<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Keith,<div><br></div><div>Your suggestions about Scriabin prompted me to investigate his Valse, Opus 1 where I discovered that, not surprisingly, Scriabin knew how to spell chords correctly according to function. The chord you refer to is an Ab7#5 and does resolve to Db. The reason I mention this is because those darned augmented sixth chords all have enharmonic equivalents. The Bel+6 (vii7b3) to which I referred may also be heard as a dominant 7#5 (in the third inversion!) but the spelling will be different.</div><div><br></div><div>The Opus 16, No. 1 is the real deal. Here Scriabin spells the chord E# - G- B -D# and resolves to a dominant chord (cadential 6/4) in B. It is not surprising, then, that the final cadence contains a viidim7b3 chord over a tonic pedal. Because the A# disappears several measures from the end we are left with many C major chords sitting on the tonic pedal (B). Dare I say it sounds like a Neapolitan cadence, a bastard form of plagal cadence?</div><div><br></div><div>Thanks for sending me in this direction. Looking for Bel+6 chords is sort of like looking for truffle mushrooms.</div><div><br></div><div>Steve</div><div><br></div><div><br><div><blockquote type="cite"><br><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#000000"><br></font>
<br>
2) Regarding the 'strange' augmented sixth chord that started this
thread: Scriabin uses such a chord in at least a few early works.<br>
<ul><li>It
occurs in his op. 1 (1885). Measures 52-53 produce an odd case, where a
sonority comprised of the tones Ab, C, E, and Gb functions like a
dominant seventh on Ab (though the augmented sixth between Gb and E
resolves properly). <br>
</li><li>See also m. 16 of op. 16 no. 1 (1895). Here, it really functions like an augmented sixth. <br></li><li>See
also mm. 30-32 of his op. 8 no. 10 (1894). There, you'll hear the
sonority 'inverted' with a diminished 3rd above the bass. The local key
is Ab, and the tones are (D, Ab, C, and Fb). </li><li>Finally, see op. 23 (1898), mvt. IV, mm. 32-33. Here, the sonority is also 'inverted' the same way as above.<br></li></ul>
When
the harmony functions as it 'should' (i.e., leading to V), I like to
think of it at the major-mode equivalent of the German (with 'mi'
instead of 'me'). <br>
<br>
I believe you'll find references to this harmony as a 'Russian
augmented sixth' in Bettsylyn Dunn Goldwire's (DMA) nearly impossible-to-find dissertation. If I'm
not mistaken, Rimsky-Korsakov used it before Scriabin did (but don't tell
you-know-who). Here's the citation:<br>
<br><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:0.5in">Goldwire,
Bettsylynn Dunn. 1984. Harmonic Evolution in the Piano Poems of Alexander
Scriabin. D.M.A. thesis, The University of Texas at Austin.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:0.5in"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">Hope this is helpful.</p>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Nov 19, 2011 at 7:58 PM, Stephen Jablonsky <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jablonsky@optimum.net">jablonsky@optimum.net</a>></span> wrote:<br></div><div class="gmail_quote"></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Keith Salley<br>Coordinator of Music Theory<br>the Shenandoah Conservatory<br>Shenandoah University<br>Winchester, VA<br><br>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Garamond; font-size: 18px; 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: 0; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Garamond; font-size: 18px; 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; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Garamond; font-size: 18px; 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; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Garamond; font-size: 18px; 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; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; 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; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; 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; "><div>Prof. Stephen Jablonsky, Ph.D.</div><div>Music Department Chair</div><div>The City College of New York</div><div>160 Convent Avenue S-72</div><div>New York NY 10031</div><div>(212) 650-7663</div></div></span></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></span></span></span><br></span>
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