[Smt-talk] Progression at all?

[Conor Cook]

I think that thinking about our [VI-IV-{I-V]-VI-IV} entity might be ill-served by talking of it as a progression at all, at least in its repetitive form.  Is it not a chaconne or passacaglia?  Though I know that these forms are made up of what we often term a "progression," it hardly progresses anywhere.  It is the repetition that makes is fascinating, with its interlocking extremes (witness the possibility of starting at two different points).  While we do need to address the harmonic motion, let's not forget that this is an old form, used to great effect.

Best,

Conor Cook
UMN