Here is another reminder of the three basic types of V9 presentations in the major key. I discussed these in the previous post, in an introductory post in 2018 (link), and of course in many posts subsequent to that. There are two classes of resolution, internal and external, with two subclasses for external: direct and indirect.
The inventory of sonorities and figures I am concerned with here:
- V9 external resolution, direct, root position
- V9 external resolution, indirect, root position
- V9 internal resolution, root position
- V9(b5)
- viiø7 or V9 without root
- V9 in inversion, any resolution
We saw that every one of these appeared in the published sheet music version of "Georgia on My Mind."
After about 1860, ^6 became a cliché especially in the waltz repertoire, and for my purpose here a late operetta by Johann Strauss, jr., provides a few more good examples, as Strauss in his last decade especially seems to have doubled down on expressive treatments of the upper tetrachord (my essays on this topic: link 1; link 2). In the examples from Princess Ninetta (Fürstin Ninetta) below, we'll see that Strauss does give strong expressive attention to ^6 but is surprisingly conservative with respect to the V9 harmony. Nevertheless, there are a few distinctive moments.
Princess Ninetta (Fürstin Ninetta) premiered in 1893 and was successful, though ultimately it didn't survive in the repertoire the way Fledermaus and Zigeunerbaron have done. The locale is a hotel in Sorrento. The Baron Mörsburg is seated at a table, his daughter Adelheid and her fiancé Ferdinand are seated nearby. The waiter Emilio and the hotel owner Wirth give the Baron some details about the young couple's wedding, which will take place at the hotel that evening. (edited from translation of the German Wikipedia entry).
The first set of examples comes from the Act I, Introduction, where the main theme is "Ah, venite belle donne" as first sung by Emilio and Wirth (later by the Baron).
Example 1: Circled, the expressive leap up to ^6 opens the song but it is truly "one note too far" as it doesn't disturb the tonic harmony. The second time the chord is V9 and E5 resolves internally to D5--see the box. And ^6 reappears in the lower octave in bar 7, now properly supported by IV.
Example 2: Because "Ah venite" is repeated several times, the treatment of ^6 is prominent throughout the scene. Here is the reprise of the preceding. Note the very characteristic stop on V9 in the final cadence.
Example 3: In the transition to the next section, lengthened dominants with the ninth in the voice follow the old style topic of the accompanied recitative/melodrama (bars 15-18). I don't have access to the full score and so can't say exactly how the resolutions are dealt with, if they are in fact done by rule in any of the instrumental parts.
Example 5: Cassim's waltz number "Einst träumte mir" in Act III is more adventurous, invoking the style of the later waltzes (I've written about this repertoire in a series of three posts: link 1; link 2a; link 2b). An especially prominent element is ^6 over I.
Example 6: The repetition of figures with changing chords was already common in Strauss's waltzes by no later than the mid-1860s (Blue Danube, Artist's Life, and so on). Here ^6 is involved but as an "unresolved appoggiatura" (in scare quotes because the term is usually associated with music some 30-40 years later).
Examples 7, 8, & 9: Classic strong expressive placement of V9 in a cadence (with "last moment" internal resolution).
