The da-da-da-DUM motive from Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is an undeniably evocative moment for any music fan. Whether it be a first foray into classical music, childhood piano lessons, or the soundtrack to a beloved movie scene, this is a moment not easily forgotten. So what makes this and other musical motives so memorable? In Musical Motives, author Brent Auerbachs look at the ways that motives--or the small-scale pitch and rhythm shapes ever-present in music--tie musical compositions together, and why we remember some more than others.

Musical motives function like motifs in visual art, tying together sonic space. They repeat frequently, either as perfect copies or with slight variation. With presence in all musical genres from classical and popular to jazz and world music, motives are ideal tools for musical analysis. Opening with an introduction to motives, Musical Motives offers a new and universal system of motivic nomenclature, then demonstrates how motives--both in small and in expanded forms stretching over many measures--help explain the structure and drama of musical works. Taking amateurs and experts alike into consideration, Auerbach provides two tiers of analytic method: Basic and Complex Motivic Analysis. To illustrate these methods, he offers large-scale analyses of pieces by Handel, Beethoven, Mozart, Chaminade, Radiohead, and others.

Brent Auerbach is Associate Professor of Music Theory at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His research focuses on formalizing the concept of the musical motive and extending its applications for analysis. Other research interests include the group-mathematic properties of harmonic sequences, theory pedagogy, and the aesthetics of Baroque composition and counterpoint. Dr. Auerbach has published articles in The Journal of Music Theory, Music Theory Online, Theory and Practice, Int?gral, and in The Routledge Companion to Music Theory Pedagogy, ed. By Leigh VanHandel (2020). He has given papers at annual meetings of the Society for Music Theory, the New England Conference of Music Theorists, the Music Theory Society of New York State, the West Coast Conference of Music Theorists, and the Texas Society for Music Theory.

PART I: Establishing Grounds for a Discipline of Motivic Analysis

Chapter 1: Introduction to Motives
Chapter 2: A Brief History of Motives, Composition
Chapter 3: A History of Motives, Theory and Analysis

PART II: Methodology

Chapter 4: A Universal Nomenclature for Pitch and Rhythm Motives
Chapter 5: Basic Motivic Analysis (BMA)
Interlude 1 - On the Role of Narrative in Motivic Analysis in General and Its Role in BMA in Particular
Chapter 6: Exemplars of Basic Motivic Analysis
Interlude 2 - Narrative Archetypes of Complex Motivic Analysis (CMA)
Chapter 7: Complex Motivic Analysis 278

PART III: Analysis and Conclusion

Chapter 8 - Analysis of Three Works in Contrasting Styles
Chapter 9: Conclusion - The Future Promise and Persistent Limitations of Motivic Analysis

Selected Bibliography
Index