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1 DIMINUTIONS, NON-HARMONIC TONES 1. Diminutions 2,. Skeletons 4, 5. Passing tones 6 8. Neighbor tones: complete and incomplete 9, 10. Passing tones in series 11. Upper, lower neighbors 12. Double neighbors (changing tones) Suspensions 16, 17. Anticipations 18, 19. Diminutions vs. nonharmonic and harmonic tones (Instrumental samples from the Vienna Symphonic Library are included in all sound files linked below.) 1. Most tonal music can be heard as progressions of chords. In the musical lines supported by these chords, certain notes may seem more anchorlike than others, functioning as local centers of gravity, governing their contexts. Others, in turn, may seem more connective, or somehow to depend on or belong to the anchor notes. Those more connective notes are called diminutions. 2. When we re talking about diminutions and anchor notes in a line, we re talking fundamentally about how the line knits together. Just as the body has a skeleton that determines its general shape and how it can move, so too a musical line has an internal framework that knits its multiple details into a coherent, integrated whole. To follow the analogy, we could think of this internal framework this musical skeleton as governing the melody that fleshes it out.. Let s approach the idea from the inside out, so to speak, by starting in Example 1a not with an actual piece, but instead with its skeleton. This comes from Rossini s overture to his opera La Gazza Ladra ( The Thieving Magpie ). The skeleton of the tune in measures is notated on the top staff with stems up; the supporting music is stemmed down. Vn I, Va in 8 62 & # 4 œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ Vn II, Vc, Cb?# 4 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ J J J J J J J J J 66 & # œ Œ œ # #œ œ œœ œ #œ œ. œ œ?# œ œ œ œ œ œ œ # œ œ œ # œ œ œ œ J J J J J J J 69 & # œ. œ Œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ J J J œ œ œ œ œ œ J J

2 69 Example 1a. Skeleton of the tune in measures (first theme) from the overture to Rossini s La Gazza Ladra. The example shows why skeletons don t generally make prizewinning tunes. As in all skeletons, all the notes belong to the supporting harmonies, and all the rhythmic values are on the long side, with nothing shorter than a beat. Again, like all skeletons, it s coherent, well shaped, well directed that s its job but it s seriously short on character. For that, it needs more details, more musical tissue: quicker rhythmic values that connect one member of the skeleton to another, or that flesh out individual members. In other words, it needs diminutions. Diminution by transitive movement, local movement Passing tones 4. So let s flesh things out a little in Example 1b, filling a few gaps in the skeleton on the top staff (a) with notes circled in red on the middle staff (b). a) b) 62 Allegro con brio Vn II, Vc, Cb Vn I, Va in 8 Diminutions, -2-

3 66 69 Examples 1a, 1b. Skeleton (a) and enhanced skeleton (b) for measures from the overture to Rossini s La Gazza Ladra. While there s still a ways to go before we get to a good tune, this is a start: These circled filling-in tones are called passing tones: they connect two different anchoring tones by step, going from one to another. Passing tones create transitive movement from one anchoring tone toward another. (Here, a single passing tone fills in the gap between two anchoring tones; later in Example, we ll find that such a gap can also be filled in by a series of passing tones.) To create a passing tone or a series of passing tones, leave an anchoring tone by half/whole step and continue in the same direction by half/whole step to the next anchoring tone. Neighbor (auxiliary) tones 5. Now let s flesh things out some more on Example 1c, treating certain notes in the enhanced skeleton of Example 1b as anchors in their own right, governing further diminutions. Diminutions, --

4 a) b) c) 62 Allegro con brio Vn I, Va in 8 Vn II, Vc, Cb Examples 1a, 1b, 1c. Measures (first theme) from the overture to Rossini s La Gazza Ladra; (a) is a skeleton of the tune, (b) is enriched, (c) is the tune itself. Diminutions, -4-

5 6. Now this is a tune! Example 1c brings in new passing tones circled in measures 66 and 70. It also brings in diminutions of another kind, highlighted in blue diamonds: neighbor or auxiliary tones. Like passing tones, neighbor tones connect to their anchoring tones by step. Whereas passing tones create transitive movement (from one anchor toward another), however, neighbors create local movement (at, around an anchor). Unlike a passing tone, which links two different anchoring tones by step, a neighbor belongs to only one. A neighbor is complete when it both comes from and returns to its anchor tone, as in the blue diamonds on the example. The neighbors in the blue triangles at measures 65 and 69, however, are incomplete: while each goes to its anchor tone, as a complete neighbor would, it comes from somewhere else by leap. If you think of a complete neighbor as having the same anchor both before and after it, the incomplete neighbors here are missing the before anchor. Instead, they re approached by leap. Incomplete neighbors are not passing tones because they don t connect two different anchoring tones by step. Incomplete neighbors such as those above, which are approached by leap and get more metric weight than their anchor tones, are also called appoggiaturas ( leaning ). 7. Incomplete neighbors can also be missing the after anchor: they can also come from their anchor tones and then leap somewhere else. Examples are highlighted in blue on Example 2, an excerpt from Bernstein s One Hand, One Heart in West Side Story. They are also called escape tones, or échappées. In general, as here, an escape tone gets less metric weight than its anchoring tone, and it leaps by third in a direction opposite to its approach. (The tune also includes a passing tone in red.) Adagio MARIA: Make of our lives [etc.] 11 Example 2. Arrangement of Maria s solo in Bernstein s One Hand, One Heart from West Side Story; passing and escape tones highlighted. Diminutions, -5-

