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THE DIATONIC MODES
IN MODERN MUSIC
THE DIATONIC MODES
IN MODERN MUSIC
JOHN VINCENT
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
Berkeley and Los Angeles : 195 1
/- > f~
University of California Publications in Music
Editors (Los Angeles) : L. A. Petran, R. U • Nelson, W. H. Rubsamen
Volume 4 pp. xiv + 1 — 298
Submitted by editors July 1, 1947; issued November 15, 1951
Price. J 12. 00
Publishers: Mills Music, Inc., New York, by arrangement with
the University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles
280*34
Copyright 1951 by
Mills Music, Inc., 1619 Broadway, New York
International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved.
.df!
Manufactured by offset in the United States of America
To
Glareanus
(1488-1563)
Whose Modal Theories
Influenced Four Hundred
Years of Music
Preface
WHEN Glareanus brought out his Dodecacbordon in 1547 it had been apparent for a century
and more that the traditional ecclesiastical modal theory did not square with the contemporary
usage. Glareanus' purpose was to reduce the existing practice to a practicable theoretical for-
mulation. He could hardly have realized to what degree his work was prophetic of the tonal (Major-minor)
period. He could not have anticipated that his system of twelve modes would remain practically unrevised
for four hundred years. It is a tribute to the validity of Glareanus' deductions and conclusions that his
work was not only recognized as a true interpretation of his immediate past but also that his theories were
so penetrating and so soundly based on and integrated with the developing and evolving musical phe-
nomena that they remained authoritative for centuries even though musical styles changed radically.
Nevertheless by the beginning of the last century there were signs that even so cogent a theory as
Glareanus' must eventually be reexamined. All during the nineteenth century the tonal horizons widened
and with the coming of the twentieth century the process was greatly accelerated. The disparity between
scale theory and practice was ever greater and the need for a new modal formulation became always more
acute.
In an attempt to answer this need, I have made exhaustive researches into existing practice and have
arrived at a formulation of eight Diatonic Modes. A further theory — the Interchangeability of Modes — is
likewise founded on good usage by recognized composers of the past century or so.
A codification of practice has meaning for all musicians, be they performers, theorists, composers,
historians, teachers, or students. A valid new theory not only explains and promotes understanding of
what has been done, it also provides a solid and substantial observation point for surveying favorable paths
for future progress. It is my hope that the theories I have advanced will have significance for these
important matters.
In recording obligations, it is a pleasure to name George W. Chadwick, who gave me my first instruc-
tion in modal theory, and John Powell, who encouraged me to develop my own modal theories. I wish to
record also my indebtedness to Walter Piston, whose penetrating criticisms did much to insure the validity
of my ideas during the developing stage; to Dr. Hugo Leichtentritt and to Dr. Otto Kinkeldey for their
interest and for reading the manuscript; to Roy Harris, who in many ways helped keep the project alive. I
gratefully recall the assistance of the following institutions: the Music Library of the Boston Public Library,
New York Public Library, the Music Division of the Library of Congress, the Bibliotheque Nationale of
Paris, and the Staatsbibliothek of Berlin.
My greatest obligations, however, are to my col leagues in the Music Department at the University of
California, Los Angeles, Professors Robert U. Nelson, Walter Rubsamen, and Laurence A. Petran, each of
whom read the text and gave invaluable suggestions. To Mr. David Brower and other staff members of
the University of California Press, I owe much for their careful supervision of all technical matters; and at
Mills Music, Inc., to Mr. Mack Stark, Mr. Jack Ecoff, Mr. Norman H. Warembud, and the production
staff, I owe a debt of gratitude for their unfaltering cooperation and heart-warming enthusiasm. I wish to
thank my secretary, Lillian Adams, for her great help with all manner of correspondence, and for typing
the bibliography and index. Finally, I must acknowledge that the work could never have been finished
without the inspiration and assistance of my wife, Ruth.
Los Angeles J. V.
December, 1950
/
Acknowledgment
I
Wish to express here my appreciation of the courtesy of the many publishers, agents, and copyright
owners who gave permission to quote from various publications. My thanks are due the following:
American Library of Musicology, New York, by permission of the George Grady Press, Inc., Agent, to quote from
A Theory of Evolving Tonality, by Joseph Yasser
Augener & Co., London, for permission to quote from Harmony Simplified or the Theory of the Tonal Functions
of Chords, by Dr. Hugo Riemann, trans, the Rev. H. Bewerunge.
Breitkopf und Hartel, Leipzig, for permission to quote from J. S. Bach, by J. A. P. Spitta.
E. C. Schirmet Music Company, Boston, copyright owners, for permission to quote from Principles of Harmonic
Analysis, by Walter Piston.
F. X. Le Roux & Cie, for permission to quote from La Musique grecque (Edition Payot), by Theodore Reinach.
G. Schirmer, Inc., New York, for permission to quote from Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music, by Ferruccio
Busoni, ttanslated by Th. Baker.
Harvard University, Cambridge, for permission to quote from a doctotal thesis, "The Relation of Harmonic Theory
and Practice from Rameau to 1900," by V. L. Jones.
Henry Holt and Co., New York, for permission to quote from Jewish Music in its Historical Development, by
A. Z. Idelsohn.
Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, for petmission to quote from Modern French Music, by Edwatd Burlingame Hill.
J. Curwen & Sons, Ltd., by petmission of G. Schirmer, Inc., Agent, to quote from the Preface to My Ladye Nevells
Booke (William Byrd), by Hilda Andrews.
Journal of the Folk-Song Society, for permission to quote from "Note on the Modal System of Gaelic Tunes," by
Annie G. Gilchtist; "Modal Survivals in Folk-Song," by E. F. Jacques.
Kistner und Siegel, Leipzig, for petmission to quote ft om Neue Harmonielehre . . . , by Alois Haba.
La Revue musicale, for permission to quote from "Cours du College de France," by Jules Combarieu; "L'Har-
monie," by Alfredo Casella.
Librarie Fischbacher, Paris, for permission to quote from La Pluralite des modes et la theorie generale de la mu-
sique, by Xavier Perreau.
Librarie Renouard, Paris, for permission to quote from Histoire de la langue musicale, by Maurice Emmanuel.
Longmans, Green & Co., London, by permission of Abr. Lundquist, copyright owner, to quote from Sensations of
Tone . . . , by H. L. F. von Helmholtz, translated by A. J. Ellis.
Macmillan Company, New York, for permission to quote from Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians,
Modern Music, for permission to quote from "Problems of Harmony," by Arnold Schonberg.
Charles Nef, for permission to quote from Histoire de la musique (Paris, Payot).
Novello & Co., London, for permission to quote from Diatonic Modal Counterpoint, by Ralph Dunstan; by per-
mission of H. W. Gray Co., Agents, to quote from Theory of Harmony, by Matthew Shirlaw.
Oliver Ditson Co., Boston, for permission to quot? from New Harmonic Devices, by Horace Alden Miller, and
from Seventy Scottish Songs, by Helen Hopekirk.
Oxford University Ptess, London, for permission to quote from Contrapuntal Technique in the 16th Century, by
R. O Morris; and from A History of Music in England, by Ernest Walker.
Preston, London, for permission to quote from A General Collection of the Ancient Irish Music, by Edward
Bunting.
Simpkin & Co., London, fot permission to quote from English Folk-Song: Some Conclusions . by C. J. Sharp.
University of Chicago Ptess, Chicago, for permission to quote from A Theory of Modulation, by Thorvald Otter-
strom.
University of Rochester, Rochester, N. Y., for permission to quote from the doctoral thesis, "The Evolution of
Harmonic Consciousness," by Ruth Hannas.
Winthrop Rogers, London, by permission of Boosey & Hawkes, copyright owners, to quote from Modern Academic
Counterpoint, by C. W. Pearce.
Contents
Introduction 1
Book One: THEORY . . . . • 5
Part I: A Diatonic Theory of Chromaticism
I. Harmonic Analysis: A Brief Critique and a New Theory 7
II. Modality and Tonality: Some Distinctions 12
III. The Diatonic Modes: The Ordinal and Lateral Indices 16
IV. Interchangeability of Mode 23
V. Extended Harmonic Resources 38
VI. Extra-major-minor Chords: Tonic Forms 42
VII. Extra-major-minor Chords: Supertonic Forms 56
VIII. Extra-major-minor Chords: Mediant Forms 65
IX. Extra-major-minor Chords: Subdominant Forms 77
X. Extra-major-minor Chords: Dominant Forms 85
XL Extra-major-minor Chords: Submediant Forms , . . .108
XII. Extra-major-minor Chords on the Seventh Degree 116
Part II: Kindred Studies
XIII. Pseudo-modality 135
XIV. The Case for the Locrian Mode 140
XV. The Phrygian as a Minor Mode 145
XVI. Summary and Conclusions 148
Book Two: A HISTORY OF THE DIATONIC MODES 151
Part I: Early Systems
XVII. The Diatonic Element in Ancient Greek Music 155
XVIII. The Ecclesiastical Modes 163
XIX. The Scales of Folk Song 169
XX. Genesis and Growth of the Major-minor System 174
XXI. The Minor Mode 178
Part II: The Genesis of the Harmonic Modes
XXII. The Use of the Ecclesiastical Modes by Bach and Handel 185
XXIII. Blainville and the Troisieme Mode 193
XXIV. The Lowest Ebb of Modality 200
XXV. Abbe Lesueur, Antiquarian 204
XXVI. Modality and the French Romanticists 209
XXVII. Modality and the German Romanticists 232
XXVIII. Modality and the Russian Nationalists 247
XXIX. Other Manifestations of Modality in the Nineteenth Century 260
XXX. The Modes in the Contemporary Period 267
XXXI. Recapitulation 285
Bibliography 289
Index 295
THE DIATONIC MODES
IN MODERN MUSIC
Introduction
This work divides itself naturally into two parts which, although more or less independent, are
nevertheless sufficiently related to be treated under the title The Diatonic Modes in Modern Music.
The two divisions are roughly: (1) theory, and (2) history. Book One, Theory, has two parts:
A Diatonic Theory of Chromaticism and Kindred Studies.
The interchangeability of scale forms above a single tonic for the enrichment of the melodic and
harmonic means is not limited to the juxtaposition of the Major and the Minor modes, but also includes
those diatonic scales which are the modern counterpart of the ecclesiastical modes. When applied to har-
monic analysis, this mutual interchangeability offers a valid means for a simple and diatonic explanation
of the relationship which certain chords (hitherto considered chromatic) bear to the tonic.
These chords have not lacked logical explanation either by traditional analysis, which resorts to tem-
porary modulation and the Ausweichung (digression), or by the theories of half -modulation or parenthesis
modulation (Piutti), of substitute tones (Riemann), and of the secondary dominant system (Weidig and
Piston). These systems have served too long and too well to be overthrown, and no attempt is made to
disprove them. The author aspires only to present a new viewpoint and thus perhaps add one step to the
progress of music theory.
Book Two, A History of the Diatonic Modes, comprises two parts: Early Systems and the Genesis of
the Harmonic Modes. Although Book Two concerns chiefly the period since the rise of the major-minor
system (1600-1900), a sketch of the previous scale history is included in Part One, for the purpose of
orientation as well as to throw into relief the thread of diatony, which is one of the constants of occidental
music.
The common denominator of the scales of Western civilization is their seven-tone diatonism. This
charactistic links the tovoi of ancient Greece, the eight modes of Pope Gregory, the twelve of Glareanus,
and the two used almost exclusively for the past three centuries. Despite divergent mathematical formu-
lae for tuning, and the differences in the theory of the function and relationship of the component tones,
the framework of all our scales is an octave divided into five "whole" tones and two "half" tones, the
latter a fifth or a fourth apart depending on the starting point of the reckoning. The several scale systems
(Greek modes, Gregorian modes, Church modes, and so on) all derive from this basic scale pattern and its
seven octave-species. For purposes of convenience, these basic scales will be called the diatonic modes.
Departures from the basic diatonic forms are but mutations through the use of superimposed "chro-
matics." These chromatics (half-tones and sometimes even smaller intervals) have always been subservient
to the diatonic scales and are thus not so much smaller subdivisions of the octave as they are subdivisions
oi the whole-tones of the diatonic modes. This statement encompasses the "genera" of Greek scale-theory,
the accidentals of "Musica Ficta," and the chromaticism of major-minor practice.
Even after the general adoption of the major and minor scales and the practical eclipse of all others,
which for convenience may be said to have occurred at the beginning of the seventeenth century, we find
the so-called ecclesiastical scales persisting. To expose their course through this period, their eventual re-
vival, and the factors involved is the purpose of the second part of Book Two.
The title chosen for this work, The Diatonic Modes in Modern Music, may suggest that the limiting
qualification "diatonic" is an arbitrary one. True, there are many other scales found in music but, notwith-
standing some superficial evidence to the contrary, the scale basis of the musical art of Western civiliza-
tion is diatonic (the diatonic modes). Proof lies in the recorded history of the scale structure and in the
great body of folk and art music now extant. Since these subjects cannot be treated adequately in the small
space of an introduction, the reader is referred to the later chapters for a full exposition of the evidence.
It must not be supposed, however, that there is no natural impulse toward chromaticism in Western
music. Its functions, nevertheless, are complementary to the diatonic substructure. Instead of reducing the
seven-tone series to twelve semitones, these smaller subdivisions of the octave, employed as harmonic tones
in the major-minor system, are actually definitive auxiliaries of the Major (or Minor) mode.
Thus, for example, the chromatics in the traditional augmented-sixth chord define the dominant
(fifth degree):
$£*
C Major
and the so-called Neapolitan sixth "leans" on the tonic:
J5=fe
m
s
3$=
as
C Minor
This will be more fully treated in the chapters on the major-minor system (Book One, pp. 6-15; Book
Two, pp. 174-181.
It will be noted that the mode names employed follow Glareanus, who is credited with proving the
existence of twelve modes instead of eight. The title page of his Dodecachordon l lists the scales as follows:
GLAREAN I
Plagij
AQA EKAXOP AON
Authentae
A Hyperdorius
Hypermixolydius Ptolemaei
B Hypophrygius
Hyperaeolius Mar. Cap.
C Hypolydius
D Hypermixolyd.
Hyperiastius vel Hyperionicus Mar. Cap.
E Hypoaeolius
Hyperdorius Mart. Capell.
G Hypoionicus
F* Hyperphrygius
Hyperlydius Politia, sed est errar.
D Dorius
E Phrygius
F Lydius
Hyperphrygius Mar. Cap.
G Mixolidius
Hyperlydius Mart. Cap.
A Aeolius
C Ionicus
Porphyrio iastius Apuleius & Mar. Cap.
B* Hyperaeolius
The mode on B, here named Hyperaeolius and marked with an asterisk to show that it was rejected
because of its diminished fifth, is usually given the designation, Locrian. The whole plagal category has
been discarded in the modern period, since any useful purpose it served disappeared along with the cantus
firmus, where it was mainly an academic distinction of melodic ambit.
'Henricus Glareanus, AflAEKAXOPAON (Basle, 1547).
3
There are several other systems of mode nomenclature but the one chosen has several advantages:
a) It is well known and widely used in Germany and in English-speaking countries. (In France three
systems seem to be current: the traditional Roman Catholic Church numerical designation, a pseudo-Greek
terminology, and a "white-note" characterization, i.e., mode de re, mode de mi, mode de fa, etc.)
b) It is complete since it encompasses a scale on each of the seven diatonic degrees. (This important
qualification is lacking in the pseudo-Greek listing as given by Koechlin in his admirable summary of the
rules of counterpoint.2)
c) Once accepted, the names do not carry the inextricable preconceptions and ambiguities which in-
evitably accompany the Greek enumeration or the ecclesiastical classification by numbers. (It is clear that
certain derails about ancient Greek usage must forever remain nebulous, although everything known of
the Hellenic period emphasizes the debt music owes to it. The Church mode numbers are too closely identi-
fied with certain functions of tones, i.e., traditional theoretical dominants, mediants, participants, absolute
initials, regular and conceded modulations, cadences, etc.) Although the essential diatonism of our music
has undergone comparatively little evolution since the earliest records, the superimposed internal con-
figurations, that is, tonal functions and chromaticism, have gone through vicissitudes, and their manifesta-
tion in one era does not necessarily have more than superficial resemblance to that of another age. In this
connection compare Greek chromaticism with that of Wagner, or the dominant of Gregorian Chant to that
of Cesar Franck. The history of music theory is a history of the revision of viewpoint in an attempt to meet
the changing relationships of these variables to the constant of diatony. To clear the way for the present
study, it has been thought well to divest the diatonic basis of music of its overlying complications in order
to gain a new point of view.
d) The names Dorian, Phrygian, and so on have a solid historical justification since they have existed
in their present meaning for more than a thousand years. It is true that they result from a misinterpreta-
tion of their original Greek significance, but the sanction of ten centuries cannot be overlooked.
e) The terms mode of D (for Dorian), mode of E (for Phrygian), etc. would serve very well but for
two objections. First, they have no historical standing, and second, their employment would result in such
complexities as mode of D on C (for C-Dorian) and mode of F on A° (for Ab-Lydian).
t* o
-a — «►-
Mode of D on C
$
|U .. o o ° °
E5 «» o "
Mode of F on Ab
This terminology proves very confusing in analyses where the mode changes frequently:
'Charles Koechlin, Precis des Regies du Contrepoint (Paris,
Heugel et Cie), p. 132.
Moussorgsky, A Night on Bald Mountain.
Mode of E on D .
(D = Phrygian)
. Mode of D on D.
(D = Dorian)
Mode of A on D.
CD- Aeolian)
. Mode of G on D
(D = Mixolydian)
For the foregoing reasons the nomenclature chosen seems the best of the several existing systems. It
is certainly not advisable to attempt to invent a new set of symbols to add to an already confusing array.
BOOK ONE: Theory
Part I: A Diatonic Theory of Chromaticism
I
Chapter I
HARMONIC ANALYSIS:
A BRIEF CRITIQUE AND A NEW THEORY
T has long been recognized in harmonic theory that a tonality is not overthrown by a single chord
which normally belongs to another key. The chord d-f i-a-c in the following example does not upset
the C-tonality in spite of the fact that it is V 7 of G.
m
m
^m
3
=8=
C Major +
In like manner the chord g-b-d-f does not indicate a modulation in the final cadence:
$
5
Bach
m
A J J
^^
t— r
^
G Major
u*
rr
Both of these types of harmonic progression are juxtaposed in the following excerpt. This only serves
to emphasize that no real modulation is intended, since the key scheme would then be D-A-G-D, imprac-
tical in so short a space.
Elgar, Dream of Gerontius.
8-
£LA
^Mf if IF
fMW
t
J
n j. a
;.,ru-,^,.n j
u
m$
rw
m
m
P^P
i
+ +
Copyright 1928 by Novello & Co., Ltd. Vied by permission of H. W. Gray Co., Agents.
Such apparent violations of key have been given various names which indicated their transient har-
monic significance. Traditional theory treated them as fleeting modulations, considering that a real change
of key was brought about only by a subsequent full cadence to affirm the new tonality. Piutti 1 recognized
the ambiguity of such chords and called the effect "half-modulation" and "parenthesis modulation." The
German term Ausweichung is quite descriptive of the digressive character. Riemann 2 explains the Aus-
weichung by a system of substitution (the substitute-klang).
1 Carl Piutti, Regel und Erlduterungen zum Studium der Mu-
siktheorie ( 1883). See also D. G. Mason, "A Neglected Contri-
bution to Harmonic Theory — Piutti's Parenthesis Chords,' "
New Music Review (April, 1908), pp. 299-303.
"Dr. Hugo Riemann, Harmony Simplified or the Theory of
the Tonal functions of Chords, trans, the Rev. H. Bewerunge
(London, Augener and Co.).
Weidig3 and Piston4 are modern exponents of the parenthesis-modulation idea. Their system of
"secondary dominant formations" recognizes as legitimate all chromatically built chords of the V (7) type
placed a perfect fifth above every degree of the major and minor scales except the leading tone. "Any
degree of the scale, major or minor, (with the exception of the leading tone, a purely melodic note) may be
preceded by its dominant without disturbing the tonality." B
These secondary dominants are thus related to the triads of the major mode: V, IV, II, VI, and III
(also V$, Illit, and VII lb borrowed from the minor). In minor the list is V, (V 3b), IV, (IV 3'), VI, III,
and VII (subtonic). The secondary chords so formed are designated V (7> of V, V <7) of IV, etc., and nor-
mally resolve to the chord to which they are related. As an extension of the principle, the V <7) of N 6
(Neapolitan sixth) is allowed,6 but in 1833 Jelensperger 7 had anticipated this by regarding the N8 as a
"half modulation." Piston 8 even recognizes the V (7> ofVofV and the IV of IV.
f\
j
-*■ — «-i
e 1
— & — A —
nr> — n
— ^z
"JT^ — —
~ ** — F
U
"V rt
., **
if 1*
r u f-"
«J °
o
IK
V Ki
r° Hi
^
4V
Vs — — —
O
. _
-** —
»
«»
— « 1
C Major
I V6
V7 of V7 of
V of V V
if f i
^
^
C Major I III6 VI
IV of IV
IV
Part of the development in harmonic analysis has come about because of the inadequacy of the sys-
tem previously in use: it was a clumsy technique which had to resort to continuous modulation to explain
the relationship of certain chords. The fault lay in the narrow concept of key which regarded all but a few
chromatic chords (augmented sixth, N 6, etc.) as violations of the key. The increasing complexity of the
harmonic materials forced a progressively broader view of the limits of tonality. With the wider harmonic
outlook came two significant changes:
(1) More chords could be related to the tonic. Under the parenthesis-chord system of Piston and
Weidig this is done by recognizing relationships is once removed.9 For example, two chords not
ordinarily closely associated with the major-minor may become intelligible through an intermediate
chord to which both are in simple relationship.
"Adolph Weidig, Harmonic Material and its Uses (Chicago,
Clayton Summy Co., 1923), chap. xvi.
'Walter Piston. Principles of Harmonic Analysis (Boston,
E. C. Schirmet Co- 1933).
hlbid., p. 1.
"Weidig, op. cit., pp. 344-345.
' Daniel Jelensperger, Die Harmonie in Anfange des neun-
zehnten Jahrhunderts und die Art sie zu erlernen, trans. A. F.
Haser (Leipzig, Breitkopf und Hartel, 1833), p. 34.
8 Piston, op cit., p. 45, (IV of IV). Principles of Harmonic
Analysis does not mention V (,) of V of V, but the expression
is used in his classroom.
'' The V-of-V-of-V relationship it twice removed.
(2) More extended harmonic passages could be accounted for within a single tonality. This change
only recognized in theory a fact long apparent to the ear: an established tonality is really difficult to over-
throw; it persists until another is well-established and obscures the first in the consciousness. Here is an
illustration of this persistence of a tonic:
1
w
r
*
s
Mixolydian
VII
[IV of IV]
G Major I
IV
$
IV
m
TI~
"C5"
«
Tr^
C Major I C = Lydian II
[V of V]
IVC
~n~
~n~
TT
Tf~
mr
Although the chords are identical, there is no doubt about the tonality of either, if considered sepa-
rately. If we begin with C Major, the final chord must be C Major: the penultimate chord, G Major, is
not satisfactory as a final. Similarly, to begin in G Major is to feel any other close unsatisfactory: we can-
not add another chord (C Major) at the end.
The advantages of the broader conception of the limits of major-minor tonality are in the directness
of perspective and comprehension. In the following example from Beethoven, the entire passage is heard
in relation to the tonic D. The section containing accidentals may be regarded as a series of modulations
only by a kaleidoscopic analysis which misses the point of the music, which is that the meaning is bound
up in the relationship which the chromatic section bears to the D-tonic. In a manner of speaking, the
middle part is harmonic color projected on the D background. A traditional analysis fails to show this,
while an analysis by the parenthesis-chord system renders full account of the chord-by-chord relationships,
yet constantly relates the whole harmonic texture to the ruling center of gravity ( D) .
Beethoven, Quartet, Op. 18, 3.
Finale.
if
mmji j ]>
v7
P91
if
V7
m
^
if
£ if
m
VI (I %)
v7
10
jpi i-^>-^h L
I ID)V? oflVIV
I Pedal
V'of IV II
Vof IV
7
IV of IV V of IV 7
[iv] v
I chromatic v7 V
-y^ passing V7of IV V7of IV
tones
E minor II 4
TT 6
II 4
III I
inT
VUO.4 (yoj*
V° f (!) of II
V'of II
p^utl
m
1 4
r?4
Elk tJlir ' U-
"v^T (#
v
* The symbol V is used to designate a chord of dominant function in
which the root is omitted.
The older method of analysis which uses transient modulation has at least one virtue: the diatonic
character of the music is recognized in the figured bass. When a transient modulation is indicated, it sug-
gests a diatonic scale on a related degree:
$
^=^
~n~
«:
=*=
3SZ
"C5-
^
C I
E
DV'
G V 7
C V'
11
Its disadvantages are that, although it emphasizes the diatonic element, (1) it fails to recognize the rela-
tionship digressions bear to one another and to the established tonality; and (2) it resorts to too frequent
modulation. The result is a lack of harmonic perspective. Specifically, the method recognizes the impor-
tance of the roles played by the subdominant and dominant chords in determining harmonic progression
patterns. It has long been known that the march of harmony is strongest between chords whose roots are
at the interval of a fourth or a fifth. What remained to be recognized was that the chords concerned in
such progressions have relationships not unlike those of the true V-I and IV-I. The principles of the
pseudodominant and pseudosubdominant tonal functions, although unformulated, were unconsciously
applied by composers, and the theories of Weidig and Piston grew out of a fait accompli.
The primary concern of these theories is to account for the progressions involved, even at the risk of
neglecting the relationship which the component chords bear to the tonic. The advantages gained through
a fuller understanding of the progressions are not to be minimized, but certain drawbacks inherent in the
system should be noted:
(1) The essential diatony of the harmony is slighted. (2) The V (7) as a tonal function is overempha-
sized. (3) The limits to which the system may be permitted to extend seem somewhat arbitrary. This arbi-
trariness is probably what Piston has reference to when he says,
Although the use of such terms as II of IV, II of V, etc., would be stretching the bounds of tonality to perhaps an
impossible extreme, there are many instances to be found in which the expression IV of V [sic] seems reasonable.11
(4) Although easily within the bounds of tonality, the chords designated as secondary by the device
" = of = " are not admitted to have a primary relationship to the center of gravity. Instead, as was shown
earlier in the chapter, the relationship is only established through an intermediary.
(5) Where the chords called "V of V" or "IV of IV" do not proceed ro the V or IV, justification for
the nomenclature is lost, and these names serve no better than any arbitrary designation.
Faure, Penelope, Act III, Scene V.
Final cadence.
^8^
=S^
ZKSZ
i *§_
m*
M
3SZ
C V7 of I
V
Copyright 1913 by Heugel & Cie, Paris. Used by permission.
It is the object of the present work to show that: (1) Through an extended concept of diatony, many
chords in the parenthesis-chord system have a direct relationship to the tonic. In other words, certain chro-
matically conceived chords are actually diatonic. (2) A number of chords not now included in common
practice 12 are well within the confines of tonality. (3) The complete diatonic system defines the limits
within the bounds of tonality to which the juxtaposition of chords may be carried.
The "extended conception of diatony" is a principle which includes the interchange of modes above
a tonic and the resulting increase of harmonic possibilities. Substantiation of this theory as an actuality
will be the object of Chapters III and IV. Later, every chord of the expanded list will be illustrated from
the music of recognized composers of the past and present.
The establishment of the theory of interchange of modes depends on a conception which grants
tonality to each of the diatonic modes. Such a conception can hardly be controversial but, in an effort to
avoid any possible misunderstanding about the subject, the following chapter provides a consideration
of modality and tonality.
10 Piston, op. cit., p. 45 "IV of V" seems to be a typographical
error. The context indicates that IV of IV was intended.
..."An authoritative list of the chords of common practice is
given in Piston's Principles of Harmonic Analysis.
Chapter II
MODALITY AND TONALITY: SOME DISTINCTIONS
THE BASIC scale term, mode, if divorced from any consideration of tonal function, means simply
a cyclical interval-succession-pattern in sound. In Western European music this Schema may be rep-
resented graphically as follows (T = tone, S = semitone) :
The seven component sounds in this basic pattern are called tones and are represented in notation
by a series of lines and spaces called a staff. The term tone is also used to indicate the larger of the two
kinds of conjunct interval in the pattern, the smaller being a semitone. Major second for the former and
minor second for the latter are better terms: their meaning is not ambiguous.
The basic pattern is given the qualifying term diatonic (Greek diet , across or through, plus xovog ,
tone). Although the term diatonic has come to be synonymous with the phrase by conjunct staff-degrees,
it is principally used to denote conformity of a scale to the Western European Schema.
The seven tones of the Schema are designated by by the first seven letters of the alphabet although
the correspondence between the letters and the tones is an accident of history.
fD
i
T
,F. A
T7 t i-
G
T J^
Western European Tonal Schema
For the purposes of serial enumeration any tone of the Schema may be chosen as a starting point.
This may give the result: cycle
D-E-F-G-A-BC-D
Since the D was arbitrarily chosen each of the other tones may successively serve as initials.
1 D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D
2 E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E
3 F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F
4 G-A-B-GD-E-F-G
5 A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A
6 B-GD-E-F-G-A-B
7 GD-E-F-G-A-B-C
These octave species, although not yet assigned musical functions, may be called diatonic modes,
since each conforms to a cycle of the Schema.
At least in the West, the most primitive tonal function is the melodic final or tonic. Any tone of the
Schema may serve in this capacity. It is impossible, however, to conceive a tonality consisting of but a
single tone: at least one auxiliary tone is essential. Music having a tonic but in which the other tonal ele-
ments are at a minimum is only rudimentary: street cries and some Pentatonic melodies are illustrative.
After the tonic, the most important function is that of the dominant. Most often it is placed at the
interval of a fifth above the tonic but, as in the plagals of the ecclesiastical modes, it may be the sixth,
the fourth, or even the third. Its functions are: ( 1) to be conspicuous as a note in the melody and/or as a
chord in the harmony, and so be definitive of the tonic and (2) to form the principal cadence by the pro-
gression (melodic or harmonic), dominant to tonic.
If the dominant is a fifth above the tonic, there may be a certain physical basis for its domination,
but this cannot be claimed when it is placed at some other interval. In the latter case the ruling and
12
13
cadential powers of the dominant are wholly conditioned by conventionalized usage, and even with the
fifth dominant this must be partly operative.
When the tonic and dominant of a mode have been assigned their respective roles and these have
become established and conventionalized to the extent that their normal employment is well understood,
anarchy has been banished from sound and order has taken the place of chaos. The tonal potentialities
have been limited in order that those remaining can be more readily apprehended, and since they are
less extensive, there is a corresponding gain in meaning. Specifically, we come to understand that in a
tonal scheme, the two most important tones are the tonic and dominant, that they are mutually definitive,
that progression from one to the other is cadential (dominant-to-tonic being the stronger), and that the
tonic is the final. These are the least conditions of tonality, although many other established conventions
may contribute.
According to this view, it is clear that the ecclesiastical modes have tonality, but it must be under-
stood that it is a different tonality from that of the major-minor system of the past three hundred years.
Furthermore, owing to the lack of uniformity in the matter of dominants and other tonal conventions,
the strength and quality of tonality varied among the several modes. Thus Lydian tonality was weaker
than some others because of its prominent tritone, and the Locrian was declared defective because of its
diminished fifth.
Since the character of a particular tonality is the product of a certain set of formalized tonal usages,
any change in these will produce corresponding mutations in that character. Such a modification occurred
in the Phrygian mode when its dominant was shifted from the original b to c. Much more important was
the metamorphosis by which the C-mode of Church theory (the Ionian) became the modern Major; but
before this point is discussed some notice must be taken of the matter of intonation of the intervals of
the scales.
Pythagorean tuning was in use until long after the rise of polyphony. In this system the whole tones
were of the proportion 8:9, semitones 243:256, and thirds and sixths were classed as dissonant. Under
the influence of polyphony this tuning began to be questioned and, after the tenth century, the "natural"
third (4:5) gradually came into use. Zarlino (1517-1590) completed the process with his senario theory.
Equal temperament is a still later development.
These changes undoubtedly altered the character of the scales, but the adoption of the new tuning
cannot be said automatically to have given rise to the Major. Indeed, the Ionian mode still exists today
despite the preeminence of the Major, although its effect is described, somewhat disparagingly, as pseudo-
modal.
The Ionian mode of Glareanus, with its dominant on the fifth of the scale, and the modern major
have the same diatonic form: T-T-S-T-T-.T-S. Yet the difference between the two is marked. In spite of
the fact that no trained musician would mistake the effect of one for the other, the matter has been diffi-
cult to put into words. The divergence between the two is based on the dissimilarity of internal tonal con-
ventions. Further light will be thrown on this question later in the chapter by a summary of the conven-
tions of tonality characteristic of medieval polyphony as contrasted with those of the major-minor system.
A physical basis of tonality rests on very questionable ground despite courageous attempts to estab-
lish it. Shirlaw 1 discusses each thesis from Rameau's through Riemann's and brings very damaging evi-
dence to bear against their propositions. Rameau, however, was the first to formulate a complete theory
of the major-minor system.2 To him is due the credit for the practical idea that the V 7 contains within
itself the limits of the major mode key system and so unmistakably defines the key. This is very service-
able and is probably the most important single principle of major-minor tonality.
Fetis considered that the necessity of resolving the dissonance of the 3rd and 7th of the V 7 deter-
mines the tonality of modern music, and taught that the modern major-minor tonality was the result of
Monteverdi's 3 supposed introduction of the use of the V 7. He also says,
. . . tonality resides in the melodic and harmonic affinites of the sounds of the scale, which determine the successions
and aggregations of these sounds.
'Matthew Shirlaw, Theory of Harmony (London, Novello SJ. F. Fetis, "Monteverdi," Esquisse de I'histoire de I'har-
and Co., Ltd., 1917?). monie (Paris, 1830).
aJ.-Ph. Rameau, Traite de I'harmonie (1722); idem, Demon-
stration du principle de I'harmonie (1750).
14
. . . Tonality then, is the order of melodic and harmonic facts which results from the arrangement of sounds in
our Major and Minor scales; if even one of these sounds were to be placed differently, tonality would assume another
character, and the harmonic results would be quite different . . .4
Shir law makes the following statements about Fetis' definition:
These remarks have been considered by not a few besides Fetis to be very profound and to betray a deep insight
into the nature of music and harmony. In reality they are very superficial. Fetis asks us to believe that it is the scale
which determines harmony and harmonic succession, whereas the reverse is the truth, as every musician knows who is
acquainted with the history and development of the Church modes. These Modes, quite different as regards the arrange-
ment and proportion of sounds from our modern modes, were, under the influence of harmony, gradually altered until
they assumed the form of our Major and Minor modes. It would be correct to say that harmony banished these old
modes out of existence.5
This final declaration may be true if we correctly interpret the phrase "old modes" but the whole
thesii of the present work assumes the present-day existence of modes identical in their diatonism with
those called "the ecclesiastical modes."
If Fetis was too specific in assigning tonality only to the major-minor system, Schonberg is too
general when he says,
It [tonality] has always been the referring of all results to a center, to a fundamental tone, to an emanation point
of tonality, which rendered important service to the composer in matters of form. All the tonal successions, chords, and
chord-successions in a piece achieve a unified meaning through their definite relation to a tonal center and also through
their mutual ties.6
This statement does not deny tonality to modes other than the major-minor, but it makes no distinc-
tion between different kinds of modes. Helmholtz specifically includes the modes of the Greeks and the
earliest Christian period and emphasizes the importance of the final to the tonality.
... As the fundamental principle for the development of the European tonal system the whole mass of tones and
the connection of harmonies must stand in close and always distinctly perceptible relationship to some arbitrarily
selected tonic, and the -mass of tone which forms the whole composition must be developed from this tonic, and must
finally return to it. The ancient world developed this principle in homophonic music: the modern world in harmonic
music.7
Piston's statement about tonality even more clearly includes the diatonic modes:
The presence of a center of gravity, or tonic, being the sole requisite for the presence of a tonality, it will be seen
that the same tonality may be given a large number of variations in the makeup of its scale.8
Recognizing a neglected point in tonality definitions, a distinction between the melodic and harmonic
elements, Yasser still does not show the implications of the idea.
Tonality is a principle which organically and tonocentrically unites the melodic and harmonic functions of a cer-
tain number of systematically arranged sounds as most sirrply represented in a musical scale.
To expand this definition and describe the two fundamental aspects in reference to our present (diatonic) system
which is governed by the above principle, we may add that the tonal center represents a single note (tonic) from the
melodic point of view, and a chord of three notes arranged by thirds (tonic triad) from the harmonic point of view.
Again, that in the melodic aspect this system manifests a characteristic distribution of its seven regular (diatonic)
degrees within an Octave, forming various chains of whole steps and half steps (Modes) . . . Finally, from the har-
monic viewpoint this system divides all its possible tonal combinations into two distinctly opposed groups of conso-
nances and dissonances, the latter inevitably "requiring" resolution into the former.8
All the usual definitions of tonality have a certain logic, but there seems to be a general lack of
recognition of the differentiations which must be made between a broad, comprehensive formulation and
the more particularized, exclusive statements dealing with existing subdivisions of tonality. In the absence
of definitions which take cognizance of these distinctions, the following definitions are proposed.
General Tonality is that principle by which a mental grasp of the musical texture is maintained
through melodic and/or harmonic conventions relating all component tones to one of their number which
is thus the tonal center and ordinarily the final. The conventions may or may not have physical bases.
Tonality in Plain Chant is a system by which a mental grasp of the unaccompanied melodic line is
maintained through a system of linear tonal conventions. Conspicuous among them are the final or tonic,
1 Idem, Traite complet de la theorie et de la pratique de I'har- ' H. L. F. von Helmholtz, Sensations of Tone, trans. A. J.
monie (Paris, 1844), p. 249. Ellis (London, 1885), P. Ill, chap. 13.
5 Shirlaw, op. cit., p. 337. "Piston, Principles of Harmonic Analysis, p. 60.
"Arnold Schonberg, "Problems of Harmony," Modern Music "Joseph Yasser, A Theory of Evolving Tonality (American
(May-June, 1934), p. 177. Library of Musicology, New York, 1932), p. 331.
15
the dominant reciting note, the absolute initials, the mediant, and the stylized final cadence: a progression
to the final from the note immediately above. It thus only makes use of the melodic phase of the general
principle of tonality.
Tonality in Renaissance 'Polyphony is a system by which a mental grasp of the melodic and harmonic
texture is maintained partly through the methods of unaccompanied plain chant which apply mainly to
the cantus firmus, and partly through certain added harmonic conventions whose function is to relate the
component triads to the triad of the final which has taken the place of the simple final. The dominant
triad must be conspicuous; the progression dominant triad to tonic triad becomes the principal cadence;
there are other conventional cadences on the important degrees of the scale; and the final cadence must
usually be perfect, that is, the tonic note in the top voice as well as in the lowest. It is important to re-
member that in spite of these harmonic results, the whole outlook was still horizontal, not vertical: each
of the voices was regarded as a melody.
The dual nature of this tonality should be noted because it was undoubtedly a factor in the eventual
capitulation to the major-minor system.
Major-Minor Tonality is a system by which a mental grasp of the musical texture is maintained
through a very circumscribed and highly characteristic harmonic (vertical) means of relating all melodic
and harmonic elements to the tonic or its triad. Among the differentiae are:
a) Cadential conventions:
(1) V-l and IV-V-I are the normal formulae.
(2) The major third of the V normally progresses up to the tonic and acts somewhat like a red arrow point-
ing to it.
(3) The seventh of the V has a normal resolution downwards to the third of the tonic.
( 4) The arresting I f is normally used before the V in the cadence.
b) Restricted are the progressions II-I, V-IV, VI-V, and any extended employment of the secondary
triads II, III, VI, and VII °.
c) The chromatic conventions require that each chromatic note or chromatic chord lean on some
one of the normal triads and thus make the relationship clear.
Quite arbitrarily the descriptive term Tonal has been applied to the music written in major-minor
tonality and observing its conventions. The three centuries of major-minor music is known as the Tonal
Period. Any deviation from the established conventions of this tonality are called extra-tonal or modal.
Pseudo-modal is the term used to designate emphasis of the secondary chords II, III, VI, and VII ° in the
Major mode, which results in a weakening of its tonal quality.
To the three subdivisions of General Tonality ( tonality in plain chant, tonality in Renaissance Poly-
phony, and major-minor tonality) must be added one other kind: the tonality of the diatonic modes in
contemporary use. As will be shown later in Book Two, all the diatonic modes are to be found in the
music of the present epoch. Their scale types are the modern counterpart of the ecclesiastical modes but
there the similarity ceases: the plagal forms have disappeared, the dominants of the Phrygian and Locrian
are no longer placed on the sixth degree, and most of the old conventions of harmony and cadences have
been superseded. Certain conventions of the major-minor system have been imposed upon these scales: the
dominant is always a fifth above the tonic, the texture is essentially harmonic (vertical) instead of con-
trapuntal (horizontal), and the dissonances of the seventh and ninth are used freely (subject to the same
principles of resolution which apply to such dissonances in Classical harmony). These scales then may be
termed Harmonic Modes,10 since their tonality is the result of superimposing Classic harmonic formulae
on the diatonic scales known as Lydian, Mixolydian, Dorian, Aeolian, Phrygian, and Locrian.
If one cannot grant tonality to the modes named above without further proof, the matter may be
considered as a hypothesis, and agreement reserved until there has been submitted the additional evidence
embodied in Chapters III and IV on the principle of interchangeability of modes.
10 The genesis of the Harmonic Modes is the subject of the
second part of Book Two.
Chapter III
THE DIATONIC MODES: THE
ORDINAL AND LATERAL INDICES
Even the ancient Greeks recognized that the interval of a fifth had great significance for music.
Since their time tuning has been based on a series of fifths. Organum used the fifth and its inversion,
the fourth, and so it became the first interval of polyphony. The dominants of five of the six recog-
nized authentic Church modes were placed on the fifth of the scale, and in the major-minor system the
fifth rules supreme.
A favorite device for "explaining" the derivation and ascendancy of the major scale is to refer to a
series of seven perfect fifths which may be reduced to C Major scale form:
ir
ir
-*y-
ti~
"XV
m
TT
The question which has always been embarrassing for the theory is: Why does the scale begin on
c, the second component of the series, instead of the first? In order to avoid this stumbling block it is
sometimes said that the series begins on c and ends on f:
Ol
^
3E
The final fifth is diminished and this is said to "close the series in order to prevent its continuing indefi-
nitely." In spite of the neatness of this explanation it is clearly an evasion because the series is not com-
pletely composed of perfect fifths.1
No theorist has demonstrated by means of the series of fifths that the C-Major is but one scale of a
complete diatonic scale system. The reason that the major scale begins on the second fiftb of the series
becomes clear if we reduce the component tones of a series of seven perfect fifths to the compass of one
octave and do this seven times by adopting each of the tones in turn as a beginning. There will then be
formed the seven diatonic scales known as Lydian, Major, Mixolydian, Dorian, Aeolian, Phrygian, and
Locrian, respectively.
1 Specific citations are not given in this brief mention of the
subject. It is sufficient to say that the series of perfect fifths as a
possible theoretical basis for the relationship of the tones of the
major scale has tempted every theorist from Rameau to Rie-
mann.
16
17
F = Lydian
C ; Major
*!:«»
G - Mixolydian
<L ■ ■
D = Dorian
M
m
r>~
A ; Aeolian
E = Phrygian
B = Locrian
3SZ
"cy-
m
If the initials of the above scales are written in scale form beginning on "F", a diatonic series of
initials is formed. This makes a convenient table of the tonics of the seven modes. Each of these tonics
is, of course, the first notes of its respective mode, and all the seven modes in this presentation are made
up of the same diatonic series. Since the initials or tonics themselves are in diatonic order, the table pro-
duced is called the Ordinal Index.
18
Ordinal Index
^
Lydian
m
Initials
m
Mixolydian
m
• •
Aeolian
m
Locrian
3S
Major
^^^
» *
«- XI.
Dorian
m
Phrygian
~o~
The liaison between the modes of the Ordinal Index is comparable to that of Major and its relative
Minor. Thus A-Aeolian is the relative Aeolian of C-Major, and its relative Phrygian is E-Phrygian;
G-Mixolydian is the relative Mixolydian of D-Dorian, and so on.
Such relationships, however, involve a change of tonic: in order to shift from one mode to another
in the Ordinal Index there must be a corresponding modulation. In other words, although the component
tones of the musical texture remain the same, the tonal center of gravity is moved from one to another of
these notes. The converse of this operation is to retain the tonic while substituting another of the scales
for the original. This is interchange of mode above a tonic,2 and the relationships in this category are
those of the Lateral Index, which is derived as follows:
If we continue a series of fifths until the cycle is complete, that is, until the first tone recurs, there
will be thirteen integrants which may be represented thus:
Complete Cycle in Fifths 3
8- -.
m
- u
*
*
8-
2 See chap, iv for further discussion of the interchange of
mode.
'Note that g> is the enharmonic equivalent (tempered scale)
of a b.
19
Any group of seven 4 consecutive tones from this cycle will have one tone which is common to all: the
middle tone (d in this case). If taken as the common tonic of the seven possible modes (by a process
which is the converse of that described in the derivation of the Ordinal Index), this center tone d becomes
the link which binds the several derivative scales into lateral relationships.
D = Lydian
D - Major
D= Mixolydian
. **
m
- w
^
\>~
D = Dorian
D = Aeolian
D= Phrygian
D = Locrian
By reducing the modes to their scale forms and placing them above the common tonic d, the juxta-
posed scales form a convenient table which may be called the Lateral Index.
Lateral Index
D- Lydian
m
D = Major
D= Mixolydian
D = Dorian
m
T>- Aeolian
m
D = Phrygian
^
D= Locrian
t±-
Natural
Signature
^
gfltf
m
S
m
m
s
^
ss
&
This index constitutes the theoretical basis of the principle of Interchangeability of Mode above a
single tonic. Further consideration of the principle and proof of its contemporary existence and use will
be found in the next chapter.
1 Seven tones are necessary to form a complete diatonic scale.
20
It will be noted that no mention has been made^f the Minor mode. This omission is not an over-
sight, but, in agreement with most writers on the subject, the Minor mode is here considered to be derived
from the Aeolian (or Dorian) scale, the seventh degree of which has been altered to permit the Major
mode dominant-seventh chord. (The matter is fully treated in Book Two, Chapter xx '.)
Before concluding the discussion of modal theory it seems logical to dispose of one other related
point, in spite of the fact that, strictly speaking, it is something of a digression.
Simple inversion of theme has been a stock device of composers at least since the Flemish schools of
the fifteenth century; but if there was any early recognition of exact inversion of mode, it was a closely
guarded secret which 'died with its jealous guardians. In his Musical Offering and Art of the Fugue Bach
used inversions but these were not of the modal type, being confined to the two kinds described by Fux
in the Gradus Ad Parnassum of which the original edition appeared in 1725.
This inversion can be made in two ways: by simple contrary motion, and by inverted contrary motion. The simple
contrary motion is made when the self-same notes ate merely turned upside-down so that those notes which first
ascended, now descend. This is done without the slightest attention to the semitones. For example, see that which has
been'given so often:
Model Simple contrary motion
*
^
The other kind of inversion is made by turning the notes over in such a way that semitones remain semitones and
tones remain tones. The exact manner in which this is done is shown in the following illustration.
6
~n~
1
(8)
TT
~Tf~
(S)
Compare the ascending notes at the left with those desending at the right: When D is inverted, it remains D; E
inverted becomes C; F inverted becomes B; G becomes A; etc. This process applied to the original model will be as
follows: 5
#
Model
SE
Inverted contrary motion
Various writers have discussed one phase or another of inversion. The subject is treated in Rousseau's
Dictionnaire (before 1740) in the article "Systeme" written by Serre and Morambert. To Serre must go
credit for being the first to note that the Phrygian mode is the inverse of the Major,6 although he calls the
former mode "semi-mineur" because of the minor second and minor third at the bottom of the inversion.
C= Major
^
TI~
<>
S
t>y» b'
T~
C= Phrygian
The subject was not mentioned again until a century later when it was recognized by a number of
German theorists.7
6 Johann Joseph Fux, Salita al Parnasso, trans, into Italian by
Alessandro Manfredi (Capri, 1761), p. 181.
* Jean Adam Serre, Letter appended to Esiais sur les Principes
de I'Harmonie (Paris, Prault Fils, 1753), pp. 143-144.
7 H. L. F. von Helmholtz, Lehre von den Tonempfindigungen
als physiologische Grundlage fur die Theorie der Musik (1863).
Artur von Oettingen, Harmoniesystem in dualer Entwickelung
(1866). Dr. Hugo Riemann, Vereinfachte Harmonielehre
(1893). Hermann Schroder, Die symmetrische Umkehrung in
der Musik, Beiheht 8 der Publikationen de I M G ( 1902).
21
Bernhard Ziehn s carried the idea one step further in demonstrating that the Dorian is an inversion
of itself, the Aeolian inverts to Mixolydian, and the Phrygian is the antithesis of the Ionian or Major. For
some reason he omits mentioning that the Lydian and Locrian are inverted forms of each other. Otter-
strom, however, gives the following list, which is complete.9
When inverted
Ionian becomes Phrygian.
