Nota Bene: Canadian Undergraduate Journal of Musicology

Volume 7 | Issue 1 Article 5

Progressive Chromatic Processes in

Rachmaninoff 's Étude-Tableau op. 33, no. 8
Tegan G. E. Niziol
Queen's University

Recommended Citation
Niziol, Tegan G. E. (2014) "Progressive Chromatic Processes in Rachmaninoff 's Étude-Tableau op. 33, no. 8," Nota Bene: Canadian
Undergraduate Journal of Musicology: Vol. 7: Iss. 1, Article 5.
 Progressive Chromatic Processes in Étude-Tableau no. 8

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Progressive Chromatic Processes in

Rachmaninoff’s Étude-Tableau op. 33, no. 8

Tegan G. E. Niziol
Year IV – Queen’s University

In the nineteenth century, many composers expanded

the function and implementation of chromaticism within the
context of tonality. Sergei Rachmaninoff greatly contributed
to this development, as is evident in his Étude-Tableau op. 33,
no. 8. Rachmaninoff composed the Études-Tableaux op. 33 in
1911 during his most productive years as a composer. They
are considered an example of his mature style of piano
composition.1 As suggested by the title, the Études-Tableaux
are studies, each presenting a specific technical challenge;
however, in them Rachmaninoff includes a great sense of
artistry. In addition, the term “tableaux” implies they are
studies of tone painting, as exemplified through his use of
colourful sonorities.2 In Rachmaninoff: Life, Works, Recordings,
Max Harrison states that “while exploring a variety of themes,
[the Études-Tableaux] investigate the transformation of rather

1. Pamela Wright Wilder, “Sergei Rachmaninoff: Understanding

the Composer through the Études-Tableaux, Op. 33” (DMA diss.,
University of Alabama, 1988), 1.
2. Ibid., 3–4.

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specific climates of feeling via piano textures and sonorities.”3

A thorough analysis of this work reveals how expanded
chromatic processes infuse the music and create a varied
palette of tone colours.
The Étude-Tableau op. 33, no. 8 in G minor has an
essentially tonal and diatonic construct, but with highly
chromatic sonorities to create tension in the music.
Rachmaninoff initially stabilizes the home key through tonic
prolongations and functional harmonic progressions before
interlacing small chromatic sections to introduce tension (see
ex. 1). Progressively increasing the occurrence of
chromaticism, he culminates in an intense climax before
returning to the tonal solidity that characterizes the opening.
Dissimilar to the stabilizing progressions that tonally anchor
the piece, many of Rachmaninoff’s chromatic harmonies
cannot be given traditional functional labels. This poses a
problem for an analysis of chromaticism within a tonal idiom
because, as Dmitri Tymoczko indicates, our tendency is “to
depict chromatic harmony as a series of disconnected idioms,
often presented in a ‘one-chord per chapter’ format.”4 This
structure defines numerous music theory texts and often
results in a general understanding of chromaticism in terms of
chordal objects as opposed to function or process. The
chromaticism in the Étude-Tableau op. 33, no. 8 instead
requires a method of analysis that focuses on processes such
as efficient voice leading and parallel motion, in addition to
the harmonic function of individual chords. Evidently, the

3. Max Harrison, Rachmaninoff: Life, Works, Recordings (New York:

Continuum, 2005), 177.
4. Dmitri Tymoczko, A Geometry of Music: Harmony and
Counterpoint in the Extended Common Practice (New York: Oxford University
Press, 2011), 270.

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 Progressive Chromatic Processes in Étude-Tableau no. 8

focus on voice leading in combination with harmonic

function creates a balance of tradition and progress that
contributes to the expressive sonorities infusing the Étude-
Tableau op. 33, no. 8.

EXAMPLE 1. Harmonization of Descending Melody with

Tonicized Neapolitan Chord, Étude-Tableau, mm. 8–9,
highlighted

The first appearance of chromatic harmony functions

within a tonal context in order to provide a contrasting colour
while maintaining the initial tonal stability. The melody enters
on the second beat of measure 2 supported by G minor
arpeggios. After repeating the third of the chord, the melody
descends in stepwise motion, introducing flat scale degree 2
(A♭). Rachmaninoff harmonizes this chromatic tone with
the familiar Neapolitan chord.5 While harmonizing the second
phrase, Rachmaninoff slightly alters the progression used in
the first phrase to incorporate greater chromaticism, and
hence initiates the process of undermining the stability of the

5. See Appendix for the complete score of Étude-Tableau op. 33,

no. 8.

