Studies on the Origin of Harmonic Tonality
406
Studies on the Origin of Harmonic Tonality
406Paperback
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Overview
Exactly when did composers transform intervallic composition into chordal composition? Modality into tonality? Dahlhaus provides extensive analyses of motets by Josquin, frottole by Cara and Tromboncino, and madrigals by Monteverdi to demonstrate how, and to what degree, such questions can be answered. In his bold speculations, in his magisterial summaries, in his command of eight centuries of music and writings on music, and in his deep understanding of European history and culture, Carl Dahlhaus sets a standard that will seldom be equalled.
Originally published in 1990.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780691608624 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Princeton University Press |
| Publication date: | 07/14/2014 |
| Series: | Princeton Legacy Library , #1111 |
| Pages: | 406 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d) |
Read an Excerpt
Studies on the Origin of Harmonic Tonality
By Carl Dahlhaus, Robert O. Gjerdingen
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
Copyright © 1990 Princeton University PressAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-691-09135-8
CHAPTER 1
THE THEORY OF HARMONIC TONALITY
Tonality and Harmony
Hugo Riemann defined "tonality" as "the special meaning that chords receive through their relationship to a fundamental sonority, the tonic triad" [die eigentümliche Bedeutung, welche die Akkorde erhalten durch ihre Bezogenheit auf einen Hauptklang, die Tonika]. Since Riemann termed these chordal meanings "functions," "tonality" is thus the embodiment of chordal functions.
The term, first coined by Castil-Blaze, was given formal definition by François Joseph Fétis. In conceiving the notion of tonality, Fétis experienced a dramatic enlightenment: "Suddenly the truth came to me; the issues were plainly set out, the darkness vanished, the false doctrines fell in shreds round about me" [Tout à coup la vérité se présente à mon esprit; les questions se posent nettement, les ténebres se dissipent; les fausses doctrines tombent pièce à pièce autour de moi]. The mental image that Fétis connected with the term "tonality" is, of course, incompatible with Riemann's definition. To Fétis, the concept of functions was just as foreign as the idea of defining tonality primarily in terms of relationships among chords.
Riemann's system of tonality differs in four main points from the theory developed by Fétis: first, in the intellectual tradition in which the category "tonality" is based; second, in the designation of tonality's constituent features; third, in the conception of the relationship between the system of chords and the underlying scale; and fourth, in the determination of the theory's range of validity.
1. Riemann took over the thesis that tonality is based on acoustical fact from a tradition of "physicalism" (Jacques Handschin) extending back to Rameau. Thus the dominant tends toward the tonic because the dominant chord is contained within the harmonic series of the tonic chord's root. But Fétis's concept of tonality represents the opposite thesis, the conviction that it is a mistake to explain musical relationships in terms of mathematics or acoustics. Fétis seized on the word "tonality" so as to have at hand a term expressing his view that scales and tonal systems are based not on the nature of sonic material but on diverse historical and ethnic circumstances. "For the elements of music, nature provides nothing but a multitude of tones differing in pitch, duration, and intensity by the greatest or least degree ... The conception of the relationships that exist among them is awakened in the intellect, and, by the action of sensitivity on the one hand, and will on the other, the mind coordinates the tones into different series, each of which corresponds to a particular class of emotions, sentiments, and ideas. Hence these series become the various types of tonalities" [La nature ne fournit pour éléments de la musique qu'une multitude de sons qui diffèrent entre eux d'intonation, de durée et d'intensité, par des nuances ou plus grandes ou plus petites ... L'idée des rapports qui existent entre eux s'éveille dans l'intelligence, et sous l'action de la sensibilité d'une part, et la volonté de l'autre, l'esprit les coordonne en séries différents, dont chacune correspond à un ordre particulier d'émotions, de sentiments et d'idées. Ces séries deviennent done des types de tonalités]. As a "purely metaphysical principle" (by "metaphysical" Fétis means "anthropological"), tonalité is the antithesis of the "natural principle" to which Rameau had reduced harmony. "But one will say, 'What is the principle behind these scales, and what, if not acoustic phenomena and the laws of mathematics, has set the order of their tones?' I respond that this principle is purely metaphysical. We conceive this order and the melodic and harmonic phenomena that spring from it out of our conformation and education" [Mais, dira-t-on, quel est le principe de ces gammes, et qui a réglé l'ordre de leurs sons, si ce ne sont des phénomènes acoustiques et les lois du calcul? Je réponds que ce principe est purement métaphysique. Nous concevons cet ordre et les phénomènes mélodiques et harmoniques qui en découlent par une conséquence de notre conformation et de notre éducation].
