Are you ready, Peter? I'm ready, you're ready. Here's the theme.
Hello there, I'm Peter Shickley, and this is Shickley Mix, a program dedicated to the proposition that all musics are created equal.
Or, as Duke Ellington put it, if it sounds good, it is good. And good, good, good vibrations in the form of paying our bills
are coming from this very radio station to which you are listening even as I speak. What if you wanted to indicate European classical music very succinctly,
very efficiently, say in a Bugs Bunny cartoon or something like that? What would you do? You could have a singer with a big vibrato,
Pagliacci, I love you very much, like Groucho Marx. Or, you could have a symphony orchestra playing chords like these.
Why does that work so well as a label? Partly, of course, it's simply the sound of a symphony orchestra. But partly it's because that passage was made up of only two different chords.
And those two chords define, or at least are a large part of the definition, of European classical music. European harmonic practice for at least a century and a half.
Okay, now we're talking about a seven-note scale here, right? Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do. Or, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, one, one, one.
And you can build a chord called a triad. That's this kind of chord. Do, do, di, di, di. On each degree of the scale.
One, two.
Three, four. In harmonic analysis, these chords are identified two ways. With Roman numerals corresponding to the scale step of the root,
the generating tone of the chord. And with names, only two of which we'll concern ourselves with now. The tonic, or one chord, which is based on the first scale step.
That's the home base chord. Any piece from this period is going to end with some form of that chord. And the dominant, or five chord, which is based on the fifth scale step. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Do, do, di, di, di. Tonic and dominant. The name of today's show is Dominant Characteristics.
It's almost impossible to overemphasize the importance of the tonic-dominant relationship in music written from about the beginning of the 18th century to sometime later.
In the 19th century, and even later in popular music. Actually, the names are sort of misnomers. Face it, in non-technical English,
dominant means strongest or most prevalent, which describes the tonic chord in music. And you hear so much of that chord that hearing a dominant chord is sort of a refreshing tonic. You know what I mean?
Just trying to make sure that you start out thoroughly confused so we have somewhere to go. Now, let me point out that tonic and dominant, are relative terms, not absolute. If you were to burst into this studio here,
and if you could make it through the piles of LPs and CDs and everything to the authentic instrument, and you played a chord on it, and said, okay, is that a tonic or a dominant?
I couldn't tell you, and neither could anyone else, unless we knew what key you were in. If you said, here's the scale of the piece. I'd say, okay, it's a dominant chord.
But if you said, this is the scale of the piece. I'd say, okay, that's the tonic. Now, if we take a pure dominant chord,
oh, by the way, could you please close the door quietly when you leave? Thanks. If we take a pure dominant chord, and add another note on top,
we get a dominant seventh chord, because the top note is seven scale, so we get a dominant seventh chord. And that's a four-step chord. That's a four-step chord from the root. Now, that's the salsa.
That's the active ingredient. That chord, the dominant seventh chord, is one of the main differences between Renaissance music and 18th century music.
Because, at least to pre-20th century European ears, that chord was like an unstable chemical. It had to change.
Or resolve, as we say in the music biz. The feeling that this chord has to go here was so strong that if it didn't go there, if it went here, for instance, instead,
it was called a deceptive cadence. They didn't have the nerve to call it a sneaky cadence. Dealing with Renaissance music, in which dominant seventh chords almost never appear as distinct entities,
it is not too much of an exaggeration exaggeration to say that any chord can plausibly go to any other chord in the key.
But when you've got this radioactive dominant seventh chord, it either has to go to the tonic
or create surprise by not going there. Listen to a little bit of this gorgeous psalm by Lassus,
Domine ne infiorare tuo. This is a piece of Renaissance music. Listen especially to how many different chords there are.
Man, does that melt your innards or what? Lassus, under the direction of Hillier. What a combo.
Now, in that 30 seconds of music, we heard chords built on all seven degrees of the scale.
So now, listen to how long 18th century composers can travel on two chords. This isn't a suite, it's a bunch of chords. It's a bunch of snippets, a collage. We'll call it tonic and dominant on parade.
Every single chord you hear in this minute and a half of music is one or the other.
These areIST iz a bIn dO.
