Locrian mode
Encyclopedia
The Locrian mode is either a musical mode
or simply a diatonic scale
. Although the term occurs in several classical authors on music theory, including Cleonides (as an octave species) and Athenaeus
(as an obsolete harmonia), there is no warrant for the modern usage of Locrian as equivalent to Glarean's
Hyperaeolian mode, in either classical, Renaissance, or later phases of modal theory through the 18th century, or modern scholarship on ancient Greek musical theory and practice. The name first came to be applied to modal chant theory in the 19th century, when it was used to describe the mode newly numbered as mode 11, with final on B, ambitus
from that note to the octave above, and with semitones therefore between the first and second, and fourth and fifth degrees. Its reciting tone
(or tenor) is G, its mediant
D, and it has two participants: E and F. The final, as its name implies, is the tone on which the chant eventually settles, and corresponds to the tonic in tonal music. The reciting tone is the tone around which the melody principally centres, the mediant is named from its position between the final and reciting tone, and the participant is an auxiliary note, generally adjacent to the mediant in authentic modes and, in the plagal forms, coincident with the reciting tone of the corresponding authentic mode.
In modern practice, the Locrian may be considered to be a minor scale
with the second and fifth scale degrees lowered a semitone
. The Locrian mode may also be considered to be a scale beginning on the seventh scale degree of any Ionian
, or major scale
. The Locrian mode has the formula 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Its tonic chord is a diminished triad (Bdim in the Locrian mode of the diatonic scale corresponding to C major).
Some examples:
, which is considered dissonant. This is because the interval between the root
and fifth of the chord is a diminished fifth
. For example, the tonic triad of B Locrian is made from the notes B, D, F. The root is B and the fifth is F. The diminished-fifth interval between them is the cause for the chord's dissonance.
The name "Locrian" is taken from music theory of ancient Greece
. However, what is now called the Locrian mode was what the Greeks called the Diatonic Mixolydian tonos. The Greeks used the term "Locrian" as an alternative name for their "Hypodorian", or "Common" tonos, with a scale running from mese to nete hyperbolaion, which in its diatonic genus corresponds to the modern Aeolian mode
. In his reform of modal theory in the Dodecachordon (1547), Heinrich Glarean
named this division of the octave "Hyperaeolian" and printed some musical examples (a three-part polyphonic example specially commissioned from his friend Sixtus Dietrich, and the Christe from a mass by Pierre de La Rue
), though he did not accept Hyperaeolian as one of his twelve modes. The usage of the term "Locrian" as equivalent to Glarean's Hyperaeolian or the ancient Greek (diatonic) Mixolydian, however, has no authority before the 19th century.
(Prelude in B minor, op. 32, no. 10
), Hindemith
(Ludus Tonalis
), and Sibelius
(Symphony no. 4 in A minor, op. 63
) that have been, or may be, regarded as in the Locrian mode.
Debussy's Jeux has three extended passages in the Locrian mode.
The theme of the second movement ("Turandot Scherzo") of Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber (1943) alternates sections in Mixolydian
and Locrian modes, ending in Locrian.
Musical mode
In the theory of Western music since the ninth century, mode generally refers to a type of scale. This usage, still the most common in recent years, reflects a tradition dating to the middle ages, itself inspired by the theory of ancient Greek music.The word encompasses several additional...
or simply a diatonic scale
Diatonic scale
In music theory, a diatonic scale is a seven note, octave-repeating musical scale comprising five whole steps and two half steps for each octave, in which the two half steps are separated from each other by either two or three whole steps...
. Although the term occurs in several classical authors on music theory, including Cleonides (as an octave species) and Athenaeus
Athenaeus
Athenaeus , of Naucratis in Egypt, Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourished about the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century AD...
(as an obsolete harmonia), there is no warrant for the modern usage of Locrian as equivalent to Glarean's
Heinrich Glarean
Heinrich Glarean was a Swiss music theorist, poet and humanist. He was born in Mollis and died in Freiburg....
