In this series my focus is on the four movement piece from 1989 by Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu. By now you are familiar with my method and the results which are usually fascinating because the hidden sequences that the composer designed become explicit whilst the modal sounds that situate the music in an ethereal world become understandable. It’s not rocket science, I am just applying simple principles to understand the scale modulations. (In fact, so simple are the principles that you really only need to grasp the mathematical operations of +1 and -1.) With a little practise and study, anyone can use this method to analyse music so with that in mind, let’s start with the first movement.
Firstly, I would like to point out the development of TT’s style from my analysis of this piece. I will be writing an in-depth analysis just on this subject, but I would just like to mention the relative simplicity of this piece when compared to In The Woods. The Melodic b5 scale is still used liberally in this work, along with its attendant scales, but the complexity is greatly reduced and the time spent in more stable scales either side of the altered scales is much greater. Let me put it like this, it’s like TT grew more accustomed to handling the pitfalls of the modal world of radically altered scales as he developed, like a tightrope walker becoming more adept and daring as he realises he can’t possibly fall off any longer. The Melodic b5 scale occurs on A, D, E, F# and G in this movement and perhaps I should take a moment to explain to uses of Melodic b5 first.
When a more unusual scale is the focus of a style of writing or just used in a section in a composition, knowing the options of how to get that scale into the music is vital and Takemitsu is a master at that. The Melodic b5 has 4 ways that it is used by the composer in All In Twilight I:
1) Melodic – Melodic b5: Here the root of Melodic mode V is flattened, Mixolydian b6 (-1) becomes Lydian +#23, Melodic b5 mode V.
2) Neapolitan Major b5 – Melodic b5: Here the 2nd of the Neapolitan Major b5 is raised, Ionian +#6 (+1) = Dorian b24, mode II of Melodic b5.
3) Harmonic Major – Melodic b5: This time TT raises the root of mode I, the Harmonic Major mode itself, to create Alt bb6, mode VII of Melodic b5.
4) Ionian b5 – Melodic b5: Here the root of mode III of Ionian b5, Phrygian bb3 is flattened (-1) to make Lydian +b3, mode III of Melodic b5.
Now, keep in mind that TT loves the modal sounds of Melodic b5 and its modes, and getting there from the Major scale is a doddle. You only need to know the routes and then the changes are simple:
1) Major – Melodic – Melodic b5
2) Major – Harmonic minor – Neapolitan Major b5 – Melodic b5
3) Major – Melodic – Harmonic Major – Melodic b5
Its an interesting start to the piece, the altered notes in bar two means C Neapolitan minor and the the F# that follows takes us into G Persian territory, as opposed to the more standard way which would be the C Harmonic minor to C Hungarian minor. You see, the more classical approach would be to move into Neapolitan minor, then raise the 2nd for Harmonic minor and then the 4th is raised for Hungarian minor. The composer is now poised to move into any one of a choice of more interesting scales, but TT has introduced a variant on that sequence:
C Neapolitan minor - (4th raised) – G Persian
The chords in the next bar lead us into a nice sequence that comes to rest in Takemitsu’s favourite modal sound, the Melodic b5 on E. I have been using Melodic b5 myself as it is easily accessible but unusual enough to catch the listener’s ear. Don’t foget, the Melodic b5 is the same as the Melodic scale with a b5 but more importantly, when one enters into the world of the Harmonic Major scale and its modes, raising the root of Harmonic Major opens the door into the Melodic b5 environment, which is a wonderful experience. If you can get the Harmonic Major into your vocabulary, the Melodic b5 is just one step away.
The first chord in bar four resets the music into E Harmonic minor then the sequence is this:
E Harmonic minor – E Neapolitan minor b4 – C Harmonic Major – C Harmonic minor – C Harmonic Major – D Melodic – E Neapolitan Major – E Melodic – E Melodic b5
The most daring change is the second into the Neapolitan minor b4 (scale no.18) but then its straightforward: drop the 7th and you get C Harmonic Major, but now TT postpones the shift to his ‘home’ scale of Melodic b5, drops and then raises the 3rd for Harmonic minor to Harmonic Major, raises the 6th to reach C Major and then raises the 1st for D Melodic, then raises the root to make E Neapolitan Major to play E Melodic by raising the 2nd again. . (Hopefully, you remember the symbiotic relationship that Neapolitan Major has with Melodic by now. If not, see previous Takemitsu and Brouwer posts.) Finally, the 5th is dropped to get Melodic b5.
Now you can see the intelligence behind the music, TT has set himself the goal of resolving into Melodic b5, but could have reached D Melodic b5 from C Harmonic Major but instead shifts to D Melodic, then E Melodic and finally shows that E Melodic b5 is the target. Clever.
Next comes a really unusual change, E Melodic b5 to E Melodic b4. This is another example of using enharmonic equivalents. TT has a G in the bar and a G# simultaneously, but to understand the music, G# becomes Ab and hey presto, Melodic b4. There is then a couple of nice changes to:
E Melodic b4 - F# Melodic b5 – A Melodic b5
You can see the thinking behind his music now. One of the ways that TT likes to think of scales and their modes is as if they are just Major keys. For example, the two Melodic b5 scales in the above sequence can be thought of as relative minor and Major substitutes. He uses Melodic b5 in this movement on the roots of E, F#, A, G, D. So all of the Major scale relationships between the scales can be utilised, E Melodic b5 as the relative minor of G Melodic b5 etc.
The first sequence into the second page has a really nice change, deftly pulled off:
D Major – C Harmonic minor – D Harmonic Major – G Melodic b5
Look closely at the roots of these scales. You would expect the relative minor of B Harmonic minor after D Major but the music moves up a semitone first to Eb Major and then the change to the relative minor. Next is the reverse but landing on Harmonic Major instead and then an enharmonic equivalent change:
D Harmonic Major = D E F# G A Bb C#
G Melodic b5 = G A Bb C Db E F#
Notice that both scales have F# and Bb but the enharmonic equivalent of C# in the Harmonic Major scale and Db in the Melodic b5 scale. This is a great way of introducing ear catching alterations in music without sounding jazzy. For example, instead of playing a G Major scale, the following substitution of an enharmonic equivalent scale can be made:
G Major = G A B C D E F#
C Ionian b5 = C D E F Gb A B
One can see both scales are identical except the F# in G Major is Gb in Ionian b5. Of course, this means that the G in the Major scale is replaced by the F in the Ionian b5 scale but that is what is interesting. TT uses this approach all the time and uses triads from both scales over bass lines and freely mixes them up so the ear is constantly surprised.
The final sequence that finishes the piece is a classic and I have included the incremental method that he uses for the resolution:
A Melodic b5 – G Harmonic Major – C Melodic – A Harmonic minor
ABCDEbF#G# - GABCDEbF# - CDEbFGAB – ABCDEFG#
One can see that the G# is flattened then the F# is too and finally a simultaneous change to C Major and then its relative minor of A Harmonic minor by raising both Eb and G to E and G#.
I hope you enjoyed that analysis. I have had a bit more time in the holidays for analytical work hence the increased number of posts this week. Stay tuned for part II soon.
My book is available here: https://www.bedwellmusic.co.uk/general-7
By the way, the images are not AI but stills from anime.
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