Study on Meaning in Music through ‘Markedness’ -Focusing on Beethoven s Piano Sonata Op. 111 First movement-

This paper looks into the meaning and interpretation behind music through the basis of ‘markedness’ theory by Robert Hatten. Hatten’s markedness originates from linguistic studies, and is obtained through conflict. Among two notions that exhibit a conflicting relationship, the one concept that shows a particular meaning is considered ‘marked.’ Similarly, markedness in music is produced through such opposing values, and through this, one can find the particular meaning in the a piece of music. Furthermore, it elicits a discourse which ultimately is an interpretation of the music. As a matter of fact, Hatten’s musical interpretation is exhaustively based through a hermeneutic approach and does not utilize the Schenkerian theory. However, even though Hatten’s theory focuses mostly on the extroversive analysis, it’s difficult to explain without introversive analysis. Hatten, in his works, mentions that Shenker’s Theory explicitly shows the voice leading principle. As such, Hatten’s theory stands out on the musical surface, specifically the foreground, but because it discusses the importance of structure and function of tonality instead of overlooking them, this paper will suggest strategic markedness at multiple structural level including the foreground by utilizing Schenkerian sketches. This is expected to be valuable in drawing the meaning of nonstructural pitches and showing a structural analysis of the music.