2. According to Riemann, tonality is the embodiment of chordal meanings, and chordal meanings—subdominant, dominant, subdominant parallel, and dominant parallel—are based on "affinities between tones" [Tonverwandtshaften]. It was from Moritz Hauptmann that Riemann adopted the axiom that perfect fifths and major thirds are the only "directly intelligible" intervals, and from the perfect fifth and major third Riemann deduced not only the structure of chords but also their relationship. Thus the major triad is composed of a perfect fifth and a major third above its root, the minor triad of a perfect fifth and major third below its fifth. And the relation between the tonic and dominant, or the tonic and subdominant, is due to the fifth-relation between the chordal roots in major or between the fifths in minor.
In contrast to Riemann, whose theory of tonality is a theory of "affinities between tones," Fétis saw the fundamental factor of tonalité moderne (the harmonic tonality of the 17th through the 19th century) residing in the contrast between triad and seventh chord, between the "consonant harmony called accord parfait, which has the quality of rest and conclusion, and the dissonant harmony, which causes tendency, attraction, and movement ... Thus are determined the requisite relationships among tones that one designates, in general, by the name of tonality" [harmonie consonnante appelée accord parfait, qui a le caractère du repos et de la conclusion, et l'harmonie dissonante, qui détermine la tendance, l'attraction et le mouvement ... Par là se trouvent déterminés les rapports nécessaires des sons, qu'on désigne en général sous le nom de tonalité]. The alternation of "rest" and "tendency" appears to be the governing principle of tonal relationship. Degrees I, IV, V, and vi of the major scale are "tones of rest" [notes de repos] and admit root-position triads. Degrees ii, iii, and vii, on the other hand, "cannot be considered tones of rest" [ne peuvent être considérées comme des notes de repos] and for that reason require a "derivative chord" [accord dérivé]—a sixth chord (d–f–b, e–g–c', b–d'–g'). "Hence according to the tonal order, they can only be accompanied by derivative harmonies" [Suivant l'ordre tonal, ils ne peuvent done être accompagnées que d'harmonies dérivées]. Fétis excludes the triads on degrees ii, iii, and vii from the tonalité. During chordal sequences that do include a triad or seventh chord on ii, iii, or vii, the feeling of tonality is suspended. "The mind, absorbed in the contemplation of the progressive series, momentarily loses the feeling of the tonality" [L'esprit, absorbé dans la contemplation de la série progressive, perd momentanément le sentiment de la tonalité]. Thus Fétis's concept of tonality does not comprise the totality of chordal relationships that are possible and significant in tonal harmony. Instead, it characterizes only a portion of them.
Fétis's theory seems irresolvably opposed to Riemann's. Yet a reconciliation is not out of the question. The assertion by Fétis that an accord parfait on the second or third degree of the scale is an exception to the rule of tonalité can be given the interpretation, without doing violence to his thesis, that a triad on the second or third degree seems to be an accord parfait, but is actually not. And the result of this "translation" is none other than Riemann's theory of "apparent consonances" [Scheinkonsonanzen]: the assertion that the apparent root of the subdominant parallel or dominant parallel is in fact a sixte ajoutée, a sixth added to the subdominant or dominant harmony. And conversely, Riemann's thesis that only the tonic, dominant, and subdominant are "consonances," while the tonic parallel, dominant parallel, and subdominant parallel are "dissonances," seems less strange if, following Fétis, one interprets "consonance" as repos and "dissonance" as tendance.
