Monday, January 14, 2019

Johann Strauss, jr. before 1850

Here are two examples from the early music of Johann Strauss, jr. The two figures are almost identical: both are direct resolutions of the dominant ninth chord (category 2.3), in both the ninth is reached only on the third beat of the bar, and the resolution is to ^6, which then relaxes back into ^5 at the end of the bar.

Die junge Wiener, op7 n3, opening of the second strain.


Jugendträume, op12 n1, opening of the second strain.


Opus 12 also contains two other interesting examples. In the first strain of n1, ^6 is given prominent place as an appoggiatura over the tonic--circled in bar 3. In the cadence, a similar appoggiatura this time produces an expanded V9 that resolves its ninth late--circled in bars 13-14. This is my category 1.3.

In n2, ^6 is a simple neighbor note at first (bar 1), then appears on a strong beat and resolves within the dominant (bar 5), but then reappears and resolves directly (bars 6-7). The unfoldings D5-G4 and C5-F4 show how one can hear the ninth maintained across all of bars 5-6 and resolved to C5 in bar 7.