Harmony: Past and Present

            Harmony has changed drastically in the nearly four-hundred years that have passed since the Late Renaissance Period.  Our ears today are accustomed to sounds that would have been considered blasphemous in 1550.  The form and purpose of music has also changed in many ways.  Many of these changes have produced harmonic advancements that have gone as far as altering the use of music and the construction of instruments.  Today we are so unfamiliar with past musical methods that it is hard to realize what we might hear now was not always normal.

            So just how did music arrive at its current state?  I will guide you through a historical overview of music from the Late Renaissance to today to demonstrate how harmony has progressed through the history of music.

LATE RENAISSANCE POLYPHONY (1550-1600)

            Back 350 years from today, music was very unique from the music to come even fifty years later, let alone from modern music.  The term polyphony refers to several different parts sounding at once with different rhythms and melodic patterns.  Polyphonic music still exists today, but Renaissance polyphony used very different governing rules.

            Most music at this time was written for religious purposes, and the church was the center of musical knowledge.  Famous composers included Lassus, Desprez, Victoria, and Palestrina.  Almost all of the music of the time was vocal, although some vocal music used instrumental accompaniment.  The music of this time did not use what is now called functional harmony to govern its composing.  Instead, a system of vertical harmony based on consonant and dissonant intervals was used.  The interval between notes was determined by starting at the lowest sounding note and counting upward (the lowest sounding note could be in any voice since voice crossing was common at the time).

            Consonant intervals at that time consisted of unisons, perfect fifths, perfect octaves, major and minor thirds, and major and minor sixths.  Perfect fourths, major and minor sevenths, and major and minor seconds were considered dissonant intervals and could not be used accept as nonharmonic tones, and then only in very specific ways.  The perfect fourth could also be used as a consonant at cadence points.

            Other rules for Late Renaissance polyphony included the use of successive parallel intervals.  Parallel fifths, octaves, and unisons were prohibited.  Parallel thirds and sixths, though, were common, usually as many but no more than four or five consecutively.  Augmented intervals were not acceptable, and most motion in the melody was stepwise.  If a skip occurred, it could not exceed a perfect fifth and was preceded and followed by stepwise contrary motion.

            Music of this time was modal instead of major and minor in its design.  Popular modes of the time included the Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian and Mix Lydian.  Also used were the Ionian (which would become the major scale) and Aeolian (which would become the natural minor scale).  These pure modes may have been altered to avoid a tritone interval or to create a leading tone by using a method called Musica Ficta.  Musica Ficta is the raising or lowering of the tones in Late Renaissance music.  This method was practiced on the spot, not written, by the performers of the time.  Modern transcriptions include the Musica Ficta as sharps, flats, or naturals above the note that should be altered.  Another aspect modern transcriptions include that was not in the original manuscripts is the separation into measures by using bar lines.

            Rhythmically, the music was very complex.  Note values ranged from the breve (double whole note) to eighth notes (rare, always in pairs).  The piece had to begin and end with at least a half note value, and quarter notes and eighth notes were governed very strictly.  The voices could not rest at the same time, and rests could only come at the end of a phrase in the text.  Cadences consisted of weak interior pauses and Clausula Veras (a unison or octave interval at the end of a piece that is preceded by stepwise contrary motion in the voices).  Note lengths were determined by accents in the text.  Voices rarely repeated rhythms, although imitation was used in a very limited manner, and was never fully completed in a phrase.

            The rhythmic and harmonic structure of this period seems very alien to modern musicians, but much of the style in Late Renaissance polyphonic music has been used in other music in modern methods.

BAROQUE PERIOD (1600-1750)

            The music of the Baroque Period used some of the harmonic and structural concepts of the predating style, but some of its intrinsic qualities abandoned the purity of Late Renaissance polyphony.  The Baroque Period was the first time in recorded history when instrumental music could compete with vocal music in popularity.

            The first major change was the development of tonality and the use of functional harmony.  Pioneers in this new practice included J.S. Bach, G.F. Handel, and Scarlatti.  Bach’s inventions and fugues represent the new form of this period so much that they are studied today as the standard of Baroque keyboard styles.

