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Harmony and Voiee Leadinq in Lata Scriabin
by Roderick Shergold
Faculty of Music, McGill University, Montreal.
A Thesis
Submi t ted to the
Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research
in Partial Fulfillment of the requirements
For the Degree of Master of Arts.
© Roderick Shergold
March 1993
Abstract for M.A. Thesis entitled
Harmony and Voice Leadinq in Late Scriabin
In this thesis, a new approach to an understa.l.ding of the
harmonie language in Scriabln' s final compositions is
presented. The analytical methods used draw significantly
upon prevlous work done by Varvara Dernova, as weIl as sorne of
the concepts of Manfred Kelkel. The thesis presents a
qualified vindication of the structural importance of the
quartaI spacing in Scriabin' s harmonic language. (This
characterlstlc feature of the composer's pltch organization
tends to be regarded by most contemporary theorists as merely
an idiomatic spacing that the composer favoured.)
The thesis proposes that a structural, ten-note, harmonic
matrix (formed through the summation of the octatonic and
whole-t one scales) is the key to an understanding of the
harmonlc language ln Scriabin' s flnal works. Graphic
i Il ust ra t ions are an import ant feat ure of the various analy ses
presented; these depict both horizontal and vertir;al aspects
of Ser labin' s musical language in his final works,
specifically, selections from the piano compositions op.71 -
74. The analyses also present an evaluation of the importance
of the octatonic scale, believed by George Perle, Jay Reise,
and Claude Herndon, among other theorists, to be the
st ructural matrix in the late Scriabin oeuvre.
lIarmonie et. conduite des voix dans les oeuvres de la
dernière manière de Scriabine
Cette thèse présente un nouveau mode d'approche
concernant les quest ions relati ves au langage harmoniquE' de
Scriabine. Plus particulièrement, elle vise a démont rel'
l'impc'rtance struct'-.lrelle de l'étagement par qua.ct es. (Ce
trait caractéristique de l'organisation des hautPllrs que
plusieurs analystes contemporains ne considèrent que COmnll-\
simple étagement idiomatique, affectionné par le composi teur.)
Les méthodes analytiques s'inspirent de manière signi flcaL ive
des travaux de Varvara Dernova et de certai ns concepls
développés par Manfred Kelkel.
La thèse propose qu'une matrice harmonique structurelle
de 10 sons (formée de la jonction de la gamme octatonique el
de 1& gamme par tons) consti tue la clé permettant de
comprendre le language harmonique des oeuvres tardives de
Scriabine. Les illustrations graphiques constHuent Ull t riiÎL
lmportant des diverses analyses présentées: elle~3 reprè,;pntpnL
les dimens ions hor i zonta les et ve rt lca l es du 1 anqêlge rnu:; j (:a 1
de Scriabine dans sa pér iode tardlve, et pl us
particulièrement, de passages extraits des oeuvres pour pl anc
opus 71-74. Les analyses évaluent, de plus, l' importanc0 dt~ la
gamme 8ctatonique, considérée par Perle, Reise et Hf:rndr;n,
entre autres, comme étant la matrice structurelle des rJr~lJvrf'~S
de la dernière manière de Scriabine.
Table of Contents
lntroductlon and Historical Perspective ..................... 1
Gene ra l Cons] derations of Mus ical Language ................. Il
Summar j es of the Var i ous Concepts .......................... 1 7
Dernova ............................................... 17
Kelkel ................................................ 25
The Octatonlcists .......... , ......................... 31
Scriabjn' sTen-Note Harmonie Matrix ........................ 3~
Exp1 anatlon of Analytical Charts .................. , ........ 53
Notat lon in Charts .................................... 55
Opus 71 no. 2 .............................................. 60
Eval uation of Octatonicism wi th Charts ................ 68
Opu s 73 no. 1 .............................................. 70
The Preludes Opus 74 ....................................... 81
Opus 74 no. 2 .............................................. 81
Opu s 74 no. 1......... . ................................... 88
Conclusion ................................................. 97
INTRODUCTION AND HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Many composers are reticent when It Cùlllt-'S to dl"('ll~~c.;llltl
their own compositional procedures. This relucL111Ct" t l) !1'Vl',j J
creative secrets, rather than resulting necess.:lr1ly [lom d
particularly covert nature, perhaps stems more [rom a genl1 i ne
inability t.o objectively analyze their own work. By l'ont rast ,
other composers make bold staternents concerni nq LIli' ('1 l',1t i vp
process of composition, statements that couJd bi'> lnlt_'rpreLL:'u
as attemp,-s made, either deliberately or subconsclulI L;ly, (1
enhance the mystery of the creative musical procoss. ln cl
discussion, in which Stravinsky compares his early wor k wi t Il
that of members of the secona Viennese school, hE' SLdLt'~;:
l was guided by no system whatev(~r 111 Le :;dL r (' dll
Printemps. l had only my ear to ~lelp !l\('. hi'dld clIld wrote what l heard. l am the vessel thru1Jr]11 Whldl L,' Sacre passed.·
Without embarking upon an extended discussion of Stravinsky's
comment s, i t is poss ible to v iew the abovo quot aU on, 1 fl
particular the last sentence with its impllcit n'J igjou;~
overtones, as a good example of a compos(::!!':~ r:urnrrlf'fll~:
mystifying, rather than clarlfylng, thE:: dr.:t I)f f,I)HlfJf,',lf l',fl.
Alexander ScriabIn, surrounded as he Wd;, HI fil', j,d"r
years by his cultist entourage, was,
frequently prone to making such stateml':!nts (_fJfl(_{~rrll [Ifj III', fJ'tlll
Igor Stravinsky and Robert Craft, EXposItions ~nd Developments (Berkeley and Los Angelr.:!cj : Unl'/('r',lf,ï (.if
California Press, 1962), pp. 147-148.
2
rJlmpOS i t ional procedures. The extraordinary theosophical
as';;r~rt_lons he made, relating to hls existence and grandlose
r)l1rp0S(~ ln Ilfe, rarely pertained ta the actual creat ive
In fact, it would appear that musical
compos l t i0n for Scr i abin was more related t 0 an abstract,
perhaps a lmost mathematical model, rather than the more
ramAnt je notion of an 1 inspired outpouring' that was the
general perception of his modus operandi. In the composer's
own secrr:'t notebooks, ln which he recorded his private
Lhoughts, Scriabin concludes a discussion on the origin of
pure mathematics with the axiom, UMathematics is music for the
mind; music is mathematics for the soul." 2
Scriabin himself maintained throughout his life that he
composed "according ta definite principle" (meaning system)
" ... nothlng is by accident;uJ yet amongst aIl his writings,
there is no indication of whot organisational principles he
used in composition. On one occasion, Scriabin invited one of
his contemporar~es, Alexander Goldenveizer, together with his
former teacher, Sergei Taneyev, to his apartment for the
pm'pose of explaining his theories of compt'sition ta them.
Aftor mueh stalling, Scriabin exeused himself saying that he
had a headache and he would explain his theories another day.
Faubian Bowers, The New Scriabin: Enigma and Answers York: St. Martins Press, 1973), p.116.
Ibid. 1 p.128.
(New
Needless to say, that subsequent Ineet i ng I)L'Ve r t 0~'''' pl.1 \~t', ,\
Perhaps Scriabin' s teluctance to expLl1n h1S sy~;t t:-'1Il Il{
campos i t i on was due to the fact_ t ha t, when thE' .'id U:l l llh'IllI'll t
arrived, he was intimidated by the pn~st.~IlL'l' LlÎ his tUIllll'l
professor of composition, Perhaps lt stemmed from <1 ql-'tllllllt.:'
inability to verbalize his concepts; or maybe he [(>cil t.~d t h,lt-
disclosure of his th€.ories would ultimately detract t 10111 tIlt'
'magic' and 'mystery' of his works.
was, Scriabin died with hiS composj tlonal seclet s, (Incl i t \'J.I';
left to subsequent analysts and theod sts Lo dt! t.'mpt t ()
discover, among other aspects of his mUS1C, LIll' Ol9dlll .'dt J()Il
of pitch structure in the Scriabin oeuvre.
Surprisingly, for half a century since his dedt-h 1 n 1 ()J 1),
serious analysis of Scriabin's compositions, 111 partiC'lllêlt Ill!'
later works, was virtually nonexistent." Ser labill was <ln
immensely successful composer who died at the hpighL (,t hi';
popular i ty, yet the enormous a t tent ion that was f o<;usf·d un Il 1:.
k b t h ' de a th f> dl' d wor su sequent 0 15 little t 0 forma 1 1 Z ( • h i s
6
Ibid., p.129.
The one not able e:-:cept ion was Bole s lav Y aVOl ',k 'l, d J 'H (If' 1 / unpubl15hed theor1st whose work, WhlCh [(JIIW·,J tJJf' !uJ',j',
of Varvara Dernova' s concepts (diL,(:ur;~(,rj LI,Jr)'d), 'Ill"
until relatively recently, c0mr.,}(~tel'j unr.nr"/vJlJ (JIll ',!dl' ',/
the S 0 V let Un l 0 n . A t r ct n s la L l () ri G [ fi 1 '-; t fi "-..- rJI if", l', fi') '"
available thrGugh the work of Gord')11 r1,.r)lj(~rr: (',f:f'
bibliography) .
Ibid, p. 101 ff. Bowers relates detënl-:: r)! :;, r l dLi fi' 'f
funeral and the 1mmediate J1Tlpéict his rjr·at.h hdrJ rJrl 1 h"~ cultural life of Russ1a. " His funeréJl wa~, thr ... [II'J';I
fa shi on able event ln Moscow in years ... Pac hman i fi r,J 'J 'tIa '; ;J
pallbearer ... endless nurnber of wre.':lthr;,.,ff,r '1If:f.'}:'> th':
4
COnC0[..;I:,;). Varvara Dernova ma~ntains that one of the reasons
for this lar::k of serious academic study can be found ln the
t ac:L that l t was members of Scriabin' s close circle who
att(~mpted to provl de 'ana lytical' expl anat i ons of his music.
His [r i8fJds and family, immersed as they aIl were in
Scyjabin' s 'theosophlcal fantasles', were Just not qualified
to present objective analyses of his works or even general
principle.s regarding his compositional procedures, although
the writings of Leonid Sabaneeff, Boris Schloezer elc. are
certainly important from a historical perspective. 7 Yet it
was their articles on Scriabin's music, written in a
"mysUcal-philosophlcal" vein, using terms like "the Eternal
Essence," "the Playful Spirit," "the Cark Waves of Chaos"
etc. 1 that ini tiall y recei ved such widespread attent ion. This
only succeeded in alienating many serious scholars from
Scriabin by instilllng a preconceived mistrust of him and his
work. U
pape 1 S we re fu Il of ob i tuar ies." Bowers also relates (in his two-volume biography of Scriabin, II p.281 - see biblioqraphy) how Rachmaninov, a rival of Scriabin while the latter was alive, played complete concerts exclusivelyof Scdabin's music in the period following Scr labin' s death.
LeOIll J SJ.baneyeff, Modern Russian Composers, translated [rom Russ1an by J.A . .Joffe (London: Martin Lawrence Ltd., 19,;'7) .
130t"15 dt' Schloe::er, Scriabin: Artist and Mystic, translated from Russian by NIcolas Slonimsky (Berkley and Los Angeles: UrllVerslty of California Press, 1987).
Roy J. Guenther, "Varvara Dernova's Garmoniia Skriabina: A Trans l at i on and Cr it lcal Commentary If (Ph. D. Dis sertat ion, Catholic Universitj of AmerIca, 1979), p.67.
---------
that time, both internat lonally and domest lca lly (~VL""\1 Id W.:'ll
and the 13':Jlshevik Revolution), eertaInly pldYt->d ~1 m,llor- t,)ll'
in discouraging the academie interest. that III lclht hdVP hl't'Il
generated had those event s not have taken plat'l'. By 1 11 l' ! lllll'
the politieal situatIon nad stabillzed, and III '~llhsl'qlll'>l1l
years leading up to World War II, mus Le thec·r i sI ~~ i III l'Il'!;! t'cl
in eontemporary music tended to foeus more (lll Prokotll'V ,1t\d
Shostakovich (in the Soviet Union), 21d Stravinsky al\d th\-'
second Viennese school (in Europe and North Amer i CJ) • UIlI':>
notable exception was the publIcatlon 01 d ('UlTlI_do! l' l>()ok,
dealing e.xclusively with the music of ~)('rlablrl, by J'.llil
Dickenmann. 9 Though it 15 certainly objective III style', it
does not examine any of the later compositions of. Scriabin,
from Prometheus op.60 onward.
In 1968, Varvara Dernova' s Garmoniia Skd dblna:() wa::,
published. This was the first comprehens 1 VI-' aU C'1Ilf-it lu
analyzE:: the pitch organizat ion in SCf 1 (j[,lfJ' <~ fil Il:-~ i (' .
Ironically, her book in its original forrn Wd~, (;r>lnrJII>! (~d 111
1948 but it was not published at that tlfnr::! b(~r:dll:,r', dl;('rjrdifJ'!
to Yuri Tyulin, her former teacher wh:) Wfr)\(· t Iv- f r,p'vi1d d 111
her book, "it was judged at that Ume as ftd'J i ll'J a ! 'JJ'1 f (JI
9 Paul Dickenmann, Dle EntwIcklung d'::!r J!'-Hr~l'.)rIJY. Lf'J h. Skrjabin (Bern: P. Haupt, 1935).
10. Varvara Pavlovna Dernova, Garmonlia :;;r.riafJlflo (U:fllfIIJ[arj: Muzayka, 1968). See also footnote 8.
6
J itt le lfjl?.:rest. Il.
Derrjr.;'JoÔ1 embarks on her theories from the point of view of
th0 SOVl r:::t theorist Boleslav Yavorsky,:2 the only
contemporoÔ1ry of Scriabin who seemed to have discovered
Scriabin' s concept of pitch organization during the composer' s
lifetime. Yavorsky revered Scriabin and loved his music, but
at the same time "abhorred the hothouse, orchidaceous
atmosphere around Scriabin and detested the inner sanctum of
Theosophical fantasists.":' As a result, even though it
could have easi ly been arranged, the two men never met to
discuss Yavorsky' s ideas. The day after Scriabin died,
Yavorsky gave an important lecture on the composer at the
Beet hoven St udio in Moscow. ThiS speech later became the
basis of an article,·4 the first published by Yavorsky. This
article, together with the last chapter of an unpublished
manuscript·' by Yav0 t'sky entitled The Creative Thought of
Russian Composers from Glinka to Skryabin (found in the
SC.iiabin museum in Moscow), form the fundamental research
materJal for Dernova's study. She writes "not only in 1915
when this article appeared, but even up to our day, only a
minute amount of the writings on Skryabin can compare with
! !
: . • 4
: ~
Guenther, p.23
See fIJotnote 5.
Bowers, p.140 .
Mu=yka (1915, no.220), pp.273-279. See Guenther, p.45.
See Guenther, p.47.
7
Yavorsky' s penet rating and mov lng words." "
In the last twenty-five years, there has been illcre.1~;inq
interest ln the music of Scriabin. In 1978, the FU.:'llCh
composer and musicologlst, Manfred Kelkel, published cl
complete book on Scriabin that deal t w i th 11i s 1 if t~, hi s
philosophy, and his musical language.;' The third l-'arL of
this work is a study of Scriabin' s later compos i t ions (f 1 om
Prometheus onwards) and was orig inally subm i L t ed cl ~ hi s
doctoral dissertation. Kelkel' s study examines noL only
Scriabin's harmonic language in those later works, but also
deals with aspects of rhythm and texture, as weIl as overall
formaI structure. In his examination of pi t ch sL rucL ure,
Kelkel' s perspective is based on the fundamental "accord
synthétique"·8 (known aiso as the "mystic chord," "PromeLhec.lfl
chord," and "KI angzent rum" among other names I9), that
16. Guenther, p. 55.
17
18
J 9
Manfred Kelkel, Alexandre Scriabine: sa vie, l'esoLerisrn(~ et le langage musical dans son oeuvre (Par L~: C":hrlmpi on, 1978) .
Kelkel, Livre III, p.16. Thls lS Y~lk(>l's LflUln' d;, d
label because he malfltalns that ] t WéJS ct 1 <,0 th,· '('IHi
Scriabln used. He cites Claude BaJllf. Claude Ballif, "Idéalisme et t-1atérial j té," PJ-,V1J(~
Musicale (1972). p.14. "ScriabJn(~ lr~s app,.,)l(!, 'Syntetlcheskii akkorde.' fi
See also footnote 19, Swan' S refererw(~ Lo synthr:" ir;
harmony.
Kelkel cltes (L.l.vre III IJ.16) L. Sdbanr:.:(~ff, ,J();_,r~r.;h l~(J'I,
and Zofia Lissa dS three diff(-~rt:'f1t [JI1LlJ r;Î!r.,j TrlIJ',jf
theorlsts who each, respectl'!,,:!y, U;-J~ !.rl(! thr('(: '.Jthl_'r
labels for the chord. Bow~rs uses th(~ tJ~[rn ' jJ[rJ!rIr:th"ilfl
chord' (p.154). Alfred Swan, duth(..Jr rJf (.;[1(: '>f th" earliest biographies (publlshed IIj2~, S8~ bJr.,l ir/jra[.,Ih·/)
8
partlcular harmonlC sonorlty that pervades Scriabin's later
compo:; l t ions. Kelkel examInes i ts origln and dIscusses .l.L..3
sigrllfic.ance in Prometheus. He then traces its evolution
through the later works (including Scriabin' s sketches for the
incomplete Prefatory Action) and presents at each stage the
sper.iflc scale (derIved from the particular version of the
"accord synthétique" that Scriabin was currently using) that
a parllcuJar plece was based on. Kelkel maintains that after
examlning the various stages in the evolution of the "accord
synthét igue" (and the scales that are generated by each
version of the chord), it becomes apparent that Scriabin was
moving Increasingly to a complete chromatic system of pitch
organization.
In the last ten years, there has been growing interest in
investigating the pitch structure in the later Scriabin
compositions and its relation to the octatonic scale. Richard
Taruskin points out that Scriabin's return to Russia in 1909,
after a slx-year absence, cojncides roughly with the start of
his latet period of composition. At that time he would have
been p:.-poser:i t 0 lat er mus lC of Rimsky-Korsakov, as weIl as
sorne of the younger St. Petersburg composer3 who shared
uses the term "mystic Promethean chord" (p. 99), as weIl as referring to the term "synthetic harmony" (p.lOO): the chord could possibly be analyzed as a synthesis of the four dl fferent kinds of t r iads (ma j., min., aug., and dim. )
9
Scriabin' s former publ1sher, Belaief f . iO The actat oni C l sm 1 S
clear ly apparent in the music of these composers. ~;c r i ab 1 n
could easily have been attracted ta thlS structural scale as
a way of expanding his harmonie language and, at the same
time, loosening the constraints of tonality.;: Bowers also
relates that Pablo Casals, the cellist, visited Scrldbin ill
Russia in 1910. During that visit, they dlscussed MOOl l sh
music and Scriabin
... showed a special interest ln the' dar ing' of the (JYpsy harmonies and musical scales. Alroady hr was experimenting in sorne of those alternat ing hcil f -Lolw whole-tone sca les (i. e. octatoni c) ca 11 ed ' gypsy' . .'"
