Czerny, Praktische Studien des Generalbasses, Op. 838: ninth chords

Czerny introduces the dominant with a minor ninth relatively early in his harmony exercise book. Much later he has a section titled "Der Nonen-Accord." It consists of one two-page composition, a 43-bar agitato that begins in C minor but ends triumphantly in C major.

With only three exceptions, the ninth chords are again dominants with a minor ninth--as at the first arrow below--and those ninths are resolved within the chord--as at the second arrow. Only over pedal point basses are the ninths allowed to resolve directly. In other words, Czerny's treatment of ninth chords is very conservative for the 1850s.

Two of the three dominants with major ninth are close together--see arrows below--and both resolve their ninths within the chord. (Chords with minor ninth are boxed.)

All this being the case, the primary closing cadence is a surprise: not only does it have a chord with major ninth (boxed) but that chord is treated in the manner I call the "waltz ninth," where 9 moves upward, the result being an emphatic ascending cadence gesture (beamed at (a)).  (At (b) is an example of the minor ninths over a pedal point.) Here it is Beethovenian heroic transcendence we are hearing, definitely not a lilting upward turn to end a waltz or polka.

A Curiosity: Czerny, Praktische Studien des Generalbasses, Op. 838

Carl Czerny's Studien zur praktischen Kenntniss aller Accorde des Generalbasses auf dem Pianoforte sowohl in festen als bewegten Finger-Übungen, Op. 838—or simply "Praktische Studien des Generalbasses," as the interior title page has it—was published in Vienna by Spina in the early 1850s.

Czerny's foreword is a short paragraph that immediately suggests his attitude toward the subject:

The study of figured bass can only be of real value to the student if he learns to play all the chords in their many forms on the piano and is able to play them securely. The present work offers a contribution to that goal, in that the first nine numbers present the chords in block-chord form, and the remaining numbers the same chord repertoire in elaborated form, so that the student can be made more familiar with the various harmonic combinations. (my translation)

His footnote to the title of the first section is decidedly more revealing: "The figures in all of these examples must be worked out by the student, who can avail himself if necessary of help from a textbook or a teacher." Thus, Czerny is really offering a practical diatonic and chromatic chord primer, not a figured-bass textbook.

The first example is of interest here. It covers all 24 major and minor triads in a total of 13 bars. The upper most voice covers the distance of an ascending octave, C5-C6.

The pattern of thirds within fifths—C-a-F in bars 1-2—is strictly maintained throughout, and it charts a simple path through the Riemannian Tonnetz. Here is a fragment of a common representation of the Tonnetz, with arrows showing the starting path of Czerny's progression:

And here is the entire sequence, separated out from the diagram:

I should note, incidentally, that is impossible to maintain the close voicing in the right hand with anything other than a rising line. Analogously to suspensions, which tend to force voice leading down, relative (R) and leading-tone (L) relations force voice leading upward.

Fledermaus essay published

I have gathered all the blog posts in the Fledermaus series, added additional information, and published an essay on the Texas Scholar Works platform: Johann Strauss, jr., Die Fledermaus: Ascending Cadence Gestures on Stage. Link.

Here is the abstract:

Die Fledermaus (1874), today the best-known operetta by Johann Strauss, jr., is also a treasure trove of ascending cadence gestures. This article documents and interprets those multiple instances and their effects.

Strauss, Die Fledermaus, addendum: Act II n10 Csardas

Apart from Adele's "Laughing Song" ("Mein Herr Marquis," n8b), the best known solo aria in the operetta is Rosalinde's Csárdás, n10. The two sections of the standard slow-fast design both make use of rising gestures.

In the opening section, unfoldings over a simple cycle of fifths progressions—ii-V-I, mostly in inversions—bring ^9 (E5) down to ^8 (D5) in the first four bars. A rising line fills the second fourth, A4-D5 (bars 3-4). The figure is repeated and stretched into the final cadence (bars 5-8). Considered abstractly, then, a background for this section would be a stationary ^8.

In the second, fast section, ^5 is the focal tone, aided by its upper neighbor (B4 circled in bars 2 and 6) and a descending figure running across V7 closes (also circled). A line of the rising fourth is now the bright flourish at the very beginning.

The Più Allegro—another of those codas that confound the difference between formal-structural and coda-accessory closes—takes the same figures, but shifts the focal note up an octave to A5 and carries that into the voice's ending, where ^5 substitutes for ^7 in order to give even more dramatic emphasis to the final D6!

Strauss, Die Fledermaus, addendum: Act II n6 chorus

After finishing the series on Die Fledermaus, I again watched the excellent performance from the Wiener Staatsoper starring Lucia Popp and Bernd Weikl, with Theodor Guschlbauer conducting  (1980; DVD release 2007).

