564 



HARMONY 



I. 



The first period is closed at A by a 'half or 

 'imperfect' cadence i.e. the order V. I. is re- 

 versed ; the second at B by a ' false ' or ' deceptive ' 

 cadence i. e. the dominant chord, instead of pro- 

 ceeding to the tonic, ' deceives ' the ear by proceed- 

 ing to another chord ; the third period is brought 

 to a close by the authentic cadence at C. 



The dominant chord can also bear the more 

 elaborate dissonances of the ninth, eleventh, and 

 thirteenth, as well as the seventh. 



Key F. 



Root C (V.) Root F (I.) 



It is impossible here to enter into the varieties of 

 discord 'suspensions,' 'double-root chords,' &c., 

 into the analogous discords which may be built 

 on the tonic as a ground-note, or the chords be- 

 longing to the minor scale. Suffice it to say the 

 effects which can be evolved from the almost 

 innumerable inversions and involutions of single 

 chords and combinations of chords are subject to 

 natural laws as stringent as those governing the 

 growth of flowers and trees, and the possibilities of 

 variety in this unity are as infinite. 

 Modulation. One branch of the subject can 



Authentic. 



DORIAN. 



LYDIAN. 



hardly be left without mention i.e. modulation or 

 change from one key ( or ' mode ' ) to another. Our 

 modern scales have had the relation of their 

 intervals so modified (see TEMPERAMENT) as to be 

 approximately alike. By the addition of a single 

 sharp or flat any melody can proceed from the key 

 of C to G (with F#), F (with Bb), or A minor 

 (with Gft). These the dominant, subdominant 

 (next below the dominant), and the minor of 

 the sixth degree are the keys of t\\e first relation, 

 as out of the seven notes which constitute each 

 scale six are present in the scale of C, thus provid- 

 ing as it were six more or less convenient bridges 

 by which to pass from one key to the other. The 

 conventionality of these modulations makes them 

 inadequate to convey the more passionate colouring 

 of modern music, and more striking changes to 

 remoter keys are necessary. A favourite device 

 with modern composers is to take advantage of the 

 ' tempered ' system, and by using one note in two 

 significations ( e.g. F x Eft) to secure means of start- 

 ling and also of very tender effects in modulation. 



History. The complete Greek scale as formu- 

 lated by Pythagoras is represented by three octaves 

 of our scale of A minor, beginning at the A in the 

 first space of the bass clef, and using no black 

 notes. Various sets of eight notes selected from this 

 extensive scale were called after districts of Greece, 

 and in the 4th century St Ambrose adopted four of 

 these names when he laid the foundation of modern 

 music in what are called the Gregorian Modes. 

 They received their name from Pope Gregory, who 

 added four others beginning on the respective 

 dominants, and called them plagal, as distinct 

 from the authentic modes of St Ambrose. The 

 most important of these are 



Plagal. 



HYPODORIAN or JULIAN. HYPOLTDIAN or IONIAN. 



Final. 



Dominant. Final. 



Dominant. 



Final. 



Dominant. Final. 



Dominant. 



The Dorian and ^Eolian, and less frequently 

 others even more at variance with our conventional 

 scale, are still in occasional use ; and peculiarly 

 plaintive effects can be obtained from the absence 

 of the ' sharp seventh ' to which our modern ears are 

 so accustomed. 



In Counterpoint, the science which preceded 

 harmony, attention was given altogether to the 

 correct progression of the individual voices or parts, 

 while the combinations made by the voices at any 

 moment were regarded as merely accidental. But 

 unconsciously the ear of musicians was being 

 cultivated, and the richness of Palestrina's simpler 



writings must have shown the possibility of obtain- 

 ing undreamt-of effects from chords as integral 

 units in a march of harmonies, rather than 

 accidental combinations of independent melodies. 

 One of the fundamental rules of counterpoint was 

 that a dissonance must either be 'prepared' i.e. 

 it must appear as a consonance in the previous 

 chord or else it must be approached very gradu- 

 ally. This rule of the old science was disregarded 

 by Monteverde (1608), who used unprepared dis- 

 cords, and thus at one WOAV the new feeling for 

 chords was released from its bondage to counter- 

 point. 