In recent years Jay Reise,ll Claude Herlldon,"'l and
George Perle2s have aIl published articles demonst r.::lt illq t1w
20. Scriabin's compositions were, by that time, oping p1lbJ ir;hed by Koussevitzky; Scriabin had left the BeJaiptf firm in 1906.
21
22
23
24
2S
Richard Taruskin, book review of Baker and de Schlopzer. Music Theory Spectrum. 10 (1988): p.164. Taruskifl does not specify the identity of the "yolJngr_'r ~~L. Pc'! ('f :~lJIJrcJ composers"; presumably they included Ni ka] dy Chf-::,rYf~r_d n, Maximilian Steinberg, Yulia Wiesberq and Va'~i ly Zolotaryoff. These composee::; are di C,( w,',pd 1 fl M(j(j"r CI
Russian Composers by Sabaneeff (see blbli'J'FrlpllY) ,H1d cited as being ln the "clrcle (Jf 1 hr. !JIILII·.hr·r Belaleff ... and had the flgures r.)f kllrl,Y./-YljT'"tYIJ'1 "rl,j
Glazunov as ltS 'centrE' of ideas'."
Bowers, pp. 82-83, see also pp.152-153.
Jay Rei se, "Late Skr iab in: Sorne Pr incip 1 es 13(:h j nd t he: Style," 19th Cent ury Music, 6 (1983), l.Jp.//O-?'51.
Claude Herndon, "Skryabi n' s New Harmon le '/0'''::-'1 bu 1 al 'j 1 ri li J "
Sixth Sonata," Journal of MUslcologic.al K(~r,(!':H(_h t1 (1 (J~')-83), pp. 353 - 368 .
George Perle, "ScrIabIn' s Self Analys8s," r-1lJ'';l C {-.rld l 'l'~ J r, 3 (1984), pp. 101-122.
10
structural significance of the octatonic collection in
selected wGrks of the late Scriabin oeuvre. George Perle even
justifJes the apparently bizarre spelling that the composer
used in the preludes op. 74, from the point of view of simple
var iants performed on a speci fic octatonic scale. 26
In this thesis, l present analyses of the Scriabin
opera 71-74. These are focused on pitch structure and show
the complete fundamental harmony and voice leading within a
usually quite simple formaI structure. The method of analysis
that l have developed derives from the above-mentioned three
sources, i. e., Dernova, Kelkel and the octatonicists. More
specifically, it is a synthesis of certain aspects of
Dernova's and Kelkel's theorles which presents at the sarne
time an evaluation of the octatoniclsm in these final
compo~itions of this profoundly original composer.
lb It would certainly be amiss of me at this point if l neglected ta mention the recent publication of James Baker's The Music of Alexand~r Scriabin (see bibl iography). ThIS book focuses primarily on Scriabin' s transitional compositions (opus 45 - Prometheus op. 60, when the music was evolv~ng increasingly away from being obviously Lonal), aithough Baker aiso dlscusses in sorne detaII the 4th and the 10th sonat:iS (op.30 and 70). This very comprehenslve study advocates the use of Set-Theory techniCIues in analyzing Scriabin' s later works, which Baker be L ieves to be fundal'entally atonal.
1 l
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS OF MUSICAL LANGUAGE - TONAL OR ATONAL?
Most contemporary t ;1eor i sts, Inc l Udl ng the dut hors Cl ( t th-'
three different schools of thought that are [ocllsed on i Il th i ,;
thesis, are in general agreement on the oveIall strucLur0 of
the musical language in Seriabin's later compositions. Sim~ly
put, the answer to the que3tion posed in the above heading is
- both. The music can be considered atonal because iL is Ilot
in a specific key, and there is virtually a completp absence
of any functional harmonie progressions, ln PêHticuJéll-, rUl>!
movement of a descending ~ifth. Herndon points out, wlli le
demonstrating the octatonic aspects of Scriabin's SixLh
Sonata, that
... tonality has been attenuated to the point of virtual extinction, although V 7s, whi'-::h are among thE" ~~t rongest indicators of tonallty, preponderate. The progrr~<;slün of their roots in mlnor thIrds or dlmirll~)h{'d f l ft llc~ ... disslpate the suggested tonality.l'
Yet Dernova. who concedes that the fundamental harmonie
language is derived from an altered dominant seventh ehord
which very rarely resolves regularJy, wIItes lhat
The ton ic cont j nued to e:d st, and, if- rl(-~ce::;';d ry t hr. composer could l?mploy IL ... bUl ln LfI';: '-Jrl'dL I!IdJ(H JI ï (Jf
cases, he prefer red the conc~pt 0 f ct tC,IJ 1 (_ J n d J', ,_ dlJl
perspectIve, so tG speak, réithE:'r lhdli t hl: ,H t Ilril 1'1 sou n d l n g ton l c:. . . T h (.; rel Ct t l f.J fl ~; fi J F' rj [ ! r jI- • :' .) III ( , il l ' j
dominant fUflct10LS in ~~kr'jdbllJ' c; 'l'It.d k l', (hrjfJIJI,rj radically; for the domlnant éictuaJJy dfJf.J(-rtr'; dIJd hd':. cl
varied structure, whlle the tonie 0:-:l'-)t S (.Jnly (j', l f ln
the imagination of the composer, thr: pr--:!rfrJrrnF:r, dIld
27
• Herndon, p. 354 .
12
th!': listener. 28
This statE~ment could be further qualified by changing the
phrase, "the ma Jor i ty of cases," to "a Il cases," when
descr1birlf] the harmonie language in op. 71-74. In these later
works of Sc r iabin, funet lonal harmonie progressions simply did
not occur either dur 1ng the course of a phrase, or to
connect the end of one phrase to the start of the next one, or
at any cadential point to define a tonic. Dernova's somewhat
mysterious statement pertaining to the real/lmaginary tonic,
demonstrates to what e;o(tent she believes that Scriabin' s music
is fundarnentally tonal. The fact that the tonie resolution
became plogressively rarer and ultimately nonexistent in the
music 1S, perhaps, simply a hallmark of Scriabin' s personality
and/or phi losophy reflected in hi s composit ions: ever
struggling, never resolving and always moving forward.
However, the complete absence of funct ional harmonie
progression in these later compositions is certainly an
important indication of their atonal nature.
Yet, at the same time, certain tonal aspects of
Scriabin' s final compositions can be observed at various
levels. 1ni t ially, on the surface level of the music,
Individual chords, once Isolated, ean be understood as simple
tonal sonorities. As Herndon says, "V 7s preponderate," and
two of the five preludes of opus 74 end with a trichord that
could be analyzed as an incomplete major-minor seventh chord
,'Il Guenther, p. 171.
1 3
in root position. (No. 2 without the third, and no. :; without
the fifth.) But, perhaps more importantly. th1S music can be
understood to be in sorne kind of 'extended tonalit-y' or
'ehromatic modality' because of the observation that, ln dny
measure of these later compositions, there eXlsts a deflnlte
structural hierarchy among the var10US p1tch classes.
First of all, within any particular section (or even the
whole eompos i t ion), there exist s a pr imary pi teh foeus t ha t
eould be considered as either the root of the prevai l illl)
harmony or the 'tonie' of that specifie section of the music.
Sometimes this is very apparent, eg., prelude op.74 no.~ ir,
very clearly 'in (sorne kind of) F sharp.' On olher OCCd'3 ions
i t is less obv ious and the various analysts di sagree as to i t s
identity.
Seeondly, within this 'extended tonality,' there exisls
a hierarehy among the varlOUS piteh classes in relation Lo the
primary pitch focus. Certain notes are more fundé.l/nenl a 1 J Y
related to the 'tonie' or root, other notes are Jess closply
related, and still other notes are clearly foreign and outsLdr;
the collection of p1tch classes that are ('onsid(:rl.rj rJ:;
defining this 'ehtended tonality.' /9 Although th(~
oetatonieists tend to downplay this hierarchy of FJltch c]a<,s(;s
29 In an uncharacteristlcally illogieal far~(:l r.J[ her tlJ(~c)rï,
Dernova asserts that, even though thé mUSl'; '.if :;r;rldbJn is tonal and there eXlsts a strong hierarchy among thé various pitch classes, in Sr:::riabin's musi(;al JawJuélg(~ there are no nonharmonlc tones. Th1 si', 'j} '/.u':sr,"j i r: moudetall below.
14
in relation to a primary piteh foeus, the concept of harmonie
and nonharmonie tones, i. e., notes within or outside the
specifIe oetatonle collection that forms the harmonic matrix
at any point within the composition, is fundamental to their
analyses.
Thirdly, the treatment of the foreign tones in this music
is highly significant and i5 another indication, at a deeper
level, of the tonal aspect of Scriabin's musical language in
these final compositIons. It has often been observed that,
aside from the extremely complex harmonic language, the music
of ScriabIn is not especially progressive. The overall
texture, i. e., melodic/harmonic/rhythmic configurations, use
of repetition, sequence, etc., as weIl as periodic and
sentential derived structures within the overall form (very
often jn his piano mjniatures, a simple binary), are not that
different, or more advanced, than the great piano composers of
an earlier period, in particular Chopin and Liszt.
In dealing with the foreign, 'nonharmonic' tones in his
later works, Scriabin demonstrates his rellance on the
heritage of the 19th. (and 18th.) century traditions of tonal
music. They occur as passing tones, neighbour tones,
appoggiaturas, suspensions etc., and lnvariably resolve by
step through careful voice leading. Reise states four times
in hi s al t lcle, "pitches excl uded from sc al es Il (i . e. the
various octatonic scales that generate the harmonic language
in a specifie piecel "function as chromatic notes and resolve
15
into the gi ven sca1e by hal f step," or "by care fu l va i ce
leading. ,,3, Perle, when dlseussing prelude op.74 no. l,
states, "Appoggiaturas, passing notes and nelghbouring notes
occur throughout the movement."ll Kelkel maintains that one
of the basie prineiples observed in Scriabin's harmonie
language from Prometheus on is, "Le centre sonore peut
comporter des notes étrangères a l'harmonle (par exemple une'
note de passage ou un retard), ,,32 and, when discuss illq the
harmonie language of the prelude op. 74 no. 4., he uses the
phrase, "avec une certaine liberté dans les appogiature~.""
Somewhat surprislngly, Dernova, the theorisl who deaJs
with Scriabln' s music from the most tonal perspective, and
who, at the same time, depJored the pseudo-dndlytical
statements by various members of Scriabin's entourdge
including Sabaneev - which were made after the composer' s
death, actually quotes Sabaneev, in a statement with whjch she
obviously concurs: "ln his melodic style there are no
nonharmonic tones. ,,34 It is difficult to undersland her
30
31
32
33
34
~€ise, pp.220,223,226,23l.
Perle, p.lOS.
Kelkel, Livre III, p.17. Here KelkGl i8 é.lctlJally quoLing certain principles laid down by th(~ thr:(..Ifl',l l:l(:!TIf'II',
Cnristoph von Gleich concerning the harmr)[j 1 c J i'.lrl'-lll,j'F' J fi
Prome! heus. Clemens Chrlstoph von Glelch, 018 81 [,f(-,n J ',chf: W(-r y'f' 'Jr'[1
Alexander Skryabin (Bi l thoven: A. B. Cr (~j(jh +.. UIJ, l (j b on , p. 69.
Ibid., p.49.
Guenther, p.281.
16
Ioglc ln this matter. As Guenther points out when referring
to thlS sl~tement:
It must be sa ld at thlS point that such a sweeping statement ... betrays a lack of understanding of cont~xtual and texturaI relationships between melody and harmony. It also flies in the face of the harmonie pr inr::lple which is the starting point for Dernova' s system. 1',
The prob~ern lies in the fact that when Dernova analyzed melody
in Sc r iabj n, she labelled the var ious notes showing thei r
intervalllc relati'Jn ta the root of the principal chord.
Thjs, of course, is a perfectly acceptable analytical
procedure, buL this in itself does not make those notes
automatically part of the harmony. To call them chard tones,
just becélilse they are labelled with a number, is simply
illogical. 't, (I f the prevai l ing harmony i s V9 on a G bass,
and there is motion in one part from A through Ab ta G, simply
because this motion could be labelled 9, b9, 8 does not make
the b9 a chard tone. It could be, but what is more likely is
that it is simply a passing nonharmonic tone. This latter
possibillty is simply denied by Dernova.) In spite of this
i ncons i stent qui rk in Dernova' s theory, the hiE>L archical
structure of piteh classes ln Scriabin' s later compositions is
an important aspect of his harmonie language. uernova,
together Wlth Kelkel and the octatonicists, are generally in
agreement about this.
Ibid., p.280.
Jh Ibid~, pp.286,296.
17
SUMMARIES OF THE VARIOUS CONCEPTS
After having summari zed the common ground th..1l t 11l"!w
three contrasting theories share, an examination of th(:'i r
fundarnental differences is pertinent. The summari("s tl1at
follow are, by no means, attempts to present complete synopses
of the different theories. Dernova's theory in partiruldl is
extrernely complex and it is certainly beyond the sco{:w of t hi s
thesis to summarize aIL aspects of her concepts ln the spdce
available. Rather, these summar ies present the genera l
principles of the particular concepts, the fundamental
differences between them, as weIL as the specifie areas of
theory in each of them that relate to my analyses.
DERNOVA
Varvara Dernova' s complete theory of Scr lab in' s ha r moC! i c
language is available in translation with a critical
comment ary J7 and is also summarized in the literaturp by the
same translator. 38 Another summary exists in Bowers, l'. and
a brief synopsis, described by the author as dn lnt 0 rpreL8d
abst ract of a summa ry publ ished in Russ l an by D(~ nI""',:), l'.
37, Guenther, see footnotes 8 and 10.
38
39
Roy J. Guenthe r, "Varvara Dernova' s System of And l y;-..;);-, of the MUSIC of Skryabin," in Russian TheoreUcal Thr.J1JrlhL in Music, edited by Gordon D. McQuere (Ann I\rr/.Jr: IJl'1I Research Press, 1983)
Bowers, pp. 146-171.
18
prf:?sent0d ] n Richard Taruskin' s book review. ~'J Dernova' s
conc0pts evolved inltially from observing certain recurring
eharact_erJ<,ties in Seriabin's harmonie language, which became
mort? and more prominent ln hlS compositions throughout his
eareer. Plrst of aIl, Dernova noted Scriabin's fondness for
using dominant 7th chords with the addition of the 13th, the
9th, and/or the altered 5th, either raised or lowered.
Secorldly, she observed the frequent use of the fIat II to V
progression. In the earlier works, this would be in the form
of NeapollLan 6th ta dominant, but evolved inereasingly to a
progresslon involving maJor-minor 7th chords on fIat II as
weIl as V. Thirdly, throughout the op.50s, a graduaI
diminishing of the importance of the resol ution chord is
observed. The final tonie evolved into a major-major 7th
ehord, then into a V7 over a tonie bass note, and finally,
after Promet heus, l t was dispensed wi th ent i rely. Dominant
harmony became the final sonority. 4: The progression of two
major-minor 7th chords from fIat II to V became the origin of
what Dernova calls the 'tritone link', the fundamental
referential progression in aIl Scriabin's later compositions.
ln their simplest farm, these tWQ chords of the 'tritone
link' could occur wlth their 5ths omitted. These two
Il
Taluskln, pp.146-148.
Vers la Flamme op.72, though not dealt with by Dernova in this legard, lS something of an exception ln that lt does not finish with a dominant sonority. The final chard is actuallya major-major 7th. with #11 and 13 added.
r 19
trichords, when combined, add only one new note (the 3rd and
7th of one chord being enharmonically equivalent to the 7ttl
and 3rd of the other), and the resul t ing sonon t y can bl'
understood as being equivalent to a dominant 7th chord (wl.th
f lat 5th) or, alternat i vely, a French 6th ehord. (Ex. 1)
Ex. 1
The properties of this particular chord, with i ts
propensity to resolve to one of two possible tonies a tritone
apart, (a C7b5 can be V in F and also V in B - the C,E,Gb,Bb
chord in 2nd inversion is enharmonically F',A',C,E) is
fundamental to Yavorsky' s theory of Dual Polarity (or Dual
Modality) . (Ex.2) It is derived, in its simplest form, from
Ex. 2 fi 1 ~ 1 16 1
"""'" ,.., - .IL
• -- 1 .. Il C2 .- li 11'.- . ~ ~
~J ~ tJ yr " 1
D~ ~J ,J-I L"IIL. C7 C'!I.. ~ Je .... -.. •• 1 ~~ .1 ~ "' 1
1
C: vI. _ l l the observation that any one tritone can resolve elther
inwards or outwards. The two resulting resolution sonorities
are a major 3rd and a minor 6th; the minor 6th inverts to a
major 3rd at the distance of a tritone from the other
resolving major 3rd. (Ex.3)
( 20
Ex. 3
Dernova was less interested in the resolution aspect of
Yavorsky' s theory simply because, as she had discovered,
Scriabin had beeome increasingly less interested in resolving
to a tonic. However, the tritone link became the starting
place for her theories on Seriabin's harmonic language. The
two chords were labelled DA (the initial dominant which
relates to V) and DB (the derived dominant which relates to
bII), and these two chords form the referential sonority for
a specific composition. (Ex.4) As Guenther says:
For Derno'lia, the directionality and single focus of traditional tonality had been replaced by harmonie stasis ~nd the dual focus of two enharmonically equal dominants a tritone apart. Because they are equal to each, DA and DB may appear in either order and may even change identity during the course of a composition. However the basic tritone nucleus does not actually become the "tonic" of the music. 42
He then goes on to quote Dernova:
It both was and remained 'dominant',since the nonresolution of the dominant and aIl its enharmonie transformations is understood to be at the basis of Skryabin' s dual po1arity ... Every such dominant implies a tonic ... sounding only in the imagination. 4J
The next stage for Dernova was to add, to the tritone nucleus,
two other notes that often occurred as alterations to dominant
42 G . uenther, "Varvara Dernova' 5 System of Analysis of the Music of Skryabin," pp.182-183.
43. Guenther, Varvara Dernova's "Garmoniia Skriabina", pp.189 -191.
( 21
sonorities in Scriabin's music. These two notes were the 9th
Ex. 4 Ex.5
PA 06 and the .5th and the resulting sonority could be described as
a dominant 9th chord with a raised and lowered 5th. (Ex. 5)
This is of course a whole-tone chord and is invariant with
respect to pitch class, not only at the tritone, but also at
successive whole-tone transpositions. From this she derived
the harmonie progression of movement - either up or down - by
major 3rd (or major 2nd). The tritone links rnove up or down
in major 2nds. The connection from the DB of one link to the
DA of the next link is down or up a major 3rd. This
progression, after root movement by tritone, is the next most
important harmonie progression which she called the "major
enharmonie sequence." (Ex. 6)
Ex.6
Ex.6,7, and 8,
"
tt show root move- 9 ft 5; J~ ment only. The 1
~ 7J :&
t 0
chord in Ex.5 '--. , ~
~~
~ ---- ----... oceurs over every root. 0 d bn
e :tt ~- - ~=r 150 JI -
~ '---..J ~ ~
The justification of the third most important progression
- root movement by minor 3rds or the bisecting of the tritone
link - is somewhat weaker. It is sirnply derived from the
interloeking of two tritone links at a minor 3rd. The fact,
( 22
that a third link in the chain produces the enharmonie
equivalent of the first link, is seen as a theoretical
justification of this root movement. This progression by
minor 3rds she labelled as a "linked progression" or "minor
sequence. " (Ex. 7)
Ex. 7
I~ e e ,. b~ ,. 1
'-----.J ~ • L--..J /pf
~ ~e ,.
