The Rise of 6 in the Nineteenth Century
B. Practice: Classical 6 6 1. Typical Contexts
3. Nineteenth-Century Extensions
Classical 6 appears to have grown in popularity in the nineteenth century, for instance as a versatile appoggiatura, whether 6–5 over I or 9–8 over V7 (ex. 1.12). The figuration in example 1.13, however, a tonic arpeggio decorated with 6, resembles something more like an undifferentiated tonal set—the added sixth appears not as the highest note, but as part of a continuous descent. The behavior of the note itself, resolving down to 5, adheres to the tradition, of course, but its coloristic use displays an innovative and distinctly Romantic sen-sibility. Another indication of 6’s expanded use is example 1.14, where Schubert’s elegant appoggiaturas open each phrase, in blithe disregard for the conventions of musical beginnings. The sixth degree, indeed, became a verit-able hallmark of the salon and ballroom styles: the waltzes of Chopin and Strauss (exx. 1.15 and 1.16) are peppered with these characteristic appoggiaturas on 6 (again, over both I and V7), no doubt harking back to the spirit of folk dance t h e r i s e o f 6 i n t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y ❧ 2 5
Example 1.11. Haydn, String Quartet, op. 50 #6 (1788), Minuet, mm. 6–9.
V56 I
cresc.
Example 1.12. Beethoven, Symphony #6 (1808), i, mm. 67–74.
Example 1.16. Johann Strauss, Jr., Donauweibchen (1888), #2, mm. 5–10.
Example 1.13. Chopin, Prelude in F major (1839), mm. 1–2.
Example 1.14. Schubert, Piano Sonata, D. 664 (1819), ii, mm. 1–5.
3
Example 1.15. Chopin, Waltz, op. 18 (1832), mm. 22–27.
and the world of Schubert’s Ländler (see chapter 2). The Strauss example (ex. 1.16) demonstrates an increased freedom in usage—more “harmonic” than
“melodic”—but an eventual resolution to 5 does occur.
The flourishing of added sixth chords in the nineteenth century hardly required deliberate cultivation: in reference to triadic harmony, the sixth is, after all, the only chordal additive that forms a consonance with the root.
Although we cannot always distinguish between appoggiaturas and true added sixths, the two concepts are useful ones; if the Chopin Prelude discussed earlier (ex. 1.13) and the Strauss here represent stepping-stones from the one tech-nique to the other, example 1.17 continues this trend, while the famous last chord of Mahler’s “Der Abschied” (ex. 1.18) represents its apotheosis: the added sixth does not resolve, but remains forever, “ewig.” We will revisit the tonic added sixth in chapter 4, in connection with harp music.
Nineteenth-century composers’ seeming infatuation with 6, and the evolution from 6–5 appoggiaturas to the use of additive harmony, are but two remarkable t h e r i s e o f 6 i n t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y ❧ 2 7
Iadd6 8va
Example 1.17. Fauré, Barcarolle, op. 44 (1886), mm. 99–101.
Iadd6
Example 1.18. Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde (1908), “Der Abschied,” end.
C. Practice Against Theory: Non-Classical 6 6 1. Preliminary Examples
Ever since its premiere in 1830, Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique has commanded attention for its revolutionary approaches to orchestration, harmony, form, and program. One small innovation may be added to this list, a detail that appears at the end of the first movement (ex. 1.19): a plagal cadence with melodic 6–8.
Although one may discern a more classical 6–5 just below the contrapuntal sur-face—and the final chord, I/5 encourages this (see the reduction in example 1.19)—the foreground melody in these unassuming measures constitutes the highly notable public debut of cadential 6–8.33Indeed, table 1.1’s sampling of plagal cadences before Berlioz reveals an unwavering preference for stepwise or oblique motion in the melody, whether 6–5, 4–3, or 1–1, the three melodic par-adigms given by A. B. Marx.34This preference reflects the modal norms estab-lished above and underscores the essentially ornamental nature of these cadences as voice-leading prolongations of tonic harmony. Nineteenth-century composers, on the other hand, embraced the leaping 6–8 cadence as a novel and compelling gesture in its own right. Table 1.2 cites several instances, some of which will be discussed below.35(To obviate any potential confusion: what I refer to in the remainder of this book as the cadential “6–8” [melody] should
religioso
Example 1.19 (⫽P292). Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique (1830–32), i, end (with reduction).
not be mistaken for the cadential “6–8” [contrapuntal intervals] of medieval music.)
