The modern Lydian mode is a seven-tone musical scale formed from a rising pattern of pitches comprising three

whole tones In Western music theory, a major second (sometimes also called whole tone or a whole step) is a second spanning two semitones (). A second is a musical interval encompassing two adjacent staff positions (see Interval number for more deta ...

, a

semitone A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically. It is defined as the interval between two adjacent no ...

, two more whole tones, and a final semitone. : Because of the importance of the

major scale The major scale (or Ionian mode) is one of the most commonly used musical scales, especially in Western music. It is one of the diatonic scales. Like many musical scales, it is made up of seven notes: the eighth duplicates the first at doub ...

in modern music, the Lydian mode is often described as the scale that begins on the fourth scale degree of the major scale, or alternatively, as the major scale with the fourth scale degree raised half a step. This sequence of pitches roughly describes the scale underlying the fifth of the eight Gregorian (church) modes, known as Mode V or the authentic mode on F, theoretically using B but in practice more commonly featuring B. The use of the B as opposed to B would have made such piece in the modern day F

Ancient Greek Lydian

The name Lydian refers to the ancient kingdom of

Lydia Lydia ( Lydian: ‎𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern western Turkish provin ...

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The r ...

. In Greek music theory, there was a Lydian scale or " octave species" extending from ''parhypate hypaton'' to ''trite diezeugmenon'', equivalent in the diatonic genus to the modern Ionian mode (the

). : In the

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 ...

and enharmonic genera, the Lydian scale was equivalent to C D E F G A B C, and C C E F F A B C, respectively, where signifies raising the pitch by approximately a quarter tone. : :

Medieval Lydian mode

In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, this mode was described in two ways. The first way is the diatonic octave species from F up to F an octave above, divided at C to produce two segments: : The second is as a mode with a final on F and an

ambitus In Roman law, ancient Roman law, ''ambitus'' was a crime of political corruption, mainly a candidate's attempt to influence the outcome (or direction) of an election through bribery or other forms of soft power. The Latin word ''ambitus'' is the ...

extending to F an octave higher and in which the note C was regarded as having an important melodic function. Many theorists of the period observed that B is used more typically than B in compositions in Lydian mode.

Modern Lydian mode

The Lydian scale can be described as a

with the fourth scale degree raised a semitone, making it an augmented fourth above the tonic, e.g., an F-major scale with a B rather than B. This mode's augmented fourth and the Locrian mode's diminished fifth are the only modes to have a tritone above the tonic. : In Lydian mode, the tonic, dominant, and supertonic triads are all major. The subdominant is diminished. The triads built on the remaining three scale degrees are minor.

Notable compositions in the Lydian mode

Classical (Ancient Greek)

The ''Paean and Prosodion to the God'', familiarly known as the Second Delphic Hymn, composed in 128 BC by Athénaios Athenaíou is predominantly in the Lydian ''tonos'', both diatonic and chromatic, with sections also in Hypolydian.

Medieval

The 12th-century "Hymn to St. Magnus" from the

Orkney Islands Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) no ...

, referencing

Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney Saint Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney, sometimes known as Magnus the Martyr, was Earl of Orkney from 1106 to about 1115. Magnus's grandparents, Earl Thorfinn and his wife Ingibiorg Finnsdottir, had two sons, Erlend and Paul, who were twi ...

, is in Gregorian mode or church mode V (F white notes), extending from the E below to the octave above, with B's throughout, in two-part harmony of mostly parallel thirds. The Sanctus, Agnus Dei, and Ite, missa est of Guillaume de Machaut's '' Messe de Nostre Dame'' feature extensive use of F and B, as well as F and B.

Romantic

A rare, extended use of the Lydian mode in the Classical repertoire is Simon Sechter's 1822 ''Messe in der lydischen Tonart'' (Mass in the Lydian Mode). A more famous example from around the same time is the third movement of

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 classic ...

's String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132 (1825), titled by the composer "Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit, in der lydischen Tonart" ("Holy Song of Thanksgiving by a Convalescent to the Divinity, in the Lydian Mode"). The alternating passages in F use the Lydian scale with sharp fourth scale degree exclusively.

Charles-Valentin Alkan Charles-Valentin Alkan (; 30 November 1813 – 29 March 1888) was a French Jewish composer and virtuoso pianist. At the height of his fame in the 1830s and 1840s he was, alongside his friends and colleagues Frédéric Chopin and Franz Li ...

's ''Allegro barbaro'' (Étude Op. 35, No. 5, published in 1848) is written strictly in F Lydian, with no B's present at all. Anton Bruckner employed the sharpened fourth of the Lydian scale in his motet '' Os justi'' (1879) more strictly than Renaissance composers ever did when writing in this mode.

Modern

In the 20th century, composers began once again to exploit modal scales with some frequency. George Enescu, for example, includes Lydian-mode passages in the second and third movements of his 1906 Decet for Winds, Op. 14. An example from the middle of the century is the scherzo movement of Carlos Chávez's Symphony No. 3 (1951–54). The movement opens with a fugue subject, featuring extremely wide leaps, in C Lydian with following entries in F and G Lydian.

Alexei Stanchinsky Alexei Vladimirovich Stanchinsky (russian: Алексей Владимирович Станчинский; 9 March (OS) / 21 March 1888 – 25 September (OS) / 6 October 1914), was a composer from the Russian Empire. From a young age Stanchins ...

wrote a Prelude in Lydian mode earlier in the 20th century.

Jazz

In '' Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization'', George Russell developed a theory that became highly influential in the jazz world, inspiring the works of people such as

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Born and rai ...

, Ornette Coleman, and Woody Shaw.

Folk

* Many Polish folksongs, including the mazurka, are in the Lydian mode; the first six notes of this mode were sometimes known as the "Polish mode".

Notes

Sources

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External links

* ttp://gosk.com/scales/lydian-scale-for-guitar.php Lydian mode in six positions for guitarat GOSK.com
Lydian Mode – AnalysisLydian mode theory and improvisation application
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