Inversional Symmetry and Transpositional Combination in Bartok

Abstract

The idea that inversional symmetry plays a major role in the music of Bela Bartok has in recent years been explored from a number of quarters. First proposed by George Perle in 1955, the inversional symmetry model, or IS-model, of Bartok's music has been expounded in some form by several theorists, including Leo Treitler, Wallace Berry, Jonathan Bernard, Errol Haun, and, in its strongest and most comprehensive form, by Elliott Antokoletz in his recent work.1 This paper argues that