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Whole-tone scale

H.K. Andrews

New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2001

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Título:
Whole-tone scale
Autor: H.K. Andrews
Assuntos: Music Theory and Analysis ; Musical Structures, Styles, and Techniques
É parte de: New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2001
Descrição: A scale that divides the octave into six equal-tempered whole tones: C–D–E–F♯–G♯–A♯(=B♭)–C or its sole transposition, D♭–E♭–F–G–A–B(=C♭)–D♭. Since all the intervals between adjacent degrees are the same, the scale is tonally unstable, that is, a centre can be formed only by emphasizing one of its notes to give it artificial prominence. Moreover, it lacks the fundamental harmonic and melodic relationships of major–minor tonality, namely those of the dominant (perfect 5th) and the leading note (minor 2nd). Whole-tone melodic passages within the diatonic system were explored fairly extensively by Russian composers in the 19th century. A passage near the end of Glinka’s overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila (1842), given in ex.1, shows how a whole-tone scale in the bass can be harmonized by a series of transitions, all keeping within the bounds of traditional tonality. Dargomïzhsky, in The Stone Guest (c1866–9), came much nearer to using it as an autonomous system, generating contoured melodic lines as well as harmonies (for instance, in the passage from Act 3 quoted in ...
Editor: Oxford University Press
Idioma: Inglês

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