phrygian or Neapolitan cadence C B , B A; the harmonies are IV 2 III in
`` ` ` `
A minor (at exposition pitch; the device is repeated a fifth lower at the end of the reca-
pitulation) (see Ex. 9).38
An indication that the Phrygian mode began to acquire a potentially important
structural significance for Bruckner is to be found in the Finale of the Third Symphony,
most clearly in the 1873 version. Twice in the exposition of the disruptive, bizarrely
syncopated third subject the music subsides into the Phrygian mode: F Phrygian, bars
21320; E Phrygian, bars 2536, following E major (as V of A). In the recapitulation the
Phrygian references are expunged initially, but from bar 651 onwards minim scales
derived from the second half of the first subject culminate in a Phrygian descent on G,
and the music dies into silence. That this proves, after two bars rest, to be a dominant
of C does not negate its initially strongly Phrygian effect. It is striking that this is a
35
The opening phrase of the Scherzo implies G Phrygian; it is only with the second phrase that we can place it in the
context of a C minor tonic. Moreover, a semitonal relationship with the tonic is immediately set up by a Neapolitan har-
mony. The choice of A flat for the key of the Trio is significant here. Much of the melodic material of the Finale is built
` `
round the semitonal cells D C and G F, though harmonically Phrygian tonality is not suggested. Unless otherwise
stated, all scores used are those in the Anton Bruckner Smtliche Werke, ed. Leopold Nowak et al. (Vienna, 1951 ).
36 `
The approach to the codetta of the first movement is via the Phrygian step G F with the effect, of which Bruckner
was so fond, of making F major sound foreign, even though it is the default key for the end of the exposition. The syn-
copated ostinato of the coda incorporates more than a suggestion of an E Phrygian cadence at bar 297. The Scherzo is
dominated by a semitonal motif 2 1 on both tonic and dominant. This is usually conventionally harmonized with
`
Neapolitan or augmented-sixth chords, but in the Coda the Neapolitan sixth resolves directly to the tonic major without
intervening dominant. The introductory theme in the Finale is clearly of Phrygian cast and just before the final turn to
37
` `
the major Bruckner dramatizes the Phrygian notes E and B (bb. 294301).
As at the end of the codas of the Scherzos of both Die Nullte and the First Symphony.
38
This cadence is present in all three versions of the work.

89
EX. 9. Phrygian descent and double Phrygian cadence in Bruckner, Symphony No. 3 (1873),
3rd movt., bb. 4152 (omitting string ostinati)

Ww an 8ve higher

E Phrygian: 6 5 4 3 2 1/8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

B Phrygian:
2 ( VII 42 ) 1 (I)
A Phrygian: 2 ( II) 1 (I)

moment of collapsethe crucial structural turning point of the movement, in fact.

There follow reminiscences of earlier movements (pruned to just that of the first
movements second subject in the 1877 version), and then a diminished-seventh and
chromatic development of the third subject brings us rapidly to the brass cadence
heralding the D major coda. The Phrygian collapse is an important ingredient in
Bruckners pacing of the final resolution: the coda always seems to arrive prematurely in
the later versions of the work, especially that of 1889.39
Similar passing modal references may be found in the Fifth Symphony, completed,
like the Phrygian-soaked Tota pulchra es discussed above, in 1878. In fact the years 1878
to 1881 seem to represent the peak of Bruckners preoccupation with the Phrygian
mode, for to this period belong both the Sixth Symphony and the second and third
versions of the Finale of the Fourth.