            In Bach’s keyboard inventions (written for clavier), one finds contrapuntal writing.  Counterpoint, essentially the eighteenth century term for polyphony, involves two melodies playing against each other (point-against-point).  Although the harmonic basis is functional rather than vertical, the concept of consonant and dissonant intervals remained the same during this period.

            Other discrepancies between Renaissance and Baroque music exist, including the use of repeated rhythms, melodies, and sequences in Baroque styles.  In Renaissance polyphony, such repetition was strictly forbidden, but it is intrinsic to Bach’s style, as well as the styles of other composers of this time.

            In the inventions, Bach established a strong sense of tonality through motives and countermotives that were used throughout the inventions.  The motive is stated in both voices, first in one, and then in the next voice as the first voice continues with the countermotive.  This material becomes a basis for the rest of the invention, used as a sequence or as its full form.

            The sense of tonality is a new idea in this period, and the inventions demonstrate this.  After the motive is stated in both voices, the piece usually changes its tonal center to the fifth scale degree (the dominant).  From there, the piece may go through several closely related keys through sequences and other patterns.  Before the piece comes to completion, the music returns to the original key, comes to a cadence to confirm the tonality, and ends on the tonal.  Cadences of this time were very different from cadences during the Renaissance Period.  Baroque cadences consisted of the tonal (I) chord, followed by a dominant (V) chord either directly or through other chords, and completed with a final I chord.

            The form and harmony in Bach’s inventions are quite similar to the qualities of his fugues.  His inventions were written for two voices, and his fugues were written for two or more (usually three or four voices).  The fugues consisted of a short theme called a subject, an answer in either original or slightly altered form, and a countersubject.  Each voice must fully state the thematic material as either a subject or an answer.  Answers could either be real (exactly the same as the subject), or tonal (could be in the dominant key or slightly altered).  If the answer is in the dominant key, it creates a strong tonic-dominant relationship.  Once each voice completely states the theme, the first section (the exposition) is complete.

            Following the exposition is any number of episodes and entries.  An episode contains no complete statement of the subject or answer, and it usually leads into a new key through methods including the use of sequences.  The entry consists of the full statement of the subject or answer in one or more voices, usually in a different closely related key.  If the theme is stated in multiple voices, the themes usually overlap in a style called stretto.  Between these episodes and entries there may be short sections called links and bridges that make any transitions from key to key smooth.  The final section returns to the original key with re-entries in any number of voices and closes with an authentic cadence.

            Diatonic (scale-wise) harmony was the standard in the Baroque Period, and very few altered harmonies were utilized commonly during this time.  Secondary dominants and leading tones were used frequently to accommodate closely related key modulations, and the Neapolitan Sixth chord originated during this period.  The Neapolitan Sixth is built as a triad on a lowered second scale degree, usually found in first inversion, and functions as the diatonic ii or ii^o chord, leading to a V chord.  Borrowed chords were also common, especially the I chord in minor keys (Picardi Third).  Other altered harmonies were avoided.

            Many of the Baroque Period forms became popular during the next period, and the harmonic ideals remained intact after Bach’s death in 1750, although the concept of dissonant and consonant intervals became less strict in writing.

CLASSICAL PERIOD (1750-1825)

            Boasting some of the most well known composers in the world, the Classical Period effectively refined and perfected older forms through a keen concept of symmetry and balance.  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as well as his contemporaries Franz Joseph Haydn and Ludwig Van Beethoven, worked toward an ideal form in every piece they wrote (with the exception of some of Beethoven’s later works).  Much of the compositions during this time were instrumental, although Mozart composed many operas, some of which are considered the greatest operas of all time.

            Diatonic harmony remained the basis of functional compositions during this period, and much of the compositions maintained the tonic-dominant relationship heard in Baroque music.  The sonata allegro form is a good example of the diatonic harmony and symmetrical form.

            A sonata allegro movement, the first movement in a symphony or sonata, begins with one, two, or even three themes.  After establishing the sense of key, the expositions often modulates to either the dominant or the relative major key.  The exposition was often repeated before moving into the second section, the development.

            In this section, the theme(s) or pieces of the themes were used as a basis for material.  It began in the dominant key but quickly move through several other closely related keys using sequences, secondary dominants, or a circle progression.

