Rival Repeats

Abstract

This chapter considers negative interaction, whereby two elements or more may have contradictory implications, analogous to the case of rivalry over resources in ecological systems. In the case of negative interaction, one element will inevitably prevail over the other in the long term. In the short term, however, any movement including rival elements will pose a compositional challenge to the composer. Using popular elements will be advantageous for communication with the audience, yet their contradictory implications forces the composer to find solutions. In the chapter I survey a number of compositional solutions that arose as responses to such tension, particularly in the works of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.