[Smt-talk] Passing and Neighboring 6/4s

[Dmitri Tymoczko]

> Interesting figures! But to the defence of Aldwell and Schachter, I  
> would like to add that they also state that "a passing 6/4 between  
> IV6 and II6/5 (less often II6) is very frequent." (P. 311, emphasis  
> original.)

Yes, this is another error.  Here are the relevant counts, including  
retrogrades:

IV6 -> I6/4 -> IV: 23 times
IV6 -> I6/4 -> ii6: 17 times
IV6 -> I6/4 -> ii6/5: 11 times

Aldwell and Schachter are wrong to say that, given IV6->I6/4->X, ii6/5  
is the most frequent value for X.  In Mozart piano sonatas, it's  
actually the *least* likely value for X, trailing both IV and ii6.

DT

Dmitri Tymoczko
Associate Professor of Music
310 Woolworth Center
Princeton, NJ 08544-1007
(609) 258-4255 (ph), (609) 258-6793 (fax)
http://music.princeton.edu/~dmitri