6 8. To create a complete neighbor (or auxiliary), leave an anchoring tone by half/whole step, and return to it. To create an incomplete neighbor (think of it as a complete neighbor missing the anchor either before or after), approach it by leap and go to its anchor by half/whole step, or approach it from its anchor and leave it by third in the opposite direction. More passing and neighbor tones 9. As we noted in above in 4, gaps between anchoring tones can be filled in by series of passing tones. As in Example 1, let s start with a skeleton in Example a, which likewise comes from the overture to La Gazza Ladra: Vn II, Va Vc, Cb Ob Cl + Bn, Hn Vn II, Va + Cl, Bn in 8 Example a. Skeleton of the tune in measures (second theme) from the overture to Rossini s La Gazza Ladra. + Bn, Hn Fl, Vn I Vn II, Va 10. Example b fleshes out the skeleton of a, filling the gaps between anchors in measures with series of passing tones shaded in red. Neighbors are shown in blue diamonds. Diminutions, -6-

7 a) b) 171 Vn II, Va Vc, Cb Ob Cl Fl, Vn I Cl + Bn, Hn Vn II, Va + Bn, Hn Vn II, Va Cl, Bn in 8 Examples a, b. Measures (second theme) from the overture to Rossini s La Gazza Ladra; (a) is a skeleton of the tune, (b) is the tune itself. 11. In measures 172 and 174 on Example b, the neighbors are below the anchors they are lower neighbors as opposed to the upper neighbors in measures 171 and 17, and in Example 1c. 12. A double neighbor is a combination of an upper neighbor and a lower neighbor. Richard Rodgers s Some Enchanted Evening, from South Pacific, begins with a doubleneighbor figure in Example 4. (Double neighbors are also called changing tones). Diminutions, -7-

8 Slowly with expression a) b) c) EMILE: Some en chant-ed eve - ning Example 4. Beginning of Rodgers s Some Enchanted Evening from South Pacific; (a) is a skeleton of the tune; (b) has a lower and upper neighbor highlighed together; (c) is the tune, with double neighbor tones highlighted. Example 4a gives the skeleton of the tune. Example 4b introduces together both a lower neighbor F #, stemmed down, and an upper neighbor A, stemmed up, highlighted in measure 1. The before and after anchors are the double-stemmed Gs. In Example 4c, the tune itself, the voice sings both neighbors, but because he can only sing one at a time, he sings them successively. Both lower and upper neighbors are complete, but before the lower is completed, the upper intervenes; then, they are both completed at the same time. Diminution by movement too late and too soon Suspensions 1. In the case of passing and neighbor tones, diminutions create movement between two different anchor tones, or around a single anchor. Diminutions can also animate the movement from one anchor tone to another a step away by delaying it, so that the second anchor arrives late. To illustrate, let s start with a skeleton, as we did in Example 1. The skeleton in Example 5a, which comes from measures 10 1 of Haydn s round for four voices, Tod und Schlaf ( Death and Sleep ), realizes a progression of four chords: F minor, B b minor, C major, and F minor: Diminutions, -8-

9 Adagio F min 5 Bb min 5 C maj 5 F min 5 Example 5a. Skeleton of measures 10 1 from Haydn s round Tod und Schlaf. Example 5b gives the round itself. Here are the words: Tod ist ein langer Schlaf, Schlaf ist ein kurzer, kurzer Tod. Die Not, die lindert der, und jener tilgt die Not. Death is a long sleep, Sleep is a short, short death. Misery: the latter eases it, and the former erases misery. The second voice comes in at measure 4, the third at measure 7, the fourth at measure 10. At that moment, for the first time, all four voices are singing. The skeleton of measures 10 1, familiar from Example 5a, is shown on a small staff below them: Adagio 6 Diminutions, -9-