9 8
~ e
~ ~
The movement of the tritone links by semitone (the only
other possibility) make available a fourth (and less
frequently used) possibility of harmonie progression. The
tr i tone l ink moves up or down by semitonei the result ing
connection of the DB in one link to the DA of the next was
down or up a perfeet 4th. Because of the fifth relations that
are present in this progression, Dernova termed this the
"functional sequence." (Ex.8)
Ex. 8
14 $9 e C2 fi ie ~ o~~ bo , bo ~ lJ b~ ~ ~ , 1
oc.
I~ if i2 l . id e ri
0 io " E> CZ jo " ~ 0 It> ~ ~ ~ '--.1 ~ '----.J
By varying particular pi tehes in the whole-tone chord,
different sonorities became available to the composer.
(
---~~----------------
23
Firstly, the .5th in DA became natural 5th generating a
dominant 9th chord with both a perfect 5th and a fIat 5th.
This resulted in the 9th of the DB becoming the fIat
9th. (Ex. 9) A repet i t ion of this manipulation at the tri tone
link, i.e., .5th of OB became natural 5th which resulted in
the 9th of DA becoming the fIat 9th, completes this
manipulation. (Ex.10)
Ex. 9 Ex. 10
Secondly, starting again from the whole-tone chord, the
'5th in DA became doubly augmented 5th or added 6th (actually
the 13th, although Dernova never used that term). This
manipulation of dominant harmony occurred frequentl y with
Scriabin, and, through the tritone link, it resui ted in
generating the fIat 10th or minor 3rd in DB. (Ex. 11) The fact,
that this minor 3rd would conflict with the leading tone and
disrupt the dominant nature of the harmony, caused Dernova to
treat this part icular man ipulat ion w i th specia 1 at tent i on. In
her :1ndlyses, she assigns a special symbol to these pitches:
the added 6th (or 13th) is labelled v and the minor 3rd 15
labelled w. The repetition of this variation (i.e., the '5th
raised to the 6th, or v) at the tritone completes the
manipulation. v in DA becomes w in DB, and v in DB becomes w
24
in DA. (Ex.12)
Ex. Il Ex. 12
By COmb1ning these two manipulations, i. e., ifS and 9
first lowered then raised a semitone, to the tritone link
simultaneously, a maJor-minor 7th chord with a flat 5th, fIat
9th, fIat lOth, and 13th is generated. This chord contains,
and i5 eontained in, the octatonic collection and is invariant
with respect to pltch class at a minor-third transpositIon,
both up or down. Though not dealt with in thiS regard by
Dernova 1 t hi s neat l y Just i fIes her "minor sequence" or "llnked
progressIon." It could, with sorne logic, then be labelled as
a "minor enharmonie sequence."(Ex.13)
Finally, Dernova concedes that certain of Scriabin' s
harmonies could be understood as a "summary dominant," i. e.,
by eomb1nlng the tritone llnk chords over a "compound bass"
wh l eh cons l st s of the fundamental tri tone roots. For Dernova,
this "summary dominant" seems ta be mueh more the exceptIon
than the rule. The trltone link lS the fundamental
referentlal sonor1ty and it consists of two chords. It 1S
only wlth a partlcular v01c1ng above a tritone bass that she
advocates the "summary-dominant" analysis. Spec1fically, the
four notes of the tritone nucleus (enharmonlcally a French
( 25
6th) are the lower voiees: the tritone root - "compound bass"
- at the bottom.(Ex.14)
Ex. 13 b.Jl I"'l ... ..
~ III>. ILl: ....
tJ po t1 Q p~ - = - -- -t!J J,Lbll Ci k
_ .. ~A1 ,.,.IV 7 (\J, M', ~'J LS")~S") oN G
J f, Cf ANf) 8~
Ex. 14
I<ELI<EL
'\
-)
Manfred I<elkel's work is actually three different books
in one. 44 Livre l is a biography of Scriabin, livre II is a
description and assessment of his extra-musical ideas (more
specifically hi..s philosophy), and livre III is concerned with
his musical language in the post-Prometheus period. Livre III
opens with an introductory chapter and continues with three
major chapters on harmonie language, rhythm, and formaI
structure, before the concluding chapter. It is I<elkel's
theories on Scriabin' s harmonie language that l will be
focusing on in this section.
The main problem with Kelkel's work is that it attempts
to cover too mueh mater ial . This might have been apparent
from my introductory paragraph (or even from the titie of the
book itself), but just to indicate how problematic this is,
44. See footnote 17.
26
consider the contents of his chapter on form. The
compositions discussed include most of Scriabin's piano
compositions from op.61-74. Al though this body of work
consists of many shorter pieces (preludes, poems, etudes,
etc. ), the compositions that Kelkel chooses to deal with are
the more extensive poem Vers la Flamme op.72, the sonatas nos.
7, 8, 9, and 10 (op. 64, 66, 68, and 70), together with many
other shorter works. The formaI structure of aIl this music
is presented in less than 40 pages. Needless to say, much of
his analytical work is fairly superficial.
In hl s di scussi on on Scriabin' s harmonic language, Kelkel
considers aIl of the compositions from Prometheus up to and
inc l uding Scriabin' s '3ketches for the P refatory Action.
Although the same basic criticism, mentloned above, could be
leve lled at Ke lkel' s work on Scr i abin' s harmonic language,
there are certain perspectIves that he presents that are both
val id and extremely useful.
KeIkel's theories on Scriabin's harmony commence with an
invest iga t ] on of "l'accord synthét igue 1145 - the particu l ar
harmonie sonorlty that plays 3uch a prominent role in
Prometheus. Kelkel demonstrates first of aIl, that the origin
of the chord is in tertiary harmony, a major-minor 7th chord
with the 5th omitted and the 9th, #l1th, and 13th added. He
then shows the particular spacing in 4ths that Scriabin so
Also known as the mystlc chord, Promethean chord, KIang=entrum, etc., see footnotes 18 and 19.
( 27
favoured, in ascending order - root, '4, b7, 3, 13, and 9,
and, at the same time, presents the six-note scale that this
chord generates. (Ex. 15)
Ex. 15
Kelkel then presents the first three inversions of "l'accord
synthétique." (Ex.16) Significantly, albeit somewhat
disconcertingly, the inversions relate not to the tertiary
construction of the chord (Le., lst inversion with the 3rd of
the chord in the bass) 1 but to the quartaI construction of the
chord. The 1st inversion has the '4 in the bass, the 2nd
irlversion has the b7 in the bass, and the 3rd inversion has
the 3rd of the chord in the bass. (This is an aspect ûf
Kelkel's theory that is, l believe, extremely significant and
is certainly central to my analyses of Scriabin.)
Ex. 16
~ 4- -e-16 ~ -. --- ... .. ~ "'A .. ~ ftM
LIl - JZ ....L or ... "iLV_ - .... .Li .li D ~ - ~ ..... ..
bo ~ -f.?r -e -- f-~. JI -"""" Il .- -~~ -- f-•• Ir ... M'V .- ---' ...t;;;.L ..... .L!t. - .....
Roo1 roS. Isl INV 2NfJ ,~V 'j '0 IN'J.
After discussing at sorne length certain properties of the
chord (in particular the number of invariant pi.tch classes at
( 28
aIl possible transposi tional levels - a factor that he relates
to the fundamental harmonie progression in Prometheus), Kelkel
presents the various stages through which the chord evolves.
Kelkel maintains that Scriabin' s harmonie language is based
entirelyon "l'accord synthétique," and that any of Scriabin's
later compos i t ions ean be analyzed in the context of the
particular version of the chord that the composer was using at
tnat time. At each stage in its evolution, the chord is
presented with its corresponding scale.
The first stage i5 the fundamental "accord synthétique,"
together with its six-note scale, but Kelkel also includes a
variation which changes the 9 to a b9. Both versions of the
chord occurred in Prometheus. (Ex.17)
Ex. 17
.. -Of
At the second stage, the perfect 5th is added to each of the
var iat ions in the fi rst stage; two cor responding seven-not~
scales are generated. (Ex. 18)
The oc~atonic scale i5 generated in the third stage when the
'9 (or blO) is added to the second variation of the second
stage. (Ex.19) (The octatonic scale in this context is the
version starting with the semitone, i.e., from any starting
29
note - labelled root - it consists of the following pattern:
Ex.l8
Ex. 19
\ k.,
" .... T L_
..... ',) - - ., CI tJ +PO ~o '"
"1> Of )~i ~ .. ~ 0
root, b9, '9, 3, 14, 5, 13, and b7; scale degrees wlthout a
chromatic alteration are either ma:jor or perfect intervals
from the given root.) At the fourth stage a nlne-note scale
is generated and it consists of three different variatIons.
The first is the octatonic scale from stage three Wl th the
addition of the pitch at 'S. (Ex.20) The second lS 3
symmetrlcal scale (not derived ln an ObVIOUS way from any of
the prevIous scales), cons i st Ing of the pat t ern, t rAl~
semitone - semltone, repeated three tImes (I.e., rQot, 9, #9,
3, *4, S, *5, b7, 7). (Ex.21) The th~rd variatlon conslsts of
the seven-note scale (first variation) with the additIon of
the two pitches at 15 and 7 (Le., root, 9, 3, *4, 5, '5, 13,
30
b7, 7) . (Ex.22)
Ex. 20 , ,~ l2 Jtt f .0 ! ~bo #0 e
Ex. 21
t ~:-:t~ 0 Je 19 e l EJ ~ 0
Ex. 22
i -; ...,...
I~ d i~ t M e Cf 6 " ~
At the flfth and fInal stage, a ten-note scale is generated by
adding the 7 to the first-vanation scale in stage four, or
alternatively adding the '5 and the 7 to the octatonic
scale. (Ex.23) Kelkel maintains th~s evolution in Scriab~n's
Ex. 23
harmonie language clearly demonstrates that the composer was
moving increasingly LO a completely chromatlc system. To
support thIS claim he provides sorne examples of complete
twelve-tone chords that occur ln ScriabIn' s sketches for the
never completed Prefatory ActIon. Kelkel proceeds through the
various stages of the "accord synthétIque," cltlng examples
from the Scriabin oeuvre to support hlS theofles. Generally,
his work appears somewhat less convincing as the Scrlabln's
harmonic language evolves into those later stages, in
31
particular stages four and five. In a harmonie system which
allows for nonharmonic tones, perhaps the added notes that
appear in the nine or ten-note sca les could be bet ter
understood as being nonharmonic tones occurring in one of lhe
simpler scales. After aIl, a chord containinq ten djttlc"rent
notes could, theoret icall y, be underst ood as be 1 ng basf"d 1)/\ a
twelve-note chord with two notes omltted; at which pOInt, lhe
type of harmonie analysis proposed in this thesis or in
Kelkel's book beeomes quite redundant.
THE OCTATONICISTS
At this point 1 would like to state thal my cont Înuéll
reference to Claude Herndon, Jay Reise, and Georg0 Perle
collect i vely, as the octat onic i st s, is not t 0 suggest that as
mU!3ic theori sts they are pr imari ly concerned w j th disr ve ring
octatonic structures generally in all music. Il was ff~ll lhaL
the convenience of us ing the one label, when di scuss inq the i r
perspect ives on the late Scr iabin compos i t ions, oulwC:' i 9 hed
concerns of the political correctness in 'pigeon holing' these
scholars. 1 trust that the term is not perc("~ iV(~d j n dny Wrly
to be derogatory.
The octatonie scale is comprised of altf:~rnaLiny IUfI(!!: and
semitones. It divides the octave Into four equal f.J':Ht,": drjd i~~
invariant with respect to pitch class at Lran;~VJsltl'Jfl'~ {.Jf ct
minor 3rd (up or down) and a tritone. There are, th rc!rc:f0re,
only three enharmonically distinct octatonic CC'1l8ct i GfI';. The
32
f act tha t our system of music notat lon i s diatonically
oriented - only seven letter names - and the octatonic scale
has eight dist inct pitch classes, presents an aspect of
not at ion that Herndon and, more especially, Perle f ind
meaningful. The two specifie pitches that share the same
let ter name perhaps have a particular significance for a
composer who was extremely deliberate in his spelling.
For Herndon, Scriabin' s structural octatonic scale
con s ists 0 f two tet rachords - const ructed tone/ semitone/tone -
at the distance of a tritone. The final note of the first
tetrachord shares the same letter name as the initial note of
the second. A struct ural octatonic scale on C would be
spelled - C, D, Eb, F, F#, G#, A, B. If the spelling of the
FI G# changed to Gb Ab, this would indicate that,
structurally, the scale would be understood as an octatonic on
Eb; the Ab and A share the same letter name. (Kelkel' s
octatonic scale is based on a particular root and starts with
the sernitone - see E:..;.19. The above cited octatonic scale on
C or Eb l s, enharmon i cally, the same octatonic scale that
would start with the pattern - root, b9, #9, 3, etc., from the
notes D, F, G#/Ab, or B.) Herndon, however, does not really
pursue the significance of the spelling. His perspective is
to presen t the pa rt l cu l ar harmonic sonor i ties, anal yzed as
tert iary-or lented structures (for the most part, altered
dominant seventh chords wi th b9th and 13th in various
inversions), as derived from the octatonic scale as they
33
appear in Scriabin' s Sixth Sonata.
Jay Re ise present s a dl fferent perspect ive; he ma i nt al I1S
that Scriabin includes the whole-tone collect Lon as a pit-ch
source scale as weIl as the octatonic scale. The symmt'llll'd 1
aspect of these scales (each one being rel,1ted to the t wo
symmetrical chords the diminished 7th chord dnd lht:.,
augmented triad), is what Scriabin found attract iVt:, dl1d
interesting from a compositional point of view. (Reis!.? al so
points out that Scriabin continued the tradition of cerLain
nineteenth-century composers by using either one of the Lwo
symmetrical chords as a structural basis in the forma l deslgn
of his works. 46) Reise discounts the prupos.1J t hat l hp
"mystic chord" (Kelkel's "accord synthétlque") IS cHlytlllnq
more than a favourite harmonie sonority of Scriabin, alLhough
he does concede that fi ve of the six notes ln the "mys tIC
chord" are contained in both the whole-tone scale dnd lhe
octatonic scale. (All except the 13t h are in Lhe who 1 ('-1 OrH~:
aIl except the 9th are ln the octatonic.)
For Reise, like Dernova, the fundarnf.:'flLal h.tlllllJfllC'
sonority in Scriabin' s later composi tions 1$ 1 h(~ "'rf-'fl' II ',) "Lh
(or V7b5) , which is of course contained in boLh th~ whc .. J (!-I ()[l('
and octatonic scales.' Relse maintains thélt If! thr·'.(! I"II-r
works the harmony can be ana lyzed fr0rn the: I,(:f'.P(·'- t_ l 'J(' (~t
either one or the 0ther of the tv/O :::jrnrn(!1 r lf,dl ','.dl'!',.
46 Reise CItes examples from ChOplfl and Ll<.ZL, !J.i;UL
The French sixth is also contained in the "m:;s!.l (~ ',hrjrrj".
34
Nonha rmr.J;J l C tones (1. e., notes not inc l uded ln the spec i fic
sca l~) '1[(:: always carefully resolved by step, back into the
scale. Not all of Reise' s 'resolutions,' speeifically, sorne
of those in his analysis of op.73 no.l, are cornpletely
convlnclng. Sorne nonharmonie tones have a sornewhat eontrived
, re so l ut J {jn' in a dl fferent reg i ster and/or after a
s Ign if l CêlIlt l y long t irne per iod. Spec i fic exarnples of these
'reso]lJtl'J!Js' are discussed below, in rny analysis of op.73
no .1.
The thrust of Perle's article, proposes the theory that
the spelljng that Scriabin used in the preludes op.74 was an
atternpt by the composer ta present an explanation of his
composi t ional procedures. 48 In contrast to Herndon, Perle
maintalns that the two notes in the oetatonic scale that share
the same letter name mark the boundaries of the scale, i.e.,
the first and the last as opposed to the fourth and the fifth
note. A structural oetatonie scale on C would be spelled C,
D, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bbb, Cb. Perle also rnaintains that the
composer used a heptatonic segment of the octatonic scale (the
first SeVt'1l notes - C, D, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bbb.), and that
ScriabIn .1lso Included a variant of the derived heptatonie,
formed by Y~ising the final note by a semitone - C, 0, Eb, F,
l;b, Ab, and Bb. (This variant of the derived heptatonie
includes llve of the six notes in the whole-tone collection.)
Like RClse, Perle asserts that notes not Included in the
He n cet 11 e t l t l e If Seri ab in' s Sel f An a lys es" .
35
specifie scale that Scriabin was using at any particular place
in a composItion were always treated very carefully. They
would occur as appoggiaturas, suspensions, passing tones, and
neighbouring tones etc., and would resolve by step back into
the ' harmoni e' scale. Cert ain problema tic ana l yt i ca 1 aspect s
of Perle' s concepts concerning, in part ieu 1 ar, tLt' pre 1 ude
opus 74 no.l, are discussed below.