Hyperaeolian mode, in either classical, Renaissance, or later phases of modal theory through the 18th century, or modern scholarship on ancient Greek musical theory and practice. The name first came to be applied to modal chant theory in the 19th century, when it was used to describe the mode newly numbered as mode 11, with final on B, ambitus
Ambitus
In ancient Roman law, ambitus was a crime of political corruption, mainly a candidate's attempt to influence the outcome of an election through bribery or other forms of soft power...
from that note to the octave above, and with semitones therefore between the first and second, and fourth and fifth degrees. Its reciting tone
Reciting tone
In chant, a reciting tone is a repeated musical pitch around which the other pitches of the chant gravitate, or by extension, the entire melodic formula that centers on one or two such pitches. In Gregorian chant, reciting tones are used for a number of contexts, including the chanting of psalm...
(or tenor) is G, its mediant
Mediant
In music, the mediant is the third scale degree of the diatonic scale, being the note halfway between the tonic and the dominant. Similarly, the submediant is halfway between the tonic and subdominant...
D, and it has two participants: E and F. The final, as its name implies, is the tone on which the chant eventually settles, and corresponds to the tonic in tonal music. The reciting tone is the tone around which the melody principally centres, the mediant is named from its position between the final and reciting tone, and the participant is an auxiliary note, generally adjacent to the mediant in authentic modes and, in the plagal forms, coincident with the reciting tone of the corresponding authentic mode.
In modern practice, the Locrian may be considered to be a minor scale
Minor scale
A minor scale in Western music theory includes any scale that contains, in its tonic triad, at least three essential scale degrees: 1) the tonic , 2) a minor-third, or an interval of a minor third above the tonic, and 3) a perfect-fifth, or an interval of a perfect fifth above the tonic, altogether...
with the second and fifth scale degrees lowered a semitone
Semitone
A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically....
. The Locrian mode may also be considered to be a scale beginning on the seventh scale degree of any Ionian
Ionian mode
Ionian mode is the name assigned by Heinrich Glarean in 1547 to his new authentic mode on C , which uses the diatonic octave species from C to the C an octave higher, divided at G into a fourth species of perfect fifth plus a third species of perfect fourth : C D...
, or major scale
Major scale
In music theory, the major scale or Ionian scale is one of the diatonic scales. It is made up of seven distinct notes, plus an eighth which duplicates the first an octave higher. In solfege these notes correspond to the syllables "Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti/Si, ", the "Do" in the parenthesis at...
. The Locrian mode has the formula 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Its tonic chord is a diminished triad (Bdim in the Locrian mode of the diatonic scale corresponding to C major).
Some examples:
- The B Locrian mode starts on B and contains the same notes as the C Major scale. (B, C, D, E, F, G, A, B)
- The E Locrian mode starts on E and contains the same notes as the F Major scale. (E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E)
- The G Locrian mode starts on G and contains the same notes as the A Major scale. (G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G)
- The F Locrian mode starts on F and contains the same notes as the G Major scale. (F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F )
Overview
The Locrian mode is the only modern diatonic mode in which the tonic triad is a diminished chordDiminished chord
A diminished triad chord or diminished chord is a triad consisting of two minor thirds above the root — if built on C, a diminished chord would have a C, an E and a G. It resembles a minor triad with a lowered fifth....
, which is considered dissonant. This is because the interval between the root
Root (chord)
In music theory, the root of a chord is the note or pitch upon which a triadic chord is built. For example, the root of the major triad C-E-G is C....
and fifth of the chord is a diminished fifth
Tritone
In classical music from Western culture, the tritone |tone]]) is traditionally defined as a musical interval composed of three whole tones. In a chromatic scale, each whole tone can be further divided into two semitones...
. For example, the tonic triad of B Locrian is made from the notes B, D, F. The root is B and the fifth is F. The diminished-fifth interval between them is the cause for the chord's dissonance.
The name "Locrian" is taken from music theory of ancient Greece
Music of Ancient Greece
The music of ancient Greece was almost universally present in society, from marriages and funerals to religious ceremonies, theatre, folk music and the ballad-like reciting of epic poetry. It thus played an integral role in the lives of ancient Greeks...
. However, what is now called the Locrian mode was what the Greeks called the Diatonic Mixolydian tonos. The Greeks used the term "Locrian" as an alternative name for their "Hypodorian", or "Common" tonos, with a scale running from mese to nete hyperbolaion, which in its diatonic genus corresponds to the modern Aeolian mode
Aeolian mode
The Aeolian mode is a musical mode or, in modern usage, a diatonic scale called the natural minor scale.The word "Aeolian" in the music theory of ancient Greece was an alternative name for what Aristoxenus called the Low Lydian tonos , nine semitones...
