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Mystic chord
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mystic chord on C.
Play .
Mystic chord
Component intervals from root
major second
Contents
major sixth
major third
minor seventh
1 Nomenclature
2 Qualities
3 Use by Scriabin
augmented fourth
root
Forte no.
6-34
Nomenclature
The term "mystic chord", appears to derive from Scriabin's intense interest in Theosophy, and the chord is
imagined to reflect this mysticism. It was coined by Arthur Eaglefield Hull in 1916.[1]
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It is also known as the "Prometheus chord", after its extensive use in his work Prometheus: The Poem of Fire,
Op.60. The term was invented by Leonid Sabaneyev.[1]
Scriabin himself called it the "chord of the pleroma" (a - akkord pleromy),[1] which "was
designed to afford instant apprehension of -that is, to reveal- what was in essence beyond the mind of man to
conceptualize. Its preternatural stillness was a gnostic intimation of a hidden otherness."[2]
Qualities
Jim Samson [3] points out that it fits in well with Scriabin's
predominantly dominant quality sonorities and harmony as
it may take on a dominant quality on C or F. This tritone
relationship between possible resolutions is important to
Scriabin's harmonic language, and it is a property shared by
the French sixth (also prominent in his work) of which the
synthetic chord can be seen as an extension.
The pitch collection is related to the octatonic scale, the
whole tone scale, and the French sixth, all of which are
Use by Scriabin
Some
sources
suggest
that
much of
The Mystic is an example of a synthetic chord, and
the scale from which it derives its notes, sometimes
called the Prometheus scale, is an example of a
synthetic scale. Play .
Rare example of a complete, quartal voicing the
Mystic Chord in Scriabin's work. Piano Sonata
No.5, Op.53. Mm. 262-263. Play
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystic_chord
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the case. More often than not, the notes are reordered in order to supply a variety of harmonic or melodic
material. Certain of Scriabin's late pieces are based on other synthetic chords or scales that do not rely on the
mystic chord.
There seems today to be a general consensus that the mystic chord is neither the key nor the
generating element in Scriabin's method.
Jay Reise (1983)[6]
Other sources suggest that Scriabin's method of pitch organization is based on ordered scales that feature scale
degrees. For example, a group of piano miniatures (Op.58, Op.59/2, Op.61, Op.63, Op.67/1 and Op.69/1) are
governed by the acoustic and/or the octatonic scales.[7]
Contrary to many textbook descriptions of the chord, which present the sonority as a series of superposed
fourths, Scriabin most often manipulated the voicings to produce a variety of melodic and harmonic
intervals.[note 1] A rare example of purely quartal spacing can be found in the Fifth Piano Sonata (bars 264,
268). Incomplete versions of the chord spaced entirely in fourths are considerably more common, for example,
in Deux Morceaux, Op.57.
According to George Perle, Scriabin used this chord in what he calls a pre-serial manner, producing harmonies,
chords, and melodies. However, unlike the twelve tone technique to which Perle refers, Scriabin did not use his
Mystic chord as an ordered set and did not worry about repeating or omitting notes or aggregate
combinatoriality.
See also
Elektra chord
Petrushka chord
Psalms chord
Tristan chord
Notes
1. In the same manner that a dominant seventh, built on superposed thirds, will deploy intervals of a sixth, fourth, and/or
second under inversion.
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References
1. "Skryabin and the Impossible", p.314. Simon Morrison. Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 51, No. 2.
(Summer, 1998), pp. 283-330.
2. "Chernomor to Kashchei: Harmonic Sorcery; Or, Stravinsky's 'Angle'". Richard Taruskin. Journal of the American
Musicological Society, Vol. 38, No. 1. (Spring, 1985), pp. 72-142. Cited in Morrison (1998).
3. Samson, Jim (1977). Music in Transition: A Study of Tonal Expansion and Atonality, 1900-1920. W.W. Norton &
Company. pp. 1567. ISBN 0-393-02193-9.
4. "Orthography in Scriabin's Late Works", p.60. Cheong Wai-Ling. Music Analysis, Vol. 12, No. 1. (Mar., 1993), pp. 4769.
5. "The Evolution of Twelve-Note Music", p.56. Oliver Neighbour. Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association, 81st
Sess. (1954 - 1955), pp. 49-61.
6. "Late Skriabin: Some Principles behind the Style", p.221. Jay Reise. 19th-Century Music, Vol. 6, No. 3. (Spring, 1983),
pp. 220-231.
7. "Principles of Pitch Organization in Scriabin's Early Post-tonal Period: The Piano Miniatures". Vasilis Kallis, Music
Theory Online, Vol. 14.3 (Sep 2008)
Further reading
Hewitt, Michael. Musical Scales of the World. The Note Tree. 2013. ISBN 978-0957547001.
External links
Some occurrences of the Mystic chord in the scores of the Petrucci Music Library
(http://www.peachnote.com/#!nt=chordAffine&npq=48_6_4_6_5_5)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mystic_chord&oldid=680099179"
Categories: Post-tonal music theory Chords Hexachords
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