The Fourth Symphony

It was not until the third version of the Fourths Finale, the one we generally hear in the
concert hall, that Bruckner arrived at the astonishing Phrygian ending. He came to realize
that this was the perfect way both to intensify and to resolve the minor-key inflections
that from the outset colour the main theme of the otherwise sunny first movement and
are given full rein in the Finale.40 Undercurrents of unease are suggested already in the
Symphonys second harmony, an inflected supertonic seventh over a double tonic and
dominant pedal; the flattened 5th, C ( 6 of E ), is prominent in the horn motif itself.
`` `
Phrygian tonality as such is not especially prominent in the first movement, though
39
For this and other reasons I am inclined to agree with Robert Simpsons assessment that the 1873 version is in gen-
eral superior to any of the revisions; see his The Essence of Bruckner, rev. edn. (London, 1993), esp. 647 and 835. Roger
Norringtons 1996 recording with the London Classical Players (EMI 5 56167 2) demonstrates its structural coherence;
its breathless pacing compared with recent conducting tradition, though it takes some getting used to, reminds us that as
a symphonist Bruckner was in part the heir of Mendelssohn and Schumann.
40
For a more broadly based account of the dramatic trajectory of the Fourth, see Robert S. Hatten, The Expressive
Rle of Disjunction: A Semiotic Approach to Form and Meaning in the Fourth and Fifth Symphonies, in Crawford
Howie, Paul Hawkshaw, and Timothy Jackson (eds.), Perspectives on Anton Bruckner (Aldershot, 2001), esp. 16279.

90
certain events in the final section of the movementthe coda is not clearly delineated
from the recapitulation of the third subject areaare suggestive. Semitonal oscillations
in bars 51724 lead to upward chromatic movement around an inner E pedal; this `
culminates in enharmonically notated Neapolitan harmony (E major) at bar 533, which
Bruckner marks by bringing back the opening horn call. There follows one of his
favourite cadence formulae, plagal with the interpolation of the inflected supertonic
seventh, mirroring the use of a similar chord at the beginning of the movement.
The impressive unison Hauptthema of the Finale (Ex. 10) dramatizes the tonal conflict
latent in the first movements opening. It incorporates all the notes of the Phrygian scale
on E . A comparison of the respective codas of the three versions of the Finale41 shows
`
how Bruckner sought to integrate or neutralize the Phrygian notes, particularly 6 and `
`2 , which intrude on the tonic major. Alternations of i with VI, distilled from the begin-
`
ning of the Hauptthema, become an increasingly important ingredient in successive versions.
In all three codas a striking move from i to II (1874: b. 593; 1878: b. 455; 1880: b. 515)
`
initiates the final stage of the harmonic journey, providing a point of reference to the first
movement. In the two earlier Finales II leads to VI and thence to iv for a plagal cadence
` `
with tierce de Picardie, much as at the end of the first movement. In the 1880 version,
however, Bruckner eventually cadences from II to I, with a 6 7 8 treble movement
`
producing a classic Phrygian close that resolves the two disruptive Phrygian notes, C `
and F , by way of the tenorizans and cantizans of the mode. The underpinning bass is a
`
descent from 6 to 1 in E Phrygian, engineering a purer and at the same time more dramatic
`
Phrygian cadence than Bruckner found appropriate in Tota pulchra es (Ex. 11). What
Ex. 11 does not show is that the C inflection persists through the final peroration in the
`
violins ostinato, tamed as it were and held within the final E flat major harmony.42

EX. 10. Hauptthema of the Finale of Bruckner, Symphony No. 4 (1880), 4th movt., bb. 439

3 3

The Sixth Symphony

Of all the symphonies, the Sixth, begun a year after the composition of Tota pulchra es,
owes the most to Bruckners interest in the Phrygian mode. Semitonal inflections are
prominent throughout the work, culminating in the Finale in a highly unstable first-
subject area; its fully-fledged Phrygian opening theme is followed by a cadential assertion
of A major, challenged in turn by highly charged Phrygian and Neapolitan motifs. The
effect is so to destabilize the tonality that a symphony that begins in supreme confidence
ends by appearing to cling to the tonic major by the skin of its teeth. The Finale has
come in for criticism, and can sound inconclusive in performance, the final blaze of
A major snatched at rather than fully achieved. The following analysis may help to begin
a reassessment of this Cinderella among Bruckners symphonies.
41
Excluding the first published version (1889, as represented for example in the Eulenberg Miniature Score (no. 462),
ed. Hans F. Redlich (London, 1954)); this may come to be regarded as a further, fourth, version, though its Brucknerian
credentials have been questioned. For a positive view of it, see Benjamin M. Korstvedt, The First Published Edition of
Anton Bruckners Fourth Symphony: Collaboration and Authenticity, 19th-Century Music, 20 (19967), 326. In the
coda, it corresponds substantially to the third version of 1880, though with differences in instrumentation that may colour
our structural perception. Most notably, only the rhythm of the first movements horn call is recalled in the closing tonic
peroration, whereas the 1880 score has the falling and rising fifth interval as well.
42
For slightly different characterizations of this ending see Hatten, The Expressive Role of Disjunction, 177 (including n. 47).

