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Scriabin: A New Theory of Harmony and Structure

The thesis speculates upon the source of Scriabin's pitch selection in several of his atonal works, concluding that Scriabin's "principle" stems from his own "mystic chord," its inversion at the major third, and the transposition of these two chords at the tritone. These four chords share the same invariant harmonic basis, Scriabin's characteristic French-sixth sonority. The quartet of chords combine to form two nine-note scales, each containing as a subset the octatonic scale. The thesis demonstrates how Scriabin composed his works in harmonic blocks, utilizing only the notes from these scales. The thesis traces Scriabin's atonal style back to his tonal period. His fascination with tritone adjacencies and relationships is discussed, and serves to support the theory. Other harmonic and linear theories are discussed. Also, the thesis shows how Scriabin used these scales structurally in his works.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc501031
Date12 1900
CreatorsMcVay, Michael (Michael Jones)
ContributorsGroom, Joán Charlene, 1941-, Sovik, Thomas Paul, Wodnicki, Adam
PublisherUniversity of North Texas
Source SetsUniversity of North Texas
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis or Dissertation
Formatviii, 107 leaves: music, Text
RightsPublic, McVay, Michael (Michael Jones), Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

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