Dorian remains Dorian.
Phrygian becomes Ionian.
Lydian becomes Locrian.
Mixolydian becomes Aeolian
Aeolian becomes Mixolydian.
Locrian becomes Lydian.
He attaches no importance to the fact for he adds, "These curiosities belong to the realm of amuse-
ment. . . ." 10 Whether or not this is true may depend on the point of view, but from the standpoint of the
composer, who should be aware of and take into consideration every possibility offered for the develop-
ment of thematic material, the statement is misleading.
The inversion correspondence between the modes is most simply illustrated by the following Spiegel-
bilder (retrograde inversions).
Lydian
MaJ°r ^ „ o «C"V»
Mixolydian ^___^
m
UEijoav
Dorian
"-*
1
-»-
2 *:
UEIJOQ
Apparently no one has demonstrated that the whole diatonic system is symmetrically invertible.
The Dorian with its identical tetrachords
forms the center, since it inverts without changing form. The Lydian, the most major of the three major
modes (those with a major third) since every scale degree is at its maximum distance above the tonic, is
the mirrored reciprocal of the most minor mode, the Locrian.
The two following diagrams illustrate the symmetrical invertibility of the complete diatonic system.
The first is concerned with the Ordinal Index, the second with the Lateral Index.
Bernhard Ziehn, Canonical Studies; A New Technic in "Thorvald Otterstrom, A Theory of Modulation (Chicago,
Composition (Milwaukee, Wm. A. Kaun Music Co., 1912), University of Chicago Press, 1935), p. 131.
p- 3' "Ibid.
22
SYMMETRICAL INVERSION OF MODES
Ordinal Index
C-Major (Ionian
(UBinoj) JofBj\[ - o
SYMMETRICAL INVERSION OF MODES
Lateral Index
D- Major (Ionian)
m
ubjuoi) Jofej^-Q
Chapter IV
INTERCHANGEABILITY OF MODE
Interchangeability of Mode may be defined as: the substitution of any diatonic scale for another
yet maintaining a single tonic. In effect, this means that any one of the diatonic scales may take the
place of any other above any given tonic. For example, for the Major mode (say on tonic D) may be
substituted the tonic Minor, the tonic Aeolian, the tonic Phrygian, and so on.
*
Major
m
*
w
Minor (Harmonic or melodic)
„ (b)o #" ^
Aeolian
5 bo ^
o «*
Dorian
o «»
o "^
o «»
Phrygian
ti t>'
W
bo "
Locrian
lui b«
S
$
Mixolydian
"Ti~
-O-
O "
*
tot
*
Lydian
M
^^
o «»
So far as the free alteration of major and minor are concerned the practice is recognized in theory
and has long been in use.
Strange, that one should feel major and minor as opposites. They both present the same face, now more joyous,
now more serious; and a mere touch of the brush suffices to turn the one into the other. The passage from either to
the other is easy and imperceptible; when it occurs frequently and swiftly, the two begin to shimmer and coalese
indistinguishably.1
1 Ferruccio Busoni, Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music, trans.
Dr. Th. Baker (New York, G. Schirmer, 1911), p. 21.
23
24
It is clear that the new minor mode, borrowing its upper tetrachord (and thus the essential elements of its per-
fect cadence) from the newly born major, is but another form of that principal scale. The day the Dorian consented to
adorn itself with a sharp, it lost its individuality; it accepted being amphibious: major, and thus modern, in the upper
part; minor, and antique, in the lower.2
The Dorian mode [the original minor] . . , is not even a minor tinged with major, it is rather a major tinged with
minor. It is not, morphologically, a species: it is a variety.3
The prevailing idea in recent years with regard to chords in general is that they may be used interchangeably
between major and minor. . . .*
Piston makes the following analysis of an excerpt from the second movement of Dvorak's Symphony
No. 5:
Dvorak, Symphony No. 5, II.
pm
W&\
PiM. i
fc
ep^
£
i§Fp
IF
te
Dt in v6ofn in
W*
9
M
^
VI IV
The above example furnishes an excellent illustration of the alteration of chords from the minor and major modes
in the same tonality. The first, third and sixth chords are derived from the minor mode, whereas the second, fourth, and
seventh chords are associated with the major mode.5
Rameau regarded the minor not as an independent scale but as one related to, and deriving its treat-
ment from the major.6 For these reasons, one was at liberty to substitute, where the expression demanded
it, the tonic minor for the major. In Lesueur's opera La Caverne at the words "quel triste" there is a sud-
den change to minor.
Lesueur, La Caverne, Act II.
£
P MMF
^
Mr m
P M i>
Vous m'a - vez ar - ra- ches des pleurs
Vous m'a- vez ar - ra
$
*=
7 7
S
3 t
O i o
^m
m
T Lf ? m
G Major .
i
7 7 6
m
?
ches des pleurs
P^P
S
quel trist - e sort et qu'il m'af - flige
r i '
s
^
^
^
^
h
tjji'
&*
. G Minor
^
^
3fe
Doubtless for similar reasons Brahms^ sometimes adopted the same procedure.
1 Maurice Emmanuel, Historie de la Langue Musicale (Paris,
Librairie Renouard, 1911), II, p. 292.
'Ibid., II, p. 345.
* Horace Alden Miller, New Harmonic Devices (Boston,
Oliver Ditson Co., 1930), p. 19.
5 Piston, Principles of Harmonic Analysis, p. 39.
" Rameau, Traite de I'Harmonie, II, chap. 21.
25
Brahms, Symphony No. 2, III.
G Minor
G Major
^
Brahms, Die Trauernde, Op. 7, No. 5.
P P 1 P ^^
^
Lasst
^
die drei Ro - sen stehen,
H
die
an dem
m
P
^— -
P
-m
Minor
Major
Minor
p g g
^5
^^
Kreuz - le bliihn:
heut
ihr das Mad - el kennt
m
mm
/- -
p
M
Major
26
Brahms, Sextet for Strings, Op. 36, I.
G Major
SI
J J J J J J
r
J J J j J j
7TTO
G Major
J J J JJ J
By reason of its descending form, the Minor mode includes the Aeolian and so establishes its inter-
changeability in traditional harmonic practice.
Lesueur, Ossian, Act IV.
C Aeolian _
or Minor
C Minor
Gretchaninov, Sun and Moon, Op. 16, No. 2.
PN
f=r
s
M
$
±
T=f
^
*
C Minor
C Aeolian .
. C Minor
27
Although the ascending melodic form of the minor scale has the major sixth degree, it is not clearly
Dorian because of the major seventh degree. Riemann, however, gives more than a hint that he considers
it interchangeable with the Dorian.
. . . The major sixth in the minor scale (raised third of the minor subdominant), if used unnecessarily, without
modulation and without melodic rising to the third of the major upper dominant, will always produce turns like those
peculiar to the Dorian mode of the fifteenth to the seventeenth century. . . .7
A Minor
More practical evidence that the Dorian is capable of being interchanged with other modes above
the same tonic is given by Brahms.
Brahms, Vergangen ist mir Gliick und Heil,
Op. 62, No. 7.
Andante
3E
==T
¥E^
D Dorian
r
w
l±LA
^
r
i
p^w
¥
r
^
r r
^
.D Minor
r
$
s
M
P*
tr
8 1/
T
If
J- ijLo
J J
-Jij
m
^m^
s
r rtrr
. Dorian
^m
s
s
2XZ
=8=
=8=
-F
•=-r
i r r i- r
^Ui
^
j i
m
~1T~
33=
Minor .
Dorian
' Riemann, Harmony Simplified or the Theory of the Tonal
Functions of Chords, pp. 92-93.
28
It is a remarkable fact that ". . . very few theorists [before 1900] suggest that the lowered second of
the scale [in the N 6 chord] is probably a remnant of the Phrygian Mode." 8 There are, however, at least
three theorists who were ahead of their time in their manner of construing the Neopolitan sixth chord:
First, Jelensperger,9 who considered the chord a "half-modulation":
^
g 1 1 r
*
^
~r»~
C Minor N°
Second, Tiersch,10 who regarded all the following as belonging to one key without modulation:
*
~m — w
1 § u g
i
j , t, j rj
J-U.
¥
?^
*Eff
^
f
Ne
Third, Riemann, who made the following observations:
The latter chord (A minor: d-f-b b) is known by the name of the Chord of the Neapolitan sixth. . . . We leave the
chord its name, of course, but are clear on this point, that the introduction of the note characteristic of it (the minor
second of the minor scale) makes the scale resemble the Phrygian. . . .u
i
(a)
(b)
&
^^-4
i=#
id)
~T«-
S
P
-O-^
A Minor
8V. L. Jones, "The Relation of Harmonic Theory and Prac-
tice from Rameau to 1900" (Doctorate Thesis, Harvard Uni-
versity, MS., 1934), p. 485.
8 Jelensperger, Die Harmonie im Anfange des neunzehnien
]ahrhunderts und die Art sie zu erlernen. p. 34.
10 Otto Tiersch, System und Method der Harmonielehre
(1868).
n Riemann. ot>. cit., pp. 92-93.
29
Contemporary writers, however, have not failed to note this suggestion of the Phrygian.
. . . The probability is that this chord (the Neapolitan sixth) was taken over from the Phrygian scale, since the
second degree in this minor scale is one half-tone above the tonic and has a major triad.12
The early form of the Neapolitan Chord was probably from the Phrygian scale where it occupies a position a
half step above the initial note.13
Curiously, complete scale passages in conjunction with the N 6 chord are not to be found in the works
of the older composers. This is a development which has taken place only .within comparatively recent
times. Most composers, unable to use the leading tone with the chord because of the resulting augmented
second and diminished third,
$
m
as
1^
=8=
S
±*P±
7
c I*
N6
i6
u
and apparently unwilling to use the subtonic to correct this, since the scale would then become Phrygian
*
s
~n~
m
9
~n~
mi
Ittifii
7
TT
Tf~
C I6
N6
(a form incompatible with major-minor habits of thought), solved the problem by avoiding either ascend-
ing or descending scale passages at such points. Freed from former hampering viewpoints, contemporary
writers unhesitatingly write scales over the N 8 with the result that interchangeability of mode includes
the Phrygian.
D Major I
1 Orterstrom, A Theory of Modulation, p. 1.
Sibelius, Violin Concerto.
D Phrygian II (N6)
"Miller, New Harmonic Devices, p. 18.
30
D Major I
D Phrygian II (n6)
8-
9 m i i
m n ? * i
i j i
f
i
±
a.
*=fe
m
D Major I
The source of the Phrygian is not necessarily the N 6: it frequently appears melodically or in connec-
tion with other chords.
Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheherazade, No. III.
26
£
fEEEW
pg
m STlri
sg*-^
s
^^S
^
=£
J
5fe
G Major
it;
G Phrygian VII7
i==fi
m
G Major I
G Phrygian VII7 G Major I
The scale which most naturally accompanies the N 8 is not always felt to be the Phrygian: quite often
the following form (Locrian) is used in conjunction with it.
31
Beethoven, Quartet, Op. 131 VII.
Wfi Jfejtl!
CjjMinor Cjt Locrian
Only one tone (c) of the Locrian scale is missing in the first measure of the following Sibelius excerpt.
The essential a b is quite prominent.
Sibelius, Symphony No. 2, II (coda).
^
fpi
f
m
w
i
^
F**
D Locrian
V6
D Minor
16
"ST
I
Copyright 1931 *y Breitkopl-H'drtell. By permission of Associated Music Publishers, Inc., Aa,e::t.
The d b passing tone of the following example makes it also indisputably Locrian.
Smetana, Polka Poetique, Op. 8, No. 2.
n r~n
^m i_u
p
^m
i
4
~cs
i
wm
$
G Minor
V?
n n^,j
(G Minor) N6 V I
(Phrygian II
or Locrian II)
In the "March and Hymn" from Les Troyens by Berlioz the Locrian scale occurs in complete form.
The accompanying harmonies are also Locrian, one chord, the minor V°? which, however, has some-
what the character of a passing chord. Berlioz, Les Troyens, "March and Hymn."
E
P
S
£
pg
te^
>!f
w
£
**z
i
ttz
l^r^
*
C Major I
.C Minor
IV
32
II I<5 [Minor] Locrian u6 M . ^f
The Locrian then must be admitted to the list of modes which are interchangeable.
In like manner, scales employed with a IV of IV or V 7 of IV must be Mixolydian, those above V 7
of V must be Lydian.
. . . The minor seventh in the major scale, introduced without modulation and without the third of the minor sub-
dominant following in the same part, will produce peculiarities of the Mixolydian.14
$
i
FT1
rj O
m
C Mi%°^
an
C Mixolydian
flT^iflTTTjTi^^i
■ r - p
E
-< J J J J J I J
S
a
-j 2
m
a
j.
i
-j j
i
i-
p
V7of IV
C I
VI
IV
Saint-Saens, Coeli Enarrant, No. IV, Op. 42.
F Mixolydian (Scale)
P—rn-
m
f
&3
IT
Tf"
0
TT
[v7 of IV?]
0
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
" Riemann, op. cit... pp. 92-93-
33
IPlf
Sullivan, The Golden Legend
tf
C Lydian Scale
m
w
i j i J i i
C V7
V^of IV
V°7 of V
V°?
16
The Mixolydian scale sometimes has its origin in chords other than the IV of IV or the V 7 of IV:
the final cadence of Grieg's Piano Concerto is a case in point. The chord here is a true Mixolydian V 7
and resolves directly to the tonic. ( For further discussion of this chord see Book One, chap, x.)
Piano
Orch.
Grieg, Piano Concerto, Op. 16, III.
Final cadence.
A I
Mixolydian V7
V [Mixolydian]
V?
34
*■■
**
$
i
^
W
r\
*£
#
i
^=
t/
\f
%)
^m
imi
«^
/Tv
The foregoing examples were chosen because each exhibits but a single change of mode. Such an
arbitrary specification was imposed for the sake of clearness but now that the bare exposition has been
concluded, additional evidence is offered in the form of more extended excerpts. Some of these contain
several mode changes, and although most of the modes are defined horizontally, that is, either melodically
or by scale, in some cases it will be necessary to refer to the component tones of the harmony in order to
reveal the mode.
"Sally Brown," Journal of the Folk-Song Society,
1914, p. 43.
I shipped on board of a Liv-er-pool lin - er
_& — ,J_j! — ?
| r w p jjt|» p r — ffa J |
1 ^mmai 1 1 ^^ 1
D Aeolian (?) .
. Major
Way - ho ,
roll - ing go. And we shipped on board of a
Liv- er - pool lin - er for I spent my mon-ey 'long with Sal-ly Brown.
Mixolydian
Aeolian (?)
^
m
Used by permission of the English Folk Dance and Song Society.
Dubois, Noel.
^5=
r/liWffhN
r¥
f=F
ni
M
M
i
A Aeolian
.Dorian
. Minor
Used by permission of A. Leduc & Co. Editeurs, 175 rue St. Honore, Paris.
Saint-Saens, Piano Quintet, Op. 14, III.
35
Strings
Piano
-»
-]•■•
s »-=
— ■ i
TT — is f
-4 —
' t-
Jk.'
#-=
^
J' * 1 1 2 1
-»■
7 7 £
— f —
m 0 m 0
:z^=«
col Soprano gva basso
D Minor
. D Aeolian
m
i i
w
i i
m
^=^f
ii-*-
r
7
i i
. D Minor .
Glazounov, Suite pour Quatuor d'archets,
Op. 35, No. 3.
Violin I
Violin II
Cello
J /l^-
D Dorian
I
^r^rrtirri
r °? r
i
«7 ""^
. Viola^ — ^
Y
D Aeolian
Copyright 1894 Ay Af. P. Beiaieff. By permission of Associated Music Publishers, Inc., Agent.
36
Jacobi, Synagogue Service for Sabbath Eve,
"Tov L'hodos."
^e
m
^=k
dJ=±
m
^
i
ff
tu
J-i-
aa
?
m
m
mm
kJ.
m
j.j
m
^
G Mixolydian
i
.Major
^
i
JjJA,,
&
*»
^^
^
€
J=^
/r\
sti
¥#
pE^f
f
aw
L
^s
^
i
i
Hi
l
Jl
\aM
it*
i
I' I' — T p:
Maior Vi/
. Mixolydian .
.Dorian
.Mixolydian Major.
Used by permission of Bloch Publishing Co., New York, N. Y '.
Ireland, Piano Concerto in Eh. Finale.
El> Mixolydian
^
■ fr f f €f fl»
is
f^5f
Pj^
i'crcrcttr
g>b i' 1 «j: 1
1
^m
h^lTl
m
\,iH t 4
ii-
!=£=§
i
«-i»-t
g=g^
m f f '
s
Dorian
Major V
Copyright 1932 by ] & W Chester, Ltd., London. Used by permission.
37
Cui, Angelo, Act III.
^
mm
j j>m
J J.J i
j ^n^
-i^h
i
r
*j: j1 j ■? fi=y=¥
^£
i
g 7 7 p ^=^
V 7 3=7= 7 | j '7 5=.f_
7 7
A Aeolian (?) .
Phrygian
.Aeolian
Borodin, Prince Igor, Act II.
Allegro vivo
Minor (?)
Aeolian (?)
Faure, 2nd Quintet, for strings, Op. 115, II.
Et Lydian
3?i=g
x : Passing tone
fj£~rt —
=wkf=.
■ —
,lrl>r
«j — *
p
hrygian
i — •
[ajor ?
PI
lrygian
1 «
Ik
[ajor ?
—
#'
& i- 1
/• i'i
^-Hj
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, Prance. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
In view of the evidence presented, which consisted of examples from the works of recognized com-
posers, the feasibility of the practice of interchanging modes above a tonic can hardly be doubted. The
inference js that composers, guided by their inherent musical feelings, once again blazed a path of prog-
ress which only later was recognized in theory. The principle on which the practice of mode substitution
seems to rest may be formulated as follows: the eight diatonic modes l6 are interchangeable above a single
tonic without destroying its function as center of gravity.
a The Harmonic Modes, see Book Two.
Chapter V
EXTENDED HARMONIC RESOURCES
Application of the principle of interchangeability of mode not only gives the possibility of wide
melodic horizons within a given tonality but also of increased harmonic resources within the frame
of that tonality, since chords may be erected on each tone of the scale. Many chords will, of course,
be found to be common to more than one scale; for example the triad c-e-g is the tonic harmony of
C-Major (or Ionian), C-Lydian, and C-Mixolydian. It is only when a chord includes such characteristic
notes as the Dorian sixth degree, the Mixolydian seventh degree, and so on, that it becomes differentiated
from the usual major-minor inventory.
Here is a complete list of the chords possible in the diatonic system including some which are extra-
major-minor. Through the broader concept of tonality, the latter may be recognized as having a demon-
strable direct relationship to the tonic. Such chords are marked with a cross (+). Chords peculiar to but
one mode are indicated by two crosses (+ +). Chords having no marks are found in the Major or Minor
mode. T ,.
Lydian
Tonic Scale
¥
ir
Chords
in I II III IV V
^^
Lydian I II
+
IV
+
+
VI
VII
+
+
wm
m
i=*
Lydian I? II?
+
+
III7 IV7 V7
+ +
+ +
Mixolydian
VI7 VII7
+
+
Tonic
Scale
*\ t>o "
Chords
Mixolydian I
§ Q b§ \\ b§ » ^
II
III
+
+
IV
V
+
VI
VII
+
IP^P
mm Hi
Mixolydian I7 II7 III7 IV7 V7 VI7 VII7
+ + + +
+ +
Dorian
Tonic
Scale
n IE
~CT~
Chords
Dorian I
j § h it ^ "» ^
II*
(+)
III
+
IV*
(+)
v
+
VI VII
+ +
+
I 1 ii *a 'n n '~n ^
Dorian I7
+
lit*
(+)
in7
+
IV7
+
+
V7
+
VI7 VII7
+ +
+ +
• These chords also occur in the Major and Mixolydian modes but when
used in conjunction with a minor tonic triad possess striking individuality.
38
39
Aeolian
Tonic Scale
In* bo ^
Chords
a IhorQS __^ I „
| j I'U bb§ ''It *B g 1
Aeolian I II III IV V VI VII
Aeolian I II III
+
V
+
VII
+
g i a a a a i
Aeolian I? II7 III7 IV7 V7
+ + +
VI7 VII7
+
+
Phrygian
Tonic Scale
|,o bo ^
,tt bo =g=
* moras , I I „
j j ii-u n 1 *» »» ^
Phrygian I II III IV V VI VII
Phrygian I
II
+
III
+
V
+
+
VII
+
j g m a g^^
Phrygian I7 II7
+ +
Tonic Scale
III7 IV7 V7
+ +
+ +
Locrian
VI7 VII7
+
|;0 |X» ^
bo Im» bo =g=
Locrian I II III IV V VI VII
Locrian I
+
+
II
+
III
+
+
V
+
+
VII
+
bo ,b
j i<JL Ju mn ■'■» n'liiii
Locrian I7 II7
+ +
+
III7 IV7 V7 VI7 VII7
+ + + +
+ + +
For more convenient reference the extra-major-minor chords may be classified as in the following
table. Besides the mode names, the usual parenthesis-chord designations have been given in brackets
where such terms exist.
Extra-Maior-Minor Chords*
I
§ H
Lticrian I
[yo7 of NS]
3e
m
i
m
-£
Locrian I7 Dorian
Aeolian I7
Phrygian
• For the sake of simplicity all chords are shown in relation to tonic C
m
Mixoly.dian I7
[V7 of ivl
40
II
W
w
Lydian II
[V of v]
I 11U
Phrygian) n
Locrian I
[N" (when inverted)]
^
=s
Lydian II7
[V7of V]
Phrygian jn7
Locrian I
5
gE
III
»
»
Mixolydian III
[vc7 of IV ?]
s
Dorian
Aeolian > II i
Phrygian)
Locrian III
s
a
Mixolydian III?
[V°? of IV?]
Dorian j „,^
Aeolian!
Phrygian III?
[V7 of VI]
Locrian III?
IV
^
S
Lydian IV
[yo7 0f v]
#^P
Dorian IV
m
Lydian IV7
[V0? of V]
Dorian IV7
[V7 of IV of IV ?]
1 When used in juxtaposition with a minor I.
Mixolydian)
Dorian
Aeolian
Phrygian V
[Phrygian IIP7]
[V°7 of VI]
Locrian V
Lydian V
Mixolydian)
Dorian j V7
Aeolian )
Phrygian V7
[Phrygian IIP?]
[V°? of VI]
Locrian V7
41
VI
S
Dorian VI
[Vo7of IV of IV?]
ft
m
Dorian VI7
[V°? of IV of IV?]
Locrian VI?
[V7 of N6]
i*
Lydian VII
4
VII
«
Mixolydian)
Dorian
Aeolian
«E
Phrygian jvn
Locrian I
-& J>
i
5
Lydian VII7
MixolydianjVII7
Dorian i
Aeolian
VII7
[v7of III]
Phrygian jVII7
Locrian f
The next chapters will illustrate these extra-major-minor chords by examples selected from actual
compositions. Care has been taken to choose excerpts containing the chord under discussion in the clearest
form possible but it must be realized that many excerpts will inevitably include other chords. This does
not invalidate the illustration, even though it may compromise ready intelligibility.
Chapter VI
EXTRA-MAJOR-MINOR CHORDS: TONIC FORMS
i %
C Locrian I
[V°7 of N6]
IT is unfortunate that the first chord to be illustrated is also the one about which there is likely to be
the most controversy, but in any logical order the tonic chords should be first.
The idea of a tonic triad with a diminished fifth is somewhat difficult for most musicians to
accept. There is good reason for rejecting such a chord as a final because of the lack of repose inherent in
this interval. As a final then, only some exceptional intention of the composer could justify its employ-
ment. As a passing chord in a progression, however, its use can be sanctioned since, in that case, repose
is hardly requisite.
Berlioz, Les Troyens, "March and Hymn."
$
E
S
^^
^
Vlf
^
cresc.
^
^
3E
Minor
C Major
T^
m
5 J=l^ ± \>4 v
Locrian I"
fefe^
!=%=£
f*f
f
W
^^
Z2Z
WfW
?£*&
XT
g g g g
kr
The final cadence of the first movement of Janacek's Trfrax Bulba Rhapsodie contains an example of
the Locrian I followed by the Major I. Note the Major second degree (f *) of the scale figure above the
Locrian tonic (E), which violates the mode but, since it is a non-harmonic, has no bearing on the analysis
of the accompanying chord. ■
Janacek, Tar as Bulba Rhapsodie,
End of First Movement.
E Locrian I Major I
Copyright 1928 by Hudebni Malice Umelecke Besedy. Used by permission.
42
43
This chord may be used as V° 7 of N 6 (Locrian I). Such a case occurs in Finlandia by Sibelius.
Sibelius, Finlandia.
3^
Mm
Si.,
^m
F Minor I
T
"XT
2
^
1m-
=8=
'#
m
-w
Locrian II
I
II
F Minor 1%
N6
yc70fN6 n6
I4
In the Prologue to Scene II of Boris Godounov, there is a curious alternation between two chords
which lasts for four pages of the piano score. The passage seems best interpreted by regarding C as tonic.
Note the gh (the fifth degree of C-Locrian) is /* enharmonically (the fourth degree of C-Lydian).1 Thus
the tonic and dominant degrees of C-Locrian are always present and play a role somewhat like a double
pedal.
Moussorgsky, Boris Godounov, Prologue, Scene 2.
etc.
C Locrian I I I+6 Lydian II?
The two following examples are self-explanatory.
Andante
Locrian I+"
Walton, Concerto for Viola.
Viola
m
I
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Copyright 1930 £> Oxford University Press. Used by permission.
1 This particular enharmonic correspondence is often, capital-
ized by composers.
44
Allegro
Vincent, String Quartet, IV.
Phrygian Locrian Phrygian Locrian
Copyright 1942 by Mills Music, Inc.
By adopting an experimental attitude, the Locrian I may be employed as the final chord of a musi-
cal work. Haba2 gives the following cadence formula for the mode "Hypophrygiscb H" (sic) which,
despite his nomenclature, is really Locrian. The diminished chord is frankly the final in this case.
+ .+ . +"" . +
B Locrian I
Another experimental Locrian close is given here. In spite of the fact that the last four measures are
indisputably Locrian, the inconclusive nature of the diminished fifth is almost evaded by the special treat-
ment.
Vincent, String Quartet, II.
J
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'Alois Haba, Neue Harmonielebre des diatonischen, chro-
matischen, Viertel-, Drittel-, Secbstel-, una, Zwolftel-Tonsys-
terns (Leipzig, Fr. Kistner and C. F. W. Siegel, 1927), p. 60.
45
C-Locrian 1 7
$
n
C Locrian I7
The Locrian 1 7 is naturally somewhat more rare than the simple triad. It is possible to construe the
chord as V° ? of N 6 but curiously enough no examples have been found which illustrate such usage.
Although complicated by unresolved appoggiaturas, the first chord of the following excerpt seems essen-
tially G-l + 6 followed by G-Locrian 1 7.
Ravel, Trio, I.
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
t
I
m
C Dorian'
C Aeolian j I7
C Phrygian'
Since this chord is common to three modes, other factors must be present in order to differentiate.
Distinctions are made possible by the appearance of a scale or by other chords. The following examples
are Dorian 1 7 because the third is minor and the sixth is major, these being the characteristics of the
Dorian mode.
Faure.Op. 42, No. 2.
ifel
=±
^m
^
f
VL
W
E\> Major I
Dorian I Major I
Moussorgsky, Boris Godounov, IV. Introduction
At Aeolian
I VII VI V
— ; V
8 The simple forms of the tonic chord in these modes hold no single exception is the Dorian I + " which is occasionally en-
particular interest in connection with the present study since countered. It owes its existence to the Dorian sixth which forms
they correspond exactly to the tonic of the Minor mode. The a majoi sixth with the tonic.
46
Rimsky-Korsakov, Snegourotchka, Danse des Bouf fons'.'
^
7 /^l>«
^
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J I J
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Andantino con moto
Ireland, The Land of Lost Content, I.
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Copyright 1921 &> Augener, Ltd. Reprinted by permission of Augener, Ltd.
Worth noting perhaps are instances of the employment of the Dorian I ?
Ireland, The Bells of San Marie.
^m
E
£
tip
£
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On San Ma-rie La - goon In port of Ho - ly
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tpi
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II?
Dorian
III II
IV v
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ii i?
47
0
1 1
Ma
ry On San Ma- rie La - goon
IV Mixolydian V7
rfi
*5
I (minor)
Debussy, Six Epigraphs Antiques, 1.
77.
G Dorian 1^
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
Since the minor third and minor sixth are to be found in connection with the following chords, they
are identified as Aeolian 1 7. The first two come about by scalewise motion descending from a simple I.
Malipiero, // finta Arlecchino, Part I.
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s
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f^
p^^
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D Aeolian I7 IV III
VI III7.
II7
Minor I
V7
Copyright 1927 by C. C. Birchard & Co. Used by permission.
Elgar, Dream of Gerontius.
$
m
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m — e;
JL: 1= 1: *
r r r r
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IV
II7
r'rfr
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f
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fej^
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I Pedal
Copyright 1928 £y Novello & Co., Ltd. Reprinted by permission of H. W '. Gray Co., Agents.
48
De Sev6rac, Heliogabale, V
a r pp??r?\t (ijiur r i -r P n i^ p p pt ip p p- Pt
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a
i:
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A Aeolian I7
V7
IV
V
14
Copyright 1910 by Rouart, Lerolle el Cie. By special permission of Salabert, Inc., of 1 East 57th St., New York 22,
N. Y. __
Glazounov, Der Konig der Juden, 2.
Gesang der Jiinger Jesu.
i.
as
m^t
m
m
-zg^
£
1 P: I
F Aeolian
I
VI I'
VI
I
Copyright 1914 by M. P. Belaieff. By permission of Associated Music Publishers, Inc., Agent.
Moussorgsky, Boris Godounov, IV, Scene 1.
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p=$=^
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Molto vivace
IV I IV I7 IV
.VII I
Dvorak, Symphony No. 5, III.
E Aeolian I
49
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The two examples of I T given are identified with the Phrygian mode only by the Phrygian signature
supplied by the composers: the characteristic minor second degree of the scale appears in neither. Both
excerpts are final cadences.
Emmanuel, In Memoriam, II.
»ife (jf).v
pi M
fTfrys
VW ¥:,
C Phrygian I
S -1 -
17
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(I7)
Rangstrom, Es wollt" das Madchen frith aufstebn
(final cadence).
Ftt Phrygian IV7 I7
Copyright by Abr. Lundquist. Reprinted by permission of Abr. Lundquist.
50
$
5
C Mixolydian I7
[V7 of IV]
The most frequent employment of this harmony is as the parenthesis chord V7 of IV. Although
examples are to be found in the works of almost every composer, Franck, Brahms, and Faure exhibit an
especial predilection for it.
Brahms, Trio for CI., Cello, and Piano, Op. 114, rV.
pm
gg=i
jTJ 1Jt
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mm
A Major I
V7 of IV
[Mixolydian I7J
IV
The classical employment of the V 7 of rV (Mixolydian 1 7) is in the final cadence where, as is
usually stated, it suggests the subdominant key and imparts either a calming influence or a feeling of
lowering harmonic weight.
Bach, Prelude I.
|n ppi jjJjF
')■ ?>•— J
v^ J^^ J
7 JljJjJJ7 JJJJP
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V7 of IV
[Mixolydian I7J
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V7
Berlioz, L'Enfance du Christ,
"Allez dormir, bon pere."
P*
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1
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rf
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51
faure.Pelleas et Melisande, Prelude,
fea^=
I
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^mm
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G Major I
1 V7 of IV IV I
[Mixolydian I7J
By permission of J. Hamelle et Cie, Paris.
Brahms, Op. 33, No. 15.
Eb Major I
V'of IV IV II 1 4 V
[Mixolydian I7]
It is also held that a cadence involving some such progression as the following is perfectly definitive
of the tonic, since it suggests the keys a fifth above and a fifth below.
*
TS-
P
r
f
TF
S
C I
Suggested tonics
and signatures:
V7 of V
m
^p
VI \V7 of IV
IV
s
V'
3EB3
t£
F
No one would hold that these are real modulations since they are not "fixed," yet the upper and
lower dominants are truly implied: hence the term parenthesis modulation.
Without denying this method of explaining the definitive powers of a progression which includes
parenthesis modulations to the dominant and subdominant, some notice should be taken of another view-
point. The tonality of the whole cadence is C despite the / : and b b accidentals. C-tonality with / ' is
C-Lydian, and C-tonality with b b is C-Mixolydian. Thus the Major mode is defined by momentary excur-
sions into the two contiguous 4 modes:
C-Major: C-Lydian: C-Major: C-Mixolydian: C-Major.
Although in traditional cadential practice the Mixolydian I T is the true VT of IV, (i.e., when it
resolves to IV), this is not its sole use: the chord may resolve to several other harmonies. In the latter case
the relevancy of the name V1 of IV becomes questionable. In the two following examples if the Mixo-
lydian 1 7 chords ( marked with an asterisk) be construed as V1 of IV, the chords which follow ( II and
VI) would have pivotal significance as VI of TV and /// of IV respectively — an analysis which, if not
actually untenable, is not unassailable.
* Contiguous modes are those which differ by but one acci-
dental. See the Lateral Index above, p. 19 .
52
Brahms, Variationen und Fuge uber ein
Thema von Handel, Op. 24.
j^ rmLr~^ j^n
Bt
— » * *
-T f" Mixolydian l\(\)
VI
Mixolydian IV
I7
V7 [v7ofIV VI of IV] [v7of IV]
a
Saint-Saens,vLe Feu Celeste.
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Mixolydian I7
[V7 of IV]
^
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3fc
I7 VI I
[V7 of IV III of IV]
3fc
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie. Paris, France. Copyright owners. Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
From this evidence the conclusion may be drawn that V 7 of IV is a legitimate specific term imply-
ing a stereotyped classical harmonic progression, whereas Mixolydian 1 7 is a name for the same chord
which carries with it no implicit enchainements.
The Mixolydian 1 7 is sometimes used in the midst of an otherwise major passage:
Saint-Saens, Coeli Enarrant, Op. 42, Introduction.
C Major I
Mixolydian Major
I7 I _
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright owners, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
but perhaps it most frequently occurs in the elaboration of the final cadence. Unless the mode of the
following final cadences is regarded as Mixolydian it would seem that the tonality is threatened by the
cancelled leading tone.
53
Brahms, Sonata, Op. 1, Andante.
Uf #g
wmm
m
^rtte lj'^^^
/7\
J.
/T\
CSF3
3
3 » ' ■ 5 ~ — * ■ » ■ ■ ■ ■ '
* m i — • — I i ' — * • i — * •— -1— - — * • — L— <-
5f^*5f ^ * * * ^?*5J* ^*5* ^i^^S kP
S
17
Mixolydian
IV II
Brahms, Ez« Sonnett, Op. 14, No. 4.
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tes
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iMitJ iJr i j
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Mixolydian
I? IV _
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l7_
[IV]
Dubois, Theme Provengal VariS.
C Minor V7 Mixolydian l7 Aeolian I I
Perminion for reprint authorized by A. Leduc & Co. Editeurs, 175 rue St. Hrnore, Paris.
54
Saint-Saens, Rhapsodie II, Op. 7.
D Major
MixolydianI7 [iV II] I
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
The final tonic chord of Chopin's Prelude in F Major is elaborated by the introduction of an e b. In
an attempt to justify this bit of harmonic daring it has been pointed out that the e b is the seventh partial
of the tonic. This is true if the disparity of tuning between the minor seventh degree and the sixth over-
tone is disregarded, yet the chord formed is nevertheless Mixolydian 1 7.
Chopin, Prelude in F Major.
8 ■■-
F Major I V7 I V7 I Mixolydian I7 I
This instance of the use of the Mixolydian 1 7 as a final is all the more remarkable when we realize
that not until almost a century later are similar examples found. Apparently there is nothing resembling
it until the early 1920s when there was a fad in jazz circles for an ending, more or less elaborate, the
essential formula of which may be given as follows:
$
^=R
^^
5
^
C Mixolydian I7
Such a motto soon became too trite and was discarded, but in more subtle form the Mixolydian 1 7
persists both in popular dance music and in more orthodox composition.
Gershwin, Sweet and Low Down.
$
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er*priLr
<r
Jte fe
mm
m
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G Major V?
I
V«0 i
Copyrighted 1925 by Harms, Inc. Reprinted by permission
Piano
Organ
8
^m^
JJJmolto rit
Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue.
55
,P|1 iyiawTO
m
f
s
t
^^
&Efe
B\> Mixolydian I7
Copyright 1924 4? Harms, Inc. Reprinted by permission.
Gershwin, Fascinating Rhythm.
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musf j>i':Jjj^
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5 ' ' 3
i . ?ozr
JOT3-J--
332
3
Et Major V7
T
Mixolydian
I7 I
Copyright 1924 by Harms, Inc. Reprinted by permisston.
Stravinsky, Duo Concertante, "Dlthyrambe.'
in
=*=&*
ibssl
in
HP
' i riffle^.
/r\
m
C Mixolydian
I7
By permission of the Copyright Owner, Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.
As if for the explicit purpose of demonstrating once again that there is nothing new under the sun,
the final cadence of a Purcell anthem anticipates the spirit of this jazz formula to such a degree that it
might easily be taken for an inspired bit by a Tin Pan Alley composer about 1925.
Purcell, Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem.
Al - le - lu - - - ia.
fa j -. ■„:.- .trJJitJjjiii
Soprano
Alto
il''»fcrfor
Bass
Al-le lu
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P3&
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le-lu -
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-a-
Chapter VII
EXTRA-MAJOR-MINOR CHORDS:
SUPERTONIC FORMS
$
m
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C Lydian II
[V of V]
C Lydian II7
[V of V]
T
HE classical use of the Lydian II <T) is as V m of V and examples are so common that illustra-
tions are almost superfluous.
The following illustrations, taken from Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms, should be sufficient.
Mozart, Sonata (K. 310), Finale.
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II
V°7
P^
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V7 of V
[Lydian II7]
Vof V
[Lydian II]
Beethoven, Sonata, Op. 109, Third movement.
E Major I
V7of
VofV V V V
[Lydian II]
16
56
57
te
m
&
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i*
if gBp
Brahms, Ez'# Deutsche; Requiem, Op. 45,
Second movement.
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6
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fit
r r ccr r r q tcr r r 'nr r r — nr
5 5 5 5
V7 I V of V
F Major I
V7
I Pedal
[Lydian II]
Occasionally there are cases where the V (7) of V is followed by a modal dominant instead of the
usual V (7) form. Two such examples follow.
Malipiero, La Principessa Ulalia.
£ * Vr
r
m i 7 y r y
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E
* * t
£
A Dorian? I V6 V of V V (Dorian) I
[Lydian II]
Copyright 1925 by C. C. Birchard & Co. Used by permission.
Dvorak, Legenden, Op. 59, No. 3.
Allegro
Pl»
^
3
P
%i
^^
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a
JL
=0
JLj
^^
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2
G Minor I II
I Pedal
II
i
&
V' ^3 ,J^~J^
as
I
a^
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Dorian V4
Lydian II7
[V7 of V]
^
WWf
p f££f?
S=fc
Wf
?££f?p
^ti
p ? *
J=^=
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Aeolian V
[Major V3lj]
The chord in question is not always used as illustrated above, however, since it often progresses to 1.
In this case the general term Lydian II m is more applicable because V <7) of V loses its raison d'etre if it
does not resolve to the dominant chord. The following excerpts illustrate the foregoing statements. The
last two are taken from passages which are entirely Lydian; the others are major-minor, except for the
introduction of the Lydian II ,7) chord.
58
1
Brahms, Symphony No. 4, Fourth movement
§
?F
m
t.
^
S
m
^s-
E Minor IV
II
VI
Lydian II Minor
[V7 of V] I
Svendsen, Norwegian Rhapsody, Op. 22, No. 4.
P P a
*
,es
u
=5=
3£
S
i
4
£
r=f
I) Major V7
I Lydian II
I Pedal
II
*E3>!
,r^4ffl
r^^TO.j-^
r
f
^^
II
II
I i A V7 I
_ D ((Lydian II7) V
By permission of Copyright Owners, Wilhelm Hansen, Musik-Forlag, Copenhagen.
£=*=£
'ffffcffff
Liszt, La Legende de Sainte Elisabeth, No. 5
i J A 8
£ = = vrrv
Si
a
P¥
Pf
P¥
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ttttttt=t
G Major I
IV
Lydian II7
[V7 of V]
8-
j ;;f r r»f
*
j- - I - ^
/ /
.&?>
w
wm
^m
'Pf! tlli^
dill:" '
ii
[V of V]
59
*Tj . I
Ravel, String Quartet, First movement.
m
— T
J i
* lJ^ Lydian
fci=*
F Major I
Lydi
pizz. Il9
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie. Paris, France, Copyright owners, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc
Philadelphia, Pa.
Janacek, Concertino for Clavier.
A A
a^^
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CTf:
m
/
#
i
i
A A
* * rC>
^FFE
P
P
^
/
A A
A A
m
m
/T\
A Lydian II
Copyright 1935 by Hudebni Malice Vmelecke Besedy, Prague, Czechoslovakia. Used by permission.
Minor
I
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Gretchaninov, Liturgia Domestica, Op. 79-
^p
^
*
i=J=
s 3
=s
/T\
p
C Lydian I II I II I
By permission of Copyright Owner, Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.
Moussorgskyj Boris Godounov, Act III, Scene II.
C Lydian I
60
It is a remarkable fact that considerable personal research has failed to reveal other established uses
for the Lydian II <7). As has been shown, it may be invested with the function of a secondary dominant
(V <7) of V), whether this dominant be major-minor or modal, and it may move directly to I (major, minor,
or modal). But no other progressions appear to be employed frequently enough to permit generalization.
¥ff
s
m
C Phrygian) n
C Locrian I
[N6]
C Phrygian) n7
C Locrian I
In traditional harmonic practice the Phrygian or Locrian II is used only in the first inversion, is called
the Neapolitan Sixth chord, and precedes the 1 6 or the V (7) in the cadence.
Dvorak, Rusalka, Op. 1 14.
^e^u
f
s
r
F Minor I
ini
\,i iTj
-T
i
r^
m
m
ps^
0> ft
*
m
i&i^
0k
m^
T
[Phrygian II6]
Copyright by Hudebni Matice Umelecke Besedy, Prague, Czechoslovakia. Used by permission.
r
Tfi
14
Mozart, Die Zauberfiote, Aria No. XVII.
Andante
p rTTV c|
iat
I i 4 "J I l|J J J
I ■ j1 j
£
G Minor
N6
[Phrygian II]
1 3
Chopin, Prelude, No. 6.
B Minor I
$
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N6
[Phrygian II]
VS
61
Various writers have pointed out that the chord under discussion sometimes occurs in root position
(in which case it is called Neapolitan chord) and in the second inversion (called the N6). The name
Neapolitan in this connection means very little yet serves its purpose well enough until the need arises
for discriminating between two possible derivations, for, as has been shown,1 the chord may belong either
to the Phrygian mode or to the Locrian. There is also the academic question whether any but the first
inversion form progressing to I * or V should be designated by the name Neapolitan. Whatever the an-
swer, the chord is frequently found in all positions (sometimes with a seventh) and often resolves to
chords other than the traditional 1 6 and V.
The following examples illustrate the Phrygian II (Neapolitan chord) moving to IV.
Fibich, SmrfHippodamie, Op. 33, Act IV, Prelude.
^m
^
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C Minor »i
V Pedal
IV Phrygian II IV
Minor
V?
By permission of Copyright Owner, Pr. A. Urbanek a Synove el Fits.
Gretchaninov, Liturgia Domestica, Op. 79.
Dorian III IV Phrygian II
I Pedal
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By permission oj Copyright Owner, Boosey & Hawkcs, Inc.
Phrygian II with or without a seventh may progress to Phrygian VII. In the second example below,
the Phrygian VII 7 becomes Phrygian V 9 (or perhaps Phrygian VII + 6) when the e b moves to d.
Brahms, Schicksalslied, Op. 54.
C Phrygian I
1 See above, Book One, chap. v.
62
Faure, Messe Basse Sanctus, Final cadence.
Ho
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I
vnt
Ig II7
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright owners, Elkan-Vogel Co.. Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
The succession Phrygian II to I has been used repeatedly as a final cadence. Frequently the progres-
sion takes place over a tonic pedal but this is not invariable as will be seen in the Glazounov and Pizzetti
excerpts.
Chopin, Etude, Op. 25, No. 4. Final cadence.
Lento
A Phrygian II
I Pedal
Rangstrom, "Ein Kuss von rothem Munde."
C|t Phrygian II
I Pedal
By permission of Copyright Owners, Air. Lundquist, Stockholm.
Wk
Glazounov, Quartet, Op. 10, First movement.
— b
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I Phrygian I
H
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63
$
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Pizzetti, L# Pisanella, Prologue.
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II+6 I
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i 1 1
D'Indy, Lze</ Maritime.
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G Major I
Phrygian II
I Pedal
Major I
ag
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Brahms, Symphony No. 4, Second movement.
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E Minor VI
.f-
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Major Phrygian
I II
r ' r 7 v
Major I
Particularly striking is the cadence Phrygian II-I in Act II of Boris Godounov, while the other exam-
ple serves to illustrate what diversity of expression may be obtained from the same chord succession.
64
Moussorgsky, Boris Godounov, Act II.
I Pedal
De Severac, Heliogabale, Act. III.
B\> Phrygian I II I II I
I Pedal
Copyright 1910 by Rouart, Lerolle et Cie. By special permission of Salabert, Inc., of 1 East ilth St.. New York 22.
N. Y.
Gretchaninov uses Phrygian II 7 as the penultimate chord in a resounding final cadence in his Third
Symphony. The figure given to the trumpet and trombone preclude any tendency to hear the chord as
IV + 8
Gretchaninov, Symphony No. 3, Second movement.
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Copyright by M. P. Belaieff, Prague. By permission of Associated Music Publishers, Inc., Agent.
Chapter VIII
EXTRA-MAJOR-MINOR CHORDS:
MEDIANT FORMS
5
&
5
C Mixolydian III
[V°7 of IV?]
C Mixolydian III7
[V°? of IV?]
The Mixolydian III (7) can scarcely be said to exist as an independent chord. Two factors con-
tribute to this circumstance: (1) being built on the third degree of the scale, the chord is not suffi-
ciently functional to counteract (2) the instability inherent in a triad with a diminished fifth. On
the other hand, the Locrian I (7) and the Phrygian V t7), both of which have diminished fifths, are set up
as harmonic entities through the firmly established functions of their roots. The mediant degree, having
no such special harmonic role, does not secure the individuality of a diminished triad erected upon it.1
Instead, the chord (Mixolydian III) is heard as an incomplete Mixolydian tonic seventh (1° 7) or V° 7
of IV chord 2 and the progression patterns of the Mixolydian 1 7 apply to the Mixolydian III as well. ( For
these, see above, chap, vi.) The Mixolydian III7 (Mixolydian 1°|), although rare, is sometimes found.
Suk, Em Marchen, Op. 16, III. Trauermusik.
*%m
Andante sostenuto
nSifflij
fel
r
B Mixolydian II
fr! T
r ' r
I IV I
P##w
1-7 VI VII7 1 I? VI VII? I
[m7] [hit]
Copyright by N. Simrock, By permission of Associated Music Publishers, Inc., Agent.
$
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C Dorian
C Aeolian
III
C Dorian
C Aeolian
III'
The Dorian and Aeolian III <7> can be employed as IV <7) of IV of IV although this analysis pushes
the idea of parenthesis chords almost beyond the point of credulity.
$
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Mixolydian III
5
8=
*
5
iE
Mixolydian I'
1 This does not apply to the forms ot the mediant triad hav-
ing a perfect fifth.
2 A physical basis may be claimed for this phenomenon. The
three notes of the Mixolydian III have difference tones (Tartini
tones) which supply the, missing root of the Mixolydian I':
65
66
Jacobi, Synagogue Service for Sabbath Eve,
"Sch'ma Yisrod."
F Major IV
. " Dorian
[IV of IV of IV IV of IV]
IV VS I
By permission oj Blocb Publishing Co., New York, N. Y,
The alternative names (Dorian III-VII-IV) offer the advantage of relating each chord directly to the
tonic — an advantage not shared by the parenthesis-chord nomenclature wherein the emphasis is on reveal-
ing the logic of the harmonic progressions. In the above example the chain of subdominants is unbroken
and there is a certain sequence-like inevitability in the progression of the harmony which gives point to
the figuration IV of IV- of IV to IV of IV to IV. The pertinency of IV of IV of IV and IV of IV would be-
come extremely questionable, however, if the sequence were not carried through to the final IV, since the
logic of the whole series is predicated by this as an end result. The following examples illustrate such a
truncated effect.
