<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Great example! Thanks for the transcription.<div><br></div><div>The passage sounds quite Lisztian to my ears--quite a lot like some of the BACH harmonizations in the Prelude & Fugue on BACH (any of the various organ and piano versions). For example, in the 1870 organ version, starting in the 12th measure, Bb is harmonized by a Gb major triad, A by a D major 6/3 chord, C by a diminished seventh over the continuing bass F#, and B by a B dominant 7th, eventually over another F#. One of the tricks of this passage, from the perspective that I've taken in a number of places by now, is that all of these chords contain a common F# and all are easily heard as various kinds of dominants of G, which is indeed the resolution that follows, after a pedal recitative centered around F#.</div><div><br></div><div>The Zimmer might be analyzed similarly. If you focus on the common Bb (A#), all of these chords can easily be heard as dominants of the Cb (B) major chord that ends the cycle. There are other chromatic functional relationships embedded herein as well, but this one directs everything to the Cb at the end. Then, since B major is a normal and viable dominant of G minor (hexatonic poles, in fact), the move back to the beginning is equally persuasive. Quite a nice bit of musical accompaniment for a film about tangible familiar objects melting before your eyes...</div><div><br></div><div>Charles Smith<br><div><div><br></div><div><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">I've seen Inception twice and there's a chord progression I just can't get out of my head - the entire score is by far the best I've heard from Hans Zimmer & co. (and the slowed-down Edith Piaf is excellent). The progression's clearest instance is the scene in Paris where the streets and buildings start folding over themselves.<br><br>G min Gb Maj/Bb Eb Maj<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span> B Maj<div><br></div><div>The soundtrack on YouTube - folding streets</div><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1PvjIiM5qk&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1PvjIiM5qk&feature=related</a> (3:44 - in this example the last chord is B Maj7) </div><div><br></div><div>- or -</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_QEBeTa37M&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_QEBeTa37M&feature=related</a> (2:25, uptempo)<br><br>Here it is with the voice-leading - I really like the alternating half-steps in the top voice, which divide the progression in two; the progression also wraps around itself, so it can repeat ad infinitum.</div><div><br><span><Inception-progression.gif></span><br><br>The four chords very nearly fit into the "Western" hexatonic system from Rick Cohn's 1996 article in Music Analysis, except for the Gb major chord (which belongs to the Southern system). The Gb major is the kicker, it seems, partly because it's farther away from the Eb major in terms of voice-leading. And the Db in this chord is the only non-hexatonic note. <br><br>Does anyone know of any other instances of this particular progression, or ones like it? Are there other ways to look at it besides hexatonic (cubic lattices, etc.)? It feels "modern" to me, like I wouldn't hear this in Wolf or Strauss - but I wouldn't hear it in Shostakovich, Phil Glass or John Adams either. Very intriguing!<br><br></div><div>Steve<br>_________________________________<br>Stephen Taylor<br>Associate Professor of Composition-Theory<br>University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign<br><a href="http://www.stephenandrewtaylor.net/">http://www.stephenandrewtaylor.net</a><br></div></div>_______________________________________________<br>Smt-talk mailing list<br><a href="mailto:Smt-talk@societymusictheory.org">Smt-talk@societymusictheory.org</a><br>http://lists.societymusictheory.org/listinfo.cgi/smt-talk-societymusictheory.org<br></blockquote></div><br><div apple-content-edited="true"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++</div><div><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></div><div>Charles J. Smith</div><div>Associate Professor of Music Theory & Chair of the Department</div><div>On sabbatical leave, Spring-Summer 2010</div><div>Department of Music, 220 Baird Hall</div><div>University at Buffalo</div><div>Buffalo, NY 14260</div><div>U.S.A.</div><div>716-645-0639 [direct line]</div><div>716-645-3824 [fax]</div><div><a href="mailto:cjsmith@buffalo.edu">cjsmith@buffalo.edu</a></div><div><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"> </div><br></div></body></html>