Polymodal chromaticism
Encyclopedia
In music, polymodal chromaticism is the use of any and all musical mode
s sharing the same final
simultaneously or in succession and thus creating a texture involving all twelve notes of the chromatic scale
(total chromatic). Alternately it is the free alteration of the other notes in a mode once its final has been established.
The term was coined by composer, ethnomusicologist, and pianist Béla Bartók
. The technique became a means in Bartók's composition to avoid, expand, or develop major-minor
tonality
(in the sense used between approximately 1600-1900) and yet a different approach than that used by Arnold Schoenberg
and his followers in the Second Viennese School
and later serialists
.
The concept was indicated by Bartók's folk music derived view of each note of the chromatic scale as being "of equal value" and thus to be used "freely and independently" (autobiography) and supported by references to the conception below in his Harvard Lectures (1943). The concept may be extended to the construction of non-diatonic modes from the pitches of more than one diatonic mode such as distance model
s including 1:3, the alternation of semitones and minor thirds, for example C-E-E-G-A-B-C which includes both the tonic and dominant as well as "'two of the most typical degrees from both major and minor' (E and B, E and A, respectively) [Kárpáti 1975] p.132)".
Bartók had realised that both melodic minor-scales
gave rise to four chromatic steps between the scales' 5th and the rising melodic minor-scale's 7th degrees when superimposed. Consequently, he started investigating if the same pattern could be established in some way in the beginning of any scales and came to realise that superimposing a Phrygian
and a Lydian
scale with the same tonic
resulted in what looked like a chromatic scale
. Bartók's twelve-tone Phrygian/Lydian polymode, however, differed from the chromatic scale as used by, for example, late-Romantic composers like Richard Strauss
and Richard Wagner
. During the late 19th century the chromatic altering of a chord or melody was a change in strict relation to its functional
non-altered version. Alterations in the twelve-tone Phrygian/Lydian polymode, the other hand, were "diatonic ingrediences in a diatonic modal scale."
Phrygian mode (C):
C - D - E - F - G - A - B
Lydian mode (C):
C - D - E - F - G - A - B
Twelve-tone Phrygian/Lydian polymode (C):
C - D - D - E - E - F - F - G - A - A - B - B
Melodies could be developed and transformed in novel ways through diatonic extension and chromatic compression, while still having coherent links to their original forms. Bartók described this as a new means to develop a melody.
Bartók started to superimpose all possible diatonic modes on each other in order to extend and compress melodies in ways that suited him, unrestricted by Baroque-Romantic tonality as well as strict serial methods such as the twelve-tone technique
.
In 1941, Bartók's ethnomusicological studies brought him into contact with the music of Dalmatia
and he realised that the Dalmatian folk-music used techniques that resembled polymodal chromaticism. Bartók had defined and used polymodal chromaticism in his own music before this. The discovery inspired him to continue to develop the technique.
Examples of Bartók's use of the technique include No. 80 ("Hommage à R. Sch.
") from Mikrokosmos featuring C-Phrygian/Lydian (C-D-E-F-G-A-B/C-D-E-F-G-A-B). Lendvai identifies the technique in the late works of Modest Mussorgsky
, Richard Wagner
, Franz Liszt
, and Giuseppe Verdi
.
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...
s sharing the same final
Tonic (music)
In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord...
simultaneously or in succession and thus creating a texture involving all twelve notes of the chromatic scale
Chromatic scale
The chromatic scale is a musical scale with twelve pitches, each a semitone apart. On a modern piano or other equal-tempered instrument, all the half steps are the same size...
(total chromatic). Alternately it is the free alteration of the other notes in a mode once its final has been established.
The term was coined by composer, ethnomusicologist, and pianist Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
. The technique became a means in Bartók's composition to avoid, expand, or develop major-minor
Common practice period
The common practice period, in the history of Western art music , spanning the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods, lasted from c. 1600 to c. 1900.-General characteristics:...
tonality
Tonality
Tonality is a system of music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center", or tonic. The term tonalité originated with Alexandre-Étienne Choron and was borrowed by François-Joseph Fétis in 1840...