Liszt, Christus, "Die heiligen drei Konige."
j^i i J m
t
#
f
r i r
VII6 III VI]
im
S
Aeolian I
Minor I
VII6
16 1 n«
IVoflV? IV of IV of IV of IV? I6
IV?
r
I
Voices
^^
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Brahms, The Death of Trenar.
in^:
*<
Horns
5Er5
5
^^
W E
j Aeolian I
I Minor I
III
IV of IV of IV?
VII
IV of IV?
1 4 \ Minor
iV v
The only way in which the progression might legitimately be termed IV of IV of IV to IV of IV to
/ 1 is by regarding the phrase as an elliptic sequence in which the final IV is omitted, but such an idea is
more fanciful than real.
Besides progressing to a chord with the subtonic (lowered leading tone) as a root (Mixolydian,
Dorian, Aeolian, or Phrygian VII), the Dorian and Aeolian III (7) may be followed by several other
chords among which both the major and modal V (7) are important.
67
Suk, Symphony in E Major, II, Op. 14.
Vivo
Aeolian Major
III V
Copyright by N. Simrock. By permission of Associated Music Publishers, Inc., Agent.
Dvorak, Quartet in A b, First movement,
Final cadence.
^E
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asg
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At Major I
*
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Aeolian
VI
III
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Major I
V?
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Faure, Requiem, Offertoire.
-thlf}^[}
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g P P F-£J Ejjpggp
D Major I
Aeolian Major I
III7 V~
Used by permission of J. Hamelle et Cie, Paris.
Debussy, Pelleas et Melisande,
Act I, Scene 1.
Aeolian Major I
III V<
I
f F ■ h F
IV III
— s-
D Dorian I III'
V
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie. Paris, prance. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc..
Philadelphia, Pa.
Moussorgsky, Lied des Mepbistopheles
in Auerbachs Keller.
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B Major I Aeolian Minor
I III IV V
Aeolian Minor
III V I V
68
The same chord may be followed by the subdominant Note the IV 7 in the first Brahms example.
Gretchaninov, Liturgia Domestica, Op. 79-
I
1
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f *J J PP
fff
F Major I Dorian Major Dorian Major I
III IV I III IV
By permission of the Copyright Owner, Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.
Debussy, Pelleas et Melisande, Act I, Scene 3-
'n'J tf f a ^ f
V' *? f^i real ras"
— ■ • h-m- ^
Dorian Major Lydian II Dorian
III IV [V of V] IV V
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & C'te, Paris, France. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc
Philadelphia, Pa.
\
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Brahms, Lied, Op. 3, No. 4.
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Weit ii - ber das Feld durch die Liif
3 - *
te hoch
nach
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Et Aeolian I
IV VI
III
Brahms, Klavierstiicke, Op. 119, No. 4. Rhapsody.
3EE
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fe^^
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69
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51
Et Aeolian I VI
III IV
IE 7
Moussorgsky, Silently Floated a Spirit.
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El> Major I
Aeolian
VI
III
Major I
IV
Although the Aeolian III (7) often progresses to the submediant, the root of the latter is always the
Aeolian (minor) sixth degree, never the sixth of the major as would be true in the Dorian mode. The pro-
gression III to VI does not appear to have been used in Dorian. The explanation lies in the fact that the
Dorian VI is a diminished triad, and the roots of the two chords from the melodic interval of a diminished
fifth.
B Aeolian I
Always this:
Never this:
i/ ii ■» ii
ffa n 1
n 1
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C Aeolian VI
III
j 4-" "
C Dorian VI
III
Brahms, Wie die Wolke nach der Sonne,
Op. 6, No. 5.
Aeolian
III
70
Brahms, Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Var. VI.
■ ,i^Jip r-TH.pB uj-mj^a J>
Bk Aeolian I
Dvorak, Quintet in E, Third movement.
Minor
Ak Aeolian I III VI I III Vl(vn7)lII_ V7
fin
I
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j
a
F
Aeolian I III VI I III VI Minor I
V
Copyright by N. Simrock. By permission of Associated Music Publishers, Inc., Agent.
Dvorak, Moravian Duets, No. 4.
Ravel, Ma Mere I'oye, Pavane.
J..J.3J./3
^f
r*f"" T
A Aeolian
III7 VI III7 VI V7 Mixolydian Aeolian
I
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
Dorian and Aeolian III are frequently succeeded by I. This usage may be found in any part of a
harmonic progression as will be seen in the accompanying excerpt.
71
■n\ Q^J
Brahms, Sonata, Op. 1, Andante.
C Minor I
Vc I
V I Aeolian Minor
III if V? I
By far the most important use of the mediant chord under discussion is in the cadence where it immedi-
ately precedes the tonic chord. The progression is not "strong" in the usual harmonic sense, but the loss
of strength is offset by a corresponding gain in subtlety. The blandness of the III to I close offers grateful
relief from the directness of the classical V-I cadence which in many cases would be too severe or too
brusque.
Dvorak, Symphony No. 5, Second movement.
C(t Aeolian I
V Ii VI' VII III I
Sibelius, Symphony No. 1, Second movement.
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I Aeolian III I
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Dvorak, Rusalka, Act II.
J»- J' J J. Ifii
pi JTIj^niJUJH iJH SI 1 j^fil
?¥» E j p
C(t Minor I
pup
P
pip
Aeolian III I
6> permission of Copyright Owners, Hudebni Malice Vmelecke Besedy, Prague.
Chauvet, Vingt Morceaux, No. 15
^^
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D Aeolian I IV
III
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72
Ravel, L'Heure Espagnole.
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77
G Major I .
I Pedal
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Dorian III
I Major I
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, Prance. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
Rangstrom, Ich arme Nunn', Final cadence.
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By permission of Copyright Owners, Abr. Lundquist, Stockholm.
«
C Phrygian III
C Phrygian III7
[V7 of VI]
Not only may the Phrygian III progress to the same chords as the Aeolian III namely, I, IV, V, VI,
and VII), but also to II, which is major in the Phrygian mode.3
Moussorgsky, Boris Godounov, Act IV, scene 1.
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Ak Major I Phrygian III VII Major Phrygian IV III II III Major I
II I IV III II III I V7
3 Aeolian II is diminished and is therefore somewhat less defi-
nite as an independent chord.
73
Phrygian III7 finds employment as V of VI but considerable investigation indicates that this is
not at all frequent, a fact which seems odd in view of the logic of the relationships involved.
Cui, Trios Scherzos,
Op. 86, No. 3
C Aeolian I
'* V7ofVI
(Phrygian VII7 -III7)
a j , ^ a j i +
Minor V7
II7
"For a discussion of this chord, see chap. xii.
By permission of Leeds Music Corporation, Agents.
The chord just as frequently resolves to chords other than VI. In the following Faure example,
note the III7, as well as the preceding chord, which includes a chromatically lowered tonic. The latter
is clearly the result of similar motion in all the parts and, as such, has little significance: its status is that
of a passing-chord.
Faure, Prison. Op. 83.
^m g }
>H\W\^ f 1
M
^
#=**
=C
m
E\> Aeolian I
VI7
•III?
Phrygian III7
[H?>]
Si
-gfi-
X-
Minor
V7
Brahms, Symphony No. 4.
Fourth movement.
i i iprpf i i
E Mixolydian I7 Lydian II7 Phrygian III7
[V7 of IV] [V7 of V] [V7 of Vl]
Dorian
|"V7 of VII il] orl LydialTTT7 Minor
Lv7ofIVofIvJ [V70fv] I
V7
74
Again, paralleling the practices which pertain to the Aeolian III, the progression Phrygian III — I
forms an important cadence. Examples are to be found which make use of the simple Phrygian III
III7, or even III?
Dvorak, Requiem Mass, No. 8.
"Lacrymosa."
i
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9-=-
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Bt Phrygian I VI VII IV III I
Rangstrom, Pionerna,
Final cadence.
pi vJ^JvJ ^J-V ¥'J-V ¥rJ J V'
a«
Fit Phrygian
III7?
By permission of Copyright Owner, Abr. Lundquist.
Eichheim, Across the Silent Stream.
Cfl Phrygian III?
Major I
Phrygian III?
Major I
By permission of Copyright Owner, The Boston Music Company,
^^
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m
C — Locrian III
C — Locrian III7
The Locrian III chord does not seem to have found a great deal of favor with composers if we
judge by its limited employment. The simple triad figures prominently in at least two final cadences:
that of Richard Strauss' opera Electra, and the fifth and final movement of Suk's Asrael Symphony.
Strauss, Electra,
End of opera.
75
C Major I
Locrian Major
III I
By permission of the Copyright Owner, Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.
Suk, Asrael Symphony,
Fifth movement, final cadence.
£
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Locrian III Major
I
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The Locrian III' is rare and the only examples of it which have been found are transitory, hardly
meriting designation as true chords.
Faure, Messe Basse. Benedictus. Final cadence.
Al> Major VI \
VI(IV6) Mixolydianll4.
i4
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VI IV Locrian Minor Major V IV III V7 I
Vl7(lll7)v°9 5bt III
[aW,--g]
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright Ownexs, Eltan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
76
In spite of the dearth of evidence in actual composition, it does not seem impossible to use the
chord. The following series of chords, despite a somewhat bizarre quality, is not inconceivable as
a cadence.
^m
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^45-
F Phrygian
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'ST
Vl7
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(ill7) Locrian Major
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A
Chapter IX
EXTRA-MAJOR-MINOR CHORDS:
SUBDOMINANT FORMS
s with the other chords having a diminished fifth, there is doubt that the Lydian IV<7) should
be considered an independent chord. Like the Mixolydian III, it seems to be but an incomplete
form of the chord having its root a third below1.
m
?
1
C Lydian IV
C Lydian IV?
Thus Lydian IV is really Lydian II°7 and Lydian IV7 is Lydian II0?
The progression patterns of the Lydian II(T> therefore apply to the Lydian 11° 7 and II "7 Among
the examples of the complete form of the chord given in Chapter VII, however, there are none which
move to III and this fact makes the following excerpts noteworthy.
Smetana, Blan6k, No. 6, Mein Vaterland.
m fifiF nii^
m
D Major I
#
Lydian III
II°7
[IV]
Major Lydian Major
VI n V?
[V of V]
W
^
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Elgar, Dream of Gerontius.
Pro- fi- cis - ce-re, an- i-ma Chris- ti -
fm
3E
Lydian IF?
[IV7]
P
£
Bt Major I
Copyright 1928 by Novello & Co., Ltd. By permission of H. W. Gray Co., Agents.
r r 1 r
m
a - na
#
^
de hoc mun - do
rsrz
J23
s>
u«»
m
e-
III
Mixolydian
VII III7
II
IV
«=#
iJTJ
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JzS_
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Aeolian
VI II7
Major V
"The reasons for the subordination of the two chords are
similar, except that the function of the mediant chord is weak
whereas the subdominant is strong. See chap. viii.
77
78
Because Lydian II0? is more rare than the simpler forms of the chord, the cadences given below
are unusual. As was shown in Chapter VII (however, the formula Lydian II-I is by no means unique).
Gretchaninov, Sun and Moon, Op. 12, No. 2.
$
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[iV7]
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Dvorak, Biblische Lieder, Op. 99, No. 1.
Final cadence.
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C Dorian IV
C Dorian IV7
(V7 of IV of IV) or
(VfofVII^)
The Dorian IV is a major chord and exactly corresponds to the subdominant in the Major mode.
Only when used in conjunction with a minor tonic is there anything remarkable about the chord or its
employment. The same observation applies to Dorian II, which contains the characteristic note, the
major or Dorian sixth degree of the scale with minor third. The Dorian II, however, is not only rare but
may, in a sense, be regarded as a form of the Dorian IV, and subject to the same rules of progression.
The succession Dorian IV-I forms the forbidden tritone between the thirds of the two chords:
I tritone
$
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C Dorian IV
In spite of this, the progression has become very usual. It may be found anywhere in the phrase but
it is especially favored as a cadence formula.
Moussorgsky, The Song of Solomon.
i
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i i'ij ii I hi pi (i ii I \i
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A Aeolian I IV
VI
Dorian
I
IV7
m
v
Aeolian
VI
Mascagni, Cavalleria Rusticana.
79
>ib J:
v^L^vi-^m
^s
g 5 g ^E
g g j j _K
F Dorian IV I
Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheherazade, Op. 35, No. II.
Final cadence.
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gg tfpp^p^rirf
• lf_ !■
ft
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B Dorian
IV
ii§
311^^^^
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Guilmant, Impression Gregorienne.
wm
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C Dorian I V I VII III IV I
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright Owners, Elkan-V ogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia. Pa.
Sibelius, Symphony No. 6, Op. 104,
First movement, final cadence.
tUUiffllUMB
*
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Copyright 1938 by Wilhelm Hansen. By permission of Associated Music Publishers, Inc., Agent.
Ibid.. Second movement, final cadence.
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Hindemith, Tuttifantchen, No. 2, "Lied."
Final cadence.
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Dorian IV7 is a major dominant-seventh type and as such can be used as a secondary V of IV of
IV or V1 of VII").
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From the standpoint of statistics this progression seems relatively unimportant because of its infre-
quency. In the following example Dorian IV (without seventh) moves to Dorian VII and may be re-
garded as V of VIIlb although it is perhaps drawing an unduly fine distinction, since the whole passage
is pure Dorian.
Moussorgsky, Boris Godounov, Act IV, scene 1.
fa ■ i 7p ir r vppp if ppppf if I -yppp ipppp
m
^
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D Dorian
IV VII V
[V of VIl]
Another example which shows Dorian rV*7 (V7 of VIIlb) moving to Dorian VII7 is given below.
Note, however, that Dorian IV and IV7 also resolve to I, III, and Major V7.
Bartok, Rumanische Volkstanze, No. 11.
\ p 5
Jt », !!,!!>! In L It I l> J I J
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Copyright by Universal Editions, By permission of Associated Music Publishers, Inc., Agent.
81
IVl
VII7
III Minor VI
V
Dorian Minor
IV7 V7
In the somewhat complex style which he habitually employs, John Ireland shows a decided predi-
lection for the Dorian mode. The beginning of one of his songs contains several instances of the use of
the Dorian IV and IVT. Observe that the third of the V7 never appears but is represented by the unre-
solved suspension.
Ireland, The Bells of San Marie.
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IV
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III
IV
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VII Il7
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Reprinted by permission of Augener, Ltd.
The preceding chapter quoted a few measures from the last movement of Brahms' Fourth Sym-
phony which contained an example of Dorian IV7 progressing to Lydian II7. This should be regarded
as a rather exceptional passage, since it is a series of Major V7 forms.
It is as a cadence that the progression Dorian IV7-I like Dorian IV-I proves to be the most
important. Note that in the first two examples the Dorian IV7 resolves to Major I, the third to Mixo-
lydian I, and the others to the usual minor (Dorian) tonic.
Gretchaninov, Liturgia Domestica, Op. 79.
Final cadence.
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IV7
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I
By permission oj the Copyright Owner, Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.
82
Grieg; Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op 36.
Third movement, Final cadence.
Cello l|p
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Piano
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A Major I
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Dorian IV' Major I
Gretchaninov, Liturgia Domestica.
Chorus
Piano
C Aeolian VI Dorian I3i Mixolydian
IV7
By permission of the Copyright Owner, Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.
Moussorgsky, On the River Dnieper.
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The Dorian IV? has been employed with surprising frequency. The uses to which the chord is
put are the same as for the Dorian IV or IV7, as the examples will attest. The first illustrates the
resolution to the Minor V in a cadence.
Eichheim, Aedh Wishes His
Beloved Were Dead.
pi^j
'^h> j f
m
*=*
\^mm
F Dorian I
IV?
I
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Minor
V
Reprinted by permission of the Boston Music Company.
Of the next two examples it may be said that the one by Grovlez is clear whereas that by Debussy
is less so. Both occur in mid-phrase, that is, not at the cadence points.
Allegretto scherzando ' '
Violin
Piano
i
a
fcfcSJi L/
s
^m
ste
m
w
b-
--
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G Dorian I
IV?
I Aeolian VII VI7
7 of Salabert, Inc.,
Debuscy, Pelleas et MSlisande, Act. I, scene 1.
Copyright 1936 by Editions Maurice Senarl. By special permission of Salabert, Inc., of 1 East 57th St., New YorJt
22, N. Y.
V7 IV? _ [v7] IV? [?] [mS] * V9 VII
D Dorian
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright Owners, Elkan-V ogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
The examples of Dorian IV7-I cadences require no comment, with the possible exception of the one
by Ireland quoted below. In this the harmonies of the second and third complete measures seem to
be the result of using two chords at the same time, as if the d and a of the bass were a double pedal.
In any case the Dorian IV? in the last measure is clearly defined and this is the essential point in the
illustration. Ireland, Mother and Child, No. 3, Hope.
w
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A Mixolydian I
(7)
IV
Aeolian
III
IV?
V, III Dorian Major
IV "TV IV? I
By permission of the Copyright Owner, Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.
84
Gretchaninov, Liturgia Domestica.
By permission of the Copyright Owner, Boosey & Hawies, Inc.
A Phrygian
Pizzetti, / Jfastori.
nil
[v? of vf]
Dorian IV?
[V? of VII it]
Reprinted by fermission of A. Fdrlivesi & C, Florence, Italy,
Chapter X
EXTRA-MAJOR-MINOR CHORDS:
DOMINANT FORMS
IN the major-minor system the role delegated to the dominant is of the utmost importance. This
does not mean that it has more uses than the other chords; the truth is just the reverse, since the
functions of no other chord are so circumscribed. Although the dominant has often been said to
"rule the harmony" and the truth of this is granted, it must be observed that, like all rulers, it is para-
doxically the most restricted: normally it progresses only to the tonic. The movement to the submediant,
the usual alternative, has so much the character of an evasion of the expected resolution that a cadence
thus formed is called deceptive.
So thoroughly established is this formula that to introduce some form of the V7 in either the
Major or Minor mode is to arouse an expectation of the tonic. There can be no doubt that this conven-
tion, more than any other factor, brings about the strong feeling for a tonal center of gravity which
is associated with the so-called classical tonality. During the two-hundred-and-nfty-year period com-
pletely dominated by the major-minor system the word dominant had but one connotation: the harmony
of the fifth degree of the scale. The fact was entirely forgotten that in the ecclesiastical modal system
the dominants of the Phrygian and Locrian scales were placed on the sixth degree and those of the
plagal modes on the third, sixth, or even the seventh degree.1
When, as happened during the past fourscore years, composers sought to escape the monotony
of the major-minor scales, there appeared other scales which are the modern counterpart of the old
Church modes. Since the rediscovery of the diatonic modes came about empirically instead of through
an antiquarian movement, it was but natural to transfer to them the formulae and practices pertaining
to the major-minor system. Thus it is that no distinctions were made between the authentic and plagal
forms and that the all-important functions of the dominant (V) were carried over intact, although the
dominant chord itself suffered whatever mutation was necessary to make it conform to each particular
mode. Moreover the dominant is always the fifth degree even in the Phrygian and Locrian modes. It
is understood that the dissonances of the seventh and ninth are freely employed, especially in connec-
tion with the dominant (V7, V9, and inversions).
The transfer of major-minor harmonic procedures to the diatonic modes has not invested the latter
with the same stability of tonality. In the Mixolydian, Dorian, Aeolian, Phrygian, and Locrian modes,
this is due to the loss of the clausula vera by the substitution of the subtonic for the leading tone. In the
Lydian mode the seventh of the dominant is major and is, therefore, less positive in its tendency to fall
to the third of the tonic in a Lydian V-I progression. This fact, combined with the detrimental effect of
the tritone, explains the relative weakness of the tonality of this mode.
The rather disparaging descriptive term weak tonality is perhaps an unfortunate choice in this
connection: strong tonality is an over-valued attribute if the obtaining of it means sacrificing delicate
shades of musical expressiveness. In contrast to many of the modal cadences, the Major-minor V7-
I seems abrupt, rude, or truncate. Far from being limited to one mood, however, the modal dominant
cadences exhibit a wide range of expression and ample evidence will be found in the excerpts given
below.
JThe Phrygian mode (E-e) had a fifth degree dominant (b)
before the tenth century, and then the dominant was altered to
the sixth (r), at least in theory.
85
86
*
C Lydian V7
As mentioned above, the seventh of Lydian V is major and forms the interval of an augmented
fourth with the tonic. Despite these disadvantages the chord is not particularly rare and Ravel seems to
have a decided predilection for it. The first example (from Ravel's Piano Concerto) contains a number
of Lydian dominant-seventh chords, but the soprano parts seemingly move without regard to the under-
lying harmony. This excerpt is an illustration of polyharmony, that is, two (or more) simultaneous
streams of harmony.
Ravel, Concerto for Piano, Third movement.
,'*»f 7f 7lf 7f
s
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"y7 J ^V7 I
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pui
V7 I
7i i'
PP
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V I
vi_ ' vi__ yl. vt
1 v7 * "v7 "v7 T
V7
etc.
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
pm
m
Ravel, Cinq melodies populaires grecques, No. IV,
Final cadence.
ebS
P
EE3=fc
f
ag
A Lydian
ifpiiii
T+6
P
ii*
PM>
m
V7
+6
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
87
Sullivan, The Golden Legend.
E Lydian I
Satie, Apergus desagreables, No. 1, Pastorale.
F Lydian
Faure. Fantasie, Op. 111.
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IV V2 I
III Lydian (I- III V7) I
V7
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Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright Owners, Elkan-V ' ogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
The final cadence of the third movement of Ravel's Piano Concerto contains an instance of the
use of Lydian V? As is often true in the music of this composer, there are added tones and unresolved
appoggiaturas.
m
-(
Ravel, Concerto for Piano, Third movement,
Final cadence.
unresolved
app.
£
£
JUL
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V?
T + 6
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, Prance. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
88
C Mixolydian)
C Dorian I
C Aeolian
C Mixolydian)
C Dorian j V7
C Aeolian )
Although the above types are common to three modes, the particular scale to which any given ex-
ample belongs is usually defined by other chords or by scale passages. So far as harmonic progression
is concerned the distinctions have little meaning except to reveal that the V7 — I cadence occurs in
every mode. The real reason for such differentiation is to aid the reader in comprehending and classify-
ing the variety of musical expression which is possible not only between the several modes but within
the strict confines of each. Recognizing the inadequacy of words to do more than give any but the
roughest approximation of the musical meaning, no attempt has been made to characterize the effect
of the quotations: appraisal must be made on purely musical grounds.
The characteristics of the Mixolydian mode are contained in the two principal chords: the third of
the tonic is major and the third of the dominant is minor. The first five of the following examples
make use of the simple dominant, the next two illustrate the V-7, and the last contains an instance of the
employment of the V? ,
De Severac, HSUogabale, Act. II.
Chorus
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By special permission of Salabert, Inc., of I East 57/a J/., New York 22, N. Y.
Satie, 2nd Gymnopedie.
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V
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Glazounov, Suite pour Quatour d'archets,
Op. 35. Orientale.
jTIJ J
^nn~\
j^B^
f
":i i 1
lnni
pip¥
f
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C Mixolydian I V I
Copyright by M. P. Belaiejf. By permission of Associated Music Publishers, Inc., Agent.
89
Cui, Angelo, Women's Chorus,
Final cadence.
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At Major I Mixolydian I
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V I V I V I
Brahms, Die Mainacht, Op. 43, No. 2.
Final cadence.
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Copyright 1924 by C. C. Birchard & Co. Used by permission.
De Sev£rac, Heliogabale, Act. I.
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I V.
VII IV V7.
I V7 I
^
By special permission of Salaberl, Inc., of 1 East "sllb St., New York 22, N. Y.
( J . 200) Ireland, Concerto for Piano, Finale.
Orch.
£ Mixolydian I+D V? I+6
Reprinted by permission of Copyright Owners, J & W Chester, Ltd., London.
v?
90
:Mft i ^j i \tfj -X-\ \\j \ ifcpN
«
Since the dominant and tonic triads of the Dorian and Aeolian modes are minor, it is impossible
to draw a distinction between the two modes on the basis of these two chords alone. The following
example is a case in point.
Janacek, Mladi. Suite for wind instruments.
£
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Dl> Dorian (or Aeolian)
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When, however, the sixth degree of the scale appears as a member of another chord or as a passing
tone, it becomes the basis of differentiation: the sixth degree of the Dorian scale is major; the sixth of the
Aeolian is minor. This, then, is the method by which the next examples of the V7 — I progression are
declared to be Dorian.
Glinka, A Life for the Tsar, Act II.
Antonida
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Moussorgsky, On the River Dnieper.
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Dorian
I
Vl7
I
D'Indy, Quartet, Op. 35, Third movement.
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33
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r
V
The first of the following Dorian V7 — I cadences is regular enough but in the one by Satie the seventh
is resolved in an unorthodox fashion and the final chord is major. In the excerpt from // finto Arlec-
chino, Malipiero not only resolves the seventh irregularly by having it ascend one degree but he intro-
duces a curious figure in the penultimate measure.
Malipiero, Armenia.
G Dorian III7
V Pedal _
IV
V7
By special permission of Salaberl, Inc., of 1 East illi St., New York 22, N. Y.
92
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Satie, 2.tf Gymnopedie, Final cadence.
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II9 (VI?) II(?) V7
Malipiero, // finto Arlecchino, Final cadence.
Major
I
5
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Copyright 1927 by C. C. Birchard & Co. Used by permission.
In the Dorian V? the characteristic major sixth degree of the mode forms the interval of a major
ninth with the root of the dominant. The tritone appears in the resolution of the Dorian V* to I, but
this does not deter modern composers from using the cadence.
$ '"'*—
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Ravel, Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, No. 2.
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r
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I Pedal
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, Prance. Copyright Owners. Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
93
Before proceeding to the dominant progressions of the Aeolian mode it may not be out of place to
consider the unusual Minor mode cadence in which the dominant with major ninth resolves to the minor
tonic triad. This major ninth results from using the Dorian major sixth degree in the minor mode. In
other words, the minor with major sixth degree is derived from the Dorian instead of from the Aeolian.
Because of the tritone mentioned above, the progression from dominant with major ninth to minor tonic
is forbidden in stria harmony but may be found occasionally in free composition.
tritone
=8=
^E
„ ,,. ,, 9 (major)
D Minor V7 J
(Dorian derivative)
Janacek, String Quartet, Third movement,
Final cadence.
204
fflS
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ffi
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Gt Minor V79(maJ°fr).
(Dorian derivative)
Reprinted by permission of Copyright Owner, Hudebni Malice Umelecke Besedy.
Sibelius, Symphony No. 6, Second movement,
final cadence
i - PB € 1 0^¥W
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f
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G Minor V
(Dorian derivative)
v9(major) j y IV I
Copyright 1938 by Wilheim Hansen. By permission of Associated Music Publishers, Inc., Agent.
Sibelius, En Saga.
OTJZJ
ffl J J^J J , iff
vrim
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(Dorian derivative)
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94
Ibid., Coda.
Clar.
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Ek Minor V?(maJ°r>
(Dorian derivative)
9 (major)
Examples of the Aeolian dominant cadence are found more frequently than any other kind. The
explanation no doubt lies in the fact that the usual Minor mode is derived from the Aeolian, and by
simply canceling the leading-tone of the Minor the mode reverts to Aeolian.
In his book New Harmonic Devices, Miller quotes an example of a minor or modal dominant
from Ravel's Sonatine?
Ravel, Sonatine.
pg^j
£
tj
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Permission for reprint authorized by 'Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
This is an Aeolian V7-I cadence in F as is proved by the minor sixth (^b) in the first chord. Many
such progressions might be cited but a few carefully selected ones will suffice for illustrative purposes.
It might be argued that the first quotation given below is no more Aeolian than Dorian. As the
excerpt stands this is true, but throughout the "Credo" Liszt has supplied a flat to every b which occurred.
Liszt, Graner M,esse "Credo."
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V<5
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Berlioz, L'Enfance du Christ, Epilogue,
final cadence.
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95
Liszt, Christus, "Die heiligen drei Konige.'
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IV
I V" I V I
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Brahms, Vertath, Op. 105, No. 5
m j *
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ggpj
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J
IV
II'
II
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Aeolian V I
III Minor III9 VI II V I V7
Brahms, Symphony No. 4, II.
E Major I
Aeolian |iv| Major I
V
96
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De Severac, Heliogabale, Act II, Finale.
=at
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*
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§
^n
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^
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F Major I
Aeolian V? Major I
Copyright 1910 by Rouart, Lerolle el Cie. By special permission of Salabert, Inc., of 1 East ■jlth St., 'New York 22,
In the last two examples note that Aeolian V(7) progresses to Major I, a tierce de Picardie effect.
The next excerpts are illustrative of the Aeolian V7-I cadence.
Dvorak, Symphony No. 5, First movement.
4
v m m
3.
m P » f
fe
j=
m
s
4
G Aeolian 1 4
Dvorak, Concerto for Cello, First movement.
Allegro
i '* 1 i n
■^'i»pt rE
i^F
W
B Aeolian I
IV I V I
Malipiero, Poemetti Lunari, No. 5.
r mm
fflE
il=
*
r
E Aeolian I
V7-
i
4
Copyright 1918 £? Maurice Senart et Cie. By special permission of Salabert, Inc., of 1 £<*j/ 57/A 5/., New York 22,
n. y.
97
Pizzetti, La Madre al Figlio Lontano.
i
m
m
E co-me
m
i
spie-go
T
G Aeolian V \'i I
Reprinted by permission of Copyright Owner, A. Forlivesi & C.
Debussy, Pour le Piano, Prelude.
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V
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A Minor VI7 V7 of m (major) V7 of Hl(minor) Phrygian Aeolian \
[enharmonic! +6t III? V7
(V?ofVl)
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
Ravel, Ma Mere I'oye, Pavane.
A Aeolian
III7 VI
III7 VI V7 Mixolydian Aeolian
I
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, Francei Copyright Owpers, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
The Aeolian Vf does not occur so frequently but it is not unknown. As in the Dorian Vf, the
ninth of the Aeolian dominant is the feature by which the mode can be definitely established for it is
the minor sixth of the Aeolian scale.
In the two following examples only the cadence of each is analyzed because this is the part which
has bearing on the immediate subject: to propose an analysis for the remainder would be to risk a
pointless controversy:
Ravel, Le Tombeau de Couperin, No. III.
a __ ^— ~ — ^ Forlane.
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, Prance. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co Inc
Philadelphia, Pa.
98
Ravel, Ma Mere I'oye, Pavane.
; f f rrff f
ffrtrff
f*rtrTr
fe
^N
^
— « • — e
e 3 F
s
f
V Pedal
Aeolian
V9 I
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
^m
m
C Phrygian V
(Phrygian III°7)
[V°7 of VI]
C Phrygian V7
(Phrygian III0?)
[V°7 of VI]
The Phrygian V and V1 may be employed as incomplete forms of the V of VI (Phrygian III°7.)
Rimsky-Korsakov , Sur les Collines
de Georgie, Op. 3.
i
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3=s
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?
V°7 of VI
C(t Minor I (Phrygian III°7)
I Pedal
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VI
Another way to construe the example above is to consider the second measure as Phrygian V
progressing to VI, or in other words, a deceptive cadence. Such a viewpoint has a certain logic because
it may be demonstrated that the Phrygian V is a harmonic entity, despite the fact that it has a dimin-
ished fifth.
Proof of the last statement lies in the manner in which the chord is used. If the chord in question
were but an adjunct of the chord having its root a third below, that is, an incomplete V of VI, most
often it would be found resolving to VI. Such, however, is not the case: the chord most frequently re-
solves to I (major or minor) and the accompanying excerpts are offered in evidence of this claim.
It is true that most diminished chords are abbreviated forms existing without root. That this
does not apply to the Phrygian V must have its explanation in the importance of the functions of the
fifth degree on which the chord is erected.
The following are examples of the Phrygian V(7) progressing directly to the tonic.
99
Rimsky-Korsakov, Christmas Eve, Part IV.
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Liszt, Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2.
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Ctt Major I
Phrygian V' Major I
Brahms, Symphony No. 4, Second movement.
Jl
:— Mixolydian Phrygian \ —
E Major I
Phrygian Maj
II7 V I
I? II P
Tv7 of ivl Tn^I
n Major L L J Major
I
I Pedal
Dvorak, Moravian Duets, No. 11, Final cadence.
D Major V' I
r
Phrygian Major
V7 I
Dvorak, Rusalka, Op. 114.
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F Minor U V? I Phrygian
Reprinted by permission of Copyright Owners, Hudebni Maine Vmelecke Besedy, Prague.
100
(Phrygian)
I
i
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Phrygian Major Phrygian Major
Rimsky-Korsakov Sur les Collines
de Georgie, Op. 3.
PPT PJ)P
gjgj H 1
C|t Phrygian V7"
I Pedal
I (Major) Phrygian V' Major I
Borodin, Prince Igor, Act III, Chorus and Dance.
■w r r r r -r
B Phrygian VII
V7
I Pedal
Brahms, Mein tierz ist schwer, Op. 94, No. 3. Final cadence.
Phrygian V7 Major I
D'Indy, Quartet, Op. 35, Second movement. Final cadence.
&
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B\> Phrygian V7
Major I
101
Ireland, Preludes. "The Holy Boy." Final cadence.
F Dorian V2
By permission of the Copyright Owner, Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.
Ravel, he Tombeau de Couperin,
No. Ill, Forlane.
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Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, Prance. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
Janacek, Jenufa, Act. I.
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Copyright 1917 £7 Universal Editions. By permission of Associated Music Publishers, Inc., Agent.
Note the implied Phrygian V* in the Janacek excerpt above.
The Phrygian V7 may progress to some chord other than the I as Faure" demonstrates in his
Second Quintet. Observe, however, that the Phrygian II7 is here merely an interpolation between
two dominants.
102
Faure, 2nd Quintet. First movement.
Et Major V7
Phrygian V7
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Parts, France. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
^
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C Locrian V C Locrian V'
The Locrian dominant is located a diminished fifth above the tonic. This is the arithmetical divi-
sion of the octave and stands in sharp contrast to the other dominant chords which are built on the
harmonic division. It was due to this "defective" fifth that the mode was rejected as unfit for music.
Such a circumstance is apparently accepted as a challenge by the modern composer if we are to judge
from the number of cadences to be found containing the Locrian V. The musical effect of a progression
involving chords whose roots are a diminished fifth apart is such that there may be those who cannot
accept it as legitimate. Such an attitude, however, would have to be maintained against the combined
opinion of a representative group of composers who have made use of the Locrian V in their works. Notice
that the fifth degree is altered from diminished to perfect when the tonic is reached.
Moussorgsky, Boris Godounov, Act IV, scene 2.
Allegro non troppo
A [I?]
(Aeolian?)
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II V [I?]
Dvorak, Symphony No. 5, Finale.
If
E Minor N6 1 4 V Minor I
UliUI
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Locrian
Minor I
103
Strauss, Das Rosenband, Op. 36, No. 1.
4 Jri i
A Major I
Dorian or
Aeolian
[III]
Copyright 1911 6? Universal Editions. By permission of Associated Music Publishers, Inc., Agent.
Suk, Ein Marchen, Op. 16, First movement, final cadence.
Fl.
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Aeolian III Major I
Copyright by N. Simrock. By permission of Associated Music Publishers, Inc., Agent.
Thompson, Pueri Hebraeorum, Final cadence,
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t/W o'///? /Au consent of the publisher, E. C. Schirmer Music Company, Boston, Massachusetts, Copyright Owners.
104
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C Major I
Locrian
VI
VI'
Phrygian
II
Locrian
Major
V
III
C Pedal
Reprinted by permission of Leeds Music Corporation, Agents.
The Locrian V7 is a major chord with a major seventh. Strangely enough, it has found considerable
employment in the cadence and elsewhere.
Grieg, Sonata for Cello and Piano,
Last movement, final cadence.
Major I
105
Ravel, String Quartet, First movement.
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A Locrian V'
Major I
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
Pushing the process one step further, Rangstrom and Stravinsky lower the seventh of the Locrian V
chromatically thus forming a major chord with a minor seventh. In the parenthesis-chord system this
would have to be called either V7 of the leading tone or V7 of the lowered tonic, both unlikely designa-
tions in the following examples, since the chord in question proceeds directly to the tonic. The name
Locrian V7b seems to have a certain logic especially when the resolution is to I. This particular progres-
sion, however, is not widely used at the present time and its place is not yet definitely fixed.
Rangstrom, Der Becher.
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Locrian
V?t
Major
I
Stravinsky, Symphonie de Psaumes,
Opening of first movement.
E Minor I
Locrian
y7b
Minor
_ I
By permission of the Copyright Owner, Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.
The deceptive cadence (V — VI) has been mentioned only in connection with the Locrian V. The
progression V — VI in other modes is not frequent but does exist, as the excerpts attest.
Grieg, Ein Schwan.
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I
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E
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F Major I
IV&
Minor
VI
Phrygian
V VI
Major
T6
M
106
i
Chorus (unison)
De Severac, UeUogabde, Act II, No. 4.
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I V I
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VI V?
VI
EtV7
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ita
Sibelius, Marzschnee, Op. 36, No. 5
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(or possibly pseudo-modal in G Major)
V VI
II6 I6
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VI G Major V7
Chapter XI
EXTRA-MAJOR-MINOR CHORDS:
SUBMEDIANT FORMS
DORIAN VI is another diminished triad the real root of which is placed a third below; that is,
in this case, on the fourth degree of the scale. In other words, the chord is an incomplete
Dorian subdominant (Dorian IV°7 or IV "f) and conforms to the same progression patterns. (See
above, chap, ix.)
±
g
ft
C Dorian VI
[Dorian IV°7]
[V°7 of IV of IV]
C Dorian VI7
[Dorian IV0?]
[V°? of IV of IV]
The Dorian IV7 may be used parenthetically as V7 of IV of IV or V7 of VIIth. In the following
quotation from the Clarinet Quintet by Brahms the incomplete form of the chord is illustrated.
Brahms, Quintet, Op. 15, Final movement.
B Minor I
I6 V°7 of VII lk VII (Dorian)
[Dorian IV°7]
* * J d
rr r r f
tj
i
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Aeolian VI
IV Minor V I
As stated in Chapter IX, the chords to which the Dorian IV and IV7 may progress are III, V,
VII, and I. The resolution to VII is snown on page 80, and instances are given below of the
Dorian IV °7 (Dorian VI) progressing to each of the other chords except III, an example of which
was not found. No particular significance, however, is attached to this hiatus.
108
109
Moussorgsky, Boris Godounov, Act IV, scene 2.
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At Dorian it
VI'
V|
VI'
vS
Ibid., Act IV, scene 1.
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At Minor I Lydian Dorian y y
II III VI7
Dvorak, Symphony No. 5, First movement.
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A Dorian VI I .
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Preludium HI.
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Copyright by Wilhelm Hansen. By permission of Associated Music Publishers, Inc., Agent.
* * *
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[V7 of N6]
Locrian VI7 is a major V7 type, and is frequently employed parenthetically asVof N9.
no
Brahms, Quartet, Op. 5 1, No. 1, First movement.
N6
[Locrian III
(Minor) V7
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VI7
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14
The chord is not limited, however, to this one use: it may resolve to several other harmonies,
among them, the subdominant.
Moussorgsky, Without Sun, No. 4,
"Within Four Walls."
rf'<n- I
s
r i,j j^ Mr j' j* 7 r
E
D Major I
Locrian VI'
[V7 of N6?]
Major IV
I Pedal
Ill
Pizzetti, / Pastori.
A Aeolian
Locrian VI7
[V? of N6?]
I * 7 7^| g J g J I H
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Dorian IV
I
Reprinted by permission of Copyright Owners. A. Forlivesi & C, Florence, Italy.
Another chord which may follow the Locrian VI7 is the Major or Minor V7. This progression
involves the chromatic alteration of the Locrian dominant ( the note) by raising it a semitone in order
that it may conform to the ordinary dominant. It is as if the composer, having used an extreme har-
mony, wished to reaffirm the tonality by introducing the strongest chord possible, a Major-minor V7.
P#
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Chabrier, La Sulamite.
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Violin
Orch.
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Dvorak, Mazurka, Op. 49
mm
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Locrian
Vl2
112
Franck, Prelude, Chorale, and Fugue.
E\> Major I III^ Locrian VI7
Minor I
Published by authorization of NM. Enoch & Cie, Music Publishers, Paris.
Svendsen, Carnival in Paris.
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(V) Locrian VI7 Major V7 I
[v7of Nfi?]
The most important function of the Locrian VI7 is to form a cadence. The progression Locrian VI'
to major or minor I is not a strong one, yet it is often quite effective.
Moussorgsky, Without Sun, No. 2,.
"Thine Eyes in the Crowd now Avoid Me."
iif —
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113
Brahms, Romanzen aus Magelone, "Sulima."
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Locrian Major I
VI?
Smetana, Braniboriv V Cechach, Act I, introduction.
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A .4- .U
Cui, Trios Scherzos, No. 1.
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Locrian VI'
Reprinted by permission of Leeds Music Corporation, Agents.
Major I
Faur£, Op. 103, No. 3.
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I
Ravel, L'Heure Espagnole, Scene XV.
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Locrian
VI?
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[Mixolydian |
. V ll
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
114
Gretchaninov, Symphony No. j, I.
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[l+6?]
Major I
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Rangstrom, Floderna.
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Minor?
Gft (Aeolian?) I S
mm
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)
3 3
3=1=1
5 5
Locrian
Vl7
Reprinted by Permission of Copyright Owners, Air. Lundquist.
3 3
Minor ? I
Aeolian?
Grovlez, Sonata for Violin and Piano, I, introduction.
8
D Aeolian
Phrygian Mixolydian
III? I?
Locrian .
Vi9
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
115
J^=
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Gershwin, Swetf/ and Low Down, Final Cadence.
3
si
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G Major V7
I Locrian
VI?
Copyright 1925 i? Harms, Inc. Reprinted by permission.
Major I
7 *
Gershwin, I'll Build a Stairway to
Paradise, Final Cadence.
J I j'' j"; iJ^j^j !
^
1
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C Major V7 I Locrian Major
VI? I
Copyright 1922 by Harms, Inc. Reprinted by permission.
Chapter XII
EXTRA-MAJOR-MINOR CHORDS
ON THE SEVENTH DEGREE
The lydian VII and VII7 are die only chords on the leading tone which do not have an established
place in common practice. Under the conventions of the major-minor system the chromatically
raised fourth degree of the scale (the fifth of Lydian VII) would imply a harmonic turn toward
the dominant.
=*
C Lydian VII
C Lydian VII7
A major chord on the major supertonic which progresses to the dominant is recognized as a parenthesis
chord and designated V of V. A minor chord on the leading tone (which contains the raised fourth de-
gree), resolving to the dominant, might be called /// of V. But this is less reasonable, since III has not
the harmonic function that dominant and subdominant possess. The chord is therefore termed Lydian
VII even when it resolves to V.
Faure, Prelude en Fa Majeur, Op. 103, No. 4.
m
.'nil j » jJKi
m
n
U
p^f
F Lydian I
|_III of V?
V I
Such a progression is weak and, no doubt for that reason, has had little use. Also weak and
equally rare is the progression Lydian VII to I.
Brahms, Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45,
First movement.
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IT?
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F Major IV IV V°7 I VI III Lydian I
VII
£=P
VI
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Et Major VI I? Lydian Mixolydian Major I?
VII I7 VII VI
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
116
117
There seems to be no other progression in use in which either Lydian VII or VIIT figures. The
implication is that the chord has insufficient color to compensate for the unconvincing harmonic succes-
sions of which it is a part.
$
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C Mixolydian)
C Dorian
C Aeolian
[IV of IV]
[V of III]
C Mixolydian jyjj7
C Dorian
hi
5
C Aeolian VII7
[V7 of III]
The conventional use of Mixolydian, Dorian, and Aeolian VII is as IV of IV although examples
are by no means common.
Beethoven, Missa Solemnis, "Gloria."
m i' p i"
In glo- ri- a
SP^
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D Major I
IV
I
pa
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IV 01 IV
[Mixolydian]
VII J
IV
A
V
Vi/
De Severac, HSUogabale, Act I.
I
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Bt Mixolydian IV of IV IV V7.
I V [VII]
I V7 I
f
m
i
B o
Copyright 1910 4/ Rouarl, Lerolle el Cie. By special permission of Salaberl, Inc., of 1 East VI tb St., New York
• 22, N. Y.
The most common succession involving this type of subtonic chord is Mixolydian, Dorian, or Aeo-
lian VII — I and although it has other uses, it is especially important as a cadence.
Moussorgsky, Boris Godounov, Act IV, scene 2.
1
i i gigg tf gj^
s a j
* — ^
^
w
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*
Tf-
Et Major I Mixolydian Locrian Mixolydian Major I
VII VI7 VII
118
8 J- Efi
Moussorgsky, Without Sun, "Within Four Walls.'
rr\
~r — r
si - lent night with me
So it is night with me, Cold,
f
r\
<s —
fi:
rsf
rr
gaps
/C\
D Dorian I
IV
VII
Major I
Gershwin, Second Rhapsody.
i ! i i i
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Copyright 1932 £y Nezi* World Music Corp. Reprinted by permission.
Liszt, Graner Messe, "Credo."
iipf
f f '{' f=f g^5!
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f f W p r^^
men.
/7\
D Aeolian III6 I VII III IV VI VII I
VI
Brahms, Von ewiger Lieber, Op. 43, No. 1.
Cjt Aeolian I
m
Tschaikovsky, Nutcracker Suite, Arabian Dance.
T
IIP
SP
Vrflf
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VII I VII I VII
G Aeolian I
Vj Pedal.
119
Glazounov, Der Kbnig der Juden,
Introduction and Chorus.
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There seems to be no reason why the Mixolydian VII7 and Dorian VII7 should not precede the
tonic chord, especially since they are used in other connections. The fact remains, however, that the
above progressions seem not to have been used, although Aeolian VII7 — I is fairly frequent.
Schumann, Humoreske, Op. 20.
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No other progressions involving the subtonic chords in question are so important as those just illus-
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be mentioned here.
A. Mixolydian VII to II:
Stanford, Eden, Chorus, "God of Night."
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Faure, 2nd Quintet, Third movement.
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D. Mixolydian VII to V.
E. Aeolian VII to V.
De Severac, HSliogabale, Act II, No. 2.
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F. Aeolian VII to VI.
Sibelius, Symphony No. 1, First movement, Coda.
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G. Aeolian VII7 is a Major V7 form and is therefore used in the secondary dominant system as
V of III. Note that Ravel used the chord with ninth in his Tombeau de Couperin.
Ravel, Le Tombeau de Couperin, No. IV. Rigaudon.
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Bruckner, Quintet, II.
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V7 VI V7
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C Phrygian
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The Phrygian VII and VII7 are identical in type with those of the Locrian and the mode to which
one of these chords properly belongs is not defined without reference to the surrounding harmonics.
The fifth degree of each mode is its distinguishing feature. If it be perfect, the mode is Phrygian, if
diminished, it is Locrian. By this means the following examples are declared to be in one or the other
mode.
Either with or without the seventh, the Phrygian-Locrian VII moves logically to the tonic. The
progression forms a cadence whose expression may range from the suave or mysterious to the brusque or
merely matter-of-fact.
Debussy
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Pour le Piano, Prelude.
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Brahms, Mein Herz ist schwer, Op. 94, No. 3.
Final cadence.
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Malipiero, Rispetti e Strambotti, Final cadence.
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Used by permission of the Copyright Owner, J & W Chester, Ltd., London.
Gretchaninov, Liturgia Domestica.
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Particularly noteworthy is the first example of Phrygian VII7 quoted below, not only because of
its early date (1822-1823) but also because Weber has been disparagingly characterized as a composer
whose harmony consisted chiefly of tonic and dominant.
Weber, Euryanthe, Act II.
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Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
Rimsky-Korsakov, Capriccio Espagnole, No. 4. Scena e canto gitano.
Bl> Phrygian V
Major
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VII7 I
Phrygian
VII7
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129
Respighi, Toccata for Piano and Orchestra.
D Major I
Locrian VII (V7) Major I Aeolian
VII
Copyright 1929 by G. Ricordi & Co., Inc. Used by permission.
Major I
The other progressions associated with the Phrygian VII<7) and the Locrian VII<7) are of less impor-
tance but merit some attention. They are outlined below.
A. Phrygian VII and VII7 to II.
Saint-Saens, Quartet, Op. 112, First movement.
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Moussorgsky, Boris Godnunov, Act I, scene 1.
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Since the root of the Phrygian VII7 in the last example resolves a perfect fourth, it is possible to
consider it as if it were a modal parenthesis dominant of the succeeding chord (Phrygian III7), which is a
true V of VI. [Pursuing the idea further, the VI and II7 may even be construed as modal parenthesis
chords1 V of V of V and V of V respectively, because the series of fourths formed by the roots of
the chords is unbroken through to the final tonic. The Phrygian VII7 of the above progression be-
comes V of V of V of V of V, which designation, ludicrous as it may be, is not without point in ex-
plaining the whole series of relationships.]
C Phrygian and Locrian VII to IV.
Dvorak, Quartet, Op. 105, Second movement.
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The relationship of the VI to II is similar to that of a
Locrian V to I, since the roots form the interval of a diminished
fifth. Such resolutions are permitted under the rules of con-
ventional harmony in sequences.
131
Respighi, Maria Egiziaca, I.
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Saint-Saens, he Dtluge, Part I.
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Copyright 1924 by Harms, Inc. Reprinted by permission.
