The compositional technique displayed in Berg's Lyric Suite is at once superficially and profoundly related to the implications of the diatonic system. On a somewhat superficial level compositional aspects associated with the diatonic system pervade the work: the entire composition is cast in the form of a suite, individual movements display formal structures borrowed from diatonic music,1 traditional contrapuntal techniques are employed,2 and the vertical sonorities frequently bear a close resemblance to those of the tonal system.3 More significant implications of the diatonic system are to be seen in Berg's criteria of thematic equation. Just as composers of past centuries frequently depended more on rhythm and melodic contour than on exact pitch duplication to achieve thematic identity,4 so Berg uses similar rhythms and melodies, even though the intervallic content may be altered, to create relationships with previous material. This is clearly demonstrated in the analogous canonic sections of the first and second parts of the Allegretto (mm. 7-11 and 44-47) (see Perle 1972:6263). In the first section the canonic theme comprises pitches 8-11 and 0-7 of the row, while in the second section the canonic episode is recapitulated using pitches 1-11 of the retrograde inversion form (Ex. 1). The basic contour of the themes is similar, however, as is the rhythmic content. This rhythmic content of the canonic themes is not original with the first statement, but is an almost direct restatement of the rhythmic format in which the row is first stated in measures 2-4 by the first violin (Ex. 2a). In fact, only a slight rhythmic difference obtains; the later canonic theme (Ex. 1, mm. 44-46), is in fact rhythmically identical to the original row exposition. Thus the canonic themes are themselves a direct development of the material in measures 2-4. That is, thematic equation is achieved with the original row statement through the retention of rhythmic content (and melodic contour), and development occurs due to the new relationship of the rhythm to pitch and interval content in each case.5 The thematic importance of rhythm may also be seen in measures 36 and 37 (Ex. 2). These measures are structurally significant in that they articulate the midpoint of this binary movement, referring back to the opening material in the first violin, measures 2-4. Here, however, the rhythmic and melodic contents of these opening measures are separated and a new kind of phase shift is made, in which the original rhythm and original melody are stated in another relationship and in two different instruments. The relatively high degree of audibility given to the rhythm by its placement in the uppermost voice again suggests that Berg considered rhythm to be of greater importance in establishing structural relationships than he did pitch. In fact, although all twelve pitches appear in measures 36 and 37, only the first eight pitches of the row appear in the original order in the second violin, diminishing still more the possibility of structural identification of these measures through pitch perception, and conversely strengthening the importance of the rhythmic element. Another concept of the diatonic system which appears to be operative here is that of the establishment of a particular premise, the subsequent creation of tension or expectation by the digression from this premise, and the final relaxation of tension or fulfillment of expectation by returning to the original state. This is, of course, not a concept unique to the art of diatonic music; it amounts basically to the tautology that something is felt to be missing by the very fact that it is not present. The concept may be seen at work in the first thirteen measures of the Lyric Suite. In the first measure the twelve of the chromatic scale are stated on the first three beats, and on the fourth beat all the white notes are recapitulated with the exception of F, the first pitch of the row to be exposed in the next measure (Ex. …