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EDA KUHN LOEB
MUSIC LIBRARY
VE
S
TiiS
RI
^
D
.^
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
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THEORY
OF
MUSICAL COMPOSITION.
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LONDON:
PRINTED BY 3. MALLETT, 59, WARDOUR STREET, 80U0.
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THE
THEORY
OF
MUSICAL COMPOSITION,
WITH A VIEW TO A NATURALLY CONSECUTIVE
ARRANGEMENT OF TOPICS ;
GOTTFRIED WEBER,
IKMrrOB. HOMORARIUS, KMIQHT OP THE FIRST CLASS OF THE HESSIAN ORDER OF LEWIS,
HONORARY MEMBER OF THE ^OYAL SWEDISH ACADEMY IV STOCKHOLM)
OF THE HOLLANDIC UNION FOR THE PROMOTION OF MUSIC, ETC.
TBAN8X«ATED FBOM THB THIBD, ENLARGED AND JHPBOYRD^ GERMAN EDITION,
WITH NOTES,
BY
JAMES F. WARNER,
OF BOSTON, U. S.
SDITED, WITH ADDITIONS DRAWN FROM THE GERMAN ORIGINAL,
BY
JOHN BISHOP,
OF CHELTENHAM.
VOL. II.
LONDON J
MESSRS. ROBERT COCKS AND CO.
IfUSIC PUBLISHERS, BY SPECIAL WARRANT, TO HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY THE QUEEN,
NEW BURLINGTON STREET.
MDCCCLI.
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I^t,'.
'■^■^^'9, . :-■' . 7 )
IPA mJHN LOEB MUSIC LIBRARY
HARVARD UNIVERSITY ^ ,
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. q2\2M'''"'''^^^^^^
CONTENTS OF VOL. II.
CHAPTER V.
HARMONIC PROOBS9SION.
PA0B8.
§§226—288 417—511
Division I. JSTarmante j)ro£^r€ssum in general, ^ ^'^S — ^242 .417 — 454
(A.) Enumeration of the different harmonic steps,
§§ 226—228 417—419
(B.) Different species of harmonic steps^ §§ 229 —
232 419—422
(1.) Steps in the scale and out of it, § 229 419
(2.) Magnitude of harmonic steps, §§ 230 —
232 419—422
(C.) Sequences, §§ 233— 240 . . 422—430
(D.) Bespectiye merits of the diflferent harmonic
steps, §§ 241—242 .... 430->454
Division II. Harmonic successions in the same scalcy §§ 243—271. 455 — 497
(A.) Succession of one three*fold chord after ano-
ther in the same scale, §§ 244—250 . 455—470
(1.) Steps of a second, §245 ... 456
(2.) Steps of a third, §246 ... 459
(3.) Steps of a fourth, § 247 ... 461
(4.) St^sofafifth, §248 ... 462
(5.) Steps of a sixth, §249 ... 466
(6.) Steps ofa seventh, §250 ... 468
(B.) Harmonic steps in which a three-fold chord is
followed hy a four-fold chord in the same
scale, §251 470
(C.) Harmonic steps in which a four-fold chord is
followed by a three-fold chord in the same
scale: Cadences, §§ 252— 268 . 471—493
(1.) Principal cadences, §§ 255—261 . 474-485
(a.) Natural principal cadences, §255 474
(b.) False principal cadences, §§ 256 —
261 476—485
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VI
CONTENTS.
PAGES.
(2.) Secondary cadences, §§ 262^268 . 486—493
(a.) Natural secondary cadences^ §§ 263
—265 .... 486--490
(b.) False secondary cadences, §§ 266 —
268 490—493
(D.) Snccession of one fonr-fold chord after another
in the same scale, §§ 269—271 . 493—497
(1.) Evitated principal cadences in the same
scale, §270 494
(2.) Evitated secondary cadences in the same
scale, §270 .... 494
Division III. Digressive harrnontc progressiony ^ Vl^ — 288 .497 — 511
(A.) Enumeration of the various species, §273 498
(B.) Merits of ditto, §§ 274—275 . . . 498-— 499
(C.) Classification according to the leading har-
mony, §§ 276— 288 . .499—511
Digressionsbylor I, §278 . 500
Digressions by the dominant harmony of
the new key, §§ 279—284 . 501—506
(A,) Digressions by V^, §§ 279—282 . 501—505
(B.) Digressions by V, §§ 283—284 . 505—506
Digressions by IV or iv, §§ 285—286 . 506—508
Digressions by a secondary harmony,
§§287—288 . . .508—511
(1.)
(2.)
(3.)
(4.)
CHAPTER VI.
MODULATORY STRUGTT7RB OF A PIECE OF MUSIC AS A WHOLE.
§§ 289-312 .... 512—544
Division I. Musical unity in general^ ^ ^^^ . . .512 — 513
Division II. Beginning of a piece of music, ^^"290 — 295 . 513 — 522
Division III. Modulation in the course of apiece, §§ 296—302 . 522—527
Division IV. Ending of a piece, ^ ZOZ—Zl'l . .527—544
(A.) Authentic endings, §§ 303—306 . . 527—531
(B.) Plagal endings, §§ 306—308 . . 531—538
(C.) Other endings, §§ 309—310 . . 539—542
(D.) Merits of these different endings respectively,
§ 311 542—543
(£.) Characteristics of the key of a piece of music^
§ 312 543—544
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C0NTBNT8. VM
CHAPTER VII.
RESOLUTION.
PAOB8.
§§ 313—342 .... 545—601
Division I. Various forma qf resoluiton, § 314 .... 546 — 548
DiTiaioN II. I^rogression of the intervals qf/our-foldchords^^Zlb
—338 548—597
(A.) Of the principal fonr-fold chord, §§ 315—326. 548—579
(1.) Of the principal seventh, §§ 316—320. 549—560
(a.) Restricted .progression, §§31 6 — 319. 549—554
((!.)) In the natural principal cadence,
§ 317 .... 549—553
{{A.)) Normal progression of in-
tervals.
{{B.)) Deviation from the normal
progression.
((II.)) Progression of the principal
seventh in the false princi-
pal cadence, § 318 . . 553—554
((III.)) In the evitations of cadences
in the same scale, § 319 . 554
(b.) Free progression, § 320 . 554—560
(2.) Progression of the third of the principal
four-fold chord, §§ 321-324 . . 561—574
(a.) Restricted, §§ 321—323 . 561—569
((I.)) In the natural cadence, § 321. 561 -^566
{{A.)) Normal.
((A)) Deviations.
((II.)) Progression of the sub-semi-
tone in the false cadence,
§ 322 . . 566—567
((III.)) In evitations of cadences in
the same scale, § 323 . 568—569
(b.) Free progression, § 324 . 569—574
(3.) Progression of the independent ninth,
§§ 325—326 .... 574^579
(a.) Restricted, § 325 . . 574—575
(b.) Free, § 326 575—579
(B.) Progression of the intervals of secondary four-
fold chords, §§ 3261—333 . . 579—590
(1.) Of the secondary sevenths, §§ 327—328. 580—584
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VIU
CONTENTS.
Division IIL
Division IV.
(a.) Restricted, § 327 . . .' .580—582
(b.) Free, §328 . . .582—584
(2.) Progression of the third of secondary
foar-fold diords, §§ 329^332 . 584-589
((I.)) In natnral secondary cadences,
§ 329 . . 584—586
((II.)) In Mae secondary cadences,
§ 330 . . . 586—587
((in.)) In evitations of cadences in the
same scale, § 331 . . 587—589
((IV.)) In digressions, §332 . 589
(3. ) Progression of the fifth of secondary four-
fold chords, § 333. . 589—590
(C.) Progression of the intervals of the principal
four-fold chord with lowered fifth, — or of
the four-fold chord with a minor fifth and
elevated third, §§ 334—338 . . 590—597
Progression of the intervals of three-fold chords^
§§ 339—341 597—601
Progression of transitum-tones, ^ M'i . 601
CHAPTER Vm.
TRANSITION-TONES.
§§343—456
. 602—719
Division I. Definition and nature qf transition-tones, §§ 343 —
344 602—607
(A.) In general, § 343 602—605
(B.) Transition-tones of a snhordinate rank, §344. 605 — 607
Division II. Different ways in which transition-tones may occur,
§§ 345—363 607—622
(A.) To intervals of the present or of the following
harmony, §§ 346—349 .... 607—610
(B.) Short and long, §§ 350— 351 ... 610
(C.) Light and heavy, §§ 352—354 . . 611—612
(D.) Transition-tones in several parts at once,
§§ 355—358 612—615
(E.) T^nsidons in broken progressions, § 359 . 615 — 617
(F.) The prindpal tone sounding in connection
with the secondary tone, §§ 360—^61 . 617—620
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CONTENTS
PA0S8.
(O.) Transition-tones struck simnltaoeonsly with
harmonic tones. §§ 362--363 . 620—62^
Division III. What tones may be struck as secondary tones before
a principal tone, §§ 364—387 . 622—657
(A.) Transitions from below and from above, § 365. 622
(B ) Major-second transitions, and minor-second
transitions, § 366 622—623
(C.) In the scale, and foreign to the scale, §4 367
—370 623—628
(1.) Arbitrary or necessary approximation,
§§ 371—375 628—637
(2.) Remote transitions, §§ 376—379 . . 637—641
(3.) Transition-tones as leading-tones, § 380. 641 — 644
(4.) Examples for illustration, § 381 . . 644—649
(D.) Transitions on harmonic degrees, §4 382—387. 649—657
Division IV. Hquivocalness, «§ 388-408 658—678
(A.) Exhibition, § 388 658
(B.) Limits, §§ 389—406 658—676
(C.) Softening influence, §§ 407--408 . . 676—678
Division V. Transition-tones considered in their relations to the
preceding note, ^4f)%—^\% . . 679—685
(A.) Commencing transitions, §§ 410—411 . 679—680
(B.) Transitions occurring by skips, § 412 . . 680—681
(C.) Transitions occurring by single degrees,
|§413_-414 681-683
(1.) Intermediate notes, § 413 . . 681—682
(2.) Returning notes, $ 414 . 682—683
(D.) Prepared transitions, §§ 415—416 . 683—685
Division VI.
StupenMons,^4A'l-4A\ • . . . .
685—702
(A.) General principles, §§417—429.
685—693
(1.) Ideaof 8a8penBionandpreparatioD,§4l7.
685
(2.) HowpTeparationi8effected,§§418— 429.
685—693
(a.) At the same pitch, § 419
686
(b.) In the same part, § 420
686
(c.) By ties, §§421—422 .
686-687
(d.) Of sufficient length, § 423 .
687
(e.) By an harmonic interval, SS 424 —
426
687—690
(f.) On a light or on a heavy part of the
measnre, §§ 427— 429
691—693
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CONTENTS.
saspennons may
(B.) Diflferent ways in which
occur, §§ 430— 436 . . . .
(1.) To intervals of the present or of the fol-
lowing harmony, § 430
(2.) Long and short, § 431 .
(3.) Heavy and light, § 432
(4.) In different parts, § 433
(5.) Suspensions in harpeggiate progressions,
§434 .
(6.) Suspension-tone and principal-tone sound-
ing together, § 435
(7.) Suspension-tones struck simultaneously
with harmonic-tones, § 436
(C.) What tones may be employed as suspension-
tones to an harmonic interval, §§ 437 — 440.
(I.) Suspensions from above, and from below,
§437 .
(2.) Major-second suspensions, and minor
second suspensions, § 438
(3.) Belonging to the scale, and foreign to the
scale, § 439 .
(4.) Suspension-tones on harmonic degrees,
§440 ....
(D.) Equivocalness, § 441
Division TII. BesoltUion of trcmsUum-Umes^ §§ 442 —455
(A.) General principle, § 442
(B.) Different forms, §§ 443—455
(1.) The secondary tone either slurred to the
principal tone, or detached from it,
§444
(2.) The secondary tone separated from the
principal by rests, § 445
(3 ) Inserted tones, §§ 446—448
(4.) Resolution during the present or during
the following harmony, §§ 449 — 451
(5.) Resolution into consonant or dissonant
tones, § 452
(6.) Movement of other parts during the re
solution, §§453,454
(7.) Resolution on light or on heavy portions
of the measure, § 455
Division Till. Merits of transitions in general, § 456
PAGES.
693—697
694
694
694
695—696
696
696—697
697
697—701
697-698
698
698—699
700—701
701—702
702—718
702
703—718
703—704
704
704^708
708—715
715—716
716—718
718
718—719
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CONTENTS. XI
CHAPTER IX.
SOMB PECULIAR SPECIES OF TONES FOBBIGK TO THE HARMONY.
PAOB9.
§§457-466**- . , , . 720—754
Division I. IVolofiffed intervals, ^ 4i5S~A59 . . 721—723
Division U. Anticipated tones, %4^(^ 723—725
Division III. Appended tones, § 461 725
Division IV. Or^on^pwi/, §§ 462— 465 .... 726—731
Concluding remark on the doctrine of tones foreign to the harmony,
§ 466 731—732
On a particularly remarkable passage in Mozart's Violin Quartett
in C; § 466** 733—754
CHAPTER X.
MOVEMENT BT SKIPS.
§§467—496 .... 755—788
Division I. Merits in general, §§468—474 .... 755—762
Division II. More particular consideration of some certain species
o/-«ih>«,§§ 475-496 762—788
(A.) Measurement of skips, §§476— 483 . .762—773
(B.) Skips in the base part, §§ 484-489 . . 774—779
(C.) Cross-relation, §§ 490— 496 . 780—788
CHAPTER XI.
merits op the different PARALLEL PROGRESSIONS.
§§497—558 . 789—857
Division I. Parallelism by primes, § 498 769
Division II. Parallelism by seconds, ^ 4^99^500 . .789-793
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XU CONTENTS.
PAGES.
Division III. ParaUelism by thirds, §§ 501-502 . . 793—795
Division IV. ParaUelism by fourths, §§ 503—504 . . 795—798
Division V. Parallelism by fifths, §§ 505—544 . . 798—837
(A.) Enumeration of the different species, §§ 506
—521 799-821
(1.) Proper, actual, or open, §§506— 508 . 799—806
(a.) lu strictly parallel movement, § 507. 799 — 805
(b.) In movement not strictly parallel,
§508 805-806
(2.) Improper or concealed, §§ 509—521 . 807—821
(a.) Interrupted by rests, § 510 . . 807—808
(b.) Harpeggiate fifths, §§511-512 . 808—810
(c.) Accent-fifths, § 513 . . . 810—811
(d.) Fifths concealed by tones foreign to
the harmony, § 514 . . 811—813
(e.) Fifths by the crossing of parts, §§515
—516 813—816
(f.) Inserted fifths, §§ 517—518 . 816—819
(g.) Fifths in contrary movement, § 519. 819
(h.) Ear-fifths, § 520 . 820
(3.) More extended survey, § 521 . 821
(B.) Merits of parallel progressions by fifths,
§§ 522—539 821—835
(1.) Fundamental principle, § 523 . 822—823
(2.) Deduction firom the foregoing principle,
§§ 524—539 823—835
(a.) Fifths in passages having several
parts, § 524 . . . 823
(b.) In principal and in secondary parts,
§525 823
(c.) Fifths by the doubling of parts,
§§526—527 .... 823—824
(d.) Fifths between harmonic and non-
harmonic tones, § 528 . 824—825
(e.) Like and unlike fifths, § 529 . 825—826
(f.) Concealed or improper fifths, §§ 530
—539 826—835
(A.) Interrupted by rests, § 531 826
(ft.) Harpeggiate fifths, § 532 . . 826—827
(C.) Accent-fifths, § 533 . 827
(tf.) Fifths concealed by transition
tones, § 534 . . . 827
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CONTENTS.
Xlll
(C.)
(t.) Fifths by the crossiDg of parts,
§535 ...
(t) Inserted fifths, § 536
(0.) Fifths by contrary movement^
§537
(||.) £ar.fifth9,§ 538 .
(g.) Concluding remark, § 539
Means of avoiding parallelisms by fifths,
§§ 540—543
Organ-register of fifths, § 544
Division VI. ParaUeUsm hy sixths, § 545
Division VII. Parallelism hy sevenths, § 546
Division VIII. Parallelism by octaves, §§ 547—558 .
(A.) Enumeration of the different species, §§ 548
—556
(1.) Proper, actual, or open, § 548
(2.) Improper or concealed, §§ 549 — 556
(a.) Separated by rests, § 549
(b.) Harpeggiate octaves, § 550 .
(c.) Accent-octaves, § 551 .
(d. ) Concealed by transition-tones, § 552,
(e ) Octaves by the crossing of parts,
§553 .
(f.) Inserted octaves, § 554 .
(g.) Octaves by contrary movement, § 555
(3.) More extended survey, § 556
(B.) Merits of parallelisms by octaves, § 557
(1.) Fundamental principle
(2.) Results
(a.) Octaves in compositions in several
parts ....
(b.) In principal and in secondary parts
(c.) Octaves by the doubling of parts
(d ) Concealed ....
(ft.) Interrupted by rests
(ll ) Harpeggiate octaves
(C.) Accent-octaves
(tf.) Concealed by transition -tones
( t. ) Octaves by the doubling of parts
(f.) Inserted octaves
(0.) Octaves in contrary motion
(e.) Concluding remark
(C.) Method of avoiding octave parallels, § 558
PAOBB.
828
828—829
829—830
830—831
831—835
835—848
836—837
838
838—839
839—857
839—851
839—840
840-851
840—841
842—844
844—845
845—847
847—848
848—850
850
851
851—857
851
851
851
851
851
854
854
854
855
855
856
856
856
856
857
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XIT
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XII.
HINTS TO PRACTICAL EXERCISE IN PX7RB COMPOSITION.
§§559-^78 . . . .
Division I. To one or more gxvenpartSy to compose one or more
others, §§ 559—576
(A.) When tbe bannonies to be cbosen are fully
designated by our mode of marking, § 560.
(B,) Wben, tbongb tbe fundamental chords are
given^ yet their situation and relationship
are not designated, § 561
(C.) Whem tbe harmonic combinations to be chosen
are indicated only by thorough-base figures,
§§562—575
(1.) Description of the usual thorough-base
notation, §§ 563—574
(2 .) Application of the thorough-base writing,
particularly to our contrapuntic exer-
cises : — to one or more given parts to
compose one or more others, when the
given parts are furnished with tho-
rough base figures, §§ 574 **• — 575 .
(D.) To set one or more parts to one or more given
parts, when the harmonies to be chosen
are not expressly indicated, § 576 .
PAGES.
858—896
858—895
863
863—865
865—890
866-884
§577
884—890
890—895
Division II. To form a given harmonic succession into parts,
895—896
Division III. To invent a piece of music, when nothing is given,
§578
896
APPENDIX.
On the Ancient Music; particularly the old Greek or Church
Keys, §§ 579—587 897—917
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CORRECTIONS.
VOL. II.
Remark. — Owing to the numerotu and whoUjf unacknowletlged erron in Mr. Warner'i
edition, and to many mistakes in the original, it has been impossible, with eyery care, to produce
the present edition altogether free from faults. Those of chief importance are marked ^y ;
and ^uid the minuteness of the others excite the reader's smile, it is hoped it will be one of
satisfBiction at the efforts of the present Editor to attain the greatest accoracy.
Page 422, Fig. 239, d, the designations of chords under the last three base notes should be
434» last staff; 4th measure, the h should stand before aj not beik»e f.
468, line 3, remd flg. 270, f, p. 457, and fig. 270^, i, k,
ib. 2 below Fig. 2704. »*«'' ««• 270, 1, p. 457.
460» Fig. 274, o, and page517, Fig. 383, k, the two flats of the signature (B and E)
are wrongly placed,
(^ ib. line 5 below Fig. 274, o, for oft7 read og.
462, 10 from below,/or p. 259 read p. 459.
f^ 464, 2nd staf^ /or YI read ti, under third note.
«r 472, line 10,/orV»,«arfV7.
0> ib. 18,/orVI^ III, ««rfIV» m.
474, 10 from below, /or to, read after.
479, Fig. 303,/,/orFf%a^ a^ in the alto part.
480, line 2 below 4th staff, /or is, read are.
488, 6th staff, the mark of tnnsition ^ orer 7 should stand over the following base
noteT.
510, line 6 below Fig. 371, /or p. 377, read p. 337.
515, Fig. 379, insert HoverTt in the treble, the third note from the end.
0* 516, line 9,/ar ^-minor, rea<f ^)|-minor«
525, 2, for p. 524, read p. 513.
538, 4belowFig.426,/orrTT^T] read [f blT].
543, 7,/or p. 335, read p. 535.
561, 3 below 2nd staff, for fig. 469, t, read fig. 46
l|^ 581, Fig. 523, the 3rd chord of Ist staff should read thus :
ib. below Fig. 524, sod p. 582, below Fig. 529,>br 6* read •6.
4^ — ^ 587, line 5 from below, /ir upwards, read downwards.
590, 2, /or fig. 508, p. 574, read fig. 506, p. 573.
594, below Fig. 559,/or 2* read •2.
(^ 602, line 9 from below,>^ €r, read g.
609, 12,ybr tone, read tones.
^ 614, 3 below Fig. 601,/»r7t, read7\i.
625, Fig. 625, k, the base notes in the 2ttd measure should probably be named
G Ftt G 0)| A AH B, to illustrate p. 732.
^ 635, below Fig. 647,/m' e t V, read c t V.
667, Fig. 705, /or ^ read ^ oyer cl, in the first measure.
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CORRECTIONS.
'Page 667, line 2 from below, /or'd to'e, readH toTT.
' — *— 671, 4 from below, for C-barmony, read ({-harmony.
706, Fig. 790, i, huert H aboye, and ^ below, the first double note, as in Fig. 607, i,
p. 616.
' 710, 2&d ataff, the 6th chord should lead like the 3id chord, thus :
711, line 8, for three-fold of c, read three-fold chord of c.
720, Fig. 817, 5th measure, the last eighth-note of the alio part should be b.
726, Une 6, for [cl'TT], read [c'STg F].
r 730, 13,/ir consider, rea^f continue.
750, 6,/orf, readT.
773. 18 from below, /or pp. 765, 766, 767, nwirfpp. 765. 767, 768.
782, Fig. 892, /, the letters bb (a) g should stand respectively under T (c) F.
r 800, Fig. 933, y./or R, read t, under g", the last note of the alto part.
r 805, Fig. 958, f,/ar F, read R, under 2nd chord.
r 809, Fig. 975, /, penultimate chord, for F, read T, lowest note.
811, line 5, /or d, read's.
81 2, Fig. 982, a, for VI, read vi, under a. .____
817, between Figs. 993 and 994, the upper clasp should only extend over bb ab.
r-3-1
820, Une 4 from below, the upper clasp should only extend over "g Fa.
825, 2 from below,/or to, recui after.
847, Fig. 1028, 1, the first double bar should be a single bar.
* 851, line 10 from below, /or higher, read lower.
867, 9 below 2nd staff, insert at 1, after 1054.
868, Fig. 1055, p, the 8 before 6 should stand before 4.
875, Fig. 1072, 1, 3rd measure,/or f, read Xf.
881, line 18 from below,/or 1052, A, read 1053, *.
884, 1 below 3rd 8teff,/or as in Ar, read as in k, /, m.
ib. note •, 5th chord of upper staff, ituert Q before iu
' 892, 6th staff, 4th note of the bafle,/or f, read e.
907, Igt staff, the 3rd measure should read thus : | J J fi)=
ib. Une 5 from below, /or 69, read 96.
* 910i 25,/orc"andc", read'e andT.
PRIKTBD BY J. MALLETT, 59, WaRDOUR STREET, 80H0, LONDON.
/Googk
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417
CHAPTER V.
HARMONIC PROGRB8SION.
DIVISION I.
OF HARMONIC PROGRESSION IN GENERAL.
(A.) ENUMERATION OF THE DIFFERENT POSSIBLE HARMONIC STEPS.
§226.
Havino thus far considered modulation as a connected series of harmonies,
we will now take a more minate and particular view of it analytically, by
turning onr attention to the individual harmonic steps of which a piece of music
is made up.
The step from one harmony to another, the succession of two harmonic
combinations which depend upon two distinct fundamental harmonies, or briefly,
the succession of two fundamental harmonies, may be called, as it has several
times been called already, an harmonic step, an harmonic succession, or an har-
monic progression. In order, however, strictly to define the thing, these terms
should be preceded by the word fundamental, thus : Jundamental harmonic
step, fundamental harmonic succession, fundamental harmonic progression;
or — ^for the sake of avoiding terms so disagreeably long — briefly, Jundamental
step, fiindamentcU succession, fundamental progression.
§227.
We will now, before proceeding &rther, make ourselves acquainted with
the extent of the field into which we are about to enter. Let us enquire,
therefore, how many different successions of one harmony to another, or how
many different ways of passing from one harmony to another, are possible or
conceivable.
Inasmuch as every harmonic step consists of two harmonies immediately
succeeding each other, it follows that
(1.) each of the fourteen harmonies appropriate to a major key may be
followed by one of the thirteen others belonging to the same scale, thus
making 14 times 13 different cases — 14x 13 = - - 182 ;
(2.) each of the ten harmonies of a minor key may be followed by one
of the nine others, thus making 9 times 10 cases — 9 x 10 = 90;
Total, 272
(3.) each of the fourteen harmonies appropriate to a major key
may be followed by one of the fourteen harmonies of either
VOL. II. B
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418 HARMONIC PROGRESSION.
of the other eleven major ke js, thus making 14 times 14 times
11 cases— 14x14x11= 2156;
(4.) each of the fourteen harmonies appropriate to a major key may
be followed by one of the ten harmonies of either of the twelve
minor keys, thus making 14 times 10 times 12 different
cases— 14x10x12= 1680;
(5.) each of the ten harmonies appropriate to a minor key may be
followed by one of the fourteen harmonies of either of the
twelve major keys, thus making 10 times 14 times 12 different
cases— 10x14x12= 1680;
(6.) each of the ten harmonies appropriate to a minor key may be
followed by one of the ten harmonies of either of the other
eleven minor keys, thus making 10 times 10 times 11 different
cases— 10x10x11= 1100;
Total, 6616 ;
and thus we have, in all, six thousand six hundred and sixteen
essentially different digressive harmonic steps [t. e, harmonic
steps out of the scale of a key, or from one scale into another].
To these add the above 272 different cases of harmonic steps
in one and the same scale ...... 272 ;
Grand total, 6888.
Thus, according to our mode of exhibition, which proceeds upon the sup-
position of only seven fundamental harmonies, and which assumes only fourteen
fundamental harmonies in a major key and only ten in a minor key, — the entire
number of different conceivable harmonic steps is 6888. According to other
systems, which assume a far greater number of fundamental harmonies, it can
scarcely be told to what sum these varieties of progression might amount. (§ 51.)
§228.
I cannot believe that this estimate will be misconstrued and regarded as
an exaggeration, under the plea that each harmony is common to several keys,
and that consequently many of the above 6888 cases are reckoned twice, as,
e. g. C: 1 O: V, and G: IV V, and F: V G: V,— examples which
involve the same harmonic succession in each instance, namely, the progression
from (D to JQ. For, how manifestly different is the harmonic succession i
in fig. 236, t, k, I
(Fig. 236, t.)
JU.— g- ^\ a c, H-
y ■§■ ■§■ °' 9 '^^^ ""
C.I V I G.V
G:\ V7 I IV
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HARMONIC STEPS. 419
e:i V7 VI G:Y C:I V IGtlY I V I
In the example, fig. 236, t, ® as I of C-major is followed by the harmony
JB ; in ^, 42C as lY of (?-major is followed by the harmony J3 ; in /, (^ as V I
of «-minor is followed by the harmony I8 ; consequently these three examples
of the progressions of the fundamental harmonies ® — 29 are in fact three
entirely different cases. In the example, fig. 236, m, above, as we shall more
fully understand in the sequel (§ 380), ® as I of (7 is followed by (D as IV of 6^.
This results from the fi&ct, that, on account of the transition tone J'% which
could not thus occur before "e in 67.major, the ear perceives the harmony (^ in
the second half of the second measure as O: lY, and not as <7; I, whereas this
harmony impressed itself on the ear in the first half of the second measure as
C: I. (Thns the tone J^ is in this case a leading tone. Compare § 187 at the
end, and §§ 203 and 380, also fig. 194.)
(B.) DIFFERENT SPECIES OF HARMONIC STEPS.
(1.) Steps which are taken in one and the same Scale, — Steps which pass
from one Scale into another.
§229.
The collective mass of all possible fundamental harmonic steps admits of
being difiTerently divided, according to the different grounds of division.
One very essential division depends upon the circumstance whether the two
harmonies following one another both belong to one and the same key, or not.
In the first case (i. e. when one harmony is followed by another which belongs
to the same key), we say of the harmonic step, that it is appropriate to the scale^
that it belongs to the scale, or thcU it is taken in the scale ; but in the second
ease (t. e. when a harmony is followed by another which belongs to a different
key), we df^nominate the step a digressive one — a step taken out of the scale.
(2.) Magnitude of Harmonic Steps.
§230.
A second division of the diJQTerent possible progressions of a fimdamental
harmony depends upon the distance of the two fundamental notes of the two
harmonies which follow one another. That is to say, when a harmony is
followed by another harmony whose fundamental tone is one degree higher than
that of the former, as, e,g, when the major three-fold chord (^ is followed by the
major three-fold chord IQ or by the minor three-fold chord Jf, fig. 237, «,
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4*20 HARMONIC PR0aBE!<IS10N'.
(Fig. 237, t.) (A.) il.) (m) ("•) .. ("•) (pd (S) .
we call the progression or step of the fundamental harmony that of a secojid,
because the fundamental note C of the first chord lies at the distance of a
second from the fundamental note D of the second chord. And it is to be
observed farther, that the fundamental progression ® — tr is a step of a major
second. So likewise the steps are those of a major second when the harmony
® is followed by that of ||f7, as in fig, 237, k, above, or when the harmony ®
is followed by that of ffl^^ as in fig. 237, /, or when the harmony ®7 is
succeeded by that of Jf, as in fig. 237, w, or when the harmony t is followed by
that of °f It^, as in fig. 237, n, &c. — A step of a miVwr second is found in succes-
sions like that in case of ®— Db, as in fig. 237, o, or ®7_jp^ as in fig. 237,/?,
or t — ;ff'^f as in fig. 237, q. In the same way we denominate such a funda-
mental harmonic progression as that of A — ®, fig. 238, t.
(Fig. 238. i.) a.) (/.)' (m.) (n.) (o.) {p.) (g.)
or that of e— ffi^, fig. 238, k, or that of IB— 4Flt^, fig. 238, /, &c. a progres-
sion or step of a third; — an harmonic step like that of fflr — ffi,in fig. 238,m,«or
that of ja^ — ^'^ , in fig. 238, «, &c. is termed a step or progression of a
fourth ; — the step in fig. 238, o, is called that of a fifth or under-fourth ; the
one in fig. 238./?, a step of a sixth or under-third; that in fig. 238, y, a step of
a' seventh or under-second.
§231.
The above-mentioned difierent magnitudes of fundamental harmonic steps
may be exhibited to the eye by connecting the two harmonies with a brace and
writing within or under it the figure that indicates the sign of the interval ; as,
€, g, below : (Compare § 188*.)
s±
-t fft ? jiS— t— iff
-PS:
<K «&' « a' Xi ©' dF ©7 « 07
5* '4 6* .4 '7
or.
•4 2* '4 l"^
:¥¥:
e-.I V7 I </;V7 I F:Y7 T C:V7 I F:Y1
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HARMONIC STEPS. 4*21
§ 232.
Care must be taken not to confound the idea of thirds, fourths, &c. as here applied
to the successive steps of fundamental harmonies, with that of digression into the
key of the third, the fourth, &e. which was the suhject of consideration in § 188.
We were there speaking of the succession of one key to another, of the
re-attunement of the ear to a new key hy means of the circumstance that, after
one or more harmonies belonging to a key had been heard, a harmony occurred
which impressed the ear as belonging to another key, and which thus re-attuned
the ear to this new key, in this way dispossessing the previous tonic, and giving
its place to a new tonic note (§ 185) situated at the distance of more or fewer
degrees from the previous tonic note. (§ 188.)
But in the present case we speak merely of the succession of one harmony
to another (§ 226). In § 230, in particular, the only point considered is, whether
the fundamental note of the first harmony is such and such a number of degrees
distant from the fundamental note of the immediately following harmony,
(without considering at all whether these harmonies belong to one key or to dif-
ferent keys, whether the harmonic progression is a digressive one, or otherwise).
The expression '' to digress into this or that interval " refers to the succession
of one key to another; whereas, the expression <' the fundamental harmony
progresses or steps into the third, the fourth," &c. has reference only to the
successicm of one harmony to another. The former expression relates to the
distance of tonic notes ; but the latter refers to the distance oi Jundamental
notes : or, to speak in our language of signs, that which we denote by the suc-
cession of two Italic letters (§§121, 153, and 187) is a passing of the modllation
into a new key ; but that, on the contrary, which we represent by two German
letters following each other (§ 52), or by Roman numerals (§ 151), is only the
progression of fundamental harmonies — the succession of one harmony to another.
The following example (compared with §§ 188* and 231) exhibits both the
harmonic progression, of which we have been speaking in the foregoing §§ 230
and 231, and the digressive modulations according to the mode of designation
proposed in § 188* : in this figure the nature and difierence of the two are very
clearly presented.
^^« •
_M. ■ A .^ ^ .
2
E
:^
§232**
Nor is the progression of fundamental harmonies to be confounded with that
of apart (§§ 40 and 41.)
In the foregoing example, where, from the first chord to the second, the base
makes the step of a foiA*th from c to fy the harmonic succession from the chord
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42-2
HARMONIC PROaRESSION.
® to the chord (jR^ (from the harmony of the first degree of the scale to that
of the fifth degree) is the step of a fifth. The following progression (from the
second chord to the third), where the hase proceeds a second downwards fi*om
f to By is, as it respects the successions of the harmonies, a step from fflr^ to <K,
thus the step of a fourth. The succession from the third chord to the fourth,
where the base does not move at all, hut continues on the tone e, is a step of the
fundamental harmony to the distance of a sixth, the fimdamental harmony pro-
ceeding from ffi to a^ ; — ^in connection with the last step, a digressive modula-
tion takes place from the previous key C-major into the key of the second—
into ^-minor, &c.
(C.) HARMONIC SERIES OR SEQUENCES.
§233.
A continued succession of harmonic steps which are similar to one another
is called an harmonic series or sequence.
This similarity* of harmonic steps may be of several different species.
(1.) It may consist merely in the circumstance that harmonic steps of one
species of magnitude folhv) one another ; as, e, g, steps of a second, steps of a
third, &c. Thus, fig. 239, a, for instance.
(Fig. 239, a.) ^ jt ±
331
g-X^J 8'
^^m
I
ffi
•6
m
^
^m
€ e (& ob tr JF a
is a series of steps of a second, — steps too of different-sized seconds, two being
major seconds, namely, 0 — IH, tf — t, and one being a minor second, namely,
t — ^, &c. Fig. 239, b, above, is another second-series of the same kind.
Fig. 239, c, above, is a sequence of harmonies each of which is situated two
degrees higher than the preceding, and thus is a progression of fimdamental
harmonies by thirds. In fig. 239, d,
(Fig. 239,4.)
d
^
jOtZ
IH "ilgrMlq-frNrqW
bS
.^n.^
-^
3a;
r oi — t
:i=3=^
1
i=Ei
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l»7 © (n:? jp 0^7 e a7
lr7(fi
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SEQUENCES.
423
each succeeding harmony is situated three degrees, t. e. a fourth higher than the
foregoing one ; and thus this figure contains a series of fourths. The ease is the
same in figs. 239, e and /:
CFig.239.€.) (f.)
w C't e:i jt vbr
In fig. 239,^,
(F5g.239,y.)
I
«T W »7 ffi7
€1
P
TF=§^
/w ' CD I o __l_Sp==:
i
"f
■^-^
oft
e G' iv a' e <»ft' ;f
we have a series of steps of a fifth. In fig. 239, h,
(Fig. 239, A.) (i.)
€ G
we find a succession of sixths, or under-thirds ; and in fig. 239, t, above, ^q have
a series of sevenths or under-seconds.
The following examples are more complicated. In fig. 239^ k, I, tn,
(Fig. 239,*.) . (/.)
n I n
fl
-^H--^
1
331
znio:
33t
12
-^
T-Y-f-P"
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fi-
le:
iSi
1^
o, lo, <>||/y
-©r
e
32:
(Fig. 239,111.) . J (n.) (o.)
^Ht?Mi;iie'MJ;JiJ-'i°iyi^-ffl
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-T3~
oSq!
=1
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o:
£:£
e
«'' -F^ 5* 2» 6- -3 6*
the fundamental harmony docs not proceed by merely one species of interval, but
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424
HARMONIC PROeBESSION.
moves at one time by fourths, and at another by sixths (under- thirds). This is
done, however, by so regular an alternation of fourths and of under-thirds, that
each successive pair of chords is a symmetrical counterpart to the foregoing
pair, in virtue of the fact that each consists of the progression of an uuder-third
and a fourth, with the differenec merely that ^^h pair is one degree higher than
the preceding. The third and fourth measures are as it were a copy of the first
and second, differing merely by being on higher degrees of the scale : the first
and second measures together form a group ; the third and fourth form a similar
group corresponding to it ; the fifth and sixth measures form another similar
group corresponding to the last, &c. The case is the same in fig. 239, n.
In fig. 239, o, above, we have a similar successive alternation of fifths and
seconds : here too each pair of measures is virtually a copy of the preceding
pair — a repetition of the same form on another degree of the scale — a fac-simile
of the foregoing group.
Another variety of this species of progression is found in fig. 239, j?.*
(Fig. 239,p.)
-J- ' . I
^
J, ol.. U-4
3=t
^
m
^r^=rrr
5t
-1-
±:
f^
i:
Here two steps of a fifth follow each other in a continued succession, and form a
group consisting of three chords contained in two measures : this group repeats
itself in the following two measures in the same form, but one degree lower.
In fig. 239, q and r.
(Fig. 239, q.)
^
^
(f.)
3i
^^
m
=s*r
© jm
© JF ^ a ©
steps of a fourth alternate with those of a seventh or under-second.
§ 234.
(2.) Another peculiar species of similarity in the successive fundamental
steps of a sequence arises from the fact that the successive harmonies are not
merely all similar to each other, but are absolutely alikey — e, g. not merely
three-fold or four-fold chords, or three-fold and four-fold chords in symmetrical
alternation, but are three-fold or four-fold chords of precisely the same species ;
as, for instance, all mkjor three-fold chords, all principal four-fold chords, &c.
We find, in fig. 239, a, A, c^ g, A, f, ky /, and o, on pp. 422 and 423, exclusively
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SEQUENCES. 425
three-fold chords ; but yet these tluee-fold chords are not entirely of one sort :
at one time^ as is shown by the letters placed beneath, these chords are major,
at another, they are minor, and at another they are diminished. There is, in
iig. 239, dy p. 422, a regular alternate succession of three-fold chords and four-
fold chords ; but these again are of different magnitudes, as the subjoined letters
show. In fig. 239, e and /, p. 423, we have excludvely principal four-fold
chords ; — ^in fig. 239, m, p. 423, we have the same interchanged with major
three-fold chords. Nearly the same is found in fig. 239, n, p. 423. In fig. 239,
m and n, each pair of measures is a new copy of the foregoing, difiering only by
being placed one degree higher, for which latter reason it is usual to denominate
progressions of this sort transpositions.
235.
It will be perceived that, fundamentally considered, all the harmonies
occurring in the examples a, by c, d^Qy A, t, ky l, o, and/?, of fig. 239, pp. 422 — 424,
are constructed of elements belonging to one and the same key. Fig. 239, d,
exhausts, in a regularly alternating succession, the entire mass of the three-fold
and fonr-foid chords appropriate to the key of C-major. But since the harmo-
nies occnrring on the different degrees of a scale differ from each other in size,
e,ff. a thxee-fi)ld chord on the first degree, being mq/oTy while the three-fold chord
on the second degree is minor, &c, it follows of course that the chords in a
sequence of harmonies in one key are not of the same magnitude : and it follows,
vice ver^a, that, in case the chords are to be of the same size, the succession
must necessarily be composed of chords taken from several different keys, as
in fig. 239, e, /y m and n, p. 423 (though it is true, indeed, that not every
series composed of harmonies taken from different keys is in all cases of precisely
one and the same magnitude throughout, as is clearly shown by fig. 239, q and
r, p. 424).
§ 236..
It will be perceived firom this point of view, that a sequence proceeding in one
key cannot possibly consist of fundamental steps precisely equal in point of
size : thus, e. g. in fig. 239, a and b, p. 422, the fimdamental harmony moves,
it is true, exclusively by seconds ; in fig. 239, Cy p. 422, exclusively by thirds ;
in fig. 239, dy p. 422, exclusively by fourths, &c. ; in fig. 239, o, p. 423,
alternately by fifths and seconds, &c. ; but still, in fig. 239, a and by the seconds
are at one time major and at another time minor ; in fig. 239, c, the case is the
same with the thirds ; in fig. 239, m, the same holds true of the fourths, &c. ; in
fig. 239, Oy we have at one time major seconds and at another minor seconds; and,
in case the series is continued farther, we have here also at one time major fifths
and at another minor fifths, &c.
This, moreover, is a very natural &ct : for, it results necessarily from the
circumstance that the degrees of the scale are not all of the same size.
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426
HARMONIC PROGRESSION.
§237.
It is perceived also from the same point of view^ that, while no sequence of
chords of equal magnitade can be constructed out of the chords of a major key^
no unbroken series whatever, consisting exclusively of harmonies appropriate to
the minor key, can be carried entirely through the scale of that key ; for, in the
case of the minor key, harmonies are not to be found on every degree of the
scale, as they are in the case of the major key, but the series of chords appro-
priate to the former has several chasms in it. If, e. g, we should undertake to
form a series of seconds from the tonic harmony upwards, in o-minor, as in fig.
239, hh,
(Fig. 239, W.) ((W.)
^ 1 jtfyi ^» He L^\ i%\%7\ ggj'T
we should find, on coining to the second step, that a harmony is wanting on the
third degree of the scale (§ 149). The same thing occurs in the sequences
exhibited in fig. 23S^ ddy above, as also in every other sequence which can be
constructed in the minor key by transforming any one of the major key examples
found in fig. 239, a — r, pp. 422 — 424, into the minor key, as in fig. 239,
^^andM.'
(Fig. 239, i^^.)
(Fig.239,fyjy.) (M^)
B (5 °i JF '>8ll If 8 8 jF II '^b ogll € 8 JF
8 jF II '^b ogll € 8 JF
Certain other infelicities which connect themselves with this case, as it
respects the appropriate flowing progression of the parts, are not here to be
taken into the account. There are indeed some instances of progressions in
pieces written in the minor key which resemble these sequences ; such, e, g, as
those in fig. 240 :
(Fig. 240.)
My Op. 16.
^^^^■^'JrrcfP^„V.^C,^^
m
&
nt
t^btpt
but passages of this kind, as we have already seen in §§ 131, 211, and 379,
always depend either upon foregoing digressive modulations, or upon transition-
tones, or mere apparent chords. Compare fig. 169, t, k, p. 265, and fig. 215,
p. 361.
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SEQUENCES. 427
§238.
(3.) The symmetry of a sequence may be heightened by placing all the
chords in one position, or by giving them all alike one species of transformation*
Thus, e.^. in fig. 239, ^,
(Fig.239,»>) ^
© 8 oft C Tl ( ;f <S^
all the chords are in the first inversion, the fundamental tone being at the top
and the original fifth m the middle. The example in fig. 239, i,
(Fig. 239, t.)
€r;fe1l€o(8<Sr
is of a similar character.
In examples, fig. 239, e, d, g, h, k, o,p, g and r.
(Fig. 239, c.)
■ ill i_i-i-ii
€> •>«
(Fig. 239, i.)
^t-^^"']Hf Ej
-Q-
^t==
:f»
V
H"r-g["M'a°-^
i
33P
6^ ;f 0*7
a7
s
35:
-I r
(Kg. 239, J,.)
P
rf^llil il|ri.,jj-8l,.ri
<S;7 ®
m
.^e:-
I
=SF
^ ^ ^ ^ °l ^
b ;f e €> tr
e:
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428
HARMONIC PBOOBESSION.
(Fig. 239, A.)
^ *- :i: = ' ^ rz
C«JXi«b©«C
(Fig. 239, A.)
i
'TT-
1
22:
IOC
TT"
:7rri
-€^-
§^
-^-
=33:
3a:
xrz:
-rr
:g:
:&
r>
xr
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(Fig. 839,0.)
s
3a:
:§:
i
jOC
::o:
(Fig. 239, J?.)
/I'll .'/I'-ii ii^lh
t=m
"^
mfTJi:^
a
■ft-j^
:p=t
(Fig. 239, 2)
's:
ip:
all the chords are found in their aninverted position. Here the same position
of the upper intervals recurs at every other chord alternately : t, e., in examples
d and k, at one time the fifth is uppermost, and at another the fundamental
tone ; the next highest tone in example d, is at one time the third and at another
the seventh; while, in k, it is at one time the third, and at another the funda-
mental itself, &c. In examples y, o, g, and r, at one time the third is upper-
most and at another the fifth ; in examples c and A, at one time the fundamental
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SEQUENCES.
4i9
tone is uppermost, at another its fifth, and at another its third ; in example/?, at
one time the fifth is uppermost and at another the third.
In example, fig. 239, e,
(Fig. 239, c.)
■■• -^ -^ bv
97 ^7 C7 Jp Vb7
the intervals of one chord occur in an uninverted position, while, those of the
other appear in the second inversion. In the example, fig. 239, yi
(Fig.m/.)
-M
t=^-
^
«7 «7 »7 <S;7 C7 ;f7
consisting exclusively of principal four-fold chords, all the chords appear without
the fundamental tone and with the minor ninth, while the one chord stands in the
second inversion and the other in the fourth. In examples, fig. 239, /, m and n,
(Fig. 239,0 («».)
i^^-^^M^^^H-^^^^
a?
■^>-
-Qf-
^f^, ^i*^l'iiiii^
m
©7 jp »7 (5 07
iS^
ZSJC
1
© ®7 J © »7 ©
uninverted chords alternate with chords in the first inversion. In example «, at
one time the third of the fundamental tone is uppermost, at another the seventh ;
while, in example /, at one time the ninth of the fundamental tone is uppermost,
and at another the fifth. In example /, at one time the fifth of the fundamental is
uppermost, and at another the third ; in example m, at one time the fundamental
note is highest, and at another its fifth. In a like symmetrical manner, in n also,
the same position of the upper intervals regularly recurs at every successive
group.
§239.
(4.) A series of successive harmonies is the more symmetrical when these
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430 HARMONIC PROGRESBION.
hannonies are all aHke in reaped to the rhytkniieal accent. In fig. 239, /,
p. 423, e. g, the one harmony alternately &lls on the heavy part of the measure,
and the other on the light : it happens also, in connection with this circumstance,
that all the chords falling on the first half of the measure are alike in respect to
position, as are also all those falling on the second half. This is the case in
example, fig. 239, g, p. 423, as also in fig. 239, (/, p. 422: in the last case,
moreover, a four-fold chord regularly falls on the heavy part of the measure,
and a three-fold chord on the light. In like manner also, in fig. 239, n, p. 423,
the same group of three fimdamental successions regularly recurs on similar
parts of the measure. In fig. 239, m, p. 423, this order is disturhed, — a circum-
stance which again produces a peculiar effect.
§240.
It is readily perceived, that these sequences may he infinitely varied,
according as we arrange into a successive series either merely three-fold or four-
fold chords, or hoth together, either chords that are merely similar or those
which are exactly alike, at one time all in the same position, and at another
interchangeahly in different positions, at one time recurring on like parts of the
measure, and at another alternately on opposite parts of the measure. — ^The
different possible combinations in this case are almost endless.
As to whatever also pertains to the subject of sequences, nothing fitrther
need here be said. It is enough merely to have become acquainted with their
different species. The rules which are to be observed in the construction of
such modulatory successions of tones are no other than the rules of all other
modulations ; and, accordingly, we have nothing peculiar to say in this connec-
tion, relative to the merits of particular sequences, or of particular modulations
occurring in a sequence, or relative to any other rules to be observed in the
case. All we have to do, on this point, is simply to refer to the general rules
with which we have in part already become acquainted, and which in part we
are about to learn in what foUows.
(D.) REMARKS ON THE RESPECTIVE MERITS OF THE DIFFERENT HARMONIC
STEPS IN GENERAL.
§241.
The 6888 different fundamental successions enumerated in § 227 are all
essentially diverse fi-om each other; no one is exactly the same as another,
but each has its own distinct and peculiar merits. Nay, more ! Each appears
again in an entirely different light, according to the difference of circumstances
under which it occurs, so that one and the same succession, under certain rela-
tions and circumstances, in certain situations, inversions, permutations, or other
transformations of the one or the other chord, or of both at once, introduced on
one or another heavy or light part of the measure, and under this or that parti-
cular combination of circumstances, produces at one time entirely a di^rent
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RESPECTIVE MERITS OF DIFFERENT HARMONIC STEPS. 431
effect from what it does at another. By this means, the 6888 essentially
different cases become multiplied perhaps an hundredfold, or rather almost into
infinity.
(1.) Thus, e» g. an otherwise unusual and repulsive harmonic succession
may sometimes be rendered less harsh and disagreeable by introdudng in it a
somewhat slower grade of time; for, in this case, the ear has more time to com-
prehend, digest, and reconcile itself to the succession, though the latter be in
itself rather foreign and unnatural.
(2.) It often makes a great difference also, whether the two harmonies
following each other are both in their original fomty or whether one or both of
them appear under some transfomuUion, and also in vfhat position the two
chords occur. In fig. 241,
(Fig. 241, t.) (k^ jn («0
p^^ II n n r.-— T^r
i
33:
€^7 a G7 a G^ a <9v7 g
C:V7 VI C:V7 yj C:V7 yi C.V7 vi
the fundamental progression ^^ — ^ occurs four times, and, in each instance,
moreover, as t7.-y ^ vi. In the first case, however, the two harmonies appear
in their uninverted porition, while in the second they are both inverted ; in the
third and fourth cases, flr^ occurs in the second inversion, with the major ninth
and without the fundamental tone. Every one perceives, that here the very
same fundamental step sounds far more agreeably in the first position, than it
does in the remaining three.
(3.) !Many harmonic siTccessions are rendered more agreeable hy the fact
that one ox more intervals of the first harmony are continued in the second ; as,
e, g. in fig. 197, t^ p. 346, the tones e and c of the chord A had already heen
heard in tlie chord ®. By this means the harmonic succession sounds far more
soft and flowing than it would if the two harmonies followed each other in less
neighbourly positions, as they do, e, g, in fig. 197, k.
Such a previous introduction of one or more tones of a harmony which is
about to appear, may be considered as a sort of preparation of it. (See § 107,
p. 240.)
The transitions from C-major to ^-minor, in fig. 201, /, p. 349, and partially
also that into ^-major, in fig, 201, m, p. 349, are of a similar species.
(4.) Again, much often depends upon the circumstance whether the one or
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432
HARMONIC PROGRESSION.
the Other of two successive harmomes falls on a heavy or on a light part of the
measure. Thus we have already ohserved, in § 114, that the step from a three-
fold chord, or even from a four-fold chord, to a secondary four-fold chord, takes
place most conveniently on a heavy part of the measure, while the reverse
progression is hest made on a light part of the measure, so that the secondary
four-fold chord always comes to stand on the heavy part of the measure.
(5.) The degree of loudness or softness of performance may also have
influence. The energy and decision with which an harmonic succession, not very
acceptable in itself, makes its appearance, as it were takes the ear by force,
whereas the very same succession, presenting itself with less boldness and
decision, would be rejected by the ear. It is for this reason, that so much is
admissible on the mighty organ, or in full vocal or instrumental choruses^ which,
presented with a less imposing power of tone, would not be received.
(6.) An harmonic snccession, which would otherwise be repulsive to the ear,
may often be rendered more acceptable by occurring in an harmonic series.
The harmonic succession °vii — in, or IV — °vii, is, when taken by itself, rather
disagreeable ; but in a series, as in fig. 242, /,
(Fig. 242, t.) (h.) (/.)
^iLiiiiTTi
^=r
^
!^
C;I VI If V I IVoTii III VI II V I
it is far less so* ; for, as there are here several successive steps of ftmdamental
harmonies at the distance of a fourth, one, so to speak, gets into the habit of
hearing progressions of this species, and therefore the more readily welcomes, in
this series, the progression of a fourth in the case of IV — °vii and °vii — in. —
Compare fig. 243, «', and k.
(Fig. 243, t.) xozABT.
^ifo, ^ T' -f- h r* J
^urf^^-;^
3E
w
P-4H
^
"8=
S^
-.•ii"
s
■^-m-
3Eb
le
Mada— mi -na!
il ca -ta- lo-go e
mt.
r jsij^i J^
JgfE
r • n
* Figs. 242, t and k, not referred to by the authoc, are probably only given as exam-
ples of the steps of the harmonic series named above. — ^Ed.
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RESPECTIVE MERITS OF DIFFERENT HARMONIC STEPS.
433
:^
f -1 J^i ^T ^ r
r-1 J^i ±% ^
g
:g:
f
:5c=p:
fMf g c r ^^g
s
i i t"-
-p — p
qnei-to,
del-le bel - le, che amd il pa-dron mio,
J^7"j"^1 g 1 1^
=iC=^
\tt
ti
•▼II
til
(Fig. 243,*.)
MOZART.
!- re^^
Vla.
Fl.
Ob.
P
W
a^
!
._:. ^.-c .
-P 1 k it M I r
1 ■ 1 • 1
^
h p p 1?~^^^£
T'han fra qnes - te con - tra-
[r'^it ^ 1 p^Lt •» 1^ ■■ I r
/ 1 J T
4i.
^^
* ^ r
S
^-K-^
i
s
m
tF=F
-n^
£E
fciz
.pf flL.
di-ne,
j-r^r^
ca-me-rie-re cit - ta - di - De,
-pi — ii — f^
d n d -i-fc^
^
S
1 '^^
A'.y
VOL. II.
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434
HARMONtC PK0OKES8ION.
(Fig. 243, k, continued.)
JT Jt -1 J. r ^ r ^Jn Ji^t ±
^
^
J— J— J— ri-4==|— ^n^
»~^-»-n
s
1-^41-^
-b-hr-ly-
4411-^
Y*han con-tes-se, ba- ro • nes-se.
iftMZ
marche-8a,-ne, principesse.
r h ^ h ^
m
i^
EE
-^^-
IV
evil
(7.) Two harmonies which, in case they occurred in the course of the same
musical period, would justly be regarded as making a harsh and grating
harmonic succession, become less offensive, provided the one stands at the close
of a period and the other at the commencement of the following period. This
is, indeed, very natural ; for, by this means, they cease to stand in so close a
connection with each other.
This is very especially the case after a dominant pause, «. e. a pause or rest
on the harmony V. In fig. 244,
(Fig. 244.)
p
^ r
/r\
^=i*. Bf M
da:
^^
35=C=
hi' \\i '±f=i
m
^
f
"^
tnim
after a pause on y.V, or /'.V, the harmony Jb-l occurs, very suddenly and
unexpectedly, it is true, but yet with very beautiftil effect. So also, in fig. 245, t,
(Fig. 246, i.)
p
I'.^r.i-i
B0S8IKI.
:^
^^Tff^
F:Vt
i ji A u n
V V7
m
'ferrr.-n
EBa CSSB
b^
^^
m.i.,i I
yc
kw
ffi
^-
A\>:1
IV
I V7
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RESPECTIVE MERITS OF DIFFERENT HARMONIC STEPS.
435
(toqaote a very familiar example), after the harmony F:Y, with which the
period terminates, A\}:\ immediately occurs in the commencement of the
following passage, — (This last harmonic succession would be still farther very
materially softened by observing the suggestion made in No. 3 of the present
section ; somewhat, e.^. as in fig. 245, k,)
(Fig.245,*.) ^
$
^
hL
un
^^^m
^-v^
^
In the example, fig 197, t, also, p. 346, — an example which has already
several times been referred to, — ^the succession of what would otherwise be very
foreign and dissimilar harmonies and keys, b essentially softened by the inter-
mediate paase on the fifth.
(8.) Another very effective means of 3oftening many otherwise harsh
hannonic saoeessions, particularly those which involve a transition from one key
to another, is eguivocalness. The ear much more readily reconciles itself to
many harmonic successions which would otherwise be offensive, when the chord"
immediately preceding the transition into a new key leaves the ear in doubt as
to the key. (§ 223, p. 374.)
Examples of this kind may be found in § 219, pp. 368—371. In fig. 204, o,
p. 371, for instance, the ear, at the chord [c, f a Sq or eb], is really in doubt in which
key it is ; and when the harmony Sb occurs immediately afterwards, the ear
readily assumes it to be the tonic, though ^-major is but very remotely related
to the previous key, a-minor. It might be said, that the ear, which, for a moment,
is without the resting point of a definite centrality, and accordingly feels as if it
were lost, therefore the more readily seizes any key that presents itself, and that
too usually with eagerness, just for the sake of being somewhere at home again.
Sat, on the contrary, this same digressive modulation from a-pinor into B^}-
major in the follovnng case^ fig. 204, n.
(Fig. 204, n.)
m
U t r iii^?
ft^SD.
331
ffff.S''
"O*
(compare § 208) seems far more foreign, because the chord which here imme-
diately precedes the three-fold chord 18b is not, as in fig. 204,0, p. 371, really equi-
vocal, but, from its connection, its position, and its form, it pretty clearly presents
itself as being in o-minor.
In the example before adduced, a chord preceded the digressive modulation
witich left the ear in doubt as to the key. But an otherwise harsh digressive
modulation may be softened by preceding it with a chord which, even if not
really equivocal, still, in itself considered, may be found in the key into which
the digressive modulation is to be made. For example, in fig. 246, t,
c2
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436 HARMONIC PROGRESSION.
(Fig. 346, f.)
rf.I V7 I V7 b:V1
«;V7
the fourtli chord appears decidedly as (f.-Y^, and the ear is far from being in
doubt as to the key ; but yet^ this harmonic combination, in itself considered,
might also be found in ^-minor, as [6 e alt, c5^. If now the harmony Jp^"^
occurs after this chord belonging alike to the keys i^-minor and o^minor, and
effects a digressive modulation into the key i^-minor — a key very foreign from
d^minor, the harmonic succession is far less harsh and disagreeable than if the
^S^ h^ ^^n preceded by another harmony not to be found in ^-Ininor, as in
fig. 246, k.
(Fig. 246,*.)
?i? ^ ^^^ :§:
IZ3:
-a— tfcr
I
d:l V I b.y
So also, in fig, 247, i,
(Fig. 247, t.)
I
gi_* lit li^t— !lt-Jb*_
the transition from o-minor through (/-minor into the very foreign key ob-minor,
is fovoured by the drcumstanoe that the chord ®7 [g bb ^ e], immediately
preceding the very remote ob-minor, is still to be found also in ob-minor as
<Bb^ ; namely, in the form [g bb 3b H)]. Another case of the same species
may be seen in fig. 247, k,
(Fig. 247, A.)
fi ',:ift.,!.wnr
where a transition is made from ^-minor through c-minor into ^-minor.
Another example occurs in fig. 247, /.
(Fig. 247,/.)
p
^
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BESPECTIVE MKRITS OF DIFFBBENT HARMONIC STEPB.
437
So also, in fig. 248,
(F5g.848.)
^m
r I f r"' ) p \
a digreflsiYe modulation is at first made from G'-major into o-minor ; afterwards
into y*)(-minor, and finally into /*8-major. (I say, at first from G into a ;
that is to say, the elt in the second measure much more naturally strikes the
ear in the first half of the measure as I^ thus making the fundamental harmony
to be 4?^ with a minor ninth, while the chord, which should properly be written
[d g]( b T] is written in the form [d gj) b eS] merely to accommodate the
following harmony, 01(7^ § 224.) Now the digressive modulation from 6^major
and o-minor into /tt-minor and /"tt-major is very foreign, and would be very
harsh, were not the preceding chord [d g]) b ^tt or 7] common to the keys a« minor
and /V-minor, and equivocal in the fitct that, in itself considered, it may be
found Ukewise in yS-minor (as Y ^ with minor ninth.) — ^Indeed, if we consider
also that the chord in question might also present itself to the ear as ®7, it
may be regarded as actually equivocal, and this digressive modulation may thus
be considered as of the same species with that before-mentioned in fig. 204,
o,p. 371.
Another example of the same species is the celebrated transition from Sh-
major, or properly firom j^b-major, or through JB'b-major, into Z>-major, in
fig. 249:
(Fig. 249.)
Andante.,
I
B
KOZABT.
i'.!v",rrhL^^
m
y=^-tr^
fH=-
LiiA^
^
"^ , '_, ^
i
ir ■
m
Bb.vi
ll7
I m;V7
rf.-«iir
D.I
V7
That is to say, the ear in this case takes the chord [Bb d* 7 g JJ 3 T], in the
third measure, properly as [Bb d T ab c[ 7], hence as J5'b .* V ^ (§ 194), at least
on hearing it the first time. (For, the fact that Mozart wrote the tone g]) or
ab, as gtt, in order to accommodate the approaching digressive modulation
(§ 224, at the end) is not perceived by the ear.) Thus, the chord preceding the
new D:l is not, taken according to the connection, really equivocal, but merely
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438
HABMONIC PROGRESSION.
a chord common to two different keys. Still, however, the modulation, though
remote, does not sound harshly ; and chiefly for this reason, among others, that
the harmonic comhination [Bb UTeh^T] which precedes the new 2> .- 1 is to
be found also in (f-minor under the form [Bb 3 7 gjj H T], and even in 2>-major
(§ 94).
The example lu tig 250 also is of a similar species.
(Fig. 260.)
XOZABT.
J=J=i
F^^^NrffTfflt^
J i J ^
V
F:V7
F.I
i
A passage in 2>-major is immediately followed by one beginning with ^: I.
But, in this case, the single intermediate tone e is worthy of special remark.
One scarcely knows, in fact, what to do with this e^ as what to regard it. It
can perhaps be mdst simply explained as the fifth of the harmony D : V , or
possibly as a transition tone. — But, again, this e" sustains also another relation,
and that too not an idle one : it admits of being taken as the third of the
harmony F-Y ^ ; and, regarded in this point of view, it would (especially after
a repeated hearing of the passage) contribute in no small degree to smooth the
transition into /l 'this will readily be perceived, if the e is omitted, or if,
itastead of it, the tone cT is repeatedly struck and then /^-major is immediately
taken.
Fig. 251, t, gives also an interesting ex^lmple of such an effect of equivocalness.
r
(Fig. 251, t)
Moddralo.
Vlni
1I0ZABT*S HTMN, MISERICORDI AS .
S
,VOCB.
:i=|:q=
^
s:
-tr-*-^i
:U
cor - di-as
Do
Babsi.
"F^
x:
V7
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RfiSPECTIVB MERITS OF DIFFEREMT HARMONIC STEPS.
439
/I
J n.
n.
' ij:/ LLj^*^"^
=E
^E
Mi
£
3ip:
T
f
V7
I
t,
Here the phrase expressed in the first two measures in c- minor is immediately
repeated in the following two measures ii) (/-minor. The new commencement
of a phrase similar to the foregoing, which takes place at the heginoing of the
third measure, is unhesitatively taken hy the ear as a new commencement in
d-mmoT ; and this succession of two passages in keys so little related to each
other would be sufficiently harsh, were it not for the fact that a softening effect
is produced by the equivocaluess of the second half of the second measure. At
this point the tone gl^ which occurs in the vocal part, strikes the ear, now attuned
to c-minor, as ah, and hence as the ninth of the fundamental harmony ^^ ;
hut it might perfectly well he regarded also as a transition tone — gjt — to a of
the following harmony (and indeed, after the passage has several times heen
heard, it comes at last to he actually regarded in this light). This equivocaluess
materially softens the harshness of the transition ; and an incidental circum-
stance, which contrihutes to the same result, is the fact that (/-minor is the
principal key of the whole piece — a key to which the ear very naturally recurs,
even independently of any other cause ; and, finally, we may still farther bring
Into account the fact that the harmonic combinations Jg)tT 3]and[gtt H 15]
present a harmony which is in itself equivocal between ^^ and fS^^ and which,
regarded as 4S^, points, as a dominant harmony of transition, to (/-minor; and
accordingly, if, after the rest in the base, the vocal part be taken as the base,
the case assumes the shape presented in fig. 251, ^z
(Fig. 251,*.) , n r>T^
$
^^^^grtjjj '-"-gn::cg
r^
atop
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440
HARMONIC PBOGBESSIOK.
Instances of a similar character are to be found also in figs. 252 and 253 :
Jg_IL fi II hi J ^ ^ B=
In like manner, in fig. 235, measures 24 — 26, p. 411, the transition fi-om
fb-minor into the widely remote key c-minor is made by means of the dimin-
ished three-fold chord conmion to these two keys. Let it be attempted, on the
contrary, to make this transition without any snch means of softening the efiect,
and by the immediate introduction of the unequivocal four-fold fir ^9 as in fig.
235, /, p. 414, and it will be found, that all the harshness which had in the
former case been concealed, will here again make its appearance.
The digressive modulation firom C'-major into ^-minor, occurring in fig. 201,
/, p. 349, and already remarked upon in § 241, No. 3, is also, in the same
way, as well as by the circumstance there mentioned, favoured by the chord
[G d b TJ, which, as [G d b ej], is to be found also in 3-minor. The same
is true to some extent, even of the transition into -5-major, in fig. 201, tn, p. 349.
Compare also fig. 132, p. 212, which has been several times mentioned
already (§ 91, § 189 Remark, § 194, § 208).
So, likewise, in fig. 203, p. 350, the harmonic step fi-om C^-major into the
remote A-minor is very much favoured by the fact that the chord t, which occurs,
also in ^-minor, precedes the chord f|. — Moreover, it may, perhaps, be main-
tained, that in this example even the harmony t does not altogether unequivo-
cally strike the ear as iii of C'-major : for, as the harmony iii is not in itself
very natural and familiar to the ear, and indeed we may say is rather unusual
(§ 147, No. 3), and hence the ear is not, in general, particularly inclined to take
a harmony for iii, so here, if the harmony t is struck again in the second half
of the second measure, the ear will begin to doubt whether it should not take
this t as something else than as C: iii.
The digressive modulation fix)m o-minor through e^minor into i^-minor, in
fig. 224, t, p. 374, is of a simOar species, as is also that in fig. 224, k, p. 374,
where harmonies belonging to i^-minor and ^-major immediately follow each
other. The case is the same also with the succession J5'b.'V7 d,- j^ &c.
(9.) It is to be observed farther, that those digressive modulations which
are effected by the sixth-fourth position of the new tonic chord (§207, at *1)
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BSSPECTIYS MBBITS OF DIFFBBBKT HABMONIC STEPS.
441
are the most agreeable, sothatwe may in this way not only p«e into very remote
keys, but this mode of modnkting is for tbe most part of pesnliarly fine efiect.
Thus, e.g, the transition firom J^b-mijor or j£^b-major into 2>-major, in fig.
249, p. 437, already referred to, is firkvoured, not only by the eqnivocalness of
the preceding harmony, but also by the fonrth-sixth position of the chord IB.
In fig. 253, p. 440, also, where a new passage commences with Ih /I, after
/.-Y^ or ^b •' V^^ the transition is of a peculiarly happy eflfect, firom the union
of several fiaivonrable drcumstances, namely, the fourth-sixth position of the new
tonic harmony (§ 207), the preceding rest (adverted to in No. 7 of the present
section), and the eqnivocalness of the chord [g % e Tb].
In fig. 251, f, also, p. 438, the coming in of the horns with [A a] tends to
beguile the ear into the impression that the new phrase in (^minor actually
commences in the fourth-sixth position, as in fig. 251, i*, p. 439.
The same will be found to hold true in most of the digressive modulations of
this species which are referred to in figs. 200 and 201, pp. 348 and 349. It must
not be overlooked in these cases, however, that in many instances the transition
is fiunlitated also by tbe eqnivocalness of the foregoing chord and by other
favourable circumstances, as has been in part already observed.
Snch passages as those in fig. 253|, % tojD,
(Plg.263J,f.) (A.) ^ (/.) ^
llJijijHrit il IMiii!"Hl-
VI G.V7 C:I Vr
p
c.x
5f Ji •»
iiC.VC.I
VT
I O.VT C:\ VT
(«.) ^
i_t_Ji— 1-^
^1
3M
:*=t^
-rmr
G.V» C.l
v»
v»
(p)
^
i
^
::«c
1P«
i-"-^
^Jr^-ir-
1 C;V7c;i ^ t GiVr erT V7 i
where the decisive tonic fourth-sixth chord follows a chord which may be
regarded as its dominant of transition, are also particularly agreeable to the ear
in this respect. The digressive modulations in figs. 249, 251, 252, k, 253, &c.
pp. 437, 438, 440, are of a similar species.
Numerous other circumstances of every sort, some of which cannot here be
explained at all, but to which we shall hereafter caU attention in particular
cases that will occur, may contribute very much to soften the harshness other-
wise attendant upon the succession of harmonies, even if not in some cases
entirely to remove it. One of these circumstances is a perfectly natural ^tr of
ike parts. So also mere single transttiori'lones, stutpensions, or intermediate
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442 HARMONIC PROGBESSION.
transition or apparent chords, often contribute to render harmonic saccessions
which woald otherwise be harsh, very peculiarly smooth and agreeable.
§ 242.
It will at once be perceived from our present view of the matter, that the
merits of the different possible harmonic successions and of all their various
possible combinations, can by no means be disposed of by a few general nuadms ;
and that a concise answer to the questions, " what harmonies may follow each
other? what harmonic successions are good, and what are objectionable?"
cannot be given. No class of harmonie flmooessions admits of being pronounced
good or bad universally, none «an be approved or reprobated in the gross ; and
whoever Aonid here attempt to establish a universal precept, would, as a matter
of course, either deceive himself or others; because such universal maxims
would not apply to cases so multi&riously and essentially unlike. No ! He
who would fully answer the above questions and would determine the precise
extent to which each harmonic succession is good or ill— is flowing, agreeable,
repulsive, harsh, or even wholly to be rejected, would have no less a task to
perform than that of going over individually all the 6888 different cases, and,
subjecting each by itself to a separate and distinct examination, settle its own
peculiar merits, and that too under all possible combinations, and under all the
various circumstances that can be connected therewith. This would be a huge
undertaking indeed, one which folios would scarcely be sufficient to accomplish :
it would require books too voluminous for anybody to read, even if anybody
could be found to write them.
In the alternative, therefore, of either unqualifiedly laying dovm universal
affirmations as to the merits of entire classes of harmonic successions — affirma-
tions which would at best be true only to a limited extent, while in all other
cases they would necessarily be &lse, or of falling into an interminable strain of
detail, — and for the purpose of keeping ourselves equally far from a deceptive
universality on the one hand, and from a tedious course of detail on the other —
for the sake of neither presenting as entire what is really incomplete, nor of
pronouncing an extended and tiresome critique upon every individual case, we
propose to pursue a middle course in the matter. We shall pass over the entire
field, it is true ; but yet a minute examination of every foot of the groimd we
shall by no means attempt. Of the much that might be said upon the different
cases occurring in these classes, we shall exhibit only that which seems most
important, without any view to furnishing, in these individual sketches, any
thing like a complete theory of harmonic succession. All the rest we leave to
each individual's own correct musical feeling ; and it very fortunately happens
that this property itself, without theory, and often, as past experience has
already shown, even in spite of false theories, is, in practice, a pretty sure guide.
Many, moreover, may find it an interesting exercise, ultimately, to go
through, by themselves, all the different harmonic successions, according to the
divisions made below, and to ascertain whether and in what way this or that
harmony can be struck after one or another, &c. By this means one will some-
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RESPECTIVE MERITS OF DIFFERENT HARMOKIC STEPS. 443
times unexpectedly fell upon new and often very effective harmonic turns
which otherwise would never have heen thought of. (It is true, indeed, that
beginners will not he ahle to institute researches of this kind with entire suc-
cess, so long as they are not fiuniliar with the laws which relate to the con-
duet of parts.}
According to the view which has been taken, from § 241 to the present
place, there is not a single harmonic succession which we should be able abso-
ItUefy and uncandiHonally to forbid. It is indeed true, as we shall find even
in our proposed survey of the field, that many successions produce a very
strange, unnatural, and often extremely repulsive effect. But such successions
may not only sometimes be very much, and often, indeed, entirely softened
technically, by circumstances of the kind mentioned in § 241, but, regarded in
«B SMthntirnl point of view, even that which, in respect to art, is foreign and
uimatnral, and wMdi is to sone'sEftent harsh, and indeed that which is positivdy
rough and irregular, may, when used in the right place^ be entirely proper and
of very happy effect.
B£MABK.
The doctrine of the different harmonic successions and of their various merits is also,
like many others, found in cor books of instruction in a very sad, and one might even
say pitifiil, condition.
Most writers cut the matter short and pass over the subject altogether.
A few others who touch upon it, do it in so superficial a manner, that it would have
been better if they had not treated it at all. They propose, namely, to despatch the
sabject by giving, on a page or two of their books, at best a few rules, intended to show
'* by what intervals the fundamental harmony, or, as they term it, the fundamental base
(?) may move," t. «. whether steps of a second, third, &c are allowable in the fmida-
¥tt<>wt«^l harmony, &c.
Thus, e. g. Rousseau* teaches that there may be three different progressions of the
so-called fundamental base, and only three, namely: 1. '* Monier ou descendre de
Tierce ou de Stz/e— the ascent or descent of the third or the sixth ; 2. De Quarts ou de
Quinie— of the fourth or the fifth; 3. Monter dkUoniquement au moyen de la Disso-
nance qui forme la liaison (which I do not understand !) ou par licence (See Remark
at { 107) sur (T) un Accord patfait. Qtumi d la descents diatoniqusy c^est une nuxrche
absolumen£ interdite d la Basse-fondamentale, ou tout au plus tol^rie dans le cos de
deux Accords parfaiis cons^cutifs, sfyaris par un repos exprim4 ou sousentendu ;''
(here again an ellipsis !) ceite rigle n^a point d^autre exception, et c*est pour n^avoir
pas d^mSU le vrai fondement de certains passa^eSy que M» Rameau a fuit descendre
diaioniquement la Bcusefondamentaie sous des Accords de Septiimet ce qui ne sepeut
en bonne Hcumtonie :" — ** The diatonic ascent by the dissonance which forms the con-
nection ' or, by license, in a perfect chord. As it respects descending diatonically, it is
a progression absolutely forbidden to the fundamental base, or, at most, tolerated only in
the case of two consecutive perfect chords, separated by a rest either expressed or
understood : this rule has no other exception, and it is from not having discovered the
true fiiodamental of certain passages, that Mr. Bameau has made the fundamental base
in the chord of the seventh descend diatonically — a thing which is incompatible with
good harmony."
* In his Diction, de Mus, art. Basse-fondamentale,
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444 HABMOKIC PBOOBES8I0N.
Here, then, we find expressed in a few lines the entire code of laws which are to
determine what modnlation* may do, and what it may not do !
Now who does not see how impossible it is to pronounce decisions of this character
which shall be oniversally applicable! How many entirely different questions, e.y. are
involved in the single one which follows; namely, are progressions of the fundamental
harmony by seconds to be deemed good or bad, allowed or forbidden ? After a chord
whose fundamental tone is c, e. g. can another follow whose fundamental tone is a major
or minor second higher than cT
If, namely, one will compute how many essentially different major or minor second
steps nxay occur to a majw, minor, or diminished three-fold chord, or to a principal or
secondary four-fold chord of this or that key, from each of the fourteen harmonies
belonging to a major key, or the ten harmonies appropriate to a minor key, he will find
that there may be neither more nor less than 1152 steps of a second, each of which is
entirely different from the others, each is an entirely distinct fundamental progression :
576 of these steps of a second being minor, and an equal number being major. For,
reckoning, first,
(I) The minor second steps of the fundamental harmony ; there nxay follow
{A.) in a major key,
(1.) after a three-fold harmony, and in the first place,
(a.) after that offhejirst degree,
(a.) another three-fold harmony, and that too, e.g. in C-major, either
{aa.) a major three-fold chord, and thus, in C-major, the three-
fold chord 9b may foUow that of C . But this I) h may be
at one time Db.I, at another Gb.V, at another Ah.lY,
at another ^b ; V, and again/; 71— (see table a, p. 294) ;
— ^thus making &Ye different minor second steps - - 5
(bb.) or there may follow after C;I the minor three-fold har-
mony of the next degree, namely, H b. This harmony also
is at one time Cb; n, at another ^bb; iii, Fb;yi, ab;iy,
or (2b:i— {see table b, p. 295); thus making five other
minor second steps --.....5
{cc) or there may follow after C; I a diminished three-fold har-
mony, namely otib, which harmony has three different
meanings (see table c, p. 296) ; thus giving us again three
different species of minor second steps .... 3
Altogether, thus far, amounting to - - - - 13
(b.) We find, in like manner, that four different /ottr-/oU chords
may follow the three-fold harmony of the first degree of the
major key; in C-major, e. g.
{aa.) the jTftnajHi/ four-fold chord 9b7 in two different relations
(see table (2, p. 297) -.-..-.2
{f>b.) the minor four-fold chord in four different relations (see
table 6, p. 298) 4
{ce.) the four-fold chord with minor f^fth in two different rela-
tions (see table /, p. 299) 2
{dd^ the major four-fold chord in three different relations (see
table y,p.300) 3
Making again ....... i\
Total thus far 24
* It will be perceived that the term " modulation '* is here used in the sense oi har-
monic progression. — Tb.
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RESPECTIVE MERITS OF DIFFERENT HARMOICIC STEPS. 445
Total, broagfat forward 24
(ft.) So, in like manner, an eqoal nomberof different minor second stepa
may be had after the three-fold barm(my of the second degree in a
major key ........... 24
(c.) So likewise after the three-fold harmony of the third degree - 24
(<i.) After that of the fourth degree 24
{€.) After that of the^M degree 24
(/.) After that of the nxM degree 24
(g.) After that of the ftfrenM degree 24
Total thus far 168
(2.) We find in the same manner an eqoal number of different minor second
steps after each of the seven fovr*fM harmonies of the major key 168
Total 336
(J9.) So also in a minor key there may follow
(1.) after a three-fold harmony, and, first,
(a.) after that of thejEr«< degree,
(b.) another three-fold harmony, and that too, in a-mlnor, e,g. either
(aa,) a major three-fold harmony, as above, in five different
meanings -••••.*-«-5
(bb,) or a minor three-fold harmony in the same variety of sig-
nifications • -•......5
(cc.) or a dtmtNisAtfcI three-fold chord, in three different reUtions 3
Amounting thus far to • 13
(b.) Four different /ottr-/o2(2 chords, constituting together eleven
different varieties of relationship (as above) ..... H
Total 24
(5.) So likewise after the three-fold harmony of the second degree in a
minor key .-....-...24
(c.) After that of the/ottrM 24
(d.) After that of the jIfM 24
(«.) After that of the sixth 24
(/.) After that of the seventh 24
Total 144
(2.) So likewise after each of the ioxafovar»fM harmonies of the minor key,
we find 96 minor second steps 06
Total 676
(II.) In just the same way we obtain an equal number of major second steps - 576
Grand total, as above stated .--.... 1152
We will assume, then, that there are eleven hundred and fifty-two different steps of
a second (and an equal number of imder-second steps, which those gentlemen like-
wise include in their prohibition of second steps^— thus making strictly 2304 steps of a
second) ; to say nothing of the very various combinations of circumstances (§ 241 to
tliis place) by which the merits of every progression of this kind may be lo materially
affected.
And now I ask, how is it possible, in a sin^e sentence, to pronounce, with any pro-
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446
HARMONIC PROOBBSSION.
priety, upon the merits of an eutire class of fundamental progressions so essentially
diveraet!
But notwithstanding all this, our writers find it, as we have seen, a very easy matter
to pass sentence in this very way. It is very plain, however, that such a proceeding has
been abundantly productive of the moat serious and palpable errors.
We wiU mention a few, by way of example ; and as we have just been speaking
above of second progressions, we will begin with these.
These progressions, as above observed, are all very summarily forbidden in our most
approved systems of musical doctrine. Now» I must be permitted to ask, have those gen-
tlemen, as they forbid, at a single stroke, all possible steps of a second, examined all the
1152, and much more the 2304, different possible second progressions of the fundamental
harmony, and that too under all possible circumstances and combinations of circum-
stances, &c. &c.n or have they most frivolously issued their interdict without such
examination] — or do they know how to adduce some fundamental principle from which
the musical impossibility of such progressions would follow a priori^ 1 — ^plain questions,
whose answer is readily given by the first look at the hundreds of second progressions
occurring in every piece of music that comes to hand.
I must be allowed, &rther, to subject some of those prohibitions to the test of expe-
riment and of a good music^ ear.
According to the passage quoted from Rousseau, as we have seen, progressions of a
second are one and all comdemned at a dash ! Rameau also, coinciding with this view
(in d" Alernbert, §§36 and 37), demonstrates, from the most learned considerations, that a
three-fold harmony can by no means be followed by another three-fold harmony on the
next degree of the scale: e,g, C — ^tr> and least of all when both three-fold harmonies
are major :*e.y. (!D — 9.
According to this view, all the progressions occurring in the examples hitherto exhi-
bited would be faulty and bad.— (And I here perceive with no little dismay, but, alas, too
late ! how criminally I offended against Rameau and Rousseau, when I began the first
Allegro of my Te Deum laudamus with a whole series of harmonic steps of the descrip-
tion I— II and V7— VI— ! Fig. 264.)
(Fig. 254.)
Allegro,
1IY"TE DEUM.'
^ ff ^sr ,,,,
^^
^^tea
s
^
i
B=
^Qt
^:I
II I V7
VI II I V
Marpurg ventures, indeed, in his remark (10) on Rameau's system, to undertake the
defence of such second progressions. But on what does he found his defence? It is
true, says he, that the second progression in ^, 255, t,
(Fig. 255, t.)
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BESPECTIVE MERITS OF DIFFERENT HARMONIC STEPS. 447
is not natural to the foodamental base ; but art here comes in to the help of nature.
The progression would be natural, if it were as in fig. 255, k,
(Fig. 255, A.)
that is, if a <Sr-chord stood between the C and the 9-chord : — ^now ! in fig. 255, t, above,
the G-chord is merely— omitted. — ^Thus ** a second progression in the fundamental
base is an elliptical progression**
But what sort of a justification is this ! For, such an ellipsis or omission having
taken place, the chords C and 9 still immediately follow each other, after all ! — ^Do not
explanations of this species form a worthy counterpart to the elliptic resolution already
adverted to (in the Remark on { 107, p. 240) ? In either case, and in all cases of the
kind, the argument is nothing more nor less than reasoning in a circle; namely, the
progression would be right, if it were otherwise ; hence, it is right as it is, for one has
only to conceive it to be otherwise.
Kimberger also expresses himself, in general, very much against progression by
seconds, and really tolerates* none but the following : i — 0117. But, in his Science of
pare Composition {Ktaat des reinen StUxesf), he allows again, in general, the second
progression (1) firom a major three-fold chord to a minor one, e. g, C — '^ or (fi — a ;
(2) fit>m a minor three-fold chord to a diminished three-fold chord, e.g, a — ^»(; (3) in
the minor key, the succession V — VI ; and by way of exception also, rv — V in the minor
key ; (but not IV— V in the major key).
It truly gives me pleasure to observe, that, by these precepts, Kimberger absolves
me again from my sins against Rameau and Rousseau; but even after such liberal
principles, still a multitude of second progressions remain forbidden according to Kim- *
berger, which are not so according to the ear, which daily occur, and which are regarded
by the best composers and hearers as free firom fiiult.
Even the constantly occurring succession J — ®, in C-major,e.y. still remains under
prohibition.
It is true that Kimberger would be far from maintaining that it sounds ill to pass
directly firom the harmony Jp to that of iSr in a passage in C-major ; but the harmonic
succession ;f— €r (so he teaches in section 22 of his ** Wahren Grundsatxe,^^ p. 52) ia
this case is not to be understood as it stands — not as Jp — <Sr, but as J — tfl — ®, and the
middle chord )|7— is merely again — omitted (another ellipsis I).
Likewise the universally received succession V7 — ^vi, & — a remains, according to
Kimberger 9 fi)rbidden, and that too as a second progression; but, under the same
denomination of an elliptical harmonic succession, it is afterwards again allowed. The
chord [6 B d f ], says KimbergerX^ is not, in such cases, to be understood as <9a7, but as
being really the chord [£ G B d f ], and consequently ^^ with the ninth, f. Only the
fundamental tone £ is again— 'omitted. (Why does Kimberger allow the succes-
sion ^^■'S ^^ ^^ minor keyt why does he not then also explain the chord (S^ as
[C E 6S B d] ? — or, if he allows <57— Jp without an ellipsis, why not also, in like
manner, <lr7 — n\)
• In his Grands, xum Geh. der Harm. (§22, pp. 51 and foil, and in the Nacher-
innenmg).
t II Theil, 1 Abschn. 1. Abtheil. page 14.
t Kunst des reinen Satxes, I Theil, page 62.
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44S
HABMONIC PROeBBSSION.
He, in the same manner*, explains the raocessiaD C — 9, fig- 8S6,
(Fig. 266.)
P
^
m
1
^ J
X2.
1^
Z5
^
i
as an elUptical one, not allowing the second chord to be €D, but making it b? with the
fundamental note omitted.
It is almost lamentable to see how he writhes and twists to explain whole series of
second progressions, which his own correct ear forbids him to denominate ^ulty, as being
something else than second progressions, and all this just for the purpose of maintaining
the honor of the prohibition of second progressions. The ellipsis ^ which did him such
excellent service in the before-mentioned cases, seems here not entirely to satisfy him.
Hence he devises again two other modes of explanation. The progressions of the fun-
damental hannony in such a series as that in fig. 257, t.
(Fig. 267, f.)
Tn J 1'"°'
i
4
i
he saysff are by no means second steps ; but the succession of chords is to be understood
as it stands in fig. 257, k ;
(Fig. 257,*.)
Jijij Jij Ji
^U
i
i
only in the second measure of the upper part in fig. 257, t, the note 7occurs in the first
part of the measure, and thus prematurely, instead of coming in the second part of the
measure, as in fig. 257, A;,— it apniidpates the 7. The fundamental harmony of the first
half of the second measure in fig. 257, t, is accordingly not properly li, but rather Jp.
Fig. 257,//
• Sec. 22 of his " Wakren Grunds:' page 51.
t In his <* Wahren Grundsr § 20, page 45, and following.
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BESPFXTIYE MERITS OF DIFFERENT HARMONIC STEPS.
449
(Fig. 257,/.)
5
g
irJAf^
i
® Jirt ei t til S 0^1^
Here again we have a word instead of the thing. At first it was an ellipsis, now it is an
oRticipcaion, — ^Bat, even after this new invention of a word, the question still remains
wholly unanswered : if the fundamental harmony of the first half of the second measure
is ;f , with what propriety does the note 1 stand in that place — a note which even consti-
tutes the distinguishing sign between £ and H ! With what propriety could thisTf, foreign
to the harmony J, occur unprepared in the heavy part of the measure, and continue un-
resolved ?
This was one of Elimberger's modes of explaining such series of seconds. The second
is called retardation. We may also, he says, suppose to such a series the fundamental
harmonies which are indicated in fig. 257, m,
(Fig. 257, to).
i
Teh Of-
^
CD JF! H «r! t a!
and in this way it is strictly to be understood as presented in fig. 257, n,
(Fig. 257, n.)
^ Tl
^■'Hlh^^^^^
only, in fig. 257, m, the two under parts are retarded, and first make their appearance
with/ and a at the third quarter, instead of the second. Thus, in fig. 257, m, the tones e
and^, still continuing at the second quarter, would be suspensions of/ and a, prepared
on the heavy part of the measure, dissonant on the light, and resolved on the following
heavy part !
In like manner as our theorists are accustomed to prohibit the progression of the fun-
damental baimony by one degree towards, they have also laid their interdict upon pro-
gressions by the same degree downwards ; as, e.g. in the passage above quoted from
Rottsseau^ or in Kirnbergsr, &c.
With renewed amazement, I here again observe the fundamental succession ii— I
several times successively recurring in fig. 254, p. 446 ! Of a similar character too are
the progressions IV— iii— ii— I, in fig. 258,
VOL. II. ^
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450
HARMONIC PROGRESSION.
(Fig.368.)
i
MOZART.
Do - minuB De - us. Sa -
ba-olh.
I>;IV HI II I V7 I V
I>;IV III
V— IV— in— II— I, in fig. 259,
(Fig. 259.)
GLUCK,
IV— III— n in fig. 260.
(Fig,260,)
(Fig,260,) ^ ^•••^ J^ ir m^ voor.ER.
i>;I IV nT "iT ui:W
And yet, who has ever heard that passage of the Sanctus in Mozart*8 Requiem^ found in
fig. 258, above, without being enraptured by its majesty \ Who can hear, without emo-
tion, Gluck's overture to IfigeTua^ fig. 259, above % Who can fail of being inspired by
the splendid Gloria of Vogler*s Mass, in d-minor, fig. 260, above?
Are we prepared, then, to expunge the passages from the works of Mozart, Gluck,
Vogler, and others, as faulty? or rather will we not expunge the prohibition of them firom
our books of iostruction ?
The succession ii — I, in the fundamental (§ 56) or uninverted position of the chords,
is, according to Kimberger, particularly faulty.* But, so &r as I can perceive, this
succession of chords, in fig. 261, t and k,
(Fig. 261, t.)
I J I . . J A
S
^^=¥
ESE
-Q— oT
(Fig. 261,*.)
0 -^
t^js^uirji^^
^".
* KuMt des reinen Maizes II. Th. I. Abschn. page 14.
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RESPECTIVE MERITS OF DIFFERENT HARMONIC STEPS.
451
does not, to say the least, lound so ill as to merit rejectioD. Shall we, then, uncon-
ditioiially prohibit successions of this species? Axe we prepared, e. y. to strike out the
passage in Mehul^s Une foUe where Carlin's waggish simplicity is expressed in a most
perfectly humorous manner by means of this very succession of harmonies t — Fig. 262.
(Fig. 262.)
y-^iii fct-^
.jAir-^nTiU-i
^
£
IV
P:\
IV
Others, sigain, e. g. Vogler* and his apostle, J. H. Knecht, absolutely forbid the
immediate saccession of two three-fold hannonies standing on two proximate degrees of
the scale, in cases where both chords are of the same species, namely, either both major
or both minor, e, g. § — tt, €r — §, or U— c, t— Tl.
It is true, indeed, that this theory does not forbid such progressions as ir — I in fig.
254. p. 446, &c. : but yet a multitude of others it does prohibit; e. g. ii— iii, iii — ^ii,
IV— V, V— IV, &c.
Now, in the first place, as it respects the succession of two major three-fold chords,
enough has been said already. But as regards minor three -fold chords, it is fully
demonstrated, by fig. 263,
(Fig. 263.)
IS
^
fr
■cr-
T
TE
X=^
IV III
III IV
IV
that such a succession is at the ikrthest possible remove from sounding disagreeably, not-
withstanding the two minor three-fold chords f and V are arranged, both forwards and
backwards, immediately after one another.— Who can reproach such a succession of
chords as that in fig. 264, i, with being faulty ?
(Fig. 264, s.)
m
^m
JQ
I
B£
i
igt
-r-t-
r^
-^r
*nt
C.II V7
And, according to Vogler^s rule, would not the interdict rest upon all the passages quoted
from Mozart, Gluck, and— what is the finest of all—upon that even which is quoted from
• Ilandbuch zvr Harmonielehre, chap. 3, §21, p. 80.
D 2
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452
HARMONIC PROeRESSION.
Vogler himself t It is indeed true, that the uniform succession of the two proximate
harmonies c and ^, in fig. 264, k and /,
(Fig. 264, A:.) (/.)
III II III II III III II III II III
does not please the ear (compare § 502) ; but still it does not follow, as the above-
mentioned examples show, that every succession of minor three-fold chords by proximate
degrees is £iulty, in other cases : the £eiult lies in the rule itself.
In like manner we also find the progression of sixths forbidden in our books of
instruction ; e.g.m d*Alembert* and others.
I here again beg to know, whose ear is offended by the progression of sixths and
under-thirds in fig. 265!
(Fig. 265, t.)
(k.)
^^=FFT
And have we not already seen that Kimberger places his only justification of the second
progressions, in fig* 257, i, p. 448, on the ground that progressions of sixths are to be
inserted between them t !
And here again Marpurg, already referred to, appears before us, explainingf the
sixth progression CT — a, in fig- 265, «, above, as an ellipsis or elision of the phrase in
k! — (In this way the above-mentioned passage, in fig. 257, t, p. 448, would be an
ellipsis of an ellipsis.)
But why, for heaven*s sake, all this far-fetched, unnatural, and senseless explanation
of harmonic successions, in themselves natural and faultless, merely to maintain the
credit of an unnatural and erroneous rule which these progressions contradict! !
Others, again, for the most part, limit only the progression of certain harmonies ; e.g.
the diminished three-fold chord. Thus Kimberger sayst, *' the diminished three-fold
chord has no other progression than that of four degrees above itself* (meaning a fourth
upwards). But, from his own examples, the last but one quoted, it is clear that he could
not condemn such a passage as that in fig. 266. ^
(Fig. 266.)
* In the place before cited, § 36. f In the place before cited.
J Kunst des reinen Satzes, I Theil, p. 38.
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RE8PKCTITE MERITS OF DIFFEBSNT HARMONIC STEPS. 453
FiiMlly, he himself even quoted ob — £ as an example of an harmonic snccesiion !
Fig 267.
(Fig. 267.) KIBSBEBG£R.
3 6
331
lliis rule again Is obyionsly false ; and Kimberger will here also find it necessary to
summon up his sstgacity to invent an explanation of the above-mentioned examples by
an ellipBiBy. by anticipation, retardation, or some other ingenious fiction, and to show
that the above sacceniona on — ^i are not on — ^i,but really on— Y.
Or, are the nomeroos examples of harmonic progression which have been referred to
and wluch ran directly counter to the prohibitions laid down by music-teacherB, while at
the same time they do not sound ill, only exceptions to the rule, and, as the hackneyed
phraae is, « only allowable to good composers T'-^ut, to say nothing of the fact that the
exceptions would in this case be more numerous than the instances in which the rule
would apply, I should at least suppose, that if the rule were really correct, its violations
most necessarily be bad, without any subjective reference to the pen fit>m which they
flowed : and, vice versa, if the violation or exception were good and thus objectively
allowable, it must be equally so to all persons alike. But a rule to which any one may
make an exception, t. e. which any one may transgress, is no rule at all.
Or, again, are such exceptions allowable <' only in the/r«« ^iyUy but forbidden in the
strict T*^ I have already expressed my views upon this subject in general, in the remark
on \ 95. But let me ask still further, why they are allowed in the former style and not
in the latter 1 Is it for any reason in the nature of the case, or merely because theorist
Y %x Z has said sol
Bat enough, and more than enough, to demonstrate the groti inaccuracy of this part
also of our previous theories !
I wish it to be observed, however, that, in thus exposing the defects of existing musical
doctrines, it has not been so much my object to reproach theorists for not having laid
down more appropriate general rules, or for not having more perfectly treated the doctrine
in question in other respects. I am by no means ignorant of the fiact that it would be
altogether too tedious a business, not only to theorists themselves, but also to their
readers, to go over, step by step, so immense a field as that of all the difiierent possible
hsirmonic steps (for it does not admit of being summarily despatched by a few general
suid sweeping precepts and prohibitions), and to enter into a radical investigation of the
merits of every fundamental succession under all possible varieties of circumstances.
This could not reasonably be required of them. It were but reasonable, however, to
expect, that, in an afiair so obviously impracticable, they should not have falsely con-
cealed the fact, and have given themselves the appearance of being able to dispose of
so vast a field with a few superficial and dogmatically exhibited general rules. It was
their duty to disclose the existing vastness and variety of the ground to be surveyed,
and to \tt their readers have a view of it, instead of deceiving them by puzzling rules
and prohibitions, which every one who has confidence in his own or in others^ ears,
finds superfluous and untrue in practice, and hence learns, very properly, to despise,
violate, and set aside.
Hence it is no wonder that in the eyes of composers the names theorist and pedant^
theory and scholasticUm [school-dust?], have become synonymous terms. Indeed, so
long as the case is strangely thus with the theory of an art which holds so very advanced
a position practically, it may with propriety be said that theorists really possess incom-
parably less of theory than practitioners themselves. For, the former teach false rules.
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454 HARMONIC PROGRESSION.
while the latter act according to those which are true. The roles which the former lay
down, infinitely more often prove erroneoos than correct; while the latter produce
elevated works of art, from which we might and should long since have deduced better
rules. For, if it is true, that, in art, practice must precede theory, and that the latter
is at first drawn from the former, then must theory be willing really to follow, and, free
from implicit faith, must be ready to give up without farther hesitation any rules which
prove themselves untrue in practice. Indeed, if we had nothing to substitute in the
place of these false rules, and were to be left with no rules at all, even then it would be
our first duty to throw away the old ones, after their having once l>een found to be false,
and no longer to repose confidence in prescriptions of whose fidsity we have the proof
before us. For the mere recognition of the hct that a man does not know a thing, is
far better than an erroneous belief in a false science, the latter being at all times the
most stubborn hindrance to the investigation of truth.
But so long as rules are suffered to retain their hold of our confidence, which con-
demn thousands and tens of thousands of passages which daily occur in every piece of
music and sound perfectly well, rules which even their authors themselves contradict on
the very same page on which they gave them, while not the slightest caution is given
against many things which are really of bad musical effect* ,^8o long as confidence in
such rules is entertained and inculcated, it is truly more than an herculean labour to
study the art ; and, in this sense, there is but too much truth in the lament with which
the brave Fux, in his Gradus od Pamassumt bids the disciple of art a friendly welcome :
« An nescist Musias Stttdium immensnm esse mare, neque Nestoris annis ierminan'
dum ? Veri rem dificilem, onusque (!) jEind gravius stisdpvre intendisJY^ '* Do you
not know, that the study of music is an immense ocean, — a study which cannot be con^
summaied in the age of a Nestor f You are about to engage in a thing that is truly
difficult ; yes, to assume a load more heavy than Mount jEtna /" Truly, regarded in
this point of view, it is not strange — ^nor indeed unreasonable, that one often prefers to
engage in the study of composition from mere current custom, rather than from the
principles and rules laid down in books ; for, it is not to be denied, that he is not only
led far more easily, but also very much more certainly and safely, by the former, than
by false principles like these.
From the foregoing considerations, as to the manner in which the doctrine of har-
monic successions has been hitherto treated in our books of instruction, from an examin-
ation of some of the precepts and prohibitions laid down by our writers (and it would
be easy to increase the proo& of their incorrectness by innumerable others, and in fact
we have ourselves still much more to say hereafter, in connection with the doctrine of
digressive harmonic successions, upon some similar prohibitions of certain digressive
modulations), it follows, that the few rules which the instruction books give us relative
to the different harmonic successions, even scarcely touch the thousandth part of the
immeasurable field, and that they are not true even in relation to half of this small
part, but, in reference to far the greatest proportion, are directly and positively false.
All the rest of the field, upon which the practical composer is daily and hourly so richly
and successfully reaping, has as >et never been trodden by a single theorist; no, not
even surveyed, and, indeed, one might say, not yet even discovered to have a being,
and much less is it cultivated.
We have ourselves surveyed it above, in § 327, and now enter upon it with a view,
so far as its immeasurable extent permits, to examine it. May the absolute want of
assistance from any previous labours excuse the imperfection of my own attempts !
• Compare, e, g. the last part of the remark on § 95. t Liber II. p. 43.
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HARMONIC PROGRESSION IN THE 8AHE SCALE. 455
DIVISION 11.
HABMON1G SUCCESSIONS IN THE SAME SCALE.
§ 243.
Having thus &r considered the nature and merits of the different harmonic
steps in general, we will now pass to a review of the various species of these
steps, taken separately, and will advert to whatever is worthy of remark in each.
We will first take a view of the fundamental or harmonic steps found in one
and the same scale, or, in other words, those harmonic steps in the case of which
one harmony follows another belonging to the same key.
It may be said in general of all these fundamental successions, that, in like
mamier as the most essential harmonies of a key usually occur more frequently
than the secondary harmonies, so, for this reason, those harmonic successions in
which the one or the other harmony is a secondary harmony, not only more
seldom occurs than others, but are ordinarily also somewhat less satis&ctory in
themselves.
This fact is especially palpable, as we shall see in the review which we are
about to take in the case of those harmonic steps in which the harmony iii
occurs. (See § 147, No. 3.) All those steps also in which the three-fold har-
mony of the seventh degree occurs, are for the most part somewhat equivocal.
(§147, No. 7.)
After these few preliminary remarks, we will take a general survey of all
conceivable harmonic successions, according to the following divisions.
(A,) One three-fold chord follows another three-fold chord belonging to the
same key ; or
(^.) A four-fold chord follows a three-fold chord belonging to the same
key; or,
(C) A threefold chord follows 9k four-fold chord of the same key ; or,
(J).^ One four fold chord follows axkother four fold chord in the same key.
(A.) OF THE SUCCESSION OF ONE THREE-FOLD CHORD AFTER ANOTHER IN THE
SAME KET.
§244.
We will first consider those harmonic successions in which we pass from one
three-fold harmony to another three-fold harmony belonging to the same key.
Where one three-fold chord is followed by another three-fold chord belonging
to the same key, the latter is either that of the next higher degree, thus making
the progression of the fundamental harmony that of a second — or it is that of
the second higher degree, thus making the progression of the fundamental har-
mony that of a third — or it is that of the third higher degree, &c.
A synoptical view of all these possible cases is exhibited in the following
table. (It is not intended to be thoroughly studied or to be otherwise committed
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456 HARMONIC PROCIBESSTON IN THE SAME SCALE.
to memory, but only to exhibit a view of the multiplicity of different cases
belonging to this class.)
(1) Sticcesstons by Seconds,
The possible cases in which a three-fold chord may be followed by another
three-fold chord in the same key, one second higher, are as follow :
In a major key :
I_„, II— III, III— IV, IV— V, V— VI, VI— °vii, °vii— I;
In a minor key :
I— on, , , IV— V, V— VI, VI— °vii, °vii— I.
(2) Successions by Thirds.
The possible cases are —
In a major key :
I— III, II— IV, III— V, IV— VI, V— °vii, VI— I, °vii— II ;
In a minor key :
, °ii— IV, , IV— VI, V— °vii, VI— I, °vii— °n.
(3; Successions by Fourths,
In a major key :
1— IV, II— V, III— VI, IV— *^vii, V— I, VI— II, °vii— hi;
In a minor key :
I— IV, °ii— V, , IV— Vii, V— I, VI— °ii, .
(4) Successions by Fifths.
In a major key :
I— V, II— VI, III— *^vii, IV- I, V— II, VI— III, °vii— IV;
In a minor key :
I— V, °ii— VI, , IV— I, V— °ii, , ° VII— IV.
(5) Successions by Sixths,
In a major key :
I— VI, II— ^vii, III- 1, IV— II, V— III, VI— IV, °vii— V;
In a minor key :
i_VI, ^11— °vii, , IV— °ii, , VI— IV, °vii— V.
(6) Successions by Sevenths.
In a major key :
1— °vn, II— I, lu— II, IV— III, V— IV, VI— V, ovii— vi;
In a minor key :
I— °vii, °ii— i^ , , V— IV, VI— V, °vii— VI.
We will at least give examples of all these harmonic successions, and upon
some of them will also add a few remarks.
(1.) Of Second Steps, where a three-fold chord is followed by the threefold
chord of the next degree in the same key.
(§244,No. 1.)
§245.
(a.) We have already, in figs. 254, 257, 261, 262, and 266, pp. 446, 448,
450, 451 , and 452, had examples of the succession I to n, or i to °ii, i. e, where
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HABMOMIC PROeBSSSlON IN THE SAME SCALE. 457
the major tliree-fold diord of the first degree in a major key is folloived by the
minor three-fold chord of the second degree^ — or where the minor three-fold
chord of the furst degree in a minor key is followed by the diminished three-
fold chord of the second degree. They occur with special frequency in such
phrases as those in fig. 268^ a to A^ as well as in others.
(Fig. 268, a.) (6.) (c.) (rf.)
Iiil^ I n 1 Ti InV In VI
Ai;.l!i.ii.fr>^i.||:Miy.:,MII:
I "ii I T7 1 "11 I V 1 I 'n V 1 •ii V I
It is worthy of remark that this harmonic succession always sounds rather
repulsively, if the fundamental tone in the second harmony lies in the Base^ and
the fifth in the npper part, as in fig. 269. (Compare §§ 520 and 538).
(Tig. 269.)
P
°=i
(A.) Examples of the succession ii — ^iii, t. e, when the minor three-fold
harmony of die second degree in a major key is foUowed by that of the third,
are found in fig. 270, t and k.
(Fig.270.i.) (A.)
j\,;'iJ|-!'|ii;-i ^^
^ D:l II III IV III u I V7 I ^ n III
Successions of this kind in the minor key are, for reasons already known
(§ 150), inconceivable. If, however, we would imitate these in the minor key,
we most borrow, to fill up the chasms, chords from the nearest related major
key ; as, e. g. in fig. 270, /.
(Pig. 270, ^)
tt1-rt^
-8=
d:\ "II ^:I II I rf'^li I V7
But we shall find, in the doctrine of transition-chords and apparent-chords,
that such passages as the one in fig. 270, t and /, above, often admit of being
explained also as transitions.
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458
HARMONIC PROGRESSION IN THE SAME SCALE.
(c.) The succession iii — IV seldom occurs, and always has something odd
and singular in its sound, as do all those successions in which the harmony in is
concerned. (Compare § 243), fig. 270, t, 457, and 270^, t, k.
(Fig.270i,».)
(*.)
1
^^
-• -B
i
*=^
^ ± *
i
III IV
III IV V7
In the minor key, again, such a fundamental succession as this is not pos-
sible. (Compare 270, /, 457.)
(rf.) The succession IV — V, or iv — V, occurs very firequently in almost
every piece of music. Fig. 271.
(Fig. 271.)
IV
IV V
(e.) Examples of the saccession V — ^vi, or, V — VI, are fonnd in fig. 272 :
(Fig. 272, t.) ^ (*.)
^
l^^^#
5
I V Tl
(Fig. 272,/.)
n III
M
f
3©
:X3
S
V VI •!!
^
^
1
VI V
(/.) The saccession ti — ^°yii will scarcely occnr except in sequences ; e. g.
fig, 273.
(Fig. 273.)
i. J- J J I
VI «vii i '- I .
i
^S=
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HABMONIC PBOeBBSBION IN THE AAMB SCALE. 459
The saccesslon VI — ^vii is to be introdnced in a minor key still more seldom,
and, indeed, so lar as I have investigated, never with good effect.
(^.) The successions ®vii —I and ®vii — i will hardly occur, since the ear
viQ perceive the harmony ^vii in by far the most cases as V ^ (with the omis-
sion of the fundamental tone), and hence will far more readily take the harmony
to be V 7_I, than to be °vii— I. (§ 243.)
(t) Of I^roffressions by Thirds ^ where a three-fold chord is followed by an-
other three-fold chord in the same key^ two degrees higher,
(§ 244, No. 2.)
§ 246.
(a.) The succession I — iii, t. e. when the three-fold chord of the first degree
is followed by that of the third, as e.^. in fig. 274, ^— n, but rarely occurs.
(Fig. 274,1.) (A.) (/.) (m.)
j)i §15 jM^iIIb alii] ° II
C.I III n V I III I III I III
(li.)
H i ^.,#,-°L^
--1 °i '1
°^Ti:
&
G.I HI II IV V7
-^ — w-
Kimberger* would like to forbid it altogether. It truly sounds rather strange
and imusual (compare § 243^ ; but it may, for that very reason, if employed in
the right place, be of very striking effect. Very much depends, as we see fi-om
the examples referred to, upon the different positions in which the one or the
other chord appears, and upon the connection in which they both occur. (Com-
pare also what was said in relation to the 20th and 21st measures of fig. 234,
p. 384.)
The minor key affords no harmonic succession corresponding to the I — iii,
just mentioned ; because, in a minor key, no harmony belongs to the third degree
of the scale. And if, for the sake of carrying through a sequence in the minor
key, or of copying a passage in the minor key, as e. g, that in fig. 274, », above,
we interpolate^ say, the major three-fold chord Kb, in the place of the three-fold
chord which is wanting on the third degree of the minor scale of y, as in fig.
274, o.
* Kumt des reinen SaixeSf II. Th. p. 13.
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460
HABMOMC PROOBESSION IN THE SAME SCALE.
(Fig. 274,0.)
^
i ^.±A^
S:
ZC5^
r
^••1
g^a
IT
V7
this iBy as we know (§ 237), a transient digressive modulation. The reason why
the ear pays so little attention to this^ is the &ct that the ear as it were instinct-
ively infers upon what ground the chord ]Sb is inserted as a sort of patch, and
therefore, without hestowing much attention upon it, at once unhesitatingly
again takes the following ^d'^ as the harmony of the second degree of ^-minor,
and not as ^b:°vii, nor as BhiY'^ with the omission of the ftmdamental note.
(Compare §211 at the end.)
(b.) The succession ii — IV, or °ii — iv, hut rarely occurs: fig. 275; also
fig. 274, n, p. 459.
(Pig.275.)
(c.) What was said in § 245, c, p. 458, applies also here to the succession
,„_V. Fig. 275 J.
(Fig. 276i.)
if^!i-hi-r-M=a
(d.) The succession IV — vi, or iv — ^VI, always sounds rather odd and
strange, in whatever form or position it may be introduced, and it very rarely
occurs. Fig. 276.
(Fig. 276.)
IV VI IV VI ^
(e.) The succession V — °vii is so equivocal and indefinite as only to appear
to be some one in which the harmony ^vii occurs. Fig. 277 :
(Fig. 277.)
3^
1
^m
For, the ear, which always explains to itself every harmonic succession in the
simplest manner, will naturally, after it has once heard the major three-fold
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HA&MOMIC PROGRESSION IN THE SAME SCALE.
461
chord tt as a dominant harmony, incline to take the following chord [b d f ] as
the principal four-fold chord ^'^ , rather than as the diminished three-fold chord
of the seTenth degree ; and that too for several reasons. J^irsi, the principal
four-fold chord is in itself, as an essential harmony of the key, more natural
and farailiar to the ear than the secondary harmony of the seventh degree ;
secondly y the antecedent three-fold chord (Sr ia more nearly allied to the principal
four-fold chord, also for the reason that both are situated on one and the same
degree, the fundamental tone of the former being also the fundamental tone of
the latter, the third of the one being also the third of the other, &c. On this
account, moreover, these two harmonies are to some extent regarded as only one
and the same (§ 142). In view of all this, it is very plain that an harmonic
succession will never very readily strike the ear as really being Y — ^vii.
(y!) Examples of the succession vi — I, or VI — i, may be seen in fig. 278 :
(Fig.278.)J_
t^^'"ji,Hi"'i,iji!
I
g,Y1 VI
V7 VI
(^.) What was said in § 245, at ff, p. 459, applies also to the fundamental
successions ®vii — ii and ®vii— ®ii.
(3.) Of Progressions by Fourths^ in which a three-fold chord is followed by
another three-fold chord in the same key^ three degrees higher,
(§ 244, No. 3.)
§247.
(fl.) The succession I— IV, or i — iv, consisting of two of the most essential
harmonies of the key, occurs, for that reason, with the utmost frequency ; e. g,
fig. 282,1/
(Fig. 5282 «.)
-
W-
m
^F=^
I
p
t
"T
especially in a similar way as the snccessions I — ii, or i — ^°ii, in sach phrases as
those in fig. 268, />, q, r, s.
(Fig. 268, jj.)
(3)
('■•)
(«•)
h-
I IV I V7 I IV V I ly I V7 I IV I V7
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46^
HARMONIC PROGBESSION IN THE SAME SCALE.
(b,) The succession ii — V, or ®ii— V, is very common: Fig. 279, t, and
also fig. 268, c, d, g, h, p. 457.
(Fig. 279,1.)
9E
M
i
MM'-i^i'^i-qia^inpiL^li^
Kimberger even teaches, that ^ii can be followed by no harmony but V or Y ^
(see the remark on § 242).
(cJ) What was said in § 245, at c, p. 4$8» applies also to the succession
III — VI. Compare fig. 279, t, above, and fig. 279, k, /, below.
(Fig. 279,*.)
Bb:V7
(d,) The succession IV — ^^vii, or iv — ovii, is equivocal again, as are all
those in which °vii occurs. An example is afforded by fig. 279, t, above.
(e,) The succession V — I, or V — i, occurs in almost every measure, and so
very firequently that it would be superfluous to adduce any particular examples.
(J*.) Examples of the succession vi — ii, or VI — °ii, are found in fig. 279,
/, m, n, above.
(fi,) Section 245, at g, p. 259, applies also to °vii — iii.
(4.) 0/ Progressions by Fifths or Under-fourths^ in which a three-fold
chord is followed by another y four degrees higher,
(§ 244, No. 4.)
§ 248.
(a.) The succession I — V, or i — V, is as extremely frequent and common
as V — I, or V — ^i, of which indeed it is, in a manner, but the inversion or
converse. It appears particularly often in such phrases as those in fig. 268,
«> ^9 ^y f P- 457 ; in fig. 268, p and r, p. 461 ; in fig. 268, i, k, /, m, n, and
o, p. 463, and the like.
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(Fig.968.».)
_<oL
FBOH ONS THREE-FOLD CSOBD TO ANOTHER.
(*.) (/•> («•)
463
44l^'^ll,-?fl^ll5]i±g]l-.Myl.gH
i^>g^[^^^^p=ai^^
231
TT
i
ll7 IV IT I V •IlT 1 V7
(o.)
I II IV
rf^^
^
-4-a.
Tt-^
I
5
g^m^
v^' °, « r
jCE
i(
Fmmdamemial Base.
i
■^spr^f
^ViTT n.
^ ^ ■ — y*^ —
t"^'!..' ^
s
Compare Fig. 140.
REMABK.
It 18 worthy of remark, that» in many eases, soccessions of chords which common
sense would recognize as nothing else than I — ^V, or i— -V, still are not allowed to be
regarded in that light by music-teachers. This is especially the &ct in cases of the
species just mentioned ; e, g.
p
S
32=
and generally in such as occur in fig. 268, » — 9, above. They maintain, namely* that,
in Bodi phrases, the fundamental harmony of the fourth-sixth chord is the dominant
harmony V , and that the fourth and sixth of the base tone are only so-called accidental
dissooances, namely, suspensions of the third and fifth ; though not subject to the laws
of preparation and progression usually incident to dissonances. (See remark at the end
of 5 103, p. 236.)
For what reason it should be desirable to assumt» this, I am at a loss to conceiye. In
my opinion, it would be more natural and more simple to allow a chord, consisting of the
tones [G c e], to be a C-chord, than, in despite of its elements, containing, as it does,
only the very tones which constitute the harmony CD, to call it €r or €r7, and to stamp
two of these tones, under the most learned tpchoical terms, as^-dissonances, which,
moreover, would even in this case be entirely anomalous, and, on account of their irre-
gular attitude, would themselves again require an explanation. For, if the fourth and
sixth in the examples presented by fig. 268, pp. 457, 461, and above, were suspen-
sions how could they thus, in spite of the most essential attributes in the nature of
suspensions, at one time move by diatonic degrees, and at another by skips, at one time
Dpffarda and at another downwards ? Where, moreover, can reasons be found to justify
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464
HARMONIC PROGBESSION IN THE 8AM£ SCALE.
this new irregularity t Here again recoune most necesBarily be had to elliptic and
catachretic resolutions, licenses, and other phrases of this sort, tp relieye the difficulty
and to give a plausible appearance to the absurd idea !
But why, for heaven's sake, all this troublesome and unnatural routine of puerile
explanations 1 ! Only let the harmonic succession [6 c e] — [6 b d] be, and be considered
as being, I — ^V in C-major, and then nothing hinders its really being so and being so
caUed!
(b.) The succession ii — ^vi but rarely occurs ; the succession ®ii^ — VI still
more rarely ; botb, however, are most apt to occur in sequences. See, e, g, figs.