SCRIABIN'S TEN-NOTE HARMONIC MATRIX
Before embarking on this thesls, my original proposa 1 WdS
to investlgate the octatonlcism in Scriabin's final work~. 1
was interested in pursuing Perle' s theory that perhaps an
understanding of the pitch organization of this music came
with the unravelling of the somewhat eccentric spellllly Lhal
the composer used. (To give just one example - the repeated
pitch A in measures 3 and 4 of op.74 nO.l becomes a Iep0~L~d
Bbb in measures 5 and 6 - see Ez. 24. ) UpU[j 1 IlV(-jsLl (3d'- 1 (JfJ
however, l became somewhat dlSillusioned by tht-! IJurr:ly
octatonic perspective.
The :nain reason for this dIssatlsfactlon 1 " .J t hd!.
octatonic approach does not relate closely to our perc0pllon
of the music itself, even though it might expldlD the
notation. In op.74 no.l, for example, an octatonic anaJysls
36
from perle's perspectIve, reveals that, with the exception of
the two measures startlng with the pick-up to measure 5 (at
th~ pOInt where the A becomes Ebb) , the whole piece is based
on 0 n e mas ter 0 c ta ton i c sc ale. ( C # 0 t E F # G A Bb Cor
enharmonie equivalent - the two exceptional measures are
comprised of the master octatonic scale a semitone lower.) An
investigat lon of the spelling using Perle' s system, same
let ter name marks the boundaries of the scale, produces the
following table of scales:
Measure
1 1 2 2 4 6 6 7 8 9 9
10 10
(14
8th Note (in meas.)
Anacrusis 1 5 1 5 5 4 5 6 3 1 5 1 5 4
A# C# A# C# E C F# E G E G E G A# A#
B# 0# B# 0# F# o G# F# A F# A F# A B# E#
ct (E) C#
(E) G Eb
(A)
G Bb G Bb G
(Bb) C#
(C# )
Scale
(Dt) E Ft G
(0#) E Ft G A Bb F Gb B C A Bb C Db A Eb C Db
(A) Eb C Db 0# E 0# E
F# A F# A c Ab D C Eb C Eb C Eb F# F#
G Bb G Eb Db Bbb
(Eb) Db Fb Db Fb Db Fb G G
A (C) A
(C) (Eb) (Cb) (P) (Eb) (Gbb) Eb
(Gbb) Eb
(Gb) (A) (A) ]
Pitches ln parentheses are not present in the music. The last
scale lS bracketed because it lS fundamentally the same as the
previolls scale.
AlI this information, however, does not relate directly
to our perception of the mUSIC, and, even though it explains
the notatIon, it does not offer an explanation as to why the
composer changed the spelling at aIl in the first four (or
last ten) measures of the piece.
37
The bass movement, the
identity of the prevailing root, the speclflc progrèssions,
and the special characteristic spacing that Set iabin USL'd ~-HP
aIl but ignored in an analytical exercise that demol1slldtes
that 14 of the 16 measures that comprise this masterplece are
composed out of a set of eight pitch classes with variable
spelljngs.
The nonharmonic tones (mostly appoggiaturas, passing and
neighbour tones) are, for the most part, just if ied fI Olll t /10
octatonic perspective, but there are two instances of
nonharmonic tones that cannot be simply explained. Both of
these involve the pitch class D: the first time in mcasurc 8
(the climax note of the first half), and the second time in
the final chord. The first of these is justifled by PerJ0 as
"an interrupted passing note whose progress J s rpsulIH-.'d and
completed at the conclusion of the recapitulation (meas.l0)
and again at the inception of the codetta (meas.12) .,,4Q The
presence of the D in the final chord is justified weakly as a
use of the variant of Scriabin's derived heptatonic wlth its
whole-tone segment. This is s imply 1 [lr;r)fJsi stJ:~Ilt W i th
Scriabin' s spelling c1ccording to perle' s own Lh r:0ty. (Thr~
last scale in the table would have to be E f# G A Bb ~ D, a
variant of E F# G A Bb C Db (Eb).) It is fundarnr-.'Tlta 11 y
contradictory with everything knol,olrJ r~f Scriabin'::, Hlu,;j(~.:J1
language that he would finish a compos i t j (J[I W l th an un r (, 'Jo] 'JI':d
Perle, p.106.
Ex. 24 Octatonic Reading of Opus 74 no 1
Douloureux dédur~nt ~~~----~--~--~--~--------~~~ fi , ~ •
---------.
-,~ *' 7
\~3~Ç!1f ~·j1E---=:::~~~Ü*.~~~~ ( ~'i,c~~~4~=~~~--:-::ti~~~~~~-~~~~ê~
App = Appoggiatura P = Passing tone N = Neighbour tone
With the exception of the two measures partitioned by the diagonal lines, the non harmonie tones are always D, F, GI, and B, or their enharmonie equivalents. Within the two exceptional measures, the non harmonie tones are CI, E, G, and A', or enharmonie equivalents.
38
~I
39
nonharmonic tone in the final chord.
Even when an octatonic reading is applicable - and there
are certainly complete Scriabin compositions, and sectlons of
others, which are overtly octatonic aspects of bass
movement, root identity, harmonie progression, spaCJng,
inversion, etc., are ignored, or at least downplayed, in
presenting an octatonic analysis. There are other late works
of Scriabin in which an octatonic reading is simply
unsatisfactorYi there are too many nonharmonic tones.
However, the observation that certaln variaLioll::; ot
Dernova' s fundamental tritone link (see ex. 10, 12, and 13)
can be represented by a single octatonic scale, started my
investigation of the possibility that the tri tone li nk can
perhaps be better understood as a single harmony. Althouqh
this is proposed by Dernova in her chapter "The Ha rmonj c
Aspect of Dual-Polarity, Il the "summary dominant ov(:>r a
'compound bass'" occurs much more as the except ion rather than
the rule. l propose that the tritone progression in all later
Scriabin compositions is more usefully understood
prolongat ion of one fundamental harmony, mov lng from one;
inversion of the chord to another of the ~ bas] c (hurd,
with, usually, an alteratlon of the upper churcJ l(Jf1(:. ,J~. 1 h(;
harmony unfolds.
This idea became more conceptuallzed upon furlfl01
investigation from Kelkel's perspective. His firirnary "accCJrd
synthétique," together with its first inversion (#4 in bass),
40
KELKEL
il t?
-R1. "5 ISTl~V
(y, '"
was not that far removed from Dernova's tritone link (Ex.25).
In both Dernova and Kelkel, the two harmonies are comprised of
the same notes; both are s lx-note chords and the only rea l
difference is that Dernova has a 15 in place of Kelkel's 13.
The tritone llnk, therefore, could be more usefully perceived
as the bass simply moving to the tri tone and thereby expanding
a single harmony. In the same way, in a harmonically simpler
music, the basIc harmony could be prolonged by the bass moving
down (or up) to the 5th (or 3rd) of the chord before returning
to the root on the strong beat.
At this point, the significance of the quartaI spacing
(and speIllng) becomes apparent. For almost always the
t nt one above the fundament. al root in the embedded French
sixth sonorlty IS spelled as an augmented 4th. When it occurs
as a dlmlnlshed 5th lt 1S usually an indlcatlon of a 1st-
inverS10n (#4 ln bass) chcrd. From thl s per-spect 1 ve, the
Openlng chord of op.74 :10.1 is understood to be a lst-
InverSIon (14 in bass) variation of the final (root-position
chord) of the composition.
41
An examination of two examples will help to clarify my
proposaI. Both of these are considered by Dernova/Guenther ta
be clear examples of the t- .:. Lone link. ActuaIIy, the first
example, op.71 no.2 (Ex.26), is not deait with ln this res~ect
by Dernova, but Guenther presents an analysis of the complete
piece in an appendix of hlS translation/commentary, ',(l .3S well
as in hi s summary." In the second exampIe, op.73 no.2
(Ex. 27), Dernova refers to the tritone link and minor-sequeI1ce
struct ure (sequent iai movement of the tr i tone l ink by minol
3rds) in her chapter on Iinear aspects. 'l;
The tritone link, D-G#-D apparently present in Lhese
opening three measures of opus 71 no.2, could be much botter
understood as a prolongation of a slngle harmony over the root
D. In the second measure the bass moves down ta the #'1 (lst
inversion) and returns to the root in the third measurc. The
fundamental skeletal French sixth (spelled in 4ths: D, Gff, C,
F#) is arpeggiated in the Iower parts. Admittedly, Lhe Cff i ~~
not present in the lower voices of measures 1 and j, /lOf i :-~
the D in the corresponding place in measu re 2, but t h('
cont inuai presence of the C :::lnd F# (7 and 3) in lh,,· rn i dd 1 f:'
register assists the perceptuai and theoret Ical undersLdnd J nq
5C
51
52
Guenther, -517 .
Varvara Dernor/a's "Garmofllla SkrlaLind", f-'fi.')(jf)
Guenther, "Varvara Dernova's Syst(~rrt ( .. Ji !\f,éll/S1S (Jf th(~
Music of Skryabin," pp.201-209.
Guenther, Varvara Dernova's "Garmoniia :--';krJatJlna", rJrJ./8~/,
289.
42
Ex. 26 Op.71 nO.2
..A 1 .------ ---------~ï~----~)\ï~~-,~~---_~~-~ " l ~- - _1- - -" .
el - 1 JI ~
1 ~ • 1
1 *'~ == ~ * ~ * • 1 2~ ~ ~, _ _ -J 1 *,~~~J7#-~ r
q
Dernova/ Guentper' s Tritone Llnk Perspective
Single Fundamental Harmony
, " -t-- "~~ ~ ---l 19 # 6
L- ___ ------------~--1,2----.......1-1 L...-.. 2: ,~
Root Pos. Ist Inv. Root Pos.
of these three measures as being fundamentally one harmony.
The upper VOlces move, by step or leap, connecting the various
upper chord tones of the harmony. (This voice leading in the
upper parts is dealt with in more detail in my analysis,
below. The only absolute nonharmonic tone is the ct, clearly
a passlng tone, in the top voice of measure 3.)
For Dernova, the openlng of opus 73 no. 1 is a clear
artlculatlon of the trItone lInks, F - Band 0 - Ab (minor
sequence or linked progressIon). A better understanding is
that the flrst two and a half measures are a prolongation of
the single harmonj based on the French sixth (spelled
43
Ex. 27 Op. 73 nO.1
Dernova's 2: e 1 9 18~ Tritone e e Link ~I '-----.J ~ Perspect ive
2:&: l' «; .,
ft Single ~~ (!i) , :8 Funda-mental Harmony Rt. lst. Rt. lst. Rt. lst. Rt. 1 st.
predictably in 4ths: F, B, Eb, and A~J). The s 19n1 f l cance of
the quartai spelling lS further apparent with the observatIon
that, in the second ha l f of measure three, the ha rmony ctlanges
to a first-inversion (44 in bass) chord based on the French
sixth: Ab, D, Gb, and C. The fact that ScriabIn used an Ab -
not Gj - ln the bass ln the fi rst half of measure 4, l S JU st
one indication that the basIc harmonic progresslon lS t-üot
movement of ascendi..!l9. minor 3rds (f to Ab as opposed to
Dernova' s F - B to D - Ab). This 1S also relnforcéd lJy thr::
rising natùre of the upper parts (reachlng the goal ln thr:
53 The D# that occurs ln the bass clef ln the secona n~lt ~f the flrst two measures would pernaps ada more w01g~t t0 my theory If It was spelled as an Eb. Whlle LrdS lS
perhaps t rue, i t 1S of interest to observe t ha t t h(~ DH actually continues the quartaI spel11ng one stage furthE!f - Ft B, Eb, A, Di.
44
second haIf of measure 4), as weIl as the observation that
Serlabin consistently used the 'root-position' harmony on the
strong beats aY1d the 'lst-inversion' (#4 in bass) on the
weaker second beat. The goal chord itself is actually spelled
as the lst inversion of the opening chord (based on the French
sixth on f, B in the bass). The importance of this ascent is
aetually d(:"!nled by Dernova; her analysis shows the F - B
tritone link descending to a D - Ab (rather than ascending to
an Ab - D) tritone link. The quartaI spelling, the ascending
aspect of the music, and the consistent employment by the
composer of structural roots on stronq beats, are simply
ignored.
l must, however, concede at this point, that the quartaI
spelling is not always the key to the identity of the
fundamental root. The ambiguity of the identity of the root
of the French sixth (or V7b5) , when heard as an lsolated
ehord, l s an aspect of the sonor i ty that Scriabin, together
with composers generally, found to be particularly attractive.
The same, of course, could be said for the diminished 7th
chord, used frequently, because of its ambiguous fundamental
identity, by composers of tonal music since the Baroque. The
spelling that a composer uses can only reflect one
perspectlve. Yet, because of the symmetrical structure of the
French si:-.th, (or dlminlshed 7th, or, for that matter, either
the whüle-tone chord or Scriabin's ten-note harmonie matrix),
the chord could resol ve to a different harmony than the
45
listener or the theorist examining the score would expect.
Wi th regular resol ut ion having become vi rt ua 11 y none x l st ent ln
the later music of Scriabin, the composer's harmonie Idngudge
exhibits, ta a very real extent, tritone equivalence. The
root and #4 become interchangeable, as do the 3rd and 7th.
The remaining six matrix members (discussed bl'" low) rnap i nto
each other at the interval of the tritone, (b9 with 5, 9 wlth
#5, and #9/b10 with 13). In my analyses, the Sel1...lbin
spelling is the point of embarkation. In sections of certain
compositions (eg., Op.71 nO.1 measures 12 and following, see
below), a tritone-equivalent perspective of the harrnony and
voice leading is found ta be more useful.
Let us now turn our attention ta the upper notf:S ot th!',
harmony: those that occur above the fundarnent al - qlJd rt (! J l Y
spelled - French sixth (or V7bS) sonority. An examinat ion 01
the later Scriabin oeuvre reveals that the possibJ e upper
chord tones are: b9, 9, #9 (or b10),!J4 5, #5 (or b13), and
13. 55 AlI of these possible 'chord tones' OCCl1r thIr)Uf,jhUUL
Scriabin's later compositions, as either hd rrnnn i (' or
nonharmonic tones. The only notes that can C r JllS1sL,·ril ly b,·
analyzed as nonharmonic tones are the perfect 4th and t h(~
54
55
A discussion of numerical notation, i.e., 9 versus 2, 11 versus 6, etc., follows in the next S~;C;tl0f1.
A cursory glance at EX.26 and 27 reveals thê.lL aIl {Jf th0r~(. chord tones are present élbove the gi'J'-!fl r0(JLs - 1-1 ([rJI
Ex.26), and F, movlng to Ab in the 2nd h;;:df of m(:rJ',UII" -; (for Ex.27) - in just those two fragrnr:ntr::.
46
ma Jor 7lh above a gi ven root. S6 These are the two notes that
can be understood as the "tonies" of the two possible
resolutions of the embedded French sixth (or more correctly
V7b5) sonority.
It is a significant fact that ail of the above listed
upper harmonie matrix members are present, at least once, in
the final chords of the various pieces that comprise op. 71-74.
This, in ] tself, is a strong lndication that Scriabin, in
these later compositlons, treated each one of these various
added notes over the fundamental French sixth sonority as a
legitimate harmonie possibility without need of resolution.
This is not to suggest that Scriabin used a ten-note
chord/scale, as in Kelkel's system. It is rather a proposaI
that, out of the possible choices that Scriabin had in any
composition, or section of a composition, he chose his
harmonies from a palette of twelve 'colours.' Four of these
were fundamental - the French sixth sonority (root, #4, b7,
and 3). Two others would be definitely nonharmonic - the
possIble 'tonics' in the French sixth' S '3ctually V7b5' s)
theoret l C;ll reso 1 ut ion (perfect 4th and ma Jor 7th above the
root) . Of the remaining six 'colours' (b9, 9, #9/b10, 5,
#5/bI3, and 13), Scriabin would usually choose two, three, or
four lhat would be harmonie tones; the remainder would
function as nonharmonic tones. Actually, because of the fact
As pre~lously clted, Vers la Flamme op.72 is an exception in this regard. See foot note 41.
that aIl of these upper chord tones eould funct 1 \.)n as ha l'IllOn i c
tones, any one them, in a specifie musIc.11 l'L)ntl..'xt, l'lluld
fluctuate freely between Its harmonie 01 nonhdtlllL)111C tUIlL't Il)ll.
In Ex. 26, the E ln the upper voice 0 f meas u Il} 1 wou 1 J dPPl'.t t
to be a functional chord tone, the 9th. In measurt.-"l 3, 111 the
same harmonie context, i t could be analyzed as d pass 1I1<J t OIlC'
in the as::::ending line D, Eb, E, F, F#. ','
For Dernova, the 13th (labelled by !lPI v) W.t', d
somewhat problemat ic chord tone in Se d db 1 n' s hd r m011 i l~
language. To a certain extent, thi s was beeausl' t tll~ 1)1 Il
antieipated the 3rd of the resolution chord; more import~nt Iy
however, it was because, through the tritone Ilnk, le bf'('dlllF'
the minor 3rd (her label - w) above the root. (1':;-:.11 dfld 17)
This was for her
atone which disrupts the dominant lldtUr(-> ut 1 tH' harmony, conflicting with the leading tOrJt~ élnd whlkt'flirl(j the potential attraction of the dOITlJnanl to lhe impl ic'd (or actually existing) tonie.')fi
Dernova maintains ~hat this particular member of t hf' f1drrnfJfly,
i.e., #9, is peculiar to Scriabin, and is f-_'ILhfJr- r:ollvl'rt0rj
back to the l3th through the tritone 1 1 TI k , , ) r 'II 1 1 J
occasionally resolve up to the maJor -jrd, or dC)WII t ,-) tljl' Hld l'il
9th of the ehord.'~
57
58
In harmonically less complex mUSlC, lflr.o> Sdfll(~ L'If.)" 'Jf situation can, of course, occur - a chord tr.,Jflf! p(J~;r~lbJy functioning as a passing tone in él part lr::U l ar cc;nL,·yt .
Guenther, Varvara Dernovéi's "Garmonjjéi ;~y.rldtJlfld", p.l()/.
Ibid., pp.109-lll.
