chromaticism
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What is chromaticism in music?
In music, chromaticism involves using notes that are not part of the mode or diatonic scale on which a composition is based. In Western art music, chromatic tones are notes outside the seven-note diatonic scales and modes.
Chromaticism was linked to musica ficta in European medieval and Renaissance music and was used to enhance expressiveness in the 16th and early 17th centuries. The melodic use of the chromatic scale became common in Baroque instrumental music.
Chromatic tones are incorporated into the diatonic system of harmony as accidentals, like sharps, flats, or natural signs, for notes outside the key. All types of chromaticism have been used in many ways for expression and structure.
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How does chromaticism differ from diatonic music?
Chromaticism and diatonicism are contrasting concepts in music. Diatonic music uses only the seven notes of a standard major or minor scale to create melodies and harmonies, while chromaticism incorporates notes outside of the diatonic scale, adding color and expressiveness. Chromaticism employs the tones that do not belong to the diatonic scales.
Chromaticism can be used to create richer harmonies, modulate to different keys, or add emotional intensity to a piece. While diatonic music establishes a clear tonal center, chromaticism often blurs or destabilizes the tonality, creating a sense of tension and ambiguity.
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What is a chromatic scale?
In music, a chromatic scale uses notes foreign to the mode or diatonic scale upon which a composition is based. A chromatic scale consists entirely of half steps. On the piano keyboard, the black keys represent the 5 chromatic tones that do not belong to the diatonic scale of C major; black and white keys together add up to the chromatic scale of 12 tones per octave.
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How does chromaticism affect the mood or sound of a piece?
Chromaticism, from the Greek word for "color," involves using notes outside the mode or diatonic scale of a composition. In Western music, these chromatic tones add color and expression beyond the standard major and minor scales.
Chromaticism heightens expressiveness and can distort the perception of the modal scale structure. In tonal harmony, chromatic tones can inflect minor mode scales, create nonharmonic tones, establish secondary dominants, modulate keys, and form harmonies like diminished seventh chords.
Chromaticism can destabilize tonality, creating a sense of restlessness, passion, mystery, or tragedy. Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde (1857–59) uses continuous chromaticism to postpone cadences and blur functional harmony, influencing later composers to explore dissonance and individual harmonic languages.
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Which famous composers used chromaticism in their music?
Chromaticism is the use of notes foreign to the mode or diatonic scale upon which a composition is based.
Chromaticism was used by many composers including:
- Carlo Gesualdo and some of his contemporaries used chromaticism to heighten expressiveness in the 16th and early 17th centuries.
- Johann Sebastian Bach, Joseph Haydn, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart occasionally featured chromatic modulation between distantly related keys.
- Franz Schubert and Frédéric Chopin increasingly used chromatic modulation between distantly related keys.
- Richard Wagner developed a continuously chromatic harmonic vocabulary in his opera Tristan und Isolde (1857–59).
- César Franck, Anton Bruckner, Richard Strauss, and Max Reger developed chromatic tendencies to the point of a nearly complete destabilization of tonality.
- Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Anton Webern, and Aleksandr Scriabin rejected the tonal system entirely in their atonal music.
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How did chromaticism influence the development of Western classical music?
Chromaticism, the use of notes foreign to the mode or diatonic scale, significantly influenced Western classical music. In the 16th and 17th centuries, composers like Carlo Gesualdo used chromaticism to heighten expressiveness in secular Italian and English madrigals, sometimes distorting the perception of modal scale structure.
During the Baroque period, the melodic use of the chromatic scale became widespread in instrumental music. Chromatic tones were incorporated into the diatonic system of harmony through accidentals, enriching expressive and structural possibilities.
Romantic composers, such as Franz Schubert, Frédéric Chopin and Richard Wagner, employed chromatic modulation between distantly related keys. Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde (1857–59) notably destabilized tonality with a continuously chromatic harmonic vocabulary. By the early 20th century, composers like Arnold Schoenberg rejected the tonal system entirely in atonal music.
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chromaticism, (from Greek chroma, “colour”) in music, the use of notes foreign to the mode or diatonic scale upon which a composition is based.
Chromatic tones in Western art music are the notes in a composition that are outside the seven-note diatonic (i.e., major and minor) scales and modes. On the piano keyboard, the black keys represent the 5 chromatic tones that do not belong to the diatonic scale of C major; black and white keys together add up to the chromatic scale of 12 tones per octave.
In European medieval and Renaissance music, chromaticism was associated with the practice of musica ficta, which facilitated, and in some instances required, half-tone steps outside the church modes. In the 16th and early 17th centuries, notably in the secular Italian and English madrigal, chromaticism was used to heighten expressiveness; the Italian composer Carlo Gesualdo and some of his contemporaries pushed this tendency to extremes that distorted the perception of modal scale structure.
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Melodic use of the chromatic scale became widespread in Baroque instrumental music. At the same time, chromatic tones were systematically incorporated into the diatonic system of harmony and were indicated in the musical text as accidental signs, that is, sharp (♯), flat (♭), or natural (♮) signs for notes that are outside the key. There are five common uses of chromatic tones in tonal harmony.
- inflection of the normal degrees of the scale in the minor mode, such as the use of G♯ in the key of A minor
- nonharmonic tones (that is, melodic notes that differ from the tones of the supporting harmony)
- secondary dominants (that is, chords having a dominant relationship to degrees other than the tonic, or primary note of the scale, often expressed “V of V” or “V of II,” for example)
- modulation to a new key or keys when the key signature does not change
- certain kinds of harmony—such as the diminished seventh chord (built with three minor thirds)—that include chromatic tones in their essential structure
All of these kinds of chromaticism have been employed in rich variety as expressive and structural means. Chromatic modulation between distantly related keys, an occasional feature in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Joseph Haydn, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, was increasingly used by early Romantic composers, including Franz Schubert and Frédéric Chopin, and became an outstanding aspect of the style of the dramatic composer Richard Wagner. In his opera Tristan und Isolde (1857–59) Wagner developed a continuously chromatic harmonic vocabulary in which the music frequently progressed toward new keys yet repeatedly postponed key-strengthening cadences.
Composers of instrumental music after Wagner, including César Franck, Anton Bruckner, Richard Strauss, and Max Reger, developed these chromatic tendencies to the point of a nearly complete destabilization of tonality. The tonal system was entirely rejected in the atonal music of Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Anton Webern, and Aleksandr Scriabin at the beginning of the 20th century. In atonality, composers eliminated harmony based on diatonic scales, instead relying on harmony in which any of the 12 pitches could be included.