280 and 281.— Compare § 237, p. 426.
(Fig. 280,1.)
i
M-ilU i i
I
'tyr r r
^
m
T~f r'f J
■"r-^
VI III
II VI »VII
H i I U j"Tff
^
J 4
■M^^
I
c.l g-.i. Eb.IV I c.-iT I V7 I
(Fig. 281, t.)
I
^
l~
4— A
M.
331
i
V II
VI r
u^n^i ^-^VH
>h '^ h
I
i^ ' 'rf
(O
^^
(«.)
i
s
:§:
aj=^:it§j|
5
3a:
s
-cr
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FROM ONE THBER-FOLD CHORD TO ANOTHER. 4r>.5
(c.) What was said in § 245 (<?), p. 458, applies likewise to the succession
III— ° VII. Compare <ig. 28 If
(Fig. 2814.)
m
1
^^
i
• 3 ■ ^ -* ^
I III oyii I V II Ti ill oy„ IV I
(fit) The Buooession IV — I, iv — i, consisting, as it does, of two of the most
essential harmonies of the key, occurs with extreme frequency. Examples may
be found in fig. 282 :
(Fig. 282, f.)
It wiU be recollected, among other things, that many pieces of music close with
such successions of chords as those in fig. 282, / — o, above, particularly church
pieces. There is something in an ending of this kind peculiarly grave, solemn,
and imposing. The learned call such an ending a Greek cadence, and also a
pjagal cadence. We shall recur to this subject again, farther on (§ 306).
But the succession lY — I, or iv — i, frequently occurs also under another
form and in another connection ; namely, so that the harmony I or i appears in
the second inversion, in the sixth-fourth position, whereupon the dominant
harmony usually follows, and in this way arise the well-known phrases found in
fig. 268,^, r,«, p. 461.
(e.) Examples of the succession V — ii, or V — ^ii, are found in fig. 281, t,
k, p. 464, and fig. 283 :
(Fig. 283.)
r '^ r "^ hi
i
m>:i
on
VOL. II.
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466
HARMONIC PR06BB8SI0N IN THE SAME SCALE
(Fig. 283 coDtinued.)
(/.) The Buccessicn vi — in hardly occurs, except in an harmonic series, iig.
280^ t, p. 464. If we would copy a similar sacoession of chords in a minor key,
it must be done again by transient digressive modolations; as^ e. ff. in fig. 280,
Jt, p. 464.
(^.) What was said in § 245, at ff, p. 459, applies also to the successions
°vii — IV and °vii — iv.
(5.) 0/ Progreasums by Sixths or Under-thirdSy where a three-fold chord is
followed by another threefold chord of the fifth degree above,
(§ 244, No. 5.)
§ 249.
(a.) Examples of the succession I — ^vi, or i — VI, are found in fig. 284, t,
(Fig. 284, t.)
(tJ-L-U.
^
■ I i — »-
■I — I » y
^^
• ■
I TI II V7 I TI II V7
i
(Rg.284,/.) 1 , I I J I 1 J
li ' '
(Fig. 284, w.)
^ \\ i\ mA
°l °| ol
^ °' *°l ^
a:i VI IV «ii «vii V
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FROM ONE THREE-FOLD CHORD TO ANOTHER.
467
(Fig 284, n.)
1— t-^.z:g^^1-^-;|^=Nl
VI oifr
VI on?
VI
(b.) The snooeBsion ii — ^vii, or °ii — ®vii, is always somewhat indefimte
and equivocaly for the same reasons as were ^ven ahove in § 246 (e), p. 460, in
the case of the snccession V — ^vii : that is to say, the ear easily mistakes such
a succession of chords for ii — ^V^ or °ii — V^. This is less the case, however,
when such an harmonic step occurs in an harmonic series ; as, e. g. in fig. 284,
/ and m, above ; for, in this case, the ear, having already become accustomed,
in the course of the first four chords, to find the fundamental tone of the fol-
lowing chord every time a third lower, will also, in the example fig. 284, m, take
the note GK in the fifth chord as the fundamental tone, and hence will perceive
the chord as ^gtt and will not suspect the note E to be the fundamental tone nor
the chord to be (^7 in the first inversion, with the omission of the fundamental
tone. And as little likely would it be to take the chord ^j| for CBr^, in fig.
284, /, &c.
(c.) "What was said in § 245 (c), p. 458, applies also to iii — I.
(^rf.) Examples of the succession IV— ii, or iv— ®ii, are found in fig. 284,
/, m, p. 466, and in fig. 285.
(Fig. 285.)
m
= I I-
i
:gt
3±
=»
C:J
^
IV II
T
-Sr
:sr-^
"^
a;i
IV
(e.) The succession V — iii can occur only in a major key, and not even then
very commonly. Compare fig. 286, t.
(Fig. 286, t.)
t
c.t
i
This succession of chords can be copied in the minor key only b^ the inter-
polation of chords foreign to the scale of that key ; as, e. g. in fig. 286, k, /.
(Compare § 237.)
(Fig. 286,*.)
(/.)
^^^i^pg^^
V5b;Ic.«»ii
c:\ Eb:ili I c;«il
^:i VI
e2
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468
HARMONIC PROGRESSION IN THE 8AM£ SCALE
(/.) Examples of the succession vi — IV, or VI— iv, are to be found in
fig. 284, /, m, p. 466.
(jf,) What was said in § 245 (^), p. 459, applies also to the succession
^VII — III.
(6.) Of Progressions by Sevenths or Under -seconds^ where a three-fold chord
is followed by another threefold chord on the next lower degree,
(§ 244, No. 6.)
§250.
{a.) The succession I — ^vii, or i— °vii, properly occurs but seldom; or
rather, whenever it occurs, our ear easily understands it as something else than
I— °vii, or I— °vii. That is to say, it easily mistakes the chord °vii for V7
with the omission of the fundamental tone, and accordingly understands such a
succession of chords as being I — V^, or i — V^ ; not only because this latter
succession of harmonies is far more familiar to it than is the succession
I — ovii, or I — -^vii, but because the harmony V^, as being one of the most
essential of the key, is also more famiUar to it than the secondary harmony ^vn.
It is perhaps only in sequences that the ear can be brought to apprehend such
an harmonic succession as [e g c] — [d f b], or [eb g c] — [d f b] as I — ^vii
or I— .®7ii ; e, g. fig. 287 :
(Fig. 287.)
3i^^
:i=^±
-Q-
S^^i
_CJ
because, bein^ here once accustomed to hear a series of three-fold chords in the
first inversion, and that too in a gradual descending prc^ression hy diatonic
degrees, it will be already predisposed to understand the chord [d f b], occurring
in such a series, as the three-fold chord °h in the first inversion.
(b.) The succession ii — ^I, °ti — i, whidi, in an inverted position of both
chords, sounds perfectly well, as, e.g. in fig. 288, t, k,
(Fig. 288, t.)
(A.)
i
^1
fa=£
^1
irt-
^
'a;=g
i
s
1^
t-t
tei
^--
i
C;I
Il7
V7
oiiT V7
sounds for the most part rather strangely, when both chords appear in their
fimdamental position, as in figs. 261 and 262, pp. 450 and 451.
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FROM ONE THREE-FOLD CHORD TO AHOTHER.
469
One case of this snccession, particularly worthy of remark^ is that in which
the harmony I or i occurs in the fourth-sixth position, which position of the
tonic chord, as we know (§ 248, a, p. 462), usually brings after it the dominant
harmony ; or, in other words, in which I or i in the second inversion is usually
followed by Y or V^, giving birth to the well-known phrase, fig. 268, a,
p. 457, &c.
(c.) Section 245 (c), p. 458, applies also to the succession iii— ii.
Fig. 289 :
(Fig. 289.)
to
I
3:t
i
^^-Q-H-r^
-©^
"=^
^
'■■^n'M °l' ' •V'-
IV III
^TTTrryir
1
^
^
V7 HI II I V7
7
I IV 111 II V7
. 7 ^
(d,) As it respects the succession lY — iii, see fig. 290, t.
(Pig. 290, f.)
(Fig. 290,*.)
r^ ^'^ ^'^
I IV III 11 V7 I
jQ
■A
m
■m:
i
e; I IV G:l ' e:^u V7
In the minor key, for well-known reasons, there is no harmonic succession
which corresponds to the above; and, therefore, if we would imitate a passage
of this species in the minor key, we must have recourse again to transient
digressive modulations ; as, e. g, in fig. 290, ky above. (Compare § 237.)
(js,) The succession Y — IV, or Y — ^iv, is, in some respects, the reverse of
the before-mentioned successions lY — Y, or iv — V. The former, however, does
not occur quite so firequenUy as the latter. Fig. 291.
(Fig. 291.)
r » I ' • •
V IV V
(yi) Examples of the succession vi — V, or VI — V, are to be found in fig.
%,i,k.
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470 BABHONIO PB0OBE88I0N IN THE SAME SCALE.
I V VI V I ovii VI V
(ff.) Section 245 Qjf), p. 459, applies also to the sacoessions oyii — vi and
OVII — VI.
(^.) OF THOSE HARMONIC STEPS IN WHICH A THREE-FOLD CHORD IS FOL-
LOWED BT A FOUR-FOLD CHORD BELONOINe TO THE SAME KEY.
§251.
The possible cases of this class are as follow :
(1.) Successions by Primes.
In a major key :
I_I?, II— ii7, iii_iii7, IV— IV^ V— V7, VI— Vl7, Oyil— ^'Vll^ ;
In a minor key : .
, o„_on7^ ^ IV— iv7, V— V7, VI— VI', .
(2.) Successions by Seconds.
In a major key :
I_ll7^ II— IIl7, III— IV^ IV— V7, V— vi7, VI— Ovil7, «vil— P;
In a minor key :
I— oi,?^ ^ ^ IV— V7, V— VP, ,
(3.) Successions by Thirds,
In a major key :
I— IIl7, II— IV', III— V7, IV— Vl7, V— «vn^, VI— I', Ovii__„7;
In a minor key :
, Oii«-iv7, ^ IV— VI', , , ovii— °ii7.
(4.) Successions by Fourths,
In a major key :
I_-IV', II— V7, III— Vl7, IV— °VIl7, V— I', VI— Il7, o^,j__,^j7j
fn a minor key :
i-iv7, °ii-V7, ^ ^ , VI^«ii7, .
(5.) Successions by Fifths,
In a major key :
I«-V7, II— vi7, iii_Ovii7, IV— I', V— Il7, VI— iii7, Ovii— IV';
In a minor key :
I— V7, °ii— VI', , , V— °ii7, , °vii— iv7.
(6.) Successions by Sixths.
In a major key :
I— Vl7, H— °Vll7, lll_I', IV— Il7, V— IIl7, VI— IV', ^VII— V7 ;
In a minor key :
I- VI', , , IV— °ii7, , VI— iv7, °vii— V7.
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CADENCES. 471
(7.) Successions by Sevenths,
In a major key :
I— ^'VII^, II— 1», m— ii7, IV— ni7, V— IV', vi— V7, Ovil— vi^ ;
In a minor key :
, , , , V— iv7, VI— V7, ^vii— VP.
Of all these fundamental steps^ we wiU only remark, in general, that a pre-
paration of the i^venth can be had only in the case of those which form progres-
sions of seconds, fourths, or sixths (§ 104, p. 336), smoe it is only in these that
the tone which constitotes the seventh of the second harmony is contained also
in the fi>regoing harmony. For this reason, the progression of a third — say
II — IV ^, €. g. that is, a progression in which the three-fold chord of the second
degree in a major key is followed by the major four-fold chord of the fourth
degree, cannot well be employed ; or, in other words, the major four-fold chord
of the foorth degree cannot be used after the three-fold chord of the second
degree, &c.
Here our investigation of the merits of all these harmonic successions indi-
vidually must for the present terminate.
We win just say, of the succession I — V^, or i — V^, however, that it iSre-
quently occors under relations simOar to those which were above predicated of
the succession I— V, or i— V (§ 248).
((7.) OF THB HABMOHIC STEPS IN WHICH A FOUB-FOLI) CHORD IS FOLLOWED BT
A THBBB-FOLD CHORD BELONOINO TO THB SAME KEY. (CADENCES.)
§252.
Every harmonic successicHi of this third species, every harmonic step in
which ajauir-fold chord is followed by a three-fold chard belonging to the same
key, is (^tlled a cadence,
A general view of all the conceivable fundamental successions of this class is
afforded by the following table.
(1.) Successions by Primes,
In a major key :
P— I, Il7— II, III^^III, IV^— IV, V7— .V, Vl7— VI, °vii7— oyii;
In a minor key :
^ <'ll7_Oii, , iv7— IV, V7_V, VI'— VI, .
(2.) Successions by Seconds,
In a major key :
If_„^ Il7_iii, lll^— IV, IV'— V, V7_vi, Vl7_OviI, °VIl7_I;
In a minor key :
, , , iv7— V, V7— VI, VI'— °vii, .
(3 ) Successions by Thirds,
In a major key :
I'-.III, Il7— IV, III7-.V, IV'— VI, V7_Ovil, Vl7— I, °Vll7— ii;
In a minor key :
^o„7_iv, , iv7— VI, V7-.o^„, VI'— I, .
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472 HARMONIC PR0GBES8I0N IN THE SAME SCALE.
(4.) Successions by Fourths.
In a major key :
I^— IV, ii'— V, III'— VI, IV^— °vii, V7_i^ vi7_ii, Ovii7— III;
In a minor key :
, °ii7_V, , iv7— oyii, V7_i, VI»— °ii, .
(5.) Successions by Fifths,
In a major key :
I?_V, i|7— vi, iii7_o^n, IV»— I, V7_ii, vi7— III, °vii7_IV;
In a minor key :
, «ii7_VI, , iv7— I, V^— ^11, , .
(6.) Successions by Sixths.
In a major key :
I7_VX, ii7_^vil, Ill7— I, IV^— II, V7_iii, vi7— IV, °vii7_V;
In a minor key :
^ o„7_OviI, , iv7— °II, , VP— IV, .
(7.) Successions by Sevenths.
In a major key : •
I^_Ov„^ „7_I^ IIl7_,i, VI^— III, V7— IV, vi7— V, °vii7_vi;
In a minor key :
, °ii'-i, , , V»_iv, VI»-V, .
We will still farther divide these different harmonic successions into tw)
classes, according as the four-fold chord which is followed hy a three-fold chord is
(1.) A jprtndjpa/ four-fold chord, or
(2.) A secondary four-fold chord.
The former, t. e. those harmonic succesaons in which a jMrincipiU four-foU
chord id followed hy a three-fold chord helonging to the same key, we will deno-
minate jE?rtn<?^a/ cadences ; whereas, those in which a secondary four-fold chord
is followed hy such a three-fold chord, we will call secondary cadences. — Thus,
the harmonic step in fig. 293, t,
(Fig. 293. t.) (A.) (/.) (m.) (n.) (o.) (p.)
i ti W j-j. J^J J^ I ^.^1 .
V7 I IV^ ovii |„7 VI n7 V If IV ovii7 III vi7 II
is a principal cadence ; while those in fig. 293, ^, /, m, n, (?, /?, are all seem-
dary cadences.
253.
In respect to this whole class of harmonic steps, it is very perceptihle thj
every four-fold chord, whether principal or secondary, is most naturally foUowi
hy that of a three-fold chord which is situated a fourth higher, or a fifth lowc,
than the four-fold chord. Id other words, after a four-fold chord, the ear m<t
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CAI»SKCE8.
473
naturally expects a step of a fourth to the three-fold chord of the tone which is
a ibarth higher than the fundamental tone of the four-fold diord. All the
cadences in No. 4 of the foregoing section, and those occurring in ig. 293, p. 472,
are of this species.
Now, inasmuch as cadences of this species most perfectly answer the expect-
ation of the ear, and therefore are the most natural, we wLQ call them natural
cadences.
But in case a principal or secondary four-fold chord is followed by any other
three-fold diord, belonging to the same key, than the one which is a fourth
higher, as, e, g. in fig. 294,
(Fig. 294,1) (A.) (/.)
(«.)
(».)
(o.)
^l.°,i!bo!!HJjjlallijJjloB
:^33:
n
^^ o
o o
pec
^
JOL.
.O.
^
IV^V ' iv7V
C;V7 VI a;V7 VIC.VTIV a;V7 iv
eren then indeed, according to our definition of cadences, the harmonic succes-
sion is always a cadence; not, however, the one which, as being the most
natural, the ear had expected, but one, on the contrary, which is comparatively
unnatural ; and accordingly, since the ear finds its expectation deceived and
disappointed by such a succession of harmonies, we apply the term false to all
cadences of this species.
§254.
According to these distinctions, there are, in all, four difierent sorts of ca-
dences, namely :
(1.) Principal cadences (as in fig. 293, t, p. 472, and in fig. 294, t, k^ /, m,
above) ; and of these, moreover, two varieties : namely, either
(a.) NcUuraJ principal cadences (as in fig. 293, t, p. 472), or
(^.) False principal cadences (as in fig. 294, i to m, above) ;
(2.) Secondary cadences (as in fig. 293, k^ and those which follow, p. 472,
and in fig. 294, n, o, above) ; and two varieties again of these : namely, either,
(a.) Natural Secondary cadences, as in fig. 293, k, &c. p. 472), or
(Jb,) False secondary cadences (as in fig. 294, », o, above).
We will now take a more particular view of all these difierent species of
cadences, after having previously remarked, that the word cadence has a difierent
meaning with some writers from that in which we apply it. With some, namely,
it has a far more restricted signification, being applied only to those harmonic
sQooessions which we denominate natural principal cadences (V^ — I, or V^ — i).
Others, on the contrary, employ it in a more extended sense than even we our-
selves, making it mean every harmonic succession, — This is especially the case
in the more modem French writers ; e. g. Momigny^ Berton, &c. Others
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474 HARMONIC PB0eBE88I0N IN THE BAME SCALE.
again (e. g. Koeh, in his Manual of CompovUion^ §§ 102 and 179) understand
by this term what we shall hereafter become acquainted with under the name
oi perfect close. And still others connect with the expression cadence about
the same idea as ourselves (e. g. Rousseau, in his Dictionary qf Music, &c.).
Still less do authors agree in respect to the use of the expressions natural
cadence, false cadence, evitated or shunned cadence, interrupted cadence, &c.
— terms which, for the most part, each individual employs in a different way
from others.
In order to avoid such a confusion of terms in our own theory at least, it is
important to request readers, in the perusal of this boolc, most carefully to retain
the ideas and meanings of technical terms which have been given in the fore-
going paragraphs.
REMABK.
There is, generaDy speaking, always a BeriouB difficulty in the use of technical terms
which have already been used by others in a different sense, as is actually the case not
only with the expressions cadence, evUated cadence^ fcdse cadence^ and the like, but
with almost all the technical terms employed in music. It is always to be apprehended,
in such a case, that each reader, according as he has hitherto been accustomed to attach
the one or the other of the different significations in use to such a technical word, will
continue still to understand by it the same thing as before, and hence that, of three or
four different readers, each will get a different idea from the same technical term, and
none, perhaps, will attach to it the real meaning intended by the author.
With this view of the matter, one would almost advise every scientific writer to form
for himself an entirely new terminology, and to fiimisfa himself with as many new
technical terms as he has ideas of his own to express.
It IB only in pursuance of a disposition to retain, as fiir as possible, every thing
already extant, in all cases where it is at all admissible, and also to avoid, to the utmost
extent, the appearance of a fondness for innovation, that I have introduced so few new
technical terms as I have, and have used, as &r as possible, .every existing technical
word in the sense which has heretofore been most usually attached to it.
(1.) Principal Cadences.
§ 255.
A principal cadence, as we have already observed, is every succession of a
three-fold chord to 9k principal four-fold chord, in the same key. The principal
cadence is of two species : namely, natural principal cadence, and false prin-
cipal cadence.
(a,) Natural Principal Cadence,
A natural principal cadence is that step in which the dominant or principal
four-fold chord is followed by the tonic harmony (that is, the major three-fold
chord in the major key, and the minor three-fold chord in the minor key) ; or,
more briefly, it is the harmonic succession V^ — ^I, or V^ — i.
It has something in it that b peculiarly decisive, definite, and satisfactory to
the ear. The ground of this fact may, perhaps, lie in the circumstance that this
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PRINCIPAL CADBHCE8.
475
sncoetssioii consistH of two of the most essential hannonies of the key (§ 123^
p. ^58), the first of which, moreoyer, is the least equivocal of the whole (§ 158,
p. 303), while the last is the tonic itseE
It is the most satis&ctory and determinate when the two harmonies of which
it oonsdsts appear in their fondamental position, — particularly when the tonic
note in the second chord lies uppermost also, as in fig. 295, i, k, /, m :
(Fig. 295,1.)
(*.)
(/•)
(m.)
i
3t
^
*»-^t-
BE
i
i
C;V7 1 o;V» I
It is less so when this is not the case, as in fig. 295, n — g ;
(Fig. 295,1..). (Si) _ Cp) (3.)
(Fig. 295, n.^ (^ Cp) (W
These cadences lose still more of their determinateness, when the harmonies of
which they consist, or even only one of these harmonies, appear in an inverted
position, e. g, in such as those in fig. 296, cL—f^
(Pig. 296, a.) (5.) (c.) .^ (d.) («.) (/.)
p
(c.)
t
^^
i
^
4--i-4Mr
■1 ' - -
or when a ninth is added to the principal fonr-fold chord, as in fig. 296, ff — n
(Fig. 296,1,.) (AO «.) (*.) (/.) («.) (n.)
I l.i i l<! I 171
«=
;«■
T^
IE
««:
Indeed, the example in fig. 296, m, shows that a cadence in which the prindpal
foor-fold chord appears with a minor ninth in the fourth inversion (§ 87, p. 200),
may almost he considered as sounding positively ill. And such a cadence in a
major key, as, e. g, in fig. 296, n, would he still worse, for reasons already made
known in § 80.
We may denominate the more positive and perfect cadences of the first-men-
ticmed species perfect padences, while we designate the less firm and decided
cadences of the latter class hy the term imperfect, (Compare also § 304.)
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476 HARMONIC PROeBBSBION IN THE SAME SCALE.
(b.) False Principal Cadences.
§ 256.
The above-mentioned class of principal cadences is the most natural of all ;
it answers the most perfectly that expectation of the ear which is awakened by
every principal four-fold chord.
A principal four-fold chord may also be followed by another three-fold chord
than that of the tonic. But as such a fundamental succession is always less
natural than the natural cadence (because the ear, after hearing the harmony
Y^^ always naturally expects the tonic harmony, and, accordingly, if another
three-fold harmony appears in its stead, it finds itself disappointed in this
expectation), all those harmonic steps in which a principal four-fold chord is
followed by any other three-fold chord than that of the tonic itself, even though
it belong to the same key, are called /alse cadences.
These progressions are often named also false closes and interrupted car
dences. But we will avoid this last appellation, as being equivocal, since other
music-teachers apply the same name again to an entirely different species of
harmonic progression, which we shall recognise under the term evitated or
avoided cadences.
§ 257.
A fiilse principal cadence is, accordingly, that harmonic step in which a
principal four-fold chord is followed by some other three-fold chord than the
tonic, though belonging to the same key. Thus,
In a major key :
V7_y,^ V7— Oyil, V7_i,^ V7— III, V7— IV;
In a minor key :
V7_VI, V7_Ov„, V7_Oii, ^ V7— IV.
•2 3* 5» •7
One less, again, in the minor key than in the major, because no harmony is
situated on the third degree in a minor key.
The most usual species of false principal cadence is that which forms
the step of a second. Thus, in a major key, Y ^ — vi ; and in a minor key,
V7_VI,fig.297,flP-if.-
(Fig. 297, a.) (6.) (c.) (d,)
- - 4=^=^
l=U-i-l=lt
iri:
It occurs in this and similar forms very frequently ; more rarely and with less
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FALSE PRINCIPAL CADKNCE9. 477
happy efifect in the transformed state of chords, e.g. in inyerrions, as in fig. 297,
(Fig.29^«.) (/.) (y.) (A.) (i.) (*.) (/.) («.)
i'Tii.:.{fi-!ii«ii:-;i^^
or with a ninth added to the prindpal four-fold chord, as in fig. 297,
(Kg. 297, n.) Jo.) (p.) (j.) (r.) (j.) «.) («^ (».)
^33
^!!fiiiiiii!!ff^
Many of these examples sound less disagreeably, only for the reason that the
ear may interpret them to itself in another manner than as &lse cadences :
namely, either as digressive modulations, effected by the aid of the sixth-fourth
position, as in fig. 297, m, or as mere transition chords, as in fig. 297, r.
Sometimes, however, such fitlse cadences admit of being introduced with
happy efi^ct even in the inversions. A very effective example of this species is
furnished by Joseph Haydn^ immediately at the commencement of his overture
to the Creaiian (fig. 298) ;
(Fig. 298.)
Largo,
HATDir.
i
ol. «J,^^^j,.)
i
SEE
S
■331
5^
IZX
SS
^§r
V7
T^i
VI
VI
where both harmonies appear in the first inversion. Another example of such
a false cadence, where the principal four-fold chord occurs in the second inver-
sion, is exhibited in fig. 299 —
p.ii.;.,4^^^^-
i
i
f=e^
-r cjrg
T
Bh:l
S^iYl
and with equal felicity is the harmony VI in the first inversion twice introduced
in the example, fig. 300.
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478
HARMONIC PBOOBKSSION IN THE SAME SCALE.
HUB1MEL*S MASS.
(Fig. 300.)
P
I
^
m
m
«:
)^°\ ■ l-H j
Cra
^A J.
KE
^M
fe^
£
£
*
4b:V7
VI
^
^^
=^^
Upa:
^^
1
T- I! M
=^
^
Cru
bo.
^
±^
^^i
T
/.VT VI
Still another example of the false cadence V — ^VI, in an inverted position
and at the same time with an added ninth, is found in fig. 301, in the third
measure,
(Fig. 801.)
lirghelto.
m
V ^:V7 /1t.-V» VI X>:ii
'?rap
D:Vf I
where Hit^ with a minor ninth in the first inversion is followed by JD> likewise
in the first inversion. — (It is tnie^ indeed^ that the harmonic step from the last
measure but one to the last measure may also be explained in another way
than as /9;V^ — VI. If, namely, we take the tone Ett in the base as a mere
transition-tone, and thus not as an essential harmonic note, the harmonic pro-
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FALSE PBINCIPAL CADBKCE9.
479
grescdon would then be J .Y 7 to IV. Or we might regard the |9-harmany of
the last measure as I of the original and sCiD unforgotten key 2>-major,
(according to § 211^ p. 358), and in tUs case the harmonic progression would
be either yitV^ to D: I, or A:^'^ to D:Y).
Further examples of tins species of false cadences are afibrded by figures
302—304.
(Fig.30a,a.)
(6.)
(c.)
I
i
i
331
irr
-XSL
I V7 VI
(Rg.303,6.) (c.)
(Fig.a04.a.) ^ (6.) ^
V» TI •
i
§ 258.
The remaining possible cases of fidse cadences are fihr less frequent than
those already mentioned ; they are as follow :
In a major key: V^—Oyii, V^—n, V^—m, V^— IV;— and
In a minor key: V^—Oyn, V^— ^'n, , V7_iv.
In the first place, as it respects V^ — ^vii, whether in a major or in a minor
key, we cannot properly speak of such an harmonic succession at all ; for when
the ear has once heard V7^ e. y. (Jf^, it is sure to take the following diminished
three-fold chord ^ft as the principal four-fold chord <!Br^ continued, and thus as
V^y in preference to regarding it as actually the diminished three-fold chord
^6, ^vii.
What has been said of the harmonic succession V — ^^yii in § 246 (e),
p. 460, applies here in a still stronger sense.
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480
HARMONIC PROGRESSION IN THE SAVE SCALE.
§ 259.
Examples of the false cadence V'— ii are fonnd in fig. 305, ti—p.
(Fig. 306, a.) (6.) (c.) (d.) («.) if.) (g.)
■ * I ■ — t
•m I I - I I >fc 1 I -~T~I
'■' ■
-• •-
(A.)
(*•)
(*.) (/.) («.) («.) (0.)
(p.)
1
izrli ill 1
■ ■
I^BI
Ti W
JL JL ^ JL
— • |T> •-
fc
In n—^ a major ninth is added to the principal four-fold chord.
None of these harmonic successions is often of very happy effect ; and in
cases where they are not positively repulsive to the ear, the cause frequently
lies in the iact, that they really appear to it, not as Y^ — ii, hut as something
else ; namely, either as digressive modulations hy means of the fourth-sixth
position, or as mere transitions.
That such harmonic successions, however, may he brought into actual use, is
shown by the examples in figs. 306 and 307, among others.
(Fig 306.)
i
(Fig. 307.)
5^
Un^^jxi-ljxt^^
S:
I V7 ^ "^ ^ ir IV
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FALSE PRINCIPAL CADBNfiEB.
481
In fig. 308 also, we find this harmonic suocesdion employed, indeed, with very
striking effect.
(Fig. 308.)
jihX
Farther on, we shall advert to the question, whether, in order to explain this
last example, so as, first, to justify its succession of harmonies and its conduct of
parts, and then to find it classical and of reputable merit, it really requires such
artifidal suppositions, fictions, and ellipses, as those which the author of an
essay in No. 26 of the Leipsic General Musical Journal, for the year 1811,
conceives himself obliged to fiirnish. To say the least, 1 find nothing in it
which contradicts any legitimate rule, and of course nothing which should have
in the first place given occasion for so elaborate an explanation and defence.
Examples of the felse cadence V^ — ^©n are found in fig. 309.
(Kg. 309.)
'^^tir^~^ir^' II ■• ^ 11'^ ^ II '^ ^
ipjIUt-nb, ;ll», ;llir :ll»i ^
■* *
V -IL ■«: tllircH-H
All the harmonic successions of this class, moreover, do not amount to much ;
for here too the ear naturally takes the diminished three-fold chord ^b as the
harmony fS*^ continued, though with the omission of the fundamental and third
and with the addition of the minor ninth. This species of harmonic succession,
however, may also perhaps sometimes be employed with good effect ; as, e, g, in
figs. 310 and 311.
VOL. II. F
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48^ HARMONIC PROGRESSION IN THE SAME SCALE.
Plj. 310.)
J J J>J ^jj.j ^^^=^ Jj3^=F
t
I
^
^
(Fig. 311.)
fczfi:
ri^f Mr 1^
1X2:
iS^
j^ii a.nftfrM
V7
m
§ 260.
The false cadence Y^ — iii always sounds rather foreign. One obvious
reason for this is found in the &ct, that this succession contains the three-fold
chord of the iiirf degree — a chord quite uncommon in itself. Fig. 312.
(Fig. 312.)
: .111 ;y; ill! ilhTTTTIg
'^' ' ■ ir ' ii-^iP--ii-ir^
:=?R=RFFt-ll . . II I 1 1[ : a
— — -^ TT ,. • IL.
A A.
I • ' II II • ■ II • - II • ' n
In fig. 313,
(Fig. 313.)
ifF^^TTifTJl^^
32!::
-♦-■ II ■ ' t^M
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FALSE PRINCIPAL CADENCEH.
483
the same harmony appears with a ninth added to the principal four-fold chord.
Bat few of these snooessions of chords sound weU, and these few only hecause
the ear, as already observed^ can construe them into something else. Not one
whit better are the examples which we find laid down without hesitation in
Koch's Manual of Harmony {Hcaidbuch der Harmonie)y § 187. Fig. 314.
(Fig. 314.)
KOCH.
iTJJ..^Jj.. . ^i^J-ybij
iiiiv;ii,jiiii;iiiiiiig",^i«
^
IMII nil I'ill Till kllflfrll irrll
Other oonnectiona and drcumstanoes^ however^ may he found in which the
soooession Y ^ — iii> though indeed not common, still is iar from sounding dis-
agreeably, as, «. ^. fig. 315 ; especially if, by taking rather a slow movement,
we give the ear time to adjust itself to the succession. —
CFig.315,t.)
(Fig. 315,/.)
vr III
C.l V7 111
We find this harmonic succession employed m a similar manner, with happy
effect, in fig. 316.
F 2
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484
(Kg. 316.)
.Andante.
HARMONIC PROGBESSION IN THE SAME SCALE.
VOGLER^S SAMORI.
Mir:
1
hier T\
:^
Kind
von bier ver - bannt,
alfl
III vx II V7 I
A similar example is found in fig. 317.
C. M. VON WEBER.
/7\
Die Ra - che
ge - Ixngt ! Tri -nmph, die Ra -che ge - lingt
^^
4:
fg — w r
33
^
^
/^ ^
fei
^
■i^
^
=1=
2::i
§ 261.
Examples of the cadence V^ — IV, or V^ — iv, in which, namely, a prin-
cipal four-fold chord is followed hy the three-fold chord of the fourth degree, are
found in fig. 318 ; of V^—IV in o— «», and of V^— iv in »— y.
(Fig. 318. a.) (6.) (c.) ' {d.) (e.)
TM
I
:|-g » I i ti
gJ.^T
set
■■ *
^
:*-*-!-
(/.)
^ ^ ^•>
(A.)
(»■•)
(*•)
TVJg—^—»-
a?=dh
^aa
-t-r
m
• • •
-9 ^
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(I.)
M. .9.
FALSE PRINCIPAL CADENCE8.
(n.) is,.) (p.)
4^S5
a^rrr, i-pTpFvi^-n+r^H^t
T-i-r
(J.) (r.) («.) (/.) («.)
Jt s» -M. _ !5 Jl _ ~ ;z
^
22;
I
J
^
itfc
-K ■ „■■
• •
(t,.)
(*0
i
■• — ;i-
-•• — ^
All these sncoessioiis too are of doubtful merit, and it is ouly when they are
employed ^th care and drcomspection that they may occasionally perhaps be
of good effect, as in figs. 319—321.
(Fig. 319.)
V7 IV
(Fig 320.)
^^^^«
'^ii'r^rir
33f:
(Fig. 321.)
J.^-sJ.
■^
^'^^<\-!iX^
^. -^. I -d..
n
JSL
^
IV
The example already quoted in fig. 301, p. 478, may also, as remarked in the
end of § 257, P- "^78, be regarded as such a succesdon of harmonies.
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486
HARMONIC PR06BE88I0N IN THE SAME SCALE.
(2.) Secondary Cadences.
§262.
We denominate that harmonic step a secondary cadence, in which a secondary
fonr-fold chord is followed hy a three-fold chord belonging to the same key.
Secondary cadences, like their prototype — the principal cadences, divide
themselves into natural secondary cadences, and false secondary cadences.
(a.) Natural Secondary Cadences.
§263.
In like manner as every principal four-fold chord is most natnrally fol-
lowed by that three-fold chord which is situated three degrees higher (§ 253), so
also every secondary fourfold chord is most natnrally followed by the three-
fold chord which is edtnated three degrees higher, and which belongs likewise to
the same key.
A natural secondary cadence is accordingly that harmonic succession in
which a secondary four-fold chord is followed by a three-fold chord, belonging
to the same key and situated a fourth higher ; or, in other words, in which a
secondary four-fold chord is succeeded by the step of a fourth in the same key
to the three-fold chord situated a fourth higher than itself. Such is the case
in figs. 322—324.
(Fig. 322.) (Fig. 323.)
(Fl8.ittl,a.) (S.) (<:.) (J.) (..) (/.)
C:l IVfofix „,7 VI ii7 V If IV oviiT HI Yi7
(Fig. 324, y.)
JTJ-i=.
1 — I — I — ^ — I — P — r-
15:=^
^^
1 — r
rxr
i i ^ i 4: 'iUlJuJu
t rir
afrc±c^
acat
±i
qcrjc
t-T
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(Fig. 324. A.)
SKCONDART CADENCES.
487
r-' r r r r ' r r ^^^i=^
f rT r r r -f f
T r
r r f f
T-r f r I r r-^
(Rg. 324, f .)
(Fig. 324,*.) (/.)
<i(^f!INlHUHn(
I
(Flg.324,».)
V i» IV "ml III ▼!» II vr I
TtTi\ii}iJ
(ffO ^ _ _
(Pig. 334^)
ie
i^ li i
i
i
s
^
r'r'r"
(Kg. 324, r.)
r^.ij j J J J
^pg^i^^^s
F ' '^l ■«• ' • , ' — ' 1 — I — t-"—
h^
^^^PP^^^
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48S
HABHOiriC FBOOBSaBIOH IN THE SAME SCALE.
(Fig. 324, <)
r r ' r r ' ■ » ^ i r-^-H-^H^
^^=hU
rllJJrrjIJr^Bi
(Fig. 324, r.)
W
r^TTf
MMLmhii
i^m^
VI^ oil
IV7 OYii
0Xl7 V
(Fig. 324, y.)
('.)
I
iS=^
3
TTiff^
iXC
xr
^^jn.^4
-^
U| |.°{ ^|J!t|^ir{ |-^^|iin{-||^q^fef=^
V VI» «ii V
(Fie. 324, u.)
(**.)
(«.)
1
(mm.)
31
i
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IE
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3^
tr
fz3z:
^
4=4.
JQ-
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•Xl7 V oilT V
(nw.)
(00.)
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xt
i
-^ JeL
33:
33r
3^'~n'7q
-n-
-pd
asc
-:^' J. rJ
i=:r-Q :=ac:
1
-G^-' -&• •
L-cL
3^;:
^
3
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SECONDARY CADENCES. 489
The following table exhibits a synoptical view of all posaihie harmonic steps
of this species :
In a major key :
I^— IV, Il7_V, III'?— VI, IV^— °VII, Vl7_ii, °VIl7— hi;
•4 *4 *4 4* *4 *4
In a minor key :
, iv7_Ovn, VI»— «>ii, .
4. 4.
(Thus again fewer in the minor key than in the major.)
§264.
It is to be particularly remarked of the cadence ^ii^ — ^V, that the fonr-fold
chord with minor fifth contained in it, is, as we know, frequently transformed
by tiie elevation of the third, and in such a case usually occurs also with a
ninth ; as, e. g^ in fig. 3S4, ti-— ni», p. 488.
We may here take occasion to examine more minutely and fiilly what, at an
earlier period, we could only allude to (§ 148, No. 7, p. 284) ; namely, that such
an elevation of the third is the peculiar property of that four-fold chord which is
ffltuated on the second degree of a minor key. The proof of this lies in the fact
that this species of transformation is so natural to that four-fold chord with
mmor fifth which occurs in the harmonic succession ^ii^ — ^V («. g, in the succes-
sion ^b^ — fR in o-minor); but not to that which occurs in the succession
Oyii7 — ^iii \e.g, in the succession ^V — ^0 in C'-major); since the ear, after
hearing the chord ^V ^ transformed by the elevation of the third, always eiq)ects,
not the minor three-fold chord f , found in the previous key C'-major, but rather
Teiy decidedly the mc^'ar three-fold chord 0, foreign to the previous key and
pecoliar to the key of o-minor (compare fig. 324, nn and oo^ p. 488) ; a clear
proof that the ear takes the harmony ^V^^ immediately upon hearing it with
the elevated third, not as a three-fold chord of the seventh degree in a major
key, but as a:^u7 (compare § 202) ; and hence that the elevation of its third
is really a characteristic mark of thcU four-fold chord with minor fifth which
belongs to the second degree of a minor key. (Compare figs. 123 — 140,
pp.208— 236.)
The fact that harmonic combinations sometimes transiently occur in passages
belonging to a major key which [harmonic combinations] appear like a chord of
the above-mentioned species, while in fact they have arisen in entirely another
way, namely, by lowering the fifth of the dominant chord of transition, has
already been adverted to in § 94, p. 214.
12^5.
In like manner as the principal cadences are less perfect in the inversions,
than they are in the fimdamental position, so it is also with the secondary
cadences. They are particularly imperfect when the four-fold chord appears in
the second inversion, as in fig. 324, g, p. 486. They are &r better in the first
inversion, as in fig. 324, A, p. 487 ; or even in the third, as in fig. 324, t, p. 487.
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490
HARMONIC PBOeBESSlON IN THE SAME SCALE.
Moreover, the three-fold chord which follows the four-fold chord appears
better also in the fbndamental position, than in an inversion, particnlarly the
second inversion, as in fig. 324, 4-, /, p. 487.
We have ODly to observe in respect to the peculiaritj of the cadence ^ii^ — •▼,
that when the first chord in it occurs with an elewited third, the position of the
second inversion in such a case does not appear at all imperfect. (See § 91, at
B. p. 211).
Many other examples of natural secondary cadences are to be found in figs.
146—153, pp. 237, 242—247.
(b,) Fahe Secondary Cadences,
§266.
A false secondary cadence is (according to § 253) that harmonic step in
which a secondary four-fold chord is followed by some other three-fold chord
than that which is situated three degrees higher than the secondary four-fold
chord. All possible cases of this species are presented by the following table :
In a major key :
I^— III, P— V,
I'-I,
II
7_i
n,
iii^ — ^iii,
IV^— IV,
VI ^ — VI,
'^vii^— °vn,
1
^ii^^^ii,
IV7 — IV
I'-ii,
Il7 — iii^
-IV,
III'
II
III
7_
7 o,
IV'— V,
VI'
"VII,
°vii»— I,
IV7— V,
VI»— VI, VI»-°vii,
1 2
II 7— IV,
III'— V,
IV»-vi,
vi7— I,
°vii'— n,
3
In a minor key :
°II»— IV,
iv7— VI,
VI»— I,
3
VI.
■VII,
IV»— I,
VI ' — III,
°vii'-IV,
9
ke
o„7_vi,
iv' — I,
I'— VI,
II''— °VII,
III 7 -I,
IV»— II,
vi'— IV,
Ovil?— V,
Oll7_Ovi,,
IV'— °II,
VI»— IV,
6
I»— °vii ;
II 7-1;
III'— II ;
IV'— III;
. vi'— V ;
°VIl'— VI.
"II
'—I
VI'— V.
7
§267.
All this collection of harmonic sacoessions forms rather an nnfrnitfiil field,
since it is but seldom that a cadence of this sort can be introduced with good
efiect. Proof of this foot is afforded even by those examples of snch successions
which are quoted in books of instruction ; e.g.ia Koch*, figs. 325 — 327 :
(Fig. 325.) Koo.
ty iTi' f TiriH^H-i' T'i'rir r r r
V7 VI IV ^ V iii7 IV
* In his Handbuch der Harmonie, § 187.
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8KC0KPART CADKRCBS.
(Fig. 326.)
491
it7 V I
VT III IV» n
(Rg.327.)
XOCH.
I °i ■ r I V irJiTa,' ^. I .° II i.°if m; i^
= — — ^ — ♦ -F -■(► - .
^
'.y^lM -^i |n. II r_rrr|rf|| p^
T=f
J/^ I J ' [ XOCH.
^HUfj-r r II fl r M r y irfrflrJ^jJi
Such harmonic saocessionfl might hetter be used, if used at all, in such forms as
are fomid in figs. 328— S31 :
(Kg. 328.)
(Fig. 329.)
TT
"TV
-^
SLP ^
I
ty i i yn §1 "^q^fif^ w^-
TTTWff
I
I» n
ii» xn IV? II
(Fig. 330, i)
(/.) (Fig. 831.)
gip
l'.§-yj.g..9.5
^sj:P--o"
•vQ-
^
HT^a M I O O I <^
1^1
Z5=aj-Hjt8
121
o o
IV^ V
iv7 V I
iv7 V
^ 2-
Il7 I V7
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49*2
HARMONIC PROGRESSION IN THE SAME SCALE.
§268.
The harmonic sucoession ii^ — ^I, or ^ii^ — i when the harmony I or i occurs
in it in the fourth-sixth position, merits particular consideration ; for, to this
succession under tnch circumstances applies what was said in § 250, at b, p. 468,
in relation to the succession ii — I or ^ii — i ; fig. 332.
(Fig. 332,1.) (*.) (/.) («.)
i
m
±j
I^W-r^
m
rn
jrrrMTrjT^^
ll7 I V7 •lir I V7
In such cases, moreoyer, the harmony ^ii^ is not unlikely to occur with an
arbitrarily elevated third : fig. 333.
(Fig. 333, t.) (^.) (^)
Jt ■
1^
m
:e:
•ll7 1 V oii7 I V7 I C^ c;*Il7 c5* ^
More examples are found in figs. 123—134, pp. 208 —214.
REMABK.
Oar theorists do not consider themselves at liberty to regard such successions of
chords 88 are mentioned in the foregoing section as being 117 — I, or oii7 — i, but conceive
themselves.obliged to explain them — though truly in a very affected and far-fetched
manner — as something else entirely foreign. Their reasons are as follow :
In the first place, they suppose that these successions of chords, if explained as
on 7 — I, would contain an under>second step of the fundamental harmony, which, by
the way, is forbidden by the most approved authors. (Remark on § 242, p. 443.) In
Older to exonerate them fix>m such a reproach, they have devised two different subter-
fuges. Apparently f say they, the harmony I or i, in such cases, follows the harmony
n7 or m^ ; but these cases must be explained in such a manner, that (a.) n 7 or ^'n^^
may be considered as being really followed by V, this V being only omitted ; — or,
(&.) so that the fourth-sixth chord may be regarded as being here only a cliord of
suspension, whose fundamental harmony is, accordingly, not I or i, but V or V7, — ^I
must say, that, even if I believed in that prohibition itself, still, the manner in which the
succession of chords in question is defended against the reproach of transgressing it,
would be very unsatisfiictory to me. It appears to me, moreover, that I have already
said enough in my previous remarks, as well in answer to the reproach itself, as in
refutation of both the defences proposed, to save me the trouble of here going into a
detailed exposure of the whole unnecessarily ingenious fiction.
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SBCONDART CADENCES. 493
In the second place, learned mnaical rnqniren find in sacb a suocesdon of chords a
" siaUonary seventh^''* and are at great pains to combine this stationariness with the rules
which they have already once invented in respect to the progresiion of the seventh*.
We shall speak of this " statiooary seventh" in the doctrine of the conduct of parts.
(Remark on §§ 320 and 392.) We will only say here, that, if in this case, as also in a
thousand others which daily occur, the seyenth does not move, it would have been better
rather not to have made the rule that every seventh must move. Here, as well as in so
many other cases, together with the unnecessary rules themselves, might have been
spared also the unnecessary trouble of inventing miserable subterfuges and apologies
for their so-called exceptions.
(D.) OF THOSE HABXONIC STEPS IK WHICH A FOUB-FOLD CHOBD IS FOLLOWED
BT ANOTHXB FOUB-FOLD CHOBD IN THE SAME KBT. (eVITATIONS OF
CADENCES IN THE SAME KEY.)
§269.
Thus &r we have beoome acquainted with three principal species of hannonic
succesaioiiB in the same key ; namely^ (A) those in which a three-fold chord is
followed by a three-fold chord, (B) those in which a three-fold chord is followed
by a four-fold chord^ and (C) those in which a four-fold chord is followed by a
three-fold chord, all in the same key. But if (D) we cause a four-fold chord to
be followed, nol by any three-fold chord belonging to the same key, but either
by another four-fold chord in the same key, — or by some harmony foreign to the
key, — ^we make no cadence, we avoid making one, we avoid or evitate the
cadence ; and hence we are accustomed to denominate those harmonic succes-
sions in which a four-fold chord is followed by something else than a three-fold
chord belonging to the same key, evitaUons of cadences^ or evitaied, avoided,
cadences.
In the present connection, where we are treating only of harmonic succes-
sions en one and the same key^ we will consider merely those evitations of
cadences likewise which belong to the same key, leaving those which are
connected with digressive modulations for another place. Accordingly, we shall
here attend only to those in which afour-fold chord is foUowedby another
four-fold chard in the same key.
Here, again, a distinction arises on the question, whether the four-fold chord
comes after ^principal four-fold chord, or after a secondary four-fold chord. In
the first case we avoid a princ^ml cadence, and ia the second a secondary
cadence. The evitation of a principal cadence by means of a four-fold chord
following a principal four-fold chord and belonging to the same key, may be seen
in fig. 334, t.
(Fig. 334, f) (*.)
g^"^?=tTr^S
Fig. 334, k, on the contrary, exhibits an evitation of a secondary cadence by
means of saeh a four-fold chord.
* Leipzig ailgem. mus. Zeituug, vol. xii, No. 58, and foil. p. 921.
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494 HABMONIC PR0eRE88I0N IN THE SAMS SCALE.
§270.
The following table aflbrds a synoptical view of the manner in which a
principal or secondary fonr-fold chord may be followed by another fonr-fold
chord in the same key, or, in other words, shows how a principal or secondary
cadence can be avoided by a principal or secondary four-fold chord belonging to
the same key, both in a major and in a minor key.
(1.) EtUcUums of Principdl Cadences in the same Key,
In a major key :
V7_v,7, V7^<^vii7, V7_n, V7-.i,7, V^—n,?, V'—IV^ ;
2* 3» ^4 5* 6» •!
In a minor key :
V7— VP, , , V7— Oil7, , V7_iv7.
•2 5- •?
(2.J EvttcUians of Secondary Cadences in the same Key,
In a major key :
I?_n7, I^_iii7, n_IV', I^— V7, P— Vl7, I^^Ovil7 ;
Il7— Ill7, n7_IV^, ll7_V7, Il7— vi7, „7_o^Ij7, Il7_17 ;
IIl7— IV^, III— V7, ill'y— Vl7, in7 — Ovil7, Iil7_l'y, IIl7— Ii7 ;
IV^— V7, IV^— Vl7, IV»— <^VIl7, IV^— P, IV^— Il7, IV?— IIl7;
Vl7— <>VIl7, Vl7_l?, Vl7_n7, Vl7_lll7, vi7— IV?, vi7_V7 ;
^VIl7_I?, <>VIl7— ll"?, °7Il7_iii7^ o^„7_IV^, Ovi,7_V7, Ovii7_vi7.
2 3 4 5 6 ^7^
In a minor key :
^ oii7_,iv7^ ^n7— V7, On7— VP,
IV7_V7, IV7-.VP, , , 1V7— °ll7'
-, VI?— °II?, , VI?— iv7, VI?— V7.
4 5 6 7
§271.
To adduce examples of each of these numerous possible cases, and to speak
of their respective merits severally, would lead us entirely too much into detail.
Without attempting, therefore, to exhaust the subject, we must satisfy ourselves
with the few following remarks.
In the first place, a great part of these harmonic successions are not adapted
to use, because the laws of preparation cannot be preserved in them. Compare
§251, p. 470.
It may be remarked, in general, of the other harmonic successions of this
species, that the most natural succession of one four-fold chord after another in
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SECONBABT CADENCES.
495
the same key, is that which forms the step of a fowrthy t . e, when one four-fold
chord is followed by another a fimrth higher, as, e, g. in fig. 335.
(Fig. 335,1.) (k.)
rtw
fefei
., — a -» I y — u g =1:
t
r
('•)
J^ .. \ J
(«•)
Compare figs. 338 and 339, below.
All the rest are more or less nnnsoal and are seldom of good effect. Not,
however, to be entirely without examples, and some too which are not really
bad, see ^eotm^steps of this sort in figs. 336 and 337 below,— ;;^A-steps in
figs. 340 and 341, p. 496,— .nop/A-steps in figs. 342 and 344, pp. 496 and
497,— .»?r«n/A.8teps in figs. 345 and 346, p. 497 :
(Fig. 336, t.) (A.)
It
//i/jiil''.i^;iya
T
-J-i— r-
^
^^
i
s
^^
^
VT viT n V7 I
3<
(Fig. 337.)
V7 VI* oiI
^/i'/Wi'/^'
i i\i r I
C;I
IV *? TlI? iiiT Ti? ii7 V7 1? IV* oyn7 ni7
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496 HARMONIC PBOOBEaSION IN THE SAME SCALE.
(Fig. 838,*.)
^f T ^ fTTr If
a; I oii7 V7 I VT
•4 ,
^* .•♦
(Fig. 339.)
^
-CT-
:&:
-ff8_ \m
M
IlT V7
•4 .
(Fig. 340.)
-4 f-
(Flg.841.)
±:
BEETHOVEN.
r TTr ^^\r-'nrV~^ ' 'T v*
V7 ou7 •ii7 VI •il7
S
(Fig.341J.)
m
^^^.4
25:
^
^
rem
•«»
•7
(Kg. 342.)
(Fig. 343.)
^^*y
'^Ji±j
V7 xil7
^6* • A
f^^
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EVTTATI0N8 OF CADENCES.
497
(Fig. 344.)
(Fig. 346.)
(Fig. 346.)
vi^vr I vr xii7 ii7 I vr
The eh of the fifth chord in fig. 343, p. 496, would perhaps admit of being
explained also as a suspension or transition before the d of the following chord,
as we shall see in the seqnel. — The reason why the succession °ii^ — V7 in fig.
341, p. 496, is not repalsive, lies chiefly in the circumstance that a new phrase
oommences with ^ii^. The third and fourth measures are a repetition of the
first and second. The second measure ends the phrase with the chord V^, and
the fifth measure commences the same phrase anew, only an octave higher.
(§ 241, No. 7, p. 434.)
Exercise,
Here, at the close of our treatment of the difierent harmonic progressions in
the same key, 1 would recommend, as au exercise, to review §§ 243—271, and
to transpose the note-examples quoted therein into several other keys. The
beginner may also try to present them in other positions and inversions. And
i^ in such a case, this or that succession of chords does not sound right, let him
conclude, that, though the cause may indeed lie in this position itself (§ 241),
yet it may very often also be found in the fisict that he has, in presenting these
successions of chords, committed errors against the principles regulating the
conduct of parts, — ^principles which he does not yet understand, and with which
he is to become acquainted hereafter.
It will also afford the beginner an interesting occupation, to try the experi-
ment himself of those harmonic successions of which we have given no examples ;
and for this purpose, a wide, and as yet unexhausted, field of labour, is pointed
out, particularly by §§ 251, 252, and 270. The remarks just made above
relative to the conduct of parts, apply here also.
DIVISION III.
DIGRESSIVE HABMONIC SUCC£SSIO^S.
§ 272.
We have thus far considered those harmonic successions which consist of two
harmonies belonging to one and the same key. We will now attend also to those
in which one harmony is followed by another belonging to a different key fi-om
the preceding : digressive harmonic successions.
VOL. II. «
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498 oieREasiVE harmonic pbooression.
SiDce, to make a digression or digressiye modulation^ is nothing more nor
less than to canse a comhination of tones to be heard which the ear, for some
reason, recognizes as belonging to another key than the preceding, and, as we
have already {§§ 191 — 225, pp. 333 — 414) fiilly shown when and by what
means a harmony appears as belonging to a new key, it follows that we have
thus already treated a great and essential part of the doctrine of digressive
harmonic successions beforehand.
(A.) AN ENUMERATION OF ALL THE POSSIBLE DIGRESSIVE HARMONIC
SUCCESSIONS.
§273.
According to the definition given in §§ 183 and 229, pp. 324 and 419, a
digressive modulation is
(1.) An harmonic step or change of Aarm^^ntss whereby at the same time is
effected
(2.) A change of keys — a step is taken into the realm of another key.
If we consider these digressive modulations,
(No. 2.) Only in their property as a stic cession of keys or as a change of
keysy and thus merely inquire whence and whither ^ i. e. from what key and into
what key, the digressive modulation is made ? or, in other words, if we merely
ask how many different successions of one key to another are conceivable, we
find, as already estimated (in § 188*, p. 330), that there may \iQ forty-six.
But if we regard that digressive modulation in the aspect presented by
(No, 1), and inquire, not merely whence and whither the digression is
made, but also from which harmony of the previous key and to which harmony
of the new key the harmonic step is made, it will be readily seen, that in this
respect each of the 46 different digressions enumerated in the place above
referred to, can be made again in many essentially different ways by many
essentially different combinations of harmonies, and that by this means there
arises a far greater multiplicity of possible digressive modulations. We have
already estimated their number in § 227, p. 417, and shown that it amounts
to 6,616.
(B.) GENERAL REMARKS UPON THE MERITS OF DIGRESSIVE HARMONIC
SUCCESSIONS.
§ 274.
It has already been remarked, in §§ 241 and 242, that each of the above-
mentioned 6,616 cases is essentially different from all the rest ; that each has,
accordingly, its own peculiar merits and is subject to its own distinct and pecu-
liar rules ; so that what is true of the one is not necessarily true of the others ;
and hence, that this immense field cannot be exhausted by a few sweeping
general rules, but would demand for this purpose an individual estimate of the
merits of all these difierent cases, and that such a detail would necessarily be
attended with an undue and immoderate copiousness. Who would undertake
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HARMONIC PROeRESSION FROM OKE KET INTO ANOTHER. 499
fiilly to examine the question, '' which of the 46 diflerent digressive moda-
lationn enumerated in § 188*, p. 331, are allowable P and in which of the
6,616 ways enumerated in the passage above referred to (§ 227, pp. 417 and
418) they are allowed, or not allowed, to be made ? — ^in what cases, under
what forms, in what positions, or other transformations of the one or the other
(^ord, or of both, in which light or heavy part of the measure, and under what
other favourable or unfavourable circumstances is it well, or ill, or perhaps
forbidden, to make one or another of the 46 different digressive modulations in
one or another of the 6,616 different ways ?" Who would undertake to exhaust
this field ? Indeed, were we to be only as copious in respect to these 6,616
cases, as we have been in respect to the 272 fundamental successions in the
same key (§§ 243 — ^271), this even would lead us entirely too far into detail.
We are compelled, therefore, in this case, to satisfy ourselves with simply
presenting the few things that can be said in a general way upon the merits of
the different digressive fundamental steps, and furnishing some individual exam-
ples for illustration ; and then with merely glancing over the whole wide field
collectively, just for the purpose of spending a moment in considering a few of
the more important species of digressive modulations.
§275.
We must here again repeat, that, however diverse are the effects of the
many different possible digressive modulations, we still dare not unconditionally
reject any one of them as absolutely unfit for use, partly because there is
scarcely any one which does not admit of being palliated and improved by the
interposition of suitable softening means, and partly also because really harsh
aod rough transitions may often be appropriate and adapted to the particular
expression intended, and indeed sometimes even quite necessary. When, e, g. in
Beethoven's Battle of Vittoria, the storming march in Jb-major suddenly and
without any iotermediate harmony whatever turns into ^-major, then in like
manner immediately rushes into J5b-major, then directly into ^-major, and at
last still more impetuously into ^b-major*, we have au entire series of transi-
tions which, it is true, are the farthest possible from being agreeable, and indeed
they are almost horrible ; but yet, considering the place in which they occur,
they constitute a most splendidly striking and impressive representation. — So
also Haydo, in his description of Chaos, makes use of harmonic successions
which, taken in musical compositions of a different species, would be as bad as
they are here good. The same is true also of many other cases.
(C.) CLASSIFICATION OF THE DIFFERENT DI&BESSIVE MODULATIONS ACCORDINO
TO THE HARMONT BT WHICH THET ABE EFFECTED.
§ 276.
What has been said in the foregoing section is nearly all that admits of being
said, in general, relative to the merits — the agreeableness or disagreeableness
See my review, in Nos. 145 and 146 of the Jena Liter. Zeitung for 1816.
g2
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500 DIGRESSIVE HARMONIC PROGRESSION.
of the different digressive harmonic successions. Thoroughly and individually
to investigate all the conceivable digressive fundamental snccessionsy would,
as heretofore repeatedly observed^ require an entirely too tedious detail.
In order, however, not to leave the subject wholly untreated, we will take
a cursory survey of all the different digressive fundamental successions, accord-
ing to the following divisions. We will, namely, inquire by what harmony the
digression is effected, — ^whether by the leading chord, by the harmony of the
first degree, or by that of the second degree, or by that of any other degree of
the new key.
§277.
Most of all the digressions that occur are effected by the three-fold chord of
be first degree, or by the four-fold chord or three-fold chord of the fifth degree,
t. e. by I or i, or by V 7 or V. — More rarely, digressive modulations are effected
by the three-fold or four-fold chord of the fourth or of the second degree, t. e.
by IV or IV '^, iv or iv^ ; — or by ii, — ii^, °ii or *^ii7 ; — and still more rarely
by all the rest.
We will first consider those digressions which are made by one of the most
essential harmonies of the new key: namely, by I, i, V, V^, IV, or iv, in
which, accordingly, the leading chord is one of the most essential harmonies of
the new key ; and afterwards those which are effected by secondary chords of
the new key.
(1.) Digressive Modulations by the Thr^-fold Chord of the first degree
of the neto Key, — by I or i.
§278.
The first species of these digressive modulations are those which are
effected by directly commencing a new phrase, section, or period by a new tonic
three-fold chord. Several examples of such digressions have already been
quoted (in § 205, pp. 345 and 346).
This species of digression is sometimes expressed also by the term falling.
Thus, e. g, it is said of a piece of music that it falls into Ab ; that the minuet
is in 2>-major, but that, in the trio, it falls into ift-minor, &c.
A second species of transitions by the new tonic harmony itself, consists of
those which are effected by the aid of the fourth-sixth position. We have
already observed (§241, No. 9, pp. 440 and 441), that transitions of this
species are, for the most part, very smooth and often extremely agreeable.
It will be par.ticularly recollected, fi-om what was said at the end of § 241,
that very frequently, after the dominant chord of transition, the previous tonic
chord recurs in the fourth-sixth position.
A third species consists of those which are effected by the appearance of a
new tonic harmony in other well-known positions (§ 207, in *2, p. 350).
Finally, those cases also belong here in which a three-fold chord occurs,
which, from the principle of inertia, impresses itself on the ear as a new I or i,
even though in itself it is not foreign to the previous key.
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HARMONIC PROaRESSION FROM ONE KEY INTO ANOTHER.
501
(2.) Digressions hy the Harmony of the Fifth Degree of the new Keg, —
Zy V7,orV.
§279.
The digressive modulatioiis which are made bg the harmong of the fifth
degree of the new key, by V, or V 7, especially the latter, are likewise very
freqaent, and indeed the most so of all.
(^.) The digressive modulations effected hg the principal fourfold chord
of the new key are as decidedly among the most unequivocal in their character,
as this harmony is the most unequivocal of all in itself (§ 158, p. 303)*
Fig. 347:
(Fig. 347.)
'iU- ' '- "
C.I C.Vr I C.I Pb.V7 I C:I/8;V» i C.I *;V7
Not everg digressive modulation, however, can he effected by the principal
four-fold chord, taken by itself alone, because even this harmony is equivocal,
partly (a.) in respect to the mode (as major or minor), and in part {h^ enhar-
monically ; its transformations, in particular, (c.) are at one time subject to
simple and (c/.) at another time to enharmonic equivocalness.
(a.) A digressive modulation from 67-major to J^-major, for instance, cannot
be immediately effected by the chord 18 ^ ; for, though this harmony is indeed
the dominant foor-fold chord of ^-major, it is also that of 6-minor ; and hence,
if the chord iS^ is heard after C-major, it appears, according to the principle of
inertia, not as V^ of ^-major, but as V^ of ^-minor. If, however, the chord
(?, as I, immediately follows this 18 7^ /^^^ indeed a new digression is actually
made into ^-major ; but this was not the case on the mere introduction of the
harmony 18 ^^ the modulation at first being made merely into ^-minor. Fig. 348 :
(Fig. 348.)
m
\ XV\
^3S
'^
s
3E
C.I V I e:^1 E:l
So, likewise, if we would pass from a^minor into e-minor, by means of the
dominant of transition 18^, still this chord, as we have already observed (§ 209,
pp. 355 and 356), points rather to ^-major than to tf-minor, and that too even
vhen a minor ninth is added to it. Compare fig. 349 :
(Fig. 349, t.) (*.) (/.) (m.)
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502 DIORESSIVE HARMONIC PROGRESSION.
(b.) If we would pass, say, from a-minor to ^-major by dp^, the prin-
cipal four-fold chord of the key ^-major, still the ear will easily take this
chord, not as 4F^> ^^^ ^ ^b"^, as in examples fig. 350, t and k :
(Fig.350,».) {k.)
-g- -5- ^^^lig .. -g- -o ^^^ KR ..
ai=ccr=^=^r=^
O-
TS CT'
If, however, the harmony Sb follows this chord, as in fig. 350, k, above,
/A^;i indeed a real transition is made into J9b-major; but the foregoing chord
would not, of itself, have transferred the ear into this key (compare fig. 204,
pp. 351 and 352), unless perhaps by being several times repeated. (See § 214,
at the end, p. 364.)
(c.) Or would we pass, say from a-minor to C-major by means of the
principal four-fold chord ®r^ ^ifh a major ninth and the omission of the
fundamental tone, yet the ear would, in most cases, far sooner take this chord
for ®I|7 and thus for ^ii^, of the previous key a-minor, than for fflr^- If, how-
ever, the harmony (ff, as I, follows the chord [b f a d[, fig. 351, t,
(Fig. 351, t.) {k^
a. 'I V7 I oii7 C:l an V7 i oii7 V
then, it is true, by the appearance of this chord, a digressive modulation is
made into C-major ; but this was not done by the foregoing chord, which
appeared to the ear decidedly as a : °ii^, and after which it was much more
inclined to expect <!?, as in fig. 351, ^, above.
((/.) So also, if we would pass, e, g, from a-minor into (T-minor, by the prin-
cipal four-fold ^'^ with minor ninth and omission of fundamental tone, the ear
Would understand such a chord as [B d f ab], certainly not as ©r'^, but clearly
as [B d f gj], and therefore would take it for — ®7, as V^, not of <r-minor, but
of the previous key a-minor ; and it would only be afler the chord ( should have
followed this chord, that a digressive modulation would really be made into
c- minor (a modulation, too, not of the most agreeable effect.) Fig. 352 :
(Fig. 362.)
Ie^^i^
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HARMONIC PROeBSBSIOH FROM ONE KEY INTO ANOTHER.
503
Thus it is seen that even the principal fonr-fold chord is not capable of
unequivocally establishing every digressive modulation.
§ 280.
I>igressive modulations, moreover, which are effected by the principal
fimr-feld chord of the new key, when the latter is a key far remote from the
foregoing, are attended also with the entire harshness of the remote digression,
unless they are softened by other means. See, e. g, the digression from ^/-minor
to ^-minor, fig. 354.
(Fig. 364.)
d:\
V7
I
V7
&:V7
&.V7
I
d:i
TS—lfCj
1
A:V7
(Compare § 241, No. 8, towards the end.)
§281.
If the harmony preceding the principal four-fold chord be itself a four-fold
chord, then the harmonic succession belongs to the class of digressive evitations
of cadences (§ 263), e. g. Fig. 355 :
(Fig. 365, t-)
^m
f
"To
JC2.
ICE
tp-
ICX.
-^^-
-€>-
ift
dis
1— rr-8
"o — cr
"cr
REMABK.
Vogler* explains the harmonic succession in fig. 365, n, above, as unallowable,
partly because the digression skips over one degree (compare remark on § 189, p. 332),
and partly because the 7^ instead of resolving itself, remains stationary. We have
* In his TonseUkunsty p. 41, § 15, and p. 70, § 64.
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504
DIOBESSIVB HARMONIC PROORESSIOK.
remarked upon the former point in the place referred to, and the latter will come under
discussion in the doctrine of resolution. (Compare remark on $ 268, p. 492.)
Theorists usually explain the harmonic succession (Si7 — (gpr also (see the example,
fig. 355, /, p. 503), not indeed as forbidden, but of so doubtful admissibility that they do
not feel at liberty to let it pass as allowable, except it be excused by fictitious apologies
under the name of *< on aTdidpaticn of a transient note /*' We shall resume this
subject in the doctrine of resolution.
Entire series of these evitated cadences may be seen in fig. 356, — also in
357, where the principal four-fold chords all appear with a minor ninth.
(Fig. 366.)
3
*:
^
-P
3at
±i.
Bb'l^'i I
c^^
♦-»-
tsu -i
'S^
(Rg. 367.)
^^^
^Scc
*s
Saccessions of this latter species were favonrite modulations with our Oluck,
who, whenever he had anything of special import to express, scarcely thought of
using any other artifidal means for his purpose than these series of diminished
seventh chords. Almost every page of his operas affords proof of this fact.
§282.
The different effects of digressive modulations made by the principal four-
fold chord, depend, in general, very much upon the question, what harmony
immediately precedes the leading chord. Thus, e, g, the digression from
^- minor to rf-minor by the harmony ^ or ^7 ig not, in itself, remote; but
when the chord 3 or ®^ comes directly after the harmony of the sixth degree
of the key ^-minor, this digression assumes an air of harshness and almost of
wildness. I have designedly employed the harshness of such a combination in
fig. 358,
From my Op. 21.
(Fig, 358.) (2.) (3.) (4.) (5.)
^■FjT^Trl;^^^^;
pft^
ier Sturm, erd rSkmend, uiabU Hch ^ker, mmt birgt teim BUk - ge
i
rr MP 'H— TT7~t ■
rf.l ^:VI
d:Y7
VI
a;V
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HARMOmC PBOOBUBTON TBOM ONB KKT INTO ANOTHER.
505
where a digressive modulation is made in this way, from y-minor, by 2lf into
^minor, and then from d, by the three-fold chord (f , into a.
§283.
(J5.) But even the mere three-fold chord of the fifth degree of the new key^
though in itself it is far more equivocal than the principal four-fold chord, may
still, through the operation of the principle of inertia, very often alone serve as
a leading chord ; «. y. in all digressive modulations from a major key into its
relatives of the ascending Une: as C\l — 6^:V,fig. 359, t.
(Tig. 359, f.) (*.) (/.) («.) (».) (o.)
(A digressive modulation from a minor key into its nearest relatives in the
ascending line, is more equivocal, — e. g, from a-minor,by means of the chord IS,
into ^-minor, — ^for the reason mentioned at the end of (a), in § 279, p. 501,
fig. 359, k, /, above). The same is true of digressive modulations from a minor
key into its nearest relatives in the descending line : e. g. a : i — d:Y ; fig. 359,
m, above ; — firom a major key into the minor keys of its lateral relatives on the
right side : e. g. C:l — a .Y, in fig. 359, n ; — ^from a minor key into its nearest
relatives of the major key on the left side : e. g. a: i — (7;Y, in fig. 359, o,
A whole series of digressive modulations merely by the dominant three-fold
chord of the new key, is found in fig. 360 :
(Fig. 360.)
^m
The digression y; Y — /*; Y, in fig. 361, b particularly beautifiil :
(Fig. 361.)
XOZABT.
f^
^^
-n n-
"^ jP:V I
g.l^l
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506
DieBESSIYB HARMONIC PB0eBE88I0N.
§284.
These species of digressive modulations also frequently appear as eyitated
cadences. Thus, the transition from J^-major into ^minor and (^Jt-major, in
fig. 362^ arises from nothing more than an evitation of a secondary cadence
{E: II 7 — ^ :V), effected by a three-fold chord foreign to the key :
From my 3rd Mass.
(Fig. 362.)
^m
i
t«=^
?
=«F
?
^"r^
'sgg^
d: \AM
g
J&
^^^-M
pe
E:l
Tl Il7 gt:Y GUI: I
IV II
V7
(3.) Digressive 3fodukitions by the Three-fold Chord of the fourth jiegree of
the new Key — by IV, or iv.
§ 285.
Those digressive modulations which are made by the three-fold chord of the
fourth degree of the^new key are less frequent than the preceding. Fig. 363 :
(Fig. 363, i.) (*.)
* ht — f ba _ II i • _ ■ bW
^E
•» h. •»
^=r~^^^~^
C.I V7 1P:\Y I V7 I a:l V7 i rf.iy i V7 i
But they are, not nnfrequently, of the finest effect. Thus, the captivating
passage from the sestetto of the second act in Mozart's Don Giovanni, fig. 364,
(Fig. 364.) MOZART.
Inr^
:fg:
ZSjr
*• ± It* ± ±- if
^
i
^
clie im - pen
r
f rf -f
yy, b"
^
m:I
^ ^
^b:IV--
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HABMONIC PROGRESSION FROM ONE KEY INTO ANOTHER.
507
is nothing more nor less than a digressive modulation from ^b into ^b hy the
three-fold harmony of the fourth degree of the latter key.
In like manner, a digressive modulation is made from C'-major into ^-major
hy means of the major three-fold chord Vh, as the harmony of the fourth degree
of T^-major, in the scene of Donna Anna in the second act, in the Allegretto in
^major, in the fourth and fifth measures.
So also in fig. 365,
(Tig. 365.)
SCBWENKB.
VI e : V7 I
^b.IV Db:
two digressiye modulations immediately follow each other by the three-fold chord
of the fourth degree.
The similar digression fit>m (7-major to ^-major by F:1Y, in fig. 366,
(Fig. 366.)
^
J
rrri^ n,A
i
^
4
SE
/S-i ^ -^
C:I
F:IV
I C.V7
is worthy of remark, because the chord preceding the digression is that of the
fifth degree of the previous key (CSr) ; by which arrangement, the digressive
modulation becomes far more striking to the ear.
Several examples of digressive modulations hy means of the three-fold chord
of the fourth degree are found in figs. 223 and 236, m, pp. 370 and 419.
§286.
It will be perceived, frtrther, that these digressive modulations hy IV or iv
are made more frequently into the relative keys of the descending line.
Tliese digressive modulations are, moreover, least striking in cases where
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508
DIGBESSIVK BARMOKIC PBOGBESSION.
tiie modulatirai retnms into the original key after a half-digression upwards,
fig. 367, » and k .-
(Fig.367,«.)
(*•)
ife
HhV
-fl-
V
:^f|=
—•-
-r-i^-
-4-
C.I G;V7 IC.IV
c:i g:V7 G:l c:iY
GiVr
The reason is, that the ear is not disinclined to take the three-fold chord QSr in
hoth examples directly again as C:Y or c:Y, so that the immediately following
^ or f does not appear as a digression, hut merely as the harmonic succession
y — IVy or y — iv. — The passage quoted in the preceding section from the air of
Donna Anna is also of this species.
(4.) Digressive Modulations which are made by one of the Secondary
Harmonies of the new Key,
§287.
This field, from the very nature of the case, is far more barren than the
preceding, partly because in general the secondary harmonies of a key are more
rarely used than its most essential ones, and partly also because these last, as
belonging most immediately and appropriately to their key, can most definitely
characterize it.
Still, however, digressive modulations by secondary harmonies of the new
key are not only possible, but many of them are even rather common, as we
shall soon see.
Digressive modulations are made hy the threefold chord of the second
degree^ by ii or *^ii. Fig. 368 :
(Fig. 368, i.)
-^ -V -* • -^bw Ii
^
(*•)
^y^
^^^
m
^
-■ — w
m:Y7 i dt ^-ii
V7 I
C:I V7 I F:u I V7 I
So also fig. 369 is to be regarded as a digressive modulation from ^b-major
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HABMONIC PBOaBESSlON FROM 0KB KET IHTO ANOTHER.
509
(Fig. 360.)
J. HATDir.
P
3
^
^
Jjei - den and
f=
rn*-
Lass dein
I
dein
33
^ ^.^ ^ ^ J. J J
Ster - ben nicbt an
m
M
m
p. y f ■ r
i-
^:I
V7
/:iT
/:V7
into Ab'UkajoT by means of the harmony ^b : ii ; (though it is true, indeed, that
on hearing this passage several times the ear becomes inclined to ta^e the
harmony lib directly as iv of the key /-minor — a key which becomes confirmed
by the following chord. Regarded in this point of view, the passage would be
a digressive modulation from fb-major to y-minor by means of the harmony
iv) . — ^Possibly the chord in question may also, if we choose, be explained as a
mere apparent chord, as we shall see in the doctrine of transitions.
Also the digressive modulation from eb-minor to c-minoT, found in the 24th
and following measures of iig. 235, p. 411, may be regarded as a digressive
modulation by means of the harmony ^ as ^ii of c-minor, if we assume that,
on repeatedly bearing it, the ear, on the appearance of ^, already in conception
hears the foUowing c beforehand. (§ 214 and what follows.)
An example of a digressive modulation by means of the minor four-fold
chord of the second degree in a major key^ is found in fig. 370, t.
(Fig. 370, t.)
MOZART.
eb:l VI a:li7 V7 aV.
Here the digression from ^-minor to Cb-major is made by the harmony Qb^
as II 7 of 67b-niajor; — and so also in fig. 370, k,
(Fig. 370, A.)
vhiino. y^cy •
i
*P^
fr^l
MOZART.
Si
&
-fff:
Vhla e Veello.
«fc. 1
Zt'.i-t VI Fb.llT V7 rfb.VT"*"
gl':^t VI n:u7 V7 rfb:V7'
the transition from ab-minor or ^Jt-minor to jPb-major or ^-major by the minor
four-fold chord flb7 or fit ^^ as a harmony of the second degree of /l>-major or
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510
DieBRSSIYE HARMONIC PK0GBB88I0N.
^-major. (Mozart has here also, as we see, for the ooavenienoe of the violinist,
written IB e a and a, instead of 13> Tb H^b and bbb*)
A digressive modulation by the Jour-fold chard of the second degree in a
minor key is found in fig. 371 :
(Fig. 371.) BEETHOVEN.
±
^p..ljJJJJiViJ^i^IzigT
BEE
:©:
:§P
s
F
^
EE
fib: I
eb :• Il7
We have a similar example in fig. 341, p. 496, where the principal cadence,
which is expected after the harmony 18b ^ is avoided in the fifth measure by
the appearance of the harmony ^g^, as °ii7 of /-minor.
Digressive modulations by this same harmony ^ii^ with an accidentally
elevated third, we have already seen in large numbers. See, e, g, fig. 372,
below. (Compare also § 194, fig. 183, p. 377— § 202, •bb, fig. 193, p. 344—
§ 208, bb, fig. 205, m, p. 354— § 215, fig. 218, p. 366.j
(Fig. 372.)
JUL
ftoL
SE
^^
33=
i=4
p=^
The harmony of the sixth degree of the new key may also occur as a
leading chord, e.g, fig. 373, i:
(Fig.373,».)
^
£
i
^5«r
f-nfFi:q^
at
V7
a:l V7 I V7 I rfsVI Fa V7rf:V7 i «:V7 a:
It firequently happens, in this species of digressive modulation, that, imme
diately after the new VI, the former tonic harmony again appears in the fourth-
sixth position, as in fig. 373, k :
(Fig. 373.*.) --^ r--j^
:m
^
s
f
a
^
■t:
■°r
a:i rf.VI
V7
VI rf.V
V7
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BAKMONIC PB00RE8SI0N FROM ONE EST IHIO ANOTHER.
511
BINE'S OBOAN SCBOOL.
(Fig. 373,/.)
A
^^
:©:
i=^
3^:
r^
^
35:
t^^
I'i A
-^h-
VI Ab.l V7 I
VI
eb;VI b\>:x
It sounds rather more harshly when the return of the modulation into the
former key is effected, not by means of this harmony, but perhaps by V 7, so
that the V 7 of the returning key immediately follows the YI of the retiring key,
as in the passage already referred to in fig. 358^ p. 504, where the return of the
modulation from ^-minor to ^minor in the third measure is made directly by
the succession g : VI — d: V 7 .
DigressiYe modulations by the harmony of the third degree of the new key
(by III or III 7) are rare; and that too for the very good reason that this
harmony itself seldom occurs.
For similar reasons, digressive modulations by means of the mi^or four-fold
chord of the first degree (I^) do not often occur ; — equally seldom are digres-
sions efi^ted by the harmony of the fourth degree (by IV*^) ; they occur in a
minor key by means of iv^ ; — and perhaps the most unfrequent of all are made
by means of the harmony of the seventh degree (°vii or *^vn^).
These digressive modulations, however, are not in themselves absolutely
inadmissible; and a careful and full investigation of all the possible cases
involved in these classes very possibly might lead to many new applications of
harmony that would be very effective.
§288.
I have now said all that I could say, without going too much into detail,
in relation to digressive fundamental successions, and would recommend to the
reader the same species of exercise that I recommended at the end of § 271,
p. 497. The field here marked out is incomparably more rich and extended
than was that in the former case, and thus affords still richer materials for
farther investigations.
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512 MODULATORY STRUCTURE OF A PIECE OF MUSIC AS A WHOLE.
CHAPTER VI.
MODULATORY STRUCTURB OF A PIECE OF MUSIC TAKEN AS A WHOLE.
DIVISION I.
MUSICAL UNITY IN GENERAL,
§289.
Before we leave the doctrine of modolationy we will make a few cursory
remarks upon the maimer in which a piece of music, taken as a whole, is
usually constructed in reference to modulation.
The first and most general law here, is that of tAe unity of the key. Ordi-
narily, in every piece of music as a whole, one key prevails as the principal
key, so that the piece runs chiefly in this key, and thus renders this key
the prevailing one throughout. It is not intended by this, however, that we
mast not, in a single instance, digress from the key once assumed. We may,
with perfect propriety, often pass into the accessory keys ; but still, the key
once assumed as the principal key must always be the predominant one, —
the piece must be kept, through most of its extent, in this key, and, at least
ordinarily, must begin and end in it.
The law of musical unity holds good, moreover, not only of every piece of
music which of itself constitutes a whole, but also of several pieces which are
80 connected with each other that they all together properly constitute only one
piece. Thus, e. g, even entire and long finales of operas may be treated as
large connected wholes^ as single, entire pieces of music. The first finale in
Mozart's Don Oiovanni is, as a whole, in 67-inajor, notwithstanding the fact
that, at one time, a minuet in /^-major occurs in the middle of the piece, at
another, other dances in (7-major, again a terzett in ^b-major, and still again
other pieces in J^b-major, in C-major, &c.
It is, therefore, no violation of the above rule, if, of several such individual
pieces of music forming together one whole, the one or the other, considered
alone by itself, ends in a different key from that in which it began. Thus, e. g,
an air may begin with a Largo in 67-major, which in the sequel passes into
o-minor, and, without closing, immediately changes into an AUegrettom a-minor :
this Allegretto itself, perhaps, digresses into e-minor, and, moreover, instead of
closing in it, makes a transition perhaps into a Presto in G'-major, which last
then finally closes, not in G'-major, but in (7-major, and thus in the same key in
which the air began.
Moreover, among several pieces, not indeed immediately connected with
each other, but yet belonging together, it is proper to observe a unity of the
key ; e. g, in a symphony or a sonata, the first piece, say the first Allegro, and
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MODULATOBT STRUCTURE OF ▲ PI£CK OF MUSIC AS ▲ WHOLE. 513
the FifuUe^should be written in one and the same key, and the middle portions —
Adagio, ScAerzo, &e, should^ in cases where they are not written in the same
key, be written in the relatives of that key. — It is true, indeed, that writers are
often not very exact about this matter ; while, at the same time, we not unfre-
quently find, on this point, in the works of our ablest composers, a very great
degree of unity, which can scarcely be attributable to accident. Could it well
be a pure accident, e. g, that Mozart's Zauberflbte begins and closes in J^-major.^
—his Idomeneo in D? — ^the Entfuhrung in C? — that his Don Juan begins in
(^minor and ends, not indeed in ^minor, but yet in Z>-major?— that, in Masses^
which usually consist of five principal parts, distinct and separate from each
other, either aU these five parts almost always are written in one and the same
key or in nearly related keys, and at least the first and last pieces in one and
the same key ?
There may be cases, moreover, in which it is perfectly proper not to observe
this unity. Thus, e.g, in a scene of an opera which in the sequel is to pass
into a character very difierent from that of its beginning, it is entirely proper
to end the piece in a different key from that in which it began.
It is, particularly, not uncommon to change pieces of music which commence
in a minor key into the major key, in the second half of them, and to continue
them in the latter to their end. Thus (to adduce a well-known example) the
first base air in Haydn's Creation (" Rolling in foaming billows") commences
in £^minor, but is afterwards, at the words " gently moving ** changed into
i>-major, and continues so to the end. In like manner, as observed above,
Mozarf 8 Don Juan terminates in a major key, though it commences in a minor
key. Also the piece of music in fig. 234, p. 404*, beginning in yit-minor, ends
in /'8-major.
The reverse of this case is less frequent ; namely, that a piece of music
beginning in a major key should finally end in a minor key.
Thus much in general upon unity of key in a piece taken as a whole. We
will now consider more particularly, with what harmonies and harmonic suc^
cessions apiece of music usually begins y what transitions into other keys are
usually made in the course of a piece ^ and with what harmonies and hannonic
successions it is usual to close apiece.
DIVISION II.
BEGINNING OF A PIECE OF MUSIC.
§ 290.
It seems, as it were, to result from the very nature of the case, that a piece
of music should commence in the key which is to prevail as the principal hey
therein, and that this key should be firmly impressed upon the ear before
VOL. II. H
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514
MODULATOBT 8TB17CTUBS OF A
transitions are made into accessory keys. Even if this is not absolutely neces-
sary, it is at least the most natural and simple way, and therefore the most
usual.
For a like reason, it is natural, proper, and common, to commence with the
tonic chord itself, and that too in its fundamental position, without any trans-
formation.
All this is the most natural and the most usual, but yet it is not always
really necessary. On the contrary, deviations from what is usual may often be,
not only fiiultless, but even of pofdtiyely good effect.
§291.
(^.) 1 have said, it is usual to let the three-fold tonic harmony, with which
a piece begins, appear in its fundamental position, and of course without
transformation.
But we also find pieces where the tonic harmony appears under some trans-
formation in the commencement,
(1.) We not unfrequently find the tonic chord inverted in the commence-
ment of a piece, particularly often in recitatives ; ^. y. in fig. 374 :
jPg.374.) ^ HATDK.
P
And G«d saw ev* - ry thing.
Such beginnings often occur also in mere two-part passages, say for two horns,
as in the passage from Winter's Opferfest, fig. 375 :
(Fig. 375.)
^Andante,
WIVTER.
— also in the beginning of one of Haydn's symphonies, fig. 376 :
OFig.376.) AlUgro. HATDW.
n
(yig.376.) Allegro,
^ Comi, ZZ:
331
:^
XX
=j^
and in the two-part commencement of a violin quartett of Mozart, in ^-major,
fig. 377 :
(Fig. 377.)
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PHBCE OF HUSTC AS A WHOLK.
515
Commenoeineiits in the second inyendon are more rare than those in the first.
In the overture to Vogler's Castor and Pollux, fig. 378,
(Fig. 378.)
jtnT-Ji-j \ U\M
V7 I ,7
' 1^^
the funeral march begins in ^minor, with the harmony II in the second inversion.
In a similar manner, in a triumphal march at the closing scene of the opera
Tancred, I have made the full orchestra commence as in fig. 379 :
(Fig. 379.)
.^^. Pa . PB . P8 . m jiJ, j; Jrs j^
fniifiiniipiiitfi
$>
M
m
ff 1 \t I v» I vr I ff.ivv» I r» 1 «xVi i *.-iit
h H iM i
^
* * *
The commencement of one of Joseph Haydn's violin quartetts in i6-minor is
also of this species : fig. 380 :
380.)
'^' "ft r-^ n.
W
iJ^
HATDV.
4— >-
* — *—
i
•i ' ^ i > P
5f
P 1 \
WTl
6.1
17
VI
IV
•II
IV
II
I V
Musical authors were formerly so particular about the commencement of a
piece with the four-sixth position of a chord, that we find it laid down as a rule
in our books of instruction, that we must not only not begin a piece of music in
this way, but not even a single section of it. The above-mentioned examples,
however, show how unfounded is such a prohibition ; and with what admirably
fine efiect also, a new period in the middle of a piece may commence with the
tonic harmony in the second inversion, is obvious to every one, firom the passage
abready referred to (§ 241, No. 9, fig. 253, p. 440), in Mozart's pianoforte
qnartett, where, after the pause, a new phrase commences with the new tonic
chord Sh in the second inversion.
§
(2.) The ^t that the tonic three-fold chord may occur in the beginning of
H 2
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510 MODULATORY 8TBUCT(7RB OF A
a piece wM the omission of an interval, is shown by examples already quoted
above, in figs. 375—378, and 380, pp. 514 and 515.
Beginnings of this kind are attended with the peculiarity, that the ear,
hearing at first only two tones, remains for a time in doubt as to what harmony
it is listening to. In fig. 375, p. 514, e. g. it can equally well take the tones
git and F either as the harmony of the minor three-fold chord gj with the
omission of the fifth, or as the major three-fold chord (S', in the first inversion
with the omission of the fiindamental tone, and consequently it cannot tell,
especially on the first hearing, whether the commencement is one in ^-minor or
one in jE'-major. So also in fig. 376, p. 514, the tones g and ^ may be taken
either as C in the second inversion without the fundamental tone, or as <2Sb in
the first inversion without the fundamental fifth. So likewise the commence-
ment in fig. 377, p. 514, may be understood either as H or as 18b, and that in
fig. 378, p. 515, either as ^ or as H.
It is true, indeed, that after such a piece of music has several times been
heard, its conmien cement ceases to be equivocal (§ 214), particularly in cases
where one has already been accustomed to such beginnings in two parts, say for
two horns, and hence knows pretty well, even on the first hearing of them, how
they are to be understood. Upon the whole, however, commencements of this
species do not fully possess the property of at once impressing the principal key
of the piece upon the ear, and therefore are properly denominated equivocal.
An example where this equivocalness is especially perceptible, is afforded by
the commencement of the above-mentioned violin quartett in i^-minor, fig. 380,
p. 515, which, even as far as into the second measure, seems rather to be in
i!>-major, than in i&-minor.
But we not unfrequently hear pieces of music commence with tlie omission
of even two intervals of the tonic harmony : either with the tonic note alone,
e, g. in fig. 235, p. 409, or fig. 298, p. 477; or only with the fifth of the tonic ;—
or even, though more rarely, only with the proper third of the tonic harmony.
In commencements of this species, the above-mentioned equivocalness is still
greater ; because the ear, on hearing a piece of music begin merely with, say the
note c, does not know whether it is to regard this note as the fundamental tone
of ®, or of (, as the fifth of f or of 4F> or as the major third of ^, or as the
minor third of A, &c.
The ear will, indeed, most simply and naturally understand such an indi-
vidual tone as the tonic note ; and if, e, g. a piece commences with the note c
alone, the ear will assume beforrfiand that it is to run in the key of c, but
whether in C-major or c-minor is still entirely uncertain.
On the other hand, this mode of beginning a piece of music affords also the
advantage, that, after such a dry commencement, the following full harmony
makes the more agreeable impression.
Beethoven's commencement of his symphony in c-minor is rather singular.
He not only begins with the fifth alone, but continues for several measures, and
one may say almost too long, to keep the ear in suspense as to the key to which
the unaccompanied tones g eb f d belong. Fig. 381 :
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PIECE OF HU8IC AS A WHOLE.
(Fig. 381.)
Allegro eon Mo, o' 12/'
Unis.
517
BEBTHOTEN.
I
35:
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ss
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riti
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UTJ
We must reckon it among the commencements with only a single tone of the
tonic harmony, that a piece of music very commonly begins in the np-beat part
of the measure with merely the tone of the fifth degree of the scale ; as, e, g, in
fig. 38^, i and k,
(Fig. 382,1.) (A.) MOZABT.
The above-mentioned beginning of Beethoven's symphony, fig. 381, is also
of this species.
§293.
(3.) As the tonic chord, with which a piece of music ordinarily commences,
may be used in an inverted position, and with the omission of one or two inter-
vals, 80 a piece may also begin with a broken or harpeggiate state of the chord.
This mode of commencing a piece affords also nearly the same advantage as
that of beginning merely with a single note ; namely, the following full harmony
is rendered thereby the more satisfactory and agreeable to the ear ; as, e. g. in
the commencement of Mozart's beautifiil quartett in 2?-niajor, fig. 383, t, &c.
(Fig. 383, f .) . ^ .MOZABT. (*.) mozabt's " Dies IrcB,^'*
Larghetio. ^ « J_^"
[Fig. 383, f .) . ^ MOZABT. (*.) mozabt's " 1
i
§294.
(B.) We have thus far attended to cases in which a piece of music com-
mences witb the tonic harmony, though, indeed, in inverted positions.
We may, however, not only commence a piece with the tonic harmony, but
vnth same other chord belonging to the key.
Even cofntnencements with the principal four-fold chord are not very un-
common. Thus, e. g, one of J. Haydn's violin quartetts in J9b-major, though
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1)18
MODULATOBT 8TRUCTUBE OF A
it begins in the principal key, J^b-major, still does not oommenoe with the
hannony Sb, but with ^fp^, and thuB, not with ^b:I^bat with A Y^: —
fig. 384:
(Fig. 384.) ^ ^
Alio. Mod.
jS^gff^
rrrTT
:f
J r
In like manner also, another of Haydn's quartetts in (T-major oommenoes with
the hannony G.V : fig. 385 :
HATSV.
(Fig. 386.)
^ JUt.
dt^ ^
n J. jjM -
';Vjt^ I ,. pfa
and again another of them in 27-major likewise with the dominant hannony of
the major key. : fig. 386 :
(Fig. 386.)
P
M
1 — 1^ ifrr
HATDN.
zLt:
s
n^ I j^^-H^
-Q:r-
#
£1=
€
^^
So also Mozart commences the first recitative of Donna ^nna, in Don Oto-
vanni, in c-minor, with the dominant hannony : fig. 387 :
KOZA&T.
(Fig. 387.)
Allo/assai, '
SP S? S? SP SPiSfiSRS?
C.'Y
C.I
I V I V.r^^y.
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PIECE OF MUSIC AS A WHOLE.
519
Beethoven likewise commences the finale of a violin trio, in a most agree-
able manner, with V^, and that too with the major added ninth, and the omission
of the fundamental tone : fig. 388 :
(Fig. 388.) Pimaie All^ro.
BEETHOVBir.
In like manner, I have myself commenced a pianoforte sonata, in C-major,
with the principal fonr-fold chord, having a major added ninth, the fundamental
tone omitted, and in the second inversion : fig. 389 :
My Op. 15.
(Fig. 389.)
Allegro.
:§t:
i
#i=^
4.
a r ol
^
:£r
J'*^
dot.
IE
U^^
a
r^g.
m
W=^
-t
±
V7 I II I V7
The commencement of. the first finale of Cheruhini's Wassertrdger (Water-
jcarrier) is of this species : fig. 390 :
(Fig. 390.) CBERT3INI.
Allegro,
^^T^^y^i
^
-^=w-
SI
^ J^ , g.
^^
The composer has here secured the most splendid effect by causing the modu-
lation, amidst this scene of universal excitement and expectation throughout a
long crescendo of forty-four full measures, to hang almost exclusively upon this
dominant chord, only occasionally and transiently touching upon the tonic
three-fold chord, and that too in unsatisfactory and imperfect forms, and thus
the longer keeping up the expectation and longing of the ear for the tonic chord
(§ 253), and raising the excited tension of the auditor's feelings higher and
higher, until at last, with the words, " thanks to thee, kind Providence !" a
universal harst of emotion occurs, with the more power and effect, on the intro-
duction of the full tonic chord <Sb. — (It is a pity that this splendid idea should
again appear immediately afterwards on a trivial occasion, and be misused and
debased, — namely, when the maid determines not to go to the dance.)
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fi*20
MODULATORT STRUCTURE OF ▲
CommeDcements mih a secondary harmony are somewhat more unnsaal.
Bat yet, Beethoven, inexhanstible in the peculiaritieB of genius, commences a
pianoforte sonata in ^b-major with the four-fold chord of the second degree of
the scale : fig. 391 :
(Fig. 391.)
Allegro,
±
'BBETHOYBN.
ereM.
W=£^
■^mr
4 ;vtf <
#— <-
^R
^
^
^
tar .
li-^^^
^
p:
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f
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f
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C dan - • - dl9.
w
r^
3
r
a tempo*
ayrtt-! ! I "Cr
f
i
T=i=r
ir
^:I V7 ^ ^ I
So also, in my Requiem, the tenor air No. 3 commences with the harmony
lib as II of Jb -major, fig. 392 ; and a violin quartett in ^-major, with the
three-fold harmony of the second degree of the scale, fig. 393 :
(Fig. 392.) KT BBQUIBH.
Poeo Adagio. Sempttce. Voee»
Ah:ii
IVI V7 I
(Fig. 393.)
AUegro.
^
MM^=^
_1CT QUABTBTT.
se
7-^^
r
frv
ntitt
J ^r gj^
^^
XI' ftf
■5^ t
to
r=^
M.'ii
V7 I i?b;V7
EhJ V7
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PIKCS OF MUSIC AS A WHOLE.
521
§ 295.
{C.) We have seen (from §§ 290—293) that pieces of mnsic may hegin
with the tonic hannony, transformed, and that (§ 294) a piece may also com-
mence even with some other harmony belonging to the key besides that of the
tonic. Bnt we may also, in like manner, commence a piece with a harmony
which is foreign to the principal key, and thus in another key than its principal
one.
An example of this is afibrded by the well-known symphony of Beethoven
Id C-major> fig. 394:
(Fig. 394.) Adagio, j"^ 18." bbbthoven.
G:V7 I
C.V 7
Here the first harmony ^^ is foreign to the key; and thus the symphony
properly begins in /"-major, though, indeed, it immediately runs into C-major,
and from that point onward 6^-major is treated as the principal key.
We have another like instance in Cherubini's Faniska; namely, in the com-
mencement of the beautifal terzett in J[-major : fig. 395 :
(Fig. 395.) _ _ CHEBUBiwi.
I
fc^
/^
ft I />
&
^S=
^^^
_|ft_m.
'^SE
^
*
/T\
$
5^
^
aVIf V
This commencement really indicates o-minor, and does not pass fiilly into
J-major until in the ninth measure.
In like manner, though less successfully, Beethoven begins the finale of his
sinfonia eraica in JS'b-major : fig. 396 :
(Fig. 396.) BEETHOVEN.
Aiio. j^Np
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522
MOD9LAT0BT 8TBUCTUBE OF A
This oommenoement certainly does not excite the feeling of jSb-major (nor is it
of very peculiarly happy effect).
So also^ in my mass No. 3, 1 have commenced the '^ Domine" in 2>-major
with the harmony ^fff^ , and thus apparently in ^-minor, which, however, is
soon supplanted by Z>-major, and is accordingly shown to have been only a
secondary key : fig. 397 :
(Fig. 397.)
i»i, * J n I J7T] I L i J ! 1—^ I j-e-i
T
In another mass, I have attempted to begin the ^' Laudamus'* in i^-miyor
in the manner exhibited by fig, 398 :
(Rg.398.) MY MASS, HO. 4.
jidagio.
I F;I IV I V7 I V7 1 V
and thus as if in ^-minor ; soon afterwards, however, the succession shows that
this y-minor is not to be permanent, but that the principal key is to be ^-major,
and that ^-minor merely opened the scene as a secondary key.
DIVISION m.
MODULATION IK THE COURSE OF A PIECE.
§296.
There are pieces of music, particularly very small and short pieces, in which
no digressive modulation of any species occurs, firom beginning to end. But
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PIECE OV MU81C AS A WHOLE. 523
these^ for the most part, are only yerj nnasBaining trifles and little songs;
such, e.g. as " Enjoy Life'* (" FretU euch des Lebefu^*),—** Bloom, dear
little violet* (^ Bluhe liebes Veilchen"), &c. or hunting pieces for horns, and
the like, — ^pieces whose whole modulatory change usually consists simply in the
&ct, that one period closes with the chord of the dominant, and the following
with that of the tonic. Sometimes, indeed, there is still less variety than even
this ; as, e. g. in the second of the above-mentioned songs, in which all the
periods mufixnnly end with the tonic harmony.
§M7.
But, with the exception of such cases, it is usual to introduce into every
piece of music, especially those of the longer species, in addition to the principal
key, half and whole digressive modulations into the accessory keys; and the
larger and more extended the piece, the more it admits and even requires
digressive modulations, and those too of the more remote and complete character.
In small pieces, namely, we usually do not introduce many digressions,
scarcely any entire digression, preferring, in such cases, merely half-digressions,
and these too, only into the nearly related keys ; for the obvious reason, that
such a short piece of music would be rendered, by so many transitions, espe-
dally into remote keys, altogether too diversified and heterogeneous in its
character.
We, therefore, usually satisfy ourselves in such pieces with half-digressive
modulations into the key of the dominant, from which we soon return again into
the principal key. — Even the more important pieces of composition sometimes
limit themselves to this most simple modulatory structure ; as, e, g, Mozart's
*" In diesen heiTgen HaUen** (<< In these saered haiU'),
Large and more elaborate compositions, on the contrary, admit and require
more digressive modulations and more important ones, as is very obvious, for
a reason, the opposite of that for which shorter pieces would not bear them;
namely, because a long piece, if kept incessantly in one key, would be entirely
too uniform and monotonous.
We very properly here, therefore, not only transiently introduce sundry
digressive modulations, and, among others, those into the more remote keys* but
even full and complete transitions, which for a time entirely erase the impression
of the principal key (though the latter must, indeed, at last be brought back
§398.
The most usual digressive modulations of this species are as follow :
In pieces con^poeed in the nugor key^ it is usual to make a full digression
into the major key of the dominant, towards the middle of the piece. Thus,
t,g, in a symphony or sonata in (7-major, a digressive modulation is almost
always formally made, in the first half, into &-major, and the first part usually
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524 MODULATORY STRUCTUBE OF A
comes to a p^tfect close in this key. (To adduce an example which is at hand,
a principal section in the fourth measure of fig. 228, p. 391 , is closed in this
manner. — The same occurs also in fig. 229, p. 392. Other like instances are
found in measures 14 —24 of fig. 230, p. 394. Then again in measures 12 — 20
of fig. 231, p. 397 ;— also in measures 4—8 of fig. 232, p. 399.)
Besides this digression into the dominant, there are also several others into
more nearly or more remotely related keys, less usual, indeed, but yet not
absolutely unusual or the less valuable ; they are, namely, all the digressive
modulations into the other most nearly related keys. Thus, e.^.ma, piece of
music in C-major, we at one time make a formal transition into jP-major, or into
o-minor, or c-minor.
Among the transitions which are not positively unusual, belong those into
other keys whose tonic harmonies are to be found in the scale of the principal
tonic ; thus, e. g, transitions into (^minor or e-minor, in a piece in C-major,
because the three-fold harmonies H and t are found in the scale of 6^-major.
More rarely, transitions are made into still other keys, e, g, into the major
key of the minor third ; thus in the key of C-major, for instance, into ^b-major,
— or into ^b-major, in apiece in jP-major (as in the example quoted in fig.
245, p. 434) : — or into the major key of the major third ; and thus, in a piece of
music in (7-major, for example, into JS'-major (as in Beethoven's symphony in
<7-minor, where whole passages in C-major occur, in the andante in Jb-major) ;
— or into the major key of the minor sixth ; and thus, e, g, into Jib-major, in a
piece in (7-major, &c.
All these and similar complete modulations are more rare than those before-
mentioned ; but they are not on this account positively unused, and much less
disallowed.
§ 299.
In pieces of music written in the minor key^ likewise, the complete digres-
sion into the minor key of the dominant is very common ; and, accordingly, in a
piece of music in a-minor, for example, it is usual, towards the middle, to make
a transition into e-minor, and indeed to terminate the first principal section of
the piece with a fiiU close in this key. — Meanwhile, however, this species of
transition is not so universal as is that into the major key of the dominant in
pieces in the major key ; in part, perhaps, because the tonic harmony of e-minor,
the minor three-fold chord 0, does not belong to the scale of a-minor (compare
§ 298) ; and hence we pretty frequently find pieces in the minor key in which a
transition is made into the major key of the third, rather than into the minor
key of the dominant; so that in a piece in a-minor, e, g. the principal digression
is not into ^-minor, but into C'-major.
Next to this, the most usual complete digressions occurring in pieces of
music in the minor key, are those into the major key of the sixth, and thus, e.g.
into /"-major, in a piece written in a-minor (compare the 20th measaie of
fig. 234, p. 405) : — or those into the minor key of the sub-dominant, into
(i^-minor, in a-minor,^r even those into the major key of the previous tonic
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PIECE OF MUSIC AS A WHOLE. 525
note : into ^-major in o-minor (compare measure 37 of fig. 234, p. 407). It
has already been observed, at the end of § 289, p. 524, that we not unfrequently,
after a transition of this last species from a minor key into a major, continue
the piece on to the end in the major key, and formally terminate it in this key
(as is actually done in the piece just referred to).
It is less usual, in pieces written in the minor key, to meet with complete
transitions into the major key of the dominant ; as, e. g, into ^-major, or of the
minor second ; as, e. g, into J9b-major ; &c. But still, these transitions are
neither disallowed nor entirely unused. On the contrary, these and other
similar less usual transitions may sometimes be employed with perfectly good
effect.
§300.
All that has been observed, from § 296 to the present place, may and should
be regarded only in the light of general hint, and not as furnishing an unalter-
able and universal rule.
It is true, indeed, that our old theorists believed and taught differently on
this point. They were not only very particular upon the questions, into what
accessary keys may we digress, in the course of a piece of music ? how long
may we continue in each ? &c. but we often find in their works even formal
prescriptions on this point — regular labels, showing how many measures one
may continue in this accessory key, how many in that, &c.*
But such an exactness borders very closely upon pedantry. Art is free,
onght to be fr^ee, and does not tolerate such an admeasurement of its limits by
rod and chain. (Compare remark on § 301, p. 526.)
To a man of sense it is superfluous to say that he is not, without necessityi
without object, and without a sufEicient reason, always to be passing from key to
key at random, that he is not to be incessantly skipping about, in every piece of
music, into every possible key, even the remotest, like a frantic person, &c.
All this, with sensible men, is self-evident. — But, that very wide, bold, and even
harsh and frequent leaps into widely remote keys, may, when taken in the right
place, be of striking and of very happy effect, has already been shown by
examples quoted in § 275, p. 499. Every thing here depends upon the sentiment
which we wish to express by the piece of music, upon the more or less simple
or multi&rious, calm, or restless and impassioned, character which we would
give to our composition.
For this reason, the present consideration is less appropriate to the technics,
than to the sestbetics, of the musical art. In this latter connection, we shall
recur to the subject again.
♦ e. g. in Kimbcrger's Kttnst des reinen ScUxes, Th. I, p. 119 and foil. — ^in Rous-
seau's Diction, de Musique^ Art. Modulation, — in Sulzer^s Theorie, Ait, Ausweichung,
&c.
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536 XODULATOBT BTEVOTinSlB OF ▲
§801.
So mach as this, howeyer, may be said even here, in a technical point of
view ; namely, that, in order to produce great effects by digressiye modulations,
one must use them sparingly. Digressions are always the spicing of modu-
lation*; and a composer who, in a large or in a small musical production,
digresses too often or too much, necessarily thereby blunts the ear of his hearer
' to the effect of the digression ; and if, in this case, he would produce some
particular effect by means of a digressive modulation — ^would express some
marked and striking sentiment by a bold transition, means already spoiled by
use would fail to be of any service to him, merely because the same thing has
already been employed too much before ; whereas, had he heretofore practised a
more wise economy in the use of digressive modulations, it would have afforded
him double the effect, even from its striking contrast to the previous simplicity
of the modulation — [harmonic progression].
REMABK.
Yogler is most pedantically strict relative to the question, into what keys transitions
may be made. According to him, we may, in general, pass into no other keys, in a
piece of music, than into those most nearly related to the principal key ! In his treatise
on composition (T(m8etxhmsi)f h 68, we read as foUows : ** Every piece, whether of
vocal or of instrumental music, is named from a certain tone, and must, in order to
preserve its unity, digress into no tone which is sereral degrees remote ; consequently, a
piece of music in C-major must neither pass into D-major nor into Bb-major ; for, should
a piece digress into these two tones, the minor keys B and G would be equally near, and
of course all unity would be gone, and indeed it would no longer be true that the piece
is in C, but merely that it begins and ends in C." He says again, in § 70 :" It has
sometimes been supposed that we may pass from the major to the minor key in the
same piece of music ; but if we reflect that even the signature makes a break of three
degrees, and then consider the peculiar affinities of the other tone, we must conclude
that we may either digress from C, e. g. into all other tones, or into none beyond the six
above-named.*' Thus he here forbids, not only the inunediate skip over a degree of
relationship (see { 189, Bema^ p. 332), but even every over-stepping of the drde of
the closest relationship, even though it be but that of individual diatonic degrees!
Indeed, we must not, in a piece in c-minor, e. g, pass at all into C-m^or, or the reverse.
After all that we have heretoibre said on this subject,— after all that follows from
Yogler's own beautifbl compositions, the refutation of such an interdict would be
superfluous.
§302.
The more frequently digressive modulations occur in a piece of music, the
more chromatic changes must of course occur in it (§ XXY, pp. 39 and 40) ;
and hence it is usual to say of a passage which digresses much, that it is very
chronuUie. This may do as a technical expression ; only it is to be observed,
* It will be observed, that the word " modulation " is here used in the sense of
harmonic progression. — ^Tr.
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PIECE 09 MUSIC AS A WHOLE.
M7
that a passage or piece of masio niAy also be chromatkr in wlioUy a difeent
sense; namely^ by its oontaming many diords which are in themselves
chromatic (§§ 86 and 93). (Cases of this kind might be termed harmonie
chromatic.) But, in the third place, a piece may be chromatic, by containing
many chromatic transitioiiSy of which we shall speak hereafter. (We call cases
of this speciea melodic chromatic.) — ^In contradistinction from both these
varieties, the one first-mentioned might be denominated modulatory chroma-
tic^— ^Indeed, in a certain sense, we might call every piece of mnsic which is in
a transposed, chromatic key (§• 132), chromatic. (Compare remark on § XVII,
p. 23.)
DIVISION IV.
ENDING OF A PIECE OF MUSIC.
(A.) AUTHENTIC ENniNOS.
§303.
It results from the nature of the case that a piece of music should not only
close with that harmony which has been the principal harmony of the whole,
and thns with the tonic harmony, but also with such an harmonic step as is most
satisfiictory to the ear. This latter property is possessed to the greatest extent
by theprinetpcd natural cadence; and for this reason it is usual to close most
pieces of music with such a cadence in the principal key of the piece.
An ending of this species has received from antiquity the appellation of
autkentie cadence.
§304.
For the reason stated in the commencement of the foregoing section, it is
usual also to present the cadence with which a piece closes in the most perfect
possible form (compare ^i55, p. 474); namely, t» the Jundamenial position
of both harmonies : fig. 399 :
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528
MODULATORT BTBUCTnRE OF A
Pig. 399 continued.)
i
"P — F^
^^
^
1
:g:
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ZE
31:
and indeed the greater, the more elaborate and important the piece of music, the
more perfectly and forcibly does this close become it.
Such a cadence, moreover, is often with propriety several times repeated, as
in fig. 400, &c.
(Fig. 400.)
We are accustomed to denominate these full endings of a piece or principal
part of a piece of mnsic, perfect or entire, complete closes.
Not unfrequently, however, we satisfy ourselves with less perfect cadences in
the close of a piece. Indeed, in many cases, such effectual, decided doses are
impossible ; as, e, g, in mere two-part pieces, say merely for two horns, where, as
also at the commencement, one must necessarily content himself at one time
with this and at another with that transformation of the one or the other
harmony, at one time with omissions of intervals, and at another with inverted
positions of chords : e. g, fig. 401 :
(Fig. 401.)
p
U
4-
j^^^
■-U
4-
-Tr-^-
m
¥=«:»:
^PrrtV r -y
We can scarcely close a piece, however, with the second inversion of the
tonic chord : fig. 402 :
(Fig. 402.;
^^^^
R^^
r . . . r
We frequently find the close decorated with tones of every species foreign to
the harmony, with transition-tones, apparent chords, and suspensions; e, g.
fig. 403:
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PIECE OF MUSIC AS A WHOLE.
529
(Fig. 403.)
i»»#^»»>^»»^^»##i^^#^^»rf^>»^<#^^^>^i^#»
§305.
Another very peculiar variety of authentic cadence occurs not unfrequently
in pieces in the minor key. That is to say, instead of enduig the piece with the
appropriate cadence V^ — i, it is closed with the cadence properly belonging to
the major key, namely, with V^ — ^I ; and thus the piece in the minor key does
not, as was suggested in § 299, p. 524, pass into the major key in its second
half, hut merely at its close employs the major three-fold chord instead of the
minor : e. g, fig. 404, «, k :
(Fig. 404. t)
s;
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^
(*.)
u
M
1^
&.
5^^
f
fFTf
f^=^
d:\
Jk
7 7 r
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*^ _b
J^SBi
ilJ
B^
^Ax-n-
i
ir^
i);I
V7
V7
In the same way, John A. Hasse terminates the Crucifixui of his Mass in
rf-minor with the major three-fold chord 29 : fig. 405 :
(Fig. 405)
Lfinto:
BASSE.
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530
MOPULATOBT 8TBUCTUBS OF A
So also, in Mozart's Don Juan, the frightful words of the ghost in the church-
yard are of a similar species : fig. 406, f, k :
(Fig. 406, t.)
Adagio,
MOZABT.
tfe^-f-rm
f=g=r
n« P
:2-V
1 — h
m
Da hdnt zn la-obcn auf eh Docb der Tag er - scheint.
-JUEa 1-^.r r r r .-§r.id .m-
^
— I 1 1 1 ■ — ^
=°F
d:i V7
I a:i e.V
a : I V7 ^ .. I
(Fig. 406, *.)
Adagio,
MOZABT.
-EC-»- 1 1 — a_*-. 1 1 — es 1_ — L- — ( 1- — 1_
i
1 1 *1-1r-
±=k:
dtjc
-1=-^
y er - weg-oer, da freTelst,
law die Todtea laer ra
ben.
u
m.
tal
-e>
C.Vr Ic;i V i/;V7
g:ir G:lg:i
G:l
In like manner, Sehastian Bach closes a choral in a-minor as in fig. 407 :
(Fig 407.) SEE. BACH.
a;V
Ti o,i7 V7 A:l
and so also one in ^-minor (or at least one beffinning in ^-minor) with the major
three-fold chord ©, as in fig. 408, t ;
(FJg.408,».)
,4=m J j i
BACH.
:V I
IT d:Y
D:l eiYI El
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PIECK OF MUSIC AS A WHOLE.
531
(*•)
P
^
h^
t. n
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VOOLBB.
B
B
t T
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whereas Yogler closes the very same choral as in fig. 40S, X:, above.
(B.) PLAOAL ENDINGS.
§ 306.
The mode of ending a piece of music already mentioned is the most usual,
bat still not the only one.
We may, namely, terminate a piece of music by the harmonic succession
lY — I. Such an ending, as already observed in § 248 (d), p. 465, is usually
termed aplagcd cadence : fig. 409, t, ky I :
(Fig. 409, t.)
rr\
ja.
mi
^
i
a Rt,, °
ini
josi
nsB
D'.ir
I
I
IV
i
(Fig. 409, A.)
MT LYRE AND SWOKD.
atif mi-j-ni:! S<^1 m did Hiiii * de dein.
Wi*N
-^-Ep-*
%
*- ^ K ^
-^ ^ ^
i2
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532
MODULATORY STRUCTURE OP A
It 18 not uncommon to precede such an ending with a transient digression
into the sub-dominant, so that the last chord bat one, which appears in the fore-
going examples as a three-fold harmony of the fourth degree, presents itself in
this case, for a moment, as a tonic harmony. Thus, «. g, in fig. 410,
(Fig. 410.)
S3i
&
-s
-Q.
:tt
^
O o>
-^-
■^
-©r
Dil G:V7 I
D.IV
a digressive modulation is really made at the chord IB^ from the principal key
2>-major into 6^-major, and the piece is closed by the chord 19 without any
formal return of the modulation into 2>-major, while the ear is left to re-tune
itself into D and to understand the chord 0v agftin^ which it must have taken,
after the harmony JO^^ for a new tonic harmony, as the harmony of the fourth
degree of the previous key 2>-major, and thus the following chord IB as the old
tonic harmony (§ 211, p. 358). — The example in fig. 411 is of a similar species :
(Fig. 411.)
J I J J I. J
F. SCHNEIDER S MASS.
0\
■^^^
W
Ov^O
F:I V I iffb.VT I Vr I
F.IV
F.I
I
This plagal cadence is not unfrequently several times repeated : fig. 412 :
(Fig. 412.)
^^i^
^_
4f^Lm=U.
OQ
r^—\
I
IV
TT
"iV I IV 1 IV
§307.
The close iv — i in a minor key is more rare than the above-mentioned
plagal-cadence IV — I in a major key. Fig. 413, t, k :
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PIECE OF UU8IC AS A WHOLE.
(Fig. 413,.-.) (A.)
i)33
^m,
-&
i:ir
-&r
_C1_
i
Instead of this (as also in the case of the authentic, § 305, p. 529), it is pre-
ferred rather to close with the major three-fold chord, in the place of the minor,
and thus, in a manner, with a union of the major key and the minor, as in
fig. 413, /,—
(Fig. 413,/.)
s=
JC2.
(m.)
