What question did this study set out to answer?

The aim is to explore Lutosławski's use of interval pairing in his melodies and to interpret these through the Tonnetz.

March 10, 2026Music Analysis0 citations

Lutosławski's Interval‐Pairing Melodies: a New Perspective

Key Points

The aim is to explore Lutosławski's use of interval pairing in his melodies and to interpret these through the Tonnetz.
Analyzed Lutosławski's melodies focusing on interval pairing as defined by Charles Bodman Rae.
Utilized the Tonnetz for interpreting the structural connections within the melodies.
Identified adjacent tracks that represent the two threads of compound melody.
Lutosławski’s melodies primarily operate within two adjacent tracks of the Tonnetz.
Different interval pairings result in varied melodic sounds while maintaining a common compositional thread.
The study highlights a key feature of Lutosławski's musical language through his interval pairing technique.

Abstract

ABSTRACT As Charles Bodman Rae has shown, Witold Lutosławski often writes melodies using just two interval classes, a technique Bodman Rae calls ‘interval pairing’ (1992, among others). Taking Bodman Rae's work as a point of departure, this study invokes the Tonnetz as a means for interpreting Lutosławski's interval‐pairing melodies. As it shows, these melodies tend to operate within two adjacent ‘tracks’ of a Tonnetz , with the activity along these tracks emerging as two threads of compound melody. Though Lutosławski's various choices of interval pairings create melodies that sound very different from each other, this principle serves as a common thread connecting them and thus accounts for a crucial facet of the composer's musical language.

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