music theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...

, a chromatic fourth, or ''passus duriusculus'',Monelle, Raymond (2000). ''The Sense of Music: Semiotic Essays'', p.73. . is a melody or melodic fragment spanning a

perfect fourth A fourth is a musical interval encompassing four staff positions in the music notation of Western culture, and a perfect fourth () is the fourth spanning five semitones (half steps, or half tones). For example, the ascending interval from C to ...

with all or almost all chromatic intervals filled in ( chromatic line). The quintessential example is in D minor with the tonic and dominant notes as boundaries: \relative c The chromatic fourth was first used in the

madrigal A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance music, Renaissance (15th–16th c.) and early Baroque music, Baroque (1600–1750) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The Polyphony, polyphoni ...

s of the 16th Century. The Latin term itself—"harsh" or "difficult" (''duriusculus'') "step" or "passage" (''passus'')—originates in

Christoph Bernhard Christoph Bernhard (1 January 1628 – 14 November 1692) was born in Kolberg, Pomerania, and died in Dresden. He was a German Baroque composer and musician. He studied with former Sweelinck-pupil Paul Siefert in Danzig (now Gdańsk) and in Wa ...

's 17th century ''Tractatus compositionis augmentatus'' (1648–49), where it appears to refer to repeated melodic motion by semitone creating consecutive semitones. The term may also relate to the ''

pianto In music, the ''pianto'' (en:crying) is the motif of a descending minor second, has represented laments and been associated textually with weeping, sighing (called the Mannheim sigh by Hugo Riemann); or pain, grief, etc.; since the 16th centur ...

'' associated with weeping. In the Baroque,

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

used it in his choral as well as his instrumental music, in the ''

Well-Tempered Clavier ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'', BWV 846–893, consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach. In the composer's time, ''clavier'', meaning keyboard, referred to a variety of in ...

'', for example (the chromatic fourth is indicated by the red notes): \relative c' Vivaldi lament bass from RV 631, Aria No

This does not mean that the chromatic fourth was always used in a sorrowful or foreboding way, or that the boundaries should always be the tonic and dominant notes. One counterexample comes from the Minuet of

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

's String Quartet in G major, K. 387 (the chromatic fourths are conveniently bracketed by the slurs and set apart with note-to-note dynamics changes): \relative c'

Musical works using the chromatic fourth or ''passus duriusculus''

* Henry Purcell, "Dido's Lament" * J. S. Bach, Mass in B minor, Crucifixus, also BWV 12, "Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen" * J. S. Bach, BWV 78: "Jesu, der du meine Seele" * J. S. Bach, BWV 150: "Nach Dir, Herr, verlanget mich" (in the first choral, and a reverse, ''whole note upwards'' melody in the final Chaconne) *

J. S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

, Orgelbüchlein, BWV 614: "Das Alte Jahr vergangen ist" (in the three accompanying voices) *

, Invention No. 9 in F minor, BWV 795 (second subject) *

Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp minor, BWV 849 The Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp minor, BWV 849, is a pair of keyboard compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It is the fourth prelude and fugue in the first book of ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'', a series of 48 preludes and fugues by the ...

, second voice in bar 69, soprano in bar 71 *

, Prelude and Fugue in E minor, BWV 855, fugue subject *

Prelude and Fugue in E minor, BWV 548 Prelude and Fugue in E minor, BWV 548 is a piece of organ music written by Johann Sebastian Bach sometime between 1727 and 1736, during his time in Leipzig. The work is sometimes called "The Wedge" due to the chromatic outward motion of the fugue ...

, the widening chromatic character of the fugue subject lends the work the subtitle "The Wedge". *

, Toccata in E minor, BWV 914, fugue subject * W. A. Mozart, K. 594: "Stück für ein Orgelwerk in einer Uhr" *

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

, Symphony No. 9, ending of first movement * Frédéric Chopin, No. 20 from 24 Preludes, Op. 28 * Hector Berlioz, Requiem, Op. 5 *

César Franck César-Auguste Jean-Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in modern-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of his birth was pa ...

, Prelude, Chorale and Fugue

References

{{Chromaticism Chromaticism Music semiology Music theory