Scribd
Upload
438 views

Parallel Harmony

This document discusses parallel harmony, which is the parallel movement of two or more musical lines. It provides examples of parallel harmony in works by Debussy, Ravel, Strauss, Schoenberg, and Schuman. The document also defines parallel harmony as a series of chords with the same intervallic structure where each note moves by the same interval.

Uploaded by

Anonymous 1Rb4QLr
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
438 views

Parallel Harmony

This document discusses parallel harmony, which is the parallel movement of two or more musical lines. It provides examples of parallel harmony in works by Debussy, Ravel, Strauss, Schoenberg, and Schuman. The document also defines parallel harmony as a series of chords with the same intervallic structure where each note moves by the same interval.

Uploaded by

Anonymous 1Rb4QLr
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Parallel harmony

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In music, parallel harmony, also known as harmonic parallelism,


harmonic planing or parallel voice leading, is the parallel movement
of two or more lines (see voice leading). Examples may be found in
Claude Debussy's Prlude l'aprs-midi d'un faune (1894), Maurice
Ravel's Daphnis and Chlo Suite No. 2 (1913), Richard Strauss's
Elektra (1909), Arnold Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire, "Columbine"
(1914), and William Schuman's Three Score Set for Piano (1944). In
the last example the inversions of the chords suggest a bichordal
effect.[2]
Diatonic planing fromFeuilles mortes
("Dead Leaves") by Claude Debussy.[1]
Play

Triadic planing from Le Tombeau de Couperin by Maurice Ravel.[1]


Play

The famous "organ chords" of Debussy's Prelude#10, La cathdrale


engloutie. Play

Lines with parallel harmony can be viewed as a series of chords with


the same intervallic structure. Parallel means that each note within the
chord rises or falls by the same interval.

In the example to the right, we see a series of quartal chords in parallel


motion, in which the intervallic relationship between each consecutive
chord member, in this case a minor second, is consistent. Each note in
the chord falls by one semitone in each step, from F, B, and E in the Quartal chords descending by semitone.
first chord to D, G, and C in the last. Play

See also
Traditional sub-Saharan African harmony
Consecutive fifths
Constant structure
Parallel key
Parallel chord
Side-slipping
Doubling (music)
Block chord

References
Notes

1. Cope, David (2000). New Directions in Music, p.6. ISBN 1-57766-108-7.


2. Kliewer, Vernon (1975). "Melody: Linear Aspects of Twentieth-Century Music", Aspects of Twentieth-
Century Music, p.332 to 333. Wittlich, Gary (ed.). Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0-
13-049346-5.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Parallel_harmony&oldid=787466572"

This page was last edited on 25 June 2017, at 15:54.


Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may
apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia is a registered
trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy