Updated Index to Essays

"Essays published on the Texas ScholarWorks platform, 2012-2022" updates earlier indices for all topic areas I have explored over the past decade. Here is the link.  Entries for each essay include title, abstract, and link.

Here is the abstract:

This is a list of essays I have published on this platform in the past decade. Topics include documentation of ascending and upper-register cadence gestures in European and European-influenced musics, studies of the major dominant ninth chord, and formal functions (after Caplin) in music by Mozart and his contemporaries.

An author search on the platform's home page will give two "David Neumeyer"s--they're both me:link 1 to 62 entries; link 2 to 23 entries.

Here are three other blogs I have written and maintained over the years: Ascending Cadence Gestures in Tonal Music; Dance and Dance Music, 1650-1850; Hearing Schubert D779n13.

Ascending resolutions of the ninth

 One feature of practices with the major dominant ninth—and one that applies to eleventh and thirteenth chords as well—is the upward resolution of the characteristic note. Instances of the ninth ascending as in (a) start in repertoire as early as Schubert waltzes from around 1820 (link 1; link 2). By 1850, these were well integrated into practice, especially in the dance repertoires and in music for stage that made use of dance genres. After about 1860, a stationary resolution to ^6 in Iadd6 (not shown) was also an option. After about 1890, resolutions such as the one at the right, V9 to I7, became possible, too.

The examples in (b1)-(b3) are sequences with paired roots in thirds, (b1) with a chromatic line in the upper voice, (b2) with a diatonic line (as if beginning in C major), and (b3) with ascending thirds and all chords as dominant ninths. Note that these are not traditional ascending resolutions: the first is stationary, and the second descends by a half-step. It's only if you extend "resolution" to include parallelism of function that A4 could go to C#5 and E5 to G5.  At (b4) are two smooth resolutions that take the ninth to #11 in the subsequent chord.

At (c), both upper voice and bass move by seconds in contrary motion. The second chords carry a #11, like (b4) above. Under "Chabrier" the voices are in parallel motion. More about this example below, as also for (d), where the bass changes at the tritone.

The chord pair shown above is from Emmanuel Chabrier's opera Le Roi malgré lui (1887). The example is from Lenormand's chapter on ninth chords (Study of Modern Harmony (Eng. trans 1915; French original 1912)).

The entr'acte between Acts II & III does not focus on the ninth--it is a pastoral Andantino that mostly uses the traditional progressions involving dominant and diminished seventh types. Here is the simple ii–V–I cadence (bars 25-28) followed by what sounds like a coda extension of the tonic via a pedal point.

This passage beginning at 29, however, breaks into further development, in course of which the parallel dominant ninth chords appear. It is only at bar 44 that a coda proper starts, entirely over a tonic pedal. The three chords in Lenormand's example are clear, and note that there is a fourth one, as well.

Here is Lenormand's example with the tritone resolution, from Florent Schmitt's piano quintet (published 1908). The slow movement is very long, the heart of the piece, really, and the quoted passage occurs relatively early, around bar 35 and the first change of key signature (from no sharps or flats to 5 flats—it turns out that Db major is the primary key).

As it happens, Lenormand doesn't quite get the chords right, as the first one is G9 with a flat 5--see the box below. Furthermore, the ninth is not at all so prominent as the example suggests--see the circled notes: second violin and viola abandon their A-natural or B-double flat, the cello actually resolves down, not up, and it's the piano that takes A3 to Bb3, but in the middle of its arpeggiations.

Here are some other examples with ascending resolutions. 

to c:

Sibelius, 5 Danses Champêtres for violin and piano, op.106

The Danses Champêtres were published in 1924. The first number is the focus of attention here. As with Roussel's Divertissement, I cannot hear the opening chords clearly as the major dominant ninth, here as IV9 in D minor, but the argument is much harder to make this time. Here is the opening in the violin:

Obviously a strongly articulated D minor triad followed by a close to the dominant. But Sibelius puts this (below) in the piano and the triad is undermined/colored/shifted/nuanced/you-name-it by a powerful d: IV9 (first box), then IV4/3 at the bottom of the melody D4 (second box), and the harmony isn't anywhere near A minor when the melody closes on A5 (in the second system).