3. According to Riemann, tonality is a system of chords or "harmonies." The thesis of the primacy of the chord vis-à-vis the individual tone, and of the chordal context vis-à-vis the scale, is one of the founding principles of the theory of functions. "1. We always hear tones as representatives of chords (i.e., consonant chords), of which there are only two kinds, namely the major chord (Oberklang) and the minor chord (Unterklang). 2. Similarly, we hear chord progressions (likewise melodies, which of course, following the first principle, represent chords in their simplest form) as a unitary relationship maintained with a principal chord (Rameau's centre harmonique, the tonic triad), against whose background the other chords are clearly understood and harmonically related" [1. Wir hören Töne stets als Vertreter von Klängen, d. h. konsonanten Akkorden, deren es nur zwei Arten gibt, nämlich den Durakkord (Oberklang) und Mollakkord (Unterklang). 2. Akkordfolgen (desgleichen Melodien, welche ja nach diesem Prinzip Akkordfolgen in einfachster Form darstellen) hören wir in ähnlicher Weise als eine Einheitsbeziehung auf einen Hauptklang (Rameaus Centre harmonique, die Tonika) wahrend, gegen welchem die andern Klänge wohlverständlich mit welchem sie harmonisch verwandt sind]. The major and minor scales are viewed as the result of disassembling the tonic, dominant, and subdominant chords into their constituent tones; the scale is secondary—a consequence, not a basis. The chordal context is independent of the scale.
As an extreme consequence of the hypothesis that the perfect fifth and major third establish "directly intelligible" tone and chord relationships there results the assertion that the A[??]-major and E-major triads can be related directly to a C-major tonic. As an analog of the chord progression C-F-C-G-C, there appears C-A[??]-C-E-C. "Hence the C-major tonality prevails as long as the harmonies are understood in their orientation to the C-major chord. For example, the admittedly audacious but effective and euphonious progression shown below defies definition in terms of an older doctrine of key. But in terms of a C-major tonality, it consists of the tonic triad, counter third-chord, tonic triad, plain third-chord, and tonic triad. That is, it consists only of closely related chords contrasted with the tonic triad" [So ist also die C-dur-Tonalität herrschend, solange die Harmonien in ihrer Stellung zum C-dur-Akkord verstanden werden; z. B. ist die zwar kühne, aber kräftige und wohlklingende Folge: (ex. 1), im Sinne einer Tonart älterer Lehre gar nicht zu definieren; im Sinne der C-dur-Tonalität ist sie: Tonika—Gegenterzklang—Tonika—schlichter Terzklang—Tonika, d. h. es sind der Tonika nur nah verwandte Klänge gegenübergestellt]. But the direct "third-relation" postulated by Riemann implies nothing short of suspending the distinction between diatonicism and chromaticism. If, in contrast to Riemann, one clung to the distinction, it would then be necessary to interpret the A[??]-major chord as the parallel of the minor subdominant, and the E-major chord as a chromatic alteration of the dominant parallel. The A[??]-major chord would be based on a "change of diatonic system" (an exchange of the C-minor for the C-major scale), while the [??]-major chord would be based on a chromatic alteration of the C-major scale. By contrast, an A[??]-major or E-major chord related directly to C major is neither diatonic nor chromatic—the distinction is abolished. And it is in this suspension of diatonicism as the basis of chordal relationships that Riemann saw the distinctive feature of "tonality," as opposed to the "older doctrine of key" founded on the diatonic scale.