(in the sense used between approximately 1600-1900) and yet a different approach than that used by Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
and his followers in the Second Viennese School
Second Viennese School
The Second Viennese School is the group of composers that comprised Arnold Schoenberg and his pupils and close associates in early 20th century Vienna, where he lived and taught, sporadically, between 1903 and 1925...
and later serialists
Serialism
In music, serialism is a method or technique of composition that uses a series of values to manipulate different musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though his contemporaries were also working to establish serialism as one example of...
.
The concept was indicated by Bartók's folk music derived view of each note of the chromatic scale as being "of equal value" and thus to be used "freely and independently" (autobiography) and supported by references to the conception below in his Harvard Lectures (1943). The concept may be extended to the construction of non-diatonic modes from the pitches of more than one diatonic mode such as distance model
Distance model
In music a distance model is the alternation of two different intervals to create a non-diatonic musical mode such as the 1:3 distance model, the alternation of semitones and minor thirds: C-E-E-G-A-B-C...
s including 1:3, the alternation of semitones and minor thirds, for example C-E-E-G-A-B-C which includes both the tonic and dominant as well as "'two of the most typical degrees from both major and minor' (E and B, E and A, respectively) [Kárpáti 1975] p.132)".
Bartók had realised that both melodic minor-scales
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...
gave rise to four chromatic steps between the scales' 5th and the rising melodic minor-scale's 7th degrees when superimposed. Consequently, he started investigating if the same pattern could be established in some way in the beginning of any scales and came to realise that superimposing a Phrygian
Phrygian mode
The Phrygian mode can refer to three different musical modes: the ancient Greek tonos or harmonia sometimes called Phrygian, formed on a particular set octave species or scales; the Medieval Phrygian mode, and the modern conception of the Phrygian mode as a diatonic scale, based on the latter...
and a Lydian
Lydian mode
The Lydian musical scale is a rising pattern of pitches comprising three whole tones, a semitone, two more whole tones, and a final semitone. This sequence of pitches roughly describes the fifth of the eight Gregorian modes, known as Mode V or the authentic mode on F, theoretically using B but in...
scale with the same tonic
Tonic (music)
In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord...
resulted in what looked like a chromatic scale
Chromatic scale
The chromatic scale is a musical scale with twelve pitches, each a semitone apart. On a modern piano or other equal-tempered instrument, all the half steps are the same size...
. Bartók's twelve-tone Phrygian/Lydian polymode, however, differed from the chromatic scale as used by, for example, late-Romantic composers like Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
and Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
. During the late 19th century the chromatic altering of a chord or melody was a change in strict relation to its functional
Diatonic function
In tonal music theory, a diatonic function is the specific, recognized role of each of the 7 notes and their chords in relation to the diatonic key...
non-altered version. Alterations in the twelve-tone Phrygian/Lydian polymode, the other hand, were "diatonic ingrediences in a diatonic modal scale."
Phrygian mode (C):
C - D - E - F - G - A - B
Lydian mode (C):
C - D - E - F - G - A - B
Twelve-tone Phrygian/Lydian polymode (C):
C - D - D - E - E - F - F - G - A - A - B - B
Melodies could be developed and transformed in novel ways through diatonic extension and chromatic compression, while still having coherent links to their original forms. Bartók described this as a new means to develop a melody.
Bartók started to superimpose all possible diatonic modes on each other in order to extend and compress melodies in ways that suited him, unrestricted by Baroque-Romantic tonality as well as strict serial methods such as the twelve-tone technique
Twelve-tone technique
Twelve-tone technique is a method of musical composition devised by Arnold Schoenberg...
.
In 1941, Bartók's ethnomusicological studies brought him into contact with the music of Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
and he realised that the Dalmatian folk-music used techniques that resembled polymodal chromaticism. Bartók had defined and used polymodal chromaticism in his own music before this. The discovery inspired him to continue to develop the technique.
Examples of Bartók's use of the technique include No. 80 ("Hommage à R. Sch.
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
") from Mikrokosmos featuring C-Phrygian/Lydian (C-D-E-F-G-A-B/C-D-E-F-G-A-B). Lendvai identifies the technique in the late works of Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period...
, Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
, Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
, and Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
.