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home key. He moves by whole step from a B♭ major chord

in the second half of measure 7 to a tonicized Neapolitan
chord. The E♭ dominant seventh chord that directly
precedes the Neapolitan chord harmonizes the B♭ at the top
of the stepwise descent, replacing the C minor-minor seventh
chord used to harmonize the melodic B♭ in the first phrase.
Example 1 features this progression.
The tonicization of the Neapolitan chord exemplifies
a new harmonic trend that gained popularity in the nineteenth
century. As Roland Jackson discusses in his article, “The
‘Neapolitan Progression’ in the Nineteenth Century,”
Neapolitan chords were traditionally used in cadential
patterns; later composers expanded this limited treatment to
exploit the tritone root movement between the lowered scale
degree 2 and the dominant, as well as the melodic “sighing”
figure created by the descent from lowered scale degree 2 to 1
to 7.6 The Étude-Tableau contains these features. The “sighing”
motive forms an integral part of the melodic descent in the
first and second phrases (see circled notes in ex. 1). At
measure 16, it is again present in the top voice (see ex. 2).
Jackson discusses the use of the Neapolitan chord as
an independent key area; this is often accomplished through
frequent prolongation of Neapolitan harmony by means of
applied chords.7 As previously discussed, Rachmaninoff uses
this technique in measure 8 which features an E♭ dominant
seventh chord leading to an A♭ major Neapolitan chord,
before resolving to the dominant of G minor. The process

6. Roland Jackson, “The ‘Neapolitan Progression’ in the

Nineteenth Century,” The Music Review 30 (1969): 35.
7. Ibid., 39–40.

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occurs several times throughout the remainder of the piece.

The longest prolongation of Neapolitan harmony occurs in
measures 15–17. Within the passage, Rachmaninoff intensifies
the harmony through a tonicized A♭ major chord that spans
measure 16 (see ex. 2).

EXAMPLE 2. Neapolitan Harmony and the “Sighing” Motive,

Étude-Tableau, mm. 14–18, highlighted

In addition to the expansion of Neapolitan

harmonies, the nineteenth century also witnessed the
development of progressions structured around process
rather than chordal objects. At measure 9, Rachmaninoff’s
chromaticism can be viewed as a product of efficient voice
leading, a process in which all voices move by the smallest
distance possible to arrive at the next harmony. Dmitri

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Tymoczko explains that nineteenth-century composers began

developing the potential of efficient voice leading as a
process-based enhancement or replacement of functional
harmonic progressions.8 Whereas object-based chromatic
harmony identifies each chromatic chord through its
construction, process-based harmony identifies the
transformations and voice leading patterns between adjacent
chords within a process.9 Rachmaninoff uses the concept of
process-based harmony in both his functional and chromatic
phrases.
Although in the passage examined above
Rachmaninoff creates a functional harmonic progression,
efficient voice leading guides the movement from one chord
to the next. In particular, the chords that support the
“sighing” motive maintain common tones and resolve voices
by whole-tone or semi-tone motion. In the areas that
incorporate greater chromaticism, process-based analysis is
often more applicable than functional analysis. For example,
in the second half of measure 9, Rachmaninoff introduces a
series of descending second inversion triads in the treble that
are not related to one another by means of functional
harmony. They are constructed diatonically, using the
adjacent scale degrees 8, 7, 6, and 5 as the root of each triad,
respectively (see ex. 3 and fig. 1). Although functional labels
can identify each chord, the chords progress in a manner that
addresses voice leading concerns rather than the function of
their labels. Each transformation exclusively involves
semitone, whole tone or common tone relationships, which is
indicative of a process-based progression. These voice-leading

8. Tymoczko, A Geometry of Music, 268.

9. Ibid., 270.

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relationships distinguish the individual layers that constitute

the three voices present in each chord. Each layer contains a
stepwise scale pattern that descends in parallel motion with
the remaining two layers.