As I said, I really ought to hear d:IV9 at the opening but I have listened several times to one of the excellent commercial recordings available through subscription to IMSLP and I just can't do it. The violin part is one element; also, there's more of a D minor triad in the first chord than G9; A5 is at the top of the chord at beat 3 but the frame of the chord--disregarding the held bass G for the moment--is still D minor; and B-nat sounds as much like an add6 as a chordal third. Beyond that, the appearance of IV9 in a minor key context is a surprise, and the traditional topical expectations for a major dominant ninth chord are all off: a powerful, sombre gesture rather than the pastoral or the Wagnerian moment of excess emotion. In sum, then, I know I ought to hear this is as a clear IV9 but I can't.

The situation doesn't change for later transposed statements. Here's one:

Only at the end is the passage played "as it should be" with an elaborate flourish over d: N6–V6/4-5/3 and a resounding D minor triad:

Roussel, Divertissement for Woodwind Quintet and Piano, op. 6 (1906)

 On the face of it, Roussel's Divertissement would seem to be a good companion for the small company of pieces that make the dominant ninth chord integral to large-scale harmonic design. I've written about one on this blog: Marion Bauer's "Epitaph of a Butterfly" and another—Charles Griffes's White Peacock—in an essay published on the Texas Scholarworks platform: The Dominant Ninth in Music from 1900 to 1924, Part 1: you can check this blog post for an abstract and link: 2020 June 5.

As it happens, however, although Roussel gives a prominent place to a D9 chord as G:V9 at the beginning, (1) unlike the pieces named above, it doesn't hold that place in overall design amongst a rich play of harmonies and tonal regions; (2) it doesn't really even sound like a dominant ninth.

Here is the figure with which the piano opens:

I listened to the excellent commercial recording accessed from the IMSLP page for this piece (one may need to subscribe to hear this--I'm not sure) and, although the notes are all there, to my ear the sound isn't anything like the traditional V9. Voicing (distribution of the notes) is key: the ninth isn't at the top (instead there's the seventh and even the octave on each second beat) and a cluster at the bottom has E4 in the middle of it.

To make things worse—that is, to undermine the V9 sound more—once the quintet members enter, the clarinet (in A) plays A3, which more than hints at a complex chord based on A, with E as its fifth and its third C at the top. See at the first arrow. The theme is in the oboe.

Here is a simplified version of the opening, with annotations.

The second arrow in the original score above points to a downward shift in the piano's left-hand figure. This effectively negates any possible V9 function and in fact now offers a clear Am7.

The left hand keeps descending and offers just a passing hint of the opening sonority (boxed) before reaching I7, which relaxes to Iadd6 very briefly (the tempo is fast) before Am7 reasserts itself at |1|.

As just one example of the kaleidoscope of harmonies that ensues, here is the next entrance of the theme. The persistent G4 does more than suggest B7/b13.

Two more themes are mixed in, both of them easily heard as derivatives of the main theme, but then the tempo suddenly turns slow (Lent) and we hear a section in the orientalist style at which Roussel excelled. Then fast again, slow again, and the transition into a final fast section brings this:

. . . followed by

Here are a few ways to look at this progression:

Figure (a) shows what might have happened to the F7 in a traditional progression--such chromatic movements of the bass (here F-F#-G) were common already in the early 18th century; the assumed key is either Bb major or G minor. Figure (b) tries to account, again in traditional terms, for the change from F7 to Fm7, but going that way one ends up in Eb major. Figures (c) & (d) show simplified close voiceleading for the chord sequence in the score, (c) with the traditional resolution of the 7th Eb down, (d) exchanging the outer voices (Eb5 becomes Eb4; F4 becomes F5) so that one can arrive on D9. Neither of these is exactly what Roussel does, as you can see from looking again at the score excerpt above.

