- Bruckner rhythm
The Bruckner rhythm is a 2 + 3 (duplet + triplet) or 3 + 2 rhythm in
Anton Bruckner 's symphonic music, where it occurs prevalently, [Milton John Cross & David Ewen, "Encyclopedia of the Great Composers and Their Music". New York: Doubleday (1962): 158. "The second element is a rhythmic pattern so often employed by the composer that it is known as the "Bruckner rhythm."] and in many different, varied ways. [John Williamson, "The Brucknerian symphony: an overview" "The Cambridge Companion to Bruckner", ed. John Williamson. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press (2004): 79. "Yet even so instantly recognizable a rhythmic tic can be used with great variety."]One example is in the main theme of the first movement of his Symphony No. 4 in E-flat major, from bars 43 forward: [Benjamin Korstvedt, "Aspects of Bruckner's approach to symphonic form" "The Cambridge Companion to Bruckner", ed. John Williamson. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press (2004): 186.]
The Bruckner rhythm can occur separate of a melody (that is, on a single pitch), and this is the only way it occurs in the Symphony No. 2 in C minor. [Derek Watson, "Bruckner". New York: Schuster & Macmillan (1997): 81] In the Symphony No. 6 in A major the Bruckner rhythm occurs to a much greater extent than in previous works, in several parts at slightly different times. At first it occurs as a string ostinato high in the violins' range against a melody of different rhythm in the cellos, [(Williamson, 2004): 79] while at bars 195 - 209 it serves to articulate hexatonic cycle block chords. [Kevin Swinden, "Bruckner and harmony" "The Cambridge Companion to Bruckner", ed. John Williamson. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press (2004): 222. "The orchestral texture through this passage is thick, articulating block chords in the 'Bruckner-rhythm' that characterizes the movement, supporting a reprise of the first theme of the symphony."] The rhythm occurs in somewhat more "manageable" form in Symphony No. 8 in C minor, where it usually occurs in the same way in all the parts.
References
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