Chord overtones, like chord tones, are the materials of tonal harmony. Almost no work is entirely composed of chord tones, because this is neither realistic nor "artistic" , does not conform to the organizational rules of harmony aesthetics. It is precisely with the simultaneous cooperation and simultaneous function of the two that we can be competent in the form composition and content expression of multi-part musical works. However, in the field of harmonics research, chord overtones have not received due attention and importance. What role does the external voice play in the composition of the formal beauty and the expression of content in polyphonic works? How does it reflect its own aesthetic qualities in the contrast and coordination with chords? This is all worthy of our study.
1. Color beauty - an important source of dissonant sound
From the perspective of musical expression, whether it is the depiction of the rich, complex and subtle human emotional world, or the Consonance alone is obviously not enough to describe the nature that is rich in form, sometimes gentle, and sometimes violent. The existence of dissonance is exactly the objective requirement for harmony put forward by the needs of musical expression objects. Judging from the history of the development of harmony, although different musical development periods have different understandings of the standards of dissonance, dissonance is like a magnet filled with a huge magnetic field that tightly attracts the attention of composers, so that They pay far more attention to dissonant sounds in their works than to consonants. This may be because the inherent power of human beings has a great desire to challenge and conquer. Composers' keen pursuit of dissonance has always been accompanied by the historical development of harmony, so Schoenberg believes that "the history of the development of harmony is not the history of the development of consonance, but the history of the development of dissonance."
In the process of developing dissonant sounds, chord outtones play an extremely important role, almost becoming the "cradle" for the generation of dissonant chords. It was in the musical practice of using chord outtones that the dissonant sounds formed by the accidental combination of some triads and outtones gradually aroused the interest of composers. They discovered that these dissonant sounds were related to certain dissonant phenomena. There is an astonishing "correspondence" between them (that is, what Gestalt psychology calls the "heterogeneous and isomorphic" relationship), and they have unique colors, aesthetic effects and expressiveness that are different from Concorde Audio. Due to the objective needs of musical performance, the composer's own aesthetics, and the aesthetic pursuit of harmonic sound color, the novel and unique longitudinal sound structure coupled between these external sounds and chords was gradually incorporated into the composition. The aesthetic vision of the home has gradually evolved into a chord with an independent structural form. Looking at various more complex dissonant chord forms, including seventh chords, later ninth chords, eleventh chords, thirteenth chords and other overlapping chords, various chord changes, and various chords with additional tones, etc., All inevitably leave traces of the influence of foreign sounds, and all have roughly gone through a development process from "coupling" form to "solidification" form.
Of course, far from all combinations of external sounds and chords will eventually become new chord forms. In musical works, the combination of external sounds and chords has extremely rich possibilities, and will form a variety of vertical arrangements that are relatively accidental. Although they also play the role of providing dissonant sounds in works together with dissonant chords, they have their own unique meaning in use. The use of external sounds adds additional tension to the chords within a specific harmonic rhythm. With novel harmonic colors, it affects to varying degrees the melody lines, the fluency and logic of voice progression, the generation of musical interest or the formation of climaxes.
2. Dynamic beauty - the source of power of music movement
Hanslick once said in the world-famous "On the Beauty of Music": "The content of music is the quality of the sound. Movement form.”①Although it is an extreme statement, this statement shows the close connection between music and movement. It is precisely because music, like everything else in the world, has the characteristic of movement that it is possible for music to express what other art forms cannot - the movement of various things and people's emotions from simple to complex. Since it is a movement, there needs to be motivation to promote movement. So where is the motivation in music?