132
Moussorgsky, Without Sun, No. 2.
"Thine Eyes in the Crowd Now Avoid Me."
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I
Part II: Kindred Studies
Chapter XIII
PSEUDO-MODALITY
AN effect called pseudo-modality is produced by violating the conventional progression-patterns
of the major-minor system. Specifically, this consists of emphasis on the secondary chords ( II, III,
VI, and VII) and use of the progressions VI- V and V-IV. In a sense, this is a reversion to the
ecclesiastical practice and for that reason is sometimes called the Ionian mode. It is more nearly correct,
however, to consider that certain progressions permissible under the old modal system (for instance, V
to IV) have been applied to the major, hence the name pseudo-modality. This is a reversal of the
process by which the modern equivalent of the old Church scales came into being. The latter, the
Harmonic Modes, are the result of imposing major-minor conventions on the diatonic modes and, from
that point of view, are pseudo-major-minor.
There are very few examples of pseudo-modality which approximate the effect of the ecclesiastical
Ionian with its rigid conventions of dissonance and severe style.
Thompson, Pueri Hebraeorum.
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Used with consent of the publisher, E. C. Schirmer Music Company, Boston, Massachusetts, Copyright Owners,
In order to evoke a religious aura some composers have adopted a pseudo-modal style which,
although without dissonance and quite simple, would never be mistaken for anything but modern com-
position because of some other consideration (harmonic instead of contrapuntal conception, for instance).
Respighi, Maria Egiziaca, Episode I.
IV VI
Copyright 1931 by G. Ricordi & Co., Inc. Vied by permission.
135
136
Debussy used pseudo-modality for the purposes of impressionism, but not often so simply as in the
following example. Debussy> u DamoiseUe ilm.
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The most conspicuous difference between pseudo-modal practice and that of the Ionian is the use of
dissonance with the former. The final cadence of ha Damoiselle t\lue illustrates this, and ha Fille aux
Cheveux de hin is perhaps the most cited example.
Debussy, ha Damoiselle Blue.
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co Inc
Philadelphia, Pa.
Debussy, ha Fille aux Cheveux de hin.
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137
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Apparently it is Lesueur ( 1760-1837) who must be credited with having first used pseudo-modality,
although his outlook was principally antiquarian. (See below, Book Two, chap, xxv.)
Lesueur, 3 me Messe Solennelle, "Credo."
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During the nineteenth century pseudo-modality became common property and found favor with the
romanticists as well as with members of the several national schools. (See below, Book Two, chaps,
xxvi-xxix.)
One' of the modern developments in the realm of pseudo-modality is the use as a pedal of a tone
other than the tonic or dominant
Respighi, Maria Egizicaca.
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Pseudo-modal final cadences are used to some extent but are not so frequent as the true modal
forms. (See above, chaps, vu-xii.)
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Although not strictly pseudo-modal, the employment of the minor submediant in Major is so common
with composers who do use modality and pseudo-modality that it is often referred to as a "pseudo-
modal" effect. Helmholtz calls this the "minor-major" [HoU-Durtonart].1
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An odd circumstance is that the device is as rare with Italian composers as it is frequent with
writers of northern Europe. The example below is perhaps unique.
Verdi, Aula, Act. I.
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Note that the chord in which the minor submediant appears is the supertonic and not the subdomi-
nant, as is usually so with the composers of Germany, Russia, Scandanavian countries, and Czechoslovakia.
We must infer that the effect of the "minor-major" is foreign to Italian temperament.
*H. Helmholtz: Die Lehre von den Tonempfindungen als
physiologische Grundlage fur die Theorie der Musik (1863),
p. 467.
139
French composers have found it but little more to their taste. The final cadence to D'Indy's Sym-
phonie sur un Chant Montagnard Frangais is an outstanding example.
D'Indy, Symphonie sur un Chant Montagnard Frangais.
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Chopin, perhaps because of his Polish blood, was fond of using the minor subdominant chord in
Major.2 Almost alone among nineteenth-century German composers, Brahms showed a decided predi-
lection for the same effect.3 The Russian, Czechoslovakian, and Norwegian national composers used the
device too frequently to need illustration.
Almost always the minor sixth appears as the third of the simple subdominant chord, which fact
makes the following exceptions noteworthy.
Sokolov, Quartet, Op. 14, Final cadence.
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Tschaikovsky, Casse-Noisette Suite.
"Danse des Mirlitons "
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[Aeolian II?]
"See: 17 Polish Songs, Op. 74, No. 10. Theme by Handel, Op. .24, and the final cadence of Intermezzo,
"Especially in the final cadences of his songs. See also, Op. 76, No. 4.
Variations XXIII, and XXIV of Variations and Fugue on a
Chapter XIV
THE CASE FOR THE LOCRIAN MODE
From A harmonic point of view the Locrian mode was treated in Chapters VI through XII as a part
of the complete diatonic system. The several chords were discussed and notice taken of the restric-
tions which apply to the harmonies of this mode. It was concluded that Locrian chords can be
employed freely in the body of a composition, but that cadences terminating with the diminished tonic
triad are less readily acceptable.
A general consensus holds that the Locrian mode exists only as a theoretical curiosity and has no
place in practice, but a number of writers emphatically declare that the mode is practicable and is found
in both art and folk music; they even supply examples from various sources to support their arguments.
Westphal conjectured that the ancient Greeks used the b-b scale (Greek Mixolydian) and quoted
two specimens1, but since these are only fragments they are not conclusive proof. Combarieu offers
more positive evidence in the words of Plato, who said that "under the influence of the Mixolydian
[Locrian] the soul is troubled and constricted."2
It is truly distressing to see writers like Bellermann and Helmholtz, by the authority of their names, contributing
to the perpetuation of the errors that a simple examination of the facts suffices to refute. One of these errors is the
pretended non-existence of the B and F modes [Locrian and Lydian] in the liturgic chant of the Roman Church.3
Although the B-b scale was rejected by most of the theoreticians of Ecclesiastic chant as being unmusical, re-
mains of the [Greek] Mixolydian (B-b) , more or less disguised as a transposition down a fifth, are frequently found
in the Roman Antiphonary. These are the chants of the plagal deuterus (4th Gregorian mode) [E-e when trans-
posed down a fifth] which have the bb or in which the fifth above the final is not heard.4
Gevaert lists the following plain chants as Locrian:
Antienne: Ecce lignum crucis. Introits: Nos autem gloriari; Misericordia Domini. Offertoires: Terra tremuit;
Oravi Deum. Communions: Memento verbi tui; Feci judicum. Alleluia de V Ascension: Ascendit Deus. Repons:
Qui Lazarum, etc.6
m
Afc
Hymn to the Virgin6
E
m
m
eMe*
Vir gi - nis
les
(etc.)
? ? ? * o^
^
«
U-
/C\
m
/T\
PP
?
£
Perreau also gives a list of Locrian plain chants:7
Sanctus (Samedi Saint, edition de Solesmes) .
Media vita . . . Sanctus Deus (Repons du manuscrit de Saint-Gall, dans les "variae preces" de Solesmes) .
Venite, exultemus Domino (Psaume de l'office des Matines).
Quern vidistis, pastores? (Repons des Matines de Noel) .
As an illustration he auotes one of the examples mentioned by Gevaert, Nos autem gloriario.8
'Rudolph Westphal and Rossbach: Metrik der griechischen
Oramatiker und Lyriker Leipzig, (1854-1865), I (Supplement),
pp. 50-54.
"Jules Combarieu: "Cours du College de France," La Revue
Musicale (Oct. 1, 1906), p. 441.
5Fr. Aug. Gevaert: Histoire et Theorie de la Musique de
I'Antiquite (Ghent, 1875), p. 146.
'Ibid., p. 146.
"Ibid., p. 147.
'Ibid., p. 233.
'Xavier Perreau, La Pluralite des Modes et la Theorie
Generate de la Musique (Paris, Librairie Fischbacher, 1908),
p. 101.
'Ibid.
140
141
B-b mode (transposed down a fifth to E-e)
tem glo - ri- a
por
| jLr~i i 1 1 J 1 J bJ 1 1 r i^ i
tet in cru- ce do - - mi - ni nos - tri
S
Je
.n .h I S | i r I rg
Chris -
ti, in quo est sa - lus, vi - ta
et
| J/ J J^jTJ J« jm ;jj j
^s
ti- o
tra, per
quern sal -
mus.
In speaking of the Locrian and its plagal, Dunstan says he includes them "for the sake of com-
pleteness."9
These modes (the Eleventh and Twelfth of the numerical designation) are now regarded as obsolete; but Bach
used them, and that must be an excuse for passing reference. Further, they represent the one case in modal music
where the final chord cannot very well be diatonic.10
Apparently by the last statement Dunstan means that a diminished triad is almost unacceptable as
a final, that it must be altered to a major or minor tonic chord. This conclusion is borne out by what
he has to say about the following melody:
It is almost impossible to harmonize this melody satisfactorily without using the triad of A-major (or evea D-
major) as the final chord — and this was Bach's method.
The A-major triad is the more "orthodox" of the two.11
Mode XI
Melody (A. D. 1302)
It should be observed that he does not say that the diminished Locrian tonic triad is impossible as
a final chord: he allows himself a loophole by using the qualifying almost. It is just this possibility
on which Combarieu seized when he wrote that the Greek Mixolydian scale . . .
. . . from B to b, of that sort which has, from our point of view, the chord b-d-f as the fundamental harmony, which,
being essential, can and should serve as the conclusion of a melody written in the Greek Mixolydian. Today, no
student would dare end any work whatsoever on that chord because we should interpret it as a dominant seventh chord
without root, and, by that token, it appears to us as a dissonance demanding resolution. It is regrettable, however,
because in requiring a perfect chord on C-tonic to succeed b-d-f, we stick to the commonplace and to the beaten track
and abandon an effect which in some cases might be very poetic.1 2
Dunstan quotes three Locrian melodies, presumably from plain chant.18
"Ralph Dunstan, Diatonic Modal Counterpoint (London,
Novello and Co., 1920), p. 52.
'"Ibid., p. 53.
"Ibid.
"Combarieu, loc. cit. (June 1, 1906), pp. 257-258.
"Dunstan, op. cit., pp. 53-54. The third example is labeled
Mode XII transposed, but since the melody exceeds the lower
limit of the octave e-e by but one degree (which is allowed)
it must be concluded that it is an error and should be considered
Mode XI (Locrian).
142
Mode XI [Locrian]
J J J
J *
^
#
TT
Mode XII [Hypolocrian]
g il " i' I c f J=
P^
**T^
3
3E
^
TT
Mode XII [actually Mode XI (Locrian)J
| j J J I J J J : J'j J' TJ ; J -S
^S
@
| JJJ_ffl J'i;JlJ ^JJ"3^
/T\
fe*
Hammerich found a Locrian melody in an Icelandic manuscript of 1700:
a (2 &.
a n a a.
& -n — -^&
P P a -e-
m
^
Tff t r f f i
^^
(2 Ck_
The tonic here is &, the melody ranges downward a fourth to / and a third upward to d and is therefore plagal.
Nevertheless, one may search through the entire system of the twelve recognized Church modes without finding the
frame into which this melody fits. It is first found as one of the two modes which Glareanus rightly designated
as 'rejected' and was called Hypolocrian [plagal Locrian] — the 14th mode.14
Locrian folk songs are very rare, but not nonexistent, as the following examples bear witness.
The first melody given below is not clearly Locrian although it ends on b. Owing to the notes empha-
sized in the melodic line, it seems more closely related to the tonic a.
In free recitative
Lament for the Son of Fineen Dubb.15
4=\
i i
T^f¥
f 0'
■ * m
-rr^-
-^r3
■
-■ — +-
--=— f-
*=*
t^y=
» # i
--*=¥=
~~m — rp — f —
-7 — \i-L-
■ ff t'
-uj —
£ w
~~f ff — 1
#=r
— f— |
» — « —
w
-*£=-
/C\
*=±
=!=
m m M
i r~)
-• L
d
4
h=
"Angul Hammerich, "Studen iiber islandischen Musik," S.I.M. ^Journal of the Folh-Song Society (1918), p. 200.
(1899—1900), I, pp. 347-348.
143
Old Swedish folk song.1
m
m ir ri
mm
| r r r ir r r if p ir r r ir r r r ir u
r--ir i i
;i n
i/TN
Modern Greek melody."
£
r ilcJ'V
rj * r C-LUF
Modern Greek melody.
^es*
4? * f
/TV
^
S3
-J J J i
Japanese Air.
|^ir r r ir r r ir ^
i
f 1 ■ J ■ f 1' B
Whereas the harmonies of the Locrian mode have become common in compositions of the con-
temporary period, Locrian melodies are less frequent. An example found in the "Interlude" from
Debussy's Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp is almost unique.
'"Gevaert, op. cit., p. 150. tiirkische Tanze, Lieder, u.s.w.," S.I.M. (1902-1903), IV,
"Otto Heilig, "Slovakische, griechische, walachische und pp. 295-296. "Ibid., p. 296.
144
Debussy, Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp, "Interlude."
C Locrian
Major
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright Owners, Elian-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
This melody is usually regarded as deriving partly from the whole-tone scale, but when compared
with the following whole-tone motive from Pour un tombeau sans nom which greatly resembles it,
the difference is marked.
Debussy, Pour un tombeau sans nom.
JK'Uj^r prJrrH'Uf^r I ^rT I
D (Whole-tone scale)
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & CU, Paris, France. Copyright Owners, Elian-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
The objection that musicians most often lodge-against the Locrian mode as a vehicle for musical
ideas is not that it contains a tritone between the tonic and the dominant an augmented fourth below,
nor that the tonic triad is diminished: the reason commonly given is that they cannot "feel" the
mode. This means that the listener, unaccustomed to hearing the mode and prejudiced by his exclusive
major-minor experience, does not readily comprehend the component tones of the melody through their
relationship to the strange tonic. In other words, it is impossible to feel the tonic as the tonal center
of gravity, or at least the tonality is felt to be unstable.
It is a mistake to make final judgments purely on the basis of first impressions, especially when
there is clear evidence of bias. Many musicians reject the Locrian mode without careful consideration,
without being able to sing19 a single Locrian melody from memory, and without making an effort to escape
the tyranny of the major-minor concepts.
Most objectors to the Locrian can be placed in the above class, yet there are some who have been
more careful before discarding the mode. It must be granted that for such persons the Locrian does
not exist. On the other hand, the sincerity of Combarieu, Perreau, Hammerich, Dunstan, and others,
cannot be questioned. From such conflicting opinions we can only conclude that the Locrian mode is
acceptable to some but to others it is incongruous.
There are three subdivisions of Locrian usage: (1) melodic, (2) interpolated harmonic, and (3)
terminative harmonic. The first of these has no harmonic concomitants: the final tonic is a single
note which does not imply a triad, diminished or otherwise. Examples of such enharmonic music
are found in ancient plain chant and in folk song unaffected by art music. The second division con-
sists of employing Locrian harmonies in the midst of an otherwise orthodox passage. Many examples
of this are found in Book One. The last category is the most controversial: the use of the diminished
triad as a final.20 Of the three classes, this is the most difficult to accept, but rejection of the imperfect
fifth as a proper concluding chord neither repudiates nor invalidates the two other uses. It would seem
that any of these subdivisions might be accepted and the others rejected without being inconsistent.
"Contrary to popular belief, Locrian melodies are easy to
sing: intonation is not difficult. Perhaps because of their de-
cided character, such melodies as the Debussy excerpt or the
Japanese air (quoted earlier in the chapter) are quickly learned
and, once committed to memory, are never forgotten.
"For examples, see Boo¥ One, chap. vi.
Chapter XV
THE PHRYGIAN AS A MINOR MODE
THE Minor mode of the major-minor system is a combination of certain features of the Aeolian,
the Dorian, and the major scales: from the Aeolian and Dorian came the minor third; the
minor sixth derives from the Aeolian, wheras the alternative major sixth may be regarded
as belonging either to the Major or to the Dorian; the leading tone and dominant cadential conven-
tions are the contribution of the Major.1
In the never-ending quest for new musical resources, it was natural that composers should attempt
to utilize the Phrygian scale as a Minor mode by joining with it the conventions of the Major dominant
cadence. The imposition on the Phrygian of cadential practices characteristic of the Major is the reversal
of the process by which the most conspicuous feature of the former (the minor second degree) was made
available for use with the Major mode.
In the following final cadence the melody is F-Phrygian, yet the underlying harmony is conventional
major-minor.
Sibelius, Belsazar's Gastmahl, Op. 51, No. 3. "Nachtmusik."
J-
m
J3n a.
.'H'i> -
fffff f
J^Jt
frfff i
i
F Minor I4 (in6)
I'll? g ?t|J 1^' 'lJ:
m
T
£5
*=£=
7
V& [Phrygian Vjj]
«—
&
nz
This produces a Phrygian dominant seventh with a raised third forming the leading tone. It may
be regarded as a major dominant seventh with lowered fifth, but since the diminished third (et,-g1') is
outside major-minor practice, such as analysis is less plausible.
The V57bis a part of common major-minor practice as an "augmented six-four-three" chord, in which
case the lowered fifth occurs in the bass.
Dvorak, Liebeslieder, Op. 83, No. 7.
G Major I
'For a full discussion of the subject, see Book Two, chap xxi.
145
146
All such augmented sixth chords which resolve to the tonic cannot be attributed to the chromatic
lowering of the second degree of the major or minor scale. In the next example the augmented sixth
seems to have come about through chromatically raising the seventh degree of the Phrygian scale, this
being the mode employed at that point, as is proved by the bass of the second and fourth measures.
Rimsky-Korsakov, Mlada, Act II, Scene 4.
jjjj
pp
m
w
thKlt f^r
ppp
m
i
f
t=*
m
m i^ii
^m
*=%
¥
C Phrygian IV I V°^ I II I6 IV I V°Ij, I II I6 IV I
Respighi even used a major sixth degree in connection with the Phrygian, thus imitating the melodic
form of the Minor scale.
Respighi, Belkis, Regina di Saba,
"Danza dell'offerta."
$
*
s
m
* * *
■c*
A Phrygian I _
I Pedal
I+6#v°Li I
Copyright 1935 by G. Ricordi & Co,, Inc. Used by permission,
Franck frequently used the Vh, sometimes with the diminished third instead of the augmented sixth.
There is no doubt that he regarded it as an extension of classical harmony and thus it may be regarded,
especially with reference to the manner in which he employed it.
Franck, Symphony, First movement.
&
13
D Minor I
V& I6
[Phrygian^!
Franck, Prelude, Chorale, and Fugue.
^m
r *
m
f
*=s
i±
mm
C Minor I6 V0^
m^
^=4
vlt iv6 ii6 i
[Phrygian V°|l [Phrygian vQ
Published by authorization of NM, Enoch & Cie, Music Publishers, Paris.
147
Most examples are susceptible to dual analysis: either major-minor with lowered supertonic, or Phry-
gian with raised seventh degree. The two possible interpretations are given with the following excerpts
but, because of the known modal predilections of the composers and the freedom with which the altered
chord is employed, the Phrygian explanation would seem to be the more valid.
Moussorgsky, Boris Godounov, Act IV, scene 1.
i
m
a
m
f
mm
D PhrygianV V°|#
I m " i
l3#
D Minor V V°l\,
l3tt
Rimsky-Korsakov, Pskovitianka, Overture.
m
^m
3
fgyg
si
■W
C Minor I
r ^ •"
[Phrygian V^
D
V?,
Phrygian Vt
Sibelius, Belsazar's Gastmahl, No. 4,
"Khadra's Tanz."
gpS
*m i nj a
1 1 T f f
a
Et Major I
*=£
¥=^#
^
i i ''/I
r^
i_i
[Phrygian V?J
From the evidence presented above it may be concluded that there has been some experimentation
with the Phrygian as a minor mode with a chromatically-supplied leading tone. Whether or not the
venture is to be considered successful must be left to individual opinion at present, since the practice
has not been adopted generally. At best the Phrygian-minor mode would seem to be an anomaly, the
use of which is restricted to rather special musical circumstances.
Chapter XVI
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
There are two systems of harmonic analysis in general use: the traditional system and the paren-
thesis-chord system.
The first of these is founded on the original figured bass to which have been added modifications
and improvements. The most important contributions are those made by Rameau. The chief objects
of this system are: (1) to explain the tonal fabric in terms of the dual modality of classical tonality, and
(2) to reveal the structure of the component chords (name, type, and inversion). The tonal functions
(dominant and subdominant) are related only to the tonic and, as a consequence, an analysis must resort
to frequent modulation in order to explain chromatically-formed dominant-seventh type chords.
Although foreshadowed by Piutti, the parenthesis-chord system of analysis was brought to its present
state of development by Weidig and Piston. Slightly less concerned with details of inversion and chord
type, it concentrates on revealing chord progressions by capitalizing the functions of the dominant and
subdominant. This analysis results in a system of secondary (or parenthesis) dominants and subdomi-
nants. By means of this system certain chords formerly considered modulatory are recognized as being
dominant or subdominant functions of the major-and-minor-scale degrees (except the leading tone) as if
these were secondary tonics. The system has obvious advantages in that it can -more readily disclose
extended applications of the typical major-minor progressions.
The essential difference between the two methods of analysis is that the first has as its object to
trace the deflections in the course of major (and minor) diatony, whereas the second aims to disclose the
conformity of the chordal catenations with the conventions of classical minor-major tonality.
In their different ways, the two systems are dedicated to classical harmonic tradition. They attempt
to evaluate every tonal combination in terms of major-minor practice and, although this is valid for the
greater part of the music since 1600, it does not take into account the decrescence of major-minor
dominance and the revival of modality during the past hundred years. Not only have major-minor
progression patterns come to be violated freely, but modal harmonies are now common.
The major and minor scales are but two of the complete system of diatony. The other modes
are Lydian, Mixolydian, Dorian, Aeolian, Phrygian, and Locrian. Although they are of the same dia-
tonic form and bear the same names as the ecclesiastical scales, modern modal practice is so different that
they might better be called Harmonic modes.1 Like the major and minor, these scales are inter-
changeable over a tonic, a fact which has an important bearing on modern harmonic practice, since it
means that a composer may at any time draw on the harmonic resources of modality.
It must be pointed out that the parenthesis-chord system is a theory of extended major-minor domi-
nant and subdominant functions and that by the very names of the chords, their resolutions are implied.
For this reason, the parenthesis designations indicate a more circumscribed use for modal harmonies than
is found to be true in actual practice.
Every extra-major-minor chord belonging to the Harmonic modes has been used in music of the past
fifty years. A complete list of the modal chords and the chords to which they have been found to progress
is given in the summary below. Besides the mode names, the usual parenthesis-chord designations are
added in brackets where such terms exist.
a. Locrian I(7) fVOT of N8] Rare as final chord but used freely elsewhere.
b. Dorian, Aeolian, or Phrygian I7 Progresses to IV, II and VI.
c. Mixolydian I7 [V7 of IV] Progresses to IV, II, VI, or even I.
d. Lydian H(7> [V<7> of V]
e. Phrygian or Locrian II [N8]
f. Phrygian or Locrian II7
Progresses to V (Major or modal) and I.
Progresses to I8 or V.
Progresses to IV, Phrygian VII and I (cadence).
'See Book Two, second part.
148
149
Mixolydian Ic<9>, (see c. above).
Progresses to VII, V, IV, I (cadence) and
Aeolian III7 to II also.
Progresses to VI, VII, V, IV, I (cadence) and II.
Progresses to I (cadence). III7 does not appear
to have been used.
Lydian IT'9' (see d. above).
Progresses to VII, III, Major or modal V, and minor I
(cadence).
Progresses to I (cadence) and VI (deceptive cadence).
Dorian IV0"", (see 1. above).
Progresses to II, IV, Major or modal V, and major or
minor I (cadence).
Progresses to V and I.
Progresses to IV, V and I (cadence).
Progresses to IV, V and III.
Progresses to III, IV, V and I (cadence).
Progresses to major or minor I (cadence) IV and V.
(Phrygian VII7 is occasionally followed by II, III
and VI also).
The parenthesis system brought more chords into relationship to a single tonic. Analysis by inter-
changeability of mode carries the process further (1) by demonstrating that the logical limits of dia-
tonic tonality are wider than hitherto supposed and (2) by showing that these chords have an even closer
and direct relationship to the tonal center of gravity. The new system supplies a needed adjunct to exist-
ing systems, since it recognizes tonal means which violate the spirit of major-minor tonality. Through
the use of interchangeability of mode may be grasped the intrinsic diatony of many harmonic progres-
sions which otherwise must be analyzed as chromatic.
The two principal factors with which harmonic analysis is concerned are chord progressions and the
interpretation of the inflections of the essential diatony, which is one of the fundamentals of Western
music. Rameau combined the two elements in one system, but his method of accounting for chord pro-
gressions was superseded by the invention of the system of secondary dominants and subdominants. There
were then two systems of analysis neither of which was complete within itself: both were necessary to
explain the harmonic fabric.
Interchangeability of mode now challenges the adequacy of the Rameau system for coping with the
intricacies of modern diatony, but offers no improvement on the parenthesis-chord system for exposing
the march of the harmony. Until the creation of some new method which will again combine them,
it would seem that the functions of harmonic analysis will continue to be divided between two systems.
g. Mixolydian III,7> [V°(e> of IV]
h. Dorian or Aeolian III<7>
i. Phrygian III'7' [V7 of VI]
j. Locrian III
k. Lydian IV17' [VOCB> of V]
I Dorian IV<7> [V7 of IV of IV?]
m. Lydian V7; Mixolydian, Dorian, or
Aeolian V""; Phrygian V<9> [V°<9;
of VI]; Locrian V(7)
n. Dorian VT7)
o. Locrian VI7 [V7 of Ne]
p. Lydian VII
q. Mixolydian, Dorian, or Aeolian VII
[IV of IV]
r. Dorian VII7
s. Aeolian VII7 [V7 of III]
t. Phrygian or Locrian VII<7)
BOOK TWO: A History of the Diatonic Modes
Part I: Early Systems
Chapter XVII
THE DIATONIC ELEMENT IN ANCIENT GREEK MUSIC
MOST writers on scale systems have confined their expositions to a single time period without
warning the reader that earlier and later manifestations would differ in important details. The
frequent failure to emphasize that no system is immutable or unchanging has resulted in consid-
erable confusion. Scale systems have changed constantly throughout recorded history and, as a conse-
quence, the subject does not lend itself to a single delineation for any extended period. For this reason
it is incorrect to treat the Greek modes as a single system. Some notice must be taken of the evolution
from the original Dorian scale to the complex system in use in the fifth century B.C., the subsequent
reaction against exotic influences, and the ultimate return to diatonism.
The allusions to music in the works of Plato and Aristotle shed some light on the subject but raise
many questions which probably can never be answered. The theories of Pythagoras (582-507 B.C.)
are mainly concerned with the physical bases of music. His studies in the mathematical-acoustical rela-
tionships are known only through the writings of his followers, and it is not clear just how much
connection his work had with the practice of the day.
Aristoxenus (third century B.C.) is supposed to have written more than four hundred works on music
and kindred subjects. Of these but two remain, one of which is incomplete. Knowledge of his work is
supplemented by the writings of a pupil, Cleoneides. Ptolemy (second century A.D.) reduced Aristoxenus'
fifteen tovoi to seven modes, but whether or not this was in order to conform more nearly to practice is
impossible to say. Michomachus and Euclid, both of the fourth century A.D., also advanced musical
theories. As early as the fifth century of the Christian era Boethius essayed a reconciliation among the
various theories and systems but his success was not great.
Within the last century, the music of antiquity has received a great deal of attention and has been
exhaustively treated by Reinach, Emmanuel, Munro, Gevaert, Westphal, Jahn, and others.1 In view of this
and since the object of the present treatment of the Greek scale is but to throw the diatonic elements
into relief, no detailed summary is attempted.
Separate origins are ascribed to the two first octave-species (modes) of Greek music. The Dorian,
(±) *. ^
M
came from a tone sequence of the lyre, whereas the Phrygian,
U) +
m
was based on a sound series of the Asiatic reed pipe, the aulos. Although both were diatonic series, their
independent origins would suggest differences of tuning but
It is possible the divergence between Dorian and Phrygian had been lessened in Plato's time by the occasional
employment of HqcC and aoX6; together.2
The name Lydian suggests that this scale also originated in Asia. The other modes might have
arisen in as many separate locales, judging from their names: Aeolian and Ionian. Taking this view, the
several octave-species with their peculiar tunings must necessarily have suffered alterations in this respect
'See the Bibliography for the titles of these works. Internationalen Musiigesellschafl (Leipzig), IV (1902-1903),
'A. J. Hipkins, "Dorian and Phrygian," Sammelbande der p. 376.
155
156
in order to have become incorporated in an integrated system. The alternative to this conclusion is that
the theorists, beginning with the two basic and integrated modes, Dorian and Phrygian, quite logically
completed the system by using successive tones as primes, and the names were given arbitrarily.
The dialogue of Socrates and Glaucon mentions six modes but the complete system, as given by
Cleonides, a pupil of Aristoxenus, had seven.
Diatonic Genus
** ■»■
m
ID
V
a
<* o
Hypodorian
m
o o
Hypophrygian
Hypolydian
^
™ o
3E
Dorian
Phrygian
2.=E
^
-» »
-*» »
• a
Lydian
m
• m
Mixolydian
Besides the Diatonic genus there were two derivative genera, the Chromatic and the Enharmonic?
in which the two intermediate notes of each of the fundamental tetrachords,
3
were altered in the following manner:
_£k_
-O-
TT
Chromatic
Enharmonic4
+ * fro Q
"Still another genus is given by Emmanuel, the Neo-Chromatic.
In this the tetrachord type was:
m
W* i|.
3E
Maurice Emmanuel, Histoite de la Langue Musicale (Paris),
Librairie Renouard, H. Laurens, Editeur, (1911), I, p. 8}.
'The sign -(- is here used to mark the diesis ( Sleai;. S^axtoxTi )
or quarter-tone. It represents a sound one-quarter of a tone
above the note to which it is prefixed.
To the foregoing table must be added the following:
Chromatic Genus
=_jj^_jj£ ^ *+ h^
- *1: l ■■ ~
7. / l[ 7,
-o »-
Hypodorian
#£ J£ ^ jK» b^
Hypophrygian
jg |g o
Phrygian
2.
^^
=rg=iF
'-JLi' E
Lydian
1 '*J' g 0«EE£
TT
gB^
Mixolydian
157
Enharmonic Genus
7. V- " ^
Hypodorian
.»*»*.£ - +- h? ■ .
Hypophrygian
„,~ te | +. fa ^^
Hypolydian
i
-»-
+■ On
Dorian
+ * 1" -E
Phrygian
»• + * il
+ • go o L —
*J — 1j " * +» bn _ ===
Lydian
i- ,v!^ I_ * +LjV ' i I1
Mixolydian
The complete range was called the "Perfect System." Two extra notes were added below and the bb
gave opportunity for transposition.
158
m
Perfect System
J?
*f
Besides this arrangement there appear to have been others. For instance, Aristides Quintilianus
lists six modes of an enharmonic genus which appear to have been in use about 450 B.C. Note that but
one, the Dorian, is identical with Cleoneides' list.6
m
+ r D*
Iastian (Ionian)
m
s
Dorian
m
-*•+• ti<
'+* ti<
Phrygian
s
*$*=&
^=^
Lydian
S
"Mixolydian
m
Syntonolydian
This does not exhaust the inventory of variations7 but- it is sufficient to illustrate the complexities
of the subject of scale forms during the Golden Age of Greek music, from the sixth to the fourth century
of the pre-Christian era, even before the baffling question of tonal functions is considered.8
Any contemporary concept of mode or scale inevitably includes as basic some tonal center of
gravity commonly designated as tonic. Difficulties are immediately encountered when ancient Greek
music is approached with this as a prime preconception. Among modern writers on the period there
is wide divergence as to the proper resolution of the problem. Various conjectures have been advanced
but instead of clarifying the situation, they have merely misled the casual student by lack of agreement
There are several possible ways of construing the expressions of ancient writers on the subject of
the proper tonic or tonics of the Greek modes. Failure to mark clearly the line between speculation and
documented fact has marred the work of some modern scholars and, at least with Westphal's9 has seri-
ously compromised the value of the contribution. Three authors, however, who have made definite
statements, maintain their positions with considerable plausibility. For purposes of comparison, the three
proposed solutions are given below. It is only fair to say that Gevaert, in a later work,10 modified his
views somewhat.
a.) Gevaert bases his conclusions on Gaudentius and lists three pairs of modes.
Theodore Reinach, La Musique Grecque (Paris, Payot, 1926),
p. 36, note 1.
The list has been rearranged for purposes of comparison.
'Aristotle mentions Terpander's scale and the scale of Olym-
pus (Problems, xix, 32).
The further complication of Aristoxenus' fifteen t6voi
is omitted from the study, the view being taken that these are
"keys" and as such, they merely duplicate the modes at other
pitches by transposition. For a brief account of theTdvoi
see the article "Greek Music," in Grove's Dictionary of Music
and Musicians (3d), New York, Macmillan (1935), II, pp.
441-^49.
"Rudolph Westphal, Musik des grieschischen Alterthums
(Leipzig, Viet, 1883).
10F. A. Gevaert, Les Problemes Musicaux d'Aristote (Ghent,
1903).
CR o
159
Lydian
Phrygian
Hypolydian
Hypophrygian
tonic of
both
m
t>: «»
tonic of
both
Dorian
Hypodorian
m
tonic of
both
Speaking of the pairs of modes, he says,
They both are related to the same fundamental sound. They have but a single tonic, in the modern sense: that
tonic is, for the Lydian group, F; for the Phrygian group, G. Their difference is as follows: in Hypolydian and
Hypophrygian compositions, the final sound has the function of a tonic; in the Lydian and Phrygian modes, it plays
the role of a dominant. The melodies of modern music almost always end on the tonic. In the antique art it was
not so; the principal mode ended on a dominant, the secondary mode, characterized by the syllable hypo, ended on
a tonic; and that difference was enough, from the viewpoint of the ancients, to modify the expressive character of
the melody.11
The Dorian and Hypodorian have exactly the same treatment, according to Gevaert, in spite of an
error by Gaudentius giving the tetrachordal division as E B E instead of E A E.
b.) Differing from the above both in grouping of the modes and in the functions of the component
tones, Emmanuel comes to the following conclusions13 regarding finals:
I. Dorian Group
x* .#.
m
S .Q. .»
c
Fundamental
-o-
Aeolian
(Hypodorian)
^Fundamental
-° ^» m =—
Dorian II
m
-*» o-
/Fundamental
3E
Dorian I
,k\: ° o
Fundamental
Mixolydian
^
Final on
pseudo- tonic
^
Final on
pseudo - tonic
» o
^
Final on
pseudo- dominant
m
Final on
pseudo- dominant
uIdem., Histoire et Theorie de la Musique de I'Anliquite
(Ghent, 1875), pp. 131-132.
"Ibid., pp. 139-142.
"Emmanuel, op. cil., I, pp. 96-103.
160
zS
II. Phrygio-Lydian Group
(■Fundamental
-*» o ^ *
Hypophrygian (lastian or Ionian)
^
Final on
pseudo- tonic
(Fundamental
^
m
Phrygian
o o ■*-
Final on
pseudo - dominant
/Fundamental
A
m
Hypolydian
Final on
pseudo- tonic
m
-» f*
o »
1
Fundamental
^
zee:
Lydian
Final on
pseudo - dominant
Although the three modes and finals marked with an asterisk correspond exactly to three of Ge-
vaert's (Hypdorian, Hypophrygian, and Hypolydian), there the resemblance of the two tables ceases.
Each of Emmanuel's finals is the lowest degree of the scale whether it coincides with the pseudotonic
(the fundamental) or the pseudodominant. This condition finds no support in the statement that "no
work of antiquity expressly states that the lowest note of the scale of a mode is the tonic."14 Further-
more, Gevaert takes the stand that the final was not the lowest note of the mode.
c.) In his article "Greek Music" in Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, H. S. Macran uses
Mese and Tonic as synonymous terms throughout. He concludes that ". . . the only modality to be found
in it [Greek music] resembles that of our minor scale without the sharpened leading note."15
This view has support in the law of Greek music as stated by Aristotle18 to the effect that the Mese
must predominate in every melody. But, even in such case, could not the melodic final have been some
note other than the Mese? Would this final then be the ancient equivalent of our modern tonic? Or
would the Mese still be tonic (Mese-tonality or A-tonality) and the final be secondary as in our im-
perfect cadences where the melody ends on the third or fifth above the tonic?17
G Major
Folk Song
$
ZEE
G Major
isr icjw
m&
rrr ^nu^^m
u"^ 3d
above tonic G
In the absence of conclusive evidence, perhaps it is best to take the viewpoint of Reinach, who re-
fuses to commit himself on the question of finals in any mode except the Dorian. Even for the Dorian
he is careful to ascribe to the Mese a role only analgous to our tonic.
"Gevaert, op. cit., p. 130.
"Macran, Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, II,
p. 448.
"Aristotle, Problems, xix, 20.
"The Greeks also liked, occasionally, to end their melodies
on the modal third, "A" in Hypolydian, "B" in Ionian. It was
said, in this case, that the music became "intense".
Emmanuel, op. cit., I, p. 177.
161
There are reasons for believing that the ancients have attributed to one of the notes of their modal octaves a
role analgous, at least under certain conditions, to that of our tonic ; in truth, where the range of the melodies exceeds
the octave, one can scarcely conceive the idea of a mode without the existence of a directing note of the species.
The texts of Aristotle and his school leave no doubt in that regard . . . The mese is not only the principal tone of
the music, the bond between the sounds, it is also the directing note1* of the melody. In all well-composed meio -
dies, the mese returns frequently; whenever the melody departs from it, it hastens to return.19
He holds that even this conservative conclusion cannot serve as a valid basis for speculation about
the tonics of all the ancient modes. "When we examine the modes other than the Dorian, the question
of the tonic becomes even more obscure."20
Confronted with this varied assortment of scales and genera, which, it must be realized, is prob-
ably far from complete, a number of questions pose themselves. What is the meaning of this diversity?
Was Greece the scene of a musical Tower of Babel? Or is it that the records are so fragmentary that
they cannot be interpreted? Is it possible that the lack of agreement among the ancient theorists and
writers is due partly to their own lack of understanding? Could it be that the written theory did not
have a sufficiently close relationship to musical practice to make it a valid record of the music of that
day? Since these and many other questions about Greek music will have to remain unanswered, much
about it will remain conjectural. Reinach, however, is able to form certain conclusions.
. . . The Greek modes, and the barbaric modes adopted by the Greeks, were formed separately and spontane-
ously and, in the beginning, must have consisted of very varied types irreducible to the tuning of the Dorian lyre,
which tuning was eventually to become the Panhellenic type. In the epoch of the greatest flowering of modal
music, from the sixth to the fifth centuries, the number of these types was even more than the seven primary ones
possible according to Hellenic principles of the eight-tone system. As Greek art and civilization were consolidated,
certain modes, through minor modifications, were adapted to the tuning of the Hellenic lyre while yet conserving
something of a distinctive character; some took new names which indicated their relationship to one of the three
fundamental modes, the other were eliminated.21.
The extra-diatonic elements, doubtless infiltrations from the Orient, underwent concurrently this
same process of reduction, translation, and assimilation by the indigenous Greek art after a relatively
brief popularity.
The whole enharmonic species, bizarre as it was, had a great popularity in the fifth century. It occupied the
full attention of the theorists ; it is the base of the system of notation ; it contaminated the other two species which
frequently borrowed its final lowest interval. In revenge, in the fifth century, it fell into discredit as rapid as it was
profound. In the epoch of Aristoxanus, about 300, upon hearing an enharmonic melody some amateurs "vomited
bile."22
The enharmonic genus, although having disappeared from the actual music, nevertheless received
attention as a historical fart from the later Greek theorists and writers. This has been a source of some
confusion to the present understanding of the ancient music.
Rejected henceforth from musical practice, nevertheless for several centuries the enharmonic continues to linger
in teaching and theory. It had a factitious existence which has given to moderns a false impression about its real
importance.23
The tendency toward depuration progressed through the elimination, in the fourth century, of the
Lydian and the Hypolydian,24 to such an extreme that certain theorists contemporary with Aristotle,
admitted only the Dorian and Phrygian, holding that the others were merely modifications.25
The chromatic genus was gradually discarded and Ptolemy (second century a.d.) lists the following
scales as being the only ones in use at that time:28
is V|YE|ld)V. "Ibid.
""Reinach, op. cit., p. 40. "Ibid., p. 37.
"Ibid., p. 42. "Ibid., p. 37-38.
"Ibid., pp. 36-37. *lbid" P- 3§-39.
"Ibid., p. 18.
162
Diatonic Dorian
Diatonic Hypodorian
-Si-
Mixed Hypodorian*
-o-
351
Phrygian
Diatonic Hypophrygian
*Note that this tetrachord is the only survivor of the Chromatic
genus.
Since we have now arrived at the point where the history of Christian Church music begins and
Greek music yields its leadership to Rome, perhaps it is well to survey the Greek scale system in the
light of its legacy to the succeeding period.
Beginning with a single native diatonic species, the Dorian, Greek music in its long history was
subjected to a variety of exotic influences: other modes, different tunings, the Chromatic and Enharmonic
genera. There were two discernible periods of modal eclecticism but the foreign elements were even-
tually assimilated: (1) long before the greatest art period the several new modes (Phrygian, Lydian,
Iastian, etc.) had become part of a Greek system through readjusting the intonation of the alien scales
to that of the Dorian; (2) after the close of the Golden Age the predilection for diatonism finally
prevailed and the bizarre genera (Chromatic, Enharmonic, etc.) disappeared. The cycle from diatonism
to diatonism was complete.
The contributions of Greece to Christian civilization in the realm of scales may be partly summar-
ized as follows:
a.) A system of seven-tone diatorac scales or modes based on tetrachords.
b.) An emphasis on the fourth as a fundamental interval.
c.) A conception of certain internal tonal functions, which, however vague, must have been analagous to our
tonic and dominant.
d.) A theory of transposition.
Chapter XVIII
THE ECCLESIASTICAL MODES
Every CHARACTERISTIC of the music of the early Christian Church shows Hellenic influence. The
scale system is a modified adaptation of the Greek system: the names of the scales are the same,
although with changed correspondence. The internal tonal functions show the result of consid-
erable evolution, but the source of each characteristic is clearly discernible in the older system.
But if these changes are well understood, the exact steps in the process are not. For in spite of
the establishment of the Schola Cantorum in Rome in the sixth century, there were no writers from the
fourth century to the ninth to record the steps in the growth of the new system. Unfortunately, the
works of Boethius (ca. 475-524), Cassiodorus (ca. 485-580), and Martianus Capella deal only with
Ancient Greek music. For this reason, the highly organized modes of the ninth century present several
riddles, the answers to which must be sought in the body of music remaining from the formative period.
In addition to the scales used in his time, Ptolemy (flt 140-1 60 a.d.) also listed seven octave
species, which, by reason of the changing Mese, must be regarded as having the greatest significance for
the subsequent modal system.1
SPECIES
MESE
1.
Mixolydian
A— a
d
2.
Lydian
G-g
C
3.
Phrygian
F— f
b
4.
Dorian
E— e
a
5.
Hypolydian
D— d
G
6.
Hypophrygian
C— c
F
7.
Hypodorian
B— b
E
It is not clear whether this was an invention of Ptolemy or whether it represented a tabulation of
an existing practice. In either case, his work seems to be the connecting link between the Greek scales
and the ecclesiastical modes. The latter were descibed in the writings of Notker (d. 912), Hucbald
(ca. 840-930), and "Pseudo-Hucbald" but must have been several centuries old at that time. That
these modes were formulated at least as early as the sixth century does not appear too unlikely in view
of the practice of the plain song dating from that time and even earlier.
Besides the system of enumeration which used Greek names, there were two others.
RANGE DOMINANT FINAL
Dorian D-d a D 1st, or 1st Authentic
2nd, or 1st Plagal
3rd, or 2nd Authentic
4th, or 2nd Plagal
5th, or 3rd Authentic
6th, or 3rd Plagal
7th, or 4th Authentic
8th, or 4th Plagal
•later c
It will be noted that the correspondence between the Greek names and the octave species has l>een al-
tered.2 How this came about is not thoroughly understood, but there are some shrewd conjectures.
One point of confusion may have arisen by misinterpretation of the Greek terms wrip (over) and
vn6 (under) which were used in an inverted sense to our point of view. Thus, by starting on the wuIq
mode, Hypodorian, and proceeding to the vn6 mode, Mjxolydian, the result is just the inverse of our
interpretation of the same instructions:
Hypodorian
A-a
f
D
Phrygian
E-e
b*
E
Hypophrygian
B-b
a
E
Lydian
F-f
c
F
Hypolydian
C-c
a
F
Mixolydian
G-g
d
G
Hypomixolydian
D-d
c
G
'Note that the Dorian (E-e) is the only one which exactly the names, cf. the index, page 156.
corresponds to the Greek modes; the others not only differ by ' Compare the scales of Ptolemy (p. 162) and those of
reason of the shifting Mese but also by the inverted order of Aristoxenus (p. 156).
163
164
GREEK ECCLESIASTICAL
Hypodorian a-a (over)
(vot6) b-b Mixolydian g-g
c-c Lydian f-f |l
A d-d Phrygian e-e
e-e Dorian d-d
f-f Hypolydian c-c T
g-g Hypophrygian b-b (under)
(vjtep) a-a Hypodorian
W. S. Rockstro says the new nomenclature came about through the usual practice of adding a
Proslambanomenos, or disjunct note below the limits of each mode. This was applied to the Ptolemy list;3
the Proslambanomenos gradually came to be regarded as the fundamental of the scale and the evolution
of the ecclestiastical names was complete.
. . . Thus the Dorian mode is found to have its seat as ever in the octave from E upwards, with a as its Mese or
Dominant: but it now descends to D. Similarly the Phrygian has b for its dominant and E for its lowest note;
while the Lydian has c and F, the Mixolydian d and G.4
Matters of far greater importance are the definite Dominants and Finals. These had become fixed,
their functions were well understood and, as a consequence, the eight scales were modes in the modern
sense of the word. It is not too much to claim that a new phenomenon had appeared in music; tonality.
Although ". . . The modern principle (subject, however, to exception) which requires that the final ca-
dence take place on the tonic was stated for the first time by Guido d'Arezzo"6 (ca. 990-1050), it is
evident from the music that this had been operative for at least four centuries. In ascribing tonality to
the old modes, due notice must be taken of the ambiguity of the term. Too often modern theory has
used the terms tonal and tonality as opposites of modal and modality. Violations of major-minor
convention (such as the melodic 7b-I or the harmonic V— IV) are commonly dubbed modal and are said
to weaken the tonality. The idea is that modal music possessed no tonality was fostered by this usage
and the misconception that tonality is a unique attribute of the major-minor system has been general.
For a full discussion of this matter see chapter ii.
The eight modes were really four pairs, each pair having a common tonic or tonality of D, E, F,
or G. The principle of the Final was firmly established in practice as well as in theory and, to a some-
what lesser extent, so was that of the Dominant of the Authentic modes. In the Plagal modes, the Domi-
nants were more theoretical than practical, especially in multiple-voice writing. Quite evidently a de-
vice of theory to include melodies of lower ambit within the four tonalities (D, E, F, and G), the
Plagal forms became difficult to distinguish from the Authentics after the introduction of organum and
Polyphony. Notwithstanding the different Dominants, the distinction between the Authentic and its
Plagal was not based on any essential difference of tonal function, but merely on melodic range.
One must bear in mind that the Ecclesiastical modes, unlike the modern scales where the function is to determine
the harmony, had instead as their function only to specify the compass of the melody; they marked the boundaries
within which the voice could move.6
Despite the artificiality of the distinction after the rise of polyphony, and despite the little signifi-
cance attached to the differences in the dominants between the Plagals and their respective Authentics, the
Plagal system continued to occupy its place in theory.
There is a persistent tradition that Charlemagne increased the number of modes to twelve but this
seems to have little foundation. Emmanuel7 says that the mode on A was used as early as the thirteenth
century and it had existed long before that in its transposed form.
__L. ~ ^_
m
8 See above page 162. "Charles Nef, Htstoire de la Musique (Palis, Payot, 1931),
'W. S. Rockstro, "Modes Ecclesiastical" in Grove's Diction- p. 39. .
ary of Music and Musicians (3d. ed.), Ill, p. 476. ' Emmanuel, Histoire de la Langue Musicale, I, p. 286.
"Reinach, La Musique Grecque, p. 44.
165
A more extravagant claim is that "Kodex 169 of the City Library of Leipzig dating from 900 A.D.
proves a contemporary familiarity with twelve modes."
Glareanus,8 in his famous work, the Dodecachordon, not only proved the existence of the mode on
A, but also established that the C mode was in use. In each case he quoted music from the preceding
centuries to bear out his contentions and supplied the new modes with names from the Greek. He
reasoned that upon each of the seven notes of the diatonic series, c, d, e, f, g, a, b, a scale may be
erected without accidentals. If the Authentic division of each octave is a fifth plus a fourth ( c-g-c, d-a-d,
etc.), the order may be reversed to a fourth plus a fifth (g-c-g, a-d-a, etc.), forming seven accessory or
Plagal modes. The total number is now fourteen. Two of the fourteen, the Authentic b-f-b and the
Plagal f-b-f were considered defective because of the diminished fifth b-f and the tritone f-b and so were
discarded. This brought the system to its complete form of twelve practical modes plus two defective
ones.