This is in glaring contrast to Fétis, who saw the prerequisite for tonality in the diatonic scale. "Tonality," wrote Fétis, "is formed from the set of requisite relationships, simultaneous or successive, among the tones of the scale." To be sure, Fétis's account of the relationship between tonality and scale is contradictory, or at least appears to be. On the one hand, tonality is the "regulating principle" (principe régulateur) of relationships among tones: "Now the regulating principle of the relationships among tones, whether in the successive or simultaneous category, is generally designated by the name of tonality" [Or, le principe régulateur des rapports des sons, dans l'ordre successif et dans l'ordre simultané, se désigne en général par le nom de tonalité]. On the other hand, tonality "results" from the scale: "That which I call tonality is then the system of melodic and harmonic events that results from the arrangement of tones in our major and minor scales" [Ce que j'appelle la tonalité, c'est done l'ordre de faits mélodiques et harmoniques que résulte de la disposition des sons de nos gammes majeure et mineure]. And a founding principle of tonal relationship—in addition to the scale—is also seen in the opposition between dominant seventh chord and triad, between "tendance" and "repos." These contradictions are not, however, irresolvable. The various definitions of tonality, all of them well founded, come into conflict because they are formulated as if each were comprehensive, while in reality they constitute mere portions of a larger definition, a definition that Fétis had in mind but did not articulate. That is, tonalité—more precisely tonalité moderne—is a historically and ethnically conditioned way of hearing that comprehends tone and chord relationships under the categories of tendance and repos. It is most clearly marked in the contrast between dominant seventh chord and tonic triad, a contrast that stands in reciprocal relationship to the restriction of scales to major and minor. If Fétis alternately "defines" tonality as the result of historical and ethnic conditions (le principe métaphysique), as the relationships among tones (les rapports nécessaires des sons), as the contrast between dominant seventh chord and tonic, and as the major and minor scales, it is not that he involves himself in objective contradictions. Rather, he makes use of a rhetorical figure, claiming a part as the whole.
4. "If one asks," wrote Riemann, "wherein properly lies the task of a theory of art, then the answer can only be that it must fathom the selfsame natural lawfulness that consciously or unconsciously rules the creation of art and set it forth in a system of logically coherent theorems" [Fragt man sich worin eigentlich die Aufgabe der Theorie einer Kunst bestehe, so kann die Antwort nur lauten, daß dieselbe die natürliche Gesetzmäßigkeit, welche das Kunstschaffen bewußt oder unbewußt regelt, zu ergründen und in einem System logisch zusammenhängender Lehrsätze darzulegen habe]. The "system of logically coherent theorems" that Riemann had in mind is the theory of functions, and he had no doubt but that the "natural lawfulness" discerned through his theory was also "intuitively comprehended" in ancient and medieval times, of course without becoming unambiguously formulated. "Even the simple monophonic melody set down in the preserved monuments of ancient art rests completely on a harmonic foundation" [Auch die einstimmige, einfache Melodie, wie sie in den erhaltenen Denkmälern antiker Kunst vorliegt, beruht durchaus auf harmonischer Grundlage].
Fétis was more cautious. He mentioned different "types de tonalités" without attempting to reduce them to a single principle. And in remarking about the "major scale of the Chinese" and the "minor scale of the Irish," he said, "Our harmonic progressions would be impracticable in these tonalities" [Les successions de notre harmonie deviendront inexécutables dans ces tonalités]. Still, for Fétis, just as for Riemann, tonalité moderne is the only system whose tonal relationships he could experience as "requisite." For him, even the tonalité ancienne of the 16th century was foreign and incomprehensible. To be sure, he defined tonalité ancienne as the "uni-tonic order" [ordre unitonique] and tonalité moderne as the "trans-tonic order" [ordre transitonique]. But the appearance that this definition is based on an explanation of tonalité ancienne is an illusion. The antithesis is incorrectly formulated, in fact even under Fétis's own assumptions.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Studies on the Origin of Harmonic Tonality by Carl Dahlhaus, Robert O. Gjerdingen. Copyright © 1990 Princeton University Press. Excerpted by permission of PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS.
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Table of Contents
- FrontMatter, pg. i
- Contents, pg. v
- Translator's Preface, pg. vii
- A Guide to the Terminology of German Harmony, pg. xi
- Introduction, pg. 1
- I. The Theory of Harmonic Tonality, pg. 7
- II. Intervallic and Chordal Composition, pg. 67
- III. Mode and System, pg. 153
- IV. Analyses, pg. 249
- Notes, pg. 325
- Bibliography, pg. 371
- Index, pg. 381