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Petrushka chord
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Petrushka chord
The Petrushka chord is a recurring polytonal device featured in Igor Stravinsky's 1911 ballet Petrushka, as well as in later compositions. It consists of two major triads separated by a tritone; when sounded together, the chords clash "horribly with each other", producing a distinctive and dissonant sound.
The Petrushka chord is typically defined as the simultaneous sounding of two major triads separated by a tritone. In Petrushka, Stravinsky employs C major over F♯ major. The version as played in the piano during the second tableau is illustrated below:
A variation of the chord, played by the clarinets, is also shown below. In this instance, the F♯ major triad appears in first inversion:
The device uses tones that, together, make up a synthetic hexatonic scale (0 1 4 6 7 t). When enharmonically spelled C–D♭–E–G♭–G(♮)–B♭, it is called the tritone scale.[unreliable source?] Alternatively, when spelled C–D♭–E–F♯–G–B♭, it can be read as the auxiliary diminished scale.
The chords may be considered to contradict each other because of the tritone relationship: "Any tendency for a tonality to emerge may be avoided by introducing a note three whole tones distant from the key note of that tonality."
At the end of the third tableau, the Petrushka chord appears with Petrushka but at A and E♭, which, with C and F♯, create a diminished seventh chord (0, 3, 6, 9) and exhaust the octatonic scale (9 1 4, 3 7 t, 0 4 7, and 6 t 1 = 0 1 3 4 6 7 9 t), "and suggests that it did ... possess for Stravinsky an a priori conceptual status".
Although attributed to Stravinsky, the chord (or, more precisely, two simultaneous major chords set a tritone apart, specifically F and B major) was present much earlier in Franz Liszt's Malédiction, a work for piano and strings. (Although the exact date of the composition remains unknown, it is estimated by Humphrey Searle to be from about 1840; the composition is believed to have originated from one of Liszt's early works, performed in 1827.)
Maurice Ravel uses this chord in his piano work Jeux d'eau to create flourishing, water-like sounds that characterize the piece. In his article "Ravel's 'Russian' Period: Octatonicism in His Early Works, 1893-1908", Steven Baur notes that Jeux d'eau was composed in 1901, ten years before Stravinsky composed Petrushka (1911), suggesting that Stravinsky may have learned the trick from Ravel. Stravinsky heard Jeux d'eau and several other works by Ravel no later than 1907 at the "Evenings for Contemporary Music" program.
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Petrushka chord
The Petrushka chord is a recurring polytonal device featured in Igor Stravinsky's 1911 ballet Petrushka, as well as in later compositions. It consists of two major triads separated by a tritone; when sounded together, the chords clash "horribly with each other", producing a distinctive and dissonant sound.
The Petrushka chord is typically defined as the simultaneous sounding of two major triads separated by a tritone. In Petrushka, Stravinsky employs C major over F♯ major. The version as played in the piano during the second tableau is illustrated below:
A variation of the chord, played by the clarinets, is also shown below. In this instance, the F♯ major triad appears in first inversion:
The device uses tones that, together, make up a synthetic hexatonic scale (0 1 4 6 7 t). When enharmonically spelled C–D♭–E–G♭–G(♮)–B♭, it is called the tritone scale.[unreliable source?] Alternatively, when spelled C–D♭–E–F♯–G–B♭, it can be read as the auxiliary diminished scale.
The chords may be considered to contradict each other because of the tritone relationship: "Any tendency for a tonality to emerge may be avoided by introducing a note three whole tones distant from the key note of that tonality."
At the end of the third tableau, the Petrushka chord appears with Petrushka but at A and E♭, which, with C and F♯, create a diminished seventh chord (0, 3, 6, 9) and exhaust the octatonic scale (9 1 4, 3 7 t, 0 4 7, and 6 t 1 = 0 1 3 4 6 7 9 t), "and suggests that it did ... possess for Stravinsky an a priori conceptual status".
Although attributed to Stravinsky, the chord (or, more precisely, two simultaneous major chords set a tritone apart, specifically F and B major) was present much earlier in Franz Liszt's Malédiction, a work for piano and strings. (Although the exact date of the composition remains unknown, it is estimated by Humphrey Searle to be from about 1840; the composition is believed to have originated from one of Liszt's early works, performed in 1827.)
Maurice Ravel uses this chord in his piano work Jeux d'eau to create flourishing, water-like sounds that characterize the piece. In his article "Ravel's 'Russian' Period: Octatonicism in His Early Works, 1893-1908", Steven Baur notes that Jeux d'eau was composed in 1901, ten years before Stravinsky composed Petrushka (1911), suggesting that Stravinsky may have learned the trick from Ravel. Stravinsky heard Jeux d'eau and several other works by Ravel no later than 1907 at the "Evenings for Contemporary Music" program.