At the end of the development, the material returns to the original key.  At this point, the final section—the recapitulation—begins, restating the original theme or themes.  The recapitulation avoids modulations and ends with a perfect authentic cadence.

            This form demonstrates symmetry, a quality considered beautiful during this period.  Each form used in this period demonstrates the same principle in some way.  For example, rondo (rounded) from utilized a central theme, the refrain, and one, two or three different ideas in unique keys, called episodes, to make a movement in an A-B-A or A-B-A-C-A form (many other variations of structure existed, although each rondo begins and ends with the refrain in the original key).  The minuet and trio and the scherzo and trio originated from Baroque dance forms, and consisted of an A-B-A structure.  The theme and variation establishes balance by using a single theme to create multiple short compositions that contain the theme while changing some material, including rhythmic considerations, harmonic progressions, accompaniment patterns, voicing, changes of major and minor modes, and changes in meter.

            All these methods remained almost identical in harmonic form with the practices of Baroque composers, even while structure was altered to produce symmetry.  The Neapolitan Sixth was still approached with care, used as color and extra focus for the dominant-tonic-relationship.  Secondary dominants and leading tones were common, as well as the use of borrowed chords.  Most chromatic harmony was avoided, and modulations remained within keys closely related to the original tonal center.  Augmented sixth chords, although found in Baroque music, were much more common in Classical music (used to accentuate the dominant).  Most other altered and chromatic harmony was beginning to develop during this time.

            In 1789, a man named Christophori invented the pianoforte, the modern piano.  The creation of this invention contributed to the compositional style of the composers of the time.  Before 1789, the clavier, clavichord, and harpsichord (along with the organ) were the keyboards available, and none exhibited a dynamic range to match that of the piano when it was invented.  Many of the works composed by Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven solely rely on the dynamic ability and chromatic tuning of the new piano.

            Towards the end of this period, Ludwig Van Beethoven began taking some liberties in both form and harmony.  His later sonatas often contained movements that blended together, as well as more chromatic harmony.  These new developments contributed to one of the most significant changes in harmonic expression since the adoption of tonal harmony in the Baroque Period.

ROMANTIC PERIOD (1825-1900)

            While maintaining much of the form and structure inherent to the Classical Period, Beethoven forged new ground through his expressive and emotional harmonies.  He served as a bridge between the logic of the late 18^th century and the free expression of the 19^th century romantics.

            During the Romantic Period, instrumental compositions were much more popular than vocal pieces, although opera and vocal-piano pieces were also well received.  The piano received a new treatment as its expressive dynamics were stretched even further than in the Classical Period.  Composers like Chopin, Schumann, and Schubert were known for their piano compositions.  The symphony was still utilized, although many composers strayed from the strict form of the Classical Period.

            This 75-year span introduced new subject matter for writing, as well as the use of new harmonic devices, including chromatic and non-functional harmony.  Many pieces were based on poetry of the time, nature, and emotions from living in their homelands.  Folk music was utilized in many pieces, creating a nationalist sentiment in the Romantic music.  The compositions painted pictures of emotional reactions to things and events, something that had not appeared often in music before this time.

            The harmony of the time included extensive use of borrowed chords, secondary dominants and leading tones, the Neapolitan Sixth, and the augmented sixth chords, along with some new chromatic harmonies.  Altered dominants, embellished chords, extended chords, and chromatic mediants were all common as the period developed.  Often the major and minor modes were blended because of borrowed chords to an extent that tonality became indefinite.

            Modulations reached far beyond the closely related keys, also blurring the sense of a specific tonic through rapid consecutive changes in key center.  Dissonance often remained unresolved, giving the music a powerful tension.

            One new device built from a familiar harmony was the use of fully diminished seventh chords to modulate into bizarre keys.  Because all four notes in this chord are equidistant from any adjacent note, each note could be used as a leading tone to a major or minor key—a possibility of eight different keys in one chord!

            The chromaticism of the Romantic Period led to a diverse new era in music during the 20^th century, ranging from a rebirth of old styles to a total digression from any style or form.