Thus to the eight original ecclesiastical modes must be added the new:
Original
Modes
AUTHENTIC
PLAGAL
I Dorian: d-a-d
II
Hypodorian:
a-d-a
III Phrygian : e-b-e
IV
Hypophrygian :
b-e-b
V Lydian: f-c-f
VI
Hypolydian:
c-f-c
VII Mixolydian : g-d-g
VIII
Hypomixolydian :
d-g-d
Glareanus'
Additions
Aeolian : a-e-a
Hypoaeolian :
e-a-e
Locrian:* b-f-b
Hypolocrian*
f-b-f
Ionian: c-g-c
Hypoionian:
g-c-g
•Defective modes.
Glareanus argued that the Ionian was very agreeable, that it already existed in practice, and that it
was discriminated against instead of being frankly admitted. "The Ionian, the most common mode, has
been banished in our time."10
This mode is most suitable for dancing: we found it most frequently used in the European regions that, we
visited. You would find this mode very rarely in the works of the old Church composers. But, in my opinion, for
the past four hundred years, it has been so cherished by the Church singers, that, tempted by its sweetness and charm,
they have changed many Lydian songs over to this mode.11
This mutation of the Lydian by adding b* to form the Ionian was one of the abuses practiced by
church singers. Glareanus disapproved the habit and called it "distortion" (torquere). His great con-
tribution was that he brought theory up to practice in the cases of the Aeolian and Ionian modes and
so established their respectability.
The single chromatic element which appears in the early period of Church music is the b-rotun-
dum, or bh. This was used in two ways: (1) as an accidental12 to avoid the tritone and (2) in the sig-
nature to transpose a mode up a fourth. Apparently this was a direct influence of the bh in the Greek
Perfect System. The use of h* as an accidental would, of course, have the effect of changing the mode. For
instance, a flat introduced before the b of the Lydian would, as has been said, change the mode to the
Ionian. It is true that the early theorists did not take this view of the matter but the fact must stand in
spite of their disagreement. This may partially account for the rare employment of the Lydian which, be-
cause of the tritone f-b, frequently used the bh and so became identical with the hated mode of secular
music: the mode on C (modus lascivius).
'Ruth Hannas, "The Evolution of Harmonic Consciousness" series. This was also the opinion of Gioseffe Zarlino in his
(Ph.D. Thesis, University of Rochester. 1934), p. 47. lililutioni armoniche (1558).
'Henricus Glareanus, AOAEkAXOP AON . "Glareanus, op. til.
" Note Glareanus' statement that the Ionian is the first of the " Signum asininum, or asses' mark.
166
Concurrently with the development of polyphony, more and more chromatics came into use. Their
history is difficult to trace because most of the accidentals were left to the performers' taste. This Musica
Ficta eventually included the use of bh, eh, f, c%, and g'.13
Not only were these chromatics used for the two original purposes, i.e., transposition and avoid-
ance of the tritone; another and more significant factor had appeared: the Clausula vera. This name was
given to the most satisfactory cadence the essentials of which are that one voice fall a whole tone to the
Final while another ascends a semitone to it.
m
-h
Xk.
The same effect on other important tones of the scale was called Clausula media, Clausula ficta, or
Clausula subsidiaria. These cadences were impossible on the degrees of the scale where the descending
tone was but a semitone above the Final. In such cases, the chromatic alteration of the ascending tone
would form an interval of an augmented sixth (or diminished third) which was stylistically incon-
gruous.
^
6(t
In order to heighten the cadential effect of those cases where the Clausula vera was precluded, it
became customary to alter the succeeding chord from minor to major (the effect now called tierce de
Picardie.)
Si.-
m
&E
These were the alterations usually left to be supplied by the performers; any chromatics which
the composer judged would not be understood were written in. Among the first written directions form-
ulated for the correct performance of Musica Ficta were those given by Johannes de Muris in his Ars
Contrapuncti secundum (early fourteenth century). Further developments were explained by Pietro
Aaron (early sixteenth century), Glareanus,14 Zarlino,15 Ludovico Zaccini,16 and Cerone.17
This continued expansion of chromaticism began to obscure the identity of the modes and even
to threaten their existence as a system. This may, with good reason, be regarded as a capitulation to
the major-minor system, for much of the later Musica Ficta is equally susceptible to both a modal and a
major-minor explanation. Emmanuel gives an analysis of Palestrina's mass Aeterna Christi Munera and
concludes that it is Tonal, i.e., major-minor, in its entirety. 1S Some other music of the period, notably
Gesualdo's six-part madrigals which surely have their genesis in Musica Ficta, does not seem reconcil-
able with either the ecclesiastical modes or the major-minor.
Gesualdo, Gia piasi nel dolore.
Gia
pia
nel do - lo
Hor gio- i -
~Ztr
^B~
Gia
pia
si nel
^
* «*
*i ife #8
do - lo
^pge
~o~
^P
'M
T
Hor gio
C Major
L>]
C Major
13 R. O. Morris, Contrapuntal Technique in the Sixteenth
Century (London, Oxford University Press, 1922), pp. 11-12.
14 Glareanus, op. cit.
15 Zarlino, op. cit.
la Zaccini, Ludovico : Prattica di musica utile et necessaria si
al compositore . . . si anco al cantore (Venice, 1592-1619).
17 Dom Pietro Cerone, El Melopeo y Maestro (Naples, 1613)-
u Emmanuel, op. cit., II, pp. 409-411. (See, however, the
distinction made between Tonality and Major in chap, ii, above. )
167
il mio co
Hor gio -
Even as late as the beginning of the eighteenth century, music may be found in which the concept
is partly modal and partly major-minor.
Telemann, Fuge.19
ij' & r ff
1 1 g g f f
*-*
j w *
jr-jTT] ~m
rna
m^_
j ^ j si
t
i
»
< <d< gtf*
f
ar-L^-
?=^^
y a g j i
,uj
A 1
17^3
r
P#£#£
~^m
t > r p
cJ-J r
GS3
r r r [_rr
S
^^
?=£
^W
^-^
J 7 J I
w m— — W m
i»
* m
m=
m
33
m
i Sk^
5k
^^
"Georg Philipp Telemann, No. 17 of 20 Kleine Pugen
(1731).
168
tfBiB
^S5
oa
s
sa
™P
P=P
P
^
*nn
^
3
i
PP
^
P m P
£
^
*
r3T3
s
p=p^
iw^
s=
J J! J,
f5
n^l
j-n
^
»
j. j.
^
"TTf
i a f g
3U
LCtrtu
r
*
P p r p
^
This outline of the history of the ecclesiastical scales has dealt briefly with the more important
facts. The Church modes had their prototype in those of Greece although the two systems were not
identical. The eight scales of the early Church, four Authentic and four Plagal, later became twelve, with
six in each category. They possessed true modality and tonality by virtue of their fixed Finals and Domi-
nants. Chromaticism, at first permitted as a license to ameliorate certain internal difficulties, began to be
extended and the purity of the modes was thereby compromised. Eventually excessive employment of
chromaticism led to deterioration of the modes and as will be shown in a later chapter, to the reestab-
lishment of diatonism in another and more circumscribed form: major and minor tonality. Subsequent
events have shown, however, that this apparent eclipse of the whole system by its most prominent
member (the Major) was but temporary.
THE
Chapter XIX
SCALES OF FOLK SONG
FOLK MUSIC is generally conceded to be of great antiquity. Certainly the first music could not have
Deen an "art" product. The archeological remains of many primitive peoples include some musical
instruments and indicate how early was the urge for music. These relics give only a hint as to
what the music was like, since there is little doubt that the human voice also played its part, but with
what musical effect we can merely conjecture.
It is not clear where "art music", as distinct from "folk music," began. The sources of Greek
music were certainly of the latter category; but all the music remaining from that period seems to be
an art product. The same is true of early Christian music. There are various hints of a vigorous secular
musical activity paralleling that of the Church. There must have been considerable mutual influence
since Church composers frankly borrowed folk melodies for the canti firmi of their masses, or included
them in their motets. Little more can be said concerning the age of that great body of folk music
handed down to us by a rote method which a high school student so aptly described as "from lip to
ear." It does not seem likely that the substance of a good tune, any more than that of a good story,
should ever be lost.
There are those who claim that the original scales of folk song were pentatonic, and who believe
that the diatonic scales arose through the addition of two tones in the "gaps."
There is of course no doubt of the relative universality of the Western diatonic scale. Modern musical science
also accepts to the same extent the historic universality of the pentatonic scale which may be found in the past or
present musical practice of almost every country . . -1
Duhamel2 discusses Bourgault-Ducoudray's hypothesis that the diatonic modes were the property
of the Aryan race3 and says that the pentatonic scale is common to most of the world. He adds that the
gaps were filled in and so gave rise to the seven-tone diatonic modes.
Nearly all the pentatonic scales have been filled in, and the nations who use them are familiar with other notes
besides the curious and characteristic formula of five; but in the background of their musical feeling the original
foundation of their system remains intact.4
These pentatonic scales have been conveniently tabulated as follows.5
Pentatonic (or Gapped) Scales
Mode I
TT~
"TT
~n~
Mode
'#
-o~
«» «
TT
Mode III
P=
o "
Mode IV
T-
Mode V
TT~
O P
'Joseph Yasser, A Theory of Evolving Tonality (New York,
Library of Musicology, 1932), p. 335.
* Maurice Duhamel, Les 1 5 Modes de la Musique Bretonne
(Paris, Rouart, Ijirolle ct Cie., 1911), pp. 50-56.
"The difficulty of defining "Aryan race" throws grave doubts
on the value of such a thesis.
4 Annie G. Gilchrist, "Note on the Modal System of Gaelic
Tunes," Journal of the Polk-Song Society, (Dec, 1911) PP-
152-53.
"Ibid., pp. 150-153.
1<59
170
Most of the melodies in the Frances Tolmie Collection6 are pentatonic and seem primitive. To
give some idea of the comparative frequencies of these scales, this collection has been classified as fol-
lows. (Six- and seven-tone scales are omitted.)
Mode I 2
Mode II 5
Mode III 7
Mode IV 7
Mode V 1
It is impossible to relate any of these scales to a particular seven-tone mode, since either of the two
"gaps" of the five-tone series, if filled in, might have two forms (} or b). Pentatonic Mode I might con-
ceivably become any of the following:
*
*
Major
Mixolydian
«i o
«i P*
~"~
^ — «>■
Dorian
\>» "
«* P'
^
*
~TT — ^ — w
Minor
The same holds true for hexatonic scales. These are less common and probably represent an inter-
mediate stage between the pentatonic and the septatonic.
Although some forms are very rare, the seven-tone diatonic scales of folk song exactly correspond
to the ecclesiastical modes but without the theoretical dominants, etc. There are some folk melodies in
the Minor mode with leading tone but these are usually regarded as having been altered from the origi-
nal Dorian and Aeolian by "trained" musicians, or else adopted by folk singers from composed litera-
ture. Fortlage7 quotes a Swedish melody which has been changed from Aeolian to Minor by altering the
seventh degree.
Swedish Air, Original
E Aeolian
r»r icjt ,r u\u J n
Ibid., Altered
m
*
E Minor
Oettingen8 discusses the same matter and tells how strongly the Esthonians resist such mutilations
of their songs: they sing the minor seventh even when the leading tone is played by an accompanying
organ!9 Much notice has been taken of the preference certain peoples have shown for traditional
modal versions over those in which modifications are introduced for reconciliation with Major-minor
practice.
Mr. Curwin, in reference to the ecclesiastical Doric . . . says: "In Wales, both North and South, this mode is
much preferred to the Lah mode, the modern minor mode, and popular tunes printed in one mode are sung in the
other."10
8 "Frances Tolmie Collection", Journal of the Folk-Song
Society (Dec, 1911).
* Karl Fortlage, Das Musicalhche System der Griechen in
seiner Urgestalt (Leipzig, 1847), p. 130.
sDr. Artur von Oettingen, Harmoniesystem in dualer Ent-
wickelung (Leipzig, 1866), pp. 97-98.
"Ibid., p. 113.
10 H. Helmholtz, Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis
for the Theory of Music, trans. Alexander J. Ellis (London,
Longmans, Green, and Co., 1875), p. 441.
171
Someone rearranged the Gaelic church service hymns, raising the sevenths, to make them "modern." But when
it came to practice, the discord that resulted between the few who could sing the raised seventh and the many who
could not, made them quickly return to the old way.11
Even if it be true that the major seventh degree in Minor is not natural to Western European folk
music, it is often impossible to distinguish altered Dorian and Aeolian folk songs from art songs
adopted bodily into folk literature. 12 Then there is the question of whether or not the Dorian, Aeolian,
Phrygian, etc., modes were adopted into secular music from the Church. It is conceivable that through
a process of synthesis the two scale systems, ecclesiastical and Pentatonic, being congruent, could have com-
bined to form a more comprehensive and dynamic set of folk scales.
In British folk-music the Dorian is on the whole the commonest of the old modes ; the Mixolydian and Aeolian
come next (though in England the latter is considerably less frequently met with than the other two), the Phrygian
is distinctly rare, and the Lydian is almost unknown. Sometimes, however, the tonalities become confused (a Mixo-
lydian scale with an occasionally flattened third is fairly often noticeable) or the same melody is found in different
modes, as well as, perhaps, in the ordinary major scale also; the minor scale is by no means common.13
In one study of old English popular music it was found that
. . . out of 118 tunes, there are: 44 Dorian, 19 Mixolydian, 12 Aeolian, making 75 together. Most of the other 43
are major.14
The following tabulation of the folk songs which appeared in the Journal of the Folk-Song Society
from 1899 to 1931 should give some idea of mode frequencies. Omitted from the count were: (a)
melodies foreign to the British Isles, (b) the revival hymn tunes in Volume VIII, (c) melodies ob-
viously from such works as the Beggar's Opera, and (d) sailors songs which show too much music-hall
influence. Under the heading Doubtful are included pentatonic and hexatonic tunes (usually street
cries), and melodies of mixed mode, i.e., changing mode. Never is there an interval of an augmented
second.
Tabulation of Modal Frequencies
in English Folk Songs
Data from the journal of the Folk-Song Society, London,
Years
"o
>
Ul
%
Ul
o
Q
c
'5b
a.
a
.2
i_)
J
-3
"o
c
<
c
a
u
o
h3
o
c
"3
-U>
3
O
Q
1899-
1904
I
108
23
1
0
22
14
0
2
6
1905-
1906
II
140
40
1
0
28
46
0
4
22
1907-
1909
III
59
41
1
0
23
36
0
7
25
1910-
1911
IV
47
12
0
la
5
13
0
3
6
1914-
1916
V
131
20
0
0
25
24
0
3
39
1918-
1921
VI
84
5
0
2b
10
16
lc
1
19
1922-
1926
VII
89
33
0
0
15
28
0
9
69
1927-
1931
VIII
77
26
0
0
17
26
0
3
37
Total
635
200
3
3
145
203
1
32
223
Per-
centage
44
14
0.2
0.2
10
14
~
2
15
b. Ibid. (1918). p. 191 ; (1921). p. 246.
c. Ibid. (1918). p. 10.
11 Helen Hopekirk, Seventy Scottish Songs (Boston, Oliver
Ditson Co., 1905), p. vii.
12 In view of this fact no attempt has been made to "restore"
the one or to eliminate the other in the frequency tabulation
of the modes of folk music. The reader is simply advised to
bear in mind that whether or not he believes the Minor scale
with major seventh is intrinsic to folk lore, any group of folk
melodies using this scale is likely to contain examples of al-
tered folk tunes and adopted art songs.
13 Ernest Walker, A History of Music in England (London,
Oxford University Press, 1924), p. 315. The statement about
the frequency of the Aeolian is not borne out by the table on
p. 171, below.
"E. F. Jacques, "Modal Survivals in Folk-Song," Journal
of the Folk-Song Society (1899), p. 6.
172
In France there exists no such large collection for purposes of comparison. From such a small
group as that gathered by D'Indy and Tiersot deductions are not valid, but nevertheless there seems to
be some indication that a broad survey might reveal a great difference in the modal percentages between
French and English folk song. A tabulation of modal frequencies in French folk songs15 shows:
Major Aeolian Phrygian Dorian Doubtful16
8 8 3 2 13
Spanish folk music makes use of most of the modes. The Phrygian cadence is especially promi-
nent in Castile and Andalusia. In the latter province there is some Moroccan influence and the cadence
is altered from a, gk, f, e to a, g%, f, e.
. . . The modes found in Galician popular song include Dorian, Phrygian, Mixolydian, and Aeolian (D, E,
G and A modes) in their authentic and plagal forms. Among twenty or more Aldus in the collection of the Archae-
ological Society of Pontevedra, 5 are Hypodorian, 5 Mixolydian, 4 Hypophrygian, 4 Lydian, 5 Mixolydian, 4 Hypo-
phrygian, 4 Lydian, 1 Phrygian and 1 Hypomixolydian. Another characteristic of Galician tunes is the resemblance
of some of them to Gregorian melodies, not only in the mode, but also in melodic formula and cadence. The
difference is rhythmical, not melodic.17
... A constant feature of southern Spanish folk-music (and of the works of Granados and Albeniz) is the re-
currence of the fourth mode 'Phrygian' cadence, with its drop of a semitone to the final.18
The folk songs of Italy have so long been under the influence of art music that it is no longer pos-
sible to estimate their modal frequencies. The diatonic modes seem to have been employed, since a few
Lydian tunes have been found, and, especially at Naples, the Phrygian feeling is strong even today.
The Volkslieder and the songs of the Minnesingers and Meistersingers were originally founded on
the diatonic modes but the Major and Minor modes did not begin to make their appearance until the
fifteenth century. In Bohemian folk song the Major mode predominates, although there are many
modal tunes. On the other hand, the folk songs of Moravia are about equally divided between the dia-
tonic modes and the Major. Although exotic influences are seen in Magyar music, Hungarian folk song
shows some instances of Dorian and Phrygian. The augmented second is not so frequently found as is
generally supposed. Many old Finnish songs have a range of but a fifth; others exhibit a complete
modal scale. Scandinavian music has a peculiar feature in that the melodies often begin in the Minor
mode and end in the Major, or vice versa. Many songs, however, make use of other diatonic scales,
especially the Mixolydian and Phrygian. Iceland has been untouched by art-music influences of the
past three centuries and consequently retains the Original scale forms. All the diatonic modes are found,
but the Lydian is preferred.
To such a degree does the Lydian mode determine the character of Icelandic melodies that it may be regarded
as a valid mark of the genuine Icelandic. Even today the Lydian scale still turns up so often that one almost feels
that it might be called the Icelandic mode. Nearly all melodies which were characteristically sung as twinsongs
[ttvisongur: two parts sung in parallel fifths], are in this mode. The diabolus [tritone], formerly so dreaded, was
introduced without hesitation.19
In most cases where one meets inaccuracies in the collected melodies of Russian folk-songs, these are due
either to (1) faulty notation or (2) faulty harmonization because of the compromise that is made between the
ancient modes and the modern ones [Major-minor] . . Folk-songs are marked by their strict adherence to a single
modality. Most of the songs are in the four following modes:20 Phrygian, Dorian, Major, and Aeolian.21
The most important modes of Jewish music are the Phrygian {Pentateuch mode), the Dorian, and
Aeolian (both recognized forms of the Mode of the Prophets). "This [Mode of the Prophet] is the stand-
15 Vincent d'Indy, and Julien Tiersot, Chansons Populates and Musicians (3d ed.). Ill, p. 511.
Recueillies dais le Vharais it Vecors (Paris, 1892). l0Angul Hammerich, "Sludien iiber islandische Mus<k," in
"This group includes only songs which have a mode change S.l.M. (1899-1900), p. 347.
or which lack a complete scale: none could possibly be classified "In the Russian text the Greek nomenclature was used and
as belonging to the Minor mode. the list was: Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, and Locrian.
"J. B. Trend, "Song: Spain and the Basque Country," Grove's "Julius Nicholaevich Melgounov, "On Russian National
Dictionary of Music and Musicians (3d ed.), V, pp. 10-11. Music." 3THorpa<|(HiecRoe OQcspeH'He (Moscow, 1890), VI,
™Idem, "Morales, Cristobal," Grove's Dictionary of Music p. 133-134.
173
ard scale of Jewish music, not only in the Synagogue song but also in folk-song. Nearly 80 per cent
of all Jewish folk-song is based upon it."22
From the foregoing it is apparent that it would be unsafe to venture more detailed conclusions than
the following about the scales in the folk music of Western civilization.
a.) The most primitive scales of which there is any knowledge are the Pentatonic.
b.) Apparently the septatonic scales came later and may be regarded (1) as developments of
the Pentatonic by filling in the larger intervals or ( 2) as adaptations from the Church which could be
readily articulated with the five-tone scales through a process of confluence.
c.) All the diatonic modes, with the possible exception of the Locrian, are well established in folk
music. (The latter, however, is not unknown as was shown above, chap, xiv.)
d.) The Minor mode with leading tone is found in folk song, although its presence there may
denote an art influence.
™ A. Z. Idelsohn, Jewha Music in its Historical Development
(New York, Henry Holt and Co., 1929), p. 50.
L
Chapter XX
GENESIS AND GROWTH
OF THE MAJOR-MINOR SYSTEM
ike the Ionian, the modern Major scale is a C-c type. The only scale in Greek music to which it bears
any resemblance is the ancient Lydian; this similarity is very superficial, since the Mese, a, had great
influence and the final is uncertain (see chap, xvii):
m
O m
XC
(music example)
The differences between ancient and modern tuning would also preclude any but a slight correspondence.
Of the original eight ecclesiastical modes, not one can be said to resemble the modern Major. The
only one of the C-c type is the Hypolydian, but its final is F and its dominant is a. When, however, bh
was introduced into the Lydian for the purpose of avoiding the tritone, the resultant type, C-c, gave
Glareanus grounds for his thesis: the existence in practice of the Ionian. This scale Glareanus divides at
the fifth, which, but for Pythagorean tuning, gives the same diatonic form as the Major.
Gerbert quotes a passage from the late thirteenth-century work, Lucidarium musicae planae, by Mar-
chettus of Padua, which seems to prove that the Lydian had even then degenerated into the Ionian.
"With any kind of ascending cadence into the fifth above, the utterance of such notes is more agreeable
and sweeter to the ear, and is more adapted to singing."1
The hexachordal system invented by Guido seems to point to C-c type influence which would place
Ionian existence as early as the eleventh century. Taken together, the two upper hexachords form a C-c
type scale of an octave and a third. Since the B (fa) of the lowest hexachord is Bb (B-molle), the Gc
type scale is again formed by the two adjoining hexacords.
Guido's Hexachord System
ut re mi fa sol la
ut re mi fa sol la
ut re mi fa sol la
F G A B g D E F G A B CPE
HexacBrdum Hexacordum Hexacordum
molle naturale durum
In his Musicalhches Lexicon (1732), Walther gives a list of Lutheran hymns classified by mode in
which there are no Lydian examples. He says that, according to Raselius (d. 1602) and Snegassius, the
Lydian degenerated into the Ionian "183 years ago."2
Nor was the Lydian the only old mode to yield to the Ionian. Glareanus records that the "Mixoly-
dian mode was in the greatest use by the old Church composers, but in our time iS almost unknown."
The alterations permitted under the rules of Musica Ficta tended to convert the Mixolydian to the
Ionian by the use of f in the cadence. The process was not limited to the Lydian and Mixolydian; the
minor modes coalesced to form but one composite minor.
1 Martin Gerbert von Hornau, Scriptores ecclesiastic: de 1732), p. 410.
musica sacra potissimum (St. Blaise, 1784), III, pp. 110-111. "Henricus Glareanus, AQAEKAXOPAON, II, p. 133-134.
2 Johann Gottfried Walther, Musicalisches Lexicon ( Leipzig,
174
175
... by the constant substitution cf bh for b (under the laws of Musica Ficta), the Dorian and Lydian modes
became virtually transposed forms of the Aeolian and Ionian respectively, so that really we have only four modes
left instead of six. Moreover, the Mixolydian (G) mode, thanks to the sharpening of the / at the cadence, lost a
good deal of its personality, and tended to merge into the Ionian, though its capitulation was not so abject as that of
the Lydian, whose bb actually appeared in the signature.4
The sixteenth century Modal System . . . was a compromise, in which all the modes tended to lose their
identity, and to merge into two general types, clearly foreshadowing our own major and minor scales.5
In the last half of the sixteenth century we see all the old modes dividing themselves into two groups (this
observation does not apply to folk-song) : some were swallowed up by the Major mode, the others by the Minor
mode ... At the end of the seventeenth century, this simplification was a fact, fixed and definitive."
Thus, graphically:
Lydian
Ionian _^^^^m~ Ionian
Mixolydian- (which became Major)
Dorian
Aeolian -^^^^^ Aeolian
[Phrygian]— "" " (which became Minor)
The Ionian mode was the predominant mode of folk song as was noted by Glareanus (see above,
p. 165), and it also must have exerted a strong influence on the prevailing modes and the course of
development of art music.
The reason behind the eventual supremacy of the Major mode over the other scales with major
thirds (the Lydian and the Mixolydian) is not difficult to deduce. Until a definite physical basis is
proved for consonance and tonality, it is useless to try to explain by mathematics why one scale is more
natural than another. The preference shown for the Major during the past three centuries may, how-
ever, be accounted for on purely musical grounds. The strongest cadence formula is founded on the
Clausula vera:
$
*» *>
T
Just why this is so is impossible to explain but the fact can hardly be denied. Granting this as estab-
lished, it immediately becomes clear that the Clausula vera cannot be used in connection with the
Mixolydian, since this scale has a seventh degree a whole tone below the tonic. The Lydian scale gives
the possibility of such a close but its characteristic interval, the tritone, ( the augmented fourth between
the tonic and the fourth degree) has been avoided as an abhorrent melodic interval since early Chris-
tian times. The Major mode is thus the logical choice.
The period from 1500 to 1700 may be called the transition period from the old modes to the
establishment of the system we know as major-minor. In Chapter XVII the early existence of the Ionian
was discussed, and even after the disappearance of most of the other modes, the conventions which
define the classic major-minor system had yet to be evolved and established.
The composers Josquin des Pres, Willaert, Certon, Morales, Cabezon, Andrea Gabrieli, and Pales-
trina belong to the last period of the old Church modes. Their cadences may be said to resemble
those of the major-minor system because of the alterations permitted by Musica Ficta. This treatment
reduces most of the modes to the Ionian or Aeolian (sometimes Dorian), but the progressions within
these two modes did not conform to the conventions of the major-minor system. The same estimate may
be made of the works of Sweelinck, Schiitz, and Giovanni Gabrieli, but the Ionian influence is even
stronger and there are many which sound Tonal, witness the following example:
'Morris, Contrapuntal Technique in the 16th Century, pp. "Jules Combarieu, "Cours du College de France," La Revue
13-14. -Ibid., p. 65. Musicale (Jan. 1, 1906), pp. 16-17.
176
Der Jiingling im Grabe
Schiitz, Auferstehungs-Historie.
J
£
» »•
Ent - setzt euch
nicht,
ent- setzt euch
nicht. Ich weiss,
P
i J J
^
S
?=£
i
D It H
t
i
dass ihr su - chet
Je - sum von Na - za
reth, den
ge
i=f
4. ^ J i
J ij>J J>fj
E
Ich weiss, dass ihr su - chet Je - sum von Na - za-reth,
m
m
m
w
hie,
kreu
zig
ten, er ist nicht
er ist
auf
*
P3^
j/fd * * d ' s1 ' ' * d
den ge-kreu-zig - ten, er ist nicht hie, er ist auf
u r i p i>r r
m
>
)3 4 (H)8
I
# « I
Byrd (1542-1623) and the other virginalists exhibit a compromise between the old and the new.
The music seems principally Ionian with occasional lapses into other modes.
The diatonic system on which this virginal music was based may be said to bridge the gulf between modality
and modern tonality . . . but in this transitional, wholly experimental period there was no divorce between the
major and the minor, resulting in a freedom from constraint that made for rapid progress.7
By Purcell's time (ca. 1658-1695) the major-minor system was fully established in England al-
though infrequent "pseudo-modal" passages can be discovered in Dido and Aeneas and King Arthur.
Especially in some of the final cadences of his Church music does Purcell show that modal feeling had
not entirely died. (See above, chap, vi.)
To the early homophonic composers, Peri, Caccini, Cavalieri, and especially to Monteverdi (who is
credited with the introduction of the V7), must go a large share of the credit for fixing major-minor
tonality. It must not be thought that there is no modality in the works of this group. Monteverdi
particularly seems able to write in both styles: his Church music belongs to the older order. Viadana
and Cavalli must also be given credit for their part in the formation of the new style. The works of
Frescobaldi, Froberger, and Buxtehude represent successive steps in the advancement of the Major-minor
system. Buxtehude's compositions are almost wholly tonal, with only an occasional modal touch.
' Hilda Andrews, Preface to My Ladye Nevelh Booke, by-
William Byrd (London, Curwen and Sons, 1926), p. xxviii.
177
With the advent of Bach and Handel the transitional, experimental period came to a close: the
Tonal Period had fully arrived and its conventions were firmly established. The modal traces to be
found in Bach are almost invariably due to the use of traditional modal chorale melodies.
It was Rameau8 who reduced the new system to theory, but, like Glareanus, he merely put on
paper the results of a long period of experiment by many composers. His theories have had great im-
portance for music ever since, although certain hypotheses have been forced to yield to more thorough
investigation.
The Major-minor system has continued to develop within its limits and the process, even today, is
not yet complete. Beethoven added to the lucid system of Mozart and Haydn. Berlioz, Chopin, Liszt,
Wagner, Gounod, Franck, Chabrier, and Strauss each made contributions without violating the spirit
of tonality. The course of the Major and Minor scales has been traced by many authors and need
not be further discussed in these pages. By the beginning of the past century the novelty of the two
scales was gone. The quest for fresh tonal means led composers to experiment with other scales with
the result that the wider diatonic horizon reappeared. All during the Romantic period there was an
undercurrent of modality and gradually this movement grew in strength and importance until the twen-
tieth century, when the diatonic modes became a powerful factor in the musical resources of almost
every composer. The history of this development is the concern of the second part of Book Two.
8 Jean-Philippe Rameau, Traite de I'harmonie (Paris, Ballard,
1722).
Idem. Demonstration du principe de I'harmonie (Paris, 1750).
Chapter XXI
THE MINOR MODE
From the point of view of the diatonic system, the Minor is so irregular that French writers some-
times characterize it as "Mineur batard,"1 but its position is not that of an independent scale so
much as it is that of a complement of the Major.
Strange that one should feel major and minor as opposites. They both represent the same face, now more
joyous, now more serious; and a mere touch of the brush suffices to turn the one into the other. The passage from
either to the other is easy and imperceptible; when it occurs frequently and swiftly, the two begin to shimmer and
coalesce indistinguishably.2
It is only necessary to consider the two qualities of the Major and Minor to solve the riddle of their
partial correspondence. In the quality of modality, they are certainly unlike:
Major Scale
Minor Scale
^
jBjgjj
HE
$jgi
m
In the matter of tonality, however, they are identical, since the conditions of maintaining that tonality
correspond exactly. (See chap. ii. )
It is usually said that the Major imposes its cadence formulae on the Minor, causing the alteration of
the latter's seventh degree to the leading tone. Emmanuel says that the modern epoch "asservit le mineur
et lui impose les cadences caracteristiques du regime majeur"* and Schonberg agrees that "the minor scale
has its particular characteristic less in the minor third than the artificial imitation of the cadence, by
means of a half-step, which is found in the major scale."4
It is a small point, perhaps, but such a position is not upheld by history. As has been shown above,
in Chapter ii and iv, through the practice of Musica Ficta the ecclesiastical modes coalesced into two types,
one major (Ionian), the other minor (Aeolian). The Clausula vera had existed long before the true
Major mode appeared and was used as often with the Dorian and Aeolian as with the Ionian and
Lydian. It is more accurate to claim that the basic cadential and other conventions definitive of the
Tonal Period were developed simultaneously and that the Major and Minor modes are themselves
part of these conventions.
Although the form of the Minor which emerged at the end of the evolutionary process was Aeolian,
plus the modifications necessary for conformity to the exigencies of tonal practice, there was a period of
indecision between the Aeolian and the Dorian. Visible evidence of the struggle is the Minor signature
of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Up to and through the Bach-Handel period the
"minor keys requiring flats were written with one flat less than are the same key signatures of today.""
1 Emmanuel, Histoire de la Langue Musicale, I, p. 5.
a Ferruccio Busoni, Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music, trans.
Dr. Th. Baker (New York, G. Schirmer, 1911), p. 27.
3 Emmanuel, op. cit., I, p. 6.
'Arnold Schonberg, "Problems of Harmony," Modern Music
(May-June, 1934), p. 171.
° C. W. Pearce, Modern Academic Counterpoint ( London,
Winthrop Rogers, 1914), p. 16.
178
179
Buxtehude, Passacaille.
D Minor (without the Bl> signature)
Handel's Acts and Galatea and Bach's D-minor organ fugue (the so-called Dorian Fugue) may be
cited as late examples of this practice, although in some modern editions the original signature has not
been preserved.
The Dorian signature for the Minor has given rise to the idea that at some time during the tran-
sition from ecclesiastical modal practice to that of the major-minor system the preferred form was a
derivative of the Dorian, i.e., it had the characteristic major or "Dorian" sixth degree.
Minor Scale (Melodic-Dorian form)
$
3
P
1
-o~
Pearce says, "The minor key-signature of the period subsequent to the time of Bach and Handel —
extending to the present day — would seem to suggest some sort of derivation of the modern minor
scale from the Aeolian mode."6. But that "the original form of the minor scale seems to have been iden-
tical with that of the Dorian mode."7
The same view is held by Emmanuel8 but he makes it clear that the Dorian form had begun to
disappear by the sixteenth century.
Sometimes, — and beginning with the sixteenth century it is a general tendency — one lowered by a chromatic
semitone the sixth degree of the descending scale in order to agree with the dimorphic minor consecrated by J. S.
Bach.9
Minor Scale (Melodic- Aeolian form)
, J If H'
^^
~T5~
In spite of these opinions there seems to be insufficient evidence for concluding that the Dorian
was the original form of the modern Minor. The Dorian signature can be explained as deriving from
the transposition of the Dorian mode — but, as Glareanus showed, this mode was frequently compro-
mised by lowering the sixth degree, making it actually Aeolian. Research in the music of the fifteenth,
sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries fails to reveal a predilection for the Dorian over the Aeolian; in-
deed, the truth seems to be just the reverse.10 In view of these facts, we must deduce that for a long
time the two modes were both regarded as legitimate and neither was used to the exclusion of the other,
although eventually the Aeolian form came to be preferred.
From one point of view the Dorian is still represented in the modern Minor mode. The Melodic
scale has a major sixth degree in the ascending form and Pearce is quite justified in referring to it as the
"Dorian sixth."11 Thus "our Minor mode appears to be a combination of the Dorian and Aeolian."12
The melodic form was used by Bach, Rameau, and Kirnberger,13 and also by the virginal com-
posers.
"Ibid., p. 17.
7 Ibid., p. 15.
"Emmanuel: op. cil„ II, pp. 289-292.
'Ibid., p. 15.
10 For example, the Auferslehung-Historie by Schiitz is writ-
ten in the Dorian mode on D (no sharps or flats in the signa-
ture) yet the mode is frequently reduced to Aeolian by the
use of W>.
11 Pearce, op. cit., p. 21.
13 J. A. P. Spitta, Bach (Leipzig, Breitkopf und Hii.rtelj.1880),
II, p. 610.
" Ibid.
180
Byrd, Ladye Nevells Book, No. 10.
m
«:
m
~TT~
T
^
J |J
TT
TT
i
r
-01.
33=
^=
rr
^
C Minor (Melodic form)
Dorian signature
Among the madrigalists, however, Morris has noted:
Byrd's frank abandonment of both the Dorian and Phrygian modes. His "minor" movements are written, with
hardly an exception, in the Aeolian mode, both in its natural and transposed forms (i.e., D with one flat, or G
with two flats, which are not left to the tender mercies of Musica Ficta, but boldly inserted as a key signature) . In
this practice he was followed by all the great madrigalists; here and there (as for instance in Morley's "Hark Alle-
lulia") you find a piece of deliberate modal writing: but the effect is that of an intentional archaism . . ,14
According to Spitta,15 Werkmeister, in his Harmonologia musica (1702), agreed with Rosenmiiller
that the Dorian was the better representative of the Minor but later (in his Musikalische Paradoxal-Dis-
course, 1707) changed his position to a preference for the Aeolian. In his Handschriftliche Musiklebre,
Johann Gottfried Walther taught both forms.18 Basing his opinion on the music and on the Clavierbuch
Anna M. Backs (1725), Spitta declares that Bach recognized only the Aeolian form (meaning the
melodic- Aeolian form). In general, Bach's music attests the validity of this conclusion, but he did
not consider himself irrevocably bound, because he sometimes chose the Dorian form.
C-Minor - Bach, W 'ell-tempered Clavier, Fugue II.
C Minor
Melodic
Aeolian form
Dorian
form
Although it is seldom employed in complete scale form, the customary modern Minor scale pre-
serves the Aeolian minor-sixth degree in spite of the augmented second. This is called the harmonic
form.
Minor Scale (Harmonic form)
$
^
< m Ij ■
~rt~
^~=b
This scale is said to have been invented by Lingke and is described in his Musikalischen Haupt-
Satze.17 Mizler, in his Musikalische Bibliothek,13 gives an account of how Lingke proposed this scale
to the Musikalischen Wissenschaften at Leipzig in 1744, and relates that it was approved by the mem-
bers.
The reasons behind the final triumph of the Aeolian form of the Minor are perhaps too subtle
for facile analysis. The comparative blandness of the Dorian with identical tetrachords
" Morris, op. cit., p. 65.
"Spitta, op. cit., II, p. 610.
10 Ibid.
" P. 16 ff.
18 Vol. Ill, p. 360.
181
o = o = " T " (T)
«» S ° M "^
as well as its major IV triad may help explain the outcome of the struggle. The Aeolian has more
character due to its dissimilar tetrachords,
and offers greater contrast to the Major because of the minor IV triad. If, however, the question had
been decided on degree of contrast alone, the Locrian would have been the logical choice since it is
the most "minor." Neither the Locrian nor the Phrygian permitted the necessary dominant caden-
tial conventions and for that reason were not available.19 Another possible reason for the choice of
the Aeolian is suggested by Combarieu who says that the chord a-c-e, which includes c, the tonic of the
relative Major, opposes better the chord c-e-g than would the relative Dorian d-f-a.20 This is espe-
cially understandable in the light of key relationships for succeeding movements of an integrated work.
1,1 There have been some attempts to use the Phrygian as a M Combarieu, op. cit., p. 427.
minor with major-minor V formulae. See above, chap. xv.
Part II: The Genesis of the Harmonic Modes
Chapter XXII
THE USE OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL MODES
BY BACH AND HANDEL
The theories of the modes of Ancient Greece and of the early Church were formulated by men
whose musical outlook was monodic. So long as music consisted of a single melody line or
chant, the original theories were adequate, but when plural melody was introduced some modifica-
tions were necessary and thus arose the convention of construing the mode of polyphonic music to be
that of the Cantus Firmus. Such a practice was logical enough so long as the Cantus Firmus was kept
in the foreground but, as polyphony developed, the Cantus Firmus was more and more obscured by the
richness of the counterpoint and was eventually to disappear altogether. By the time this happened,
Ecclesiastical Modality, as a complete system, had given way to the major-minor system and Tonality.
The Tonal period, the period of major-minor dominance, may be said to extend approximately from
1600 to 1900.
It should not be thought that there was no manifestation of the modes during the three centuries:
in Western civilization the system of the Diatonic Modes ( the seven basic types) is the common denom-
inator of all scale systems and has had a significant role in this as in every other musical period. The
Major scale and its satellite, the Minor, are but a partial expression of the whole of diatonism and
during their ascendency the complete system of Diatonic Modes made itself felt through modulation (see
above, Book One, Part II). Besides this evidence of the roundabout influence of the diatonic norm,
the modes per se never wholly disappeared, as will be demonstrated in the next chapters. When, after
having thoroughly exploited the major-minor scales and modulation, composers began to seek fresh means
of expression, the basic Diatonic Modes returned to general favor. This latest manifestation is not a
restoration of earlier practice: it is a new facet of the eternal scale system of Western civilization.
Whereas the theory of the modes of the Greeks and the early Christian Church was a monodic
concept and that of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance was contrapuntal, the modern usage is
harmonic. The Harmonic Modes, as they may be called, were formed through the conjunction of a
number of folk and art influences. Practice derived from superimposing some of the major-minor
harmonic techniques on the extra-major-minor diatonic scales. Chapters xxv through xxix trace the
development of the Harmonic Modes in the several countries during the nineteenth century, and these
chapters together with Chapter xxx illustrate the practices which are the technical basis of the modern
diatonic style.
The works of Bach and Handel are usually conceded to be uncompromisingly Tonal and these
two masters are considered the first composers whose writings entirely conform to the conventions asso-
ciated with the major-minor system. That this was a conscious choice on their part can hardly be
doubted, since not only must they have been thoroughly grounded in modal theory but they were also
acquainted with the modal music of their predecessors.
In Handel's work we find very little trace of any modal influence. There are occasional rather
abrupt and surprising harmonies in the recitatives, but the effect is hardly modal. Perhaps such pro-
gressions were dictated by the exigencies of the particular dramatic inflection desired by the composer.
There are, however, a few instances which cannot be so readily dismissed.
Handel never wrote pieces which are wholly modal: the harmony always reverts to conventional
practice somewhere in the course of the work. Such regressions are usually introduced to effect an
emphatic cadence or an unmistakable modulation. These characteristics, it may be added, are found in
185
186
the music of many a later composer whose habits of thought were major-minor but who wished to avail
himself of the kaleidoscopic harmonic palette of modality. The following excerpts are illustrative.
Handel, Israel in Egypt,
"And I will exalt Him."
$
S
D Dorian
T 7
r r ir r
f TT
m
r~r
-»-
£=£
Tf~
n
TT
r crrr
t\: «»
ttt
P-m — P-
m
^PF
^
(Dorian)
$
M
^^
W^
^
S
J J-J
^y
?
?
r 'i r ■ t =f=
IA Aeolian rj A Minor
G Minor
=±
A J1j J.J. J J ^
^QTf
n^
f
m
I subject
[D Aeolian IV?] D Dorian
The treatment which follows the excerpt is conventional and modulatory. After passing through
several keys (A-Minor, G-Minor, F,), there occurs a return to D-Dorian for a few measures before
another digression which leads to a conventional final cadence.
li 1 j i
i
J- J
— a
0
^1_
Ibid.
u
— &
9 '
H
-iH —
e
n
Q.
*
C
16
«»
11 1
•■>
D Aeolian
S
Jnjj
5^
f
"TS
I subject
-r^r
zm
Minor
V
Dorian
187
rf J J J
— 1 1
H J
F1=U1
L* J 'J-
-^-n
»-r-f
■**
r - S1
- f
r ['—
i f r_r r r
" # 73 '
f^=:
,/
— 1 — 1 — 1 1
=f==^l
Minor
m
Ibid. Final cadence.
TT
=^=
■ *y :««:
IP! 0-
-«*-
The use of a long pedal over which chromatics are introduced sometimes produces a modal effect.
In the Air "Sin not, O King" from Saul, Handel probably considered the e' in the fifth measure as a
modulation to B' but the impression it gives at first is Mixolydian.
Handel, Saul,
"Sin not, O King."
fe
^^
oc£
J!.?|J"P I 'J: f^
^
9W3
UT CJ'r
Wl
^m
f
ifcp
^
*=«=
s
i
Although the chorus "Egypt was glad" from the same work ends on E- tonic and appears to begin
E-Phrygian, there is a curious inconclusiveness about the tonality owing to the constantly recurring e-
major triad followed by an e-minor one. The impression of ambiguity, intended or not, should not be
credited to HandeL, since this is a famous case of plagarism: the piece is actually a canzona composed by
Johann Casper Krell (1627-1693) which Handel appropriated.
188
Handel, Saul,
"Egypt was glad."
E
WWW
W?
m
P=W$
*r-+
f*
*-. W
#ff f
^
^^
* *
f ^J f
J J J
^
^
r-^
2k
PP
3CE
f^
j nj n
Ibid.
Final cadence
B
*
^
i
=M=
r
The same sort of equivocal interpretation must be applied to the following. Again the choice lies
between the tonality of E or that of A.
Handel, Samson,
"Hear Jacob's God."
inna liiFTHif <U ihf }i-m&
9^
A Minor
E Major I
jg 1 1
W
Aeolian II
IV
Phrygian V7
III
Dorian
VI
VII
Minor
Il7
I
Ibid.
Final cadence
V [half cadence
leading to next
piece in A]
189
No particular importance is attached to the fact that both Bach and Handel sometimes used the
Dorian signature for their minor movements because, as was shown, this had little significance: the sixth
degree was usually chromatically altered to make the scale agree with the Aeolian form. Bach, how-
ever, employed the ecclesiastical modes more often and more frankly than did Handel, especially in the
chorales, and because of this his signatures are more varied.
Likewise one can understand Bach's connection with the Church modes through his manner of using key sig-
natures. Thus he consistently wrote E-Dorian with two sharps, F-Dorian with three flats, G-Dorian with one flat,
and avoided any signature at all for the Dorian, Phrygian, and Mixolydian when used in the original [white-note]
form.1
According to Spitta, Bach made constant use of his knowledge of the ecclesiastical modes.
He extracted from the Church modes all that wealth of modulation which they are so capable of offering, and
he knew further how to use the resources so well that he subordinated the modes to the more simple radical feeling
■of the Major and minor modes.2
This statement is difficult to check because if, as Spitta says, Bach subordinated the modes to the
more simple radical feeling of the Major and Minor, he was so successful that the music gives no sug-
gestion of modal thinking as a mental process of the composer. The advantages of the broader outlook
afforded by an understanding of the whole diatonic modal system are apparent, but it is hazardous to
delve into the intellectual processes of any composer when these are not perfectly manifest in his product.
Conceivably Bach's genius could have availed itself of the modulatory resources which his music exhibits
through orthodox major-minor harmonic procedures. It is not necessary to resort to a modal explanation
to account for his key changes, and since proof is lacking, we are justified in concluding that in this case
Spitta was perhaps carried away by his own zeal. Discernible in the music, however, is a certain broad
understanding of, and searching penetration into, the problem of harmony. So far does Bach surpass his
predecessors and contemporaries in this respect that his harmonic conceptions seem transcendent. It may
well be, as Spitta says, that a thorough familiarity with the ecclesiastical modes was contributory.
. . . Bach's inexhaustible harmonic richness, which is exhibited in all his compositions and certainly without
overmuch modulation, arises from two sources: from a most thorough utilization of the octave-species and from
an exceedingly sharp and assured feeling for the relationships inherent in the Major-minor system.3
According to his pupil Kittel, Bach used a mixed style in harmonizing the chorale melodies.4 Ap-
parently this means using major-minor formulae with modal tunes by resorting to modulation to lessen
or avoid the effect of the characteristic degree of a particular mode. For instance, the following melody
is Lydian at the beginning but Bach has taken advantage of the Lydian fourth to modulate to the domi-
nant key, thus diminishing if not entirely obliterating the effect of the tritone.
f^
n
=Si
Bach, "Freuet euch, ihr Christen.""
zrr
cjt r r
m
T
gg
mm
w
T
'J. A. P. Spitta. /. S. Bach (Leipzig, Breitkopf und Hartel,
1880), II, p. 614.
'Ibid., II, p. 611.
'Ibid., II, p. 613.
1 Johann Christian Kittel, Der angehende praktische Organist
(3d ed.. Erfurt, 1831). p. 37ff.
5 The original key is G.
190
By means of similar devices almost any modal melody may be subjected to conventional harmony.
The following is E-Phrygian melodically but harmonically Bach has treated it as A-Minor and ends on
a half cadence.
Bach, "Aus tiefer Noth schrei ich.
WW
**<m
±E
t — r
?^%
j-A
ii nj
j_^
iJ i j
r err r
^^
r r Lrr
/r\
i1 i1 a .I1
Oi
r r c5
j J i
J J3j j
s
=F^
^F^f
*c
WPW
^N#
±=±
TTT
JJ J J
*
s
r c/r r
^
^fff
*F=T
r
Vi/
r
Analogous methods have been applied to the harmonization of a number of chorales in several
modes. The accompanying list gives the names of chorales which exhibit the "mixed" style.
Phrygian
"A hilf, Christe, Gottes Sohn."
"Mitten wir im Leben sind."
"Es woll 'uns Gott genadig senn."
"Christum wir sollen loben schon."
"Erbarm dich ?nein, o Herre Gott."
Dorian
"Das alte ]ahr vergangen ist."
"Erschienen ist der herrelich Tag."
Mixolydian
"Gott sei gelobet und gebenedeiet."
