The last chord contains two semitone relationships, making it, in this context, a stronger accent.Ī more useful way to think about harmonic coherence is as one aspect of a leading thread for the listener to follow as the piece progresses. without semitone dissonances) and harsher ones (i.e. The preceding chords alternate between gentle sonorities, (i.e. Not only is it rhythmically accented and longer in duration, but it also culminates a progression of rising harmonic tension. In the second example, the same chord is now the climax of the phrase. The real accent here is on the last chord, which no longer stays in the D major scale, and has a richer interval (a 6th) on the bottom. However, in the first example it is clearly a subsidiary, passing chord: It is rhythmically weak, introduces no new notes, and helps to fill in the space between the chords under the slur. Here, the chord marked “x” is identical in both examples. A chord at the climax of a phrase is not equivalent to the same chord at the start of another phrase, since much of its meaning derives from how it is approached and left. Even in music without a clear tonic, context radically changes musical meaning. Pointing out pitch cells or algorithms which give rise to all of the pitch material in a work can never adequately explain why a work’s harmonic construction is convincing, since music is a temporal art the sequence of events is essential to its meaning. In the absence of tonality, analysis based only on relationships of identity or similarity overemphasizes the “what”, as opposed to the “when”. A tonal progression cannot be scrambled and maintain its integrity. Tonality helps create musical motion, since it defines goals. This is a significant – and usually unnoticed – distinction. Outside of this period, explanations emphasize relationships of chordal identity or similarity. Most discussions of harmonic coherence in the common practice period center on tonality. General Principles of Harmony Coherence and Continuity
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