Need assistance in interpretation of a cadence
One of my nephews is preparing for his final exams. In preparation he asked me to transcribe the following cadence with MuseScore:
But before transcribing something wrong, what is the correct meaning of the chords in brackets in measure two? Does it mean the enharmonic spelling of the chord before and after the brackets (so Bb7 instead of A#7 and Eb instead of D#)? So is the correct interpretation of it "C# minor, G# minor, A#7, D#" or alternatively "C# minor, G# minor, Bb7, Eb"?
I don't want to transcribe something wrong or to interpret it wrong.
Thank's for assistance.
Comments
Unfortunately, it's not really written very legibly, and that doesn't help when we're also trying to guess at the meaning of the symbols used. On top of that, the notation seems German?
In reply to Unfortunately, it's not… by Marc Sabatella
Yep, it also was my first thought: it's not written very legibly.
An indeed, it's German spelling: "gis, Dis7, gis, Gis7 | cis, gis, Ais7, [B7, Es], Dis | gis, cis, Fis, H | E6, Dis7, gis" means in international spelling: "G# minor, D#7, G# minor, G#7 | C# minor, G# minor, A#7, [Bb7, Eb], D# | G# minor, C# minor, F#, B | E6, D#7, G# minor".
Well, I have to say that I can't begin to tell if the B and D are natural or b or what. It's hard to tell from the erase and rewrite, what is going on. There is already an A#. Or is that a squashed b in front of it. The more I look at this, the more I see that is odd. So I'm gonna stop. (The treble key sig is wrong)
In reply to Well, I have to say that I… by bobjp
The bracketed chords are just enharmonic equivalents of the chords on their sides to make it easier to play. This is a very straightforward "rule-of-the-octave"-like up-down bass scale in G#m.
In reply to The bracketed chords are… by [DELETED] 1831606
Thanks all for insights and clarification :-).
In reply to The bracketed chords are… by [DELETED] 1831606
I wonder if this was a draft score rather than the final copy?
In reply to I wonder if this was a draft… by underquark
The harmony isn't buggy or weird -- it's a kind of interesting/updated variant of the "rule of the octave". I wonder what the intent was. The notation and annotation are 100% correct.
In reply to The harmony isn't buggy or… by [DELETED] 1831606
Finished the short transcription. For my own knowledge, just still struggle with "C# minor 3 slash E6" in measure three on the second beat. Okay, 3 means the inversion. But does E6 mean the substitution of C# minor (without the fifth interval of the chord E)?
From time to time I met the creator of this fragment, maybe the next time I'll ask him about the intent.
In reply to Finished the short… by kuwitt
E6 is "jazz talk", meaning a triad with an added 6, which classical notation calls a 6-5 chord, or C# minor 7 first inversion.
Looks to me like the 1stchord is a B diminished 7 over the 5 (F) (I think that's an Ab at the bottom of the 3 notes in the treble clef) and the 2nd chord is an E flat chord/no 7 over the 3 (G).
![Muse.PNG]( "Muse.PNG")
If you play through it, it seems to work.
In reply to Looks to me like the… by xavierjazz
The first chord is A#7 -- A# C## E# G# in second inversion, notated then enharmonically as Bb 7, second inversion. The second chord is D# (major) -- D# F## A# D#, in first inversion, enharmonically written as Eb 7 first inversion. There are no diminished chords involved.
In reply to The first chord is A#7 -- A#… by [DELETED] 1831606
Here. The red chord is extremely interesting, a passing chromatic 6-4-3 .
In reply to Here. The red chord is… by [DELETED] 1831606
Thank you very much BSG, it helps me a lot.
In reply to Looks to me like the… by xavierjazz
Thank you too, but I suppose the diminished chord (as it would appear in the staff) wouldn't match with the corresponing chord symbol (German spelling "B7", international spelling "Bb7"; with the numbers you are of course right ("Bb7/F", "Eb/G").
In reply to Thank you too, but I suppose… by kuwitt
There is no diminished chord.
In reply to There is no diminished chord. by [DELETED] 1831606
If you want to change it from Mozart-Beethoven music to Baroque music, change the top two notes of the red chord, A# C##, to B C#, making it C#7 first inversion -- it will sound much more familiar.
In reply to If you want to change it… by [DELETED] 1831606
I'll give it a try ;-).
In reply to I'll give it a try ;-). by kuwitt
Take a look at https://musescore.com/bsg/regolo-ottava-minor for presentation of Baroque "standard"...
The author uses subscript "3" to mean "first inversion" (i.e.., 3 in the bass) and, similarly, "5" to mean "second inversion", a kind of "disfigured bass", as it were. Of the second chord of m 2, a second inversion i; in Baroque times, a V, not i, is called for there -- but this is clearly later....
The way you have it, the A#7 chord (in second inversion) is V of the V (D#) which follows it, which is pretty neat.