J2-
^
ife
_0-
/r\
gpat
m
3i:
I
>-Gr
-^
t=±
X=t
ttSF
^
.^
I -cr
D.I
^
^ I
■cr
or hy several times repeating this latter harmonic succession, as in fig. 413, m,
ahove ; or in such a form as is mentioned in § 306, p. 531 : fig. 413. n, o,p, q,
(Fig. 413, n.)
^r\
i
1x31
jCSI
3X
^
^Se
ue-
^:gr
1§^
^ZX"
■i^
331
331
-cz:
33::
TT"
331
331
33-
(Fig. 413, o.)
3E
^
4C^-^r..M
jC2.
-gP°
^
«:
331
-€=^
=^
331
-^r-
-M8"^i G I d-r^ iJ _ el
i
321
33f:
35:
I TT
TT
(Fig. 413, p.)
i
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/Ts
3^^
3^
iXC
^
33=L=o=
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V7
TT
Z>:I^:V7
I
I TT ^ XT TT TT
Z>:I c/.iT D:I
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534
HODULATOBT STBL'CTUBE OF A
(Fig. 413, a.)
3HH
-B-i-fi-
/7s
i
:g=
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^i~n — r
Tf
■*T
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d: V7 VI on i V7 i g:Y7 i
d:iv
Z»;I
The last nnmber of the dies ira, in Mozart's Bequiem^ in ci^minor, ends in
this way : fig. 414 :
(Fig. 414.)
^ MOZABT.
^fi-^a^^^A
f^ f f ~7
*i f» ^ r *i r g
rf;V7 I V7 I f;V7
^
jL
, 1 j-^p, — u —
fe:
^^
^
1
rf.lT
■cr.
D.I
In the same manner also he closes the chorus^ in d-mmor, where Don Juan is
whipped to hell by the furies, in the major key. Fig. 415 :
D017 JUAN.
(Fig. 415.)
•:i^'^^ffi"^^
bis.
^■.»
:^ i.#- S: ' Don J.
DeiQ bant noch grdss - re
AchI
Fein !
33
:Ȥ:
p^dzzopzzz^
D:\
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PIECE OF MUSIC AS A WHOLE.
535
(Fig. 415 continued.)
-Q-
a; 17
V 1 V &c.
D.'lg.i D:l &c.
D.l „ I &o.
:e: a
jCk.
^m
Bs::B* A...EfL^^LB.
XL
f^^
^"^'fWfw
XT
cres.
§308.
We often find the plagal endings likewise decorated by transttton^iones,
suspensions, and apparent chords; as in figs. 416 — 426.
(Fig. 416.)
4-
MOZART.
DCE
'x-rrt
^^^
^
zm
1
:g:
:§t:;g:
oiPII
:§=
T^
^^3
3:
-^^-gj-q.
/T\
i
4M}:
C.I
(Fig. 417.)
IV
./,^|f-^^^
MOZART.
ir*i
I
r^^s^
35
3
T=f^i
d:i VI D.I G:V7
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•'jSG MODULATORY 8TRUCTITRE OF A
(Fig. 418, 1.) VOGLEH.
" *A — g^ ^^
'3^^
"CT
-Q-
33:
i
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(Fig. 418./.) vch"^"?"^! '^sT^
J ^
r)f. b ~
^1
(Fig. 419.)
im Pa - ra - -
AAA
di - - §e
'S5
trrWM
HATDV.
i^^H^^^^H-^ 'oil '.[pi
4JJDH-
□
Lb go.
Ml IMT
-^ — ^
^Ti^
1 — r
(Fig. 420.)
JUnto.
i
/TN
i
BE
-#
o«-
o o ■ o*
streng zu wa - gen al - ler Tha - ten Werth.
^yrfr— H:-H
/^^ I*
O fi
^
JLli_a^.
-Q f>,
£b;I
(Fig. 421.)
g:V7
c:V
i^^^
/T\
i
^
ire
r>
«ai
P
33;:
.jQ-
in:
icx.
"r>"Tiz
a;"!!? V7 I IV 1 ir I //;V7 i
^.I
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PIECB OF MUSIC AS ▲ WHOLE.
537
(Fig. 422.)
^^-i^g^^^^^
A. i^t^r r^ «^ir r.^
fie
°|- ir-sgfsw^ri iT'-siiFg
^; IV I IT I V I V 7 G;l
V 7 I
iii\i\lkM-U
-P-F^
TV^^
i
-cv*-
m
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1^ P-P- — P-P
tZIX
-P^>1 rr
,, — T,~T 'frfrrrfrf rrrr
7 I c:V7 I G.I ^;iT G:l
V
(Fig. 423.)
i
d*=!i
Q I SJJu'o.l 8„ I 8— l-g+g-il
t
J^C^4^fi.ol^).cJ"^d
-Q. JLX.
s
I
G:V7
TD' Tjr TT
I D.I
351
s
4-»
4-^
T^H"
:i=3t
zzrct
:73:
33:
(Fig. 425.)
>b i r
^^
TN
iflntt
i
M
I lV.Bk:V7 I V I ^.I
ttotr
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538
MODULATORT STRUCTURE OF A
(Fig. 426.)
e:tv ^11 V? E:l IV n^ 1
In fig. 416, the tones g and b, in the second measore, and the tones f and
K, in the third, are merely transition-tones ; so are also the tones g and e in
fig. 417, and likewise the tones b and d, in fig. 418, t, k, I,
The harmonic combination [f "E cT a] in fig. 418, t, might, indeed be explained
also as CBr^; &dcI so might also the chord [f F 3^ a] in fig. 418, k and /, in which
case the tone F would be the fundamental seventh, ¥ the fundamental third,
J the fundamental fifth, and a or ab the ninth, while the fundamental tone
itself — g — ^would be omitted. But if '{ were the fundamental seventh, it could
not (as we shall see in the doctrine of resolution), or at least not with propriety,
be treated as it is here treated; and therefore the first-mentioned mode of
explaining this succession of chords is preferable to the latter, — and conse-
quently the combination [f F H a] or [F lb ^ ab] must continue to be explained
as Jp or (, just as if the mere transition-tones F and'd were not present at all.
And thus Kimberger*, in the case of a similar passage — ^fig. 418, m, p. 536,
explains the great sixth of the base tone, namely, the tone a, and so also its
major fourth Tfl (" the subsemttomum modi of the following tonic") as being
merely transition-tones and as serving to render the close more pungent and
effective. Vogler alsof lays down the above-mentioned close — fig. 418, t,
p. 536, as a model for a plagal cadence, and thus as lY — ^I, and consequently
recognizes the combination [f b 3" a] as the major three-fold chord Jp.
The examples in figs. 419 — 4*21, p. 536, are of a similar species (compare
§ 317, p. 549). So is also the ending of Joseph Haydn's Salve Eegina in
^-minor, fig. 422, p. 537. (The note It, in the last measure but two, is a
transition-tone.)
So also the harmonic combinations [d b TgJt ST eg], [ d gjt"3 F J Tfl], and
[d bB git 3 ffi], in the succession of chords in fig. 423, p. 537, with which I
close an eight-pjyrt Fugue written for the Berlin Singing Academy, arise merely
firom the decorations of the tonic chord 19 by tones foreign to the harmony. In
like manner, I have also decorated the plagal close of another hymn, a: iv — A .1,
as in tig. 424, p. 537 ; as also the close of the " Kyrie " and " Agntu Dei*' of
my mass. No. 1. fig. 425, p. 537, and another song, as in fig. 426, above, &c.
* In his Kvnsi des reinen S'atzes, Th. 1 , in the Appendix, p. 249.
t In his CkoraUysfem, Tab. I.
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PIECE OF MUSIC AS ▲ WHOLE.
539
(C.) OTHEB ENDINGS.
§ 309.
Besides the closes enumerated in §§ 303 — 308, we find, in the works of
composers^ particularly the composers of church music, and very especially the
professors of the so-called Greek modes or keys, still -many other endings,
which sound even more peculiar than those already mentioned. In parti-
cular, we find pieces which, so far at least as we can comprehend, do not even
close with a three-fold harmony on the tonic. Of these endings we will, at
least, present a few examples.
Vogler, for instance, in his Pastoral Mass in j^-major, closes the Credo,
which is otherwise very definitely in ^-minor, with a succession of harmonies,
the last of which, at least so far as we ean see, cannot be called a tonic
harmony at all. Fig. 427 :
(Fig. 427.)
p^4^
i&
*2:
:«a=
Hfcr
VOOLEB.
^oE
:«n:
I
-cr
TT"
^«r
A '
A - - - - men.
s^
I
^=^-T-P^
VI
7^=^
I V7
oiiT
%ZTy
Y
TT
The endings in figs. 428, 429, 430, 431, 432 t and k, and 433, are of a
like species.
(Fig. 428, i)
VOOLEB.
{*•)
Hill
f
•J J ±'i' H
^:jj^::^=y=^l^^^^^^
rT' '1' T'
x=^=^
(rig.429.)
▼OGLEB
(Fig. 480.)
▼OOLKB.
^7MK'"C^.i ^
f
TT^T^n
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540
(Fig. 431.)
MODULATORT 8TAUCTUBE OF ▲
BACH. (Fig. 432, t.)
ng.«}l.> BACH. (rig. 49V, t.) BACH.
1 d. 1S± nd- J «J- III flKj hJ J.. I
^i!
^
ri^n^'^,-^
(Fig. 432,*.)
P
voGLEB. (Fig. 432, /.)
BACH.
^
^W^r-',r7^g'V¥^
I
s
^^s^^^^
ff-rt-fr
(Fig. 433, t.)
VOGLEB. (Fig. 433, k.)
/7N
Vi IF d:Y7D:l e.-Y E:l
We freely acknowledge that it would not be very easy for ub to unravel the
modulatory structure of all such closes in a satisfactory manner, particularly in
this place, before we come to the doctrine of transitions and apparent chords.
They may, therefore, stand here, meanwhile, merely, as it were, in an historical
way, just to show that there are pieces of music with such endings.
Indeed^ we might say, in a manner, that pieces of this description really end
without a proper close.
§ 310.
But, in fact, it may sometimes, under particular drcumstances, be entirely
proper to end a piece of music, and that too, not merely one which passes
immediately into a following piece (§ 289, p. 512), but even a distinct and
independent piece, really without any proper close ; particularly in cases where
one has to express the idea of something abruptly broken off. Thus, e, g, in
Mozart's Nozze di Figaro, Barberina's arietta in /^minor abruptly terminates
in the commencement of the fourth act, when she is searching for the lost pin,
and is suddenly interrupted by the intervention of Figaro ; the ending here is
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PIECE OF MUSIC AS ▲ WHOLE.
Ml
entirely withoat any proper close, like a speech broken off without its closing
word or period : fig. 434, t .•
(Fig. 434, i.)
MOZABT.
So also the scene in Salieri's Axur, where Tarar Astasien is missed : fig.
434,*.-
(Fig. 434,*.)
Larghetto,
SALIERI.
^
^^
tm
^^r^
ft^
PP
i
:4|tr
:|©-
and 80 also fig. 434, 1:
(Fig. 434,/.)
cres.
ju
MT SOSOS, OP. 23.
A^^^LLj-j.
I
Bj -»=i=g=
bal - I - de ruhrt do anch ! | VW
^
War - te nnr,
bal -de
"Ml
^
¥
Snch abrupt endings as these in fig. 434, t and *, above, are the less
repulsive, because — at least according to the original construction, a recitative
immediately sacceeds ; so that though the piece itself terminates, still the music
goes on, and consequently the ear is not obliged to regard the modulation as
ended. But the unsatis&ctoriness of such endings becomes far more palpable
in cases where, as is the fact at the present day in most theatres, the dry
recitative is entirely omitted, and thus, in the passages referred to, the music
actually ceases and the dialogue commences. — Still, however, these passages
really make a rather repulsive impression, though by no means one that is
positively undesirable ; and it is the result of very limited views, that on many
stages these pieces have been botched up with regular closes.
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542 MODULATORY STEUCTURE OF ▲
(D.) EEMARKS UPON THE DIFFERENT EFFECTS AND MERITS OF THE
DIFFERENT SPECIES OF ENDINGS.
§311.
Every one perceives that the endings presented in §§ 306 — 310 are always
rather unnatural and foreign in their effect, or at least less satisfactory to the
ear, than the most common of all closes ; namely, the principal natural cadence.
The technical cause of this &ct lies in the drcumstanoe, that this latter species
of cadence, as we have already remarked ( § 255, p. 474,) is the most unequi-
vocal and decisive of all harmonic saccesskms, and therefore is the moat satis-
&ctory to the ear, since it contains a final confirmation of the principal key,
and lully puts the feelings to rest. The plagal cadence, however, consisting, as
it does, merely of two three-fold chords, is &r less determinate and unequivocal.
And finally, the other closes, instead of directly settling the ear, at the conclu-
sion of the piece, upon the principal key, rather carry it away from the same ;
and indeed, sometimes, as if for the very purpose of throwing it into uncer-
tainty, they even repeatedly and in rapid succession bound off firom the prin-
cipal key into some new one, and then again fi-om this into some other, and in
this way they present us with chords, one of which always belongs to the
previous key and the other to the new key, and they often carry with them also
a pretty variegated interchange of the major and the minor key, as is shown by
the diversity of figures which have occasionally been set under the foregoing
examples.' — Indeed, it is impossible to say, with absolute certainty, of many of
the endings above-mentioned, that the harmony with which they close is
actually I or i, and not perhaps Y ; — or they even end with a harmony which
clearly is not I nor i.
Our ear, however, has become accustomed to hear pieces end with closes of
this kind, and though they are not in their own nature satisfactory to it, yet,
through the force of custom, it acquiesces in them. (The least satisfactory
closes are such as occur in fig. 427, &c. p. 539, &c. ; but for this reason
these endings are called Greek or ancient cadences ; and if they do not always
sound very finely, yet they appear very learned, especially to those who are
profoundly unlearned. — ^We shall recur to this subject again.)
On the other hand, even the less satisfactory, the less definite and less
natural, even the unusual, the rare and the singular, the extraordinary and
sometimes even the positively strange, that which deviates from the ordinary,
the, as it were, mystical character which such endings carry with them, — all
this, I say, gives to these closes, at least to the better of them, a certain peculiar
and often really imposing character, which may be employed on many oocasions
with great advantage, when one has^ something peculiar, something aside fi-om
and above what is ordinary, to express.
Such closes are particularly appropriate to church pieces (whence they
have derived the name church cadences). In fact, most of the above examples
are borrowed from church pieces.
It would, however, involve a pitiful partiality and limitedness of view, to
suppose that such closes belong exclusively to church music : just as much so
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PIECE OF MUSIC AM A WHOLE. 543
as it would to maintain that this or that oolonr, e. g. red and bloe, belong
wholly to sacred pietores and not at all to profane. As if art had not the
power to prodnoe different effects with one and the same material !
There is no want of examples, moreover, where our best composers have
eii|doyed these endings in other than chnrch pieces. Thns, e. g. J. Haydn
terminates his well-known variations upon the Emperor's Mardi with such a
close. So also Mozart, as we have seen in fig. 417, p. 335, ends a rather
trifling finale of a violin quartett with a close of this species ; and the same
author lets Don Juan go to perdition with such a so-called church close :
fig. 415, pp. 534, 535. And in like manner closes the air of the vengeance-
breathing hnnter in Weber's Freisehutz.
The same partial and limited views have also given birth to the current
and sweeping remark, that the endings of minor-key pieces in the major-key
(§§ 305, 307, pp. 529, 532) have a soft and soothing character. It is indeed
true that they often admit of being used for this purpose with good effect, as is
shown by several of the above examples, among others : but surely no sensible
man will, for this reason, be so one-sided in his views as to maintain that such
closes in the major key once for all bear this and only this character, and are to
be used only for this purpose. Here again applies the simile of the red and
blue colours ; and here also Mozart teaches us that the threats of the ghost in
Don Juan can, with perfect propriety, be expressed by the so-called ** soothing
chorch cadences," yes, and even that the cry of murder by Don Juan tumbling
into hell may form a cadence in the major key. A similar instance is found in
the before-mentioned passage fi*om the Freischtitz, &c.
(£.) CHABICTEBISTICS OF THE KET OF A PIECE OF MUSIC.
§312.
On the occasion of the question proposed in § 190, many a reader perhaps
recollects to have heard fi^m his music-master, if not even to have rpad in
celebrated books of instruction, that, in order to know in what key a piece of
music is written, or, in other words, what is its principal tone or key-note, one
has only %o look at the signature, — and then at the last note, or at most at the
last chord of the piece. Such an old woman's rule, it is true, is easy and short ;
bat for this very reason it is also incorrect, fallacious, and inadequate, as are a
thousand others like it.
It can only be said, in general, that apiece of music, as a tohole, is in this
or that key, token this or that key is the predominant one in it, — The question,
by what means the ear is led, on hearing a piece of music, to recognize the
piece as being in this or that particular key, we have thoroughly examined in
§§ 192 ^224, pp. 333 — 375, and have found that the answer to this question is
not to be dispat'Ched by a mere single short sentence.
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544l MODULATORY STRUCTURE OF A PIECE OF MUSIC.
REMARK.
It can scarcely be necessary to add a word in confirmation of what has been said in
the foregoing section.
For, in the first place, as it respects the signature, it is well known that every key
can be written with every signature, at pleasure, and even without any signature what-
ever. (§ 143, p. 281.) In the second place, the rule is still less capable of showing the
key of each individual period, of each single passage in the middle of a piece, because
digressive modulations are continually occurring in the course of a piece of music
without any change of signature. (§§ 143, 144, p. 281.) And thirdly, according
to the usual method of constructing the signature of the minor scale (§ 142, p. 280), the
rule in question is doubly uncertain.
Equally fallacious is the method of ascertaining the key and scale from the Itist note
or kut hamumy of a piece. For, in the first place, it is fiir from being true, that every
piece of music ends with the tonic harmony. It not unfrequently happens, on the con-
trary, that a piece, even though it terminates with a regular close, and that too with a
tonic harmony, still does not terminate with the harmony of that tonic which was the
tonic of the piece, as a whole, but with some other ; some pieces in the minor key, e. g,
end with the major three-fold chord of the tonic —of all which, we have found examples
above. — Secondly, as it respects the favourite maxim ** in fine videbitur cvjus ionV —
the key will he found at the end of the piece, many pieces terminate wholly without
any regular close ; and in such cases it could not be ascertained at all, in what key the
piece is, — ^and equally impossible would it be to determine the key of this or that
section of a piece. Here again applies the humorous passage quoted from old J. B.
Doni, in the remark on § 221, " Or questa i vna deUe piu strane cose del mondo, e
propria come dire, che, per discemere vn Lione da ttn Cavallot bisogm guardargU la
coda ; che se aJ povero animale sard staia tagliata, non si potrd conoscere di qual
specie sia. E sein una modidaxione mancherd VuUima nota, non si potrd discemere^
in qual modo i composta :*' " Novo, this is one of the strangest things in the toorld* ;
it really amounts to saying, that in order to distinguish a lion from a horse, it is
necessary to look at his tail ; and if by any means, the poor animal should happen to
have lost that, it taould no longer be possible to recognize him, or to tell of what species
he might be. So, if, in a modulation, the last note happens to be wanting, it will be
impossible to tell in what key it is wrUtenJ" But, thirdly, it is still less true, that the
tonic note in the end of a piece of music is uniformly the highest, or that it is always
exclusively found in the base.
A rule of this kind, i, e. one which is partially correct and applicable in many cases,
might always do very well, provided it were given only as one that would apply in many
cases, but not as being universally appropriate and fully adequate ; because, in this caset
it would really furnish no certain index, and thus, though it should confer no aid, it still
would not deceive the learner, and therefore would at least do him no injury ; but,
given as a real and certain guide, it is not only unsuitable, but positively fallacious aod
deceptive. (Compare remark on § 99, p. 220.)
* See p. 373, note f, for Mr. Warner's translation of this passage. The whole Italian
quotation is here again inserted ; but, in the German original, Weber now commences at
the words " che se al povero t^ &c. — Ed.
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RESOLUTION. 545
CHAPTER VII.
RESOLUTION.
§ 313.
Many tones exhibit, in certain cases, a perceptible tendency to move in one
particular way, and in no other. In other words, they have the peculiarity that
a part which has once given such a tone cannot, uuder certain circumstances,
from that point onward, proceed at pleasure gradually or by skips up or down,
but must, or at least in order to the production of the best effect, proceed in one
certain definite manner. As a preliminary example, by way of illustrating our
meaning, it may be sufficient to observe, that, in the following passage, fig.
435, t,
(Fig. 435, f.) (*.) (/.) («.) (n.)
-r iif i< f i< M K r 1^ f IL«_'— I
■er
the part which gives the tone b in the first measure tends, in the progression
from the first to the second measure, to proceed a minor second upward to the tone
cj and not to move otherwise than so. The tone b ordinarily tends upward to
e. The tone % of the upper part, has a tendency downward to e. So also, in the
following measures, the tone gtt inclines to move upward, and the tone '3. to move
downward.
A progression according to such a tendency is called resolution. The tone
X in the above example, as we are accustomed to say, resolves itself into e^ the
tone b into F, the tone gS into a, &c.
The tone into which an interval having this special tendency resolves itself,
may be called the tone of resolution^ or, briefly, the resolution.
So far as a tone manifests the above-mentioned tendency, it may be termed
a restricted tone or interval.
The doctrine of the resolution of restricted intervals, or of limited progres-
aioDs, is to be the subject of this chapter.
We will consider, in general,
(I.) The different ways in which a part may be carried fi-om such a restricted
interval to its tone of resolution, and the various forms in which the resolution
of restricted tones may take place (§ 314) — and then,
VOL. II. K
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546
RESOLUTION.
(II.) Those hannonies which contain one or more of such restricted intervals.
If we do not prosecute this examination to the fullest extent and in all its de-
tails, still we will attend to what is most worthy of remark. (§§ 315 — 343.)
DIVISION I.
THE DIFFEBENT FORMS OF THE RESOLUTION OF HARMONIC INTERVALS.
§314.
In the passage already qaoted, fig. 435, t, p. 545, the principal seventh T,
as before observed, tends, in the fundamental progression V 7 — I, to move down-
ward to e.
Now this movement of the part from Tto e^may take place in different ways,
and may thereby give birth to various forms of such resolutions; namely :
(A.) The part at one time moves from the restricted tone to the tone of reso-
lution in a gliding, leffoto manner, as from T to e, in fig. 435, t, p. 545 ; and at
another with an interrupted or staccato movement, as from d to c in the following
measures of the same example.
(B.) Moreover, the two tones may also be separated by rests ; as^ for ex-
ample, in fig. 435, ky I, w, p. 545.
(C) An intermediate tone may also be first inserted between the two others.
This may be done, for example, as in fig. 435, «, p. 545. The inserted tone
may perhaps be regarded as another interval of the harmony, and then this form
of resolution would become a snecies of broken progression of a part. (§21,
p. 134.)
In like manner also, in fig. 436, t,
(Fig. 436, t.) (k,) ^ (/.)
p
£
i
-J-A-
1
rt=Wi
±
i
the principal seventh Fis not immediately followed by its resolution into e^ but the
breaking part first makes a skip down to ci A part which moves in this man-
ner becomes, as we know from the doctrine of the broken progression of a part,
virtually two, as in fig. 436, k, above. It is not to be denied, however, that the
form in fig. 436, /, above, where 7 is immediately followed by e^ always appears
more smooth and fiowing than that in fig. 436, t.
The inserted tone may also be one that is entirely foreign to the harmony
perhaps a transition-tone, as in fig. 435, Oy
(Fig. 435,0.) (p.)
^
■^ — ^sq s? — n Q - o —
^
w
ZSDlL
i
XT
-^
Tjr
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RESOLUTION.
547
When the tone thus inserted is the same which was the seventh in the chord,
as in fig. 435, p, it is usual to call this a retardcUion of the resolution, or a
retarded resolution ; hecause, on the introduction of the harmony ®, the tone f
continues stationary for a time as an incidental tone before e, and as a tone
foreign to the harmony, — ^it waits to resolve itself into this e subsequently. (We
shall recur to this retarded resolution in § 424.) In fig. 435, q,
(Pig. 435, g.) (r.)
I
33=
i
:§:
^ZZz
^^m
^
■^~
3
fe
XT-
■cr
HABLINGEB.
a retardation and the insertion of an harmonic tone both occur together ; and in
fig. 435, r, a retardation together with an inserted tone foreign to the harmony,
Slill other inserted tones are found in fig. 435, 5, above.
In fig. 435, /,
(Fig. 435, /.)
p
I.
-Gh-
ZSZtL
i=i
■^>-
zrx
^
(«•)
3Zt
(y)
3
1
s
:g=ff
ES
:«cc
I
"T
U -iJL lee-
the first half-note 1^ as the principal seventh, should, at the moment that the
tonic three-fold chord ^ makes its appearance, resolve itself into e ; but instead
of this, the resolution is retarded until another harmony appears. (The more
specific treatment of this entire subject forms a part of the doctrine of suspensions.)
(§ 499, &c.)
{D,) A resolution occurs, moreover, at one time into one, and at another
time into another interval, as reckoned fi-om the base tone. For example, in fig.
435, 1, p. 545, the tone of resolution, namely,"e, is the third of the base tone ;
in fig. 435, «, above, it is the sixth of the base tone ; in fig. 435, v, above, it is
the octave of the base tone ; in fig. 435, /, above, it is the ffih of the base
tone ; in fig. 435, x, it in the seventh of the base tone ; &c. &c. (Compare
remark.)
k2
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548 RESOLUTION.
(S,) The tone of resolution is likewise at one time a so-called consonant
tone (§ 101, p. 228), as in all the above examples in fig. 435, i — v, pp. 545 —
547, and at another time, a dissonant tone, as in fig. 435, x, p. 547.
(F.) It is perceived, further, that, during the rf^solution, the other parts
either Itkevnse move or renuxin stcUumary* In fig. 435, t, p. 545, a middle part
remains stationary during the resolution ; in fig. 435, «, p. 547, the base does ;
in fig. 435, y, p. 547, all the parts move together. (Compare remark.)
((?.) The resolution occurs, finally, at one time on a heavy portion of the
measure, and at another on a light ; — a distinction which, as we shall soon see,
is of special importance in the resolution of the secondary sevenths and of sus-
pensions. (§§ 326|, 427, and 455.)
REMABK.
What is sud under (D) and (F) will Indeed appear to many as somewhat trivial,
adventitious, wholly unessential, and hence as scarcely worthy of mention, and that too
very property. But one would be still more surprised to learn, that, in all our books of
instruction, great importance is everywhere attached to the question, whether, for ex-
ample, the seventh is resolved into the sixth, into the fifth, into the fourth, &c. (Com-
pare remarks on §§ 99, 320, and 354.) As it respects the phantom called exchange of re-
solution, see the remark on { 320.
DIVISION II.
PROGRESSION OF THE INTERVALS OP THE POUR-FOLD CHORDS.
(A.) OF THE PRINCIPAL FOUB-FOLI) CHORD.
$ 315.
Having taken the foregoing general survey of the resolution of harmonic
tones, we will now proceed to inquire, what intervals of the different harmonies
exhibit, in certain cases^ a peculiar tendency of the above-mentioned species
(§ 313) ; and what intervaLs do not, and in what cases they do not, exhibit this
tendency, but move freely.
We will commence this examination of the different intervals with reference
to the progression peculiar to the intervals of the four-fold harmonies: and first,
the intervals of the principal four fold chord.
We will consider the principal four-fold chord throughout on all points [with
merely the exception of the case in which its fifth is arbitrarily lowered (§ 94
p. 214), which particular case we will hereafter consider in a separate appendix
(§§ 334—338)].
Two particular intervals of the principal four-fold chord ate, in certain cases,
subjected to a definite resolution ; namely^ (1) its seventh^ and (2) its third.
We will first attend to its seventh.
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RESOLUTION. 549
(1 .) Progression of the principal Seventh,
(a.) Restricted I^ogression,
§ 316.
The seventh of the principal four^f old chord has a tendency to move either a
minor or a nuxjor second downward in all those cases in which the principal
fourfold chord is followed hy another harmony in the same scale, and which
contains the tone situated either a minor or major second below. In all such
cases, the seventh tends, ai the moment that the harmonic step is taken^ to re-
flolre itself into this tone.
In the more specific treatment of this subject, we will examine in order all
the different cases of harmonic progression in the same scale which can arise from
the principal four-fold chord.
A principal four-fold chord may be followed, namely, by
((I.)) Either the tonic harmony (natural prmcipal cadence, § 254 (1), a,
p. 473; §255, p. 474); or
((II.)) Some other threefold chord of the same key (false principal cadence,
§ 254 (1), b, p. 473 ; § 256, p. 476 ; § 264, p. 489) ; or
((III.)) Another fourfold chord in the same key (eviiated principal cadence,
§ 269, p. 493 ; § 270 (1), p. 494).
§ 317.
((I.)) In the Natural Cadence,
Accordingly, the first case in which a principal seventh tends to move one
degree downward, is that in which a natural cadence is made after the principal
four-fold chord. (§ 255, p. 474.)
((J.)) It is in conformity with this tendency that the seventh moves in the
examples already mentioned in fig. 435, where we have seen this resolution occur
under many different forms.
This resolution of the seventh, one degree downward in the natural principal
cadence, is the most natural and smooth of all : accordingly, we will name it the
normal progression.
((i?.)) This progression of the seventh, however, is not the only admissible
one. (For it is nowhere written, that, in art, merely the most simple and natural
is universally and in all cases the best.) Our ear teaches us, on the contrary,
as we are also taught indeed by the example of our greatest composers,
that no evil is involved in this interval occasionally proceeding upward also,
or even by skips; and that too not only in middle parts, but also in th^ base
or soprano.
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550 RKSOLUTION.
Thus, for example, in iig. 437, t and k,
(Fig. 437, i.) (A.) (/.)
kj^U^IJ
the tone F^ in the alto, moves upward to g, — in fig. 437, /, above, the tone f, of
the tenor, moves up to g ; in fig. 438,
(Fig. 438.)
fe=rr|-^-ri^
I
^E
^
^
^^
-Oh
^
the tone g, of the base, makes a skip npvard to jl ; and in fig. 439,
(Fig. 439.)
i^i 1 1 f ; r I
J. i 1
^s^r^
y
r^^
the tone IBb, of the soprano, goes upward to c. In fig. 440,
(Fig. 440.) mozabt's fioabo.
Andantmo.
I f r Mfrf ^-1^
*^ i gin - ra - men- ti, di qael
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RESOLUTION.
551
the tone ^ of the obo^, moves, in like manner, up instead of down ; in fig. 441,
(Fig. 441.) YOGLEB.
^^
'TffJ 1 f
rrii
&e tone Tdoes the same; in fig. 442,
(Fig. 442.) ^
(rig. 442.) r^ 12 • "^ _• i: BEETHOVEi
w
*j**
the tone 3b ; — ^ fig* 443,
(Fig. 443.)
xozart's cosi fan tittti.
! I I
'^
, r r , r ■ I « r ir h F
^
^*=?
t-
f
r
r
r-t-
the tone"? passes upward into g.
1 have attempted a similar mode of resolution in fig. 444,
(Fig. 444.) XT OP. 16.
fViegtUtut die Son - ne^ wie
4-
^
m
-(B S^
-^-^
Wie glUnMi die SoH*ne, wie laehi die Flur!
4HU
X
■P =1-
A:l V I V7 I
where the principal seventh^ moves upwards (unless, by the by, one chooses to
regard the tones 9 and b as mere transition-tones.)
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552
RESOLUTION.
The gradual* ascending progression of the seventh f, lying in the base,
in fig. 445, f,
(Fig. 446, t.)
^^P
i
sounds less agreeably, and indeed one may say positively ill.
The ascending or skipping movement of the seventh is attended with the
least liability to fault when it [the seventh] occurs doubled, as in fig. 445, i — n.
(Fig. 445,*.)
(I)
(w.)
(n.)
^
I
I
\if ; h|
i
j— <— *-^^ ■» » II j I t
'.V : ■■ 8-|t-i=t-« II t t 1 ||n^^
or even in fig. 441, p. 551. In this case, it is quite sufficient to carry the
seventh gradually downward in one part. In the other, it may, without incon-
venience, proceed otherwise. For, the natural progression of the former secures
a sufficient degree of naturalness in the progression as a whole, and the normal
movement which attends the one seventh satisfies, or at least pacifies, the ear.
Indeed the different progression of the seventh is even necessary in such
cases, in order, as will appear farther on, to avoid faulty parallel progressions
of octaves (§ 70, at the end, and § 547). On the contrary, such a movement
of the seventh is especially to be avoided, when it would bring with it a
forbidden parallelism of fifths, as we shall perceive hereafter (§ 529.) See
fig. 445, 0 :
(Fig. 445,0.)
In general, a correct taste and a cultivated ear must here determine, in each
individual case that occurs, whether such a conduct of the seventh is repulsive
to the ear or not ; and wherever this is not the case, such a progression of the
seventh cannot rationally be forbidden on technical grounds.
• The word ** gradual," as here used, means " by (he successive steps or degrees of
(he scale f from some one tone of the scale to the next one above or below J*^ — Tb.
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RfiSOLUTIOir.
553
In the examples, iig. 419 and 4^0, p. 536, if we regard the chord before
the last [caebT])] or [cfltaeBjas the principal fonr-fold chord IB 7 with
the minor added ninth eb and omitted fundamental tone D, the skip of the
base from c (the fundamental seventh) to G is a progression of this seventh
by skips. (Moreover, the chord in question can also be eiq>lamed as a mere
transition chord or apparent chord, by regarding the tone f ]) only as the tone of
transition to g of the following chord, and the a as a tone of transition to the
following b. According to this view, the chord before the last depends upon no
peculiar new fnndamental harmony, but merely upon that of the foregoing chord,
and thus the tone c should be regarded, not as the fundamental seventh, but as
the fundamental tone, still continuing on as in the third chord from the end.
Begarding the matter in this point of view, there would indeed be no seventh
at all, and of course no irregular progression of a seventh.) In fig. 418,
p. 536, the tone f moves in the same way, by skips, to c ; and such progres-
sions are found also in figs. 421 and 427, pp. 536 and 539» (Compare also
%s. 308 and 398, pp. 481 and 5'2'2.)
((II.)) In False Cadences.
The second case in which the seventh of the principal four-fold chord tends
to resolve itself into the next lower tone, is that of false cadences (§ 256,
p. 476) ; namely, all those cases in which the tone of the next lower degree
occurs in the three-fold chord following the four-fold chord. One case of this
kind is the false cadence V^ — ^vi or V^ — ^VI, as in fig. 446 :
(Fig. 446.)
Another is found in V^ — iii, fig. 447 :
(Fig. 447.)
(More examples may be found in figs. 297—304^ pp. 476—479, and in figs.
312-317, pp. 482-484.)
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554
RESOLUTION.
This tendency of* the principal seventh b still stronger in such false ca-
dences than it is in the natural cadence ; for^ it would not be easy to find
examples in false cadences where the principal seventh could assume any other
movement without offending the ear.
§319.
((Itl.)) In the Evitaiions of Cadences in the same Scale,
The third case in which the principal seventh requires to be carried gradually
downward is that in which the principal four-fold chord is followed by another
four-fold chord belonging to the same key, and containing the next lower tone
(4 269y p. 493). Accordingly, the principal seventh? in fig. 448,
(Fig. 448.)
S
FX'i '\\'v^
1^
s
llT
V7
IV f
requires to be carried downward, as does also the tone f, in fig. 449:
(Fig. 449.)
JTJ JTJ i
^
^^
.M-
8
V7
R
IIl7
r*=f
I find no example where the principal seventh can be carried otherwise, in such
harmonic progressions, without injuring the effect.
(b,) Free Progression qf the Principal Seventh,
§320.
// is only in the three cases mentioned in §§ 316 — 319, that the seventh oj
the principal four-fold chard exhibits a tendency to move gradually dovmward.
((i.)) In the first place, then, it is self-evident that such a downward
tendency of the seventh does not take place in all those cases where a harmony
follows the four-fold chord which does not contain the next lower tone. A case
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RESOLUTION.
555
of this kind is found in those false principal cadences which involve the step of
a fifth or a seventh (§ 257) ; as, for example^ in V^ — ii, or V^ — ®ii. (Compare
figs. 306—311, pp. 480-^482) ; fig. 450 :
(Fig. 450.)
JMiU-i i\i j i.i\.^
f
rr n rr r rvrv r f
> iBi r
e^
«•.
and m V^ — IV, or V^—iv, fig. 451 :
(Fig. 461.)
p
r-^'— y-
"vr I^
•7 .
and also in other similar evitations of cadences in the same scale; as, for
example, in fig. 452 :
(Fig. 462.)
fF3=r
i-HH^r
^'V I Jtg
m^
• •
V7 ofiT V7
. 6-
((ii.)) But, in general, the principal seventh does not exhihit any decided
tendency downwards, when the principal four-fi)ld chord is followed hy some
harmony thai is foreign to the sc€Ue, and thus when the cadence is avoided hy
a digressive harmonic progression (§ 269), as in figs. 453 — 455 :
(Fig. 463.)
(Fig. 464.)
(Fig. 466.)
*■" I ^-^ V7i?:V7 I C;V7rf:V7
C:V I V7a;V i
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956
(Compare also fig. 456.)
SEfOLDTION.
(Fig. 466.)
((hi.)) Finally, as was observed at the commencement, the downward
tendency of the principal seventh takes place only at the moment that the
harmonic step is taken ; and, consequently, so long as no harmonic step occurs,
but the principal four-fold chord still continues on, the proffression is free.
For example, fig. 457 :
(Rg. 457.)
-eh -
^
ms
'W=°F
(Compare also figs. 458 and 459.)
(Fig. 458.) ^^^^
$
ffi
LTT3,ff?^^
H
w
-^-
(Fig.459,i.) (*.) (/.) («t.) (n.)
REMABK.
Having thus far exhibited the laws of the resolution of the seventh (§§ 313—320), as
much as possible according to the experience and nature of our ear, and having re*
ferred them to simple fundamental principles, we will now for a moment consider the
manner in which our theorists present this doctrine ; and it will be seen that here again
they have been in the utmost degree partial, inconsiderate, and hasty in the establish-
ment of their theorems.
They observed, in many cases, that the seventh tends to proceed downward, and
forthwith they came to the conclusion that they must at once deduce the rule from this
fact and promulgate it as of universal application, that every seventh must in every
instance (or, as Tiirck expresses himself, p. 213, " in every case according to the rule!")
proceed one degree dovmvcardsi
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RBflOLUTIOir.
557
It 18 true, indeed, that cases most have occnrred to them, and that too not unfre-
qaently, in which the seventh proceeded otherwise without the slightest iii effect to the
mosic ; but, instead of allowing their eyes to be thereby opened to the inaccnracy of their
abstraction, and to the propriety of recalling their rashly propagated and incorrect law,
and of first inquiring, rather of the nature of our ear, in what cases such downward
progression of the seventh is properly required, and then adjusting the law to these
tases, — they preferred rather, perhaps from slothfulness or obstinacy, to let the once-
established rule remain ; and, even to this day, they have exhausted their ingenuity in
the invention of subtle shifts, to explain cases ruuning counter to their prohibition,
though fiaiultless in their own nature, and consequently condemnatory of the interdict,
as entirely disconnected exceptions to the rule ; and all this merely for the purpose of
keeping still in honour the once-established prohibition ! And, in like manner as those
who created the interdict in question had not the courage to abandon it, so we, in pious
deference to our venerated ancestors, still adhere to rules which they, if they had better
considered the subject, would never have laid down.
But how very much the theory of composition is encumbered with uncertainty,
confusion, and difficulty to beginners, by rules which are so incorrect as univend
principles, and inapplicable in so many cases, it is easy to see.
Thus, for example, Kimberger*, and after him Tiirckt, could justify the progression
of the seventh in such cases as those in fig. 460, «— p.
(Fig. 460,1.)
G.T V7I>.V7 1
m
(o.)
(*.)
^^FJ^-T-dt
^
(p.)
^m
i p
-rj It J
*8p=^
W
only as exceptions to the rule — as omissions of resolution — as elliptic or catachretic
resolutions. The tone c^ in fig. 460, t, above, must, says Tiirck, according to the rule,
proceed one degree downward and resolve itself into K Instead of this, it is true, the
next tone is ct ; but one has only to conceive to himself that the first chord is foUowed
by the three-fold chord of <!&, and that c in this way moves down to ^, and then the
rale would be exactly followed. Now this three-fold chord of €r and the resolution
of c mto F ar6 only omitted, and the present case is, accordingly, a mere — eU^sis.
In a similar manner, Kimberger t allows such cases as occur in fig. 461,
(Fig. 461.)
*r I A ' ^-J^a>^
only under the Idea of an omitted chord of resolution.
• In his Kimst des remen Satzes, I Th. 5 Abschn. p. 85, as also in his Wahren
Grmds, ium]Gebr. der Harmanie, § 19.
t GeneraJh. §§ 47 & 145. { W, Grunds. turn G. d. Harm. $ 19.
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558 BE80I.DTI.0II.
So abo Tiirck, in the places abore qnoted, comiden the passage in fig. 463 :
(Fig. 462.)
p
lEL
a;V7 G.Vr
which he has discovered in Sebastian Bach, allowable only as a catachretic resolution,
and to be justified only as an exception to the rule, as a licence *' which the profoundest
composers sometimes allow themselves !'* whUe, in point of fact, the celebrated Bach
does not, by this passage, in the slightest measure contravene the rule, if the latter be
but correctly understood,— does not allow himself the smallest deviation from the true
principle, and hence needs no justification, especially so miserable a one as is made in
this case.
Tiirck, moreover, knows how to justify the case, fig. 463, I:
(Fig. 463,.-.) ^ (*.) (Z.)
Ittgltl^
I d:i V7F;V7 I ^ -r -If *f —
Vr P:Y7
(which likewise commits an offence against lus rule, but in which, as already remarked
above, there is really no downward tendency of the%eventh'at all), only on the ground
of the Ingenious fiction, that the tone Hb is enharmonicaliy exchanged for the tone alt
Also the case in fig. 464,
(Fig. 464,.-.) (*.) ^ ^±A
(in which, moreover, the tone eh is not at all the seventh of the fundamental harmony,
but either a transition tone or a ninth) he excuses only as an allowable licence or as an
enharmonic exchange.
Equally without necessity is the passage in fig. 456, page 556, represented in the
General Encyclopsedia of Arts and Sdences*, as an instance of an exchange {AiataU'
schung) of resolution. f
In the same way, Marpnrgt finds himself able to justify the skip of the upper part
from the seventh Fdown to F, in fig. 459, t, page 556, only as a concealed resolution !
Moreover, Kimberger}, and with him Tiirck (|, conceives himself under necessity of
justifying such cases as those in fig. 459, k, I, m, page 556, which do not in the least
contravene our rule, as particular licences, as aUowable exceptions and deviations from
the rule.
In the justification of so many cases which are counter to their rules, the gentlemen
theorists discover an amount of casuistic subtlety which would obviously be capable of
excusing, in similar ways, the grossest real faults, as they have succeeded so happily in
exculpating mere imaginary ones.
* In the allgem, Encyclapadie d, Wiss, u, Kiinste.
t See remark on § 314, and Cacilia vol. xv. pp. 77 — 114.
t Generalbass, 1. Th. 1 Abschn. IV Absatz, § 42, page 60.
§ Kunst des reinen Satzes, I. Th. 5 Abschn. page 83. 0 § 70.
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LUTION.
559
But what answer woidd fhey give to a pnpQ whom they shoiild charge wHh a really
iiregolar resolution, in case he were to reply to them, that he wished for once to make
an ** ellipsis/ '-^-« catachretic resolution, for the sake of becoming practiced in snch
cstschreaca and ellipses t Perhaps they may say to him in reply, that the principle does
Doi here apply ! In this case, he will further ask, pray, where does it then apply 1 and
idiere does it not?
But why do all these difficulties exhibit themselves T Why this anxious daubing,
botching, and plastering up of an edifice that cannot in its own nature be supported!
Why these miserable casuisticst Why all these iogenious, troublesome, motley,
fanciful, and forced justifications of pretended exceptions ^nm a rule which, though
claimed to be universal, is in fact only erroneously given out as such; while we can
spare ourselves, together with the unnecessary rule, also the unnecessary trouble of
laboriously seeking out unsatisfactory apologies for progressions, as exceptions to the
rale, while those progressions are really faultless in themselves and need no justification
whatever 1
But still more ! Theorists have not confined themselves simply to the task of making
it requisite that the seventh of the fundamental tone should always move one degree
downwards, but. they have been inconsistent enough even to regard it as an exception
to the rule, if any tone, accidentally situated on the seventh degree from the base tone,
though not really the seventh of the fundamental harmony at all, does not resolve itself
gradually dovmward ! (Compare remark on $ 99, p. 220.) This fact has been observ-
able in several of the cases already quoted, but it is still more strikingly so in those thst
follow. Koch*, for example, says, that, in fig. 465,
(Fig. 465.)
m
^^
=f
i
the seventh, that is the tone F, which, as redconed iirom the base tone, is indeed the
Eeventh, though very &i from being the seventh of the fundamental harmony, but an
adrentitions tone, having even a decided tendency upwards to its principal tone c^ — I
say, this pretended seventh E can be resolved also one degree upwards ! Perhaps,
however, as an exception and a licence I !
Of the same species is the pitiful ingenuity with which our musical literati seek to
apologize for the so^alled ttaUonary seventh (compare remark on § 268, p. 493), as
infig. 466, t;
(Fig. 466, i.) (*.) (/.) («•)... («•) . . (o)
^ IJJ .JJJ IJJ !
(^
PE
a^^H^E^
* Anleit. zur Comp. § 2.
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560
RESOLUTION.
They never seem exactiy to understand how to make the stationariness of this seventh
chime with the universal marching order which they have once suffered to pass upon all
the sevenths, and by virtue of which these sevenths are all required to move so and so
together. In my opinion, however, all this trouble is quite unnecessary. For the tone
c^ here remaining stationary at every third quarter-note, is, for the admiration and
astonishment of those learned gentlemen, not the seventh of the fundamental harmony,
but the fundamental tone of the uninterruptedly continued harmony of C, and is only
by accident the seventh tone from the tone d, through which [d] the base proceeds from
c to e (while the tenor, instead of uninterruptedly retaining the tone e, makes, in a
like manner, a momentary transition to the tone 7, in order to return immediately again
to the tone e). Regarding the matter in this point of view, there can be no occasion
for any thing to be said as to the necessity for resolving the tone c, at the third quarter,
into E. The examples in fig 466, k — o, p. 559, also, admit of being explained in the
same way, without having recourse to any ingenious fiction, and without rendering it
necessary to seek out some solution that is peculiar, and to regard this pretended seventh
as being catachretically^ resolved. (We shall recur to this subject of a stationary
seventh again in § 392.) — As it respects the expression Itself ** $tationary seveiith,'^ it
would apply much more appropriately rather to such cases as that in fig. 451, p. 555.
Equally without necessity, the gentlemen above referred to make a great ado also
about the question, into what interval (that is, into what degree from the base tone)
the seventh resolves itself. For, when we know that, in fig. 467, a—/,
(Fig. 467, a.) (5.) (c.)
.it
^ id.) (e)
(J.) (g.) (A.) (.-.)
^5 -vb* iF^
the fundamental seventh resolves itself into the fundamental third of the tonic harmony
(§ 314, D, p. 547), in fig. 467, g, above, into the fifth of the harmony vi, and, in fig.
467, h and «, above, into the third of the harmony F.-Y?, &c. — ^we know something
that is more substantial and definite, than when they tell us that, in fig. 467 a, the
seventh resolves itself into the third ; in fig. 467 b, the third into the third; in ^. 467 e,
the fifth into the third ; in fig. 467 /, the prime into the prime ; in fig. 467 g, the seventh
into the fifth ; in fig.467 A, the fifth of the fifth-sixth chord into the fourth of the second-
fourth-sixth chord ; &c. All the resolutions from fig. 467 a to 467 /, inclusive, are
substantially alike, and differ only in the accidental, unimportant circumstance, that the
base part remains stationary on the tone g, in fig. 467, cf, while it moves upward or
downward during the resolution of the seventh, in fig. 467, a, &, c, «,/. On the
contrary, the seventh resolves itself, as well in fig. 467 (2, as in fig. 467 t, into
the sixth: and yet these two cases are essentiaUy diverse; namely, C:Y7 — I, and
C;V7— F:V7. (Compare also remarks on § 99, p. 220, and § 314, p. 548 ; and § 454.)
As it respects the commonly received dogma, that the resolution of the seventh must
take place on a light portion q/* the measure, it is true just so far as it is also true that
the preparation must be made on a light part of the measure, while the discord must be
struck on a heavy part of the measure (§ 1 14, p. 244), in which case the resolution
naturally occurs on a light portion of the measure. (§ 326^.)
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RB80I.UTI0IC.
561
(2.) Progre89um of ike Third of the Principal Four-fold Chard.
(a,) Restricted Progression,
§321,
((I.)) In the Natural Cadence.
There is still another internal in the prindpal four-fold chord, hesides the
ae-^enth, whidi, in certain cases, requires a definite progression; namely, the
JwidametUal third, — the snbsemitone of the key.
This interval tends to move a minor second upwards when the principal
seventh is followed by another harmony which belongs to the same scale ^ and
which contains the tone of that next higher degree.
First, in the natural principal cadence. (§ 255, p. 474 )
((J.)) In fig. 468, t,
(Fig. 468, f)
(*)
^^
&''l"a^'j"5'l\ '*^n^^J
Fmoyes into c, thus a minor second upwards ; and in like manner g]t afterwards
ascends to a^
A similar progression attends the snbsemitone in fig. 468 k^ above, except
that it is somewhat retarded; also in fig. 468 /,
(Fig. 468, 0
(«.)
p
4 — V
■^
^m
m
■^
3=^
8 lyp.
^g^^
«-^' -g:
oo"^ ^
thongh interrapted by a transitioii tone ; and alao in fig. 468 m, though both
retarded and interrnpted.
Bat in fig. 469, t.
(Fig. 469, t.)
(*•)
(/.) (m.)
m^m^^m
where the proper third of the principal four-fold chord decidedly moves down-
wards or upwards by skips, the progression gives but very little satisfaction to
the ear.
VOL. II. I.
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562 HK80LCTI0N.
In the following passage, fig. 470, t, t, I,
(Fig. 470, .-.)
{*•)
(O
i
^
i
^ 1
"^T-
i
the tone c does not immediately follow the cnibsemitone b, but the breaking-
part first makes a skip upwards to e, though the broken under-part moves
regularly, as in fig. 470 ky above. The progression in fig. 470 /, above, is
always more smooth than it is in fig. 470 t, above (§ 27, p. 144, and § 471).
((B.)) But, however decided is the gradual ascent which forms the most
natural progression to the subsemitone in the natural principal cadence, still it
is not the only possible one.
In the first place, the third of the principal four-fold chord may, in the
natural principal cadence, often very properly descend by skips into iAe fifth
of the following threefold chords particularly when it [the third] lies in a
middle part. For example, fig. 471 :
(Fig. 471.1.) (*.) (/.) (fli.) {«.) (o.) (i?)
(9)
(r.)
^ga^gg||^gRmi|.-|ii.;||
-iF-i"ijtJ^^' M"A.:" ;t" Vi
We frequently have occasion to avail ourselves of this freedom in the pro-
gression of the third, particularly in those cadences which are to form a fiill
close, and where we must otherwise, if we have only four parts, be deprived of
the fifth of the tonic chord, as in fig. 471 / and »i, above, or of the third of the four-
fold chord itself, as in fig. 471 n and o, above, or we should be compelled to put
the four-fold chord in an inverted position, as in fig. 471 /? and y, above, or the
three-fold chord, as in fig. 471 r, above, &c.
But, moreovtr, the subsemitone is sometimes allowed to take this progres-
sion even in the outer parts. Thus, for example, Mozart, in fig. 472,
(Fig. 472.)/^ T ^ F T
MOZART'S DOH JUi
ur.
e-T-^
feS=^
-t-
^ TF T 8 F 8 T*^
I V7 I
•9-
carries the tone a of the upper part by a skip down to J,—Y\%, 473, on the next
page, is of a similar character.
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RB90LCTI0N.
5(*l3
(Fig. 473.)
«r
bebtboveh's sonata.
s
^^_f-_7J3^
'0 r-^TT f'i I '-tr-T
1-a
'2^S
i
I I
A
J:
I
?
rrwr
I
The abave-menitoned lecqp of a third may also, by the insertion of a tran-
sition tone, be changed and divided into two steps of a second each: Thus^
for example, in fig. 474,
(Fig 474, a.)
(b.)
$
•^h-
^m
?
pip
i^t;:!
icx:
331
i
"^ I "^ I
the tone "E moves down through a to the fifth g of the following harmony CT.
The same interval moves in a similar manner in figs. 475 — 478 :
SPONTIKI'S COBTEZ.
(Pig. 476.) Voce.
^
iis.P ^f ^ F^
g^j^-r fyr'^-^ff'^mf
xit:
p
^ST^'^S^^'SW^
S^^E^^
:j=p:
31:^ It
(Flg.476.)
T^
^^
^^=m
:§^
^
•cr I
(Fig. 477.)
C. M. VON WEBER.
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564
(Fig. 478, a.)
RE80LDTI0H.
(6.)
rrTT- rr
(Compare fig. 234.)
This gradual downward progression sounds rather disagreeably in the minor
key, as may be seen from fig. 479 :
(Fig. 479.)
The disagreeable effect in this case arises from the tone ftt, which is foreign to
the scale of a-minor (§ 131, p. 262). Vogler*, however, gives the passage in
fig. 480, as a model of an ancient musical close.
V06LEU.
ti±i:±:z=t
I
(Compare fig. 407.)
Still other progressions of the subsemitone may be seen in the following
examples ; namely, in fig. 481,
(Fig. 481.) VOGLER. TRICHORDIPM.
if?
^P^^S
f=^
f tLi
^fcp
(■ I I I J I
=F=S
"dr^^^^S^.
ai^^S
?
-+-
■a
bh:i
V7 I V7
YlChiYI AUYf I V7
* In his rhoralsyslem, Tab. IV.
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BC80LUTI0N.
565
from a to clb, and then from g to eb ; in fig. 482,
(Fig 482.) AmdoaUe. togleb's missa pastobalb.
^Jz
g!! '^-Nij^
fc:^ — ^
P
rfi-
ALTO.
TEN.
J4|=f_fVr
1
*
fl:
■±1
m
^=^
3tZ^
3
^^
^^^m
:^?^i
-a1 — =»-
rv
^
.mrn
-^
S:
in the second yiolin, from Tg to C ; in fig. 483,
(Fig. 483.)
CHEBUBmi'S MASS.
P
^^g-f-gg-Bf-^^^
prop
• . ter
fliag • nam, prop -ter mag
?)i ^
J-
t IM-
V i
3^
J=J
P
prop - ter, prop - - - - ter
■=1 "f l"f ^T^T=
7s=°{
^
C:I
</;V7 G;V7 c;V7 C.I
from B to g ; in fig. 484,
(Fig. 484.)
^ <» tt I>fti*-fer ig»»f J im Hat - m;
G.V C:Y d.-^r
MY OP. 31.
^^
-jjj.i.rjJ:J.^4Xja^
m
• ' .• I
'm
g^
f-H-f-M-
i:
■^ — ^
DlM'ier wir^i im Hai-ne; dammem-der am Bach^ mU 8e -
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566
RESOLUTION.
(Fig. 484 continued.)
.crfi.
-Gf-
^
dtntm ,
'^^
■t
't
HLO^-iJJJ
i^^m
tr"-^ FT ^
Sckei - ....«« v^iT mete
f=^
Ir - - - - fMM 5ciW •
even in the base, from gtt to e.
Each of the usual anomalous progressions of the subsemitone involves the
least liability to fault ichen the stihsemitone occurs doubled, and one of the two
takes the natural movement ; in which case, for reasons already mentioned (in
§ 317, {(B)) p. 549), such different progression is not only more safe, but even
absolutely necessary , as in fig. 484 above.
In fig. 482, p. 565, moreover, it might also be taken into account, that the
anomalous progression of the tone fS, of the second violin, in the second
measure, is compensated by the movement of the alto part, — and so also the
downward movement of the soprano part in the following measure, by the
progression of the tone Tj( in the first violin — at any rate, by the fact that the
alto part here ascends above the soprano, bf which means the soprano, in a
manner, ceases to be an outer part.
§322.
((II.)) In False Cadences.
((A.)) In like manner as the third of the principal four-fold chord tends to
ascend in the natural cadence, so it tends to take this course also in all those
false cadences r§ 256, p. 476) where the principal four-fold chord is followed by
a three-fold chord which contains the tone of the next higher degree ; accord-
ingly, in the false cadence V^ — vi or VI, fig. 485, below, and in V^ — IV or
V7_iv,fig. 486:
(Fig. 485.)
-•• •
(Fig. 486.)
^
m
A retardation of such a progression in the false cadence Y ' — ^ri or VI, may
be fonnd in fig. 487, i, k, I:
(Fig. 487, t.) _ (A.) (l.)
Viz
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BBSOLUTION.
567
In %. 487, m,
(Fig.487,»..) (».)
(p.)
(P)
$
a i «*. ^if^.
T la Hi ft j II I Ff-e-ll3d4~|
i
ai
i
an interpolated transition-tone is found between the subsemitone and the reso-
lution ; in fly both a retardation and an inserted accessory tone ; in o, a two-fold
retardation ; namely, both that of the progression of the subsemitone and that
of the note of suspension itself — that is to say, the form is as in o, instead of
being as in^.
Similar examples of the false cadence V^ — IV, or V^ — iv, the reader can
form for himself.
((j&.)) The inclination of the third of the principal four-fold chord to move
one degree upwards at the moment this false cadence is taking place, is so strong,
that it is difficult to find examples where any other progression would be of
good effect.
One way, however, in which this interval admits of being carried down-
wards, is shown by fig. 488,
(Fig. 488, a.)
(5.)
(c.)
_r ! . . ^ . . I
I
1
I
zrsi
znn
=^
ZC5Z
^
X V7 VI
where, in the false cadence V^ — VI, the third ^ of the principal four-fold
chord 9 7 descends to bb through the transition-tone c. (Compare § 257,
p. 476, and fig. 302, p. 479.)
Other examples, whose faultlessness I will not vouch for, one may find and
examine for himself in figs. 489 and 490 :
(Fig. 489, a.)
(&.)
(Fig. 490.)
i
Vt TI
V7 IV
One may also compare with the present section all the examples in figs.
297-^321, pp. 476—4^5.
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568
RE80LUTI0K.
§323.
((III.)) [n the Evitaiions of Cadences in the $ame Scale.
((A,)) Moreover, when a principal four-fold diord is followed by another
four-fold chord in the same scale and thus a principal cadence is avoided, the
third of the principal four-fold chord tends to go up a minor second, in case the
tone of this degree is contained in the following harmony. This is the case
in the harmonic saccessions V^ — vi^ or V^ — Yt^, V7 — n^ or ®ii^,— and
y7_iY7 Of iy7 . for example, in figs. 491 and 492 :
(Fig. 491, i.) (*.) (Fig. 492.)
V7 ri7 IT VT VT -nT
(As it respects the succession Y^ — P, see what follows in B.)
((-©.)) The third of the principal four-fold chord cannot easily proceed
otherwise, in such an evitation of a cadence, than one degree upwards ; except
in the harmonic succession V'' — I^, that is, when the principal four-fold chord
in major keys is followed by the major four-fold chord on the key-note, as in
fig. 493, from the third to the fourth measures :
(Fig. 4^)
m=i
K^T^
^^
EE
:m
s
^
°l J M
S
3at
IV^
•rii7
IIl7
▼l7
ll7
V7
I^ IV?
when, namely, it is preferred to let the F continue on, in order that it may
serve as a preparation of the major seventh of the following chord ; — so also in
fig. 494, in the second part (not in the base) :
(Fig. 494.)
§ lM[ Uiii: ^\M ^ Jar 'S/iS
2*:
£
rjf J f f m
^^?
£
i r r l^^jj
I ll7
V7
I? IV» "7117 III?
Vl7 oii7
V7IV7I V7I
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BE80LUTI0N. 569
in f]g« 495^ from the first to the second measure^ &c.
(Fig. 495.) HAYDH'8 KASS, »0. 1.
p
JH^ I i i .1 ■! F
^EE
i
^ 1
± T
J J!-, jjl
£
^
IV
llT V7
IV^ OVIIT ^;V7
^.••1X7 V7
(d.J Free Progresaum of the Third of the Principal Four-fold Chord.
§324.
The tendency of the subsetnitone to proceed one degree upwards does not
take place in any other eases than the three that have already been mentioned.
It moyes^ rather, so far as other circamstances do not stand m the way, either
gradnallj, or hj skips either upwards or downwards, at pleasure.
(I.) First, then, in those harmonic snecessions, where the tone of this
degree is not contained in the second chord; consequently {A) in all those
false cadenoeB where the principal four-fold chord is followed by the three-fold
chord of the second degree of the same scale, or of the third, or even of the
seventh ; namely, in the false cadences V^ — ii or °ii, V^ — m, and V^ — °vii
(figs. 305—317, pp. 480-484).
:g4=fe=S= or ^^—^'
"cr
(^ ) In similar evitations of cadences in the samd scale, namely, in V ^ — ni 7,
and V7_«vii7, fig. 496,
(Fig. 496.)
^m
^
J ■ J J
V7 xii7
f=
as also (0)iDL various digressive harmonic successions where the third cannot
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570
RB80LUTX0N.
in the nature of the case have a gradual progression ; as, for example, in fig.
497. (Compare § 494.)
(Fig. 497.)
J. HATDH.
i^
I L J
J-. J J-
^^
^
Sier - be
Last dein
Lei - dem tmd dein
ben nicM
^i_^ > J , J Jit
^ss
sa
Eh: I
V7
^b : II
/.IT
/;V7
where the tone 3 cannot possibly be resolved by a gradual movement, and where
it accordingly has fiill liberty to move by skips to E In like manner, the tone ^
in the third measure of fig. 498,
(Fig. 498.)
^
-J =-i-Wi
ftJ.
i
jjn
i
SFOSTUrfS VE8TALIV.
fc
moves downwards to T, — The cases in figs. 499 and 500 are of a similar descrip-
tion.
(Fig. 499.) (Fig. 500, t.)
(*.)
-»^
p^^g^^
C:Vr</:V7 I I I • rf.i V7 F;V7 I rf;i V7 FrV^ I
(II.) But, in general, the subsemitone does not exhibit a decided ten-
dency to move one degree upwards, where the principal four-fold chord is
followed by any harmony that is foreign to the scale, and where, accordingly,
the principal cadence is avoided by a digressive harmonic succession. Thus,
for example, in fig. 501, t,
(Fig.601,».) (*.)
i.j J J J J 1^.. J.J- J hi J J
H-^-h^
i
m
^^
U J Ui ^
r r r r 'r jjt±^-^^Li
C:VG;V7C;V7 I V7 F:V7 I
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BKSOLOTIOH.
571
the tone Tjt of the ^per part proceeds, at the second harmonic step, mthont
hesitation, to I^ instead of resolving itself into g, and subsequently the tone b
goes in like manner to bb. — ^Precisely the same free progressions of this interval
are found also in fig. 501, / and m .-
(Fig. 501, /.) («•.)
3£
± %.
9t
^f^T^Tf
namely 9 the tone B goes down to A, and b do?ni to a. — Indeed, in many cases,
as, for example, in fig. 501, «', p. 570, it would soond positively ill to carry the
sabsemitones T^ and b one degree upwards, as in fig. 501 k, p. 570 ; because, in
that case, another part must carry the seventh of the following harmony by a
skip, which, as we shall learn when we come to the subject of cross relation
(Querstand), would not be of good effect. (§ 490.)
(III.) Finally, the fundamental third of the principal four-fold chord is
free so long as no harmonic step is taken ; but the principal four-fold chord
continues on unchanged ; for example, figs. 502, 503, and 504 :
(Fig. 502.)
m
(Fig. 508.)
P
^
rmiin
1
-i
±T
zan
^
-^
(Fig. 604.)
J 'i! ' I ' I III
3E
m
3^
-t— p« — +■
T^rn
I I
REMARK.
The musical literati are not agreed, moreover, in respect to the above-mentioned
instances of firee progretsion. Not that they have been in the habit of explaining all
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572
BESOLUTION.
thoBe and other like progressions as incorrect and disagreeable to the ear ; no ! they only
find them to contravene their rules ; and, in order to be able to justify them without
marring the integrity of their rules, they again exhaust their ingenuity in subtle evasions
and apologies.
Hear, for example, how Kimberger*, Turckf. and Koch (, fancy themselves obliged
to explain such cases as are found in fig. 505, t and k.
(Fig. 606, t.)
(k.)
i \H i iij ^ j-ii-g-i»isq^
aTi^i ff
m
m
JtU I tlU I ge I ho
i
C;I a:V7 J;V7 G;V7 C:V7 F;V7
a;V7 </:V7 G?;V7 C:V7
(in which, moreover, they have discovered a still farther irregularity ; namely, the
unprepared introduction of the principal seventh! [See remark on §107, p. 240.])
We must, they say, imagine fig. 505, A;, not to be as it is, but otherwise; namely, as it
is in fig. 505, 1 :
(Fig. 605,/.)
i=j
^
3^
-€>-
33
:§:
-jy
r-nrr
:Jtn=
^=^
a.y
d:Y
G:Y
C:V
Such a passage, continue they, would not be contrary to our rules : the tones marked
with an oblique stroke would be only transition-tones, — ^Now we have only to conceive,
they add, that the transition-tone in question always introduces itself half a measure
sooner than is the case here (thus again as in fig. 505, k). This earlier introduction of
the transition-tone, we denominate again ** an anticipation of a transition-tone ;'* we
say, ''the transition-tone stands here instead of the principal:^' — this anticipation
and this putting of the transition-tone in the place of the principal, we allow as
*< a licence;*' — and now the example can pass, for it has now a learned name, it is
called '' an AnUctpaiion of a transition-tone, ''^'^^^ the transition-to7ie instead of the
princ^pal,'*^''-^* a licence P"* Mark it now, ye novices ! we may substitute the transition-
tone for the prindpal, and this is called a licence, — ^Now do you know it 1 And what
do you know?—
Besides, if this one case of a downward progression of the subsemitone rendered it
necessary to be at so much pains for an apology, what a huge labour must it be to furnish
a similar justification for all the innumerable other cases of natural or ftdse cadences or
* KtOMt des reinen Satxes, I Bd. 5 Abschn. page 89 & foil,
t GeneraXb. h 45. % Anleit, xur Cowp. I Bd. Renuirk to § 132, and Handbudi, § 188.
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RE90LUTI0N.
573
evitations of cadences in wluch we should find the intenral in qnestiim so frequently
proceeding othertrise than by one degree upwards, or eren not at aU^ and of which
those gentlemen, in framing their rules, have obviously never dreamed ! What a mass
of learned lore might have been elicited upon all those cases of harmonic progression !
What a prize of new catachretic progressions and non- progressions, licences, and the
like ! and, in respect to the latter, what a fine opportunity again to invent a new tech-
nical term : a stationary subsemitone, as a counterpart to the stationary seventh, &c. &c.
But the confusion becomes twice confounded, when one takes the law laid down by
theorists in the manner in which they express it ; namely, according to the wretched
thorough-bass figures.
Here it is, as expressed in the approved books of instruction : *< Every note which
has a false (minor, § XXXVI, p. 47,) fifth over it, must move a (minor) second higher
while the false fifth resolves iuelf one degree downwards. — Every note which bears a
soperfluous (major) fourth must go down one degree, while the superfluous fourth goes
one degree upwards ;" or, briefly, *' the minor (diminished, as it is called) fifth resolves
itself downwards, whereas the major (superfluous, as it is called) fourth resolves itself
upwards."
Now this rule, like many others of the same stamp, does indeed apply in majiy
cases ; but it proves false not only in numberless others (namely, not only in all the cases
of §§321 ((B)) and 322 ((B)), also §323 at the end, and in all the cases of § 324;)-^
bnt, in addition to these, in such cases also as are f ^und in figs. 506 and 507 :
(Fig. 606.)
VT VI on
11 12 13 14 15 16
I J
r'' ^ ir^T^^^^^^='^ T*^^
I •!! I V7
•II V7 I
«Il7 V7 1
«1I V7
(Fig. 507, t.)
mk^
(*•)
^
rpmTfTvy^
J V ri HI IV
I V IV
c;V 7
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574 RESOLUTION.
and many others which are likewise comprehended under the role, as it is above
expressed, and in which, as in fig. 506, p. 573, the tone B several times moves upwards
by skips, while the tone f moves in like manner downwards, and as also in fig. 507, a,
p. 573, the major (or so-called superfluous) fourth (the tone ?) descends, while the base-
tone retnams siationary; also in fig. 507 k, p. 673, the minor (so>called diminished)
fifth, Tb, remains sUUionarif, while the base-tone, instead of ascending, makes a pro-
gression downwards.
Finally, the sHU more incorrect^ though common expression, ** all superfluous
intervals resolve themselves upwards, while all diminished intervals resolve themselves
downwards,'* is really worthy of no critical examination at all. This rule, in order to be,
in reference to the interval here in question, namely, the third of the principal four-fold
chord, even as true as the one mentioned in the foregoing paragraph, must at least be
constructed as follows :
*' The upper end of all the so-called superfluous intervals resolves itself upwards,
while the lower end resolves itself downwards, — whereas the upper end of all diminished
intervals resolves itself downwards, while the lower end resolves itself upwards ;" or
briefly : ** The two ends of superfluous intervals tend to move away from each other in
their resolution, whereas the two ends of diminished intervals tend to approach each
other ;" — or, ** the former tend to diverge, whereas the latter tend to converge.** This
rule, even if, in its universal application, it were as false as the one mentioned in the
preceding period, still would not, at least f be so incorrect. (Compare moreover the
remark on § 341, and the remark on § 99.)
(30 Proffression of the Independent Ninth.
§325.
(a,) Restricted Progression,
Having thus &r considered the progression of the seventh and the third of
the principal four-fold chord, we will now turn our attention to the progression
of the ninth, which is independently added to this harmony.
The independent ninth^ whether major or minor^ tends, at the time of maJdng
the next harmonic step, to proceed one degree downwards, whenever the tone of
this next lower degree b contained in the following harmony. Thus, for
example, in fig. 508, i,
(Fig. 508, f.) (*.)
the tone a very perceptibly tends to go down to g, — and so also in fig. 50S,
k^ above, the tone ab tends downwards to g.
The same species of progression, only retarded, are found in fig. 509 :
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BSaOLDTION.
575
(Fig.609.)
-n. — ■ •■
m
?
jfO-r
An instanoe, however, in which such a minor ninth, at the moment of making
the cadence, does not proceed gradually, bat arbitrarily by skips, may be seen
in fig. 510 :
(Fig. 610.) T
F R
^
8 N F n
HATDV'S 8INF0NIA.
B t T F R
^m
m
r
r
n
'^B^^^^
£
^
G:I
V7
D;V7 d:V7 D.I II I V7
Added ninths are not likely to occur in fiJse cadences (§ 257, p. 476.)
Such a case might perhaps occur in the false cadence V 7 — ^vi, or V^ — ^VI ; but
here the tone of the next lower degree is not oontamed in the second harmony.
(§326.)
§326.
(^.) Free Progresnon,
The movement of the independent ninth is free,
(I.) In cases where the tone of resolution* does not occur in the following
harmony. For example, in fig. 511 :
(Fig. 611.)
In the sixth measure of fig. 512 also,
(Fig. 512.)
SPOKTINI*S VESTALB.
* The tone of resolution is the tone into which some previous discordant tone resolves
itself.— Tb.
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976
(Elg. Sia continned.)
r«.)
RKSOLCTIOH.
Ob.
(/•)
.JJT3 , ri
n.
pp
in^^hi
=«?
^
f
^^^^ffli'-^
the ninth, (Cb) of the harmony 9^ proceeds upwards to C as the fifth of the
following harmony ©''. — ^In fig. 513,
(Fig. 513.) CBEBUBIHI*S MASS.
0:Y C:V7
d : V7 C; V7 G;V C: V7 I a ; V7 i C ;
I V7 I
at the commencement of the second measure, the tone a is a major ninth of the
harmony iffir^ ; in the digressive harmonic step which is made from the first to
the second eighth-note, this tone a does not move at all, hut remains stationary
as a proper fifth of the three-fold harmony of |Q. A similar fireedom of the
ninth is found in figs. 514 and 515 :
(Fig. 514.)
(Fig. 515.)
^
m
V7 a:V7
If, in such cases as those occurring at the third chord of fig. 516, and at the
fourth, nxth, and eighth of fig. 517, and also at the second chord of fig. 518,
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RESOLUTION.
577
(Fig. 516.)
(Fig. 517.)
zt-thjMt.
± ± — (Fig. 518.)
I^^^^^^^s
'W
ffs-
we regard the tones e and eb as ninths of a S^ -harmony, we shaU iind these
ninths, on the appearance of the tonic fourth-sixth chord, at one time to ascend
and at another to remain stationary.
((II.)) The movement of the independent ninth is also free so long as the
principal four-fold chord still continues on [without resolving itself into some
other chord]. Accordingly, in fig. 519, the tone? may, without hesitation, skip
down to gtt.
(Fig. 619.)
J:
^
'3^
izz:
TT"
So likewise, in the second measure of fig. 520,
(Fig. 520.) NEP. HUMMEL*8 MASS, NO. 1.
sr>PR. /
ALTO.
TEN.
BASS.
VLffI
<
^
jjT^rr-'TTf
sua • 01 - pe,
Obo^.
- ci - pe
^^'
Wi ^
Iffi
^
BASS.
VOL. II.
?SL^
■^
.qU*
^^
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578
BEWLUTIOH.
/
(Fig. 520 continued.)
^S
1^
n
I
^
a^
SE
y^Ti.r^. ^
T
^
»>P P
• "P f
=F
^
d^^r^^i^^ti - o - nem
tnm
p
m
¥#
:tpt
■c::?-^
7 f
cru.
i
SE
5
^
*i
^
crw.
i^
^
£
^
£
the tone ob of the soprano part skips, without heaitationy dnring the oontinn*
ance of the principal four-fold chord ISb^ down to 3 (meanwhile, however, the
tone cb of the accompaniment — a tone which ooutinues stationary to the end of
the measure — ^must, at the moment of the hannonic step heing taken, move
down to bb.)
So likewise, in fig. 521, t,
(Fig. 621, 1.) (k.)
c^ 1
F^^— ^^ i I r' ■ II-
±
±:
"f
f r"'
IS
f=e:
i
'^^
^
^
D:V7 b:VJ
the ninth g moves freely, during the continuance of the harmony, into e, — and
in fig. 521, ^ above, the ninth c has a firee progression upwards to f tt during
the continuance of the first measure.
The ninths also which occur in figs. 103, p. 193, and 105 — 109, pp. 193
and 194, have a similar firee progression.
BEMARK.
After the review which we have taken of the cases menUoned in the foregoing
Hections, the reasons will be quite apparent, why we consider the firee addition of a ninth
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' RB80LUTI0K. 579
as a peculiar tnittformatioD, and woch added ninth not (as many othen have done) as a
note of transition — and also why we regard these transfoimations as exclosiyely appro-
priate to only two harmonies. (Compare Remark on § 68, p. 206.)
In tke Jbrst piaetf it is very easily perceived that the yiew of those theorists is
incorrect, wlio regard all such ninths as transition-tones or suspensions. Were the
above-mentioned nintlis snspensions, they eoold move no otherwise than gradnally to
the next principal tone, lying either one degree above or below, but not by skips to a
remote interval. — Nor could they proceed chromatically upwards or downwards, or
rsmaia imresolved, &c. An interval which has thus a firde movement cannot be
reckoned in the dass of those tones whose presence is no where justifiable, except in
case of their inmiediate connexion with, and resolution into, a principal tone situated
on the very next degree not in the dass of those tones which can exist only as fore-
notes to an immediately proximate prindpal one, in which dass they would make but
an iH figure, deviating as they do firom all the laws of progression appropriate to such
tones. In order to explain tito ninths of the foregoing examples as suspensions, and to
justify their enthe deviatioB ftom the laws pertaining to the reeohitian of sotpensions,
one must again call in to his aid all those equivocal evasions and terhniral phrases about
elliptic and catachretic resdatioos, licenses, See. !
Now, under all these drcumstances, it certainly was well to adopt, as we have done,
the most simple and natural way on this point, and to recognixe such ninths as being
independently added to the harmony, and thus, in a manner, as hdding the attitude of
harmonic tones.
But, secondfyf it will also be readily seen, that snch an addition of a ninth can take
place only in the case of the prindpal fi>ur-fold chord, and in such harmonies as are
mentioned in § 89, &c., but not in the case of other harmonies, when it is considered
that every ninth of the fundamental tone of any other harmony can actually never move
otherwise than according to those laws which we recogniie as the laws of progression
for tnmsition-tones. This &ct shows, with snffident deamess, that ninths of the latter
description belong by all means to the dass of those mere inddental tones firom which
they differ in no material point, and that it would be very incorrect to speak of the
independent ninths of other harmonies, since the reason for which our independent
ninths must be recognized as something else than a transition-tone, does not apply to
the ninth tone of any other harmony whatever.
(B.) PmoeRSSBION of THB INTBBYALS of THB SBCONDABT FOUB'FOLP chobdb.
$ 3S6i.
It may here be remarked in general, in respect to the doctrine of the reso*
hiion of the secondary four-fold chords, that such resolation usually occurs on
the lighter portion of the measure, on a part of the measure which is lighter
than that on which the dissonant harmony was struck, since, as shown above in
^ 114 — 117, pp. 244 — ^252, we are inclined to concede the heavier portion of
the measure to the striking of the discords. (Compare remark on § 320, at
the end.)
After this general preliminary, we will proceed to examine the various ways
in which, in certain cases, one and another interval of the secondary four-fold
diords tends to proceed.
m2
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580 BV80LUTI0N.
(I.) Progression of the Secondary Seventlis.
§327.
(a.) Restrieted Progression,
The secondary sevenths, like the primeval seventh, have a tendency, in
many cases, to proceed one degree downwards ; and that too, not as in the case
of the former, merely in harmonic progressions in the same scale, bat generally,
iohenever the secondary four-fold chord is followed by any harmony which
contains the tone of the next degree below the seventh of the former.
In order fnlly to examine the cases in which this downward tendency of the
sevenths in question takes place, or the reverse, we mil first conceive to our-
selves, in general, what harmonies may follow a secondary four-fold chord.
£very secondary four-fold chord may be foUowed by
((i.)) The three-fold chord situated a fourth higher and belonging to the
same scale {natural secondary cadence, § 254, 2, a, p. 473 ; § 263, p. 486) ;
or by
((ii.)) Some other three-fold chord belonging to the same scale {false
secondary cadence, § 254, 2, b, p. 473 ; § 266, p. 490; ; or by
((ill.)) Another four-fold chord belonging to the same same scale {an evita-
tion of a secondary cadence in the same scale, § 269, p. 493 ; § 270, 2, p. 494) ;
or by
((iv.)) Some harmony belonging to another key (an evitation of a secondary
cadence by means of a digressive modulation, § 269, p. 493).
We will now proceed, in the order above proposed, to examine the cases in
which the above-mentioned tendency of the secondary sevenths takes place
(with the exception, however, of the harmony ^ii^ with an elevated third: this
will be expressly treated in § 334).
((I.)) In the natural secondary cadence, the secondary seventh, according
to this tendency, proceeds one degree downward, as in fig. 522 :
(Fig. 522.)
^^
•* . •*
((II.)) Also in the false secondary cadences the secondary sevenths rather
incline to move downwards, where the tone situated one degree below occurs in
the second harmony. This is the case in the second and sixth harmonic suc-
cessions in each line of the table in § 266, p. 490, t. e. in all those which consist
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RESOLUTION.
581
of the step of a second or sixth of the fimdainental harmony. For examples of
ibejbrmer spedea, see fig. 523 :
(Fig. 523.)
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examples of the second species are found in fig. 524 :
(Tig. 624.)
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((III.)) Moreover, in eviUOions of cadences in the same key^ the secondary
seventh exhibits a tendency to the next lower tone, wherever the latter is
contained in the following harmony. Such is the case in the first, third, aod
fifth sncoessions of each line in the second table under § 270, p. 494; t. e,
in all those wMch consist of (he step of a second^ Jburthy or sixth of the fiin-
damental harmony.
Instances of the progression of the fundamental harmony by steps of a
second may be seen in fig. 525 :
(Fig. 526.)
ill.
T
^^^
Examples of progressions by steps of t,fowth may be found in fig. 526 :
(Fig. 526.)
J |J J J J
f
B
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i.
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582 BBflOLUTION.
— Meanwhile, however, each examples as those in figs. 527 and 528,
(Fig. 627.)
BATDJi'a QUA&TBTT.
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show also that deviations from this mode of resolution are not of ill efiect.
Instances of progressions by steps of a sixih are to be seen in fig. 529 :
(Fig. 629.)
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((IV.)) Finally, the gradual downward tendency exhibits itself 'whenever
the secondary four-fold chord is succeeded by a harmony which belongs to
aswther key, and which contains the next lower tone; for example, in fig. 530 :
(Fig. 630.)
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(b.) Free Progression,
In aU other cases but those above-mentioned^ the progression of the
secondary sevenths is free ; and here it is obvious that
((I.)) The secondary sevenths cannot be resolved into the next lower degree
in all those harmonic sucoessioQs in which the second harmony does not contain
the tone of this degree; consequently,
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RKTOLUTION.
583
((J.)) In none of those fidae secondary cadences which involye a progreerion
of the fundamental harmony by the step of a ihtrd^ ^ffthy or a seventh ;
((B.y) In none of those evitations of cadences m the same key which involve
a pn^ression of the fundamental harmony by the step of a third or SLjlfth ;
and likewise
((6^.)) Not in many digressive harmanie successions.
((11.)) The secondary seventh is free so long as no harmonic step is taken.
Consequently, in fig. 531, third measure.
(Fig. 531.)
HATDNS CBEATIOH.
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the upper part makes a skip from the major seventh a of the harmony Sb^
down to 7; and the secondary seventh, in fig. 532,
(Fig. 532.)
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moves, with equal freedom, during the stationary continuance of the secondary
foor-fold chord. — In like manner, also, in fig. 533, t and ^,
(Fig 533, t.)
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584
(Fig. 538,^.)
RESOLUTION.
TOOLER.
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the secondary seventh of the upper part moves about with entire freeSom during
the stationary continuance of the four-fold chord. The free conduct of the
seventh in this last case, however, is here indeed rendered the more justifiable
by the gradual downward progression of the same in the vocal part, and still
more by the fact that the two last eighth-notes of the measure in the upper
instrumental part may be regarded as intermediately inserted harmonic notes.
(§ 314, at C, p. 546.)
(2.) Progression of the third of the Secondary Fourfold Chords.
§
The third of the secondary four-fold chords is, upon the whole, less restricted
by the laws of progression than that of the principal four-fold chord.
The third of a secondary four-fold chord moves, namely,
((I.)) In natural secondary cadences — at one time gradually upward, as in
fig. 534,
(Fig. 534.)
KOCH.
KOCH.
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BBflOLUTKMT.
and at another otherwise^ as in fig. 535,
(Fig. 636.) ,
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where, from the second measnie to the third, the third h of the harmony (Br'
skips upwards to the third e of the following harmony, — and so also in the
foUowing cadences ; or, as in fig. 536,
(Fig. 636.)
HATDH'S MASS, VO. 2.
Vlni.
Voci.
G:IV
OTIl^ III
YlT II
where, in the part of the first violin, the third of the secondary four-fold chord
moves downward hy a skip. Similar firee progressions are shown also hy
fig. 537:
(Pig. 537.)
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588
(Fig. 587 amtinned.)
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(Cn,)) As it respects the progression of the third in tha/abe secondary
cadences, we will again examine the di&rent possible eases severally.
The fitlse secondary cadences result, as we know, from the progression of
the ftindamental by the step of a second, a third, a fifth, a sixth, or a seventh.
(§266, p. 490.)
((A.)) In steps of a second, the third moves at one time gradually upward,
as In fig. 538, t;
(Fig.«88,.-.)
(*.)
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imd at another, otherwiae ; as, for example, in fig. 538, t and /, above.
((J9.)) In steps of a third, the gradual ascent of the third is impossible,
because the tone of the next higher degree is not contained in the second
harmony.
({O.)) The same is trne of steps of 9, fifthy and
((2?.)) So also of steps of a <tx/A.
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RSMLUTIOir.
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((jS.)) In steps of a seventh, the third at one time moYes graduaUy down
ward, as in fig. 539, i,
(Fig. 539, f.) (k.)
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and at another npwardj m in fig, 539, t, ahoTi*
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((in.)) /n eviMiani qf cadences m ^Ae iowm tcojff, the third moves at one
time gradually upward, as from a to C in the upper part of fig. 540,
(Fig. 540.) TOOLn.
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and at another tune othennse ; as, for example,
((A.)) In progressions of the fimdamental harmony, by the step of a eeeand,
fig. 541,
(Fig. 541.)
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where, in the upper part, the minor third F of the harmony Jf^, in the evitation
iv7 — v^, proceeds upwards;
((i?.)) In progressions by the step of a tJUrdt the gradually asoendiig
resolution is imposable.
(((7.)) Also in those evitations of cadences in the same scale which are
made by the progression of the fundamental harmouy by Jourths, it is usual
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588
•RESOLUTION.
often for the third of the secondary four-fold chord to move freely. ' For exam-
ple, in fig. 542, t, •
(Fig. 642, t.) (*.)
the third of each secondary fonr-fold chord remains stationary as a preparation
of the following seventh. Such is also the case in fig. 542, k, above.
((i>.)) Progressions by skips of a Jifth, as evitations of secondary cadences,
are not likely to occor.
{{B,)) In progressions by steps of a sixths the gradaal npward progres-
sion of the third is again impossible. See, for example, fig. 543,
(Fig. 543.)
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where, in the middle part, the third a of the chord Jp^ in the harmonic sue-
cesnon lY^ — ^ii^ remains stationary. — See also fig. 544:
(Fig. 544.)
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IT7 oii7 V7
((jP.)) Progressions of the fimdamental harmony by steps of a seventh
also are not likely to occor as evitations of secondary cadences. If we regard
fig. 545, t,
(Fig. 546, f.) (*.)
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BESOLCTION.
589
as an example of rach an harmonic succession, we find in it a case where the
proper third of the third chord moves downward. The same is true also of
fig. 545, *, p. 588.
§332.
((IV.)) Moreover, in digreaswe fundamental successions, the third of the
secondary four-fold chords will not readily he found to proceed otherwise than
gradually upwards ; as, for example, fig. 546,
(ng.64ft.)
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except in case the tone of resolution is not contained in the second hannony^ as
in Ag. 547^
(Fig. 647.)
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where the third of the secondary foor-fold chord of the second degree of the
major key does not proceed upwards one degree in the following harmonic step,
but remains stationary on the same degree, with a mere chromatic elevation.
(3.) Progresnon of the fifth of the Secondary Four-fold Chords.
§333.
The Jiftk of the secondary four-fold chords, in general, exhibits no particular
tendency to be resolved in any one direction rather than another ; except that, in
those foor-fold chords which have the minor fifth (namely, in those of the
seventh degree in major and of th^ second degree in minor), this minor fifth
for the most part inclines to move downward in the progression of the harmony ;
as, for example, in fig. 548, t and k,
(Fig. 648, f.) (k.) (/.)
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590
BE80LUTI0N.
and that too, eyen if it were to defloend by a skyf, as in fig. 54B, /, p. 589
(and also fig. 508, p. 574). This fifth very seldom tends t^nfford; in fig.
549, however,
(Fig. 549.) voauR.
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an example of this kind may be found in the progression of the tenor firom
c to 9,-Hin example which is not likely otherwise to occur.
(C.) Appendix.
Progression of the Intervals of the Principal Four-fold Chord with lowered
Fifth, or of the Four -fold Chord with Minor Fifth and elevated Third.
§ 334.
Thus &r we have left unnoticed the progression of the intervals of those
chords which we have (in §§ 89 — 96, pp. 208 — 219) regarded as springing from
a four-ibld chord with lowered fifth or firom a four-fold chord with minor fifth
and arbitrarily elevated third, in order that we might make them a distinct
subject of consideration afterwards. To thb subject we will now turn our
attention.
It b first of all to be remarked, in general, of the intervals of these chords,
that almost entirely the same laws of progression apply to them as to those of
the principal fourfold chord, as will appear firom the following considerations.
(1.) When the harmony in question is followed by a natural cadence, as in
fig. 550, t.
(Fig.650.t.)
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then
(a.) The seventh, precisely like a principal seventh, exhibits a tendency to
move one degree downwards. Hence,
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BBWLUTfOH.
991
((A.)) The seventh^ in fig. 550, p. 590, is fcmndy aMarding to this tendency,
every where to descend. This resolution is iamod retarded in fig. 551, t ;
{Fig.65l.f.) ik.) (f.) (m.)
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mtermpted by a note foreign to the harmony in fig. 551, k, above ; — ^both re-
tarded and interrupted in ^, 551, /, above.
((B.)) Deviations from this normal progression are most firee from liability
to error in middle parts, — especially when the seventh occnrs doubled, as in
lig. 550, k and m, p. 590, fig. 551, m, above, and fig. 55% :
(Fig. 668.)
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— ^In fig. 553, the skip of the base firom b to f]t is rather odd in its efiect.
(Fig. 568.)
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(b.^ The third moves, in the natural cadence, as already observed in the
principal four-fold chords, not easily otherwise than to the fimdamental tone of
the second harmcmy, as the above examples every where show.
(<?.) The fifth has the peculiarity of inclining to move downward one degree
10 the hannonio step now under consideration, as, for example, in all the cases
of fig. 550, p. 590, and fig. 551, above ; and it sounds rather odd to hear this
interval, in the alto of the above-mentioned fig. 553, proceed a superfluous second
upward.
((/.) When a ninth is added to the chord in question, it has also a tendency
to move gradnally downward, as in all the examples quoted above ; though
even here, sometimes another progression takes place; as, for example, in
fig. 554,
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592
RESOLUTION'.
(Fig. 654.)
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where the nmth o does not proceed gradually downward, bnt makes a skip
upward to e.
§335.
(2.) When the harmony in question is followed by a four-fold chord
situated a fowrth above ^ we hear
(a.) The seventh, at one time, proceed one degree downward, as in fig.
555, i-^l.
(Fig.665,».)
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and at another upward, as in the alto of fig. 555, m, above, and in the tenor of
fig. 555, f, above.
(b,) The third, in these cases, most conveniently moves down to the tone
of the same degree chromatically lowered, inasmuch as this tone occurs in
the next following chord. The progression in this case, like the similar one
already mentioned in § 324 (II), is designed to avoid a cross relation
(§ 490). Examples are found in fig. 555, above.
(c.) The fundamerUal fifth proceeds most naturally one degree downward,
as in fig. 555, i, above ; unless it should remain stationary as a minor ninth of
the following harmony, as in fig. 555, k, above, where the tone ab, in the
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BKSOLUTIOK.
593
base party contmues stationary from the second chord to the third, — as does
also the tone a& in the alto part in fig. 555, I, p. 592, and so likewise in the
tenor part in fig. 555, m, p. 592.
(</.) TAe ninih, on the contrary, resolves itself at one time gradually
downward, as in fig. 555, /, p. 592, the tone eb in the base goes down to d,
and in fig. 555, k, p. 592, the tone eb in the tenor resolves itself into 3 ; — and
at another it takes a different progression, as in fig. 555, m, p. 592, where the
base makes a skip from eb to B.
§336.
(3.) In such eases as occur in fig. 556,
(Fig. 556,*.) (*.) (/.) («.)
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where, namely, after the chord in question, the step of a seventh is made either
to the previous or to a new tonic harmony,
(a.) The seventh cannot indeed go one degree downward, because such tone
of resolution does not occur in the foUowing chord :
(b,) The third, on the contrary, tends here also to move one degree
upward, as is every where the case in fig. 556, above ;
(c.) The ffth, in all these examples, exhibits a downward tendency.
Kirnberger brings forward an instance of a deviation from this rule in
fig. 557;
(Fig. 557.) KIBNBPBGEB.
but one will scarcely find in this example very much to please the ear. Such a
VOL. II. N
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594
REBOLUTIOK.
progression as occurs in fig. 55S,
(Fig. 558.)
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might rather perhaps be justifiable, on the ground of the pause which takes
place between the two harmonies. (§ 241, No. 1, p. 434.)
(d.) The ninth moves freely in all these cases, at one time remaining
stationary, and at another skipping either up or down, as in fig. 556, i^ — m,
p. 593.
It is only in such cases as occur in fig. 556, n and o, p. 593 — cases in
which the next following chord contains the tone of the same degree, chromati-
cally elevated — that the ninth cannot well move otherwise than into this tone
situated a minor second above. (§ 490.)
§337.
(4.) Also in othef' digressive harmonic progressions
(a.) The seventh tends to resolve itself gradually downward whenever
such tone of resolution is to be found in the following chord, as, for example,
in figs. 559 and 560 :
(Fig. 559.)
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(Fig. 660.)
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{b,) The third here also retains its tendency to proceed a minor second
upward, as in figs. 559 and 560 above ; unless this tone of resolution should be
wanting in the following chord.
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RESOLUTION.
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In fig. 561^ t, i, for example,
T n t F
(Fig. 661.*.)
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in the fundamental progression from the third measure to the fourth, the upper
part clearly cannot proceed from the tone Htt to e, because no e occurs in the
second harmony. And it would be equally impossible also, in the progression
from the fourth to the fifth measures of fig. 561, /, above, ibr the alto to ascend
from 7« to g.— So also in fig. 562, &c. :
(Fig. 562.)
122
O be
-or
N 2
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596
RESOLUTIOK.
(<?.) The fifths on the contrary, does not always, in such successions of
chords, necessarily proceed a minor second downward, but also sometimes
upward, as it does in the base in fig. 563 :
(Fig. 663.)
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or as it uniformly does in the second part in fig. 561, page 595.
((/.) The nmth, in such cases, for the most part continues stationary; as in
figs. 559 and 561, pp. 594 and 595, and fig. 563 above.
The progression of the ninth is free in all cases where the following harmony
does not contain the tone of the next lower degree.
§338.
(5.) But in general, so long as no harmonic step is maoey the movement of
all the before-mentioned intervals is free^ as may be seen,
(a) In tl^e case of the seventh, in fig. 564:
(Fig. 664.)
p
d^
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{b.) In that of the third, in fig. 565,—
(Fig. 565.)
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(c.) In that of the fifth, in fig. 465, above :
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RESOLUTION.
597
(d.) In that of (Ae ninth, in %. 566
(Elg.666.)
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DIVISION III.
PROORB8SION OF THE INTBKVALS OF THKEB-FOLD CHORDS.
339.
The progresaon of the intervals of three-fold chords is almost miiversally
free. I have been able to discover only a few cases in which these intervals
manifest a perceptible tendency to move in one certain direction. The cases of
this kind, most worthy of remark, are as follow :
The third of the dominant three-fold chord has nearly the same tendency as
that of the principal fonr-fold chord, to proceed one degree npward in the
harmonic step V — I or V — i, as may be seen by comparing fig. 567, t, with
fig. 567, it. •
(Fig. 567, f.) (A.) (/.)
,,, -^ # -^ ■■ -^ > , „ 1 T 1 ^ -i.
i^
It is, however, sometimes practicable, especially in middle parts, to carry
this third by a skip three degrees downward ; as in fig. 567, /, above, and in the
soprano part of fig. 568 ;
(Fig. 668.)
Andante,
TOOLER.
V7 I V7 I
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598
RESOLCTION.
and also with the insertion of an intermediate note, as in figs. 569 and 570 t
(Fig. 670.)
(Fig. 569.) FUX. C. F. E. BACH, CHORAL.
m
Still other progressions of the subsemitone by skips may sometimes also be
adopted with good effect. Thus, for example, in fig. 57],
(Fig. 571.) beetboven's sonata.
s
3=44^^ft:^^
Allegro molto.
"3"
-Q-
33c:
zr-fn
the tone ajt skips upward to d ;
(Fig. 672.)
in fig. 572,
«;V I ^;V7 I
MOZABT^S FIG ABO.
TW^'Uu^-
^^ , .1 . . I J j ft
:s=p:
?
TI II V I
the tone b skips up to e, — and in fig. 573, t,
F ». R F
(Fig. 573. t.)
VKBGOLESI.
R t
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RESOLUTION.
599
in passing firom the first to the second measure^ the tone e makes a skip upward
to ab, and subsequently the tone g goes up to c.
An example less worthy of imitation, perhaps, occurs also in fig. 573, k,
(Fig. 573, k.) PBROOLESi's stabat mater.
Voei.
where, in the second vocal part, the tone e skips down to ab.
§340.
In like manner as the third of the dominant three-fold chord, as above-
mentioned, most naturally tends, at the moment that the fundamental harmony
accomplishes the step of a fourth V — I or V — i, to move one degree upward, so
also a similar tendency of the third of the tonic harmony takes place also in the
step of a fourth I — IV or i — iv ; namely, a tendency either to move one degree
upward, as in fig. 574, t and k,
(Fig. 574,1.) (k.) (Z.) (m.) (n.) (o.) (p,) {q,)
i
♦3E
'-^'-r^
-#--♦-
S
TTg
"TTZr
or at least to move upward by a skip, as in fig. 574, / and m, above ; — but not
downward, as in fig. 574, n — g, above. This last progression is, for the most
part, admissible only in middle parts, or, if it occurs in a principal part, it
always has something queer and unusual in its effect. Fig. 575*,
(Fig. 575, t.) MT ** LYRE AND SWORD.*'
iiiii
♦ The three examples of this fig. 575 were omitted by Mr. Warner, perhaps
inadvertently.— Ed.
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600
(Fig. 575,*.)
paeo adagio.
^
'Gr-
Mnth!
RESOLUTION.
Muth!
^E
Wu icb 10
tren im Her - len
3
^f^
t
tra - ge, das muss ja dort doch e - wig
m
-zt =r
(Fig. 675, /.)
del. ^
t/ Da see - ne mich. mein Va - ter! nach-m - Bim-ffen. dud war deii
Da seg-ne mich, mein Va - ter! nach-ge - ton-gen, das war deio
§341.
This little is nearly all of any considerable importance whicb I fontid myself
able to say in relation to the definite tendency of the intervaLs of three-fold
chords. A great number of individual remarks might indeed be passed upon
the progression of this or that interval, of this or that harmony, in this or that
case. But these are all too specific, and the infinite multiplicity of them would
either fiD a thick and tedious volume, or if, in pursuance of the common method,
we were to take them in the gross and embody them in a few general prin-
ciples, the latter would be as false and deceptive as are so many other general
rules of the same stamp, whose incorrectness we have had occasion to become
acquainted with in the course of our previous inquiries.
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RESOLUTION.
601
REMARK.
Thus, for example, the circumstance that, in the progression of the ftindamental
harmony by the step of a fourth, the third of the three-fold chord of the fifth or of the
first degree inclines to ascend one degree ($§ 339 and 340, pp. 597 and 599) has indaced
a theorist at once to lay it down as a mle, that wherever a three-fold chord goes up a
fourth or down a fifth to another three-fold chord, its third must be treated in the same
manner as the leading note of the principal four-fold chord, i. e. most be made to
ascend one degree. See A. F. C. Kollmann's Practical Guide to Thorough-Bfiss,
Chap. 8, § 3 : ** When the fundamental concord ascends four or five degrees to another
fundamental concord, its third must be treated as a leading note in the chord of the
seventh ;'* — a position which is reftited by the very first glance at the examples here-
tofore quoted. (Figs. 567, 568—573, 574, ^, pp. 597—599.)
Of a similar character is the rather commonly received doctrine that the fifth of a
diminished three-fold chord must always be resolved one degree downward ; the very
opposite of which so plainly appears from the examples in fig. 576 :
(Fig« 576, t.) (Fig. 576, k,) kirnbeboeb.
^
Et
U
J A J. A .,
m
m
Tr=!
^
i
m
'^
23F
±
■ i^lJ'llnll
and in Bg, 606. (Oompare the remark on § 324, p. 571.)
After all, I pass over a host of other like rules current among music-teacheiB,
because I am already too weary of refuting obvious fiUse doctrines, over which a conquest
is but too easily won, and which would long since have been out of vogue, if, instead of
for ever implicitly re-echoing them, musicians had only remembered to institute the
inquiry, whether that which had been taught was true? an inquiry which, it would
seem, the readers of such theorists hitherto'have never allowed themselves to propose. —
(Compare remark on § 99, p. 220.)
DIVISION IV.
PROOBBSSION OF TBANSITION-TOKES.
§342.
The progression of transition-tones rests upon the general principle, that
every such tone, as a secondary tone to its principal, tends to resolve itself into
the latter.
The more specific development of this principle will form a part of the
following eighth chapter.
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603
TRANSITION-tOME«.
CHAPTER VIII.
TRANSITION- TONES.
DIVISION I.
THEIR NATURE.
(A.) IN GENERAL.
§343.
In treating of the transformation of harmonies (§ 96), we spoke in general
terms of the doctrine of transitions, without, however, exhausting the subject ;
since it would have been necessary to suppose a previous acquaintance with too
much of the doctrine of keys, of fundamental progressions and of modulation,
and even of the progression and resolution of harmonic intervaLs. But now,
having gone over all these matters, we can, without difficulty, treat the subject
of transitions, both in a general point of view and in reference to their particular
progressions.
The doctrine of transitions rests, as we have already remarked in the place
above-mentioned, on the following general principles.
A part f immediately before giving an harmonic tone, mag first give a tone
which is a mqfor or a minor degree higher or lower y even though it be a tone
foreign to the harmony. In fig. 577,
.R
f
(Fig. 577i.)
4-
P
AJl
the upper part, before giving the fundamental fifth 7, gives the c)t immediately
preceding it, which does not belong to the fundamental harmony ® ; so too, in
the next measure, the tone a, a tone foreign to the harmony, is prefixed to the
fundamental tone g. The part, as it were, goes through the foreign tone ^ to
the harmonic tone d^ and, similarly, through a to g. Accordingly, such a foreign
tone, through which a part proceeds to another tone, is called by the general
term transition-tone, transition, or transition-fwte ; and sometimes also fore-
note, on account of its being struck before the principal tone. It is, therefore,
in its own nature, an unessential tone, a tone not necessarily belonging to the
harmony, is no harmonic interval, but is a mere accidental melodic ornament.
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THEIR NATURE.
60d
It is simply a piece of melodic embroidery, not belonging to the fundamental
harmony^ a mere subordinate tone to the one to which it is prefixed, which latter
is, therefore, properly termed, in contradistinction to it, the principal tone,
principal note, or essential note. In short, a transition is nothing more nor
less than a tone foreign to the harmony, interwoven into the textnre of a part,
a tone whose existence has reference only to the following one. That it is
always a dissonant lone, scarcely needs to be remarked. (Compare §§ 96 — 99,
pp. 218—225. See also § 383.)
Before going farther into the doctrine of transitions, we will first improve
our acqaaintanoe with them by means of some additional examples.
In Fig. 578, k.
(rig.678,».)
p
SE
(Fig. 678,*.)
B ^ F T
P
B ».F
:*t?
*-R^F^F*'"^«»*'"»^-*'
^
xx
(Fig. 578, 1.)
B T F T
B F t B
P
*
B B B FT
J=l*=l V:|jqjqjqj'|1ffln''!l'qdffl'qsgi
^
:^
the second tone d~ of the upper part evidently does not belong to the harmony
®. Hence it does not constitute an harmonic interval, and ito existence can be
explained and justified only by regarding it as a transition to the following
harmonic tone e7 In like manner, the F between e and g is to be explained
and justified only as being an accessory tone to the following g; and in a
similar manner are to be explained all the remaining tones in this example
which are marked by diagonal strokes, all being only secondary tones, mere
ornamente foreign to the harmony, and incidental gamishings of the principal
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604
TRAN8ITI0N-T0HS8.
tones that come after them. Thus the entire phrase Jt is nothing bat a dressbg
np of the phrase t (which consists solely of tones belonging to the harmony),
and is produced by a melodic embellishment of the upper part. If we suppose
these notes to be absent, there will remain only the dry skeleton /.
Such^ too, is the case with the phrase in fig. 579, t,
(Pig.679,f.)
j^^
(*.)
^^^^
nMJ
i
r -T-
consisting solely of harmonic notes, and which m Jt ia interwoyen with transi-
tions in the upper part. A similar relation exists between the phrases in fig.
580, t and k,
(Fig. 580, t.;
-4-
rhas, ;h^^^
i
m
^=^P=*^
^
f
and alao between those in fig. 581, «' and i,
(Fig.681,».) (*.)
where transitions a[^ear in the bass part. In like miumer, fig. 582, i.
M
(Fig.588,<.)
t r 8 F F
(A.)
BtE « tE E<*t^R B t*»
consuts of harmonic notes, while in k transitions are interwoven through
three parts. So, too, fig. 583, k, p. 605, is a mere embellishment of the
in fig. 583, i:
(Fig.583,».)
JJuU
R
all the
phrase
■{;<^^ft
M d ^
j^
-^%9^
^^
M-JU-=ebrt
^
-\.
rrl
^i '^ ^ %^
5
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TABIOUB MODES OF TBKIB OCCUBBENCE.
605
<Fig.S83,*.)
Ml
which consists exdusiyely of harmonic tones. This, on heing deprived of its
transient omamentSy appears again as a hare skeleton, as in fig. 583, / :
(Fig. 583,/.)
JL-i
Very similar to the example just adduced, is fig. 584, k :
(Fig. 584, t.) MOZART. (A.)
Op. CoH fan tuUL
Introd. Andante,
(I.)
^^^^^^fe
gifrrrl ^' |°E(t);r^.rr|r^ P' ^
-TV
as is shown hy a similar dissection of it in fig. 584, t and /, ahove.
Fig. 585, f , kf is of a similar kind :
(Fig. 585, t.)
Qi) MOZABT^S vioLnr quartst.
p^w^^"^
(B.) TRANSITIONS OF A SUBORDINATE RANK.
§ 344.
In like manner as an essential tone of a harmony may he preceded hy a
transition-tone, so abo may every transition-tone itself he preceded hy another
and snhordinate transition-tone.
This last will then appear as a transition to a transition, a tra$i9%Hon f>f
the second grade^ a note snhordinate to a snhordinate note ; which latter is
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606
TRANSITION-TONES.
consequently to be regarded in relation to the former as a principal note, tbat
is to say, as a principal fwte of the second rank : e. g, in fig. 586,
(Fig. 586.)
OTl.*TrJ.
^
the tones a and 7 are foreign to the fundamental harmony C and their presence
can be justified only by considering the b as a transition to c, and the a again
as a transition to the transition b. Consequently b is here a transition of the
first grade and subordinate to c ; while "a is subordinate to the subordinate
note b, and is thus a transition of the second grade. Thus, b, although in
reality and in relation to c^ a subordinate note, is a principal note in relation
to the subordinate note of the second grade a, or, in other words, is a principal
note of the second rank. In like manner, the tone a, in the second measure of
the same example, appears as a transition to g, and b again as a transition to
the transition-tone a.
It will readily be perceived, that, whenever the distance between two inter-
vals separated by a fourth, e, g, fi'om the fifth of a three-fold chord upward
to its key-note, or from the latter downward to the former, is to be filled out
with intermediate notes, two such transition tones will be required, the first of
which wlQ always be a transition of the second rank.
Such transitions of an inferior rank occur also in other cases ; as, e, g, in
fig. 587.
(Fig. 587.)
p
^Sr
m
^=^
£E
the tones B and a (viz. a as transition to the following harmonic tone b, and
the first C as a transition to the transition tone a) ; and so also in fig. 588,
(Fig. 588.) ^^
p
the tones 1^ and ^—the latter as a subordinate tone to K, and (^ as subor-
dinate to the tone e. In fig. 589, t.
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VARIOUS MODES 0» TB«IR OCCURRENCE.
607
(Fig. 589. ».)
%
i.-^.ijTjnj.^^U^ijjJT]
i
ft
11
n
I
tlieie is a transition of even a third grade ; namely, the g of the second measure
as a transition to the harmonic tone ^the a as a transition of the second
grade to g — and the F as a transition of the third grade to the transition of
the second grade a.
DIVISION II.
DIFFERENT WAYS IN WHICH TRANSITION-TONES MAY OCCUR.
§345.
Having exhibited in the preceding secticm the nature of transition in general,
and of transitions of the first, second, and even still subordinate grades in
particular, we will now investigate and distinguish more precisely the several
ways, how, and drcumstances in which, transitions may occur ; and will likewise
endeavour to ascertain how fkr transitions, under such and such circumstances,
will sound better or worse, pleasing or unpleasing to the ear.
(A.) TRANSITIONS TO INTERVALS OF THE PRESENT OR OF THE FOLLOWING
BARMONT.
§ 346.
A transition-tone is a transition to an interval of the present harmony^ at
to one of iixe /oUowinff harmony; or, in other words, the principal note to
which the transition-tone relates is either an interval of the harmony during
the continuance of which it is heard as a subordinate tone, or it is an interval of
the harmony which follows. In fig. 590, t,
(Rg.69a,».)
(Rg.69a,».) (AO
J fifrfti'¥rfrf'„y^
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608
TRANSITION-TONES.
the first tone "S is a transition to c, that is, to the fundamental tone of the
harmony ®, during whose continuance the "3 makes its appearance. In like
manner, all the remaining transitions of this example are transitions to intervals
of that harmony during which they make their appearance; thus the tone
Tis a transition to e, which latter is a fundamental third of the harmony ®,
during which the 7 is heard as a transition, &c. In fig. 591,
(Fig. 691, t.) (*.)
^P
^s
$
T3L
p3
s
'^g^
-O.
'35^
*
^
on the contrary, the tone ^ is a suhordinate tone to a, which latter is an inter-
val, not of the present harmony ®, hut of the following harmony ;ff ; and
so too in the second measure, the tone e forms a transition to the fundamental
tone ? of the next following chord |B.
So likewise, in fig. 592,
^^m
^^if^
n
the tone h constitutes a transition to the tone c^ of the following chord ;ff ;
cit is a transition to d, the third of the following harmony |8b ; and f]t is a
transition to g, the fifth of the following harmony C.
§347.
The difference between the two species of transition is as follows. Transi-
tions to intervals of the present harmony have place where otherwise their
principal tones should stand, as will appear on a comparison of t and k of the
preceding fig. 590, p. 607. They, accordingly, represent for a moment their
principal tone, they perform for a while its ofiice, and may, therefore, properly
he termed representative tones, representative intervals for, rather, not intervals,
hut representatives of intervals) ; or, as transitions are always dissonances (§§ 101
and 343), they may likewise he called representative dissonances, — although
we shall presently find that usage has restricted this appellation to a, particular
species of such transitions (§ 430, No. 1). A transition, however, to an interval
of the following harmony could not, in like manner, he called a representa-
tive tone. Thus it would not he proper to say that b, in fig. 591, above,
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LIGHT AND HEAVY TBAN8ITI0N-T0NE8. 609
supplies the place of its principal tone a ; for, where the transient b stands,
its principal tone a would by no means have a place, since it does not
belong to the harmony ® at all. The tone \ therefore, cannot be here re-
garded as representing a, and consequently cannot be called a representative
tone, — ^neither can e be called a representative of the tone dl
§348.
The division of passing notes into transitions to intervals of the present and
of the following harmony, may be applied also to transitions of an inferior
grade. In the preceding fig. 586, p. 606, the transitions a and ¥ of the first
and second rank both relate to the harmonic tone c*, which is an interval of the
same harmony during the continuance of which the transitions are heard ; and
this applies to the tone b and a of the second measure also. On the contrary,
in fig. 587, p. 606, the transition-tones C and a relate to the tone "B of the
following measure, and, hence, to an interval of the following harmony 9SP *
So, too, in the preceding fig. 589, t, p. 607> the transitions \ and a ultimately
relate to the tone % which constitutes a part only of the following harmony Q ;
and the same remark applies to the tones 1i, a, ab> in k. Accordingly, in k^ the
last three eighth-notes of the first measure are transitions to the fimdamental
third r of the following harmony H, while the first two of the fi)llowing measure
are transitions to an interval of that harmony during whose continuance they
appear. That is to say, they all relate, as has several times been observed, to
the single harmonic note ^ to which they mediately or immediately incline.
Consequently, they are all immediate or mediate transitions to this tone X
which is an harmonic interval of the harmony 0 that appears in the second
measure. But only the tones g and gb sound during the harmony Qf, and
therefore these only are grace-notes to an interval of the harmony during
which they are produced ; while, on the contrary, F, a, ab sound during the
harmony 4C> to which the tone T does not belong at all, but forms a part of
the following harmony Qf. In fig. 589, /, p. 607, F, ^, a, ab constitute a
transition to the following harmony. (Compare § 449).
§ 349.
We may remark, in passmg, that an interval whose place is occupied for
a while by a representative tone, is not to be considered as omitted during
this time (§ 71) ; and consequently, e. g. in fig. 593,
(Fig. 593.) I 1,1.
-Gh-
n en
ZIXL
VOL. II.
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610
TRAN8ITI0K-T0NK8.
where, during the entire first half of the second measure, the third of the tonic
harmony is not heard, but only its representative tone Sjt? there is nothing
contradictory to the rule of amisston stated in § 73.
(B.) SHORT AND LONG TRANSITIONS.
§350.
Transitions are sometimes of short, and at other times of long duration ; or,
in other words, the principal note either appears directly after the subordinate
note, or it remains longer absent.
In the examples already cited, we have seen, for the most part, brief tran-
sitions, consisting of sixteenth or eighth-notes. The transitions of the first,
second, and third measures of fig. 5S3, k, p. 605, are, however, of longer
duration; and those of the fifth and sixth measures are longer stiD, as also
those in fig. 584, k, p. 605.
§351.
A transition is, of course, more sensible and more striking, the longer it
lasts ; that is to say, the longer the principal tone to which it relates remains
absent; whUe transitions which would otherwise be disagreeably conspicuous
are prevented from offending the ear by the shortness of their continuance.
Thus, for instance, Mozart, in the quintet of the second act of the Zauber-
flOte, wrote, without hesitation^ the transitions in fig. 594,
(Fig. 594.) MOZART^S ZAUBERPLOTZ.
^
:J=i
f=r=
which are perfectly similar to the much more harshly sounding ones in fig.
595, but which, from being passed over so quickly, in the former case, produce
there by no means a disagreeable effect.
(Fig, 595.)
(^
s
f^^
i
-^x?^
V
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LIQHT AND HEAVY TRANSITION-TONES. 611
(C.) LIOHT AND HEAVT TRANSITIONS.
§ 352.
A second and not nnimportant distinction between transitions, depends on
whether the subordinate note appears on a heavier division of the measure than
the principal note, or on a lighter one.
In fig. 578, k, p. 603, in the first measure, all the transitions are intrinsi-
cally lighter than the harmonic notes, while in the second measure the contrary
is the case. In the foregoing fig. 584, k, p. 605, the transient c'is heavier
than the following b, &c.
Many teachers consider the term transition-note as properly applicable to
such oidj as occur on lighter parts of the measure than their principal notes ;
those which fiill on heavier parts they call ehanging^notes. Others prefer to
call those of the former kind regular, and those of the latter irregular transi-
tion-noles; although in what the irregularity consists, I confess I do not
understand. There are others, again, who understand, by regular and irregular
transitions, something quite different.*
In consequence of such variations in their use, all these technical terms are
ambiguous, and consequently of no use to us, except the single term changing"
note. For, as no one understands by this expression any thing else than a
transition note which appears on a heavier part of the measure than the prin-
cipal note, there can be no objection to our employing the name changing-note
for the designation of such a tone. We might, moreover, with equal propriety
call such a tone a heavy transition, and those transition-notes, on the contrary,
which fall on the light parts of the measure, light transitions, light grace-notes,
tight transition-notes.
§353.
The dividing of transitions into light and heavy is not quite sufficient for the
designation of all possible cases of transition, considered in this point of view ;
for, in fact, transitions occur, concerning which we cannot say with certainty
whether they should be considered as changing-notes or light transitions. This
is the case, for instance, in three-fold time, where, as is known, two light parts
follow one afi«r the other (§ LXVI) ; so that in fig. 577, p. 602, for example,
one cannot say positively whether the tone cj should be called lighter or
heavier than the following d.