EXAMPLE 3. Efficient Voice Leading Process, Étude-Tableau,

mm. 9–10, highlighted

FIGURE 1. Voice Leading Between Chords within the Blue

Box in Example 3

The property of efficient voice leading present in the

highlighted progression in example 3 suggests an additional

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layer of analysis. The chords in this progression are built upon

descending parallel scale degrees of the G minor natural scale.
John Baur describes this type of process-based movement as
“planing” or “parallel chord motion” in Music Theory Through
Literature.10 Diatonic planing involves a succession of chords
containing only notes that are within the key or scale upon
which the plane is constructed. Real planing is highly
chromatic, as it involves a direct transposition of one chord to
the next. This has the effect of preserving intervallic
structures.11 In example 3, Rachmaninoff employs planing as
a prolongation of tonic material and a chromatic
embellishment to an otherwise tonal progression. Tymoczko
states that chromatic embellishment was one way composers
could realize the potential of efficient voice leading practices.
The motion in the progression occurs over a single beat and
although it is framed by tonic harmony, the interspersing
chords provide a brief moment of tonal ambiguity. After this
tonic prolongation is complete, Rachmaninoff introduces an
A-half diminished chord followed by the more familiar
Neapolitan chord. Once again, Rachmaninoff demonstrates
efficient voice leading in moving from one chord to the next,
as demonstrated in figure 2. Further, the transformation from
one harmony to the next by the movement of a single
semitone acts to increase the tension experienced by the
listener.

10. John Baur, Music Theory Through Literature, vol. 2 (Englewood

Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1985), 124. For examples of parallel chord
motion, see Olivier Messiaen, “Modes of Limited Transposition,” The
Technique of My Musical Language, trans. John Satterfield, vol. 1, Text (Paris:
Alphonse Leduc, 1956), 58–63.
11. Baur, Music Theory Through Literature, vol. 2, 202.

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FIGURE 2. Voice Leading between A-Half Diminished and

A♭ Major Harmony, mm. 12–13

In measures 19–22, Rachmaninoff employs a

descending sequence of four planing figures, each
compounding the aural effect of the previous material. The
chromatic processes in this passage greatly increase the
tension in the music, presenting a conflict between tonal
harmonies and tonal ambiguity. In measures 22–25,
Rachmaninoff employs planing as a method of dominant
prolongation. His plane is neither diatonic nor real, as he does
not remain diatonic within the key of G minor, nor does he
maintain the intervallic structures of each chord. Although the
plane spans the space between two dominant chords, thus
prolonging the harmony, this chromatic process creates a
strong sense of motion away from the dominant before
returning to the familiar harmony. Thus, a conflict between
tonal uncertainty and a strong tonal center is created.
In the following measures, Rachmaninoff employs a
repeated five note ascending and descending diatonic scale
that gains speed and tension with each repetition, creating

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climactic anticipation.12 The scale is derived from the soprano

voice of the proceeding planing figure and maintains the
dominant prolongation. These processes can be viewed in
example 4. The planing figures are indicated by rectangular
boxes. As the motion between chords is neither diatonic nor
real, voice leading diagrams are provided in figures 3 and 4 for
the two respective measures. As in figure 1, the efficient voice
leading practices create linear movement between each of the
voices in the planing chords.

FIGURE 3. Voice Leading between Chords within the Green

Box in Example 6

FIGURE 4. Voice Leading between Chords within the Pink

Box in Example 6

12. In this context, the raised scale degree 7 in G minor is

considered diatonic because it is commonly considered part of the
common-practice minor scale. In example 4, arrows above the staff
indicate the intervallic relationships between the roots of the initiating
harmonies. The diatonic planing figures are circled in example 4.

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EXAMPLE 4. Planing Figures, Étude-Tableau, mm. 17–25,

highlighted

The repeating five note scale eventually transforms

into the final ascent to the climax which occurs in measures
26–29. The progression is harmonically structured around a
stepwise descending pitch set. After each new pitch of the
stepwise descent is presented, Rachmaninoff follows it with a
rapid ascending figure. This pitch set, which forms the
foundation of the harmonic progression, is comprised of
Messiaen’s Modes of Limited Transposition 1 and 3 (see fig.

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5). These provide a suspended static quality, lacking tension

and release, and a varied palette of harmonic colour, created
by their perfect symmetrical construction.13 The first five
pitches of the scale pattern, F#, E, D, C, and B♭, are
respectively related by whole tone, indicating mode 1. The last
segment of the descending line contains the following pitches
respectively, F#, F♮, E♭, D, and C#. The intervallic
structure governing this last segment in the scale pattern
consists of two semitones followed by a whole tone and then
two more semitones; this structure indicates mode 3 (see fig.
5).14 Following the mode 1 segment of the pitch set,
movement to an A♮ breaks the pattern of whole tones before
moving to a G. This G initiates the second segment of the
scale pattern. The seven pitches following the G form a G
minor harmonic scale with one chromatically altered pitch:
scale degree 2 is lowered to an A♭. This may indicate that
Rachmaninoff chose to incorporate the “sighing” motive
once again. Alternatively, this pitch may suggest that the pitch
set is derived from C minor natural scale starting on scale
degree 5, or the G Phrygian mode.
Rachmaninoff uses an ascending harmonic
foundation, harmonized with non-functional planning
towards the climax. This causes a loss of the sense of tonal
centre, as an array of tonal colours unfamiliar in the key of G
minor are introduced. The efficient voice leading prolongs
and increases the tension by delaying resolution. The
symmetry in the harmonic foundation and employed planing
in this section create tonal ambiguity in the escalation to the