91
EX. 11. Phrygian close in Bruckner, Symphony No. 4 (1880), 4th movt., bb. 52533 (detail of
string ostinati omitted)
cantizans
E Phrygian: 4 5 6 7 8
Fl, Ob, Cl

Bn, Str (trem.), Brass

E Phrygian: 6 5 4 3 2 1
tenorizans

The Phrygian mode is hinted at in the opening theme of the first movement, first on
A, then on E, and subsequently on C sharp (Ex. 12).43 As with the Fourth Symphony,
the seeds of the tonal argument lie in the inflection of the tonic major. The opening
inflections are contained by the inverted mediant pedal, which acts as an anchor to
A major; later chromatic disruptions in the third group are subordinated to the calm,
processional harmonies of the codetta, the approach to the recapitulation,44 and the coda.
The choice of F, the flat submediant key, for the Adagio, though by no means unusual,
relates to the central tonal argument of the symphony, F being one of the Phrygian sec-
onds in Ex. 12. The movement begins with an F Phrygian scale in the bass, though it is
harmonized as if in B minor. The semitonal 98 sighing motif that dominates the first
` `
subject, heard first on the oboe and later transferred to horns, is also striking.45

EX. 12. Bruckner, Symphony No. 6, 1st movt., bb. 36

3 3

A Phrygian: 7 1 2 1 7 8
E Phrygian: 4 2 1

The Scherzo is surely one of Bruckners most original movements, with a shadowy,
nocturnal character and a rhythmically complex surface masking the underlying
regularity of the phrasing. Within several layers of its opening ostinati Bruckner incorp-
orates Phrygian FE and later B A semitones. There are only three bass notes in the
`
43
The mediant pedal plus the opening perfect fifth in the main theme certainly confirm A as key centre; indeter-
minacy of mode seems a truer way of hearing the opening than ambiguity of actual tonic note. See Benjamin
M. Korstvedt, Harmonic daring and Symphonic Design in the Sixth Symphony: An Essay in Historical Musical
Analysis, in Howie, Hawkshaw, and Jackson (eds.), Perspectives, 185 ff.
44 `
It could be argued that the broad sweep taking us from E (letter M) to A major (letter N) links the remote key
`
relationships suggested by the opening EA, GB axes. A comparable linkage of conflicting key areas within a broad
harmonic sweep is the function of the chorale in the Finale of the Fifth.
45
As we shall see, this sigh, with its added dotted anacrusis, is extensively used in the Finale (like a similar one in the
Finale of the Seventh) as the basis of sequential, quasi-canonic, optimistic development (e.g. between K and M, before
N, between V and X). In fact, consideration of semitonal relationships unlocks a closely woven motivic network covering
the whole work.

