Elektra chord
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The ''Elektra'' chord is a "complexly
dissonant In music, consonance and dissonance are categorizations of simultaneous or successive Sound, sounds. Within the Western tradition, some listeners associate consonance with sweetness, pleasantness, and acceptability, and dissonance with harshness ...
signature- chord"Lawrence Kramer. "Fin-de-siècle Fantasies: ''Elektra'', Degeneration and Sexual Science", ''Cambridge Opera Journal'', Vol. 5, No. 2. (Jul., 1993), pp. 141-165. and motivic elaboration used by
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...
Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...
to represent the title character of his opera '' Elektra'' that is a "
bitonal Polytonality (also polyharmony) is the musical use of more than one key simultaneously. Bitonality is the use of only two different keys at the same time. Polyvalence or polyvalency is the use of more than one harmonic function, from the same key, ...
synthesis of E major and C-sharp major" and may be regarded as a
polychord In music and music theory, a polychord consists of two or more chords, one on top of the other. In shorthand they are written with the top chord above a line and the bottom chord below,Policastro, Michael A. (1999). ''Understanding How to Build ...
related to conventional chords with added thirds,H. H. Stuckenschmidt; Piero Weiss. "Debussy or Berg? The Mystery of a Chord Progression", ''The Musical Quarterly'', Vol. 51, No. 3. (Jul., 1965), pp. 453-459. in this case an
eleventh chord In music theory, an eleventh chord is a chord that contains the tertian extension of the eleventh. Typically found in jazz, an eleventh chord also usually includes the seventh and ninth, and elements of the basic triad structure. Variants inc ...
. It is enharmonically equivalent to a 7#9 chord : D-F-A-C-E and a 6b9 chord : E-G#-B-C#-F. In ''Elektra'' the chord, Elektra's "
harmonic A harmonic is a wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'', the frequency of the original periodic signal, such as a sinusoidal wave. The original signal is also called the ''1st harmonic'', the ...
signature" is treated various ways betraying "both tonal and bitonal leanings...a dominant 4/2 over a nonharmonic bass." It is associated as well with its seven note
complement A complement is something that completes something else. Complement may refer specifically to: The arts * Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave ** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-class ...
which may be arranged as a dominant
thirteenth In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octa ...
while other characters are represented by other motives or chords, such as Klytämnestra's contrasting harmony. The Elektra chord's complement appears at important points and the two chords form a 10-note pitch collection, lacking D and A, which forms one of Elektra's "distinctive 'voices'"Carolyn Abbate, 'Music and Language in Elektra', in ''Richard Strauss: Elektra'', ed. Derrick Puffett, Cambridge Opera Guides (Cambridge, 1989), 107-27. Cited in Kramer (1993), p.156. The chord is also found in
Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
's '' Feuilles mortes'', where it may be analyzed as an
appoggiatura An appoggiatura ( , ; german: Vorschlag or ; french: port de voix) is a musical ornament that consists of an added non-chord note in a melody that is resolved to the regular note of the chord. By putting the non-chord tone on a strong beat, (ty ...
to a minor
ninth chord In music theory, a ninth chord is a chord that encompasses the interval of a ninth when arranged in close position with the root in the bass. Heinrich Schenker and also Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov allowed the substitution of the dominant seve ...
, and
Franz Schreker Franz Schreker (originally ''Schrecker''; 23 March 1878 – 21 March 1934) was an Austrian composer, conductor, teacher and administrator. Primarily a composer of operas, Schreker developed a style characterized by aesthetic plurality (a mixture ...
's ''
Der ferne Klang ''Der ferne Klang'' (''The Distant Sound'') is an opera by Franz Schreker, set to his own libretto. Begun in 1903, it was first performed by the Oper Frankfurt on 18 August 1912. It was the composer's breakthrough to fame, and was frequently pe ...
'', and
Alexander Scriabin Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin (; russian: Александр Николаевич Скрябин ; – ) was a Russian composer and virtuoso pianist. Before 1903, Scriabin was greatly influenced by the music of Frédéric Chopin and composed ...
's Sixth Piano Sonata.


See also

*
Gamma chord An octatonic scale is any eight-note musical scale. However, the term most often refers to the symmetric scale composed of alternating whole and half steps, as shown at right. In classical theory (in contrast to jazz theory), this symmetrical ...
*
Mystic chord In music, the mystic chord or Prometheus chord is a six-note synthetic chord and its associated scale, or pitch collection; which loosely serves as the harmonic and melodic basis for some of the later pieces by Russian composer Alexander Scriabin ...
*
Petrushka chord The Petrushka chord is a recurring polytonal device used in Igor Stravinsky's ballet ''Petrushka'' and in later music. These two major triads, C major and F major – a tritone apart – clash, "horribly with each other", when sounded together a ...
*
Psalms chord In music, the Psalms chord is the opening chord of Igor Stravinsky's '' Symphony of Psalms''. It is a "barking E minor triad" that is voiced "like no E-minor triad that was ever known before" – that is, in two highly separate groups, one in t ...
*
Tristan chord The Tristan chord is a chord made up of the notes F, B, D, and G: : More generally, it can be any chord that consists of these same intervals: augmented fourth, augmented sixth, and augmented ninth above a bass note. It is so named as it is h ...


References


External links


Some occurrences of the Elektra chord in the scores of Petrucci Music Library
{{Richard Strauss, state=collapsed Extended chords Modernism (music) Richard Strauss