This is also the case when the transition-note forms a syncopation, and,
although beginning on a light part of the measure, is continued into the follow-
ing heavy part; as, for example, in fig. 577^, p. 602. Here the transitiomi
cjt and a cannot with certainty be called either changing-notes or light transitions.
* e»g. Koch, in his Ardeiiung tur Composition,
o
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TBANSITI0K-T0KE9
So^ too, in fig. 596, i,
(Fig. 696, t.)
12 3
IVI I IilV I
(Fig. 596, A.)
in the two upper parts, the intermediate notes T and H in the second measure
are doubtless light transitions; and, with equal certainty, those in the third
measure are heayier than their principal notes g and e, and are consequently
changing-notes. In the fourth measure, however, they are, so to speak, both
light and heavy. So, again, in the fifth measure, the intermediate notes e and c
are doubtless light transitions, while those in the seventh measure are equi-
vocal— as also are those in the eighth measure. Moreover, if such transitions
be broken up into separate notes or separated by rests, &c., as in fig. 596, k,
above (compare § 38), it becomes still less certain whether they are to be
regarded as light transitions or as preparatory changing-notes.
§354.
It lies in the nature of the case, that heavy transitions should sound
somewhat more harshly than light ones, inasmuch as they are more strongly
accented, falling as they do, upon the heavier part of the measure, and robbing
the principal note of its accentuation, and consequently they sound more boldly,
as it were, than others which are passed over more lightly. Hence, e, g, in
fig. 597,
(Fig. 597.)
p
\ i> III r^ ^ — V
% % ^^ %
the two transition-notes ^ in the first measure do not sound near so harshly as
those in the second, inasmuch as the former are merely light transition-notes,
while the latter appear in the character of heavy transitions.
(D.) TRANSITIONS IN SEVERAL PARTS AT ONCE.
§355.
That transitions occur now in the upper part, now in the base, and again in
the middle parts, may have been remarked from the examples already adduced,
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IN SEVERAL PARTS AT ONCE.
613
as also that they not unfrequently occur in several parts at once. Thus, for
instance, in fig. 596, p. 612, and in fig. 598,
T^T'^R^R T^R
FT R T
i§i-h=¥H^
B
R
F
e
B
©7
traomtions i^pear in two parts, and in fig. 599,
(Fig.S99.)
Hilrr
R
in four parts at once. (Compare § 464.)
§356.
Acoordingly, it may happen, that to one and the same tone^ two secondary
notes may be prefixed at the same time, viz. one from above and one from below
it ; or vice versA, that the tone of one and the same degree may occur as
secondary tone to two principal notes at the same time ; viz. as a secondary
tone from below to the next tone standing above it, or as a secondary tone from
above to the next lower note.
Fig. 600 may serve as a specimen of the first-mentioned instance :
(Fig. 600.)
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614
TRAN8IT10N-T0NES
Here the upper part goes through the tone 9^ which is foreign to the harmony,
to c ; while, in the second part, the same c^ is preceded hy the secondary tone F.
So, too, in the second measure, the principal note ^ is preceded by secondary
tones both from above and below. The same is the case. in fig. 599, p. 613.
Again, as a specimen of the second case above-mentioned, we see that in fig.
601, in the third measure, the transition tone c is prefixed to the tone 3, and the
secondary tone cj to bb. Here, as it were, one and the same tone (c or c)
serves as a transition to two difierent principal tones (to d^ and to bb).
(Fig. 601.)
I I
^4^-^i
i-'i- i i\i i
'SB
jS^
BE
33:
J
5E
In such cases, a tone of one and the same degree may appear in a twofold
form, produced by chromatic alteration, as an introduction to two principal
tones ; as, e. g. in fig. 585, t, p. 605, the tone f j{ occurs as a secondary tone tol
and f]t at the same time as secondary tone to g. (Compare § 384, and what
follows.)
357.
When two parts, interwoven with transition-notes, have a parallel movement
(§ 45), this may take place in two different ways : namely, either so that the
principal notes occur in both parts at the same time, as in figs. 602, 603, &c.
(Fig. 602.)
R
p
(Fig. 603.)
llOSSINI.
or else, so that while one part gives a principal note, the other has a secondary
note, and vice vers4, as is the case in fig. 604 :
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IN BROKEN PB0eBB88ION8.
615
(Fig. 604.)
T ,
R
B »» % F *• T
n
:Jlc3B:
R
Here, at the third quarter-note, the npper part has the key-note of the funda-
mental hannouy <K, while the second part has a transition to the fifth. At the
next quarter-note, however, the upper part has a secondary tone, (and that too
of the second class), and the second part has the fundamental fifth. At the
fifth quarter-note, which follows, hoth parts again have transition-tones together
(unless, indeed, we choose to consider them as essential intervals of a transient
jT-harmony).
§358.
It is certainly more harsh when several parts at the same time are inter-*
woven with transitions, than when such is the case with one part only ; hut,
that transitions may appear in several parts together without producing a
disagreeable effect, is proved by several of the examples given above, as, for
mstance, that of fig. 599, p. 613. (Compare § 501.)
(£.) TRANSITIONS IN BROKEN PROaBESSIONS.
§359.
Not nnfrequently, too, we find transitions in broken progressions. These
may consist either of common breakings, as in fig. 605,
(Fig. 606.)
or of part-breakings (§ 24), so that one breaking part may represent several
broken ones, in whose melody transitions are interwoven, as in fig. 606, t,
(Fig. 606, i.)
C.V T V7
in which the upper part represents two broken upper parts, as ia ^, in the
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616
TBANSl TION-TOMES
melody of which several transition-tones are interwoven.' In like manner^ fig.
607, k,
(Flg.607.».) ^ (k.)
-^ n ^ >
P^& r' " '^^' 'g> ^ '
'a^
1
H
I
represents two broken parts proceeding by transitions, as in tl Also fig. 608, i,
(Flg.fl08,t.)
^
sj^^^mj
5=it*
:*»
may be regarded as a breaking np of three parts, as in fig. 608, i,
(Fig. 608,*.) ^
-♦-»-
=«F
^
3E^E
^
:if"
:«*:
hy conceiving to ourselves three parts appearing one after the other, each
of which, hefore sounding the harmonic tone, prefaces it hy a transition. The
same is true also of fig. 609 :
(Fig. 609, t.)
XinNBEBGEB.
a'Hrrrffffi'R^r^g^
EE
a:
°L ^
(Fig. 609,*.)
-&r-
-©»-
3u_
33:
■ c 1
^^^
J3, -Q- X2.
3z:
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SmULTANKOUS WITH THE PBINCIPAL TOHK.
617
In fig. 610, k,
(Fig.610.».) (*.)
_-- — !MI , ir=n . .. — sat.
»* ■ 1^ « H
u\s i^^^^^_^.u^u-tu
±
the two broken bwer parts of fig. 610, t, are interwoven and bound together by
means of transition-notes.
(F.) THE PRINCIPAL TONS SOUNDINO AT THE SAME TIME WITH ITS
8EC0NDABT TONE.
§360.
We have seen ahready^ in the preceding examples of transitions to intervals
of the present harmony, that not nnfireqnently a secondary note is prefixed to
an interval of a harmony while this same interval is heard a/ (he sa$ne time in
another part ; e. g. in fig. 611, iy
%
(Fig.6Il,».)
J J'l.J iTiJ
m. m ■■■'■■■
rT="r=r=T=f
(Fig. 611,*.)
■ JJ». J.J.
^to
lU;Jfi J|iiJf; ;ijp=?
p
(Fig. 611,/.)
^J-A-J
^
=£:^^^
f^
m the upper part, the transition tone a is pnt before the fiindamental tone g,
while the fundamental tone g is sounded in the second part. In like manner,
the following It is accompanied by g, $ by d, 1^ by J, &c. The same occurs
in fig. 612 :
(Fig. 612, t.) (*.)
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TRANSITION-TONES
ii{rj'^CTfii.ii{nJ?ir|
f*^
So, too, in fig. 613,
(Fig. 613.)
mozabt's violin quabtett.
1
in the third measure, a appears in the upper part as secondary tone to g, while
g itself sounds in the third part.
Again, in the same measure, a is taken in this third part as secondary
tone to b, while B itself is sounding in the base ; and during the farther con-
tinuance of this base tone B, the second part, and then again the third, give
the tone a as a secondary tone to F. Compare the same in measures 7 and 8.
(Compare § 466 bts.)
In the above example, 611, «, p. 617, the g, occurring without a preceding
secondary note, lies in a lower octave than the transient a ; so, too, the trao-
sient Tit is higher than the simultaneously sounding g. The same is the case
in fig. 612, t, p. 617.
An harmonic interval may however be struck in the same octave with the
secondary tone which it accompanies, as is seen in figs. 611, k, and 612, k,
p. 617.
§361.
It always sounds more harshly when the principal tone is heard simulta-
neously with the secondary tone, than when this is not the case Thus, for
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SIMULTANEOUS WITH THE PRINCIPAL TONE. 619
instance, the foregoing fig. 611, t and k, and fig. 61!^, i and k, will be found
to sound altogether more harshly than fig. 611, /, and fig. 612, /, n, where such
a simultaneous sounding of the prindpal tone with its secondary tone is avoided
by leaving out the former.
But especially does such a sounding of transitions at the same time with the
principal tone produce a harsh efiect, when the principal tone is heard in the
very same octave with them, so that it sounds not only simultaneously with the
secondary tone, but also close to it.
The simultaneous sounding, however, of the principal tone with its secondary
tone produces the least degree of harshness, when the former is the/undamental
tone of the harmony ; as, e. g. in the first measure of 611, t, p. 617. The effect
produced by the concurrence of a secondary tone with another interval, is less
agreeable ; as, e, g, with the fundamental fifth, as in the second measure ; while
with the third, as in the third measure, it is still more offensive.
Thus, too, in fig. 614, iy
(Fig. 614,..)
^^^,
{*.)
^££!ftiL'ti^
the transition-tones b and K do not sound harshly in conjunction with the funda-
mental C in the base ; but let the latter note be replaced by the fundamental
third E in the base as in tV,
(Fig 614, tt.)
^sm^ma^^
i
and it will at once be felt how much more harshly the extraneous tones 3
and T sound in conjunction with this £. A like difference in effect will be found
to be produced in fig. 614, kk^
(Fig. 614, A*.)
by putting e in the upper part in the place of c!
This may also be the reason why the before-mentioned transitions in the
example fig. 613, in the fourth and eighth measures, are not pleasing to the ear.
(Compare § 466 bis.)
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e^O TBAN8IT(0N-T0ME8
Furthermore) such a concnrrenoe of a secondary with its prindpal toDe
sounds somewhat more harshly in so-called semiionie transitions (§ 366)^ than
in those of a whole tone [major second]. It will readily be felt that, in fig.
611, i, p. 6 17, Tit sounds more harshly in conjunction with g^ than does a^^
that in the second measure eb and <di are harsher with d^ and that in the third,
a is harsher with bb than is c!
(0.) TRANSITION-TONES STRUCK SIHULTAKEOUBLT WITH HARMONIC-TONES.
§362.
We find, moreover, on examining the different Idnds of tranntions, that in
some instances the transient tone is struck ai the same time with others beUmg-
ing to the harmony, while in other instances this is not the case. In fig. 615, t,
(Fig.615,».) (*.)
the intervals of the fimdamental harmony are strudc at the same time with the
transitions c^ and a, while in /: it is not so.
A like simultaneous striking of the harmonic notes with a secondary note
will be found in fig. 611, s ^'^ Ag- 612, i, p. 617.
So, too, in the second measure of fig. 613, p. 618, the tone a is struck in
the upper part and c in the base, at the same time with g, which [g] appears
like a transition to it \ and again in the third measure, where the two transition-
tones a and c)t sound together (§ 358), the transition-tone cit is struck simul-
taneously with the harmonic tones B and g of the lower parts. This is again
the case in measures 6 and 7. (Compare § 466 bis.)
§363.
Every tf ansition sounds altogether more harshly when struck at the same
time with harmonic notes. Hence, e. g. the transitions in fig. 612, k and /,
pp. 617 and 618, sound far more harshly than those in m and n; and those in
fig. 613 are also rather harsh. (Compare § 466 his?)
Such increased harshness becomes doubly perceptible when thai very interval
to which the transition relates is struck at the same time with it, so that both
principal and secondary tone are not only heard simuUaneously, but are also
struck simultaneously ; as, e. g. in fig. 611, i, k, and fig. 612, t^ k, p. 617 ; and
also in fig. 616, k — o,
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aXBUOK WITH HARMONIC TONES.
6%1
(Fig. 616,,-.) (*.)
(*.) (O («»•) («) <fl.)
f ? r"rrr"' '^ , . ,
(but not so in t, where T occors as a secondary tone, not to "g, but to J, which "e
is not heard at the same time with it).
It is firom this caose, that in fig. 617, t.
(Fig. 617,*.)
Alio, ctm brw.
±
BBETHOYXN.
rpjiJz
3^:
S
-^^—
nnTi./jTinT], rF]Jii]
f
the second and third measures, as they here stand, sound more smoothly and
softly than if the middle parts were written, say, as in fig. 617, k :
(Fig. 617,*.) ^
In this latter case, the seventh eighth-note of the second measure— fS, in the
upper part, which forms a transition to g, concurs in such a manner with the
harmonic tone g in the middle part, that they are both struck at precisely the
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62S TBAK8ITI0N T0KB8
same time ; which sounds much more harshly than as it stands in t^ where this
Fs does indeed concur with an harmonic tone, namely, the U> of the middle
part, hut not with the g itself. So too in k, in the following measure, ab, as
secondary tone to g, is struck at the same time with g, which again is ayoided
in u
And hence we have a further reason why, in the third and fourth measures
of fig. 613, p. 618, the secondary notes to h and & sound so harshly in conjunc-
tion with the 6 in the hase, which is each time struck anew (compare § 466 bis) ;
and why fig. 612, t, p. 617, sounds more harshly than in m, where the principal
note e is not struck each time.
DIVISION III.
WHAT TONES MAT BE STRUCK AS SECONDARY TONES BEFORE A
PRINCIPAL TONE.
§364.
Although we have seen, firom what precedes, that a principal tone may he
preceded at one time hy this and at another time hy that secondary tone, yet
no one will imagine that any tone taken at pleasure may be struck before a
principal tone. Indeed, the fimdamental principle stated in § 343, points out
restrictions which we will now endeavour to investigate and to define as clearly
as possible.
(A.) TRANSITIONS FROM BELOW AND FROM ABOVE.
§365.
With respect to the directum in which a part proceeds irom a secondary to
a principal note, transitions are either transitions from below or Jrom iibove;
that is to say, the secondary tone may be either a lower or a higher tone than
the principal one. (§ 343.)
(B.) TRANSITIONS BT MINOR SECONDS AND BT MAJOR SECONDS.
§366.
As it respects the magnitude of the interval through which a part proceeds
in passing from a secondary tone to a principal one, transitions are either those
of a minor or those of major second, or, in other words, the secondary tone some-
times stands at the distance of a minor degree from its principal tone, and at
other times at that of a major degree. (§ 343.) Transitions of the former
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▲T A DISTANCE OF MAJOR AHD MINOB SBOOKIMl 623
species are called minar second transitions^ wbik those of the hitter species are
denominated major second transitions, (Compare §§ XXXVI and XXXVIII.)
Bat a transition which should he still farther from its principal tone than
a minor or major degree^ would no longer appear to the ear to he used as a
secondary tone ; it cooM no longer he called a tone lying next to the principal
tone (§ 343) y but would he at too great a distance to enter into a close connec-
tion with it If) for example, in fig. 618, «,
T ^ R 8 ^ F ^ jj i^F T (A.)
we should put the tone a in the place of the minor second transition h, the
former tone heing a minor third from the principal tone c^--and should suhsti-
tute the tone "e for the following fore-note "cjt, as in k — the ear would infallibly
he offended by transitions of such a character.
(C.) TRANSITIONS BBLONGINe TO THE SAME SCALE, AND TBANSITI0N8 FOBEIGN
TO THE SCALE.
§ 367.
A fiirther distinction between transitions is grounded on the relation of
the transient note to the scale of the key within whose province it appears.
Transition-tones, as must have been perceived from the preceding examples,
sometimes belong to the scale and sometimes are foreign to it; or, in other
words, the tone which forms a transition to a principal tone is sometimes used
as it stands in the key on which the harmony is founded; as, e, g, in figs. 614,
615, 616, &c. — and sometimes otherwise ; viz. chromatically raised or lowered,
as is the case with the tones '^, afi, Ttf, and 3jt, in fig. 608, «, p. 616. Fore-
notes of this kind may properly be termed chromatic fore-notes, and their
chromatic alteration may he called an accidental elevation or depression.
(Compare § 144.)
The chromatically altered fore-notes mentioned above were all transitions of
the first rank. But we find also, among transitions foreign to the scale, those
of a subordinate rank. In fig. 619,
C is a transition to c, and this 1^ is preceded by the foreign tone a]{, as a tran-
sition of the second rank.
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624
So, too, in fig. 620,
TRANSITION TONES
(Fig. 620.)
p
git serves as a transidoa of the first rank to the harmonic tone a, while T% which
precedes gJt; is a foreign transition of the second rank, to git ; and again in the
second measure of the same example, gt|> foreign to the scale, is a transition
of the saoond rank to the following Z In fig. 621,
(Fig. 621.)
^p^^
3t!Z±
tJ:
the tone g8» which is foreign to the scale, constitutes a transition of the third
class.
§368.
A transition-tone may also be first sounded as it stands in the scale, and
afterward9 he brougkty by ckromaiic aUercUiony nearer to the principal note ;
thus, e. y., in fig. 622,
(Fig. 622.)
p
r-^-^^-^
the tone^ which serves as a transition to e, is converted into 'Si immediately
before e ; so that, between the two harmonic notes c and e, we have two inter-
mediate notes, instead of one.
The same occurs in fig. 623,
(Fig. 623.)
^
fiATDN.
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IN THE 8CALR AND FORBION TO THE SCALE.
625
where the tone T on the fifth line, which is a fore-note to the third, g, of the
harmony ffy, appears first in its natural form, and is then elevated so as to
approach still nearer to its principal tone g.
This is also the case in fig. 624,
(Fig. 624.)
in the second measure of which, e, a secondary tone to the essential fifth K of
the harmony ^7, is hronght still nearer to this latter hy being changed into
%. In like manner a, in the fourth measure, which is a transition to the fifth,
g, becomes converted into lib, in order, before passing into its principal note g,
to approximate nearer to it.
Thus, too, in fig. 625, «,
(Fig. 626,1.)
§369.
p
^
iV\\S:sn.
Ttwt^iSJ
(Fig. 626,*.)
^±
(I)
J ,k7it-k
I ■•■
:§:
f
m
nrrfrrr
mn
r r ""rn'
mT2
in the first measure, the foreign tones ^, J, Hjt, standing between Fand e, may
be explained and justified as follows : cT is a transition to e, but before passing
into the principal note e, it is brought, by chromatic elevation, nearer to the
latter ; while ctf is a foreign transition, of the second order, to the transient 3l
In the second measure of the same example, the transition-tone a is brought,
by chromatic elevation, nearer to the harmonic tone b ; while gJI is a transition
of the second class, viz. a transition to the transition a.
In fig. 626,
(Fig. 626.)
p
fjTT^^ JbTTgr-ri
^
W
in the second measure, three tones foreign to the harmony are struck between
VOL. IT. P
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626
TRAK8ITI0K-T0KE8
g and '5 ; nnoe s, vhicb ocean as a transition to g, is first brought nearer
its principal tone, by being chromatically depressed into ah, while tb is a chro-
matically depressed transition, of the second grade, to the transient note a.
In fig. 627,
(Fig. 627.)
"^
in the first measare, between the bannonic tones 6 and e, four transient notes
are heard, viz. G^, A, AS, B. These may be explained by regarding A and
B as transitions of the second and first rank, and by considering Git as a tran-
sition of the third rank to A, and AS as a chromatic approximation of the
transient A to the transition-tone 6 of the first rank. Then again the foUowing
c is an harmonic tone, cS is a transition of the second class to the transition of the
first class d ; which last, before going into the harmonic degree e, is chroma-
tically approximated to it as dtf. The next following f is a transition of the
first order to the following g, but is changed before passing into its principal
note, into fS. In the following measure, GS is a transition of the second, and
A of first rank, which last, before passing over, is converted into AS ; B is an
harmonic tone, and c a transition to d, which, however, is previously changed
into cS* Afi;er d, the essential fifth, follows dS as a fore-note of the second
class to the introductory note of the second rank e ; f is the seventh of the
fundamental harmony, and f S a fore-note to the following fundamental tone g.
In such and similar ways, a still greater number of foreign tones may be
introduced in immediate and uninterrupted succession. Thus, e, g. in fig. 628,
(Fig. 628.) R
p
Jf^ ^^^,-M z?^ -^
Wnr*-
^
the series of tones 7, Bb, a, lb, g, gb, are all transient ; namely, g is a tran-
sition of the first rank to the harmonic tone 27 to which it is approximated,
before passing over, by being changed into gb ; a is a transition of the second
rank to g, to which likewise it is approximated as ab ; ^ is a transition of the
third order to the fore-note of the second order a, to which it is first approx-
imated by being altered into ^.
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IK THE SCALE AND FOREIGN TO THE SCALE. 627
In such wise, long ranges of tones may be formed, each of whidi is only a
minor degree higher or lower than the other : these may, accordingly, be termed
ekfvmaiie series qf tones.
Many, indeed, call such series of tones chromaiie scales. (Compare § 127
and Remark on ,§ XVII.) There is oertamly no objection to this, provided we
give no higher import to the term scale, than that of a series of tones, each of
which is somewhat higher than the preceding, as the rounds of a ladder go on
rising higher and higher one above the other. But when we attribute to the
term scale (scale of the key) that precise signification, according to which it
denotes the totality of the constituent parts of the essential harmonies of a
key, it must be evidently very improper to give the name of scale to such series
of tones, oonsisting of but few harmonic tones, and many that are foreign both
to the harmony and to the scale ! — and when these gentlemen, moreover, try
to make out of such accidentally produced series of tones what they call a
^ genus of sounds" I am free to confess I understand not what they mean in
taUdug of such high and hidden things as chromatic genera and mixtures of
the chromaiie and diatonic, and what is more, of diatonic^chromatic and
enharmonic genera of sounds, and even chromatic-enharmonie scales, and such
like mysteries, which are entirely beyond my comprehension. But I can
comfort my dear readers with the assurance that it is of no sort of conse«
quence if you also should, peradventure, not be able to understand it — and
that we ought, as Jean Paul has it, ^' to pay no more attention to such high-flown
quirks and quiddities than — ^none at all."
Let us rather — ^instead of trying, with these learned gentlemen, to distin-
gnish ourselves by catching after high-sounding names and phrases, with which,
as we see, they cannot themselves connect any sound and dear idea — ^proceed
on our way, searching out the truth as far as we are able.
§370.
On turning our attention to all the various transitions which are foreign to
the scale, we perceive that their chromatic elevation or depression serves in all
cases to bring the secondary tone nearer to its prineipal than it would other-
wise be according to the scale. Such is the case, e. g. in figs. 605, 606, 607,
608,611, 617, 618, 624, &c.
Every where, as we see, it is only an approximation of the secondary tone
to its principal ; or, in other words, the chromatic alteration of the secondary
tone every where takes place only for the purpose of bringing it nearer to its
principal tone ; and every where those tones only are used as transitions, which
are found already existing in the scale, or are brought nearer to the principal
tone by chromatic alteration.
But while an exception is made in favour of those transition-tones which are
drawn nearer to the principal tone, it would be entirely contrary to rule to
remove a transition note by a chromatic sign still farther from the principal
note than the place it would occupy according to the scale.
p2
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6'28
TBAN8ITI0N-T0NE8
If, for instaaoe, we were to change the transient f, occurring in iig. 629, t.
(*.)
n
j^-^gg-^i'i'tj JjQj
i
i
?
T
=*
into r% as in it, it would sound very unnatural ; since, by such elevation, the
transition-tone would not be drawn nearer to the harmonic note than it would be
according to the scale of C-major, but would be removed farther from it.
Such an 1% therefore, employed as a transition to e in C'-major, could not be
justified. — But the same Tfi would sound very well, if used as a transition to
g, as in fig. 629, /, above ; because the tone T is brought nearer to the tone g^
by being chromatically elevated into Tti Or let any one listen to the effect
produced in fig. 630,
(Fig. 630.) vooLBB's Dies Ine.
Vivace.
IP
m
gn ^ r I f "r :&
H-J-JIJJ .'ij
in the second measure, by the use of cQ, as a transition, instead of cit, and he
will require no farther proof of the correctness of what we have advanced.
A single exception, produced as it were by necessity, in which the ear
tolerates a secondary note which S& farther firom its principal note than it
would be according to the scale in which it occurs, will be mentioned in the
sequel (§ 376 and what follows).
(1.) Arbitrary^ or necessary^ Chromatic ApproximcUum of the Secondary
to the Principal Tone.
§ 371.
On looking over the above examples of transitions foreign to the harmony,
which are brought, by chromatic alteration, nearer to their principal tone,
the question naturaUy arises, when are such chromatic approximations of the
secondary note to the principal tone proper P
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IN THE 8CALS AND FOREIGN TO THE SCALE.
629
Sach chromatic approximations are either arbitrary or necessary.
We will first consider snch approximations as are arbitrary. In fig. 631, t^
(Fig. 631, i.) (A.)
t
i
i
instead of the transitions 7 and 7, we might employ at pleasure Hit and T% as in
k; and in fig. 632,
(Fig. 632.)
BAYDN.
"^ -^1 i ^TJ"^"^ ' I-T^
'HvS=SR
S
m
^
:^
ict
1^
3-^
mm
■cf-t;«p-T
aqpF
^
J:
1
we might employ 7t] and 3t|, instead of ffi and cTjt. Here then the elevations are
arbitrary.
In respect to snch arbitrary approximation of transition-tones^ we can only
say, in general, that transitions Jrom below are subjected to it much oftener
than those Jrom above. This will at once be evident from the fact, that, among
many of the examples adduced, the chromatically approximated secondary
tones have been almost always transitions from below, while, on the contrary,
but very few have been (as in figs. 624, 626, 628) firom above.
Should we, e.y. in fig, 633, t,
(Fig. 638, t.)
f^:,,j5=1^flA^''pJ:i"'^q^
pr
^
r
1 :t:z
!j
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630
TRANSITION-TONES
employ, instead of the minor second transitions Fjt, dfi, and Zt, Tx, fttf* ^^^
minor second tranmtions from above which are found in fig. 633, k,
(Fig. 633,*.) ' ft & fe B
0 ' " ' ^
we should experience the infelidtous effect resulting therefrom very strikingly.
§ 372.
Although the chromatic approximation is arbitrary in the examples given
above, there are yet many cases in which it is more or less necessary.
Thus it will be felt at once, that if, in the preceding fig. 633, t, instead of
the transitions ¥$, ~3% Tx, and a|t, which are foreign to the scale, we were
to employ the appropriate tones of the scale E^ cT, r% and a, as in fig. 633, /,
(Fig. 633. Z.)
the agreeable flow of the part would be materially injured thereby. So, too, in
fig. 634,
(Fig. 634.)
BAYDN*8 C&EATION.
P%4^^|j^^
the appropriate notes of the scale a, b, — d, and e, if used instead of the
foreign transitions which are there introduced, would produce a much less
agreeable effect.
§ 373.
An actual necessity of bringing a transitum-tane nearer io its prtney^al
note than it would be according to the given scale, arises very often from the
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IN THE SCALS AND FOBEIGN TO THE SCALE. 631
prindple already laid down, that a secondary tone must not stand &rther from
its principal tone than at most a major degree. Or, in other words, it often
happens, in consequence of the mle just mentioned, that a tone, as it stands in
the scale, cannot be nsed as a fore-note of transition ; but must, in order to
serve as a transition to a principal note, be drawn by chromatic transposition
nearer the latter than it would be according to the scale ; because, should we
take it as it stands in the scale, it would be more than a major degree from the
principal tone, and consequently, being too fiir off, could not be employed as a
transition to it. (§§ 343 and 366.)
The same holds good in respect to the mirwr scale. In this scale, the
interval from the sixth step to the seventh is a so-called superfluous degree.
Now if one of these tones should be used as a transition to the other, say, e. g,
the tone f should be taken as a transition to gtt, or gtt as a transition to f, in the
minor key of a, such a transition-note would stand at the distance of a super-
fluous degree from its principal-note.
But such a transition would be contrary to the principle laid down at the
commencement of the doctrine of transitions, and more particularly treated in
§ 366. Hence, neither can ft) serve as a transition to git, nor gtt as a transi-
tion to f. Should, therefore, one of the tones of such a degree be used as a
transition to the other, it must necessarily be drawn nearer to this latter ; so
that f, in order to serve as a transition to git must be changed into it — and, on
the other hand, git must be changed into gtt to serve as a transition-note to f.
Or, in other words, if gS be a principal note, and there is to be appended to
it a transition-tone from below, the appropriate tone f, of the scale of o-minor,
cannot be taken for such a transition ; but, on the contrary, f ]{ must be neces-
sarily employed instead of f ; and for a like reason, if f I] be the principal note,
not git but gU must be employed as a fore-note of transition to it from above.
We will explain this more fully by means of some examples.
§374.
fdj Jf a transition from below is to be prefixed to the seventh tone of
the minor scale, e. g. to the tone gH of o-minor, we cannot use, for this
purpose, the appropriate f of the a-minor scale, but only the nearer fJt: con-
sequently the n which occurs twice in fig. 635, is a necessarily^ elevated tone.
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632 TRANSITION-TONES
Fig. 636 is of the same species.
(Fig. 636.)
I ,, iJ.||jhoi°'|JJ«iiLU4j;ju^
n — zzi
^
j^^^^j ^^.
f^=f
^
s
331
331
IT »II V 7 VI I IF 'II V 7 I
Ify in the third measure of this example, a transition from below is to be
placed before the following tone gH, the ft] appropriate to the harmony and
scale of the third measure would be inadmissible ; but we must use instead of it
the nearer tone Tft. On the same principle^ Ttt b employed in the sixth measure
instead of T; as is also ^Q instead of "Eb, in fig. 637 :
(Fig. 637.)
OBETBY.
I ^ ofl V7
0
It results from the same cause, that, in fig. 638,
(Fig. 638.)
CALDABA.
R
t=s;
^^ J> J^^
J ^ J.
nun a - ro
M
T R
T
J .r^
^-^f=^
R
R
R
at the end of the first measure, we hear in the middle part the tone gjt as an
introduction to a]} of the following measure. For, although the tone g, and not
gtty belongs to the scale of ^-minor, yet the tone g would not answer as an
introduction to a% from which last tone it stands at the distance of a super-
fluous second.
It was for the same reason that, in my Mass, No. II, in carrying out the
theme of the fugue in the minor key (fig. 639, in the second and fourth
measures).
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IN THK 8CALB AND FORBiaN TO IHK- WALK. 633
(Fig. 639.)
'ITq.TJiJ ,. ■ I: J J|
in ter - -. - » « - - - r» pax
^ glo . - ri - a, glo - ri . a in ex • eel - - - ns ^^^^
a
i^
*=
-&r-
I Oil V7 I OH V7
I was obliged to employ g)t instead of g" as an introductory fore-note to the
following a]).
In tlie preceding examples, harmonic tones only and transitions of the
first rank have been found ; but the following examples show that the same
holds good also with respect to princyifal and secondary notes of a subordinate
rank.
In fig. 640,
(Fig. 640.) F^^
t 0 nf\^ R
the harmony A constitutes the basis of the passage, as the tonic harmony of
a-minor. The tone gJt, therefore, is nothing else than an appropriate transition-
tone of the scale to the following tone a (we already know, from § 370, that
the foreign note gt) cannot serve as secondary tone to the principal note a),
while ?)t is a secondary tone of the second rank to the before-mentioned g]).
Now it is true, that the proper tone of the scale of o-minor is not ftt, but f ;
but, according to the principles laid down above, the appropriate tone"? of the
scale cannot serve as a transition to g]t, so that it is here necessary to change
r into Tit, and thus bring it nearer to the principal note of the second rank, gitt.
§375.
(b,J But if a transition-tone from above is to be prefixed to the tone of
the sixth degree of the minor scale, e. g. to the tone f in o-minor, we must
employ, for the purpose, not the impropriate gtt of the scale, but the nearer gQ ;
and hence, in fig. 641,
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634
TBANSITIOM-TONES
rFig.64L)j^
i
let
rrr
=E?
""r^
gtl instead of gji, twice appears as secondary tone to the third T of the sab-
dominant harmony. So, too, for a like reason, in iig. 642,
(Fig. 642.)
p
Bl
3±:
ic3r
y ^, ^\ xi*R
=8=
^
^
the tone g only, instead of g]t, can be employed before the fifth of the dimin-
ished three-fold chord of the second degree in the minor key, namely, the
tone!
So, again, in fig. 643,
(Fig. 643.)
La
t
^
the tone T is a transition of the first grade to the harmonic tone e (for, according
to § 370, it would not do here to use Tit in place of the F which is appropriate
to the scale), while the g preceding 7 is a transition of the second rank to the
secondary note? belonging to the scale. Now it is true that gJt, instead of g, b
the appropriate note of the scale of a-minor ; but yet, in order that it may
serve as an introductory fore-note to i^ ^ must be changed into gti, because gtt
is too &r removed firom T to be attached to it in the character of a transition.
In fig. 644,
(Fig. 644.)
^
i45=A
in the harmony a; V^, the tone Fis a transition to the fimdamental tone e;
while a secondary tone of the second rank firom above is prefixed to this
secondary toneT. But the harmonic tone g]t, which stands at the distance of
a superfluous second from 7, oould not serve for this purpose ; and consequently
gt| must be used instead of it (so that'glt and gt) sound at the same time — git as
an harmonic interval, and gt) as a transition). Of the same kind is fig. 645 ;
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ni THE SCALE Ain> VOBEION TO TH£ KALE.
635
(Fig. 646, t.)
M-I=ii!Tj=}.
(*•)
^l^lT p J °fiJ
3^
i. iR ii^TT; I »-«^ . » ii»i^» - - ^
^t »S| «B|— -t-lt-
r •" ' f J
^^
aa also fig. 646,
(Fig. 646.)
(Compare fig. 683.)
J. HATDV.
[|^'^ 1 l^ii^
ji j^^/
^^
:^=^
P
'^E
'^p ^ , ^^"^
._Mi-^U^x^M^:j.^^
*;VT
;fP
VI
where^ during the oontinaanoe of the harmony ;fft!^ , at) appears as a transi-
tion to g. So, too, in fig. 647,
(Rg. 647.)
Allegro tusai.
DON JUAir.
m
''M|'^^i°i[rcrrfp
JaksdhoSr'ihet dfe - - ten Jmgen,
Lie ' • he nml
^
tJ#l^^
fg^gjm
^
^
■^^'M M
^
^T^^
Wta
i
^
gc^L' gp
«OsL^tfO
V7
*.V I /;V7^;V7
rf;V7
rf.V
in the third measure, Tis employed as a transition to eb, while FJt is heard in
the hase; and again in the seventh measure, in the upper part, g is used as a
transition to i^ while Qt lies in the hase. So, again, in the fourth measure of
%648,
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636
(Fig. 648.)
TRAN8ITI0N-T0NKS
i
'^i.J J
BEETHOVEN'S MOUNT OF OLIVES.
3^^
IXJ
I
^
33:
^
f
'^
^^^
■ ^r.J
I'o^ J "I Ho "I iJitJ "!'
the transitioD tone ?t) occurs in the upper part, while d]{ sounds in the base as
the essential third of the harmony S. The same is found in fig. 649 :
(Fig. 649.)
(Compare fig. 692 )
ni^\s:Ihi^:iV^^^^
XE
^
S
jO.
A similar necesnty arises in fig. 650 :
(Fig. 650.)
^ JT3=B^^~^^?^
w
a ;<»ii7 V
Here, in prefixing to the tone "c (the ninth of the fimdamental tone), a tran*
sition from above^ the Hit belonging to the chord could not be used, since it is too
far from the principal note cl ^ must, therefore, be brought nearer to its
principal note c", imd, consequently, must be changed into 3]] ; so that Hit and cTq
are here also heard at the same time. (We shall have more to say on this
subject in the sequel.)
We now see how naturally such a concurrence of chromatically different
tones may be explained from the principles which have already been developed ;
how necessary, therefore, and perfectly according to fundamental principles it
was that, e. ^. in fig. 651,
(Fig. 651 .) C. p. B. BACH.
p
Sf
r:4
M^-
W
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IN THE SCALE AND FOBEION TO THE SCALE. 637
Bach should employ gQ in the ripper part, and not gtt, as an introduction to f;
and how little occasion there is to apologize for Bach, hy calling it a ** small
error/' a ** trifling fault which is not to affect our judgment of a great man
like Bach or Mozart" as was done in a very erudite article in the Leipzig
General Musical Journal*. Sorry indeed would I he for Mozart and Bach^ if
they needed such evasions /
(2.) Remote Transitions.
§376.
We have hitherto adhered to the principle that the ear not only tolerates,
hut in many cases even demands, the chromatic approximation of a secondary
tone to its principal : hut that it would not endure a secondary tone standing
farther from its principal than the place it occupies according to the scale.
There is, however, a paramount necessity, as was mentioned at the end of
§ 370, of avoiding still more disagreeahle inconveniences ; and then the force of
hahit enables us to acquiesce in certain deviations from this rule. This is
chiefly the case :
§377.
(a.) Where the ohservanoe of the rale would give rise to a step consisting
of a superfluous second, which, as it usually has a halting appearance, it is
desirable to avoid. (See a more particular consideration of this point in
Ch. X, § 478.)
This again takes place in the minor key, and that too on account of the
remoteness of the tone of the sixth from that of the seventh degree of the
minor scale, which we have frequently had occasion to mention.
((I.)) If, for instance, in fig. 652, t,
(Pig. 652, ».)
R B t ^^ R ^T^RFF^T^ RF^T^RFR^R
the upper part, after giving the hs^monic tone ^, should descend to the fol-
lowing harmonic tone e) by means of an intermediate note, such intermediate
note would naturally be the appropriate Fof the scale. But then the melodic
step from the appropriate gjt of the scale to 7 would be a superfluous second ;
Allg. Musik. Zeitung, vol. 1, p. 510,
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638 TBARSITIOH-TONES
aod this would be still more opposed to an easy flow of the part, from the fiust
that snch an intermediate Tq between git and 7 would be placed very nnsy mme-
tricaUy, not half-way between the two notes, bnt three times as far from gtf
as from e. A part moving in sach a manner would seem to descend by a kind
of hitching, halting movement, as it were, from gjt to T; and, in order to avoid
this want of a smooth and easy transition, it is, all things considered, better to
place !)t instead of TQ between the tones gfiand e, as in fig. 652, k,
(Fig. 652,*.)
4.;^..tecni
even thongh this transition-tone 7 stands at a greater distance from its principal
note'e than a^ropriately belongs between these two degrees of the scale. In
like manner, and on the same prindple, Ttt again occars several times instead
of T as a transition-tone to e.
((II.)) On the contrary, in fig. 653, t,
(Fig.668.i.)ii^t ^F^t ^Ft ^^j
the tone gJt would be the appropriate transition of the scale to the following
harmonic tone a but, in order to avoid the step, consisting of a superfluous
second from the preceding harmonic tone T to the intermediate tone g)t, and
bring this latter nearer to the middle between the two harmonic tones, it is
considered better to use gl] in such a case than the appropriate "gH of the scale,
as in fig. 653, Ar, above, even though this g does not stand so near its principal
note as the appropriate gilt would.
It will readily be perceived that the exceptions just mentioned are nothing
else than mere shifts in cased where, of two evils, we must choose the least ;
namely, that of giving to a part a step consisting of a superfluous second, or of
employing a transition-tone that does not stand so near its principal note as it
would by its proper position in the 'scale.
Hence, the necessity of permitting a transition-tone thus removed from its
principal note can arise only when the superfluous melodic progression would
produce an unpleasant eflect; which, as we observed in the place cited above, is
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IK THE WALK AND FOREieN TO THE SCALE.
not in every instaDee the case ; and if it be not so, then the transition-tones
are properly allowed to remain as they stand in the scale. Thus we see, in
fig. 654^
that first the alto and then the upper part descend firom the harmonic note
c]t to lb. We also meet with the same sort of progression in fig. 655^ second
measure, in the second violin part, from a to gb.
(Fig. 655.) DON JUAN.
T^J^bli^
-^' m
r T r r~[
§378.
(6,) In consequence of the frequency with which transitions, standing
farther from their principal tone than they properly ought, are employed on
the principles laid down (§ 377), our ear has now become so completely accus-
tomed to these transitions, which, though strictly contrary to rule, still are
permitted for the sake of avoiding a greater inconvenience, that it receives them
without much reluctance, even in cases where they are not necessary, but seem
in &ct to be artUrarily employed. Thus, for example, in fig. 656,
(Fig. 656.)
fznz"
-:§■-
(Compare fig. 665.)
m
zm
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640
TRANSITIOK-TONU
it is allowable to employ the descending tranrition g% 7% although contrary to
the rale stated in $ 379. So, too, in fig. 657,
(Fig. 657.) KozAkT.
C.V7/;V rf.VT^.V e;V7 o;V
the fore-notes TQ, etl and T% may be said to be arbitrarily remote. (Compare
also what is said on this example in § 380.) '
Of a similar kind are the tones ¥, a, in the first measure of fig. 658 :
(Fig. 658.) yoahZK'a kbquiek.
A-fh-k-.
^M
■K - r I
^^^
(although^ indeed, it might be assumed that the doiqinaiit harmony ^ here
fonns the basis ; in which case "E could be no longer a transition-tone, but the
appropriate third, and a might be justified according to § 377 ((I.))^ namely,
as serving to avoid the step of the superfluous second IS— ab.)
§ 379.
It having been observed, that, in several of the cases above cited (namely,
in §§ 373 and 375), in passages ascending through the sixth and seventh degrees
of o-minor, the tones fit and git are employed in ascending, and the tones
f Q and g t], in descending, as secondary transition-tones of the first or second
grade — ^this single observation was assumed by former teachers of composition,
not only for the entirely erroneous assertion (refiited by §§ 377 and 378,
and the accompanying figs. 652, ky 653, ky 656, &c.) that we cUwcofs ascend
through f% and gt, and descend through f^ and g^ ; but also for the
singular doctrine that the minor scale xtseJf is consequently mutable, and
that f it and git in ascending, and f and g in descending, are the appropriate
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IN THE SCALE AND FOREIGN TO THE SCALE.
641
tonea of the scale. Compare the remarks on § 131, the entire contents of
which will now be intelligible to every reader, as also §§211 and 379, and the
remark on § 99.
(3.) Transitian'tanes employed as Leading-notes,
§380.
We have seen, in the course of onr investigations from § 367, onwards, that,
in conducting a part by means of transitions, regard must constantly be had to
the fiindamental harmony, as well as to the predominating key and scale in
which it is written, and that this or that tone may very properly be used as a
transition to a given tone in one scale but not in another ; that, for instance,
f S may be employed in 6r-major as a transition to e, since ft! belongs to the
scale of G^-major ; but that the same tone cannot be employed in C-major as a
transition to e, because it is farther from the principal note e than is f t3 the
appropriate note of the scale of (7-major.
And, on this very account, transttiofi'tones may sometimes be used as proper
signs of a change in the modukUion, i. e. as leading-tones (as already men-
tioned in § 187). Thus, when in a passage which was hitherto in C-major, a^
in fig. 659, for example,
(Fig. 659.)
t=t:
A^rm
^
^
-Or
33:
C.I V7
G:IV
the tone Ttt appears as a transition to e^ such transition — which is possible
in 6^-major, but not in 67-major — informs the ear that the harmony in which
it occurs is no longer that of the previous scale of C, but belongs to the key of
G^-njajor. We have already stated this fact (in §§ 157, 203, 228); and now
what was there said vnll be perfectly understood ; namely, that in the preceding
example after ® as the tonic harmony of (7-major immediately follows Qt as
the subdominant harmony of G'-major ; because the ©-chord in the latter half
of the second measure is characterized by means of the tJt used as a descending
transition-tone to e", as unequivocally belonging to the new key. The case
would be otherwise wereTJt used in passing upwards to g, because a transient 7%
thus approximated to its principal note g, might certainly occur in C-major.
VOL. II. Q
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642
TRANSITION-TONES
Again, also, in fig. 660,
(Fig. 660.)
i ^ bF
the ;{p-hannony appears first as the three-fold chord of the sixth degree of
a-minor, and immediately afterwards as the toiiic harmony of /"-major : that
is to say, in the fifth measure as a .- V I, but in the sixth as I^: I, by reason of
the tone Tb employed as a transition to c^ which could not be a transition to Fin
the key of o-minor.
In this manner also the equivoealness which, e, g, arises from the similarity
of the chords [c e g bb] and [c e g att], is often removed by means of transitions.
In the following example, fig. 661,
(Fig. 661, t.)
(*.)
S5
3X
^
n.
if
li
i
^
H
in t, the ear would much sooner take the chord of the second measure for
-F.- V7 than for e.-^ii^ (§ 194) ; but ftt serving as a transition to e, which could
not possibly thus occur in /'-major, at once characterizes the chord as unques-
tionably an appropriate superfluous sixth chord of the key of e-minor ; — as, on
the contrary, in ^, the Tused as a transition to^ stamps the chord as the principal
four-fold chord ©7,
An interesting passage (from the first duet in Mozart's Don Juan) appears
in fig. 662 :
(Fig. 662.) Oiiavio. xoza&t^s dor juav.
i
s^
m
^E
Sen - ti
oor mio
deh
Vint,
p
J-
^=i^
SrY i fiS
Bv^rtFT
^
:s:m
T
£
Viole e Basst,
f
^
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IN THE SCALE AND FOREIGN TO THE SCALE. 643
(Fig. 662 continaed.)
-M
:«pc
m
-M-*-
goar - • da mi an ao - lo i-stante
liiJ^^^^l^^^
-H P 1 P ■ =-
w
f
:w=^
f
Here the ear takes the harmony at the begmniDg of the third measure as
certainly no other than that of 9^ with a minor ninth, the fundamental tone
heing omitted, that is, as rf.V^ (§ 194). The fact, that here the very first
note of the second violin is written as 9b adcL not as dt> deiermines nothing.
(§ 224.) But although the ear at the beginning of the before-mentioned
measure takes it as certainly 31'', yet the transitions which immediately appear
compel us soon to come to another decision. The second eighth-note "Cb could
indeed be considered as a minor ninth, and the next one again as cjt, and conse-
quently as the third of the fundamental harmony 9 7^ i^q^ the seventh degree
of d-mmoT ; but the following tones could not appear as transitions, as they do
here in the key of (/-minor ; but would have to descend from ciB onward, through
F or through Bb (§ 377) to the fundamental tone a. But none of this takes
place ; on the contrary, the tones proceed nearly as they would in y^minor (so
that clb appears as the minor ninth of ilC^, "c as the fundamental tone, Cb as
the seventh, ab as a transition to the fundamental fifth g, and the following f as
a transition to the third "e). And hence, the ear is imperatively compelled to
prefer this last explanation, and consequently to assume here the existence of
the chord ®^, and not that of 21^ — « sudden transporting of the ear from
o-minor or ci^minor into y^minor, which would certainly have a somewhat harsh
effect, were it not that the equivocalness, at least in appearance, of the chord
[g e bb ctt or db] again conceals its harshness (§ 241, 8) ; after which, more-
over, the piece proceeds immediately again in i^-major, which key is near
enough related to o-minor and (^minor. (The fact that the ^-harmony of the *
fourth measure is again the dominant harmony of the nu^'or key of F, is indi-
cated by the at; used as a transition to g, and which may therefore be here
termed a leading-note.)
It might also be said that, in fig. 657, p. 640, the fore-note H^ at the beginning
of the third measure causes the ®-chord, which at first appeared as the chord
<i2
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644
TRAN&ITION-TONES
y.V, to assume the character of the dominant chord of /'-major; and that
similar effects are produced by the ensuing fore-notes ^ and ttf.
So, toOy in the last measure of the example in fig. 301, p. 478 (compare
§ 257), the IB-chord, which is there designated as the VI of y)t-minor, becomes
at once characterized as the recurring tonic harmony of the principal key of
/>-major, which was relinquished shortly before, if we insert gt) a» a transition
to a, as follows in t ,
Poeo Adagio.
I ' ' —
^^
It:
**
i-ju
I
«j ' J
^^
■J. '^^ i©l ^
or as a transition from above (§ 371) toTtt, as in ^.
And, likewise, in the second measure of fig. 398, p. 522, § 295, the tran-
sitions t^ e" indicate that the third part of the measure is not properly based
on g : i, but that here the 0-harmony re-appears as the harmony of the second
degree of /'-major ; for in ^-minor we could not descend firom g through these
transitions, 1^ e^ to J, but in -F-major we can. Consequently, the g-harmony,
although, at the first glance, it would seem to be tonic, is in reality a secondary
harmony of the principal key /'-major, and ought, therefore, strictly speaking,
to be indicated as such. Thus we have here again one and the same chord
appearing first as ^.*i, and immediately after as F:ii.
(4.) Additional Examples to elucidate §§ 367—380.
§ 381.
Having now endeavoured, firom § 367 to this place, to ascertain how and in
what cases transitions both belonging to and foreign to the harmony are to
be employed, it may not be uninteresting to put the results of our investigation
to the test in some more extended examples. I select for this purpose the
passages in fig. 663, 664, and 665, firom Mozart's Don Juan^ because transi-
tions of both kinds occur here under very different relations.
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IN THE SCALE AND FOBEIGN TO THE SCALE. 645
(Fig. 663.) . _ - DON JUAB— OVBBTUBB.
r
rr — rx — TT — f
±i=L.
r • g r ' ~g T • g r - ^
IT7
VI
(Fig. 664.)
^.VT
rpT tJr g-p|r ||- -^
DON JUAN, (act II.)
-J. J:
par - lacucolian - do it 9to Par - lo.
P^^fVf
^
=^
I VI Ii7 V
17
dll
g:y^
^
ted
ta
piu
s=*
rferg:j
IS
:F=lfi
VI »
rt:V7
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646
(Fig. 664 continued.)
/iig
^
TBANSITIOK-TOKKS
-? .
-t—
zt=.
i
/«m
PO
(
9^
MEB
non ho. Par - la
^^=g|^.^^E^^
i;^-^t
i
^
^:V7
a;V7
(Fig. 666.)
DON JUAK, (act n.)
Bb.i
C.V7
rf;V7
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IN THE SCALE AND FOREIGN TO THE SCALE.
(Fig. 665 contiiiaed.)
647
3^
-:§:-
,i;^
e^^^^-g^
^
In order to fiMdlitate the understanding of the harmonic successions in these
examples, I will append to them the following remarks. In fig. 663, we see the
tone d continuing through four measures — and the same is the case in fig. 664.
So, toOy in fig. 665, the tone a continues uninterruptedly for four measures.
This gives rise, in many places, to concurrences of tones whose explication
would now he very difiicult (e, g, in fig. 665, measures 2 and 3j. This diffi-
culty, however, may he obviated by the &ct, that these tones may, for the
present, be considered as having no existence, and, consequently, need not be
taken into account ; as will be found more fiiUy explained in §§ 462 and 464.
(A.) ON FIG. 663.
In the first measure, the ascending tones ¥ and ^ are explained by § 374;
and the descending c^ and % by § 375.
In the next measure, the harmony <Sb (or C&^ appears, according to the
principle of inertia, as the YP of ^-minor. The transition-tone F leading to g^
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648 TRANSITION TONEtt
and foreign to the scale of ^-minor, is explained by § 377, ((II)) ; since f is
here used instead of f Jt, in order to avoid the ascending step of a snperflnoas
second. — In the second half of the measure, where the modulation changes into
a-minor, for the same reason, the tone f% instead of the tone f which belongs
to the scale, stands between gJt and e^ in order to avoid the descent from gitt to !^
(§377, ((I.))).
So again, in the third measure, the tone g, foreign to the scale of o-minor, is
used, so as to prevent the necessity of skipping from f to gtf. — ^In the second
half of the same measure, for the same reason, I is preceded, not by efc, but by
e^ because it would be a superfluous second from Tft down to eb.
In the fourth measure, the transition-tones e and i% and so also f and ^
are to be explained in like manner as the similar ones in the first measure.
(B.) ON no. 664.
In the second measure, the transition-tones ¥ and cJX are to be explained in
the same manner as in the beginning of fig. 663. — In the second half of the
same measure, the key changes to ^-minor, the transitions fft and e" are justified
by § 377, ((I)).
In the third measure, the f, foreign to the scale of ^-minor, which precedes
g, is explained by § 377, ((II)) ; since, otherwise, there would be a skip of a
superfluous second from 7b to f]). — In the second half of the same measure, for
the like reason, ffi precedes ¥, after gfi; § 377, ((I)).
(C.) ON FIG. 665.
In the first measure, the transitions Tjj, gft, and g, 7, ate to be explained in
the manner above-mentioned. The chord [d f a bb], occurring in the second
measure, may be regarded as ISb^, or else as the major four-fold chord of the
sixth degree of the scale of cf-minor, which is most nearly related to that of
o-minor (just as, in the second measure of fig. 663, the chord of ®b* appeared
as the VI ^ of ^-minor; although the fourth sixteenth-note eb would not occur
as a transition to 7 in rf-minor (§ 370), but only perhaps in ^b-major. Thus,
by means of this transition, "eb, the chord [d f a bb] is here characterized as
the P of ^-major. The transition eb thus appears here as a leading note.
In the second half of the same measure, the harmony (K-^ occurs. In
consequence of the immediately preceding key of Bb, this harmony would
appear to be the dominant chord of <?-minor, but it strikes the ear rather as
the dominant chord of C-major, partly because this last-mentioned scale is
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ON HARMONIC DEOBBES.
649
nearer than r-minor to the still unforgotten o-minor of the preceding measure —
and partly because it is designated as such by the transition-tone e^ before 'Z,
which in c-minor could not possibly occur. (§ 370.)
In the third measure, in the second half of which ^minor occurs^ Mozart
chose rather to write ^ "Eb, than cjt F, (§ 377, ((11)) ); and thus he here
preferred to make a leap of a superfluous second from the harmonic tone cjt to
the secondary tone 'Sb, belonging to the scale, rather than proceed by a major
second to the transition-tone ¥t|, which is too distant from the principal tone a.
In the fourth measure, the transitions IE ^ and c* bb are easily explained ;
so, too, those in the fifth and sixth measures need no particular elucidation.
In the seventh measure, where o-minor occurs, the transitions T)t gJt in the
first half are to be explained by § 374, and the transitions gS Fjt in the second
half by § 378.
In the eighth, measure, the tones Ttt gjt are to be explained by § 374 — and
the tones git tH by § 377.
On a particularly remarkable passage, even in respect to transitions,- from one of
Moait^s violin quartetts, see § 466 M*
(D.) TAANSITIONS ON HARMONIC DSeEEBS.
§382.
If we consider the difierent transitions in relation to their conneetion vfith
the Jvndamental harmony ^ we find that tones of transition sometimes occur on
such degrees as belong to intervak of the fundamental harmony, and at other
times (and that, too, much the most frequently) on other degrees. I repeat,
that by far the greatest part of transition-tones occur on such degrees of the
staff as do not represent any of the tones belonging to the fundamental har^
mony. (In fig. 666, for example,
(Fig. 666.)
the fundamental harmony is <K. The tones of which this harmony consists are
the tones of the first, the third, and the fifth degrees of the scale of C-major!
But of all the transitions that here occur, not one is the tone of the first, of the
third, or of the fifth degree ; the transient 7 which here presents itself is the
tone of the seoond degree, the transient f is the tone of the fourth, and F is that
of the seventh of the scale, &c.) — Now this, as we have said above, is the most
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6d0
TBANBITION^TONBS
common case ; but it is far from being tbe only one. For, the tone of a degree
thatjbrtns an interval belonging to the fundamental harmong nu^ also occur
as a transition-tone ; and this
1. Either as it stands in the harmony itself, or else
2. In a chromatically altered form, and thus foreign to the scale.
§ 383.
(1.) It frequently happens that a tone, which, considered in itself, is
actually contained in the fundamental harmony, may yet, in consequence of
the connexion in which it stands, and the manner in which it appears, present
itself to the ear only as a secondary tone : e. g. in fig. 667,
(Fig. 667.) tn F %i T ^
P
J^ti^^
r^=Ft
the ear, in two successive instances, perceives transition-tones, in the upper
part, before the harmonic-tones T and g. Now, when this is followed, in the
third quarter of the measure, in the same upper part, by another form of notes
very similar to the two preceding, in which Eb precedes ab, in the same manner
as g before preceded 1^ and ab preceded g, it is no wonder that such bb should
likewise present itself to the ear as a mere transition-tone, although, in itself
considered, the tone bb is contained in the fundamental harmony 18b ^> which
occurs in this place.
For a similar reason, in fig. 668,
the ear will take the tone "So, in the second half of the first measure, for a mere
secondary note to the following "db, although the tone"^, taken by itself, is the
fundamental tone of the harmony.
In fig. 669,
(Fig. 669.)
e
^^^
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ON HARMONIC DEGREES.
651
the ear will rather take the tone e as a transition, than assnme the harmony
to be that of 0^ ^t]| ^ minor ninth and the fundamental tone e retained.
(§ 208.)
For a like reason, in fig. 670, t and k.
(Flg.670.i.) ^ ^ ^ (*.) A A^
EE
TT
±az
:«b ba.
m^
a
r
s
s
the tone T in the npper part appears less as a fbndamental tone than as a
secondary tone to the seventh. (The &ct that the harmony of the second
measure in t and k is throughout no other than ^.-Y ^ with a major ninth, and
^.'77 with a minor ninth, cannot be doubted, inasmuch as every thing applies
in both that we formerly (§ 77 & foU. § 325 & foil) observed as to the pro-
gression, the position, the omission of the fundamental tone, &c. : and it is in
this last respect that the 7 in the present case does not produce a harsh effect,
for the very reason that it may be explained as a mere secondary tone to eb,
and consequently is not felt as a retained fundamental tone, which, as such,
would sound repulsively.)
So, too, in fig. 671,
(Fig. 671.) ^^^
p
:^
TT"
=^.
the tone Ttt in the second measure exhibits itself, not as the proper third of
the fundamencal harmony JB^, but rather as a mere secondary tone to the
secondary tone e (§ 244).
In fig. 672,
(Fig. 672.
¥.
xn
3ac:
d^z
IE
the tone f0 appears to be, not a fundamental tone, but .rather a connecting or
intermediate note between g and e.
In like manner, in fig. 634, p. 630, the tone "e, in the second measure,
appears, not as a fundamental tone of the harmony of (§7, but rather as a
aecondary tone to the following seventh d'; — and this is also the case with
the tone a in the fourth measure.
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652
TRANSITION-TONES
§384.
(2.) MoreoTer, a tone, which otherwise, according to the degree on which
it stands, would be an interval pertaining to the harmony, may be chromatically
raised or lowered^ so as to form a mere transition ; or, in other words, those
tones also may occur as transitions by means of chromatic approximation,
which, without such accidental elevation or depression, would form component
parts of the harmony. Thus, for instance, during the harmony 4K, the tone c]t
may nevertheless appear as a transition-tone, though standing on the same
degree as the fundamental tone of the chord of ® : as, for example, in fig. 673 :
(Fig. 673.) .
33
xlz:
^
TT-
rf=r=F
In the second measure of this same example, in the harmony of (K^, we have
the transition Gtt in the base. So, too, in fig. 674,
(Fig. 674.)
yg-^f^^
in the harmony ®, whose impropriate fifth is gt), we hear the chromatically
elevated tone of this degree as a transition-tone, namely ^. — ^In fig. 675 also,
(Fig. 675
'j^ r^ jn^/151 ±
^
the transition-tone 15b is heard in the harmony (Br^ :
In fig. 676, likewise,
(Fig. 676.) ^___,
HATDN.
^^m
^
we have the transition 1% in the harmony 18b ^> whose fifth is the tone of the
same degree as that on which the transition fit stands^
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ON BABHONIC DKQREE8.
653
In fig. 677,
(Fig. 677.)
^rrn
a 144
I
(Compare fig. 692, p. 606 )
the foreign and arbitrarily elevated tone ht\ appears as a fore-note to the
tone c of the following chord, while the appropriate hb of the scale, which is
not eleyated, is an harmonic tone. So, too, the tone "cti, in the second half of the
measure, belongs to the harmony 4F^> while "cji occurs as a transition to "S. —
And, again, in the following measure, in the harmony ]8b, to which ft] belongs
as an harmonic interval, we have the transition fft ; and, in the second half of
the third measure, ¥ is employed in the upper part as a transition, while eb
belongs to the harmony and forms its fundamental seventh.
Fig. 678, t and i*, is of the same species :
(Fig. 678, i.)
«,i.) (*.)
t^^^^ l'll'"gjh| I lj.«r
•p 7* 1*ST* *f 7 C.I IV ».VT ,.v
In fig. 679,
(Fig. 679,*.)
(k.)
m
^
4 "I. '"n~^i
m.
C:l IV G:Y7
the harmony of the second measure may properly be explained as that of ]B^
with an added ninth, e, which latter is preceded by 7 1] as a secondary tone,
while Tit IB the fundamental third of the harmony jQ^,
Again, in fig. 680,
(Fig. 680.) ij,
^Rt^Bi -pgipTF^Ts ^ ^
V5'^s»^5r^5?ai«s?3y;?3^r?5il=SK==ri=-a:?^i
—hi
4
sc
R
R R
R
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654
(Fig. 680 continued.)
TBAN8ITI0N-T0NES
the tone bb, which is a minor ninth of the fundamental harmony^ is in a manner
to be regarded as a principal tone; yet Ftt appears in the upper part as a
transition to cjj.
In fig. 681,
(Fig. 681, t.) ^ _ (*.) (/.)
Z33:
£
3^
i
a, ttM
1
nU*J
•WT-
s
32:
(«.)
ty^ "m|:L|[
i
*=
• r,. ,j p-f
I
i
i
JCSZ
331
331
"Cr
"T^
the tone gtt (which appears in t as a superfluous fifth firom the base note, in k
and I as its major third, and in m as the base note itself) is the elevated tone of
the same degree that forms the fifth of the fundamental harmony.
In like manner, in fig. 682,
(Fig. 682.)
P
^
i
1
^
^
^* .hu
■^-
:gr
the tone ab is the depressed tone of the same degree that forms the third of the
major harmony ^.
In like manner, the transition-tone T]) appears in the third measure of fig. 636,
p. 632, whose fundamental harmony inyolves the tone f Q ; F, in fig. 637, p. 632 ;
gH, in fig. 638, p. 632 ; gll, in fig. 639, p. 633 ; gH, in fig. 644, p. 634. In
like manner, in fig. 645, p. 635, where, in the fundamental harmony Q^^, the
tone gtt is an harmonic interval, the tone gt) appears as a transition ; and so, too,
in fig .646, p. 635, in the harmony ;fp!|t^, to which alt belongs, the transition-note
at] appears — as also in fig, 647, p. 635, we have 7 and then g.
In fig. 648, p. 636, in the harmony 18 7^ which occurs as Y^ of e-minor,
the transition cTt) occurs on the same degree as that of the third of the harmony
18 7, namely dtt.
Figs. 649, 650 and 651, p. 636> are of the same description.
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ON HARMONIC DEQREES.
655
We discern, moreover, in the above-menlMned examples, a second class of
cases in which tones of one and the same degree, hut chromatically different,
may sound at the same time. (Compare § 356.) For example, in fig. 673,
p. 652, we have al the same time c and ctf, and then GU and g: — ^in fig.
674, p^653, g and git— in fig. 677, p. 653, Eb and h— in fig. 679, p. 653,
h aad?— in fig. 680, p. 653, bb and'bJt, &c.
§385.
It may be laid down as a general principle, that, in snch a simtdtaneons
somiding of two chromatically different tones belonging to one and the same
degree, there is always a certain harshness, which is greater or less according to
circumstances.
Thus, for instance, it is always more harsh when the chromatically difierent
tones are near together, than when they stand fiurther from one another. Com-
pare fig. 683, t with k and /.
(Fig. 683, t.)
p
iJinJTT:
(*•)
^ w^
II r-^;";iPr-V^
s
(Compare fig. 645, p. 635.)
(This we shall find to be an interesting point, when we come to the doctrine
of what is called double counterpoint.) Compare also §§ 360 and 361.
§386.
Secondly, the harshness of such simultaneous groups becomes always the
more sensible in proportion to the length of their duration ; and, consequently,
it is often well, in order to avoid such a long simultaneous sounding, to leave
out the natural interval, and thus, instead of fig. 684 1,
(Fig. 684, t.)
Lento,
(*•)
(I)
(«.)
i) djtJ 1 1 II d^jtol I BJbgJ-fflggfrTfco-fTTtei^
:n:
m
-^ -^ -^ -^
'ii"i°i'rii
I
jcn
331
n
22
-rr
^ £ € J ^ £ ^ I
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656
TRANSITION TONES
to write rather as in k;
(Tig. 686,1.)
p
^s
3a
instead of 685 i, to write as in j(
(*■)
:©:
1
ZJOL
TSl
g=
zze:
"71"
321
i
-TT"
331
1
When this is the case, sach a chromatic transition-tone may be of even as
long a duration as the harmony in which it sounds ; as, e, g. in fig. 684, / and m,
p. 655, where the tone gtt as a minor second transition to a of the following
harmony ;ff^ sounds through the entire duration of the harmony ®, so that in
this 4K-harmony the tone gtt appears throughout instead of the fundamental
fiahg.
And likewise, in fig. 686,
(Fig. 686.)
aiEp
(Fig. 687, t.)
^^
^^1
(*•)
(Compare fig. 701.)
F ^ T
^m
1
^m
?8=Fff
^
f=
S
f
R
rxsL
1
331
33=
33:
33=
R
R
R
we may take the second chord as the three-fold chord of 4K with the fifth
omitted, and in which gilt is struck as a transition to the following a, while the
proper fifth gU is left out ; — so, too, we may take the second chord of the follow-
ing measure for the chord of iQr-
§387.
I must take occasion here to remark incidentally, that many teachers of
composition conceive themselves under necessity of assuming, for the explana-
tion of such harmonic combinations as those in figs. 684, 686, and 687, above,
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ON HARMONIC DEGREES. 657
a particular harmony, to which they give the name of '* superfluous three-fold
chord." — But as every such simultaneous group in every possible case may be
expLiiiied according to the laws of transitions, inasmuch as every thing applies
to the superfluous fifth occurring in such chords that holds good concerning all
other approximated transitions ; it follows, that, both from these and many other
considerations^ we have no occasion to increase the number of our seven funda-
mental harmonies by the addition of an eighth ; and nobody knows with how
many more of the same species, for which we can discover no place in the scale
of the major key, though it is in this scale that such compounds occur most
frequently. (Compare remark on § 51). — Even the inventors and champions
of the so-called superfluous three-fold harmony, in such a passage as the one in
fig. 684 1, p. 655, or in fig. 687 t, p. 656, would certainly explain the tone gS as no
other than a transition, though a harsh one. But when the same tone appears
as it does in k^ where, through the omission of the proper fifth, gQ, the harshness of
the transition gS is obviated, and the transition is thus rendered more faultless
and less objectionable than in i — ^why may it not just as well, and indeed much
more i^propriately, be explained as a transition ? and why should it he neces-
sary, for the explanation of such a passage, to invent a new fundamental
harmony, consisting of the tones [c e git], that is to say, of a fundamental tone,
major third, and superfluous fifth P — or why, for the explanation of the com-
pound [A ^ ctt) in fig. 677, p. 653, must we invent a fiindamental harmony
composed of a fundamental tone, major third, and minor fifth (the so-called
diminished major three-fold chord) ? — &c.
We see, in general, from the examples above cited, that, by means of such
transitions, sometimes very curious intervals arise between tones sounding
together. Thus, for mstance, in fig. 673, p. 652, we have the tones c and cq,
which together form an interval of a superfluous prime or octave — so, too, in
fig. 674, p. 652, g and gj). — In the second measure of fig. 673, p. 652, in fig.
679, p. 653, and in fig. 683, t, p. 655, diminished octaves occur in the same
way. ~In fig. 680, pp. 653 and 654, a doubly superfluous octave appears between
bb and bit — and in fig. 678, k, p. 653, a diminished sixth occurs between Aj)
and 1^ &c.
Now, if we were always to regard simultaneous groups of this sort as actual
harmonies, they would often produce harmonies of a very strange description;
e. g. in fig. 684, p. 655, a harmony consisting of the tones [c g e gfi], or at least
[c e gtt] ; in fig. 678, ky p. 653, of the tones [Atf cS f ]> &c. — all of them mere combi-
nations of tones, which, were we to regard their constituent parts as consisting
altogether of real harmonic intervals, would correspond to none of the funda-
mental harmonies enumerated in § 50, and for the establishment of which a
sufficient number of new fundamental harmonies could scarcely be invented.
VOL. II.
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658 TRAKSITION-TONES.
DIVISION IV,
BQUIVOCALNESS.
(A.) CONSIDERATION OF THE EQUIV0CALNE88 ARISING FROM TRANSITIONS IN
GENERAL.
§388.
In the course of the preceding obsenrations ve had several occasions to
remark, how often an harmonic combination may appear equivocal from the fact
that we may take one or more of its constituent parts either as belonging to the
harmony or as a transition.
From the point of view which this new kind of eqnivocalness lays open to
us, it will be perceived that a multitude of harmonic combinations, which hitherto
could be regarded only as actual chords, have now become doubtful and equi-
vocal, and we thus find ourselves cast upon a new sea of uncertainties.
The question, therefore, properly arises, whether there are no limits to this
eqnivocalness ; and if so, what are they ? and how are we to regard such
equivocal combinations in any eases that may occur ?
(B.) LIMITS OF BQUIVOCALNESS. CHOICE 'AND SIMPLIFICATION OF THE MODES
OF EXPLANATION.
§ 389.
An answer to the above question is furnished by what we have already
found several times to hold good in similar cases ; namely, that every such
harmonic combination presents itself to the ear as being that which the most
convenient, easy, simple, and suitable manner of explanation would make it.
If it can be explained more simply and naturally as a combination of real
harmonic intervals, let it be considered as such ; but if it be more appropriate
and convenient, all things considered, to adopt the other mode of explanation,
then this is naturally to be preferred. Both modes of explanation will seldom
present equal claims. — If, however, such should be the case, the combination is
really equivocal. In fig. 688, for example, it might be doubtful whether
(Fig. 688.)
the harmonic combination [e g c G], in the fourth quarter of the first measure,
is to be considered as a major four-fold chord ®^ — or whether the tone b is
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EQU1V0CALNE88 OF TRANSITIONS.
659
to be regarded as a mere tranjsition-tone, in which latter case the three-fold
chord of ® would form the basis of the whole first measure. This latter
explanatdou is evidently not only the more simple of the two, but the former
would have the efiect of presupposing the introduction of a major four-fold
chord with an unprepared major seventh in the weak part of the measure, all
of which^ as is well known, is contrary to its nature. The above-mentioned
combination, therefore, is in this case to be taken as a simple three-fold chord
of ®, and the tone t as a mere transition.
Such a oombination, which, according to the tones composing it, has pre-
dsely the appearance of a chord contdsting of harmonic tones exclusively, but
which, in consequence of the connexion in which it appears (t. e. according to
the principles laid down in the beginning of this section), is not received by the
ear as such a chord, and which, therefore, seems to be a chord consisting of
harmonic tones, but only seems so without being so in efiect — t . e. without in
reality impressing itself as such upon the ear — such a chord, I say, we will
name an apparent chord, (Compare §§ 98 and 407.)
But, on the other hand, we could object, if one were to assume that, in
fig. 689,
(Fig. 689.)
in the second half of the first measure, all the tones of the upper part are
merely transition-tones, and, consequently, the harmony no other than ®;
for the tone b might certainly be a transition to the immediately recurring c; f
an intermediate note firom g to e, as also the? between "e andc; while g and G
belong, at any rate, as well to the harmony of ® as to that of (JSk- Still, it
will readily be felt that this mode of exposition is at least not more natural than
if we regard the combination [6 d f b] as that which it primarily represents
itself to be; namely, as <ffir^> and the harmonic progression as the very usual
onel— V7_L
Easy as we have found it in the two preceding examples to make a choice
between two modes of explanation, there are yet many other cases in which a
decision is not possible : e, g, in fig. 690, t, ^, /,
(Fig. 600, t.)
p
-^
4=A
(i.)
-e»-
I
r r
kA-A
iP
:§:
^
E^
S^
S
-^-
ll7
V7
V7
^
r2
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660
TRANSIT lOX-TONES.
we may with perfect propriety regard the T in the second measure as a secondary
tone to the principal tone e^ according to which explanation the harmony of the
second measure would remain 0^ throughout, and the whole harmonic pro-
gression
F:l I V7.
But we might just as properly view this combination [g hb f ] as what, in itself
considered, it first of all appears to be, namely, as 0*^ with an omitted funda-
mental fifth, in which case the harmonic progression would again be a very
natural and common one ; namely,
/^;I|il7V7 |.
No sufficient reason can be discovered for assigning to one mode of explanation
a decisive preference over the other. (For, why could we not have the same
fundamental harmony in t, k, and /, as in m, n, or as in <? ^)
(Fig. 690, m.) (n.)
P
^
<=^
i
332
s
g
(o.)
:^
S
:^
^
^
r = =
^
^1
:g
IlT VT I fi7 V7
The aboTe-mentioned combination is therefore really equivocal.
§390.
It is eepeaa^j worthy of notice that, in many cases, we have tke ekoice
whether we will consider such combinationH as transitions to intervals of the
following, or of the present harmony.
In fig. 691, for example,
(Fig. 691, i.) (A.) (/.)
^i
^^^^^
® C& J
C - J
®
we may, if we will, regard the combination [g B g] as a mere apparent chord, if
we assume that the g is only a transition to a, IS a transition to c) and g to 7
In this point of view, the passage would consist of only two harmonies : ^ and
Jp. — ^We may then assume, in particular, that the ®-harmony continues on to
the third chord, and that during this ^-harmony the tones g, S^ and g are tran-
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EQUIVOCAtMBSS OF TRANSITIONS.
661
gidons to the intervals f, c, and a of the following ^-hannony, as is indicated
in i. — Or else we may assume that the ^-harmony commences at the combina-
tion [g ¥ g], as is indicated in /, where, consequently, the transition tones g, E)
and g relate to intervals of the ^-harmony, during which they sound as
transitions.
In fig. 692,
(Fig. 603.)
^
^
at
52
^m
(Compareffig. 649, p. 636.)
s
i
33C
vre have the choice either to regard ^ of the upper part as a necessarily approxi-
mated (§ 375) transition to c^-or else to assume that the jQ^.iiannony con-
tinues throughout the whole measure, and that the d]t in the hase, which, without
chromatic elevation, would form an harmonic interval of this harmony, is
merely an arhitrarily approximated secondary tone to e of the following f-har-
mony. (A similar equivocalness will be observed on inspecting the example in
fig. 648, p. 636.)
§391.
It will at once be perceived, however, (and this is the most important point
involved in these observations) that the explanation of many an harmonic
combination becomes facilitated and simplified by the fact, that one or more of
its tones may, as mere transitions, be left altogether out of the account.
We have already on several occasions directed attention to this truth. A
few additional proofs are subjoined.
In fig. 693,
<^-^L[. i A. U
S
6:
ffff'ffff
if we regard the tone e as simply a transition-tone, the fondamental harmonies
of the first two measures are Jp and Jp7 ; — ^but, should we prefer to regard e
a8 belonging to the harmony, it would stamp the combination of the fourth
quarter of the measure as the much less conmion harmony of ^^, from
which there would result the still more uncommon harmonic progression,
F:l~V—l, or /'.I— I^— ^b;V7,
and, moreover, the preparation of the major seventh would be wanting. — It is,
therefore, very evident, that the former explanation is by &r the most natural,
and the one to be preferred.
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662
TBAK8ITIOK-T0NKS.
For a like reanon, in the first measure of fig. 694> the last quarta-note e
(Fig. 694.)
fOf-t^rt^^ ''r ^ ^r'rcj^Ff
331
-Q..
of the middle part will be regarded, not as an unprepared major seventh of
the harmony ^^, which is itself of rare occnrrence, bat much rather as a
secondary note of the following harmonic tone 3. — ^Again, the last quarter-note 7
of the following measure, which occurs in a connection similar to that of the
preceding e, will for the same cause present itself to the ear as simply a tran-
sition-tone, although it might otherwise, with perfect propriety, be regarded as
the seventh of the frequently occurring principal four-fold harmony.
In fig. 695,
(Fig. 695,1.)
F
,f ^ f tR R
(A.).
F
t ^ f R s F T R T
^^mL'^LrrlUj^-')\:ilIll!f\>l,Jl
m
-Q-
;§pa
s
:§:
:g:
Si
s
•H
on C:V7
o:i V7
in the second measure, instead of considering the g as foreign to the harmony,
we might regard it as forming a component part thereof, and thus explain the
harmony of the second half of the second measure as that of C^/Y^ . — j^^t the
former mode of explanation is more simple, and therefore to be preferred.
§392.
In the following example, fig. 696, in t,
(Fig. 696, t.) (A.)
-I-
m
('■)
LJ-
3ac
a!=f
a-g-U-JLr
§t
J I li ty—t-ir
rH-HH-^zi
^
the mode of explanation indicated by the diagonal strokes is simpler and
much more natural than if we were to consider these tones as forming a part of
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fiQUIYOCALNESS OF TBAN8ITI0N8.
663
the harmoDj. In the former case^ we need, for the explanation of the whole
phrase, only a single fbndamental harmony ; in the latter, we should have to
assume three, namely,
C:I— ii7_I.
Moreover, this last progression^ ii^— I, at least in this form, would be rather
unusual ; accordingly, it is far better to consider the chord [d f c c] as a mere
apparent chord — as likewise in k the chord [d g c Fc] — and in / the combina-
tion [cT7g].
Our teachers of composition are wont to explain such cases as the above fig.
696 (or figs. 609 and 616, pp. 616 and 621) in another and very troublesome way,
inasmuch as they fimcied themselves bound to regard such a combination as a
proper chord, to which they give the name of the chord of the stationary seventh,
about which stationary quality they contrive to say an immense deal that is
both excessively learned and hard to be understood*, and in which the favourite
elliptical and catachrestical harmonic progressions play a great part. We must
allow, that, for our simple explanation, no great learning is required, inasmuch
as we see in the passages cited nothing more than very common transition-
tones, of which, consequently, we cannot contrive to say any thing very par-
ticular. (Compare remark on § 99 and on § 320.)
In fig. 697,
(Fig. 697.)
-J- * 5: 3
R
17
filx
the harmony of the second measure, in itself considered, might certainly be
regarded as fs^> smd that of the third measure as iB^ ; but the ear will much
rather take the base tones £ and D for mere transitions between Fit of the first
and Ctt of the fourth measure, and accordingly ft as the fundamental harmony
of the whole four measures (as has already been done by Kimberger, from
whom I borrow this examplef). But were we to adopt the first mode of expla-
nation, not only would there appear a strange and unusual harmonic progression :
ft W ©^ f«,
but the striking of the unprepared secondary seventh could not well be justi-
fied.— (Furthermore, I will not deny that the composer has here given us too
many transitions at once.)
* See e. g. the Leipzig allg. musikal, ZeUtmg, for 1810, Nos. 58 and 59.
t In his Kunst des reinen Satxes, 1 Bd. 4 Abschn. Anm. p. 51.
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664
TRANSITION-TONES.
§393.
In fig. 698,
(Fig. 698.)
we maj, if we please, consider the hannony ^ to lie at the basis of the
hannonic combination at the second quarter-note, and that the ^-harmony
returns at the following eighth-note, the ^-harmony again at the next, then
again the chord of ® — and, in the same manner, change the fondamental
harmony at each of the following sixteenth-notes ; and so also in the following
measure, where the harmonies (ffir^ &nd ® several times alternate with each
other. But since we may very properly assume that the tone a of the first
measure is throughout only a transition to the following g, and T, in like manner,
a transition to e^ — and so, in the next measure, that the tones e and 'c are tran-
sitions to the adjacent notes, this explanation is already much more simple, and
hence is indisputably to be preferred, at least for combmations which thus
rapidly alternate with each other.
So, too, in fig. 699,
(Fig. 699, «.) (A.;
at the first quarter-note of the first measure, the tones a andT may be regarded
either as the third and fiindamental tones of the harmony ;Jp, or as mere
secondary notes to g and e ; the second half of the measure may likewise
be differeutly explained, &c. Here, too, the explanation indicated by the top
row of numerals is simpler and more natural than the other ; because, if we
regard all the quarter-notes as transitions, the phrase will be seen to be, after
all, nothing more than a garnishing of the very common one in k.
In fig. 700, again,
(Fig. 700, t.)
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EQUIVOGALMBSS OF TBAM8ITI0KS.
665
(Fig. 700,*.)
H-Htim
J J J.-Ti-n
we are at liberty to take a new fandameatal harmony tor eadi quarter, eighth,
or sixteenth-note ; and also to decide vAieA tones we will regard as harmonic,
and which as mere transitions.
Likewise, in fig. 701, t.
(Fig. 701,1.)
pvMmtpr^
'"f^f.rUfTMl
r;«ft/r
zuz
(Compare fig. 686, p. 656.)
we may either explain the second chord of the first measure in the same manner
as was done in § 386 — or we may still more simply regard it as a continuation
of the harmony ^ (only in the second inyersion), if we take hoth the tones
git and e as transitions. For, why should not the same harmony lie at the
foundation here as in i*^
Also, in fig. 702,
(Fig. 702.)
i''4l:PiV
I IV
I IV
■ IT
I V
I V
at the beginning of the second measure, we may explain the combination of the
first quarter fi-om the harmony HSr, if we regard b and g as harmonic, 9)t as an
extraneous secondary tone to the e of the following chord, and the first ¥ as a
secondary tone of the second rank. But we may also assume that the ®-harmony,
at the end of the first measure, continues through the first^quarter of the second
measure, that b is a transition to the following c, as also dtf to e; — which expla-
nation is, afi;er aU, the simpler of the two.
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666
TBANBITION-TONES.
If, in fig. 703, t,
(Fig.703,«.)
§394
(*.)
33:
XC
TV °iT"
i
331=:
i
the tone ab, which occurs in the harmony ^, may be taken as a mere tran-
sition-tone (§ 384, fig. 682, p. 654), it may also be regarded as continuing
through the whole harmony JF (§ 386), as in i*, where, accordingly, we have
ab throughout, instead of a, the proper tone of the major three-fold chord of Jp.
It will readily be seen how much simpler the explanation of fig. t and k is,
according to this method, than if we should each time take the combination
[c ab 7 c] for the minor three-fold harmony f , which is foreign to the scale of
C-major.
By this view of the matter, the explanation of the cadences in fig. 416,
p. 535, and fig. 422, p. 537, is very mnch simplified.
§395.
If, in such examples as those in fig. 704,
(Fig. 704.)
"'n'g,»i^iiMfiiiii^i^f|i;ii"iSiniyimif^
we regard all the tones as harmonic, the passage will consist of the four
following harmonies :
C: I °vii VI V; or say 1 V^ vi V.
But we may also take the second and third tones of the upper part as tran-
sitions of the second and first order, the f of the middle part as a transition to
the following e, and the d of the lower part as a transition to c ; in which case,
the first three combinations appear as depending throughout on the harmony
C: I, which would make the whole harmonic progression as follows :
C: I V.
Or, again, we may regard the third combination as an harmonic one: this
would produce the following harmonies :
C: I VI V,
and so on. Thus, we see in how many ways such progressions of thirds and
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EQUIYOC ALNESS OF TRANSITIONS.
667
sixths may be viewed and explained ; and that, in every such succession of
chords, considerable freedom is allowed in selecting that mode of explanation
which may be the most natural in the given drcnmstanoes.
§396.
In the annexed figure, the combination [g qt e a](] perfectly resembles the
chord of 4Ftt^ ^^ ^^ fundamental tone omitted and an added minor ninth
(or, considering it according to the keys of the piano-forte, it might be construed
as fl^> ®^> or IB)t^> with the same omission and addition. § 85).
i
i^
0 « UI
The ear, however, does not receive it as such ; because it is evidently
much simpler to regard the tones ciB, e and s3t of the three upper parts as
mere transitions; for, then the whole measure appears to rest on the prin-
cipal four-fold chord ^Qr^, while, otherwise, we should have to assume three
fundamental harmonies for this measure; namely, first ffi^^, then ^)t^ (or 3',
or ® 7^ or 4Sb^) with a minor ninth, and then again ^Qr^ — ^which would give, for
this measure, the following fiu: less simple harmonic succession :
or d:Y'' ,
or F:Y7 ^
or perhaps -4b .V^ .
Fig. 705 is of the same description.
(Pig. 705.)
MY "TB DEUM.**
,A Jf j''j\j*i^S
f r f 1 T r rt
K'l. r r r*r ir r ri^i*
£b;I c;V7 VI
£b;I
Here, the second chord may be considered as (Qr^ ; but we can also assume
that the fundamental harmony of the first part of the measure remains the
same at the second quarter-note, and that bt] appears only as a transition-tone
to the c'of the following harmony, as does also 7 to eb, and 3 to e. So, too, the
combination at the fourth quarter-note might very well, taken as [gb $ % a].
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668
TRAN8ITI0N-T0NS8.
be regarded as the harmony of ^^ with an elevated third — or as a transferring
dominant harmony 4P^ ^^ & depressed fifth, or taken as [gb % eb Ebb] or
[fit b ^ a] as the harmony iffb^ or 18^ ; or else we may assume that the
9b-harmony of the third quarter-note continnes, thatH is merely an approx-
imated preparatory tone to the following Eb, that cb bears the same relation
to bb, and ftt to g. And, in fact, it is much simpler thus to explain this fourth
chord as a mere apparent chord, than as the harmony ^7 or 4^^, or as the
any thing but simply related harmony 4Bl>7 or IS^.
Again, in fig. 706,
(Fig. 706.)
p
ti ^^ -Az
^^
-^^
I
we are at liberty to regard the tones ftt and dJt as harmonic, and the combi-
nation as that^of 18 ^ with a minor ninth; but it is much simpler to explain the
tones ftt and dtt as mere transitions.
In fig. 707,
(Fig. 707.) MY " BEQUIEM,"
Andante, • — ji^
(r&lrNffffhrr;U?.^;rr;l»M- hrm
^ ani to\ - liM neo - ca - ta. am tol . lis nee - oa - - on - - ta mnndi
qui tol - lis peo - ca - ta, qui tol - lis pec - oa
'-^rrrrrr'M
we may either consider the combination [Gb bb ctt e] as a proper harmony ;
namely, as ffib^ [Gb bb db fb] or JPtt^ [Ftt att otte], or as H'' with an
elevated third \Gb bb db e], and so on ; or we may assume that the whole
combination is an apparent chord ; namely, that the harmony of 18b lies at its
foundation, that the tone e is only a secondary tone to the fimdamental fifth f
which actually appears in the following measure, that c]t is a fore-note to the
third 3*, and Gb a fore-note firom above to the fimdamental fifth F in the base.
Here too, as we see, the explanation that takes it for an apparent chord is
clearly the simplest. (Compare fig. 705, p. 667.)
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KQU I VOC ALNESS OF TBANSITIONS.
669
§397.
In fig. 708, t,
(Fig. 708,.-.)
hatob's svmphoht.
BAYDR S STXPHOKY.
(Fig. 708,*.)
H ^ x| J.^-H^
tfM:
s=^
nm
»y,n 2 -i
1
m=i
the combination [c ft] may be considered as S^^ or we may regard fit as
merely an approximated transition to g. In the former case, it would be a
temporary digressive modulation ; in the latter, not. The latter is &r more
simple. In ky the combination [c dtt f)t] might also be regarded as resting
on the harmony 18 7, were we not, with much greater simplicity, to assume
that^ andTtt are mere minor second transitions to e and g, and consequently
not harmonic intervals.
§398.
In like manner, instead of assuming, in fig. 709, t,
CFig.709,t.) (A.) (/.) (m.)
i
i
1
:©!=■:
I
-m
^^
oL^!___J_aL±
i
i
i
I
^
IV VT I
IV I
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670
TRAH8ITI0N-T0NEB.
(Fig. 709 continued.)
(•..) (0.)
(P-)
(«•)
i
^^
i
TT-
fTTkT. fff^^m
■^ 1 ^-^ *
^4vH°L!_.ii ° -ii°'°-:ilji
on the appearance of the tone b, that a (Qr^-harmony oocurs here mtb a major
ninth and an omitted fundamental tone — the case may he much more simply
exphuned by taking the tone b as a mere transition to the following c ; in which
case the harmonic progression would be merely IV — I, instead of IV — V^ — I.
In a similar manner, we may explain the tones b and d from k to o — ^and
even the tones b, ^, andlib in/? and g.
In this way, too, the explanation of fig. 710, t, k, and /, may be materially
simplified.
(Fig.710,».)
TV
m
s
(.1)
.az
P^=rif
Li-d_ltd.
i
a
^s=$
ta
Thus, too, in fig. 711, t and k,
(Fig. 711, f.) (*.)
(t)
(«.)
P
231
i
A
ia±
m
331
TSl
m
epj^ • ll-gf=ttfc^
^
Tn
fz3z:
i
i
4c
^Ji^ ^
^m
C.I Gf;V7 I
C:l V
we may suppose that, in the second half of the measure, the fimdamental four-
fold chord 29 7 appears with a ninth and an omitted fimdamental tone, as a
transferring dommant and leading chord to G'^major ; but we may also very
properly assume that the whole of the first measure rests on the three-fold
harmony ®, and that fH in the middle part is a mere transition. This is
indisputably more simple ; since, regarded in this point of view, the whole of
the first measure is founded on a single harmony, that of C: I. But if we
were to consider fit as a constituent part of the harmony, we should not only
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Eai^fVOC ALNESS OF TRANSITIONS.
671
require two diAerent harmonies for the explanation of this measure, hut the
progRMMm would also involve a transient digressive modulation, namely :
C.l 0:\7 1 (§211.)
C:Y.
Fig. 711, / and m, admit of the same explanation.
Indeed, in such cases as in fig. 712,
(Fig. 712, t.) (*.) (/.) (m.)
i^V^''''*"^"^"''^^
al,rj ->.. J rJ-.. J „J
^m
m
i
jCC
m
(..)
}=i^
(o.)
(p.)
X?:
1 ^
m
^*=f
^
33:
m
-top
I * J «■
1^^
the explanation of such tones as transitions has yet another ground of pre-
ference. Were we to assume, for instance, in fig. 712, t, that the four-fold chord
®7 lies at the foundation of the combination [f b da], the base tone f would
appear as the fundamental seventh ; and, regarded in this point of view, the
skip of the base from this f down to c, at the moment of the cadence, would not
exactly correspond to the progression of a fundamental seventh. (§ 317 ((^.)) )
So, too, in fig. 713,
(Fig. 713.)
J. 8. BACH.
E:l ci|:V7
I js:;iv
at the last quarter-note of the third measure, the combination [e att ott e gJt]
may be most properly explained as an apparent chord, in which, while the
<[!t-harmony continues, the tones att and cJt are merely transient, while the
base-note e remains a fundamental tone. — (From what precedes, ^'moreover,
the examples in figs. 418 — 421, p. 536, admit of still an additional defence
and explanation ; see §§308 and 317.)
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672
TRANSITIOM-TOKKS.
§399.
Moreover, in cases like fig. 714,
(Fig. 714,*.) (*.)
(Fig. 714,*.) (*.) (/.)
(tn.) (n.) {o.)
(j>)
t II ■! ^'t ^'B n
it is not necessary to consider the combinations [f Jt c e], [ft c eb]> [c eb JU],
&c. as leading principal four-fold chords of the digressive modolatorj domi-
nants ; on the contrary^ it is much simpler, int, to take the e of the second
chord as a mere secondary note to the following d, and, in like manner, ^ and Ttt
as secondary notes to b and g ; so that the (Bh-harmony still forms the basis of
all the first three chords. The same may be said of the sixth chord of the
same passage ; — ^likewise of the second and sixth, at k, &c.
§400.
In most of the preceding cases, we are, furthermore, at liberty (as intimated
in § 391) to regard the transition-tones here pointed out as transitions either to
intervals of the present or of the following harmony. For, e. y. in fig. 715, t,
(Fig.715£0_ (*.) (/.)
n.
m
4^^
33:
15:
3
TfT"
33:
-hTT
IV I IV I
we may assume that the second chord rests on the preceding harmony of ;Jp ;
so that the tone Fwill be a transition to the tone c'of the following three-fold
chord of ®, as is indicated in k ; — ^but we may also assume that the ^-harmony
already forms the basis of the combination [f b a] ; in which case all the
transitions relate to intervals of the harmony ®, during which they make their
appearance as transitions, namely, a to the fifth g—^ to the fundamental
tone c^-^and f to the fiindamental third e; as is shown in /.
Thus, too, we may assume, in fig. 716, f',
(Fig.716,£.)
lEfe:
TT-
"7T — n
f^^l^^
ioi — ^
^
•fe
TTt"5~lffO =33|-
F
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EQUIY0CALNB8S OF TBAMSITIONS.
673
that the second chord still rests on the foregoing harmony Q^ ; so that^ in the
second harmonic combination, cUt will be a transition to the e^ of the following
three-fold chord of ®y and f S to g, while the tones a and c remain as before,
the fifth and seventh of the harmony of H^, as is indicated at k; — but we may
also assume, as indeed it seems most appropriate to do, th^t the ®*harmony is
introduced already at the combination [fJt'c a'dU], that dtt is a substitute for
the fundamental tone ¥; a for the fundamental fifth g, fit for g, and that c is
already the fundamental tone, as is indicated at /.
In fig. 717,*,
(Fig. 717, t.)
§401.
the ocHnbination [3 ab ^ 7] may properly be so explained, that, during the
harmony of H^, which lasts through a whole measure, the tone ab as a transi-
tion to g of the following harmony, occurs on the harmonic degree a*; — accord-
ingly, there is not the least necessity for regarding the combination in the
second half of the measure as a four-fold chord with a minor fifth. In k, the
tones a& and ^ are, in like manner, transition-tones.
Though, in fig. 718, t.
(Fig.718,».) a.)
i
(«.)
(».)
J -J
O go' • H %&-
(o.)
(P)
we see the harmonies ;ff and (Br succeed each other without transition-tones,
still we may, instead of this, introduce, during the ^-harmony, the tone a^^
as a transition to g of the following harmony, as in k — or the tone ?]( as a
transition to g, as in I — or both together, as in m — or we may let these transi-
tions remain during the entire continuance of the ^-harmony (§ 386), as in
noTo; and thus, merely by means of transitions on the harmonic degrees,
combinations are produced, which are precisely similar to those adduced in § 89,
&c. fig. 123, o,py q, p. 208.— (Compare figs. 705 and 707, pp. 667 and 668.)
And when, again, the tone eb as a minor second approximated transition
firom above to the fundamental fifth of the following harmony, is added to
the chord in question, besides the before-mentioned transitions on harmonic
VOL. II.
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674
TR ANSI TI0K-TONK8.
degrees, as in fig. 718, p, p. 673, we see chords arise which are particularlj
similar to thoee m [§ 89 and] § 91 fig. 123, r, «, /, if, p. 208, and figs. 128 and
129, pp. 210 and 211.
The examples in fig. 719, i-
(Fig. 719, t.) {I) («.) (o.) (p.)
Pr ^tf
are of the same species as those in fig. 718.
§402.
So, too, instead of letting the harmonies ;ff — ® succeed each other so
simply as they do in fig. 720, t,
(Fig. 720, t.) (*.) (/.) (m.)
$
i
i
^..jtol i iiitcv;^^
i
:«n:
iljl:
FS: ^
we may introduce, during the first harmony, the tone ab as a chromatic transi-
tion on the harmonic degree a, as in k. — Or, in like manner, we may introduce
f Jt as a transition hefore g, and, at the same time dft hefore e] as in // — and, if
we give all these transitions the duration of the whole measure, as in m, we
again have results similar to those in the preceding section.
§403.
In like manner, instead of letting the harmonies H^ — <Br succeed each other,
so simply as in fig. 721, t^
(Fig. 721, t.) (k,) a.) (m.)
4:
J |cJ flJ >„J-
i ^ hi ^ . ||Ie^H"n"^"^ff
f^
I
bjo
^
1 1-
-eOl
i
I
i
3
we may introduce ab as a transition, as in k — and may also, at the same time,
introduce ^ hefore g, and eb hefore 7, as in // — and we may allow such comhi-
nations to continue through the whole duration of the U 7. harmony, as in m.
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EQUIY0CALNES8 OF TRANSITIONS.
675
It will be clearly seen that in this way, again, results are produced like
those of the two preceding sections. The example in the minor key which
occurs in fig. 722, i—m.
(Fig. 722, f.) (/.) (m.)
1^1
;t|-5' tcJ-«-iprJ
I
*Uio ■
i
IQ"
:#n:
jOl.
n
^
-©Ci
<t
i-J.i
«fc
-^^
«t
i^
i
i
is of the same character as the preceding one in the major key.
§404.
In the foregoing paragraphs, we have seen how harmonic combinations of
the kind in question can be explained by transition-tones chromatically approx-
imated to intervals of the following harmony. In many cases, however, they
may be explained even in a siill simpler manner, by transitions to intervals of
ihejn-esent harmony : for, in fig. 723, t, for example,
(Fig. 723, 1.)
(k,)
(/•)
(m.)
l~ll ■ 1 '•^*~« II ftl
" z. b S z " *•
IB
1
we may very properly assume that the ({r-harmony forms the basis throughout,
and that, during the same, the upper part gives, in passing, the tone f (( as a re«
turning transition (§ 414) to the fundamental tone g, while the middle part
gives c^ as a similar transition to the fundamental third b, and the base in like
manner the transition a|^. In like manner, we may regard the passage in
k as resting entirely on the harmony ^, and those in / and m on the harmony ®.
§405.
Fig. 724, t, also,
(Fig. 724, t.)
(*.)
(^)
may, in like manner, be regarded as based throughout on the harmony A ; so,
too, the similar passage in k, or rather in /, may be viewed as resting jentirely
on the major three-fold chord of ^ — in which case the notation [ab c dtt i]t] is
more accurate than [ab c eb f Uj. (Compare, moreover, § 95.)
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676
TRANSITION-TONES.
So, again, in fig. 725,
(Fig. 725.)
(Compare fig. 127.)
in the second measure, the f S in the base part may be regarded either as the
fundamental tone, or as a mere transition to the Amdamental seventh, e. And
still more ! what is to hinder us from assuming that the fundamental harmony
is t throughout the entire duration of the second measure, that aJt is only
a transition to the following K, c to the following b, and f tt to the following
fundamental tone e?
§406.
The preceding views will perhaps suggest to some the idea, that if the chords
in question may be explained in this way as mere transitions, it was unne-
cessary to assume in §§ 89 to 95 a species of transformation under the names of
the elevation of the third and the depression of the fifth. Bat such is by no
means the case. For, the explanation of such combinations as transitions is not
applicable tn all cases: e. g. it is not so in fig. 726 :
(Fig. 726.)
m^ J
s±
itc
O" —
Here the tone dS cannot be regarded as a transition -tone, for as such it must
annex itself to a following principal note, only a major or minor degree higher
or lower than itself; but no such note here follows dlt, and consequently it
cannot be a transition, but must constitute an harmonic interval, and that either
the fundamental third of the harmony 18 7— or an arbitrarily elevated funda-
mental third of the four-fold chord ^ll^ with a minor fifth. (Compare remark
on § 95.)
(C.) SOFTENINQ EFFECT OF EQUIV0CALNE8S.
§407,
After the many observations we have made on the softening effect of different
kinds of equivocalness, it may well be supposed beforehand that the kind of
equivocalness here treated will also exhibit within its sphere a similar efiect.
For, it is perceived, as a matter of fact, that many a combination of tones which
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EQU I VOC ALNESS OF TRANSITIONS.
6M
we might otherwise expect would be repulsive to the ear, produces a much more
agreeable effect than it otherwise might do; because, if we regard it as con-
sisting exclusively of harmonic tones^ it represents a chord that does not
sound harshly in itself; or^ in other words, because it forms an apparent chord
(§§ 98 and 389), which, viewed as a real chord, does not belong to the class
of harsh-sounding chords.
Thus, e.g. in the annexed passage (In which, during the ®r^ -harmony
which lies throughout at the foundation of the whole measure, the tone ~i%
"'^-'"(Compare § 396 )
foreign to this harmony, occupies for a while the place of the harmonic tone
F, while F occupies the place of the seventh, !^ and c]t that of the fifth, d), the
simultaneous sounding of three tones not pertaining to the harmony is still not
disagreeable to the ear, chiefly because this combination of tones forms an
apparent chord (§ 396), namely, [g cjt e^ aj], apparently the chord Jpltt^ (with
a ninth placed in the base and the fundamental tone omitted), which in itself is
any thing but inharmonious (§ 87) ; on which account, these transitions do not
sound in the least degree harsh, even though we repeat the harmonic tone g
together with the tones foreign to the harmony, which otherwise is wont to
produce a more harsh efiect (§ 363).
The same may be said of the apparent chord [Qb bb clt ?] in fig. 727,
(Fig. 727.) MY ** REQUIEM."
Andante,
t^rnf^ ;jir^7fgif^at!4--qaaiJ
qui tol - lis pec - ca - ta, qui tol - lis peo - ca
- ta mnodi
It may even be maintained, of fig. 728,
(Fig. 728.)
Ji ■ 1 ! ^
MV " TE DEUM;
f r. r r • f r r-
a
Eh:l c:Y7 VI
Eh:l
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678
TRANSITION-TONES.
that the combination [f ]( cb $ a], which looks strange enough to the eye, is
received by the ear without the slightest antipathy, only because, regarded as
[fit b dlt a] or [gb cb eb bbb], it would be a Tery common fundamental four-fold
chord, 187 or Cb^.
§ 408.
In fig. 729, on the contrary,
(Fig. 729.)
^fe
m^
I II I
V
the entire second measure seems very harsh, because we cannot suppose a chord
in either of the combinations [b iT c] or [c" g 5] that occur therein ; for, if we
choose to regard the former as a 18 ^ -harmony with a minor ninth and the
fundamental tone retained, and the latter as a major four-fold chord of H^^,
nothing would be gained thereby, inasmuch as both these harmonies, as we have
long since observed, would sound harshly in themselves.
In fig. 730,
(l?ig. 730.)
i<jN.j;j.'73<juj;i]mCTi
T^T^
^
it is more natural to assume, that, in the combination [aS e g cj, c is only a
secondary tone toT of the following chord of t, just as aS is only a secondary
tone to the following tone b — than to regard the combination as ^tt^ ^{ii^ ^^
elevated third ; because, according to this last explanation, the elevated third
a]t of the harmony would stand below its proper fifth c^ a position which, in
such a chord, is both unusual and unnatural (§ 91, B), Still, although the
combination in question may very properly be thus regarded as a mere apparent
chord (§ 98), still, as such, it is always of rather indifierent efiect ; because, if
we were to consider it as a real chord, it would be a very harsb-sounding chord
in itself
Moreover, in the frequently cited fig. 613, p. 618, the ear, at the beginning
of the third measure, cannot perceive even an apparent chord in the eombi-
nation [B g ^ a], so that this chord also sounds, to say the least, not very
pleasantly.
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COHMENCIHO TRANSITION!^. 679
DIVISION V.
TRANSITION-TONES CONSIDEKBD IN THBIR RELATIONS TO THE
PRECEDING NOTE.
§409.
Hitherto we have every where regarded transitioii-toiies only with reference
to the foUomng principal note, as though a secondary note stood in no relation
whatever to any thing hut the following principal tone.
We shall find, however, that a good deal depends on the position of the
trantition-note with respect to the tone immediately preceding it, although the
relation he only an iriferior or secondary one.
It is now time to investigate this relation and to investigate it attentively,
since very extensive applications result therefrom.
If we examine into the relation which a secondary note hears to the one
that immediately precedes it, and ascertain the position of such preceding note,
as compared with that of the transition-tone, and particularly if we inquire
what intervals the two form with each other, we find that this relation is of very
different kinds. Many transition-tones stand in no relationship whatever to any
preceding tone, many in a distant one, others in a nearer, and others again are
one and the same with the preceding.
We wiU investigate them in the order here suggested.
(A.) COMMENCINO TRANSITION-TONES.
§410.
We find, among the transition-tones abeady treated, some which, properly
speaking, are not preceded by another tone, and which, accordingly do not stand
in any connexion mth a preceding tone ; namely, where a part makes its first
commencement with a transition-note ; as, e, g, m fig. 731,
(Fig. 731.)
^^^
where the transition-tone dft is the first tone sounded hy the upper part.
Transition-tones of this sort may he termed initial or commencing transitions.
As, in such a case, there is of course no secondary connexion with a pre-
ceding note, so, on that very account, the relation which the transition-tone hears
solely and exclusively to the following note is so much the more intimate.
This particularly intimate and exclusive relation is consequently also a
principal cause why the chromatic approximation of transttion-tones to their
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680
TBAM8ITI0N-T0N£ti
prtneipal note is especially appropriate to sach transitions ; inasmuch as sach
an approximation of the secondary tone promotes its close adherence to the
principal tone. We have thus an explanation of the fact^ that, in the passage
just cited, in fig. 731, the chromatically approximated fore-note d]t is much
more natural and appropriate than would he the tone d belonging to the scale.
§ 411.
Those transiHon-tones with which a peart re-commenees or conOnuet on,
after a longer or a shorter rest, or after a pause, though not indeed exactly
like those transition-tones with which a part at first makes its commencement,
still are in the most essential points quite similar. Such, for example, are the
tones Fjt, ajt, gtt, and d«, f x, 21, bit, in fig. 732 :
Each of these tones, if not the first of an entire series, still is a tone with
which a heretofore unbroken series re-commences.
(6.) TRANSITIONS OCCURBINe BY SKIPS.
§412.
Other transitions, again, although not the first of a series, still hold a
connexion with the preceding tone, only by skips. Of this kind are the tones
g«, aS, and f x, in fig. 733 :
(Fig. 733.)
a ^ I , K-j-[^EF-j I K ~^^
1.,^
m^ »rr l4Jf— P * I y-r^r-^
and the tones St and ¥]( — ^ and e]t, in fig. 734 :
(Fig. 734.)
HATI>N*S CBBATIOV.
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BT SKIPS AHD WITHOUT SKIPS.
681
(The explanation of the tone cji which occurs in the second measure^ as well of
the Tt in the fourth measure, may he seen in § 446.) We may distinguish this
sort of fore-notes hy the name skipping fore-notes or skipping transitions.
The chromatic approximation of transition-tones to their principal note is
particularly appropriate to those occurring by skips, in like manner and for the
same reason as in the case of initial transitions ; since here also, an uninter-
rupted connexion with what precedes is not aimed at, but only a close annex-
ation of the transition-tone to its principal note.
In fact, many secondary notes occurring by skips would sound far fnm.
agreeable, were we to take them without such approximation, and in the form
belonging to the scale. Let an attempt be made, for instance, to substitute
a for a and 1& for E]t in the above-cited fig. 734. (Compare § 372).
(C.) TRANSITIONS OCCUBBINO BT SINGLE DEOBEES.
§ 413.
Other transitions do not occur hy skips^ but are connected with the pre-
ceding tone ai the distance qf only one degree. These transitions, which do not
proceed by skips, are of two different kinds.
( i .) Intermediate Notes.
We obserre, namely, that some precisely JiU tip the space between one
princy^al note and another ; so that the part, instead of proceeding by a skip
from one of these tones to the other, strikes, in passing, the tone of the degree
that lies between them ; as is done, e, g. in fig. 735, t,
(Fig. 735^) ^ ik.)
by the degrees of the scale (diatonicalJy) ; and, in fig. 736,
(Fig. 736.)
by small degrees (chromatically, § XVII, Remark). Transitions of this kind may
be caUed, if you please, as they have already been, intermediaie notes.
As transitions of this kind are connected with the preceding tone at the
distance of a single degree, and hence are more closely united and related to
the same, whereby they serve to form an uninterrupted series of notes, without
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682 TB ANSI TI0N-T0NE8.
any skip or omissioD of iDtermediate notes ; it is, as a geDeral role, more natural
for snch intermediate transition-tones to appear as they stand in the scale, and
not chromatically approximated ; although these also, in certain cases, readily
yield and adapt themselves to chromatic approximation.
This depends chiefly on whether the composer actually regards the secondary
note as a connecting note between two tones, and uses it as a proper intermediate
tone, — or whether he intends it rather as a secondary tone having relation merely
to its following principal note. If, for example, he designs to produce, in A-
major, an uninterrupted series of tones between the notes a^ ctf, e of the harmony
of 9, — and in such a manner that each secondary tone shall not only have a
connection with its principal, but that every note of the series from a up to e
shall be as closely connected with its preceding as with its following note — ^then
the intermediate notes El) and Sti belonging to the scale will be better adapted to
this end than the foreign transitions Fit and d$. Compare the above fig. 735 t
with k. For, from the very fact that such foreign approximated transitions are
quite intimately and as it were exclusively united to their principal note, they
are separated so much the more from the preceding note, and the series of tones
from a to ¥, as represented in k, does not constitute an uninterrupted chain.
The case in fig. 735 k, however, or in fig. 732, p. 680, is different from that in
fig. 735 t. Here, the intention of the composer was not so much an unbroken
series, not a so-called run from a up to e and "a ; but he wished only to strike
the intervals of the chord of 2| in succession fi^m a to a, and to annex to each
of these intervals a secondary note having reference to it alone ; and, for this
purpose, a secondary note adhering as closely and as intimately as possible to
its principal, was the best adapted, and preferable to the tones b and d belonging
to the scale.
§ 414.
(2.) Returning Secondary Tones.
Another species of transition-tones, moving by single degrees, but not inter-
mediately, occurs when a part proceeds from a principal to an immediately
adjacent secondary note, and from this immediately returns to the preceding
principal note; as, e, g, in fig. 737,
(Fig. 737.) ._■ — i— —
=^=^
:*:
the two tones F in the first measure, and the two tones d in the second, as also
the tones d and b in the third ; which are all neither transitions occurring by
skips, nor intermediate notes, but are secondary notes proceeding firom and
returning to one and the same prindpal note.
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PREPARED TRANSITIONS. 683
Transitions of this sort resemble the intermediate notes mentioned in the
preceding section^ in the fact that they'^haye also a connection with another note
preceding them at the distance of one degree ; but they differ from them in the
circnmstance that transitions of the species now under consideration do not stand
midway between the preceding and the following note; on the contrary^ the note
which precedes and that whidi follows the secondary tone are one and the same ;
the transition stands, as regards its pitch, not between both, but beside both, and^
proceeding from a given note, returns to it again.
In order to have a specific name for transitions of this kind, we may call
them returning transiiians ; since these transitions consdst in the fact that the
part removes for a whUe from the principal tone, but immediately after returns
to the same.
It will naturally be observed here, in passing, that a shakcy among other
cases^ as well as the so-called mordent^ is nothing more than a repeated inter-
change of a principal note with such a continually-returning heavy or light
secondary note.
(D.) PREPARED TRANSITIONS.
§ 415.
There are again other transitions which occur neither by skips nor by
single degrees, which are neither more than one degree nor just one major or
minor degree from the preceding note, but which are one and the same with the
preceding tone that forms a constituent part of the harmony : e. g.m fig. 738,
(Fig. 738.) T P a "^ T ^ «
a=Fj=#
^^r=r^
at the beginning of the second measure, the tone 'c is foreign to the harmony ;
but the harmonic note immediately preceding this foreign tone *c was likewise
c. So, too, at the end of the second measure, the tone f is an harmonic tone t
but immediately afterwards, at the beginning of the following measure, this same
f appears as a foreign, secondary tone to ¥.
In such cases, therefore, the tone foreign to the harmony, immediately before
being used as a secondary tone, is heard as an harmonic interval, and the ear
has thus become, so to speak, prepared for it, by having already heard it im-
mediately before as an harmonic tone. (Compare § 104.)
It will readily be perceived, that transitions of this kind have a yet closer
relation to the tone preceding them, than those of any kind hitherto mentioned ;
and a reason is found in this very close relation why transitions of this kind
sound much more smoothly to the ear than others. For, in consequence of the
tone having been heard immediately before as an harmonic interval, the ear has
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684
TRANSITION-TONES.
already become aocustomed to this toDe [under agieeable drcomstaooes], and is,
as it i^er^y prepared for it ; and thus the natural harshness which it would other-
wise have, by being continued on into a less agreeable combination of tones, is
materially mitigated. And hence it occurs that secondary tones which would
otherwise sound very harshly, seem less ofifensiye to the ear when the latter has
already been prepared for them. Compare fig. 739 t,
(Flg.739,,.) (*.)
s
rz
i
Z3I
5
m
i
CT
*o"^
■cr
to I *>
TT"
5^332
lOOJC
=^
n
xz
where the tone b, foreign to the harmony, occurs unprepared^ with k, where it
occurs after preparation ; also the tone g, in fig. 740 t, with the same tone in k.
(Fig. 740, t,) . (*.)
^
m
■F
^
-9^,
likewise, in fig. 741 t,
(Fig. 741, t.)
i
(*•)
3-ni ■ J-T.S
f 7 T r 7 • n- 7 r r 7 n;
3g:
M
3
^^
^
S
f^=^
f ' f f "V
(Fig, 741, Z.)
^
U.Z.) (m.)
i
^B
I
f^^^
^
^
33
r
in the second measure, the tone g*, which is foreign to the harmony, appears
quite strangely and unexpectedly, and is even disagreeable to the ear ; this
harshness, however, is softened when the same tone occurs prepared, as in k,
where the tone g, which is foreign to the harmony in the second measore, and
hence is dissonant, has already occurred in the preceding measure as an harmonic
tone, namely, as fimdamental note to the harmony (Br.
§ 416.
Secondary tones of the kind here treated may be termed (and that too
essentially in accordance with the ordinary use of language) /?r^arec/ (ransMms.
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PREPARED SUSPENSIONS.
685
Bat as tbis whole manner of introducing secondary tones as prepared is
so exceedingly fimitfal in its applications, scientific language has assigned to
it a peculiar designation. Namely, it is customary to designate such prepared
transition-tones by the peculiar term suspensions or retardations,* We will
treat this part of the doctrine of transitions somewhat more in detail.
DIVISION VI.
SUSPENSIONS.
(A.) GENERAL PRINCIPLES.
(1.) Idea of Suspension and Preparation.
§ 417.
According to what has been said in §§ 41 5 and 416, a suspension is nothing
else than a prepared transition^ or, in other words, a tone prefixed to an har-
fnondc interval and foreign to the harmony^ which [tone] has already been heard
as an harmonde interval during the preceding harmony.
It is not customary, however, to apply the term suspension to every pre-
pared transition-tone, but only to those of a somewhat long duration. Thus,
e. g. in fig. 738, p. 683 (compare § 415j, the tone c may properly be called
a suspension ; but this name will hardly be applied to the shortT of the following
measure, that note being simply termed a transition or changing note.
(2.) Manner in which the Preparation of Suspensions is effected.
§ 418.
We have already (in § 108 and what follows) seen, in general, how the
preparation of a tone is effected, and we can here refer to what was said in that
connection; for the preparation of suspensions is accomplished in the same
manner as that of harmonic tones ; namely, when it is to be perfect : (a.) in the
same pitch ; (b,) in the same part ; (c.) connected by a tie ; (d.) continued
sufficiently long ; (e) by an harmonic interval ; and (f.) on a light part of the
measure ; all of which is exactly adhered to in fig. 742, t .*
(Fig. 742, t.)
(Fig. 748,*.) ^ I
^
-or
* Only one word — rorAa/(«—occun here in the original. (Compare J 421.) £d.
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686 TBAN8iri0N-T0NC8.
§ 419.
(a.) The preparatory note must hare been situated in the ictme pitch or
octave io which the dissonant note occurs, as in the above fig. 741 k, p. 684,
and 742 t, p. 685. A preparation in which this is not the case, can only be
called a very imperfect preparation ; as, e. g. in fig. 742 Ar, p. 685, where the
dissonant c" is prepared, not in the same situation, not in the /Artce-marked,
bat in the /vtre-marked octave ; and where, consequently, the note that has
preceded is not the self-same c which is afterwards heard as a transition, but
another, c!