13. Robert Sherlaw Johnson, Messiaen (London: J.M. Dent &

Sons, 1989), 13.
14. Messiaen, The Technique of My Musical Language, 58–60.

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climax. The final climax is achieved through a fortissimo C#

minor chord followed by a rapid C# minor-major seventh
arpeggio.

FIGURE 5. Mode 1 and Mode 3 in the Harmonic Foundation,

mm. 26–30

To conclude the piece, Rachmaninoff recalls his

concept of harmonic structure used in the climax. At
measures 41–42, Rachmaninoff uses two parallel descending
lines of principle tones to serve as the harmonic foundation
(see ex. 5). The semitone motion in the lower principle line in
measure 42 intensifies the music, continuously delaying
resolution. The sequential nature of the thirty-second-note
triplets that characterizes the top line in measures 41–42 in
conjunction with the parallel descending lines also provide a
sense of planing similar to the previous climactic descent. The
entire progression in measures 41–42 is supported by a G
minor pedal harmony in order to maintain a sense of where
the music should resolve amidst the semitone motion and
planing figures. After the waves of chromaticism that
obscured the tonal centre, the final resolution occurs at
measure 43. A rapidly ascending G minor harmonic scale
ascends for three octaves, concluding with two solid G minor

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chords. Thus, Rachmaninoff completes a solid tonal

framework around the chromatically infused centre, a
characterization of his harmonic language.

EXAMPLE 5. Harmonic Foundation, mm. 40–42, highlighted

Pamela Wright Wilder states that a thorough analysis

of the Étude-Tableau op. 33 can facilitate “a better
comprehension of Rachmaninoff’s piano music as a whole.”15
This analysis of Étude-Tableau no. 8 reveals that
Rachmaninoff’s mature harmonic language is largely tonal,
with the use of prolonged sections of chromatic harmony to
create and build tension. Although he employed chromatic
objects, such as Neapolitan and applied chords, his chromatic
language was also highly process-based, giving great

15. Wilder, “Sergei Rachmaninoff,” 3.

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consideration to intervallic structures, efficient voice leading,

and parallel motion. As expressed by Tymoczko, the
chromaticism in this work as well as many of the works of
other nineteenth-century composers can be viewed as an
“orderly phenomenon rather than an unsystematic exercise in
compositional rulebreaking.”16 Focusing on an approach that
analyses chromatic harmonies as a series of unconventional
chord constructions can cloud and mystify the larger
processes at work, such as efficient voice leading. An
understanding of these progressive chromatic processes
reveals Rachmaninoff’s technical expertise as a tone painter.

16. Tymoczko, A Geometry of Music, 268.

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Appendix
Sergei Rachmaninoff, Étude-Tableau op. 33, no. 8

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Bibliography
Baur, John. Music Theory Through Literature. Vol. 2. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall, 1985.

Harrison, Max. Rachmaninoff: Life, Works, Recordings. New York:

Continuum, 2005.

Jackson, Roland. “The ‘Neapolitan Progression’ in the Nineteenth

Century.” The Music Review 30 (1969): 35–46.

Johnson, Robert Sherlaw. Messiaen. London: J.M. Dent, 1989.

Messiaen, Olivier. The Technique of My Musical Language. Translated by John

Satterfield. 2 vols. Paris: Alphonse Leduc, 1956.

Rachmaninoff, Sergei. “Étude-Tableau Op. 33, No. 8.” In Piano Studies 10,
Celebration Series: Perspectives, edited by Trish Sauerbrei, 26-29.
Mississauga: The Frederick Harris Music, 2008.

Tymoczko, Dmitri. A Geometry of Music: Harmony and Counterpoint in the

Extended Common Practice. New York: Oxford University Press,
2011.

Wilder, Pamela Wright. “Sergei Rachmaninoff: Understanding the

Composer Through the Études-Tableaux, Op.33.” DMA diss.,
University of Alabama, 1988.

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