48
Whe~ dlScussIng 13th chords, Taruskln pOlnts out that,
f f) r 1 9 t :-. - ': e fi t l.l r y co m po S ers, the 13 th, rat he r th ans:.. m ply
ant l t:lpat :..r:g the 3rd of the resolutlon chord, resolves
dirl?ctly down to the tonIe. He gives two examples which l
Include: the flrst is fram Chapln's Fantasie-Impromptu op.66
measures 55-56 (Ex.28) and the second is the end of the waltz
from Act II of Tchalkovsky' s Sleeplng Beauty (Ex. 29) .6C
Ex. 28 ...-----
Ex. 29 . --1~1~" §jr §-~H~~r~t~lfJj ~L~"" -t.-
-. -
• C •
-- -- r
In the same velr:, l wou Id suggest that historical
precedent for the N9/blO alteration is not that dlfflcult to
trace and lS certainly not, as Dernova states, pecullar to
ScrIabIn. Its typlcal resolutlon is down through the b9 to
the 5th of the resolutlon chard. The origin of this chard
60 Ta rus kl n , pp. l 5 0 - 1 5 l .
( 49
tone is found in the upper neighbour of the 7th of a
diminished 7th chord. The P to '6 leading to 5 melodic
motion supported by 17 leading te 1 (Ex.30) is dealt with in
a well-known harmony textbook. 61 One example of this melodic
motion eccurring over clearly dominant harmony, is in measure
12 of prelude no.4 from Chopin's op.28. (Ex.3I)
Ex. 30 Ex. 31 '" "\ ,. ,,1 ~,
1J. ~ {
{v ~ 0 • , r.'
iftr A /1'1 • .,. r I!! .. , 1
<ID \ 16 1 • 1 1 1 -
1 ..--: . -
41 -~ 1
fi =_;; -.. . -. 1
The ten-note harmonie matrix (root, b9, 9, 19, 3, '4, 5,
'5, 13,and b7) can be generated by the summation of the
octatonic scale starting with the semitone (root, b9, 19, 3,
'4, 5, 13, b7) and the whole-tone scale (root, 9, 3, '4, '5,
b7) (Ex. 32). It is wi thin this combined octatoni c/whole-tone
scale that the vast majority of the harmonie sonorities that
occur in the composer' s final works are found. The problems
of weakly- just i fied nonharmonie tones, that occur w i th a
purely octatonic analysis, are, for the most part, resolved
with the realization that the 9 and 15 (notes not in the
octatonie collection) were as legitimate chord tones in late
Scriabin, as they were in his earlier works. The final
61. Edward Aldwell and Carl Sehacter, Harmony and Voiee Leading (2nd ed.; New York and Orlando Flor1.da: Harcourt Braee Jovanovieh, 1989), p.372.
( 50
Ex. 32
IN ~ aLE. - 10"(
e 'Q' ~ 9 d
b •
Q
problematic 0 in op.74 nO.1 (Ex. 24) can be understood as
precisely that chord tone (see my analysis below). Reise
realised the importance of the whole-tone scale in the earlier
works of Scriabin' s later period, but he did not accept its
importance in combination wi th the octatonic scale. For
Reise, it is either whole-tone or octatonic and, for this very
reason, sorne of his vOice-leading proposals in op. 73 no. 1 are
perhaps, somewhat unconvincing, (see my analysis below) .
The whole-tone/octatonic, ten-note harmonic matrix
understanding of Scriabin's musical language relates weIl LO
the concept of harmonic progression in his later compositions.
Fundamentally, there are, apart from the tritone link, three
basic types of harmonie progression: Dernova' s major
enharmonic sequence Croot movement up or down a major 2nd or
major 3rd), Dernova' s minor sequence or linked progression
(root movement up or down a minor 3rd), and her functional
sequence Croot movement up or down a semi tone or perfect
4th) .62 The first of these progressions can be understood as
moving from one whole-tone/octatonic summation to another,
62 See Ex. 6, 7, and 8, and accompanying text.
where the whole-tone collection i5
51
invariant to both
surnmations. In the second progresslon, when compat-inq tht:'" two
whole-tone/octatonic summations, it is the ocLatonic
collection that is invariant to the two summations. III l he
third progression, there is both a different whole-tone and a
different octatonic collection in the two sumrnat ions; i. (~. ,
neither the whole-tone nor the octatonic collect ions rema"1 n
invariant. (As was intimated above, the harmonie proqn.'ssion
by tritone results no chanqe ln pitch class contl'nl, l.t!.,
both the whole-tone and octaton ic collect ions l L->ma i Il
invariant. ) The harmonie progression, therefore, from any
ten-note harmon ic mat r ix to another, cou 1 d be s imp 1 y
understood as having either the whole-tone collection, or the
octatonic collection, or neither, or both, in common bc>tween
the two rnatrixes.
If the realization, that Scriabin felt cornfortable enough
to use freely any note taken from the whole-tone/octalonic
surnmation as a chord tone in the final harmony of any of his
later works, is not, in itself, justificatjon enouqh [or thls
ten-note harmonic matrix, then, perhaps, a purely th00retlcal
observation might be ln arder. The basic "accorcJ synt hr>l lqU(.!"
(mystic chard, Promethean sonority, etc.) consi!;l~~ r)[ '-flf:!
quarta lly spelled, French sixth sonor i ty pl us th(::! 13Lh éJfJrj the
9th. The fi rst var iat i0n - even in P rorneLIlf.!us - U'~(:" tflr;
b9th. At the next stage of evolution (in op.61) ScriablfJ adds
the 5th. By taking the basic "accord synth f.:ti r-1Ij'--:" (rrjIJt, Il'1,
52
b7, 3, 13, and 9), and including either one of the two early
varIations (b9 or 5), transpOSIng that resulting seven-note
chord up u tritone, and then writlng that transposed chord in
lst inversion (#4 ln bass), a chord is obtained that is made
up of the identically embedded French sixth as the original
chord, but with the three other upper matrix members (#9, #5,
and either 5 or b9), depending on which of the two variations
(b9 or 5) were included in the originating chord. (Ex. 33) This
procedure neatly justIfies the ten-note, octatonic/whole-tone,
harmonie matrix, that is the key to understanding Scriabin's
harmony in his final works. Because of the symmetrical
structure of the French sixth sonori ty, the three absent
matrix rnembers in the seven-note "accord synthétique" (basic
chard plus one of the two original variations), are implied in
the seven-note chord' s lst inversion. To put it one other
way: the summation of the seven note chord's transposition at
the tritone, with its first inversion63 generates the ten-
note, oetatonic/whole-tone, harmonie matrix. This is
somethjng that Scriabin must have observed and taken pleasure
in.
Actually, this works even in root position. But, by using the fIrst inversion, the identically embedded French sixth will be in place in the lower voices.
( 53
Ex. 33
11 1 1 " .-l li r; ~-
,
tJ - ~ ee ---I._ .. ~ tJ
"0 ~o )0 ott
Po bo l b" . . . . --,,- v-
&XPLAMATIOM or AMALYTlCAL CRARTS
In attempting to come to grips with both the harmonie and
contrapuntal aspects of Scriabin's musical language, l
present, in this thesis, graphie depictions of certain
compositions, or sections of compositions, from the late
Scriabin oeuvre. In these charts, the various pitch classes
that occur in the music as melodic lines and/or harmonies are
represented simply as numbers, in relation to what is
considered to be the fundamental root. In a line below the
chart, the root itself is identified as a specifie pitch
class.
The depiction of the music in this manner is bath
possible and useful, because of two eharaeteristics that are
prevalent in Scriabin's compositional style. Firstly, the
harmonie rhythm ls relatively slow, and cert ainly
signifieantly slower with the understanding that the ehords of
54
the tritone link are contained in the same ten-note harmonie
matrix. If the fundamental root was constantly in flux, then
depict iOfl Î) f the va r 10US h1e rarch 1 cal st ruct ures among the
pitch cla~ses would be both cumbersome and not particularly
useful. Scciabin's later compositions, being relatively
static from the point of view of harmonic progression, lend
themselves fairly easily to a numerical depiction of pitch
class relatlonships with a slow-moving fundamental root.
Secondly, the frequent use of repetition, with or without
transposition, lS another aspect of Scriabin's compositional
style thal results in these lacer works lending themselves to
this type of analytical chart. When such repetitions occur,.
the identieal intervallic relationships reoccur over a
different root. AlI that is necessary in the analysis is to
identify the new root beneath the appropriate section of the
chart.
Witlun this analyt1cal model the complete lush chromatic
harmony and voice leading are clearly demonstrated. The
structural hierarchy of pitch classes within any dense ten
note harrnon1c mat ri;.:, as weIl as the horizontal connections
into any other matri~, are made apparent through each part's
indlvidual relatlonship with the designated root.
55
NOTATION IN CHARTS
The root labelled R refers to the rooL 0t the
pervading harmony. In most of the works discussed it Cdn be
identified as the root of the embedded, quartally-spelled
French sixth chord.
li Al though understood and percei ved by most mus i cians
and theorists from a tertian point of view as b5, Lil Illy
analytical charts #4 is consistently used. The import ance of
Scriabin' s quartaI spelling in 'decoding' thi'3 music, loget her
with a need to clearly differentiate this chord tone from the
5 or # 5 is more than an adequate reason to warrant us i ng lhj s
label. Tt i s the only label used that does not fit i nt 0 1 he
tertian perspective of harmony, but the special signlf~céHlCE;
of the fourths spacing (as weIl as the #4 being the bass nole
in the "lst inversion chord") justifies, l bellevt.', its
designation. The fact that i t almost a] way s is present
primarily in the lower register - either in the bass or Just
above the bass - would indicate that the other poss ib 1 (-. l ahpJ ,
i.e., #11, is also inappropriate.
7 7 indicates a minor 7th above the rooL. Pr,_'v l (jll'; 1 Y
in this thesis, l have referred to thls partiCllJar cfl(;rd lOC1C'
as b7. Since 7 w i thout any al tera t ion i soft en u-::r::d wh(.~n
referring to a dominant 7th chard (i. e. wi th the minr;r 7th),
and s ince these harmonies are fundamenl6t 11 y dorrl1 nanl
sonorities, the employment of, simply, 7 as a Jab(~l <,(~r;rns
56
qui te appropr l ate .
..2. AJ though, from the perspective of the quartal
spaeing, thlS chord tone could aceurately be labelled as 10,
the label 3 lS used. It refers always to a major 3rd above
the root.
9 indieates a major 9th above a root.
b9 indieates a minor 9th above a root.
5 refers to the perfect 5th above a root. In these
l ater Scr iabin eomposi t ions, thi s mat r ix member oeeurs most
often ln Lhe upper VOlces of the harmonie field, as an added
chord tone above the fundamental French sixth.
13 is used to label the matrix member that oeeurs a
major 6th above the specifie root. Because of its harmonie
or igin, i . e. , 13th chord, the label 1 3 is considered more
appropriate than 6. (In the same way, the various 9ths would
be less effeetively labelled as 2nds.)
On most occasions, the above listed matrix members occur
at the specifie interval without enharmonie variation. In the
charts, the two remaining matrix members are often labelled
with an enharmonie variatlon, as compared to their notation in
the mUSlC.
JJ.2. # 5 re fers t a the augmented 5th and/ or the minor 6th
(b Il) above a root. Ser i abin' s spell ing of this chord t one
varies considerably. In the charts, #5 is used eonsistently
to label a note that, in the score, could be notated as either
a raised 5th or a lowered 13th.
57
#9 indicates an augmented 9th and/or a minor 3rd
(blO) above a root. Scriabin fairly consistently speJJs thlS
matrix member as a minor 3rd above a spec if i c l'oot. Ih)\vl've t',
because of the importance of the ma jor 3 rd in the harmolly, i t
is felt that, like the root, the #4, and the 7, the numbet' 3
should not be used to label any matrix member apart from lhe
harmonically important major 3rd. blO would be a logical
possibility64 but was rejected, firstly, because a lOth is
still closely associated with a 3rd, and, secondJy, becJuse il
is outside the tertian perspective of harmony. l:' or these
reasons, #9 is used conslstently to label this parlicuJar
matrix member.
4 and #7 The two pitch classes that are outside the ten-note
harmonie matrix are the notes that occur a perfect 4th and a
major 7th above a particular root. They are deslgndLpd as 4
and #7 respectively and are circled when they appear J Il lh(:
analytical charts to indicate their nonharmonic stalus.
The various symbols representing the specifie notes arR
positioned on the particular charts quite accurately,
representing their occurrences in musical spac(' bUlh
vertically (in register) and horizontally (irl l imf'=). The'
64 As was indicated above, blO lS, perhaps, l,hl' lnry~l u,rr(·r.:L label from a theoretlcal persp"?ctiv r=, havlnr..) il', (Jr jrjJlI
in the use of scale degree _7 over domJ nant harrn(jflY 1 fi a min 0 r k e y - the t h i rd 0 f wh l c h l S ,of c. (; ur'.:; f~ , t h (= 1 ( . ;1 rj i fi rJ tone or ral sed scale degree 7. (see eh. 3ü arld 31)
58
and 7 that occur, not as members of a contrapuntal line, but
merely as part of the supporting harmony, are exceptions in
this regard, in that they are usually shown at the start of a
new hann0rllC matrD:. They appear at the correct register with
hori zont Cl l dot ted l ines lndicat ing that these particular
matrix members are simply being prolonged.
Melodic connection is shown with a solid line connecting
the various symbols. The fundamental bass line (usually Rand
# 4) j s indicted with a SOlld line, but, because the Rand # 4
also function as support for the overali harmony, the
horizontal dotted line i8 also used to indicate prolongation.
Even though the aspect of harmonie prolongation can also be
applied ta many of the matrix members occurring in the upper
lines, in the interest of preserving clarity, the dotted line
i s usua lly olTJi t ted. If a speci f ic note is signi ficantly
prolonged (i.e., it is a half note or longer or is
reiterated), it 1S shown on the crart as a horizontal solid
line. After the specifie prolongation, the line will angle up
or down connect ing t 0 the next symbol. If a note is
signifieantly reiterated, it is indicated as a solid line but
with short vertical lines across it -+--+--1'" ) .
A note that oecurs wi th the written note as part of a
L r i Il\. S \. n cl i c a t e d b Y l t s S y mb 0 lin par e nt he ses, jus t t 0 the
r ight and oS l ight l Y hi gher than the symbol of the principal
note (eg., #4 l') indicates a triU on #4 - trilling with 5) .
Grace notes are also indicated in this manner, i. e., in
59
parenthes0's, with a solid llne conneeting them to the pitch on
which they 'ire dependent.
omitted.
Sorne grace notes an' sunply
When the melodic conneetion i s inte rrupt ed - pt:.'> l-heips by
a rest - but cont rapuntal connect ion i s cons ide t ed Vd li d, j l
is depieted by a solid Ilne stopping al the pOllll ,,)f
interruption, but with an arrow indieating the l ine' s point of
resumption. An arrow with the shape of a SillO wave (./\Î'Jr)
indicates that a part icular mot i vic figure i s repedl\~d cl
number of times.
A solid vertical line with a arrow, either abUVE! ur iJ(?low
a specifIe symbol, indicates that this parLjcular matn:..:
member is relnforeed at the octave. The syrnbol x or ;.:;-: next
ta partieul ar mat rix mernbers indieates tha t they occu r.- (-l il he r
only the first time through the chart (x), or onl y '.111 the
repetition (xx). As was mentioned above, the 4 and the H7 êlrf'
always circled, indicating that they are Dot part of l he' 1 ('11-
note, whole-tone/oetatoDlc, harmonie matrlX. J3elow Ull-' vojc-c'
leading chart, the identity of the root, as w(~ll d~, t tl(:'
measure numbers, are indicated. The eurved ph r as(' ma r J.: '; dbov('
the voice-leading ehart indicate the phrase ';1. r 1.1C\ Ilr!·.
60
OPUS 71 NO. 2
This paem, ent lt led En rêvant, avec une grande aouceur
(see Appendu·: 1, Ex.34, also Ex.26) is in a simple binary
form; the second hal f (meas. 19-36) is an ezact copy of the
fi rst eighteen measures transposed up a minor '3rd. The final
two measures of the poem serve as a bru:: cCl.1a. Each half of
the wark appears ta be divided into two parts (at meas. 12 and
30); perhaps, in the final analysis, these subdivisions can be
seen to eXlst only at the very surface level.
The piece starts wlth an ascending figure, Eb - E - A
(b9, 9,5 over root D), which, after the interruption of a
quarter note rest, leaps up another 4th ta a D (R). After
sorne prolongation through reiteration, the line descends
chromatically to a B. (At this point the fundamental rooe
changes to F; pitch class B is therefore #4.) The B,
embelilshed by a trlll with the note C (5), is prolonged for
two measures. Thi s principal melodic idea in this initial
fi ve-measure forma l uni t, is supported by the fundamental root
movernE'nt of D (meas. 1-3) to F. The bass articulates the root
of the hannony, with the exceF:ion of measure 2 where it moves
down to the #4. In measure 5, where a 'thinning out' of the
mus i ca l t e:-:t u.re occurs, the bass has act ually dissipated,
altllougll ils presence lS strongly implied from the previous
measure. The 3rd and 7th of the harmony are consistently
present in the tenor register (an octave higher in meas. 5),
• '\
•
f 1ft . -...
':! '
'. ' '" _ .. i 1 ., • •
• -40
•
r • -1 .. , ..
"\ i ' 1
"• \ 1
, --
IV , , ,s , 1
• 1 ! , , ,., •
1
• 1
N:
1 1 , , , 1 • -/ •
.= ca ..
= 7 : 7~
. .;....-
"'-. 1
'" -. -
, , . .. . / 4ft ,
, .. po.
'", .. . ,.,
...
1
--
, •
, •
, • ,..
• :;: , , , 1 1 , 1
1 • 1 -
1 1 '\' :, : : ,., , 1
'/~ l '
l , , 1 1
,
l,
"
: 1
•• - .,
\: "~ i - -pt,.. .... lM U ------ --"l'
62
as [.Jart: r..l: the contInuai arpegglation.
A C0U[lterpolnt ta the princIpal melodic idea is heard in
the upper tenor register, entering on a Bb (#5) on the second
After a quarter-note rest in measure 2
(co inci d lng wi th the interruption of the ascending figure of
the pdnclpal melodlc Idea), the counterpoint is resumed with
the note A (5), WhlCh then moves down, througll F# (3), to E
(9) . Thr-o two dist i nct element s of this counterpoint, #5
moving to 5 (quasi 6-5 motIon) and the motive 5 - 3 - 9,
become iulportant figures throughout this whole composition.
Another accompanimental figure, this time in the alto
registf:?r, emerges as a chromatic counterpoint ta the melodic
descent HI the upper voice at measure 3. It starts with the
D on the thad beat of measure 2, and the Eb - E (b9,9) on
beats 1 and 2 of measure 3 suggest, perhaps, an echo of the
opening ascending figure. However, the leap up to A (5) does
not occur, and the line continues chromatically, through F -
FH (#9,3), uptoG (90fthenew root) atthedownbeat of
measurü 4. The Eb (# 5) reOCCUl s in measure 3 in exactly the
same rlldflflt->r as ItS inlt131 appearance in the first measure;
th 1 S Lllllt-::' however i t reso l ves direct ly to A (3) in measure 4.
