Klarinet Archive - Posting 000475.txt from 1998/02

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: Fwd: Re: Identifying the place for a cadenza
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 13:52:59 -0500

On Mon, 9 Feb 1998 someone, (maybe Dan Leeson) wrote:

> This invitation is so important that it has a special name attached to
> it. It is called "Eingang" (plural: "Eingange") and it always it called
> for by a dominant 7th chord as you correctly noticed. But an Eingange
> cannot be requested by a tonic 6/4 just as a cadenza cannot be requested
> by a dominant seventh.

Sorry, it was difficult to tell from this message who sent it.
Nevertheless, it prompts me to want to say a little about the 6/4 chord
and the dominant seventh from the standpoint of the history of theory.

The second inversion of the tonic chord is regarded by some theorists as
merely a melodic elaboration of the dominant chord. In other words, the
most significant feature of the 6/4 is the dominant pitch in the bass. In
this regard, it functions as a part of the establishment of the dominant
in the authentic cadence. Some theorists posit that this and almost all
of the chords we regularly use originated through horizontal or melodic
means. Thus, the tonic and the mediant pitches can be regarded as
non-harmonic tones over the dominant bass, and they resolve to their
nearest neighbors in the dominant chord, scale step one moving to the
leading tone and scale step three to the supertonic. It is precisely at
the point of change where the non-harmonic tones resolve that cadenzas are
traditionally introduced. How and exactly where this tradition originated
is not known, or at least I have never heard anyone say that they know the
answer to that question.

The main point I wanted to make is that while what has been said about the
indication of the tonic 6/4 chord or the dominant chord in this context is
true, in fact these chords were not always regarded as such disparate
entities as they now tend to be. In fact, I have seen chords such as the
tonic 6/4 described in some theory texts as a "chord of contrapuntal
origin" or a "voice leading chord." Currently, when and if such terms are
used, they tend to describe chords which do not fit any convenient
analyses. But, formerly, they could be used in connection with any chord
which had not yet come into common usage to the extent that they were
considered part of the widely accepted language of harmonic analysis.

Particularly in a classical concerto, when you find the dominant pitch in
the bass, it isn't difficult to tell whether the dominant chord or the
tonic 6/4 exists. However, especially in a context other than where a
cadenza or eingang is called for, it may be justified to analyze the
prevailing harmony of the entire structure as dominant.

Ed Lacy
*****************************************************************
Dr. Edwin Lacy University of Evansville
Professor of Music 1800 Lincoln Avenue
Evansville, IN 47722
el2@-----.edu (812)479-2754
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