A reference in a musical work to another work or to a style or convention, in a manner akin to an allusion in speech or literature, or the act of making such a reference. Allusion to a particular work is generally distinguished from Quotation in that material is not quoted directly, but a reference is made through some other similarity between the two works, such as gesture, melodic or rhythmic contour, timbre, texture or form; some writers consider quotation a type of allusion. Generally an allusion is made in order to evoke associations with the work, style or convention alluded to and thus to convey meaning; to invoke a work or style as a model for the new work (see Modelling) or in homage to another composer; or in some other way to suggest a link with the music alluded to that calls for interpretation. This purpose sets allusion apart from other forms of Borrowing, such as Paraphrase, Variations or Cantus firmus, which elaborate borrowed musical material without necessarily demanding interpretation or conveying meaning.
Allusions to texted music may serve to remind the listener of the original words. In vocal music, this may provide commentary on the words being sung, a practice that apparently extends back to at least the 15th century. In instrumental music, it may suggest programmatic interpretations, as in symphonies by Bruckner, Brahms and Mahler. Allusions to instrumental works can evoke the associations they carry, as in Frank Zappa's frequent references to the theme of the television show The Twilight Zone. Allusions to styles or conventions are much more common. Not all changes of style are allusive; the alternation between toccata-like and fugal sections in a Buxtehude organ prelude is an expected feature of the form and therefore unremarkable. When a piece in one genre or tradition evokes a style that normally would not occur in that genre or tradition and sets it off from its surroundings, that may be termed an allusion. This would include, for example, Mozart's evocation of concerto cadenza style in the finales of some of his piano sonatas (k311/284c, k333/315c, k533) and Beethoven's references to chorale style in the third movement and recitative style in the fourth movement of his String Quartet in A minor op.132. Stylistic allusions are often used in operas and programme music to invoke a type of music and the people or activities associated with it; examples include the evocations of shepherds’ dances and hunting-calls in Vivaldi's ‘Four Seasons’ and the march, lullaby and tavern piano in Berg's Wozzeck. Allusion can also suggest a place or time through musical style, as in the Spanish rhythms and melodic turns in Bizet's Carmen or the Mozartian music of John Corigliano's opera The Ghosts of Versailles. Allusion is not always melodic or rhythmic; the timbre of the english horn playing unaccompanied in Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique and Wagner's Tristan und Isolde Act 3 is sufficient to suggest a shepherd's pipe, allowing both composers to write very un-folklike melodies, and Stravinsky's allusions to sonata form and symphonic conventions in his Piano Sonata and Symphony in C create the tension between present and past that is fundamental to the meaning of these works.
E.T. Cone: ‘The Uses of Convention: Stravinsky and his Models’, MQ, xlviii (1962), 287–99
J. Diether: ‘The Expressive Content of Mahler's Ninth: an Interpretation’, Chord and Discord, ii (1963), 69–107
C. Floros: ‘Zur Deutung der Symphonik Bruckners: das Adagio der Neunten Symphonie’, Bruckner–Jb 1981, 89–96
A.L. Ringer: ‘“Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen”: Allusion und Zitat in der musikalischen Erzählung Gustav Mahlers’, Das musikalische Kunstwerk: Festschrift Carl Dahlhaus, ed. H. Danuser and others (Laaber, 1988), 589–602
A. Gimbel: ‘Elgar's Prize Song: Quotation and Allusion in the Second Symphony’, 19CM, xii (1988–9), 231–40
K. Hull: Brahms the Allusive: Extra-Compositional Reference in the Instrumental Music of Johannes Brahms (diss., Princeton U., 1989)
C.A. Reynolds: ‘The Counterpoint of Allusion in Fifteenth-Century Masses’, JAMS, xlv (1992), 228–60
C. Smith: ‘Broadway the Hard Way: Techniques of Allusion in the Music of Frank Zappa’, College Music Symposium, xxxv (1995), 35–60
R. Knapp: ‘Brahms and the Anxiety of Allusion’, JMR, xviii (1998), 1–30
For further bibliography see Borrowing and Quotation.
J. PETER BURKHOLDER