10 10 skeleton F min 5 B b min 5 C maj 5 F min 5 etc. etc. Example 5b. Haydn, Tod und Schlaf, includes suspensions (purple) and passing tones (red). 14. Unlike passing or neighbor tones, the diminutions highlighted in purple at measures 11 and 12 on Example 5b are not creating movement in one direction between two different anchors, or around a single anchor. Here, the anchor before the first purple highlight C in measure 10 is carried over into the first half of measure 11, supplanting for the moment the B b anchor which properly belongs there, as a member of the supporting B b -minor chord. A delicious dissonance at the purple highlight in measure 11 is the result! Only on the third quarter does the line finally to move by step to the B b anchor, resolving the dissonance. following the highlight. Likewise, the highlighted D b in measure 12 creates a dissonance when the preceding anchor D b is suspended into measure 12 instead of moving directly to the following anchor C. On the third quarter, the suspension it does not belong to the C chord in 12 resolves by step to the C anchor that is supported by the harmony. 15. Suspensions always are sustained from the preceding anchor, which is a member of the supporting harmony; get more metric weight than their resolutions; and resolve by step to the following anchor, a member of the next supporting harmony. (Measures 11 and 12 also each include a passing tone, highlighted in red on Example 5b.) Anticipations 16. If suspensions happen when an anchor moves to another too late, anticipations happen when the second anchor arrives too early. The following passage in the Hallelujah chorus from Handel s Messiah has three examples, highlighted in orange at measures 45, 48, and 50. The skeleton for the music in question is shown in small staves on the lower brace. Diminutions, -10-

11 Ten, Bass 41 Bass and He shall reign for e - ver and Ten e - ver, [etc.] Ä 2 [ Skeleton ] Alt 48 Sop [ ] [ # 6 ] Example 6. Vocal parts of measures in the Hallelujah chorus (Part II, 21) from Handel s Messiah; the skeleton is shown on the small staves in the lower brace. Measures 45, 48, and 50 include anticipations. 17. The example shows how the anticipations pre-iterate the governing tone that immediately follows: in this case, the tenor A in measure 46 comes a moment too soon, at the very end of 45; likewise, the alto D in 48, and the soprano A in 50. Anticipations are metrically lighter than the governing tones they anticipate, typically submetrical (their value is shorter than the beat), and generally very quick. Diminutions, -11-

12 Diminutions vs. non-harmonic and harmonic tones 18. In the previous pages we ve explored how diminutions are related to the anchor tones on which they depend. At this juncture, it s important to remember that a diminution may itself act as an anchor for further diminutions. Let s return to the beginning of Example 1, from the overture to Rossini s La Gazza Ladra, given below as Example 7: a) b) c) 62 & # 4 4 & # œ. œ œ œ œ 4 & # Vn I, Va in 8 œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. > œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Vn II, Vc, Cb?# 4 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ J J J J J J J J J # œ œ œ # Examples 7a, 7b, 7c. Measures (first theme) from the overture to Rossini s La Gazza Ladra; Œ (a) is a skeleton of the tune, (b) is enriched, (c) is the tune itself. Recall from Example 7b that the second quarter of measure 6 is a passing tone A, circled in red. In Example 7c, we noted that the passing tone A here marked by a dotted red circle itself becomes an anchor in its own right, governing the neighbor B highlighted in blue. The dotted lines show how the neighbor B is nested within the passing tone A. 19. Now, notice that the neighbor B is not a non-harmonic tone: it belongs to the E-minor harmony that governs these measures. Its harmonic status notwithstanding, it is still a diminution, subordinate to A before it and after it, which it neighbors. In turn, A highlighted in Example 7b, a non-harmonic tone, is subordinate to the anchors before and after it. All non-harmonic tones are diminutions, attaching to anchors that are supported by the harmony. (The one exception is the pedal, which is not a diminution.) Harmonic tones can be diminutions, too. There are two kinds: 1) those whose anchors are non-harmonic tones. They are nested diminutions as described above; 2) those whose anchors are other harmonic tones. I ll give examples in class for the sake of thoroughness, but you don t have to worry about them beyond simply knowing that there are such things. Diminutions, -12-

13 Summary LEGEND: moves by step same anchor (governing tone) metric weight Passing tones: transitive movement in one direction (from one anchor toward another). May have more or less metric weight than the governing tones they link. May occur in series. P P Neighbor tones: local movement (at, around one anchor). May have more or less metric weight than the anchor that governs it. Complete: approached and left by step; anchored before and after. N Incomplete: comes from or goes to its governing tone by step, but not both; missing one anchor. Appoggiatura: approached by leap (missing before anchor), proceeds by step; more metric weight than the following governing tone it leans on. APP APP Escape tone: approached by step, proceeds by leap (generally a third, opposite to direction of approach; missing after anchor); less metric weight than preceding governing tone it escapes. N ESC ESC Diminutions, -1-

14 Double neighbors: contracted synthesis of upper and lower neighbor figures. UN UN LN LN Suspension: movement too late. Has more metric weight than following anchor. Sustained from preceding anchor, resolves by step. SUS SUS Anticipation: movement too soon. Has less metric weight than following anchor. Submetrical; quick. ANT All diminutions may be either diatonic or chromatic. All diminutions may occur simultaneously with others of the same kind. Diminutions, -14-