Psalms chord
| Component intervals from minor tenth | |
|---|---|
| perfect fifth | |
| minor third | |
| root | |
| Forte no. / | |
| 3-11 / |
In music, the Psalms chord is the opening chord of Igor Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms. It is a "barking E minor triad"[1] that is voiced "like no E-minor triad that was ever known before"[2] – that is, in two highly separate groups, one in the top register and the other in the bottom register. The third of the E-minor triad, rather than the tonic, receives strong emphasis.
It is common to the
William W. Austin describes the Psalms chord in the following way: "The opening staccato blast, which recurs throughout the first movement, detached from its surroundings by silence, seems to be a perverse spacing of the E minor triad, with the minor third doubled in four octaves while the root and fifth appear only twice, at high and low extremes."[4]
See also
References
- ^ Mellers, Wilfrid (1971). "1930: Symphony of Psalms", Tempo, New Series, no. 97 ("Igor Stravinsky 17 June 1882 – 6 April 1971"), pp. 19–27. Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Berger, Arthur (1963). "Problems of Pitch Organization in Stravinsky", p. 33. Perspectives of New Music, vol. 2, no. 1 (Autumn–Winter), pp. 11–42.
- ISBN 0-13-189890-6.
- ^ Austin, William W. (1966) Music in the 20th Century. London, Dent. p. 334.
Further reading
- Tymoczko, Dmitri (Spring 2002). "Stravinsky and the Octatonic – A Reconsideration", p. 93. Music Theory Spectrum, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 68–102.
- van den Toorn, Pieter C. (Autumn–Winter 1975). "Some Characteristics of Stravinsky's Diatonic Music", p. 121. Perspectives of New Music, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 104–138.
