A Cross-Version Chord Labelling Approach for Exploring Harmonic Structures—A Case Study on Beethoven's Appassionata

Abstract

In this paper, we present a case study on Beethoven's Appassionata in order to demonstrate how computer-based methods may assist a musicologist when performing harmonic analyses. As the main conceptual contribution, we introduce a simple yet powerful paradigm that exploits the availability of different versions (recorded performances, score) of the same piece of music to stabilize and enrich the chord labelling process. As a result, we obtain a version-independent representation of the chord labelling results on a musically meaningful time axis given in bars. Furthermore, a visualization of this representation reveals consistencies and inconsistencies in the labelling results across different versions. Using this visualization for performing a detailed harmonic analysis of the Appassionata, it turns out that the consistencies typically correspond to harmonically stable passages and thus are of musical relevance. This shows that our visualization can be used as a supportive tool for exploring harmonic structures and constitutes a source of inspiration for musicologists.

Acknowledgements

The first two authors are supported by the Cluster of Excellence on Multimodal Computing and Interaction at Saarland University.

Notes

¹We use the term ‘instable’ in a loose way to determine passages, where no single prevalent harmony is present. In contrast, in classical functional harmony one often encounters the term ‘unstable’ which refers to passages, where dissonant chords are present, demanding a resolution.

²This common title is used even though it does not stem from Beethoven but from the editor of a four-hand arrangement, in 1838.