The Problem of Closure in Neo-Tonal Music

Abstract

Abstract Closure is a problem in neo-tonal music because endings often reference conventions with different implications for closure. For such multivalent utterances, I build on Leonard B. Meyer’s communication model of music and propose that closure is a relational construct that engages with conventions on the levels of a corpus, a composer’s practice, and an individual work. Within this semiotic paradigm, I highlight the role of conventions that describe a composer’s practice when interpreting endings with similar features. To demonstrate that similar endings can have different closural qualities, I discuss differences between how Bartók and Britten employ retrospective collage and partial motivic recollection.