A musical work is a large complex of contradictions, containing a variety of contradictions within it. It is within each contradiction, the mutual struggle and unity, restriction and cooperation of the factors on both sides that the movement of music Only then did I have motivation. In musical works, there are many such contradictory movements, such as the contrast and unity of tonality constitute the movement of tonality and musical form, dissonance and consonance constitute the logical movement of harmony, progression and Jumping in constitutes the movement of the voice lines...Similarly, the external sounds, especially the sustains and appliqués on the downbeat, and the chords they are in also constitute an important pair of contradictory movements. They are inconsistent with the inconsistency caused by the chords they are in. Consonance will make the audience feel nervous and eager to progress to the consonance. Composers will generally arrange the appearance of consonance (although the specific arrangements vary) to meet the audience's expectations. This solution from dissonance to consonance The aesthetic experience it provides has been recognized by people as early as the 15th century. Zarino said, "After the ears are hurt by dissonance, the consonances that follow will feel more beautiful and more charming." ②
On the one hand, the solution from dissonance to consonance reflects how people for the pursuit of concord, but the purpose of the settlement does not seem to be solely to satisfy this pursuit.
Music history is not developing towards consonance, but towards intensifying dissonance, which seems to reflect people's pursuit of dissonance. How to explain this seemingly contradictory phenomenon? “When we put the pursuits that exist at the same time together, we conclude that there is a third pursuit, that is, the pursuit of musical movement.” ③ The emergence and resolution of external sounds are exactly the process of raising and resolving contradictions. They provide impetus and color to the development of music.
Excellent composers are always good at creating contradictions between various factors in their works skillfully and appropriately, allowing music to gain the power of its own movement and development in the contrast and conflict of contradictions, and use Chord overtones, especially those on the downbeat, can easily achieve this effect. For example, the lingering sound, which is called "the sound with the most contrapuntal characteristics" by the American modern music theorist Caius, has shown its value and effect in many aspects as early as in counterpoint music, and has thus been able to Lots of applications. It can form a rhythmic contrast between static and dynamic with other parts, and can form a dissonant confrontation with the chords it belongs to. These values ??gained more powerful support during the period of main-key music with the strong support of the harmonic sequence. Musical performance. The use of Yiyin also shows the same effect. Many composers are good at using appropriation to form dissonant sounds, providing impetus for the development of music, or creating the climax of musical works by combining factors such as intensity and rhythm.
3. Melody beauty - constructing a beautiful and expressive melody
The reason why the external voice can beautify the melody mainly lies in: first, the external voice Using it brings more progressive progression to the melody, thus providing conditions for the formation of beautiful melody lines that combine progression and jump. The alternating progression and jump is an important method to construct a beautiful melody line. Progression occupies a prominent position in the melody. It is the basis of the melody line. Matzer once commented on the effect of progression: it is "the most Ordinary, the most natural, the most logical, and the best at connecting the notes of the melody into a unity." ④ "Not only good at creating a smooth impression, but also good at creating a fullness of the melody line and a sense of saturation of the sound." ⑤ Sometimes, there is no progressive relationship between the tones in a musical work, but in order to make it easier for the audience to hear Combining distant notes into a unified whole for perception is often achieved through progressive hidden melody lines, which shows how important progression is in musical works. However, the decomposition and connection of chord tones alone may produce a hollow, dull, lifeless, and aesthetically pleasing melody due to lack of sufficient progression. The application of external sounds brings rich progression to the melody, allowing the parts to The progression is smoother, and a beautiful melody line is formed in combination with the jump. Secondly, the use of outer tones adds color and interest to the melody, which is prominently reflected in the use of semitone chord outer tones. Chromatic chord overtones refer to chord overtones that appear in the form of changes. Its appearance brings more chromatic progressions to the melody, adds color factors to the melody, and enriches the expressiveness of the melody. "With this change The melody caused by the leading tone relationship caused by the outer tone, when other conditions are equal, often has emotional fullness and compactness. "⑥
It is precisely because of the role of the outer tone in constructing a beautiful melody line. Its unique function makes it almost an indispensable factor for melodic brilliance. Melody cadenza refers to the decoration and beautification of melody parts on the basis of a certain harmonic progression, often represented by the transformation of melody or rhythm into sound patterns. It can make the rhythm and melody tone of the part richer and more fluid, and the expressiveness of the melody is naturally improved. It is especially widely used in instrumental music works.
