Note 19 November 2018: See also an essay I have published titled Dominant Ninth Harmonies in the 19th Century: A Gallery of Simple Examples Drawn from the Dance and Theater Repertoires: link to the essay. Here is the abstract: "In European music, freer treatment of the sixth and seventh scale degrees in the major key encouraged the use of independent V9 chords, which appear already early in the nineteenth century, are common by the mid-1830s, and are important to the process by which the hegemony of eighteenth-century compositional, improvisational, and pedagogical practices were broken down. This essay provides multiple examples of the clearest instances of the V9 as a harmony in direct and indirect resolutions."I should also note that I am only writing about the dominant seventh with major ninth. The dominant seventh chord with minor ninth already had a place in 18th century music and is quite a different expressive entity, even though as a harmony it functions as a V in the same way as the dominant seventh with major ninth.
Nor am I concerned with the non-dominant ninth chords—these differ substantially from the dominant ninths and play only a very small role in 19th century music before about 1890. (Also see the note at the end of this post.)
The ninth above a V7 harmony can be categorized in two ways: (1) in terms of its resolution (and the distinction between what I call internal and external); (2) or in terms of its duration (that is, sound or "color" versus harmonic function).
Two main categories and seven types of the dominant ninth appear in the list below. These are arranged in a melodic to harmonic trajectory, that is, the "internal resolution" operates within a single V7 harmony where the 9 is a melodic element (1.0-1.3)—whereas the "external resolution" raises the possibility of V9 as a harmony (2.1-2.2 in the list below) and can sometimes truly supplant V7 with an independent V9 (2.3). As we will see, tension between melodic qualities and harmonic function is a constant with the dominant ninth, much more so in fact than it is with the V11 and V13 chords.
1. Internal resolution (within the V chord)
1.0. Element of melodic shape (step)
1.1. Element of melodic shape (leap, off the beat)
1.2. Element of chord, weak beat
1.3. Element of chord, strong beat
2. External resolution (to the following chord, usually I)
2.1. Indirect resolution to ^5
2.2. Indirect resolution to ^6
2.3. Direct resolution to ^5 or ^6
I should warn against understanding this trajectory as a historical narrative for 19th century harmonic practices. In fact, all seven types occur in music throughout the century—indeed, one can easily find all of them in the waltzes of Schubert alone.
The examples below are generalized from the musical repertoires to be discussed in detail in subsequent posts. That most of the examples are presented as waltz fragments is a reflection of the central importance of that genre to the general adoption of the dominant ninth sonority.
1. Internal resolution (within the V chord)
1.0. Element of melodic shape (step). This first category is really here for sake of completeness: figures with ^6 as passing tone or neighbor in a complete neighbor-note pattern can be found throughout the eighteenth century. Only if the "ninth" was made to be of greater duration than its surrounding notes would there be any suggestion of the sound of the dominant ninth sonority.
1.1. Element of melodic shape (leap, off the beat). Leaping to ^6 brings some attention to it not only as an expressive note but also as a potential chord member. In (a) and (b), the ninth relaxes back into the root immediately, in (c) it is left hanging, as if a free tone or a sort of "throw-away" note.
1.2. Element of the chord, weak beat. Positioning the ninth on a beat strengthens the claims hinted at in the previous examples. In (b) and (d), the harmonic is certainly as well defined as the melodic. The old-fashioned suspension in (e), ironically works against the ninth, despite the considerable attention given to it in position and duration: the clichéd suspension figure—already more than 300 years old by 1800—demands it own attention.
1.3. Element of the chord, strong beat. The same problem arises here as with 1.2.e: the greater duration of ^6, one might say perversely emphasizes rather than suppresses its melodic quality as neighbor note to ^5. Nevertheless, I am comfortable with representing the harmony as V with "9 — 8" to show that we are on the edge of the melodic/harmonic divide.