§ 420.
(^.) The preparation is effected, as from the nature of guspenaion it
evidently must be, by the same part ; or, in other words, the preparatory note
must have stood in the same part which is to give the dissonance on the in-
troduction of the following harmony. A preparation in which the preparatory
note is given by another part, as, e. g. in fig. 742 m, p. 685, where, before "c is
heard in the middle part as a tone foreign to the harmony, the very same c is
heard already in the upper part, but yet not in that part by which it is after-
wards given as a tone foreign to the harmony — such a preparation, we say,
would certainly be at least less perfect than that in t.
§ 421.
(e.) A preparation exhibits its mitigating efiect in its full extent only when
the dissonant tone is not struck anew at the instant when it becomes dissonant,
that is to say, at the moment when the harmony occurs to which it is foreign
(§ 362), — ^but, on the contrary, is only continued, or, as it is usually expressed,
is tied to the preparatory tone, as in the preceding fig. 742 i, p. 685.
A tone foreign to the harmony, and introduced in such a way, appears to
be as it were only retarded and continued, while the other tones have vanished
and already given place to the following harmonic combination ; like a straggling
soldier who still remains, while the corps of tones to which he belonged have
marched ofi^, and the field is already occupied by another force. Such tied sus-
pensions are also called, on account of their appearing in the way above-
mentioned as a kind of lingering remnant of a preceding combination, retar-
dations (this retarding, however, is not to be confounded with the ritardando of
rhythmical movement). The term suspension (Vorhalt) itself seems also to
have been intended as nearly synonymous with retardation (Aufhalt) ; since
the suspension is properly rather a holding back than a holding before. Sus-
pensions executed in this tied manner are also frequently termed binds or
ligatures (concatenazioni). Compare § 111 and § 227.
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PREPARED SUSPENSIONS. 687
§ 422.
To what a degree this binding mitigates the harshness of a note foreign to
the hamwngy may easilj be observedy by performing, e. g. the passage in fig.
740 ky p. 684y as if the two ties were not there, and, hence, by striking the
gl] twice ; by which means this tone foreign to the harmony sounds mnch more
harshly in conjunction with the tone G% than when performed as tied to the
preceding g which appears as the fifth of the harmony ®. — Similar will be the
result of a similar treatment of the preceding examples in fig. 739 ky p. 684, and
742 t, p. 685, &c.
But that eyen an untied preparation softens considerably the harshness of
a tone foreign to the harmony, is evident firom the fact that, in fig. 740 k, p. 684,
even if the ties are omitted, the passage sounds much less harshly than in t,
where the gl] appears entirely without preparation.
§423.
(d,) Preparation^ in order to produce its fiill effect, must also be of suf-
ficient continuance, the preparatory tone must have already lasted sufficiently
long, — And hence it is generally assumed that the preparation should be just
as long as the dissonance ; as, e, g, is the case in the foregoing fig. 741 k, p. 684.
The fact, moreover, that even very short preparatory tones mitigate the
harshness attendant on striking a tone foreign to the harmony, is proved by fig.
741 /, p. 684 (as well as by other examples), where the tone g of the upper
part in the second measure, although prepared only by a brief sixteenth-note,
still does not give such a harshness to the harmony as it would if even this
short preparation were absent, as is the case in fig. 741 t or m, p. 684.
§ 424.
(e.) The preparatory note, moreover, is always an interval of the fore-
going harmony, as it evidently must be, both from the nature of the case and
from the definition of a suspension as given above in § 417, and thus is always
a genuine harmonic note, A tone which is foreign to the harmony, and which
has not been previously heard as an harmonic tone, would not be prepared at all,
and, consequently, would not be a suspension.
This harmonic preparatory tone may, moreover, at one time be a so-called
consonance, and at another a dissonance (and accordingly in this latter case a
fundamental seventh). In fig. 743,
(Fig.743.) I ^ ^ , , I^J , I
the note of preparation in the first measure, namely a, is the fiindamental tone
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688 TBANSITION-TOKES.
of the harmony A ; in the following measure, the fifth of the hannony 0 is the
preparatory tone of the suspension which occors in the next measure still ; in
the third measure, the third of the harmony A, namely 7, serves as a preparation
of the suspension occurring in the fourth measure :~^us, all these suspensions
are prepared by consonances. — In fig. 744, on the contrary.
'XL
H! 8| o n
xc
iJ I o.
nrr
jCn
the preparatory tone T is the fundamental seventh of the principal four-fold
chord |tr^9 and accordingly a dissonance.
In the last case, where the preparatory ioneTis an inierval having a tendency
to a particidar progression (§ 313), namely, to descend, on the introduction of the
harmony ®, to the tone 7, while at the same time this progression is temporarily
delayed, the suspension appears as a retardation of the resolution of the seventh.
(Compare § 314, C.)
It is perceived, that inasmuch as the ear, on hearing the seventh, f, in the
first measure of the example quoted, naturally expects the descent of this tone
to Ty while this expectation fails of being satisfied on the introduction of the
harmony ®, such satisfitctory resolution being still deferred, — ^I say, it is per-
ceived, that such a postponement of the expected progression, increasing as it
does the intensity of the desire for the anticipated result, ultimately enhances
the satisfaction which is felt on its arrival.
§ 425.
Though, according to what has already been said, a suspension can properly
appear only as prepared by a genuinely harmonic tone, still we may in a
manner^ though indeed in a qualified sense, regard that also as a tone of sus-
pension which appears as a secondary tone to an interval of a harmony, and
has already been heard likewise as a secondary tone during the existence of
the foregoing harmony ; as, for example, in fig. 745,
(Fig. 746.)
|L„J 1 ^ . ^ J J i
F
jf, n T ^^^^l^gUft^
where we may regard the transition-tone b, in the first measure, as being, in a
qualified sense, a preparation of the tone T in the second measure ; and, ac-
cordingly, the tone F, in the second measure, would be, in a qualified sense,
a tone of suspension.
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PEEPAltED SUSPENSIONS.
689
So, likewise, in the first measure of fig. 746,
(Fig. 746.)
TTT"
32Z:
zrt:
ZC3Z
"cr
the tone gtt, which is foreign to the harmony, occurs as a preparation of the gtt
which constitutes a suspension in the second measure.
In the third measure of fig. 747 also.
(Fig. 747.)
4r^fHhV
m
TT a
1' °| 1
4
t
we may consider the second half of the syncopated tone gtt as heing, in an im-
proper sense, a suspension, and the first half of the syncopation as being, in the
same way, a preparation. — Fig. 748 also, ,
(Fig. 748.)
admits of being explained in the same manner.
In all cases, however, tone^ of this kind, which are foreign to the harmony,
and whose tones of preparation were themselves also foreign to the harmony,
are only prepared in a limited and improper sense, and, therefore, can only in
an improper sense be called suspensions, since the predicate suspension properly
applies only to those transition-tones which are prepared by genuine harmonic
tones.
§ 426
Our theorists have seen fit to lay down the strange principle, that disso-
nances (suspensions) must have previously existed "as consonances."
Now examples are of constant occurrence which show the absolute falseness
of this common and universally accredited rule. One example of this kind is
foond in fig. 744, p. 688. No one has thought of deeming this passage faulty.
The same is true also of the second and third measures of figs. 749 and 750,
(Fig. 749.)
flll^^'-f^-^
. , . -^
Siitrkt mii Ge ^ dutt
'f O"^ r
^
^5=?
J-nJ J.„J-J-i
Ge - Mr/
t — r
VOL. IX.
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690
TRANSITION-TONES.
(Fig. 750.)
Dock
tn Spa - mm tchon Tau
MOZAET.
send ttnd drei
z^j *-
5
WTT
t^
^
-©^
^
3
i
#
^
g
f
I Il7 I
and also of the following example, in which the suspension 7 is prepared hy
the fundamental seventh of the harmony g^.
XOZABT's Don JtTAV.
Ca - va-Zttf-foan-co-fo
ii7
(Compare remark on § 107.)
But, not satisfied with the above-mentioned palpable error, the musical
literati go still farther, and determine even nai to recognize aU consonances as
fit for the preparation of such a dissonance. Koch*, for example, teaches thus :
« The preparation of every dissonance can be efiected by means of all the con-
sonances (except the fourth)!* But what would this learned author say to the
extremely common passage found in fig. 751,
(Fig. 751.)
»i
a passage never disapproved even by himself, nor by any other theorist, nor by
anybody else of sound musical ears P and yet, in this passage, the tone ic, which
is foreign to the harmony (Br, is prepared by the tone c, as the fourth of the base
tone g !
I cannot imagine what could have suggested to this writer so strange an idea!
It is perceived here again, how strikingly the rules fabricated by theorists
contradict what is indisputably recognised in practice, and how, notwithstanding
this, one theorist repeats the rule after another, and, thoughtlessly, still continues
to write: ''every preparation must be made by a consonance!" — (Compare
remark on § 99.)
* In his Handbuch der Ilarmonie, p. 221.
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PREPARED 8UHPEN8I0NS.
691
§ 427.
(f,) The preparation of a tone foreign to the harmony is, like that of the
seventh (§ 114)^ always most satisfactory when it is efiected on a lighter part of
the measure than that on which the tone is struck as one foreign to the harmony y
so that the latter takes place on a more heavy part of the measure, and thus, so
far as it occurs nnder the fye (§ 421), it appears as a syncopation (§ XCVIll),
as has already heen ohserved in the examples above quoted.
The reverse is fiur less usual, though not entirely without example. See^
for instance, fig. 752 :
(Fig. 762.)
M3=i-
-fjr-
^
=^t—
f^
1 — y-i—
u
o *
=M=
1 jTflS
J.
^
aga
g]l^
=*?^
O ■-
Moreover, in fig. 753, t and k,
(Fig. 753, f .) voolbr's trichord.
T VT Yi V g: V?
VI V g: V7 1
the second half of the half-note Cb is a suspension of a ; and both the second
part of the measure, on which the tone Bb occurs as a suspension, and the third,
on which the principal tone a appears, are alike unaccented parts of the measure
(§ LXVI). Fig. 754 is of a similar character (as is also the 13th measure of
fig. 233, p. 402).
(Fig. 754, i.) (k.)
i
rr T r f ^
r ^
t2
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69%
TRANSITION-TOKKS.
The suspension in fig. 755,
(Fig.756.<.) (A.)
^
S
m
T
gg
-^^
^ "f r'*r
p
I V7 I
*
being the second half of the tone F, is decidedly lighter than its following prin
cipal tone b : and so also in fig. 756,
(Fig. 766, f.) (k.)
^^^^^
32^
■<a*-
^^
¥
^f'~Tc3r
^^^^
Til I
*
^^
f^HVf-
^@
d=t
dUb
▼I I
V a.V7 iCtlVii
V7
the suspension (namely, the second half of the half-not« c) is lighter than the
following harmonic principal tone F*.
§ 428.
The reason why tones of suspension usually occur on the more heavy parts
of the measure is very unsatisfactorily given by some teachers, and not at all
by others. It seems to me that the answer to such a question most easily
suggests itself, if we reverse the proposition and state the matter thus : Why
are only those inharmonic tones usually prepared which occur on the heavy
part of the measure (accented transition-tones) ? For the very good reason
that these heavy transition-tones fall more harshly upon the ear than those that
are light (as we have already observed in § 354), and consequently stand most
in need of the softening effect of preparation. Hence, it is natural that prepa-
ration should ofbener be requisite in the case of such tones, and, accordingly, be
more characteristic of them than it is of unaccented transition-tones. Hence,
our ear becomes more accustomed to hear heavy [accented'] transition-tones
prepared, and less accustomed to hear It^ht [unaccented] ones prepared ; so that
the occurrence of a prepared light transition-tone, of a suspension on a light
part of the measure, would ordinarily impress it as something quite unusual.
Still an additional reason why suspensions which are struck on a light part
of the measure appear rather strange to the ear, may lie in the following
circumstance. Since the moment at which a prepared transition-tone [sus-
pension] enters its relation as a tone foreign to the harmony is always the
moment at which a new harmony appears, as, for example, in figs. 752 — 756i
p. 691 and above, it follows that the appearance of a new harmony is always con-
nected with the introduction of a suspended note on a light part of the measure.
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PREPARED SUSPENSIONS. 693
Now, if the same harmoDy still continues on in the following light part of the
measore where the suspension resolves itself, as is the case in figs. 15% 753 t,
and 754 f, p. 691, so that this harmony which is introduced on a light part of the
measure continues longer than the foregoing heavy part of the measure ; or if
the harmony, whose introduction on a light part of the measure is accompanied
hy the striking of the dissonance, continues on in the following heavy part of
the measure, as in figs. 755 t, and 756 %, p. 692, so that an harmonic step is made
on a light part of the measure, while none is made on the following heavy part ;
the result is, that, in such a distrihution of harmonic steps, a kind of rhythmical
inversion takes place in the first case (§ XCIY and what follows), while a
syncopation occurs in the second case (§ XVI and what follows). All this may
contribute to render suspensions of such a class somewhat more strange and
unusual in their efiect than are those which occur on a heavy part of the
measure. This conjecture, moreover, is somewhat strengthened by the fact,
that, in figs. 753 k, 754 k, 755 k, and 756 k, where harmonic steps are equally
distributed to all the difierent parts of the measure, the suspensions, even where
they occur on the light parts of the measure, appear less foreign and unnatural
than they do in figs. 753 i, 754 1, 755 i, and 756 I
§429.
Theorists have, moreover, laid it down as a rule, that a preparation must
always occur on a light part of the tneasure; that the note which serves as
a preparation must always stand on a lighter portion of the measure than does
the suspension itself! This rule again is drawn firom the partially true obser-
vation, that suspensions are usually accented notes, or, in other words, that
transition-tones are most firequently prepared when they occur on the rhythmi-
cally heavy portions of the measure. But that such a rule is not universally
true, is clearly shown by many of the before-mentioned examples.
In fig. 757, also,
(Fig. 767.) ^^^^^^^^
■e*- -J- J
-I-
the preparatory tone'c occurs on the heaviest portion of the measure — a portion
of Uie measure which is more heavy than the second half of it on which the
tone "e occurs as a suspension ; and hence, according to the rule, as usually
stated by authors, this preparation would be faulty. (Compare remark on § 99.)
(B.) DIFFERENT WAYS IN WHICH SUSPENSIONS MAT OCCUR.
§430.
After having defined the nature of a suspension, it is scarcely necessary to
say anything farther as to what suspensions may be prefixed to an harmonic
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694 TBAN8ITI0N-T0NE8.
interval ; or as to the eqtdvocalness which arises from the prefixing of sns-
pension-toneSy or as to the difierent ^ays in tthich suspensions may occur, &c.
For, inasmuch as suspensions are nothing else than prepared transition-tones,
it follows that every thing which has been said of transition-tones in general is
for the most part true of suspensions in particular, and may easily be applied to
them. Hence, there is but little left for us to say in particular of suspensions.
In presenting the little we have to say on this subject, we will adopt the
same order that was obserTed in our treatment of transition-tones in general
(from § 349 to § 409).
If we inquire into the different ways in which suspension-tones may be
introduced, as we did in relation to transition-tones generally (§ 346, &c.), we
shall find, in the first place, that
(1.) The tone of suspension can properly in all eases be only a secondary
tone to an interval of that harmony during whose continuance it occurs as a
suspension, and, hence, always a substituted tone (§ 347), a substituted interval,
a substituted dissonance. It is not unueual to regard these latter designaticms
as exclusively i^plicable to suspensions (see the place above referred to) ; and,
according to this usage of language, the expressions suspension and substituted
interval or substituted dissonance are entirely synonymous.
It may conveniently be observed . here, that many music-teachers call
suspension-tones accidental dissonances, because they are, as it were, accidental
substitutes for an harmonic interval, and hence are not essential to the fiinda-
mental harmony, by way of contradistinction from the proper sevenths, which
they term essential dissonances. (See § 101, at the end.)
Notwithstanding the iact, however, that suspensions are always secondary
tones to the present harmony, still a part may dwell upon the tone of suspen-
sion quite up to the time of thefoUowing ^umnony. This subject will be more
particularly treated in the following Division VII, No. 4.
§431.
(2.) Tones of suspension, like transition-tones generally (§ 350,) are, at one
time, of a longer, and, at another time, of a shorter duration.
It has already been observed (in §417) that very short suspensions are not
usually to be considered as worthy of the name.
§ 432.
(3.) It has already been remarked (in § 427) that suspension-tones, like
transition-tones in general, are at one time of greater rhythmical weight than
the principal tone, and at another time of less, though this latter case is less
frequent than the other ; and, accordingly, by far the greatest part of suspen-
sion-tones are heavier than the principal tones to which they relate, and Uius,
so to speak, are prepared changing notes. (Compare § 352.)
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MANNKB OF OCCURRENCE.
695
§433.
(4.) It is aelf-evident that tones of suspension, no less than other tran-
sition-tones, may occareiiAer in ouier parts or in midtUe parts (compare § 433),
or even that they may occur in several parts at once (§ 355). In figs. 758 and
759, t, eyen three parts have suspensions at the same time.
(Pig. 768.)
mm
1
iini"KE
n
m
m^^l^fitf-Mm
"'J i\ '> ij.ji g
^m
«<:
£
(Fig.768,».) (A.)
i
Fig. 759, k, afibrds an example in which two suspensions are at the same time
prefixed to one and the same tone; namely, the tone d is prefixed to the tone c~as
a suspension firom above, and the tone b is prefixed to the same as a suspension
from below.
An example in which the tone of one and the same degree of the staff occurs
as a suspension to two difierent principal tones is furnished by fig. 760, where
c occurs as a suspension to d, while at the same time "c occurs as a suspension
tob.
(Fig. 760.)
W^ f
T
:^ 1 Jr^i J
M r jiJ
§433«'-
It is worthy of remark, further, that suspensions in the base part seldom
occur otherwise, and rarely sound well otherwise, than as they occur in
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696
TRANUTIOM TOMEM.
fig. 761, k and /; namely, in such a manner that the hase note whidi serves
as a saspension is a suspension from above to the following fundamental third.
(Fig. 761..-.) •»R (*.)
(l)
J I 1 '^--"
I
S
:g:
O.
1
"Q"
*^^
t?C>
7
T
It much less freqaently occars that the hase contains a suspension to any
other iiindamental interval ; as, for instance, in the following example :
p
ES
-Q-
-Q-
I
^^
-i-
§:
ICIZ
3
■^--i?"- ^-Tf
^
^
tf
or as in fig. 661, p. 642, and fig. 674, p. 652.
Suspensions from below in the hase part are of still more rare occurrence,
though in other parts we have found this to occur many times without the
slightest inconvenience. .
§434.
(5.) The manner in which suspensions may occur in harpeggiate progres-
tions is shown hy fig. 762 :
(Fig. 762.)
[^.[^^.[^-JP
(Compare also § 359.)
§435.
(6.) The fJBkCt, that a suspension is sometimes prefixed to an harmonic
interval in one part, while the same interval is sounding in another part
(compare § 360), is shown hy the ahove examples in figs. 758, 759, 760, 763,
764, &c. &c. pp. 695 and helow.
(Fig. 763.)
KIBIVBEBOER.
S
:g=
:g
^r--r
-€*
I
^^ES
:e:
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MANinBB OF OCCURRENCE.
(Fig. 764.) RIBK.
697
All that was remarked in §§ 360 and 361 applies to cases of this de-
scription.
§436.
(7.) Suspensions struck simnltaneonsly with the occorrenoe of the harmony
in which they appear as suspensions, that is to say, suspension-tones which are
not connected hy a tie to the previous preparatory note, but are struck anew
coinddentiy with the introduction of the new harmony, are always to be regarded
as less perfect suspensions. (Compare §§ 362, 363, and 421.) See, for example,
figs. 765, 766, &c.
(Fig. 765.)
JL. ^ i
^^
CI
a;V7
J.
B
(Fig. 766.)
d
rsE
ISrr
m
(C.) WHAT TONES MAT BE EMPLOTRD AS SUSPENSIONS TO AN HARMONIC
INTERVAL.
§437. '
(1.) As it regards the (Erection in which a part moves firom the tone of
suspension to the principal tone, suspensions may be, as we have already
(§ 365) remarked in general of transition-tones, either suspensions from below
or from above. In itself considered, it is as correct to prefix a suspension to
an harmonic tone from below as from above ; but most suspensions from above
produce a better efiect than those from below, and the former are also far more
common than the latter ; as is the case, for instance, in the examples already
referred to, by far the greatest part of the suspensions in these being suspen-
sions from above and only a very few suspensions from below. There are
not a few instances, however, of the latter species* For example, the tone
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698
TBA N81 TI0N-T0NE8.
c in fig. 760^ p. 695, the tone "E in fig. 763, p. 696, the tone e twice in fig.
767, as also in fig. 768:
(Fig. 767.)
M rir r rir jS^
J..
Clt ^
i
i
m
(Fig. 768.)
J^P^Ui
fV^"^"
m
JSj-
i
y=i
i
s
r. 1
T r 'r
§438.
(2.) Since, as we have already seen in § 366, transition-tones may be, in
respect to the magnitude of the step which a part makes from the secondary
tone to the principal, either those of a minor second or those of a tm^or second,
it follows that this same distinction is applicable also to suspensions, and,
accordingly, that a tone of suspension never stands farther than a major second
firom its principal tone. (Compare § 366.)
§439.
(3.) Snspension*tones may at one time belong to the giten scale, and at
another time be foreign to it. (§ 367.)
The latter oocors, however, only in two cases. Namely, inasmuch as the
preparatory tone is ordinarily a genuine harmonic interval (§ 424), and thus
belongs to the given scale, while the tone of suspension coincides vdth the tone
of preparation, it follows that this latter is never foreign to the scale, except
when, on striking the suspension, a new key is introduced whose scale does not
contain the said tone. For example, in fig. 769,
(Fig. 769.)
if'i d i
T
=°F*^
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MAMNBR OF OCCURRENCE.
699
the tone 7^ which constitutes a transition to the tone e, is foreign to the new
scale of G'-major. So also^ in fig. 770,
(Fig. 770.)
i. J"i J
ITT''"
C:l
^
the tone g, which occars as an element of the tonic three-fold harmony of C
appears immediately afterwards as a transition to a harmony of the new key of
o-minor, to which the tone gl] is foreign. — The second half of the syncopated
tone f, in fig. 771, is of the same description :
(Fig. 771.)
3±1
W
i
^m
mo
I »
C:l IV 5;V7 t.V
as is also the eighth-note a in the second half of the second measure of fig. 773.
(Fig. 772.)
m
3^
i
^
TOJ 1 J-:
^^^
'^E
-CL
I
jjj.;i,W _j_j3
nJ I'M
e.'i
a;V7
VI
e;«ii^
A second case in which suspensions foreign to the scale may occur, is found
in those improper suspensions which are prepared, not by a genuine harmonic
interval, but by a tone foreign to the harmony (§ 425), and, indeed, by a tone
that is foreign to the scale. In this case, the tone which had already been
foreign to the scale as a tone of preparation still continues to be so as a tone of
suspension. Thus, for example, the tone gS, in the second measure of fig. 773,
is a suspension foreign to the scale :
(Fig. 773.)
"TT"
ii_^
331
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700
TRANSITION-TONES.
§440.
(4.) In like manner as we have found transiticn-tonefl to occur on har-
monic degrees (§§ 3S2 — 388), so may suspensions occur also on harmonic
degrees. In other words, as we have seen that sometimes a tone which, in
itself considered, is indeed contained in the fundamental harmony of the passage,
but which, from the manner and the connection in which it occurs, seems
to present itself rather as a mere secondary tone, merely in the light of a
transition-tone, so the same thing takes place also in tied transition-tones
(suspensions). In the following passage, fig. 774,
(Fig. 774.)
i- J
^s
^ I ■ i rr^
m
ua
f=
where the ear is accustomed, for some length of time, to regard every first
quarter-note of the measure in the upper part as a suspension to the following
tone, it will naturally regard the tone f, which is the first quarter-note in the
last measure but one, rather as a suspension to the tone eb, than as the fimda-
mental tone of the harmony ^7 ^ and, in fact, this tone f, standing as it does
in this connection, occurs less in its property as an harmonic interval, than in
its capacity as a substitute, as a suspension before the tone lb — ^the proper
seventh of the fiindamental harmony. — The tone d of the third measure of fig.
775 is of a similar character.
(Fig. 776.)
d :i^ A-A J.
^
-JET-
In like manner, the tone e at the third quarter of fig. 776,
(Rg. T76.)
r
33c:
LA
±
^
stands rather in the capacity of substitute for the following d than as a proper
fundamental tone ; to say the least, the ear is inclined to regard this e as a
mere suspension, for the particular reason that otherwise the harmonic combi-
nation of this third quarter would exhibit itself as the harmony of ^ with a
minor ninth and retained fundamental tone, and consequently would be rather
rough and harsh (§ 78) ; whereas this harshness disappears if we regard this
tone e as a mere secondary tone, and not as a component element of the
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EaO I VOC ALNESS.
701
barmoDy. For a like reason^ the tone d, in the third measure of fig. 777, seems
to present itself rather as a mere suspension of the fundamental seventh c than
as a fundamental tone.
(Fig. 777.)
±
*3-
J.X.
Hte-
±a-
XI ^
^
It
a
3^
The same may be observed of the tone '^ in the third measure of fig. 778 :
S
o ■-
=1^
^^
It may be seen, moreover, firom the before-mentioned figs. 765 and 766,
p. 697, that also in the case of suspensions t^e tone of one and the same degree
may occur under two chromatiealiy different forms. (Compare § 356 and § 385,
at the end.)
(D.) EQUIVOCALMESS.
§441.
The same eguivocalness pertains to suspension-tones that we have already
observed in relation to transition-tones in general (§ 388, &c.), and its applica-
tion in the former case is sufficiently obvious.
In the following passage, for example.
(Fig. 779.)
i
S
j=sb:i
a=eC
U M n
5^
D.I II I Ii7«vii b:i V7
^.••ii V I V7
I •ll I V7 VI
1 'n vr I V7
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702 TBANSITI01I-T0NE8.
one mnBt necessarily be in doubt whether to regard the first chord of the second
measure as the harmony of tl in the second inversion, and the tones c]t and c]t as
suspensions, or to consider this combination as J^U (or even as fjt). — Equally
equivooftl is the first half of the fourth measure.— Farther, if we w— mo the
tones d and b in the second half of the same fourth measure to be suspensions,
the harmony here must be that of J^ but otherwise it would be that of tl. —
A similar equivocalness appears in the following measure.
Instead of giving further examples, I will refer the reader to figs. 774 — 778,
pp. 700 and 701.
DIVISION VII.
RESOLUTION OF TRANSITION-TONES.
(A.) eSNEBAI. PBIHCIPLE.
§ 442.
Thus fiir we have endeavoured to show how a part may combine transition-
tones with its texture. It now remains to consider how a part, after having
assumed such a tong (whether a transition-tone, a changing-note, or a suspension),
is to proceed firom that point onward ; or, as it is usually termed, how a part
must in such a case resolve itself. (Compare § 342.)
The answer to this question is, in general, very easily given ; for, it is
evident firom the whole nature of tones foreign to the harmony, that every such
tone, which can exist only as a secondary tone to a following principal one, and
whose being can be justified only on the ground of its transition into this principal
tone (§ 343) — ^it is evident, I say, that such a secondary tone must be resolved
mto its principal tone. In fig. 761 t^ p. 696, the tone c]t is a secondary tone to
d, and accordingly the part which gives this tone ctt must next proceed to d!
In fig. 761, kf the tone c'is a secondary tone to b, and hence immediately resolves
itself into b. — ^And since a secondary tone is always either a major or a minor
second higher or lower than the principal tone, it follows that the resolution of a
transition-tone always consists in the simple &ct, that the part which gives such
a tone proceeds immediately afterwards either a mqfor or a minor second, t^
wards or downwards, to the principal tone of this secondary one.
This law, arising as it does firom the very natore of the case, requires neither
proof nor elucidation ; and the only point of this subject upon which it is
necessary to make any farther remarks, is the various ways in which this
transition of a secondary tone to its principal takes place.
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BK80LUTI0N Or TBAM8ITI0N-T0HI
703
(B.) DirrKBEMT
or BB80LUTI0M.
§443.
Since a seoondairj tone is only an appendage to a principal one. rince its
entire enateam nfers to the latter, and is admissible only on the gronnd of its
dependsBC* upon the same (§ 343), it follows that a part, after assuming such
a tone, most immediatefy proceed to the principal tone.
Out ear, however, permits some variations in this matter, to which we
will now turn our attention. (Compare § 314.)
(1.) 7^ $eeondary tone thirred to the prmdpal tone, or ddaehedjrom U.
§444.
In the first place, it would best accord to the intimate connection between
a secondary tone and its prme^iMU one, that the two should be connected by a
slur, as is usually the case with the preparation and the striking of a discord.
(§ 421.) An instance of this kind occurs, for example, in fig. 780 «, i, I.
(Fig.780,i.) (*.) (Z.)
J-^-J . II J I Ir^l . II J"
i
i
m
^
^
^
T-
^
^m
33!:
VI VVIV IV
Not nnfirequently, however, the tones are unconnected, as in fig. 781 ;
(Fig. 781.)
-I-
^
f-r
'^E^
I
or as in fig. 782,
(Fig. 782.)
u
mum
where every transition-tone is twice struck, and in snch a manner too, that it
appears at one time as a light transition-tone, and then again as a heavy transition-
tone ; — or even every note, taken by itself, is broken up into still smaller notes.
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704
as in fig. 783 :
TBANSITION-TONKS.
(Fig. 783.)
^
* J
w
(Compare §§ 37 and 38.)
(2.) ITie secondary tone separated from the principal tone by rests.
§ 445.
We sometimes find the secondary tone separated/ram tAeprinc^fol tone Zjy
rests, as in fig. 784, t, k : (Compare § 38.)
(Fig. 784. f.) (*.)
^
s
fT-Jl ^ J^, J!:
■^ •— ^
rm
This is still more strikingly exhibited in fig. 785 :
(Fig. 786.)
(3.) Intermediately inserted tones.
§ 446.
One or more tones may, moreover, be struck between the secondary tone
and the principal ; that is to say, a sort of interpolation may take place between
a secondary and a principal note.
In fig. 786 i, for example,
(Fig. 786, ».) (k.)
ilili ^t'i ^ .' II ^ -Tl *1i -^ I ^n^Vf^l^
a ^ s "I ^ ^ 'J ^ I V. ■'J ^ 'J B
the secondary tone 7 is introduced before the harmonic tone cl In fig. 786 k,
above, the same passage appears in an karpeggiaie form (compare § 434), the
upper part here giving alternately the tones of the three parts of fig. 786 t;
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RESOLUTION OV TRANSITION-TONES.
705
and here, in fig. 786 k, the harpeggiate part^ after having given the tone d as a
fore-note to cj does not proceed immediately from this ^ to c^ but first strikes
intermediately the tones g and e as representatives of the two middle parts.
In ^g, 787 t, also,
(Fig. 787, t.)
F
F R T
F R s
(*.)
<^7^ ^iJ^l^l^ Q r^y J^T^Jj
h&r
^
^
s
:§:
-^5-
zi±cr=i=:
(^.)
C:IF:V7
C:V
Wf
where the tone c is interpolated between g and f^ as is also the tone d between
sT and g, we may either regard the upper part fragment-wise as an harpeggiate
representation of two parts, as in k, or we can imagine that the upper part,
instead of making a quarter-note rest between the secondary and the principal
note, as in /, which it would indeed require (according to § 445), makes use of
this firee time meanwhile to strike another harmonic interval.
A similar interpolation is found in fig. 788, second and fourth measures, &c.
(Fig. 788.)
HATBN'S CREATION.
*mm\^'-^^^WMM
'°i —
f^^
f f- 1, K ^^
§447.
In the foregoing examples, the tones struck between the secondary tone and
the principal, were harmonic intervals. But there may be transition-tones of
the description found in fig. 789 (compare § 434),
(Fig. 789.)
^^^^^^^_ S!^^^29 ^2^^^^9
where the harpeggiate part does not proceed directly from c to d^ though the
VOL. II. u
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706
TRAN91TI0N*T0NES.
former constitutes a transition to the latter^ but first descends to a as a fore-
note to E^ &c.
In fig. 790, t;
(Fig. 790, t.)
the harmonic tone c" is preceded by the secondary tone d firom above and by the
secondary tone la from below. In fig. 790 k, above, this passage appears in an
harpeggiate form, since the secondary tone d~ which was given in t by the upper
part, and the secondary tone F which was given in t by the second part, are here
in k both struck by one part. But as this one part cannot indeed carry along
both the others at the same timey but must strike the one after the other, it follows
that the harpeggiate part cannot proceed immediately from the secondary tone first
struck to its principal tone, but must previously take in the other secondary tone.
The fore-notes of the vocal part, in fig. 791, are to be explained in the same
way.
(Fig. 791.)
Allegro assai.
M0ZABT*8 DOBT JUAV.
i
t=^=^
urn — fSS^.
■M-
ji
tUee Blui!
d:
m.
i
s
hcj '
rp"Tvn .g.
/.V
C:V1 /:V
^^i
^
n
4=^-*-
die»9e Wun^e!
dieses Ant-lUz!
Ach mit
>ji !■; ff°| dL- — ga.
d
^Fn
s=«
r/;V7 G;V
e;V7 a:Y
t^ ^^
ftiyt b:\
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RESOLUTION OF TBANSITIOK-TOXES.
707
Id like manner are to be explained also the two sixteenth- notes of the upper
part in the third measure of fig. 192, as are also the eighth-notes in the fourth
measure of the same example :
(Fig. 792.)
J. S. BACH.
^faqi^T-frfflj ■ J'l:^
p
s^ss
i
■» t. # -. 1—, fc- .^w »» — » ■ — ^=-
r °i 'r ^^ b-Xj^T^lr^
(The "di in the first measure is explained by § 461.)
Fig. 793, t, admits of being explained in the same way, perhaps, as an har-
peggiate representation of a three-part passage^ as in i^ or /.
(Fig.793,».)
T. HASLINGER*S MASS.
^
-^^^
J:
I
iii i
i
f^
jCSI
V7
i
(*.)
^
^^
(/•)
m
^^
We may also reckon it under the head of the interpolation of a tone be-
tween a secondary one and its principal, that the secondary tone may, before
proceeding to its principal, he made to approximate the same by a chromatic
alteration (compare § 368) ; as, for example, in fig. 794, the tone eb is inserted
between the secondary tone ¥ and the principal tone ? ; as is also the tone ab
between a and g in the fourth measure :
(Fig. 794.)
f^
z^.
TT^
m
V 2
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708
TRAHSITION-TONB)!.
The same is true of fU in fig. 795 :
(Fig. 795.)
J. HAYDfT.
^^i^§^^
£h:l
■9 T
§ 448.
It belongs also to the category of the interpolation of one or more tones be-
tween a principal and a secondary tone, that other transtttofi'tones are again
sometimes inserted between the secondary tone and its resolution. Thus, for
example, in fig. 796,
(Fig. 796.)
:p=p:
It
s
do
ri
"r I
the suspension-tone c in the vocal part resolves itself into b : but in the ac-
companiment which is placed under this vocal part, the eighth-notes b and a) as
transition-tones of the second and the first class^ are inserted between the sus-
pension-tone c^ and the half-note b, which is to be considered as its resolution.
(4.) Resolution during the present or during the foUounng harmony.
§ 449.
The resolution of a transition-tone takes place at one time during the
continuance of that harmony in connection with which it sounds as a transition-
tone, and at another time during the presence of the following harmony.
The latter is of course the case in transitions to intervals of the following
harmony. In fig. 797 i, for example,
(Fig. 797, i.) (A:.)
Br
2X
I ■■ ^ J J
Ju
i
P^
^^^^1 ^
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RESOLUTION OF TBAMSITION-TONES.
709
where b is a transition to a of the flowing harmony of ^, it is clearly ap-
parent that this tone b does not proceed to a during the harmony of &, but in
the following harmony of ^.
On the contrary, in transitions to intervals of the present harmony, it is
the most natural that these transition-tones resolve themselves during the
continuance of this harmony ; and thus, in %. 797 i, p. 708, the tone b, as a
transition to the third of the harmony of Jp, during which it sounds as a
transition-tone, proceeds to a during the continuance of this harmony. This is
particularly true of suspensions. For, as all suspension-tones are transitions to
intervals of the present harmony (§ 430, at 1), it is most natural that they
should resolve themselves into an harmonic interval of this harmony during its
contiuaance; as is the case, for example, in fig. 798 t .-
(Fig. 798. i)
(*•)
^ro' .i J 11^
^
i
i
=°F
T
-^H*-
-o-*-
jCC
m
-TT"
i
TV
vrhere the tone d as a transition to c of the harmony <S, during which it sounds,
resolves itself into this enduring the continuance of this harmony.
Now this species of resolution, being the most simple and natural, may be
designated by the term natural resolution.
But sometimes a secondary tone to an interval of the present harmony may
delay its progression to the principal tone until a new harmony occurs. This
species of resolution is usually named, in contra-distinction from the natural, a
retarded resolution, or a retardation of the resolution of the transition-tone or
of the suspension-tone. In the foregoing fig. 798, for example,
(Fig. 798, /.)
(m.)
in.)
the tone d may, instead of procaeding to c during the continuance of the ffi-
harmony, as in », continue on until another harmony takes the place of this
harmony of ©, as in k, so that the tone J, though in itself a secondary tone to c
of the present ©-harmony, still is continued on until the appearance of the
following harmony of A. — Fig. 798, /, is of the same description.
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710
TRANSITION-TONKS.
In like manner, in fig. 799, t, ^
(Fig.7»9,».) (*.)
ij:^]:sTiUf.J^ J 1 1 J ^
®:
i
^
I
fTTr T^
T r"f"M
%h iab7 (& «b iab7® c mb m sb?
the tone eB is a transition to cT the third of the harmony 18b ^^ and is thus a
transition to an interval of the present harmony, that is to say, of a harmony
during which it appears as a transition- tone, and accordingly it moves to its
principal note d during the continuance of this harmony. But in ^ it is other-
wise. There the transition- tone $ does not proceed to its principal tone cT during
the continuance of the harmony ISb^> but is retarded till the fourth part of the
measure, where that harmony has disappeared and given place to a new harmony ;
namely, the three-fold harmony of (ffir, which likewise contains the tone d.
Thus the tone eb was in itself indeed a transition to an interval of the 13b ^-
harmony, in relation to which it was heard as a transition-tone ; but, instead of
resolviug itself into its principal tone d during the continuance of this harmony,
it waited to resolve itself into this game d as an interval of the next following
(2fir-harmony, and by this means, though it was originally a fore-not« to an
interval of the former harmony (namely, of the Ub^ -harmony), it now becomes
a fore-note of an interval of the latter harmony (namely, of the CBr-harmony).
Tn like manner, the tone f, at the commencement of the following measure in
k, is a transition to the tone eb, the third of the three-fold harmony of t, and
should, therefore, properly proceed to this its principal tone ^ during the con-
tinuance of the first quarter of the measure ; but as this eB is also contained in
the following harmony ^, it [the tone eb] is in no particular haste, we may
say, to make this progression to ib : it is quite seasonable to do this at the
second quarter of the measure, since the tone eb is fitted also to the harmony of
9b ; and, relying upon this fact, the tone f confidently continues on till the
arrival of this latter harmony.
So also, in fig. 800,
(Fig.800.)
IE
,pT^_jT5:^^
'^
1
^
1^
-Sft-
f;
?
t
P^
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BE80LUTI0N OF TBAN81T10N- TONES.
711
the third quarter-note of the upper -part is in itself indeed a suspension to ?,
the third of the harmony fib^ ; but the suspending part, instead of proceeding
to d^during the continuance of this harmony, lingers on until a following harmony
makes its appearance, namely, the harmony (ffir^> which likewise contains the
tone 3 as its appropriate fifth, into which tone the part now for the first time
resolves itself.
In the same manner, the tone f of the following measure delays its pro-
gression to eb as the third of the tonic three-fold of t in the key of c-minor, and
first makes its progression to this eb on the occurrence of the next following
harmony of 3b, in which the tone % constitutes the interval of the fifth.
So also, in fig. 801,
(Fig. 801.)
the upper part retards the tone 7, in its progression to cJt, until the introduction
of the harmony fit, which also contains the tone cfi.
The tone c[ is retarded in the same manner in fig. 802 :
(Fig. 802.)
il±-i-'i J II ■' J ■ j^^ir
'3S^
^^
(Compare § 320, iii, p. 556, and fig. 485, t, p. 547.)
In a similar manner, the tone d, in fig. 803, i, k, I,
(Fig. 803,1.) (*.)
p
^
i
-xt
T^~T
fZ3Z
S:
J.
^
i
1
331
3^
ttsz
^
«7
e
97 <&
®7
97 S
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712
(Fig. 803, 1, continued.)
m-
^^
TBANS1TI0N-T0ME«.
i^
f^^f^ll— gH^J^:i^
:aiP-
r^
"TT
:U:
1
ft
J.
m
o.
j^
i
i
3X
is retarded uDtil the appearance of the next following harmony S^, instead of
proceeding to c^ during the continuance of the hannon j O, as in m or n. — Figs.
804, 805, and 806 are of the same species.
(Fig. 804.) (Fig. 806.)
i^N^
'^^
M
V7 TI rf.V I
C.ll
(Fig. 806.)
I F:Y7 I
31:
^
>J — oHpsI
rzx
:x±
JI.Q.
:«n:
-J
-Or-
rf;V7
^
lo:
rjcn
I c:V7
C:V7
C.I
In fig. 807 also,
(Fig. 807, t.)
i
(*.)
i:
rt
r-=r7
:&
=f
where the tone g is a suspension to the fundamental third f during the contina-
ance of the harmony B, the tone g lingers until the introduction of the following
four-fold chord ©7. in fig. 808,
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RB8OL0TIOM OF TBAM8ITI0II-T0MK8.
713
(Kg. 808.)
(I
R.'
^
""-- N
±
BF
BATDH.
F
^
3:
dona _ nobis • pmoem j_
<
^
ife
CIV «Tll7 III yi7 II V7
though the tone d]^ in the first measnre of the voeal part, resolves itself into'c
dnring the oontinuanoe of the same harmony, still the second violin part is
delayed by interpolated tones nntQ the introduction of the following harmony.
In the second measure of fig. 809 t.
(Fig. 809, t.)
*nL -^
Mi 1H< °||°p±3;aj
■J A4 ^
'^
::»
4l>^V ti^
^^m
a.'Yr
C.I
IV
V7
C:l
the tone a lingers, in its descent to gjt, until a following harmony appears, and
then, instead of resolving itself into gtt, a tone which is not contained in this latter
harmony, it passes into gt]. Now the ear, in this case, which had expected some
such resolution as is found in ^, is but very imperfectly satisfied ; and^ ac-
cordingly, this example is somewhat repulsive.
In fig. 810,
(Fig. 810.)
^m
?T
'""r fK r f r
V7
VI IT
the tone 1^ is a suspension to a in the harmony A, and lingers m its resolution
until the appearance of the second following harmony Df.
§ 450.
The before-mentioned retardation of the resolution of a suspension-tone is
not to be confounded with the retarded resolution of a seventh, which was
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7 14 TBAN8ITI0N-T0NES.
mentioned in § 314. The retarded resolution of a seventh, in fig. 811 i, for
example,
(Fig. 811, t.) (A.)
m
$
^ o
^iwr°r °i"-— -^^r ^
}rsr.
I
-^h-
i\ ' I o =i=q=
is itself a suspension ; but the resolution of this suspension itself, here in t, is in
no wise retarded, for the tone f resolves itself into e during the continuance of
the harmony ^, But when, in a case of this kind, where the suspension itself
is already a retardation of the resolution of the seventh, the resohUion of the
suspension \is&\i VA also retarded, as in k: such a case involves a double re-
tardation ; namely, a retardation of the resolution of the seventh by a suspension,
whose resolution itself is likewise retarded.
§451.
It has been received as a universal rule among musicians, even to the
present period, that every transition-tone in general and all suspensions in
particular must resolve themselves during the continuance of the same harmony.
Now, after all that has thus far appeared, it surely must be unnecessary to
exhibit any farther proof that this rule is most positively untrue and fiJlacioos.
But particularly the manner in which these theorists consider themselves
obliged to explain all those resolutions, which do not take place until the intro-
duction of the following harmony, again as exceptions to the rule, is not in all
cases satisfactory. Thus, for example, they say of such resolutions as that
found in fig. 803, t, page 711, there is concealed here again such an " antici-
pation." This passage does not contradict their rule in the very slightest
measure : one has only to conceive to himself that it is otherwise than it is,
namely, that it may be as it is in fig. 803 n, p. 712. The suspension may here
be resolved entirely according to the rule, during the continuance of the ®-har-
mony, the tone f Jt which occurs immediately afterwards may be only transient ;
this transition-tone (fjt) may be in t only — anticipated^ namely, a quarter-note
earlier than in n. — Now the child has got a name : it is called an anticipation
of a transition-tone ; such an anticipation of a transition-tone is even again
only a licence — an allowed violation of the rule — an exception, an elliptic,
catachretic observance of the rule, &c. ; and consequently the rule is saved !
Now let me ask, why create a role for the explanation of so many cases to
which it does not prove itself adequate ; — a rule, which, without being at all
necessary in itself or attended with any advantages, only creates a necessity
again for the additional contrivance of otherwise unknown things, such as are^
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RESOLUTION OF TRANSITION-TONES.
715
\n this case^ for example, antidpations of transition-tones, &c. as shifts and
expedients for carrying oat an arbitrary assumption ? And, what is more, this
exception-wise mode of explanation, ingenionsly as it has been devised, is hx
from being adequate to the explanation of all the cases which contravene the
rule. Where, for example, would be the anticipated transition-tones in the
foregoing fig. 798 k, I, or fig. 805, pp. 709 and 712 ?
But what avails reason and conviction against the authority of a once-
established and long time accredited dogma !
But, finally, what shall we say to the &ct, that Ktmberger even teaches
that the distinguishing sign by which we are to know whether a note is a so-
called accidental dissonance or a substituted dissonance (a suspension), consists
in the circumstance that it resolves during the continuance of the same harmony;
and that even to the present day this characteristic sign of Ximberger has been
constantly reiterated in musical works and confided in as correct : how easily
one might convince himself, even with the smallest share of independent thought,
that, according to such a criterion, the tone b, for example, in fig. 798, /, p. 709,
cannot be recognized as a suspension. (Compare remark on § 99.)
(5.) Resolution of Transition-tones into Consonant or Dissonant Tones,
§452.
Theorists have again invented another rule, which requires that the resolu-
tion should always be made into a consonance ; and if in any case it is made
into a dissonance, this again is called an exception.
If we hold this position on the natural ground, that every secondary tone
must resolve itself into its principal, then it amounts to saying, that secondary
tones can only be prefixed to consonant tones, and if in any case a secondary
tone is prefixed to a dissonant tone, this is an exception.
Now then, from any one who takes pleasure in rules and exceptions, in the
technical terms consonances and dissonances, ellipses and catachreses, we will
no longer^ withhold the privilege of carping at pleasure against the two resolu-
tions of e to f, &c. in fig. 812,
(Fig. 812.)
p
rtin""-
m
d-
S:
i=U
i
Ld.
±
^^^
resolutions which are individually and collectively irregular and exceptions to
the rule ; and the same is true of Uie resolution from d to c in fig. 803, t and k,
p. 711, and of the resolution from f to e in fig. 803, 1, p. 712, and of a thousand
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716
TBANSITION-TONES.
others^ where a tranntioii-tone or a Bospension-tone is prefixed to a diflsonant
tone ; ia all which cases the principa] which follows the secondary tone is a
so-called dissonance (not a fbndamental tone, not its third, nor its fifUi, bnt some
other tone) — ^I say, whoever is pleased with such bombast, let him enjoy it:
but I must confess myself unable to account for his taste. (Compare remark
on § 99.)
(6.) Mcwement of other Parts during the Resolution of a Transition
Tone.
§453.
A circumstance which is not entirely essential in the resolution of a secondary
tone, is, whether^ at the moment at which the secondary tone proceeds to its
principal, the other parts likewise move, or remain stationary. In many of
the foregoing examples, the other parts continue at rest during the resolution of
the transition-tones, while in others, on the contrary, at the moment when one
part moves from a secondary tone to a principal tone, one or more other parts
move also in various ways at the same time.
It scarcely need be mentioned, that the fact of other parts remaining
stationary or moving during a resolution, has properly no essential influence
whatever upon the resolution itself The resolution of the tone f, in fig. 813,
ft and k,
(Fig.813,t.) (A.) (/.)
p
■» o
J .)„- J-Tbl J„-
h
mt"^
^
g
-fc*-
is in all essential respects the same as in /; in both cases the secondary tone f
resolves itself into the principal tone e as the proper third of the harmony ® '.
So, also, in fig. 814, t,
(Fig. 814. t.)
F
B
J^nl
^
E
^
(«■)
A.
Ip
1^
s
i=i
1^
i
C.I
IV
C.I
IV
the resolution of g into f is exactly the same as in k : in both cases, g is a
secondary tone to f, and thus to the fundamental tone of the harmony ^.
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RESOLUTION OF TRANBITION-TONES. 717
Decidedly anessentialy therefore, as we are compelled to regard such pro-
gression of other parts, so far as it respects the resolation of the seoondarj tone
into its principal one, yet correspondently great importance has been attached to
it by our theorists, inasmuch that they have felt themselves obliged even to
assume it as a rule, that a suspension must resolve on the same base-note on
which it was struck ; as, for example, in fig. 814, k, p. 716 ; but in case it
happens to resolve on some other base-note, as in %, this is again an exception,
an ellipsis. Thus, for example, ScAicht* does not know how to justify the
feultless passage in fig. 815,
(Fig. 815.) scaiCHT.
fT^B^j
2
s^
in any other way than by passing upon it the remark that the base causes an
" ellipsis" in the resolution. — To me it is not difficult to see, that here again we
might very well spare the unnecessary rule, and with it also the unnecessary
exception. (Compare remark on § 99.)
§454.
In musical works generally we find a wonderful ado made about the doctrine
of resolution into this or that interval, A great Jmportance is attached to the
fact, that, for example, in fig. 813, t, p. 716, the tone f resolves itself into the sixth,
as they express it ; but, in k and /, into the third (meaning that, in k and /, the
tone e stands on the third [10th] degree as reckoned upwards from the lowest
tone, while in t the tone ? is the sixth tone, the sixth from the base tone g;) and
that in fig. 814, t, the ninth, namely, g (the 9th tone as reckoned from the
lowest), resolves itself into the sixth, namely, 7 (the sixth tone from the base
tone), while in k the ninth resolves itself into the octave, &c.
Now we do not know how to make much of such things. We have hitherto
found no occasion for concerning ourselves about the enumeration of the degrees
from one interval to that other interval which accidentally happens to be the
lowest, having thus &r contented ourselves with becoming pretty well acquainted
with every interval in its essential Tiature, in its relationship to the funded
mental harmony ^ without feeling ourselves compeUed to acquire such a know-
ledge of it in the extremely uncertain and casual way of reckoning its distance
* In his Grundiegeln der Ilarmonief page 51.
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718 TBAK8ITI0N-T0NES.
from the lowest tone; and_ when, accordingly, we know, that, in fig. 813, t — /,
p. 716, the secondarj tone f resolves itself into its principal tone e", which is the fun-
damental third of the dominant harmony O^^ we know more, and that which is
more substantial, than when one tells us that, in i, the seventh (the tone which
lies seven degrees higher than the base-tone g) resolves itself into»the sixth of
the base-tone — ^that in k the fourth of the base-tone resolves itself into the
third, and that in / the seventh resolves itself into the third. And he who
knows no more than to tell us, in relation to fig. 798, 1 — n, p. 709, that in / the
ninth resolves into the third, in m into the sixth, and in n into the octave, does
not by this means enlighten us in the smallest measure as to the essential
nature of this passage, and really teUs us far less in relation to it than we
already knew. (Compare remark on §§ 99, 314, and 320.)
(7.) Resolution on a light or on a heavy Part of the Measure.
§455.
Resolution in general occurs at one time on a heavy part of the measure,
and at another on a light : the former takes place in the case of light transi-
tion-tones, while the latter occurs in the case of heavy transition-tones.
As it respects the resolution of prepared transitton-tones, that is, suspen-
sions, in particular, this happens indeed, in most cases, on a l^ht part of the
measure. The rule laid down by theorists, that all suspensions must be resolved
on a light part of the measure, is again only true to the same extent as it is
true that when the preparation is made on a light part of the measure, the
striking of a suspension must follow on a heavy part. (See §§ 427 — 430.)
DIVISION VIII.
MERITS OP TRANSITIONS IN GENERAL.
§456.
In general, it is self-evident, that transition-tones, as they are foreign to thp
fimdamental harmony, and, so to speak, are of a difierent species, do not appear
so perfectly natural to the ear as does a tone belonging to the fiindamental
harmony. But that the introduction of such tones, if it be done in the right
manner, is not only not disagreeable, but sometimes very essentially contributes
to give an elegant smoothness to the progression of a part, and to bestow upon
its connection a more gracefiil outline and a more agreeable movement than it
would otherwise possess, may be seen from the examples adorned with transi-
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RESOLUTION OF TRANSITION-TOKfiflL 719
tion-tones, which are referred to in § 34S, figs. 578 — 585, pp. 603 — 605, by
comparing these examples with the irj skeletons found alongside of them, which
do not contain snch ornamental transition-tones.
The introduction of tones which do not belong to the harmony, but which
are proximale to those which do, sometimes serves also as a means of con-
ceaiing and palliating forbidden parallel progressions, as we shall take occasion
t» observe in a subsequent part of this work.
Still other small incidental advantages resulting from this employment of
proximate tones foreign to the harmony^ were adverted to in § 6 of the present
work.
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720
YABIOVS 8PKCIE8 OF TOHKS FOREION TO THE HARMONT,
CHAPTER IX.
SOME PECULIAR SPECIES OF TONES FOREIGN TO THE HARMONY.
§457.
Carefully and scrupulously as we have, iu the eighth chapter, investigated
the laws according to which transition-tones may occur, still the principles
thus far developed are not adequate to the explanation of all the ways in which
a tone may appear in connection with a harmony without belonging to it.
For we find, for example, in figs. 816, i, 817, and 818, tones foreign to the
harmony whose existence cannot be explained by any of the principles thus
observed.
(Fig. 816, t.) ^
J J J.
4 oi ■ A
'^'M ^I'l'
i
-Or
IV
a;V7
ly
V7
P ^I'l r W'l °ihK^
(O
^^^^
^
(Fig. 817.)
sEfSS:
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(Fig. 818,1.) J I , I
PROLONGED INTERVALS.
(*•)
721
#
^sa
231
f
By what authority, for instance, can the tone a in the second measure of
fig. 816 sound in connection with the harmony tit, since it does not resolve
itself as a secondary tone into a proximate principal tone, this latter circum-
stance heing, according to our principles as thus far established, an indispensihle
condition to the possibility of its existence in the second measure ? — By what
authority does the tone d in the first measure of fig. 817 appear in connection
with the harmony ffi ? — How does the tone b occur in connection with the
harmony Jp in the third measure ? — And how, in fig. 818, does the base tone
justify its appearance in connection with all the different harmonic combinations
of the other parts ?
These and other like examples show us that we have not thus far become
acquainted with all the laws by which tones may occur which are foreign to the
harmony, but that such tones must sometimes be admissible also according to
other principles, which we will now make it our object to investigate.
If we carefiilly examine the before-mentioned examples throughout, and
place together those that are similar to one another, we shall find that they are
of /bur different species, which we will consider separately.
DIVISION I.
PROLONGED INTERVALS.
§458.
The first observation which presents itself to us in this connection, is, that
the tone a which occurs in the upper part in the second measure of fig. 816, t,
p. 720, referred to in § 457, is the same tone which this part had given imme-
diately before as an interval of the foregoing harmony, and that, instead of its
proceeding immediately from a to c on the appearance of the harmony ®, as
is the case in fig. 816, k, p. 720, it as it were lingers behind on the tone a after
the proper time.
Thus there is here also, in a similar way as in the case of suspensbns, a
retardation, a lingering of the part on an interval of the foregoing harmony,
VOL. II. X
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722
PROLONGED IKTERVAL&
as it were a preparation of the foreign tone ; with this essential difference,
however, that here the lingering a falls altogether to follow the laws which
suspensions so invariahly observe.
So also, in the fourth measure of the same example, the tone f is a pro-
longation of the f situated in the very same part in the foregoing harmony : in
fig. 819,
(Fig. 819.) spoNTini*s vestale.
^
iJ^l
ygyj^-ji^^P
the tone fft of the second measure is in like manner a prolongation of the same
tone in the foregoing measure : and in fig. 820,
(Fig. 820.
'i
,^S
^"^^^x J^n risk
S
^
-Z*-
3^:
r=T^
1 A—i A
^By'^r I "i "P-L3
k
•J
i
V7
^•v
F:V7
Ii7
the tone a of the first chord is prolonged into the second ; and a similar pro-
longation may be found firom the first to the second measure.
This first class of examples, therefore, teaches us that it is often quite
admissible for a part (particularly a principal part) to prolong y during a
following harmony y a tone which it had given in a previous one, even without
resolving this lengthened tone as a secondary tone to an immediately proonmate
principal tone.
In order to have a name for tones of this species, we will call them prolonged
or retarded intervals.
In like manner, the tone a in the third measure of fig. 531, p. 583, admits
of being explained merely as a prolonged tone ; and so also the tone c twice in
fig. 532, p. 583 (compare § 328, at ((II)) ) ; as also the tone g in the fifth measure
of fig. 617, i, p. 621 ; so that in all these cases we may take the harmonies to be
merely three-fold harmonies, instead of four-fold harmonies.
§ 459.
Now what has been remarked above differs very widely from all that we
had observed from § 343 to the present place, in relation to the practicability of
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JCXTICIPATED TONES.
723
introducing tones foreign to the harmony; and it would truly he very inte-
resting to he ahle to seek out a satisfactory explanation of such deviation.
What we find on this suhjeci in other musical works can give us but very little
satisfaction.
That is to say^ these authors find again, in such a prolongation of tones,
only elliptical resolutions. Thus they say, for example, of the foregoing fig.
816, iy p. 720, one has only to imagine it to he otherwise than it is, namely, as
it is in /, p. 720. Here the tone a would be resolved according to the rule for
the resolution of suspensions, and this resolution would only be omitted in t,
and thus the tone a would be resolved by the omission of the resolution !
To us, who do not possess the fortunate gifi; of feeling satisfied with such
windy food, it would serve as no explanation to be told that the thing would be
entirely natural, if only it were different from what it actually is.
For this reason I could most earnestly wish it were possible to go into an
inquiry, how, when, and according to what laws our ear will justify such a
prolongation of a tone belonging to the foregoing harmony. For, that it is not
everywhere, unconditionally and in every manner, admissible, but only may
occur in many cases, willi)e readily ascertained by the least inquiry. Since,
however, the time and the space allotted to this work so urgently impel me to
brevity and dispatch, I must here restrain myself from these inquiries. I should
regret it the less, if I could refer my readers to another work in which they
could find the due information on this subject ; but, as it is, I must refer them
to their own <»rrect feeling and good ear, in which, I can easily persuade myself,
they will find at least a more certain guide than in our elliptic and catachretic
books of instruction.
It will be observed, moreover, that such a prolongation of a tone generally
takes place only in a very few cases, and usually not with good effect otherwise
than in the principal part.
DIVISION II.
ANTICIPATED TONES*
§ 460.
If we examine the example in fig. 817, p. 720, we shall find that the tone d
which occurs in the first measure is indeed foreign to the 4!^-harmony of this
measure, hut that the tone d is found in the following harmxmy <BSr. — In like
manner the tone c'of the second measure is found in the ^-harmony of tha
third measure. — And so also in fig. 821,
(Fig. 821.)
^
^=^
V' ^-1 ^ ^^T^-^-^t^^
f
T7
r
V
r
x2
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724
ANTICIPATED TONES.
(Fig. 821 continaed.)
f
VT
i
:^S
r
I
V7
5^
T
^^
the first c is not indeed found in the first harmony, but in the following one.
The same is^ also true of all the following similar tones ; as it is also in relation
to the tone f Jt in the last chord hut one of fig 822 :
(Fig. 822.)
Vivace.
HATDH*S BTHPHONT IH D-MIKOR — ^FIVALB.
f^TfrA^^gnt^-Ug
fm^-.
Yf Ti II V I
-fi— --
in relation to gS in fig. 823,
(Fig. 823.)
YOOLBB^S Hiss A PASTORALE.
r^^r^
in relation to bb in the second measure of fig. 824,
8P0NTINI.
(Fig. 824.)
(a.)
Ob, l.^(rf.)
and also in relation to cS in the first measure, and the last b in the third
measure of fig. 825,
(Fig. 825.)
J. 8. BACH.
I
5ffc*-
r-T
^
^^
i^„-;.r
^ . ^
fa^:^-Uju
5h=i
N ^
I
f
I IV I B:V7
I 17 V 7
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APPENDED NOTES. 725
This second class of examples shows us^ therefore, that oar ear in many
cases tolerates and approves of the fact, tkat^ shortly before an harmonic step,
apart, during the continuance of the first harmony , strikes an interval of the
folhmng harmony, and thus anticipates the latter.
I would very gladly here again go into the inquiry, how, when, and accord-
ing to what laws, such an anticipation of a tone helonging to the following
harmony daring the continuance of the first harmony, is practicable, compatibly
with the organization of our ear. But I must here also repeat the regret which
I formerly expressed in relation to prolonged intervals, and likewise the remark,
that these anticipations take place as rarely and as limitedly as do the before-
mentioned prolonged intervals.
DIVISION m.
APPENDED NOTES.
§46L
The tone b in the third measure of fig. 817, p. 720, is again different from
both the foregoing spedes of notes foreign to the harmony. It is neither
continued on from the foregoing ^-harmony (§ 458), nor is it an anticipated
interval of the following harmony ® (§ 460) ; but — we know not how else to
name it — ^is arbitrarily appended to the tone a. In the same arbitrary manner
the tone g is appended to the tone f in fig. 826:
(Fig. 826.)
P
=fl3-jg-n-r4
Accordingly, we perceive, from this third class of examples, that an harmonic
note may many times have arbitrarily appended to it (hitched on behind it) a
mighhouring to?ie, of short duration, which is foreign both to the present and
to the following harmony.
For reasons which have already several times been mentioned, I must here
again deny myself the privilege of a farther investigation, and must satisfy
myself with merely remarking, that I designate tones of this species by the
term appended notes, — It is perceived what an extensive field of theory here
remains unexplored. May an abler hand than mine undertake the labour of its
examination. (See §§ 458—461.)
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72G
OBGAN-POINT.
DIVISION IV.
ORGAN-POINT.
§ 462.
Still another deviatioa from all that we have yet observed is afforded by
the example in fig. 818, p. 721. Here the harmonic combinations of the second
half of the first measure, namely, [c 3 f S] and [c E d f a], admit of being
explained neither as consisting of purely harmonic tones nor according to any of
the thus far known laws for the progression of tones foreign to the harmony.
(For, if we assume the fundamental harmony here to be (Qr^, and the tone c
of the base a transition-tone, it follows that the latter does not resolve itself —
If we assume that the fundamental harmony continues to be ®> sind that the
tones of the upper part are transition-tones, then it is not easy to see how the
upper part, instead of proceeding from the tone b, foreign to the harmony, to a
proximate principal tone, should be permitted rather to go by a skip to another
tone foreign to the harmony, namely, to a, and how also the other parts could
move so unnaturally.)
Similar harmonic combinations of a still more striking character will be
fomid in the following measures, — as also in figs. 827 — 835 :
(Fig. 827.)
-Jl-
*
*3:
o
33:
JOL.
^
znsz
i^ \ n \ n \ n \ {\
it >-_ __<■ A-
(Fig. 828, t.)
MOZAKT.
.■ati.
^ i.
I
-o-
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OROAN-POINT.
727
(Fig. 829.)
Reea.
P
Belim.
^c;~f'~^
i J.il
rotoe.
Bellm.
3lZ=S
#
p
i£
Co - Stan - sal
Co - ttan - za!
«=i
m
^ s^
^^
J-
i£
.X2.
jm
(Fig. 830.)
sLhf'n °i \n
HAYDN'S VIOLIN QUARTETT.
/7N /C^
^^^^^^§
^
ISgIZZ
g^S
g
V7 IV G;V7
G.TV I V7
METEBBEER*8 EMMA.
F.I
(Fig. 832.)
C.V7 F.V?
l8t Cho.
p
3d Cho.
I*
i-i
F. SCHNEIDER'S MASS.
^
i
^
^
TS:
j-^g^
-«-
rcii
i^^— <^_Lo:
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:e2i
p
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J * j ni7f==n-rTl I
Pi I .
b ^^"
uai
.XZ-
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X3I
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728
(Fig. 833.)
OBeAN-POINT.
J. o. scbicht'8 tbsi SAHCn sriBiTm.
^^^p^^^
fT
' 'lUL^UALiA
y
^i
r-rrri^-r^^^rrrrQ
^^F^^^
^te^^
^siS
^
:«:
*-♦
=p— gr 'rr-n=s[
I
'i^Tf
.Tjfm i'j iKijim ^njT] ijj
i
s
^ — • I o
(Fig. 834.)
Allegro,
BEETHOVEn*S MOUNT OF OLIVES.
•II V7
(Fig.836,.\)
5g
^
r
VI I oilT
XOZABT'S CLSHBJIZA DI TITO.
A-
^^-
(*.)
I
5=^
^^g*^^^
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OR«AN-POINT. 729
If we carefully examine all these examples, we shall find that they all agree
with one another in the following characteristics.
The continued stationary tone is always first heard as an harmonic interval,
and indeed either as a tone of the first or of the fifth degree of the key, and
then during the time of one or more harmonies it remains stationary until again
some chord occurs to which it belongs as an harmonic interval ; and thus it is a
genuine harmonic interval both at the beginning and at the end of its duration,
and is foreign to the harmony only during the intermediate time.
From this observation we may deduce the following general principle,
namely : it is quite compatible with the due gratification of our ear, that the
tone of the first or of the fifth degree of the scaler after it has once been heard
as an harmonic tone, shotdd still continue on during the occurrence of other
harmonies to which it is totally foreign, until again another harmony appears
to which it belongs.
§463.
A passage in which a tone is thus continued on is technically called an
organ-point — (perhaps because it may have first come into use in connection
with organ-playing).
The examples referred to, teach us at the same time, that these continued
stationary tones occur in various ways.
At one time (and indeed most usually) they appear in the base, as in fig.
818, p. 721, and figs. 827—833, pp. 726—728 ; at another time in a middle
part, as in fig. 834, p. 728, and still at another time in the upper part, as in
fig. 835, p. 728.
The stationary tone is at one time actually continued on without interruption,
as in fig. 827, p. 726, at another time repeatedly struck anew, as in fig. 828,
p. 726, and near the end of fig. 830, p. 727 ; and again even ornamented with
secondary tones, as in fig. 818 k, p. 721 ; and so also the other parts are
frequently garnished with transition-tones and suspensions, as is the case, for
example, in fig. 830, &c. p. 727.
§464.
From the above-mentioned practicability of allowing a tone to continue on
in the manner proposed, arises again a new species of equivocalness. - For, we
can now, for example, explain the passage in ^. 836 also as an organ-point :
(Fig. 836.)
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730 ORGAN-POINT.
According to our earlier explanation (§ 355), the combinations [B d f a] and
[ag^ d f| consisted purely of tones foreign to the harmony, and accordingly the
harmony was, without interruption, the three-fold chord of ® ; — ^but now we
know that the above-mentioned combinations may also be regarded as actual
fflr 7 -harmonies, while the tone c, which is continued on in the base, may be
regarded as an organ-point.
In like manner, as was observed in § 381, we may very much simplify and
facilitate the exphmation of fig. 663, p. 645, by regarding the uninterruptedly
continued d as an organ-point : — and in like manner also that of figs. 664 and
665, pp. 645 and 646.
§465.
Many theorists will not acknowledge the above-mentioned (§ 462) right of
a tone to consider stationarily on in the manner proposed, and accordingly
prohibit all snch organ-paints^ as contrary to rule and to the ear ; particularly
Vogler, who compares it to the monotonous doggerel of the bag-pipe. (A
Mr. von Drieberg also, in a little book entitled " The Practical Music of the
Greeks*" calls the tone which is continued on as an organ-point, in the com-
mencement of the Allegro of the Overture in Don Juan, an unprecedented
cacophony, which he compares to the lowest kind of buzzing, rattling music !)
But organ-points, after all, are not only in general use and recognition, but may
in fiwjt often be employed with fine efiect. Only recollect, for instance, Mozart s
" Constance !" (fig. 829, p. 727) ; or hear the before-mentioned most beautifiil
organ-points of Haydn and Meyerbeer ; and hear the many other organ-points in
all the works of our most distinguished composers; and remember of how imposing
efiect it often is, particularly at or just before the close of a great and elaborate
piece of music; and, finally, see how even Yogler himself, in spite of his dis-
approbation of organ-points, brings it firequently enough into his Pastoral Mass,
(fig. 482, p. 565) ; and, after all this, one will no longer hesitate to regard this
bigotted opposition to organ-points in its true light.
Moreover, he who, yielding a partial deference to the authority of the
theorising musical literati, would still bring into his composition something
analogous to the organ-point, namely, a tone continued on stationarily during
several successive harmonies, — ^he must content himself with merely choosing
those harmonies to all which this continuous tone is adapted. — 'The field of such
a one is indeed &r more limited than it would otherwise be ; but yet not en-
tirely without variety. Thus, if, for example, he wishes to introduce such a
quasi-organ-point upon a base tone, he is not obliged to confine himself exclu-
sively to the three-fold and four-fold chord of the base-tone and its fourth-sixth
chord, as Yogler is accustomed to do in his organ-points ; fig. 837 :
Die praciische Musik der Griechen, p. 95 and foil.
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OROAN-POINT.
731
(Fig. 837.)
Goit,
da WeltaiU Herr,
4.
Gott,
h^ t'tJ — hi^
g
VOGLBR.
Goii, da
i
Hc£
JLilrfP
H
Hat-te-lm-jak, mSUe-lm ^jak^ Hai-le^im-Jak, MaRie^^'Jah, Hal^e-lm'Jal
VetiaUi Merr, Goii, da ^e.
ia=8
J. J.jJ
^ P
331
331
331
icx:
WeU-aUa Herr^
GoU,
da WelUUit Bar,
Gott,
da WeUaUt Herr^
HSt-le'tU'j9k, Hal-le'lm-Jak, Aa/-/r.te.>«j|, Bml'ie-im-jMk, mS-ie-^-jak,
jdz
A
Bai-ie.
ii
E
althongh this is sometimes done with great effect ; as, for example, in the Pleni
of Vogler's Mass in (^minor ; in the conclusion of C, M. von Weber^s Hymn,
"7h seiner Ordnung schafft der Herr ;" and especially in that most admi-
rable closing choms of his declamatory piece^ ** Der ersie Ton" &c. ; but, as is
shown by fig. 838,
(Fig. 838.)
i
^
p. ■
331
331
1^
— €^—
3£
zm
J:
I
-^ T
^y
33:
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there are, even in this case, still other chords at command — and the example in
fig. 234, p. 404 (measures 20 to 31), shows how one and the same tone it may
continue stationarily on during a very long series of very various modulations.
CONCLUDING BEMARK
On the Doctrine of Tones foreign to the Harmony.
§ 466.
I think I may safely assume, that the di£ferent ways in which a part may
combine tones with itself which are foreign to the harmony have been detailed
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732
CONCLUDINa RBMARK8.
with sufficient fiilness, in what precedes, to warrant me in saying, that, if a part
contains any tone foreign to the harmony whose existence cannot be explaiaed
in one or another of those ways, snch a tone is always repulsive to the ear and
and of ill effect. Thus, for example, one would find it difficult, in the second
measure of the Magnificai of J. S, Bach, so excessively praised in musical
journals, fig. 839, where the three upper series of notes so definitely and firmly
(Fig. 839.)
J. 8. BACH.
express the harmony <Bb, — -I say, one would find it difficult here to explain
or rather to justify the existence of the tone c in the base part, and bow
the base part should move by a skip fi*om the fundamental tone of the ®b
harmony, through the tone c, which is foreign to the harmony, down to the
tone g : — Observe, too, how intolerably harsh the tone c sounds. So also let me
call attention to the intended transition-tone c in the upper part of fig. 630,
p. 628, &c.
It is true, indeed, that we not unfrequently find, in reading the works of the
most approved masters, tones foreign to the harmony which sound perfectly well,
while at the same time they appear to conflict with our rules ; but this contrariety
exbts onfy in appearance. Thus, for example, we easily find such passages as
that in fig. 625, /, p. 625, where the transition-tones of the base could not be
justified according to our principles of transitions of the first and of subordinate
ranks — (for the tone Bb could not be a secondary tone of the first rank to c,
because it is more remote than it could be in the scale of c minor ; nor can it be
a secondary tone of the second rank to B, because it stands on the same degree
as Bb, &c.) : — ^but the whole problem is at once solved, when we write these
secondary tones as in fig. 625, ^, p. 625.
In fig. 835, t, also, p. 728, the transition-tones are properly to be explained
as in ^ ; — and all other like apparent contradictions of the rule admit of being
explained in the same way.
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ON A REMARKABLE PASiiAaE BY MOZART.
733
On a particularly remarkable passage in Mozarfs Violin Quartett in C*
§ 466 *"t
It now remains for me to fulfil the promise made at the end of § 225
(vol. i, p. 389), of presenting an analysis of the texture of the transitions, as
well as of the modulatory course and other peculiarities, in the Introduction of
Mozart's violin-quartett in C, which has been so firequently criticised in various
journals during late years.
(Fig. 8391.)
Adagio.
ViOLINO 1.
ViOLINO 2.
Viola.
VCKLLO.
i
m
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ores.
f
5st
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i
3:
±
I* — (ft-
^
riqp
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* These remarks are also printed in the periodical CdciHa for 1831, bk. 53.
t The translation of this section has been added by the editor, Mr. Warner having
omitted the whole of it, although he has allowed several references to it to remain
uncancelled. — ^Ed.
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734 ON A REMARKABLE PASSAOB
(Fig. 6391 continued.)
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IN A QUARTETT BT MOSABT. 735
The passage in question forms, at is weR known, the commencement of the Intro<^
duction (given in fig. 839)) t» Mocart^s superb violin-quartett — No. 6 of the six, which
he, in the dedication prefixed to the original edition {VieTtna presso Ariaria e Comp.)^
inscribed to hs best friend, ** cU 9tto migUare amico,^'' Joseph Haydn, as the fruit of a
long sBd laborious work, '' il fnttto di una Ivnga e laboriosa faticay
Immediately after the first appearance of this quartett, the first 8 or 9 bars of the
introduction occasioned a great sensation, and did not well please those who heard them ;
much harshness and roughness being perceived therein, the allowableness or irregu-
larity of which appeared extremely problematical.
Even old Sarti was so exceedingly amazed at the harshnesses which he here ob«
served, that he wrote a special pamphlet on this passage—" Ostervaxioni criJtiche sopra
vn quartetto di Mozart*,'*'' — which, according to the testimony of M. Fetist, still exists in
the possession of Sig. B. Asioli, and in which the old master declaims with the most
violent indignation against this composition, as opposed both to rule and to the sense of
hearing; exclaiming, amongst other things : ** Che si pub far dipiiLperfar sionare i
professori ?" — ** What more can ofte do to astonish the professors ?"
Far more considerate is Haydn said to have been ; for, being in an assembly of
musicians, and requested to pronounce a decisive opinion on the controversy respecting
the passage in question, he shifted compliance with the evasive declaration, that, as
Mozart had so written the passage, he had good reasons for so doing and for not writing
it otherwise. In a similar manner, on another occasion, Haydn forbore to pass an
opinion on another of Mozart*8 works, and declared : '* I cannot decide the dispute ; but
this I know, that Mozart is the greatest composer now living.***-And at another time he
remarked : " Could I but impress in the soul of every friend of music the inimitable
works of Mozart, as profoundly and with the like musical comprehension and intense
feeling as I myself comprehend and feel them, nations would vie with each other to
possess such a treasure." — A beautiful parallel to the well-known reply of Mozart to a
disparager of Haydn : ** Sir, if you and I were melted together, we should both be very
far from making a Joseph Haydn !**
Prof. Fetis, in an article specially devoted to this passage in his RevueX, speaks more
openly and indiscreetly than Haydn felt himself at liberty to do. He calls the quartett
" entachS d^un dibut bizarre, ou le compositeur semble avoir pris plaisir d, mettre d
la torture une oreilU d^licate,^^ '' disfigured by an odd beginning, where the composer
appears to have taken pleasure in torturing a delicate ear^^ — he terms the passage a
" passage bizarre ^'^ " a whimsical passage,^'* and is unable to comprehend " qu'un
musicien tel que Mozart ait icrit de semblable harmonie,^' — ** desfautes grossieres,^' —
" tme entree dHmitation mal failed" — " dxmt Veffet est horrible,^^ — ** inconcevahles
dissonances sans but qui d4chirent roreille,"'' — " car de pareiUes fautes blessent la
rcdsont le sens et le gcf&t :**•—'' how a musician like Mozart could write such harmony^
— •* wUh gross faults"'-^** a bad entry of a point of imiiationj' — ** the effect of which
is Aom&/e"— '* inconceivable dissonances without any design, which lacerate the ear,'**
— <*/or such faults are offensive alike to reason, sense, and taste. ^*
ISven the authenticity of the passage was very recently inclined to be doubted|| ;
and, in order to be convinced on this point, it was thought necessary to visit London,
where the original manuscript, written by Mozart himself, still exists in the possession of
Mr. Stumpf, the harp maker; which long journey, however, might have been spared^ by
• For extracts from this pamphlet, see the Harmonicon for 1832, pp. 373 — 378.— Ed.
t Revue Musicale, tome v; No. 26, July 24, 1829.
t Tome v ; July 1829, p. 601 and following.
II Revue Musicale, tome v ; July 24, 1829, p. 606.
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736 ON ▲ REMARKABLE PASSAGE
referring to A. Andre *8 edition of Mozart*8 well-known Thematic Diary, or Catalogue of
his Compositions, from February 9th, 1784, to November 15th, 1791; the autograph
original of which is still in the possession of Mr. Andr6* : an inspection of this would
have proved that, at pages 10 and 11, under No. 13, Mozart had entered the passage in
question in his own hand- writing exactly as it is engraved in the quartett, and dated it
January 14th, 1785— consequently eight months prior to the date of the dedicationf.
Against the frankness of M.F6ti8, there arose a champion in the person of a M. Feme,
of Laont, who said nothing more than so many words on Mozart*8 excellence, and that
such and such a harmony and succession of harmonies, &c. even— -such and such a har-
mony and succession of harmonies exist, — and that the/orc« tonale makes all right. —
M. F^tis, however, immediately answered M. Pemel with specious counter-arguments,
and with the increasing assurance that he had not yet exposed half the offensive features
of the passage in question, and that he could still point out many more : " St favais eu
Vinteniion d€ corriger (out ce qu'il y ade choquani dans ce passage, favrcds eu beau-
coup dfaire. Par exempley^ ^c. — ^* Had it been my intention to have corrected every'
thing that is offensive in this passage, I should have had much to do. For example,^ %c.
But a new opponent, Mr. A. C. Leduc, instantly appeared in the Leipzig Musical
Joumal§, in order, as a vindicator of Mozart, to maintain and defend, step by step, the
correctness and beauty of the passage, and to assure us, that Mozart, when writing the
introduction, exercised his free will and consideration, and had a determinate effect in
view^, — and then, after the usual fiishion, proceeded to personalities, charging M. F^tis
with envy of Mozart*s fiime, little-minded vanity, and other impurities — ^impure enough!
This again occasioned a further article on the harmonic and contrapuntal value of the
passage in question, in which M. Fetis defended his views ; but, despising the perstmali-
ties, dispatched them in a few words**.
The dispute was still further carried on by another article in the before-mentioned
joumaltt, and not less disfigured by personalities against M. F6tis ; — and who knows
how much longer they will continue to quarrel with so much bitterness %
Frequently have I been asked since that time, why / have abstained firom saying a
word, on a subject of such lively discussion.
But I considered that a special dissertation on my part would be superfluous, chiefly
because I had taken this very passage, in many pUicesH, as an example for the elucida-
tion of this or that theoretical tenet, and consequently, for the most part, had fully analysed
whatever appeared peculiar or remarkable in these combinations of tones.
* CdcUia, vol. xi, page 329.
t Profl F^tis is therefore in error, when, in his Retme (tome vi, No. 2, Aug. 7, 1829,
p. 32), he writes of this quartett : **llpa environ cinquanie ans que le quatuor de Moxart
a MpublU?^ — ^^ About fifty years have elapsed since the publication qf MoxarCs quar-
tett,^^ At that time, 44 years had not expired.
t Revue, tome vi. No. 2, Aug. 7, 1829, p. 25.
I In the place before referred to, p. 32.
§ Leipzig Allgem. Musik. Zeitung, 1830, pp. 117—132.
f In the place before referred to, p. 123.
** Revue, tome viii, p. 821.
tt Leipzig Allgem, Mus. Zeitung, 1831, pp. 81 and 101.
tt For example, in §§ 642. 643, 644, 750, 756, 772, 774. 775, 777, 814, of the first
edition of 1817—1821; and in §§ 360, 361, 362, 363, 408, 493, 494, 495, 500, of the
second edition of 1824, and of the third, of 1830—31.
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IN A aU4RTETT BY MOZART. 737
Nevertheless, if, in answering a new challenge, to me of particular importance, /also
devote to a special consideration the oft-discussed composition, in order to employ it, in
a precisely similar manner as I have done several other pieces in § 225, as an example
for the practice of analyzing the course of the modulation, &c. &c. — I must yet request,
before-handy that no one will on any account expect a judgment on the frequently dis-
puted theoretical aUawctblenens and irregularity of the passage in question.
Whoever is acquainted with my Theory, and Its nature and method, knows that the
unconditionally enjoining or forbidding — ^the explanation of this or that combination or
succession of tones, succession of chords, &c. as allowed or prohibited — is in no instance
my forte. This tendency of mine, consisting only in essentials, drawn from observation
of what sounds well or ill, smooth or harsh— entirely discarding all d priori and dogma-
tically theorizing demonstraHans^ as to u^Ay this or that must be so and so, and not other-
wise— ^I have already taken occasion to explain, in the Remark to § 95*, in the following
words: — **In general—for I now speak at once both oi great and oiUtHe strictness^ — ^the
present Theory will be found neither more free nor yet more strict than every other, but
just as strict and just as free as any other. I shall call attention to every harshness which
other writers have left unnoticed, and others again I shall unconditionally forbid. How
many or how few harsh or smooth combinations of tones are to he made use of, for this
or that object of art, is a question which it is not the province of technics to determine ;
its decision belongs rather to a correct musical feeling, and to the most advanced depart*
ments of CBsthetics.*'
Of this, however, we may be fully assured, that the problem of music by no means
solely consists in offering to the ear the most soothing combinations of tones, and what-
ever is exclusively delicate and sweet-sounding; but much rather in presenting to it, ^t
times and to a certain degree, even rough, harsh- sounding, strange combinations, which
must be employed for the sake of contrast. How far these may be carried, or to what
degree of harshness they may be permitted or desired to strike the ear, is a matter to
wltfch, as in all relative cases, no absolute limits can be theoretically assigned. Consider-
ably harsh, coarse, rough and shrill combinations must be allowed to the musical com-
poser, according to the amount of harshness, &c. which he aims at expressing : and that
alone can be said to be absolutely forbidden, which sounds in so high a degree harsh, or
even ugly, as to be actually offensive to the ear. Whether such is the case in this or
that combination of tones— whether so mtich of the harsh and coarse is comprised therein,
that the total amount of harshness is indeed too much for the ear — must in the end be
^together left to the supreme decision of refined taste and a musically educated e^.
Once for all, music is not a science endowed with mathematical deduction and com-
pleteness ; it is not a system presenting us with absolute rules of permission or prohibi-
tion, the adoption of which can in all cases determine — like '* twice two are ibur^* — the
value or worthlessness^ the accuracy or inaccuracy, the lawfulness or unlawfulness of this
or that combination or succession of tones ; i^nd all the pretensions of those who have
imagined they could found the theory of music on mathematics, and from such an assumed
foundation deduce and establisli absolute precepts, appear on the slightest examination
as empty and ridiculous dreams, the fallacy of which can be clearly proved by the first
best example t. (§ IX, Remark ( .)
This is my musical theoretical creed, which I have not only expressed in numberless
parts of this work, but also established by frequent examples.
From mct therefore, a judgment will not be expected on the question, whether, and
* Vol. i, page 218.
t In the original : " durch das erste beste Beispiel^ — Ed.
t There is no ** Remark*' to this section. It is appended to § X (vol. i, page 14).
The subject is also alluded to in the last paragraph of the Remark to § IV, page 8. — Hd.
VOL. 11. Y
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738
ON A REMARKABLE PASSAGE
to what extent, this or that occumng in the Intxodoction under oonsideiation may be
allowed or disaUowedf and categorically forhiddmi.
Bat what /can fVimish is the following: —
lliat the passage in question sounds strange to the ear — and that, too, very strange—
is certain. T%e cataes which produce this strangeness, partly alone and partly in their
co-operation, admii of being theoretically pointed out (and have been, as already men-
tioned, generally referred to in several parts of this work).
A complete analysis of the entire harmonic and melodic texture of the before-
named passage will enable us to understand all those causes, as well singly as in their con-
nection, and will thus account to us what it is which seems so very strange in these
dashings of sounds, and which strikes the ear with such decided harshness.
To deliver such an analysis is the sole task I here propose to myself; and wlien accom-
plished, it may be freely left to the taste ^nd ear of every person to decide whether the
harshness, the peculiarity, the strangeness — or whatever else we may choose to call it —
resulting from the concurrence of the unravelled details, is too great, or not too great, to
be offered to the ear.
[§••]
In proceeding to fnnush the promiaed analysis, I think the best mode of
aocomplishing it will be for me to examine the controverted passage ; first,
(I) In respect to the succession of harmonies^ or the nuniulaiion, on which
it [the passage] is based ; — then,
(II) In considering the (ones foreign to the harmony y or transiiion'tones
whidi occur therein ; — Uien,
(III) Some of the so-called cross relations — as also
(lY) Some remarkable j^aro//?/ movements of the parts ; — ^afterwards,
(Y) To examine the entire passage once more, in regard to all the above-
mentioned points taken together ; — and lastly,
(YI) To discuss the rhetorical meaning of the passage, on which account
Mozart doubtless so wrote it
(I) — Modulation.
The very commencement of the piece, until the entrance of the second mear
sure, presents the ear with a series of interesting and highly agreeable equiva-
calnesses, both as regards the key and the succession of harmonies.
The base tone c, which is first sounded alone, forms in itself a perfectly
equivocal beginning. This, however, the ear is soon inclined to receive as the
tonic-note, either of 6X.major or of c-minor.
rrrrffifrr,,,^
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IN ▲ QUABTETT BT MOZABT.
739
c.
At the last quarter-note of the first measure, the tone ab comes in with this
Here, again, the ear is left in douht, whether to consider this tone as g]), or
as ab. (§§ XIX, XXI, 219, 280 A\)
It would indeed appear as gS> e, g. if the passage were continued, perhaps,
as follows J
3e
And even understood as ab^ there still remains much
that is equivocal ; for the ear has yet to choose whether ^3g[
it shall regard the combination [c, ab] *^1^LEj [j
as belonging to the harmony ^
and, as such, either as the harmony of the sixth degree of
c-minor « *••«•• .c : YI,
or as the tonic harmony of ^b-iuajor A\) :I ;
— or whether it shall regard it as belonging to the minor
three-fold harmony , , f
and, as such, either as the harmony of the fourth degree of
c-minor <; : iv,
or perhaps as the tonic harmony of /-minor ./: i.
More exact information and assurance respecting the key, which is still not
decisively indicated, must be gathered by the ear from what follows. ($ 221.)
As the only two tones yet heard (c and ab) hereupon seem
to be completed into a three-fold chord of 9b> by the entrance
of the tone efe, at the beginning of the following measure, the
ear experiences that agreeable satis&ction which it almost inva*
riably receives from the gentle removal of harmonic equivocal-
ness. — But even now it is still only a sweet misgiving of
assurance ; for the choice yet remains to the ear to consider the
harmony • •
either as , •.••&: YI,
or as » » A\^\\.
— Is it, then, to be considered as the former, or as the latter ?
for, even now, no decisively preponderating reason is to be
formed for either ; to say nothing of the fiust^that it has not
yet been determined, whether the tone ab is not, perhaps, a
mere transition to g, in which case the harmony would depend
on the minor three-fold. chord C
Still, therefore, doubtful of the key, the ear is yet kept in a
state of expectancy for the result of what follows.
^^
^
E^
■a**—
* This last reference is given in the original, but it is evidently a mistake. Perhaps
§ 208 may be intended. — Ed.
t2
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740 ON A RRMARKABLE PASSAQE
In this state of undecided attunement, from which the ear longs to be freed,
by a snbseqaent confinnation either of the key of c or of that of Ab, it hears the
tone ab descend to g, at the second quarter-note of the second measure, and at
the same moment the tone a— which is foreign to the expected ^-f^ — ^ ^^
key — appears in the upper part ; and, fiur from removing, it
much rather augments the uncertainty ; for, after the preyious
combination [c ab %], the tones [c g $ a] now sound together —
a combination which, regarded as a four-fold harmony with
minor fifth ^'a ^ ,
might be assumed as belonging to the seventh degree of ^b-major. .^b : ^vii^,
or — as being nearer to the previous assumption of the ear — to the
second degree of y-minor ^ : ^ii^.
(§177, Table/)
Instead of these two assumptions (which in any case presupposes a modula-
tion, from one of the keys previously assumed, either into j^b-major or into
^-minor), the ear may also assume that the tone g is perhaps a mere transition,
not at all belonging to the harmony, and, on that account, will probably explain
to itself its relation, in a more simple manner, in the follovdng part of the
measure.
Still, however, continuing in doubt, it longs to hear that which follows.
I
At the next quarter-note, indeed, the g descends to f tt,
in order to produce the combination [c f ]{ 7 a], which, in
accordance with all that precedes, the ear then unhesitat- Jf\» J^J
ingly receives as the transferring dominant chord (§ 201) I ^ ff f
of c-minor ; consequently as JD?
(in the third inversion).
Thus, then, is it confirmed, that the tone g, which was heard in the com-
bination [c g eb a ] during the previous second quarter-note, was in &ct only a
mere transition to f tt, whose plac9 it had for a moment occupied ; that, conse-
quently, the succession of harmonies in this second measure was not really
«b-oa7-ia7_(f)
but at once, and more simply,
ab— ffl7.
Afler this iQ^ -harmony, as the transferring dominant chord of cr-minor, the
ear now expects the major three-fold harmony of ® to follow.
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IN ▲ aUABTKTT BT MOZART. 741
The harmony entering in the next measure appears,
therefore, wholly in aooordanoe with the expectation of
i^
■^ix-.-
~9rT
•^^
tticcr
the ear, as 0r
(where c)t in the second part appears as a minor second heavy transition-tone
[changing-note] to the following harmonic tone 9^ and a as a prepared changing-
note [suspension, § "#17] to the following principal tone g; — suhsequently, the
tone T]t in the upper part, T in the second part, and the tones a and Fin the third
part, are interwoven as transitions).
By the entry of this (Br-harmony, therefore, the previous equivocalness is at
last so far removed, that the ear perceives this harmony estahUshed as that of
the dominant or fifth degree (dominant harmony) either of c-minor, or of C-major.
(§211.)
[§^-]
During the first two parts of the following measure also, the ear is still sen-
sible of the same dominant harmony, until, at the last part of the measure (at
the 5th eighth-note), the tone "Eb enters in the . ^^^^\
upper part, contrary to this harmony, and being , _q J ^ ■•■ ^^^^r-
foreign both to the scale of C-major and to that
of ^-minor, the ear is compelled to receive the
combination [G "Eb] as belonging to another har-
mony of some other key ; and indeed, in accord-
ance with the combination itself, it will perhaps
most readily take it for a minor three-fold
9-harmony g
as the tonic-chord of ^-minor • ••••••^:i
The succession of harmonies in this measure is, therefore,
<K ID 9
QA — V —g,i
or C:V — G^:V —g\\
or, if we regard the tones F}( and a as mere transitions :
O'A —g-i,
or C',\ — ff.i.
[§^-]
In this, although the most natural, mode of explanation, the following is
nevertheless particularly worthy of remark.
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742 ON A BSMABKABLB PABSAOE
First, a modulatioii of this kind (namely, one which is so effected, that, after
a dominant harmony — e, g. after the three-fold (Bf-harmony, as the dominant
harmony of C or c — there follows immediately, or what is equivalent to imme-
diately, the tonic-harmony of the minor key of the major fifth above, consequently
g, as I of^) — such a modulation is of rare occurrence, and but little femiliar to
the ear ; on which account it is not particularly inclined to be satbfied with it m
any case.
[§••]
Secondly, however, the manner in which this modulation takes place in the
above instance, is by no means the most favorable ; as the Cb here only enters,
casually as it were, on the weak, last part of the measure (§ 241, No. 4), after
we have been previously accustomed for along time always* to hear bt|. — ^In the
third measure and the first two parts of the fourth, after hearing in the first place
the third part [viola] proceed in eighth^notes firom a to b, then the second part
[2nd violin] in like manner firom a to E, and then again the third similarly from
a toT,
(i) <^ (*t)
11 J?" 1 1^ ^^
and now also hearing the upper part [Ist violifa] ascend from a, one very natu-
rally supposes that it will likewise proceed from this a tot :
(O
^
Unite contrary, however, to all elpectation, it does not so proceed, but differs
from the example of its associates — for what reason one cannot well perceive, —
and, instead of the previous b, now suddenly introduces bb :
p
^
and, after the third part has just before given
a — b — ^, and then a — \ — c^
and the second part, in like manner,
a — \ — c,
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IN A QUARTBTT BT MOZART.
departbg from these precedents, it now at onoe gives,
743
not a — b — c, but a — bb
c.
and that, too, at a part of the measure (on the last light part of J measure)
which, on account of its brevity and want of internal weight (§ 241, Nos. 1, 4),
is not adapted to form an epoch for the ear in respect to a digression and modu-
lation BO slightly apparent. Thus this upper part seeks to achieve such a reform
(which, were it presented in a more imposing manner [§ 241, No. 5 ; § 495], or
even with somewhat greater fubiess, e. ff.
or
the ear would perhaps sooner accommodate itself to), not only at a moment of
so little weight, but also in a mere two-part passage, accompanied only by 6 in
the base, without the least co-operation of its pausing associates, while their b
still resounds in the ear, — to achieve it, too, purely on its own authority, without
being generally moved thereto ; setting up itself above the other parts, and, as
knowing better than they, seeking to reform the major three-fold (Bf-harmony
(which, as the result of the co-operation of all four parts, has hitherto held sway
during a longer and more weighty part of the measure) to a minor three-fold
2-harmony ; in which, moreover, it derives but little satisfactory assistance from
the base, which, as yet, alone accompanies it, as this lies at so great a distance,
G — Bb> without the interpositicm and filling up of middle parts, and is therefore
un&vorable to a ready apprehension by the ear (§ 69).
On the occurrence of a change of harmony entering in such an undecided
manner, the ear will be almost led to doubt whether it should really and seriously
believe what it hears : whether the first violinist, with his fine, thin, retaOed bb,
has a mind, in the last third part of the measure, to reform the b which has
hitherto been played by all : or whether he may not have stopped bb, instead of T,
entirely by mistake. — Or perhaps it doubts whether the 15b should not rather be
considered as alt, and, as such, a minor second transition to a following IE ; thus :
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744
ON ▲ REMARKABLE PA88A0E
M.
m
fee
P- J J J I
t&
which conjecture, however, is certainly diBappoiiited^ as not F, but c follows^
and the ear is consequently necessitated (§§ 370 and 380) again to abandon the
appeasing explanation (ajt instead of Hb), and quickly to attune itself to the key
of ^-minor, during this last light part of the measure.
[§••■]
Scardely, howeyer, has it had time to conform to this necessity, than another
new and unexpected succession of harmony is again presented to it, at the very
beginning of the next (5th) measure, by the entry of the combination [Bb Bb],
brought in by the upper part, which, notwithstanding its lower associates have
just before given
k b "c ar
and a F c" Z ,
ndw suddenly proceeds in quite an opposite way, and gived
a Fb c" ct .
The ear, which has already sought for a satis&ctory explanation of tlie appear-
ance of % instead ofF, is now still less able clearly to account for the combina-
tion [fib ib].
However, the condcction in which it stands with the following (6th) measure,
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IN A QDABTETT BT MOZABT.
745
shows that the oombmation in question is really meant for the minor three-fold
chord ib, as the tonic harmony of Ih-udnoT,
4th measore. 5th meaiore.
j^S3l ''i r r
m
f^>' J J J I I |-h*!-^
€r 0 ib
and oonaeqnently forms^ of itself, a modulation from the scaroely announced key
of ^-minor, into that of ^^-minor (a key far remote from C-major, c-minor, G-
major, and ^-minor, § 180), — and that, too, by a wholly unprepared entry of
the harmony Ih : i, immediately after the minor three-fold g-harmony, as ^j i ;
and, moreover, only in two tones, very widely distant from each other.
[§»•]
Perhaps the ear might spare itself the reception of this more remote modu-
lation, by taking the 9b of the first violin for cJt, and hence as a minor-second
transition to an expected (I.
"1 m ^ ^
But this assumption is as little confirmed as that before mentioned, of ajt instead
of Tb ; for no 7 follows, but the phrase of the upper part rather concludes with
that Bb^ while the bass, with its repeated Bb> introduces anew the same formula
6tb measare. 7th measure. 8th measure.
5th meainire.
-ra— p.
r r)^^ il^— 14
^rrrrr ri'^cjLtfjj^ p p p p p p i ^ ^ fV r r""
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746 ON A RKMABKABLE PAflSAeB
as that in the first and foUovring measores, in the same manner as it there
occurs, only in a key one degree lower, and the whole course of the measnres 1,
2, 3, 4, is again repeated a tone lower — (with the sole difference that, in the 9th
measure, the first violin proceeds, not to %^ hut to c^ which latter sounds &r
less strange to the ear than the db did in the 5th measure).
[§"•]
By the foregoing analysis of the passage in question — ^the comprehension of
which [passage] will now present no farther difficulty to the reader of all that
precedes, — I have fulfilled the promise (in arrear firom the end of § ^5 to this
place) of an analysis of its modulatory course. It will, however, be rendered
still dearer by the subsequent consideration of it« melodic or part intwining.
(II)— Transition" Tones.
The second respect in which the passage under consideration is especially
worthy of notice, and in part offensive, arises from several of the transition-tones
which occur therein.
All, however, which appears remarkable under this head, has been already
explained in §§ 360, 361, 362, 363, and 408, of the present volume (pages 617,
618, 620, and 678), to the perusal of which, in regular order, I must again call
the attention of the reader.
(Uiy^Cross Relations.
[§"•]
In this respect also, the passage is peculiarly remarkable ; in which point of
view we shall consider it in §§ 492, 493, 494, and 495, and in the mean time
can only refer to these places.
{Y^)— Parallel Movements of the Parts.
The last remarkable feature that we observe in the oft-mentioned passage is,
that, in two instances, two of the parts proceed together at the distance of a
second, parallel to each other ; respecting which, as not being a matter of par*
ticular importance, we also merely refer, in advance, to our § 500.
(y^j—RewBw of the Orammatieal Construction of the Passage as a whole,
[§16.]
Having examined the quoted passage in the foregoing separate divisions, in
reference to [the subjects treated in] particular chapters of the theory of com-
position, it now remains for us to take a general review of it in regard to all these
considerations and their combined effect.
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IK A aUABTBTT BT MOZABT.
747
The first thing which strikes the ear as particularly harsh in this passage, is
the combination [c g % a ] in the second measure ; and indeed the strangeness
l8t
2nd measoreJ -
^
r
^^=s^
g-AJ-^ J Tu
4 p p p f p p i~rrrFT7
lies in the meeting of several of the drcamstances mentioned in the former
paragraphs ; in the entry of a in the npper part forming a cross-relation (§ 493),
beffldes the unprepared transition-tone g (§§ 361, 362), struck at the same time
with this H and with c of the base part, and thereby giving rise to the combination
[c g ^ a ] at which the ear is doubly astonished. (See the former §§ * and *-)
That the strangeness principally arises firom the union of the above drcnm-
stances, will be evident, if we so alter the passage as to omit them ; perhaps^
e. g, in the following manner :
4s
^- ' a-
Compare [ § ^' ]
^
^
-P P-
T-r
^
S' ■ S pi w.^'T'rf»r''r^
^^^/^^^
^^^
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748
ON ▲ REMARKABLE PABSAOE
The second thing which sounds strange to the ear, is the oombinatioo
[B g dt a ], at the beginning of the next (3rd) measure.
f r r f r r I r f frjigp
The appearance of the (Bf-harmony, it is tme, is here perfectly welcome to the
ear, and quite in accordance with its expectation (see § * preceding) ; but the
satisfiictory effect of this is again disturbed, by the sounding of eft in the second
part. 'Willingly would the ear consent that, in the upper part, the secondary
note A, which has been prepared in the foregoing measure, should precede the
fundamental tone g, while the fundamental note g itself is also heard in the third
part (§§ 360, 361) : it is not this circumstance, nor the secondary note a, which
disturbs the satis&ction of the ear, but the ctt ; as it will at once be found that
the combination loses its harshness when the principal note is put in the place
of this secondary note.
{k.) 8rd measore. (/.) 3rd measare.
rHr^
liyti 1 ^- —
^-^-^jf —
or even
Compare [§*••]
That ^ — as secondary note of the tone cT belonging to the (Qr-harmony — •
which, as a boldly entering changing-note, robs its principal note? of the heavier
part of the measure during the value of an entire quarter-note (§ 354), and
which, moreover, is also struck at the same time with the harmonic tones B and g
(§§ 362, 363), comes, in this place, particularly unseasonable to the ear ; which,
having just before experienced dissatisfaction, had now expected a plain (Q^chord
or perhaps one taken with the suspension a, — ^but certainly not that this
eft would intrude itself, instead of the tone 7 belonging to the harmony, and
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IN A QUARTETT BY MOZART.
749
produce harshness in the very first part of the measure, even at the entry of the
desired (Brharmony, thus changing the latter into the combination [B g cit a ],
which does not even form an apparent chord (§§ 407, 408).
[§»•]
In the same (3rd) measure also, sounds the secondary tone a, as a transition
to b, which is struck, in the third [viola] part, with the fourth eighth-note in the
base, B, (which is neither the fundamental tone, nor the fifth, but the third of the
fundamental harmony § 361), and thus both tones are struck at the same time
(§ 363).
{i.) 8rd measure. 4th measare.
^-"TTj J^ ^
P^^EF^*
And at the moment when that a passes on to its principal note, the upper
part also moves again fi*om the fundamental tone g to the transition tone 7$ ;
and, simultaneously with this f tt, the tones B and b (the third of the fundamental
harmony) are likewise struck anew in the two lower parts (§ 363).
The transient Tft still continues sounding, even when, in the last eighth-note
of this measure^ two other transition tones, Z and a, occur — the latter, indeed, as
a transition to "E. To these three tones [c^ a", andTtt], foreign to the harmony,
the fundamental third B, in the base, is again struck anew (§§ 361, 363) ; so
that, during the six eighth-notes of this measure, the following combinations are
successively presented to the ear :
(A.)
jL^^:::^ — ^^ — ^#.
Immediately afterwards, at the second eighth-note of the following (4th)
measure, the transitions a and c* appear together, to which the fundamental third
B in the base is again struck anew.
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750
ON A REMARKABLE PASaASR
Hie second half of this (4th) measure presents us again with two peculi-
arities : the changing of the major CBrh&rmony into a minor f -harmony (men-
tioned from § ' to § ^)y by the entry of ^j, instead of F, in the upper part, with
but little apparent reason (§ ^ ), — and also the cross relation produced by the
entry of that very bb in the upper part, against the H which has been previously
sounded in all the other parts (§ 4M).
[§"•]
Lastly, the passing from this fourth to the following measure presents, through
the entry of the combmation [Bb db], that little-called-for, and therefore strange,
succession of keys ^ — Hj, mentioned in § i<^-
That the whole phrase of the first four measures is now regularly repeated,
frt)m here onwards, in the four following — only in the key one degree lower —
has been already remarked (§ >>> at the end).
(YI) — ConMeratian of the Rhetorical Meaning of the Passage.
[§"•]
Haying hitherto considered the quoted passage wholly in reference to its
grammatical structure, we have now to take a review of it in regard to its rhe-
torical treatment, — to consider it in relation to the rhetorical phrases employed
by the composer, and their connection with each other ; a consideration which
will first unfold to us why Mozart could not avoid, or disdained to avoid, certain
of the before-mentioned, and in part really perceptible, harsh peculiarities ; and
why, of the many exquisite suggestions for the improvement of the passage with
which the critics so eagerly favored him, he had no inclination to employ a single
one of them — (no, not even one of those named in the foregoing §§ ^^ and ^* ).
[§"•]
The fundamental design of the whole passage was evidently the following
imitation :
f=Pf^r ^vUJ^
-^— ^— ^H
^ J .J ■ J.
Sp
35
t
namely, where the melody of the part entering at the end of the first measure
(the viola),
ab — ab— g— fit— g
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IN A QUARTETT BY MOZART.
751
is imiiatedm tbe apper part (Ist violin) entering one measure later, note for
note, in the doable octave above^
a— i^g— fjt-^
with tbe single exception, that tbe first tone of the 1st violin is not ab, lilce that
of tbe middle part, but at], and hence tbe step from the first to tbe second tone
in tbe upper part— « to g — ^is that of a major second, whereas the step of the
viola was from ab to g ; consequently, tbe imitation is not quite strict. — (The
reason why a instead of ab stands in tbe upper part is easily explained: for,
were ab given in tbe upper part at the moment when fit sounds in the middle
part, the combination [c fit ab] would arise, which, whether regarded as a real
or as an apparent chord (§ 91 B, or §§ 407, 408), would be decidedly less
well-sounding ;-^wbereas the combination [c ftt a ] very naturally refers to a
transferring dominant chord (§ 201).
[§«.]
On a closer consideration of the passage alluded to in the foregoing section,
we find, however, tbat^ between tbe two imitating melodies before described, a
third imitating part is also inserted, which, entering a quarter-note later than
the ab of the viola, imitates the melody of it,
ab— ab— g— f8— g
quite strictly, a fifth higher :
eb — ^} — J— cjl— cT
-P P b-
^ — nrr
^
i-
=^
but with this difierence, that tbe entry of this new middle part (tbe 2nd violin)
does not begin, like that of tbe others, on the last part of the measure, and then
by syncopation continue on to the heavier part of tbe next measure ; but, on tbe
contrary^ it commences on tbe heavy, first part of the measure, and b continued
on to the following lighter part (a difierence which, in technical language, is
called imitaHoper thesin et arsin, with tbe more particular explanation of which,
however, I will not here trouble tbe reader).
That the before-mentioned harshness (§§ '^* i^) would naturally arise
firom the insertion of this new imitating part, and indeed firom tbe ^ in the third
• Compare[§»7], fig. t.
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ON A REMARKABLE PASSAGE
measure occamng therein, must have appeared unimportuit to the composer ;
as otherwise, by a slight alteration of the melodies, he could easily have removed
it altogether :
r r y^i J.(t)jJ^ J.
Thus, in the way heretofore mentioned, three imitating parts were obtained ;
but, besides that the imitations are not absolutely strict, as already remarked
(§§ ^« ^ ), there yet remains the farther dissimilitude, that the melody of the
viola is followed by that of the second violin one quarter-note later ; but this
melody of the 2nd violin is then followed by the Ist violin two quater-notes
later : — or, in other words, the entry of the viola and of the 2nd violin are dis-
tant from each other one part of a measure (one quarter-note), — ^but that of the
2nd violin and of the 1st are distant two parts.
It might appear desirable to render the distance between these entries more
uniform — ^to let the 1st violin enter as soon after the 2nd, as this did after the
viola.
With a view to this, it certainly will not do to let the entire melody of the
1st violin begin a quarter-note earlier and so continue ; but a similarity in the
distance of the entry may be attained, tn a certain degree^ or, if the expression
be preferred, as it were in appearance, by simply extending the duration of the
first tone a, by the value of a quarter-note, into the preceding part of the mea-
sure.
p
^ I r r »f
.#.*-
±
instead
.rp
tiT rtr
-a
in whidi case, each imitating part will really begtn at the distance of one quarter-
note later than another :
1st measore. 2nd roeasare. 3rd meaaare.
♦ Compare [§**]. fig. l- t Compare [§>*], second paragraph.
X Compare [§<»].
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IN ▲ QUARTETT BT MOZABT. 753
only that, by thus extending the first tone of the npper part, the literal Btrictnesa
of the imitation is certainly again impaired in another respect ; and, furthermore,
through the earlier entry of the a immediately after the ab of the viola, the harsh-
ness arises which is mentioned in § ^^ : which casualties, however, the composer
preferred to disregard, rather than relinquish the idea of making each part enter
a quarter-note later than the preceding*.
[§"•]
U we still continue to consider the course of the quoted passage in regard to
imitation, — even the still more brief imitations which may arise from here on-
wards,— ^we shall find that the farther course of the melody of the viola
is imitated by the 2nd violin, whidi continues to follow the viola a quarter-note
later, — yet no longer at the distance of a fifth, but at that of an octave :
a — ^—'c — ^
after which the same melody is likewise repeated in the upper part, two quarter-
* This is perhaps the place to say a few words in reference to the assertion made by
Prof. F^HSt in the periodical before-mentioned, that the cause of the harshness of the
passage in question arises from the non-observance of the maxim set up by him : that,
in an imitation which is made alternately in the fifth and in the fourth, there should always
be one or two times [parts of a measure], and in some cases one or two measures, more
between the second and third entries, than between the first and second-<-(** que dans
une imitation que sefait aliemativement a la quinte etdla quarte, U doit toujours y avoir
un ou deux temps, et quelquefois une ou deux mesvres de plus entre la seconde et la
troisihne entrie qu*entre la premise et la seconde.*^ Revue Mus, tome v, JuiUet 1829,
page ^^;'^TraUi du Contrepoint et de la Fugue, liv. l,p. 75, § 120)— a maxim* against
which tolerably weighty objections, and still more weighty musical examples, have been
already brought forward for M. F^tis, in the Leipzig AUgem. Mus. Zeitung for 1831,
No.6, p. 81.
But the whole maxim (whose discussion I reserve for my Theory of Double Counter-
point, which I hope soon to be able to fimshf, where it is explained, so far as it is true,
in an extremely simple manner, as a naturally understood consequence of known things)
— ^the whole maxim, I say» is altogether unsuited to the passage to which it is intended
to be applied, and so also are the objections brought against it ; which will at once be
perceived, if we simply bear in mind that, in this case, as before observed ({><>), no real*
but only an apparently similar distance of the entry exists, and that, in fact, the vmiia*
tion in the upper part begins with the third quarter-note of the third measure (! t ), and,
as continuing the viola part^ it enters — not two, but positively three quarter-notes (or a
whole measure) later !—- hence there is, in reality, un temps deplus entre la seconde et la
troisieme entrie qu* entre la premiire et la seconde,
t It is to be regretted that the author did not live to publish this. Two papers on
Double Counterpoint, from his pen, appeared in the periodical CdcUia for 1831.—- Ed.
VOL. II. Z
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754 ON A REMARKABLE PA88A0E IN A QOARTETT BT MOZART.
notes later, only
not «r — S" — c^ — ^
but a — bb — c — db
ft d
and this, because the composer has now at once a mind to repeat the phrase
comprised in the previous four measures, one degree lower, in tlie key of Mi-minor,
in the following measures. (§ ^*, at the end.)
(YU)—Ci>nclusum,
[§^]
The forgoing are the most important peculiarities which, comprised in so
few bars, present themselves to our consideration.
That the accumulation of so many peculiarities at once astonishes the ear,
and that in a lively manner, no one possessing the sense of hearing can deny.
In what the strangeness consists— by what combination of circumstances it is
caused— and for what purposes it has been brought in — we have learnt from the
preceding analysis : — all that technical theory could do, it has done in this
matter.
Whether this onion of harsh combinations and successions at any time ex-
ceeds, or does not exceed, the limits of harshness which it is well to offer to the
ear, is a question which is certainly not categorically decided by the foregoing
discussions, but which nevertheless has perhaps been clearly illustrated. (That
I do not at all believe in the rules by which, as mentioned in the introduction,
one person demonstrates the irregularity, and another the regularity, of the
passage ; on this subject have I already, more than once, stated my firm con-
viction.)
TAe musically cuUivated ear alone must here be the judge in the last in-
stance ; and in this case a supreme judge has already decided in faivor of the
passage, — I mean the ear of a Mozart, who dedicated this quartett, as the best
that he could produce, to Ids best friend and model, Joseph Haydn, as a tribute
of profound admiration.
As regards my own ear, I frankly confess that it does not receive pleasure
from sounds like these ; — on this subject I can freely speak as I think, and, io
defiance of the silly and envious, dare even take up the haughty words and say :
/ know what I like in my Mozart,
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MERITS OF SKlPPINe MOVEMENT. 755
CHAPTER X.
HOVBMSNT BT SKIPS.
§ 467.
When we first adverted to the skipping progression of a part, in a former
part of this work, we could say hut very little in relation to its merits ; because
there are many things involved in this species of progression with which we were
not at that time acquainted.
But having now acquired this pre-requisite information, we are prepared to
go into an investigation of the merits of the skippmg progression of a part.
DIVISION I.
MERITS OP THE SKIPPING MOVEMENT IK GENERAL.
§ 468.
As it respects the character and merits of the skipping movement in general,
we have already remarked, in a former part of this work (§ 42), that the gradual
progression is the most simple, natural, and flowing, and the one whose unbroken
thread the ear can most easily follow ; while, on the other hand, a part which
moves by skips demands a closer attention of the ear, in order to keep the run
of its progression.
It follows from this, that though the skipping movement is not in itself
really incorrect, yet it is not always and in all cases equally good and
admissible.
And, besides, the before-mentioned peculiar character of the skipping pro-
gression of a part, answers the question, where and when this species of
movement may be introduced with good elSect, or otherwise.
This answer consists in the following conclusions.
§469.
Inasmuch as a skip, occurring in the movement of a part, always in a
measure interrupts its progress, a regard must always be had to this point
in all cases where one aims at a very evenly gliding, a very uninterruptedly
continuous and smooth progression of a part, or, in other words, where the
unbroken continuation of the melodic thread is a point of interest to the ear ;
and in such cases it is always judicious to employ everywhere more of the
gradual than of the skipping movement.
But this consideration of course becomes neutralized in cases where the
thread of the melody is already more or less broken from other causes.
z2
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756
SKIPPING MOVEMENT.
In the first place, a skip of a part, even if it be a difficult one for the
ear to follow, may be made without hesitation whenever a break or pause in
the musical phrase is interposed between the two notes. For, where such a
break occurs, and where thus the thread of the sense is more or less broken
at any rate, it is no longer of any particular importance to the ear to be able
exactly to follow the thread of each part from the end of the one section to
the commencement of the next ; and hence it cannot disturb the ear, if a part
which gave this or that tone at the end of a section, assumes another and
perhaps a very remote tone at the commencement of the following section,
and thus m^kes a skip during the break between the two.
The principle above stated applies not only to the larger pauses, but also
to the smaller, even down to the shortest possible interruptions in the pro*
gression of a passage. — ^Thus, for example, the skip of the upper part from
a down to dS, in fig. 840,
(Fig. 840.)
is admissible without hesitation, on account of the break lying between the
two tones.— And for the same reason also the other skips which occur in
this part are above question. — That is to say, every two notes here consti-
tute together a kind of small independent member, separated in a measure
both from the preceding and following by a small intermediate break. Now
the skip of a superfluous second which is made by the upper part from a to Fjt
in the first measure, and from e to 7x in the second measure, would, under
ordinary circumstances, as we shall observe hereafter, be harsh and offensive to
the ear ; but in the present connection it is not so, for the reason, that here a
small break is introduced between a and lB]t and also between ~e andTx.
