JAVS Fall 2024

To reflect the pantoum’s repeating pattern, Loeffler uses almost identical rhythmic patterns and similar intervallic relationships in the voice, sometimes mimicking the exact same notes for a repeated phrase. For example, the music in the voice for the second line of the second verse in the

poem is (mm.52-60) is very similar to the music from the pick-up to when the text in the poem repeats (mm. 83-91). Upon comparison, you can see the vocal line of the second half of the phrases—mm. 56-60 and mm. 88 91—are identical.

Figure 6. “Harmonie du Soir,” mm. 51-60. This example makes use of the following edition: Charles Martin Loeffler: Selected Songs with Chamber Accompaniment, edited by Ellen Knight. Recent Researches in American Music, vol. 16. Madison, WI: A-R Editions, Inc., 1988. Used with permission. www.areditions.com.

Journal of the American Viola Society / Vol. 40, No. 2, Fall 2024

41