Music Music Music Music Music Music
tonic and dominant on parade we had bach brandenburg concertos two and four
mozart eine kleine nachtmusik beethoven symphonies number five seven and eight in extremely
truncated versions a couple of things i should have mentioned by the way chords can appear in different inversions put the bottom note on top or the top note in the middle or whatever take
this chord put the bottom note on the top we have this one only they're all the same notes
but in different orders and you spread them around a beautiful example of how different chords can sound in different inversions is this chord here
it's called a dominant minor ninth now if beethoven's using this chord he'd use it that way now you take exactly those same notes and here's the way Stravinsky uses it
in the symphonies of wind instruments that sounds like a completely different chord it is in a way but only in a different way
the disposition of the notes, not the notes themselves. Okay, now also you often hear implied chords. There's nothing but melody, no chords at all, but the melody
outlines a chord. Then there's the technique of having a melody note that
isn't in the chord but then changes to one that is. So there are all sorts of
ways to spice the stew, but in what we're listening to it's still a tonic dominant stew. Now I don't mean to imply that Mozart and Beethoven and those guys
never used more than a couple of chords. They employed a larger palette as a matter of fact than Lossus did when they wanted to, but I think you would be hard
pressed to find a Renaissance piece that goes on as long on two chords as do these excerpts we're hearing. Probably the most common tonic dominant
configuration, I can't tell you how common it is, is the one where the first phrase starts on the tonic and ends on the dominant, and the second phrase
starts on the dominant and ends on the tonic. That is the Smith and Jones of harmonic practice. Here just off the top of my head, here we'll call this is the tonic, that's the dominant.
Down in the valley, the valley's so low, Hang your head over, hear the wind blow
Do do, Ligst probe Graham and Her nauseam and,
I don't know the other words. Santa Lucia lalala
de la de de de de de de de de, Good night, Irene.
Good night, Irene. It's the old 1-5-5-1 formula, if you want to call it that.
This next collage is called What Goes Up a Fifth Must Come Down a Fifth. That just refers to the roots of the chords, not what any given part or melody does.
Harmonically, each one of these snippets starts out 1-5-5-1 and uses no other chords. Keeping that in mind, dig the length of some of these puppies.
What Goes Up a Fifth
What Goes Up a Fifth Must Come Down a Fifth We hear little bits of Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 21, Symphony No. 39, Marriage of Figaro,
Beethoven's Symphonies No. 5, 7, and 8, Schubert Unfinished Symphony, Strauss' Blue Danube Waltz,
and we ended up with the second half of Janis Joplin's rendition of Me and Bobby McGee. We all know who Bobby McGee is. Me? I'm Peter Shickley.
The program is Shickley Mix from PRI, Public Radio International. Okay, now we're ready for a real sweet. It's not so common.
It's not so common to find whole pieces that only use these two chords, but they happen. The All You Need is Tonic and Dominant Suite has three numbers in it. I'll see you in seven minutes.
The All You Need is Tonic and Dominant Suite has three numbers in it.
The All You Need is Tonic and Dominant Suite has three numbers in it. The All You Need is Tonic and Dominant Suite has three numbers in it. The All You Need is Tonic and Dominant Suite has three numbers in it. The All You Need is Tonic and Dominant Suite has three numbers in it. The All You Need is Tonic and Dominant Suite has three numbers in it. The All You Need is Tonic and Dominant Suite has three numbers in it. The All You Need is Tonic and Dominant Suite has three numbers in it.
The All You Need is Tonic and Dominant Suite has three numbers in it. The All You Need is Tonic and Dominant Suite has three numbers in it. The All You Need is Tonic and Dominant Suite has three numbers in it.
The All You Need is Tonic and Dominant Suite has three numbers in it.
The All You Need is Tonic and Dominant Suite has three numbers in it. The All You Need is Tonic and Dominant Suite has three numbers in it.
The All You Need is Tonic and Dominant Suite has three numbers in it. The All You Need is Tonic and Dominant Suite has three numbers in it. Si, si, yo quiero mango, mango
Si, si, si, yo quiero mango
Go! Go!
Go! Kentucky
Kentucky
Go!