IMPRESSIONISM

            At the end of the 19^th century, French artists had developed a new form of painting called impressionism, a form that takes common images like landscapes and architecture and represents them in a blurred painting, leaving the viewer with a general representation of something quite concrete.  As artists like Monet created this new form, French musicians developed new methods in rhythmic and harmonic expression that “painted” pictures with sound.

            Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel represented the “impressionist” movement in music almost exclusively.  Their styles gave them both critical acclaim and critical shame while they were alive and well after their deaths.

            Both composers incorporated Eastern scales and textures in their compositions.  Along with pentatonic and whole tone scales, impressionist music used church modes, extended chords, American jazz influence, chords with added or subtracted tones, split thirds (major and minor thirds played simultaneously), quartal and quintal chords (built on stacked fourths or fifths), linear cadences similar to the Clausula Vera of Renaissance times, third-relationship cadences, and melodic doubling.  Parallel chords were also common.

            The resulting music was often more textural than harmonic or melodic in nature, often representing fireworks, perfume, waves, clouds, demons, and other visual ideas.  Other influences came from Spanish music.

            This movement was short-lived, and most composers do not return to this style.  At the same time, though, another movement was occurring.

POST-ROMANTICISM

            Hugo Wolf, Gustav Mahler, and Richard Strauss honored the German romanticist Richard Wagner by continuing his methods in the years after his death.  Wagner’s music was characterized by a German tone of nationalism, tonal instability, non-functional harmony, blurred cadences, and long tension, avoiding a clear resolution.  Post-Romantic composers wished to maintain these intense techniques.

            Along with the delayed cadences and unstable sense of tonality, the Post-Romantics used some newer methods to de-centralize the key.  The Omnibus Progression presses the sense of a tonal center by using the dual resolution of the German sixth, a chord built on a lowered sixth scale degree that can be enharmonically spelled as a major-minor seventh chord.  Another altered harmony is the augmented triad, which could either be an altered dominant or act without function.

TWELVE-TONE TECHNIQUE

            Due to all the chromaticism, it had become difficult to categorize harmony.  At the turn of the century, composers Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern developed a system that was intended to solve the difficulty of indefinite chromatic harmony.

            The twelve-tone technique used each of the twelve chromatic pitches in a chromatic scale in a certain order without repeating a pitch before sounding each pitch.  This method was a short-lived practice, and most representative literature came from Schoenberg and Webern themselves (some twelve-tone music can be found in modern literature as well).

            The early music of the 20^th century represented a change in musical idealism for the next 100 years.  The new world in music was Experimentation.

CONTEMPORARY PERIOD (1900-1945)

            The first half of the 20^th century, including impressionism, post-Romanticism, and the twelve-tone technique, consisted of many types of exploration into the nature of music.

            Primitivism sprouted from Igor Stravinsky, and it is especially noted in his “Rite of Spring.”  Rhythm is the focal point of this style, with simple and well-stated themes heard simultaneously.  The rhythmic patterns represented the primal basis of music.

            A short venture back to form and symmetry appeared in the Neoclassicist movement.  Composers attempted to blend the balance of the Classical Period with the chromatic harmony developed in the Romantic Period.

            Harmonic developments included pandiatonicism (no definite key), polytonality (several keys played at once), dual modality (two church modes heard simultaneously), shifted tonality (sudden key changes), free tonality, polychords (two different definite chords), quartal chords, and cluster chords.  Rhythmic developments included rapid meter changes, asymmetrical meters, and nonaccentual rhythms.

MUSIC SINCE 1945

            Experimentation continued into the latter half of the 20^th century as electronic devices and popular music developed.  By this time, anything was acceptable as a legitimate form of musical expression.

            From the twelve-tone technique came serialism.  Aleatory music came from chromatic instability.  Composers let the performer make a unique performance through indeterminacy.  Jazz and improvisation took hold.  Computer-assisted and synthesized music developed, as well as other electronic forms of expression.

            Other experimental methods include: musique concrete, live performance with tape, sound mass, mikropolyphone, extended techniques, rock ‘n’ roll, rock music, punk, minimalism, performance art, new wave, sampling, rap, new age, ambient, and world music.

POSTLUDE

            The vast experimentation in the last century has extended into the 21^st century, but a revival of romantic and emotional drive is pushing music towards a more accessible platform in comparison to some of the bizarre ideas in the past 100 years.