§470.
For a similar reason the skipping movement may be unhesitatingly admitted
in cases where an harpeggiate part passes alternately backwards and forwards
from the tone of one broken part to that of another. Such a species of skipping
movement does not impress the ear as a disagreeable interruption of the thread
of the part, provided the broken parts are in themselves smooth and flowing.
Thus, for example, in fig. 841,
^ig.841.)
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MERITS IN GENERAL.
757
the harpeggiate part everywhere moves by mere skips; but the three parts
designed to be represented by this one broken part proceed, throughout, not at
all by skips, but exclusively by diatonic degrees, and thus of course the skip-
ping part represents three others which do not move by skips. Hence the
conduct of parts, so far as we regard the passage as an harpeggiate representation
of three parts, is perfectly smooth and flowing — which is the more satisfactory
in this case, since the several parts of this harpeggiate progression are very
clearly and decidedly exhibited. (Compare § 27.)
The same may easily be applied to the skipping movement of the harpeg-
giate parts in the examples found in fig. 59 n — q, p. 135, and in figs. 60 — 76,
pp. 136—143.
§471.
As a general rule, moreover, those skips are very easily apprehended by
the ear, which are made /rom one interval of a harmony which forms the
basis of any combination of tones to another interval of the same harmony.
Thus, for example, in fig. 842,
the upper part skips firom the seventh, f, of the fundamental harmony 0:^ to
the third of this same harmony, namely, the tone b, even though thb latter tone
stands at the distance of an eleventh from the former ; and, in like manner, the
second part (the alto, § 14) skips a tenth upward from the fifth to the seventh,
and the tenor from the third to the fifth, while the base skips downward an
octave from the fundamental tone g to its lower octave 0. — The skips in fig. 843,
♦ (Fig. 843.)
±
^
XC
£
-ZV
35:
J..
±
^
:x2i
4:
331
^^
are of a similar description, as are in general most of the skips which occur in
an harpeggiate part : such, for example, are all the upward skips in fig. 844,
(Fig. 844.)
P
i
(Compare §§ 26, 27.)
i i''i i
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SKIPPIMQ MOVEMENT.
It is less easy for the ear to follow a part which skips^om an inierval of a
previous harmony to an interval of a newly occurring harmony at the moment
when an harmonic step is taken. Hence, in fig. 845, t, k^
(Fig. 845, i.) ^ ^ (A.) ^ ^
^i.iuipMi'°irrin-ii.;i^^
's^p
kAl
m
^^
I
^
rx
33f
Si
tt:
°R
^
the skips of the upper part from e to7, ^m & to'g, from^ to M, and firom e to cl,
are extremely disagreeahle to the ear, — and an equally abrupt and jolting
progression is made in the base by its skipping firom c to A, firom F to e, and
thence to D, and again to c; whereas the other skips (fi^m g to e, firom? to a,
from g to c^ &C.J, which are made from one interval to another of the same
continued harmony, are entirely free from everything rough or disagreeable, as
we have already seen in the above fig. 843, where the very same skips occur,
and that too in part even still farther extended.
It is for similar reasons also that the passages in fig. 846 t and ^, are so
stiff and repulsive, in comparison with that in fig. 846 I:
(Fig. 846, t.)
m
Li
(*•)
^
ii
M
JlI
f'rf>'^'r:^"i"°irrif'^r'^rt
I IV I V7 I IV IC.V 7 I
(Fig. 846,/.)
r^
p
i^j
-•— ir
"I'TTf f
C;I IV I V7 I
m
r ^
IV I G.V 7 I
The downward skips from e to b and firom f to c in fig. 844, p. 757, are also
skips into intervals of new harmonies, and hence the conduct of parts here is
not so perfectly easy of apprehension, nor so entirely smooth, as it is in fig. 847,
(Fig. 847.)
p
?*f
where these skips are wholly avoided (coifipare §§ 26, 27, and 321). In like
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MERITS IN eJSNKBAL.
759
manner also, in fig. 848,
(Fig. 848.)
iJJPVTl\jm
the skips of the harpeggiate part are avoided at the point of time when a change
of harmonies occors. (Compare fig. 841, p. 756.)
§472.
It results, moreover, firom the very nature of the case, that it is douhly
difficult for the ear to follow the thread of a part which skips from an interval
of the previous harmony to an interval of the newly occurring harmony,
whenever the harmonic step is in itself rather an unusual one^ and thus of
course little familiar to the ear, and, perhaps, even involves a somewhat harsh
progression. For the ear, already suhjected to a sufficient amount of difficulty
in following the course of the modulation, is scarcely prepared to encounter,
at the same moment, the additional trouhle of tracing a difficult progression
of a part, hut claims rather that the apprehension of the unusual progression
of harmonies should he as much as possihle facilitated hy a plain and easily
traceahle conduct of parts. How very much one and the same harmonic sue-
cession, e, g, a digressive modulation which is in itself unusual, may at one
time he made repulsive to the ear, and at another he rendered welcome to it, hy
a more or less easily comprehensihle conduct of parts, is shown hy a comparison
of the harmonic succession y.- V — a.-i, in fig. 849 t, with that in fig. 849 ^,
(Fig. 849,*.)^ j,^ J^
(Compare fig. 197, p. 346.)
r"Mjj..^ ^.H^A
^vH a
^
59
i-
^'\}\}\
as also hy the unusual harmonic succession eb:°vii — c\\ fig. 850 t^ which, with
such a skipping conduct of parts, say, as occurs in fig. 850 ^, would he quite
unpalatahle :
(Fi|.860,».) (*.)
O-
i
S
^
8 ' U '.g.
=&^
■^
JL^
:§:
TT"
^
te
irria:
S
Compare § 241, (3), p. 431 ; fig. 204, pp. 371 and 372 ; and fig. 235, 24th
measure, p. 411.
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760
8KIPPIM0 MOVEMBITT.
Those skips, on the contrary, are far less exceptionable which occur in very
usual harmonie proffresaians, and perhc^s into an interval of a harmony
which is in itself very common, occurs very frequently, and thus is very
/amiliar to the ear. Thus, for example, skips into an interral of a principal
fonr-fold chord, when an harmonic step is taken, are seldom offensive, particularly
if the latter is a dominant chord of the previous key, and of course belongs to
the same scale, and hence b quite natural to the ear ; as is the case, for example,
in fig. 851 :
(Fig. 851.)
3Z2
BEE
C;I V7 I c/i V7 I V I
The same is true even of a digressive modulation, provided the principal
four-fold chord belongs to a nearly allied key, and not to one that is too remote ;
as, for example, in fig. 852 :
(Fig. 852.)
arr^ iJii^SEt
C.I V7 la:Y7 i e.-VT i V7 VI P:Y7 I
§ 473.
It likewise follows, fi-om a consideration already several times adverted to,
that the skip of a part to a note foreign to the harmony is ordinarily less
natural and flowing, than one to an harmonic tone, — Here again, however, it
depends very much upon circumstances, and especially upon the question
whether the harmonic tone to which the transition-tone connects itself is a tone
which itself very naturally occurs to the ear, or not. In fig. 853 i.
(Fig. 853. i.)
MOZABT'S ZAUBBBFLOTS.
liiLlilLdlLfl:
I
m
-\
the skip of the upper part from 'c to the transition-tone 1^ is very easy to be
apprehended, because the tone g, to which this T% is an accessory tone, was
already under a very natural tendency of suggesting itself to the ear. In
fig. 853 ^, on the contrary,
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MERITS IN flBNKBlL.
761
(Pig.863,*.)
P
the skip from 6*10 i^ as an accessory tone to ¥ would be doubly infelicitous ;
because a skip to F itself would not naturally suggest itself to the ear, and still
less would a skip to an accessory tone of this H.
§474.
The skipping movement is, moreover, for the most part, better adapted to
principtd than to seeondary parts, not only because it is more difficult in itself
for the ear to follow the thread of a secondary part than that of a principal one,
but because the latter has also a stronger claim to demand that more fixed
attention of the ear which is requisite in following the skip. For this reason, it
happens, for example, that, in so-called bravura passages, in concertos, &c.
skips of prodigious extent not unfrequently occur in the principal part, which
are in such a case so far free from technical fault, at least, to the same extent
that the ear is aided in following the thread of such a skipping progression, by
having its attention particularly directed to the part in consequence of its
peculiar character.
Hence, cases not unfrequently occur, in which we conceal a somewhat
infelicitous, though unavoidable, skipping movement in less conspicuous middle
parts, rather than allow it to appear in other parts, which are always more
striking to the ear, or in parts which otherwise assume the prominence of prin-
cipal parts. Thus, for example, in fig. 854 t,
(Fig. 854, i.) I , ^ I I
^u^
'^^in ,1 f'if'p' jj
VX^Tf
i
^^'l■■M■■^-^ll^'^l■l
]^BE5
J J J I J J J „ J J^
I
^m
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762 8KIPPIK0 MOYSMBHT.
(Fig. 654, A, continiied.)
.^■'jjijjji '''Mli\t""i
' iVn'l il/iE.II
tbe skips of the second part are not at all repulsive ; because, occurring as they
do in this middle part, they are not prominently exhibited. In fig. 854 i, on
the contrary, where the two upper parts exchange progressions with each other,
and the first part makes the same skips which had been as it were secretly and
imperceptibly made just before by the middle part, these skips become &r more
striking and disagreeable than they previously were. But cases of this des-
cription, where the skipping movement of a middle part avoids giving ofience
to the ear, only because the latter neglects tu attend to the progression of Ibis
middle part, are merely individual cases, and not real exceptions to the general
rule, that the ear, which should always as &r as possible be able to follow the
thread of aU parts, always more fireely and easily follows the skipping progres-
sion of an outer and principal part than that of a middle part.
On this latter ground, it is particularly allowable for the base part to move
with spedal firequency by skips; that is to say, because the base, as an outer
part, is always in some measure a principal part, and, as such, is not only more
easy to follow, but also holds a stronger claim upon the attention of the ear,
than does a mere middle part.
We shall again recur to the skipping progression of the base part in a
subsequent part (^ thb work.
DIVISION n.
MORE FARTICULAB CONSIDERATION OF SOME CERTAIN SPECIES OF SKIPS.
§475.
Having thus &r considered the peculiar character of the skipping movement
of a part, in general, we will now turn our attention to some particular ways b
which this skipping progression occurs.
(A.) MKASUBEMEKT OF SKIPS
§476.
We have not, in our preceding treatment of skips, measured their dimen-
sions ; we have not specificdUy attended to the magnitude of the sk^s; that is
to say, we have not inquired into the intermediate distance, the interval, that is
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DIMBK8I0H8 OF SKIPS. 765
passed oyer in making the skip, whether it be large or small^ whether, for
example, it be a skip of a third, and that too of a major, a minor, a superflnoos
or a diminished third, — a fourth, a fifth, a sixth, &c.
Bnt this subject surely merits our attention ; for it is certain that skips
of particular intervals sometimes produce a peculiar e£fect, and are in some
measure offensiye to the ear.
The consideration of the different species of skips in respect to the magni-
tude and nature of the intervals between the tone from whidi and the tone to
which the skip is made, may be denominated the measurement of ikips.
We may, on this point, remark the following things.
First ^ it is natural that skips of very wide extent, such as tenths, fifteenths,
and the like, should ordinarily be more difficult for the ear to follow, than skips
of only small extent, such as mere thirds, &c. La^e skips seem to convey an
impression of something majestic, forcible, violent ; while small skips, on the
contrary, usually exhibit a much more moderate aspect.
Let it be observed that I state the above principle as only a general^ but
not as a universcU one ; for it is indeed tru6, that in many cases a skip of a
small interval is more harsh to the ear, than many that are of much larger
extent. This depends upon the peculiar nature of the interval.
The safest of all intervals in this respect is that from a tone to its octave ;
for this is properly only a skip from one tone to the same again, the latter
differing only by being in another octave, it being a repetition of the same tone
on a smaller or a larger scale. A skip of an octave, though, dynamically, that
is, according to the number of intermediate degrees, a somewhat large skip, yet,
harmonically considered, is properly equivalent to no skip at all.
§477.
On the contrary, many skips of far smaUer compass sometimes produce a
peculiar efiect, and involve much that is rough, harsh, and repulsive. Such, for
example, are progressions of a part by a svperjluous interval (in which class
we may reckon the so-called tritane, the mq/or, or, as some call it, the
superfluous /aurth), — the diminished third, the diminished fourth, the mq/or
seventh, and still others, which at one time this theorist, aud at another time
that, forbids or allows.
In fact, we may find, in every species of such skips, not only those which are
offensive and positively repulsive, but also others which, though not directly
disagreeable, still have something in them which is peculiar, strange, harsh, and
abrupt, and others again which are entirely free from anything offensive.—^
Accordingly, here also a universal law declaring such skips to be forbidden, is
not admissible, is not true.
This conviction becomes still stronger, if we turn our attention to the very
essential difference which exists among the different examples of each class. It
seems never to have occurred to theorists to consider in how many essentially
different ways, for instance, a skip of a major, minor, diminished, or superfluous
second, third, fourth, &c. in an upper, middle, under, principal or secondary
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Y64
SKIPPING MOVBMRNT.
party duriiig the oontinuanoe of this or that harmony of a major or minor key, —
or at the moment of one or another of the 6888 different harmonic steps ennme*
rated in § 227 — harmonic steps which may be more or less natural or repaLuye,
belonging to the same scale, or perfect, or more or less imperfect digressive
transitions into other scales, — skips too of this or that interval of one harmony
to this or that interval of another, np or down, under this or that combination
of these or those circumstances enumerated in §§ 241 — 243, 469 — 475, or of
very many others which cannot here be specified. — ^I 'would not attempt to
reckon the number of such various possible progressions of a part by seconds,
and then, in like manner, also of all possible progressions of major, minor,
diminished, and superfluous thirds, fourths, &c. even in the most superficial
manner ; and much less would I undertake to prove the merits of each one of
them: and surely, least of all, would I venture to dispatch sucii a truly
immense number of essentially different melodic steps with so few arrogant
words, as, for example, '' progressions of a part by superfluous seconds or
fourths are forbidden," &c.
Therefore, with the reiterated assurance that, in cases where a true universal
rule does not exist, or at least has thus far fiiiled to be discovered either by me
or by others, it is better to satisfy ourselves with mere individual, though not
untrue observations, than to lay down sweeping universal rules, which are for
that very reason incorrect, — ^therefore, I say, I will content myself with makiog
merely the following remarks upon these various species of skips, without
attempting to exhaust the subject.
§ 478.
The skipping progression of a part by intervals of the magnitude mentioned
in § 477, is not unfrequently strange to the ear, in a measure harsh and grating,
and sometimes even disgusting, repulsive, and of positively ill effect ; and, in
this latter case, such progressions are of course to be avoided, in music where
euphony is an object.
Thus, for example, sky!>s of a superfluous second have something in them
that is rather singular and foreign, as may be seen firom figs. 855 — 858 :
(Fig. 855.)
(Fig. 856.)
HATDR'S STMPHOHT.
5*4:
^^^g^^P^
£K, h 2 n"
g
E^a
^^
f
x=x
:^
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OIMBHSIOHS OF SKIPS.
765
(Fig. 857.)
m
4^.
1
-^ -^"^-^
i
^
3:5
^
-eh
^
(Fig. 868.)
i^i
g^ttr-r^diii 5§t
EEb
a:
4^ iC-J -i
±
11^ sf — 8r-
-t-
-r
and we have already remarked, in Chapter YIII, that this not onfreqnently gives
occasion for a necessary approximation of a transition-tone to its principal, and
sometimes even for removing the secondary tone farther from the principal tone
than it would stand according to the natural scale.
§479.
This is more particularly the case with one species of superfluous interval
than with another, and the difference subsists even between those species of
superfluous intervals, one of which is only the inversion of the other.
Thus, for example, the skips of a superfluous sixth in figs. 859 k and 860 k,
are more harsh than those of the diminished third in figs. S59 t and 860 t.
(Fig 859, t.)
CALPARA.
'«'■" JcJlj
ol J J Ij. J
-I-
1^
Adagio Peo-ca - tI,
reo
f&r-
peo - ca - Ti in - per na - me - rom
m^
^
f^
T
-r-r-i-
«c
S
^
I "8 I
(Fig. 8S9, k.)
^
* ^
Qf^
JU.
jSl.
*=c
6"
(Fig. 860, f.)
BBNED. KARGELLO.
m
BoT-l-BS
V k
%^h^
331
P=B^
3a:
Tor - Tcn - da, I'or
im - do «... qiet - to
i^
-Q-t
JC^
33:
SE
:ir
bo L.^>^=*'
-o-»-
^^
-cr»-
/;V7
ib;V7
•3
I c;V7
/.v
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766
8KIPPIH8 MOTKIfKRT.
(Fig. 860,*.) ^^_^
^=E
^
■B^n
-rr go
gR=g^
^ef^
He- :^
zx:
M W'l^ a-^'^
luz
(Flg-860,/.)
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Ab-ba - itan-ia com-pren-do il gran-de eo - oes
B. MABCSLLO.
6.
00 del
T=^
i
So^
3
^jj'ujj'jj'^i rr
^JT
Ab-ba - Btan*zm com-
7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.
. . mio de - lit - - - to
@^
s
' pren-do il gran-de eo - cea - so III
i
^^.^m
^
m5
VMH'l^lMn
14
15.
I a-
Ab-ba- ftao-za oom-preD-do il gran-de eo •
16. 17. 18. 19.
^
»bo|o!t,Jn|| r^hJ J
-B^
^
^JJ.
J.b4cjJ?FK>^
tp=c
gg
^O Ot O
s
2"
00, 11 gran-de ee - ce0
). 21. 22.
25.
^
^
P?
o o
t> 'o
c*-'-^
J)oi,->
^s
^
^j^^^i^ri
^
^^
"f
So, also, skips of a minor fifth are usually foond to be less harsh than those of
a major fourth: ^^____^^__^^^
j,r|, rrif |. r^iH^^ni' ' " di
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DIMBHSI0N8 OF SKIPS. 767
those of a dimiDished seventh^ less harsh than those of a superfluous second :
p
^
1
, To T
H 1 P-
II
^
fc^
§ 480.
Bat the very pungency and harshness which pertains to many skips of the
aboTe-mentioned species may often afford the composer a very welcome means
of expressing certain peculiar species of sentiments. Thus, for example, the
various skips in figs. 859 and 860, pp. 765 and 766, and %s. 861 and 862 below,
carry with them the peculiar property of giving to the passage the colour of
painful emotion:
(Fig. 861.)
fl
B F
B t.
PBBOOLBSI.
.n Bs T
^
E^
s
y^='^t Q
^^
^
B
Ttfc. TTfc.B TSfc^F
B t
B 8 t ^ B F tBs
^^ ff|a-_3--J:_|f r LV>g^
t F T B T
5f
J. *tio' ir? h.
I /VT I ^^V 7 6b:V7 I IT X V7 1
i?
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768
SKIPPING MOTEMENT.
(Fig. 862.)
PEBGOLESI.
t^'>7 I
^ Ca - lufl a . ni . mAm m « mm . ten
Cu - jui a - ni - nam ge •* men - torn.
With a similar design^ several skips of this species are amassed in fig. 863 :
(Fig. 863.)
Cra . oi - fix - us
*Jt^ L
:J:
I- . 0
ci - fix - U0
e - ti - am
cni - 0 •
Soli,
r I' l^
g=--=P=f
Utc
l^
p r i"
era - - oi • fix - na e-ti-am
p
! I I I I I ! I » I II
i ^ '4~^"^^ 'i J-
«-tl-l
i^
cni •• - ci - fix • us
I TtlTTI.
-^=— JkT-
1^=5*:
^^^^
jct
T r rr
fix • - us
I r°i nj:-
i^^
6 - ti-am pro no - bis
fij-^r^
i:
il
cm - - ci - fix
pro no -
J/
§
5=^p:
Ir'^rTi'^'f^^^
i
7 r r r
oil7 V V^l^ oil
J.
^=?
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DIMBK8I0N8 OF SKIPS.
769
JU iT^j
J
m
H H
^tzzi:
I SOLI. Pm «»8
bis Paa - sQfl
W
^
pas
^
"^
It*
I
r ±U ± ,
-*
a
t
and a similar purpose seeibs also to have governed Vogler, in fig. 864 :
(Fig. 864.) |«*4t| I 4*1 yoci. VOGLEB'S BEQTTIBlf.
■ rpi. . . I
m
m
^
Liber scriptos pro - & - re-tar
^
■r
^
P£».
In fig. 865 also,
(Fig. 865.)
risk's oboan school.
te
rr^
8l ■ I" J -hi
■^
/
M' ' M
3i:
^ i i ^
te
&b;iy
V7
VI
r
=SF
eb.VI 6b:i V7
the harmonic snccession A> : YI — ^b : YI — Ih : i is rendered extremely promi-
nent, and presented in an entirely new light, by the fibct, that while the harmony
<9!b appears in an uninverted position, the base part skips firom gb to cb, and
thence passes by a skip of a major fourth to the proper fifth of the harmony ||b.
VOL. II.
A ▲
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770 SKlPPINe MOVEMEKT.
It is qaite probable tbat the steps of a snperflaous aeoond ob— 3] and at the
same time? — cb, in the first measure of the passage, fig. 57, p. 132, from Hum-
mers Mass, mentioned in §§ 16 and 17, as also the skip of a diminished seyenth,
^—"Hy Sec. in the sixth measure, were introduced by specific design.
§ 481.
In all skips of this species, moreover, much depends upon the ooncurrenee of
more or fewer of the favorable or unfavorable circumstances eniuaerated in
^ 469 — 475^ as also of others yet to be mentioned in the sequel, by which [cir-
cumstances] one and the same species of skip may at one time be very much
softened, and at another be rendered more disagreeable.
Particularly, the ear will be able more eady and conveniently to follow
the skipping progression of a part in a moderale or slow movement^ than in a
very quick movement ; and hence it happens that, in a slow movement, many
skips are admissible which the ear would find it difficult to follow in a quicker
movement
§ 482.
It should also be particularly remarked, in relation to the conduct of vocal
parts, that these are in their own nature better adapted to the gradual than to
the skipping progression, and especially that they do not usually perform such
skips as those mentioned in § 477, with ease, and therefore not in a happy manner ;
and, on this account, it is advisable to be more cautious about using such skips
in vocal parts than in instrumental.
§ 483.
I must limit myself to the few foregoing remarks. Whoever of my readers
would seek for more and better, must endeavour to find it in other authors, who
indeed all possess the enviable talent of despatching this subject in far fewer
paragraphs, or, in fact, with a most masterly assurance, even in a few lines ;
though it is true indeed that in these few lines, as must naturally and necessarily
be the case, they say more untruth than, as I hope, can be found in all my many
lines together. Look at the treatment of this subject, for instance, in Ktmber-
ger's Art of pure Composition*, Marpurg's Manual ofThorough-Basef, Turck's
Thorough-Base^ , or in the writings of Fux, Albrechtsberger, Vogler^ and Koch,
in Ee%cha!s Treatise on Harmony and Treatise on Melody§, and, in short, in all
our authors.
* Kvnst des reinen SatxeSt I. Bd. 9 Abschoitt.
t Handbuch beim GeneralbasSy III Thl. 6 Abschn. § 5 & foil.
t Generalbassy ^ &^, Sec,
§ Traits d'Harmmie and Trait4 de Melodic.
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DIMBNSIQIW (^ BKIPg.
771
KEMAHK.
Thus, for example, J, G, Sckicht* has despatched the whole doctiine of the pro-
gressioD of parts by skips in a single paragn^h of ^^e lines : — *' § 10, All superfluous
intervals— and the skip of a major seventh, are — ^forbidden. The superfluous third — is
in melody entirely forbidden." That the fact is not as here stated, is shown by several
of the examples already quoted, though it is true, indeed, that the six examples referred
to by Mr. Schicht in proof of his position sound very roughly. For this very reason it
is a matter of surprise to me that he should have appended to several of these passages
which he quotes as examples of forbidden progressions, and especially to the example
in fig. 8669 the remark, that still they may sometimes be allowed,
(Fig. 866.)
p
Bg
35:
3fc
*3t
^^
:«*
*i^
Even laying aside the contradiction subsisting between the general interdict and the
grant for its individual violation, I could not, if I were disposed to be as strict as Mr.
Schicht, by any means tolerate at. least the passage just mentioned, even in a slow
movement ; to say the very least, it would first depend very much upon what harmonies
should be subjoined to such a melody — {eit venia verho)* When, moreover, he appends
the remark to the example in fig. 867,
(Fig. 867.)
p
S
^t^
W
(in reference to the skips of a superfluous fifUi c — gS and H — aJt) that these skips are
admissible in ascending, but not to be tolerated in descending, this is true only in the
present case, for the reason that the tones g^ and a]t occur in this connection as sub-
semitones [leading notes], and have, indeed, in such a case a tendency to move
upwards toli and'B, and which could not with propriety skip downwards to IE and 3 (in
the latter case it would be, say, somewhat as in fig. 868) ;
(Fig. 868.)
p
jtA.
but the reason does not lie primarily in the fact that a skip of a superfluous fifth down-
ward sounds, in general, worse than the same skip would upward ; for, the opposite of
this is apparent f^om the above-mentioned example in fig. 866. — ^The same is true of
the skip of a major seventh, &c.
In respect to diminished intervals, Mr. Schicht merely says : ** Since they (he here
means superfluous intervals) become diminished by inversion, and are in that case more
easy to sing, they (meaning diminished intervals) may also be allowed.**
* In his Grundregeln der Harmonie.
▲ a2
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772
SKIPPING MOVEMENT.
Moreover, in connection with this doctrine of these melodic skips, the mndcal literati
have been particularly accustomed to disgorge themselves of the fiivourite technical
distinction between the strict caid the so-called free style of writing : they conceiye
themselves to have ftilly disposed of this subject by teaching that such progressions are
wholly forbidden in the so-called strict or church style, but are allowable in the so-called
free style under the warrant of exceptions and licences. Thus, for example, F, G.
Paolucd* speaks of superfluous seconds as follows : « NeUo stile a Cc^eUot e neUo stile
rigoroso rum ^ permesso ilprocedere in questa forma, anxi se non i per qualche espres-
sion di parola, owero per qtudche andamento non i lecito ne pur in aiiro stile vsar
simil progressof essendo fuori deW ordine delta Scala naturalef'* — (?) — ^* nella quale
s^ascende, o si discende per Tuont, e Semituoni, e non per 101 Twmo e mex»o*^ • • • . ;
"ondeogni volta che sifard, tal progresso, zaba peb licbvza!" — ^"/n the sacred
style and in the strict style, it is not admissible to proceed in this nuumer; unless U
be for the expression of some particular sentiment, or to accommodate some pecuUar
turn of the melody, it is not lawful to employ such a progression in any other stt^, it
being out of the order of the natural scale^^'^—'** in which one ascends or descends hy
tones and semitones, but not by a tone and a half^\ . . . ; " therefore, every time such a
progression shall occur, it will be bt licence !" (This then is about equivalent to
saying, in every instance, ** avec votre permissions^ — *^ with your permission!")
After having once already expressed my opinion of such a distinction of different
styles (§ d9. Remark — § 107, Remark), I shall, in treating the technics of the art, say
nothing farther on the subject of so nugatory a prohibition.
That there was, however, in PaoluccVs times, a theorist who was free from such
musical bigotry, is shown by D. A. Eximeno^s bookt, in which the author exdaims
(though indeed only on the occasion of a skip of a minor seventh eb— ^b occurring in
PergolesVs Stabat mater) : <' Ed eccovi confermato il principio, che non vi S salto
alcuno di sua natura contrario aUe regole di armonia : certo i che il salto di Settiaa
riesce aUe volte penoso alia voce umana: ma per questo appunto i eUOssimo ad
esprimere un Soggetto pieno di amarezxa e dipena.^^ — " And behold here a confirma'
tition of the principle, that no skip of its nature is contrary to all the rules of harmony:
it is true, indeed, that the skip of a seventh is at aU times troublesome to all human
voices ; but still this very skip is most perfectly adapted to the expression of a subject
fuUof sorrow and pain;" and the fact, that the truest and the most celebrated old
practical masters of the art did not regard such progressions as incorrect, and that too
even in the strict church style, is shown by numerous examples, and, among the rest«
by the skips of a superfluous second in the following Kyrie of the celebrated church
composer. Durante :
Ky
le
^
O*
=tt5=
tA
4w fo
TT
I ^" J
le
* In his Artepratiea di conirappttnto, Venez. 1765, vol. i, p. 121, note (a),
t DeW origme e delle regale delta musica, Roma 1774, Part I, Lib. Ill, Cap. 8,
ait. 4, p. 265, et seq.
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DIHEH8I0N8 OF SKIPS.
773
m
3
» d o
i°i'Uj^vr r '^"i-^i ^
-^rr
8on, e - le
Ky - - ri - e
-Oa ©L|
800, Ky -..ri . e e-le-i.
. - le - - - -
aj.
ge- -Q-
sr
g^Jte
^
Ky ----ri-e e-...le-
The same thing is also shown by skips of a major (or so-called superfluous)
fourth g— c]t and ab— J, in fig. 869, t, k.
(Fig. 869, t.) O. A. PE&TI'S CONFITSBOB.
^
^H=^
f
yy'^nr
as it is also by the passages quoted above from Caldara and PergoUsij in figs. 859, 861,
and 862, pp. 765, 766, 767 ; and so also by a passage from MarceUo, fig. 860, 1, p. 766,
where this author characterizes the words << Abbastanza comprendo il grande eccesso del
mio delitto^' [" Deeply do I feel the heavy burden of my guilt"], by the skip of a sttper-
fluous second ; and in respect to this very passage, Pctolucci, quite carried away by his
inspiration, exclaims, at the place above quoted : ** indi per esprimer hen la parola,
daUa Sesth minor e passa aUa Settima mctggiore, che i andar di grado per eccesso,
passandovi da una Corda aU* cdira una Seconda swperjlua. • • Al qual modo di pro-
cedere, benchi non sia da usarsi di frequente, nondimeno nel caso presenUy a moiivo
DI BSPBiMEE LA PABOLA, /a toi helUssimo sentirey ** Then, in order to express the
sentiment of the toordst he passes from the minor sixth to the major seventh, which
involves a progression by an excessive step; namely, in passing from one chord to
another by a superfluous second. . • .which mode of proceeding, though not often to be
adopted, nevertheless, in the present case, as a means of expressing the sestimeht
OP the wobds, produces a most beautiful effect**
Those were indeed glorious times when a man could earn such eulogiums from
theorists by merely, **jper licenxa,^^ making the word excess chime to a superfluous,
second, and by poitraying the " eccesso'^ of the load of sin by a " grado per eccesso.**
Compare § 480.
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774
SklPPiRe MOVEMENT.
(B.) SKIPS IN THE BASE PART.
§ 484.
In addition to what has hitherto been observed relative to the skipping pro-
gression of a part in general, there are some particular points connected with
the skipping movement of the base part which merit further oonsideration.
They refer chiefly to those skips of the base part which occur in connection with
an harmonic step. (§ 472.)
This skipping progression of the base most frequently occurs by a skip of the
latter from the fundamental note of a chord into that of the following chord, so
that thus both harmonies appear in an uninverted position. Such a conduct of
the base involves a peculiar force, energy, and firmness. This property mani-
fests itself chiefly in making a perfect or so-called full close [cadence], which
latter (as was observed in § 255) is perfectly satisfactory to the ear only when
the harmonies Y ^ and I or i appear in an uninverted form ; and in this case the
base skips from the fundamental tone of the dominant harmony into that of the
tonic chord.
,^^^^
m:
zt:
I
i
3z:
JOL
C;V7
a:V7
§ 485.
Skips of the base part, either from or to another interval of the fundamental
harmony (from or to a sv^knrdinate or secondary tone, § 50), are less frequent,
and appear less smooth and flowing, than those from the fundamental note to the
fundamental note ; as should be naturally expected, because the position of a
secondary tone in the base, or, in other words, the inverted position of a chord, is
in itself less satis&ctory to the ear ; and a skipping progression of the base part,
either to or from an inverted base note, must be doubly unwelcome to the ear.
Not all such base skips, however, are disagreeable and faulty. The most
unquestionable are those from or to the third of the fundamental harmony.
In fig. 870,
(Fig. 870.)
izfc
the base part moves by skips from the fundamental note of the ®-harmony to
the third of the harmony Qf. In the following example, fig. 871,
(Fig. 8710.
^
r
1
=1^
r
^ J . J -^
r f T^ r ' r
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SKIPS IN THE BASE.
775
the base^ at the first harmonic step, skips fi-om the fundamental tone of the first
harmony to the fimdamental third of the second , in the second measure, fi-om
the third of the (Ehharmony to that of the following S 7. harmony ; in the third
measure, fi-om the third of the harmony Qr to the fundamental note of the har-
mony S ; and in the fourth measure, from the fimdamental tone of the tonic
chord to the third of the harmony ® ; and from this third agam to that of the
tonic. Base skips of a similar character are found in fig. 872,
(Fig. 872.)
4-
p
ill.hll j|t.u=h=j,
:*t:±:
r ^ r r ' f ^ ' j:"* r r i ^ ' rr-
I V I V7 I IV I V I IV I Vi Ii7 V
from ¥ to b, from Fto a, from Fto a, from there to e, and from a to f; in fig. 873,
(Fig.873.)£|^ ^ ^\^
i^lTf-*
-M—a^ZMZ
•=■:
c.i vr I V I
the skip from eb to B, and from Eb to B ; in fig. 874,
(Fig. 874.)
• ■ ^
a;V7 I c;V7 i
the skip from A to d]t ; in fig. 875,
(Fig. 875.)
I
^E
Adagio, Peo - ca
i&.
^
Yi TO - per
tjoh
T=^
^
DQ - me - rum
T)^i7rn
i
^
_oL_i.
t^' p
3:
id
the skip from g to e]t ; in fig. 876, i and i,
(Fig. 876, i.) (A.)
4.^-^1^
E^
^
hr j bo
±^
^
m
■JL y ^ -gl -J J-i^ Hsl-el ^^
i
^
EP
s
^s
Ste
^ '^'T^
-r-
f— d — a, and f— db — Ab, &c.
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776
SKIPPING lfOV£M£NT.
§ 486.
The skipping progression of the base part either from or to the fifth of the
fundamental harmony is much more exceptionable than either of the two pre-
ceding species of base skips ; or, in other words, when, on the occurrence of an
harmonic step, the first of the two harmonies appears in the second inversion, it
rarely sounds well for the base to move by a skip in this harmonic change ; and
it is equally exceptionable to let the base part, on making an harmonic step,
pass by a skip into the second inversion of the second chord. — ^It may be said
that the second inversion of a chord is so imperfect a position, and one so unsa-
tisfactory to the ear, as to render it necessary to smooth its introduction and
connection, by immediately uniting it to the foregoing and following harmonies
by the gradual movement.
We will analyze this subject somewhat more minutely.— I say, in the first
place,
(1.) When the first of two successive harmonies occurs %n the second inver-
sum, it seldom sounds well to allow the base, on the occurrence of the harmonic
step, to proceed by a skip. Therefore, in fig. 877, for example.
-^^
^
3?:
--°F^
jCC
i^jg
35:
-h
tfae skipii of the base from g to A, and from o to e, are quite offenrnve to the ear
(compare fig. 845, t, i) ; and also the skip from g* to 7, in fig. 878,
(Fig. 878.)
P
^
^
IV IGf.V » I
as are likewise all the progressions of the base part in fig. 879, t .-
(Fig. 879, i.) (*.)
-I-
i
*
'-> I n s! II
5
i
'^^=^
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^
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^
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S
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3
^
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SKIPS IN THB BABE.
777
(2.) It is likewise rarely of good effect to let the bate sk^ into the fifth of
the following harmomf when an harmonic step is made; or, in other words, to
make a base skip into a second inversion of a chord on the ocenrrence of a change
of harmonies, and, for example, to allow the base, as in the following passage,
fig. 880,
(Fig. 880.)
- ^ It * t
-f ^ ? 1 T
W=F
■ i
to pass by a skip from the third of the harmony ® into the fifth of the harmony
^, — ^from the fundamental note of the harmony ® into the fifth of the har-
mony tr.
The reason, too, why the example qnoted above, in fig. 879 t, sounds so ill,
is that the base part in it skips from the fifth of one harmony to the fifth of the
other ; and hence it is that this passage is so deficient in smoothness, connection,
and euphony.
§ 487.
The rule that a skip of the base into the second inversion of the following
harmony, when an harmonic step is taken, usually sounds ill, has a few excep-
tions ; as foUow :
(a.) The second inversion of the tonic harmony forms an exception, par-
ticularly when it occurs on a heavy part of the measure (§ 207), as in fig. 881 i:
(Rg.881,».)
^^m
'^
::gt
M
(i>
dA.
!JI8 >
I
22
;°i M"=='^ = =^
„ i""" y ."iJ' .' tI "°f ^ ^ "^ T»
and also where the ear might naturally expect the harmony of the fifth degree
afiier the tonic harmony, even though that harmony does not actually follow ;
as is the case, for example, in fig. 881 /,
(Fig. 881,0
where the base part tfaronghout skips to the fundamental fifth of the tonic har-
mony. (Compare fig. 865, p. 769.)
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778
SKIPPIRe MOVEMENT.
(b.) Again, skips of the base part into the second inversion of a domuiant
harmony are not of ill effect. In the following passage, for example, fig. 882,
(Fig. 882.)
321:
r
f=^
TT
the skip c — ^A, and G — E, are not ofiensive to the ear. — A skip of the base part
from the second inversion of the principal foor-fold chord, as in hg. 883, .
(Fig. 883.)
P
Efc
5
^
-©H
has already been adverted to (in § 257).
(c,) Moreover, we not unfrequently hear the base skip into the so-called
superfluous sixth chord (§ 91, B), which is a second inversion of a four-fold
chord, as in fig. 884 :
(Fig. 884.)
;)i ' .tt*
^
(d.) Finally, it is quite obvious that such skips of the base as are found in
fig. 885 are not of ill effect :
(Fig. 885.)
3
a' ii rlo 'U
lij-
■^ IT
£
^^
S
dt
It is true, indeed, that the base part here, fi-om the first to the second measure,
skips from the fifth of the tonic harmony to that of the dommant harmony, and
thence again to that of the tonic ; then from the second inversion of the tonic
chord to the first inversion of the dominant harmony, and from this again to the
second inversion of the tonic chord ; but still, these, like all the base skips in
this example, are nothing else than mere harpeggicUe skips (§ 470). Still less
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SKIPS TN THE BASE.
779
consideration is due to the skip of an octave^ 6 — g (§ 476)^ as also to the skips
which do not occar at the time when a change of harmonies takes place ; as^ for
example, f — G, e — G, &c.
§ 488.
The hase may with propriety pass hy a skip into tKe seventh of a principal
four-fold chord, that is, into its third inversion, as we see at the fourth quarter-
note of the first measure, in fig. 886, and also in fig. 887 :
(Fig. 887.)
(Fig. 886.) I I I I I I I -♦ -*
I V I V7 I IV I V I IV I VI Il7 V
So also the skipping of the hase part into the seventh of the harmony on 7^
when its third is accidentally elevated (§ 89, and what follows), is in no wise of
ill effect.
(Fig. 888.)
p
-w-^^-
'■^^
m
The skipping movement of the base into other secondary sevenths is but
rarely practicable ; because this would involve an unprepared introduction of
these sevenths.
Moreover, the base cannot, with propriety, pass from a seventh by a skip at
the time when an harmonic step takes place ; because a skipping progression of
the seventh in a cadence would not be compatible with the natural progression
of sevenths.
§489.
That the base part can, moreover, proceed by a skip to a tone foreign to the
harmony (§ 473), is shown by the skips 3 — ^att, ST— gx, ^ — eJl, in fig. 889.
(Fig 889.)
##=p:
-p — f^
ixJLJi^
:?=p:
fj ffp r f I xf <^r "^
^
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780 CR088-BSLATI0N.
(C.) CB088*BELATI0N/
§490.
Besides the various species of skips thus far considered, there is yet another
species to be attended to, which it is nsual to designate by the term cross*
relation.
The skip of a part into an interval which had been heard immediate^
before, chromatically different, usuallj sounds harshly and disagreeably ; or, in
other words, when one and the same tone occurs twice in immediate successioa,
but chromatically higher or lower the first time than it is the second (&. g. first
eQ and then eb, or first ft] and then f]t, and vice yers4), it is ordinarily mided-
rable to make a part skip into this chromatically altered interval. Thus, for
example, in fig. 890, t,
(Fig. 890, i.) (*.) (^) («.)
s'^"""! ii-sr^^^-r^ .^°'^
* The heading given to this section by Mr. Warner is " The cownter-stand ;*^ for
the use of which term he offers a kind of apology, which will be found below. The
Grerman is Querstand, which (in §§ 324 and 335) has previously been rendered " the
sqvtnHng position^\' Neither of these terms has been adopted in the present edition,
from the consideration, that, of the several expressions already in use in England to
designate the circumstance here alluded to, cross-relation is sufficiently explicit for all
practical purposes. — £d.
[Mr. Warner's Remark.] — ^Undesirable as it generally is to coin a word, yet, in
the present instance, it seems a matter of necessity, or, at least, the less of two
evils. The German word " Querstand,^^ here translated ' counter-standt* has no cor-
responding word in the English language ; and to render it by almost any other com-
bination of words than the one above proposed, would violate some of the principles
upon which every technical term should be chosen; — ^it being always desirable,
namely, that such term should be short, definite^ and easy to be understood. The
Grerman term ** Querstand^'*^ as employed in the present instance, means, substan-
tially, ' contrariety qf state or condition,^ and to give this idea a &ir presentation
in English, without employing terms which are either too long, or too indeterminate,
or too remote from common apprehension, seems impossible. Accordingly, the term
< cotaUer'Standj^ though certainly far from what we could wish, is, nevertheless chosen,
as approximating nearer to the requisition, than any other term that occurs to mind.
The term ** false cross relatunh'^ adopted by KoUman — whose work always murders
the King's English — ^is too long, unwieldy, and indefinite; the old Latin term
** relatio rum harmofdea,^^ employed by the musicians of ancient days, was certainly
better adapted to the period when hoods and cowls were in fiishion, than it is to the
present age; and the literal adoption of the Anglicised (German term « Querstand "
(more correctly written " Queer-stand,''^ the German Querstand being a compound of
the word Quer or rather Queer—ihe same as the English word queer — and the word
Stand) would surely be too * Qubbb' to be admissible in an English community.
We are left, therefore, to the at best sufficiently unfortunate choice of the term * counter'
stand,* with which the reader will please to associate, as far as possible, the generic idea
of * confUcHve relationship,^ ' state of contrariety,* — ^Tb.
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CROSS-RELATION.
781
it is not well that the base part should pass by a skip to the tone % immediately
after the tone et| had been heard in the upper part :
«r? g
c ib <0
The tone $ or eb appears far more natural and agreeable as it is in fig. 890,
k and /. — ^The skip of the base into ^ in fig. 891, i,
(Fig. 891,*.)
(*.)
(O
|..!i::',;!iiii'il?4g^-|i!„!i;!',;;i«;:nii
is of a like description; but in fig. 891, ^, on the contrary, the tone Tj) in the
upper part appears much more natural. — ^In like manner, it will be found, that
the following passage in fig. 892 t, is more repulsive than that in fig. 892 ^/
(Fig. 892, f.) ^.) ^ (I.)
that the following one in fig. 893 i and n , is less agreeable than that in k,
(Fig. 893, i.) (it.) (*.) (I)
mi
a
and that the passage in 894 t is less welcome than the one in ^ .*
(Fig. 894, t.) {k.)
"tf i * I 2 II """"^"^^f I • II
-••
So, likewise, in the passage fig. 895,
(Fig. 895.)
J. HATDK.
^.
^
^ . J J
:i=t
i>li g
Lass dem Lei - den und dem Sier - ben niekt an.
M _- J I .1 J J J ■
I f ^r r I r r^^
V» ^k.- II /tVT
1
-r—
^b;I
V7 Ah: n
/:iy
the skipping introduction of the tone db in the base forms a cross-relation in
reference to the immediately preceding dt] of the tenor.
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782
CROSS-RELATION.
Oar theorists have applied to such a conduct of a part the term crois^
relation \_Querstand\j inharmonic relation [relalio non harmonica'].
§491.
The reason why such skips or cross-relations are uiually disagreeable to
the ear, it is not very difficult to discover. When the tone eQ, in fig. 890,
p. 780, for example, has once become impressed upon the ear^ the tone eb,
occurring immediately afterwards, seems as it were to stand in contrariety
to the tone e% which had been heard just before, and appears like something
foreign ; hence, as a matter of course, the ear cannot easily and readily follow
the skip into an interval that has so little affinity, and is as it were ao hetero-
geneous; or, in other words, when an harmonic combination which contains
the tone et] has once become impressed upon the ear, and a chord is to foUow,
containing the tone eb, a tone so entirely foreign to the first chord, we are bound
to afford the ear the accommodation of making this alteration as comprehensible
as possible to it, and thus of not introducing the tone eb, which is so foreign to
the first chord, by a skip. (Compare remark on § 496.)
§492.
Cross-relations are not unfrequently perceptible, moreover, in cases where
the skip into the chromatically different interval is filled up with notes of
insignificant value and importance ; as, for example, in fig. 890, m, p. 780,
where the transition tone d is inserted between c'and ^ :
«rf (^ g
c (d) eb.0
Cross-relations of the same character, only a little concealed, are easily
detected in the foregoing figs. 892 /, and 893 /, p. 781 ; namely :
(Fig. 892/.) f (c) 1i-» (Fig. 893/.) «r "^ (e) 1
«rbb(a)g _ a-(5)T-»
A like cross-relation is also formed by the tone 15b in respect to the tone Bt]
which had been as good as heard immediately before, in the fourth measure of
fig. 896 :
MOZART'S VH. QX7ARTETT.
(Fig. 896.)
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cBoaMHunoif.
783
^- ^ ^ fUc^
^"^f Of f^
r r
K^ -' ,J I j'j^
r^^-/
mr*
^^
±3C
g a 'Bb c 5>
B F8 G A Bb
(Compare §§ 495 and 466 *^)
§493.
A case very analogous to the cross-relations above-mentioned, is that in
which a part, instead of proceeding by skips, introduces itself quite inde-
pendenily, and strikes an interval which had just before been heard chromati-
cally different. In fig, 897, i, for example.
(Fig. 897, .-,)
(*•)
.£2.
the tone ft] is first heard in the middle part, and immediately afterwards the
tone Tit makes its appearance in the upper part. This free and independent
introduction of the tone 7q in the upper part is not materially different from a
skipping progression of the upper part to this tone ; the effect is nearly the
same as if the upper part had skipped, say, from g to this Tit ; and it is quite
perceptihle that such a conduct of a part is far from heing so smooth and
flowing as would he such a one as is found in fig. 897, k, above. — The same
species of cross-relation is formed by the introduction of the upper part in
fig. 898, t:
(Fig. 898, t.) (*.)
^1
^^
"C3"
TT -W
-cr -cr
Not unlike this example is the introduction of the upper part in the second
(and sixth) measure of the foregoing fig. 896, p. 782. (Compare § 466 **•)
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784 CROSS-RELATION.
§494.
Now, as it respects the admtssilnlity or tnadmissibtliiy of each cross-
relations, it can only be said, in general, that thej fiot uf\frequentfy destroy,
in a disagreeable manner, the proper flow of parts, as several of the above-
mentioned examples demonstrate ; while, indeed, others again show that these
so-called inharmonious cross-relations sometimes, under favourable circam-
stanoes, do not sound ill at all ; as is the case^ for instance, in fig. 895, p. 781,
and in fig. 899. (§324.)
(Fig. 899.)
5' °i^ 'nT""
The cross-relations (referred to in §§ 492 and 493) in the preceding fig. 896,
p. 782, are not, according to my own feelings, quite equally unexceptionable.
(Compare § 495 at the end, and § 466 ^•)
§495.
Among the circumstances by whose fitvourable influence many otherwise
repulsive cross-relations are softened and rendered more acceptable to the ear,
we must give a prominent place to slow movement, whereby the ear has time to
follow more conveniently the thread of the progression.
Thus, for example, such progressions of a part as occur in fig. 899, above,
and also such as are found in fig. 900, i, k, I, and even m, in case they do not
too quickly succeed each other, as in fig. 900 »,
(Fig. 900, t.) (k.)
-Q- :^ «^ -Q. -Q- ^: fo- -Q-
o-
;;^i^-^||^^^=H=^i=|
I IV ^ I G;I IV 1»;VT
g:y IV ©iiT V G:Y IV g:^tl V
■^^ g:Y «>Il7
V): ff8 ^fI! I>5_ff8 !!h— ^ ff» II
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CBOSS-BBLATIONS.
785
not only do not sound ill, bnt are even freqaently nsed. Especially haye we
already become familiarized to the eross-relations in / and m, these being more
readily tolerated by onr ear, than are the repulsive positions foand mp*
The cross-relations in the fourth and fifth measures of fig. 896, p. 782,
mentioned in § 494, seem so foreign to the ear, chiefly because only a short
eighth-note is interposed between them ; the same modulations, however, in a
very slow movement would be far more acceptable to the ear, as, for example,
in the following passage : (Compare § 466 '^-)
fit"
— rv-
^^— fl
ri
§496.
Those cross-relations, on the contrary, which do not, like those above-
mentioned, admit of being softened and rendered acceptable to the ear, are
always as much as possible to be avoided.
The manner in which cross-relations of this species are avoided by a slight
alteration in the conduct of parts, is easily seen by a comparison of the example
in fig. 890 i, with fig. 890 k and /, p. 780 ; and of fig. 891 «, with fig. 891 k,
p. 781 ; of fig. 892 i, with fig. 892 k, p. 781 ; &c.
In the method of shunning undesirable cross-relations which has just been
mentioned, not only is a skipping progression to the chromatically altered
interval, or an independent introduction of that interval, avoided, but such
interval is moreover given by the same part which had previously given it in a
chromaticaUy different form. Thus, for example, in fig. 890, k, p. 780, the
tone^ occurs in the base part; and this same part is also made to perform the
tone %. In fig. 891, k, p. 781, the same part which first gave the tone f gives
also the tone fit, — &c.
But this latter rule it is not necessary in all cases to observe ; as is shown,
for instance, by fig. 891 /, p. 781, where the tone 7 occurs in the upper part,
and immediately afterwards the tone Tjt in the under part ; and yet the ear is
not at all offended by this, because the tone ^ is not introduced by a skip^ bi4t
by the gradual movement.
* No reference occun in the original to fig. 900, o, which resembles the conmience-
ment of p, but is in the key of ^-minor. — Ed^
VOL. II. B B
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786
eROSS-RRLATIONS.
A queer figure is made in our books of instruction, moreover, by the doctrine of
cross-relations.
In the first place, the wdimited diversity of mews which we find exhibited under
this head, assures us that writers are not even dear yet as to what they shall understand
by the term cross-relaUon, Hence, it comes to pass, that we find in our theories such
strange definitions of cross-relations. Thus, for example, TOrck* teaches that cross-
relations are <' certain progressions of two parts, which are not, indeed, in themselyes
or individually taken, at all objectionable, but which, taken together, produce a dis-
agreeable effect, because, in that case, each part involves a different key.'* — He has
copied Kimherger, whot llkewiie does not know how to describe the thing otherwise
than as follows : << There are cases where, indeed, each part has in itself a good pro-
gression, where also the harmony of all the parts appears faultless in itself^ and yet
where the progression, taking two parts together, is disagreeable ; such a case is com-
monly called the inharmonious cross-relation.'* But what cases these are, is no-where
shown. — (According to the latter description, one would almost be led to sospect the
cases referred to were rather those of forbidden fifths, &c.)
It is a perfectly natural consequence of such an indefiniteness of idea, that we find,
for instance, in Tiirckj at the place above referred to, the paanges contained in fig.
901,6,
i
(Fig.QOl.a.) (J.) (c.) (ec.) (d.) (dd.) (e.)
f^fj^D fi''iij]iyj^';iiv^ii';iifV
quoted as examples of rather inharmonious cross-relations, — ^fig. 901, c, and also the two
consecutive thirds in fig. 901, cc, as inharmonious cross-relations in which an hamumc
skip is made ; but fig. 901 d and dd, on the contrary, as not being, in his opinion,
inharmonious cross-relations, because no harmonic step is taken in the case ; — ^fig. 901 e,
indeed, as a cross-relation again, yet as admissible and less offensive than that of major
thirds. It ia perceived how much that is entirely heterogeneous and dissimilar the
learned man has here woven together !
We find also the following passage characterized by theorists as involving a cross-
relation : —
(Fig. 902, t)
In his Ardeitwng xum Generalbass, § 54.
t In 1 Bd. p. 139.
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CB088-BELATI0NS. 787
(Fig. 902,*.)
S;
l^j^^irijSi^-^STiml^mm
*~^ -ei: ' «J — ^ p- ^ ^
Though it is trae, that not very much dependi upon a mere name, yet, to say the
least, I should find it impossible to invent any definition which would apply to all the
examples just quoted ; and if all these so entirely and essentially difierent things are
unitedly to bear the common name of cross-relation, I must certainly acknowledge
myself incapable of stating tohat a cross-relation is.
Equally unsatisfactory with the above-mentioned definitions, appears to me the
reason which theorists are accustomed to assign, why cross-relations sound repulsively.
It is, as already observed, supposed to lie in the fact that " each part involves a new
key." — But, not to speak of the &ct that an intelligent meaning can scarcely be con-
nected with this idea of two difierent keys being involved in the two parts— even
setting this aside, I would still ask, why two difierent keys may form the basis of one
and the same part, rather than of two difierent parts t? The former, surely, should be
regarded as more repulsive than the latter.
Moreover, the importance which is supposed to be attached to the so-called harmonic
skip I cannot really understand, and the instruction in relation to it which is imparted
to us by Turck, in the remark on § 16, does not clear it up to me. It is there said,
namely, that, *' in order to understand what is here observed in relation to the harmonic
skip, one must know that the tones (keys) do not stand in an equal degree of relation-
ship to one another. Those major and minor tones (keys) which are most alike in
respect to their scales or signatures, or only difier from each other in one degree, and
hence also in only one transposition-sign, as, for example, C-major and G -major, or
£-minor and B-minor, &c. are said to be related to each other in the first degree.
Accordingly, C-major and D-major, or, descending, C-major and Bb-major, stand in the
second degree of relationship to each other ; while C-major and A-major, or, in the
descending line, C-major and £b-major, &c. stand in the third degree of relationship to
each other. (And so, of course," (1) ^** the threefold chords also do not stand in
the same degree of relationship to each other.) This more remote relationship, that is
to say, from the second degree of relationship onward, is called an harmonic skip^^^^
and it is &rther said, in § 54, in relation to the foregoing fig. 901 a, p. 786 ; '' the
under part, namely, indicates G-minor, while the upper part, on the contrary, indicates
G-major."—
Thus our author means to say : when two harmonies follow each other, which, con-
sidered as two tonic threefold chords, would not be related to each other in the first
degree, this is called an harmonic skip, — such an harmonic skip is faulty, — and thus
the said so-called cross-relations sound ill, because they involve an harmonic skip ;—
for example, in fig. 901 a, p. 786, the minor threefold chord g, and then the major
threefold chord €r, follow each other in immediate succession; and since the keys
g-mmoT and G-major do not stand in the nearest degree of relationship to each other, —
it follows, that this harmonic succession is an harmonic skip ; and because the example
involves an harmonic skipt it is a cross-relation, — ^and, therefore, of ill efiect.
Now who does not see that such an explanation fails at all points in logical consist-
ency 1 ! — ^Passing over much which must spontaneously suggest itself to every reader, I
will merely observe, that the very principle upon which this explanation proceeds,
bb2
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788 CR0SS-BELATI0N8.
namely, that the immediate succession of two harmonies of the above description is
faolty, is ntteriy nntrae, as we have already learned with soffident certainty in the
doctrine of harmonic progression. (Who will, for example, explain, as fitulty harmonic
skipty the harmonic succession CI — ^ii; or C:ii — ^V; or C.-IV — V7; or^:i— c;V;
OT C'V — ^vi; [€^~Ti; or II — fi; or jF— ©7; or g-^; or G^— «], because the keys
C-migor and d-minor, — or d-minor and G-major,— or F- major and Gr-major, — or y and
Gr,— or G and a, are not reUted to each other in the first degree! ! — ) But if soch an
harmonic succession is not of ill effect* it cannot of course furnish the reason why the
erasS'telatums in question sound ill.
And since, moreover, the harmonic successions quoted as ill-sounding cross-relaUans
in fig. 890 1, p. 780, and figs. 891 1, and 892 1, p. 781, cease to sound ill, so soon as they are
made to follow the rules recommended in §§ 490 and 491, as in fig. 890 k^ p. 780,
and figs 891 k, and 893 it, p. 781, so it is clearly perceived that the cause of the iH-effect
does not, as our theorists teach, lie in the harmonic succession, — not in the phantom de-
nominated an harmonic «(«p,— but rather, only in the neglect of those rules.
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MEBITS OF PARALLEL PROGRESSIONS.
789
CHAPTER XL
MBBTTS OF PABALLBL PROGRESSIONS.
§497.
The doctrine of the yariotui merits, of the admissibility or imidmissibility
of the difierent species of the parallel progressions of several parts, already
adverted to in §§ 45 and 46 of the present work, has been postponed until now,
in order that we might be able, at a more advanced stage of our inquiries, to
investigate it the more intelligibly. In now entering upon the treatment of
this sabject, we will examine the different species of parallel progressions,
according to the order of the intervals by which the parallel parts are separated
from each other (§ 45).
DIVISION I.
PARALLELISM BY PRIMES.
0/ parallel progression in primes nothing can properly be said ; or, all
that admits of being sud, consists simply in the fact, that, as we already know,
two or more parts which proceed together in primes, cease to be difierent parts,
and are regarded as one and the same part (§ 15). This, therefore, can be
called a parallel movement with as little propriety as it can be said of a man
that he walks parallel with himself.
DIVISION II.
PARALLELISM BT SBCONDS.
§499.
Two parts which ran parallel to each other at the distance of a second,
seldom produce an agreeable effect upon the ear, but, for the most part,
offend it, whether the tones which thus run parallel to each other be tones
belonging to the harmony ^ or tones foreign to it.
Fig. 903, t, contains an example of harmonic tones thus running parallel
(Fig. 903, t.) (k.)
C:\ IV V7rf.V7 iC;V7
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790
PABALLXLISM BT BIG05D8.
(Fig. 908,/)
h^i.4^^
s
f
-Gh-
rrr
^,
to each other, a passage which sounds incomparably worse than the same har-
monic succession as found in k, where this parallelism by seconds is ayoided.
The cases in which one conld be advised to attempt snch a conduct of ivo
harmonic tones but rarely occur, especially since other difficulties, for the most
part, incidentally interpose themselves in the way of such a conduct of parts.
That is to say, these tones would necessarily always be the fundamental
tone and the seventh of a four-fold chord, of which the former would agam
move to the fundamental note of another four-fold chord and the latter to the
seventh of the same chord. Now such a succession of two four-fold chords is
not only of rather unfrequent occurrence in itself, but, involving as it does the
progression of the first seventh to a second seventh, it would also, in many
cases (§ 105), prevent the necessary /Tr^aro/ti^n of the latter.
§ 500.
A parallelism by seconds between an harmonic tone and a tone foreign to
the harmony does not sound agreeably, as appears from a comparison of fig.
904t, withfig. 904it.•
(Fig.904,t.) F R
RRTRR sTRF. r 1 . F
P^^^
^-rrV-^t
*r+-
^hi^H^
^"
■M^T^^.H c-^^.d-fDja
V7
Il7 V7
Il7 V7
I V
-^^zzrt
-^ Gh
fF
^
jp, ^A ^A AA -^
=?:
-©r
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PARALLELISM BT SECONDS.
791
the parallelism of seconds being, in this latter example, avoided. — See also
fig. 905 i, as compared vdth fig. 905 k and /, — and also fig. 906 :
(Fig. 905, t.)
(*•)
(I)
^^^m
m^
m^
G:V7 I 117 V7
(Fig. 906, t.)
J. o. schicht's ybni sancte spibitus.
Tet, the following example
(Fig. 907.)
[ I
.J^^Jg JJtk
shows that such a progression, particularly in middle and in accompanying parts,
sometimes may be of perfectly good effect.
It would be an error to endeavour to find the cause of the unpleasant effect
produced by the example in fig. 903 i, p. 789, directly in the fact that the
principal seventh 7 which occurs in the third chord proceeds upwards at the
following harmonic step, while the subsemitone b skips up to e ; for, in such an
harmonic succession as this, as we have already seen in the doctrine of resolu-
tion, the principal seventh need not necessarily proceed downwards, nor need
the subsemitone necessarily go upwards to the tonic (as is clearly shown by
the perfectly good effect of the example in fig. 903*, p. 790, where the intervals
in question actually proceed as we have here suggested).
Moreover, in the passage in fig. 896, p. 782, a passage already several
times referred to (§ 492), it is never of particularly good effect to hear the
base, in passing from the second measure to the third, proceed from c to B
* Doubtless the example / of this figure is here intended, although not specified in
the original. — Ed.
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792
PARALLELISM BT SECONDS.
wliile the second part proceeds at the same momeDt from 7 to ctf, and to hear
the same parallelism of pure seconds recur again in passing from the sixth
measure to the seyenth ; namely :
From M to
3d measure.
B
J
From 6th to
7th measure.
f
b
A
(See § 466 **•)
A parallelism of seconds between tones foreign to the harmony usually
sounds ill also ; as, for example, in fig. 908 :
(Fig. 908.)
-Gf-
32:
^-JtiH-IJ:
^■v. i \
^^
The passage in fig. 909, also, belongs in some respects to the preseirt
connection :
(Fig. 900.)^ _r— ^
r 0 I *■ *
m
^^
X
^
i:
Booh gob ioh dir
die Frei - - heit
iiicht
f^=^=^-H^=^H^N^^^
^
^^
n ^1
^
c.iv I
since, here, during the continuance of the harmony C: Vj the tone Gjt of the
base is a transition to the following tone A, while the tone gS of the vocal part
is a transition to the major ninth a, and thus not only the tones GU and a are
struck together, in a manner that has rather a strange appearance to the eye,
but, if we imagine the G of the base to be continued on to the following G%
the two parts also run parallel to each other at the distance of a minor second ;
namely :
1
g g«
a
G
1
G8
1
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PABALLBtrail BT THIBDS.
793:
Still, this case Dot only IdtoItcs no nnpleasant effect whatever, bat the flow
of its pr(^Te88ioii8 thronghont is nmfoniily sweet and graceful, so that no hearer
could here think of finding the slighest fault.
DIVISION III.
FABAIXBLISU Bt THIRDS.
§501.
Parallel pit^fresstons by thirds are in themselves UDivenially faultless,
whether they are major or minor thirds, or major and minor thirds alternately,
as well between harmonic tones as between tones which are foreign to the
harmony, as well in the gradual as in the skipping movement, and as well in
outer as in middle parts. — Examples may be found in figs. 910 — 916, in which
the parallel progressions by thirds are pointed out by brackets.
(Fig. 910.)
(Fig. 911.)
(Pig. 913.)
111 II M I lZ: r cT-^— — ■«.
<^'« »}.*\t T ^^ <^'8.915.)
BOSSINI.
jjum.
bT tai
(Fig. 916.)
B
B t F CALDABA.
I
:$=f^
* N jN/d
^*-
^i=i
p=H
a - re-Dse tna
W
^^
^^h
J^-L
,T t ^ R R F B
^
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794
PABALLELIBM BT THIBD8.
Bat, more pariiciilarlyy the progression by thirds is the most natoral and
flowing species of progression of two parts interspersed with transitton-tones ;
it is that species of progression which the most readily impresses the ear, is
the most easy to understand, and which, for this reason, is extremely firequent,
altogether too frequent indeed, and hence is sometimes rendered at last really
dull and tedious, and, instead of exhibiting an air of flowing smoothness,
becomes even positively insipid.
§502.
The old music-teadiers entertained the belief that the suooesaioQ of tvo
ffUff'or thirds sounded ill, and also knew how to adduce the most learned reasons
why such a progression, which they called a Mi contra Fay could not possibly
be allowed. In order to impress this the more firmly upon the mind of their
pupils, they caused the latter carefully to commit to memory the little verse
" Mi contra Fa
Est diabolus in Moslca,"*
and they regarded such a parallelism of thirds also as a species of cross-
relation (see remark on § 496), while Voglerf denounces it as a rough, ear-
cutting offence against the capabilities of harmony [" Hamumabiliidf'\ —
Fortunately, we have no occasion to plunge into this abyss of learned names
and reasons; since our ears at the present day, to say the least, perceive
nothing repulsive in these successions of thirds ; as the examples quoted in the
foregoing section plainly show.
It is true, indeed, that many passages sound ill in which two parts move by
major parallel thirds; or, in other words, we find many iU-sounding passages in
which these parallels occur ; as, for example, fig. 917 i:
(*.)
i
i
*^T
*^-«-IH^F4+^
I
But surely it does not follow from this that the parallelism by major thirds
is the cause of the iU effect of such passages ; for, in that case, the very
* The Mi contra Fa is the deyil in music. [John D. Heinichen observes, — ^p. 101
of his work, " Der Getieral-Bats in der Composition,^* — ^that we might with greater
justice say : —
*' Octava deficiens et superflua
Sunt duo Diaboli in Musica.'*
t. 6. The diminished and the superfluous octave are two devils in music— £d.]
t Page 62 of his Handbuch der Harmonieiekre,
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PABALLBLIIM BT FOURTHS. 795
passage above quoted would, by being so altered as to remove those paral-
lelisms as it is in ^y cease to sonnd ill. But such, it is readily perceived, is not
the case ; and this is of itself sufficient proof that the parallelism by thirds is
not the cause of the 01 effect produced by the passage in fig. 917 i. The true
cause seems rather to lie in the several times repeated trivial and insignificant
alternation of the two secondary harmonies iii — ii — iii — ii — iii. — (Compare
the remark on § 242, as also § 243.)
REMABK.
T%e cavse of the fiiultinesg of parallelism by thirds is supposed by our theorists,
again, to lie in the ftct that such two successive thirds, particularly two major thirds,
always involve an harmonie skip, — ^Without being obliged to repeat what I have
already said in the remark on § 496, relative to the strange article denominated an
harmonic skip^ I will simply glance at the following points, in a word.
If a faultiness were to be demonstrated to exist in the passage fig. 918,
(Fig. 918, t.) (*.) (/.) I
I
arising from a so-called harmonic skip, it would be necessary to pre-suppose, in such a
demonstration— (1) that two major thirds, following each other in two parts by the
regular degrees of the scale, always depend upon two major three-fold chords succes-
sively situated on two proximate degrees of the scale ; and (2) that such a step of a
second in the fundamental harmony is fiiulty; (3) that two proximate three-fold harmo-
nies are not to be found together in any one key, but always indicate two different keys,
and that too even very remote keys, and thus always a digressive modulation into a key
but remotely related to the previous one; and (4) that such remote digressions are faulty.
After all that has already been said on former occasions, it surely cannot require any
&rther proof to show how very untrue are all these premises^ and how littie adapted
they are to serve as fundamental principles for a demonstration of the reason why the
above-mentioned examples sound ill, and so much the less, too, since it is not even true
that a parallelism of two such thirds does sound ill in itself, as we have already seen,
partiy from the above examples in fig. 918 k and Z, and partiy from several of the fore-
going ones.
DIVISION IV.
PARALLELISM BY FOTIBTHS.
§503.
Parallel progressions by fourths are far less acceptable to the ear than are
those by thirds.
The worst cases of this kind are those in which two parts ahne run parallel
to each other at the distance of a fourth, as in fig. 919 :
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796
PABALLELISM BT FOURTHS.
(Fig. 919.)
331
X3=
"cr
i
-n
I
The reason why fourths of this description sound so very inharmonionsly and
insignificantly^ lies very much in the fact that the ear either cannot sati^
itself, from snch progressions, what harmonies form the hasb of these harmonic
combinations, or is compelled to consider them, perhaps, as a series of chords all
in the second inyersion, with the omission of the third (§ 74).
But, even when the parallels are not thns naked, such a species of movement
is often rather disagreeable to the ear, and the most so when one of the parallel
parts is the base, because the ear in this case, for the most part, perceiyes a
series of chords in the second inversion ; fig. 920, t, k :
(Fig. 920, t.)
:§rH-»a 1113^^^=
(k.)
lo:
-Q-
:r^^-r^
$
-Q-
Q
O O o
o Q CJ
xn
We sometimes, however, hear a part proceeding parallel to the base at the
distance of a fourth, without experiencing any ill efiect from it; as, for example,
in fig. 921, t ;
(Fig. 921, t.) KIBVBBBGEB. {k.)
^
=rTT
33:
i
^^
^^
331
33:
i
T
r=n^^
but this is the case only to the same extent that the ear justifies the fourths
which the eye here perceives, by conceiving to itself that the under part is an
harpeggiate part, and that this three-part passage is thus a foDr-part one, as in
fig. 921, k.
But parallel progressions by fourths are not particularly agreeable even in
middle parts. The passage in fig. 922, for example,
(Fig>922,t.) (*.) (l)^ ^ (m.)
g ; ; ; ! IJ-TTTi || i ! 1 1 y ,^,-^^
^^^t^'^T^ II I
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(«.)
PASALLBLISH BT FOURTHS.
(O.)
79T
— ; I ; I H ■ •~'~r-f I ■ • y^r-i=a=^^
^^^ ■ ■ ■ II — ' ' • ' : t-^-^f-
sounds less agreeable in t and k, where the first and second parts^ and in /,
where the two middle parts, run parallel to each other by fourths, than it
does in m, n^ and o, where such parallels are avoided. (Compare § 80.)
Parallel progressions by fourths are the most agreeable in cases where
several harmonic combinations follow each other in the form of sixth-chords^
particularly in the gradual (not skipping) movement, as in fig. 923 :
(Fig. 923.)
331
"O-
Di \\ "^Itf^ ^^ ° 8 g=^
The continued parallels between the two upper parts of fig. 924, moreover,
do not produce a disagreeable effect :
(Fig. 924.)
§ 504.
Parallel progressions by fourths between transitum-Umes are still more
rarely fit to be used. Figs. 925—929 :
(Fig. 925.) (Fig. 926.) (Fig. 927.)
j.j j.j J, J J, J
rir rif f
t=v:
iA A J.
n|rr|r«riMi
"yy
^m
C:V7 1 IV^ "Til lll^ TI(?;V7 I
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798
PARALLILI8M BT riFTHB.
(Fig. 928.)
PrP^
(Flg.929.)
I
'^°i'£a"j-'fcfei'f^
Stilly however, in the aboTe-mentioned third-sixth position, they sound per-
fectly well ; as in figs. 930—932 :
(Fig. 930.)
DIVISION V.
PARALLELISM BY FIFTHS.
§ 505.
Parallel progressions by fifths usually sound ill, and it is very seldom of
good effect to allow two parts to run parallel to each other at the distance of a
fifth, or, as musical composers are accustomed to express it, to place two fifths
immediately after each other in direct motion.
The prohibition of these parallel progressions by fifths, which are usually
called forbidden fifths, forbidden fifth-successions, or forbidden progressions by
fifths, has acquired great celebrity in the theory of musical composition, and
not unfrequently have the entire merits of a musical production been decided
according to the more or less scientific observance of this prohibition ; so that
one should thus be led to believe that the whole doctrine of musical composition
consists simply and solely in the injunction to avoid such parallelisms. — ^Musical
writers have, accordingly, in every instance treated this chapter of the theory
with special fiilness, and have, besides, even extended it to many cases which
can only, in a greater or less degree, improperly be called parallelisms by fiiths,
under the name of concealed or hidden fifths.
In order^ on our part also, to confer the due honour upon this celebrated
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PARALLELISM BT FIFTHS. DIVFBRBNT SPECIES. 799
chapter, we will prepare ourselves likewise to examine it with some measure of
fulness and detaO.
"We will, therefore,
(A.) First esamine the various species of actual or proper parallel pro-
gressions by fifths, — then also those which are improperly so termed, namely,
those progressions which, though really involving no parallel movements by
fifths, still have some resemblance to these, and are, on this account, brought
into this category, being considered as it were concealed parallelisms by fifths. —
After this,
(6.) We will inform ourselves as to /A« merits of such a species of move-
ment, as to the admissibility or inadmissibility of the different varieties of such
proper, or more or less improper, parallelisms by fifths.
(A.) ENUHEBATION OF THE DIFFEEENT SPECIES OF PARALLEL PB00RES8I0N8
BT FIFTHS.
(1.) Proper, actual or open Parallels by Fifths.
§ 506. •
We will first consider the proper parallelisms by fifths, where, namely, two
parts actually run parallel to each other at the distance of a fifth.
This may take place in two different ways, that is to say, either
(a.) In a strictly parallel movement, or
(b,) In a movement not strictly parallel ;
just according as the fifths are of the same species ; as, for example.
1
e
A
1 ..
fU d g
B, G c,
1 1 1
pedei
\ ; as, for example.
r
B
1
1 , 1
g d c
c, G F«,
1 1 1
r
(
B
1
G
_J
h
1.
e
1
c.
1
§ 507.
(a.) In strictly parallel movement, and that too
(a.) At the distance of purely major fifths, parts are found to run parallel
to each other in fig. 933 i:
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soo
(Fig. 933,,-.)
PARALLELISM BT FIFTHS. — DIFFKREHT BPBCIB8.
[Fig. 933,,-.) (k.) (I.) (ff.)
I
1^
(..) (..) J i I J J
(0.)
i
"■'iil Ijr ii
gE
Tt ■
F, F| F F, F
F R^ T^ T Y ^ ^
T R -^ t -^ R
€r 8 9
Damely, first the two outer parts :
T .^ F R
Upper part:
Base:
1
d
0
L
[
G
L
parts in
(Fig."
■~ir
e
A
II
1
a
D &c.,
1
then in k :
Middle part:
Base:
II
e
A
II
i
D &c.;
1
and so also the middle
fig.'
934.)
1
»34:
J j
«j
A
^ T#
J
1 Ar<—
— •
lyj)
-«p
-F-
/"HF
lL
-4
'1
Jt.
m
f
— r
^
-f-
.L.
4—
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PARALLELISMS BT FIFTHS. — DIFFERENT SPECIES.
801
as is shown by the brackets drawn from g to a and from c to 3*.
In fig. 935,
(Fig. 936.) ± "
the two upper parts move twice in such parallel progressions, as do also the two
lower parts in fig. 936 :
(Fig. 936.)
i
33=
-O-
jCz:
1T\T
JH^^
:zx:
In fig, 937, i,
(Fig.837,».)
[Fig. 037, t.) Jk.) (I.) jm.)
to) gj^L; g Hg'T} g ll^°> Iff" Ik
1
3a::
d^
'^M
tffl|£L-gam4^jjyl
^
4
I
ES-
rr5"
t^fet
a.V oii7 V
(n.)
j^^
^
33:
3E:
I
•niR^
dfe
Tl
t-"^
J..^ ^^-..^-I J
1^^
iiij-
^
3x:
::§
I
i
i
jCC
-^
3nc
"cn
the third part and the base, in like manner, take two of these parallel steps :
b
e
c
f
b
e
(Compare § 508.)—
VOL. II.
c 0
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802 PAEALLBLISM BT FIFTHS.— DIFFBRBNT 8PBCIK0.
In fig. 938,
(Fi£. 938.)
I 1
s
^
J ^A
G^nrvr
the tenor proceeds, firom the second to the third measure, parallel to the upper
part at the distance of a fifth.
In fig. 939,
(Fig. 939, t.)
(A.)
mm
j=^
teveral such parallel steps of the two upper parts occur.
These hare all heen parallels by fifths between harmonic tones. Now also
for examples in which transition-tones form Jiftha with harmonic tones.
(*•)
Br
ig:
's?
RETT
B
i^i!^' y M
F^^ FT«»R
the transition-tone f forms an under fifth with the tone c of the upper part,
whereupon the fiifth g — cT follows in parallel movement. — Similar fifths are
found in k and /, — and in figs. 941 — 946 :
(Fig. 941.)
^^^^^^ ^^^^^g ^ '"' R R R
m
T
V
R
I
F
V7
R
I
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FABALLELI8M BT FIFTHfl. — DIFFERBNT SPECIES.
803
rf.VT iC.VT I yi
(Rg. 943.)
BACH S PIAXOFORTB SOHATA.
^
:^
l>bJ I bJ^JlL^gE
t*
3fc
r-T^rr
T T T -^ «^' r.
^^^
^
^
:it±
C.I
IV
(Fig. 944.)
G;V I o;V
E. w. WOLF. (Fig. 945.)
F ^F ^ F^R
o;I IT CV7 I IV? 'VIX o;VJ I
(Fig. 946.)
J
CH. 6. 8CHR0TEB.. (Fig. 947.)
mg##f-[f;ttii;iy^
V I IV^ oyii i„7
In the following examples^
(Fig. 948, t.) F^ 1^ F ^F
F t
cc2
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804 PABALLKLISM BT FIFTHS. — DIFFKREMT SPECIES.
(Fig. 948, i.)
-I-
i
r
^
35:
(I)
%
1 — ^
4 r«w*
^=^¥^
*?:
g?j^ i:^^S
p^
f ,f^ ^ r tr gar fy 1^ ^
fifths occur between transttion-Umes themselves, — Parallel progressions by mere
fifths are easily discovered also \u figs. 949 — 952 :
(Fig.949.)
I
^Jr]r= *^
'^^
jp^.rja^^^^?^
(Fig. 950.)
:*=c
TT-
-O"
\rs
'^
J^^
g^^^^y^fefi
^
(Fig. 951, a.)
(Fig. 952.)
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PAB4LLELI8H BT FIPTHS. — ^DIFFERENT SPECIES.
805
(||.) In the following passages, two parts likewise move in strict paral-
lelisms by minor fifths :
(Fig. 963.)
p
-rs n
-ffer
i
(Fig.954.)'7-< , , , ,
(Fig. 865.)
"cr
§508.
(b,) An example of two parts proceeding together in a movement not
strictly parallel (in fifths of unlike magnitude) may be seen in the two outer
|)arts of fig. 957 :
(Fig. 957.) F f F s
^
(4 i^' '^^ '' ^
namely :
3
6
* and *
A A
G
c
F«
J
Progressions of a similar description occur also in figs. 998 — 961
(Fig. 960.)
(Fig. 989.)
(Fig, 968, t.) (*.)
(Fig. 989.)
s FsF
TF RT ^*^" r % r r I \ip f
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806
(Fig. 961.)
PARALLELISM BT FIFTHS. — ^DIFFERENT SPECIES.
also in fig. 962^ second and fourth measures^ — and in fig. 963 :
(Fig. 962, t.) (A.)
Jg^^i.lilliililliiiVl
'TV"
1
^m
^
««:
m
:a.
(Fig.963,».)
(*.)
(I)
L[i;iii'Z^i/iir?',^^ii
gi4__^ III
^ini'' ^im
In addition to the like fifths in the example fig. 937 t, p. 801 , which have
already heen remarked upon (§ 507), we find also unlike fifths in the same
example, namely, between the first and second parts :
(Fig. 937,1.)
a ;V on? V
e
n
a
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PABALLBLISM BT FIFTHS. — DIFFEBSNT VPSCII8.
807
(2.) Improper or concealed Parallelisnu by Fifths.
§509.
All the cases thu3 far considered have been those of real and open paral-
lelisms by fifths.
But, in addition to these, as already observed, we also reckon here still
other forms of movement, which less obviously, and even only in an improper
sense, merit this name, and which may, accordingly, be called improper ^ and in
part even imaginary, paraUelisms by fifths. With these also we will now
become acquainted.
(a>) ParaUeUsms hy Fifths interrvpied by Rests.
§510.
Among the concealed or improper parallelisms by fifths, belong, first, those
which are interrupted by rests; as, for example, the foUowing:
(Fig. 964.)
fckjUjEfeb;J^^5^
■1^ M ^ M^
f=^
^ tl:^_? n
where the brackets, extended over the rests, point out the parallels. In like
manner, we can discover pure parallelisms by fifths, though interrupted by
rests, in figs. 965 and 966, — and, if we choose, also in fig. 967 :
(Fig. 965,1.)
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FABALLELISM BT FIFTHS. — DIFrKBBMT 8PBCIKS.
(Fig. 967.)
J. HliYSII.
125:
uj4i
«^
w
n
m
Largo.
n
(b.) Harpeggiaie Fifths.
§ 511.
Another species of improper parallelisins by fifths sometimes arise^ 6*001
harpeggicUe progressions (§ 21). In the following fig. 968, i,
(Fig. 968, t) (*.) (/.)
i
i
3cs:
joo.
TT
•^
i
j^--^
^^11^
i
JCX.
:^
-Gr
JUL.
__H.
(compare §§ 513, 532, ^^^)> the eye, it b true, discovers no parallel progres-
sions by fifths ; but still, the ear, so far as it conceives the base to be an har-
peggiate part — an harpeggiate expression of two parts, as in ^, perceives
forbidden fifths between the base and the Second part, inasmuch as the
example, considered in thii^ point of view, appears only as an harpeggiate
representation of /. In like manner, o&e detects fifths between the base and
middle parts in fig. 969 :
(Fig. 969.)
ini
33:
I L«j I ! J
-* L
It sounds as if it involved these fifths, although the eye perceives no parallel
progressions by fifths. — Similar fifths may be traced out in fig. 970, t .*
(Fig. 970, ».) KIILNBEROEB. (k.)
r I I . rT ' — r '
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PARALLELISM BY FIFTHS. DIFFERENT SPECIES.
809
as also in :
971-^975:
(Fig. 971, t.)
KIRIIBER6B&,
r'iJ'r'rLff"r"'f iTn^f
(Fig. 972.)
f^j^f^^^fn^
^rrrii{fpJ^ii.|f^Tr'|Tp.|,r^,,grjfi
f—jt ^
Th^h I r '=^ r *" r '' f^^^^
>• r M
(Fig. 973, *.)
(Fig. 974.)
^Pfe
J=^
W < 1-
^ I J
n-ril-T
■* S:
'ly^h r t" ^ r I j* r p
^^
■€3*-
35:
^S
(Fig.975,».)
P
i
^
^
1
JUJ
^
1^
I
(I)
P
I
I
°i — "r=N — ^~"T°i ''iTt^
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810
PABALLELISM BT FIFTHS — DIFFSBENT 8PECIE8.
§ 5n.
We have just seen that a passage sometimes exhibits parallelisms by fifths,
by its being considered as an harpeggiate representation of two or more parts.
On the contrary, we find also, in many passages, obvious parallels by fifths,
which cease to be so when they are regarded as hcarpeggiate progressions.
If we regard the following passage, fig. 976, iy
(Fig. 976, t.)
merely according to the notes, the eye sees entirely open fifths, as the brackets
show ; but the succession of fifths disappears the moment we regard the upper
part as an harpeggiate expression of two parts, as in ^ and / : and, regarded in
this point of view, the upper part, firom the first to the second measure, is not
considered as passing from F to g, but as if it proceeded from a* to g, and a
second part from T to e*; and in such a conduct of harpeggiate parts there is of
course no parallelism by fifths. (Compare § 27.) — Still less equivocal is the
passage in m :
(Fig. 976, m.)
(c.) Parallelism qf Fifths by Accent,
§513.
An impression of forbidden fifths is ofiien conveyed to the ear when the
chiefly accented (emphasised) or otherwise prominent notes of two parts form
fifths by our conceiving the less important tones to be absent. In the following
fig. 977,
(Fig. 977, t.) (k.)
p
ii-^ihi^fiii
^W^
i
the first and the fourth notes in the upper part render themselves particularly
prominent, while, on the contrary, those occurring on the lighter portions of the
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PARALLELISM BT FIFTHS. DIFFEBENT SPECIES.
811
measure make a very perceptibly weaker impression upon the ear. Now, if we
conceive these less important t«ies t^ be absent, fifths, it is perceived, appear
between the upper part and the base ; as, for example :
a
d
(g
In fig. 978, t, k, also,
(Fig. 978, t.)
r«)
(*.)
J' V""!ii,n,'
two fifths exhibit themBelTes, if we conceive the notes between a and 7 in the
upper part to be absent ; — and also in fig. 979, t, as is shown in ^ .■
(Fig.OT9,».) ^ I ;sj-n (*.)
±
^fi-^-fi-rUU^
^
^
^
^W=^
35:
r-
r^ i\
3^
I I
■B
g
T c 3" e
g
J e T e
g »
Moreover, in fig. 970 i, p. 808, in which we have already (§ 511) found a
concealed parallelism by fifths, we detect a still &rther and otherwise concealed
progression by fifths, if we conceive the after-note e of the tenor, at the fonrth
eighth-note, to be absent, as follows :
1
b
e
e
e
1
a
1
This fact would show itself still more prominently by altering the passage
as in k, where the conceaHng after-note 7 appears still more insignificant, and
thus conceals the fifths still more imperfectly than in t.
In figs. 968, 969, and 971, pp. 808 and 809, the concealed fifths are also
rendered the more prominent by the accent.
(d,) ParaUelism by Fifths concealed hy Tones foreign to the Harmony.
§514.
Another species of concealed fifths between harmonic tones are those which
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8U
PARAtLBLISM BT FIFTHS. DIFFERENT SPECIES.
are disffuised hy irangilum-tanes introduced between them, and which, these
transidon-tones heing considered as absent, contain parallel progresaioiis by
fifths ; as, for example, in fig. 980 :
(Fig. 980, t.)
(*.)
1
S
S
lit
:&
^
^'F^
^ J. A A ^ _ ^ J. A A ^
^
TT"
s
^
s
:xjl.
±
so &r as we conceive the principal tone c to stand in the place of the suspen-
son d ; — and so also in figs. 981 — 983 :
(Fig. 981.) (Fig. 982. a.) (5.) (c.) (d.)
P
J||?Pll''.H
da V VI "l VI ^jj**^j 1 Vi
t t
(Fig. 983, t.)
I TI
««F.»F sF<*F •kF.'F
£^
ni- JTi jth jgn g^i
-I -J. i_u
i
M
*i_rii. ni J :4 ^
:ktt 'I''
4^ M '^
^1
and also in fig. 984 i :
(Fig. 984, i.)
RRikBRi^FRBT R
I
^^
Oj ,
S
i°i r jUu
I IV HI II I II IV
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PARALLELISM BT FIFTHS. — DIFFERENT SPECIES.
(Fig. 984, A.) (/.)
813
as likewise in k and I, where the concealed harpeggiate fifths^ in fig. 974, p. 809,
are rendered still somewhat more imperoeptihle hy tones foreign to the harmony.
(e.) ParelleUsms hy Fifths arUmg from the Crossing of Pcaris.
§515.
Again, another species of improper parallels by fifths consists of those
which are only concealed fi'om the eye by the skipping of one part over another y
hy the crossing of parts, while to the ear they are still equally obvions, — or,
perhaps better expressed, by the movement of two parts, crossing each other,
which impresses the ear as a parallelism of fifths, provided it [the ear] conceives
the crossing parts not to cross each other. The following example explains
this:
(Fig.985,».) (A.)
3?=
1
I
'S£
i
331
I
if the first part here in t moves fi*om c^ to g, and the second firom f to d, the
case of coarse involves no parallel progression, and consequently no parallelism
by fifths. But if we consider what tones, what combinations of tones, the ear
perceives, we shall find that they are none other than, first, [f c], and then [g d].
It is true, indeed, that one part in this case gives the higher tone in the first
chord and the lower tone in the second, while the other part, vice vers&, gives
the lowest note in the first chord, and then passes by a skip over the first part
to the highest note of the second chord ; but it may easily happen that the ear
does not perceive such a crossing of the parts, or at least takes no notice of it
(§ 6), and, instead of truly following the thread of the parts as they cross each
other, confounds them, perhaps, and consequently construes the case in such a
manner as to make the same part which gave the highest note ^ in the first
chord, also give the higher tone d in the second chord, and so as to make the
second part, in like maimer, give the two lower tones f and g ; — and, by
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814
PARALLELI8V BT VIFTH8. — DIFFERENT SPECIES.
regarding the matter in this light, the ear would of course perceive and under-
stand the said example as follows^ as it stands in k :
I 1
it would, consequently, understand the case as if two parts proceeded parallel to
each other hy fifths, which, to be sure, is not really the fiict, but still it seems
so to the ear, and, accordingly, the latter [the ear] conceives itself to be hearing
parallel progressions by fifths, although, more accurately considered, none are
properly present.
Kimberger* cites a similar example, fig. 986, t .*
(Fig. 986, t.)
TLINO I.
TLIN0 3.(
TIOLA.
TCLLO.
P
□t
S
^m
^)oi°lh^M
stct
^^^^JJ.A
Wl
'\Tn\-^
This passage, in case we disregard the crossing of the two upper parts, sounds
most perfectly as if the second part constantly proceeded parallel to the base at
the distance of a fifth, as is somewhat more prominently exhibited in k.
This passage will, therefore, sound as if it contained forbidden fifths, par-
ticularly if both upper parts, as is here the case, are executed by like instra-
ments ; for example, by two violins, and even perhaps every note detadied by
each. Certainly, in such a case, the ear has no reason for ascribing the highest
note of the second chord to any other part than the one which also gave the
highest tone of the first chord : thus it will pay but little regard to the distinc-
tion, whether the first violin, which first gave the tone c) gives, in the second
chord, the tone a of the upper staff, or the tone cT of the next staff bebw, —
whether this 7 is given by the same violin which gave the tone c^ or by the
other violin. The ear will, therefore, in this case, easily perceive parallel pro-
gressions by fifths, although, according to the distribution of the parts, there are
really none present.
It must not be overlooked in this example, moreover, that it is not on
account of these fifths alone that the passage sounds ill, but (a thing which
* In his Kimst des reinen Saizes, I. Bd. p. 149.
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PABALLELI9H BT FIFTHS. DIFFERENT SPECIES.
815
Kimberger neglected to mention) that it sounds donbly and trebly ill also on
the ground that, in addition to this paraUelism by iifths, still other infelicities
are involved in it; namely, the so-called forbidden octaves (with which we
shall shortly become acquainted), — and still &rther also the trivial and insig-
nificant harmonic successions : I — ii — I — V — vi — ^V, or I — ii — I — G: I — ii — I.
(Compare § 250, b.)
The passage in fig. 987, t^ also (a passage likewise borrowed firom Kim-
berger^\
(Fig. 987, t.) (A.)
rf=F
1 J II J — 5I-1-
ft
seems like a case of forbidden fifths, provided the ear, as may easily happen,
confounds the threads of the crossing middle parts, as in k.
So also in the example fig. 52 t, p. 123, if we but conceive the course of the
crossing parts to be absent, we can discover a parallelism of two consecutive
parts, as may be seen in k^ p. 123.
Now, whether and when the ear will, in such cases, construe the matter
in the one way or in the other, depends chiefly upon the circumstances just
mentioned — circumstances which are more minutely detailed in § 6 of the
present work.
§516.
As, in the examples hitherto quoted, parallelisms by fifths exhibit them-
selves, if we conceive the crossing parts not to cross each other, so also may
cases be conceived of where parts which in fact proceed in an open paraUelism
of fifths to each other are so concealed by a third part which crosses one of
the former^ that the ear scarcely, if at all, perceives the consecutive fifths.
Thus, for example, in fig. 988 t,
(Fig. 988, t.) (k.)
^^
rrn j„j J
TT
* In the before-named work, p. 254.
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816 PARALLELISM BT FIFTHS. DIFFEBSNT SPEC1B8U
the middle part in itself runs parallel to the base at the distance of a iifth ; but
the upper part, which crosses the middle part, gives the case the aspect of being
as represented in k.
(/,) InserUd FifOa.
§517.
Another case which theorists reckon into the class of concealed (or, as
Vogler calls them, masked) parallelisms by fifths, is that in which two parts,
proceeding together ^ not in jHxraliel, but still in direct movement, tn one
instance only form a fifth with each other ; — or, in other words, theoristo
reckon here, not merely, as heretofore observed, two fifths in direct movement,
but even every inditidual fifth which occurs in direct motion.
They say, namely, that if the upper part in fig. 989, «,
(Fig. 989, t.) (*.)
^
12:
-^
Jl^B^
proceeds from g to a, while the under part skips from B to d, this latter part
might, instead of skipping from B to d, proceed gradually, and not by a skip,
but through the intermediate tone, and thus of course from B to c and thence
to d, as in ^ ; in such a case, the step from c to d, while the upper part should
proceed from g to a, would be a parallelism by fiflJis, namely :
B
and now, inasmuch as a parallel progression by fifths would occur in the
passage, fig. 989 i, above, provided only it were otherwise than it is, namely, as
represented in k, so such progressions as that in fig. 989 t, above, are reckoned
among the concealed, or, to speak more correctly, the imagined parallelisms by
fifths.
Such a contraband progression lies concealed in each of the following ex-
amples in f, as it may be seen unmasked in each instance isik:
(Fig. 990, t.) (A.) (Fig. 991, t.) (*.)
3^
^
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PABAtLELISM BT FIFTHS. — DIFFKBSNT 8PKCIK8.
817
(Fig. 990.) b
g
1
a
fe d
1 1
a
(Fig. 991.) i i
G ABc d
1 1
(Fig. 992.)
1 1
be "a
G
Id tbe following passage also, from Mozart's Don Jaan,
(Fig. 093.) mozabt's doh juav.
1^ no - v\
:$S^
zaz
''"A }'■ fT^
T 'lii?
the brackets point out snch a concealed parallel progression by fifths between
the fourth part and the base,
eg-
eb
bb
ab
db
— as also in the following passage, from the first chord to the second, between
the soprano and the base :
(Fig. 994.) CHBRUBINI'S MASS.
I
5:
1
^^
laa - da - mas, be
ne - di - ci - mns
'm
te, be - ne - di - oi - mus te
(Compare §§ 245, 518, 520, and 538.)
I designate this species of improper or concealed parallelisms by fifths by
the term inserted fifths^ on the ground that these progressions are, as we see,
only so far parallelisms by fifths, as we, in idea, insert or interpolate a tone in
one of the two parts (for instance, the tone c in fig. 989, the tones f and e in
fig. 990, the tones A B and c in fig. 991, &c.).
I must farther observe, that the term concealed or hidden ffths is not
VOL. II. D D
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818
PARALLELISM BT FIFTHS. — DIFFEBBKT 8PBCIKS.
nnfrequently, io our books of instraction, applied exdnnvely to this one species
of prohibited fifths by way of pre-eminence, while all the other varieties above-
mentioned are not treated at all.
§ 518.
If, moreoTer, as is here the case, one will construe every direct step to a
ffth as a saspidons progression, he must also, in order to be conisistent, do the
same thing in relation to a direct movement from a fifih ; as, for example, in
figs. 995, f, k, /, and 996, t, k, I:
(Fig. 995, i.) (*.) (Z.)
'" oyo' II ^^iL\ gr:?: o
(Fig. 996,*) (*.) (/.)
P
:Si:
SL
^
^_J?-
fe^^-^^Hh^.^;!^^
^
(m.)
^
(«•)
ri
i
£2. ^
J- TT
^^
a
w*==-t
&Tf>^ -^ ^J7 f ILj' ' tL
(Fig. 995 f.) a g
d c B
(*.) a b
d ef g
(0 a g
d cBA O
Fig. 996 (t.) g r e
c bb
_ ]
(*.) B eT g
« ft
(^•)
a
L
g
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PABALLRLT8M BT FIFTHS. DIFFERENT SPECIES.
819
(aod Schicht, from whose fundamental rules of harmony [ Qrundregeln der
Harmonie] I borrow fig. 996, is altogether more consistent than other writers,
who have entirely overlooked this latter species of inserted fifths).
Concealed fifths of this description may be detected by multitudes in the
foregoing manner ; in fig. 994, p. 817, for example, firom the first to the second
quarter-note of the first measure, between the outer parts, are found exactly the
same species of fifths that were commented upon in fig. 996 /, p. 818, and
another case of the same kind occurs also from the last note but one to the last
note, between the base and middle parts.
ig,) Fifths in Contrary Motion.
§519.
Still another species of improper parallelism by fifths is that of the so-called
Ji/ths tn contrary motion.
In fig. 997, f,
(Fig. 997, t.) (A) (/.)
SE
mwWjh^
=1^
the upper part moves firom ^ to^, while the base proceeds firom g to A. — ^This
is in itself, certainly, no parallelism by fifths ; but since the tone g is but the
copy of the tone O, this conduct of the base does not difier materially fi*om
what it would be, if it proceeded firom g to a, or firom 6 to A (say as in ^ or /),
which progression, G — 'A, would form a parallelism of fifths with the upper
part 3 — e. In like manner, we may detect other fifths in the same example
which lie concealed in the contrary movement :
(Fig. 997.)
and, considered in this point of view, this passage is little else than the above
quoted fig. 977 t, p. 810.
The same species of fifl^hs are found in the following passage, fig. 998.
(Fig. 998.) MOZABT.
1
II
II
II
1
1
e
a
-i
b
R
A
d
Q
e
I
II
II
II
1
M
-P^— P-
■P=— |s-
dd2
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820
PARALLELISM BT FIFTHS. — DIFFERENT SPECIES.
(A.) Ear-Fifths.
§ 520.
Still another species of ooDcealed or imagined fifths is found mentioned in
our hooks of instruction under the singular appellation of eaar-Jifthsy though
without any regular definition of them heing given. — But if we advert to the
examples to which authors apply this designation, we find that such cases are
uniformly intended by it as is the one in fig. 999, t .*
(Fig. 999, t.) (A.) (/.) (m.)
^^ ■■'^^%g
fPVPfg:
Thus, for example, Tiirck* says, " they are those fifths which are not indeed
actually present, but which, nevertheless, one imagines himself to hear" — (a
definition which applies without distinction to every species of concealed paral-
lelisms by fifths !).
For examples, he refers to such cases as those in fig. 999, r — u^, above.
According to these examples, therefore, ear-fifths would be a particular species
of inserted fifths in contrary movement, namely :
I
1
(Fig.
999
m.)
c
c"
L
'i
e
r
g
a
a
_J
More on such fifths in a subsequent part of this work. (§ 538.)
* In his Anweisung xum GeneralbasSt in the index, at the word, *' Ohrenquinien,^'
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PARALLELISM BY FIFTHS. MERITS. 821
(3.) More extended Survey,
§521.
We have thus far oousideredy with some measure of fulness, how different
species of parallelisms hy fifths may arise from the different ways of conducting
two parts, and firom the more or less actually parallel position thence arising.
But it will readily he perceived, that this classification of the various species of
such progressions faUs far short of exhausting the suhject. For, we have, in
what precedes, uniformly had reference merely to the intervals lying hetween the
two progressing parts, merely to the movement of the parts (and thus as it
were have only emhraced the dynamic ground of division), but have not at the
same time had any regard to the difierent possible harmonies and harmonic
successions which form the basis of such progressions of parts, nor to the ob-
viously most important distinction involved therein, whether the movement by
fiflhs takes place during the continuance of one and the same harmony, as in the
previous examples, figs. 955, 956, and 959, p. 805 ; or at the time of an harmonic
step, and that, too, either an harmonic step in the same scale, as in fig. 960, &c.
p. 805, or a more or less, wholly or partially digressive step, as in fig. 953, &c.
p. 805 ; and, again, indeed, of what harmony, of what more or less nearly related
key, and fi*om what interval of this or that harmony to what interval of what
following harmony, under what more or less favourable circumstances, or under
what more or fewer concurring combinations of these or those of all the circum-
stances just adverted to, or of others, &c. (compare remark on § 99). Indeed,
a distinct classification might, again, with propriety, have been predicated upon
the consideration, whether the progression by fifths is made upwards or down-
wards, gradually or by skips (which, however, would also be a mere dynamic
ground of distinction), &c.
Contemplating the field in this point of view, one readily sees that if we
would classify separately all the various ways in which parallel progressions by
fifths may occur, according to the above, and still other grounds of distinction,
we should not very soon arrive at the end of our labours.
I here again find myself compelled to limit my treatment of the subject
to the classifications thus far exhibited, and merely to hint at the great extent
of the field, without being able even to measure it minutely, and still less to
bestow upon it a full examination.
(B.) MERITS OF THE PARALLEL PROGRESSIONS OF TWO PARTS BT FIFTHS.
§ 522.
Afiier having thus far (from § 506 to the present place) taken a survey of
the different species of actual, and imagined or concealed, parallelisms by fifths,
we now come, in the natural order of topics, to the consideration of their various
merits.
On this point there exists a great contrariety between the old musicians and
the musical artists of the present day. The former avoided everything in the
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822 PARALLELISM BT FIFTHS. MERITS.
shape of a parallelism by fifths, with the most assiduous care, aod shuddered
and had the ear-ache the moment they could anywhere discover even the re-
motest shadow of a parallel progression by fifths. — The latter, on the contrary,
lifting up their heads with a buoyant spirit of liberty and a dignified contempt
of antiquated pedantic prejudices, reject and condemn aU the old prohibitions of
parallelisms by fifths, as pedantic trash and useless scholastic lore.
If we consider this subject in a sufficiently liberal point of view, we shall
see that, in this case also, the unconditional prohibition, on the one hand, \a as
incorrect and ill founded, as is the unconditional contempt of it on the other.
The multitudinous variety of these parallels, and the numerous ways in
which they may occur, each of which is so essentially difierent from the others,
and which, on account of their extreme multiplicity, we have not been able
fully to enumerate, and much less circumstantially to examine (§ 521), — eyen
this essential diversity of the innumerable possible cases is snfficient proof of
itself that this subject again does not admit of being dispatched either by
universal prohibitions, or by a universal renunciation of them. Every one,
whose ear is not entirely uncultivated, will perceive, on reviewing the varioiu
examples thus far referred to, that many of them really sound in the highest
degree disagreeably, while many others do not sound ill at all, and that thus
both parties, as well the old ultras as the modem liberals, each in his own
way, are in error : and the chief cause of this error is obviously the fiict, that
they all, contemplating the matter in a too limited point of view, do not surrey
the entire extent of the subject upon which they undertake to decide ; and hence
they fancy themselves to have found a principle of universal application, as soon
as they ascertain that it fits the limited scrap of the field which they may happen
to have before their eyes. (Compare remark on § 99.)
Far as we would keep ourselves from pronouncing such a universal decision,
productive only of partial and limited views, still, on the other hand, we find it
equally impossible to consider every branch of this subject separately, and thns
to exhaust the field. Here again, therefore, we must, in the very nature of the
case, satisfy ourselves with giving mere hints ; but these shall at least have the
merit of distinguishing themselves from the dogmas heretofore laid down, by
the fact that they are not proffered under the misguiding assurance of their being
universal precepts.
With these limitations, then, we subjoin the following remarks.
(1.) Fundamental Principle.
§ 523.
It is entirely true that the parallel progression of two parts by fifths is
frequently, and indeed usually, disagreeable and repulsive to the ear, as is very
perceptibly shown by many at least of the foregoing examples.
The disagreeable effect of such a progression, however, is realized only in
cases where the ear can clearly and distinctly recognize and perceive such pro-
gressions. The more perceptibly and distinctly the parallel progression by fifths
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PABALLBLISM BT FIFTHS. — MKBIT8. 823
impresses itself upon the ear, the more sensibly is the infelicity nsoally produced ;
whereas^ the more concealed, the less perceptible the oonsecative fifths are, the
less is the annoyance which is experienced therefrom.
This principle, if applied to the different ways in which parallelisms by fifths
may occor, leads to the following results.
(2.) Deduction from {he foregoing Principle.
(a.) FifiJu in Passages having several Parts.
§ 524.
In the first place, it follows, from the principle aboye stated, that parallel-
isms of fifths are less perceptible and consequently less repulsive in passages
having several parts^ than in those which haye fewer ; because, in the former
case, the ear cannot weU follow so definitely the progression of each individual
part (§ 28) ; and, on this accoant, the parallel movement of two parts in fifths the
more easily escapes its attention. This circumstance in some measure excuses
and justifies the before-mentioned example in fig. 937 if p. 801. (Compare §§ 507
and 508.) — ^It is for the same reason, moreover, that the five-part passage in fig.
949, p. 804, does not sound ill. — The same is true also of fig. 993. p. 817. (Com-
pare §§ 517 and 525.)
(b,) Fifths in Principal and in Secondary Parts.
§525.
A second result of the principle above established, is, that parallelisms by
fifths are particularly oflfensive in cases where they occur in outer parts, or in
two parts which are by any other means rendered prominent above the others
(§ 8) ; as, e, g, in fig. 933, t and /, p. 800. The case becomes somewhat less
disagreeable when only one part is an outer or principal part, as in k and //, —
and is the least so of all, when these parallels occur only between middle or
merely accompanying parts, as in fig. 934, p. 800. (Compare 506.)
It is not intended here to say that a]l parallel progressions by fifths which do
not occur between principal parts are simply on that account free from ill effect
(the contrary of which is proved by fig. 933, k and //, p. 800) ; but merely that
those consecutive fifths which are formed exclusively by middle or secondary
parts are less offensive, and, if still other favourable and meliorating circum-
stances concur, may sometimes become by such palliative means entirely free
from fault, and of perfectly good effect ; as is the case, for example, in fig. 993,
p. 817. (Compare §§ 517 and 524.)— The same is true of fig. 943, p. 803.
(c.) Fifths by the Doubling of Parts.
§ 526.
For the reason already mentioned in the foregoing section, those parallelisms
by fifths do not sound perceptibly ill which arise from the mere doubling of parts in
a higher or a lower octave, between one part and the duplicate of the other (§ 15).
Thus, e.g. the passage mfig. 965, i and k, p. 807, does not sound ill at aU, even
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S24 FABALLELI8M BT FITTHS. — MEBITB.
though the second part rans parallel to the fourth in open fifths ; for, the second part
is nothing else than a mere duplicate of the fifth in a higher octave (as, indeed,
all the three higher parts together are nothing else than dnplicates of the three
lower ; or, vice vers4, the lower parts may be regarded as duplicates of tlie upper ;
and accordingly, in either case, either aU three upper parts or all three lower
parts are mere secondary parts). Hence, consecutiye fifths of this species, par-
ticularly in full instrumental compositions, are unhesitatingly employed every
day.
We will, likewise, in the proper place, make some mention bIbo of the parallel
progressions by octaves which occur in the same example.
§ 527.
What has been said in the foregoing section applies only in cases where the
part is most positively and decidedly a mere duplicate of another ; and, indeed,
in the example quoted, namely, fig. 965, t and k, p. 807, chiefly because, here, aU
the parts throughout are doubled in the octaye. When this is not^ to the full
extent, so decidedly the case, as, for example, in fig. 1000,
(Fig. 1000.)
I I I
r
I
f=f=^
the parallel progressions by fifths between the first part and the second are
more foreign and repulsive. The same thing would be perceived in fig. 965,
p. 807, if, say, the first upper part, or the first and third, were absent.
(i.) Fifths between Harmonic and Non-harmonic Tones, (§ 507.)
§ 528.
It may also be considered as a result of the above-mentioned principle, that
the parallelisms by fifths which occur between harmonic tones and tones foreign
to the harmony, as in fig. 940, p. 802, or as in figs. 941—945, pp. 802 and
803, sound less disagreeably, than the same parallels between exclusively
harmonic tones, as in fig. 933, p. 800, &c. That is to say, it would seem that
the ear does not so distinctly and definitely recognize parallels which are made
of so dissimilar elements.
Particularly, a mere short transition^tone which falls into a parallelism with
an harmonic tone at the distance of a fifth, is not usually ofiensive to the ear ; as,
<?. g. in figs. 940, 941, 943, pp. 802 and 803. In these examples, the ear seems
not to attend to these non-harmonic, transient, and, consequently, in every respect
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PARALLELISM BT FIFTHS. MERITS. 825
insignificaiit tones, and seems to regard them as not being present, and to view
the case as if the base part in fig. 940 i, p. 802, had a dotted half-note e and
proceeded thence immediately to g ; or as if the upper part in fig. 941, p. 802^
had fonr quarter-notes c^ or even a whole-note, instead of the eighth-notes ; or as
if the middle part in fig. 943, p. 803, proceeded firom c to 7; &c.
(e.) Like cmd unlike Fifths. (§508.)
§529.
It may also be regarded as in some measure a result of the so often quoted
fundamental principle, that two fifths in not strictly parallel movement y as, e, g.
in the following passage,
or as in figs. 958 k, and 963 t, ky /, pp. 805 and 806, often sound less ill than
exclusively strict parallels by fifths : because, namely, such a movement is in
fact less parallel than a movement which is strictly so.
On this point our theorists are accustomed to lay down, in particular, the
following rule, namely : a minor fifth after a major one is more allowable than
the reverse, namely, a major fifth after a minor one ; thus, for example, the
first of the following forms is preferable to the other :
1
g
1
f
rather than
?
1
g
c
1
B
1
B
1
c
1
But, in laying down such imiversal rules, they have, as may be seen by the
examples quoted from them, only a single case before them ; namely, the fi'eely
admitted individual fact, that fig. 958 i sounds altogether worse than fig. 958 k,
p. 805. — But the ground of this fact lies mainly in the circumstance, that the
former example contains also at the same time a comparatively unnatural pro-
gression of the fundamental seventh c, and that precisely such fifths as those in
figs. 958 k, and 963, pp. 805 and 806, in which the one part descends gradually
fi-om the fifth degree of the scale to the fourth, while the other goes down fi-om
the tonic note to the seventh degree of the next lower octave, do not make a
perceptibly unfavourable impression upon the ear. — The fact, that not every
succession of a minor fifth to a major one sounds equally well, is proved by the
progression firom the first to the second chord, in fig. 957, p. 805; as also^ on
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8^6 PABALLILISM BT ^UVTHS. — MBRIT8.
the contrary, figs. 960 and 961, pp. 805 and 806, show that the opposite spedes of
parallelisms by fifths is not always of ill efiect. (Compare remark on § 99.)
if.) ConetaUd, improper FifHu. (§609.)
§530.
One wiU, moreover, readily infer firom the same principle, that, in general,
aU those fifths which we have become acquainted with under the name of con-
cealed or imagined fifths are, in general, less ofiensiTe than open and actual
fifths, and that they are always the more tolerable and the less prejudicial,
the more they are obscured and concealed; but, on the contrary, the more
questionable in their efiect, the more they approximate the actual parallelisms
by fifths, and the more deceptive as such they may appear to the ear.
We will endeavour, for the sake of a more particular exhibition of this
subject, to make an application of the position just assumed, to the different
species of concealed fifths.
§531.
(b.) Interrapted by Rests. (§510.)
In the first -^^^xx, parallel progressions by fifths which are interrupted In/
rests, and which, accordingly, appear as such only by conceiving the rests to be
absent, will not, on account of these interrupting rests, appear so definitely and
strikingly to be parallelisms by fifths, as they would if they proceeded in an
unbroken series ; and this effect will be produced in a greater degree, according
as the interruption by rests is the more considerable, and the sneoession is thus
rendered the less immediate.
For this reason, in fig. 966, p. 808, for example, especially if the pause be
continued rather long, the ear will be scarcely able to perceive the fifths, — and
still less the fifths which occur between the first and the middle parts of fig. 967,
p. 808. Those which occur in fig. 964, p. 807, especially towards the end of
the example, separated as they are only by less considerable rests, would, it is
true, be perceived. — (The example in fig. 965 t, p. 807, needs no vindication by
the small rests, but has already been vindicated in § 526, and could not, even
if the rests were not present — as, for example, in ^, — ^be called a case of for-
bidden progression by fifths.)
§532.
(^.) Harpeggiate Fifths. (§ 511.)
For a like reason also, those parallel progressions by fifths which appear as
such only in consequence of so conducting a part as to make it represent har-
peggiately two parts, as in fig. 968, t, k, I, p. 808, are not ordinarily so offensive
as an actual parallelism of fifths between two real parts. One can, it is true.
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PARALLELISM BT FIFTHS. — MEBIT8. 827
conceive to himself two parts in t ninning paraUel to each other in fifths, as in
k and /; but still these are not two actual parts, bat, so to speak, only an
imagined two part^ ; and hence such a parallelism in fifths is not entirely so
striking and tangible as would be that of two real parts running parallel to each
other by fifths. These progressions by fifths are, of course, ofiensiye to the
ear only when the moyement of the harpeggiate part appears very definitely and
decidedly as an harpeggiate representation of two parts proceeding parallel to
each other by fifths ; and, on the contrary, such a conduct of a part is much less
ofiensive when the part appears to the ear less as an harpeggiate expression of
two parts, than as only a mere melody. Thus, for example, fig. 973, t^ p. 809,
is certainly quite unexceptionable ; since, as every one* perceives, the ear is more
inclined to follow the thread of the melody of the upper part, as the melody of a
single part, than to take it as an harpeggiate representation of three parts run-
ning parallel to one another, as in ^. So also fig. 975, t, p. 809, does not sound
at all as if it contained parallel progressions by fifths ; but in /, on the contrary,
one distinctly feels the harpeggiate character of the progression, and consequently
the parallelism by fifths.
In like manner, those paraUels in fifths which cease to be such whenever
the passage is regarded as an harpeggiate progression (§ 512), must always be
80 much the less prejudicial, as the passage appears the more definitely to be
an harpeggiate progression. Thus, for example, the passage in fig. 976, m,
p. 810, is less exceptionable than the one in t.
§533.
fc.) Accent Fifths. (§ 513.)
Those parallel progressions by fifths which one as it were imagines to exist,
only because he conceives none but speciaUg emphasised notes to be present,
leaving the others all out of the account, as if having no existence in the piece,
are likewise perceptibly repulsive only when such particularly accented notes
are rendered very perceptibly prominent, and the other tones are thrown very
much into the shade. Therefore it was remarked, in § 513, above referred to,
that, in fig. 970, A, p. 808, the progression firom the second to the third quarter-
note sounds more as if it involved prohibited fifths, than it does in i; and, for a
like reason, the hidden consecutive fifths are more perceptible in fig. 978, ky
p. 811, than they are in t.
§ 534.
(n.) Fifths concealed by Transition-tones. (§ 514.)
Those parallels by fifths, moreover, which are masked by inserted transition'
tones, and are as it were bent out of the truly parallel course (§ 514), are always
less offensive than open parallels. Consequently, fig. 980, p. 812, is always
less repulsive than fig. 938, p. 802 ; fig. 983, t; p. 812, less than k; and fig.
984, p. 812, less than fig. 974, p. 809.
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S28 PARALLELISM BT FIFTHS. — MERITS.
§ 535.
(t.) Fifths by the CnMung of Parts. (§§ 515 and 516.)
For the same reason also, those parallelisms by fifths which appear to be
so only in conseqnenoe of the fact that one does not observe the crossing of two
parts, and confounds their thread (§ 515), are perceptibly repuLdve only in cases
where the ear can easily confound the threads of the crossing parts. On the
other hand, so soon as the threads of the crossing parts render themselyes suffi-
ciently prominent and distinct, those successions which one can imagine to be
parallel progressions by fifths only when he apprehends the crossing parts as
not crossing each other, c^ase to involve any perceptible ill-soonding parallel-
isms by fifths. Thus, for example, the passage in fig. 987, t, p. 815, although
it exhibits parallel progressions in fifths, provided one considers it merely accord-
ing to the notes, as in k, without any regard to the threads of the parts, still is
not to be regarded as a faulty and ill-sounding parallelism by fifths. The same
may be said of the passage in fig. 52, t, p. 123. (§ 5.)
And, on the contrary, fifths which, like those, for example, in fig. 988, t,
p. 815, are disguised by the crossing of one part over another, and which accord-
ingly are never firee from parallelisms by fifths, except when one imagines the
parts not to cross each other (§ 516), but which become perceptibly prominent
as soon as one observes the crossing of parts, — ^these fifths, I say, are, on the
contrary, so much the more striking and perceptible, the more definite and
distinct the threads of the parts which cross each other are made, and the more
perceptible the crossing of the parts becomes. Consequently, in fiig. 988, i,
p. 815, if the upper part were to be executed, say by a violin, and the two under
parts by wind instruments, the fifths between the base and the middle part would
become very perceptible ; but far less so, if, say the two upper parts, were to be
performed on the pianoforte, in which case one would far sooner perceive the
passage as it is in ^.
§ 536.
(t) Inserted Fifths. (§ 517.)