The troublesome A3 reappears, now in the bassoon, and the flute's E5 is solid confirmation of A as root. The long notes D4 in clarinet and horn make for an overall effect of Am(sus4) until the bassoon lands on D3 (circled in the last bar of the first system).

The insertion of IV between the V & I of the closing cadence is a fairly common device in French music by about 1890. Below is a simplified version of the passage above.

Additions to the New Historical Survey series

The New Historical Survey is a series of essays on music with ascending lines and upper-register cadence gestures. I'm just now reaching the 19th century, where there can of course be significant overlap between this work and study of the major dominant ninth chord. (I'll write more about this in relation to these new essays in a subsequent post.)

The Survey has 5 parts: (1) a general introduction; (2) music to 1650; (3) 1650-1780; (4) 1780-1860; (5) 1860-US copyright barrier year. I am currently working on Part 4 and have added two new essays:

Ascending Cadence Gestures, A New Historical Survey, Part 4a1: 1780–1815. Link.

Abstract: This belongs to a multi-part essay series gathering compositions with ascending lines and upper-register cadence gestures in European and European- influenced music. Part 4 covers the period 1780–1860; this section is 1780–1815. Composers include, among others, Beethoven, Doche, Hummel, Mozart, Paisiello, Pecháček, J. A. P. Schulz, and Sterkel. Organ music compiled by Kaspar Ett concludes.

Ascending Cadence Gestures, A New Historical Survey, Part 4b3: Polkas, A Second Supplement. Link.

Abstract: This supplement has additional polkas from the 1840s and 1850s. Composers include, among others, Charles d’Albert, János Gungl, Charles Lenschow, Hans Christian Lumbye, and Johann Strauss, jr. An appendix is a list of all polkas discussed in this and previous essays,

Files in Part 4 that remain under preparation are 4a2 (Beethoven), 4c (instrumental music after 1820), 4e (songs: Schubert; after 1830), and 4f (music for the stage).

New publications

 I have published two items on the Texas ScholarWorks platform.

The Dominant Ninth in Music from 1900 to 1925, Part 3: link.

Abstract: This essay continues documentation of major V9 chords. Many examples have traditional resolutions, but some show more complex treatments in advanced styles of the period. Composers are Marion Bauer, Gabriel Dupont, Eleanor Everest Freer, Jerome Kern, James Scott, and Florent Schmitt. Five other pieces are from series intended for cinema performance. One song by Bud de Sylva and Gus Kahn is also included.

Dominant Ninth, Index to blog and essays: link.

Abstract: This file has three lists: (1) List of posts to the blog, On the Dominant Ninth Chord; (2) List of essays published on the Texas ScholarWorks platform; (3) Repertoire list for the essays.

Extending downward: A curiosity

The usual method of extending triads to make 7, 9, 11, and 13 chords is to go above. (And I point out yet once more that's a theoretical and pedagogical convenience, not a historical narrative.) But we can also play with going the opposite direction. Here's an example, where (at a) the top note remains the same (just like the root would do if we were building upward) and the bass moves down by thirds. At (b) I've isolated the fifth movements that get us to Db#11.

This generates a surprisingly large percentage of basic chord types--and also a good sounding progression! 

Satie, "Je te veux” (1902)

This song was mentioned at the end of the previous post. Here is that text again, expanded and with additional examples. 

"Je te veux" is one of the better known among Satie’s cabaret songs, where we would definitely expect dominant ninth harmonies. (Satie began working as a pianist at the Parisian cabaret Chat noir in the later 1880s.) One appears immediately in the introduction (box). In the Refrain (the overall design is RCRCR, where R is the Refrain, and C is a couplet [same music but different text]), the major dominant ninth appears in the early or middle part of a period, as is more typical of popular song, and not near the cadence, as we find commonly in “art song.” The circled notes point to the free treatment of degrees in the upper tetrachord in relation to harmony—a heritage of mid-19th century waltz practices.

Thanks to repetition of the opening phrase, V9 is a characteristic sound of the couplets.