"Nun preiset alle Gottes Barmherzigkeit."
Not always does Bach choose to follow the strict major-minor conventions. The soprano melody of
"Komm Gott Schbpfer, heliger Geist," if considered separately, is clearly Mixolydian and the harmoniza-
tion gives a modal impression up to the first cadence when suddenly C-Major is established. The final
cadence then sounds like a half -cadence. On the second stanza the first measures will be heard as C
but the effect is pseudo-modal because of the emphasis on the secondary triads and the progressions V
to IV and VI to V.
191
Bach, "Koram Gott Schopfer, heiliger Geist.'
/7\
G Mixolydian I VII IV V
C Major V IV I II
^M=
/7\
J J J J
^
r — Uf r r
r r— TLP-t/
fV J r
r r r
l>:r r r-
r^^
FT
^
^
i=i
ff
I
.. j . j I j
i L r r r r
err
j i.
t r r
j
L-T r r
^f^t
Vi/
On the other hand, Bach sometimes reversed the procedure by introducing modal touches into an
otherwise wholly conventional chorale. Although there are modulations to C- and D-Major, "Gelobet
seist du, Jesu Christ" ends with a G-Mixolydian final phrase which is somewhat akin to a codetta. (The
Mixolydian in the final cadence is fully treated in chap, vi.)
Bach, "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ.'
D Major
G Major
192
Lydian Mixolydian
Often cited as an example of the use of the Dorian mode by Bach is the fugue from the Toccata
and Fugue for organ. This is called the "Dorian Fugue" but the reason is obscure. The explanation is
probably founded on the Dorian signature but this is insufficient because the practice of using that sig-
nature for the Minor was still in use at that time. Bach's contemporaries and immediate predecessors
regularly supplied the accidental to lower the sixth degree of the Minor instead of placing it in the
signature.
It would be more nearly accurate to call it the "Aeolian Fugue" because during the course of the
subject and answer the leading tone (C*) is avoided and the most prominent form of the scale is the
Aeolian. The construction of the subject is remarkable and although it may have been done designedly,
the remainder of the work is strictly conventional and shows no evidence of capitalizing the idea.
Fuga
Bach, Toccata and Fugue.
3E
rr
§
r rf-ir r r^*^
— -r v 6
^m
tr*
i d &m^=mhki
'< '' r^r r p 'frY r > ur c/'rf f cj
-j j i- — at J . j— J
r p r u 'cxi
r
. k jtJ i j
T
r
¥
^
1
m
-J=^L
f=r^
±
£
t vr r
J?nnj
m
w
p
From the foregoing evidence we must concur with the popular opinion that the tonal medium of
Bach and Handel is predominantly major-minor. They both understood the modes but used them only
occasionally, each in his own particular manner. Handel's plan was to interpolate modal sections but
to revert invariably to the Major formulae at important cadences in order to reaffirm the tonality. Bach,
on the other hand, gave many modal chorale melodies a major-minor harmonization. This resulted
in the "mixed" style of harmonizing mentioned by Kittel. Exceptionally Bach wrote pseudo-modal pas-
sages and even gave some of his final cadences a Mixolydian turn.
A comparison between the modal styles of the two masters is interesting and important because
each may be called the prototype of later manifestations of modality. Bach's "mixed" style is found in
Brahm's harmonization of German folk songs, which are regarded as models of their kind. The "inter-
polative" modal style used by Handel may be compared to that of Liszt and most of the romantic com-
posers who wished to simulate a religious atmosphere. These two are not the only modal styles: others
will be discussed in their proper chronology.
Chapter XXIII
BLAINVILLE AND THE TROISIEME MODE
Many are the men whose contributions to the cause of music claim for them a lasting place in
the recorded development of the art. Perhaps many another just as deserving has been for-
gotten or his innovations mistakenly credited to a more colorful contemporary. All this might
have been predicted by mere logic, but that a colorless individual, of no particular importance to music,
should become immortal through a futile project is one of the paradoxes of history.
Charles Henri de Blainville (1711-1769) was a violoncellist and a teacher of music in Paris. He
composed a small amount of unimportant music, among which were several cantatas, two ballets, a
book of sonatas "pour le dessus de viole avec la basse continue," and several symphonies. Somewhat more
pretentious are his theoretical works: Harmonie theoretico-practique (1746), L'Esprit de I'art musical
(1754), and Histoire generate critique et philologique de la musique (1767). But none of these pos-
sessed qualities which would have done more than gain for their author a brief mention in music ency-
clopedias.
In 1751 there was published in Paris a thin little volume, the title page of which runs as follows:
ESSAY
SUR UN TROISIEME MODE
Presente et aprouve par
Mr; de l'Academie des Sciences,
JOINT LA SIMPHONIE
Executee au Concert du Chateau des Thuilleries
30.May 1751.
PAR MR BLAINVILLE
The essay occupies seven pages, after which comes the symphony (in score) for strings, bassoon,
and figured bass. The symphony, which exemplifies the proposed mode, consists of three movements: a
slow introduction leading to the main section {presto); the last two movements are short; the second is
an Adagio, and the third a Minuetto. The back cover is an "Extrait Des Registres De L'Academie
Royale Des Sciences" which summarizes the theory and tells about the performance of the symphony
before members of the Academy.
The mode proposed by Blainville was an exact inversion of the Major. This gave a diatonic form
identical with the ecclesiastical Phtygian, a circumstance recognized by the author. The differences be-
tween the two were internal: the dominant of the old Church scale was the sixth degree but that of
Blainville 's scale, which he called "Mixed Mode," was the fourth. The location of the dominant on
the fourth degree above the tonic carries out the inversion idea, since the fifth of the scale, the Major
mode dominant, projected downward gives the ja^dominant.
The Mixed Mode has neither dominant nor perfect cadence. Granted ; but it has the plagal cadence of the
ancients. By what right do we reject this cadence? Do we not have motets by Lalande which use it? Moreover,
one cannot deny that the fourth may substitute for the dominant and take its place. One division of the octave
rises, the other descends. It is the latter that I make use of; thus I satisfy the most rigid rules.1
Apparently the chord on this fourth degree dominant or pseudodominant should have been ex-
tended downward by thirds from the root, not upwards as in conventional harmony.
m=
^
Tonic I Pseudo dominant Triad of Pseudodominant
1 Charles Henri de Blainville, Essay Sur Un Troisieme Mode
(Paris, 1751), p. 5.
193
194
But if Blainville intended this he did not make it clear; for the plagal cadence as always understood
could not have been used in such a connection and so the interpretation is abandoned. It must be as-
sumed that the ordinary IV-I progression is the plagal cadence to which he refers. But even if he makes
no mention of the d-f-a chord as a possible pseudodominant chord, he so uses it at the midpoint of the
introduction to his Symphony. (See below, p. 195.)
Blainville makes a great point of the fact that his Mixed Mode contains the inversion of the Clau-
sula vera but his stria adherence to the inversion idea leads him inevitably to the six-four chord. In-
stead of avoiding the subject or equivocating, he triumphantly solves the difficulty by a neat chain of
native logique with which the French love to demolish their opponent's arguments.
If one objects that the Mixed Mode, having no semitone as it arrives at its octave, seems to leave the ear in
doubt as to whether the course of the scale is finished, I will observe that the ascending uppermost semitone that
one desires is found in the Mixed Mode on the lowest degree, whether in the bass or treble. I shall explain.
When I complete the C-major scale, I finish my octave by ascending semitone b-c, but in descending the semitone
is understood as the third of the dominant.
In the Mixed Mode of E the semitone is in the bass when ascending and in the treble when descending and
thus comes the opportunity to complete the octave otherwise than we usually do. The semitone which is so pre-
cious to the ear is found in E-Mixed Mode, as it is in C-Major, but in a reversed order. A chord of the six-four is
not less consonant than the chord from which it originates ; if it is less perfect, it is also more piquant ; it is better
to leave the senses desiring something than to surfeit them; and it is thus that the Mixed Mode differs fortuitously
from the Major and Minor Modes. Let us remark in passing that the further we are swept away from nature in the
pursuit of Art, the less is the verity and simplicity but the more the effect.2
The extract from the registers of the Academie Royale des Sciences confirms the impression that the
chord of the six-four is the proper tonic. "The principal chords of the two other modes are the third
and the fifth; on the contrary those of the new mode are the fourth and the sixth."3
All this may be bizarre but it seems fairly clear. The feeling of understanding, however, is seri-
ously threatened by the following explanation of the final chords.
In descending, I have the choice of finishing my scaie by the common chord of its fourth note, or by the perfect
major chord of its tonic. This can be done in two ways, either by the sustained note in the treble or by the plagal
cadence in the bass. But the plagal cadence is no longer used ? Alas ! It is a resource which has been taken from
us without reason and which I see no difficulty in reclaiming.4
Again "in descending" might be interpreted as applying to the formation of the two tonic chords
in question.
12 3 4
$
~TF~
*
*
Tf-
"the common chord of
its fourth note, or
H3E5
by the common major
chord of its tonic"
B since the former case of the same kind could not have been so interpreted, as was shown
above, it is reasonably safe to assume that Blainville was consistent, and therefore to discard the
above solution for the following.
l 2
i
S
$
3 4
"the common chord of
its fourth note, or
«
by the common major
chord of its tonic"
'Ibid., p. 4.
* Ibid., back cover.
'Ibid., p. 6.
195
Curiously enough the resulting chords are the same except that the third of the e-g-b triad is minor
in the first instance, major in the second.
The first of the two cadences mentioned in the last quotation is somewhat puzzling but by a process
of elimination, it seems that what Blainville meant by the phrase "ou par la note soutenue dans le dessus
ou par la cadence plagale dans la Basse" is the kind of treatment found at the end of the introduction of
the Symphony, where, if this be a legitimate illustration, both the sustained note and the plagal cadence
are used. The whole of the introduction is quoted. (Note that the melody is a scale: the pure Mixed
Mode.)
I
Andante
S
Ff
I l M
*
m
w^r
V-lr i
£=*=
1 % S 7
% ^ J
m
m
Pseudo-
dominant
d-f-a?
Sustained note (tonic)
&
^
* |||^7 p 7 1 ^^
w^^f
IV of IV? IV
Plagal
cadence
The cadence does not sound unusual and the reason is not difficult to understand: there is nothing
in the last four measures which is at all foreign to strict major-minor harmony. The cadence is a
double plagal, the essentials of which might best be described as IV of IV to IV and the two final
chords, IV to /. This type of cadence strongly resembles Bach's "mixed" style of harmonizing and the
above cadence has its prototype in the final cadence of the chorale quoted in the preceding chapter.
Although the introduction makes use of both the full octave of the ascending and descending
"Mixed Mode," there is scarcely a progression which might not have occurred through a strict major-minor
conception. The midcadence sounds like a V of IV in E-Minor because of the g* introduced.
The above remarks apply to the entire work. No six-four chords are used, most of the harmonies
are strictly major-minor, and except for a curious play between the e-g-b and the a-c-e chords of the
first measures of the Presto, there is very little to suggest anything remarkable at all. After these mea-
sures no attempt seems to have been made to capitalize the new mode until the final cadence of the
movement, which is a close copy of that of the introduction. Here are several excerpts from the Sym-
phony.
Presto
Beginning of movement I.
t£— f — w-f-f-w-
J J J — 1 —
— ' |— A 1 1 —
| ____-
1 *>: - -
-M M 4 J_J
J J J J J J^b
pjjjj rrrr
| ^JWI^eXlM^^I^T^
m
196
Movement I, middle section.
1
ym
f
T*?
ffl"
^i
*i i
'mj;
¥
w
f
197
**=
E^f
w
pi
mm
v f •>
w
1
mm
m
— z?
u
^
^
pfip
*m
^s*
r^
rw!
to
a
-« fl g •-
^^
#*
^
w
■iJJJ^J
Jlljjjll
PC
m
gg^
/;
**
m
±A
^m^
m m m
m
^
fl
^
x4
J ! J1 1 ' J
^
s
Movement I, coda.
r
™^
^ *
l V jj
^
Ml
J=M,
i=fe
*=#
»CFT
^
s=i
u
^
Ttr^
cj ' r [J '
V
T
198
Final cadence, movement II.
^
S
LU
m
i i j ^nm i
LU
W^
m
fei
j j j
Wfm
j
x2
« t
r
4 tt
S
*£ff
1 1 ult
i
&
P
^
1§
e@=
Movement III, beginning.
P¥
*W
i^P
6 6 4 #
Final cadence, movement III.
/
^^
*
n
p
w
m
m
M *
¥P
w
TT
^
s
ifT
=f
TT
^
ip
^
»
0 *
It *
«
I
Blainville is disarmingly modest: he disclaims having used the new mode as effectively as might
have been done by someone more skillful.
The Mixed Mode is not a new thing. It existed in the old counterpoint under the name Fourth Mode [Plagal
Phrygian] . That is true, but all the notes of the scale were not used regularly, the possibilities were not imagined.
Musicians of today persist in the same error by abandoning an important resource; they do not know how pictur-
esque the result would be if the Mixed Mode were considered suitable and if it were employed by someone more
skilled than I.5
Rousseau found the Symphony admirable and the members of the Academie are reported as having
considered it successful.
Not content with the researches, we engaged M. Blainville to play for us a Symphonic piece of his own com-
position in which the new mode (called "Mixed") is principally employed. Of the several persons who took
part in the experiment, some were informed on the subject, others were not. Nothing was found disagreeable in
the music, nor was it harsh; the harmony seemed very good. We then had another symphony played which used
none but the ordinary modes, after which the first was repeated with the same success as before.6
Despite the approval of Rousseau and the Academie, Blainville's proposed mode and his Symphony
fell easy prey to his enemies. Serre, writing in he Mercure de France, was the chief instigator of a storm
of ridicule against the "Troisieme Mode." In his Essais sur les Principes de I'Harmonie, Serre contin-
ues the discussion. The arguments brought to bear are not conclusive but apparently they were consid-
ered sufficiently damning by the Parisian public. The following extract is a fair example of the evi-
dence cited against Blainville's scale.
Speaking generally, as in nature there are but two forms of human beings, male and female, so in music there are
but two kinds of modes. It is possible to observe the contour of a human figure without being able to tell its
sex at first glance, but one should not conclude that it is a third sex. It is equally easy to imagine a melody which
does not reveal its mode at once, but that does not indicate that it is a third mode. I even dare to advance the idea
that it would be more natural and more plausible to admit that there is but a single mode in music, the Major,
than to suppose there is a third.7
''Ibid., p. 2.
' Ibid., back cover.
'Jean Adam Serre, Essais sur les Principes de I'Harmonie
(Paris, Chez Prault, Fils, 1753), pp. 26-27.
199
With its questionable manner of deriving the scale, its two tonic chords, the six-four chord pro-
posals,8 and the failure of the Symphony to substantiate the claims of the author, the theory made a
perfect target for the taunts directed at it. So successful was the attack that even Blainville's enthusi-
asm seems to have been dampened; no more music in the "Mixed Mode" appeared from his pen, nor did
he again champion the scale — or at least he did not do so in print.
Blainville is unimportant in the history of the diatonic modes since his attempted contribution was
a failure. Apparently he was content and even anxious to let the matter be forgotten. No pupils
appeared to prove the value of their master's theories and take revenge for his humiliation. In spite of a
complete lack of significance, no history of modality is complete without reviewing the fiasco of 1751.
Perhaps Blainville's vindication is twofold in that not only is his own memory perpetuated through the
ignominious failure of le troisiene mode but that the survival of the name of his principal detractor
depends on the part he played in the incident.
"The absolute inversion idea has a modern exponent in the advocacy of the free use of the six-four chord is even more
composer Alois Haba. In his book Neue Harmonielehre (Leip- frank than Blainville's.
zig, Kistner und Siegel, 1927) he explains his theories. His
Chapter XXIV
THE LOWEST EBB OF MODALITY
After Bach the major-minor system reigned supreme. The famous composers of the second half
of the eighteenth century found ample tonal means within the bounds of these two modes. Even
the masses of Haydn and Mozart are strictly conventional in this respect: their musical concep-
tions called for no evocation of religious atmosphere by resorting to ecclesiastical scales. Theirs was a
classic art to which such romanticism was foreign.
By diligent search we may occasionally find odd scale formations in the works of these composers,
but these are not necessarily modal. In the latter part of Don Giovanni there occurs a series of curi-
ous scales.
Mozart, Don Giovanni. Finale.
A Minor (Melodic)
Aeolian
Locrian?
Aeolian .
Mixed-minor?
Phrygian?
Locrian
Melodic
The tonality here is undoubtedly A and it is possible to interpret the scales modally as shown, but
this is of secondary importance: the whole treatment comes about through the domination of the principal
idea, which is the chromatic expansion of the middle parts.
200
201
Even examples of this kind are rare. The Church scales seem not only to have fallen into disuse
but to have been almost entirely forgotten. The period from Bach to the rise of nineteenth century
romanticism made use of but two of the complete list of diatonic scales. It may be called the lowest
ebb in the history of the diatonic modes, a history which reaches back at least 2,500 years.
There were three factors which operated to keep the old scales alive. Folk song was but slightly
altered by the course of art music, and the melodies of the common people formed a rich heritage which
was destined to be a strong factor in the reintroduction of those eclipsed members of the diatonic modes.
The romantic movement and national schools owe much to this source, as will be demonstrated in sub-
sequent chapters.
Textbooks constituted a second preserver of the diatonic scales. The famous Gradus ad Parnas-
sum by Joseph Fux, published in Vienna in 1725, soon spread to all European countries. Fux attrib-
uted a fundamental importance to the ecclesiastical modes and his work is really a reversion to the teach-
ing methods of the sixteenth century. He stoutly defended these scales against the "radicalism" of his
contemporaries. The book had a wide influence and its rules of counterpoint dominated musical edu-
cation for more than a century and a half. Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven all used it in their studies
and the first named based his teaching on it. Piccinni, Padre Martini, Abbe Vogler, Gerbert, Cherubini,
and Bellermann all recommended it.
Another work which had a part in the survival of the Church scales was Lesueurs' Expose d'une
Musique, une imitative et particuliere a r.haque solemnite (1787).1 It is one of the few references on
the subject published at that time and although it did not delve deeply, it did supply some information
in a period almost bereft of such knowledge. In view of the author's later importance as a teacher of
composition at the Conservatoire Nationale, the little book is not without significance.
Although it did not discuss the modes, Elements of Musical Composition, by William Crotch (first
issued in 1812) had a certain freedom of harmonic outlook remarkable for that time. For instance, the
author says, "It is doubtful whether the flat seventh to the key note, used with a fifth and third very
commonly in national and other music, ought to be considered a change of key."2 He mentions the fact
that Purcell used the minor seventh preceding the cadence and illustrates it by an excerpt from Dido
and Aeneas.3
Purcell, Dido and Aeneas, No. 11.
4 i- 't m
i
ft p £ r r!f
? r p r
j
¥
A work which was severely criticized but which nevertheless served to disseminate some informa-
tion on the subject of the ecclesiastical modes was Methode d ' accompagnement du plain chant, by Louis
Niedermeyer, published in Paris in 1855. An English translation was issued in 1905 with the title
Gregorian Accompaniment?
In German-speaking countries Dehn's Theoretisch-praktische Harmonielehre (I860)5 had consid-
erable influence. Dehn contented himself with a concise exposition of the modes beginning with the
Greek, but made no attempt to teach modal writing.
']. F. Lesueur, Expose d'une Musique, une imitative et
particuliere a chaque solemnite (Paris, Chez la Veuve Heris-
sant, 1787).
1 William Crotch, Elements of Musical Composition Compre-
hending the Rules of Tborough-Bass (2d ed., London, Long-
man, Rees.Orme, Brown, Green and Longman, 1833), p. 55.
3 Ibid.
4 Louis Niedermeyer, Gregorian Accompaniment, trans. Wal-
lace Goodrich, Novello (New York, Ewer and Co., 1905).
s S. W. Dehn, Theoretisch-praktische Harmonielehre mit
angefiigten Generalbassbeispietea, Schlesinger'sche Buch- und
Musikalienhandlung, Berlin (1860).
202
More recently there have been a number of excellent texts on modal technique, especially that of
the sixteenth century, but by the time they appeared the renaissance of the modes was complete. Such
books are but a by-product of the reawakened modal spirit: because of the date of their publication they
can hardly be said to have contributed to the regenerative process.
The third factor in keeping the modes alive was the Church. Its influence was not only manifested
through the great body of modal compositions handed down from the past, but also through Church com-
posers — Fux, Fortunati, Lesueur and others — who used the traditional scales to some extent.
Fux (1660-1741) is credited with 290 Church works, many of which exhibit modal writing. The
following excerpt, in the Mixolydian mode, illustrates his serious, dignified style.
Fux, Missa S.S. Trinitatis.
Close of "Kyrie."
i
h i h ^n
j- Jn
m r i'
&±
m
~r~ f
^
IH ^Jlj J -4#fg^
S
t r
Jit j
±
err r r
fzr
*
r=m
m
-o-
p
s
Francesco Fortunati (b.1746), a pupil of Padre Martini, wrote modal Church music besides his sec-
ular operas, symphonies, etc. The following Mixolydian example is the beginning of Psalm Dixit, writ-
ten in 1769 when he was maestro di cappella at Parma.
Fortunati, Psalm Dixit.
S
W
^trf
i nrrrii.iirrr
fi.
Lesueur was writing modal Church music in the years following 1806.6 During the nineteenth
century of the many minor composers of sacred music (F. Krenn, M. Haller, Jakob Blied, Emil Nikel,
Grell, Greith, B. Mittenleiter, Fr. Nekes, Molitor, J. Mitterer, Joseph Hanisch, E. Duval, L. Nieder-
meyer, Schaller, Skuhersky, and Rembt) only the works of Grell, Schaller, Krenn, Nikel, and Skuhersky
display any marked modal tendencies. The five masses7 by Schaller are in a purer style than those of his
colleagues.
6 See chap. xxv.
'Included in the collection by Emil Nikel: Lauda Sion, Samm-
lung von hunderfiinfzig 2-, 3-, und 4-stimmigen Gradualien,
Offertorien, Hymnen und Marianischen Antiphonen nebst fiinf
3 stimmigen Mess en fur das ganze Kirckenjahr (Ratisbonae,
Sumptibus Friderici Pustet, MCMIV).
203
Schaller, "Qui sedes."8
Final cadence.
/C\
m
m
r
s
^f
Al
1
±==
^^
le
E Phrygian
if#
ja, al - le
m
m
tr
lu
«=M
m
m
n
lu
^
m
T
ja.
Franz Krenn (1816-1897) composed twenty-nine masses and much other music. Apparently he
attempted to imitate Palestrina's style but in this may hardly be said to have been wholly successful. The
Missa ad modos Gregorianos, Op. 51, is one of his best compositions. The Kyrie and Gloria of this
work are Phrygian.
Many another composer who had no direct connection with the Church wrote sacred music. In this
category are Beethoven, Berlioz, Liszt, Brahms, Mendelssohn, and Gounod, to name but a few of the most
eminent. Their works belong in a special class which might be called sacred concert music. These
compositions will be discussed in the following chapters together with the several composers' purely secu-
lar productions.
Thus we see that the use of the modes had been declining since the introduction of Musica Ficta. The
decline was greatly accelerated after the formation of the major-minor system and the period of lowest
ebb was between 1750 and 1825. But the modal scales never completely disappeared, never were
completely forgotten. Always there were scholars who studied them, people who sang them, and com-
posers who wrote music in them. Strong and steady were the three powers that preserved them and, in
a sense, assured their regeneration. These three factors were textbooks, folk «song, and Church music.
'Ibid., N°6.
Chapter XXV
ABBE LESUEUR, ANTIQUARIAN
There WAS one composer in the last years of the eighteenth century'who not only used the modes
in his compositions, but also strongly advocated their employment to his pupils. To this one
man is due much of the credit for rekindling in France, interest in the old scales.
Jean Francois Lesueur (1760-1837) sang in the choir at Abbeville from his seventh to his fourteenth
year and it is to this experience that he owed his first knowledge of old Church music and the ecclesi-
astical modes. At the age of nineteen he was appointed maitre de musique at Seez. After several changes
of post, he arrived at Paris and, in 1786, through winning a competition, he became maitre de musique at
Notre Dame. It was here that he was made Abbe; only his ambition to write opera restrained him from
becoming a priest.
By this time his interest in old music had become a passion. He not only studied Church music,
but investigated the ancient Greek art. His music reflects this preoccupation and shows him to have
been motivated by an antiquarian spirit. In his counterpoint he did not usually attempt to extend the
expressiveness of the modes by more modern means such as the use of seventh chords and excessive modu-
lation; instead, he sought only to recapture the moods of tranquil contemplation, of kindly diginity, and
of unaffected piety.
Lesueur, 2e Oratorio pour le Couronnement,
"Beatus qui legit."
a
z - zsz
^m
~w
»
irzr
% i i
r^F=^
C Phrygian.
£
&
r\
S
i»«l
$
/T\
kf=f
fS^f
ifctz:
m
>& t
i
JT\
P
^w
g=b
^£p=
I3H_
rs
za=z =
|g |g rr
^^
^^
3E
&
y i § =?
/T\
I»l|
8 \,ti
\>& \'u §
£2g
/T\
3=^
m
Locrian
IV3 \
kM
pf
m
Major I
204
205
Soprano
Tenor
Baritone
Bass
ft
Lesueur, Messe des Morts, "Sanctus."
m
o B «y-
Sanc- tus
ti. o M ii
§
«» M
-o-
Sane- tus
o loT
-o-
O N tr
Sane - tus
o N~"
> ^
Sanc-tus do-mi-nus de - us Sabaoth
5_ ^
-o — o o-
>
G Mixolydian
J
■ I o o o » H «*
:g ■ i* |f^-
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<Hjo g |di=^
«* «»
Pie- ni sunt coe-li et ter- ra Glo-ri-a tu - a
Ho - san - na
in ex - eel - sis
$
a m o
**
o *»
a o
=M=«=
*>: o
o o o o let-
**=
o g g=
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Pie- ni sunt coe-li et ter- ra Glo-ri-a tu - a
Ho - san - na
in ex- eel
o " o M "
-o — » — o-
» o
3ti
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-o — O-
«» «»
«» M
>
Dorian
Mixolydian
^
~n~
-o-
Be - ne - die
Dorian
tus qui ve - nit in no - mi- ne Do - mi - ni
J
ITS
ZE
TT
3E
*K
3E
Ho
in
cel
SE
SIS
3E
m
TT
~n~
**
Ho
eel
**
sis
>>
Mixolydian
**
Lesueur, Rachel Oratorio, "Dico ego opera midi."
^^
w
^s
ffi
w
3Z=^£
$=&
ti ti
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E Mixolydian
206
He did not always use the modes in as pure a form as did the Renaissance composers. This fact
may have its explanation in the tyranny of the dominant seventh cadences, for Lesueur was often unable
to refrain from resorting to conventional Major-minor cadential formulae. In this respect his methods re-
semble those of Handel.
Lesueur, Cantate (religieuse) executee cm manage de
S.M. Napoleon Ie avec I'Archiduchesse Marie Louise.
No. 2 "In Peritia Sua."
P
^S
^
r u i
m
Me
f^f
^
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Bt Aeolian
^
^m
^te^E
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"f if ».
§u g m rjg
m&
^
VII7
In*
^
I'f
y »
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III
^
[V7 of III]
III
f*M^
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p ■M-'T-frrfi^
g
VU7
i
if I I
£
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i
*={
Major V7
[V7 of III] I
At least one innovation should be credited to Lesueur: by providing a simple harmonic accompani-
ment for a modal melody he created a modal homophonic style which has been much used since. The
excerpt from the Cantate illustrates his modal homophony, as does the following:
Lesueur, Ire Messe Solenette, "Credo."
¥
De
W¥
m
de de
j i a=v
^F=i=±
1 7 1 — £ 1 V 1
i
A Minor V7
Dorian
I
207
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m j if i
lu - men de lu
de
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I nf^n^n7 m
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g^a=s
isas
a^=«
It was not through his music alone that Lesueur influenced the course of music in France. He had
been one of the original professors of the Ecole de la Garde Nationale which was established in 1793,
and when, two years later, this school led to the founding of the Conservatoire, he became an inspector
of instruction and was a member of the committee which formulated the Principes elementaires de mus-
ique for the new school. In 1802 he was dismissed from the Conservatoire, partly because of having
published an audacious booklet, Pro jet d'un plan general de I' instruction musicale en France (1801), and
partly because of attacks on Cherubini and Catel when an opera by the latter was given precedence
over Lesueur 's at the Academic What might have proved a great misfortune turned out happily when
he became maitre de chapelle to Napoleon. He discharged the duties of his new post with credit to him-
self, wrote the mass for the Emperor's coronation, and, with the production of his most successful opera,
Ossian, ou les Bardes, became a great favorite of the ruler.
In 1818 Lesueur returned to the Conservatoire as professor of composition and it was in that capac-
ity that he made his most significant contribution to music. In the nineteen years that followed he taught
a brilliant group of young men who were destined to perpetuate the influence of his teaching. An even
dozen of his students won the coveted Prix de Rome: Bourgeois, Ermel, Paris, Giraud, Berlioz, Eugene
Prevost, Ambroise Thomas, Elwart, Ernest Boulanger, Besozzi, Xavier Boisselot, and Gounod.
Lesueur's preoccupation with the old scales caused him to emphasize the subject in his teaching, a
fact which has left its mark on the whole modern French school. He was a true academician and his
didacticism is apparent even in his compositions: almost every instance of modality is noted in a subtitle
printed in the score by such phrases as "Compose d'apres 1'antique harmonie des chants de la premiere
Eglise," or "dans le mode Eolien." In the opera Telemaque dans I'Isle de Calypso, ou le Triomphe
de la Sagesse (1796), which is Lesueur's principal effort at the employment of the Greek modes, the
practice of calling attention to the mode is carried to excess: every division has a pedantic superscrip-
tion. The following quotations were chosen at random: "Cboeur des Nymphes . . . dans le mode hypo-
dorien et sur le nome choraique"; "Choeur des Vents: Sur le nome diphrique et sur le mode Eolien en
observant la melopee haute"; and "Moderato — Dans le mode lydien aigu, avec la melopee mesoide
et Erolique." Burdened with such pedagogics, the wonder is that the work succeeded.
Lesueur was convinced of the moral and ethical character of the modes and sometimes expressed his
conviction that one mode inspired virtue and another vice. A persistent story relates that Gounod, to
the amusement of the class, took advantage of the old man by playing music in a licentious mode while
professing to play in a virtuous one. Such youthful pranks do not necessarily indicate disrespect, and in
Lesueur's case he seems to have had the veneration of his students. The influence of his teaching is
clearly discernible in the music of Berlioz, whose Memoir es (chaps, vi and xx) show how much this
eminent pupil honored and admired his master.
The full effect of Lesueur's teachings can never be correctly estimated for his doctrines were dis-
seminated largely through the music of his pupils. But the purely pedagogical aspect of his influence
can be gauged by the number of his students who became important professors. Antoine Aimable Elie
208
Elwart joined the staff at the Conservatoire the year before his master died and was professor of harmony
until 1871. Napoleon-Henri Reber became a harmony teacher in 1851 and taught composition from
1862 to 1880. Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas was professor of composition from 1852 to 1871,
when he was appointed Director of the Conservatoire. Jules Massenet, a pupil of Reber and Thomas, in
his long term as teacher (1878-1912) had as pupils Bruneau, Pierne, and Charpentier. Ernest Giraud,
Debussy's master, and Louis Albert, Bourgault-Ducoudray belong in the direct line, since they were both
pupils of Thomas. Bourgault-Ducoudray was lecturer on the history of music at the Conservatoire. He
wrote Conference sur la modalite dans la Musique Grecque, and ardently advocated the employment of
diatonic modes in composition.
Although he lived at the time when the Classical period was giving way to a new spirit, Lesueur was
himself an antiquarian whose predilection for the scales of the Church and of ancient Greece placed
him in the peculiar position of contributing to the genesis of the Romantic movement without being of
it. It would be a gross exaggeration to claim that he foresaw the extent of the revival of the diatonic
modes or that he alone was responsible for it. In any event, romanticism would soon have embraced
modality as an inevitable development, but it cannot be denied that Lesueur exerted a desirable influence
at a propitious moment.
Chapter XXVI
MODALITY AND THE FRENCH ROMANTICISTS
HECTOR Berlioz (1803-1869) was the pioneer of Romanticism in France. Because of an im-
patient temperament and circumstances of environment, in his early career he seems to have been
a rebellious son, a refractory student, and an iconoclast. He defied his parents' wish that he be-
come a doctor. He had nothing but disdain for Cherubini and the teachers at the Conservatoire, Lesueur
being the single exception. Even his innovations seem to spring from an intolerance of former values.
Living in a revolutionary age, he was imbued with the spirit of revolt. Bach's music he found dull.
Beethoven, on the other hand, was his god: through the music of this composer he seems to have recog-
nized a proud and defiant spirit whose prodigious struggles must have symbolized the very apotheosis of
his own. Although he admired Gluck greatly, Berlioz was totally unlike the composer of Iphigenie en
Aulide, who was willing to devote years to the definition of an aesthetic.
From the point of view of the formal art of the Classical period, the principles advocated by the
young romanticists must have seemed artistic anarchy, a repudiation of the laws of beauty. So thoroughly
did Berlioz subscribe to the theory of unrestraint that, but for the influence of Lesueur, even his musical
training might have been more deficient than it was. The debt he owed that master was never forgotten,
a fact to which his music testifies as plainly as his spoken and written word.
The use of the diatonic modes by Berlioz is undeniably a direct influence of Lesueur. Their employ-
ment is somewhat rare for the reason that Berlioz, unlike his master, had no interest in such scales for
their own sake: his aims were not pedagogical. Neither was he concerned about questions of "correct"
progression, traditional dominants, etc. His sole desire was to produce effects which the exigencies of
a particular descriptive musical program required. If one of the diatonic modes offered a convenient
means of obtaining the result desired, no other excuse was needed for its employment. The most patent
use of these scales is to simulate a churchly atmosphere and although composers were later to discover
in them a wider range of expression, Berlioz failed to go beyond the obvious.
The following examples of modality from L'Enfance du Christ (1850-1854) were introduced by
Berlioz because of their appropriateness to the religious subject he was treating. Note the prevalence
of Aeolian.
zsj-
3^E
Berlioz, L'Enfance du Christ,
"Chorus of Ishmaelites."
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A Aeolian
Dorian
Aeolian
209
210
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Berlioz, L'Enfance du Christ,
"Depuis trois jours."
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Berlioz, L'Enfance du Christ,
"La Fuite en Egypte."
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j j j.j j
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Minor
211
Berlioz, L'Enfance du Christ.
Epilogue
Final cadence.
4
123
5
V
ta
V^
b3
i
/T\
The frankness of the modality of the final cadence of L'Enfance du Christ is remarkable for that
time. The practice had been to revert to a conventional cadence in order to establish an unmistakable
close. The end of the Messe des Morts (1837) illustrates this procedure. Note also the series of cadences
(pseudo-modal and Phrygian), the leading idea of which is the manner in which the intervals of the
bass line contract. (Compare the odd-numbered measures.)
G Major IV
Pip
Berlioz, L'Enfance du Christ.
Trio for Harp and two Flutes.
li*
A
— i
rr
s
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ten
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men
etc.
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9
8
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III
II
7
m
TT
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Phrygian Major
,11 I.
V
The Phrygian II chord which appears in the Messe des Morts cadence is an example of the prac-
tice of introducing modal harmonies into otherwise major-minor passages. The idea was somewhat
rare a century ago but has since been expanded and is now common. Berlioz obtained exotic harmonic
color with the device, as the following excerpts attest.
Berlioz, Messe des Morts.
Final cadence.
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B Minor
Aeolian
V
212
I Minor I
V7
Ibid.
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Berlioz, Lej Troyens, "March and Hymn."
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213
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Another French composer of the period who used the old modes was Charles Francois Gounod
(1818-1893). He attended theological courses for several years and it was thought at the time that he
would take orders. During his sojourn at the Villa Medici he studied Palestrina's music assiduously and
wrote a mass which was performed at Rome in 1841. Another early mass was given in Vienna the fol-
lowing year, and the Messe Solennelle appeared in 1851. Throughout his life he continued to write
Church music of all descriptions, most of which is forgotten today, but which in sheer quantity over-
shadows his secular music. It was during his last years, after he had become a religious mystic, that
he composed his Redemption, Mors et Vita, and other large works. The Messe a ]eanne a" Arc is said to
have been composed in the Rheims Cathedral while kneeling on the stone where Joan of Arc knelt.
In view of his temperament and his predilection for the Church, the failure of his sacred music
to win approval must have been a bitter disappointment. And although it cannot account for the defi-
ciency of the quality of the music, it is nevertheless a significant commentary on Gounod's ability to as-
similate the essentials of a Church style to remark that he seldom employed the modes frankly, in spite
of his study of Palestrina, his admiration for Berlioz, and the influence of Lesueur. All too often he sub-
stituted a kind of counterfeit modality which consisted of common-chord progressions. The resulting
effect is neither major-minor nor modal; it is merely weak. This practice, plus a characteristic and stud-
ied simplicity, obtained mainly by chord reiteration, does not form a promising basis for a religious style.
ifeE
Adagio
Gounod, Messe, Priere pour le Roi.
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Very occasionally there are brief moments of real modality. The following instances occur in
otherwise conventional surroundings. It may be thought that the excerpt from Ullysse is an elaborate
II- V progression in C-Minor but the succeeding recitative (not quoted) is clearly G-Minor.
214
Gounod, Ullysse, No. 11.
Oboe
i
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Major
Phrygian
J- JHjl? J:
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Major
Gounod, Mejje, "Credo.'
C Aeolian?
Minor?
Dorian
Perhaps influenced by the title of the poem he was setting (Epitaphe d'une jeune Greque), Gounod
at least on that one occasion employed the pure Aeolian mode with very pleasing results. The excerpts
are taken from the opening and closing measures.
#
Andante
Gounod, Epitaphe d'une jeune Grecque.
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215
Ibid.
Final cadence
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Strictly speaking, Frederic Francois Chopin (1810-1849) does not belong to the French school, but
it may be argued that such a classification is not without basis, since his father was French and most of his
artistic life was spent in France. His temperament seems to have shown characteristics inherited both
from his father and from his Polish mother. The dreamy melancholy, the violent contrasts, and the dance
rhythms of Chopin's music are truly Polish but the refinement of his harmony may be claimed to be a
result of French ratiocination. The melodic and rhythmic elements were strongly influenced by Polish
folk music, but this apparently did not predispose him to make much use of the modes: for instance, his
Polish songs, Op. 74, are major-minor. He rarely used real modality; the best examples are those in
Mazurkas, Op. 24, no. 2 and Op. 41, no. 1.
Chopin, Mazurka, Op. 24, No. 2.
■f f f
fc=M
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A Aeolian I (VI)
II
(III) IV
V7
216
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Note the Lydian II7 in the second and sixth measures of the excerpt: it is a V of V formation
which almost establishes C as tonic. Beethoven, in the famous Lydian hymn in Quartet, Op. 12, used
the Lydian II7 in exactly the same way. (See chap, xxvii, p. 232.)
The Mazurka, Op. 41, no. 1, offers an extraordinary example of modality. First the theme is
given in pure C'-Phrygian harmony.
Chopin, Mazurka, Op. 41, No. 1.
Maestoso
Ctt Phrygian
15 11^
217
Then, at the recurrence of the theme, Chopin has transformed it by using the tonic chord in its Major
form {tierce de Picardie) and the rest remains in Phrygian. This is just the reverse of the traditional
procedure: using a chord from the Major mode in a Phrygian passage instead of introducing a chord
from the Phrygian (Neapolitan sixth) into a Major passage.1
Chopin, Mazurka, Op. 41, No. 1.
u.
m
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IV6
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For the part he played in French music Charles Camille Saint-Saens' importance is very great.
Throughout his long life (1835-1921) and especially after the disturbing events of 1871 he exerted
a steadying influence which was as much intellectual as musical. He and Romain Bussine founded the
Societe Nationale de Musique with the object of promoting the performance of new French works. To-
gether with Berlioz, Gounod, and Lalo, Saint-Saens is chiefly responsible for the great development of
music in France after the Franco-Prussian War. Even after the younger men (Franck, Faure, Chabrier,
and Debussy) usurped the leadership, Saint-Saens continued to be a power in the musical life of his
country.
The source of his modality is difficult to decide with certainty. Since he came from peasant stock,
the scales of folk music might have influenced him, but neither the Trots Rhapsodies sur des Cantiques
Bretons, Op. 7, for organ,2 nor the Rhapsodie d'Auvergne, Op. 73, for piano, supports such a conjecture.
A more plausible explanation of Saint-Saens' adoption of modality as a legitimate musical medium
is the extent to which he was influenced by Berlioz, Liszt, by the prevailing spirit of romanticism (al-
though he himself had marked classical tendencies), and by Church music with which he was in constant
contact through his position as organist first at St. Merry and later at the Madeleine, and perhaps
slightly by his association with Louis Niedermeyer at whose school he taught for four years.
The earliest instances of modal usage by Saint-Saens are in his Messe, Op. 4, written in 1856. The
idiom of the "Kyrie" recalls Lesueur but the "Gloria" seems more akin to the "March and Hymn" from
Le Troyens by Berlioz.
Saint-Saens, Messe, Op. 4, "Kyrie.'
G Aeolian
'For a final cadence formed by the succession Phygian 1 1- 1
in Chopin's Etude, Op. 25, No. 4, see above, p. 62.
2 See, however, the Mixolydian final cadence of Rbapsodie It
quoted above, p. 54.
218
PT2?
,i J ,i
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rETtrlT
yjSf
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Aeolian (Minor?)
(Phrygian?)
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Saint-Saens, Afewe, No. 2 "Gloria."
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4 A
£
as
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Major
Locrian VII
IV t
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Major
I
These first essays in the use of extra-major-minor material have a tentative air about them, especially
when they are compared with examples from Saint-Saens' later works. The two cadences from the
Piano Quintet, Op. 14, were written only two years after the first mass.
Saint-Saens, Piano Quintet, Op. 14.
Third movement.
219
Saint-Saens, Piano Quintet.
First movement
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A Mixolydian 1 7 IV
[V7 of IV]
Minor
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Lydian
IV6
Phrygian
IV6 n6
Major
I
The following passage from Ave Verum invites comparison with those quoted from the mass.
Saint-Saens, Ave Verum,
m
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VII VI 6 .
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of V
In 1886 Saint-Saens wrote his delightful suite Le Carnaval des Animaux, of which the "Marche
Royale du Lion" is Dorian.
Saint-Saens, Le Carnaval des Animaux,
"Marche Royale du Lion."
Final cadence.
{$
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The first String Quartet, Op. 112, dated 1899, is most remarkable in its employment of the Phry-
gian mode. Two quotations were given above, page 127 and page 129-
The Locrian tonic chord is a rarity as the chord of repose at the cadence, but Saint-Saens offers a
solution to the problem by altering the diminished fifth to perfect, a procedure which may be likened
to the changing of the minor third to major in the effect called the tierce de Picardie.
i
Saint-Saens, L'Ancetre. Act II.
m
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(c n?)
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Locrian
Vl7 Hl7
Permijjion for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright owners, Blkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
In 1893 Saint-Saens brought out his music to Sophocles' Antigone. He seems in this work to
have been the first to attempt an approximation of Greek musical style. The play has been treated by
many composers, among them may be mentioned the following: Tommaso Traetta (1772), Francesco
Bianchi (1796), and Niccolo Antonio Zingarelli (1796). Mendelssohn used the same subject for a
male chorus with orchestra (Op. 55, 1841). All the above works are uncompromisingly major-minor.
In a preface to his version Saint-Saens says: "In order to reproduce as closely as possible the effect of
antique choirs, the choruses are written in unison, employing instead of the modern Major and Minor
scales, the Greek modes used in plainsong." Saint-Saens uses the Greek Dorian prevailingly but some
use has been made of the Hypodorian, the Hypophrygian, and the Syntonolydian.3
Saint-Saens seems to be writing without a great deal of conviction. He resorts to extremes of oc-
tave doubling for the evident purpose of obtaining a full sound while making a show of conforming to
Greek practice. This is especially manifest when we recall that his other works depend a great deal
on orchestral sonorities for their effectiveness. Even the restrained polyphony employed was criticised as
being an anachronism.4
The following quotations from Antigone are illustrative of the technique employed. Note the
infrequency of accidentals and the correspondingly few changes of mode above a tonic.
J Syntonolydian mode:
Scale
Final
* A later (1898) setting of Antigone by C. F. Abdy Williams
has even less polyphony. Not only does he attempt to use the
Greek modes but also Greek rhythms. Some polyphony was
present in Greek music according to Reinach. (See his La
Musique Grecque, pp. 69-71 ) .
221
i
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Saint-Saens, Antigone, Part I.
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i
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A Greek Dorian
fe r r nr yy ir r j
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Saint-Saens, Antigone, Part II.
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Saint-Saens, Antigone, Part II.
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4
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Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright Owners, Etkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
222
Saint-Saens, Antigone, Part III,
"Invocation to Bacchus."
IpgipE
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Saint-Saens, Antigone, Part II5.
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Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, Prance. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co Inc.
Philadelphia, Pa.
Cesar Auguste Franck ( 1822-1890) is of minor importance to a study of the diatonic modes. He
never adopted the ecclesiastical modes as part of his tonal material in spite of his long service as
organist at St. Clotilde. His harmonic innovations were extensions of the major-minor system and the
use of even such short modal interpolations as the following is comparatively rare.
"Other instances of modality may be found in the following — Dorian. Hesse de Requiem, Op. 54 (1878). "Dies Irae" —
works by Saint Saens: Les Noces de Promethee, Op. 19 (1867). Aeolian.
Introduction — Aeolian. Melodies Persanes, Op. 26. "La Brise"
223
Franck, Danse Lente.
The lowered supertonic mannerism of Franck usually occurs as a lowered fifth of the dominant
seventh chord but may be regarded as Phrygian melody used in connection with the major-minor leading
tone. (See above, chap, xv.)
Franck, Prelude, Chorale, and Fugue.
^ J | J j j i
aa=
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#=#
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C Minor I6 V°, VI6 V&
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IV IV
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Published by authorization of N. M. Enoch & Cie, music publishers, Paris.
Franck, Symphony, First movement.
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Highly significant are the contributions of Emmanuel Chabrier (1841-1894) toward a freer con-
ception of harmony. ". . . Chabrier and Faure may be termed the first 'modernists,' since their inde-
pendent styles constitute an indubitable assertion of French traits."9 They are ". . . the veritable foster-
fathers of the generation of 1895."7
Harmonic freedom often means adopting modal- harmonies to supplement those of the Major-minor
system, but with Chabrier this was not so. Like Franck in this respect, his harmonic individuality
depended on extending the traditional musical material, but the scope of his originality occasionally
encompassed a passage which is modal. Two such examples are given below.
"Edward Burlingame Hill, Modern French Music (Boston, 1 Ibid., p. 45.
Houghton Mifflin Co., 1924), p. 5.
224
Chabrier, Gwendoline, Overture.
C Dorian
Chabrier, La Sulamite, Opening.
i
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r~rJriifrrr \
- +&k?
^^
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wm
W'
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si
ffi
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E\> Aeolian
(Major) Aeolian
Major
Dorian (IV7 I) Aeolian Locrian
i7 rv in vi_vni ii7 vi7
Major
v?
In their influence on the modern French school Chabrier and Faure share honors but in the history
of modality, the composer of Espana cannot be compared with his colleague. At about the same time,
Faure in France and Moussorgsky in Russia began to use the modes in a manner stylistically more
mature than their immediate predecessors and contemporaries. To these two go the credit for first using
the modes in a way which is wholly independent of ecclesiastical aesthetic. With them modern modality
reaches a maturity which is not imitative of earlier styles: the evolution in the theory and practice of
the modes which had been in progress all during the nineteenth century had finally brought about a
complete break with the past In order to differentiate the two styles, the newer may be called Harmonic
Modality.
225
Gabriel Urbain Faure (1845-1924) studied at the Ecole de Musique Religieuse with Niedermeyer,
Dietsch, and Saint-Saens, the last named being his real master. At the age of twenty-one he took a
position as organist at St. Sauveur in Rennes. Four years later he was back in Paris as assistant organist
at St. Sulpice. In 1896 he became maitre de chapelle at the Madeleine and professor of composition
at the Conservatoire. In 1905 he succeeded to the directorship of the latter. Meanwhile he had slowly
come to be recognized as one of the great musical forces of France. His original and insinuating har-
mony and refined lyricism revealed a new side to French music and inevitably placed him in the role
of spiritual leader of the younger generation.
Faure's harmonic style shows a categorical acceptance of the principle of interchangeability of mode
above a tonic. Although Moussorgsky preceded him by a few years in this innovation, there is no ques-
tion but that Faure evolved the idea independently and was one of the first to use it as a conscious
formulation. By combining a free exchange of the modes with seventh and ninth chords on any degree,
the vocabulary of harmonies was vastly increased. Another and less sensitive composer might have been
lost in such a broad field, but from it Faure deftly created a subtle harmonic texture.
