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<font face="Calibri">Ildar,</font>
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cite="mid:1322192863.54830.YahooMailNeo@web45004.mail.sp1.yahoo.com"
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<div><span>France, as I know, not only does not make an
exception from this, but is and has always been on the
forefront of this. Fetis defines Sous-Dominante, Dominante
and Tonique quite clearly in his treatise La musique mise a
porte de tout le monde.... (see the appendix). He uses the
word Sous-Dominante and defines it in the same fashion (as a
certain scale step) as Tonique and Dominante. </span></div>
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I do not have the appendix here, but unless I am mistaken Fetis does
not use the word in the main text, nor in his Treatise of harmony,
which is somewhat later.<br>
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<div><span></span> <span>As for the role and importance of
Subdominant, you should look not into the writings of Fetis,
but through the textbooks for the Conservatoire.
Charles-Simon Catel will be a good source. </span></div>
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</blockquote>
Fétis' Treatise is not really a textbook, but it does belong to the
Conservatoire tradition, of which Fétis himself was one of the most
enraged supporters. Catel has little to say about the subdominant.
He mentions it three times:<br>
1) As one degree on which a perfect major triad can be placed
(subdominant, in this case, merely is the name of the degree);<br>
2) In the case of the plagal cadence (with the 5th or the 6th chord
above the subdominant, he says: again, subdominant is the name of
the degree);<br>
3) As a possible goal for modulation ("la quinte en dessous").<br>
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<div><span>The atmosphere at the Sorbonne and Universite de
Paris 4 is somewhat different from that of the
Conservatoire. I am sure that your attempt to throw away the
Subdominant will be perceived by Conservatoire professors
as an insinuation.</span></div>
<div><span>I also wonder, what would Serge Gut say about this
discussion? Ivanka Stoinova? </span></div>
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I do not see what the university Paris-Sorbonne has to do in a
discussion of 19th-century practice. I am perfectly aware of what a
subdominant function is in various theories (mainly in Rameau and in
Riemann -- also in Schenker ;-)) and I certainly do not "attempt to
throw it away". But this has nothing to do in the present
discussion. (Serge Gut is a careful reader of Riemann; so am I, as I
was educated in a more Germanic tradition; of Ivanka Stoianova I
know very little. But once again, this is not the discussion.)<br>
What strikes me is that 19th-century French theorists do not
seem really aware of a subdominant function: this may be one of
their main rejections of Rameau's theory. I was therefore puzzled by
your statement that Franck had had training at the concept of
subdominant. You may be more knowledgeable about this and my
question was not meant to be aggressive.<br>
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<div><span></span> <span>And the main question: do the French
theorists use the term French +6 chord remains unanswered.</span></div>
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Well, the way you ask the question is somewhat ambiguous:<br>
– the French, today, do mention the French augmented sixth, if that
is your question, as well as the German and Italian ones, not to
mention the Swiss one. Opinions about the national definitions are
as diverse in France as anywhere.<br>
– but they would never describe it as "+6", especially in the
Conservatoire, because since Catel (and perhaps earlier) +6 means a
6th chord of which the 6th is the leading tone -- say, D F B in C
major.<br>
<br>
Yours,<br>
<br>
Nicolas Meeùs<br>
Université Paris-Sorbonne<br>
<br>
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