A false relation (also known as cross-relation, non-harmonic relation) is the name of a type of dissonance that sometimes occurs in

polyphonic Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...

music, most commonly in vocal music of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

. The term describes a "

chromatic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize scales, and are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pair, ...

contradiction" between two

notes Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to: Music and entertainment * Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music * Notes (album), ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian * ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) sho ...

sounding simultaneously (or in close proximity) in two different voices or parts; or alternatively, in music written before 1600, the occurrence of a

tritone In music theory, the tritone is defined as a musical interval composed of three adjacent whole tones (six semitones). For instance, the interval from F up to the B above it (in short, F–B) is a tritone as it can be decomposed into the three a ...

between two notes of adjacent

chords Chord may refer to: * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve * Chord ( ...

. In the above example, a chromatic false relation occurs in two adjacent voices sounding at the same time (shown in red). The

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

voice sings G while the bass sings G momentarily beneath it, producing the clash of an

augmented unison In modern Western tonal music theory an augmented unison or augmented prime is the interval between two notes on the same staff position, or denoted by the same note letter, whose alterations cause them, in ordinary equal temperament, to be one ...

. In this instance, the false relation is less pronounced: the contradicting E (soprano voice) and E (bass voice) (

diminished octave In music from Western culture, a diminished octave () is an interval produced by narrowing a perfect octave by a chromatic semitone.Benward & Saker (2003). ''Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I'', p.54. . Specific example of an d8 not given ...

) do not sound simultaneously. Here the false relation occurs because the top voice is descending in a minor key, and therefore takes the notes of the

melodic minor In music theory, the minor scale is three scale patterns – the natural minor scale (or Aeolian mode), the harmonic minor scale, and the melodic minor scale (ascending or descending) – rather than just two as with the major scale, which al ...

scale descending (the diatonic sixth degree). The bass voice ascends and therefore makes use of the ascending melodic minor scale (the raised sixth degree). False relation is in this case desirable since this chromatic alteration follows a melodic idea, the rising 'melodic minor'. In such cases false relations must occur between different voices, as it follows that they cannot be produced by the semitones that occur diatonically in a mode or scale of any kind. This horizontal approach to polyphonic writing reflects the practices of composers in the

and Tudor periods, particularly in vocal composition, but it is also seen, for example, in the

hexachord In music, a hexachord (also hexachordon) is a six-note series, as exhibited in a scale (hexatonic or hexad) or tone row. The term was adopted in this sense during the Middle Ages and adapted in the 20th century in Milton Babbitt's serial theor ...

fantasies of

William Byrd William Byrd (; 4 July 1623) was an English composer of late Renaissance music. Considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he had a profound influence on composers both from his native England and those on the continent. He ...

(for keyboard). Indeed, vocal music from this era does not often have these

accidentals In music, an accidental is a note of a pitch (or pitch class) that is not a member of the scale or mode indicated by the most recently applied key signature. In musical notation, the sharp (), flat (), and natural () symbols, among others, ma ...

notated in the manuscript (see

Musica ficta ''Musica ficta'' (from Latin, "false", "feigned", or "fictitious" music) was a term used in European music theory from the late 12th century to about 1600 to describe pitches, whether notated or added at the time of performance, that lie outside ...

); experienced singers would have decided whether or not they were appropriate in a given musical context. Many composers from the late 16th century onwards however began using the effect deliberately as an expressive device in their word setting. This practice continued well into the Romantic era, and can be heard in the music of

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 (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

and Chopin, for example.

References

External links

*Luís Henriques (Saturday, July 21, 2007)
"William Byrd - ''Ave Verum Corpus''"
''Atrium Musicologicum''. Another description of the use of false relation in Byrd's ''Ave Verum Corpus''. his blog is open to invited readers only {{Counterpoint & polyphony Chromaticism

False relation A false relation (also known as cross-relation, non-harmonic relation) is the name of a type of dissonance that sometimes occurs in polyphonic music, most commonly in vocal music of the Renaissance. The term describes a "chromatic contradiction" ...

Musical terminology

See also

References

External links