2. External resolution (to the following chord, usually I)
2.1. Indirect resolution to ^5. In these there can be no question that the dominant ninth is a harmony.
In rare cases the indirect resolution to ^5 can be stretched to 3 or 4 bars. This figure is largely associated with music after Schubert's death. It's found already in Lanner and Strauss, sr., who are the first prominent composers to routinely expand the eight-bar theme to sixteen bars. It is possible that this change would have occurred anyway over course of time, but an immediate impetus was the speeding up of tempi for dancing beginning about 1830, the two main genres for this being the waltz and the galop.
2.2. Indirect resolution to ^6. Although this can be found in Schubert, it's rare. The progression with a sustained ^6 over I begins to appear after about 1840 and becomes increasingly common—though never to the point of becoming a cliché—in the decades after that.
2.3. Direct resolution to ^5 or ^6. Despite the design of my list and my comments, with their hints of historical trajectory, the proper dominant ninth harmony—as in the examples below—is heard emphatically (if, again, not often) already in Schubert, who clearly relished its distinctive sound and its striking expressive effect.
Note: Still another exclusion from this blog is the dominant ninth with altered fifth. These chords also begin to appear with some frequency in the 1890s. The version with raised fifth is more common; so, in C major G-B-D-F-A becomes G-B-D#-F-A, which happens to form a whole-tone scale pentachord also: D#-F-G-A-B. Less common is the dominant ninth with lowered fifth, so: G-B-Db-F-A. This one, too, can be spelled in scalar form as a whole-tone pentachord: F-G-A-B-Db.
1.0. Element of melodic shape (step). This first category is really here for sake of completeness: figures with ^6 as passing tone or neighbor in a complete neighbor-note pattern can be found throughout the eighteenth century. Only if the "ninth" was made to be of greater duration than its surrounding notes would there be any suggestion of the sound of the dominant ninth sonority.
1.1. Element of melodic shape (leap, off the beat). Leaping to ^6 brings some attention to it not only as an expressive note but also as a potential chord member. In (a) and (b), the ninth relaxes back into the root immediately, in (c) it is left hanging, as if a free tone or a sort of "throw-away" note.
1.2. Element of the chord, weak beat. Positioning the ninth on a beat strengthens the claims hinted at in the previous examples. In (b) and (d), the harmonic is certainly as well defined as the melodic. The old-fashioned suspension in (e), ironically works against the ninth, despite the considerable attention given to it in position and duration: the clichéd suspension figure—already more than 300 years old by 1800—demands it own attention.
1.3. Element of the chord, strong beat. The same problem arises here as with 1.2.e: the greater duration of ^6, one might say perversely emphasizes rather than suppresses its melodic quality as neighbor note to ^5. Nevertheless, I am comfortable with representing the harmony as V with "9 — 8" to show that we are on the edge of the melodic/harmonic divide.
2. External resolution (to the following chord, usually I)
2.1. Indirect resolution to ^5. In these there can be no question that the dominant ninth is a harmony.
In rare cases the indirect resolution to ^5 can be stretched to 3 or 4 bars. This figure is largely associated with music after Schubert's death. It's found already in Lanner and Strauss, sr., who are the first prominent composers to routinely expand the eight-bar theme to sixteen bars. It is possible that this change would have occurred anyway over course of time, but an immediate impetus was the speeding up of tempi for dancing beginning about 1830, the two main genres for this being the waltz and the galop.
2.2. Indirect resolution to ^6. Although this can be found in Schubert, it's rare. The progression with a sustained ^6 over I begins to appear after about 1840 and becomes increasingly common—though never to the point of becoming a cliché—in the decades after that.
2.3. Direct resolution to ^5 or ^6. Despite the design of my list and my comments, with their hints of historical trajectory, the proper dominant ninth harmony—as in the examples below—is heard emphatically (if, again, not often) already in Schubert, who clearly relished its distinctive sound and its striking expressive effect.
Note: Still another exclusion from this blog is the dominant ninth with altered fifth. These chords also begin to appear with some frequency in the 1890s. The version with raised fifth is more common; so, in C major G-B-D-F-A becomes G-B-D#-F-A, which happens to form a whole-tone scale pentachord also: D#-F-G-A-B. Less common is the dominant ninth with lowered fifth, so: G-B-Db-F-A. This one, too, can be spelled in scalar form as a whole-tone pentachord: F-G-A-B-Db.