Anot hel br lefer chromat ie contrapuntal l ine emerges beneath
the Bb of measure 3, wlth the descent F# - F - E - Eb (3,#9,9
t 0 7 OVe t- new root) formlng a Sllght ly dl splaced voice
pxchangt:' wlth the ascending alto line.
In measures 4 and 5, the texture becomes increasingly
63
simp1ifled. The trlll on B (#4) lS supported by a sllstalned
G and A (9 and 3) and the arpeggiation F,Eb, and A, (R, l,and 3)
provides the only rhythmie activity. ThlS arpeggio flnishes,
on the last beat of measure 4, with the chromatic figure Ob -
D - Eb (#5,13,7). In measure 5, the texture beeomes even
sparser; the trill continues but without the support of 9 and
3, and the arpeggiation (minus root) plus thret~-notp elu omat ic
figure reoccur an octave higher. On the third boat of measure
5, the three-note ehromatic figure has now reached above the
trill - the #4/5 trill dissipates de1icious1y lnto #5,1'3,7.
The next two measures (6 and 7) consist of a formal unit,
which is vlrtually identical to the opening two measures of
this work. There are on1y two fundamental dl ffer~flcl~'~ t lldf
occur: fi rst1y, the rest that interrupted the El! - E - A - D
as cent in the initial statement is no longer present (5 moves
directly up to R) and, secondly, beneath that held 0 (E), Lhe
5th, DIA (R and 5) occurs and is reiterated twice.
In measure 8, the initial-ascent motive reoccurs ln 'hp
exact same harmonie context as in measures 1 and 6. l'hl '-, t 1 rrlf'
the movement up to the 0 (R) lS even faster, or;c..:urr Inrj ')[1 LrJ('
fin a l eighth note of the measure, and the mot ive 1 t 81,,1 f J ,;
extended w i th mot ion up to an F on the downbf::él ,_ lO rnr'rJ', Il P' 9.
At this po int, there l s a change of harmon y; F r.J(:,I:om(:,<; l hl~ nl'w
root and remains so for the following thr(~(: rnr:'rJ';IJP-:', - Lhr.
remainder of thls formaI unit.
sustained for the complete measure, after whJch il rnGV0~ tG él
64
Gb (b9), f0r the subsequent measure, and finally ta G (9) at
measure Il. ThIS chromatic ascent is supported by reiterated
Sths F/C (R and 5, cf.meas.7), moving ta Gb/Ob (bS and #5) in
measu re 10, and the 4ths G/C (9 and 5) in measure 11. These
rei terated 5ths/4ths provide Iower-octave reinforcement of the
upper chromatlc line (F,Gb,G), as well as reaffirming more
strongly the 5 #5 5 motion (C, Db, C) that occurred
originally in the opening three measures of the work. (The
alternating 5/#5 motion in measures 1-3 is actuaIIy in the
form #5 5 #5.) The bass articulates B, F, and B
(#4, R, #4), for each of the three measures (9-11), and the A
and Eb/oH (3 and 7) are present in a more abbreviated
arpegglo. In the tenor register, the C - A - G (5,3,9 motive
from meas.2 and 7) reappears in measure 9 after the arpeggio.
In measures 10 and 11, the same mOLivic tigure reoccurs on the
first beat of the rneasure, thereby preceding the bass/7/3
arpeggio. In the first of these reoccurrences, the motive is
transposed at the tritone; the actual notes articulated are Gb
- Eb - Db (b 9, 7, # 5) .
At measure 12, the appearance of new rnelodic matelial,
toget her wi th an enharmonic change in notation (the F' s becorne
E#'s), wauld seem to suggest a completely new formaI section.
However, with closer scrutiny, it becornes apparent that this
who1e sectIon is actually much more closely related to the
previous musIcal materlal, than a surface-level analysls would
Indlcate.
65
This complete sect10n of music (meas.12-18), is composed
from a two-measure 1dea that lS repeated. Thl' rcpet 1 t l (ln 1 S
exact, as far as pitch classes are concerned, but, dt t hl' ~; .. :lIn('
time, it features a contraction of the overall t"egisLl'l". (The
melodic idea, initially heard with octave reillforccll1ent,
reoccurs as a single line an octave lower. The low E#, heald
at the out set of this section,
but without the lower-ùctave
reoccurs two measurcs
re1nforccnlt-'lll. )
lclter,
repetition, however, the two-measure idea leads direct l'y' ltl .]
chord (1st beat of meas. 16). This second measure of the t wo
measure idea, together with the resolution chord, ie; thl·n
repeated three times. The first time at the or 19i liaI pi Ldl,
then atone higher, and finally a major lrd up {l (llll Llw
previous repetition. In this final repetltion, a trltullf'-
equi valent ad ]ustment ln the bass /7/3 arpegg j 0 occu rs, d Ild 1 Ile'
resol ut ion chord is omi t ted. Thi s repeated phras r·! :,; j!llfJ J Y
leads directly into the start of the second haJ f of UH' [K)f·fIl.
This whole section can therefore be underslood d.', [;('] flC)
derived from the two-measure idea anc. its rc'~olutl()11 (.tlr)rd,
measures 14 and 15 (or 12-13) and the dOWflf;r:(jI. rd ml·J'.'JTI· Ih.
The notation of this who1e section 1':, ";rJ!fII'w!Jae I,II//! Irl'~.
By analyzing it from the perspective of the· rJfIlb(~ddl·d 1· Tr Il,:11
sixth chord spelled in 4ths, this secti{J[1 'tI'~IJl,j ',(:1'11, 1·, LI'
based on the root B Œ# being the #4). TtJ1:~ jr"d(j', t f J d
harmony and vOlce-leadJ ng chart based 1 {Jr] 1 t'a 1 J ï (J[I 1 hl:
composer's own spelllfig (see E .... :.-.F:-,).
( 66
tritone-equivalent understanding of this perspective
(cf.Ex.34) for several reasons, aIl of which relate, not only
t 0 ')ur percept ion of a performance of the music, but also to
our theoretical understanding of harmonie motion (or in this
case, stability), voice leading, and also motivic elements in
this work.
EX.35
t-
~
7
- ,.~ - - - ,. - - - - - -- -- - --It- -- -- It·-
... ~~ .. • toi t.
From the point of view of harmonie progression, the
tritone-equivalent perspective would indieate that the
fundamental harmony ~as not changed from measure 9 through to
the downbeat of measure 17. (In my chart, l indicate the
enharmonie variation that Scriabin used at measure 12, El as
opposed to F, an aspect of notation that 1S simplified in the
second halt of the poem.) The bass movement, consistently 14
- R - .4 - R throughout thi s whole sect ion (meas. 9-16), as
well as being constant ly descending through measures 9-12,
reinforces our perception that this i5 all fundamentally the
same harmony, and the root does not suddenly change from F to
67
B at the downbeat of measure 12. The a lte l'nat llh:;l '1 r 5,
present in the opening three measures of the ",Ot-k, l ~3 l' 1 t~,l t 1 Y
present in the repeated 5ths figure (me.ls. q-ll), ,lllti i t
cont inues, even more strongly re inforced a t l he oct d Vt',
through measures 12-15. The chromat i c me lod i c aSl:('nt i Il
measures 9-11, F - Gb - G (R,b9, 9), simply continuc·s Oll(' sI ('P
further to G# (#9) at this, the climax of the first hall
(measure 12). After set t l ing back down ta G (9), 1 Il\:"' 1 ltlt'
descends through an arpeggiated figure ta the G (9) an UL'ldVl'
below. The motive 5 - 3 - 9 (from meas.2,7,9, 1]), reoeClll~~ ill
the context of the final three notes of t he descend i fig
arpeggiation figure (meas.13, 15,16,17,18)
accompanimental configuration is almost exactly the Sdm0 as
that of the opening measures of this work.
It would seem that, rather +- an being the SLLlII (JI cl
second section, measure 12 is better understood as the cl lin a x
and logical goal of the continuously ascending lln" t haL
started in measure 8. After the cl imax, t h(~rr--' i <~ '; 1 rnp 1 y
descent; the sequential repetition
arpeggiated figure ct t success l ve J y h uJhi}r f-J i t ch l, ''JI' l "
(meas.17,18) is merell' preparing for lhé strHt. ',if t hr. ',1" '!lld
hal f . Wi thln thi s ove ra Il conte.-:l, the Openlfl(j f 1 VI~ rW'rJ ',IH f '~J
can be seen as a kernel phrase (ascent - c] i ma.": - dr!',( l'fit) ,
whiCh, after a brief, perhaps more focused, [(;r..-r:l i t i (>[1 'JI t hl:
opening (meas.6-7), restarts ta form a greéttll'-er.fJdfld r..;rJ [Jl!rd'J 1;
(in both length and register - meéts.8-16J. Ifl l'J',t, thr·
68
complete remainder of the first half of this work, after the
openlng flve measures, could be understood as an expansion of
the opening phrase, from the p01.nt of view of the melodic
motives (meas.6-11 aIl ascent, meas.12 climax, meas.13-18 aIl
descent) .
Wjth the exception of minor variations in notation and
one instance of rhythmic variation (meas.20l, the second half
of the poem is an exact repeti tion of the first haif
transposed up a minor 3rd. The work finishes with another
statement of the descending arpeggio figure (9,7,5,3,9),
transposed down an octave and altered rhythmically, resolving
into a chord that contains both the #9 and b9. The two 9' s of
the descending figure resolve outwards to the two altered 9' s.
The final chord is comprised of the same pitch classes as the
opening chard of the work, with the addition of the #9.
EVALUATION OF OCTATONICrSM (OR WHOLE-TONE CONTENT) WrTH CHARTS
Because of the structural importance of the ernbedded
French sn-.th in the ten-note harmonie matrix, an evaluation of
the oclal0nicism in Scriabin's final works is made relatively
('as l l y, t Il r üugh an e:-:am1.nat l. on of the var ious harmony and
vOlce-lt~;:l<üng charts. The octatonic sc ale will always be made
up of mdtll.:-: members R,b9,#9,3,#4,5,13, and 7. (Of the three
poss ible ('ctatonle collect1.ons taken from the complete twelve
tone aggr0gate, it i8 the only one that includes the ernbedded
09
French sixth - R, 3, #4, and 7.°') If a composltioll, 01 ~I
particular section of a composition, 1S undQrstood as be il\ll
organised - as far as pi tch structure - frOlll t he l~('! cl! llll i,
perspectlve, it is only these eight matnx lllL'lllDl'n; t h,lt will
occur as harmonie tones. The 9,4,#5, and #7 w1l1, eithl'l nll!
be present in the music, or occur as nonharmonic tOI1t:'s, wlllch
resolve (usually by semitone) or are, perhaps, justJ fie'd fI am
sorne other theoretical perspective.
The structura l importance of # 5 and 9 i 11 t IH' UPl'I1I11Q
measures of opus 71 no. 2 (ex. 34) wou Id ind i caLe lm!1lt'd 1 d! ('1 Y
that a octatonic reading of that section of ITlUS1C wlJuld bl'
invalid. In opus 73 nO.1 (ex.36), however, Ll1e clllllf_>Ilo Ll'
absence of 9, #5,4, and #7 in measures 8-30 and 38-6) (l';':C],
rneas. 63) demonstrates imrnediately the octaton j ci sm i n L11o~;e
sections of that composition.
In the same way, an evaluation of the importanc(~ nI t h(~
whole-tone collection is also made relatively eaSJ ly t III ()\H:lh
an examination of the charts. The appropr ial<'~ who Il'-Lun(:
collection would be R, 9,3, #4, #5, and 7,
embedded French sixth
complementary whole-tone collection (b9, #9, Il, 'J, J~, dfJd 1/ 1)
would occur only as nonha rmon l c tOfles. Al t ht)IJ',fh fJI,fJI' 'J j 1 h('
65 The two other octatonic collect10n~, USl IjrJ IflrJt r j / liI':IrifJ('r
notation, are b9,9,3,4,S,#S,I,#/, rjfJeJ
9, #9,4, #4, #5,13, #7, R.
70
l 1 · 6 9 1 a s Re i sep 0 in t sou t, 66 i s ton(-: CI) 8ctlon, opus no.,
certa ln l'j a work whe re a whole-tone perspect ive is va l id.
(Th~ op8nIng of opus 71 no.2 [ex.34] could be based on whole-
lone plus matrix member 5. AlI other matrix members and/or
nonharmODlC tones - b9,#9,4, 13, and,7 - are either absent, or
occur as easlly-justified nonharmonic tones.)
OPUS 73 NO. 1
Guirlandes, the first of the two dances that comprise
opus 73, consists fundamentally of three dIstinct blocks of
mus i ca l mater i al. (See ex. 36 and appendlx 2.) The f irst of
these i8 the opening seven measures. This section of music 1S
comprised of a two-measure melodic idea, that is immediately
repeated in sequence atone higher. The first part of this
two-measure idea then reoccurs another tone higher, and this
fragment is then sequenced twice more, the first time another
tone higher, then a min or 3rd higher than the previous
statoment. Finally, a full statement of the original two-
med'3Ure ffielodic idea occurs (with sorne rhythmic varIation), a
perfect 4th higher. This complete melodie 11ne is supported
by an dlIlll'St statlc ha~-rnonlc field on root A, WhlCh changes ta
root F 1'-'1 the fInal stdteme'1t of the inltlal ldea (meas.7).
'l'hl'" lll'xt distInct black of musical material consi.sts of
InQasures 8-12. It consists of a descending passage startlng
Rejse, pp.22~ -225.
(( "-/
• -r
o r:
• ~ o
• fOI
III
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r --1 .. ..
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1ft 1/ •
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l Ji! j • .... =
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.. ..... - . . ~... ... -'.. / J'-- fOI
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fOI ....
~7 II:
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/ II:
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- -... 111
.-III -0 0 .. 2 .. .. .. :2
-0
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.. ~. / .- . ~; / /: 1"" ... , • -.. . .. ;"'"
~~ • ,:t
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..... ( . ; .. 1 = ' 1-
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.:._..--'!! ~ ~,l. • 1 ~~ _;::: cl
~ --+-------------~--~--~ , "" " S
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! /~: • / ,r '" 'S • ~= ... '" ~,
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..~: ( /-
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: :/, ~' 1 ..
:/: ........ '
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:/, . ' ,\:
..... 1 ~
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l 1 : .. ~ ...
fit .. 1
\ .. ,.-• 1 ,., ...
\ c
• III ... lAI •
73
out directly from the melodic goal of the final statt::'lllent of
the initlal idea. The texture in this sect 10n is
significantly thinner. It is made up of an upper line, moving
- after sorne initial hesitation - in eighth-note trIplets,
supported only by a single line moving in syncopated quarter
notes. After cornmenc lng in the ext reme UPPl' r r 0g i st et, t 11(-'
two lines descend slowly, through approximately an OCLL1Vl?,'"
before settling on a repeated three-note figure (in the upper
line) supported by a repeated note (in the syncopated quart er-
note line). The t wo l ines f lnally come to rest in measu re 12.
This section of music is characterised by tempo change<.~, fI rst
accelerando then ritardando. This block of musical m~torial
functions as a link between the more densely composed ~~t::,ct Ions
in this dance, not only in measures 8 - 12 but also ln ] ts
numerous reoccurrences, It is overtly octatonic, and ie:;
constructed over a static root (F in measures 8-12).
The third distinct block of musical material start~ al
measure 13. It consists of a two-measure melodic id(:c.l, a
predominant ly ascending figure mov ing in e j ght h flotr·,~ dfld
r e a chi n 9 u P t 0 a go a l no te, a dot te d ha l f no tel f l va J 1 H' . 'j' fi l 'J
figure is supported by a typically Scr i abi ne~;que ha rrnon Le
configuration over the characterlstlc bass movem~nt - .ool 10
#4. The two-measure idea is then repeé.lted, Lu! '~J j th t TI(' (j',a 1
67 In measures 8 - 12, lt actually descends Ci H1étJor r.Jl_h. Ifl the subsequent reoccurrences of trlls ff1r:Jtr:;-!lélJ j[J '-hiC"
composltion, the descent is usually ext~nd(~rj te) il Inlfl()[
10th.
74
not(~ sh l ft8d up a perf8ct 4th higher.
though varled Sllghtly (b9 replaces
The support J.ng harmony,
13), IS fundamentally
unchang8d. This two-measure melodic idea is then repeated a
second time. This restatement is identical to the first
repetition, but here the supporting harmony changes in the
second rneasure. Instead of moving to #4, to support the
preva i l i ng harmony, the bass moves directly to a new root, C#,
and the fldrmony changes accordingly. The goal note is held
over and lS eventually supported by single note only. After
the bass moves down briefly to the new #4, the entire lower
and middl e register material dissipates, leading directly into
the ne;-{t sect ion. This whole third block of musical material
is, like the previous block, purely octatonic.
pi tches present in the music that do not
octatonic collection, i.e., no 9, 4, #5, or #7.
There are QQ
fit into the
The sect ion which follows is comprised of the upper-
reg ister l ink ing mus ic (originally encountered at meas. 8-12) ,
which leads again lnto a more abbreviated version (only two
statements of the two-measure idea) of the musical material
first encuuntered at measure 13. The root of the harmony in
this section (meas.23-27) changes from C# down to A. This
then leads again into the upper-register linking music, which,
in turn, leads to a return of the opening material at measure
31.
The music, from this point on, is essentlally a
repetition of the first half of the composition (meas.1-30).
( 75
The opening material reoccurs identically at the original
pitch level, until measure 37. At this point, the two-measure
opening idea reoeeurs at the same pitch level as its origlnal
restatement (cf.meas.7). The bass, however, is transposed up
a tritone. The subsequent upper-register l inking passage
starts on root F and adjusts to root B by the end of this
section. Because of the sequential nature of this passage
(descending minor 3rds), this adjustment is simply realised by
including two additional sequential steps. This complete
section of music (meas.37-42) eould also be analyzed
exclusively over root B (the tritone-equivalent version), as
shown in Ex.37. This is certainly more consistent with the
Scriabin spelling and, probably, more accurately refleets the
harmony and voiee leading of this passage. Because the
inclusion of this tritone-equivalent version in the chart
(ex.36) would add unnecessary complication, as weIl as
7---
3----7- - - - - - 7 ---
,--------
--"'-5 - --'\"--L ________________ ~t~. ____________________________________ ~ R
837 43
76
detractIrJrJ From the basic .tinary structure of this dance, it
was CÜfLS l ('j~red more advant ageous to show thl s al ternat ive
verSion sepdrately.