The influences behind so radical a concept of harmony are difficult to conjecture. Born in the Midi,
Faure was no doubt familiar with modal chansons populates. At the Ecole de Musique Religieuse he
would have received instruction in the Church modes; through Saint-Saens he would have become ac-
quainted with the German romanticists; and at Rennes he would have experienced the folk music of
Brittany. Saint-Saens was convinced that the strict tonal system was breaking down and the young man
must have been familiar with his master's ideas.8 Yet these factors do not explain the idiom of Faure:
he never used folk melodies nor does his music suggest any such influence; nor can any ecclesiastical
style have been its prototype. The music of Saint-Saens, although often frankly modal, never ap-
proached the technique exhibited by that of Faure. A comparison of the excerpts given below with
those given on the preceding pages will reveal the gulf which separates the music of Faure from that
of his predecessors.
The following excerpts have been chosen to supplement those given throughout Book One.9 The
first two passages illustrate the lengths to which Faure carries interchange of mode.
Faure, Penelope.
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Reprinted by permission oj Heugel <& Cie, Paris.
8 Saint-Saens in a "Causerie Musicale" in the Nouvelle Revue,
November 1, 1879, wrote "Music has come to one of its per-
iods of evolution. Tonality agonizes. The antique modes re-
enter the scene, harmony is being modified."
"See Book One, pp. 10, 37, 45, 51, 62, 6,7, 73, 75, 87, 102,
113, 116, 122.
226
Faure, Fantaisie, Op. 111.
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Faure, La Bonne Chanson, 1892.
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Philadelphia, Pa.
228
Faure, La Bonne Chanson, "N'est-ce pas?"
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Faure, The Birth of Venus, Final cadence.
229
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In contrast to Faure, the source of modality as used by Vincent d'Indy (1851-1932) is clearly indi-
cated in the music. He was a disciple of Cesar Franck, from whom he probably received little or no
instruction in the diatonic modes. D'Indy, however, was a man of broad culture whose intellectual curi-
osity needed no prodding. He was a true musicologist as well as a composer, teacher, conductor, lec-
turer, and editor. From his association with Bordes and Guilmant in their movement to revive old music
and plain chant comes the influence of the Church scales, and from his collection 90 Chansons popu-
lates du Vivarais, Op. 52, comes his interest in the modes of folk song.
In the last part of Le Chant de la Cloche, when the Master Bellfounder's body comes into view, he
quotes from the Ritual for the Dead. Again in L'ttranger when the Stranger and Vita have gone to
certain death in an attempt to rescue the men in peril, an old sailor intones "De profundis clamavi ad
te Domine" and the throng which witnesses the tragedy answers with a Phrygian cadence.
D'Indy, La Legende de Saint Christophe.
F Phrygian
Copyright by Rouart, Lerolle & Cie. By special permission of Salabert, Inc., of 1 East }lth St., New York 22,
Another Phrygian cadence occurs in Op. 74.
D'Indy, Pour les Enfants, Op. 74.
No. 2 "A l'Eglise,"
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CoPintht hi Rouart, Lerolle & Cie. By special permission of Salabert, Inc., of I East iltb St., New York 22,
" N. Y.
230
One of the chief motives of L'Htranger is Aeolian. It might be called the "Motive of the Tempest."
Later form D'Indy, L'Etranger, Motive of the Tempest.
A Aeolian
Permission jor reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc
Philadelphia, Pa.
Early form
A Aeolian
In the Quartet, Op. 35, the theme of the third movement is Dorian.
D'Indy, Quartet, Op. 35, Third movement
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In the prelude to Act II of Fervaal a "Cevenole" chant populaire is used. It is said to be harmonized
in the Mixolydian mode,10 but until near the end the tonality appears to be C and the mode mainly Phry-
gian.
D'Indy, Fervaal, Op. 40, Act II, Prelude.
Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
10 M. Kufferath, "Fervaal, A Musical Action in Three Acts
and a Prologue," Music (September, 1897), XII, p. 565.
231
Although several of the composers who were discussed in this chapter lived well into the twentieth
century, they belong primarily to a generation earlier than 1895. The succeeding generation will be
the subject of Chapter xxx.
Chapter XXVII
MODALITY AND THE GERMAN ROMANTICISTS
The most remarked piece of modal writing in the past two hundred years occurs in Beethoven's
Quartet, Op. 132, the third movement of which begins with an Adagio marked "Canzona di
ringraziamento offerta alia divinita da un guarito, in modo lidico" ( "Song of thanksgiving offered
to the Divinity by a convalescent, in the Lydian mode). That the music is an exalted expression of its
great composer there is no question. It should not detract from the enjoyment nor should it be con-
sidered at all derogatory to point out that the passage is not the pure piece of modal writing that cer-
tain enthusiasts contend.
That Beethoven was keenly alive to the musical significance of the modes, he has shown in his harmonization of
the "Sacred .song in the Lydian mode," in the quartet No. 15, Op. 132. The melody is harmonized exclusively with
diatonic chords of the mode and without, of course, modulation. This is a typical example of genuine modal writing
and one which musicians would do well to study.1
Beethoven made no such claims: he probably would have resented as disparaging a remark that
a piece of his did not modulate. Not only does the hymn modulate, but its character is not strongly
Lydian. The peculiar quality of the Lydian mode is due to the tritone between the tonic and the aug-
mented fourth degree. If, as here, the augmented fourth degree is harmonized by a V7 of V chord,
most of the individuality of the mode is lost.2 The following annotated analysis is offered for the pur-
pose of making the author's position clear.
Molto adagio
Beethoven, Quartet, Op. 132, Third movement.
j Lydian?
(Major?
Non-commital since there is no B until
VofV V
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C. J. Sharp, English Folk-Song: Some Conclusions (London,
Simpkin and Co., 1907), p. 48.
2 See the Chopin example of the same kind on the preceding
chapter, pp. 215-216.
232
233
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The tonality of the whole passage is rendered somewhat ambiguous by the employment of the
seventh chord g-b-d-f. Because of the strong conventions associated with this form of chord under
the major-minor system, its use engenders an expectation of resolution to the tonic with root a fourth
above or a fifth below. As a logical extension of the system the chord V7 of V has become a common-
place of traditional practice, but it usually resolves to the dominant chord with seventh, which in turn
must resolve to the tonic. In other words, the relationships are clear when the established pattern is
followed. Beethoven, in the present case, has violated the formula, and, as a result, the chord relation-
ships are not definite, the tonality deliberately weak.
These observations should in no case be construed as a criticism. Weak tonality and pseudo-
modality have their proper uses and who can say that in this piece of program music Beethoven did
not find the perfect means of expressing the emotions of convalescence, that period of contented ennui
in which the recent sufferer, now at peace, is more than willing to exchange vagueness about the future
for forgetfulness of the past? Some such intention must have been Beethoven's if we may judge by
the descriptive phrase placed at the beginning of the succeeding section: "Sentendo nuova forza" ("Feel-
ing new strength").
A critical scholar might regret the fact that Beethoven did not observe certain established conven-
tions of modal writing. It can be equally well maintained that the structure of the last quartets violates
the classical model. The answer to both charges is the same: the music transcends mere form.
There are a few modal passages in the Missa Solemnis. They form a very small part of the
whole work and seem limited to Dorian and Mixolydian.
234
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Beethoven was commissioned to provide settings for Scotch, Irish, and Welsh folk songs and the
collection was published in Edinburgh in 1814-1816. Since many folk tunes of the British Isles are
modal, it might be expected that the harmonizations might also be modal. Such is not the case, however,
except for a few instances such as the following. .
"When Far from the Home." Final cadence.
235
In some cases the melody has been chromatically altered to conform to the Major or Minor scale.
These changes cannot definitely be ascribed to Beethoven for they may have been made by other hands
before being given to him. Compare the original of "The Pretty Girl Milking the Cows" as given by
Bunting3 with that of Beethoven.
Original:
"The Pretty Girl Milking the Cows."
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Beethoven, "Oh! Would I were but that Sweet Link.'
(Air: "The Pretty Girl Milking the Cows.")
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. . . How far he [Beethoven] employed Volkslieder and other tunes not invented by himself is not yet known.
Certain melodies in the Eroica, "Pastoral" and No. 7 symphonies, and in the sonata op. 109, are said to have been
thus adopted, but at present it is mere assertion.4
In two of the Rasoumowsky Quartets (Op. 59) Beethoven introduced Russian themes. That of
No. 2 is conventional but that of No. 1 appears to have been Aeolian in its original form. Note that
the seventh degree is the Aeolian form at the beginning but is raised to form the leading-tone in the
cadence.
Beethoven, Quartet, Op. 59, No. 1.
(Melody D Aeolian?)
5 Edward Bunting, A General Collection of the Ancient Irish
Music (London, Preston, 1796), N°54.
4 H. C. Colles, "Beethoven," in Grove's Dictionary of Music
and Musicians, I, p. 308.
236
If Beethoven used folk song to any great extent, no resulting modal influence is noticeable in his
works. Either he altered the melodies radically, or he used only major-minor tunes. The only alterna-
tive to the above is that folk melodies found but small place in the art of the master, and all evidence
points to such a conclusion.
It is safe to assert that the diatonic modes were of slight importance to Beethoven: he used them
very little. What is significant is that he used them at all — and almost everything he did was in a sense
prophetic. A beginning had been made and a precedent set. With Beethoven's last period begins the
renaissance of modality in German musical culture, but the reawakening was not immediate. In spite
of the example set by Beethoven, German composers were slow to adopt the modes and lagged behind
the French in this respect.
Robert Schumann (1810-1856) wrote almost entirely within the limits of the major-minor system
yet was sufficiently independent to make use of whatever tonal combinations served his purpose. Like
Beethoven, he possessed a keen sense of humor, rare in composers of instrumental music. The Humoreske,
Op. 20, composed before 1839, is one of the most extraordinary examples of musical humor, and it is
in the cadence that Schumann finds use for harmonies from the Aeolian mode. This is perhaps the earl-
iest instance of the use of modality for this purpose.
Schumann, Humoreske, Op. 20, Final cadence.
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237
The oratorios of Mendelssohn (1809-1847) show no trace of modal writing. His musical ex-
pression lay wholly within the boundaries of the major-minor system. Franz Liszt (1811-1886), on the
other hand, made some use of the modes in those of his works which have a religious basis.
As a young man Liszt had wanted to become a priest but was prevented from doing so by his
parents. Although apparently negated by certain episodes in his career, the religious urge remained
a vital factor in his life, as is proved by the fact that in 1858 he became a tertiary in the order of St.
Francis of Assisi and received an honorary canonry in 1879. It was interest in the Church which
stimulated Liszt to write his masses and other sacred works. His modality, then, may be said to have
been largely the result of Church influence, a judgment which is borne out by the fact that most of his
other works are conventional major-minor.5
In the Graner-Messe (1856), the "Credo" is Aeolian. The style adopted is simple and direct:
there are neither seventh chords, nor accidentals.
Liszt, Graner-Messe, "Credo," Final cadence.
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modality.
Liszt, Die Glocken des Strassburger Mtinsters,
Final cadence.
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1 See, however, the excerpt on p. 99.
238
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Other examples of modality may be cited: the Oster-Hymne, "O Filii et Filiae" from Christus (Aeo-
lian), and the Kyrie of the Missa cboralis (Dorian). It should be noted that the modal parts of these
works represent but a small percentage of the whole: by far the greater part is conventional.
The fact that Liszt and Gounod were both interested in religion suggests the possibility of further
resemblances, but aside from the irrelevant detail that their life spans were almost exactly equal, there
seems to be none. Between the French and German schools it is Berlioz and Liszt who resemble
each other in their manner of using the modes as a device for invoking a religious atmosphere but it was
Faure1 and Brahms who were the first to adopt modality as an essential element in their art. The com-
parison of the latter pair of composers must not be interpreted as meaning that their techniques were
identical: such an impression would be erroneous. Faure embraced interchangeability of mode uncon-
ditionally; he freely juxtaposed chords drawn from all the modes, rarely confining himself to a single
mode for more than a few measures. His employment of the modes was not piecemeal. Brahms, on
the other hand, although recognizing interchangeability of mode as a valid principle, subordinated its use
to the Major-minor system; he regarded modal harmony as a means of gaining contrast; his harmonic
technique is conventional with modal interpolations. Faure represents a cleavage with the past and
presages the future; Brahms' harmonic idiom belongs to the classic tradition of Mozart and Beethoven and
his modality is at most an important adjunct.
Notwithstanding the fact that he was Liszt's junior by twenty-two years, Brahms seems to have
been the first of the two to use modality: his piano Sonata, Op. 1 (1852) contains several modal
touches and antedates Liszt's earliest modal essay (in Graner Messe) by several years. Furthermore,
Brahms' modal style appears to have been mature at this time and may be said to have altered very
little throughout his career.
Brahms, Sonata, Op. 1. Andante.
n\ tjjji
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C Aeolian Minor
III I§ V7 I
240
C Major
C Phrygian VHjj
VI
Ibid.
Brahms, Klavierstiicke, Op. 118, No. 1. Opening.
A Phrygian
Brahms, Trio for Piano, Clarinet, and Cello, IV.
A Aeolian
Brahms, Sonata for Clarinet and Piano,
Op. 120, No. 1.
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241
Much of the modality evidently comes about through a desire for melodic contrast. Several such
examples are quoted below.
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Fourth movement.
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Minor
V7 I
Brahms, Quintet, Op. 34,
First movement.
Phrygian
Brahms, Trio, Op. 101,
Second movement.
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Brahms, Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Orchestra,
Op. 102, First movement.
Aeolian I
IV Dorian
IV? VII Minor
V?
242
Continuous employment of the Neapolitan sixth is sometimes responsible for the generation of the
Phrygian mode. In the following excerpt from the Trio, Op. 40, the Phrygian seems to be evolved in
this manner.
Brahms, Trio for Piano, Violin, and Horn, Op. 40,
First movement.
3? 3.
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The third movement of the Quartet, Op. 51, no.l, is quite similar except that Brahms seems to have
been experimenting in the use of the Phrygian as a minor mode with leading tone. In the first-violin
melody, the second degree always appears in its Phrygian form yet the seventh degree is usually £*, form-
ing a leading tone. In the accompanying harmony parts, the second degree is usually restored to its
Minor form. Note the Phrygian signature of four flats.
Brahms, Quartet, Op. 51, No. 1, Third movement.
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A notable case is that in the Quintet in F-Minor. Op. 34.
Brahms, Quintet, Op. 34, Second movement.
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w
^ '^ Hi «J
if
I
^
s
ii»
V:lh) -/ilPrP ^#
<t|»"f p v p
r^rf^t
sate
D
The Phrygian theme of the second movement of Symphony No. 4 is thought to have been due to
the composer's reading of Greek tragedy. The subject in Phrygian is given out in unison at the open-
ing but after a few measures it is harmonized with alternating Major and Aeolian.
244
Brahms, Symphony No. 4, Second movement.
E Phrygian
u,
m
g g j£fe^
U1LJLX/
-i1 v v
fflf
> ->Hi
r
i ¥" ■■ J Si i
J nfld j>
''LU- LLj
^
r
Major
V? I
Aeolian
IV
u
m
jj jtj:
g
U -iij
a
s
9=F
1
as ^
ST lj i
^
Major Aeolian Major
I IV I I6
Aeolian Major
V IV I I6
Aeolian Major
V IV I
The source of Brahms' modality can hardly be said to be religious influence as it was with Liszt.
No melodic modality was employed in the Requiem, Op. 45, although in the second and sixth movements
there is some pseudo-modality. The same method (emphasis on the secondary triads) is employed to
simulate antiquity in the setting of an altdeutsch text.
Brahms, Ich schett'mein Horn in's Jammerthal,
Op. 43, No. 3.
m
^^
^
$
" <u
IE
g * g §
P
d§z
G
V III
s
IV
r
in
245
±t 1
..
■**■
4 J
A q
«
V
IV
n5
i
i p. 1
in
V
III
»
VI
o
III
The evocation of a religious atmosphere through the employment of modes and the suggestion of
antiquity through pseudo-modal means are both romantic ideas. That Brahms sometimes approached the
techniques of Impressionism is illustrated by the beginning of the song "Von ewiger Liebe." Here the
Aeolian is used to evoke the dark, shadowy forest: Debussy later was to use the Dorian for a similar
effect in the introduction of Pelleas et Melisande.
Brahms, Von ewiger Liebe, Op. 43, No. 1.
rn.i
m
a.
T-r
IV
Minor
V
Dun- kel, wie dun- kel in Wald und in Feld!
Aeolian
In the Schicksalslied, Op. 54, the composer has chosen the Phrygian mode for its appropriateness
to the expression of the last stanza.
But we have been fated
To find on earth no repose.
They vanish, they falter,
Our suffering, sorrowing brothers ;
Blindfolded from hour to hour
They are driven like water dashed
'Gainst the rocks by the tempest ;
Darkly the unknown lures us below.
— Frederick Holderlin
So frequent are instances of modality in the works of Brahms that it would be easy to expand the
list given here but to do so would not serve any useful purpose since the main features of his style have
246
been illustrated.6 One peculiarity should be mentioned although it is not properly modal: Brahms
very frequently employed a minor sixth degree in the Major mode, thus producing an effect which is
sometimes falsely called modal. The same characteristic is frequently found among the Russian nation-
alists.
Brahms, Scbicksalslied, Op. 54.
^m
«=
SF
gjjjjg
p=&
M
I7TT
^
E\> Major
rtarr ruir r ftrrrr
3 3 3
Brahms, Piano Quartet, Op. 60, Third movement.
fifesg
«
>¥mjJ H* ^
p^#
&L
E Major
Curiously enough Brahms had no immediate imitators in Germany in the matter of modality. The
fact may perhaps be attributed to the influence of Wagner, who made little use of the diatonic modes.
Bruckner is hardly important from a modal standpoint. His Te Deum and the Masses in E-Minor, D,
and F-Minor exhibit almost no deviation from conventional practice. The following excerpt from the
motet Cbristus is one of the few passages which might be considered modal.
Bruckner, Motette, "Christus."
$
\> fi i
^m
r
§=m
D Aeolian I V6 IV6 III6
Phrygian
II6 I6
Minor
VII°7
I«
Richard Strauss has followed the Wagnerian tradition and although it is true that he has added to Wag-
ner's harmonic legacy, the modes are not a prominent feature of his style.
The deaths of Wagner, Liszt, and Brahms mark the end of a great period in German music. The
younger men, Strauss, Schonberg, Reger, and their contemporaries, who began their careers before 1900,
may be said to belong to two periods, but by reason of their spirit and technique their true place is with
the moderns. In closing this study of the history of the diatonic modes during the German romantic
period it is recognized that there is no clear demarcation between the old and the new. The sudden
advent of impressionism in France about 1890 provides a rather definite date for the beginning of the
modern period in that Gountry. In Germany the change had the character of a transition instead of
an abrupt outburst. Nevertheless, the final decade of the past century is not an arbitrary date for the
beginning of the modern musical spirit in Germany, since during that time appeared such prophetic works
as Strauss's Don Juan (1888), Tod und Verklarung (1899), Till Eulenspiegel's lustige Streiche (1895),
Schonberg's Verklarte Nacht (1899), and Gurre-Lieder (1899-1901).
"Examples of Brahm's modality given elsewhere in this work
are. to :t>e ' found in Book One, pp. 25, 26, 27, 50, 51, 52, 53,
57, 58, 61, 63, 66, OS, 69, 70, 71, 73, 89, 95, 99, 100, 108,
110, 113, 116, 118, 122, 124,and 125.
Chapter XXVIII
MODALITY AND THE RUSSIAN NATIONALISTS
Not only was Glinka the creator of Russian opera and first of the Russian Nationalists but he
was also the first composer of any country to make an extended use of the scales of folk song.
His first opera, A Life for the Tsar, was written between 1834 and 1836 and far antedates all
later works whose modality is the influence of folk music. The modal writing found in the works of
Lesueur, Beethoven, Berlioz, and Liszt has its source primarily in ecclesiastical music.
Michael Ivanovitch Glinka (1803-1857) spent his childhood in the country. Here the music of
the people must have made an indelible impression on his sensitive nature. It was during this period
that he gained that understanding of the mood of Russian folk song which was to enable him to remain
true to the unspoken traditions and unformulated aesthetics of his country's peasant music. It is per-
haps fortur ate that his formal musical education was meager because it is possible that a thorough train-
ing in classical harmony would have inhibited the very forms of expression on which his fame rests.
Lacking musical erudition, Glinka was forced to express himself in the idiom with which he was famil-
iar; he was compelled to solve his problems in a truly Russian way. The fact that he was consciously
trying to write national opera in no way disproves this contention. Without the advantage of a Russian
folk background his goal would probably have been unattainable.
Among the several characteristics of Russian folk song, modality is one of the most important. When
he began his career Glinka knew little or nothing about the scales of the Church1 and their elaborate
theory but, influenced by the music he had learned as a child, even the overture to A Life for the Tsar
makes use of a kind of modality. Note that the seventh degree of the scale does not appear in the
Aeolian section, which, after all, may be regarded as E-Minor without the leading tone.
Glinka, A Life for the Tsar, Overture.
(Minor with seventh degree omitted)
W
m£
3t
m?
w
m
m
W^
m
£
^m
$
^
=**"
A Minor
1 Glinka later became interested in the music of the Church
through his connection with the Imperial Chapel. Recognizing
that the ecclesiastical scales were identical with those of folk
music, he resolved to learn more of this branch of the art, and
in 1856 went to Berlin to study with Dehn. Apparently he
was hardly conscious of the fact that he had been using the
diatonic modes in a far more effective manner than had anyone
else since the rise of the Major-minor system.
247
248
Another feature which is typical of Glinka is that he uses orthodox harmony for modulation and
at the more important cadence points.
Glinka, A Life for the Tsar, Act II, No. 15 a.
|r rr NfrLrJ-ir § ijmuiir r m \
$
r pr p
gig
a^
zSzfc
lf[" ff7 7
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i*f£
nh
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liH
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7"i v6 i v2
i v6
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D Dorian
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V°9
The studious omission of the seventh degree was sometimes carried to extremes. Glinka seems
to have felt the leading tone to be foreign to the idiom he was using, yet hesitated to employ the sub-
tonic form which violated the rules of orthodox harmony. His method of solving the problem was to
avoid the use of the seventh degree.
Glinka, Russian and Ludmilla, Act III.
f £■ _ /*
|H
S
m
jo n
* il
m m^
A Minor?
Aeolian?
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(l3tt)
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249
A kindred device for avoiding the dilemma of the seventh degree was to accompany with bare
octaves a melody in which this degree did not appear. Glinka evidently felt that such a tune as the one
given below was not Minor and the use of the Minor dominant c-e^-g violated the Russian spirit. Unable
to reconcile the chord c-i-g with his slight knowledge of harmony, he adopted a treatment which made
it unnecessary to use the seventh degree during the course of the melody.
Glinka, A Life for the Tsar, Act III, Opening.
)H\yj -ii^
£
^m
V B 1 \
S
* i J
h v £ 7 J)
r m
SEJ
• p
£
£=£
F Aeolian
8-
sb r
1 i m
Minor
He did not always resort to such stratagems: sometimes the subtonic appears frankly.
Glinka, A Life for the Tsar, Act I.
m
i=#
%
#
^
»: ^
1
S
*r
r
j, j> ij J
p^p
"S
m
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Aeolian
Glinka, Prince Kbolmsky, Entr'act.
ii(n\nn
i
Bgp
A Aeolian
IS —
^
£
4
^^
=3=
r===> n
s > i i. i
p f F f
mm
m
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TT
s
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Minor
V
III
250
Two kinds of pseudo-modality served the purposes of Glinka: (a) emphasis on a secondary chord
(in the following case, at the cadence point).
Glinka, A Life for the Tsar, Act II, scene 2, No. 13.
J J J3 J
f r r r r
g^
r
J J fl j i P
T r r r r
,i J J
r r r
C Major
in
S- 0— *—0 ■ 0 F n 0 F 0 ■ 0 * rn
*¥. — ■ — i i—i — i 1 —
— i ■ — '
^ — i
— * — — i — i
—
=±==43=a=i=J=i=i
LJ J i. J
' j n j i ** j <
j J j. i
and ( b) the use of a minor subdominant in Major.
Glinka, A Life for the Tsar, Act II.
3
k jgjj ,^: £frbf:
»
^
E
i
j*
^^
J*
J2.
:2=
D Major
IV
3t
IV
3t
IV3l> i
This emphasis upon the minor "subdominant became a noticeable mannerism; it is used in almost
every scene of Russian and Ludmilla, and very frequently in Prince Kholmsky. The same device was
exploited by Brahms later in the century, as we have seen.
There is no modal writing in A Night in Madrid or in Kamarinskaja. Prince Kholmsky and
Russian and Ludmilla show a remarkable gain in harmonic resource. In the latter the style has so far
advanced that such progressions as the following are found.
Glinka, Russian and Ludmilla, Act I, Finale.
* #
e * r i
m j- j j *¥^
K
\>(C- -Cj2. |^. \\>(L \>& \\l
&J&
Ji
S
ttJI
«
i
m
Et Major Ilg
Locrian
II«
VI?
II1
IVJj
Major
iS
Glinka, Russian and Ludmilla, Act IV, Finale.
At
Phrygian [MixolydianJ
VI III7 IV 17 IV
V7 of IV IV
ng
ifi
251
Glinka created from Russian folk song a serviceable and effective musical language in which modal-
ity is an important element. To this Alexander Sergeivitch Dargomijsky (1813-1869) contributed a
heightened dramatic expression, racy humor, and a restrained declamation midway between song and
recitative. His innovations were complementary to those of Glinka and were more concerned with mat-
ters aesthetic than with the tonal medium. In fact, Dargomijsky 's harmonic style never embraced modal-
ity to any great extent. One of the few instances is found in The Triumph of Bacchus:
Dargomijsky, The Triumph of Bacchus.
&
S
S
A Aeolian
ionpL
m
■m- *■
Minor
Aeolian
His frequent employment of the minor sixth in Major is undoubtedly a direct influence of Glinka.
Examples may be found in The Triumph of Bacchus, Roussalka, and The Stone Guest, but nowhere so
consistently as in the Fantasia on Finnish Airs. In the finale of the last work the minor sixth appears
so frequently that, although the key signature is that of A-Major, the tympany is tuned to f and strikes
this note measure after measure.
The chief importance of Mily Alexeivitch Balakirev (1836-1910) is that he was teacher to the
little band of Nationalists called "The Five," and champion and propagandist for the fostering of all
music which was truly Russian. His musical output, although of extraordinary quality, was not volumin-
ous and his significance as a composer is outweighed by the consequences of his other activities. The
music added little to the development of modality, since it is largely major-minor or else shows strong
oriental influence. (See the symphonic poem Tamara, and Islamey, oriental fantasia for piano.)
Cesar Antonovitch Cui (1835-1918) was the first of "The Five" to come under the guidance of
Balakirev, but he was mostly self-taught. He was the son of a French father and a Polish mother, a
fact which may help explain why the Russian element is rather attenuated in his music. Modality is
little used and may almost be said to be nonexistent except for a few passages in the opera William Rat-
cliff.2
The music of Alexander Porphyrievitch Borodin (1834-1887) is occasionally modal3 but a more
prominent feature of his style, especially noticeable in Prince Igor, is oriental color. This may suggest
Balakirev's influence but it was possibly due to Borodin's own temperament and predilections since he
1 There are instances of the use of the Aeolian mode in the
opera Angelo (Act III, Chorus — Tarantella) and in the Quartet.
Op. 45 (first movement).
* Prince Igor contains the following modal passages:
Act II:
Scene and Chorus — Dorian
Chorus of the Polovtsian Patrol — Phrygian
Dance of the Boys — Aeolian
Men's Dance No. 2 — Phrygian
Act III:
Chorus and Dance — Phrygian
Act IV:
Jaroslavna's Complaint — Phrygian
Chorus — Aeolian
252
was the illegitimate son of an oriental prince. The conservative use of modality may be accounted for
by the fact that he was reared in St. Petersburg and thus never came into contact with the music of the
peasants. Borodin made effective use of pseudo-modality, however, as the following excerpt will attest
The melodic line belongs to C-Major but the V7 always resolves to VI. SudTemphasis on the deceptive
cadence produces a play between the Major key and its relative Aeolian.
Borodin, In the Steppes of Central Asia.
Borodin made striking use of a harmonic device which consists of chromatically descending har-
mony which was frequently used beneath a purely diatonic melody. The effect therefore, is neither real
modulation nor true modality, yet some of the chords have a modal relationship to the tonic.
Borodin, Second Quartet, "Notturno."
m
IFW
ggg ? p
*j
t
m
&
A Major IV
V7 of VI
pcrir
=p
»
in
Lydian II7
[V7 of V]
Aeolian VII
Major I
f
Borodin, In the Steppes of Central Asia.
£
r
t-J~Uj
I
Hi
r r v r r
T=
T
r r "' r p
A Aeolian
253
s*
35
j" jjjjj
*f=p
Y
k
T
r^
r
T
l=f
r=pF
Modeste Petrovitch Moussorgsky (1835-1881) was a follower of Dargomijsky in the matter of
declamation and aesthetics, but from the point of view of modality his master was Glinka. Having
passed his boyhood in the country, Moussorgsky was thoroughly imbued with the spirit of folk music, and
his early environment left an unmistakable mark on his compositions.
In general, the modal methods of Moussorgsky resemble those of Faure, although their personal
musical styles are quite different. Through an unreserved adoption of the principle of interchangeability,
both employ the modes melodically and harmonically with the greatest freedom, and Moussorgsky even
preceded Faure in this respect by a few years. No mode is ever used for very long, and in many pas-
sages it changes with every chord or two. Such constant shifting is largely responsible for the fact that
the music never sounds as if it were an imitation of the ecclesiastical style. The new usage emancipated
modality from the role of a mere coloristic device of romanticism and transformed it into a neo classic
technique. Instead of being called in for a specific programmatic purpose, modality, when used in a
manner so thoroughgoing, becomes a technique of absolute music. The melodic and harmonic poten-
tialities are as broad as possible within the frame of the diatonic scale system of Western civilization.
In the breadth of this concept is realized the full flowering of the Harmonic Modes.
Moussorgsky, Boris Godounov, Act IV, scene 1,
Introduction.
¥fe?
i
r
r
yg^
^=4
m *>'" *
FT u f e y r 1 7
f V
Minor Lydian V VI '
I II '
f * | * i* § *
At Mixolydian
V
Vl7
V6
IV
Mixolydian V
Minor LydianDorian VI?
I II m
254
W J Ji.J J
4J J I
warn
*^-
*
m
b*T*i
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^^^^
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y ^
^ p.
M
m
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bJ |? J J JFFg. " ^g|
Aeolian VII
IV Minor
V
I Aeolian
Dorian
VII VI VII V I VII VI VII V I I"™» I I
+6 T t+6
Moussorgsky, Boris Godounov, Act IV, scene II,
Chorus of Boyars.
m
i'-JiJ fl
|EEpJ
»
gg
l*»
^^
pS*«
Al> Aeolian I
II7 l6 iV7
II7 I6 IV7
M \: r iirJ
d "j | | J.i J J "'^1
as ih
it
i
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m
VTT
VI
Major
I
Phrygian Major
II " III VII I
Phrygian
IV III II III I
i ^ i i
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f T % tif
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bf bbf f
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IV III II III Major Phrygian
V I VII VI VII V I VII VI VII
^v.-f m * ¥
inl
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iv
r^
I+6 Minor
V2 VI* v! VI6
(l+6)
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f
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(I+6)
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IV
255
Moussorgsky, Boris Godounov, Scene I.
Prologue.
m
\ br; bj
£
*
i^
Phrygian
V+6
i | »»]»[, j i s p iLff
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JP# I j
33*
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iiiii
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f 7-
Major
I
It should be remarked that Moussorgsky rarely makes any concession to the major-minor, system:
even in the cadences a mode is retained in pure form.
Moussorgsky, Khovantchina, Final cadence.4
Me
S
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I IV I VI I IV I VI I
Moussorgsky uses the Major and Minor modes a great deal: to do otherwise would be to deny him-
self the full tonal palette of the Harmonic Modes. He is always ready, however, to interpolate a modal
chord or short passage if it serves his purpose.
Moussorgsky, Without Sun,
"All Past the Feast Days."
itk
i ig HM f'f
m
Ek
I4
Mixolydian Major
V IV l6 V
I6
14
' This final cadence may possibly have been written by Rim-
sky-Korsalcov, but if so, it is thoroughly in keeping with Mous-
sorgsky's style.
256
Moussorgsky, Khovantchina, Act I, scene No. 2.
_ ... m
■*¥• — > w
— m 1
0
m 1
■
i
m
U — 5 U^
^^ 1~
I l f
I--1
d
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J * m
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— J
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•
A Minor V
m
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Minor I Aeolian
Almost every scene of Boris Godounov and Khovantchina exhibits modality.5 The songs and
other works are somewhat less uniform in this respect but examples are not lacking as is proved by
the excerpts given above and elsewhere.6
The circumstances of the early life of Nicholas Andreievitch Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) were
very similar to those of Moussorgsky. He passed his childhood in a rural environment where he absorbed
the folk-song spirit. Destined for a naval career, he attended the Naval College in St. Petersburg but at
odd times continued a musical education begun at the age of six. It was at this time that he met
Balakirev and was fired with the musical ambition which eventually resulted in his resignation from the
service.
Rimsky-Korsakov recognized interchangeability of mode as a valid principle but practiced it in his
own way. He was much more likely to use a single mode for an extended passage than was Mous-
sorgsky and for this reason his modal methods are a closer approximation to those of Glinka than were
his colleague's. This style seems more suitable for the musical utterances of one who was essentially
lyrical. Rimsky-Korsakov used the diatonic modes for coloristic effects and for reasons of program.
In a word, his modal usage was that of a romanticist.
'' Boris Godounov:
(Paul Lamm, ed., Vocal score, London, Oxford University
Press, 1928.)
Prologue:
Scene 1
Introduction, pp. 1, 2 — Aeolian
Prayer (Chorus), pp. 5, 6 — Aeolian
Dialogue, pp. 8, 9 — Phrygian
Chorus, p. 14 — Aeolian
Scene 2:
Introduction, pp. 31-34 — Locrian and Lydian
Act III:
Scene 1
Marina's Song, pp. 238-39 — Lydian
Scene 2
Polonaise, pp. 270-72, 277-279— Lydian
Act IV:
Scene 1
Introduction, pp. 305-306 — Aeolian
Pimen's Narrative, pp. 349-50 — Dorian
Boris's Charge to his Son, pp. 357-58 — Aeolian
Choir, pp. 361-64 — Aeolian
Scene 2
Chorus, pp. 399-400 — Aeolian and Phrygian
Khovantchina:
Act III:
Introduction — Phrygian and Aeolian
Chorus — Mixolydian and Aeolian
Act IV:
Introduction and First Chorus — Aeolian
Scene 7 — Aeolian and Phrygian
' Other modal quotations from Moussorgsky's works will be
found on the following pages: pp. 4, 43, 45, 48, 59, 64, 67,
69, 72, 78, 80, 82, 91, 102, 109, 110, 112, 117, 118, 129,
and 147.
257
Rimsky-Korsakov, Snegourotc.bka,
"Danse des BufTons."
EiSJ
£t
EEfc
m
fa
:9-
^
S
S
F Dorian
=S±J
fct
ps
f^gf
^
■9-
^^
=^=
^
^
Minor I
Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheberezade, III.
G Major
Major
&*=—
== =_^:===========S
$ ^
m-t-
*):# l,».
7 }^^ ^^
IIs"
'^ '
Phrygian
Major
Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheberezade, I.
j'r rrrrrrn^^
at
i^^
Stf
m
4
f=
f
B Dorian
V7of A
258
Rimsky-Korsakov, Sadko,
"Danse des ruisseaux et des sources."
Major I
^
Rimsky-Korsakov, Capriccio Espagnole, No. 2,
Variazioni.
^m
wm
sm
i
i
^
F Major I
IV
+6
Aeolian
IV+6
Rimsky-Korsakov7 sometimes used pseudo-modality with surprising effect. The following example
is particularly striking, since it bears a general resemblance to a passage in Stravinsky's Petroushka, al-
though the means employed are very different.
7 For additional modal passages in the works of Rimsky-
Korsakov, see the following:
Nuit Meridionale, Op. 3 — Phrygian
he Vieux Mont et la Nue, Op. 3 — Aeolian ,
Sur les Collines de Georgie, Op. 3 — Phrygian
Sadko
Tableau III:
Beginning — Phrygian
Tableau IV:
Scene between Douda and Sopiel — Aeolian
Chanson Vareque — Dorian and Aeolian
Snegourotcbta
Act I
lere Chanson de Lei — Dorian
Act II
Hymne des Barendeys — Phrygian
Hymne finale — Dorian
Act III
Opening chorus — Mixolydian
Pskovitianka
Close of Act I, scene 2, tenor solo with male chorus —
Aeolian
The Tsar's Bride
Act II, scene 3
Intermezzo — Aeolian
Mlada
Act II, scene 4
First Chorus — Aeolian
5/8 Chorus — Lydian
Priests' Chant — Aeolian
Act IV
Beginning— Aeolian, later Phrygian and Mixolydian
four de Fete
3 — Mixolydian
La Grande Paque Russe — Aeolian and Dorian
Die Legende von der unsicbtbaren Stadt Kitesh und der
Jungfrau Fewronia
Act II— Dorian, Aeolian, and Phrygian
Act III, scene 1 — Aeolian, Dorian, and Phrygian
Act IV
A cappella chorus^ — Lydian
259
Rimsky-Korsakov, Pskovitianka,
Act II, scene 2, Intermezzo.
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Most of the Russian contemporaries of the composers discussed above used the diatonic modes to
some extent but their contributions to the development of modality are comparatively unimportant.
For this reason, the compositions of such composers as Liadov, Napravnik, Arensky, Rubinstein, and
Tschaikovsky are not treated in detail, although excerpts will be found elsewhere in this work. The
younger men, Glazounov, Gretchaninov, Scriabin, Stravinsky, and Prokofiev, belong to a more modern
period, a brief sketch of which is the subject of Chapter xxx.
Chapter XXIX
OTHER MANIFESTATIONS OF MODALITY
IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
The revival of the use of the diatonic modes during the nineteenth century was mainly confined
to France, Germany, and Russia. The composers of England were under German influence and
had not yet begun to be affected by their own folk songs. Spain's nationalists had yet to be
shown the way by Debussy, Ravel, and other foreign writers of "Spanish" music. In Italy the whole
musical scene centered around lyric opera, the success formula for which did not include excursions
into modality. Only Verdi seems to have had an occasional urge to experiment with odd scales. The
Ave Maria (1898) on a "scala enigmatica" is clearly probative and, although diatonic, the scale is not a
member of the family of diatonic modes which has so long been part of our Western civilization.
#«» H tfSE
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Another oddity occurs in Aida (1870) and is obviously the result of a desire to represent the exotic color
of Egypt. The scale used has a minor second like the Phrygian but the major third denies such a classi-
fication. Note the simultaneous bh and bk in the second excerpt.
Verdi, Aida, Act I.
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261
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While Spain and Italy lagged behind Russia, Germany, and France in the rediscovery of the dia-
tonic modes, Norway and Czechoslovakia were keeping abreast of developments through flourishing na-
tional schools.
Edward Hagerup Grieg (1843-1907) and Richard Nordraak consciously planned the Norwegian
national movement in music. After the latter's death in 1866 Grieg continued pioneering with such
effectiveness that today he is not only regarded as founder but also as the greatest composer of his native
school.
The most famous modal passage in a work by Grieg is the final cadence1 of the Piano Concerto,
Op. 16. It is this Mixolydian harmony (Mixolydian V7) and scale which, at the interview with Liszt in
1870, caused that master to exclaim, "G, g, not g-sharp! Wonderful! That's the real Swedish flavor!"2
Grieg's modality is apparently not the result of a purist's passion for the scales of folk song, because
he does not display any marked modal tendency in his arrangements of folk melodies nor in compositions
based on them.3 Somewhat exceptional are the following and whether or not they are genuine folk
tunes, they show the composer's fondness for the Lydian mode.
Grieg, Nordic Dance and Folk-tunes,
Op. 17, No. 1, Spring Dance.
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Grieg, The Mountaineer's Song, Op. 73, No. 7.
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1 For the excerpt, see above, p. 33.
•Richard H. Stein, Grieg: Eine Biographic (Berlin, Schuster
and Loeffler, 1921), p. 53.
* See the Album fur Manner gesang nach norwegischen Volks-
weisen, Op. 30.
262
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The Trauermarsch zum Andenken an Rikard Nordraak has the characteristic minor seventh scale
degree.
Grieg, Trauermarsch zum Andenken
an Rikard Nordraak.
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There are a number of passages which are Aeolian, among them the first movement of the quartet,
Op. 27, and the fourth of the Humoresques, Op. 6. From the latter work comes the following:
Grieg, Humoresque, Op. 6, No. 2.
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The Phrygian is somewhat rare with Grieg. The following excerpt is used for humorous con-
trast: previously, thirty-second note figures in the upper parts obviously represented the twittering of
birds but when transferred to the bass the effect is truly droll.
Grieg, Voglein, Op. 43, No. 4.
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263
In common with many North European composers, a stock device of Grieg was to use the minor
subdominant chord in the Major mode. The practice is rare in southern countries but is found fre-
quently in the compositions of German, Russian, Scandinavian, and Czechoslovakian composers. With
Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884), founder of the last-named school, this form of pseudo-modality was
greatly exploited and is especially prominent in his salon pieces, polkas, dances, and so on.
Apparently Smetana did not regard the diatonic modes as the essence of a Czech national style be-
cause his music is almost wholly Major-minor.4 On the other hand, there is a certain freedom in his
harmonic methods which gives his music its individuality.5
The remarks about Smetana's modality apply equally to Zdenek Fibich (1850-1900) if we add that
he came successively under the spell of Weber, Schumann, Liszt, and Wagner. His influence outside
Czechoslovakia is slight in comparison with that of Smetana and Dvorak.
It was Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904) who first incorporated the modes of Czechoslovakian folk
music into his compositions. Like Faure and Brahms, his manner of using the modes was mature
even in the earliest works and seems to have undergone no change throughout his life. The second
movement of Symphony No. 1 ( 1872) begins with an Aeolian passage:
Dvorak, Symphony in £* (posthumous),
Second movement, Beginning.
Tempo di marcia (J^:88)
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It will be noticed that Dvorak reverts to a conventional VT for the cadence. The practice places
him in that category of composers who employ the diatonic modes but rely on major-minor formulae
for cadences.6 This method is perhaps due to a desire to combine the strong tonality of the major-minor
with the more comprehensive melodic expression of the modes.
Dvorak, Symphony No. 5, Finale.
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Krizkovsky (1820-1885), composer of male choruses in folk
song style.
5 See examples in Book One, pp. 31, 77, and 113.
" Other such composers: Berlioz, Liszt, and Glinka.
264
In another way the composer shows his wish to fuse major-minor strength and modal variety: a
modal melodic line (usually Aeolian) is supported by a major-minor accompaniment.
Dvorak, Suite (posthumous), V
Aeolian
Minor
Copyright by N. Simrack. By permission of Associated Music Publishers, Inc., Agent.
Dvorak, Suite for Piano Quartet, Op. 98,
Fourth movement.
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Dvorak was fond of contrasting repetitions of his melodies and developing his motives by refer-
ring them to different modes. The idea has since become common property and perhaps no one has
utilized it to the extent of Dvorak's son-in-law, Josef Suk. The following excerpts are illustrative of
the technique.
265
Dvorak, The Moon-Witch, Op. 108.
A Phrygian
Minor Phrygian
(Aeolian)
Dvorak, Quartet, Op. 34,
Trio of Second movement.
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Dvorak seems to have preferred the Aeolian mode but did not use it exclusively. Where other
modes are employed, there seems to be some special dramatic reason. The Phrygian example from the
266
Moon Witch (quoted above) accompanies the father's finding of the dead infant in the arms of the swoon-
ing mother. The following polymodal passage (Lydian and Major) expresses the hysterical gaiety and
guilty agitation of the bride during the- marriage scene as she remembers her murdered first husband.
Molto vivace
Dvorak, The Wild Dove, Op. 110.
C Lydian
Major
Lydian
Major
Lydian
Major
Lydian
A surprisingly large part of Dvorak's compositions include modal writing. A number of quotations
from his works were included in Book One, Part I.
Leos Janacek ( 1854-1928) is considerably less important from the standpoint of modality although
he is in the direct Krizkovsky-Smetana-Dvorak line. The beginning of the third act of his opera Jenufa
is Dorian and there are other instances of modality, but his special preference was for the Aeolian and
an odd scale which presumably is found in the native folk music.
On the other hand, the use of the Greek scales is to be regarded as conscious with Novak and Janacek and is
the result of their more intensive study of Moravian and Slovakian folk song. Janacek had a predilection for using
the scale g», a*, b, c*, d, e, f*, g* . . . and the scale g*, a", b, c*, d', e, f*, g» . . J
Vitezslav Novak and Josef Suk have continued the national school established by their predecessors
but they belong properly to the modern period.
'Alois Haba, Neue Harmonielehre des diatonhchen, Chro-
matischen, Viertel, Drittel, Sechstel, und Zwoljtel Tonsystems
(Leipzig, Fr. Kistner und C. F. W. Siegel, 1927), p. 58.
Chapter XXX
THE MODES IN THE CONTEMPORARY PERIOD
IT HAS generally proved hazardous to theorize about a contemporary art. Such conclusions and
estimates as may be made are almost invariably revised or superseded later. The original evalua-
tions and their authors become fair game for succeeding generations of critics and historians whose
greater enlightenment is not necessarily the result of keener discernment and whose confident opinions
may in turn suffer the same fate. The process is as inevitable as it is necessary. He who proposes a
hypothesis, hazards a first opinion, or makes a thoughtful observation establishes a point of departure
for subsequent investigation, comment, and argument. He serves the advancement of knowledge as
surely, if not so well, as he who establishes an ultimate truth. It is in this spirit that the following
observations on the use of the harmonic modes in the contemporary period are made.
As was shown in the past several chapters, by 1900 the diatonic modes had been revived and
their use had become quite general. Although the ecclesiastical plagals, dominants, and so on, had dis-
appeared, the octave forms were identical with the ancient scales of the Church and the interchange-
ability which had previously been allowed between the Major and the Minor had been extended to
include all the modes. The changes which had taken place were due to imposing major-minor tech-
niques on all the other modes: the fifth had become the dominant of each scale even of the Locrian;
the unprepared dissonances of the seventh and ninth were freely employed. Formerly modal writing was
contrapuntal but the new concept was primarily harmonic. Briefly, these are the characteristics of the
harmonic modes.
The romantic and nationalistic movements in France, Germany, Russia, Scandinavia, and Czecho-
slovakia may be credited with having simultaneously found new means of expression in the changed con-
cept of the old scales. On the other hand, English composers of the period looked to Germany for
leadership and were slow to grasp the significance of the new trend.1 It was not until the influence
of Debussy and Ravel was felt that modality began to be adopted, and, at about the same time, the
English became aware of their wealth of modal folk song, and this, too, had a profound effect. Thus
it may be said that nationalism came to British music simultaneously with impressionism. Evidences
of both may be found in such works as A London Symphony (1914) and the Pastoral Symphony
( 1921) by Vaughan Williams. The nationalistic spirit predominates in certain other works whose titles
betray their native background. In this class the following may be cited as examples:
Vaughan Williams: Norfolk Rhapsody; No. 1 (1906) — Aeolian and Dorian
Delius: A Dance Rhapsody (1909) — Lydian
Howells: Lady Audrey's Suite (1916)
1. "The Four Sleepy Golliwogs' Dance" — Dorian and Lydian
2. "The Little Girl and the Old Shepherd"— -Phrygian
3. "Prayer Time" — Aeolian
4. "The Old Shepherd's Tale"— Aeolian
The Quartet in A-Minor, Op. 21, by Howells makes use of the Aeolian mode in the first two
movements, whereas the third is Mixolydian. John Ireland exhibits a decided predilection for the Dorian
mode,2 but he has a varied style and is not confined to that one mode.3
1 Some modality is found in Elgar's Dream of Gerontius, and The Bells of San Marie
the Chorus "God of Night." Stanford's oratorio Eden (1891) Mother and Child
is pure Mixolydian, perhaps because of the use of "Sanctorum 3. "Hope"
meritis" quoted from plain chant. "John Ireland:
2 For examples see Book One, pp. 36, 46, 81, 83, 89,and 101. The Adoration — Aeolian
The following compositions are also Dorian: Sonata for Piano
The Land of Lost Content First movement — Aeolian
1. "The Lent Lily" Concerto in B> for Piano
Finale — Mixolydian
267
268
Sacred music in England continues to be largely major-minor but three examples of modality in
this field may be cited:
Whittaker: Psalm CXXXIX— Phrygian
Howells: Mass in the Dorian Mode
Wood: The Passion of Our Lord (according to St. Mark)
Hymn I — Phrygian
Hymn II — Mixolydian
Hymn V — Phrygian
Final Chorus — Phrygian
The generation of French composers whose work began just before the turn of the century
inherited a well-developed modal technique from Saint-Saens and Faure. Although it would be a mis-
take to overemphasize the importance of modality in Debussy's music, he was quick to incorporate
it as an integral part of the impressionist method. At one time or another he used every one of the
modes with the possible exception of the Mixolydian. His use of the Locrian has already been dis-
cussed.4 The Dorian opening measures of Pelleas et Melisande are well-known.5 The opera contains
many other modal passages which contribute largely to the illusion of antiquity. The "Prelude" to
the suite Pour le Piano, from which comes the following Aeolian example, is another work which em-
ploys several modes.