92
exposition, EAE, articulating a gigantic cadential progression from E Phrygian to E
major: Phrygian
l 6# inflections first on E and then on A give way to a quasi-plagal cadence
in E (IV7 vii43 # I). Thus Bruckner reaches an ostensibly conventional dominant that
in fact appeared initially as a Phrygian tonic. The more distant tonal regions of the
development section are framed by an initial move to the Phrygian second (F) in the
bass after the double bar and a monophonic Phrygian descent to E that heralds the reca-
pitulation at bar 75. Except for the brief interpolation of A flat-based harmony the reca-
pitulation is tonally a truncation of the exposition, giving a perfect cadence in A, though
the score-reader will search in vain for a leading note in the dominant harmony of bars
97100.
For Robert Simpson the Finale is the distillation of [the] essence46 of the symphony,
which he defines in tonal terms as a struggle between the tonic and Neapolitan elements.
The argument advanced here is that this essence is in fact the intrusion into the tonal
spectrum of the Phrygian mode. We have just seen how resolution from E Phrygian to
A major is achieved with marvellous poise in the Scherzo. Simpsons analysis of the
Finale tends to depict a battlefield between the tonic, A major, and the opposing
Neapolitan key areas of F minor and B minor. While this view effectively captures the
`
Finales dramatic character, it fails to convey any sense of tonal resolution or mediation
at the close of the work, which seems superficially, therefore, so unlike the clear
resolutions of the other mature Finale codas of the Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, and Eighth
symphonies. Perhaps the Sixth is different; certainly its close is more abrupt, an assertion
of faith against the odds, so to speak. However, if we define the tonal conflict as
essentially Phrygian versus major, particularly E Phrygian versus A major, then it is
possible to understand the ending as articulating a more secure closure than seems at
first sight to be the case.47 A modal interpretation reveals a resolution that is as much
linear, even monophonic, as it is harmonic.
We can agree with Simpson that the keys of F minor and B flat minor are composings
out of the foreign notes in bars 4 and 5 of the first movement. They are tonal expres-
sions of the Phrygian influence embracing the whole work. Their character is dualistic:
their tonic notes derive from the E Phrygian and A Phrygian scales respectively, but
they are employed with undeniably dramatic, confrontational effect. Thus they help to
articulate the central argument: the undermining of A major by pessimistic Phrygian
elements. They differ from traditional Neapolitan progressionsi.e. those involving the
major triad built on IIwhich are lacking. These Phrygian seconds, particularly in the
`
Finale, become themselves Phrygian tonics, giving once again a sort of double
Phrygian effect.48 The resulting minor triads and tonalities give the movement its
troubled character, as compared with the serenity of Tota pulchra es, where F major is the
principal subsidiary tonality.
At the opening of the Finale, then, Bruckner employs the Phrygian mode to lay bare
the insecurity that lies at the heart of the Sixth. The exposition defines the structural
issues succinctly. The opening theme a is presented first in E Phrygian and then
partially restated in A Phrygian, with an inner tonic pedal in each case; the restatement
is punctuated by dramatic brass interjections of the A major triad (Ex. 13). These statements
are like an expansion of the ingredients presented in the first six bars of the first move-
ment, with the balance shifted towards the Phrygian elements; the A major interjections
46
The Essence, 163.
47
Certainly the over-fast tempos with which Simpson charges most interpreters (p. 169) militate against a sense of
resolution.
48
cf. the Scherzo of the Third Symphony, discussed above.

93
EX. 13. Bruckner, Symphony No. 6, 4th movt., bb. 37 and 1923
3 violins

dim.
clarinet

violas

pizz.
cellos & basses

horns & tpts

19

a2

represent the longed-for stability, defining the central goal of the movement as the recon-
ciliation of E Phrygian with A major. A major is asserted at letter B in a cadential tutti that
incorporates F in its ostinato motif b1, a kind of provisional solution (Ex. 14). Other
l
important motifs in this tutti are the horn fanfare b2 and the cadential brass motif b3.
This solution is undermined by c, a variant of b2, revolving around F with both
Phrygian/Neapolitan second and raised leading note, accompanied by a descending
F Phrygian scale (Ex. 15). The G FE oscillation is incorporated in an ostinato implying
`
a dominant pedal in B flat minor. At letter C an abrupt unison interruption to B (motif b2)
and D areas leads to a clear Phrygian cadence on E at bars 513 (E: iv vii6I), which
creates relative stability.
` l
EX. 14. Bruckner, Symphony No. 6, 4th movt., bb. 2931

b 2 (horns a 4)

b 3 (brass)

b1
(str in multiple octaves, ww alternate notes [i.e. crotchet beats])

94
EX. 15. Bruckner, Symphony No. 6, 4th movt., bb. 379

c 1 (brass) c2

str & ww as before marc.

An ensuing E major tutti (containing motif c adapted to E major) is linked by a pivot

E to the C major area of the second subject, a tonally closed period of relaxation largely
outside the main argument, though alluding to it in a Phrygian cadence at bar 72
(harmonically similar to 513) and by 98 appoggiaturas at bars 76 and 86. A long
`
preparation on a C7 harmony is resolved at letter H as a German Sixth onto an octave
unison B, at which pitch the Neapolitan motif c is stated in inversion and augmentation,
but is immediately contradicted, as regards the character of the supertonic, by the dotted
figure plus sigh, d, first heard in anguished tones in the slow movement.49 Here,
though, it is the epitome of searching optimism; it is of course also a transformation of
the opening theme of the Finale and closely related to motif c: Ex. 16 illustrates its
fundamentally anti-Phrygian nature as compared with motifs a and c.