As will be explained in chapter 3, the 6–8 cadence embodied a uniquely Romantic spirituality for Berlioz and many others: the Protestant “Amen” con-flated with the minor-third shapes of Catholic liturgical intonation. But the t h e r i s e o f 6 i n t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y ❧ 2 9
Table 1.1. Major-mode terminal plagal cadences to 1828.
Soprano
Arcadelt Ave Maria 1–1
Bach B-minor Mass, Credo 4–3
Handel Messiah, “And the Glory” 4–3
Messiah, “Lift Up Your Heads” 6–5
Messiah, “Hallelujah” 1–1
Anthem “O Be Joyful in the Lord,” HWV 246
#5 “O Go Your Way” 4–3
#8 “As It Was in the Beginning” 6–5 Anthem “I Will Magnify Thee,” HWV 250a 4–3 Anthem “I Will Magnify Thee,” HWV 250b 4–3 Anthem “As Pants the Hart,” HWV 251a 4–3 Anthem “As Pants the Hart,” HWV 251b 4–3 Anthem “As Pants the Hart,” HWV 251d 4–3 Anthem “My Song Shall Be Always,” HWV 252 4–3 Anthem “Let God Arise,” HWV 256a 1–1 Anthem “Let God Arise,” HWV 256b 4–3
Haydn Missa brevis in F, Benedictus 4–3
Missa brevis in G 1–1
Monteverdi Vespers, SV 206, i 6–5
Mozart Mass, K. 49, Agnus Dei 6–5
Mass, K. 167, Agnus Dei 6–5
Mass, K. 167, Gloria 6–5
Mass, K. 192, Agnus Dei 6–5
Mass, K. 258, Agnus Dei 6–5
Palestrina Missa Papae Marcelli 4–3
Purcell Te Deum and Jubilate in D, Z. 232 1–1
Schubert Mass #1 in F, Gloria 6–5
Mass #1 in F, Benedictus 6–5
“German Mass,” D. 872b 1–1
Antiphon for Palm Sunday, D. 696 #3 6–5 Antiphon for Palm Sunday, D. 696 #6 4–3
Salve regina, D. 386 1–1
cadence is found in a wide variety of pieces, not always explicitly programmatic, and in general the 6–5 foreground connection is altogether absent—both indications of the extent to which this development earned its place among the fundamentals of musical procedure. A contrapuntal reduction of example 1.20, for instance, would necessarily describe a connection between the melodic 6 and the ensuing inner-voice 5,36but this connection requires of the listener slightly
Berlioz “Hélène” (P231) Chopin Etude in D major, op. 25 #8
Nocturne in C minor, op. 27 #1 (P305)
Fauré Requiem, “Pie Jesu” (P300)
Gade Comala, #1 (mm. 2–3) (P51)
Gounod Messe solennelle #4 in G minor, Agnus Dei (P316) Messe brève in C, Gloria (mm. 41–42) (P317)
“Les Naïades” (P98) Requiem, “Pie Jesu” (P318) Grieg “Bell-Ringing,” op. 54 #6 (P152)
Liszt Sposalizio (P301) Mahler Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (P195)
Massenet “Lève-toi”
Puccini Gianni Schicchi, “O mio babbino caro” (P296) Messa di gloria, “Et incarnatus est” (P321)
Reyer “À un Berceau” (P216)
Saint-Saens “Le Matin”
Piano Concerto #5, i Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet (P295)
Wagner Lohengrin, Prelude to Act 1 (P315)
more imagination than does the Berlioz (or more still, than the Bach above, ex. 1.5). In fact, the melodic 6–8 here acts as a salient cadential “answer” to the preceding, inversionally related 5–3 (itself a quasi-cadential Ländler gesture—
more on this in chapter 2). By its very nature—that of an ending—a 6–8 cadence typically lacks any subsequent opportunity to evince the implicit neighbor rela-tion 6–5. That is, short of an extension-cum-explanarela-tion (as in the Berlioz), one must imagine the descent to 5 (or settle for its fulfillment in an inner part), rather than merely await it—a not uncommon circumstance in contrapuntal music, but one that helps to gauge the congruity of theory with practice and, by implication, to gauge the expressive content of such moments.