From measures 43 55, the musical material is
fundamentally a repetition of measures 13 - 25, transposed
down a t r l tone. At measure 56, the root of the harmony
changes (dS it did in meas.26, down a major 3rd) to Eb. This
becom(>~~ lrnrnediately reinterpreted in the following measure, to
the tr ltofle-equlvaJent root, A. Throughout this composition,
Scriabin' s spelling is consistently unambiguous for
determination of the fundamental root.
This closing section consists of a more fragmented
versi on of the upper-register linking music (moving, at this
point, more into the middle register) thi s time, however, wi th
the increaslng presence of the openlng, "tonie" harmony. The
bass movement (#4 to root) supports the harmony, and, on its
final statement, the penultimate chord (over #4) is prolonged
while the opening melodic idea at its original pitch level
reoccurc;. The final root-position chord supports the goal
note (hl)) c,f the restatement of the initial melodic idea.
Re l se, when dl seus s lng the octatonic pi tch structure of
this ddl1ce, tries to ]ustify the presence of the vad ous non-
oct dt Oille pltch classes ln this opening section, ln an attempt
t 0 ~,t10\',' t bd t thi s whole compos i tion can be under stood f rom the
OcLltL.l!l 1,' perspective.
sompwhd t u neonv i ne i ng .
The resul t s of these endeavours are
For e:-:ample, the B in measure 1
77
resolves (an octave hlgher and a measure later) into lhe Sb;
the F in measure 3 is not discussed; and the G#' s in t hat S3me
rneasure are left unresolved, only to reappear ln rneasure 6 and
then resolve to the 1\ in measure 7. The resolut ion of Lill' Db
in measure 7 is heard two and a half rneasures later with the
C that occurs in the 1 ink ing passage. 6H These delayed
resolutions, in sometlmes different registels, are neither
close ':0 an auraI perception of a performance' of t hl' music,
nor do they appear convincing in an exami nat ion of the scor e.
The B in measure 1, belng an internal member of a fairly fdst
rnoving arpeggio, is on l y 'nonharmorll c' in the imposiL i on of an
octatonic reading. Ta analyze it as a dissonance Uldt
requires resol ut ion, which ul t lmate l y oc:curs an ocLa VI:: hl (Jl1er
and a measure later, is unconvineing from Lhe pOlflt of V lew of
our aurai perception and theoret ical underst andi ng. Morp.
irnportantly, this type of somewhat contrlved resolut Ion 1 s
fundamenta lly inconsistent wi th Ser l abin' s inher en t conc(.!pl 0 f
careful voice leading, as weil as being unnece(~sary, WI t ft Ul(
realisation that this 'dissonanclô" can easlly b(~ afin J '1!.('d c.J~,
a possible chord tone.
Wlth an understanding 0 f Ser j abin' s ha r mUfly cHld '/' JI U:
leadlng, from the perspectlve of the ten-notr~ h'JrrnOfilC mat r J/.,
cornes the realisatlon that the B' sand F' '; t hdt (j(" Il[ j Tl
measures 1 - 6, as weIL as the:: Db in ffJf'~dSUr(: l, dr r , ',Jrnr.lJ'j
occurrences of # 5 and 9.
68 Reise, pp.227 - 228.
78
altholJgh not in the octatonic collection, are perfectly
leg i t J.rnate chard tones l.n Sc r iabin' s harmonie language.
Simply because the greater part of this composition is
excluslvely octatonic in pit ch structure does not mean,
necessar ily, that the opening seven measures must be
underst ood from that perspective. However, even though the #5
and 9 need no justification, the #7 (which occurs as a G# in
measures 3 and 6, and has no readily apparent resolution tone)
should be dealt with.
An examination of the opening melodic idea and its
various restatements reveals the following intervallic
structure: maJor 3rd up, major 3rd up, minor 3rd up, minor 3rd
up, minor 3rd down and major 3rd Up.69 This structure is
strictly maintained throughout the various sequential
repeti t ions. (The three fragmented statements [meas. 5-6] omit
the la st two intervallic steps.) As diseussed above, this
whole block of musical material occurs over a fundamentally
static harmonie field, which does not change unti1 measure 7.
Within this eontext - a sequentially repeated melodic phrase
over a harmonie pedal - the nonharmonlc tones that occur do
not need justification. In the same way, dissonance that
Forte' s term Interval class (ic) 4 or 3 (for major 3rd and minOl 3rd respe(~ti\'ely) is, strictly speaking, a more aCCUl dt té' label fer these Intervals, as 1"[, Ignores enha!l1lC'f11C varlatlc'Il.':'. Some of ScrIabl:-1's major and 111lIlL)1 Jrds clr,> sj-'elled as dim. 4ths and 3Ug. 2nds. As Set -Tht'l'! y techlllqUl"s are not elllployed ln this thesls, it is tl'lt that use of the more fam11iar, a1beit looser, labels is justlfled.
79
takes place over a dominant (or tonie) pedal is considered
perfectly acceptable in music since the Renaissance.
Oernova cites this section as an example of Scnabin' s
use of a "melody wi th a dual-polar basis." 10 By that, she
means a kind of polytonality exists in this sect ion: the
fundamental harmony being on root A for measures 1 and 2, on
roots B and A (melody and accompanlment respectively) in
measures 3 and 4, on C# and A, on D# and A, and on F# êlnd A j n
measures 5 and 6, to arrlve on roots Band F ln measure 7. ln
other words, the initial seven-note melodic figure (my labels
- 7,9,H4,13,R,13,b9, Dernova's labels - 7,9,b5,v,8,v,b9), l, ('
~)
simply repeated, spelling out the upper harmonies as the root
moves from A through B, C#, OH, FH, to B. This creaLes a
parallel harmonlC progression, moving müstly ln aSC't'lldlflg
whole-tones (the final two steps being expanded to a minur 3rd
and a perfect 4th), over a contrastingly statie harmonie
progression in the lower register (root A tü rooL F ln
meas. 7) . Oernova's polytonal reading of these upHning
measures is, in rea li ty, not tha t far removed f rom rny own
perspeet l ve: a sequent ial repet i t ion over ci pedéJ J UII!J 1 1 (·'3 cl
parallel harmonie progression üver a statie harmony, whl('fJ ln
turn irnplies polytonality.
Although there are many other aspects (J[ (JUl r J étIl(j(-:', t hdt
warrant attention, the subtle use of moUv(-'! as d IHllfylng
force in this composltion must be poiflt(~rj '.lU'. Thr' f 1 rI al
70 Guenther, V-..lrvara Dernova's "Garrnordla ~)y.rlablrla", I.).~()-~.
80
three notes of the initlal melodic idea have the intervallic
structure: mlnor 3rd down, maJor 3rd up. The upper-register
linkjng passag~, which develops out of the final statement of
the lnitial ldea, is comprised of that same motivic cell,
repeated twice at the initial pitch, and then sequenced in a
pattern of descending minor 3rds. Upon arriving at its goal
note, more repetition of the motivic cell occurs before slowly
coming to a haIt. The two-measure melodic idea at
of the very next block of musical material, starts 1.
very same motivic cell at the same pitch level as the last
repeat in the linking passage. In each of these reappearances
of the motivic cell, although the rhythmic context varies, it
is always the last note of the three-note cell that falls on
the strong beat. (In the linking passage this metric pattern
is dlsplaced somewhat by the effect of the syncopated
accompanying line.) And yet, in spite of aIl its appearances
(75 times in total throughout the work - and always in the
upper voice), this motivic cell does not become wearing or
tiresome. In fact, it is not particularly obvious at aIl; but
as a composltional device, it is used very artfully by
Scriabin as a ul11fying force ln this work.
81
The Preludas Opus 74
In these final preludes, in particular, nos. 1,2, and 4,
Scriabin' s compositional style, as related to his harmonie
language, becomes increasingly complex. At the same time in
nos. 2 and 4, there is apparent movement towards a sparscr
harmonie texture, as weIl as simpler rhythms and more
restrained registraI control. The mood of these composiliuns
is darker; the composer' s reaction to the political eVE"J)t S ot
1914 would seem to be apparent in these, his final
composi tions . In this thesis, analyses of opus 74 nos. 1 and
2 are presented.
Opus 74 No. 2
This prelude, referred to by Yavorsky as "the SWéHl song
of Scriabin' s soul, ,,7; is, in character, like amour flful
musette. (Ex. 38 and Appendix 3) The main me] odi(' Illdt (-'r ial
resembles a plaintive cry. It is accompanied, aftf~r iL'-~
initial statement, by a static drone-like ost Il1éllo j 1 CJurr~,
with a somewhat busier chromatic counlérpoint ITI tlu' lfIj(jdl('
register.
In thi s pre l ude, there i s no tran sposr::!d u:[;(·t j t lon
(usually at the tritone) of c'Jil'plete blr.;cks r)f mu"j(~dj
71 Bowers, The New Scr labln, p. 145, Dernova's Garmoniia Skriabina",
AIs 0 Gu (; fi t h ~ r, " ï d r 'J iJ ra p 53.
~
Ex_li Opua 7. no. 2 ,. '../ '\. /' ",
" ~t_ R''-,I
@7"l
.4
~'~ ' .. -., It" , ~ 1 Il ~-R ®, 'tl @., l '~··j).7- 7 --®- 7 @, -tl
1.7'/_7_ '" 11/ ",_ ,,, '13 \ 'S' '5,
5 I.,@, ______ '" '4, <i). ___ :J ____ 3 ~. -- 1 _ _ _ _ 1 .. _1 ~, /'- -J'~ )"- -(,.\ /\/ \-j'-\"</\ /'\/""1.1 .. _ 5--------./.<./"~);-'.-- -/ -·?~-·/.(7.6'\·-/-..~·7'\·/.( I! \
R R R rl- R-ilt-. R-R Il 1I---"l7--: 1 p,s ~-- tGI---
/13
,- •• ')4 ..... l' ~ j (14 "'- '3 ' :" '- ,_11-1 " q _q '1 ~ ~ '-- " 1 ~ R®, ~, Il -~, ~'!J.. n\ R,@. --- R-@) 7'13 R'@. '13 R® R-®.. -.s '.5-5 t
'." .. / """ ~. -- Il --.t.;;\
~7-~ 7'13 7.'3/7.13 13 '" 7 ~ 7·'3 '7,ta' 7, 3/®7' t3
~_ 3 R@
l ---- - ~. 3 ~ 1 - - .~ ~3· - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
/b9~- ;/'\- /~\~ /·'~1('4 1 0' 5(. / .. \ 7'\ -J'", -j/',\ -;/'\ --- - - - - - - -
~./"<LS:D:/"--: ,1 -:7 ,1 - .·?\:);\)"~:/~~~?Z; ------- ---IF,. G'II H G'12 f'
------ - ,.
83
material, whieh typically occurs in almost aU of thf" latt'l
Scriabin compositions. Harmonlcally, this complete wùr k Cêln
be analyzed over the root F#, with the eXl.'eptlon oi tOUI
instances, where the root of the harmony rnovl~s, fOl ha l f a
measure, ta G# (2nd half of meas. 4 and 8, lst half of meas.
11 and 12). The identity of the fundamentaJ root ls very
apparent; it is consistently present as a pedal in the bass.
This F# pedal is even sustained through the fou r i Ilst al1Cl\~;
where the root of the harmony changes. The iden t l t Y Cl t t Ill?
new root (G#) at these places is quite evjdent-; the SUppllT t iIlq
harmonie conf iguratlon immediately above the bdSS ha~; !. i mpl y
shi fted up a t one.
In this composition, however, the skpletal Frend
sixth is no longer present as the baslC harmonic sttu<:tun.'.
The French sixth, enharmonically two ma Jor 3rds éll the
distance of a tritone, has been replaced by a fundarnenLd 1
four-note harmonie sonority made up of two per [(:ct Sllis dl the
distance of a tritone. In the ten-note harmonie rnatnz, '[J(!sr-:
are the matrix rnembers R, 5, #4, and b9. The ~ and hl) .1((', (Jf
course, perfectly legitimate chord tones, bllt, li} t [If> }'(f'V 11)11';
examples ezamlned ln this thesis, they wI .... uJd (jr;CIJr III 1 h"
upper regIsrer of the harmonic fIeld. J fi t l'} l " 'tI' J r Y., l, ,1 1 l '1 t) 1)
replace the 3 and 7 of the French slzth; iU;ffI Ihl', 'JII",I}'(jlrll,
Op. 74 no. 2 is certa lnly more progress l ve. d r (:
a ct u a Il y st i Il st r 0 n 9 l Y r e pre sen t e d , ~ ',j e fi t h r .... Ij r p 1 tv' '/ ,Jr l' ri l, t
part of the skeletal ostinato/drcJfle f Igur(~.
84
belated appearance at the end of the third measure, but, from
that point. on, remalns clearly present, as a relterated chord
tone Hl the middle reglster, right up until the final
measures. The 7 i5 the goal note of the main melodic idea, as
welJ as being fairly strongly repre5ented in the chromatic
li ne that serves as a counterpoint to the main melodic idea.
The ostinato/drone figure, developing out of the initial
perfect 5th (R, 5) in the bass in measures 1 and 2, start s up
j n measure 3. The root is simply sustained and the 5 moves
simu l taneously t 0 #4 and b9, then back t 0 5, ln continuous
eighth-note motion. This pattern is strictly maintained for
12 measu [es bef ore ret urning, ln measure 15, to the opening
ba re 5th. Where the root changes to G#, the 5th, #4, and b9
simply move up atone. The bass at this point remains on F#
(7 of G#). The mot ion R - #4 - R etc., indicated ln the
voi ce-leadi ng chart, i s not, strict ly spea.l' ~ng, in the score.
(The low F# is al ways a repeated quarter note.) However, the
5trong aural perception of the undulating perfect 5ths, moving
[rom F#/C# to C/G, together with the fact that the root to #4
bass motlon is 50 characteristic of Scrlabin's later
composit Jons, is felt to be sufflcient justification for the
lnd 1 caLlon of the, perhaps in thlS case, theoretical bass
movem0l1l .
'l'hl:-' maIn (actually only) melodic idea is the opening
mel anchol y ph!.'Jse mov ing 1 after the initial quarter note,
85
simply in eighth notes. It consists of a Ieap up a m1.nor
3rd72 (#9 to #4) followed by descent, back down a minot" 3rd
( # 9), the n a ton e (b 9) 1 the n th r e e suc ces s ive sem i t 0 rll~ s ( R ,
#7, and 7) In measure 3, after the complet ion <..~t t bis
initial melodic statement as weIl as the commencement of the
ostinato/drone, the chromatic contrapuntal [iyure enLors Ln
the middle regi ster. After its initial appearance, as a
chromatic three-note descending figure in sixteenth nut es
moving on to the sustained Sb/Ai (3), it reappears Ln measure
4 in a simllar manner artlculating the #7, 7,13.
In measure 5, the initial melodic idea reocc;tn~~, t hi~~
time supported, not by the bare 5th but by the ostinaLo/d! (lne,
the reiterated 3, and the chromatlc contrapuntal lino. This
inner line now moves mostly in sixteenth notes and withollL é1ny
interruption by rests, meandering within a narrow range (a ·1th
- filling in R down to 5) and mirroring the s lower rnuv lnq
descent of the main melodic idea.
With the except i on of the ost ina toi dronc, rlIyLlun i c
activity ceases at the end of measure 6, as Lhe main mplodic
idea reaches its goal note. In measures 7 and 8, Ci r fJ~. tri 11 1 nq
of the chromatic contrapuntal figure occurs in (:.'xacL] / UI('
same manner as ln measures and 4. Thr: 1 Vii)
72 Actually an augmenr:ed 2nd. SCrlabln", sfJl-:lllfl'j lfl 'hl', pndude lS somewhat eccentrlC. A C~ Hl rnr'rJ<,lJr(; l, d', vlf:l] as ~!l the rlght (,and chromatic ]lne Jn IW~rJr,urr; -j, v/()lJld certalnly appE::'ar tü DI:: a more l rJCJlca 1 (;hr,l ';(~, f r {Jlfl t hr" perspective uf f-~ase of notatlr)Tl for thc:.' I..I r:! f'Jrrn(~r, tfldfJ
the B#. Yet in the 0stlnat:.o Dé:lSS, :~r;rl.:Ü)J[1 r/)fl~,1~,t(:rJ11'l
uses a cL where the B# (as #4) '{/{JIJ1~J IJ{..IrTlidll'i Lr· thc' custl:.,mary notatlonal ch01ce [or t_h~~ '_(JHlp()':.I~r, {!':[JI'(_J,j]]Y ln that regl.ster.
86
measures (9 and la) are essentially a repetition of measures
5 and 6; this time, however, the main melodie idea has been
transposed up a minor 3rd. During its descent in eighth
notes, the transposed melodic idea is now supported by a
parallel I1ne moving a mInor 3rd lower, i.e., at the origInal
pitch level. (If it was not for the fact that the first note
of the main melodic idea is not present, these 2 measures [9
and 10] could be understood as simply a repetition of measures
5 and 6, with the inclusion of a harmonizing 1ine a minor 3rd
higher. )
In measure 11, there is no slowing up of the rhythmic
act i vit y, a s in measure 7. The ost inato/ drone, rei terated
3rd, and inner counterpoint in sixteenth notes continue, but
here the root changes and the harmony fluetuates up and down
atone, over the F# pedalo The main melodie idea is not
present, but, in its place, a figure, moving in eighth notes,
art iculates the fi r st deseending interval (# 4 ta # 9) of the
main melodic idea. After chromatic motion back up, this
interval is re-articulated.
In measure 13, the eighth-note motion in the upper voice
stops, and, at the same time, thr chromatie contrapuntal 1ine
starts winding down. Aft _ r sorne interruption of the
contlnuous sixteenth-note activity by rests, the contrapuntal
1ine finally cornes ta rest with a repetitlon of the opening
three-notl' chromatic figure down to 3 (cf.,meas.3). In
measure 15 the ostinato/drone has eeased; the initial bare 5th
87
reappears to support the final statement of the pla int l Vl.~ Ct y.
A strong (though not perfect) symmetrlcal structulè Ls
present as the overall form in this prelude, aIl aspect of the
music that is quite apparent in the harmony and voice-leading
chart. The plaintlve cry plus bare 5th framps the
ostinato/drone, the boundaries of WhlCh frame the reltt't,lled
3rd (which enters and departs with # 4 -4 - 3) Wit h in t hi s
framework, the inner counterpoint line is placed, Jnd, aJmost
symmetrically superimposed on th is ent ire musical
configuration, are the three internaI melodie statemenls. 'l'he
highest note of complete piece occurs in thf:' sec ond (lf t h()s(!
statements and this note actua Il y occur s al t hr' (·;·:a cl li.! 1 f -wa y
point of the compos l tlon.
