The first post in this series looked at the point in the music of Bach’s double violin concerto BWV1043 where a lump in the throat appears in the listener, at least it does for me. This post will look at the modulation form D minor to the parallel D Major at the midway point of Bach’s Chaconne from his violin partita no. 2 in D minor BWV1004.
This modulation has been called ‘earth-shattering’ amongst others and has good reason. I find that if the whole movement is listened to carefully, with all of one’s concentration, no reading simultaneously or conversation etc but really listen, an emotional effect is almost guaranteed.
Those of you that have a copy of my M3 book (The Modal Method of Music) will be pleased to know that one of the appendices is an analysis of the entire Chaconne, broken down into the 250 alterations that Bach employed, with the score on one page and the corresponding bar by bar analysis on the facing page.
The actual change from minor to Major occurs at bar 133 in the music, but the emotional effect is generated by the build up and instability of the scale choices from the previous bars, all of which is related to the architecture of the piece as a whole.
Lets start from the resolution to D Harmonic minor before it, beginning at bar 126. The score is below, with the changes marked in red for (+1) alterations and blue for (-1) alterations.
From our starting point in D Harmonic minor (D E F G A Bb C#) we can see that the first altered note is in bar 129, an F# marked as 168. This is the beginning of the change, a subtle move to D Harmonic Major, raising the minor third of the D Harmonic minor to become its equivalent Major scale:
(D Harmonic minor mode III) F Ionian + (+1) = F# Phrygian b4 (D Harmonic Major mode III)
That is the first step. Next, we have three consecutive alterations marked 169 – 171. C natural moves us into G Melodic, C# Locrian bb7 (-1) = C Lydian 7 followed by F natural leading us into F Major, F# Altered (-1) = F Ionian and the B natural lands us on V – I in C Major, Bb Lydian (+1) = B Locrian. That is where it resolves and so we can show the first sequence as:
D Harmonic minor - D Harmonic Major – G Melodic – F Major – C Major
Looking closely at this sequence, you can see that from the initial key of D minor there is a rise to D Harmonic Major, a fall to G Melodic, a fall to F Major and then a rise to C Major. Up, down, down, up, or a sine wave, culminating in the Major key rising a fifth from F Major to C Major. The harmony gives us A7 – Dsus4 – D – D7 – G7 – C or a V – I – V – V – I.
The Bb at 172 signals C7 from F Major and then the Eb gives us F7 from Bb Major. So now the sequence is as follows and shows the extent to which Bach is using the circle of fifths:
D Harmonic minor - D Harmonic Major – G Melodic – F Major – C Major – F Major – Bb Major
Sine wave, forward, back, back. The G# is an unexpected change, Bb Major = Bb C D Eb F G A and raising the G Aeolian to G# Altbb367 gives us A Locrian nat7 (A Bb C D Eb F G#) which is a change Bach uses carefully, its ambiguity creates uncertainty in the listener but then we have a simultaneous change at 175 (C# and E natural) that uses the dominant mode of D Hungarian minor, A Double Harmonic ( A Bb C# D E F G#) to create the perfect cadence into D Major. Remember, Bach could have just used A Mixolydian or another dominant mode, but the fact that the Bb is still ringing in the ears creates that sense of relief, is the Bb leading us back into D minor? No, wait, there is an F#, the lightness and positivity is palpable. So now we have:
A Locrian nat7 – A Double Harmonic (D Hungarian minor/A) – D Major
A lovely change, and worth the wait. The G natural and B natural (177 – 178) solidify the change to D Major in an almost church like serenity, and the emotion is stirred. It really is a masterclass in restraint and the whole sequence which is spread over 10 bars is now shown below:
D Harmonic minor - D Harmonic Major – G Melodic – F Major – C Major – F Major – Bb Major – A Loc nat7 – D Hungarian minor – D Major
So we can see the design now: minor key, two unstable scale changes culminating in a Major key via a sine wave, forward, back, back, two unstable scale changes and then the Major key as home. Keep in mind, the change from Bb Major to D Major is five key signatures apart, 2 flats to 2 sharps. A huge leap, euphoric and touching to our core.
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