EX. 16. Motivic variants in the 4th movt. of Bruckner, Symphony No. 6

bb. 34 a PHRYGIAN bb. 378 c1 NEAPOLITAN

bb. 1302 d MAJOR

Motif c is heard again on B (letter I), but as the bass pedal moves to E it is heard in
E major and moves up sequentially through Neapolitan harmony, ending on 3 of E,
another temporary resolution. However, immediately (at K) the bass moves up to the
Phrygian F , at which point motif d, after initially sounding like a dominant prepar-
`l
ation for B , is used sequentially to banish the Phrygian inflections by means of a remote
circle-of-fifths modulation. This motif dominates until the end of the exposition, its
propensity for dominant preparation fulfilled in a secure VI in E major. Thus
Bruckner establishes the conventional dominant key very late, his usual practice in
sonata expositions. In terms of the specific argument of this symphony, the establish-
ment of E major here is, as in the exposition of the Scherzo, a resolution of an E Phrygian
opening.
49
The slow movement is also recalled in the Finale when sequential treatment of the opening theme brings to mind
similar sequencing of the slow movements sighing motif: compare bars 21724 of the Finale with bars 512 of the
Adagio. In both cases the sighs are treated as dissonant 98s in relation to the harmony.

95
 This Finale is the first clear example of Bruckners telescoping of development and
recapitulation in an outer movement.50 Thus the music between M and T is an
expanded, developmental restatement of that up to D. The tonal and thematic structure
is summarized in Fig. 1, which shows the parallel points of reference between the move-
ments two large sections.
The endgame of Bruckners strategy is reached at bars 359[W + 2]70 with a domin-
ant preparation on C like that which follows the second subject in the exposition
(bb. 11324). This time it resolves on an F minor tonic and motif c1 appears, albeit
weakened by the whispered dynamic (pppppppp); the Phrygian second, G , is present, `
with a clear Phrygian descent in flute and clarinet (bb. 3813). At bar 385 A major is
asserted, tutti, by means of the now familiar b complex of motifs, with F incorporated l
as on the first appearance of this music (see Ex. 14 above). The ostinato is transposed
to each degree of the A major triad (C at b. 391, E at b. 393), but the next step
#
(b. 395) is to F with a two-bar Phrygian descent followed by two bars pp. The b motifs
are reasserted at bar 399, with extra emphasis on F in the violins as previously#
inserted at bar 246. The crucial, final banishment of the Phrygian F occurs at bars l# l
4056, highlighted in first trombone and tuba; the chromatic F F E of the
provisional solution is supplanted by G F E. This paves the way for Bruckners
##
customary recall of the first theme of the first movement, purged of foreign elements,
and highlighting triumphantly EF E (Ex. 17). Since the harmony is A major with no
#
chord change from bar 403 onwards, it follows that the final resolution is essentially
monophonic.