Satie, Sarabandes and songs

Erik Satie's distinctive styles--whether the early one of the Trois Gymnopédies or the later one of Parade--make very little use of the major dominant ninth harmony, but to show that he was no stranger to it, at least in his earlier years, here are examples from four stylistically varied pieces, three of them written around the same time as the Gymnopédies.

The 3 Sarabandes (1887) provide an extreme. This is the opening of no. 1. I almost feel I should apologize for the absurd welter of accidentals, in particular the three Bbb9s (enharmonic A9).

Here is a version that I hope is easier to read: it's a transposition up a half step and I've added chord labels.

And the beginning of no. 3. The Db9 becomes a recurring motto chord.

From the 3 Mélodies (1886), the opening of no. 3, "Sylvie." The treatment of sonority and texture is a bit reminiscent of the Gymnopédies. Unlike in the sarabandes, this V9 is an isolated instance.

Finally, from a decade or more later, "Je te veux," one of the better known cabaret songs, where we would definitely expect dominant ninth harmonies. (We should mention that Satie began working as a cabaret pianist in the later 1880s.)

Inversions, part 3

 Last, the fourth inversion. I have very little to offer here. From the trio to James Scott's Grace and Beauty Rag is this (circled), but the Bb in the right hand resolves internally and the Bb in the bass is easily heard as a passing tone within the Ab7 harmony.

I decided to look at René Lenormand's Study of Modern Harmony (Eng. trans 1915; French original 1912), which is distinguished by its very large number of musical examples. Even he had trouble locating fourth inversions. This one from a ballet by Florent Schmitt (Study, 31) reminds us of the difficulties that can attend the definition of complex chords (Lenormand himself says of ninth chords that "In all the [examples] that follow, the disposition of the parts is very important" [27]). I've written the boxed chords again at the right; to my ear, the second of them is more convincing as a D9. It's the fourth E3-A3 at the bottom of the first chord that gets in the way (and the C4 even makes an A minor triad), where the "cluster" of ninth and third (E3-F#3) in the second chord, combined with the pairing of seventh and root above it (C4-D4), definitely sounds like a chord built on a D root.

Inversions, part 2

This continues discussion of inversions of the major dominant ninth chord.

Apologies for the overlapping boxes in this graphic of the opening of Franck's Violin Sonata. Boxes 1 and 2 include the second inversion of A: V9, each sandwiched between root position chords. The third "clears out" the chord momentarily by reducing it to a root position B minor triad.

Here is a passage from later on. The sounds over C#3 vary, with C#9 briefly touched in the third bar, though against a dissonant passing tone in the violin. The fourth bar gives us a#ø7, which becomes the upper part of the F#9 a bar later.

Now a secondary dominant ninth in its second inversion (MacDowell, To a Wild Rose). I've added the slurs in the bass to bring out the pattern in the harmonies: consonance to dissonance over the same bass in bars 1-2 & 3-4, then the reverse in bars 5-6 & 7-8.

And two examples of the unfolding bass figure: Sousa, Hail to the Spirit of Liberty, trio; James Scott, Broadway Rag. In the latter the boxes and arrows point to the common parallelism in a figure over V9, then over Iadd6.

For the third inversion, a waltz by Alexis Castillon and the introduction to An der Elbe, op. 477, Johann Strauss, jr.'s last published waltz set. There is expressive emphasis in Castillon's version, but as a harmony it is undercut by its middle position in a dominant.

In the second box below, a clever parallelism with a reversed harmonic progression, because of which the ninth (G5) resolves internally.

The best example for the third inversion, though, is in the "Serenade of the Doll" from Debussy's Children's Corner. Here is the second of three divisions of the B-section; it is made entirely of major dominant ninth chords, 15 of them, 9 of which are third inversions (indicated by asterisks (*)).

By way of a postscript: in the third division of the B-section, the F#9 returns to initiate a traditional cadence progression: E: V9/V drops the sharp to become ii13, then follow V7 and Iadd6: