Schoenberg Arnold - Theory of Harmony PDF

38 r d A t o R M o D E : D T A T O N T CC H O R D S
The figures 3-11 merely indicated the schematic order of the chord compo-
nents in their closestposition, but one or more octavescould be addedto 3, ;,
'3' meant there 'y'
or 7. The figure was a third above, in some octave or otherl
'7' '9' '6'
meant there was a fifth above, a seventh, a ninth, a sixth, etc., in some
octave or other. Whether in performance t-he tones had the order j-j-7,
j-j-'7, or 7-?-Jr or yet another,was left to the judgment of the harpsichordist,
whose decision was based on necessitiesof voice leading. The chords were
formed from tones of the scalecorresponding to the key signature, unless there
was a specialsign (f, b, o. h) besidea figure. A triad in root position, whose
symbol would have been !, was left unfigured.* It however, a figure 8, ;, or 3
appearedwith a bass note, it meant that the highest voice (in our case the
soprano) should take the 8, ;, or 3. The chord is then said to be in octave
position, fifth position, or third position.
excerpt from Theory of Harmony (Schoenberg 1911)
CONNECTION OF THE DIATONIC PRIMARY

A N D S E C O N D A R YT R I A D S
The satisfactory solution of the problem of connectingchords with one anotler

dependson the fulfilment of certainconditions.These conditions are not set up
here in the form of laws or rules, but rather as directions (as I have already in-
timated and will repeaton many occasions).Laws or rules ought to hold always,
unconditionally; and the saying that'exceptions prove the rule' is true only of
those rules whose very exceptionsconstitutetheir sole proof. Directions, how-
ever, serve merely to impart means by which a certain goal can be reached.
Therefore, they do not hold eternally, as laws, but are changedas soon as the
goal changes.Although the following directions do correspond,in part, to the
practice of composers,they neverthelessdo not spring from aestheticaims;
rather, their purpose is a limited one: namely, to guard the pupil againstmis-
* The figured bass,as a sensibleshorthand,aimed at making do with the fewest

possiblesymbols.Therefore, only that which was not self-evidentwas specifically
indicated.It was assumedto be self-evident(historicallycorrect)that every bassnote
is accompanied by 3 and y. Sucha noteneednot be figured,On the otherhand,every-
thing different, but only what was different, had to be speciallyindicated.Taken
literally, the figure 6 below a bassnote could also meanthat 7 and 7 remain and 6 is
added.But a supplementary principletakesover hereto indicatethe positionof the
dissonance 3; thus the figure 6 could be usedin placeof the more complete! by apply-
ing the single figure exclusivelyto a singleposition, the six-threechord, and desig-
nating all other positionsthat containeda sixth by at leastrwo 6gures.[This footnote
was addedin the revisededition.]
Connectionof the Triads )g
takes that clnnot be explained and described until later. The first of these
directions requires that in the voice leading, at first, only that 6e done whiclr is
absolutelynecessary for connectingthe chords.This means each voice will move
only when it must; each voice will take the smallestpossiblestep or leap, and
then, moreover, just that smalleststep which will allow the other voicesalso to
take small steps.Thus, the voiceswill follow (as I once heardBruckner say) the
'taw
of the shortest way'. Consequently, whenever two chords that are to be
connectedhave a common tone, this tone will be taken by the samevoice in the
secondchord as in the first - it will be 'sustained'.Now, to simplify the task
still more, we shall choosefor our first exercisesonly such chords as have one or
more tones in common (two triads cannot have more than two common tones)
and shall sustain one or more of them as a harmonic link fcommon tonef.r The
following tablesshow thosechords that are availablefor theseexercises,that is,
those chords that have common rones:
Degree has common toneswith
I Irr rv v vIl I III IV V VI

. tr rv v vr lvrr tr rv v vr (vrr)
I III V W IVII Itr r v vI (vrD
I II IV VI IVII w r rr vr (vrr)
I II III Y IVII Y r rr III (VII)
I II III IV YI YI I II III IV
. II III IV YII YII II III IV
The Roman numeralsindicate degrees.

As can be seen,every degree [triad] has a common tone with every orher
degreeexceptthe one directly before and the one directly after. That is indeed
obvious. The IInd degreeis d-f-a. The roots of two neighboring degrees(for
example,c and d) are one step apart from each otherl therefore, the thirds (e and
fl and the fifths (g and a) will likewise be one step apart. Thus, there is no com-
mon tone. On the other hand, those chords whose roots are a fifth or a fourth
apart have one common tone, whereasthose whose roots are a third or a sixth
apart have two.
'gemein-
[r'HarmonischesBand'.Schoenberg also usedelsewhere the expression
samerTon' (common tone); but he apparentlypreferred'harmonischesBand' (har-
moniclink, or tie,or bond),perhapsbecause of its emphasis
on theideaof connection.
'Common
tone', the usual expressionin English, seemedpreferablehere. Cf, infra,
ChapterVI.l
4o MAJOR MODE: DtATONTC CHORDS
c
D D
E E E
F F
G G
A A A A
B B B
c
D D D
E E
F F
As the table indicates, the Ist degree can be connected, assuming a common
tone is required, with III,IV, V, and VI.
fn theseJtrst exercisesthefundamental tone should always be tlze lowest tone of
the chord, that is, it goesin the bass.The bassvoice should always be the lowest,
the tenor next above the bass, then the alto, and, as the highest voice, the
soprano.The pupil should completely avoid crossingof voices, that is, writing
a lower one higher than a higher one (e.g. the tenor higher than the alto or
soprano).First of all, the pupil should vrrite under [the staff that will carry] the
bassline Roman numeralsindicating the degreesof the chords he is to connectj
then he should write the bassnote of the first chord and go on to complete the
first chord by adding the other three voices. Whether it is to be in close or open
position with the third, fifth, or octaveon top - this he will decidefor himself,
but beforehe goeson to work out the exercise.Thus, he setsup the exercisehimself,
a procedure we will follow throughout this course of study. In spacing each
chord the pupil will most easilyavoid mistakesif he first answersthe following )
t
questions in the order given: p.
First question:Which tonegoesin the bassl(The root of the degree,the fundamental.)
i
Secondquestion:Which tonein the sopranol(Accordingly ashe haschosento put the
octave,6fth, or third on top, his choiceshouldbe indicatedby placingthe 8, y, or 3 I
t
next to the Roman numeralindicating the degree.) I
Third question:What is missingl (The tone or tonesthat are still missingwill be so I
spacedthat closeor open position results,whicheverthe pupil haschosen.) IT
Proceeding now to connect the chords, the pupil will do well* to ask himself *
the following questions:
r. Which tone is the rootl (Remember:it goesin the bass!)
* From yearsof experiencein teachingI recommendto the pupil most emphatically
that he work out the exercisesby actuallyaskingandansweringthesequestions.It will
favor greaterinsight and skill if he goesaboutit this way than if he merelyfollows the
dictaresof his ear or of a particular pattern of nores that he remembers.He will
easilyget accustomedto thinking through thesequestionsquickly, so quickly in fact
that he will not neglectthem evenwhen he works out the exercises at the piano (ashe
should also do, without fail). The advantageof this procedureis that the pupil works
thoughtfully at everytum, thinking quickly, fully awareof what he is doing, thus does
not dep€ndon his memory and someready-madedeviceshe hasstoredthere.
Cotuecion of the Triads 4r
z. Which is the common tonel (Sustained!)

3. Which tonesarestill missingl
Again, to avoid mistakesthat cannot be explained until later, we shall always
double exclusively the octave [root] in the initial chord of the first exercises.As
the pupil will see, the succeeding chords will thereby never appear with the
fifth or third doubled. These doublings we shall use only whenever the voice
leading requires them, since we are not concerned here with sound effects
(Klangliches).
We will connect I and III, then, with the help of the questions, as follows
(Example 8c):
r. bassnote (IIIrd degree):c;
2. common tones:e andg (held over in the sopranoand alto);
t, the missingtone: J (the tenor goesfrom c to 6).
Pleasenote: The pupil should always conceive the chord connections as re-
'I'll give
sulting from the movement of parts. Thus he should not say: the 6 to
'I'll
the tenor', ratherr'the tenor goes from c to b';he should not say: give the e
'the
to the soprano, the g to the alto', rather, e is held over in the soprano, the
g in the alto'.
The pupil must distinguish between root and bass tone. (The former is the
tone on which the triad is built, the tone that gives its name to the degree; thus,
the root of the IInd degree is d that of the IIIrd, e, etc. The basstone, on the
other hand, is that tone which is put in the bass.)In our first exercises,and until
other directions are given, we shall alwaysput the root in the bass.Later, how-
ever, chord components other than the root will also go in the bass;therefore,
the pupil must guard againstconfusing thesetwo notions.
For the present we shall work out our exercisesin whole notes, without bar
lines.
a) b) il
Example 8a shows the connection I-III in which rwo tones (e and B) are
common tonesl in 86 and 8c respectively (-IV and I-V) only one tone is
common, in I-VI [s/] wo tones again. The pupil should indicate with ties
the sustainingof common tones.
Following this model the pupil is now to practice connecting each of the
other degreeswith the chords available, as indicated by the table: thus, II with
IV, then with V and with YI (the VIIth degreeis not to bc usedat all for the
present,as it demandsspecialtreatmen);the IIIrd degree is to be connectedwith

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38 r d A t o R M o D E : D T A T O N T CC H O R D S

excerpt from Theory of Harmony (Schoenberg 1911)

CONNECTION OF THE DIATONIC PRIMARY

The satisfactory solution of the problem of connectingchords with one anotler

* The figured bass,as a sensibleshorthand,aimed at making do with the fewest

Degree has common toneswith

I Irr rv v vIl I III IV V VI

. II III IV YII YII II III IV

The Roman numeralsindicate degrees.

z. Which is the common tonel (Sustained!)

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