You are the dearest land outside of heaven to me
Kentucky I miss you, Laurel I miss you, Laurel
And your redwood trees
When I die
I want to rest upon a graceful mountain so high And your redwood trees
For that is where God will look for me
Kentucky
I miss the old folks singin' in the Selgrim line
Kentucky
I miss the hound dogs chasin' coo
I know that and sweetheart are waiting for me
Kentucky I will be comin' soon
Kentucky
The All You Need is Tonic and Dominant Suite We began with a weird little piece The different kind of music Convertimento in C, KV 188-240B
Take your pick by Mozart For two flutes, five trumpets, and timpani That was the fifth movement, a minuet Performed by members of the Mitgleider der
Membre de la Academie of St. Martin in the Fields Michael Laird was conducting And by the way, if any of you out there Listening to this program Has just saw this
Sold a supertanker or something And wants to give me a birthday present July 17th The complete Mozart edition of Philip's CDs Would be just a wonderful present And I have a room in the house Available to store it there
The second cut was Perez Prado Mambo No. 8 From a rounder album called A Carnival of Cuban Music Roots of Rhythm, Volume 1 And finally, the Everly Brothers
That old soft spot in my record collection Songs Our Daddy Taught Us One of my favorite albums The song was called As you might have guessed Kentucky
Proof of how the dominant chord Is virtually a sine qua non As we say in the music biz Of traditional music Is how hard it is to find a piece That doesn't have one
I defy anyone to find a piece By Haydn or Mozart or Beethoven or Schubert No matter how short That doesn't have a dominant chord More recently, however Like in the 20th century
There's been a lot of interest In modal harmony Which is the kind Lossus was using Back there at the beginning of the program Remember, in modal music All the chords of a scale
Are more nearly equal in importance Which means that you can pretty much Go from any chord to any other chord
Now, using modal harmony Doesn't preclude having dominant chords It just means they're less important So there's a greater chance Of finding a piece or two That doesn't have any If you're the kind of guy
Who has to do things like that To prove his manhood The non-dominant gene song cycle Is about six minutes long It contains two numbers With narrators and chords To carry a five-chord in sight
Expectations To pass Through here Again
Once I was a rich man Now I am so poor
But never in my Sweet- consumption Charles Life Have I felt like this before?
Your heart is like a diamond
You throw your pearls at swine And as I watch you leaving me
You pack my peace of mind
Our love was like the water That flashes on a storm
Our love was like our music It's here and then it's gone
So take me to the airport And put me on a plane
I've got no expectations
To miss through here again
Whenever I Want you around, yeah
All I gotta do
Is call you on the phone
And you come running home
Yeah, that's all I gotta do
And when I I wanna kiss you, yeah All I gotta do
Is whisper in your ear The words you long to hear And I'll be kissing you And the same goes for me
Whenever you want me at all I'll be here, yes I will Whenever you call You just gotta call on me, yeah
You just gotta call on me And I'll be here, yes I will And when I I wanna kiss you, yeah
All I gotta do Is call you on the phone And you come running home Yeah, that's all I gotta do
And the same goes for me Whenever you want me at all I'll be here, yes I will Whenever you go, you just gotta call on me, yeah
You just gotta call on me Oh, you just gotta call on me
The non-dominant Gene song cycle consisted of the Rolling Stones' No Expectations, one of my very favorite songs,
which has chords based on the 1st, 7th, and 4th degrees of the scale, and the Beatles' All I've Gotta Do, which has a bunch of different chords, but none of them dominant.
Let's talk about one of those chords, the subdominant. Why is it called subdominant? Well, the root of the dominant chord is five steps above that of the tonic.
So the root of the subdominant is five steps... Well, sub... Sub is Latin for hero sandwich, so if you go down from the tonic, about the width of a hero sandwich,
you find yourself on a note that is the 4th degree of the scale. Now these three chords, 1, 4, and 5, or tonic, subdominant, and dominant,
use all seven notes of the scale, so they really define the key. Here's a little collage called Three Points Define a Plane, three snippets that use only 1, 4, and 5 chords.
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Then you ask me just to leave you Then you ask me just to leave you Then you ask me just to leave you Then you ask me just to leave you Then you ask me just to leave you Then you ask me just to leave you
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Then you ask me just to leave you Then you ask me just to leave you Then you ask me just to leave you Then you ask me just to leave you Then you ask me just to leave you Then you ask me just to leave you
Then you ask me just to leave you Then you ask me just to leave you Then you ask me just to leave you station. We'll tell you in a moment how you can get an official playlist of all the music on
today's program with record numbers and everything. Just refer to the program number and this is program number 42. This is Peter Shickley saying goodbye and reminding you that it don't mean a
thing if it ain't got that certain je ne sais quoi. Hey, you are looking good. See you next week.
Bye.
If you'd like a copy of that playlist I mentioned, send a stamped self-addressed envelope to Shickley
Mix. That's S-C-H-I-C-K-E-L-E, Shickley Mix. Care of Public Radio International, 100 North 6th Street,
Suite 900A, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55403.
P-R-I, Public Radio International.