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Author(s): Steven K. Blau
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Source: Mathematics Magazine, Vol. 72, No. 4 (Oct., 1999), pp. 310-313
Published by: Mathematical Association of America
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2691227 .
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310
MATHEMATICS MAGAZINE
The HexachordalTheorem:
A Mathematical
Lookat Interval
Composition
RelationsinTwelve-Tone
STEVEN K. BLAU
PhysicsDepartment
RiponCollege
Ripon,WI 54971
B
A
A
B
In the case shown, A = 1,4, 5, 8, 11,12} and B = (2, 3,6, 7,9, 10}. The intervalbetweenthe A's at one o'clockand eleveno'clockis either10 (countingclockwise)or 2
(countinganticlockwise).In what followsI will use the equivalence relationto
describeall intervalsas beingbetween1 and 6.
The intervalmultisetassociatedwith a six-memberset is the collectionof 15
intervalsdeterminedby all possiblepairsdrawnfromthe set. For the set A shown,
the intervalmultisetis (1, 1, 1,2, 3,3, 3,4,4,4, 4,5,5, 5, 6}. As one can checkdirectly,
the set B has the same intervalmultiset.This is no accident-the equalityof the
intervalmultisets
is the contentof the hexachordaltheorem.
Let thenumbers1 through12 be partitionedintoany two complementary sets A and B, each with six elements.Then A and B have identicalinterval
multisets.
THEOREM.
311
312
MATHEMATICS MAGAZINE
Consequently,
theyempirically
discoveredthe hexachordaltheorem,as an offshoot
of
theirsearchforunification.
Babbittand Lewin,and thenothers,provedthe empirical
resultmathematically.
Proof of the theorem Given any pair of complementary
hexachordsA and B,
an
displayedas a clockface,one can generatea new complementary
pairbyswitching
A with a neighboringB. Indeed, any complementary
pair of hexachordscan be
generated,througha sequence of switches,fromthe pairingwithA's in positions1-6
and B's in positions7-12. This special pairingclearlysatisfiesthe conclusionof the
hexachordaltheorem.Therefore,the hexachordaltheoremis a consequence of the
lemma.
following
LEMMA. Suppose that two complementary
hexachordsA and B have identical
A
intervalmultisets.
Thenthehexachordsobtainedby switching
a pair ofneighboring
and B elementsalso have idlentical
intervalmultisets.
B
A
B
A
Afterthe swvitch
Beforethe swvitch
FIGURE 1
Switching
an adjacentpair.
Afteridentifying
an adjacent pair of A and B elementsto be switched,one may
partition
the remaining10 elementsinto5 pairs:foreach integern from1 to 5, we
considerthe pair of elementslyingn hoursto eitherside of the switchedA and B.
ofeach suchpairs:twoA's,twoB's, or
Thereare fourpossibilities
forthemembership
one of each (in eitherorder). All fourpossibilitiesare illustratedin FIGURE 2 (the
valuesof n correspondto the exampleillustrated
above):
particular
B
B
fl=3
B
A
2=4
=1
FIGURE 2
sideoftheswitched
A andB.
Pairsofelements
lyingn hourstoeither
3 13
By considering
the fivepairsdefinedas above,one considersall the intervals
possibly
affectedby the switch.
We considerfourcases. If a paircontainstwoA's (as illustrated
forn = 3), thenthe
switchchangestwointervals
in the A hexachord:twooriginalintervals,
withlengthsn
and n + 1, become twonew intervals,
withlengthsn + 1 and n, respectively.
Hence
the switchhas no neteffecton the A hexachordmultiset(or on the B multiset,
since
the pair involvesno B's). A similarargumentshowsthatthe switchhas no effectif
bothelementsin a pair are B's (as illustrated
forn = 1).
If theelementofthepairnearestto theswitchedA is an A, and theotherelementa
B (as shownin FIGURE 2 forn = 4), thentheswitchdoes altertheintervalmultisets
for
the A and B hexachords,
but in identicalways-in each multiset,
an originalinterval
of size n becomes a new intervalof size n + 1. The remainingcase (illustratedfor
n = 2) is similar.
Thus, forall n, the switching
operationhas the same effect,if any,on boththe A
and the B intervalmultisets,
and the proofis complete.
A generalization Nothingin the proofabove reliedon the (musical)factsthatthe
chromaticscale has 12 notes and thatcomposersconsidereddividingthe chromatic
scale intotwo hexachordsof equal length.The following
theoremcan be provedby
formby Lewin [3] forthe case
the same method,and was expressedin a different
N= 12.
THEOREM. Let the set (1, 2, .., N} be partitioned
intodisjointsetsA and B, with
size a and N - a, respectively.
Defineintervalmiultisets
for the A chordand the B
chord as was donefor th>ehexachordaltheorem.Let A(i) be the numberof i's in
the A intervalmultiset,and similarly
for B(i). Considerthe special partitionAo =
Then, for all i, A(i)-B(i)=
(1,2,3...,a},
Bo={a+1,a+2,a+3,...,N}.
AO(i)
BO(i).
REFERENCES
1. MiltonBabbitt,in WordsAbo2lt Mutsic,ed. by Dembski,Stephenand Straus,JosephN., University
of
WisconsinPress,Madison,WI, 1986,p. 105.
2. David Lewrin,
Inteivallicrelationsbetweentwvo
collectionsof notes,Journalof MlisicTheornJ3 (1959),
pp. 298-301.
3. David Lewin,The intervallic
contentof a collectionofnotes,inteivallicrelationsbetweena collectionof
notesand itscomplement:an applicationto Schoenberg'shexachordal
pieces,Jourtial
ofMusic Theory4
(1960), pp. 98-101.