The nonharmonie tones (#7 and 4) that are present ln this
work are easily justified as sueh, occurring as eithpr passing
tones or as unaccented incomplete neighbour tones. The facL,
that the #5 and 9 can also consistently be under~,l ()()d d[;
either passing or neighbour tones, indlcates thal: an or.tat onk
understanding of thi s prel ude i s qui te Just i [i (.(j.
88
Opus 74 No .1
Jn this prelude (see Ex.39 and Appendix 473), widely
eonsidered to be the masterpiece of Scriabin' s final years,
harmonie and voice-leading considerations are at their most
intense. The subtit le Douloureux déchirant apt ly eapt ures the
despair and anguish port rayed in these concise sixteen
measures. The harmonie language in this prelude is dense, and
the harmonic rhythm, especially at the opening and i ts
reprise, is unusually fast. The melodic material consists
almost exclusively of chromatic motion. The one exception to
this is, of course, the bass line. This prelude is, however,
untypical ln that the bass l ine does not simply articulate the
root and # 4 of the prevai Ilng harmonies, but, in one sect ion
at least (meas. 4-7), plays a more melodic role beneath the
sustained l'oot in the upper voice.
This prelude is, in one sense, in a simple ternary form.
The first block of musical material consists of the opening
four rneasures - the A sectlon. This i s followed, st art ing
with the pick-up ta measure S, by a four-measure black of
cont t-asting musical materlal - the B section. At the pick-up
ta measure 9, a repetltlon of the opening A section occurs,
transpl)sl"d, typic31ly, to the tl'itone. The second half of the
lransp(\~'t.c>d A sect ion (the two measures starting with the pick-
'j
St."l' ,d s,-' E~. 24 and accompanying text for a discussion of the 0ctdtonicism ln this prelude.
7 __
iJ;- A Il
5 3 ~3 .. - --' ,-
.1 .... t
' •• 3 J3,7 ---'5 7
----rI 5/13-7 ------- -- -- --R 7-
1
.t------J R •• --------'Œ~
L"3 ~'----+-_~, _+ --.... -i-- +
n_7't3 '., 7 3------------------· 3------- -. ~3----
~t~7 ____ _
R
.4 R---- 4
\ R
1. -------R
\ R
5~3_____ •• - --
~--h··-.""-----R----__________ J
R--------
F. AI F. A2 c 3 4
•• -13 R ___________ -=-_/
.t ,-5-'
13-_____________ -
7
13'15 '5 _ ~U :--:-@":-=--l ___ ---"
7~ 5 ---'4
'~ 'R----I
\ .4
3
13-
,---- 3
~.::--::. - - - J - - -
7 ______.------- -- -- - •• _
---. 5 -'4~
7
.4
R--
--t-----~----.----------~--------_+-------I.~-------------4---C A~ 5 8 c 7 E. 8 C
't1J-R 7_
1 13.--7 1 5 ...........
-------j
5 1
'" 3 ll------~'t • .... " 3 __ .5.t3 l
5" " , ____ .J
.t l' . "
'lot U _7'13,
.5 l----------------~\
R lt.· _____ _
-~~ 7 '13 --'"---+-__ • ---4---.~ _ •• _ .-/
3 - . - • - - - - .t-............. .. ---"--7------- ---_//
R 5 ---""""":1 _________ ,/ 14
4 R---- - - - - - - -R-- - - - -R
~ \ \ ~. --~-
_1 Il
C f~' C f.JI
~------, " --" Il
It
fi Il 12
----~ -
-"~ .. ~------------
~. ',n_ ..... ----+-\-.• ~ .... ,_~_':~~II-----tl----------..... ··~7 ~~
/ -----------------~/ ~~7,a ___________ _ --'5
/'----,------------------------------------
F. 13 .( IS 16
91
up l0 mr~é:lC;. Il) then reoc:curs (pick-up to 13), and a final
repetillr)!1 ':If thlS two-measure fragment, with the upper voices
trans fer rf:,rj down an oct ave and wi th the "resolut ion" of the 13
to #5, serves as che closlng gesture.
The harmony and voice-leading chart, used in conjunction
with the score itself, illustrates, quite effectively, the
various harmonie and contrapuntal aspects of this extremely
complex musical st:.rueture. This composition is actually a
study in six-part polyphony.
The extreme dissonance that is present, particularly in
the vert ical sonorities in the A section, can be understood
from two dlstinct points of view. Firstly, the accented
nonharmonie tones that occur in the upper line, i.e., the #7
appoggLatura ln the opening ehord and #7 lower neighbour on
beat 3 of the fi rst measure, create a strong dissonance
particularly against the matrix members root and 7, both of
which are present in other voices.
Secondl y, and perhaps more important ly, di ssonance is
created by the consistent and deI iberate choice of the
speei fic spac ing of the harmonic struct ure beneath the
uppermost voice. For in this prelude, with the exception of
the first three measures of the contrasting B section, every
st ruet ural ve rt ica l sonor i ty has the rnost di ssonant minor 9th
interval present between the uppermost voice and sorne other
chard l11t .... mb(.;>r. (eg., in the opening chord - the E# [#7 top
voiee) dlJ,1inst the E~ [7 J, on the downbeat of measure 1 - the
G [7 top voice] against the F# [13], [these t\vO ChOl'OS then
reoccur], on the 3rd beat of meas. 2 - the Ab [#::. t op VOl L'L' 1
against the G [5 in this case actually a nllnot 16th bl'll1w],
and on the downbeat of measure 3 - tht: Bb ['7 top vo J Cl' J
against the at tacked and rei terated A [ 13] . ) The f l na 1
'resolution' note in the prelude can now be understood as ~
resolution of the dissonant minor 9th; a transposed versi Oll of
the last er:ample (c f. meas. 3) - the E ('! top vo i ce·) d<jd l fiS!
the 0# (13) resolves to a N (#5).
Considering the complexity of Scriabin' s harlllonie
language, it rnight E'l:em strange that a minor 9th should
necessarily be such a critical interval. The fact rc-"lTlêtins,
however, that the most sonorous spac ing that the cOlTlposer
deployed rarely included that interval, especiall y aga i nst the
uppermost note. The one e:.:ceptlon is the US(~ of o'J 1 t <",.J f
against the root, but, apart from this exception, the mlnor
9th was usually avoided as an interval Wl thin the chord,
unless a particular dissonance was considered desirable. Thp
inversion of the minor 9th (i.e., rnaj.7th) is far ](':';3
problernatic in thlS context. For th i s r e a sor J , êl S d , l ( . Ill'· r d J
rule, for the rnost sonorous spacing, 7 l s élvoi d,:,j abr)')I' J ~, 1'5
above #5, #5 above 5, 3 above #9, #9 above 9, étnd 9 abo'/(' b':L
As mentioned above the b9 above the root l S élfl eXCfnJL 1 (.in;
because of the tri t one equi valence inheren t:. j fi ;;(~ r ] al'., 1 ni,;
93
mus le, the 5 above # 4 5eems also to be l ess prob1ernat ie. 14
A~ ~xamination of the upper voiee in this prelude, brings
out sorne interesting aspects of voiee leading, as weIl as
present Inq sorne poss ible amblgui t ies as to the overall concept
of form in this prelude, as suggested above. The upper voice
moves almost exclusively in a chromatie 1ine which is
prirnarily ascending. From the opening, to the first beat in
meé3sure 3, the l ine ascends E# - F# G, and, after a
chromat i c; descent and re-ascent, continues on up, through Ab -
In the B sectlon, the line settles down through A_ to Ab
(the new root - beat 3 of rneasure 4). This lS the point in
the prelude, where the bass line relinqulshes temporarily the
charaeter i st ic RI # 4 motion. It supports the upper voiee Ab
(R) with a Gb (7), wh1ch then moves down a minor 3rd to Eb (5)
and then on ta 0 (# 4), before resuming i t s more eharaeterist ic
R/#4 motIon. On the eighth note before the 3rd beat of
measure 6, the top voice maves for the first time by leap
(min. 3r d) to Band then on by half-step to C. This melodic
mot ion cou Id, pet-haps, be understood as being derived from the
bass-line motlon ln measures 4 and 5 (mln.3rd plus semitone,
this Llme ascendIng as opposed to descending). The C (R) in
the upper VOlee IS agaln sl1stained (cf.,Ab [R) in meas.4), and
14 Jazz c0mposers and commercial arrangers have always been c011sciou5 of the partlcular dissonance created by the mi nor 9th. The avoidance of this interval against a me l od)' note is one of the basic rules ln this type of wrltlng.
94
the bass moves again to 7 through 5 to #4 (Bb-G-F#, 11\1n,3n1
plus semitone). On the last eighth note in measure 7, the
upper VOlee aseends ta a Db (7) as the bass nh .. 1Ves at t lw Sdlllt .. '
time down to Eb (R).
At this pOlnt, the ehord (whieh features a returll ut thl"'
dissonant embedded minor 9th) is reiterated twice. On the
second repetition, the upper voiee ascends to the D (#'l),
before skipping down a major 3rd to Bb (7 - new raot C, #4 in
bass), preparing for the start of the repr1 se of lia .. ' A
section. As the upper voiee ascends to the D, the chold
remains fundamentally the same, the 3 moves UfJ t 0 ~ and llH:' b9
moves up to 3, the only other change be ing lhe si 911 i t it'dnt
shift of the C (13) up to Db (7), which ereat("~ thE'
particularly dissonant parallel minor 9ths wi lh the upper
voice. The D~ (#7), oecurring on the second eighlh Ilote> in
measure 8, rather than being the elima>: note of the f J rst hd 1 f
as Perle suggests (see footnote 49), is much bel ter under !';Lund
as a simple escape tone. Its metric placement, hr le f
duration, and position in the specifie melodic con! ClIJr of
beats 1 and 2 in measure 8, leave no doubt as to its i dent.. i t y.
The ehromatie aseent in the upper V(JJ ce CUII!.. 1 nu(.:~;
(obviously) in the reprise of the apeninq. Thr: Cb ll"'dd', il"')
the B~, which ascends lo an E (in the sarn'-:, lIlaLn(:r 'hr: 1111 t 1 d 1
E# aseended to Sb in measures 1- 3). The fi na] t hn!(: ';!J.p'" l)
- D# - E, are repeated before shifting down an 0st..aV0 f0! th~
second final repetition. The upper line, th(~r(::fon~, in th]~:
95
pre l Udé, C0n s ist s of a complete chromat l c ascent f rom the
InItial E# ur"' a maJor 7th lO th\? E~ (meas .11 and 13) .
fl has been observed that one characterlstic of
Scriabin'c, music is that it does not fit easlly into the
conventional teJnporal context, and that, very often, it is the
beginnings and endings of Scriabin's compositions that were
the least satisfactory. Very rarely would Scriabin employ a
con vent i ond l mus i cal i nt roduct ion. The in i tia l struct urally
important musIcal materlal tends to appear immedlately, almost
abru~tly, at the start. In a similar way there is usually no
sense of wi nding down towards a conventlonal ending; the music
frequentJy will simply stop. Hugh Macdonald states:
Skryabln's best music, in my view, is thus motionless and stagnant, suspended ln tIme, not progressing forwards in the harmonic or rhythmic sense ... Music that does not move forwcHd cannot end, and thus we find many pieces weakened by poor fInal cadences ... Notice how artificlal the final F# major ending of Prometneus is: it is not an ending it is a method of stopping, no more. ')
Bowers concurs with this view:
Scrinhin' s flaw for aIl his existence was sense of endi ng. The f j nale of the F irst poo!" beyond belief. Prometheus, alas, supc' r-na l sound has no t rue ending ei t her. hal t,.; . "
a lack of a Symphony was for aIl i ts
H ... merely
Bowers dl'~o provldes thlS tell1ng quote by the composer
'~ Hugh MacDonald, "Skryabin' s Conquest of Time," in Alexander Sknabin, edi-::'ed by Otto Kolleritsch (Graz: Universal EditIon, 1980), p.64.
FaubLll1 l~owers, ScriabIn: Biography of the Russian Cornp,-'se t- (Tok yo: Kodansha Int. Ltd., 1969), vol. 2, p. 27 \.~.
hillself.
qG
Ina dis cu s S l 0 n th a t Sc ria b III h d d ln t 11 Sc Il h' " .: l' t
co fi \.: e r n i n 9 0 pus 7 4 no. 2, Sc ria b i n ex cl.) l m (> d , " S t? t' Il,") w \ III "
s ho r t 1-' 1. e l u des 0 und sas i f l t las t san ~'11 t 1 r-t._, l' t ' [l t \11 Y .'
Actually lt lS all eternity, mill ions of ye,11 S •• "
l suggest that, perhaps, there i~ contrdpunlal l'Vldl'Ilce
for this more esoteric understanding of Scrlabll1' S aest lw\ ie
in opus 74 no. 1 . The complete prel ude i s c Ipd r l y .1
contrapuntal/harmonic unfolding, the uppet part ur which I11l)Vt'~:
chromatically from an E# up to an E_. The fjnal r-epe\ ILI()I! \lf
the chromatic motive, 0 - 0# - E, js transfcé'rr("d dUWI! .If!
octave. This reoccurrence, although a characLerlsLic
Scriabinesque closing gesture, whp!) consider ed in the li 'jht of
the consistent chromatlc ascent with1n a str l ct ly det 1 fled
range, is, perhaps, more than just a somewhat awkward encliflCJ.
After many repeat ed hea rings of th i s pre l ude i t bt_~corn(~s
noticeable that the final chord leads very conv l nc ing l y i Ilto
the opening chard. Of course, the open ing and clos i ng
harmonies of countless compositions, includiny t-hl..S prl?ludl',
share the same ident i t Y and, thereby, prov i d(- an au rd 1 l i Ilk
across the boundarles ot the piece. [n thl'; (.ornf!(J',lf j'ifl,
ho w e ver, Sc ria b i n ha s s u pp 11 e d , a t t h ~ sa rn F~ t 1 rnr: , d P' J ' , '; Il) J (.
contrapuntal l ink f rom the end to the bé9J [HI 1119. ('l'hr· /) -[, /1 -
E leads into the E# - F# - G.)
At the opening of this section,
evident ternary form in this composi t iCifl.
77. Ibid., vo1.2, p.265.
97
h0l;J(~'I(~r, that, at the same time, thlS work, wlth its abrupt
'-; t a r l , d'li r. '1/ a rd fin i s h , and 0 ver a Il s h ct pe w ~ th i t s var i 0 us
rnÎ~ l orl j (_ / hrj rrnon l C goa l '3, pe rhaps has di f feren t boundaries (or
p0rfl,'jps rio boundarles at all) marking the true start and
i i fi j sh 0 f th l s work. l s the clos ing gest ure a re- int rodur:tion
(or (~ven the introduction)? Scriabin cou Id, of course, sirnply
have used repeat signs to make this conne--.:tion at least once,
for the listener. This, though, would have been too blatant,
perhaps eVf':!n crass, f or the composer who could concei ve of a
short prelude sounding as if it lasted "an entire century
.. . all eternity."/H
Conclusion
The octatonic scale is, assuredly, an important eight
note collection in Scriabin' s concept of pitch organization,
but it ls certainly not the key to an understanding of aIl of
his finai works. Kelkel' s presentation of the evolutionary
stages Clf lhe "accord synthétique" is surely valid as an array
of chaLiCledstic harrnonlc sO .. oritles found ln the post-
Pro!l1ethe'US Scriabin compositions. But, at the same t irne,
wi t hout at lempt lng to e:~plaln the general prlnciples from
whieh these chords are generated, especially in the later
evolutlLl I1ary stages, Kelkel' s work suffers from being both
See footnote 77.
qs
somewhat illogical and of Ilmited value. Denwva' s trit"0I1t-'
link progression, although definltely important in SCliLlbin's
earlier works, becomes less relevant in t ht' 1 a t'~r
composi t ions. As the composer' s hannonlC languase b\'('L~IIle~,
more complex and, élt the same tlme, lI1CreaSlrlg1y stdLk, tlll'
two chords of the tritone link are seen ta coalescC' InlJl a
single harmonie field.
The concept of the ten-note, octat0f1 ic/wholl'-t::::l!lt',
harmonie matrix, derived from a eombination of cC'rt clin
principles of Dernova and, to a lesser extent, Kelkel, is thp
basis from whieh the pitch organizatlon in Scriabjn's 1 in.)1
works ean be underst ood. l t i salsa f rom Lill s pe r sp<,ct- i VI'
that an accu rate evaluation of the octatonicism j n th2se
compositions is 8asily attained.
In this thesis, l have presented a model for mus ie
analysis that l believe to be especially suitable for deal J nq
wi th the final works of Scr iabln. It was lInportafit for 1lI(!
that thi~ analytical tool should be useful, flot jUDt" d'. (j way
to understand theoretieally the various musical slrucliur.':; ITl
his work, but should also refleet elosely the 11 ~JLr'nc~r' '. dur ,ll
pereept lon of a performance 0 f the mus i c. Th(:, '.la r ]()1j '; r;!Jd r L;
presented in this thesis, even though t-hci' do fl'j! IJ''('
extensive musical notat.ion, actually refll'.'cL UJI: [JJtr_fJ eJd','J",
in the mUSlC, both reglstrally and temporétlly, rnr.JU': acr;urdt ('1,/
than the scores themsel 'les. Each cha rt,
conjunction with both a copy of the score and! r.:(;r.JrdJ [l'] ,)i t hr,
99
\IIork, J 1 l 'j~t rates Scr l abin' s concept of harmony, as weIl as
his inher~nc prlneiples of voiee leading.
Aftp.r having do ne prel iminary work on aIl of the
compositions eomprislng op~s 71 - 74 , l have found that in
rnost of them, this type of analysis proved to be
convinc i nq. l') It is hoped t hat the ideas presented in this
thesis will stimulate the reader to further investigate the
compositions of this profound, yet enigmatic, composer.
The exceptions being: Op.71 nO.l - includes problematic nonharmonic tones, and Op.74 no.4 - the root identity is not readi l y apparent. yers la Flamme op. Î 2, though not problematic, is somewhat exceptional in that lt includes #7 instead of 7 in the final sonority (see footnote 41).
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Appendix 1
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~ r~ .~I •• ~ _~
CD
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Appendix 1 cont.
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- --
Appendix 2
Avec une grâce lolnguissinte •
Guirlandes 0,711'1"
Il .... . ........................... ~~~~~: .......................... . presto
I~
~- ,~-ritard.
1 .1
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6/,nI == ==_~ rtrf""l
el. ~~ " . v~ J ,.
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Appendix 2 cont.
nt
2 cont.
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--~------------------------
Appendix 3
Op 74 Sr ~
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--------- -----
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Appendix 4
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