The Seventh and Eighth Symphonies

The idea for this study originated when, looking at the first movement of the Seventh
Symphony (18813), I was reminded strongly of the final Phrygian step in Tota pulchra es
discussed above. Despite the difference in scale, there is a structurally analogous place
in the symphonic movement, at letter W, the start of the coda. I had always been struck
by the distant, foreign quality of the low E on timpani and double basses. The reason for
this foreignness, which is emphasized by the scoring, is that the preceding music,
initially tonally unstable, subsides ambiguously on a local goal of F, implying either V of
B flat minor or I of F Phrygian; the ambiguity arises from the chromatic fall of the last
four minims. Either way, the step to E at letter W does not in any sense convey the
impression of arrival on the tonic major. The role of the deeply moving extension
between letter W and letter X of the second half of the first subject is thus to tonicize E,
which it does unassailably. Thus the same monophonic Phrygian step from F to E in l
the bass occurs in the Symphony as in Tota pulchra.51 Other striking parallels between the
respective final cadence formulations of symphony and motet include a dissonant ninth
in the subdominant harmony (motet, b. 76, symphony, b. 409) and the approach to the
50
As an original conception, that is; subsequent examples are the Finale of the Seventh Symphony, the first move-
ment of the Ninth, and (to some extent) the first movement of the Eighth. The deletion of recapitulation material in
revisions of the finales of the Third and Fourth Symphonies engenders a similar shape, though the result is less organic.
For another view of the Finale of the Seventh, see Timothy L. Jackson, The Finale of Bruckners Seventh Symphony
and Tragic Reversed Sonata Form, in Timothy L. Jackson and Paul Hawkshaw (eds.), Bruckner Studies (Cambridge,
1997), 140208.
51
Robert Simpson, The Essence, 176, hears the E as V of A, a dominant (E) pedal that slowly turns into a tonic. If the
E is interpreted as a Phrygian tonic, it would define the codas task in terms of a gentler, subtler change from Phrygian to
major, via minor, as happens in the closing cadences of Pange lingua and Tota pulchra es. Graham Phipps, Bruckners Free
Application of Strict Sechterian Theory with Stimulations from Wagnerian Sources: An Assessment of the First Move-
ment of the Seventh Symphony, in Howie, Hawkshaw, and Jackson (eds.), Perspectives, 22858, also mentions the church
style and the Phrygian mode in connection with this movement, but his cadential comparison is (less aptly) with the
Kyrie of the E minor Mass (pp. 2424, 249).

96
 A B C
1st gp
a a b 1,2,3 c 1,2 c 1' b2 c1
19 29 37 40 53

Phr Phr maj Phr Phr Phr

or V of A

M N O, P Q R S
Dev/1st gp
a d aI aI a b2 c1,2 b 1,2,3 b 2,3 b3 b 3I
177 187 197 203 211 245 265 269 285

Phr maj/min maj Phr maj maj Phr

D, E, F G H I K L
2nd gp
c 1b1 d c1 b 1 d
65 113 125 129 135 139 141 145 167

maj 7 Phr 7 Phr maj 7 7 maj

T, U V W X Y Z
2nd gp
d (*) (*) b1 c 1I b 1,2,3 b1 b 1,2,3 *
299 331 349 359 367 371 385 395 399 4067 407

maj 7 7 Phr maj Phr maj linear

resolution
KEY (see Ex. 17)
A, B etc. rehearsal figures
19, 29 etc. bar numbers
a, b 1 motifs (as defined in the text)
I inverted
key centre
maj major
min minor
Phr Phrygian
7 dominant preparation on root indicated
modulating (usually sequentially)
[ ] bounded by key centre to the left
(*) rhythm of 1st movement 1st subject ostinato
* 1st movement 1st subject theme

FIG. 1. Tonal and thematic summary of Bruckner, Symphony No. 6

4
final E major chord from a diminished seventh ( vii 3 l ). Perhaps the first-movement coda and
its particularly poignant effect could be understood allegorically as submission to the
Christ who is named at the end of Tota pulchra es, who is implicitly through the sacra-
ment the whole subject of Pange lingua, and who in the last few words of Christus factus est
is the name which is above every name. Although the tonality of Christus factus est
(D minor) is different, all three motets end with similarly dissonant plagal cadences.

97
EX. 17. Resolution and recall of 1st movt. first subject in Bruckner, Symphony No. 6,
4th movt., bb. 4039 (trombones)

E major: 2 2 1 3 2

1
3 3

3 3

1st movement 1st subject

A detailed analysis of the Seventh is beyond the scope of this article, but suffice it to say
that while it is not as strongly influenced by the Phrygian mode as the Sixth, much of its
tonal argument revolves around semitonal relationships.52
There are vestiges of the Phrygian relationships of the Sixth in the central tonal argu-
ment of the Eighth. The FC poles of the opening motif could be seen as a pair of
Phrygian finals (Ex. 18(a)). Again, the composing-out process results in a competition for
tonicization between the real tonic, C minor, and a foreign key implied by a Phrygian
melodic step, in this case B flat minor. The tutti cadence at the end of the first movement
in the first version of the work (1887) is essentially Phrygian ( III), and significantly D
` `
major ( II) is the key of the slow movement. At the end of the Finale, in the famous
`
superimposition of themes, all suggestion of Phrygian inflection is removed from the
first movement motif (Ex. 18(b)).