In the course of this audio-viewing, two more numbers revealed themselves as having rising cadence gestures. The first of these is an omission: the opening chorus of Act II (n6) reprises, but also develops, Falke's "Komm mit mir zum Souper" invitation to Eisenstein (from n3). The reprise is also a reminder to the audience that Falke is the driver behind the narrative's events.

The chorus takes full advantage of this charming polka as guests laud the pleasures of Prince Orlofsky's party/dance. In the principal strain, neighbor notes moves about ^8:

After a second strain, the first is repeated. Then the tempo changes abruptly, to Molto animato as the singers call out their orders, after which a new strain, Vivo, uses an eight-bar unit as the presentation phase of a 16-bar sentence -- see bars 1-8 below, with its remarkable treatment of ^7 and ^6. The continuation moves quickly up to ^8 (bars 9-12 below) then adds four more bars of descent ending with an IAC.

The continuation is then repeated, but now the ascent is the main event, and ^8 is celebrated, fortissimo, for several more bars:

Concluding comment on Die Fledermaus

The number of ascending cadential gestures in Die Fledermaus is substantial. Certainly there are many more than one would expect in the waltz sets of Johann Strauss, jr., where he tends to be conservative in the cadences (apart, of course, from the characteristic figures of the waltz repertoire). On the other hand, significant ascending motives and cadences are very typical of the opera bouffe and operetta repertoires. Clearly Strauss knew and responded to those genre-based opportunities.

 In the introduction to this series, I wrote that—in addition to continuing documentation of rising cadential figures—I wanted "to put more emphasis on the expressive and dramatic functions of ascending cadence gestures in texted works. My method is quite simple: for each song or number I will ask the question, Why does an ascending melodic figure dominate the cadence(s) and not the clichéd falling version inherited from 18th century practice?"

As will be obvious if you have read earlier posts, I didn't follow through on that plan. After n2—the trio for Rosalinde, Eisenstein, and Blind—I largely gave up. I did manage these observations there: [link to the post]

In this case, (1) the focus on the upper edge of the register in the main phrase (bars 1-5 above); (2) the repetitions of the pick-up chromatic ascending figure (bars 9-12), which invite continuation in the same direction (bars 12-13); (3) the more and more peremptory "hinaus" (get out!) (bars 12-13); (4) the exaggerated melodramatic humor in the subverted tonic at the end, as Rosalinde hits and holds her high note. 

The Vivace [ending] is a typical operatic ensemble close, whose simple harmonic progressions and repetitious figures are similar to "one more time" passages in Classical-period instrumental codas. After waltzes and polkas, these ensemble endings are the most frequent source of rising cadence gestures in 19th century music.

Perhaps  Die Fledermaus wasn't the best subject for an inquiry like this, if the goal is to make fine distinctions (why rising in this aria, falling in that?). Almost all of its songs and ensemble pieces are dance-based, with particular emphasis on the waltz and polka. By 1850 at the latest, the endings of songs, but especially ensemble pieces and finales, generally favored rousing high-register gestures. Thus, the answer to my question is simple: genre expectations assumed the possibility of significant ascending motives and cadences.

I would like to be able to claim the following, as well, but I will do no more than hint for now. A study now underway of songs by Cécile Chaminade and Hugo Wolf will, I hope, offer some insights.

Such genre expectations also made it easier to experiment with ascending figures and cadences in relation to mood or affect: instead of the typical falling line for slow-tempo melancholy, a rising conclusion could signal an existentially charged sighing regret, nostalgia, or utopian feeling. In a faster tempo, a falling cadential line could more easily signal assertion, firmness, or resolve when understood as balanced against the option of the lighter, brighter quality of an ascending line. 

Waltz "Du und Du," op. 367

Die Fledermaus draws on a variety of musical resources, including—as we have seen—popular dances of its era: the polka, galop, and waltz.

Strauss published a set of waltzes derived from the operetta; it is named "Du und Du," after the choral section of Falke's "Brüderlein und Schwesterlein" in Act II.

The set consists of an introduction, three waltzes (not the standard five), and a lengthy coda. The introduction immediately quotes "Brüderlein und Schwesterlein":

but before too long inches its way toward "Ha, welch ein Fest," the climactic dance of the Act II Finale:

The first waltz, then, offers up the two strains of that waltz:

Waltz n2 gives us Rosalinde's rebuke to the jail warden Frank in Act I and Adele's rebuke to Eisenstein from Act II.

Finally, n3 brings us two strains from "Du und Du":

In typical fashion, the coda then recapitulates several strains from the waltzes, separated by dramatic transitions.

As a point of interest, Strauss published several other pieces with material derived from Die Fledermaus: a Fledermaus-Polka, Op. 362; a Fledermaus-Quadrille, Op. 363; a polka "An der Moldau," Op. 366; and a polka-mazurka "Glücklish ist, wer vergisst!", Op. 368.