Tonality

“If compositions as diverse as Stravinksy’s Rite of Spring, Lasso’s Prophetiae Sibyllarum, and Schoenberg’s Erwartung, Op. 17 are all ‘atonal,’ then this definition has little value…” Body A. Tonality vs. Atonality 1. Because atonality is a negative term, one must seek out the definition for what tonality is in order to define it a. In “Schoenberg and Atonality,” Charles Rosen defines tonality i. “Tonality is not, as is sometimes claimed, a system with a central note but one with a central perfect triad: all the other triads, major and minor, are arranged around the central one in a hierarchical order.” 301 ii. “A tonal work must begin by implying the central position of the tonic, and it must end with it; therefore everything that follows the opening and precedes the final tonic may be conceived as dissonant in relation to the tonic triad, the only perfect consonance.” b. Rosen uses the terms consonance and dissonance to assist his definition of tonality, these will be defined in the following section c. Schoenberg’s early music has a lot of examples of tonality which relate to the time in which he composed. i. Example 1: From Schoenberg, Verklärte Nacht, mm. 7-12…

harmonized with chords from the same mode and on the same tonal center.” In reference to modal jazz, this concept is what Ron Miller has described as modal simple. This notion of harmonic modality is somehow reminiscent to the theory of “pandiatonicism”. The term pandiatonic was coined by Nicolas Slonimsky in his 1938 book, Music Since 1900. This terminology is used to describe a passage, section, or composition, which uses all seven degrees diatonic to some heptatonic scale (melodically,…

The Menuets from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major explores the tonality of G Major and what can be done to make it sound engaging, dance-like, and captivating. Both Menuet I and Menuet II function as individual movements, yet they contribute to and complement one another. Both explore different rhythmic patterns and tonal aspects, all the while staying and maintaining in the same realm of G Major. I will be talking about rhythm and how it drives the melody forward, shift of tonality and…

explains the other notes through contrapuntal motion, which Schenker discusses in species counterpoint. Although he does not give a hypothesis for the other notes’ origin, he calls them dissonant, and therefore outside of the “chord of nature’s” jurisdiction. Therefore, the only notes held responsible for harmonic series origin are the 1, 3, 5, and octave. The fifth is the 3rd harmonic, and is only 2 cents sharp. The octave rates even better—it is the second harmonic and has no pitch variance…

Tonality is a phenomenon that is responsible for our perceptions and expectations of music. Schleuter compares tonality to “glue,” implying that it allows to make connections in music, transforming pitches and rhythms into continuous musical thoughts and ideas. Tonality is a learned ability that is obtained by applying tonal memory. Tonal memory is basically the ability to distinguish pitches from each other, allowing us to remember the contour of melodies and mimic them. When listening to a…

or the Recapitulation, devices used by composers include varying the character of the original material, rearranging its order, omitting material, or overlapping material. (“Sonata”) As of Impressionistic music, the notion of what constitutes music was redefined. A new freedom in aesthetic dimensions, including vague tonality, exotic modes and scales, non-metric rhythms, and chord development was unleashed. Modern music branches out into many different forms, although Impressionistic music is…

passively transferred from the performer to the listener (Iyer, 159). This paper examines the relationship between music and perceptions, emotional responses, and cognitive processes. In order to understand the relationship between music and cognitive processes, it is important to understand how music is perceived and processed in the brain. There are three levels of musical perception: the raw psychophysical perception of tones, the perception of abstract qualities of tones apart from their…

When you read music, you read it off what is called a staff. A staff consists of four spaces and five lines. On the four spaces and five lines are notes. At the beginning of the staff you will always see either a Treble Clef or a Bass cleft. Each indicates what and where the starting note will be when you are reading your music. On a Treble clef, the line that it wraps around will always be G. When you look at a note that’s anywhere along that line, it’s always a G. Now, with the Base cleft it’s…

Johann Joseph Fux Johann Joseph Fux was an Austrian composer and theorist. He studied language, logic, law and music both at Graz University and the University of Ingolstadt from 1680 to 1687. Around 1695, Fux was appointed to the imperial court of Hungarian bishop Leopold I. While in the court of the emperor, Fux dedicated the Missa SS Trinitatis to Leopold I. Johann Fux kept his position in the court after the death of Leopold I, the reign of Joseph I, and Charles VI. He was appointed…

coherence in the music. Charles Rosen, the American pianist and writer, give some ideas about opening note setting in the music through his book “The Classical Style”. According to the Rosen’s analysis for the Haydn String Quartets, Rosen talks about how the musical fragments work as crucial point in the whole piece with several interesting points. Rosen points out the opening elements of Haydn’s String Quartet op. 33 no. 1 in B minor and String quartet op. 50 no.6 in D Major. First interesting…