EX. 18. Phrygian and major key versions of the opening theme of Bruckner, Symphony No. 8:
(a) 1st movt., first subject (first statement); (b) 4th movt., final tutti
(a)

F Phrygian: 1 2 1 6
C Phrygian: 2 1 3 ( 2) 2 1

(b)

C major: 3 2 1

CONCLUSION
It is surely no accident that Phrygian elements should occur in the symphonies in the
keys of A and E, both traditional Phrygian finals, but it is nevertheless remarkable that
52
Stephen Parkany (Kurths Bruckner and the Adagio of the Seventh Symphony, 19th-Century Music, 9 (19889),
26281) has shown how the tonal structure of the Adagio hinges on such relationships, the culmination of which is the
C major climax in the context of the C sharp minor tonic.

98
in the case of the Sixth Bruckner should have based the tonal argument of a whole sym-
phony on the interaction between the major and Phrygian modes. Such an interpreta-
tion seems plausible in the light of the modal motets, particularly Tota pulchra es. Many
of the ingredients of the tonal argument of the motet are found in the Sixth, such as the
EA axis and the prominence of F, though in the tranquil context of the motet it is
F major we encounter rather than F minor or F Phrygian.53 Such thoroughgoing inte-
gration of modality with tonality in symphonic argument is a phenomenon we normally
associate with the twentieth century.54
Despite a few instances of other church modes, the one that is most significant in
Bruckners music is the Phrygian. In the Phrygian motets the mode is used as the basis
of a tonal framework that, while it may embrace chromatic and enharmonic elements,
is not simply an inflection of a major or minor key.55 In the symphonies, on the other
hand, it represents a negative, disruptive element that must be reconciled or resolved in
order to achieve or regain the tonic major glow with which Bruckner felt that all his
symphonies must end. Even in the motets, with the exception of Vexilla regis, he tends to
modify the mode so as to end tonally and with a tierce de Picardie. The way in which
Bruckner uses Phrygian inflections to undermine the tonic key in the symphonies dis-
cussed, above all in the Sixth, suggests that they had a personal psychological connota-
tion for him.56 In structural terms, they provided him with a potent way of revitalizing
tonal drama in his symphonies.

ABSTRACT

The re-emergence of modality in the harmonic language of nineteenth-century music is

illustrated with examples drawn from Beethoven. The characteristics of the Phrygian
mode are examined and it is argued that in some of Bruckners small-scale sacred works
he employs it as the principal tonal centre. Bruckner treats the Phrygian mode in his
symphonies as a third force alongside major and minor tonality, especially in the Sixth
Symphony, in which its juxtaposition with the nominal key of A major generates the
central tonal argument.

53
Though of course a tranquil F major is finally attained at the end of the Adagio of the Sixth and briefly remembered
in the Finale at bars 197200.
54
Sibeliuss Sixth Symphony and Vaughan Williamss symphonies from the Pastoral onwards are good examples.

Modal themes treated in a more traditional context may be found in Dvo rks later music; a remarkably thoroughgoing
example is the slow movement of the American Quartet.
55
Novack, The Significance of the Phrygian Mode, looking at the Phrygian mode from an evolutionary point of view
in which he saw the church modes beginning to evolve into major and minor keys as early as the 15th c., recognizes its
unique qualities: it remained the unique exception, successfully resisting mutation that reflected the path leading to
major-minor absolutism (p. 87).
56
Although he does not discuss any of Bruckners works, William Kimmel, The Phrygian Inflection and the Appear-
ance of Death in Music, College Music Society, 20 (1980), 4276, has argued from wide-ranging examples of music bearing
text that Phrygian elements may represent death in music. Such an interpretation also emerges from Timothy Jacksons
analysis of Vexilla regis (Bruckners Metrical Numbers). Though Kimmels methodology is somewhat questionablefor
him even plagal cadences are counted as Phrygianhis line of thought and his suggestion (p. 75) that we attempt to dis-
cern the way in which [loci for the appearance of death in music] work with other configurations in the context of the
work as a whole seems consonant with the role of the Phrygian mode in Bruckners symphonies.

99