4. Beautiful expressions - shaping a specific musical image
The external voice not only plays an important role in forming melody brilliance, adding musical power and harmonic color, it also It itself is a powerful means to shape a specific musical image and express emotions. As mentioned above, we can find that foreign voices have always accompanied the pace of music to express human emotions. Different types of foreign voices have gradually formed their own expressive characteristics in certain aspects during the development of music history, thus becoming a way for composers to shape specific expressions. Musical images and important techniques used to express emotions.
The unique melody lines and rhythmic counterpoint of Yanliuyin, as well as the second descending tone, give it unique expressive power in terms of the breadth and depth of musical expression, and thus occupy a very important position among many external sounds. prominent position. For example, the melody scientist Toch believes that the lingering sound is "the most important and interesting sound among the harmonic external sounds, with rich, profound, and intrinsic expressive effects." ⑦The unique melody line of the lingering sound and its relationship with the resolution sound The staggered appearance "especially shows the tenderness, beauty and love of women". ⑧Matzell also believes that the lingering sound is mostly related to the lyrical (broad) expression range, "It mostly expresses open and obvious lyrical emotions - from sentimental or sad 'sighs' to passionate outbursts, from From the "melancholy" of romanticism to exciting and elevated emotions. "⑨ In particular, the continuous application of the descending second progression of the duration in the work has become the most effective means of expressing pathos, and is used by some composers such as Chai. In the works of Kovsky and others, the use of this duration has become almost a necessary element of expression and an important part of the style label.
Applied sound and lingering sound have quite similar characteristics to a certain extent. The two descending "sigh" tones of the two have special expressive power in expressing emotions such as sadness, pain, and longing. Therefore, they are used in different ways. It has been widely used in music works of the era. The opening motive in the famous overture to "Tristan and Isolde" uses applaud to express indescribable pain.
In a general sense, various types of offbeats on weak beats are slightly lacking in terms of breadth and depth of emotional expression compared with strong outside sounds, as Toh said. Said that they "have a more or less playful character anyway", ⑩ but they are also an important means of expression. The chromaticization formed by the continuous use of chromatic passages has almost run through the entire history of harmony development. It can not only describe natural beauty such as hazy sky, shrouded in mist, rising sun, etc., but is also often used in descending form to express sadness, pain, fear, etc. Emotions, or upward forms, express emotional states such as courage and determination. The iambic rhythm of the first melody is often used to outline lively emotions, and the second tone composed of chord tones and auxiliary tones is often a special manifestation of the national customs in Chinese music, and is often associated with cheerful or humorous emotions. together.
Whether it is an outburst of enthusiasm or a low-pitched confession, whether it is fanatical joy or indescribable pain, we can use foreign voices to express an extremely rich and subtle emotional world.
Conclusion
Chord outtones and chord tones are interdependent and work together. With the cooperation of the two, the harmony is full of forward momentum and constantly in "consonance". The logical beauty is demonstrated in the chain of "--Dissonance--Consonance", which makes the progression of the melody full of "variables", allowing the listener to enjoy the fun brought by the melody in unexpected and unexpected times. This allows the multi-voice works to present beautiful pictures of intertwined movement and stillness, interlaced shades, tension and relaxation, and colorful colors. It should also be noted that the use of external sounds will show ever-changing characteristics in the hands of composers from different periods, countries, regions, and genres. Therefore, in-depth research on chord external sounds requires a long-term accumulation process and must be passed through a large number of Only through case study can we have more and deeper understanding of it.
Notes:
① Hanslick. On the beauty of music - a brief discussion on the revision of music aesthetics [M]. Beijing: People's Music Publishing House, 1980: 50.
②Dai Dingcheng. Concepts and forms of early European harmony[M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Music Publishing House, 2000: 169.
③Guo Long. On solutions[J]. Music Exploration, 1989 (2): 28.
④⑤⑥⑨Mazer. On Melody [M]. Beijing: People's Music Publishing House, 1983: 77-133.
⑦⑧⑩Ernst Toch. Melody Science [M]. Beijing: People's Music Publishing House, 1989: 122-136.
Author’s unit: Xuzhou Normal University Conservatory of Music
(Editor: He Xiumei)