Debussy, Pour le Piano, Prelude,
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Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, Prance. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vonel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
The first movement of the string quartet makes considerable use of the Phrygian mode. Note the
'Phrygian-minor"6 V7-I at the end of the following example.
Debussy, Quartet, First movement.
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4 See chap. xiv.
r'An aii-Dorian piece is "Pour invoquer Pan, dieu du vent
d'ete" from Six Epigraphes Antiques.
"For a discussion of this subject, see chap. xv.
269
In Chapter xiv, above, on the Locrian mode, it was suggested that Debussy's use of the Locrian is
often mistaken for the whole-tone scale. A Lydian melody is likewise apt to be erroneously considered
whole-tone.
Debussy, Estampes, No. 1, Pagodes.
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Besides the traditional Major and Minor scales Ravel quite frequently uses Greek scales: the Dorian, Hypo-
dorian, and occasionally the Phrygian also. That is to say that he resembles Debussy, without doubt because,
like the author of Pell/as, he had at one time come strongly under the Russo-byzantine influence.7
The modality of Ravel does not all proceed from the Russo-Byzantine influence: L'Heure Espagnole
contains much modality although the principle of interchangeability is employed with such freedom
that the effect is quite kaleidoscopic from a modal standpoint. Scene 24 is somewhat less mercurial:
it vacillates between Mixolydian and Phrygian. Scene 21 (a habanera) is Aeolian.
Most of Ravel's works contain some modality but the instances are often very brief. The string
quartet exhibits this fragmentary treatment and in a form sufficiently clear for ready analysis. It is
interesting to compare the final cadence of the second movement with the excerpt quoted above (p.
268) from Debussy's quartet: both may be called "Phrygian-minor" cadences.8
Ravel, Quartet, Second movement.
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' Alfredo Casella, "L'Harmonie," in the "Numero Special
[Maurice Ravel]," La Revue Musicale (April, 1925).
8 The Ravel example may also be compared to the "Phrygian-
minor" (Melodic form) from Respighi's Belkis, Regina di Saba,
see above, p. 146.
270
Another striking final cadence is that of the first movement of the piano concerto.
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Permission for reprint authorized by Durand & Cie, Paris, France. Copyright Owners, Elkan-Vofsel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
Some of the more straightforward instances of modality in Ravel's compositions are:
Menuet Antique — Aeolian
Ma Mere I'Oye: "Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant" — Aeolian
Pavane pour une Infante Defunte: — Major, Phrygian, and Aeolian
Cinq Melodies populaires grecques:
1. "Chanson de la Mariee — Phrygian
Le Tombeau de Couperin:
Prelude^Aeolian
Fugue — Aeolian
Rigaudon — Aeolian
Trots Chansons:
"Ronde" — Lydian
Trio :
I. Beginning — Dorian
II. Beginning — Aeolian
III. Phrygian
Piano Concerto (1932):
III. Lydian
Pride of heritage, the instinct which engenders nationalism, when carried to extremes, sometimes
contracts the cultural horizons to the point where the artistic impulse finds sufficient latitude within
the narrow confines of a single district. In the field of music the phenomenon of regionalism has had
several representatives. In France Deodat de Severac and Guy Ropartz, both excellent composers,
have devoted themselves to the idiom of their respective provinces, Languedoc and Brittany.9
De Severac seems to have been somewhat didactic: he sometimes indicates the mode used. The
"Danse de la Resurrection d' Adonis" in Act III of Heliogabale is labeled "dans le mode 'Hindola',"
which proves to be identical with the Aeolian. In Scene 4 of the same act the music is "dans le mode
Phrygian primitif" which proves to be E-Dorian with a (the fourth degree) treated in the manner of a
pseudodominant :
"To a somewhat less extent Bela Bartok and Zoltan Kodaly
may be called regional composers. They have based their art
on the true Magyar folk music which they themselves have
painstakingly sifted out from the mixture of Slovak, Gypsy,
Roumanian, and Hungarian music current in their native land.
The music of Bartok, like that of Stravinsky, falls into no con-
ventional mold: for each piece a special idiom seems to have
been invented and exhausted. Kodaly's methods are less dis-
parate. The following pieces are modal:
Kodaly: String Quartet, Op. 2, I. — Aeolian; II. — Dorian.
Duo for Violin and Violoncello, Op. 7, I. — Dorian.
Bartok: Tanz-Suite fiir Orchester, II. — Dorian; III. — Aeolian.
271
fN1
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N. Y.
Much more typical of his style is the following excerpt.
De Severac, Heliogabale,
Act III, "Masquerade."
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Modal passages from the works of de Severac and Ropartz may be found at the places indicated
below.
De Severac:
Le Coeur du Moulin
Act II
Introduction — Aeolian
Final Chorus — Aeolian
Heliogabale
Prologue
Chorus of Christians — Aeolian
Act I
Introduction — Aeolian
Danse Lascive — Aeolian
Act II
Chorus of Acolytes — Mixolydian
Scene IV — Aeolian
Finale — Aeolian
Act III
Masquerade — Phrygian and Aeolian
Scene II, Introduction — Aeolian
"J'ai des musiques" — Aeolian
Ropartz :
Un Prelude Dominical et Six Pieces a Danser
IV. "Mercredi" — Mixolydian
V. "Jeudi" — Phrygian
Yver, vous n'estes qu'un villain — Aeolian
Prelude, Marine et Chansons
II. 'Marine" — Lydian
272
Satie's technique was highly personal but he was not without modal propensities. There are vari-
ous evidences of this in Socrate which is practically all modal, and although the harmony is harsh, the
modes are rather pure.
Satie, Socrate, III, Mort de Socrate.
D Dorian
Copyright 1920 by Editions de la Sirene. By permission of Associated Music Publishers, Inc., Agent.
Gymnopedie No. 1 is Lydian and Dorian, No. 2, Mixolydian, and No. 3, Aeolian.
Most of the other recent French composers exhibit some modal tendencies: it may be truly said
that modality is a part of the technical equipment of every composer and is used often but not exploited.
Several examples of modality are:
Reynaldo Hahn:
La Reine de Sheba
"La Scene se passe dans le palais de Shelmo" — Locrian
Maurice Emmanuel:
Sonatine TV en divers modes Hindous: Adagio — Phrygian
Albert Roussel:
La Naissance de la Lyre
"On dirait qu'un reve edaire sa pensee" — Phrygian
Scene 8 — Mixolydian
Francis Poulenc:
Les Biches (62) through (63) — Mixolydian
Valse for piano — Lydian
An interesting polymodal passage is found in Mowements Perpetuels, No. 1 by the last-named
composer. This passage is sometimes erroneously considered polytonal, but although the ear recog-
nizes two simultaneous scale forms, it assimilates them through the common tonic Bb.
Poulenc, Mouvements Perpetuels, I.
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By permission of the Copyright Owner, J & W Chester, Ltd.
Despite the fact that Italy has always been ready to take up new ideas from other lands, she was
slow to react to the revived interest in the diatonic modes. Not until the early years of the present
century did Italian composers begin to make use of the new scale concept. The reasons for the delay
are clear enough, although somewhat involved.
For centuries Italy's music has been unconsciously nationalistic: there seems to have been an un-
spoken conviction that the native artistic instinct was a surer guide to musical verity than any system
of consciously evolved aesthetics. The correctness of the theory is borne out by the fact of the accep-
tances in other countries of Italy's leadership in matters artistic. Even when foreign ideas were imported
they did not alter the basic traits of Italian music. Whether the influence was Flemish counterpoint,
an attempted revival of Greek drama, or the Wagnerian leit-motif, the result has always been the same:
273
the new idea is assimilated so thoroughly that the characteristics of the Latin temperament are strongly
reasserted and remain dominant.
The native cultural heritage could not be the source of fresh musical inspiration in Italy that it
was in other countries, since Italian music had so long been nationalistic, however unconsciously. In
the light of this it becomes quite understandable that the early efforts at the use of modal harmonies,
which, it must be admitted, were somewhat crude, hardly tempted nineteenth- century Italian composers
to abandon their polished musical speech.
By 1900, however, the situation had altered: in several countries modality had been developed to
a point where it had become an important adjunct to the traditional major-minor system. Under these
circumstances Italian composers reacted to the new influence, adopted the principle of interchangeabiiity
of mode, and soon evolved a modal style which is peculiarly their own.
The technical essentials of the modern Italian modal idiom may be summed up as follows:
a.) Frequent long single or double pedals, or inverted pedals.
b.) Single or double long-continuing ostinato figures.
c.) Added tones (especially the sixth and second) and unresolved appoggiaturas.
d.) Predominance of diatonism (comparatively little chromaticism).
e.) Infrequent employment of the Minor mode.
f.) Common-chord progressions.
g.) Catenation of passages based on long pedals.
h.) The virtual abandonment of the major-minor V7-I cadence.
i.) Writing in such a way that the melody rather than the harmony determines the tonality and
mode.
j.) Much reliance on figures of open fifths. (A possible source of this is the tuning of stringed
instruments. )
The characteristics mentioned above are illustrated by the following excerpts.
Malipiero, 11 Canto della lontanza.
Aeolian
C Dorian (Note long double pedal and added tones)
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By permission of the Copyright Owner, ] & W Chester, Ltd.
274
Malipiero, La Mascherata del/a Principessa Prigioniere.
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Allegro vivo
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Malipiero, Sette Canzoni, "L'alba delle ceneri."
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(Note ostinato figure composed of open fifths)
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275
Respighi, Quartetto dorico.
E Aeolian (Note that the melody determines the tonality)
(Not C Lydian)
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Major
Malipiero, La Principessa Ulalia.
(Note progression by thirds)
By permission of the Copyright Owner, C. C. Birchard & Company.
Malipiero, // finto Arlecchino.
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Lydian
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276
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Major
Pizzetti, Tre Canzoni per Canto e Quartette
d'Archi, I, "Donna Lombarda."
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C Locrian
Pizzetti, Debora e Jaele, Act III.
V Pedal
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277
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Of the several well-known composers of the Italian school Casella is the least predictable. Per-
haps his eclecticism is due to his musical education at the Paris Conservatoire, but whatever the reason,
he does not conform to the same pattern as his compatriots. Italo Montemezzi occasionally employs
modal harmonies10 but he does not adopt them to any great extent. It is Pizzetti, Respighi, and Mali-
piero who have made the use of modality a prominent feature of their art. Respighi was consciously
archaic in at least one work (Concerto Gregoriano for violin and orchestra) but with his modal har-
monies (mainly Dorian) he used the dissonances of the seventh and ninth freely. The beginning of
both the first and second movements of the Concerto suggest organum and discant. Pizzetti seems to
have been influenced by sixteenth-century music although he has combined it with modern harmonic
technique. It should be pointed out that he and Respighi use the Major and Minor considerably
more than Malipiero. Seldom is the Minor mode found in the last composer's works. A number of
instances of modality by Respighi, Pizzetti, and Malipiero are:
10 For instance there is a passage in C-Phrygian in L'Amore
dei Tre Re, Act II, at the words (sung by Manfredo), "Che
did tu? Chi did? Morla ella? Non piu esislere?"
278
Respighi :
Concerto Gregoriano
I. — Dorian
II. — Dorian
Pint di Roma ....
"Pini presso una catacomba" — -Aeolian
Vetrete di Chiesa
I. "La fuga in Egitto" — Aeolian
III. "II mattutino di Santa Chiara" — Aeolian
Metamorphoseon
Theme — Aeolian
Trittico Botticelliano
"L'Adorazione dei Magi" — Aeolian
Belkis, Regina di Saba
"Danza deH'Offerta" — Phrygian
Maria Egiziaca
II. "O bianco astore" — Aeolian
Pizzetti:
Quartetto per Archi
I. Lydian
II. 2nd variation — Aeolian
/ Pastori — Aeolian
La Madre al Figlio Lontano — Aeolian
// Clefta Prigione — Dorian
Coro di Catecumeni di Cucutrice — Aeolian
La Pisanella
Prologue
Scene 1 Prelude — Phrygian
Scene 2 L'Entremets — Aeolian
Act I
Scene 4 Prelude — Mixolydian
Sonata in Fa (cello and piano)
II. — Phrygian
III. — Aeolian and Phrygian
Sonata in La
I. — Phrygian
Debora e ]aele
' Act II
Introduction — Dorian
Act III
Introduction — Phrygian
Alleluia — Phrygian
Messa di Requiem
"Requiem" — Major, Minor, and Aeolian
"Libera me" — Aeolian
Lo Straniero
Act I
Introduction — Dorian
Pra Gherardo
Act I
Scene 1 — Chorus of Flagellants — Aeolian
Scene 2 — Locrian and Phrygian
Act II, Chorus: "When the people of Parma"
Concerto dell'Estate
III. "Gagliarda e Finale" — Dorian
Introduzione all' Agemennone di Eschilo
1st Choral Episode — Lydian
2d Choral Episode — Dorian
279
Malipiero:
Poemetti Lunari
5. — Aeolian
II canto delta lontananza — Aeolian
Ftlomela e I'lnjatuato
"Donne, che givan fior cogliendo" — Lydian
La Mascherata delle Principesse Prigioniere
Opening — Lydian
Rhpetti e Strambotti
Verse I — Lydian
Verse II — Lydian
Verse IV — Lydian
Verse XII — Lydian
// Pinto Arlecchino
Don Trifonio's Poem — Aeolian
In Germany there has occured a curious break in the course of modality. No one seems to have
taken up the diatonic modes where Brahms left off. This can be accounted for partly by influence of
Wagner-Strauss major-minor chromaticism, and partly by the twelve-tone system advocated by Schonberg.
Hindemith is supposed to have been strongly influenced by the modes, and many passages bear this out.
Hindemith, Das Marienleben, "Argwohn Josephs."
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But the examination of many of his published works suggests that Hindemith's musical language is the
product of an exuberant empirical attitude which accepts limitations only after application of trial and
error procedures.
Stravinsky is another composer whose creations bear witness to an indefatigable experimental zeal.
He may be said to have applied the laboratory method to musical composition. His role as an innovator
has at least as much significance as the purely musical worth of his product. Each new work seems to
have been conceived in a different idiom. It may be said with considerable truth that Stravinsky's latest
piece will have more influence on other writers than it will on himself. If the composer of he Sacre
du Printemps has since adopted more classical means of expression, it does not follow that he has
become a conservative: the technical details have not become less complex with the renouncement of
prodigality.
280
Since Stravinsky's art depends on continual revision of technique, it is not to be expected that
modality will be present in his works as a constant. Furthermore, although the diatonic modes have
had an undoubted effect they are seldom used in anything approaching a pure form.11 The many
modal passages in the Symphonie de Psaumes are typical of Stravinsky's modal treatment.
Stravinsky, Symphonie de Psaumes,
Last movement, Final cadence.
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The polymodal (Locrian-Phrygian) passage in Oedipus Rex is one of the most telling moments in
the work. . ,.
Stravinsky, Oedipus Rex.
G Phrygian
Locrian
Phrygian
By permission of the Copyright Owner, Boosey 6 Hawkes, Inc.
11 Exceptions are the little choral work Ave Maria, which
is pure Phrygian, and "Ce qu'il a, le chat" from Berceuses du
Chat, which is Mixolydian.
281
Scriabin and Prokofiev are of little significance in the history of the diatonic modes. Gretchaninov
and Glazounov are the men who have continued the modal traditions of the Russian nationalist school.
The Liturgia Domestica and the third symphony of Gretchaninov contain many modal passages, and the
following instances may be indicated from the works of Glazounov.
Glazounov:
Moyen-Age Suite
I. Prelude — Aeolian
II. Serenade du Troubadour — Aeolian
he Kremlin
II. Dorian
II. — Dorian
Stenka Razin
Allegro con brio, Beginning — Dorian
Suite pour Quatuor d'archets
III. Orientale — Dorian and Mixolydian
Jour de Fete
I. Aeolian, Mixolydian, and Dorian
I. — Aeolian, Mixolydian, and Dorian
Esquisses Finnoises
I. Cortege solonnel — Phrygian
Der Konig der Juden
I. Introduction — Aeolian
II. Gesang der Jiingen Jesu — Aeolian
VI. Zwichenakt — Phrygian and Aeolian
VII. Zwichenakt — Aeolian
VIII. Syrischer Tanz — Mixolydian
Jan Sibelius dominates Finnish music to such an extent that he has become a national institution.
Strongly influenced by his country's native music, his musical speech has included modality from the
earliest compositions to the latest. The following excerpts are from Symphony No. 1, which was writ-
ten in 1899.
Sibelius, Symphony No. 1, First movement.
First theme.
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283
In a general way, the manner in which Sibelius employs the diatonic modes resembles Brahms' treat-
ment, but there are several important differences. Brahms' modal passages have a more transitory
character: the modal insertion is used for contrast, for commentary, for quaint or fanciful harmonic di-
gression, and even for suggestion of the archaic, but almost always the modality is extrinsic. On the other
hand, the modality in Sibelius' music is organic, a part of the basic conception. This fact is supported
by the themes of the symphonies of the two composers. Whereas, with but one exception,12 the themes
of Brahms' symphonies are exclusively major-minor, the large orchestral works of the Finnish master
include several which are modal. Four examples from the first symphony are quoted above. Others
which may be cited are:
Symphony No. 2
I. — Aeolian
III. At 12/4 "Lento e suave" — Aeolian
Symphony No. 6
I. — Dorian
III. — Dorian
IV. — Aeolian
Sibelius also employed the modes with less restraint than did Brahms. Such passages as the fol-
lowing do not occur in the compositions of the German.
Sibelius, Symphony No. 4, Final cadence.
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Besides the illustrations and citations18 already given, the following list shows the location of other
modal passages.
Fruhling schwindet eilig — Aeolian
Lemninkainen zieht heimwarts — Aeolian
Pohjola's Tochter, Op. 49 — Aeolian
Schwanenweiss, Op. 54
"Harfenspiel" — Aeolian
Nachtlicher Ritt und Sonnenaufgang, Op. 55 — Aeolian
Scenes historiques
I. "AirOvertura" — Lydian
u The theme of the second movement of the fourth symphony
of Brahms is Phrygian. See above, p. 244.)
"See the following pages for excerpts quoted in Book One,
pp. 29, 31, 43, 71, 79, 93, 94, 106, 123, 145. and 147.
284
In this chapter on modality in the contemporary period, the discussion has been confined mainly
to the leading composers. In many cases lesser writers make even more frequent use of the diatonic
modes, but what they do is naturally of relatively less significance. It should be evident from the ex-
amples quoted that the modal activity begun in the last century has been increasing in recent years and
the use of the complete system of diatonic scales [the Harmonic modes] is continuing vigorously and
at present shows no signs of slackening. What the future may hold in the way of further development
and evolution is a question to which no one can guess the answer.
Chapter XXXI
RECAPITULATION
Although the development and theory of the Harmonic modes has been treated in some detail,
a brief recapitulation in larger terms may throw the more important points into relief.
The basic scales of Western civilization are seven types which, from their character, are called the
diatonic modes.1 Through relation to these source scales, the scales and scale systems of the past 4,000
years are interrelated. The original Greek Dorian (E-e type) could be integrated with the Phrygian
(D-d type), since the two were part of the basic seven; the Major scale (C-c type) and the Minor (A-a
type) are likewise two integrated parts of the source scales. On the surface the major-minor scales of
the last three hundred years seem to have little in common with the pair of ancient Greek scales men-
tioned above: the octave species are different, the mese theory bears little relationship to the highly
organized theory of tonality, and the simple monodic song of the primitive Greek seems infinitely
removed from the rich polyphony of Bach. Nevertheless, the two pairs of scales ( major-minor and
Greek Dorian-Phrygian) belong to the parent system and have a cultural relationship which transcends
the disparate theories.
Although the basic scale aesthetic of our music is diatonic, the smaller intervals (chromatics) have
always offered musicians a resource for varying and enriching the fundamental scales. The lure of the
variety afforded by chromaticism eventually leads to such excesses that the native diatonism is sometimes
threatened, but before it is obscured, reaction sets in and the basic diatonism is strongly reasserted. Within
recorded history there have been three distinct cycles of the process: chromaticism has three times risen
to a point where it almost overwhelmed the essential diatony. But each time the pendulum has swung
in the opposite direction and the use of chromaticism diminished. With the return to simple means after
the prodigalities of the Enharmonic and Chromatic genera., ancient Greek music completed the first cycle.
The second was finished early in the seventeenth century when major-minor homophonic simplicity re-
placed musica ficta and polyphony, and when it became apparent that composers were not going to
follow the extravagances of Gesualdo. Signs that the third cycle was almost complete began to be
noticeable at the end of the last century with the reaction against the chromaticism of Wagner and
Franck. The revival of the diatonic modes was begun by the founders of the several national schools
and was completed by their immediate successors. The pioneering process was concluded just before
the turn of the century ( 1890-1900) and by that decade the Harmonic modes may be said to have been
fully realized. That is not to say that no advances have been made since. On the contrary, development
has been remarkably rapid. In the past half century there has been a great deal of activity: revolt
against romanticism; impressionism; jazz and blues; polytonality, polymodality, and atonality; linear
counterpoint; neoclassicism; neoromanticism, etc. Despite continuing interest in the twelve-tone system,
there is discernible today a trend toward simpler tonal means largely based on the Harmonic modes.
The theory and practice of the Harmonic modes derive in large measure from the theory and prac-
tice of the major-minor system with the exception that the clausula vera is no longer the only acceptable
form of the dominant cadence. In point of fart, all during the twentieth century there has been a strong
reaction against the major-minor dominant seventh; most composers have felt that it was the worst of
cliches and avoided it at all costs.
1 Because of the significance to Western civilization, the modes are indigenous ethnologically to the Indo-European sub-
seven basic diatonic modes may be compared in a general way, families speaking the centum languages (Greeks, Italians, Celts,
to the Indo-European family of languages. The analogy should and Teutons), and not to those of the satem group (Indo-
not be carried too far, since it is probable that the diatonic Iranian, Armenian, Albanian, and Balto-Slavic).
285
286
A concise statement in general terms of the theory of the Harmonic modes may be useful. This
formulation has been deduced from the actual practice of the past century.
1. The Harmonic modes are eight in number: Lydian, Mixolydian, Major, Dorian, Aeolian, Phry-
gian, Locrian, and Minor.
2. The concept of tonality formerly included only the Major and the Minor but now encompasses
all eight scales, even the Locrian. Modal tonality is weaker, perhaps, but that is no longer thought
undesirable by a musical world which considers banal those conventions of the major-minor system
upon which strength of tonality depends.
3. The principle of interchangeability of all eight modes without change of tonality derives
directly from the major-minor practice of interchangeability between these two. Through this principle
all the semitones of the octave have a prime relationship to the tonic, making for great melodic and
harmonic freedom without modulation. On the other hand, the process of modulation is simplified and
made smoother through the fact that the two tonalities involved (the old and the new) have more tones
in common.
4. The principle that the strongest harmonic progressions are between those chords whose roots
form intervals of fourths and fifths continues in the practice of the Harmonic modes.
5. The dominant of each mode is the fifth degree of the scale and the dominant cadence is an
unaltered V-I progression for all the modes, even the Phrygian and Locrian.
6. All harmonic configurations of the major-minor system are transferred intact to the Harmonic
modes. Not only are the unprepared dissonances of the seventh and ninth used freely, but also added
tones, unresolved appoggiaturas, and chords in fourths.
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Index
Index
Aaron, Pietre, 166
Andrews, Hilda, 176
Arensky, Anton S., 259
Aristotle, 155, 160
Aristoxenus, 155, 161
Ausweichung, 1, 7
Bach, J. S., 177, 179, 180, 185, 189;— "Aus liefer Noth schrei
ich," 190; "Frenet euch, ihr Christen," 189; "Gelobet seisl du,
Jesu Christ," 191 ; "Komm Gott Schopfer, Heiliger Geist,"
191; Prelude I, 50; Toccata and Fugue, 192; Well-tempered
Clavier, Fugue II, 180
Balakirev, Mily Alexewitch, 251
Bartok, Bela, 270; Rumanische Volkstanze, No. 11, 80
Beethoven, Ludwig van, 177, 232 i;—Missa Solemnis, El Res-
stirexit, 234, Gloria, 117; "Oh! Would I were but that Sweet
Linit," 235; Quartet, op. 18, no. 3, Finale, 8-9; Quartet, op.
59, no. 1. 235; Quartet, op, 131, VII, 31; Quartet, op. 132,
111, 232; Sonata, op. 109, III, 56; "When Far from the
Home," 234.
Berlioz, Hector, 177, 207, 209 f, 213, 2i9 ;—L'Enfance du
Christ, "Allez dormir bon pere," 50, Chorus of lshmaelites,
209, "Depuis trois jours," 210, Epilogue, 94, 211, "La Fuite
en Egypte," 210, Trio, 211, 212; Les Troyens, March and
Hymn, 31, 42, 212; Messe des Morts, 211
Blainville, Charles Henri de, 193 f
Boethius, 155, 163
Bordes, Charles, 229
Borodin, Alexander P., 251 f; — In the Steppes of Central Asia.
252; Prince Igor, Act II, 37, Act III, 100; Second Quartet,
"Nocturno," 130, 252.
Bourgault-Ducoudray, 208; hypothesis, 169
Brahms, Johannes, 239 f, 263. 283 ; — Concerto for Violin, Cello
and Orchestra, op. 102, I, 241; Die Mainacht, op. 42, no. 2,
89; Die Trauernde, op. 7, no. 5, 25; Ein deuisches Requiem,
op. 45, I, 116, //, 57; Ein Sonnett, op. 14, no. 4, 53; Ich
schtll'mein Horn in's ]ammertha[, op. 43, no. 3, 244; Klav-
ierstiicke, op. 118, no. 1, 240, op. 119, no. 4, 69; Lied, op. 3,
no. 4, 68; Mein Herz isl schwer, op. 94, no. 3, 100, 125;
op. 33, no. 15. 51; Piano Quartet, op. 25, IV, 241; Piano
Quartet, op. 60, III, 246; Quartet, op. 51, no. 1, I, 110, ///,
242; Quintet, op. 15, IV, 108; Quintet, op. 34, I, 241, //,
243; Romanzen aus Magelone, "Sulima," 113; Schicksalslied,
op 54, 61, 246; Sextet for Strings, op. 36, I, 26; Sonata for
Clarinet and Piano, op. 120, no. 1, 240; Sonata, op. 1, An-
dante, 53, 71, 126, 239, 240; Symphony, no. 2, III, 25; Sym-
phony no. 4. II, 63, 95, 99, 132, 244, IV, 58, 73; The
Death of Trenar, op. 17, no. 4. 66, 122; Trio for Piano,
Clarinet, Cello, op. 114, IV, 50, 240; Trio for Piano, Violin
and Horn, op. 40, I, 242; Variationen und Fuge iiber ein
Thema von Handel, op. 24, 52; Variations on a Theme by
Haydn. VI, 70; Vergangen ist mir Gliick und Heil, op. 62.
no. 7, 27; Verrath, op. 105, no. 5. 95; "Von ewiger Liebe,
op. 43, no. 1, 118, 245; Wie die Wolke nach der Sonne, op.
6, no. 5, 69
Bruckner, Anton— Motette: Christus, 246; Quintet, II, 124
Busoni, Ferruccio, 23, 178
Buxtehude, Dietrich, 177 ;— Passacaille, 179
Byrd, William, 176;— My Lady Nevells Booke, no. 10, 180
Cabezon, Antonio de, 175
Caccini, Giulio, 176
Casella, Alfredo, 269, 277
Cassiodorus, 163
Cavalieri, Emilio de', 176
Cavalli, 176
Cerone, Dom Pietro, 166
Certon, Pierre, 175
Chabrierj Emmanuel, 177, 223 f; — Gwendoline, Overture, 224;-
La Sulamite, 111, 224
Charlemagne, 164
Chauvet — Vingt Morceaux. no. 15, 71
Chopin, Frederic, 177, 215 f; — Etude, op. 25, no. 4, 62; Ma-
zurka, op. 24, no. 2, 215, 216; Mazurka, op. 44, no. 1, 216;
Mazurka, op. 41, no. 1, 217; Prelude in F Major, 54; Prelude,
no. 6, 60
Clausula vera, 166, 175, 178, 285
Cleoneides, 155, 156, 158
Combarieu, Jules, 140, 144, 175, 181
Contiguous modes, 51
Cui, Cesar Antonovitch, 251; — Angela, Act 111, 37; Angelo,
Womens Chorus, 89; Trios Scherzos, op. 82, no. 1, 104;
Trios Scherzos, op. 86, no. 1, 113, no. 3, 73, 130
Dargcmiisky, Alexander S., 251; — Fete de Bacchus, 251; Stone
Guest, Act 1, 122
Debussy, Claude, 260, 267; — Estampes, no. 1, 269; La Dam-
oiselle Elue, 136; La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin, 136; Pelleas
and Melisande, Act I, Scene 1, 61, 83, Scene 3, 68; Pour le
Piano, Prelude, 97, 123-124, 268; Pour un tombeau sans
nom, 144; Quartet, I, 268; Six Epigraphs Antiques, I, 47;
Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, Interlude, 144
Dehn, Siegfried, 201, 247
Delius, Frederick, 267
Diatonic-Chromatic Cycles, 285
Diatonic Modes, 1, 185, 260, 261, 267, 285; compared to
Indo-European language group, 285
D'Indy, Vincent, 172, 229 f ;— F ervaal, Act II, 230; La Legende
de Saint Christophe, 229; L'Etranger, 230; Lied Maritime,
63; Pour les Enfanls, op. 74, "A I'Eglise," 229; Quartet, op.
35, II, 100, ///, 91, 230; Symphonie sur un Chant Montagnard
Francais, 139
Dodecachordon, see Glareanus
Dominant-seventh, reaction to, 285
Dorian signature, 179
Duhamel, Maurice, 169
Dunstan, Ralph, 141, 144
Dubois, Francois C. T. — Noel, 34; Theme Provencal Varie, 53
Dvorak, Antonin, 263 f ; — Biblische Lieder, op. 99, no. 1, 78;
Concerto for Cello, I, 96; Gute Nacht, 120; Legenden, op.
59, no. 3, 57; Liebeslieder, op. 83, no. 7, 145; Mazurka, op.
49, 111; Moravian Duets, no. 4, 70; no. 11, 99; Quartet in"
A-flat, I, 67 ; Quartet, op. 34, II, 265 ; Quintet in E, III, 70 ;
Quintet, op. 105, II, 130; Requiem Mass, "Lacrymosa," 74;
Rusalka, 60, 99, Act 11, 71; Suite, V, 264; Suite for Piano
Quartet, op. 98, IV, 264; Symphony in E-flat, 11, 263; Sym-
phony no. 5, I, 96, 109, //, 24, 71, ///, 48, IV, 102, 263;
The Moon Witch, op. 108, 265; The Wild Dove, op. 110, 266
Eichheim, Henry — Across the Silent Stream, 74 ; Aedh Wishes His
Beloved Were Dead, 83, 128
Elgar, Edward, 267 — Dream of Gerontius, 8, 47, 77
Emmanuel, Maurice, 24, 155, 156, 159, 160, 164, 178. 179.'
272; — In Memoriam, II, 49
295
296
Euclid, 155
Faure, Gabriel Urban, 223, 224, 225 f, 239, 253, 263, 268; —
Fantasie, op. Ill, 87, 226; La Bonne Chanson, "J'ai pretque
peur, en verite," 227 '; Le Jardin Close, "Inscription sur le
sable," 227 '; Messe Basse, Benedictus, 75, Sanctus, 62; "N'esl-
ce pas," 228; op. 42, no. 2, 45; op. 103, no. 3, 113; Pelleas
el Melisande, Prelude, 51, ///, 228; Prelude en Fa Majeur,
op. 103, no. 4, 116; Penelope, 225, Act I, 228, Act III, Scene
5, 10, 228; Prison, op. 83, 73; Requiem, Offertoire, 67;
Second Quintet, op. 115, I, 101, 116, //, 37, III, 122; The
Birth of Venus, 229
F&is, Francois Joseph, 14
Fibich, Zdenek, 263; — Smrt' Hippodamie, Act IV, Prelude, 61
Folk Songs, 160, 267; — Sally Brown, 34; Japanese air, 143;
Lament for the Son of Fineen Dubh, 142 ; Modern Greek
Melody, 143, Swedish air, 143, 170; Beethoven's settings of,
234-235; modal frequencies in, 171, 172, 173
Fortlage, Karl, 170
Fortunati, Francesco — Psalm Dixit, 202
Franck, Cesar Auguste, 222 f, 229; use of lowered supertonic,
223; — Danse Lenle, 223; Prelude, Chorale, and Fugue, 112,
146, 223; Symphony, I, 223
Frescobaldi, Girolamo, 177
Froberger, Johann Jacob, 177
Fux, Joseph, 201, 202;— Gradus Ad Parnassum, 20; Missa SS.
Trinitatis, Kyrie, 202
Gabrieli, Andrea, 175
Gabrieli, Giovanni, 175
Gaudentius, 158
Genera (Greek scales), 1, 156, 157, 285
Gerbert von Hornau, Martin, 174
Gershwin, George — Fascinating Rhythm, 55 ; I'll Build a Stair-
way to Paradise, 115; Rhapsody in Blue, 55, 131; Second
Rhapsody, 118; Sweet and Low Down, 54, 114
Gesualdo, Don Carlo, 166, 285
Gevaert, Francois-Auguste, 140, 155, 158
Gilchrist, Annie G., 169
Glareanus, Henricus, 1, 2, 14, 142, 165, 166, 174, 177
Glaucon, 156
Glazounov, Alexander — Der Konig der Juden, 48, 119; Le Krem-
lin, II, 125; op. 10, I, 62; Suite for String Quartet, op. 35,
no. 3, 35; Suite pour Quatour, Orientale, 88
Glinka, Michael Ivanovitch, 247, 256;— A Life for the Tsar,
Overture, 247; Act I, 249; 11, 90, 248, 250; ///, 249;
Prince Kholmsky, Entr'acl, 249; Russian and Ludmilla, Act
I, 250; ///, 248; IV, 250
Greek Modes, 1, 155 f; Imitation of, 207, 220 (., 243
Greek scales characterized, 162
Gregorian Modes, 1, 163 f.
Gounod, Charles Francois, 177, 207, 213, 239; — Epitaphe d'une
jeune Grecque, 214, 215; Messe, Credo, 214; Messe, Priere
pour le Rot, 213; Ulysse, no. 11, 214
Gretchaninov, Alexander T., 281; — Credo, 138; Liturgia Do-
mestica, op. 79, 59, 61, 68, 81, 82, 84, 119, 121, 126, 128;
Sun and Moon, op. 16, no. 2, 26; op. 12, no. 2, 78; Sym-
phony No. 3, I, 114; //, 64
Grieg, Edward Hagerup, 261 f ;— Ein Schwan, 105; Herbstim-
mung, 119; Humoresque, op. 6, no. 1, 261; op. 6, no. 2,
262; Nordic Dance and Folk Tunes, op. 17, no. 1, 261;
Piano Concerto, op. 16, 33, 261; Sonata for Cello and
Piano, III, 82, 104; The Mountaineer's Song, op. 73, no. 7,
261; Trauermaruh zum Andenken an Rikard Nordraak, 226;
Voglein, op. 43, no. 4, 262
Grovlez, Gabriel — Sonata, 11, 83 ; Sonata for Violin and Piano,
1, 114
Guido d'Adrezzo, 164, 174
Guilmant, Alexandre-Felix, 229; — Impression Gregorienne, 79,
121
Haba, Alois, 44, 266
Hahn, Reynaldo, 272
Hammerich, Angul, 142, 144, 172
Handel, Frederick, 177, 185, 189; plagarism by, 187;— Israel
in Egypt, "And 1 Will Exalt Him," 186, 187; Samson, "Hear
Jacob's God," 188; Saul, "Egypt was glad," 188; Saul, "Sin
not, O King," 187
Hannas, Ruth, 165
Harmonic Modes, 15, 148, 185, 224, 253, 267, 285
Harmonic Modes, Theory of, 286
Haydn, Franz Joseph, 177
Heilig, Otto, 143
Helmhotz, Hermann von, 14, 138, 140, 170
Hill, Edward Burlingame, 223
Hipkins, Alfred James, 155
Hindemith, Paul, 279; — Das Marienleben, "Argwohn Josephs,"
279; Tuttifantchen, no. 2, 80
Howells, Herbert, 267, 268
Hucbald, 163
Idelsohn, Abraham Zevi, 173
Interchangeability of Mode, see Modes
Inversion of Modes, see Modes
Ireland, John, 267; — Bells of San Marie, 46, 81; Concerto for
Piano, 89; Land of Lost Content, The, I, 46; Mother and
Child, no. 3, 83; Piano Concerto in £*, Finale, 36; Preludes
111, "The Holy Boy," 101
Italian Modal usage, 273
Jacobi, Frederick — Synagogue Service for Sabbath Eve: "MiCho-
mocho—1," 128; "Sch'ma Yisrod," 66; "Tov L'hodos," 36
Jacques, E. F., 171
Janacek, Leos, 266; — Concertino for Clavier, 59; Jenufa, Act I,
101; Mladi, 90; String Quartet, III, 93; Taras Bulba Rhapsodie,
42
Jelensperger, 9, 28
Johannes de Muris, 166
Jones, Vincent L., 28
Josquin des Pres, 175
Kittel, Johann Christian, 189
Kodaly, Zoltan, 270
Krenn, Franz, 203
Krizkovsky, Paval, 263, 266
Liadov, Anatol Constantinovitch, 259
Le Sueur, Jean-Francois, 201, 202, 204 f, 209, 213; effect of his
teaching, 207, 208; — Cantale executee au mariage de S. M.
Napoleon le avec I'Archiduchesse Marie Louise, 206 ; De Messe
Solennelle, Credo, 137; La Caverne, Act 11, 24; Messe des
Morts, Sanctus, 205; Ossian, Act IV, , 26; Premiere Messe
Solonelle, Credo, 206; Rachel Oratorio, "Dico ego opera
midi," 205 ; Seconde Oratorio pour le Couronnement, 204
Liszt, Franz, 177, 237 f, 246, 261 ;— Christus, 238, 239; Christus,
"Die heiligen drei Konige," 66, 95 ; Graner Messe, Credo, 94,
118, 237; Hungarian Rhapsody, no. 2, 99; La Legende de
Sainte Elisabeth, no. 5, 58 ; Missa Choralis, Credo, 237
Locrian mode, 15, 17-23, 30-32, 42-445, 140 f.
Macran, H. S., 160
Malipiero, Francesco, 277, 279; — Armenia, 91; 27 Canto delU
lontanza, 273; // finta Arlecchino, 1, 47, 275; La Mascheraf.
delta Principessa Prigioniere, 274; La Principessa Ulalia, 57
297
125, 275; Poemetti Lunari, no. 5, 96; Rispetti e Strombolti,
126; Selle Canzoni, "L'alba delle ceneri," 274
Martianus Capella, 163
Mascagni, Pietro — Cdvalleria Ruiticana, 79
Melgounov, Julius N., 172
Mendelssohn, Felix, 237
Michomachus, 155
Miller, Horace Alden, 24
Modal concepts compared, 185
Modes, factors in preservation of, 201, 202, 203; interchange-
ability of, 1, 11, 15, 18, 19, 23-37, 38, 148, 149, 225,
253, 256, 267; inversion of, 21, 22; lateral index of, 19;
reasons for names of, 3 ; used by minor 19th-century com-
posers, 202
Montemezzi, Italo, 277
Monteverdi, Claudio, 14, 176
Morales, Cristobal, 175
Morris, Reginald Owen, 166, 175, 180
Moussorgsky, Modeste Petrovitch, 225, 253 f ; — Boris Godunov,
Prologue, Scene 2, 43, 255; Act I. Scene I, 129; //, 64; ///,
Scene 2, 59; IV, 45; Scene I, 48, 72, 80, 147, 253; Scene
2. 102, 109, 117, 254; Khovanlchina, 255; Act I, Scene 2,
256; Lied de< Mephislopheles in Auerbachs Keller, 67; On
the River Dnieper, 82, 91; A Night on Bald Mountain, 4;
Without Sun. No. 2, "Thine Eyes in the Crowd Now Avoid
Me," 112, 132; "Within Pour Walls," 110, 118; "All Past
the Feast Days," 255; Silently Floated a Spirit, 69; Song of
Solomon, 78
Mozart, Wolfgang, 111;— Die Zauberjlote, Aria No. XVII, 60;
Don Giovanni, Overture, 110; Don Giovanni, 200; Sonata,
K. 310 Finale, 56
Musica ficta, 1, 165, 166, 174, 175, 178, 285
Munro, D. B., 155
Napravnik, Eduard F., 259
Neapolitan sixth, 2, 9, 28-31, 60-64, 242
Nef, Charles, 164
Niedermeyer, Louis, 201
Nordraak, Richard, 261
Notker, Balbulus, 163
Novak, Vitezslav, 266
Oettingen, Artur von, 170
Ordinal Index of Modes, 18
Otterstrom, Thorwald, 21
Palestrina, 175, 213; mass construed as Major-minor, 166
Parenthesis modulation, 51, 148; see also Piutti
Pearce, C. W., 178, 179
Pentatonic scales, 169, 170, 171
Peri, Jacopo, 176
Perreau, Xavier, 140, 144
Phrygian, inverse of Major, 20
Piston, Walter, 1, 9, 11, 15, 24, 148
Piutti, Carl, 1, 8, 148
Pizzetti, Ildebrando, 277, 278;— Debora e Jaele, Act III, 276;
/ Pastore, 84, 111; La Madre al Figlio Lontano, 97 ; La Pis-
anella, Prologue, 63; Tre Canzoni per Canto e Quartetto
d'Archi, I, 276
Plain chants, 141, 142;— Hymn to the Virgin, 140; Nos autem
gloriario, 141
°lato, 140, 155
Poulenc, Francis, 272; — Mouvements Perpetuels, I, 272
'rokofiev, Serge, 281
Proslambanomenos, 164
Pseudo-Hucbald, 163
Pseudomodal, 15, 135 f., 211, 244, 250, 258
Ptolomy, 155, 161, 163, 164
Purcell, Henry, 176, 201;— Dido and Aeneas, No. 11, 201;
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem, 55
Pythagorean tuning, 13, 155, 174
Rameau, Jean Philippe, 14, 24, 148, 149, 177
Rangstrom, Ture — Der Becker, 105; "Ein Kuss von rothem
Munde," 62; Es wollt' das Madchen fruh aujstehn, 49; Ich
arme Nunn', 72; "Ik weet en Franken amorc s," 138; Pion-
erna, 74; Preludium III, 109
Ravel, Maurice, 260, 267, 269 f; — Cinq Melodies Populaires
Grecques, IV, 86; Piano Concerto, I, 270; Piano Concerto,
III, 86,. 87; L'Heure Espagnole, 72; L'Heure Espagnole, XV,
113; Le Tombeau de Couperin, III, 97, 101; Ma Mere VOye,
Pavane, 70, 97, 98; Quartet, I, 59, 105; //, 269; Sonatine,
94; Trio, I, 45; Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, No. 2, 92;
No. 3, 120
Reger, Max, 246
Reinach, Theodore, 155, 158, 161, 164
Respighi, Ottorino, 277, 278; — Belkis, Regina di Saba, 21 A;
Belkis, Regina di Saba, "Danza dell 'off erta," 146; Maria
Egiziaca, I, 131, 135, 137; Quartetto dorico, 275; Toccata
for Piano and Orchestra, 129
Riemann, Hugo, 1, 8, 14, 27, 28, 32
Rimsky-Korsakov, Nicholas, 256 f; — Capriccio Espagnole, II,
258; Capriccio Espagnole, No. 4, 127; Christmas Eve, IV,
99; Mlada, Act II, Scene 4, 146; Pskovitianka, Act II, Scene
2, 259; Sadko, "Danse des ruisseaux et des sources," 258;
Scheherezade, 79; Scheherezade, I, 257; ///, 30, 257; Snegou-
rotchka, "Danse de Buffons," 46, 257; "Hymn des Berendeys,"
128; Sur les Collines de Georgia, op .3, 98, 100
Rockstro, William Smyth, 164
Ropartz, Guy, 270, 271
Rousseau, Jean Jacques, 198
Roussel, Albert, 272
Rubinstein, Anton, 259
Saint-Saens, Charles Camille, 217 f, 225, 268; — Antigone, 221-
222; Ave Verum, 219; Coeli Enarrant, op. 42, Introduction,
52; Coeli Enarrant, no. IV, op. 42, 32; L'Ancetre, Act II,
220; Le Carnival des Animaux, "Marche Royale du Lion"
219; Le Deluge, I, 131; Le Feu Celeste, 52; Messe, Gloria,
2l8;Messe, op. 4, Kyrie, 217; Piano Quintet, op. 14, I, 219;
///, 35, 218; Quartet, op. 112, I, 128, 129; Rhapsodie 11,
op. 7, 54
Satie, Eric, 272; — Apercus dhagrtables, no. 1, 87; Gymnopedie,
no. 1, 92; no. 2, 88; Socrate, 111, 272
"Scala enigmatica," 260
Schaller — Qui sedes, 203
Schola Cantorum (Rome), 163
Schonberg, Arnold, 14, 178, 246, 279
Schumann, Robert, 236; — Humoreske, op. 20, 119, 236
Schutz, Heinrich, 175; — Augerstehungs-Historie, 176
Scriabin, Alexander N., 281
Secondary dominant system, see Weidig and Piston
Serre, Jean Adam, 198
Severac, Deodat de, 270 i\—Heliogabale, Act 1, 89, 117; Act
II, 88, 96; Act 11, no. 2, 122; Act II, no. 4, 106; Act
III, 64; Act II, Seen 4, 271; Act IV, 48, 271
Sharp, Cecil James, 232
298
Shirlaw, Mathew, 14
Sibelius, Jan, 281 f ;— Belsazar's Gastmahl, No. 3, 145; No. 4,
"Khalra's Tanz," 147; En Saga, 93, 94; Finlandia, 43;
Marzschnee, op. 36, no. 5, 106; Symphony no. 1, I, 123, 281-
283; //, 71; Symphony no. 2, II, 31; Symphony no. 4, 283;
Symphony no. 6, I, 79; //, 93; Violin Concerto, 29
Smetana, Bedrich, 263, 266; — Blanek, No. 6, 77; Braniborio,
Cechach, Act I, 113; Polka Poetique, op. 8, no. 2, 31
Socrates, 156
Sokolov, Nicholas, A.— Quartet, op. 14, 139
Sowerby, Leo — Money Musk, 89
Spitta, Johann August Philipp, 179, 180, 189
Stanford, Charles V—Eden, "God of Night," 121
Stein, Richard H., 261
Strauss, Richard, 177, 246, 279;— Electra, 75; Das Rosenband,
op. 36, no. 1, 103
Stravinsky, Igor, 258, 259, 270, 279 f; — Duo Concertant, "Di-
thryrambe," 55; Oedipus Rex, 280; Petroushka, 259; Sym-
phonic de Psaumes, I, 105 ; Symphonie de Psaumes, 280
Substitute tones, see Riemann
Suk, Josef, 264, 266; — Asreal Symphony, V, 57; Ein Marchen,
op. 16, I, 103; HI, 65; Symphony in E Major, II, op. 14, 67
Svendsen, Johan S. — Carnival in Paris, 112; Norwegian Rhap-
sody, op. 22, no. 4, 58
Sullivan, Arthur — The Golden Legend, 33, 87
Sweelinck, Jan Pieters, 175
Teleman, Georg Philipp — Fuge, 167
Thompson, Randall — Pueri Hebraeorum, 103, 135
Tiersch, Otto, 28
Tiersot, Julien, 171
Tonality, principles of, 14, 15, 164
Trend, John Brande, 172
Tschaikovsky, Peter I., 259; — Nutcracker Suite, Arabian Dance,
118; "Danse des Mirlitons." 139
Vaughn-William, Ralph, 267
Verdi, Giuseppe— Aida, Act I, 138, 260; Aida, Act II, 261
Viadana, Lodovico, 176
Vincent — String Quartet, IV, 44
Wagner, Richard, 177, 246, 279, 285
Walker, Ernest, 171
Walther, Johann Gottfried, 174, 180
Walton, William — Concerto for Viola, 43
Weber, Carl Maria — Euryanthe, Act II, 126
Weidig, Adolf, 1, 9, 11, 148
Westphal, Rudolph, 140, 155, 158
Whittaker, William Gillies, 268
Whole-tone scale, properly Locrian, 144; properly Lydian, 269
Willaert, 175
Wirkmeister, 180
Zaccini, Ludovico, 166
Zarlino, Gioseffo, 13
Yasser, Joseph, 15, 169
Ziehn, rSernhard, 21
Date Due
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