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Hex Appeal Prolongation and Transformati PDF

This document provides examples and analysis of Holst's use of hexatonic and Neptunian elements in his composition "Neptune" from The Planets. It compares passages from Neptune to examples from Wagner, Foulds, and earlier Holst works to illustrate Holst's prolongation and transformation of the hexatonic scale. It also analyzes the tonal design and voice leading in Neptune through hexatonic models. The document examines Holst's work in the context of occult and astrological influences in the early 20th century.

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172 views

Hex Appeal Prolongation and Transformati PDF

This document provides examples and analysis of Holst's use of hexatonic and Neptunian elements in his composition "Neptune" from The Planets. It compares passages from Neptune to examples from Wagner, Foulds, and earlier Holst works to illustrate Holst's prolongation and transformation of the hexatonic scale. It also analyzes the tonal design and voice leading in Neptune through hexatonic models. The document examines Holst's work in the context of occult and astrological influences in the early 20th century.

Uploaded by

AgustínCalabrese
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
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Hex Appeal: Prolongation and Transformation in Holst’s Neptune

Frank Lehman, Tufts University


MTSNYS 2014

Example 1:
Representative Neptunian Atmosphere: m. 95-99, from Two Piano Version

Example 2:
“Tarnhelm” Progression (Das Rheingold, Scene Three) Compared with Neptune Sound-Masses (mm. 34-36)

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Example 3a:
Hexatonic Scale compared with John Foulds’s Mode IIP (“Prismic”)

6-20 (1-3 Hex Scale) 7-21 (“Prismic” scale)


Maximizing “exotic” (m2-A2) pattern without M2s Only possible 7-member superset of 6-20

Example 3b
From John Foulds, Essays in the Modes, “Prismic”

Example 4
Some Hexatonic/Neptunian Passages from Holst

Date Composition Shared Characteristics with Neptune


1908 “Battle Hymn” (Choral Hymns on the Rig Veda I) M3-cycling key scheme, A¨-C-E complex, Hex-Poles
1908 “Hymn to the Unknown God” (CHRV I) M3-cycling key scheme, A¨-C-E complex 6-20-like scale (7-29)
1908 Sāvitri M3-cycling key scheme, Hyper-hexatonic modulations, Hexatonic
subsets, Tarnhelm/Poles, Wordless Female Choir
1909 “Hymn to Varuna” (CHRV II) M3-cycling key Scheme, A¨-C-E complex, Tarnhelms, Timbres
1910 “Hymn to the Dawn” (CHRV III) Hexatonic Scale, Hex-Poles
1910 “Hymn to the Travelers” (CHRV III) Tarnhelms, Wordless Female Choir
1917 Hymn of Jesus M3-cycling Key Scheme, A¨-C-E complex, Tarnhelms/Poles, Hex-
allusive scales
1919 Ode to Death Tarnhelms, Hex-Poles and Cycles, Hexatonic subsets
1923 Choral Symph., Mvt. II, “Ode to a Grecian Urn” Hex-Poles, Semitonal Voice-Leading, Neptunian textures
1929 “Betelgeuse” from Humbert Songs Hex-allusive scale, Hex subsets, Neptunian textures
1932 “Before Sleep” from Six Choruses Tarnhelms, Hex-Poles

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Example 5
Tonal Design of “Hymn to Varuna” from Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda, Book II

Example 6a
Analysis of Neptune, A-Section

Example 6b
Analysis of Neptune, B-Section

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Example 6c
Analysis of Neptune, C-Section

\\\\

Example 7
Hexatonic Voice-Exchange Model for Neptune

4
Partial Bibliography
Baker, James. 1984. “Schenkerian Analysis and Post-Tonal Music”

Bevir, Mark. 1994. “The West Turns Eastward: Madame Blavatsky and the Transformation of the Occult Tradition”

Cohn, 1996. “Maximally Smooth Cycles, Hexatonic Systems, and the Analysis of Late-Romantic Triadic Progressions”
---2004. “Uncanny Resemblances: Tonal Signification in the Freudian Age”
---2012. Audacious Euphony

Forrest, David. 2010. “Prolongation in the Choral Music of Benjamin Britten.”

Greene, Richard. 1994. Gustav Holst and the Rhetoric of Musical Character: Language and Method in Selected Orchestral Works.
--1995. Holst: The Planets

Godwin, Joscelyn. 1987. Harmonies of Heaven And Earth: The Spiritual Dimensions of Music

Goldenberg, Yosef, 2007. “Schenkerian Voice Leading and Neo-Riemannian Operations: Analytical Integration
without Theoretical Reconciliation”

Gollin, Edward. 2011. “A Transformational Curiosity in Riemann‟s Schematisirung der Dissonanzen”

Head, Raymond. 1993. “Astrology and Modernism in „The Planets‟”


---1999. “The Hymn of Jesus': Holst's Gnostic Exploration of Time and Space”
---2012.Gustav Holst and India

Holst, Imogen. 1985. The Music of Gustav Holst

Huckvale, David. 2013. The Occult Arts of Music

Lambert, Phillip. 1997. “Ives‟s Universe” in Cambridge Companion to Charles Ives

Leelasiri, Kanokrut. 2001. “An Analysis of Gustav Holst‟s The Planets”

Leo, Alan. 1902. What is a Horoscope and How is it Cast


--1904. How To Judge A Nativity
-- 1912.The Art of Synthesis

Macan, Edward. 1991. “An Analytic Survey and Comparative Study of the Music of Ralph Vaughan Williams and
Gustav Holst”

Mansell, James. 2009. “Music at the Borders of Rationality: Discourses of Place in the Music of John Foulds.”

McCreless, Patrick, 2011. “Elgar and Theories of Chromaticism” in Elgar Studies

Morgan, Robert. 1974. “Dissonant Prolongation: Theoretical and Compositional Precedents”

Morrison, Mark. 2008. “The Periodical Culture of the Occult Revival: Esoteric Wisdom, Modernity and Counter-Public
Spheres”

Owen, Alex. 2004. The Place of Enchantment: British Occultism and the Culture of the Modern."

Viswanathan, Gauri. 2000 “The Ordinary Business of Occultism:

Warrack, John. 1974. “Holst and the Linear Principle”

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