Part 5 (1/2)

Truly a reat medieval cathedral!

CHAPTER IV

THE MUSICAL SENTENCE

Before passing on to an explanation of the fundaive some idea of the constituent parts of the _Period_ in ht line, the curve, the arch, the poetic stanza and the prose sentence Just as poetry and prose are a series of stanzas or sentences, so a anized portions of thought and emotion, in terms of rhythm and sound In the heart of a coreat freedoy, comparable to blank verse or to a rhapsodic kind of prose; but with few exceptions, such as a Fantasie, every coins_ with one or two periods which, in regard to subdivision, balance and directness of statement, are carefully planned and are coently the structure of a ain a clear idea of what is meant by the frequently used terms Tonality and Modulation Since the evolution and acceptance of our three modern scales:[44] the ained their sanction chiefly through the investigations and compositions of Bach and Ra harmony are said to be in a certain ”tonality” (or ”key”) which takes its na_, C, E-flat, F sharp, etc Hence this first tone is called the Tonic or chief tone and from it ascend the other tones of the scale That is, a melody in E-flat major will employ only those tones found in the scale of E-flat major, and is said to be in that ”key,” or ”tonality” The same would be true of the harmony involved, _ie_, the chords would consist of combinations of the different tones of this scale When a melody, as is often the case, employs tones _not_ found in the scale in question, these are called _chroes, and may or may not effect a ”_

[Music]

[Footnote 44: It is assuht, an instinctive knowledge of the grouping of tones and semitones in our e are reco's _Harmony_, and to the chapter on Scales in Parry's _Evolution of the Art of Music_]

[Footnote 45: Color in h their use]

Theunity and coherence in a composition is to have it written in a clearly defined tonality, especially at the outset This definite tonality is the ”centre of gravity,” so to speak, about which the whole composition revolves If this tonal centre were uncertain or wandering, we should have a feeling of vagueness and perplexity which, except for special drareat composers Thus we speak of a Symphony in C minor, of a Quartet in F major and of a Sonata in B-flatco There is also a particular aesthetic effect and color-appeal associated with each key; and the listener should train himself to be sensitive to the brilliance of such keys as D nity of E-flatsweetness of D-flat ic depth of Bin the same key; for music cuts so deeply into the consciousness that there would result an intolerable s, therefore, we often find es of tonal centre which are technically called ”Modulations” All the keys founded on the twelve se degrees of closeness; and in modern music, no matter how complex the modulations often sound, we may be sure that the composer plans them as carefully as the painter adjusts his color-scheme For definite acoustical[48]

and hariven tonal centre are those situated a perfect fifth above--the Dominant; a perfect fifth below--the Subdominant; and the Relative Minor, the key-note of which is a _, A minor in relation to C major, C minor to E-flat major The relative minors of the Dominant and Subdoiven tonic; and into these _five_ keys is e majority of the modulations in any piece of music[49]

[Music:

Subdominant Tonic Dominant

Relative Relative Relative Minor Minor Minor]

[Footnote 46: As for exareat co_, Mendelssohn in the first th of the portion in Ain its effect Coold_; where, however--for dramatic purposes--to depict the world as ”without forner remains in the key of E-flat major for some 150 measures!]

[Footnote 48: It is left to the teacher to explain, by the ratios found in the overtones of the Harmonic Series, the validity of this state_, Calvacoressi (see the New Music Review for Septeht that the dominant relationshi+p was ”overworked” It is true that the great charm of modern music is its freedom and boldness in modulation; but the dominant keys can never be entirely abandoned, for the relationshi+p between them and a tonic is as elemental as that between the colors of the spectroscope]

Beginning with Beethoven, a modulation into what are known as the _mediant_ keys becae in allthose situated half-way between a Tonic and Do_

[Music: Sub-mediant Mediant]

Anyone at all familiar with Beethoven's style will re the more conventional line of dominant relationshi+p, is in a mediant key Good examples may be found in the first movement of the _Waldstein Sonata_ and in the first and last ht will make clear that the relationshi+ps just set forth include nearly all the possible ones save those of 2nds and 7ths Even into these apparently distant keys, _eg_, to D-flat major or to B major from C major, modulations may easily be made by means of the ”enharmonic”[50] relationshi+p found in that frequently used _

[Music: C major B major C major D-flat major]

[Footnote 50: Two tones are said to be ”enharh written differently, they sound the same on an instru_, D-sharp and E-flat, E and F-flat A violin, however, can make a distinction between such notes and often does]

Next to rhyth element in reat unless it abounds in beautiful modulations Certain coenius than others--notably Schubert, Chopin, Wagner and Franck whose ht But just as Unity depends upon a definite basic tonality, so Variety is gained by this very freedom of modulation Without it isrestlessness By the perfect balance in his works of these two related elenized

The simplest and on the whole most frequent type of htphrases of four measures[51] each--the cos soon to be explained These four-h not invariably, still further subdivided into two sections of two measures each Let us now corroborate these state sentence of the Scherzo of Beethoven's _Second Sonata for Pianoforte_ This concise sentence is an epitoanicbroken chord twice repeated We see also

[Music]

the first phrase of 4 th, alike subdivided into two sections of 2 measures each In the third measure we find a modulation into the dominant key (indicated by the D-sharp) and in the fourthin this key The second--or after--phrase corresponds exactly to what has gone before: we have the same repetition of the motive in a different part of the scale; and finally, in the 8th

[Footnote 51: This assertion holds for arian and Scotch music we find a natural fondness for phrases of _three_ measures, and the Croatians are known for their phrases of _five_ measures so often used by both Haydn and Schubert