Modern Harmony - Lesson 10: Ravel

Summary

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Outlines

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Mindmap

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Keywords

💡Harmony

Harmony refers to the combination of simultaneous musical notes to produce a pleasing sound. In the context of the video, harmony is discussed in relation to complex musical compositions that do not adhere to traditional rules. The video script mentions that many composers focus on labeling chords or studying classical functional harmony, but the video aims to explore more complex harmony as seen in the works of composers like Ravel, Debussy, and Stravinsky.

💡Chromaticism

Chromaticism is the use of chromatic tones (notes outside the diatonic scale) to create tension and color in music. The script discusses how varying degrees of chromaticism can influence the listener's perception of the music's intensity and how it contributes to the music's sense of breathing. For example, the script describes how the third bar of a piece contains only one chromatic note, providing a contrast to the more chromatic first two bars.

💡Texture

Texture in music refers to the way different musical elements are combined to create a particular quality or feel. The video script emphasizes the importance of texture, along with other aspects like register and timbre, in shaping the listener's perception of a piece. It is mentioned that the piano textures in Ravel's music are rich and distributed across different registers, contributing to the music's sense of direction and breath.

💡Register

Register in music denotes the range of pitches, either high or low, that a particular instrument or voice can produce. The script uses register as an example of how a change in the range of pitches can affect the intensity and relaxation of a piece. It is noted that after a section with a rich texture, the music moves to a lower register, creating a sense of relaxation.

💡Tonal

Tonal refers to music that is based on a central pitch or key, providing a sense of stability and resolution. The script contrasts tonal music with the more complex harmonic structures found in the works of Ravel. While the key signature might suggest a tonal center, Ravel's music often explores more complex and less predictable harmonic relationships.

💡Diatonic

Diatonic music is based on a seven-note scale derived from a single tone or key. The script mentions that Ravel's music, despite its complexity, is often built on a simple diatonic framework. This framework is then ornamented with more chromatic elements, creating a balance between the familiar and the novel.

💡Consonance and Dissonance

Consonance and dissonance are terms used to describe the perceived stability or tension in a musical chord or interval. The script discusses how the variations in the degrees of consonance and dissonance contribute to the music's sense of breathing and direction. For instance, the script points out that the third bar of a piece contains a dissonant note that contrasts with the consonant notes in the first two bars.

💡Voice Leading

Voice leading is the practice of arranging the individual voices in a piece of music to create smooth and logical melodic lines. The script explains that the active notes in Ravel's music resolve conjunctly within the same chord or the next, contributing to the overall coherence of the piece. This is an essential technique for maintaining a sense of tonal unity amidst the complexity of the harmony.

💡Whole Tone Scale

The whole tone scale is a six-note scale that contains no semitones, which means it lacks the typical harmonic tension found in diatonic scales. The script mentions that in Ravel's music, the whole tone scale is used to create a sense of cadence or resolution, acting as a release of tension in the music.

💡Ornamentation

Ornamentation in music refers to the embellishment of a melody or harmony with additional notes or figures. The script describes how Ravel's music is characterized by simple diatonic foundations that are filled with elaborate, often chromatic ornamentation. This creates a rich and complex harmonic language that still feels coherent to the listener.

💡Perceptual Priorities

Perceptual priorities refer to the way our hearing naturally focuses on certain elements over others, such as the outer parts of a musical texture. The script explains that Ravel's music takes advantage of these perceptual priorities to create a sense of coherence and direction, even when the inner parts of the music are more complex and chromatic.

Highlights

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Transcripts

[Music]

in my years of teaching composition I've

met many composers whose knowledge of

Harmony consisted of labeling chords

like a G7 or a c have diminished or else

studying classical functional Harmony

perhaps with a Shuan orientation or very

often just learning a bunch of rules

like avoiding parallel fits these

methods unfortunately are not always

useful in looking at music with more

complex Harmony that doesn't seem to

follow the same rules and also they

usually pay no attention to texture

register tamber and other aspects to the

music that nonetheless have an enormous

influence on what the listener

perceives this new video and the

following ones in this series we

continue the modern Harmony videos but

instead of focusing on specific

techniques as in the previous ones we'll

now Center on specific composers

examining logic behind their harmonic

Styles you can find the link to the

modern Harmony series below I also have

a free online book about general

principles of Harmony the link is also

below the idea behind this book was to

see which aspects of classical Harmony

could be generalized to other styles in

the coming analysis I'll be referring to

the principles mentioned there as they

apply in specific cases so we'll look at

music by revale DEC BTO Stravinsky and

other composers to better understand how

the music makes harmonic sense the first

work I'm going to look at is Noel the

first movement of reviles miroir here

Revel uses many harmonic techniques

typical of his style let's try to

understand how they work let's listen to

the first two

[Music]

pages

[Music]