Mere inserted fifths (§ 517), moreover, it is easy to understand, do not
sound so iU as actual fifths ; for the very natural reason, that they do not, in
fact, really constitute parallelisms by fifths : and, after all, the parallelism by
fifths in such progressions lies wholly in the imagination. Hence it is indeed
true, that even such fifths, though in a measure feigned and unreal, yet often
sound really ill ; as, for example, in fig. 992 t, p. 816, where they occur in the
outer parts (not in a middle part, as in /) ; as also in fig. 994, p. 817. But it is
equally certain that a sound ear can find nothing objectionable in such passages
as occur in figs. 989 t, 990 t, 991 1, 992 /, and 993, pp. 816 and 817, or even
in figs. 995 and 996, p. 818 ; and it is unfortunate (for the sake of the consist-
ency commended in § 518) that Schicht* considers himself under necessity of
designating such progressions as those in fig. 996, iy k, I, p. 818, by the terms
'' not allowed," "faulty/' and " not good,"
* In his § 9.
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PARALLELISM BT FIFTHS. MERITS. S29
REMARK.
A striking contrariety, again, generally prevails among our theorists on the question
of the admissibility or inadmissibility of inserted fifths, — a contrariety which doubtless
arises again from the &ct that the admissibility or faultiness which each individual may
have discovered in a single case, or in a few cases, is at once rashly made the basis of a
rule for all cases. (Compare remark on § 99.)
Vogler*f for example, allows these concealed fifths without the slightest hesitation. —
Henry Monian Beriowf, on the contrary, in the most determined manner, forbids the
progressions which occur in figs. 990 and 991, p. 816, as concealed progressions by fifths ;
while he, again, politely {polimeni) approves of such cases as the following
f T
a" gS
f e
" by licence" {** par licencBt^ — ^ with your permission — according to your good plea-
sure"), and indeed as " a licence which it is necessary to permit whenever a good effect
will justify it" (" licence qu^il nefaut sepermettre que lorsqu^un grand effetpmit lajus^
Hfier''^). Thus we here learn that there is a rule of beauty whose violation may be of
finer effect than its observance. — ^He should also have told his disciples when such a
violation of the rule produces a '* fine effect" (grand effet).
§ 537.
(g,) Fifths by Contrary Movement. (§ 519.)
Likewise, for the reason mentioned in § 523, Ji/ths in contrary movement
(§ 519) are not usually so offensive as they are in the direct and actually paral-
lel movement ; and sometimes, indeed, they are entirely without fault. Thus,
for example, the passage from Figaro (compare § 519), in fig. 998, p. 819, has
never been suspected by any body to sound ill, although a really sharp-sighted
hunter of consecutive fifths might, perhaps, in addition to the fifths of the con-
trary movement between the upper part and the base,
7 g
g 0
I I
easily descry also concealed fifths between the first and the third parts, fi-om the
second to the third chord,
1
1
T
e
a-
a
1
f
♦ In his Tonwissensckcsft und Tonsetxkunst, p. 65— § 55, of TonsetzhmsU
t In his TraiU d^Hamume,
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830 PARALLELISM BT FIFTHS. — MERITS.
and also a couple more of fifths ui ooDtrary movement between the second and
third measures,
1
1
•
.^
_»
g
c
e
e
1
a
1
§538.
(i.) Ear-Fifths. ({520.)
As it respects the so-called ear-Jiflhs (§ 520), it is not to be denied that the
passage in fig. 999, p. 820, really sounds ill (and we have already remarked, in
§ 245, that the harmonic succession I — ii does not produce a good effect in such
a position) ; but to endeavour to find the cause of this fact in a masked parallel-
ism of fifths— fig. 999 m, p. 820,—
r
ore 'dorcbagf
I I L
is to drive too far the fiirious persecution against every thing that has the name
of fifths. For, as the above representations show, one must distort the passage
in fig. 999 f , p. 820, very much indeed, before he can make it appear as a paral-
lelism of fifths.
If it be insisted upon that a reason shall be assigned why the harmonic suc-
cession I — II sounds somewhat disagreeably only in such a position as that in
fig. 999 f, p. 820, 1 should prefer to seek such a reason, say, in the jhct that the
two outer parts are not here conducted in such a manner as to form, by themselves
alone, without the middle part, a good piece of music (compare § 10) ; because,
if the two outer parts only were present, the third would be wanting in the second
harmony (§ 73). Therefore the passage in fig. 999, t, cannot, for this reason,
sound BO well as that in jd, p. 820, where, even if the middle part were absent,
still the third would not be wanting in the second harmony. In like manner, one
would find it difficult also to condemn the passage in fig. 999 k^ p. 820, where
the fundamental third of the harmony ii is heard in the base.
The above-named conjectural cause is, moreover, still further strengthened
by the fact, that fig. 999, n, sounds obviously better than o. That is, in it the
second part attracts particular attention to itself, on account of the suspension ;
80 that, in this case, the third f is by no means heard in a very insignificant
secondary part, but in a middle part which at the present moment attracts the
attention of the ear particularly to itself, and whidi accordingly is not a mere
insignificant secondary part.
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PARALLELISM BT VIFTHB. — MERITS. 831
My presumed explanation seems still farther to be strengthened by the fact,
that the infelicitous character which pertains to the passage in i, is not to be
found in q, p. 820. That is to say, the second harmony here is a dominant
harmoDy^ and in this it is the less necessary to place the fundamental third in
a principal part, inasmuch as the fundamental third is by no means indispen-
sable in this harmony, but may, without impropriety, be wholly omitted. (§ 74.)
These different considerations may, at least in some measure, serve to ex-
plain the matter ; although I very freely acknowledge that this explanation is by
no means completely satisfactory.
{g.) Closing Remark. (§521.)
§ 539.
In addition to the difierent drcumstances adverted to, from § 524 to the
present place, still a multitude of others might be enumerated upon which the
admissibility or prohibition of a parallelism by fifths may depend.
Thus it may be said, in general, that the ear sometimes fidls to receive a
disagreeable impression from such parallels, simply because its attention is di-
rected to something else, and thus is as it were diverted from the parallel move-
ment of the parts. This b particularly the case, sometimes, in digressive har-
monic successions. Thus, for example, the reason why the parallelism of two
minor fifths, in fig. 953, p. 805, does not sound ill, lies perhaps chiefly in the
fact, that the attention of the ear is diverted from following the thread of the
parts by the digressive modulation, and is turned more to following the thread of
the modulation.
A favorable effect also seems to be produced by the digressive modulation
in figs. 949, 950, 951, 954, and 996 m, n, &c. pp. 804, 805, 818.
We might even say, perhaps, that, in figs. 956 and 962, pp. 805 and 806,
the simultaneous occurrence of three tones foreign to the harmony in a mass so
engrosses the ear, that it forgets to bestow any attention upon the parallel
movement.
All these, and still many other circumstances, which it would be tedious
fully to enumerate, may contribute to mitigate the ill effect of parallel progres-
sions by fifths ; and this is obviously so much more the case, the more these pal-
liative circumstances concur ; so that, in fact, many parallels cannot be consi-
dered as in the least ill in their effect ; as, for example, in figs. 943, 960, 961,
965, 967, 984, 998, pp. 803, 805—508, 812, 819, and others which it would
be superfluous here to mention.
Whether, and under what circumstances, a parallelism by fifths may be
considered as sfificiently paUiated and fiee from objection , cannot, in the nature
of the case, be very minutely and accurately defined, and the final decision must,
after all, be submitted to the test of a cultivated musical ear.
Upon the whole, I would advise every composer, in doubtful cases, dlwaiys
to avoid a parallel progression by ffths, in preference to admitting it; partly
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832 PABALLSLI8M BT FIFTHS. — MERITS.
becanse, even if it does not sound repulsively to hts awn ear, on his trying it,
perhaps on the pianoforte, it possibly may sound so to another ear, under differ-
ent circumstances ; and partly, also, because he always at least exposes himself
to the criticism of many affected, fastidious pedants, even by the least exception-
able parallel progressions by fifths, — ^which thing it is preferable, as &r as
possible, to avoid.
REMABK.
Musical authors have also felt obliged to assign a reason why parallelisms by fifUis
sound ill, and, in doing it, they have fallen into some of the strangest whims. (Com-
pare remark on § 99.)
There are some, for example, who would derive the cause from the &vorite doctrine
of consonances and dissonances, and indeed particularly from perfect and imperfect con-
sonances. A fifth, they say, is a perfect consouance, and two fifths, two perfect conso-
nances in immediate succession, are too excessively consonant, involve too much natural
agreeableness of sound, and, therefore, sound iU! ., ! —
Others teach thus : (1.) two fifths in immediate succession always point to two three-
fold chords, (t— See figs. 948, 953, pp. 803 and 805, and 1001, t, k, below :)
(Fig. 1001, t.)
(A.) (/.) (w.) («.)
VI n V
(2.) two different three-fold chords point to two different keys ; (? — ^Fig. 1001 /, m, above),
— and (3.) therefore (t — ^Pray ! may not two keys, then, follow each other T Fig. 1001 a,
above), two fifths in immediate succession sound ill. — ^This is what the gentlemen call a
demonstration of the reason why consecutive fifths sound amiss !
Under ordinary circumstances, it would be incredible that a man should presume to
proffer demonstrations of such a character, in theoretical works of instructions, for pore
coin. But, that it is in &ct done, and even in the most modem theories, as well as in
others, may be seen, for example, from the Elements of Harmony* by Mr. chapel-master
Frederick Schneider (previous to the publication of the first edition of the third volume
of my theory) f. Here it is, — ^page 52, § 146.
" If one hears two tones which stand at the distance of a major fifth from each otheri
he will involuntarily be led to construe this connection of tones" (sic) '' as a threefold
harmony of the first degree of a major key. The major third, which is wanting, is
supplied by the ear, namely :
^O n Bomidstouslike Z § ^44— -"
* Elementarbuch der Harmonie.
t The reference here is to a portion of the author*s work lymg between § 312 and
§467, this portion constituting the third volume of the work as originally published. ^Tr.
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PARALLELISM BT FIFTHS.
833
p
F:
C:
O:
d:
-ni
-VI
-n
-V
9-
F:
a major and a minor 1 e.
II—
V-
I-
IV-
i—d.'Y
n— d:V
g.C: V— VI,
This passage, as one perceives, is synonymous with the one above selected in (1) ; and
here also the very first thought which presents itself, is, (o.)
that the entire premises are strikingly untrue. In the
first place, as is clearly shown by the foregoing examples,
there is not a word of truth in the statement that two
tones at the distance of a fifth from each other always
point to a three-fold chord, and that two successive fifths
always point to two successive three-fold chords. It is
untrue, in particular, that the harmonic combinations re-
ferred to always indicate two major three-fold chords.
Why not two minor 1 e,g, ii — ni in F-major,-
or G : I— II,— or d: iv — V, &c.
But we will assume even* that two-major three-fold
chords are always indicated by two such fifths (which is
by no means true), yet it is still farther false, that two
successive three-fold harmonies always impress the ear
as being both tonic three-fold chords, as I; since, for
example, the harmonic succession (Sr — 1SI may be, at one
time, D : IV— V, at another G : l—D : V, at another C: Y—d
frequently of all be G ; I — A : 1 1
But even if we assume this to be true, and also let it pass as true, that, in the examples
referred to, the ear now directly perceives the harmonic succession G : 1 — A : I, — also that
this harmonic succession is faulty, and thai therefore the parallelism by fifths sounds ill, —
still, even all this being taken for granted, it would follow, (q.)
that in the subjoined example q, the parallelism by fifths
does not sound ill, since the ear does not, in this case,
supply the major third.
From the foregoing examination of the fundamental principles of Mr. Schneider's
demonstration, it is seen that an edifice based on such a foundation must easily fall to
ruin of its own accord, without the necessity of making any onset upon It. It is, namely,
farther said, in
" § 147. Two consecutive fifths may occur in direct movement, either gradually or
by skips."
(a.) (6.) (c.) (d) (e.) if.) (g.) (h.)
:V,
D: IV V
G: l—D.y
C: V— <f;V
&c. but will least
** Now if such a fifth-step takes place gradually, as in a, 5, c, d, the sudden digression
■^XT
into another key, not standing in a sufficiently near alliance to the first, produces a re-
pulsive impression upon the ear ; on this account, the consecutive fifths in c and d are still
more harsh, because the keys whose fundamental tones one imagines himself to hear
stand in a still more remote grade of relationship, than they do in a and 5.*' — (Thus
Mr. Schneider, here again perfectly a;;reeing with the position assumed above at (2),
supposes the above harmonic combinations to be exclusively tonic three-fold chords, and
thus that in (a) there is an harmonic step from C-major to Z>-major, — ^in (6), from C to £b,
— ^in (c), from C to Db, &c. and, in coincidence with the above position (3), he also
farther assumes, that such digressions are forbidden digressions, and therefore that the
parallel progressions by fifths are of ill effect ! — ) ** The skipping successions of fifths
in {e) and (/) are altogether less disagreeable to the ear, inasmuch as the keys of which
one conceives himself to hear the fundamental tones'* (tonic harmonies) " stand in the
nearest grade of relationship;**— >(t) — ^*h\A not so the fifths in (^) and (^).** — (Now
VOL. II. E E
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PARALLELISM BT FIFTHS.
the whole thing depends apon dicumttaiices, and hence, how inch eiampleB aoond in
the present case, entirely without the third, and oat of all connection, ia of no manner
of importance as it respects the cause of the faoltiness of their progressions.)^** Bat
such equal skips of chords (we assume, namely, that the ear takes all these fifths to be
three-fold chords)",— (and therein lies the oft-repeated great mistake !) — ** are also, ac-
cording to the remark in { 143, as much as possible to be avoided ; consequently it is
easy to see why the fifths in (e) and (/) should be avoided.'*— (In the remaric referred
to is found only : " Soch a like progression of all the parts together upward or downward
always exhibits also an air of stiffness and awkwardness.**)
Finally, according to § 150, a proof that the causes of the &ultiness of parallel pro-
gressions by fifths, which [causes] are adduced in ^ 147, are not only the iruBf but even
<< the only ones,*' is supposed to lie in the &ct that the following fig. (a.)
sounds badly, but not fig. (5.), — and fig. (c.) still better. — Such an argument (not to
mention, for brevity's sake, many others) needs no refutation, for the very good reason
that in ftict one of the examples sounds as miserably as the other, though fig. (a.) may,
perhaps, be a little more repulsive on account of its committing an offence against the
principles exhibited in our § 339. See also §4 524 and 539.
It would be easy, in few words, to point out a multitude of other incongruities to
which the before-named mode of explanation would, if adopted, necessarily lead : as,
for instance, that if one were to assume the cause of the ill effect of the following
example (0.) to lie in the succession of the two three-folds harmonies ® and 91. whether
that succession be ideal or actual, then of course a like ill effect would exhibit itself also
in (r.) or (j.) :
(o.)
p
ICC
^
that the whole demonstration, in general, even if its assumptions were materially cor-
rect, would prove a great deal too much, and, in doing so, would fail altogether to prove
what it is intended to prove ; for, on the one hand, it admits of the inference that every
succession of two harmonic combinations, in the first of which occur, for example, the
tones g and d", and, in the second the tone8~a and e, would be fiiulty , and, accordingly, the
above fig. (r) also would be a faulty progression by fifths ; while, on the other hand, it
assigns no cause whatever why two such harmonic combinations sound ill only when the
two fifths follow each other in direct or parallel movement, which happens to be just the
thing and the only thing to be proved, &c. &c. — ! !
It is here again perceived to what it leads, if one feels himself obliged always to
assume the air of knowing the cause of everything, even if he really knows nothing at all
about it.
Moreover, as it respects the phantom, called ** harmonic *A^" ["Harmtmieensprtmg"'],
which, as we have heard, is likewise employed as an ingredient [ingrediens] for demon-
strating the cause of the prohibition of consecutive fifths (compare Turck^s Guide to
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MEANS OF AVOIDINO PARALLELISMS BT FIFTHS. 835
Thorough Bass*, § 55, remark),— it would, after what has been said in remark on § 496,
be an idle waste of time to squander another word upon such unmeaning gibberish.
(C.) MEANS OF AVOIDINe PABALLBLIBM8 BT FIFTHS.
§ 540.
In addition to all that bas thus &r been said, it still remains to us now to
give some hints upon the method of avoiding disagreeable parallel progressions
by fifths. (See figs. 933—1001, pp. 800—832.)
This can most easily be done, for the most part, bt/ mutually inverting the
two parts which run parallel to each other, tbus converting the upper part into
the under, and vice vers4. By this means tbe parallels by fifths are changed
into parallels by fourths, which latter are usually less disagreeable in their
efiect than the former. Thus we can remove the twofold parallelism of fifths
in fig. 937 t^ p. 801, for example, by giving the harmony such a position as is
found in ^.^In like manner we can, in fig. 939, p. 802, invert merely the two
upper parts, as in k. — So likewise the fifths in fig. 932rt, p. 800, at least in
part, admit of being changed into fourths, as in m, — The passage in fig. 948 «,
p. 803, would not admit of being improved in this way, as is apparent firom k,
p. 804, for it would then be as in /. (§ 503.) Nor would the passage in fig. 946,
p. 803, sound much better by having its fifths changed into fourths, as in
fig. 947, p. 803. Fig. 962, p. 806, on the contrary, would alvraiys be less
exceptionable in the position which it has in k, than in that which is found in t.
§541.
Another means of avoiding parallelisms of fifths consists in entirely chang-
ing the course of the one or the other of the two parts. Thus, the faulty
passage exhibited in fig. 933 «, p. 800, would admit of being materially im-
proved by altering the two under parts, say as in i», — or the upper parts as
in Oy — or even as in /) and q, where entirely different harmonies incidentally
appear.
In like manner, such parallelisms by fifths as occur in fig. 937 t, p. 801,
may be avoided by altering the conduct of one part, as in m, or n, &c.
In a similar way we can remove the parallelism of fifths in fig. 942 1, p. 803,
so fiskr as we find them repulsive, by altering the passage as in ^, /, or m.
It must not, moreover, be overlooked, that in the examples thus improved in
fig. 937 w, &c. p. 801, and fig. 942 m, p. 803, at least concealed fifths may
always be traced out, — ^which, however, are not here of ill effect.
§542.
If we either cannot or will not apply the expedients which have been
mentioned in the foregoing sections, we must content ourselves with merely
Anweistmg xum Generalbass.
EE2
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836 MEANS OF AVOIDING PARALLELISMS BT FIFTHS.
concealing or alleviating as much as possible the parallel progressions of fifths;
that is, with removing them as much as possible from the attention of the ear,
and with changing the cpen fifthsy where it can be done, into concealed, A
sufficient guide to this is furnished by §§ 525, 530^537, and hence it is now
necessary only to quote a few examples.
It is evident, from what has been said in § 525, that the comparatively
ill-sounding passage in fig. 992 t, p. 816, admits of being materially improved
by transferring the concealed fifths from their situation between the two outer
parts to one involving at least one of the less conspicuous middle or otherwise
secondary parts, and thereby, as it were, concealing them, as in /.
The disagreeable effect of a parallel progression by fifths often admits of
being removed also by changing these fifths into the less offensive harpeggiate
fifths. Accordingly, the very ill-sounding passage exhibited above in fkg, 936,
p. 801, may be considered as somewhat improved, if it be altered as in fig.
968 t, p. 808, or, still better, as in fig. 971, «, Ar, p. 809; on which account,
even Kimberger^ describes such passages as that in fig. 971 «, and also that in
fig. 970 t, p. 808, as'firee fi-om fault.— So also the passage in fig. 939, p. 802,
appears better in such a form as is found in fig. 974. p. 809, and certainly
quite unexceptionable if the consecutive parallels of the upper parts be in
some measure removed by intermediate tones foreign to the harmony, as in
fig. 984, p. 812.
Thus even Kimbergerf considers the fifths in fig. 938, p. 802, as sufficiently
concealed by the tones foreign to the harmony in fig. 980 k, p. 812«
An example, showing how a parallelism by fifths may be not so much con-
cealed as rather converted into mere imagined fifths, bg the crossing of parts,
is shown by the above passages in fig. 987, t and k, p. 815, since the parallelism
of fifths which appears in the latter almost entirely disappears, if we make the
parts cross each other as in t, so far at least as the one part is perceptibly
distinct from the other. — Kimberger gives this example as one that is entirely
unexceptionable.
§543.
But if these mitigating expedients do not admit of being applied, or if they
are not adequate to the entire removal of the disagreeable efiect produced by
the parallelism of fifths, no other course remains but to abandon altogether the
musical thought which involves such an infelicity, and to substitute an entirely
different one in its place.
(D.) THE REGISTER OF FIFTHS IN THE ORGAN.
§544.
I cannot here deny myself the opportunity of calling the attention of my
readers to a peculiar phenomenon, which seems to ntUlifg the whole prohibition
of parallelisms by fifths.
pp. 160 and 151. f I. Bd. p. 30.
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ORGAN BSeiSTSB OF FIFTHS. 837
That is to say, there is (as already mentioned in the remark on § IV) a
peculiar arrangement in the organ — namely, the register of fifths — whereby,
by striking any individual key, we are made to hear, in addition to the tone
appropriate to that key, also at the same time its major fifth (or double fifth —
twelfth, &c.) ; as, for example, on striking the 6-key, we hear, besides the tone
G, at the same time also the tone d, 3, or ?, — on striking the A-key, we hear
likewise the tone e, e, e^ Sec, — and in connection with the B-key, also the tone
f% 7% or 1% &c. — so that if we strike the keys G, A, B, c in immediate succes-
sion, we are made to hear, in addition to these tones, likewise the fifths of these
with them, as is shown by the points in fig. 1002, i and k :
(Fig. 1002, t.) (A.) ^ (/.)
Thus it is seen that the register of fifths produces an unbroken series of
parallels by fifths; and we very justly feel surprised that an intolerably ill
I effect is not constantly experienced therefrom.
The case becomes entirely unaccountable, when we learn still further, that,
besides this register of fifths, there is also another register of thirds (the two,
taken together, being called also mixed renters), which causes us to hear, in
connection with every tone that is struck, likewise its normally pure major third
(double or triple third), as in fig. 1002 /, above ; so that, by virtue of the
register of fifths and the register of thirds, we may, on striking, say, the keys
c g bb e] hear all those tones together which are pointed out in the remark on
§IV,p.8.
It would not, in fact, be easy to comprehend how it comes about that our
auditory nerves can bear such music ! did not the remark made on § IV help
us out of the difiiculty by assuring us that such registers of fifths never sound
otherwise than ill, except when — they are not heard. This remark, whose
truth no one, on making an experiment, will be able to evade, at once saves
us the trouble of seeking farther, and who knows how learned, reasons and
explanations why such registers of thirds and fifths are not pamfiil to our ear.
So much at least as this is settled thereby, namely, that the register of fifths
in the organ does not conflict with the doctrine of the ill effect of perceptible
parallel progressions by fifths ; — and hence, Yogler* has justly observed that he
would not be afraid to let a tenor- violin proceed in a parallelism of pure fifths
with the base part throughout an entire piece of music in many parts. He is
certainly quite right, so long as his tenor-violin is not heard.
I have written more extensively on this subject in Ersch's Encyclopaedia,
under the article — Accessory tones [BeitOne]. (Compare remark on § IV.)
* In his Handbuch der Harmonielehre, p. 63.
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838
PARALLELISM BT SIXTHS AND SBVENTBS.
DIVISION VL
PARALLELISM BT SIXTHS.
§ 545.
In relation to parallel progressions by sixths^ which are properly nothing
else than inverted parallelisms by thirds, it is of oooiBe necessary only to say
the same that has been said already in relation to thirds.
A particular species of parallel progressions by sixths is to be found m tmdi
third-sixth series as are mentioned in § 504.
DIVISION VII.
PARALLELISM BY SEVENTHS.
§546.
In respect to parallel progressions by sevenths^ several examples of which
are fonnd below, there is likewise not much to be said in addition to what has
been remarked already in relation to parallelisms by seconds^ of which latter
the sevenths are only inversions.
(Fig. 1003.*.)
Fig. 1003. i.) ,r— 1 (*•> I I r^J I^^T I
f ,jJ^^^l,Mlf^FrVl^l/M
^E
^
—& 1— »-
If ||,y. J ;ij j^^.^
r' rr r^-r
:%=<
i
*:
^
(Fig. 1003 ».) a:
e
c
(Fig. 1003 k.) T
g
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PABALLSLI8M BY OCTAVS& 839
It shoald be observed^ however, that sevenths often sound better than
seconds, as is shown by a comparison of fig. 1003 k with fig. 1003 /; — and our
ear has already, as it were, become accustomed to many species of progressions
by sevenths ; as, for example, to such as occur in fig. 1004, below :
(Fig. 1004.)
> I t ! » t^8 g II ' >>«=
i
^irrjiTTf^
DIVISION vm.
PARALLELISM BY OGTAYBS.
§547.
Musical writers have made the doctrine of the parallel progression of two
parts in octaves, under the name of forbidden octaves^ as notorious as that of
prohibited fifths. We will, however, abbreviate the treatment of it, at least to
some extent, by availing ourselves of references to much that has been said
already on the subject of forbidden fifths.
(A.) ENUMSBATION OF THE DIVFEBENT SPECIES OF OCTAVE PARALLELS.
(1.) Proper, actual or open Octave Parallels.
§548.
In parallelisms by octaves, also, we have the distinction of proper or open,
and of concealed or imaginary.
Proper or open parallels by octaves are found in fig. 1005,
(Fig. 1005.)
!■■' M I
between the upper part and the base. — Octaves in not strictly parallel move-
ment may be seen in fig. 1006 :
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840
OCTAVE PARALLELS. — ^DIFFEBENT SPECIES.
TLNI
(Fig. 1006.)
IP
" <
E
g3-^-^-g^
m^-jJ
Mfflra^.^
r I IV II
V III TI IV "Til V
(2.) Improper or concealed Parallels by Octaves^
§549.
(a.) Separated by Rests.
Besides such open octaves, the ear sometimes perceives some, where, to the
eye and according to the notes, there are none ; as, for example, in the foUowing
passage, in case the rests be conceived to be absent :
(Fig. 1007.)
J.
3l=p:
!=P=
^
f
^a-
r
'■>y-f r ■
^
i
^^
E
-*= ^
The case is the same in figs. 1008 and 1009 :
(Fig. 1008.)
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(Fig. 1009, t.)
OCTAVE PABJLLLEU. — DirFBBENT 8PBCIB8.
(*•) .
841
^
^
2i
I
M
i^E^
•0.ll!»
• ^ ca
m
mj^ flf I °-
S'
t — r
M^
A:d J.
A:d i.
'^^gf^q
TT"
1^^
■^
J
So likewise the passage in fig. 1010, already referred to, oontains, in addition to
the oonsecntiye fifths, separated by rests, also the same species of concealed
octaves :
(Fig. 1010.)
^njT'q'^
BBETHOYXn.
JL^ q| A ^
\i\ I f
S a i 3 ^F
^B
m
and the same are found also in fig. 1011
(Fig. 1011.)
±
S
y-^^^^T-trt
Adagio, X
as also in fig. 1012 :
(Fig. 1012.)
3a:
I
1
"» r
^7lT-5rT[^-^-^^:=|
5:
a
1
I II 1
a b c
f g a
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84)
OCTAVE PABALLBLS. — DIFFKBKNT 8PKCI1
§550.
(5.) Harpeggiate Octavei.
Octave parallels by the harpeggiate progression of a part are found in the
following examples^ fig. 1013 t (already quoted as broken parallels in fifths),
(Fig. 1013,1.) (A.)
f-^\-z U' h^l iA'i\
p°i °n ip^^^-f^irr^
between the upper part and the second base note of each measure : similar pro-
gressions are found also in ^.-
(Fig. 1013*.) a
f g a
The same spedes of concealed octaves may be recognized also in figs. 1014,
1015, and 1016:
(Fig. 1014.) ^^ (Fig. 1016.)
r
'• TT "■ TT^^ FnX^j .i-ir^^
^m
33:
i
a^
331
-O-
(Fig. 1016.
%
I I
I
KIlUfBERGEB.
^
I — 1— I p r r ' V r I i±:
namely : (Fig. 1014.) e
e c
c a
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OCTAVE PARALLELS. — DIFFERENT SPECIES.
843
I 1
(Fig. 1016.) a 1 h e
J
(Fig. 1015.) a F c
c^ 7 ^ g e a
I 11 I
f g a
I 11 !,
Several such octave parallels are found also in fig. 101 7, t, as the brackets
show :
(Fig. 1017, t.) HUMinL'S 1»* KASS.
. , . .r . (*•) 11 I J (^O I J I I
BA88I. p
\ 1
^V' '111 r f rj I
Compare k and /.
On the contrary, there are passages, again, which, oonddered merely accord-
ing to the notes, seem indeed to contain open parallels by octaves, but which
cease to do so, in case the passage is regarded as an harpeggiate progression.
In the following passage, in fig. 1018 t.
(Fig. 1018,1.)
(f)
rpMTffrlkfl^^f^^rlJrll^^^
^''°. i'rili'nihi+^iriii°ii-niMii
(m.)
(«.)
f ;!■ pTr- f lltJir | l^JhlJTti
m
^11^ n fr\\
33P
I I
the eye, it is true, provided we regard the passage directly according to the
notes, perceives open progressions by octaves. But these disappear, if we look
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844
OCTAVE PARALLELS. ^DIFFXBENT BPSCIE8.
upon the npper part as an harpeggiate representation of two parts, as in ^ or /.
(Compare § 512.) It would be stiU more unequivocal as it is Id m or n. — So
likewise fig. 1019 t,
(Fig. 1019, ».)
V06LEE.
^ 0 Jl n |^T^,n I j: J. J. J3 ^
et re - dux - it
J.
Bu - per e - 06 Do-mi-nus a - quas.
iA_i I ,.^=^^U^
£
f=^^
r"^ r^rTi'r
j^^^v^-^
^
:t
W^
admits of being regarded as an harpeggiate progression^ as in it, where, accord-
ingly, no octave parallel would be present.
§551.
(c.) Accent'Octcsves.
The ear often perceives octave parallels between tones rendered promineni
hy the accent or emphasis (compare § 513) ; for example, in fig. 1020, t, k^ I,
m; and in fig. 1021, from the second to the third measure between the base and
the upper part :
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(Fig. 1021.)
i
h o
OCTAVE PARALLELS. DIFFERENT SPECIES. 845^
^ ^CHERUBini'S MASS.
r 1
TT"
qui
prop
ter
nt /JJ,.-^, p-i
att
£
g^
■W^i:
lfffT>P-C^^S
^b";jU ef^
p=i=^
^
2^
^
^^
noe ho
nes, qm
prop>«
fe^
^S^5i^^^
ftnf
■?FF
^llU-ff "^' fe'I?
JWTT-ffTrT
^^
cT^JiIgfj^ ^
§552.
(d.) Octave ParaleUs concealed by Transitioti'tones.
Octave parallels sometimes occur concealed by transition-tones^ as^ e,ff.
fig. 1022:
(Fig. 1022.)
^-^^^r
f-r
-h
Similar octaves, imperfectly concealed by short tones foreign to the harmony,
are fonnd in figs. 1023 had 1024 :
(Fig. 1023.)
sC^fe.
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846
OCTAVE PARALLELS.— DIPFBBBNT SPECIES.
(Fig. 1024.)
Velio,
^S^
Vtorne.
5EP
i:
3E
it
P h r
±
— The parallel iii fig. 1029 is concealed by a more important tone foreigD to
the harmony.
(Fig. 1026, <.) (*.) . . (/.) . . («.)
r^
i' i. %' I 'I,' / / inttn
'^r r ■■ llrTrTDr ffjW^M
(n.)
^
=F
In the following passage also, fig. 1026 t,
(Fig. 1026, ».) I 1 HATDN.
(*•)
I N I
a
^
• n
jiz*:
7^
Andante.
a5=a3
j-^ri.
^^^-^^ig^gET-r^' II J-l lU^
(I)
(«.)
J^
1
l3
& I 1^
:M^
I
«> ij j
f r" "^'f' — r
J.
-4t.^^^!yu^4.£^^n^n
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OCTAVE PABALLEL8. DIFFBBENT SPECIES.
847
provided one conceives the harpeggiate base part not to be such, but as it is in
ky he will perceive concealed harpeggiate octaves between the outer parts.
r
a"
c
c 1
B
which are merely forced a little from the parallel course by the transition
tones 7 and c^ inserted in the upper part, but are still sufficiently perceptible
to the ear, inasmuch as such a conduct of the outer parts at once strongly
reminds one that the parallels would be open, provided the transition-tones were
considered to be absent, as in /. The parallels would be still more perceptible
in m and n, than they are in t.
§553.
(e.) Octaves by ike Crossing of Paris.
That many octave parallels^ only imperfectly avoided by the crossing of
two parts, are sometimes perceived as actual parallels, may be seen from the
passage in fig. 1027, already referred to in § 51 5, namely :
(Fig. 1027.)
/1^
TLINO 1.
VLIN02Y
VIOLA.
VCLLO.
P
jdL
^
35:
:t=t
I
iStzt
13
3
SU±
:dd"^dAJ.Am
^Ad^i^J^A
35
O. lOi
■t-
2=?
sa;
-^
€3i-
f^
f^
Compare fig. 986, p. 814.
— And 80 also in fig. 1028 i,
(Fig. 1028,.-.)
(*.)
P
S
^
1
m
f7ni;
I
I
¥£
-&r-
^
-Q} g—
=F
I
where in fact no part seems parallel to another, still, one may, by merely
comparing the series of the upper tones with that of the lower, discover parallels
by octaves, as is shown by k.
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S48
OCTAVS PARALLELS. DIFPERBNT SPECIES.
If, in thus example, octave parallels exhibit themselves in proportion as one
imagines the crossing parts not to cross each other, we likewise sometimes find,
on the other hand, that two parts, really running parallel to ecLch other in open
octaves, are sometimes so concealed by a third part which crosses one of the
former y that the ear scarcely, even if at all, perceives the octaves. Thus, fer
example, in fig. 1029, t^
(Fig. 1029, f.) (A.)
n
±
:e=P:
i
i
:«3t
the second part in itself proceeds in octaves with the base (and, besides, the
third part also in fifths) ; bat the upper part, which crosses the middle part,
gives the passage such an appearance as is exhibited in ^ / so that, by disre-
garding the crossing of parts and viewing the example simply according to the
notes, one perceives neither octaves nor fifths.
In like manner, the octave parallelism of the upper part with the base in
fig. 1019 t, p. 844, is concealed by the fact that the latter is crossed by the
tenor, whereby the case assumes, in some measure, the appearaace which is
exhibited in /.
% 554.
(/.) Inserted Octaves,
The teachers of musical composition, moreover, will not allow us to employ
even one single octave in direct movement, and hence find a concealed trans-
gression of the interdict in such passages as in fig. 1030 t,
(Fig. 1030, t.)
(A.)
('.)
2
331
i
331
3!
=f^
i^PI
inasmuch as they, in idea, insert the tones c B and A between the skip of the
base firom d to G, as in ^ (compare § 517). — In this sense, we find concealed
octaves also in fig. 1031 t, —
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OCTAVE PABAI.LKL8. — ^DIFFERKNT SPECIES.
849
(Fig. 1031,,-.) (*.) (/.)
-o-
r^
H
: o "Ho (T^f-'^-i =
<-i
— H
aUo in the second measure of fig. 1032 :
(Fig. 1032.)
6RAUN.
t^ nnn twkr _ At\ - n*
non per - do - ua.
•g f f —
S
eb ? e bb ab g f
So al9P iq fig. 1033 :
(Fig. 1038.)
i
S
■^
eb
eb
g
c
c"
And likewise in iig. 1034 :
(Fig. 1034.)
R
s t F
CALSABA.
iih-n i — h- 1—
J - ram a- re -me ma r
\ F T R T
^3-
I IT t •* B R F B
h=
VOL. II.
ftt
b
B
I I
F F
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890
OCTATB PABAI.LBU. — DIFPKBKNT 8PSCIKS.
In fig. 1035 also,
(Fig. 1036.)
^
1^-51—^
M'lh) "U
'g:^n-H ^1^ 4|^4:f^
I
several such concealed octave progressions discover themselves, — and an inserted
octave in fig. 1021, p. 845, from the second to the third measure^ in addition to
the accent octave already mentioned, namely :
1
a-
1
%
bb
Bb c
d
L_
eb
1
Here, again, to he truly learned aod consistent, as already suggested in § 518,
one must also construe every direct step fbom an octave as a forbidden octave
parallelism ; as, for example, fig. 1036 t — n, and fig. 1037 :
(Fig. 1036, t.) (AJ Q.)_ {«.) (n.)
3=C
jol
,ii
TIIH^'
h^-M „ll~^=^
i
23:
(Fig. 1037.)
I I
i
331
And, in fitct, Mr. Sehicht does designate the progression in fig. 1037 as *' not
allowahle/'
§555.
{g.) Octaves by Contrary MbvemeTd,
Octaves in contrary movement are also reckoned into the class of concealed
octave parallels ; as, ibr example, in fig. 1038,
(Fig. 1038.)
^ d I 'J J I b3
35:
and so also in fig. 1009 k, p. 841.
^
^
:^
i
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OCTAVB PARALLELS. — MERITS. 851
(3.) More extended Survey,
§ 556.
Siace it would here likewise lead me far too much into detail to pursue the
discussion of these and other like species of concealed octaves still farther, I
must here again relinquish the merit of completeness (compare § 521), and
satisfy myself simply with adding a few remarks on the admissibility or pro-
hibition of parallel progressions by octaves.
(B.) MERITS OF PARALLELISMS BY OCTAVES.
§557.
The case is, in general, the same with these parallelisms by octaves as we
have already (in §§ 522 — 539) observed it to be ¥dth forbidden fifths,
(1.) The parallel progression qf two different parts at the distance of an
octave frequently and indeed usually produces a disagreeable and repulsive
effect ; as may be clearly enough perceived, for example, from fig. 1005, p. 839.
(2.) But, for the reasons that parallelisms by fifths often sound onfy a
little disagreeably and sometimes even not at all, this is also the case with paral-r
lelisms by octaves. Hence,
(a.) Octave parallels in musical compositions having many parts, are the
more easily passed over by the ear (compare § 524), and especially
(d.) When octave parallels fall into middle and otherwise subordinate
parts, they are less apt to be noticed by the ear, than when they occur in priuf
cipal parts. (Compare § 525.)
(c) But, particularly, those octaves are entirely unexceptionable which
arise, in the case of merely doubling a part in a higher or a lower octave
(§ 15, c), between this part and its duplicate. The octaves in figs. 1010 and
1011, p. 841, for example, are of this description; as are also the open octaves
in the first two measures of the pianoforte accompaniment in fig. 1008, p. 840,
So, in an orchestra, we may, e. ^. in a symphony, allow the part of the
violins to run an octave higher than that of a flute. In this case, it is true, the
flute proceeds uninterruptedly at the distance of an octave above the violin
part ; but since it is virtually but a mere doubling of the violin part, the octave
progression in such a case is quite unexceptionable. The flute part is not to
be reckoned as an independent part, distinct from that of the violin, but only as
one and the same part, though on a smaller scale ; and thus theriB are not in such
a case two distinct parts running in octaves to each other. — ^In like manner, we
often hear, and with the finest effect, a wind instrument playing in octaves or
double octaves to a vocal part, or one instrument with another ; as, for example,
the first violin in double octaves to the vocal part in fig. 1039 :
ff2
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U5i
OCTITE PABALLELS. — MRBITS.
(Fig. 1089.)
^— ^
#-J^-(
f q ,^ .^^tyrggSg^
So, in an orchestra, the violoncello almost always proceeds an octave higher
than the violono, which latter is in its own nature an octave lower than the
violoncello — (as does frequently also the tenor-violin one octave higher, and
sometimes, moreover, still other instruments hy^ev^o/ octaves higher, — ^to which
subject we shall again recur in the doctrine of instrumentation, and of which I
will only quote as a single example the so-called cymbal base in the organ).
The case is substantially the same when octaves are played with the left-hand
on the pianoforte, or a melody or single passage is performed in octaves by the
right-hand. — Fig. 1023, p. 845, is of a similar description : here the two under
parts, though the one proceeds exclusively in quarter-notes, while the other is
ornamented in its course by sixteenth transition-notes, still are in all essential
respects to be regarded as virtually one doubled part — as a lowest part — as the
base part. — The case is the same in fig. 1024, p. 846. — Like¥dse in fig. 1006,
p. 840, where the violoncello part is ornamented with the harmonically foreign
tones f tt> gS, att, and runs in (partly unlike) octaves above the violono part, the
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OCTAVB PARALLELS. — MKBIT8.
853
two are to be reckoned only as one single base part, and so of course the octave
parallels in this case are not to be regarded as forbidden progressions.
Indeed^ we find entire passages, and sometimes even whole pieces of music,
in which all the parts proceed in octaves to one another (compare §32), and
which in this case are to be considered in one sense as only one-part composi-
tions, and are even not unfireqaently marked with the " all* untsono" (^' in
unison") although such a case is not strictly in all respects a unison, but a
unison in a subordinate sense.
For a similar reason, we do not regard it as a case of forbidden progression,
if a vocal part, particularly a base vocal part, runs in octaves above the merely
accompanying proper base part. — It is not inadmissible even for a soprano part
occasionally to proceed in octaves to the base, and thus as it were for a time to
represent, in a subordinate measure, a base part, — an occurrence which not
unfrequently takes place in the terminations of phrases by the harmonic succes-
sions V^ — I, or V^ — I. An example of this kind is found in fig. 1008, p. 840.
In all cases of this species, where two or more parts proceeding in octaves
to each other are virtually one and the same, such progression is altogether
unexceptionable, since it is not properly two different parts which thus proceed
together.- We can speak of forbidden octaves only in cases where two parts
which are radically distinct throughout, and which must necessarily be so, run
paraUel to each other in octaves.
It is a difierent case, however, when the two parts thus running parallel to
each other at the distance of an octave are not thus decidedly to be regarded as
one and the same (compare § 527), when they do not, as in the example quoted,
proceed together throughout, or at least for some entire portion of the way, hut
while they must properly be considered as in the main two distinct parts, still
once in a while incidentally take a single step together in octaves ; as, e, g. in
fig. 1040,
(Fig. 1040.)
j-j^-f
i i i- I
r'r f ^ ^
where the first and the third parts are in the main two different parts, and yet
in a single instance proceed together by octaves, as follows :
c H
c "a
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854 OCTAVE PARALLELS. — MERITS.
ff
— Fig. 1041, likewise, is to be considered as quite impure in this respect: —
From Gretry't Bichard Cobot de Lion, aocording to the original wore.
(Fig. 1041.)
Andanie,
^ OnA 1a Snl.biti S* « la^in raa ■am hln Atmm man lar^iti nn fFram<»Bn Atk mn.vwn
Qae le Sol-tan 8a - la-din raa-aem-ble dam flon jar-din an tronpean de joo-Ten.
as is also fig. 1042, k and /.** —
(Fig. 1042, f.) (*.) (/.)
yig.l042,f.) (k.) (I.) Jm.) (n.)
xlz
H-Mh'-S=fcnrnr« ' I ||i_L..||
ftnd even the progression designated by brackets in fig. 1039, p. 852, is not
entirely above criticism.
(d,) All species of concealed octaves, ih general, are not so ofiensiYe to Uie
ear, as actual and open octaves, and are always the more tolerable and the less
exceptionable, the more they are covered and concealed ; while, on the contrary,
they are the more unhappy in their effect, in proportion as they approximate the
real, actual octaves, and the more illusive, as such, they may seem to the ear.
(Compare § 530.)
(fi.) Hence, those octave parallels which are separated by rests (and
which appear to the ear as such only by conceiving the rests to be absent) do
not, in consequence of this interruption, impress the ear so unfavourably as if
they proceeded in unbroken succession ; and this meliorating effect is increased
in proportion as the interruption is the more considerable and the succession the
less immediate. (Compare § 531.) Accordingly, in fig. 1009 t^ p. 841, the ear
can perhaps scarcely perceive the octaves.
(b.) For the same reason, moreover, those octave parallels which appear
as such only so far as one conceives a part to be an harpeggiate representation
of two (§ 550), are, for the most part, less offensive to the ear, than actual
parallels by octaves. (Compare § 532.) Thus, in fig. 1013 t, p. 842, one can
easily conceive to himself two parts running parallel to each other by octaves,
as in t / still these are not two actual, but only two imaginary parts, and, oon-
* There are no parallel octaves in /, but still the example is fiiulty ; see § 558. — En.
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OOTAYS PABALLKLS. — MBBITB. ^55
seqnently, the octave parallels in such a case are not so tangible and striking
as they would be if two real parts actually thus proceeded together in octaves.
Hence, octave progressions of this species are of course repulsive only in cases
where the movement of the harpeggiate part appears very definitely and deci-
dedly as an harpeggiate representation of two ; and on the contrary, such a
progression is much less offensive in cases where it appears to the ear not as an
harpeggiate expression of two parts, but merely as a single melody. Thus, for
example, the passage in fig. 1015, p. 842, so &r as it respects the hidden
octaves to be found in it, is rather unexceptionable, since here, as every one
perceives, the ear is more inclined to follow the thread of the melody of the
middle part as the melody of a single part, than to take it as the harpeggiate
representation of two parts, one of which runs parallel to the base in forbidden
octaves.
On the other hand, those octave parallels which cease to be such so soon as
the passage is regarded as an harpeggiate progression y are always so much the
more unexceptionable as the passage more definitely and decidedly appears to
be an harpeggiate one ; thus, for example, the passage in fig. 1018 n, p. 843, is
much less exceptionable than the one in t.
In a similar way, the octave parallelism in fig. 1019 i^ p. 844, excuses itself
on the ground that one might, perhaps, as already remarked in % 550, regard the
upper part as an harpeggiate representation of two parts, as in ^.
(t.) Those octave parallels also, which one imagines to be present only by
conceiving the tones most striking to the ear alone to be present, and by
entirely disregarding the others as if they were not present (§ 551), are never
perceptibly repulsive, except when these particularly accented notes are rendered
very prominent, while the other tones which are to be struck intermediately
between these are thrown comparatively very much into the shade. Those in
fig. 1021, p. 845, firom the second to the third measure, are rather perceptible.
(Compare § 533.)
(Qr.) Those octave parallels also which are concealed by interposed tran-
sition-tones, and are as it were thrown out of the proper parallel course (§ 552),
are always less offensive than open parallels. On this ground, the passage in
fig. 1026 t, p. 846, may be regarded as excusable. — The passage in fig. 1023,
p. 845, needs no such apology, inasmuch as it has already been vindicated in
§ 557, e. (Compare § 534.)
Those passages, in particular, in which, while one part moves forward, the
other still lingers on another tone, as in fig. 1025 i, p. 846, are stiU less offen-
sive in cases where the first-mentioned part, vdthout waiting for the last-named
to follow, as in t, proceeds directly on again, as,^. g. in ^, which latter case (k),
for this very reason, sounds better than the one in t. The passage will become
still less repulsive, if the base, instead of proceeding, as it does in k, firom c as
the fiindamental tone of the ®-chord to e, as the third of the same harmony,
be made to go rather to some interval of a new harmony, as, e, g.in I; and
better still in contrary movement, as in m, or otherwise as in n, &c. and so also
in a digressive modulation, as in o — q, (Compare § 539.)
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856 OGTAVB PABALLBL8. — ^MIBITS.
So likewise, in fig. 1026 t, p. 846, while the upper part dwells on the tone ^
the base part proceeds on firom B to d and gjt, by which means the concealed
octaves are perceptibly meliorated ; though the progression of the base part ib
the less effectiTe here, on account of the impression which one still has that it is
fundamentally an harpeggiate progression after all, and thus not materially dif-
ferent firom the example in k, and consequently that, in any case, it inyolyes
harpeggiate octaves.
(t») For the same reason, again, those octave paiallek also whidi impress
the ear as such merely fi^m the fitct that it ehes not observe the eroin$iff tfthe
parts, but confbunds their threads (§ 553), are not perceptibly offensive, except
in cases where one can easily confound the crossing threads. As soon, on the
contrary, as the threads of the crossing parts become sufficiently distinct, sudi
octave successions are no longer of perceptibly ill eflect. (Compare § 535.)
Thus, e, g, the passage in fig. 1028, p. 847, although, considered merely accord-
ing to the notes, as in k^ it exhibits parallel octaves between the two outer series
of tones (see % 553), still cannot be regarded as involving octave parallels of iU
effect, since it does this only when one does not foUow the threads of the really
non-parallel parts ; for though it is true that the two outer series of tones are
parallel, yet it is not true that the threads of the parts run parallel.
Octaves, on the contrary, which are concealed by the crossing of parts, and
which of course are never otherwise than octave parallels, except when the parts
Are not perceived as crossing each other (§ 553), and which therefore appear as
real octaves whenever the crossing is observed, as in fig. 1029, p. 848, — such
octaves, I say, are the more striking and perceptible, the more distinctly the
threads of the crossing parts impress the ear as actually crossing each other.
(Compare also fig. 1019, p. 844.)
(f.) Likewise octaves in direct, though not paraUel, movement — ^in the
converging and diverging progressions (inserted octaves, § 554), though they
may be as really apparent to the ear as actual octave paraUels^ yet are by no
means so disagreeable in their effect ; because, namely, they are not really octave
parallels at all, and their appearance of being so lies wholly in the imagination.
It mightj however, be going too far, directly and unconditionally to allow such
octaves (as Vogler does, in his Treatise on Musical Science and Musical Com-
position*) ; while, on the other hand, it would be puelrile to undertake to con-
demn altogether such passages as the 6ne in fig. 1036, t, k, I, p. 850 (§ 554).
(0.) Octai>es in contrary motion, moreover, are not usually wo ofienaive to
the ear as they are in direct parallel movement. The passage in fig. 1009, k,
p. 841, will always produce a better effect than that in t; and the example in
fig. 1019, p. 844, would be quite unexceptionable, if the tone d were employed,
in the secoiid measure of the base, instead of d.
{e.) Thus it is perceived that, in relation to the admissibility or inadmis-
sibility of octave parallels, as was previously (in § 539) observed in relation to
* Tonwissenschafi und TonseUkunsU p. 65 ; § 55 of Tonsetzkunst.
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OOTAVS PARALLELS. MEANS OF AYOIDINe. 857
parallelisms by fifths, very much depends upon eircumstances, and that, there-
fore, the ear is here also the supreme arbiter. Besides, it is well in this instance
likewise, in doubtfbl cases, to avoid eYery thing that is of a suspicions character;
i. e, every conduct of parts which has the aspect of forbidden octaves, rather than
to venture tginm it. Thus, for example, it is better to write as in fig. 1009, Jt^
p. 841, than as in t ; as in fig. 1025, k and /, p. 846, than as in t, &c. ; better
as in figs. lt)30 /, and 1031 /, pp. 848 and 849, than as in i.
(C.) METHOD OF AVOIDING OCTAVE PARALLELS.
§ 558.
The various expedients for avoiding forbidden parallelisms of octaves are
essentially the same as those which have already been pointed out in §§ 540 —
543 as means for avoiding parallel progressions by fifiihs. For the sake of
saving an undue copiousness and detail, I must leave it to my readers to make
the application themselves. (Only it is to be observed, that the inversion re-
commended for the avoidance of fifiihs can of course render no service here.)
(See § XLIV.) — Moreover, examples of the avoidance of ill-sounding octave
parallels have, in numerous instances, already been adduced.
It is to be observed, in particular, that (as was incidentally suggested in
§ 70), the dovbling of intervals which tend to move in a particular direction
(§§313 and 317) mc^ easily give occasion to faulty parallelisms by octaves.
If, for example, in fig. 1042, p. 854, we were to double the seventh of the second
harmony, t. e, employ it in two parts at once, say as in ^, both of these parts
would, on taking an harmonic step, require to proceed from f to e ; and if they
were to do this, they woald of course run parallel to each other in octaves ; or,
if they were not allowed to proceed thus, one of them would, as a matter of course,
necessarily proceed otherwise than from f to e, and accordingly otherwise than it
should /TT^p^/y proceed; e, g, the upper part, instead of passing from 7 to e^
would go— say from F to g, as in /, which progression would not be very parti-
cularly smooth and flowing (to say nothing of the consecutive fifths between the
upper parts) ; or, otherwise, the upper part must be made to skip from f to F, as
in m / or the base part from f to c, as in n, &c, — exclusively progressions which
are but poorly adapted, as one's ear readily perceives, to a part that strikes a
seventh! Hence it is seen why we should usuaUy endeavour to avoid the
doubling of such a species of interval : it is, namely, because by doubling such
an interval one easily falls into the dilemma of either being obliged, in the next
harmonic step, to conduct a part contrary to its nature, as in m and n, or else to
incur the evil of octave parallels, as in ^. (Compare § 70.)
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858 EXKRCI8K8 IH PUBI GOHFOBITIOH*
CHAPTER XIL
HINTS TO PRACTICAL BXBKCIBB IN THE ABT OF PUKE COMPOSITION.
Here, at the end of the Theory of Pure Composition^ I woold once more, as
I have already several times done in the previoas parts of this work, offer my
readers the hand, to accompany them a short distance in the practical ose of
what has heen taught, with a view to pomt out and smooth the way in which, by
a practical application of the information acquired from the theory, they must
finally arrive at the capacity to actually construct a musical composition con-
formahly to the rules of the art.
In order that such exercises shall he adapted to their object, they must
proceed, according to a methodical plan, from the more simple to the more
complicated, from the more easy to the more difficult, from tasks in which most
is already furnished to their hands, so that they have only a little left them to
do, and of course have only a small chance to do amiss, to tasks in which they
have much, and, at last, even everything, committed to their own agency.
With this view, I propose the following course in the form of practical less<NU
or problems.
DIVISION I.
TO ONX OK MOBB GIVEN PARTS, TO COMPOSB ONB OB MOBB OTHEB8.
§559.
This form of problems shall furnish us the first opportunity to apply the
principles with which we have become acquainted for the conduct of parts.
They are in part what have heretofore been known under the name of
cantrapuntic exercises.
According to the common usage hitherto, the only exercise in pure compo-
sition which the teacher prescribed to his pupils, consisted in his writing down
fi)r them some part, or melody, to which they were at one time to supply one
other higher or lower part, and at another time several, — at one time in like
movement, and at another in unlike, — at one time with the interweaving of
transition-tones, and at another without, &c. This exercise was called (simple)
counterpoint, because it consists substantially in setting against [opposite to] a
given part or series of notes, or points, one or more other parts or series of notes
or points, — and thus point against point (jnmcta contra puncia).
The given part in such exercise— the part which remains unaltered, is called
the Jixed or Jirm part, the fixed melody or atir, the cantus firmus, — and, in
contradistinction from this, the parts which are to be set to it are called the
counterpoint.
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IXSBCI8EB IN PUBK COMPOSITION.
859
We will nndertake such oontrapnntic exercises according to a somewhat
more comprehensive plan ; and^ in order at the same time to lighten the labour
as much as possible^ we will proceed in the following manner.
We will take some given piece of music, copy it, but leave out some one of
the parts of which it consists in the original, and then attempt to complete it
again from our own ideas.
And in order to render these exercises as variegated as possible, we will
exercise such omission and re-completion at one time on middle parts, at another
on upper parts, and still at another on base parts.
We will next supply a suppressed upper part, say by a new middle or base
part, and vice vers4.
Afterwards we will attempt to reject and re-supply two parts at once, —
then still more, so that finally only a single given part remains (a single
cantus Jlrmus),
One may also try to compose, in the place of one suppressed part, two^ ox
even several others, — or again the reverse, — and thus to re-construct a given
piece of music into one with more or fewer parts.
We will take for our example the four-part composition in fig. 1043 %,
(Fig. 1043, f.) (*.)
C.I V I F;V7 I C.VT I
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860
KXBRCI8K8 IK PURE COMPOSITION.
(Fig. 1043, m.)
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33:
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EXBBCISB8 IN PURR COMPOSITION.
861
(Ftg. 1043. ..)
s
TT
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jcn
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transcribe it, leaving out one part — say the base, as in k, p. 859, and then
attempt again to supply this deficient part. This complement may be made
again just as it was in t, or it may be made otherwise, — e,ff. say as in /,
p. 859— &c.
Or, we will write the passage in t with the omission of the- third part, as
in m, and thep add another third part — say as in n, p. 860, — or otherwise.
Or, we will leave out the base part and the upper part, as in 0, and write
two new parts in their stead, as inp, p, 860.
Or, we will leave out the base part, and write, instead of it, a new and
higher upper part, as in q.
The two middle parts of t are left out in r, and their place is supplied by
one middle part.
All three upper parts are left out in s, and two others are substituted for
them.
Only the upper part of t is retained in /, but it is put two octaves lower, and
three new upper parts are given to it.
Only the third part of t is retained in 11, and, instead of the three others
which are suppressed, only one new base part is supplied.
Moreover, we vnll select, for our first exercises, those scraps of music
under which the fundamental harmonies are noted. — It is easy to conjecture
how important and welcome such indications of the fundamental harmonies
must be in contrapuntic exercises, and indeed they are the more important, the
fewer parts are given, and hence the most important of all when only one single
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862
BXBBCI8S8 IN PURE COMPOSITION.
part b given, or, in other words, when parts are to be set to a single casUus
firmus. That is to say, if several parts are given, these mostly point out, with
sufficient distinctness, the fundamental harmony, and henoe, if the web of parts
is again to be filled np, the fundamental harmonies and barmonic sncoessions
requisite for this purpose are sufficiently indicated by the parts which are
already given, and thus we are saved the trouble of originally choosing these,
and therewith all the care of selecting good and pleasing harmonic successions,
and the whole danger of violating the laws for the conduct of parts. — But all
this is otherwise, when only a few parts are given, or perhaps merely one. If,
for example, in fig. 1044,
(Fig. 1044, t.)
I
^i^^ r I'f M M7r r r f r v^^
^'UV'lUi'mfi
ft 97 er V
^
B^ €r7 «7 ir «7)|
ft7e
tr
only one of the parts is rejected, say the second, the third, or tbe fonrtb, still
the fundamental harmony is always sufficiently obvious from the remainiiig
parts. Indeed this is the case, even if all three of the above-named parts are
suppressed. — ^But the case is otherwise, if all the parts of this example are
stricken out except the second. The unpractised pupil will, in such a case,
often be in doubt what fundamental harmony he is to apply to a particular tooe
of the part which is left as the canius firmus. He will, for instance, be uncer-
tain whether he is to treat the second tone ^ of this part as a fundamental tone
of the major three-fold harmony ®, — or as the seventh of the IB ^ harmony, as
in t^— or perhaps as a transition tone, as in k? — the first half of the half-note a
as belonging to Ihe minor ll-harmony or the principal four-fold harmony 9^ ? —
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EXBBCISVS IN PURE COMPOSITION. 863
the last three tones of the third measure as belonging to the key of (7-inajor or
6^-niajor ? — Consequently, in counterpointing this fixed melody [cantw Jinnus\
he is obliged not only to take care for the good conduct of the parts which are
to be supplied, but also at the same time for the choice of suitable harmonic
successions, which double care might be, to a beginner, somewhat burdensome.
Therefore, in order not to expose ourselves to embarrassments of this species
too early, we will at first exercise ourselves only on problems where the fiinda-
mental harmonies are indicated with the utmost distinctness ; — then afterwards,
on others where the fundamental harmonies are less definitely shown, — and
finally, on those in which the choice of the fiuidamental harmonieB is left wholly
to our own agency.
This more or less perfect indication of the fiwdamental harmonies under
the examples for practice, shall be made the principal ground of division
according to which we will arrange our contrapuntic exercises in thefoUow-'
ing four classes:
(A.) TO SET ONE OB MOBE PABTS TO ONE OB MOBS eiVEN PARTS, WHEN
THE HABMONIES TO BE SELECTED ABE FULLY SHOWN ACCOBDINO TO OUB
MODE OF DESieNATION.
§560.
As a model of the manner in which these first and more easy exercises are
to be employed, we may refer to the before-mentioned example in fig. 1043 t,
p. 859. In a similar manner one may employ the examples found in fig. 226^
and onward, p. 390^ as problems for exercise.
(B.) TO ONE OB MOBE GIVEN PABTS, TO SUPPLY ONE OB MOBE OTHERS,
WHEN, THOUGH THE FUNDAMENTAL CHOBDS ARE GIVEN, YET THEIR SITUATION
AND RELATIONSHIP ARE NOT ASSIGNED.
§ 561.
The appropriate conduct of each part to be supplied was facilitated as much
as possible to the pupil by the series of signs placed under the given parts in
the first-mentioned exercises, which signs indicated, with the greatest possible
definiteness, the harmonies appropriately forming the basis of the web of parts
to be supplied, and their relations to each other. — The pupil will now try to
satisfy himself with intimations which do not thus show him everything.
What we have heretofore marked out to him as fully, particularly, and
definitely as possible, we will hereafter indicate to him less definitely, in part
by half words, as it were, and by abbreviations in which he must presume
upon much — ^yes, very much, and often indeed the chief part, namely, the internal
sense, — ^in order that he may, by being compelled to lean only upon the im-
perfect helps of partial and slight intimations, gradually learn to do altogether
without them.
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864
EXSBCI8U IK PURE COMPOSITION.
These imperfect and haff intimations may be fiurnished in different ways.
In the iint place, instead of the designations hitherto famished^ merely the
fundamental harmonies may be indicated by letters, whereby, thongh it is
indeed shown what fundamental harmony is to form the basis of the web of
parts, yet it is not shown to what degree of the scale of what key this funda-
mental harmony here belongs. (§ 152.)
For example, it would be an exercise according to this plan, to transcribe
only one or two parts of fig. 1044 t, p. 862, to write under these the letters
appended to that example, and then to attempt again to supply one or more
other parts.
Let this species of practice be tried likewise under aU the changes pointed
out in § 559 ; and still in many other examples besides the one here given, as,
«?.y.infigs. 1045— 1047:
(Fig. 1045. i.)
I— c5— tf^rgj.^18, ,11
s
-e^
JOL
A.] iUi
fi:
I
^
9
Jit
i
»- o
33:
^
sp
==«F=
U^
I
^^3E(E
IZX
(1-)
i
^
^^
±
i
ic3l:
"^^^^ \H
m
-•— t
lii:i^U^
'3SF°
231
J^' I ° I..!
£a
I
r*=cfcte
rrirrrriffTrif
l^p
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EXERCISES IN PURE COMPOSITION.
865
(Fig. 1046.)
i
ffiT
e»
^
s^
g
icn
tj=j=±
1
:g:
-^=
TT'
3?^
^^
HJl
331
^
^^
(Fig. 1047.)
I
CIV
-^ ", CJlIgJbg
r
T
R B
9 7
T -^ F R
(C.) THE SAME EXERCISE WHEN THE HARMONIC COMBINATIONS TO BE CHOSEN
ARE INDICATED BT THE FIGURES OF THOROUGH-BABE.
§562.
Still another species of half-indication is furnished^ not bj pointing out the
fundamental harmonies under a given part, but merely by noting down what
tones are to occur, in the other parts, to this or that tone of the given part.
In this case, the pupil is subjected to the four-fold duty of (1) deciphering
what fundamental harmonies may lie at the basis of the harmonic combinations
thus indicated ; (2) on what degree of what key these belong ; then (3) to
invent, for the given part, other parts in which the prescribed tones occur ; and
(4) to conduct these parts in such a manner as they require to be conducted
according to what was observed in Nos. 1, 2, and 3, above, and according to the
laws for the conduct of parts.
In order to undertake exercises of this species, we need, first of all, a mode
of designation by means of which it can be signified, in connection with the given
part, by few and short signs, what tones are to occur in the parts which are to
be supplied.
We have no occasion for now inventing such a mode of designation ; for,
there is already a common musical notation by figures and abbreviations, which
VOL. II. G G
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866 EXERCISES IH PDEE COMPOSITIOIT.
seems to have been inyented expressly for oar purpose, and which we will,
therefore, employ to this end. It has already been mentioned in § XXXI, onder
the appellation of
Thobouqh-Base,
or
Thorouoh-Babe Notation.
We will now proceed to inform ourselyes as perfectly as possible of this mode of
musical writing.
(1.) Description of the usual Thorough-Base Ndatiom.
§ 563.
Thorough-base notation is a musical language of signs or figure-writing,
which depends essentially upon the circumstance that only one part, and that
most commonly the base part, is written with the ordinary notes, while the tones
which are to be performed in connection with this, or, in other words, the tones
which are to appear in the other parts, are indicated by figures and certain oUier
signs, which are written over the staff, though sometimes, for the want of room,
under it.
Such figures and signs are in general called signatures.
We must, first of all, become acquainted with this language of signs. The
following explanation will secure this object.
(I.) Every figure or other thorough-base signature y placed over (or under)
a note, means that, in connection with this tone, that tone is to be heard which
lies at such a degree above the base note as the figure indicates ; or, in other
words, every figure placed over a note represents a higher tone which is to be
heard in connection with this one, and that tone, too, which forms with the base
note the interval indicated by the figure. If, for example, a figure 2 stands
over the base note e, as in fig. 1048, t,
(Fig. 1048, t.) (*.)
this means, that, in connection with this tone, the tone of the second degree
above the base tone, the second of the base tone — namely, the tone f — ^is to be
given as in k. — If the figures § stand over the base note, as in fig. 1049, t,
(Fig. 1049, i.) (A.) (/.) (m.) (n.) (o.) {p.) (gr.)
-f • TT 3 6
Jirrlhri-11-^-lbxt-r-lt-rll-Ti
the meaning is, that the third and the fifth of this base tone are to be heard in
connection with it in the higher parts, as in k; — and so also in fig. 1050,
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BXKBCiaES IN PUBK COMPOSITION.
867
(Fig. 1060, t.) (*.) (/.) (m.) (».)
^-hrni7
the fignies in «' indic&te the upper tones found in k; whUe in fig. 1051,
(Fi«1061,».) (A.)
m
±ya=Sj^
^^
i
zL^r
^
f> i>
3=t
l=t
C;Vy I Ti
VT
the figures in k point out the toneg in t^ &c. The matter may be briefly
stated thus : a figure standing over a base note indicates the same thing that
would be indicated by the head of a note standing at the given degree above the
base note.
£very tone indicated by a figure, in this case, is always understood to be
in the state in which it would be according to the chromatic signature
placed at the commencement of apiece of music ; and, therefore, if an interval
is wished to appear otherwise than it would be by the signature, as, for
example, in figs. 1052 — 1054,
(Fig.l052,i.) (*.) (/.) (m.) (n.)
its 6$ s
t r t
i:
(Fig. 1063,.-.) (*.) (/.) («.) (n.)
be be eb ft
bs b b b
IPa
(Fig. 1064, i.) (*.)
Us
en
(».) (o.)
it must be made to do so by placing the requisite transpositionrsign before the
figure, as is done in the last-quoted figs, in k.
Therefore, in accordance with what has thus far been said, if one would
write in thorough-base figures the four<-part passage written out in notes in
fig. 1055, i,
(Fig. 1055, t.)
^t==¥
*■ l-*r^ ^~W
•r-p
&o2
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868
£XBRCI8BS IN PURE COMPOSITION.
(Fig. 1055, A.) (/.)
13 10 6 12 ](ll 13 tqi9 10 ft
10 8 4 lOblO 10 . 10 8 3
8617 68 b7 6 1
6 5 j(4 6 t|5 3
4 3 bs 3,3 1
(m.) 6
3
3
6
6
4
5 Jt4
3 bs
7 6
6 |]6
3^3
b7
3 (
6
5
8
5
3
6
4
1-
5 J(4
3 bs
7 6
6,88
3 b? 5
t
(0.)
6
3
6
3
A
4
-• •-
7 6
5 fi4
3 3
b7
« 5
3 b3
s
3
— H —
6
4
.Mr.
• •
7 b
6 b7
■
-^^
:i=tt
-*~
»if '
12 17 19 17 ]' r I [ 19 24 28 24
,.A J J -^■■'°
8 14 10
5 10 8
i-^j J J
^^^^^1^
I
17 15 19 15
IS 12 17 13
-4r
I
-14.
(w.)
r
jvi ifhllHm^
rr
i
I^^B
j"'j: l'
the three upper parts should be represented* by three rows of figures, in the
manner exhibited by k, — fig. 1055, ^ as in r, — and « as in /, above.
KEMARK.
If we stop here, for a moment, to reflect, before we proceed with the doctrine of
thorough-base signs, we shall observe that these signatures represent, fundamentally,
nothing else than merely — notes. They are only other signs for the same thing; since
a figure placed over a base note expresses nothing else than the tone which, in the usaal
mode of musical notation would be represented by the head of a note standing on such and
such a line or space above the base note ; and thus, for example, the figures 5 and 6. or ^
written over the base note c, would mdicate nothing else than what would be indicated
by the letters g and a, or *, placed over it.
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SXEBCI8B8 IN PURE COMPOBITION.
869
Accordingly, therefore, though a tone represented by the figure 3, for example, is of
course always the tkird of the hose tone, still it is by no means the third qf the ftmda-'
mental harmony , the fundamental third. (i§ 57, 63 bis, ter, 65, 87 his, ter, 88, 95 bis, ter,
99 Remark and 100.) So also the figures 5 and 7 uniformly designate only the fifth
and seventh of the base note, but not at all the fifth and seventh of the fundamental tone ;
and indeed a base note may be figured with 6, without involving the fiict that an actual
seventh-harmony (a fundamental Ibur-fold chord) forms the basis of this harmonic com-
bination, as may be seen by comparing fig. 1051, i with k, p. 867. The harmonic com-
bination [ce g b], which is found there in the first measure, is by no means a proper
seventh harmony, and the note 3* represented by the figure 7 in the chord [e g b d],iR
the third measure, certainly is not the fundamental seventh ; and yet these two chords
are, in the language of thorough-base figures, unhesitatingly called seventh chords, since
every harmonic combination is here uniformly named simply according to the figures
by which it is indicated ; and thus, for example, the first chord in fig. 1056, t,
(Fig. 1056,1.)
(*.)
(I)
^
m
m
s
^
^
^
i
f
i' f^
1 — r
is termed a fourth-sixth chord, merely because it is represented by the figures 6, and so
also the entirely different chords in k and I, because these are represented by the same
figures. (§ 65.)
Hence a tone indicated by the figure 7 may be at one time the major, at another time
the minor, and at another time the diminished seventh of the base tone ; and in like
manner also the figure )f7 may at one time indicate a major seventh, at another time a
minor, and at another a diminished, and both, too, may indicate an actual or proper
seventh of the four-fold harmony of the first degree, or of the second, third, fourth, fifth,
sixth, or seventh degree of the major or minor key, — at one time, moreover, no proper
seventh, but either a ninth, or some other tone foreign to the harmony, merely a transition-
tone, or a suspension, or, if the base tone itself is a transition-tone, even every possible
interval of any harmony whatever — ^fig. 1057 :
(Fig. 1057.)
7 7
,y, ||.M ||',r ||.'feip=i^ii=^
«»
«'
«»
If'
I
X7
3E
i
^E
1^.
^
«»' glt^
^«e=
■>«»'
«>
457
JSI
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870 EXBBCI8B8 IN PURE OOMPOSITIOM
0 3 9 6 MM § i I 3
31E
=+
-©^
3X
i
ii'"'^'-ii''iiTii 'la
and thaa every interval of any tingle harmony may, in torn, come into a ntnation in
which it would be jnst seven degrees higher than the figured base note.
In like manner, a thoroogh-basist would write the three example* in fig*. 1068 i, lOSOt,
and 1060 1,
(Fig. 1068, f.)
(10) F (11.) t (12.) F
B
a
(See fig. 334.)
'^^
S
«
T
R
t^dj:
/.v t
(Tig. 1069,.-.)
(U.) R (13.) R (14.) F
±
VI
23©::
^
(*.)
(See fig. 335.)
S
T
R
1^
Et
1
:p^
T.S.
. 3
i
fecc
c;V
(Fig. 1080, t-.)
(1.) R
VI* /: VI
(2.) R (3.) F
^
(*.)
(See fig. 334.)
T
R
ta
^
^9
T.S.
^•I
oil7
the essential difference between which is rendered obnots by the designation of the fbnda-
mental harmonies which is placed under them all (§ 231, fig. 235), as in A ; so that thos*
as one perceives, the thorough-base notation is precisely the same in all these three ex-
amples, which are yet so diverse. (Even the S before the 3 in the last example, whereby
this measure is in some degree distinguished from the last measure of the first example,
would disappear, if the usual signature in minor keys were entirely consistent (§ 142)t
and so also the b in the second example would disappear, if this passage shoold occur in a
piece of music written predominantly in /-minor or ^b -major.)
This all very naturally arises from the fact that the thorough-base notation is radically
nothing else than an abbreviated writing in notes, which [thorough-base writing], as one
perceives, represents the distance of the higher tones from the lowest by figures instead
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BXEBCISE8 IN PURE COMPOSITIOH. 871
of notes, and thiiB nnifoimly expresses only the exterior of tones, but not their inteinal
and essential relationships and meaning — a mode of writing which, for example, puts
a figure 6 in the place of a note standing a sixth higher than the base note, &c.
Accordingly, the thorough-base notation very frequently designates things of the
same species by different signs, while it, on the other hand, often indicates entirely
different things by the same sign — ^in short, in all cases, only that which is merely in-
cidental, the mere distance of position between the base note and some note or notes
above it. Hence it is entirely different from the modes of designation employed in
§§ 41, 52, 58, 97, 121, 151—153, 187, 188«, and 231, which uniformly indicate tkingB
which are essential {e, g. the designation T or t always denotes the major or the minor
fundamental third, the third of the fundamental harmony — S or s always a fundamental
seventh, &c. — ^the designation €r7 always points out the principal four-fold chord &, —
C: y always denotes the principal four-fold chord & on the dominant of C-major, —
jBb : IV^ always means the major four-fold harmony of iSb'^ as belonging to the fourth
degree of jBb-major,&c.); while the thorough-base figure 7 indicates nothing else than
merely, in general, an harmonic combination in which a tone occurs which, reckoned from
the base note, is a seventh, but which may be at one time a fundamental seventh of a
principal four-fold chord, or of some secondary four-fold chord, and at another time this
or that other interval. (Compare remark on § 09.)
But we will return from these preliminary considerations to the farther description
of thorough-base writing.
§ 564.
(11.) If several Jigures successively stand over one and the same base
note, the meaning is, as one would readily oonjecture, that the upper parts axe
first to give those intervals which correspond to the first signatures, and then
the others. Accordingly, fig. 1061, t^ is to be understood as represented in A; /
and fig. 1062, t^ as in it .'
(Fig. 1061, i.) (*.) (/.) («.) (».)
^ ^ ■ _ ^ ^ ■■ J J ■- a T
■TT"
i^a^^ II .' J II ''^
(Fig. 1062, t.) (*.) {D («.) (n.)
But how long shall each one of these several harmonic combinations, to be
given on the same base note, continue ? a quarter-note, an eighth-note, a whole-
note, &c. ? — (a point which the figures do not in themselves determine ; because,
in themselves, they show nothing more than would be shown by the mere heads
of the notes without those cross-strokes which indicate their various lengths —
§ 563). This must be determined, by the reader of such figure-notation,
according to circumstances.
He must first see whether the base note, to which several harmonic com-
binations are successively to be given, faUs primarily, according to its rhythmical
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872 EXBBCIBU IN PURE COMPOBITIOH.
situation and its natural diyisibility, into /vo or into three parts ; into halves or
into thirds,
(1.) If two signatures stand successiTely over a base note, which, in a
rhythmical point of view, fall naturally into two parts (into halves)^ then it is
the most natural to take the first signature for tiie first half, and the second
signature for the second half; and, for this reason, the two fiigures standing
under the base note in fig. 1063, f, k^
(Fig. 1063, t.) (A.) (/.) (m.)
8 J j ' S 8 J
are to be understood as is shown by the notes placed above.
If three harmonic combinations are figured over a base note which primarily
divides itself into halves^ the meaning is usually understood to be, that the firs!;
of these should have the duration of the first half of the base note, while the
two following are to divide the time of the second half equaUj. — Fig. 1064, t.
(Fig. 1064,1.) (k.) (/.) («.)
g^!),/i'yd.j,X|[^^J||,,^.-M|
5 2 8 % A % § '2 S
According to similar principles, four harmonic combinations on one such
base note are understood to have each a fourth-part of the time of this base
note ; but five harmonic combinations thus figured are to be so construed as to
divide the first three^uarters of the time of the base note equally between the
first three of these harmonic combinations, and to give the remaining quarter to
the two others. Figs. 1065, % and k^ and 1066, t and k :
(Fig. 1065, i.) (*.) (/.) (m.)
% % % \ %h % 2 § 'f S 2
(Fig. 1066,.-.) (*.) (i.)
I J in ! ^ m ! J 1 J I
2 3 2 § § '2 i 2 § I %%%
("•) (»•)
W:
5=
^^^to
6 7 6 6
4 6 4a
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EXERCISES IN PURE COMPOSITION. 873
(2.) If three harmome oombin&tioiis are marked over a base note whick
primarily divides itself into thirds, each one of them should have a third
part of the time of such base note. Fig. 1064 l, p. 872. Two harmonic com-
binations oyer such a note divide the time of this note in the manner exhibited
by fig. 1063 /, p. 872 ; four or Jive, as in figs. 1065 /, and 1066 /, p. 872.
Sometimes the protracttve paint is employed between these signatnres ; and
in snch a case it has substantiaUy the same meaning that it has when placed
after an actual note ; e.ff.in fig. 1067.
(Fig. 1067, t.) (k.)
331
1^
Other and still more minute limitations of the duration of several thorough*
base signatures placed successively over one base note, cannot, compatibly with
the nature of the figure-notation, well be assigned. Thus, for example, the
passage in fig. 1063 m, p. 872, cannot be expressed in figures, in any unequi-
vocal and ordinarily intelligible way; and much less other cases, which are
still more complicated, as, e.ff, figs. 1064 m, 1065 m, and 1066 m and n, p. 872.
§ 565.
(III.) If a rest follows a base note, and signatures are placed over the
rest, the meaning is, that those intervals are to be supplied which the figures
over the rest would indicate, provided the foregoing base note stiU continued on
in the place of the rest ; or, in other words, the intervals which are written over
a rest are reckoned Jrom the foregoing base note. Accordingly, fig. 1061, /, is
to be understood as in m, p. 871 ; and 1062 /, as in m, p. 871.
§566.
(IV.) In all the cases thus far mentioned, the figuring was designed to
show that the tones represented by the signatures were either to appear simul-
taneously with the base note to which those signatures referred, as in figs.
1048—^1050, 1052—1054, pp. 866 and 867, or in part later, as in figs. 1061
and 1062, p. 871. Or, in other words, the signatures either referred to the base
note over which they were placed, or to the foregoing.
But cases may also occur in which one might wish to indicate that the
harmonic combination represented by the signatures should make its appearance
earlier than the base note to which the figures relate, or, in other words, where
it is necessary to represent the tones which are to sound in the upper parts, by
figures which refer to a base note yet afterwards to appear — a base note which
presents itself later than the tones designed to be expressed by the figures. If;
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874
KXKB0ISK8 IH PDBB OOMPMITIOH.
for example, the passage in fig. 1068, t^
(Fig. 1068. t.) (*.)
m
:S
'i
V
(I)
i'
is to be written in thorough-base characters, and the tones which are to be
stmck in the upper parts immediately at the commencement and even during
the rest of the base are to be expressed by figures, this can be done only by
figures which refer to the base note d, while this latter does not actually occur
until after the tones represented by such figures.
Now^ in order to show, in sudi cases, that the tones represented by the
signatures are to be struck in the upper parts earlier than the base note to
which the signatures refer, whUe it is usual to write the latter over the base
note, still, as a sign to show that the tones represented by the signatures are not
to be struck for the first time simultaneously with this base note, but before it,
an oblique stroke directed upwards (^) b placed at the point where the intervals
represented by the following figures are first to be struck, as in fig. 1068 k,
above, where the oblique stroke over the rest shows that the tones [g b f], repre-
sented by the signatures over the base tone d, are to be already sounded, even
during the rest over which the diagonal stroke stands. In aocordanoe with the
same prindple, the passage in fig. 1069 t can be written as in ^ .-
(Fig. 1060, t.) (*.) (/.)
and fig. 1070 t as in ^:
(Fig. 1070, i.) (*.)
LA
1-0
S ^8 V» S S^
(«.)
faggifrhriif ri^nip ri-4l
9^
— r
and also fig. 1071 « aa in k:
(O
(Fig. 1071,.-.) (*.)
-".-^g-EU-^J^
The form of notation found in figs. 1068 /, 1069 /, 1070 I, and 1071 /,
would, perhaps, be somewhat more natural and easy for the eye.
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BZEBCI8B8 IN PUBK COMPOSITION,
875
§567.
(V.) As the figures hitherto spoken of indicate notes or tones which are
to he given hy an upper part, so^ in like manner, the cipher is used, in order to
indicate that one or more upper parts give no tone, that they are to he, for a
time, silent.
Thus, with the help of this sign, the example in fig. 1072 t can he written
in thorough-hase characters as in ^ .•
(Fig. 1072, t.)
-P — P-
■4=— f^
^
li
-P P-
m
f^
5
^
^
(*•)
m
0
t.
-t—
S3
I
(I)
0
I
r lit, r T ifff r 1 1
But if the upper parts are to he silent a ^reciter length of time, then,
instead of placing ciphers continuously over every hase note, the silence of the
upper parts is concisely indicated hy the letters T. S. (i. e. (asto solo, an expres-
sion which is borrowed firom keyed instruments, and which means that merely
the base tone, the base key alone, and no higher tones are to he struck in
connection with it). — It is usual to employ also the synonymous term Uhisono,
Unxs., AWunisono, i. e. unison, oneness of sound (by which, however, it is
sometimes understood that the other parts are to proceed in higher octaves
with the base part, in a unison of a minor grade,) — This designation holds
good until signatures again oocur over the notes ; where it is customary also
expressly to write the superfluous term Accordi, meaning that one is now again
to play chords,-~or the term Jccompagnamento, meaning that the base notes
are now again to be accompanied by chords.
§ 568.
The mode of signature-writing hitherto described^ were it to be in all cases
carried out with as much fulness and detail as it has been in the examples
hitherto, could not, indeed, be called an abbreviated mode of writing at aU ;
since, in this form, it would prove to be as circumstantial, copious, and trouble-
some, as if the upper parts were fiilly written out in notes.
But it has become a real short-hand mode of writing, by the fact that it has
been subjected to the following reductions.
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876
EX£BCIgB8 IN PUBS COMPOSITION;
(1.) Since, in the first place, the higher numerical names of iniervals are
only repetitions of the lower on a smaller scale, the octave being only a repe-
tition of the prime, the ninth a mere renewal of the second, the tenth only a
higher third, &c. — ^it was very natural, for the sake of saving figures, to M
npon the idea of not using the higher numerical names of intervals — ^names
which in part also require the use of two figures, such as 8, 9, 10^ 11, 12, &c.
but to employ, instead of these, the more simple numerical names 1^ ^, 3, 4, 5,
&c. and, in general, none above 7. According to this, the example in fig.
1055 k, p. 868, can be written with fewer figures, as in /.
The higher figures are employed only in the following few peculiar cases.
(a.) Every interval foreign to the harmony and standing on the second
(ninth, sixteenth, &c.) degree, from the base tone, is not ordinarOy indicated
by a 2, but by a 9, as in figs. 1073 and 1074 :
(Fig. 1073.) ^
J. = ^.
-VH-h-
=ff
(Fig. 1074, t.)
2
FT N R 8
T^F ^ R F
I G.vr
(*.)
98
6
4
W^
3 08
8 77
6 S3
43
66
44
08
66
33
43
66
65
98
55
33
*5 5 3 3
s
s
-©e-
3
^c^
^
-Or
3X1
-©^
('.)
08
6
4
08
3-
4- 08
63 6-
6- 98
5- 3-
43
jf9 10 6 5 *
5 — 3 - Z^
sra
s
^
-et-
351
i=t
-Gh-
(The major added ninth g of the four-fold chord Jp7^ in fig, 1073, is repre-
sented, not by a figure % but by a 9 ; and so in fig. 1074, ^, /, the figure 9
indicates the tone a foreign to the three-fold harmony ®, in the first measure,
the tone a foreign to the (Qjr^ -harmony in the following measure, the toneT
foreign to the ®^ -harmony in the third measure, the tone 3 foreign to the
<B-harmony in the next measure, &c.) — In all other cases, namely^ where the
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EXERCISES IN PURE COMPOSITION.
877
tone to be represented by 2 or 9 is an actual barmonic interval, it is usual to
employ the figure 2 ; as, for example, in fig. 1075 :
(Fig. 1075, t.) (k.)
(f)
-cr
^
-t-
-^jf
1
^
^
3^:
a =
where, in i, the fandamental note g of the principal four-fold chord (Br^ in the
third inversion, is represented merely by a 2 ; as also, in k, the fnndamental fifth
of the CBr^-bsinnony is represented by the figure 2, and the fiindamental fifth g
of the three-fold harmony ®, in /.
Every interval represented in the above-mentioned manner by the figure 9
is, in the language of thorough-base, invested also with the title of a ninth*
(It can scarcely be necessary to remind the reader that such so-called ninths,
which are tones casually added at one time to this and at another time to that
interval of this or that harmony, are not at all the same thing that we under-
stand by the name ninth, as is readily perceived from what was observed in the
remark on § 563.)
(b.) It is usual, moreover, in the case just mentioned, when the interval
designated by a 9 proceeds downwards to the prime or the octave, &c. of the
same base note, to represent this prime or octave, not by 1, but by 8. — In case
the interval designated by a 9 resolves itself into the third or the tenth of the
base tone, this latter interval is usually denoted, not by a 3, but by a 10. —
Accordingly, in the first measure of fig. 1074, k and /, p. 876 the tone g is indi-
cated not by I, but by 8 ; and, for the same reason, the figure S is employed
in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th measures, — ^while 10 is used in the 5th measure.
(c.) Finally, the higher numbers are employed, in general, in all cases
where it is deemed necessary to show very definitely whether the parts are
to move upwards or downwards. Thus, for example, in order to exhibit the
passage in fig. 1076 i by thorough-base signs,
(Fig. 1076, i.)
s&
xa:
JCC
:U
m
(A.)
6 78 98 76
4 66 76 64
3a:
it is preferred to use the figures 8 and 9, as in k, in order to show the reader,
unequivocally, that, from the tone b indicated by 7, the progression is to be, not
downward, but upward to c, and from this c^ not down, but up to 3^ &c.
§569.
(2.) A second saving of signs is secured in the fact that a tone which is a
mere duplicate of the base tone is not usually indicated in thorough^base
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878 EXKRCISB8 IN PURK COMPOBITION.
figuring ; as, «. g, in fig. 1055 m, p.868, where, in the first chord, the tone c of
the third part, being a mere duplicate of the base tone c, is not indicated by any
figure ; and to also the tone ^ of the second part, in the second chord, and tiie
tone g of the third part, in the third chord, &c.
§ 570.
(3.) In all the representations by thorongh-base figures thus fiur, €,g,
i, of fig. 1055, p. 868, every figure is written in the line of that part in
which the tone which it represents is to occur. But this order is usually
relinquished, and figures are written indtsertminately over the baae noiet
without observing the lines, as in n, p. 868, — so that the figure of that interval
which ia to be heard uppermost ia not necessarily written highest, and the tones
which are to appear in the middle parts, in the middle line ; but in other ways,
often arbitrarily chosen : — for the most part, figures of the highest denomina-
tion are placed highest, while those of a lower denomination are placed below,
as in 0, p. 868.
REMABK.
We here again atop a moment to coDsider. We readily perceive, that ^riifle the
thorough-base notation has become more concise and coudensed by the above-mentioied
curtailmentB and reductions, still, on the other band, it has lost much in definitenesi and
precision. Indeed, this cannot be otherwise ; for every other abbreviated writing in
half-words, or other condensed signs, is always less perfect than a mode of writing in
which everything is written out, in a fiill, dear manner.
We will enumerate iheu indefinUenesses, arising from the above-mentioned re-
trenchment of figures.
(a.) The drcnmstance just mentioned in § 668 (1), namely, that the pitch of the
tone in which each interval ii to be executed ii not to be ahown by the magnitude of
the figure, aince, e. ^. the figure 3 aerves as well to designate a tone standing only on
the third degree of the base tone, as to designate one standing on the tenth degree above ;
this circumstance, I say, is of itself a source of no inconsiderable indefiniteness; for,
the first two figurings in fig. 10&5 o, p. 868, for example, can equally well be understood
as in t, where the upper part proceeds from~g toT^ and as in 9, where it proceeds from
gtoi:
(5.) Still more important equivocalnesses arise from the circumstance mentioned in
i 570 ; for, by this means, in the case of several figures standing one above another,
it remains entirely undetermined,
(a.) Whether the tone represented by one of them ia to occur in a higher part tlun
the tone represented by another, or in a lower ; and hence, fig. 1049 1, p. 866, can as
well be underatood in the manner exhibited by A, aa in that ahown by /, or m, or n.
(fi.) It remaina &rther undetermined, whether thia or that part is to proceed fitxa
thia or that interval of one harmonic combination to thia or that of the following ; and
hence, fig. 1077 1,
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BXBBCIflKS IN PUBK COMPOSITION. 879
(Fig. 1077, i.) (J.) (I.) («.) (n.) _ (0.)
. s a S
if44JTtiiiF^4M^
^^rrf rff^r^
can either be so executed that the upper part shall, in the first harmonic step, make a
skip upward from "e to~a, while the middle part proceeds downward from g^ to f, as in
kt or it may be performed as in /, where the former proceeds from'e to l^^kile the latter
goes from g to a*. So also, according to the figures of thorough-base, fig. 1061 1 , p. 871,
can equally well be executed as in m or as in n.
(<y.) Still more ! It is left to the performer to give the harmonic combinations indi-
cated by the signatures either with many parts or with few, or, in other words, to give
the harmony, in performance, more or fewer upper parts ; e,g. fig. 1055 o, p. 8689
either in four parts, as in 1055 1, p. 867, or fiye parts, as in «, or in three parts, as in v
or w, &c and thus to introduce, at one time, frequent doublings, as in v, and at another,
omissions as in 10.
(d.) Indeed, in many cases it remains optional with him either to make a part rest,
or to let it proceed, just according to his fancy, or as occasion may require ; and thus, for
example, either to perform fig. 1077 m, above, as in n, or as in o.
(c.) By putting together all that has been said above, it will be seen that iharovgh-
base notation leaves the entire conduct of parts undetermined. (The trivial exception
of which we spoke above, in § 568 (c), ii not to be considered.) Therefore, the entire
charge of arranging, distributing, and conducting parts, is left to the one who has to
execute such a thorough-base part.
Hence the signature-notation is only made for those who understand the laws for the
conduct of parts ; and one must, for example, be acquainted with the prohibitions relative
to the parallelisms of fifths and octaves, and the downward tendency of the principal
seventh, in order to know that the passage in ^, 1055 o, p. 868, must not be executed
as in X ; and so one must also be acquainted with the doctrine of the progression of
harmonic tones, in order to know that the passage in fig. 1061 », p. 871, is not to be
executed as in n.
But we will return again to the particular object now before us, namely, the explanation
of signatures.
§ 571.
(4.) Still an additumal retrenchment has been introduced by means of the
conventional agreement thai certain figures shall in many eases be considered
as sttficiently intelligible ttnthout being written. That is to say —
(a.) If no figure at all stands over a base note, the meaning is understood
to be the same as if the figures § were placed over it ; and thus fig. 1049 o,
p. 866^ is, in the language of thorough-base, precisely equivalent to t.
In like manner, as the figures 3 and 5 are considered to be self-evident in
the case of an entirely unfigured base note^ so is the figure 5, when the figure 3
alone is (superfluously) placed over a base note — and, vice verslty the figure 3,
when a figure 5 stands alone over a base note ; accordingly, fig. 1049,/^ and q,
mean the same thing as t and 0, p. 866, — fig. 1054 /, the same as k, p. 867.
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EXERCISES IN PURE COMPOSITION.
(b.) In the case of a base note fignred merely with a 7, the figures 3 and
5 are likewise assumed to be understood, and hence fig. 1050 / has the same
meaning as t, p. 867 ; that is to say, the harmonic combination consisting of a base
tone, its third, its fifth, and its seventh, is not marked with all these figures,
but merely with the figure 7 ; and, for this reason, it is called, in the language of
thorough-base, not a third-fifth-seventh chord, but simply a seventh chord.
So, also, the figure 3 is assumed to be understood in the deedgnation J ; as is
also 5 in ^ ; and thus fig. 1050, m and n, mean merely the same as t and /,
p. 867.
(c.) The figures 3 and 5 are also assumed to be understood in the case of a
base note marked only with the figure 9 ; and so also in the figures ^.
The figure 3 is likewise supposed to be understood in ^ and 9 ; and so also
the 5 in §, or %
(d.) The figure 3, moreover, is assumed to be involved in the case of a base
note marked simply with a 6 ; so that the figure 6 is equivalent in meaning
to §, and the harmonic combination consisting of a base note, its third and its
sixth, is denominated, not a third-sixth chord, but merely a sixth chord. (Com-
pare § 65.)
(e.) A figure 3 is likewise understood to be associated with the designation
g (a fifth-sixth chord).
(/I) A figure 6 is assumed to be connected with J (a third-fourth chord).
(y.) The figures 4 and 6 are assumed to combine themselves with the de-
signation 2 (a second chord).
Here, again, it must not be imagined that every harmonic combination
which, for example, is represented by the thorough-base figure 6 or §, and is on
this account always, in the language of thorough-base, denominated a sixth
chord, is therefore in all cases a three-fold harmony in the first inversion, or that
an harmonic combination marked with the figures ^ is always a four-fold chord
in the second inversion, &c. The reverse is very easily seen from fig. 1078,
(Fig. 1078, t.)
Sf.
J-i-J-^
^
u
u
2i
s*
4- 8~ 76
332
S
•g-T"
EC
23:
n
where the so*called sixth chord marked with ^ is by no means the minor three-
fold chord A in the first inversion. (Compare remark on § 563.)
In pursuance of what has been said from (a) to (^), the passage in fig.
1055 1, p. 867, may be briefly represented by thorough-base signs as in j9. p. 868.
(A.) When one and the same base note sounds twice or more successively,
and in each instance the same intervals in the upper parts are to be heard in
connection with it, it is necessary to place the signature over the base note only
in the first instance, with the understanding that this signature is to serve for
the subsequent repetitions and to continue in force until displaced by other
signatures. Accordingly, fig. 1079 k,
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EXERCISES IN PDRE COMPOSITION. 8S1
(Fig.lOT9,t.) (A.)
^3£
2 S 7 7 2 2 7 S
I
f f f f r " r r f f r
has the same meaning as t, inasmuch as the iigores 2 over the second hase note
are understood to be continued on, as is the figure 7 over the fourth base note.
(t.) It is not unfirequently necessary, however, actually to write figures
which might be understood of themselves. This is the case :
(a.) First, when the interval corresponding to such a figure is to be played
otherwise than it would be according to the signature of the key [according to
the given scale] ; in which case it is necessary expressly to write the figure,
even though it might be understood of itself, so as to be able to connect with it
the required transposition-sign. If, for example, in a piece of music having no
signature at all, th^ harmonic combination [B*d|t fS] is to be represented by the
signs of thorough-base, the figures §, though in themselves capable of being
understood, still must be written over the base note, merely for the sake of our
being able to connect with them the requisite sharps, as in fig. 1052 k, p. 867.
The same thing is found in figs. 1053 hy and 1054 /r, /, p. 867.
But even here a retrenchment has been introduced. It has been assumed,
namely, that in the above-mentioned case the figure 3, the third of the base
tone, need not be written, but that it is sufficient, instead of the figure, to place
the transposition-sign alone over the base note, and thus, for example, to employ
merely the signs b, or % or t|, instead of b3, or tt3, or t]3. Accordingly, in
a piece of music, which has no signature, the harmonic combination (B dtt f S)
m^j, instead of being written as in fig 1052 k, p. 867, be more concisely
written as in // and the chord [c eb ab], instead of being written as in fig.
1052 ky p. 867, may be more briefly written as in /.
(^.) A second case where it is desirable, for the sake of definiteness, if not
strictly necessary, to write figures which might be understood of themselves, is
that in which the rules of assumption, in reference to these particularly
condensed thorough-base signatures, become, under certain circumstances, at
variance with each other.
If, for example, the passage in fig. 1061 ^, p. 871, is to be figured in the
thorough-base manner, it can be done in no other way than by actually writing
the figures §, though these might in other cases be perfectly well understood ;
because it can in no other way be shown that the thr^e-fold harmony [c e g]
is to follow the fourth-sixth chord [c f a] on the same base note c. For the
same reason, the figures § must stand over the third base note c in fig. 1077,
p. 879. On a Jike ground, the passage in fig. 1062 k, p. 871, cannot be well
expressed in thorough-base figures, otherwise than as in t. It might possibly
be done, indeed, as in n, where the figuring J stands a little to the right hand of
ihe base note and not directly over it, in order to show that the tones J are not
to be struck until after the base note \ but still the figuring in i would always
be less equivocal and more explicit.
VOL. II. H H
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EXBRCI8U IK PUBK C0XP08ITI0II,
§572.
(5.) A retrenchment of signs, is, moreover, found in the following case.
It often happens, that, in two immediately suooesaiYe harmonic oombiiu^
tions, even though these may he entirely unlike, one or more tones are common
to them aU; as, for example, in fig. 1080, t.
(Fig. 1080. t.)
I
e S
Q-)
2S
« ii = ?
I
I
tf ^ ""j-tf*^ "* " if^ Q*
where the tone c~ occurs in the first, second, and third harmonic oomhina-
tions, — the tone d in the second, third, and fourth. — ^In such cases, a figure ib
not used in each successive harmonic combination to designate a tone which is
common to them all, as in k; but when the tone has once heen represented in the
first of these successive harmonic combinations by a figure or other signature,
an horizontal line ( — ) is extended immediately from this signature towards
the right-hand over the base note, as a substitute for this figure in each of the
successive harmonic combinations which follow. Accordingly, the passage in
fig. 1080 t, above, can be figured as in /, instead of being figured as in it; fig.
1081, t, can he concisely figured as in ^z
also fig. 1074, «, p. 876, as in /; fig. 1078, «, p. 880, as in /,• and fig. 1082, i,
as in ^r
(Fig.l082,t.)
JCL. .Q. XX
(Compare fig. 234.)
instead of j(4 j(6 j(6
3 t)5 6
^^
ZJJL
is:
^
e 7 7 e tt4 ItA
33:
ie~ll"o
|IU IHU I el
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EXERCISES IN PURE COMPOSITION.
683
§573.
(6.) Finally, it is not unfrequently found that such portions of the hase
part as admit of its being easily understood what harmonic combinations must
be connected with them, are left entirely nnfignred ; e, g, fig. lOSl, p. 882,
merely as in // and, in a similar manner, the example in fig. 1083, %^ is more
briefly written as in k^
since it is here also assumed to be clearly intelligible to the reader in itself that
the three-fold harmony ® continues during the first four eighth-notes, and the
(Or ^-harmony during the four following, &c.
§ 574.
Thus &r I have described the thorough-base notation as it is most generally
in use.
Many musicians, however, deviate in certain points from this mode of
writing, so that not unfrequently one and the same sign indicates, with different
writers, quite different things, and one and the same thing is indicated by dif-
ferent signs with different writers ; all which tends to make the thorough-base
notation the more confused and embarrassing, if not even less perfect.
But, in order that we may be able to read the figured bases of these writers,
we will now likewise become acquainted with such variations (vartantes
lecHones).
Some musicians place the chromatic signs S, b, t], X, bb, after the figure,
instead of before it, and, accordingly, write as in fig. 1052 m, p. 867, instead of
as in // as in fig. 1053 m, p. 867, instead of as in // and as in fig. 1054 m,
p. 867, instead of as in /.
Others find it more convenient, for the sake of brevity, to indicate chromatic
elevations by drawing one or two strokes through the figures, than by means of
the usual chromatic signs Jt or x ; suid, accordingly, fig. 1052, n, would mean
the same as /, p. 867.
Others, on the contrary, connect the idea of chromatic depression with a
stroke thus drawn through a figure; as, e.g, fig. 1053 n, instead of/, p. 867.
Still others have fallen into the strange idea of appending a flat (b) to every
iigare 5 which forms a minor or so-called diminished fifth with the base tone
(Theory, § XXVIII, remark), and hence write fig. 1054 n, as in o, p. 867.
hh2
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EXERCISES IN PURE C0MP08ITI0R.
On the contrary, others again have seen fit to employ a curved line ^^ or
the sign A to designate such a minor fifth ; e, g, fig. 1084 t .-
(Fig. 1084, t.) (k.) instead of (/.) (m.) (n.) tubck.
n
^l-fllfy'^f }\fl^f^M^
6t| 5b
%
6 4
mrrn*!- r r y "inr^r^n
But others again use this same carve to indicate entirely different things ;
namely, either that some interval of the chord over which the curve stands is to
he left out, e, g. fig. 1084 k^ ahove ; or that the interval over which it stands is
a transition-tone, or a suspension, fig. 1084, /, m ; or that the passage thus
marked is to he executed only in three parts, as in n, ahove.
We sometimes find, moreover, the sign o» or v^, or ww nsed instead of the
diagonal stroke ^y so that thus, fig. 1085, t.
(Fig. 1085. i )
^i
^
(*.)
(^)
(»•)
TURCK.
fr ' II J r. II
i
-^*-
:C5P
:*=*
:*=i=
would be written as in it, above*.
Many also employ, instead of the dot, the horizontal stroke ( — ^ and
write therefore as in fig. 1067 k, p. 873, rather than as in t.
(2.) Application of Thorough-Base Notation-— particularly its Appli-
cation to Contrapuntic Exercises : — To one or more given Parts, to compose
one or more others, when the given Parts are furnished toith TTtorough-
Base Figures,
§ 574 **•
Having thus far become acquainted with the meaning of thorough-base
signatures (§§ 563 — 574), it now remains that we say something on the practical
advantages and use of them.
* The three following examples of thorough-base notation, with the music repre-
sented thereby placed at the right-band of each, are not referred to in the text of the
present edition of the author's work; but, as they are found among the other examples
which the author quotes in connection with this subject, and as they may be of use for
the reader's inspection, they are subjoined below :
E. BACH.
(Fig. 1086.)
0 b9
7 1^7
6 6
6b
4
b9
b7
5 6
^S£
4 3 3 2 4 3 8
-^
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EXEBCISK8 IN PUBB COMPOSITION.
885
Thorough-baae writing is sometimes, in the first place, a convenient means
of writing merely a figured base part to a piece of music, or to individual parts
of it ; e. ^. to a Choral melody, to a Solfeggio, to a Recitative, and the like,
instead of any other instrumental accompaniment. For such a purpose, this
mode of writing, aa being more concise, is, without doubt, of real practical
utility, so &r as an extremely simple accompaniment is concerned — an accom-
paniment consisting merely of naked chords, which can be indicated in most
cases more easily and briefly by a few thorough-base signatures, than by fully
written notes, and which also can be more easily comprehended by the eye and
more easily read, by one who understands thorough-base notation, than chords
fully written out in notes. Hiis is the case, for example, in the so-called dry
recitative (recttativo secco), accompanied simply by naked chords struck on a
pianoforte, (sometimes, in the Italian opera) by a violoncello, or by some other
instrument ;-^f which species of composition, the following base part, for
example.
i
^
part.
^s=K:
Jsnsp
Js=^
:*=*
Thoroogb-baw p&rt.
^£
5
is not only easy to read, but also affords at the same time the incidental ad-
vantage that a thorough-base part of this description, requiring only a single
staff, may at pleasure be executed either on the pianoforte or on some other
instrument, e. g, on the Violoncello, the Harp, perhaps on the Guitar, &c. — on
(Fig. 1087.)
81,
^it
- 6
ol 1-
f^
KOCB.
(Fig. 1088.)
Bit
m
33:
3m
i-
KIBNBEBQEB.
A- \ Hiii-H
^
'ttit'o
I
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KXBBC18K8 IN PURK COMPOSITION.
the Pianoforte^ the Harp, or the Organ, in the following maiuier, for instance :
^m
T
J J. J J
On the Violoncello :
jL-j ■• r I *" r *" f
B^SE
On the Guitar :
[xp^
fM-|i-"i"it
And 80 also it may, in many cases, be found more easy and oonvenient for both
writer and reader to write a simple melody, e. g. a Choral melody, or perhaps
a Solfeggio, and the like, in the following maimer,
£
'^ J>f?
I
I 1. % t
^
33s:
i
than in fully written notes, as follows :
ii
VOOI.ER.
J
^^
1^
t^
i^ilLLj'Pi
^
^
?=^
J3.
I
1
k
T
I
(although it is true, indeed, that even in this case, to at least the great ma-
jority of readers and players, actual notes would be incomparably more welcome
than thorough-base signatures, were it only for the greater clearness with which
the music is presented to the eye by notes than by figures.)
A secondy and in many respects very considerable, advantage of thorough-
base writing consists in the fact, that, when the base part is figured in the tho-
rough-base manner in a score, as is usually done in pieces of church music, such
figuring often very much fecilitates the understanding of the harmonic web
[the structure of the harmony] in reading and playing from score ; since a
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EXERCISES IN PURE COMPOSITION.
887
base staff with thorongb-base signatnres immediately marked over it is for the
most part more easily surveyed by the eye, than the entire mass of vocal and
instmmental parts constmcted for a wide distance above each other in several
staffs, and to be read in several different clefs. Thns it here affords abont the
same facility which is furnished by placing under the fiill score an abridged
pianoforte abstract : that is to say, to an individual who has once rendered him-
self famiUar with thorough-base figures, it secures, in case these figures are not
too numerous and huddled together in too oonfiised a manner, not only the ad-
vantage of his being able more easily to survey them than the fiill score, and
perhaps also to accompany a vocal part according to them, — ^but these thorongh-
base signatures may often be of utility, too, by the fact that they prevent the
attention of the player firom score, of the conductor in rehearsal, or of any other
reader, from passing over unnoticed, say, an unexpected leading tone, or other
distinguishing and important interval, which lies, perhaps, in the apparently un-
important part of some wind instrument, in an unusual clef, or in some other
obscure situation, where one would not expect to find it. This advantage is
obviously of so great importance in itself, that it is really a matter of surprise
that it should not have found acceptance also in secular music.
How far it is proper and desirable, in the execution of a piece of music in
many parts, to allow, besides the full instrumentation, the thorough-base figures
also to be performed by a thorough-base player on the organ or otherwise, is
another question, upon which I must refer the reader to what I have said in
relation to the gross impropriety oii such thorough-base playing, in the periodical
Cdcilia*y as also in my Treatise on Thorough-hose [Generalbasslehre], pub-
lished by Schotty at Mentz.
(These views were first published in the Leipsic General Musical Journal
for the year 1813, p. 105, and onward ; and, ten years afterward, another gen-
tlemen saw fit to publish these same views, first ventured upon by myself, as
strictly Ids own, and that too in the same periodicalf.)
A third real advantage of thorough-base notation consists in the fact that it
often serves superficially to sketch a piece of music in haste, which not uufre-
quently can be done sooner by figures than by the ordinary notes. Indeed, for
that matter, a series of harmonic combinations may be noted down entirely with-
out note-lines and music-paper, by merely using letters in the place of the base
notes. Thus, for example, we may, in this rapid way of writing, sketch the
harmonic combinations found in figs. 1089 — 1091,
(Fig. 1089,*.)
(A.)
-r -r T
* Vol. xiii, p. 146, and foil.
t Leipxig aUg, Mus. Zeitung for 1822, No. 42, p. 677, and foil.
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(Fig. 1090,.-.)
EXERCI8K8 IN FOBS COMPOSITION.
^Ay'*yi4H^^
mt
wi^
^
±S2Z
LC2.
(Fig. 1091.)
(TV
bv
nTsl..^^l^^J Jr^-TJq:
as follows:
**S «
jk S $6 fi7
5 4 *6 45f
(Fig. 1089, t.; E I F I E. (Fig. 1089, *.) E | E F | E |
b7 - b? -
bb? bbs - b2 bs 3 1,6
(Fig. 1090.) cBcAjAb Ab Ab AbjDb
6
7
8
9
8
7
6
—
5
4
6
6
7
«
5
4
—
3
(Fig.
1091.)
C
1
§575.
Still a farther species of utility to be derived irom the system of thorough-
base notation (chiefly for the sake of which, indeed, I have mentioned the subject
in this llieory) consists in the fact that it is happily adapted to be used in contra-
puntic exercises*,
* I say in contrapimtic exercises j but not in teaching the theory of composition
itself, for which, or instead of which, it is often (irrationaUy enough) used amis. For
it follows from the very fact that the thorough-base notation is essentially nothing else
than a short-hand species of writing, whose signs uniformly represent nothing but mere
notes, though indeed less perfectly than notes themselves, and that they give as little
information in respect to the internal harmonic sense and connection of the tones indi-
cated, as if the tones were written in the usual notes, whose substitutes they are (§ 563,
remark) I — I say, it is evident from these considerations, how irrational it is to attempt to
found the doctrine of pure composition upon these thorough-hose figures, whose use
pre-supposes a complete knowledge of the subject already ;— just as if a pedagogue, for
instance, should attempt to construct a Latiii Grammar upon the doctrine* of the abbre-
viations of Latin words and phrases.
This view becomes the more striking, if we consider in what way persons think to
arrive at that object, namely, by assuming the doctrine of pure composition to consist in
showing how one is to treat this or that interval — e. g. the seventh tone from the base
tone, — or how one is to treat the third, the fourth, and the sixth, in a third-fourth chord,
— ^the thirdt fif^h, and sixth, in a fifth-sixth chord, &c. — just as if one who had occasion
to write a theory of arithmetic, for example, should make this consist in first teaching
his pupils what they were to do with those numbers in which the figure 1 should occur,
&c ! (See remark on § 99.)
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EXEBC18E8 IN PURE COMPOSITION.
889
The utility of the thorongh-base notation, in this respect, depends upon the
circumstance that its figures uniformly indicate only what tones occur in the
other parts, — that is to say, only notes, but not directly the fundamental har-
monies involved in them, — and that the entire arrangement and conduct of the
other parts are left to the personal agency of the reader himself
We will, then, take in hand an example furnished with thorough-base figures,
say fig. 1092,
(Fig. 1092.)
KIBNBEaQEB.
and will reject one of the upper parts fix)m it, in order again to supply it from
the guidance of thorough-base signatures.
We will afterwards reject several, and finally all the upper parts, so that
merely the figured base alone shall be left us, from which we will at one time
form a composition having two .parts, and at another, one having three, four,
or more parts.
I avoid mentioning many examples for similar exercises, since every tho-
rough-base part, which every individual can easily supply himself with, may be
used for an exercise of this species. Those scores of good composers which have
their base part marked with the signatures of thorough-base are paiticularly to
be recommended for this purpose ; because the pupil, after having drawn out
such a figured base in parts, can compare his work with the conduct of parts
found in the original score ; which latter serves, in such a case, as an instructive
correction of the exercise. The examples given for practice in Turck*s Guide
It Lb almost yet more irrational to write, as has been done, so-called Thorough-base
Schools f which only purport to teach how to play a figured base according to the rules of
the art, without one's being radically acquainted with the theory qf pure composition ;
a little piece of trickery which seems to me very much like a man*s undertaking only to
teach a pupil to read a book written in mere abbreviations, without his understanding
the language in which it is written.
After these remarks, it will be quite apparent, why and in what sense I have, in many
parts of my Theory, denominated such instruction books detestable Thorough'bcae Schools.
Such an intrinsically mistaken attempt can never be and will never be anything else,
even had ApoUo himself written it ; and recipes and prescriptions, how, in tins and that
case, a tone must be treated which may happen to be the second, third, fourth, &c. from
the base tone, — how the third, the fourth, the ninth, the second, &c. in this or that second-
fourth-sixth chord, or even the base tone itself, is to resolve itself, &c. — ^prescriptions
which at one time indeed prove correct, but at another not, as we have seen again and
again in the course of our Theory, — ^I say, such rules and prescriptions can never be
anything else than a miserably jambled aggregation of family medicines, promiscuously
thrown together in the most arbitrary manner, without any actual internal relationship
or connection.
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890
IXKBCISBS IH PURK COMPOSITIOH.
to Thorough-base Playing* will serve for a similar purpose ; as will also those
in Kimberger's Principles of Thoroogh-basef, and many others.
One will soon become able, by proceeding in this way, to place a fignred base
part before him on the |nanoforte, and directly to play off a piece of mnsic in
two, three, or more parts ; or, as it is termed, to play thorough-ba»».
Finally, one may try to convert the fignred base part into a middle or nppei
part, by transponng it — say one or two octaves higher — so that the tones indi-
cated by the signatures shall at one time be given to the higher parts, and at
another to the lower. Thns, the fignred part in fig. 1093 may be interwoven
(FTg. 1098.)
^
5
-©»-
^
into a four-part composition as an upper part, as in fig. 1094^ which contains
(Pig. 1094.)
^
^^
▼0GLBB*8 CH0BAL8TSTBM.
^F^
^
-^
i
3
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the harmonic combinations indicated by that figuring.
In like manner^ the passage in fig. 1095 can also be treated as a middle part>
(Tig. 1095.)
«436S4eS
]j) r r °' Inn' J J I J ^1
as is the case in fig. 1094; &c.
(D.) TO SET ONE OB MORE PARTS TO ONE OR MORE GITBN PARTS, WHEK
THE HARMONIES TO BE CHOSEN ARE NOT EXPBB8SLT INDICATED.
§ 576.
Finally, those contrapnntic exercises in which the harmonic oombinations to
be supplied have hitherto been indicated to as in one way or another, we will
now undertake without any such aid. From some piece haying seTeral parts,
in which the harmonies are no where particularly designated, as, e. g, fig. 1096
or fig. 1097, we will select out one or more parts, so as to supply them again
without any such assistance. We can also do the same thing with several other
examples.
* AnieUung sum Generalbasaspielen,
t GntndsdUe des GeneralbaM$e$.
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EXSBC1BS8 ijr n^m
(Fig. 1096, i.) Doric Key,
e
I*, p.. - . . > I r , > r f . - "i-=a5
a£?-^f34seg
Vi/
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(Fig. 1096. *.)
yOOLE&'S IMPBOYEMEST.
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/TN
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892
KXBBCI8K8 IN PUBS COMPOSITION.
(Fig. 1006. k, continaed.)
rr\
/7\
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*=^
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^
f
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(Fig. 1097.) Phrygian Key.
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In this way we shall at length become able to set one or more parts to a
single part which is iumished with no particular indication of the harmonies to
be chosen ; and this species of exercise is the one with which (as we have men-
tioned above, in § 559) our teachers of musical composition begin and end their
oontrapuntic exercises, as they do in general their exercises in pure composition,
but to which we should be as little inclined rigidly to adhere, as we would to
make the first commencement with it.
It is self-evident that the practitioner must, in exercises of this species, him-
self seek out and select suitable harmonies and harmonic successions for the
given part — the cantusjirmus.
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BXBR0T8E3 IN PURE COMPOSITION.
893
In doing this, one will naturally at first choose those harmonies to which the
cantus firmus primarily points. Subsequently, however, one can do the oppo-
site, and can, for example, counterpoint the cantus firmus in fig. 1098, «^
p
(Fig. 1098, t.)
3=t:et
Etet
^
^^
^s
^^
g-Tfr.i°i.j"!jJ
^
^
at one time as in ^, and at another as in fig. 1094, p. 890, or in fig. 1099 :
(Fig. 1099.) YOOLBR'S CHORAL8T8TBM.
,^
uv W'.r^^l
m
'BE^SS
^
f^
m
Indeed, one may even attempt to set a whole cantus firmus in an entirely
different key from the one to which it naturally points. Thus, e.g. I have
attempted to construct the melody found in fig. 1100 —
(Fig. 1100.) CarUvs firmus.
p
J.J'JIJ i-[^r^^^^
r\
rlr'grir-f f
s
^
/?N
^^±iili\°\r\i^^
^
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It
a melody which very deddedly indicates the key of (?-major — ^into a piece of
music in 6^-major, .without in the least altering its form ; as in fig. 1101 :
(Fig. 1101.) FROM MT OP. 41,
Ana un • sere Her
zeo8 Gran de
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894 BXBBCI8B8 IN PURB COMPOSITION.
(Fig. 1101 ccmtinaed.)
^m
^
3
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ttat Dir
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Ua 0 L^Li*J
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lass ana
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from - men 'Chor.