. In his reform of modal theory in the Dodecachordon (1547), Heinrich Glarean
Heinrich Glarean
Heinrich Glarean was a Swiss music theorist, poet and humanist. He was born in Mollis and died in Freiburg....
named this division of the octave "Hyperaeolian" and printed some musical examples (a three-part polyphonic example specially commissioned from his friend Sixtus Dietrich, and the Christe from a mass by Pierre de La Rue
Pierre de La Rue
Pierre de la Rue , called Piersson, was a Franco-Flemish composer and singer of the Renaissance. A member of the same generation as Josquin des Prez, and a long associate of the Habsburg-Burgundian musical chapel, he ranks with Agricola, Brumel, Compère, Isaac, Obrecht, and Weerbeke as one of the...
), though he did not accept Hyperaeolian as one of his twelve modes. The usage of the term "Locrian" as equivalent to Glarean's Hyperaeolian or the ancient Greek (diatonic) Mixolydian, however, has no authority before the 19th century.
Examples
There are brief passages in works by RachmaninovSergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...
(Prelude in B minor, op. 32, no. 10
Preludes, Op. 32 (Rachmaninoff)
Thirteen Preludes , Op. 32, is a set of thirteen preludes for solo piano, composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1910.-Works in this opus:Opus 32 contains 13 preludes:*No. 1 in C major *No. 2 in B flat minor...
), Hindemith
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
(Ludus Tonalis
Ludus Tonalis
Ludus Tonalis , subtitled Kontrapunktische, tonal, und Klaviertechnische Übungen , is a piano work by Paul Hindemith that was composed in 1942 during his stay in the United States.The piece starts with a three-part Praeludium in C resembling Bach's toccatas, and ends with a Postludium...
), and Sibelius
Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. His mastery of the orchestra has been described as "prodigious."...
(Symphony no. 4 in A minor, op. 63
Symphony No. 4 (Sibelius)
The Symphony No. 4 in A minor, Op. 63, is one of seven completed symphonies composed by Jean Sibelius. Written between 1910 and 1911, it was premiered in Helsinki on 3 April 1911 by the Philharmonia Society, with Sibelius conducting....
) that have been, or may be, regarded as in the Locrian mode.
Debussy's Jeux has three extended passages in the Locrian mode.
The theme of the second movement ("Turandot Scherzo") of Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber (1943) alternates sections in Mixolydian
Mixolydian mode
Mixolydian mode may refer to one of three things: the name applied to one of the ancient Greek harmoniai or tonoi, based on a particular octave species or scale; one of the medieval church modes; a modern musical mode or diatonic scale, related to the medieval mode.-Greek Mixolydian:The idea of a...
and Locrian modes, ending in Locrian.
Further reading
- Bárdos, Lajos. 1976. "Egy 'szomorú' hangnem: Kodály zenéje és a lokrikum". Magyar zene: Zenetudományi folyóirat 17, no. 4 (December): 339–87.
- Nichols, Roger, and Richard Langham Smith. 1989. Claude Debussy, Pelléas et Mélisande. Cambridge Opera Handbooks. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521314466
- Rahn, Jay. 1978. "Constructs for Modality, ca. 1300–1550". Canadian Association of University Schools of Music Journal / Association Canadienne des Écoles Universitaires de Musique Journal, 8, no. 2 (Fall): 5–39.
- Rowold, Helge. 1999. "'To achieve perfect clarity of expression, that is my aim': Zum Verhältnis von Tradition und Neuerung in Benjamin Brittens War Requiem". Die Musikforschung 52, no. 2 (April–June): 212–19.
- Smith, Richard Langham. 1992. "Pelléas et Mélisande". The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, 4 vols, edited by Stanley SadieStanley SadieStanley Sadie CBE was a leading British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , which was published as the first edition of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.Sadie was educated at St Paul's School,...
. London: Macmillan Press; New York: Grove's Dictionaries of Music. ISBN 0333485521 (UK) ISBN 0935859926 (US)
External links
- Locrian mode for guitar at GOSK.com