the key signature here is dlat major but

it's clearly not tonal in the sense that

Mozart is tonal the chords are often

much more complex and the piano textures

are also very rich distributed in

different registers often with two or

more planes of tone when you listen the

hole doesn't sound arbitrary it seems to

breathe to have a sense of direction how

does revel accomplish this

you look at the first two bars we can

see there are two planes of tone the

left hand is arpeggiated Dom seventh

chords while the right hand alternates

between single notes sometimes chromatic

and intervals of thirds or fourths the

Baseline in the left hand the lowest

notes on each beat turns around a flat

the G flat and the B flat on the second

and third beats act like neighor note to

the a flat dominant 7th on the Down Beat

and indeed when measure three AR ribes

the base is clearly def flat so these

bars are overall a kind of dominant

tonic progression and d flat major the

right hand colors the harmony with these

chromatic tones the Baseline is quite

clear even in measure three the d flat

major chord is momentarily colored with

an eal instead of the normal F so while

the right hand here is dionic in D flat

major left hand adds a touch of d flat

minor what's important here is the

difference between the first two bars

and the third bar the first two bars

contain lots of cromatic notes and the

third bar contains only one rather like

classical dissonance and consonant these

degrees of chromaticism at various

places in this piece will vary and these

variations help to give the music the

feeling that it breathes it's not just

gray

overall in measure four and five the

opening idea returns but the harmonic

rhythm is different instead of a

different Basse note on every beat the

first two beats are dominant chords of a

major and the last beat is the tonic so

these two bars are further from the d

flat major home key and thus a bit more

intense notice also the register has

changed now we're in the middle register

after this we go into a lower register

with an aredo on what sounds like a

dominant ninth chord based on E flat

this AR Pedro includes a couple of

chromatic notes as well F sharp and a

natural then when it's Echo higher

measure seven there's a d natural as

well interesting a bit more novelty but

the amount of chromaticism is definitely

less than the preting bars creating a

kind of lead

relaxation measure eight and N the

Rhythm slows down to e notes the texture

becomes just chords these parts contain

only major seconds touching on a whole

tone scale

why a whole tone scale well since a

whole tone scale contains no semmit

tones it has no harmonic tension here it

acts like a Cadence for the opening

section overall the Baseline is

descended from a flat and measure 1 to d

flat and measure 3 to a and measure four

and now to E flat in measure six the E

flat turns out to be a dominant to the

coming a flat in measure 10 where the

opening music starts up again the new

phrase begins like an answer to the

first nine bars using the same

figuration and thematic material but the

second half of measure 12 and an extra

38 bar measure 13 we Echo the d flat

measor chord but now in F minor since F

minor was a closely related key to d

flat major only one note changes the G

again this moment lets the harmony

breathe as it did in measure three in

measure 14 a new line is introduced in

the top voice if you look at the outer

parts the melodic line of the bass notes

accompanying it in measure 140 to 17 all

the notes come from the E flat major

scale the AR Pedros in the middle touch

on chords outside of E flat major but

the main lines create a sense of tonal

Unity essentially Revel is ornamenting a

fairly simple diatonic framework with

secondary chromatic cords the orms

themselves are mostly triotic and

sometimes include chromatic

auras the start of measure 18 a natural

appears in the melody and then starting

from the middle of measure 18 the arpas

alternate between the notes of G major

and F dominant seven chords as the

melodic lines disappear the Rhythm also

speeds up and the figuration Rises to a

higher register where once again Revel

pauses then in measure 20 this little

harmonic conflict resolves onto a g-

chord but without the third this is

another Cadence achieved by Rhythm and

simpler Harmony given the overall

richness of the harmony here if all the

punctuations had been onto simple Trias

they would have seemed rather

tepid overall the result of these

techniques is Rich but not chaotic the

overall Harmony is still the third based

with lots of seventh and nine chords

although the succession of the chords is

not classically functional like mozar

but the voice living is very

straightforward and the active notes

always resolve conjunctly within the

same chord or the next CHT here's a

simple example with the non-consecutive

resolutions indicated by the brackets

and the last chord here both the G sharp

and the B resolve on to a tonal Harmony

is not an abstract rigid system but

depends on our natural perceptual

priorities thus can be extended in all

kinds of ways as long as they respect

what's Audible The V takes advantage of

the way our ears prioritize the outer

parts and the way that conjunct motion

connect even notes that are not in

immediate succession as long as they

appear in successive chords since the

movement of the outer parts is usually

fairly diatonic we perceive the varying

degrees of chromaticism in the inner

parts as degrees of tension allowing the

music to

breathe unlike some later invented

systems revel's musical logic here is

always based on what we can hear result

is Rich but coherent and results in

musical phrases which of course the

performer has to

emphasize a simple example here's the

little example we had in better 16 with

all the notes played exactly equal

without the main lines highlighted and

phrase the audible result is quite

chaotic now the same example with the

outer parts highlighted and

phrased as we see here music is

definitely not a democracy our minds

automatically prioritize certain things

this enables us to perceive the world

much more richly than if everything was

equal since we can't take in remember

very many things at once by prioritizing

perception into layers we can also

understand things that aren't always

side by side like the notes in the main

melodic line the sum up ral's harmonic

style is based on fairly simple dionic

pillars which are filled with elaborate

often more chromatic ornamentation so in

addition to the provisional gradations

of consonants and dissonance there are

also gradations of chromaticism varying

numbers of notes outside the key which

make the music more or less intense it

feels like it

breathes