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brin
Ren, als
die - sen from ...
from - men Chur.
men Chor.
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BXBRCISB8 IK PURK COMPOSITION.
895
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As examples for practice in oounterpointing a eantua firmua, we may, in
general, n^e any that occnr in Treatises on Thorongh-base.
DIVISION II.
TO FORM A GIVEN HARMONIC SUCCESSION INTO PARTS.
§577.
Thus far we have uniformly had either several given parts, or at least one,
to which we were to set others. But we will now attempt to form a aeries of
harmonies, given alone, into parts. We will, for example, transcribe the desig-
nation of harmonies standing under fig. 1074 1, p. 876, alone by itself, adding
merely forms of notes, to show how long each harmony is to continue, somewhat
in the following manner :
C.l IV
I V I V
I
I
o jo, o,
V I GfrV
and will then try to form, according to these given harmonies, a piece of music
consisting of two, three, four, or more parts, at one time exclusively of harmonic
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896 EXERCISES IN PURE COMPOSITION.
tones, and, at another, of harmonic tones combined with others which are foreign
to the harmony. Below are found some more problems of this species :
r r r r i r r °i i •
e.t V I Jb-V' i*-V» I V» I (Compare fig, 1090, p. 888.)
""rnmr Mr nrnr Mr Mr ••!
C;I V7 I ii7 V(7.V7 IC'.I IV V7 I V7 V Il7 V
(Compare fig. 1092, p. B89.)
DIVISION m.
TO INVENT A TltCH OF MUSIC WITHOUT AKY THING BEING GIVEN.
§578.
The exercises naturally preliminary to this problem having been pretty
thoroughly canvassed in what precedes, we may now venture with some degree
of certainty upon the business of inventing a piece of music entirely from onr own
resources — of composing a piece.
If we will, however, observe some gradations in this matter, we may proceed
somewhat in the following manner. We will first invent merely one part, or
simply a melody, and then add to this part several others, in the manner sug-
gested in § 576. In this way we obtain a piece of music in which every thing
has been invented by ourselves.
At another time we will invent merely a series of harmonic successions, and
then carry out this series of harmonies into parts^ according to the directions in
§ 577. In such a case, too, we shall have by degrees produced a piece of music
wholly from our own resources.
In this way we shall at length become able to perform all the above sepa-
rately treated operations at once, and therewith to produce at one (^ration a
piece of music grammatically correct ^ a pure musical composition^ and either
to write it on paper, or to play it on an instrument.
To teach the art of doing this, has thus far been the object of the present
Theory. Whatever else pertains to the theory of musical composition, namely,
the more artificialized forms of musical composition, of what is called Double
Counterpoint, of Imitations, Canons, and Fugues, as it were the Syntaxis omaia
[the ornate syntax], is foreign to the doctrine of merely pure composition, the
mere Grammar of Musical Composition.
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S97
APPENDIX.
ON THE ANCIENT MUSIC : PARTICULARLY THE OLD GREEK
OH CHURCH KEYS.
§ 579.
In our whole previous Theory, we have entirely passed over one suhject,
which, in other hooks of instruction, has heen made a matter of very great im-
portance ; indeed, with which many have been accustomed to commence their
instructions, and upon which — even to found them. This is the doctrine of the
so-called Greek or church keys.
1 cannot convince myself of the propriety of this mode of procedure, deeming
this subject, as I do, to be something wholly foreign to the theory of musical
composition ; and I here touch upon it supplementarily, simply in the way of
historical narration, in order that my readers may not be left in ignorance of a
subject, to the knowledge of which, in the eyes of many, so great importance is
attached.
§580.
In the views which we have thus far taken of musical composition, we have
uniformly recognized only two dijSerent species of keys, — namely, major and
minor. These two species of keys, moreover, are properly the only ones which,
at least so far as our ears at the present day are concerned, are adapted to the
purpose of music. Musical antiquarians, however, assure us that the ancients
had, not, like ourselves, merely two varieties of keys, but many more and entirely
other keys ; and such, for example, are the keys in which figs. 1102 — II05 are
written :
(Fig. 1102, t.) H^vm to the Muse Cattiopeia, according to Burette's interpretation.
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VOL. II.
I I
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g98 ON ANCIENT MUSIC,
(Fig. 11Q2, *.) ne same Ode, as printed by Forkel, voL t, p. 422.
P^^^^
A - ei - ^. Mw-^a, fw« +« - ^'Jf MoX - «ik» 4^-
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=^^nfj=fp^-3f^j|i I ll I i|^^
(Fig. 1103.) Hymn to Apotto, copied by Forkel, vol. t, p. 424,
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jHiJj^
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AND CHURCH KETM.
899
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^j^j^j ^l"]^3OT!riJJ^ i Jl Jnjjttg
(Fig. 1104, f .) Hytm to Nemesis (in Forkel, vol, », p. 427).
P
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^■< JIqI. J Jl«J J ^1''^^^
N€-f*€ - o-i wre-^^ €<r - ff-a, j8/ - «v ^o vit, fy:»
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3i=t
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Jloi J Jioi33
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^J'j '"-trt^
(Fig. 1104. k.)
The same Hymn, as copied by Rousseau.
p#
rarrrj-NTr^jljT^
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—4-
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I
-H 1 h-"-" 1 1 I I 1 1— i ; (•
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(Fig. 1105, t.) The first Pindaric Ode, according to Kircher^s interpretation*
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* The Ist, 7th, and 35th notes of this example are indicated as minims by the author ;
but they have been altered to semibreves by the Editor, in accordance with Kircher*s
version as given in his work, ** Musvtgia universalis,^^ Tom. I. p. 542. — Ed.
ii2
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900 ON ANCIENT MU9TC,
(Fig. 1105, k.) The same Ode, according to Burette^ s inierpretation.
P
'f^ciTl-3
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s
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J J jl.J-l!!j7Tfr^iJI2^Jlnl.il3,iJ^
Let one first sing or play these through, and then form his own judgment.
If it is true that Greek music really sounded as these spedmens do — if it is
true that in Greece sucA musical compositions, which, at least to human ears of
the present day, are chiefly of the most strange and singular character, were
currently received as products of the fine art of music, — certainly the musical
sense of the Greeks must, to say the least, have been very differently constituted,
and their music something entirely diverse from our own.
But, in the first place, it is yet a very unsettled question, whether the music
of former times realfy did sound thus.
Few subjects of antiquity are invested with so comparatively impenetrable
an obscurity, and attended with so great a diversity of views and opinions among
learned men, as is the doctrine of the music, and particularly the keys, of the
Greeks and the Romans.
The cause of this obscurity lies in the circumstance that historical investi-
gators in this department, more than in almost any other, find themselves almost
entirely left without traces to guide them, and without any of the requiaile
sources of information. While the plasiie works of the ancients still to this day
stand bodily before our eyes, not a single tone is any longer heard from all their
musical productions. A few paltry fi-agments of written Greek music — ^mere
dead musical signs — are all that has come down to us. And even these pitiful
fragments are not only extremely few, but, what is the worst of all, they are to
us properly illegible, and we do not know with certainty how they actually
sounded; which latter fact is sufficiently obvious from the consideration that
these said manuscripts have, not unfi-equently, been quite differently construed
by different musical scholars ; and, indeed, from the consideration, too, that such
constructions of Greek music as are found, for instance, in the examples above
quoted, uniformly sound so very strangely, that one can scarcely keep himself
from the conjecture, that the interpreters, who suppose the pieces of music desig-
nated in those ancient musical writings to have sounded so strangely as they do
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AMD CHURCH KEYS. 901
when thus translated into our modem notes^ might have erred in deciphering
those ancient musical manuscripts, and have translated them into notes incor-
rectly ; so that if an ancient Greek were this day to rise from the dead^ he would,
perhaps, be very much shocked to hear what these gentlemen had proffered as
specimens of the music of his so highly cultivated age.
Truly, indeed, if such an ancient visitor, restored from the grave, could stand
before us at this day, and play or sing a few pieces of the music of his time, —
then should we at once be extricated from the difficulty. Then we should, for
once at least, have heard with our own ears, as we now daily see the products of
the ancient plastic art with our own eyes. But inasmuch as we have never,
either directly or even indirectly, perceived by our own senses how a piece of
Greek music originally sounded, so, it appears to me, our speaking and writing
on this subject is not much better than treatises of deaf men on tones, or of blind
men on colours.
But it is not enough that no ancient Greek arises from the dead to enlighten
us upon the nature of his music ! No ; it would almost seem as if the dead of
more than a thousand years had even plotted together to thicken the veil of con-
cealment still more. For, even the historical notices which the ancient writers
have left us of the music of their age are almost all in the highest degree unin-
telligible, often entirely contradictory, — yes, even demonstrably erroneous,
untrue, and contrary to nature, when they are not even directly false* ; as, e. g,
* The same complaint of the obscurity and uncertainty of this subject has
already been made by several other writers before me ; as, e. ^. among others, by the
following :
Fuxrus, in Gradu ad ParTuusum, ExercUU V. LectUme VIL De 3Iodi$,pag. 221 :
** Ad Modorum materiem tractandam adniii, perinde est, ac antiquum chaos in ordinem
redigere. Tanta enim opinionum diver sitas inter Auciores, cum oTUiquos, turn recen-
Oores reperiturt utferme quot capita tot seTUentia fuisse videaniur. Nee me tenet tanta
admiratio GrdBcorum Auctorum: eienim extra cantroversiam est, Musicam illorum
princypio pauperem admodum intervalUs fuisse, teste Platone in TimtBum. . . .
POSTQUAM AUTEM VIX UMBRA DE MUSICA G&fiCA NOBIS AMPLIT7S
SUPERBST, non icUis mtrart possum, existere etiamnum aliquos, qui hodiema Musica
nostrdB Modis peregrina hac vocahula attribuere, et rem ex se satis intricatam, vauis
NOMiviBUS obscurare audeant,'*'' — " To endeavour to treat the subject of keys [modes],
is, as it were, to attempt to reduce the chaos of antiquity to order. For, so great a
diversity of opinion is found among authors, both ancient and modem, that there seem
to have been almost as many opinions as heads. Nor am I so much captivated by the
Greek authors : for, it is beyond dispute, thai their music was, first of all, very poor in
intervals, as we are assured by Plato in Timaus, . , • But,
SIirCE SCARCELY A SHADOW OF GrEEK MUSIC STILL REMAINS TO US, / cannot fed
surprise enough, thai there are stUl those who, to this day, presume to apply these foreign
terms to our musical modes ]keys'\, and thus, by senseless names, to increase the
obscurity qf a subject which is already sufficiently obscure in itself^'
D. Antonio Eximeno, DeW origine e delle regole della Musica, Roma, 1774, P. 2,
Lib, 1. Cc^, 1, } i,pag. 321 : " Gli Europeisono tenuti arispettore ne' Greci i Maestri
delle modeme arti, riti, e costumi ; ma questo rispetto non deve impedire il tenerli per
la naxione piu menxognera che sia stata mai al mondo, ed ambixiosa difarsi stimarepiu
di quello ch'era,^^ — " The Europeans are bound to respect the Greeks as the masters of
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902 ON ANCIBICT MUSIC,
the story of the hammers and strings of Py thagoras, first unmasked by Gafilei,
as also by Chladnif, which story is handed down to us by Nichomachns Gero-
senns, Jamblicus and Oandentius, Macrobius and Boetins, as a sober matter of
&ct ; also the story of the yonth of TauramenoSf who was thrown into a rage
by the sound of a Phrygian flnte-melody, and would even set fire to the house of
his rival, but from which Pythagoras easily kept him by a mnsical artifice,
their artSt manners^ and customs; but this respect need not prevent our regarding tkem
as the most lying ruUion that the tDorld ever sawt and a nation that was always ambitms of
being taken for more thanit was worth.^^ And farther, p. 339 : " Non preiendo per qwesto
che la Musica greca sia stata onnimamente come la nostra, che per decider e quesiopmio,
v^abbisogrijerebbe sentire que la, e paragonarla con questa.** — *' I do not mean, by tkiii
that the Greek music was entirely like our own ; for, in order to decide this point, it
would be necessary to hear the former and to compare it with the lattery—^ And again,
pag. 342 : " Vero ^ che da testimonj degli Antichi non si pud chiaramente rilevare il
iigniflcato delle parole, massimamente in materia di Musica, sulla quale nulla quasi si
comprende senxa esempj, che mancano affatto suQa Musica greca^ — " It is true that
we cannot easily determine,from the mere statements of the ancients, the real meaning
of their words, especially in the department of music, where, even aside from, this con'
sideraOon, scarcely anything can be understood without examples^ which latter are here
entirely wanting'*^
Rousseau, in his Diction, de Musique, art. Mode : <' Les Andens different prodi^
gieusement entr*eux sur les definitions, les divisions, et les noms des leurs Tons ou
Modes. Obscurs sur Unites les parties de leur Musique, Us sont presque ininteUigtbles
sur celles-ci,** — *' T%e ancients differ prodigiously among themselves in respect to the
definitions, divisions, and names of their tones or keys [modes]. Obscure m aU parts
of their music, they are here almost entirely unintelligible,^^
G. JoHEs, in his History of Music (which is not this moment at hand In the original,
but only Von MosePs Tnmslation), expresses himself in a similar manner : '* How mnch
ic is to be regretted by the friends of the arts that no trace is left as of what the music
of the ancients actually was, and that all records, which might have difused light on so
interesting a subject, have perished in the rushing stream of time. We have, indeed,
treatises and works of the Greeks upon ancient music, but they do not benefit us ; for,
even the learned professors of modem harmony are not able to understand them. The
tedious subtleties of an endless winding through the labyrinth of an analysed Diapason ; the
particular character of their Tetrachords, and the impenetrable darkness which hangs
over the knowledge of their signs of tones, are as substantial causes for sadness to the
feelings of the musical artist, as they are to the curiosity of the ancient historian."
The learned and distinguished Dr. Bubvet, in his Introduction to the History of the
Music of the Ancients, says, as candidly as truly : ** What the music of the ancienti
really was, it is not now easy to determine the subject of the ancient
music is so obscure, and the writers who have treated of it differ so much in their own
opinions, that I prefer to omit all discussion in relation to it ; for, to tell the truth, the
study of the ancient music has become, at the present day, more the business of the
antiquary, than that of the mnsical artist.'*
FoBKBL's expressions, also, in several parts of his history of music, coincide with
the views expressed above. He says, e, g- among other things, in his first volume, pages
viii and iz : " Whoever, therefore, will fathom the true nature of the ancient music,
Akusiik, § 86, and LHpz. Mus. Ztg. 1826, No. 40.
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namely, by calling to the flute-player to play only in quick spondaic measore,
which spondaic blowing immediately changed the feelings of the incendiary to
such a degree, that he repentantly sneaked away to his home without doing any
thing fiurther : or the story of the musical performances in Solomon's Temple by
a court chapel-retinue of not more than four hundred and eighty thousand mu-
sicians, of whom alone twenty thousand were trumpeters, &c.*
certainly (strange as the conduslon may appear to many readers) can but seldom follow
the accounts as they have been given us by even the most credible historians of antiquity."
. . . . '<He may be a very honest, candid, and even learned man, and yet, in in-
dividual parts of the sciences, or in the arts, may possess so little true knowledge, that
he does not in such a case merit the slightest confidence, and is just as capable of deceiving
us by his acconntB, as if he were &r from being the honest and learned man whom we
are bound to consider him, on the ground of his other merits. One thing which greatly
enhances the difficulty of our acquiring dear ideas of the nature of the andent music,
besides the above-mentioned uncertainty of historical sources of information, is the entire
difference of the interval relations in the modem and the ancient scales, and the hence
arising impossibility of making these andent interval relations sensible to our ear, ac-
customed as the latter is to other distances of tones which are entirely diverse. Had
some such machine been left us from antiquity as is the invention of the mechanical
flute-player of Vcaicanson^ or as some of our musical docks are, then would some melodies
also have come down to us in connection with them. From a single piece of music,
obtained as it were alive, in this way, we should have been better able to comprehend
the nature of the andent mosic, the magnitude of the intervals in its scales, its measure,
&c. than from a thousand descriptions, or even from the few mdodies, of which, after all,
only the lifdess signs have come down to us. But such inventions dther had never been
produced by the andents, or they have become lost, and we are now no better off, as it
respects the true sound of the andent music, than we are as it respects the true pro-
oundation of the andent dead languages.'*
It would be easy to adduce a great many other writers, who all agree in the same
complaint. I have, above, copied only from, those who happened to be nearest at hand,
while the others, almost without exception, utter the same lamentation, with equal
strength, and, so far as I can recollect, in most cases, with much greater.
IMsheartened at all these difficulties, and at the want of a solid foundation upon which
to establish a sure progress, many are disposed to give up this important branch of musical
and antiquarian sdence, in a manner, utterly and for ever. We might almost approve of
their choice in the matter ; for, in so small a number, and in the poverty and uncertainty
of the traces which could serve as the basis and support of our investigation, the hope of
securing any satisfactory results from this fidd must necessarily be very small. But not-
withstanding all this, it would not be worth while, perhaps, to give up all hope. If, as
is well known, we can succeed in getting the genuine sound of certain Greek letteis
from the bleating of sheep, the howling of a dog, and the like, why should we not hope
* That even our Utest writers offer the fraternal band to the lies of the writers of an-
tiquity, is shown by a document published in No. 43 of the Berlin Musical Journal for
the year 1824 — a document presented with entire seriousness as an authentico-historical
one, which contained the most important and positively decisive devdopments upon
this subject of antiquity, but which was found, by more recent disdosures, to be a^-
jesting fiction. — (Cact/ta, vol. ii, p. 156.) Compare, moreover, F. A. Wolf, Darstellung
der Alterthumswissensch. Museum der Alt. vol. i, p. 65 ; Serapionsbriider, II, 371 . —
E. r. A. Hoffnumn'8 Leben, I, p. 281 ; CdciUa, vol. ii, p. 113 ; iv, 213 ; v, 279.
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As no rational man belkyes a word of all these things, so I can never heliere,
from any assurance of our antiquarians, that the Greek music was anything
like what our interpreters of these hymns have given us in figs. 1102 — ^1105,
pp. 897 — 900, and thus anything so entirely different from diat which we caJl
music at the present day, a confhsed and tedious jnmhle of sounds, without any
melodic sense, and (like the ahove examples) even without any rhythmical sym-
we may yet perhaps gain some diiclosures from the same quarter, ahowing how the
Greek music may have once sounded, and whether it is actually true that such things st
those exhibited in 6gs. 1102 — 1U)5, pp. 897 — ^900, were called music among the Greeks I
whether their keys and scales are of such a nature that melodies of such a descripCion
could be manu&etured out of them t or whether they may not have had the same scales
and keys as are found to be consonant to the ears of men at the present day.
But, if we would hope to be able hereafter to see light arise on this doubtful subjecC
investigations mast certainly be instituted in a very different manner, in many respects,
from what they have heretofore been.
First of all, investigators must transfer themselves more to the study of the sources,
the authentic remains of the ancient musical art, instead of always yielding themselves
up, one to the authority of another, as has for the most part been done heretofore, and
instead of looking through the glasses of others, usually ground and polished, not with-
out the distorting effect of prejudice, and not unfrequently without an accurate acquaint-
ance with the subject. For how dangerous it is, particularly in this department, to build
upon the authority of our writers, appears not only from the fact that they are not all
agreed among themselves, and one constraes signs, and translates into notes the very
same piece of Greek music, in an entirely different way from another, as appears, «. g.
from a comparison of fig. 1 102 i, 1104 i, and 1 106 1, with k pp. 897^900, but particularly
from the fact that the authors who have written upon music, and especially upon the
foreign keys and scales, have usually either been merely musicians without a suitable
general education, or possessed of a general education with but a small amount of musical
knowledge, or persons who possessed no musical qualifications whatever. For, it is
nothing new, for example, that W. Johes, as he himself in a very artless and ingenuous
manner relates, after he had first occupied himself a long time with a learned comparison
of the key and scale of an Indian melody with our keys and scales, finally went at last
to a musician for advice, and then leamed from him, for the first time, that the scale of
the said song was nothing peculiar, but was just like our own ! (The passage itself will
be introduced farther on in the present remark, printed literally.) Thus a leamed man,
who is not even at all acquainted with our scale, but is obliged first to ask a musician
about it, in order to know whether a song which he hears is contained in this scale or
not, — such a leamed man employs himself with a comparison of this scale with that
of India, and causes his views upon music to be printed, — and other equally leamed
men appeal to him and write again other leamed treatises. — Rely not, then, upon the
idle tales of the leamed!
The more indispensably necessary it is, therefore, in investigations relative to the
ancient music, to draw from the original sources^ to see with one's own eyes, and to
use one*s own understandiog, the more unfortunate it is that these sources are so little
accessible to the inquirer. For, where will he find the old manuscripts of the Greek
notation! Where the ancient writers who fiimish accounts of the music of their own
times t Where the relics and copies of the ancient musical instruments, &c. ? Where
will he find all this T And, particularly, where will he find it all together^ that he may be
able conveniently and thoroughly to examine, compare, and consider it on all sides, in
one connected view ?
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metry ; and the very drcomstaiice that antiquarians are not able to oonBtnie
these otherwise than they have done, seems to be a dear proof that their inter-
pretation is entirely incorrect, and hence that they have not yet succeeded in
understanding the Greek notation. In this position of the affiur, in consequence
of which our writers and artists differ from each other so widely in their yiews
and representations of the Greek keys, while upon the whole subject in general
It iB obviouB how Tery much the difficulty of investigation ia increased by this circmn-
stance, and the hope of ever arriying at a satisfiictory result is diminished. To say the
least, if the latter object is ever to be gained, one must begin with first furnishing us with
the original documents themselves. Accordingly, our writers, instead of translating the
Greek music into modem notes, according to their own ideas, as they have hitherto most
Improperly done, must give us rather genuine copies, fac similes {copies figrtroHves), of
the ancient manuscripts themselves, as also the places in the writings of the ancients
which speak of music, whether professedly {exprofesso) or incidentally, together with a
carefol mentioning of any various readings; true copies of the ancient draughts ; and all
this with circumstantially explanatory descriptions, with a definite statement of the place
where the originals, the reprints, copies, and fiic-similes, delivered, are to be found, &c.
Only in this way, by placing the materials of investigation before our eyes,— only in
this way, could there be any hope of ultimately obtaining any lighf on a subject, of
which, if we would but acknowledge the truth, we thus iar know nothing, how much so-
ever we may be in the habit of taking pains always at least to show some learning in
relation to {inptmcto) the keys of the ancients, and of demeaning ourselves as if we had
fully drank into the spirit of the ancient unutterable music of the priests of On, and had
heard the mummy of the beautiful Asnath, the consort of the. virtuous Joseph, sing.
(See Fink^s excellent work — '* The first Migration of the most Ancient Musical Art, as
an hUroduction to the History qf Music^* [** Erete Wandering derSUesten Tonkunst als
Vorgeschichte der Mrtsik'*] — ^a work which, without auy predecessors of its own species,
for the first time makes very rich developments in relation to the origin of the art, to-
gether with philosophical and musical intimations in an historical point of view. (Com-
pare CacUiay vol. xiv.)
But I must not conceal the fact from my readers, that there is, after all, one writer
who, in spite of the uncertainty of our knowledge in the department of the ancient
music thus &r, has no hesitation in writing, with the utmost positiveness, a formal and
detailed system upon the music of the Greeks. This is Hbbb Babon voir Dbibbbbo,
the author of quite a readable treatise, entitled— <* The Practical Music of the Greeks'*^
[" Diepractische Mttsik der GWtfcA«n"]— who, especially in pp. 101—104, has treated me
with great severity, because I ventured to participate in the incredulity of the many
above-mentioned writers, and to make an open avowel of this fiict, in my preface to
Dr. Stopel's History of Modem Music [**Geschicht€ der Modemen Musik**] . In order
not to confine my readers exclusively to my own views and those of all the musical
authors above named, but to make them acquainted also with the grounds Sind proofs for
the opposite opinions, I give, below, a literal insertion of the particular passage of Von
Drieberg, above alluded to, in which, for reasons unknown to me, he makes his demon-
stration against me. He speaks as follows :
" By the knowledge of the fundamental principles and roles of an srt, we can furnish
ourselves with an idea of the practice of the same. Thus, how the Greek music sounded
may be ascertained, though the spirit which animated it admits of beinf* only conjectured.
Mr. Weber, however, disputes the former, and that too, as we have read above, because
there are no notes of a thousands -of-years-duration which still continue to sound and by
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906 ON AIICISIIT MUSIC,
they are any thing bat agreed, I will, instead of assuming die air of knowing
more than either I myself or a^iy body else actoally does know, rather openly
renounce all pretension of telling my readers definitely what was the nature of
the music, and especially the keys, of the ancient Greeks, and how, if at all, they
really differed from our own ; I will, on the contrary, limit myself to the ample
task of presenting, as truly and intelligibly as possible, those ideas of the Greek
which we can hear with our own ears how, for instance, a Greek— catgut soimded. This
tmiy appeals to be an impombility ; but Mr. Weber takes the matter in hand, and gives
w a recipe to show how we most study the Greek music in order to solve that thonsands-
oCyeaiB -problem. That we have in nowise miacoostmed this Mr. Weber, so learned
* in point of [mptmlo] the aacunt mnsic,* is proved by his similes of pcfsons bom deaf,
and of the sheep as a Greek language-master, te. A refiitation, ta ikis case, would be
superfluous. Mr. Weber*s assuming the possibility that the music of the Grreeks may
have been something entirely different from the modem, is not consistent. For, he will
admit, that both harmony, 1. e. all the relations of sounds to space and rhythm, i. e. all
the relations of sounds to ftme, depend upon the unalterable laws of nature, and that this
was known to the Greeki. Since, therefore, the union of harmony and rhythm is musie,
it must be impossible that the music of the Greeks should have been anything entirely
different from that of the moderns. But possibly, alter all, Mr. Weber even denies the
existence of unalterable natoral laws in music, and thinks it may all rest upon mero con-
ventional agreement, in like manner as, say, the rules of cricketing do. If such is the
case, we must endeavour to inform him. The celebrated William Jones says : * After I
had long endeavoured to find out the difference of the Indian scale from our own, I
requested a German musician of much capacity to accompany, with the violin, an Indian
iute^player, who played a written popular song on the loves of Crisna and Rudha. The
German virtuoao assured me that the scale was perfectly like our own. I mor« recently
learned, also, from Mr. Shore, that if a tone is given to an Indian singer from the piano-
Ibrte, and he adjusts his voice to the same tone [takes the same pitch], the Indian as-
cending series of seven notes has a minor or migor third, just as ours has.* Wonderfnl !
The same scale of sounds is laed alike in India and in Darmstadt, and yet, in this case,
any conventional agreement is out of the question. Had Mr. Jones been more of a
musician, he would doubtless have traced out the cause. But the cause truly is, ike
symphony of sounds. For, since the symphony not only determines, in the moet exact
manner, the position of the seven dynamic sounds of the fundamental system, but also
the position of the five chromatic sounds, and since the Greeks toned their instruments
likewise by the symphony, as do also the Indians and the people of Darmstadt ; it follows,
as a matter of course, that the spaces of sounds, the system, and the keys of the Greeki
could not have been, in the diatonic genus, different from those of the modems. The
assertion of Mr. Weber, that we know nothing of the Greek music, would thus, there-
fore, prove to be untrue, even if no account of the matter had come down to us from
ancient times ; it is, consequently, the more groundless, inasmuch as we still possess nearly
twenty musical works of the ancient writers. But when Mr. Weber affirms, in his
pre&ce, that*' [begging your pardon, I have said no such thing— 6. W.J *' all which
those writers have said in relation to their music is unintelligible, contradictory, emmeoia,
untrue, contrary to nature, and replete with lies, we will let it pass without notice untQ
he assures us that he has read at least a single one of tiiem."— ^< The expression sympkoiq
is employed by the Greeks in two different ways : first, they understand by it the entirely
perfect blending of two sounds of different pitch : then, secondly, they also denominate
the interval whose sounds thus blend, a symphony, while they call the sounds themselves
symphonic sounds. An entirely perfect blending takes [dace whenever two different
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907
ki^s wJuflk ue analijr ntarteaed liy ikm BModty ^AmuM of tfe pment day
— a task which, after all, is not entirely of the eayest character, since this sahject
is found, in our theories, pre-eminently enveloped in learned ohscority and mys-
tifying erudition.
§581.
The musically educated tell us, though with inoomparahly more of learned
unintelligihleness than I may here repeat, the following things :
The nations which lived thousands of years before us had, not, like ourselves,
merely major and minor keys, but six, or in a manner twelve, if not even more,
essentially different keys or scales. These, originally derived from the Egyp-
tians and Israelites, and afterwards introduced into Greece, obtained in this
latter country, just according to the provinces in which the one or the other of
them became particularly used, the appellations of Doric key, Phrygian key,
Lydian key, &c. From Greece they were imported into Rome, and thence
passed into the music of the oldest Christian churches, which was originally all
written in these keys. In these same ancient Christian melodies they find,
moreover, very clear traces of the excellence of those ancient keys, and a subli-
mity, a power, and a dignity, which, in our present pitiful major and minor keys,
are totally unattainable. Figs. 1096, 1097, 1106—1109, pp. 891, 892,
and below, contain some melodies of this description, which are acknowledged
to be pre-eminently genuine.
(Fig. 1106.)
fc7^^JJ^lr^;fl^J^Jh■^^lrffJlJJp
i
s
Vi/
\:j
(Fig. 1107.)
jji^Jlrrrrl-jJ^^
Tq=F
^m
^
:tsf;
Vi/
Vi/
objects so unite with each other that the one is not distinguishable from the other, and
the mixture, — the blended compound, — appears to the senses like a simple. Hence*
there is not only a symphony of sounds, but also a symphony of colors, a symphony of
Uuies^* ! And so he goes on, — and, occasionally, still more violently,
against myself. Closely in the neighbourhood of this (pp. 95 and 69), he compares
the overture to Don Juan to the lowest species of the clattering music employed in
country festivities, and calls it an " tmheard-qf cacophomy^* (compare § 465), and, on
p. 94, he deals in a similar manner with Sebastian Back, Aye, very well ! Such plea-
sures, to such gentlemen, one can very cheerfully concede.
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(Fig. 1108.)
ON IMCIEHT MOSIC,
(Fig. 1109.)
fiiJjJJI-imirrrJifrTrl-N^
Jj7.'lf rr fl=J=^?riJ i i J i^
§ 582.
The different Greek scales, aooording to the received ideas on that snbject,
were as follow :
(1.) One which sounded like onr major scale, in which, aooordingly, the
major and minor degrees were distributed as they are in onr major scales.
For example : c d e f g a b c^ &c.
or:
d e f tt g a b cit 3, &c.
and thus in this key, jost as in onr present major scale, the step from the
1st to the 2nd tone was major,
2nd 3rd major,
3rd 4th minor,
4th 5th major,
5th 6th major,
6th 7th major,
7th 8th minor.
This is called the Ionic key — modus jonitu,
(2.) Another key was called the Done — modus dorius : in this, the step
from the 1st tone to the 2nd was major,
2nd 3rd minor,
3rd 4th major,
4th 5th major,
5th — — 6th major,
6th 7th minor,
7th 8th major.
For instance, as follows :
defgabcd] &c.
or:
e^gabctt'He, &c.
Accordingly, the Doric ^scale was like our minor scale from the first degree to
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the fifth, hut from that point OQward was different ; namely, the step from the
fifth tone to the sixth was major ; from the sij^th to the seventh, minor ; and
from the seventh to the eighth, major : or, more briefly expressed, it was like a
major scale commenced on the second degree.
(3.) Again, another key, called the Phrygian — modus pkrygius^ exhibited
the following form :
ef ff a h'c "3 e
minor major major major mmor major major
or:
f g ab bb c . . . .
&c. —
This scale is, accordingly, like our major scale, if the latter be commenced on
the third degree.
(4.) The Lydian key — modus fyditss, was like our major scale begun on
the fourth degree ; e, g,
f g a b cl"e7....
or:
c d e fjjga b"c....
&c. —
(5.) The Mxxo-Lydian Vej—modits mtxolydius, was like our major scale
commenced on the fifth degree ; e. g,
g a b c^ I¥Tg"....
or:
cdefgabbc....
&c. —
(6.) The ^olie key — modus csolius ; as, e, g.
a b c"7"e TgiT.,..
or :
c d ebf g abbbc^....
&c. —
(7.) According to Vogler, the Mixo-pkrygian key — modus mixophrygius ; as
b"c J"e7g"a"B....
or:
c d e f gbabbbc...,
&c. —
Now, in order to know in what key a Greek melody is written, one must
know that the last note of the melody is always to be regarded as the Ionic, as
the first degree of the scale. Hence, just according as all the difierent tones
occurring in a melody, when they are all presented in a regularly arranged series,
form a series of tones in which the major and minor steps are distributed as they
are in the Ionic key, or as they are in the Doric key, &c. the melody is said to
be in the Ionic key, or in the Doric key, &c. The melody in fig. 1106, p. 907,
for example, terminates with the tone d ; this tone, therefore, is, in Greek, to be
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910 ON ANCIBHT MUSIC,
regarded as the tonic of the piece. Now one has only to oonsicler what sort of a
series the other tones ootmrring in this melody will make with the tone d. If
we arrange into a series all the tones which present themselyefl in thia piece, and
consider the tone d as the first of that series, a series of tcmes is produced which
is like the major scale of C commenoed on its second degree ; and thns it is
perceived that the said melody is Doric, In a similar way, the melody in fig.
1107, p. 907, is found to he Phrygian; fi)r, if the tones of which it consiats are
arranged into a series, and the redconing is commenoed with e, as the tone with
which the piece closes, the resulting series of tones is found to he the same as
that of the major scale of C conmienced on the third tone, e. Fig. 1 108, p. 906,
is like the scale of C conunenced on the fourth tone, f, and henoe is Lydian,
And fig. 1109, p. 908, is the same as the series in 2>-major commenced on a
(or, which is the same thing, it is like C^major begun on the tone g), and thus
is MxxoJydian (though transposed). And in the same manner one will recog-
nize an .^Jolie, a Mixophryytan^ and an Ionian melody.
In this case, a still fiurther distinction is to be made, as to whether the tones
of which a melody consLsts lie chiefly within the compass from the principal tone
to its octave, or more between the fifth tone and its octave. In the first case,
the melody is named auihentic ; in the oiheTfplayal ; and the prefix M»- (hypo-)
is also applied to the name of the key. For example, the tones of fig. 1106,
p. 907, in which the tone d is the_^ principal tone, lie chiefly, and in by fiir the
largest proportion, between d and d, and thus between the principal tone and its
octave ; and henoe the melody is authenHco-Donc. In like manner, the Phry-
gian melody in fig. 1107, p. 907, is atUAentic, because it keeps itself chiefly
between 'c andcl On the contrary, the melody in fig. 1108, p. 908, whose prin-
cipal tone is f, consists of tones which lie, not between 7 and X hut altogether
between "c and "c; accordingly, it is playo-Lj^u, or As^o-Lydian. So also is
fig. 1108, p. 908,/'/a^o-Mixolydian, or Aj^To-Mixolydian. In the same way one
will ascertain what is a hypo-Ionian, a hypo-Doric, a hypo-Phrygic, a hypo-
JBolic, or a bypo-Mixophrygic melody.
Moreover, when the tones of which the melody consists lie within the com-
pass from the under fifth of the tonic note to the upper fourth, the name of the
key receives the prefix innp {hyper — over) ; and henoe the Aj^ier- Doric key, die
hyper^JEioUc key, &c.
§583.
Sudi, at least according to the testimony of the greatest part of our writers,
are the so-called Greek keys [modes] ; though some other authors, again give an
entirely difierent description of them. See ForkeVs History of Music vol. i,
§§ 99 — 177. Thus, e. g. the Ionic key \b called also the lastie key^ modus
jdsHcus; the hypo-^mxolydian, also the hyperplastic^ ^f^odus hyperfasHcvs ;
the hyper^JEolic, also the hyper-Doric y modus hyperdorims / &c. And so
likewise, in relation to all more specific limitations of these varieties, in general
there still obviously remains much that is unsettled and indefinite.
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§ 584.
The first reflection that occurs to every one, on passmg through a descrip-
tion of the so-called Greek keys and scales, is, that they are not at all, funda-
mentally, what we at the present day denominate keys and sceUes, A key con-
sists in the natural mutual alliance of a certain number of harmonies which all
relate to a principal harmony, around which, as their common centre, they all
revolve, as do the members of one family around its head ; and we apply the
term scale to the entire series of tones of which the harmonies consist which
belong to the family of one tonic harmony — to one key ; whereas a Greek scale
19 nothing else than the tones which occur in a given melody : the former is the
result of the analysis of the fundamental harmonies, while the latter is the result
of the analysb of a melody.
§ 585.
But as it respects the much-celebrated, astonishing ^ and Ufugsfproaciable
excellence and superiority of these keys over our major and minor keys, it will
be found, if we consult our own sense of hearing, that such pieces of music as
those hitherto referred to, certainly sound rather strangely, to say the least ; and,
in fact, the matter is scarcely too strongly expressed by the above-mentioned
Exifneno, where (p. 337) he exclaims, in relation to the specimens of the Greek
hymns now under consideration : *^ Le canzoni de* Seloaggj di Canada hanno
la modulazione piu vaga di quei Inni" — ^* The songs of the Canadian wilds
have a mare agreeable modulation them these hymns" And if the songs of the
Greeks really sounded as our learned men have here given them to us, an un-
learned person, one who had not yet learned any better, might easily take them
to be the productions of an age when the musical art was yet in its cradle, and
was then making its first crude attempts — attempts which might perhaps satisfy,
please, and, with their national susceptibilities to emotion and excitement, even
animate the feelings of a people totally uncultivated in music (a people among
whom, for example, the music directors armed their feet with iron soles, in order
to be able to stamp out the time sufficiently loud, and both hands, moreover,
with oyster-shells or hollow cymbals, so as to smite them together in chime with
the measure ; among whom, too, the trumpet virtuosi very commonly rent their
cheeks by their efibrts, or ruptured blood-vessels, while a flnte-player actually
blew himself to death in a solo ; and so on). For, who knows what an impres-
sion even the rudest music might make upon us, if we were accustomed to nothing
better?
On the other hand, highly and profoundly educated musical antiquarians,
and partly also learned and eminent composers of our own time, assure us that
if onr ears cannot appreciate the excellence of such melodies, the cause is to be
found exclusively in our own vitiated tastes and perverted habits, resulting
from our miserable modem major and minor keys. The Greeks, as also the
beloved andents in general, were truly quite a difierent people from us mere
boys ; and that which animated them, in their noble age, must necessarily still
be of pre-eminent worth, and is indeed by &r too sublime for our pro&ne ears.
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912 OM ANCIENT MCSIC,
I will only acknowledge that I belong to the elass of the unleaned and unlearn-
able, who have not yet been able to adopt the blind faith in the glory and supe-
riority of such music over all that is called music of the present day. Moreover,
I here design to engage in no controversy on this subject ; and so much the less,
since Forkel* has so illastrated it by examples, that scarcely anything more
remains to be said. We wUl only, in a few words, freely and impartially con-
sider, a little more minately in an artistic point of view, the truth whidi Forkel
has verified from Attlortco/ resources ; we will subject ourselves to no constraint ;
we will not allow our sense of hearing to be brought into captivity to the fiuth,
so as to compel ourselves, in spite of our ears, to regard pieces of music like
those in the abeve-quoted hymns and church melodies as agreeable — ^yes, glo-
rious and excellent, and even unapproachable ; but we will have the courage to
confess that, as they here stand, they sound to us disagreeably and unmusically.
I say, as they here stand; 9amely, as sung without an harmonic accompani-
ment, as they were originally intended to be sung, and would be sung by their
authors ; and thus without any additional ingredient from our present system of
music. It must not, therefore, be objected to our view, that such melodies do in
fact sound most admirably, and cease entirely to produce the slightest unplea-
sant effect, when they are furnished with a finely wrought harmonic accompa-
niment, and are played on the organ, say by a Vogler or a Bach ; as, for example,
in fig. 1097, p. 892 ; or, perhaps, after being thus elaborately improved from
the resources of modern art, are performed by a good choir of singers : for, as
every such melody ceases to be Greek music the moment it is thus interwoven
into the combinations of modem harmony, so nothing more is necessary for the
confirmation of the opinion above expressed, than merely the remark, that, while
it is the harmony alone that makes such a piece of music agreeable, this har-
mony is an element wholly foreign to the Greek music, and, by its accession to
the latter, a piece of so-called Greek music ceases to be ancient music at all.
For, with all due respect for distinguished learned men and eminent com-
posers, we must be allowed to say that it sounds very strangely to hear them
assert that they accompanied these melodies with harmonies in the Greek man-
ner, when it is scarcely a matter of doubt with any one that the Greeks had no
knowledge of that which we call harmony, and hence, of course, did not accom-
pany such melodies with harmony at all.t
* In the work before referred to, and particularly in § 174. and foil.
t To say the least, everything that is left us of the music of that time (figs. 1102—
1105, pp. 897 — ^900) is only one-part composition. Bat what if the ancients, perhaps,
after all, had harmonic and polyphonic music t What if the above->mentioned figures
1102 — 1105 were, perhaps, only secondary and subordinate parts, and by no means
the proper melody 1-^Let one conceive to himself, for once, that some thousands
of years after the present period nothing else should remain of the music of our time
than, say the Alto part of some chorus in Btm, Jtum; and a learned man of that remote
age should then take this Alto part, this — so fortunately-preserved precious documeot,
and exhibit it as a specimen of the music of our time, and should teach his cotemporaries :
*' Thus sounded a piece of a certain opera called Den Jium.^* In order to make the
scandal complete, let us conceive to onzselyes, that such learned man should know nothing
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AMD CHnaCH KET8.
913
And if one earefnlly inqnires wherein this ** in the Greek manner" oonsbts,
and thoronghly investigates the harmonic elaborations of such melodies by the
most nniversally acknowledged acquaintants with the ancient keys^ Sebastian
BacA, Vcffler, and others^ it all at last comes to the simple feict, that such a
piece of music is always, if possible, commenced with the three-fold chord on the
tone which constitutes the last tone of the melody, and is, if possible, closed with
the same three-fold harmony ; and thus, for example, the melody in fig. 1106,
p. 907, is closed as if it were in i^-major or ^^minor, as in fig. 1096, t or k,
p. 891 ; and fig. 1107, p. 907, as if it were in JF-major, as in figs. 1110—1112 :
(Fig. 1110.)
YOOLBH.
(Fig. nil.)
YOGLSH.
^^ r f f
I
r
about our clef: what sort of stuff would he present from this source 1 I must not be
told, that the latter assumption does not apply, inasmuch as we are acquainted with the
Greek notation. We are acquainted with it indeed, but how ? — in such a manner that
no two understand or read it alike ; as we have seen in the examples several times
quoted. But still more ! Who will tell us how much or how little the Greek himself, iu
singing from this notation, actually had, as a clearly settled matter of fact, to do with it I
Indeed* we are assured, e. g. from Vogler^s Choral System, that neither sharps nor flats
are at all employed in the music of Greece proper even at the present day, but that,
instead of this, it is tacitly understood that the singer himself will supply these chromatic
alterations wherever they are required; and thus, for example, in a piece of music in D-
major, will uniformly sing f]t, though merely fis actually written. ** I have,'* says
Vogler f , << in Greece proper, and also in the old cities on the A driatic sea, . . . heard
. . . church music . . . which . . . was written in the Greek keys, where
the whole choir, without any written guides before them, would, in certain places, supply
sharps. .... The Discant, or the Alto, &c. introduced a sharp, wherever it was
required by the cadence, and they did this so harmoniously, that, although at least four
persons were assigned to each part, I could never hear an equivocal tone. I caused the
score and the frilly written parts to be produced before me, but I never found a sharp ;
and when I expressed to them my surprise at this, they replied that the feeling of the
necessity here and there to raise a tone, had become a second nature to them. Hence
came the expression modus chori, which is still every where retained in Italy.*'
Who can assure us that even those ancient Greek hymns might not possibly have
been sung, by virtue of a similar modus chori, entirely otherwise than we now read
them without a modusl Must we not regard this as even very probable, rather than be
obliged to believe that the highly cultivated Greeks were accustomed to sing such
abominable gibberish \ on which point we probably do them as great injustice, as we
should do the modem Greeks mentioned by Vogler, if we were to conclude that they
uniformly sang f, and not f)t, wherever f actually stands, — which would, without doubt,
sound as insipidly as does that which our learned men dish up to us as specimens of the
ancient Greek hymns.
t At p. 45 of the work above cited.
VOL. 11. K &
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914
OH AKC1BKT MUSIC,
(Fig. 1112.)
BACH.
I
r
t— t
F5
Cf r '*r r
^
Vi/
and so also the melody in fig. 1109, p. 908, is obviously to be oonuaenced and
endud with the 3-chord, aa in figs. 1113 and 1114:
'VOGLBB.
(Fig. 1114.)
I I ■ I I v:/
(though this is not always the case, as appears from fig. 1097, p. 892, and fig.
1115:)
(Fig. 1115.) BACH.
m
w
^^^
I
^
&-^
q^
d:
Jt:*^
r
:z±
S
I
\y
while, moreover, as one sees, an excluslYe use, either in beginning and ending a
piece, or during its entire course, is by no means made of those harmonies whose
tones are contained in the Doric, Phrygian, or Mixolydian so-called scales.
But surely no one has thought of supposing that these melodies were har-
monically accompanied tn such a manner by the Greeks. — ^What sense, then, is
there in applying the term Greek treatment to such an endowing of a so-called
Greek melody with modern harmonies P An harmonically treated Greek melody
is nothing else than a piece of modern music, into whose harmonic texture the
tones of a pretended Greek melody are interwoven as one of its threads, but
which, as a whole, is as little ancient as would be a modem head-dress, in which
there may happen to be a lock of Greek hair, a Greek head-trimming.
Moreover, this mosaic insertion, this interweaving of so wild melodies into a
web of modern harmonies, is not always an entirely simple business. For, on the
one hand, we have found such melodies to be in themselves not unfrequently more
or less repulsive to our natural sense of hearing, and hence they are but poorly
adapted to an harmonic series of the modem species ; as, e. g, fig. 1106, p. 907.
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AKD CHURCH KEYS. 915
And, therefore^ in order to interweave sach rough and inflexible threads
into an harmonic web, one often finds it necessary to give the harmonic texture
at one time this and at another time that unusual turn, and, in general, to em-
ploy a thousand difierent harmonic artifices, in order to make such hard and
coarse fare palatable to our ears. But, on the other hand, such an expenditure
of musical harmonic shifts is often resorted to, merely with a view to confer upon
such a melody a less common character, and, therewith, something that can be
called a Greek treatment, though the melody, in itself considered, may not in-
volve any thing that is positively strange or disagreeable to our ear, and is only
negatively defective— namely, in the want of intrinsic importance. The melody
in fig. 1107, p. 907, aflbrds us an example of this species. This melody, if
allowed to be in C'^-major and to close with the O-harmony, is entirely trite and
striking to no one ; but an entirely foreign air is forced upon it, by making it, in
order, as they term it, to give it a Greek and Phrygian treatment, terminate with
the three-fold chord fS, as in figs. 1110, 1111, and 1112, pp. 913 and 914. In like
manner, Yogler, in his Choral System, teaches that, in order to treat the melody
in fig. 1093, p. 890, in the Greek or choral manner, one must not accompany it
as in fig. 1094, p. 890, but as in fig. 1099, p. 893, in which latter case it is
Greek.
586.
These same oft-recurring unusual harmonic tones are, moreover, chiefly that
which — ^in conjunction with the solemnly slow movement of choral singing, with
the simplicity of the execution, with the incidentally associated religious feeling,
with the pious respect for hoary antiquity, and so many other venerable accessory
ideas and reminiscences — gives to music of this species a peculiar charm, and an
attractive and as it were mystical air of solemnity and sacredness. When, there-
fore, it is found that a choral, sung from a (so-called or pretended) ancient
melody, but with an harmonic accompaniment, produces an entirely peculiar and
sometimes even an overpowering efiect, which is not usually realized from voca]
music of other descriptions, the cause, it is perceived, does not by any means lie
in the independent and superior worth of the ancient melody, but, on the contrary,
directly in that which is not ancient in the piece of music — ^namely, in the har-
monic furniture and accompaniment, which obtain, in the constraint voluntarily
assumed, a particularly favorable opportunity to exhibit their unusual phases,
and to expose their more occult features. (Compare § 576, figs. 1094, 1099,
1100, and 1101, pp. 890 and 893.)
§587.
It is (n^ art, therefore, that makes the so-called ancient melodies palatable ;
it is our musical art which pleases in such choral elaborations. For example,
such an elaborated choral melody as the one in fig. 1097, p. 892, or in fig. 1110,
p. 913, is no longer a Phrygian piece of music ; this dose is not a Greek or
kk2
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916 ON ANCIKKT UVBIC,
Phrygian close^ but one in ^-major, procured for this melody by ingenioiis hir-
monic turns, though the melody was intrinsically an nnfisivorable one. (In the
doctrine of the modulatory plan of a piece of music as a whole, particolarly of
the endings of pieces, §§303 — 312, we have exhibited seyeral closes of that
description, and explained them according to the principles of our musical art.)
Thus, all this is the work of our art ; all this the theory of our music teaches ui
to do ; and we by no means have occasion to employ peculiar Greek keys, la
order to be able to decorate such melodies by harmony — ^keys, indeed, whidi by
this very process become in a manner extinct. The theory of our own music,
rather, affords us the means of harmonically accompanying any melody what-
ever, as well modem as more or less unusual, whether it be Greek or Chinese,
Kampscatkian, Hottentot, and what not other cannibal melody ; and hence we
have as little occasion to believe in the so-called Greek keys as actual keys, as
we have to entertain a similar belief in, say, a Chinese key, an Arabian key, &c
and for this reason we have, m our Theory ofMusieal Compositiony no pecu-
liar theory of the learnedly obscure Greek keys to propose*.
The knowledge of these old so-called keys is truly a matter of interest m
musical history ; and it may even appear well in a practical musician to be able
to converse upon so high and secret things. Indeed, one who does not attend
to this subject may easily be subjected to the misfortune of actually sometimes
making a so-called genuine Greek cadence, without knowing how antiquarians
name such a close iu Greek ; or of accidentally treating, with equal ignorance
of the fact, an entire piece of music in a manner which an acquaintance widi
musical antiquities afterwards recognizes as genuinely Greek. (I myself, for
example, positively did not, at least for the moment, entertain even a remote
idea, while I was writing the melody to Thomas Komer's ^* Morning Song of
the Free" [<' Morgenlied der Freien"], that, as far as to the plagal echo, ^^Amen,"
it would be recognized as genuinely Lydian. But let it be called Lydian, or
whatever else it may, provided only it be good !)
* One of the distingaishing excellencies of Weber's work is its freedom from those
visionary dreams and idle fiiQcies which are so characteristic of musical men, and which
abound bo much in nearly all other works of musical instruction. It is true, indeed,
that in originatiug those conceptions which form the basis of a good musical compocition,
and in conferring upon such composition a legitimate mode of performance, imagination
and feeling, those attributes which impart to musical men the peculiarly vinonary habits
of their mind, play an important and very useful part ; but it is equally true, that in
mere didactic treatises on music, in works of mere intellectual informatioii, these at-
tributes of mind should have as little to do as possible : here the dictates of sober commoB
sense, and of pure, miperyerted intellect, should always bear sway. On this point
Weber most decidedly excels. The cloudy mystification of former treatises, he, to a
great extent, most happily clears up ; and, instead of trying to excite the astonished gaze
of his readers by holding before them curious, strange, and marvellous things, he strives
rather to disabuse them of all erroneous ideas, however gratifying to the fancy, and to
give them that mastery of the subject which arises from accuracy and truth. Hence
the admirable fitness of Weber*8 work to purposes of instruction ; hence its great
popularity with well-informed men, and the powerful agency which it has had in sway-
ing the opinions of the musical world, since its publication — ^Tb.
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AND CHUBCH KETS.
917
The doctrine of the so-called ancient keys, then, properly pertains to the
history of the art; but it is not to be reckoned as an integral part of the Theory
of Musical Composition : and it is pedantry to snppose, as most theorists do, that
it ordinarily belongs to decorum, in a book of instmction on the science of mu-
sical composition — ^yes, in mere pitiful thorough-base schools ! — erttdittanis groHa
[for the sake of showing one's learning] to preach more or less about the keys
of the ancient Greeks, about the Greek genera of sounds y as they call it, — about
Hypo and Mixo, about ProsUmbanomenos and Hypoproslambanomenos^ about
PeripcUe hypaton, Hypate hypcUon, &c &c. &c. even if not (which is, indeed,
almost to be denominated positive nonsense) to attempt to establish our theory
of mnsical composition on the so-called Greek keys, as foundations, and to extol
the Greek genera of sounds as the basis and fountain of all musical wisdom ! !
Very nearly the same suggestions that were made in the remark on § X, in
relation to harmonic acoustics, apply here also ; and we should not, in general,
make so great a bustle about things of which, as in the case of the Greek music,
we properly know nothing, and should therewith dismiss the affectation of so
much superiority and such profound erudition.
THE END.
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GENERAL INDEX.
A.
A, as the name of a tone, §§ xiv — xx, p. SO.
Accent, Accentuation, § x, p. 18, §§ Ixvi, Ixvii, p. 88.
Accent-fifths, §§ 513—533, p. 810. (See ParaUel Movement.)
Accent-octaves, §§ 551—557, p. 844. (See Parallel Movement.)
Accessory names of intervals, (See Interval.)
tones, § iv, remark, p 8, § 50, p. 161.
Accidental dissonances, § 101, p. 888- (See Consonances.)
transposition-signs, % b, U, X, bb, § xxv, p. 89.
Accolade, Brace, § xxiv, p. 89.
Accompaniment, § 8, p. 18ft.
Acoustics, definition of, § ix, p. 18. Establishment of the theory of musical
composition on acoustic theorems, § iv, remark, p. 8 ; § x, remark,
p. 14; § 99, remark, p. 880.
iEolic key, § 582, p. 908. (See Ancient music.)
^Esthetics, § x, and remark on it, p. 18.
Aliquot lengths. (See Accessory tones.)
Alla-breve. (See Breve, Brevis.)
Altitonans. (See Alto voice.)
Alto voice, § 13, p. 187, § 14, p. 189.
-clef, § xxiii, p. 88. (See Clef.)
Ambiguity of tones, &c. (See Equivocalness.)
Ancient keys. (See Ancient music.)
music, § 579, p. 897.
Anticipated tones, } . . «^ ^^^
Anticipation of tones, y^ ^^' P- ^^*-
of transition-tones, § 281, p. 508; § 242, p. 448; § 324,
remark,p ft71; §451, p. 714; §452, p. 715; §459, p. 788; §460,
p. 788.
Apparent chord, §98, p. 880; §389, p. 058; §407, p. 070; §408,
p. 078.
Appended notes, § 461, p. 785.
Appropriate harmonies of the key, §§ 121—126, p. 867; §§ 146—160,
p. 888. (See Harmony.)
Arpeggio. (See Harpeggio.)
Arsis. (See Up-beat.)
Ascending movement. (See Movement.)
Associated tones, § iv, remark, p. 8. (See Accessory tones.)
Attunement of the ear to a particular key, §§ 190—225, p. 888.
Authentic ending of a piece of music, §§ 303—305, p. 587. (See Cadences.)
1 key. (See Ancient music.)
Avoidance of cadences
of cadences. ^
of parallelism by fifths. I (See Evitation.)
of parallelism by octaves. J
Googk
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920 OKITBRAL INDBX.
B, as the name of a tone, §§ xiv—xx, p. SO ; § xxix, p. 42.
— , as a sign of chromatic depression, § xxvi, p. 40. (See Flat.)
— hemol, § XX, p. SO.
— canoellatum, § xxvi^ p. 40.
— daram, b^carre, b^qnarre, Bisqnadro, B-qnadratnm, B-quadro, B-qnarre,
B-quarr^, § xx, p. SO ; § xxvii, p. 41 ; § xxix, p. 4S. (See Transposition-
signs.)
— moUe, B-ritondo, B-rotondo, B-rotnndnm, § xx, p. SO ; § xxvi, p. 40;
§ xxix, p. 4S. ( See Transposition-signs.)
Barytone, § 13, p. 1S7.
clef, § xxiii, p. 8S. (See Clef.)
Base clef, § xxiii, p. 8S. (See Clef.)
part, skips of, §§ 484—489, p. 114. (See Skips.)
part, § 4, p. ISS ; § 13, p. 181 ; § 14, p. ISO.
tone, §4, p. ISS; § 47, p. lOO ; § 57, p. 111.
Basse-taille, § 13, p. ISl.
Beat, § lii, p. 11.
B^carre. (See B.)
Bemol, Bemolle, Beqnadro, B^quarre, § xxix, p. 4S.
B-qnadratnm, B-quadro, B-quarre, B-qnarre. (See B.)
B-ritondo, rotondo, rotundum. (See B.)
Bianca, § xlviii, p. OS.
Bicinium, § 31, p. 141. (See Composition.)
Bind, Tie, Ligature, § 111, p. S48 ; § 421, p. 0»G.
Bisqnadro. (See B )
Biscroma, § xlviii, p. OS.
Bis unca. (See Unca.)
Brace, Accolade, § xxiv, p. 80.
Breaking of a part, Harpeggiate progression of a part, §§ 21 — 27, p. IS4.
§ 48, p. lOl. (See Harpeggiate progression.)
of parts, §§ 21—27, p. 184.
, transition-tones in. (See Transition-tones.)
Breve, Brevis, § xlviii, p. OS. Alla-breve, § xv, p. SI ; § Ivii, p. 18.
C.
C, as the name of a tone, §§ xiv — ^xx, p. SO.
— ^, as a sign of J measure, § Ixiv, p. 81, § Ixxiv, p. OO.
Cadence, §§ 252—268, p. 411.
, authentic, §§ 303—308, p. 5S1.
, avoided, evitated, § 269, p. 408 ; § 270, p. 404.
, false, § 253, p. 41S.
, false secondary, §§ 266—268, p. 400.
., false principal, §§ 256—261, p. 410.
-, natural, § 253, p. 41S.
-, natural principal, § 255, p. 414.
-, natural secondary, §§ 263—265, p. 480.
., plagal, § 248, </, p. 405.
Caesura, § xcii, p. lOft.
Cancelling-signs, §§ xxvii — ^xxix, p. 41.
Canonics. (See Acoustics.)
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QENXEAL INDEX. 921
Canto, § 13, p. 127. (See Soprano.)
Cantus duras, mollis, § xx, p. SO.
firmns, § 559, p. 858.
Catachretic. (See EUipsis.)
Characteristics of keys. (See Keys.)
Chopped or detached movement, § 38, p. 15SK. (See Movement).
Chord, § 1, p. lie.
, apparent. (See Apparent chord.)
, chromatic, § 86, p. SOO, and § xvii, remark, p. 99. (See Chromatic.)
, fundamental. CSee Fundamental chord.)
, leading. (See Leading chord.)
, tonic. (See Tonic chord.)
Chromatic, § xvii, and remark, p. 99 ; § -86, p. SOO. (Compare Croma.)
elevation and depression, § xvii, p. S3 ; §§ xxv — xxx, p. SO.
harmony or chord, § 86, p. SOO ; § 93, p. 818. (See Harmony.)
intervals, § xxxviii, p. ftl.
movement of a part, §§ 40 — 4i, p. IftS.
series of tones, § 369, p. G9&,
signs, §§ XXV— xxx, p. 89.
signature, §§ 141 — 145, p. 279. (See Signature.)
Chronometer, § li, p. 09.
Church style. (See Style.)
keys. Ancient keys, Greek keys. (See Ancient music.)
Circle of fifths, fourths, &c. § 137, p. «71.
Clef, § xxiii, p. 8» ; § xxiv, p. 89.
Close harmony, §§ 66—69, p. 188.
Colour, Character, of sound, § 182, p. 817.
Commencement of a piece of music, §§ 290 — ^295, p. S18.
, modem, § 205, p. 845.
Commencing transition-tones, § 410, p. 079 ; § 411, p. OSO. (See Transition-
Composition, exercises in pure, §§ 559 — 578, p. 8ft8.
, four-part, § 29, p. 146.
, one-part ; in several parts, §§ 3 — 32, p. 119.
, three-part, § 30, p. 146.
, two-part, § 31, p. 147.
Compound measure, various species of, §§ Ixxi — Ixxxiii, p. SS. (See Measure.)
Concordant, § 13, p. 1127.
Concurrence of parts, § 5, p. 1S8.
Conduct of parts, § 2, p. 117.
Connected or continuous movement of a part. (See Movement.)
Consonance, Dissonance, §§ 101 — 103, p. S28.
Contralto, Contraltino, § 13, p. 1S7.
Contrapuntic exercises, § 559, p. 968.
Contrary movement, §§ 44 — 46, p. Ift6.
Contra-octave,K -^ ^ oa
Contra-tones, }§^^>P-^-
Converging movement. (See Movement.)
Counterpoint, § 569, p. 877.
, douhle, § X. p. 18 ; § 578, p. 896.
Croma, § xvii, remark, p. S8.
Creation of the scale, § x, remark, p. 14. (See Acoustics.)
Crossing of parts, § 5, p. 138.
, fifths produced hy the, § 515, p. 818; § 516, p. 815;
§ 535, p. 8»8.
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922 GENERAL INDEX.
Croeaing of parts, octaves produced by the, § 553, p. ^^H ; § 557, p. 9&1.
Cross-relation, §§490—496, p. ISO.
CroiB, § zx, p.
D, as the name of a tone, §§ xiv — zz, p. SO.
Degree, § xxziii, p. 45.
Delineation (rhythmical) of a piece of music, §§ Ixxxix — xciii, p. lOS.
Depression (chromatic) of intervals, §§ 89 — 95, p. SOS.
signs, flats, §§ xxvi— xxix, p. 40.
Descending movement. (See Movement.)
Designation, marking, our mode of, § 52, p. ISB : § 58, p. 198 ; § 97, p. 819 ;
§ 121, p. 851; § 149, p. 884; §§ 151—153, p. 896;
§ 187, p. 889 ; § 188% p. 8SO ; § 231, p. 480.
of digressive modulations, § 187, p. 881f ; § 188*, p. 880.
of fundamental harmonics, §§ 52— 149, p. Itttt.
of fundamental intervals, § 58, p. Ilf8.
of keys, § 121, p. 859 ; § 149, p. 884.
of the leading chord, § 231, p. 480.
of the magnitude of harmonic steps, § 231, p. 480 ; § 232, p.4Sl
of the seat of harmonies, §§ 151 — 153, p. 880.
of transition-tones, § 97, p. 819.
DessuB. (See Soprano.)
Detached movement of a part, § 37, p. 151. (See Movement.)
D^tach6, § 38, p. 158.
Diatonic, § xxxviu, p. 51 ; §§ 40—42, p. 158 ; § 127, p. 8«0.
Diesis. (See Chromatic elevation. Sharps.)
Digression, Digressive modulation, §§ 185 — 189, p. 88ft.
Digressive harmonic successions, Digressive harmonic steps, § 229, p. 418 ;
§ 272 — ^288, p. 489. (See Harmonic steps, and Harmonic successions.)
Diminished intervals, § xxxvii, p. ftO ; § xxxix, p. ft4 (See Intervals.)
three-fold chord. (See Three-fold chord.)
seventh chord. (See Seventh chord.)
Discant. (See Soprano.)
Dispersed harmony, §§ 66 — 69, p. 188. (See Harmony.)
Dissonance. (See Consonance.)
Distances of tones, § xxxii, p. 4S- TSee Intervals.)
Distinguishing signs of the key, § 312, p. ft48.
Diverging movement. (See Movement.)
Divided harmony, §§ 66—69, p. 198. (See Harmony.)
Doctrine of the relations and connections of vocal music, § x, p. IS.
of sound, § ix, p. 18. ( See Acoustics.)
Dominant, § 50, p. ftO ; § 123, p. 8ft9
Doric key, § 582, p. 909. (See Ancient music.)
Dot, § xlix, p. 64.
Douhle flats, Douhle sharps, § xxvi, p. 40. (See Transposition-signs.)
Doubling, § 70, p. ISe.
Doubly superfluous, Doubly diminished, intervals, § xxxix, p. ft4. (See Intervals.)
diminished three-fold chords, § 51, remark, p. Ittft ; § 95, remark,
p. 81ft. (See Three-fold chord.)
Down-l]^t, § Ixxxviii, p. 108.
Duration of notes, § xlviii, p. AS ; § xlix, p. 94. (See Notes.)
of rests, pauses, § 1, p. OO. (See Rests.)
Dynamics, § 2, p. 117.
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eSKERAL INDEX.
C2.
923
E, as the name of a tone, §§ xiv — xx, p.
Ear-fifths, f§ 520—538, p. 820.
Elevation (chromatic) of intervals, §§ 89—95, p. 208.
— I signs, sharps, §§ xxvi - xxix, p. 40.
Ellipsis, elliptical or catachretical progression, resolution, &c. § 99, remark,
p. 2SO ; § 107, remark, p. 240 ; § 242, remark, p. 44L3 ; § 248,
remark, p. 408 ; § 259, p. 490 ; § 320, remark, p. 550 : § 324,
remark, p. 591 ; § 392, p. OOS ; §451, p. 914 ; §452, p. 915, &c.
Ending of a piece of music, §§ 303—310, p. 529.
, authentic, §§ 303—305, p. 529.
, plagal, §§ 306—308, p. 581.
, other, §§ 309, 310, p. 588. (Compare Cadence.)
Enharmonic, § xix, p. 25 ; § xxxvii, p. 50 ; § xxxviii, p. 51.
diflference, § xix, p. 25.
equivocalness of fundamental harmonies, § 100, p. 225.
intervals, § xix, p. 25.
movement, §§ 40-— 42, p 158.
paraUel tones, § xix, p. 25.
parallel keys, § 137, p. 291.
tone-«eries, or scales, § 369, p. 025.
Equivocalness of tones, § xxi, p. 29.
of distance from the base tone, § 63**-, p. 190 ; § 63««'-, p. 199 ;
and § 99, remark, p. 220.
of fundamental harmonies by transformations, § 100, p. 225.
^ simply harmonic, enharmonic, § 100, p. 225.
of intervals, § xli, p. 54.
of modulation, §§ 218—224, p. 809.
of the seat of harmonies, §§ 155—160, p. 2S8.
of transition-tones and suspensions, §§ 388 — 408, p. 058 , § 441,
p. 901.
Even measure, §§ Ixv — Ixvii, p. 81. (See Measure.)
or direct movement of parts, §§ 44 — 46, p. 150. (See Movement.)
Evitation of a cadence. (See Cadence.)
of parallelism by fifths, §§ 540—543, p. 885.
of parallelism by octaves, § 558, p. 859. (See ParaUel movement.)
Exchange of resolution. (See § 320, remark, p. 550.)
F, as the name of a tone, §§ xiv — ^xx, p.
False cadence. (See Cadence.)
Fifths, circle of, § 137, p. 291.
y organ-register off § iv, remark, p. 8 ; § 554, p. 848.
, parallelism ot §§ 505—544, p. 988.
by contrary movement, § p. 519, 818; § 537, p. 828.
by the crossing of parts, §515, p. 818; §516, p. 815; §535, p. 828.
Fifth-sixth chord, § 65, p. 181.
Figure, § Ixxxix, p. 108.
melodic, § 2, p. 119.
Figures, as designation of intervals, § xl, p. 54; of the steps of parts, § 41,
p. 154; of sevenths, § 52, p. lOO ; § 149, p. 284; of fundamental
harmonies and their seat, §§ 151 — 153, p. 280 ; of digressive modula-
tion, § 188*, p. 880 ; of the magnitude of harmonic steps, §§ 231,
p. 420; §232, p. 421.
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924 eiHSEAL IITDSX.
FigQies of thorough base, 4 563, p.
Firm song. (See Cantas firmus.)
Flageolet aounds. (See Participating tones.)
Flats, §§ xxvi — ^xxix, p. 40. (See Chromatic signs.)
Flnctoation, Fluctaating temperament, § 182^ p. 81^.
Foot tone, § xv, p. 81.
Foreign tones to the harmony, §§ 76—99, p. 191; § 343, p. «02. (See
Harmonically foreign tones.)
Fore-note, §§ 96—98, p. 21S ; $ 343, p. 602.
Foor-ibld chords, enumeration of, § 50, p. lOl.
Fourths, circle of, § 137, p. STl.
Fourth-sixth chord, § 65, p. 181.
position, § 207, p. »4T.
Fourth-third chord, § 65, p. 181.
Four-part compositbn. (See Composition.)
Fundamental chord, or harmony, §§ 49—53, p. 161.
intervals. 4 57, p. 111.
■ ■ position, § 56, p. 170.
progression, § 226, p. 41T.
tone, § 50, p. lei ; § 57, p. ITl.
Fusa, § xiviii, p. S9.
».
6, as the name of a tone, §§ xiv — xx, p. 20.
Gliding movement, § 38, p. 1S8. (See Movement.)
Gradations of tones, § xii, p. IS ; § xiii, p. 19.
Gradual movement, §§ 40--42, p. 1S8. (See Movement.)
Grammar of musical composition, definition of, § x, p. 18-
Greek or church keys, §§ 579 — 587, p. SOI. (See Ancient music.)
Habits of the ear, §§ 204-<217, p. 846.
Half-base. (See l^urytone.)
Half-tones, Semitones, § xxxvi, p. 47.
movement, § 45, p. IftB. (See Oblique movement.)
re-attunement of the ear, §§ 210—213, p. 85A.
soprano. (See Soprano.)
tenor. (See Barytone.)
Harmonically foreign tones, §§ 76—99, p. 191; § 343, p. 802.
Harmonic combination, Pluritone, § 1, p. 118 ; §47, p. 180.
_-^— successions, in the same scale, §229, p. 418; §§243 — ^271, p. 4ftft.
successions, digressive, §§ 272 — 288, p. 487.
steps, enumeration of possible, §§ 226 — ^228, p. 41T.
. steps, mode of designating, § 231, p. 4SO.
steps, dimensions of, §§ 230—232, p. 418.
skip, § 496, remark, p. 985 ; § 539, remark, p. 881.
series, §§ 233—240, p. 488.
sounds. (See Participating tones.)
Harmonies, appropriate, essential to a key, §§ 122 — 126, p. 85T; §§ 146 — 160,
, seat of, §§ 146-160, p. 888.
Harmony and melody, § 1, p. 118 ; § 2, p. 119 ; § 8, p. 18S.
, chromatic, § 86, p. 800.
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Harmony, close, dispersed, divided, §§ 66 — 69, p. 18S.
Harpeggiate progression, §§ 21—27, p. 184 ; § 48, p. lei.
progression of parts, §§ 21 — ^27, p. lS4k.
transition-tones. (See Transition-tones.)
skips. (See Skips, Breaking.)
Harpeggio, Arp^gio, § 22, p. 181.
Heavy transition-tones, §§ 352 — 354, p. 811. (See Transition-tones.)
portions of the measure. (See Accent.)
Hyper-, Hypo-. (See Andent mnsic.)
lastic key, § 582, p. 808. (See Ancient music.)
Independent ninth. (See Ninth.)
Inertia, fundamental principle of, §§ 192 — 196, p. i
Inserted or Intorpolated tones, §§ 446 — 448, p. 904.
fifths, § 517, p. 818 ; § 518, p 818 ; § 536, p. 8»8.
octaves, § 554, p. 848 ; § 557, p. 851. (See Parallel movement hy
fifths and by octaves.)
Instrumental music, § vii, p. 11.
musical composition, § x, p. 18.
parts, §§ 11, 12, p. 121.
Instrumentation, § x, p. 18.
Intermediate notes, § 413, p. 881.
Interruptions of rhythmical uniformity, § c, p. 114.
In the scale, out of the scale, § 128, p. 281.
Intervals, as distances of tones, §§ xxxii — xlvi, p. 4S.
, as elements of a chord, § 47, p. 188.
, consonant, dissonant, § 102. p. 228. (See Consonance.)
y dimensions of, accessory names o^ §§ xxxv — xxxix, p. 48.
, doubly diminished, doubly superfluous, § xxxix, p. 84.
, enumeration of, numerical names of, § xxxiii, p. 48; § xxxiv, p. 48.
, equivocalness of, § xli, p. 84. (See Equivocalness.)
exhibiting a particular tendency, § 313, p. 848.
, general view of, § xlvi, p. 88.
, inversion of, §§ xlii — xlv, p. 85.
, major, minor, diatonic, §§ xxxv — ^xxxviii, p. 48; § 127, p. 280;
§ 128, p. 281 ; diminished, superfluous, chromatic, enharmonic,
§ xix, D. 25 ; § xxxvii, p. 50; § xxxviii, p. 51.
prolonged, retarded, § 458, p. 721.
reckoned upward from the base tone, as the basis of previous theories
of musical composition, § 99, remark, p. 220. (Compare Equivo-
calness.)
, substituted, § 347, p. 808.
Inversion, rhythmical, § xciv, p. 187 ; § xcv, p. 108.
of intervals, §§ xlii — ^xlv, p. 55.
of harmonies, §§ 55—65, p. 188
, first, § 60, p. 178.
, second, § 61, p. 174.
, third, § 62, p. 174
, fourth, § 87, p. 280; § 87*^-, p. 201 ; § 91, p.
Ionic key, § 582, p. 808. (See Ancient music.)
Keys,§119, p. 258.
, ancient. (See Ancient music.)
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91K6 eBNBRAL INDEX.
Keys, characteristics of, §§ 181 — 183, p. 81T
, our mode of designating, § 121, p. Sft?.
, relationship of, §§ 161— lfeO,p. SOI.
, signs of in any piece of music, § 312, p. ft4S.
Ia.
Large. (See Major.)
Leading chord, § 187, p. 827.
tone, § 187, p. 827 ; § 380, p. «41.
transition-tone. (See Transition-tone.)
Letters, as names of tones, §§ xiv — ^xx, p. SO.
, as designations of fondamental harmonies, § 52, p. Itttt ; § 149, p. 8S4.
, as designations of intervals or individual elements of fundamental har-
mouies, § 58, p. 172.
, as designations of keys, § 121, p. 257 ; § 149, p. 284.
License. (See Ellipsis.)
Ligature, Bind, Tie, &c. § 111, p. 248 ; § 421, p. eSS. (See Bind.)
Light parts of measures, § Ixvi, p. 92.
Like movement, § 43, p. 15ft. (See Movement.)
Longa, or Long, § xlviii, p. 02.
Lydian key, § 5b2, p. 9419. (See Ancient music.)
Maelzel's Metronome, § li, p. SS. (See Chronometer.)
Maggiore. (See Major.)
Magnitude of harmonic steps, §§ 230 — 232, p. 419. (See Harmonic Steps.)
of mtervals, § xxxvi, p. 47.
Major, § 120, p. 2ftO. (Compare Cautus.)
and Minor intervals, § xxxvi, p. 47.
second transitions. (See Transition- tones.)
diminished, § 95, remark, p. 214.
Massima. (See Maxima.)
Mathematical basing of the theory of musical composition. (See Acoustics.)
Maxima, or Large, § xlviii, p. 02.
Measure, § xlvii, p. S\.
, compound, §§ Ixxi— Ixxxiii, p. 88.
, divisions of, §§ lii — Iv, p. 71.
, unusual varieties of, §§ Ixxxiv — Ixxxvii, p. 88.
, varieties of even, §§ Iv — Ivii, p. 72.
^ uneven, § Iviii, p. 74.
Measure-measurer, § li, p. 88. (See Chronometer.)
Mediant, § 50, p. 181.
Melodies, § 2, p. 117.
Melody, Song, Air, § 2, p. 117 ; § 8, p. 12«.
, firm, § 559, p. 8ft8. (See Cantus firmus.)
Men's voices. (See Vocal parts.)
Metronome, Maelzel's, § li, p. 88. (See Chronometer.)
Metrum, § xlvii, p. 81.
Mezzo-soprano,!- j3 ^^^f
tenore, j^ '*^'
Middle parts, § 4, p. 122.
Minima, § xlviii, p. 82.
Minore. (See Minor.)
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eENBBAL INDEX. 927
Minor, § 120, p SSe. (Compare Cantus.)
second transitions, § 366, p. ttSS. See major and minor intervals ;
§ xxxvi, p. ^If. (See Intervals, Transition-tones.)
Mixed register, § iv, remark, p. 8 ; § 554, p. 848.
Mixolydian, Mixopbirygian key, § 582, p. 008. (See Ancient music.)
Mode, Modus. (See Key.)
Modulation, §§ 184 — ^225, p. 82S. (See Harmonic progression.)
, equivocalness of, §§ 218—224, p 807.
in the course of a piece of music, §§ 296 — 302, p. S28.
in the scale, out of the scale, § 185, p. 825.
, usual, § 209, p. 855.
Modulatory structure of a piece of music as a whole. (See Piece of music.)
Mordent, § 414, p. 082.
Most essential harmonies of a key, §§ 123 ^125, p. 258.
Motet, Motetus, § 13, d. 129.
Movement of a part, slow, quick, § 34, p. 149.
, ascending, descending, § 39, p. 158.
, continuous, interrupted, § 37, p. 151.
, legato, staccato, § 38, p. 152.
, like and unlike, § 43, p. 155.
, rhythmically inverted, § 35, p. 151.
of melodic steps, § 41, p. 154.
, paraUel, direct, oblique, gliding, contrary, converging, diverging,
§§44-46,p. 150.
, skipping, gradual, diatonic, chromatic, enharmonic, §§ 40 — 42,
p. 158 ; §§ 467-496, p. 955.
, syncopated, §36, p. 151. (See Syncopation.)
Mozart's Violin Quartett in C, remarkable passage in, § 466^^*, p. 988.
Musical composition, definition of, §§ vi — x, p. lO.
Musical art, definition of, ^ vi--viii, p. lO.
, inventive, executive, § viii, p. 12.
Musical instruction, general, §§ i — c, p. 1.
Names of tones, §§ xiv — ^xx, p.
of cadences, natural. (See Cadence.)
Ninths, independent, §§ 77—88, p. 192.
progression of independent, § 325, p. 594 ; § 326, p. 595.
Normal scale, major, minor, §§ 129 — 131, p. 201.
Notation of tones, pitches of sound, § xxii, p. 29.
Note-key. (See Clef.)
Note-lines, staff, §§ xxii — xxiv, p. 29. (See Notes.)
Notes, definition of, § xxii, p. 29.
, appended. (See Appended notes.)
, duration of, § xlviii, p. 02 ; § xlix, p. 04.
Numbering or reckoning of parts, §§ 15 — 27, p. 129.
Numerical names of intervals. (See Intervals.)
O.
Oblique movement, §§ 44 — 46, p. 150.
Octave-parallels, §§ 547—558, p. 889.
Octaves by the crossing of parts, §§ 553 — 557, p. 849. (See Parallel move-
ment.)
Octaves by contrary movement, §§ ^^5 — 557, p. 850.
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928 QBHBBAL IHDBX.
OmiBdon, §§ 71— 7ff, p. ISO.
One-part oompoaition^ 4 3, p. lift ; § 3% p. 149. (See CampoditiMi.)
Organ-point, §§ 462-465, p. 796.
Organ-regbter of fifths, Mixed organ-register. (See Mixed regiatar.)
^— tongae-pipea. (See Tonge-pipe.)
Oscillation. (See Vibration.)
P.
Parallel moyement, § 43, p. Iftft ; §§ 497—558, p. TS*.
by pnmes, § 498, p. 789.
by seconds, § 499, p. 180 ; § 500, p. TOO.
by thirds, § 501, p. 908 ; 4 502, p. 104.
by fourths, § 503, p. 19S ; § 504, p. ISl.
by fifths, §§ 505—544, p. lOS.
by sixths, § 545, p. S8HS.
by sevenths, § 546, p.
Participating tones, § iv, remark, p. 8.
Parts of measures, §§ liz — hdi, p. 75.
, § 1, P. lie. (See Vocal parts.)
, breaking or harpeggiate progression of, §§21 — 26, p. 1S4. (See
Breaking and Harpeggiate.)
, enumeration of, §§ 15 — 27, p. 129.
, steps of. (See Step.)
Passage, § Ixxxix, d. 108.
Pendulum for the designation of time, § li, remark, p. <MI. (See Chronometer.)
Permutations, § 63«~««'-, p. M» ; § 87*«'-, p. 201 ; § 96^', p. »18.
Philosophical, rational, musical doctrine. (See Acoustics.)
Phrase, § Ixxxix, p. 108.
Phrygian key, § 582, p. OOS. (See Ancient music.)
Piece of music, modulatory structure of, §§ 289 — 312, p. 889. (See Com-
mencement and Ending.)
Pitch of sounds, tones, § ii, remark, p. 8.
Plagal cadence, § 248, d, p. 485.
ending of a piece, §§ 306—308, p. 581.
key. (See Ancient music.)
Pluritone, Harmonic combination, § 1, p. 118 ; § 47, p. 180.
Portions of measures. Times of measures, strong and weak, heavy and light,
long and short. (See Accent.)
Position, changes of, § 55, p. 188.
Preparation, §§ 104—118, p. 888.
of harmonically foreign tones, § 118, p. Sft8.
of sevenths, §§ 109—117, p. 248.
of suspensions, §§ 418—429, p. 885.
Prepared transition-tones, § 415, p. 888 ; § 416, p. 884.
Principal cadence, § 119, d. 858.
chord. (See Caaence.)
four-fold chord, § 50, p. 181.
parts, §§ 8— 10, p. 185.
seventh, § 50, p. 181.
seventh, precession of, §§ 316 — 320, p. 548.
seventh chord, § 50, p. 181.
tone, principal note, §119, p. 858; § 343, p. 808.
Progression of intervals, §§ 313—341, p. 545.
of transition-tones, § 342, p. 801 ; §§ 442-445, p. V08.
of parte, § 2, p. 117.
Prolonged intervaUf, § 458, p. 781 ; § 459, p. 988.
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Quartett of bow-instniments, § 29, p. 140.
Qointole, § xlix, p. 04 ; § Ixxxvi, p. lOl.
Quadridnium, § 29, p. 140.
Re-attuneme&t, partial, §§ 210—213, p. 85A.
Recitative, § c, p. 114.
Recurrenoe of passages already heard, § 214 — 217, p. 808.
Recarring accessory or secondary tones, § 414, p. S%9.
Relationship of keys, §§ 161—180, p. 80V. (See Key.) *
Remarkable passage in a Quartett by Mozart, § 466*^- p. 988.
Resolution, ^315—342, p. 54S. (See Progression.)
of transition-tones, §§ 442 — 455, p. 708.
retarded, § 314, p. 540 ; § 449, p. 108.
into this or that interval of the base tone, § 314, p. ft40 ; § 320,
remark, p. ftftO, and § 454, p. nif.
Resolntion-tone, Tone of resolution, § 313, p. ft4S.
Res1;oration-signs, §§ xxvii — xxix, p. 41.
Restricted progression, § 319, p. ftft4.
Rests, Pauses, duration of, § 1, p. OO.
Retardation, § 242, remark, p. 448, and § 421, p. 080.
Retarded intervals, § 458, p. 931.
resolution, 4 314, p. 540.
Returning secondary tones, § 414, p. OSS.
Rhythm, Rhythmus, §§ xlvii— c, p. Ol
, higher, §§ Ixviii — Ixx, p. Sft.
Scale, §§ 127—145, p. SOO.
, major, § 129, p. 201, § 130, p. 803.
, minor, § 131, p. 202, § 379, p. 040.
, philosophical creation of. (See Creation of the scale, and Ancient music.)
■^ u , transposed major, §§ 132 — 1^, p. 207.
, transposed minor, § 138, p. Sl^S.
Seat of harmonies, §§ 146—160, p. S88. (See Harmonies.)
Score, § 33, p. 149.
Secondary cadences. (See Cadence.)
— four-fold chords, § 50, p. lOl, § 126, p. SOO.
'• harmonies belonizring to a key, § 126, p. SOO.
parts, § 8, p. 125.
seventh harmonies. (See Secondary four-fold chords,)
sevenths, progression of, § 327, p. 5SO, § 328, p. 592.
three-fold chords, § 50, p. lOl. § 126, p. 200.
tones, recurring, § 414, p. 082.
Second chord, § 65, p. 181.
Semibiscroma, Semibrevis, Semichroma, Semifusa, Semiminima, § xlviii, p. 02.
Semitone, § xvii, p. 22, § xxxvi, p. 49.
Septimole, Septole, § Ixxxvi, p. lOl.
Sequences, §§ 233—240, p. 422.
Series, harmonic, §§ 233—240, p. 422. (See Sequences )
Sestina, Sestola. (See Sextole.)
VOL. II. L L
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930 GENRRAL INDEX.
Settimola. (See Septimole)
Sevenths, preparation of, §§ 109^117, p. S4S.
, Btotionary, § 3*20, remark, p. 566 ; § 324, remark, p. ftVl ; § 392,
p. ««S.
Seventh chord, Seventh harmony. (See Four-fold chord.)
, diminished, § b^3, p. 198, § 95, remark, p. Sift.
Seventh-ninth chord, § 77, p. 192.
Several parts, composition in, § 3, p. 119, § 15, p. ISO. (See CompositioD.)
Sextole, § xlix, p. 64, § Ixi, p. 99, § lxii|, p. 90.
Sfogato, § 13, p. 181.
Sharps, §§ xxvi — xxix, p. 40.
Side-heat, § Ixxxviii, p. lOS.
Signature, rhythmical, § liv, p. 78.
, chromatic, §§ 141 — 145, p. 899. (See Chromatic signature.)
Signatures of thorough-base, § 563, p. 800.
Signs, chromatic, §§ xxv — xxx, p. SO- (See Chromatic signs.)
Sixth chord, § 65, p. 181.
, superfluous, § 91, p. SOS, §95, remark, p. S15.
Sixth-fifth, Fifth-sixth chord, § 65, p. 181.
Sixth-fourth, Fourth-sixth chord, § 65, p. 181.
Sixth-progression of a harmony, § 249, p. 400.
Skipping movement, §§ 40—42, p. 158 ; §§ 467—496, p. 7&ft. (See Move-
ment.)
Skips of the base part, §§ 484- 489, p. 994.
Slow movement, § 34, p. 140. (See Movement.)
Soprano clef, § xxiii, p. 88-
voice, § 13, p. 189, § 14, p. ISO.
Sound, §§ i — V, p. 1.
considered in connection with rhythm, §§ Ixxxix — xcix, p. lOS.
Species of measure. (See Measure.)
Staccato movement, § 37, p. 151, § 38, p. 158. (See Movement.)
Staff, Note-lines, § xxii, p. SO. (See Notes.)
Stationary seventh. (See Sevenths.)
Step of a melody or part, § % p. 119.
Strong portions of measures. (See Accent.)
Structure, modulatory, of a piece of music as a whole. (See Piece of music.)
Style, § 95, remark, p. 815 ; § 107, remark, p. 840 ; § 242, remark, p. 448;
§ 483, remark, p. 991.
Subsemifiisa, § xlviii, p. OS.
Subsemitone, Subsemitonium, § 128, p. SOI.
Substituted intervals, § 347, p. 008.
Successions, harmonic. (See Harmonic successions.)
Superfluous intervals, § xxxvii, p. 50« § xxxviii, p. 51
sixth chord, § 91, p. SOO.
three-fold chord. (See Three-fold chord.)
Suspensions, §§ 417 — 441, p. 085.
, preparation of, §§ 418 — 429, p. 085.
, resolution of, § 449, p. 908.
Syncopation, Syncope, § xcvi — xcix, p. IIO, § 36, p. 151.
System of tones. (See Tone-system.)
T,
Tablature, § xxii, p. SO.
TaiUe, §13,p. lljfcr
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GENERAL INDEX. 931
. Tasto solo, § 567, p. 815, § 574, p.
Temperament, § 182 (A.), p. 818.
Tempo, time, movement, § li, p 66.
, designation of, § li, p. 66.
Tendency of an interval, of a tone, § 313, p. 545.
Tenor clef, § xxiii, p. 82.
- — voice, § 13, p. 181 ; § 14, p. 18».
Terzma, (See Triole.)
Theory of musical composition, definition of, § viii, p. Ig.
> Kmitedness and partiality of previous treatment,
§ 99, remark, p. SSO.
Zrr. " : -» ^^^^> free, § 95, remark, p. 215.
Third, progression of, §§ 321—324, p. 561; §§ 329—332, p. 584.
Third-fifth chord, § 65, p. 181. ' ^
Third-fourth chord, § 65, p. 181.
Thirds, register of. (See Mixed register.)
Thorough base notation, § xxxi, p. 44 ; §§ 563—574, p. 866.
— playing in musical execution, § 574 **• p. 884.
Three-fold chords, enumeration of, § 50, p. 161.
■ , doubly diminished, major diminished, minor dimmished, § 51
remark, p. 165 ; § 95, remark, p. 215.
, superfluous, § 387, p. 656.
Three-part composition. {See Composition.)
Tied movement of a part. (See Movement.)
Time-measurer, § li, p. 66. (See Chronometer.)
Tone of resolution, § 313, p. 545.
Tone-system, System of tones, description of, §§ xii— xlvi, p. 18.
Tongue-pipes, § ii, remark, p. 8.
Tonic, Tonic chord, § 119, p. 258.
Tones, §§ i— iv, p. 1.
, aliquot, § iv, remark, p. 8. (See Participating t^nes.)
, anticipated. (See Anticipated tones.)
-, whole, half, § xvii, p. 22 ; § xxxvi, p. 47.
-, harmomcally foreign, §§ 76—79, p. 1»1. (See Transition-tones.)
-, mserted or interpolated, § 413, p. 681; §§ 446—448, p. 104.
-, names of, §§ xiv— xx, p. 20.
-, natural, § xvii, p. 22.
-, series of, § 1, p. 116.
• chromatic, enharmonic, § 369, p. 625.
of transition. (See Transition-tones.)
Transferring dominant chord, § 201, p. 842.
Transformation of fundamental harmonies, §§ 54 99, p. 168.
Transition into a new key, § 186, p. 826.
note, § 352, p. 611.
Transition-tones, §§ 96-98, p. 218; §203, p. 844; § 345, p. 601;
§ 456, p. 718.
, as leading tones, § 380, p. 641.
, commencing, § 410, p. 679 ; § 411, p. 680.
, equivocalness of, §§ 388—408, p. 658. (See Equivocalness.)
— from above, from below, § 365, p. 622.
, heavy, light, §§ 352—354, p. 611.
in harpeggiate progressions, § 359, p. 615.
in several parts at once, § 355, p. 612.
, in the scale, foreign to the scale, §§ 367—381, p. 628.
> major second, minor second, § 366, p. 622.
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932 OBRKBAL INDEX.
Transition-tones occorring by gradual and by skipping moYement, § 412,
p. e8o.
on harmonic degrees, §§ 382—387, p. S4L9.
, prepared, § 415, p. 698, § 416, p. e94. (See Preparation.)
, progression of, § 342, p. SOI.
, resolution of, §§ 442—445, p. 108. (See Retsolution.)
, short, long, §§ 350—351, p. eiO.
simultaneous with harmonic tones, §§ 362 — 363, p. S90-
sounding simultaneously with the principal tone, § 360, p. «17,
§ 361, p. 619.
Transposition of harmonies, § 55, p. 166.
Transpositions, § 234, p. 4S4. (See Transition-tones.)
Transposition-signs, §4 xxv — xxx, p. 86. (See Chromatic signs.)
Triads. (See Triole.)
Tricinium, § 30, p. 146.
Trill, TriUer, § 414, p. 662.
Triole, Triplet, § xliz, p. 64, § Ix, p. 75.
Tuning, Temperament. (See Temperament.)
Two-part composition. (See CoQiposition.)
V.
Unca, Bis unca, Ter unca, § xlviii, p. 68.
Under part, § 4, p. 188. (See Base part.)
Unison, § xxxii, p. 4A, § 567, p. 995.
Unity of key, § 289, p. 518.
Unlike fifths. (See Parallel movement.)
movement of parts. (See Movement.)
Unusual harmonic positions, § 208, p. 851.
Up-beat, § Ixxxviii, p. 168.
Upper part, § 4, p. 188.
Varieties of measure. (See Measure.)
Vibration of a body, §§ i — ^iV, p. 1.
Violin clef, § xxiii, p. 88.
Vocal parts, §§ 11 — 14, p. 189 ; and § ii, remark, p. 8.
music, § vii, p. 11.
Wind instruments, § ii, remark, p. 8 ; § 182, p. 819 ; § 1 83, p. S84. (Com-
pare Tongue-pipes and Temperament.)
Whole-tone, § xxxvi, p. 49.
Women's voices. (See Vocal parts.)
X. T. Z.
X, T, Z, as marics of ambiguity, §52, p. 166; § 121, p. 859; §153,
P-
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LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.
Her Botal Highness thb Duchbss of Kent.
The Right Hon. the Earl of Falmouth.
Lord Kobert Montague, Cromorne, Coleraine, Ireland.
A.
Abraham, Mr. John, Taunton.
Adams, Mr. Julian, London.
Adams, Mr. W. H. Professor of Music, Shrewsbury.
Adlington, Mr. Wm. Professor of Music, Derby.
Allen, Mr. Mark, Professor of Music, Lichfield.
Amott, Mr. Organist, Gloucester.
Angel, Mr. Alfred, Organist of the Cathedral, Exeter.
Ann, Mr. Isaac, Musicseller, Swindon.
Arnold, Mr. Gustaye, Professor of Music, Lancaster.
Armstrong, Mr. Wm. Northampton.
Aspa, Mr. Rosario,Organi8t of St. Peter's, Portland Terrace, Leamington.
Aspinwall, Mr. John, Organist of St. Thomas's, Charter House, London.
Atkins, Mr. R. A. Organise of the Cathedral, St. Asaph.
Aylward, Mr. Wm. Price, Organist of St. Martin's, Salisbury.
B.
Baily and Jones, Messrs. Booksellers, Cirencester.
Baker, Mr. George, Professor of Music, Poole.
Barker, Mr. George, Brompton Square, London.
Ball, Mr. Professor of Music, Leamington.
Barlow, Mr. Benjamin, Professor of Music, Leek.
Barlow, Mr. Lawrence, 11, Wilton Street^ Millbank.
Barlow, Mr. B. Organist, Leek.
Bamby, Mr. William, Organist of St Michael's Church, York.
Barratt, Mr. F. R. Professor of Music, Stamford.
Barratt, Mr. J. P. Organist, Stonyhurst College.
Barrett, Mr. John, Organist, St. David's.
Barry,' Mr. Wm. Watergate Street, Bandon, County Cork.
Barwick, Mr. Brice W. Musicseller, Keighley.
Beale, Mr Musicseller, London Street, Reading.
Besley, Miss H. Professor of Music, Rock House, Yatton, near Bristol.
Bexfield, Dr. 12, Monmouth Road, Bayswater.
Birkinshaw, Mr. Musicseller, Bamsley.
Bishop, Mr. Johti, Cheltenham.
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934 8ITBSCRIBBRS.
Blackburn^ Mr. John, Organist of St. Paul's and Deputy of the Old
Churchy Leeds.
Blozsome, Mr. C. Professor of Music, Doncaster.
Boardman, Mr. J. G. Organist and Master of the Choir of the Clap-
ham Grammar School.
Boss, Mr. Thomas, Organist, Sheffield.
Boulcott, Mr. J. B. Professor of Music, Stratford-on-Avon.
Bray, Mr. Music Warehouse, Dublin.
Bridgman, Mr. Professor of Music, St. Heliers, Jersey.
Browne, Mr. D. C. Organist of Christ Church, Everton, LiverpooL
Browne, Mr. R. Jun. Organist, Lowestoft.
Brown, Mr. S. T. 5, Sydenham Grove, Lower Norwood.
Brown, Mr. Thomas, Lay-Vicar of Carlisle Cathedral.
Buck, Mr. Organist of the Cathedral, Norwich.
Buck, Mr. A. Coggeshall, Essex.
Buffett, Miss, Professor of Music, Muddiford, near Christ Church, Hants.
Bunnett, Mr. Edward, Norwich.
Burgess, Miss, Professor of Music, Leamington.
Burland, Mr. Jun. Professor of Music, Bristol.
Burnett, Mr. H. Professor of Music, Manchester.
Burrington, Mr. Professor of Music, Dawlish.
Burton, Mr. John, Dewsbury.
Burton, Mr. Robert, Senior, Professor of Music, Leeds
BusseU, Mr. Henry, Professor of Music, Dublin.
Butterworth, Mr. Edwin, Sheffield.
Caldwell, W. B. Esq. Montpellier Villas, Cheltenham.
Callen, Mr. G. D. Band-master, 12th Regiment.
Campbell, Mr. John, Musicseller, 53, New Bond Street.
Caparn, Mr. W. H. Junr. Organist, Newark.
Card, Mr. William, St. James's Street, London.
Carvill, H. Esq. Epsom.
Caustin, Mr. W. S. Woodbridge.
Chadwick, Miss H. M. Organist of St. Peter's, Blackburn.
Chater, Mr. W. Professor of Music, Coventry.
Chatterton, Mr. Frederic, Harpist to Her Majesty the Queen of the
French, and Her Royal Highness the Ihichess of Gloucester 8
Duchess Street, London.
Chippendale, — Esq. 188 B, Sloane Street, London.
Clarke, Mr. £. Portland Street, London.
Cockram, Mr. Musicseller to Her Majesty, Bristol.
Coflfey, Mr. Music Seller, Belfast.
Collett, W. G. Esq. Navarino Cottage, Worthing.
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SUBSCRIBBRS. 935
Collins, Mr. Wm. Band-master, Royal Artillery, Woolwich.
Colson, Mr. T. Professor of the Harp, 26, Store Street, Bedford Square.
Colquhoun, Mr. Wm. Customs, Newcastle-on-T3me.
Conduit, Mr. Musicseller, Winchester.
Conran, Mr. M. Organist, St. Fatrick^s Church, Manchester.
Conran, Mr. W. S. 1 10, Lower Baggot Street, Dublin.
Cooke, Mr. T. E. Professor of Music, WarT^dck.
Cramer, Mr. J. B. Organist, Loughborough.
Crane, Mr. Percy H. Organist, St. Nicholas, Whitehaven.
Critchfield, Mr. S. Professor of Music, Norwich.
Crook, Mr. Pembroke Place, Clifton, Bristol.
Cross, Mr. Samuel, Professor of Music, Plymouth.
Critchfield, Mr. St. Andrew's, Norwich.
CuUum, Mr. Organist, Tonbridge.
D.
Dale, Miss C. 143, Albany Boad, CamberwelL
Dace, Mr. Robert, Professor of Music, Abingdon.
Davies, Mr. Professor of Music, Douglas, Isle of Man.
Deacon, Miss, Organist of St. Mary's, Leiceetter.
Dicker, Miss, Organist, Limehouse.
Dickinson, Miss, Grey Friar's Green, Coventry.
Dixon, Mr. W. Organist, Grantham.
Douglass, Miss, 15, Green Street, Grosvenor Square, London.
Duchemin, Mr. Professor of Music, Birmingham.
Dyas, Miss, Organist of St. Alkmond's Church, Shrewsbury.
Eager, Mr. Professor of Music, Edinburgh.
Earl, Mr. J. P. Professor of Music, Clapham.
Edwards, Mr. Thomas, Organist, Ilfiracombe.
Elborne, Mr. E. P. 1, Panton Place, Cambridge.
Elford, Mr. Edmund, Organist, Hastings.
Elliott, Mr. Professor of Music, Birmingham.
Esain, Mr. Professor of Music, Clifton, Bristol.
Evans, Mr. E. T. Professor of Music, Gloucester.
Evans, Mr. Professor of Music, Birmingham.
Evansi Mr. Thomas, Organist, Usk, Monmouthshire.
Evans, Mr. W. E. Professor of Music, Bath Buildings, Cheltenham.
Ezekiel, Mr. P. Professor of Music, 47, Goodge Street, Fitzroy Square,
London.
F.
Fagg, Mr. F. Organist of the Parish Church of St. John's, Margate.
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936 SUBSCRIBERS.
Fagg, Mr. John, Professor of Music, Hull.
Fawcett, Mr. John, Jun. Professor of Music, Bolton.
Fawcett, Mr. Thomas, Professor of Music, Warrington.
Fischer, M. Henri, 46, Cambridge Terrace, Edgware Road.
Fitzgerald, E. Esq. West Street, Woodbridge.
Fitzgerald, Mr. George, Organist, Trinity Church, Woolwich.
Flavell, Mr. Professor of Music, Birmingham.
Fleteher, Mr. Organist of the Abbey Church, Shrewsbury.
Flick, Miss, Organist, Saxmundham.
Flynne, Mr. J. E. Professor of Music, Carrick-on-Shannon.
Forbes, Mr. George, 9, Bentinck Terrace, St. John*s Wood.
Ford, Mr. Henry Edward, Organist of the Cathedral, Carlisle.
Frances, Mr. F. L. Professor of Music, Organist of Woodchurch,
Cranbrook, Kent.
Franklin, Mr. Organist of St. James's, Exeter.
Freemantle, Mr. George, Professor of Music, Durham.
Frobisher, Mr. Joseph Henry, Organist, Parish Church, Halifax.
Frodsham, Mr. J. Professor of Music, Whalley.
Fudge, Mr. Edwin, Artist, Fareham.
G.
Gibsone, Mr. B. G. H. 27, Welbeck Street
Gillens, Mr. Professor of Music, Preston.
Gilliland, Mr. L. J. London.
Glover, Mr. Stephen, Chesham, Bucks.
Gover, Mr. Professor of Music, St. John's Wood, London.
Gover, Mr. U. E. Organist and Professor of Music, Derby.
Graham, Mr. Thomas, Organist of the Parish Church, Wigan, Lan-
cashire.
Greaves, Mr. T. J. Organist of Spitalfields Wesleyan Chapel, and Pro-
fessor of Music, 1 1, Portland Street, Soho, London.
Greaves, Mr. T. J. Organist of the Centenary Chapel, Boston.
Greaves, Mr. Professor of Music, Preston.
Griffiths, Mr. F. J. Organist, Surbiton, Surrey.
Griffiths, Mr. William, Professor of Music, 8, Pulboro Place, Vauxhall.
Grosvenor, Mr. S. Organist, Dudley.
Groves, Mr. H. J. Professor of Music^ Newport, Monmouthshire.
Guernsey, Mr. Wellington, Percy Street, London.
Gunton, Mr. Edward, Professor of Music, Birkenhead.
Guy, Mr. Joseph, Professor of Music, Titchfield.
H.
Haddocks, Mr. George, Professor of Music, Leeds.
Hamlin, Mr. Thomas P. Organist, Launccston.
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SUBSCRIBERS. 937
Harcourt, Mr. J. Organist, Norwich.
Hardman, Mr. Thomas, Professor of Music, Bolton.
Hargreaves, Mr. G. A. 14, Cambridge Street, Liverpool.
Harris, Sir Wm. Snow, Plymouth.
Harris, Mr. J. Thome, Professor of Music, Manchester.
Harris, Mr. William, Organist of New Street Chapel, York.
Harris, Mr. J. Thome, Professor of Music, Manchester.
Harrison, Mr. Music Warehouse, Birmingham (6 copies).
Harrison, Mr. Musicseller, Clifton, Bristol.
Harrington, Mr. P. Organist, Bury St. Edmund's, Suffolk.
Harrington, Mr. W. E. Organist, Wellingboro*.
Harrod, Mr. Thomas, Professor of Music, Birmingham.
Hart, Mr. Joseph, 23, Montpelier Square, Brompton.
Harvey, Mr. R. F. Mountjoy Square South, Dublin.
Hatherly, Mr. Professor of Music, Solihull, Warwickshire.
Havergal, the Eev. H. E. Cople Vicarage, Bedfordshire.
Hempel, Mr. C. F. Organist, Truro.
Hemmings, Mr. W. Penzance.
Hendy, Mr. Henry, Master of the National Schools, Strathfield-Saye,
near Hartford Bridge^ Hants.
Hewitt, Mr. Bookseller and Librarian, Leamington.
Hiles, Mr. J. Professor of Music, Shrewsbury.
Hill, Mr. Joseph, Organist, Stockton.
Hillier, Mr. J. G. Professor of Music, Lamborne, Berks.
Hime, Mr. Benjamin, Liverpool.
Hinrick, Mr. H. 17, Clement's Inn.
Hodges, Mr. F. Clare Street, Bristol.
Holdstruck, Miss, 1, Burlington Place, Bath.
Hopkins, Mr. W. H* Professor of Music, 34, Broad Street, Worcester.
Horsley, Mr. William, 18, High Ousegate, York.
Howard, Mr. W. Edinburgh.
Hoyiand, Mr. W. Organist of the Parish Church, Louth.
Hughes, Mr. W. E. 1, Netting Hill Terrace.
Hughes, Mr. John, Professor of Music, Wrexham.
Hunt, Mr. W. J. Professor of Music, Hinton Blewett, Temple Cloud,
near Bristol.
I.
Isaac, Mr. Benjamin Ealph, Professor of Music, Liverpool.
J-
James, Mr. Professor of Music, Helston.
Janes, Mr. Eobert, Organist of the Cathedral, Ely.
Jarrett, Mr. W. E. Professor of Music, Cheltenham.
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938 SI7B8CBIBBB8«
Jefferj, Mr. Walter, Cheltenham.
Jenkins, Mr. J. D. Professor of Moaic, Bath.
Jopson, Mr. H. F. Professor of Music, Blackburn.
Joule, B. J. B. Esq. Oakfield, Upper Chorlton Road, Manchester.
K.
Keene, Mr. Francis, 39, Duncan Terrace, Islington.
Kemp, Mr. G. Organist, Fairford.
Kent, Mr. Thomas, Band-master, 47th Begiment.
Kinder, Mr. J. Professor of Music, Glossop, Derbyshire.
Kingston, Mr. J. Professor of Music, 10, Sidbury, Worcester.
King, Mr. Thomas, Newport, Isle of Wight.
L.
Lang, Mr. Alfred, Leader of the Choir of St. Chad's, Free Hay, Staf-
fordshire.
Law, Mr. Robert, Organist, St. Peter's, Montrose.
Leaton, Mr. Chester.
Lees, Mr. John, Organist, Oldham.
Lever, Mr. Benjamin, Spalding.
Lidel, Mr. J. 22, Carlton Terrace, Grreenhays, Manchester,
limpus, Mr. H. F. Organist of All Saints, Wandsworth.
Lindridge, Mr. Professor of Music, Hastings,
linter, Mr. Ricardo, Professor of Music, Weymouth.
Lohr, Mr. George Augustus, Organist, Leicester.
Long, Kellett, Esq. Dunstan Hall, Norfolk.
Lynch, Mr. J. P. Professor of Music, 7, Mount Pleasant Square, Dublin.
M.
Macaskie, Mr. T. Meadow Hill, Berwick-on-Tweed.
Mackenzie, Mr. Alexander, Professor of Music, Edinburgh.
MagiU, Mr. John, Organist of St. David's, Liyerpool.
Magill, Miss Elizabedi, liverpool.
Marr, Mr. John, Pianoforte Maker, Aberdeen.
Martin, Mr. Geo. Wm. of Her Majesty's Chapel Royal, Resident Professor
of Music of the Training College, and Organist of Christ Churck,
Battersea.
Martin, Mr. J. U. Professor of Music, East Dereham.
May, Miss, Professor of Music, Jersey.
Mc. Cullagh and Mc. Cullagh, Messrs. Music Warehouse, Dublin.
Mellor, Mr. Richard, Huddersfield and Leeds.
Minelrin, Mr. H. 88, Lower Dorset Street, Dublin.
Mogg, Mr. WiUiam, Teacher of the Comet-4-Pistons, 14, Great RusseU
Street, Covent Garden.
Moir, Mr. J. Musicseller, Inyemess.
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SUBSCBIBBRS. 939
Molineux^ Mr. John^ Professor of Music, LirerpooL
Moncorvo, Baron da Torre, 57, Upper Seymour Stareet, Portman Sq.
Morine, Mr. C H. Professor of Music, Invemess.
Moses, Mr. Marcus, Music Warehouse, Dublin.
N.
Nicklin, Mr. Frederic, Musicseller, Barnstaple.
Nightingale, Mrs. D. Surbiton Hill, Surrey.
Nix, Mr. Professor of Music, Brentwood.
O.
Oakey, Mr. Henry, 81, Dean Street, Soho Square.
Oldham, John Lane, Esq. Audley End, Essex.
Child, Mr. Professor of Music, 7, Macclesfield Street, Dean Street, Soho.
Packer, Mr. F. Professor, Reading.
Palmer, Mr. W. H. Professor of Music, London.
Pearce, Mr. George, Professor of Music, Guernsey.
Pearce, Mr. C. Organist, Stamford.
Pecket, Mr. A. J. Professor of Music, Scarborough.
Perry, Frederick, Esq. Avondale House, Cheltenham.
Perry, Mr. G. Jun. Professor of Music, 103, High Street, Marylebone.
Fhipps, Mr. O. G. Professor of Music, Bamsgate.
Pigott, Mr. S. J. Music Warehouse, Dublin.
Potts, Mr. Mark, Organist, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Prangley, Mr. Wm. Professor of Music, Salisbury.
Pratten, Mr. Professor, Clifton, Bristol.
Preece, Mr. John, 49, Hindon Street, Pimlico.
R.
Bamson, Miss Fanny, Professor, Exeter.
Ray, Mr. Thomas Saul, Organist of St. John's Town Church, Jersey.
Rea, Mr. William, Pianist, 92, Great Portland Street, London.
Reeve, Mr. David, Professor of Music, Douglas, Isle of Man.
Regondi, Signer Giulio, Albany Street, Regent's Park.
Reynolds, Mr. Alfred, Leader of the Theatres Royal, Worcester, Shrews-
bury, and Coventry.
Ribbon, Mr. Band-master, Pembroke.
Rice, Mr. G. Professor, Exeter.
Richards, Mr. Brinley, 6, Somerset Street, Portman Square.
Richardson, Mr. John, Assistant Organist of the Cathedral, Salisbury. '
Riley, Mr. Reuben, Professor of Music, 37, Chaddock Street, Preston.
Roberts, Miss, 3, Cardington Street, Hampstead Road.
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940 SUBSCRIBERS.
Boberts^ Mr. James B. Queen Street, Chester.
Bobinson, Mr. J. H. Professor of Masic, Blackburp.
Bogers, Mr. W. 27, Bussell Street, Liyerpool.
Bolfe, Mr. Professor of Music, Mildenhall.
Bose, Mr. Bobert, Musicseller, Bedford.
Boss, Mr. Henrj, Professor of Music, 3, Coles Terrace, Bamsbory Boad,
Islington.
Bumsey, Mr. Organist, Somerton.
Sala, Mr. F. W. Professor of Music, 3, Brunswick Terrace, Southampton.
Scarisbrick, Mr. Bichard, Vicar Choral, Chester Cathedral
Seale, Mr. W. Sheffield.
Seed, Mr. Bichard, Professor of Music, Manchester.
Seifart, Mr. Theodore, Harrogate.
Senior, Joseph, Esq. Dalton, near Huddersfield.
Sharman, Mr. W. H. Organist, Birmingham.
Shearman, Mr. Samuel Thomas, Professor of Music, Euston Square.
Shelmerdine, Mr. Professor of Music* Nottingham.
Simms, Mr. Professor of Music, Birmingham.
Simpson, Mr. John, Organist, Parish Church, Bradford.
Sloper, Mr. Lindsay, 7, Southwick Place, Hyde Park Square.
Smith, Henry Stone, Esq. 3, Smith Square, Westminster.
Smith, Mr. Wm. Wivenhoe.
Smith, Mr. George Townsend, Organist of the Cathedral, Hereford*
Smith, Mr Samuel, Willow Cottage, Egham Hill, near Windsor.
Smith, Mr. P. Musicseller, Bristol (6 copies).
Smith, Messrs. Musicsellers, Exeter.
Smith, Mr. James, Musicseller, 66, Lord Street, Liyerpool.
Somerford, Mr. Thos. Organist, Christ Church, Greenwich.
Sothem, Mr. G. Organist, Swaffham, Norfolk.
Sparke, Mr. Wm. Organist of the Parish Church of St. George, Leeds.
Spray, Mr. Frederick, Professor of Music, II, Tything, Worcester.
Staton, Mr. Samuel, Professor of Music, Bolton.
Staton, Mr. William, Norwich.
Stanley, Charles, Esq. 72, Piccadilly, London.
Stanyon, Mr. John, Morlidge Street, Leicester.
Street, Mr. William, F. 16, Finchley Boad, St John's Wood.
Stephenson, Mr. William, Professor of Music, Stockton-on-Tees.
Sykes, Mr. Albert, Swindon.
T.
Targett, Mr. F. Professor, Southampton.
Tattersall, Mr. Samuel, 56, Stock Street, Cheetham, Manchester.
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SUBSCRIBERS. 941
Taylor^ Mr.H. Professor of Music^ Rose Cottage^ London Road, Worcester.
Thirtle^ Mr. Professor of Music^ Boston^
Thompson, Mr. James, Professor of Music, Glasgow.
Thomson, Mr. Wm. Queen's College, Glasgow.
Thorley, Mr. Robert, Professor of the Violoncello, Manchester.
Thome, Mr. H. Organist, Colchester.
Thumam, Mr. E. Professor of Music, Reigate, Surrey.
Tillyard, Mr. H. T. Professor of Music, Harrow.
Tincombe, Mr. Henry D. Professor of Music and Organist of St.
Andrew's Church, Plymouth.
Toms, Mr. Charles James, Professor of Music, Liverpool.
Tonge, Miss, Professor of Music, Boston.
Trust, Mr. H. J. 4, Adelaide Terrace, Bayswater.
Turner, Mr. H. Pitt Street, Norwich.
l\imer, Mr. Professor of Music, Bilston.
V.
Yenua, Mr. F. M. A. (late of the Italian Opera, London) Reading.
Vernon, Arthur H. Esq. Royal Horse Artillery, Woolwich.
Vernon, Rev. Evelyn H. Grove Rectory, East Retford.
W.
Waddington, Mr. John, Professor of Music, Manchester.
Walker, Mr. George, Worksop, Notts.
Ward, Arthur R. Esq. St. John's College, Cambridge.
Warren, Mr. Joseph, West Brompton.
Watson, Mr. Joseph, Professor of Music, Malton.
Watts, Mr. J. Organist, Ormskirk.
Weekes, Mr. Thomas Earle, Professor of Music, Plymouth.
West, Mr. George Frederick, Professor of Music, London.
Wheatley, Miss, Pianiste, 23, South Terrace, Thurloe Square, London.
Wheeler, Mr. Professor, Gloucester.
Whinfield, Mr. W. H. Bristol.
Whitaker, Mr. W. Henry, Rochdale.
White, Mr. John Jesse, Professor of Music, Birmingham.
White, Thomas, Esq. Solicitor, Berwick-on-Tweed.
White, Mr. Thomas Woolsey, Professor of Music, Morpeth.
Whitehead, Mr. Organist, Gloucester.
Whitehead, Miss, Gloucester.
Wilkinson, Mr. Ralph, Professor of Music, York.
Willey, Mr. Charles Frederick, Professor of Music, Louth.
Williams, Mr. Professor of Music and Organist, Moreton-in-the-Marsh.
Williams, Mr. B. Musicseller, Paternoster Row (2 copies)
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Williams, Mr. Westcroft Place, Hammersmith.
Williamson, Mr. James, Professor of Music, Leeds.
Winter, Mr. J. Professor of Music, Canonbury Lodge, Canonbury Sq.
Wood, Mr. Benjamin, Bromley, Kent.
Wood, Mr. John Muir, Glasgow.
Wood, Mr. Samuel, Clitheroe.
Woodward, Mr. Greorge, Professor of Music, Cheltenham (2 copies).
Woodward, Mr. Professor of Music, Wednesbury.
Woodward, Mr. T. Musicseller, Cheltenham.
Woolman, Mr. Organist, Preston.
Worgan, Mr. G. Professor of Music, Coley Hill, Reading.
Wilson, Mr. St. Martin's Court
Wilson, Mr. Walter, Organist, Scarborough.
Wrenshall, Mr. Wm. Jun. Professor of Music, 1, Falkner Sq. Liverpool.
Wroe, Mr. Musicseller, Manchester (6 copies).
Y.
Tardley, Mr. Professor of Music, Bishop Stortford.
Teomans, Mr. Alfred, Professor of Music, Stourbridge.
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