A Brief Harmony of Tango, Part IV

(Zur deutschen Version)

1. Introduction

Our previous excursion into tango harmony introduced minor keys—more specifically, the exploitation of relative major and minor keys as a means of contrasting formal structures for musical variety (see A Brief Harmony of Tango, Part III). Relative major and minor keys use the same key signature but the respective tonics are formed on different scale degrees as, for example, C-Major and a-minor, which have no accidentals in the key signature. There is, however, another kind of major-minor relationship that composers of tangos frequently employed to express tonal contrast: parallel major and minor keys.

1.1 Parallel Major-Minor Keys

Parallel major and minor keys build their tonic on the same scale degree, but they have different key signatures. For example, D-major carries two sharp accidentals in the key signature, whereas d-minor shows one flat.

Example 1: Parallel keys, D-major and d-minor

1.2. Chromaticism

With respect to their tonality, parallel major and minor keys are more distantly related to each other than relative keys. However, for the listener, a switch from one parallel key to the other is not necessarily perceived as a change of key. Since the tonic chords are built on the same scale degree, the switch sounds more like a change of mood—from cheerful major to somber minor, or vice versa—rather than a move into a distant key.

In tonal music, changes from a major to a minor chord, or vice versa, are not uncommon. They are often called “chromatic alterations” in music theory . “Chromatic” derives its name from the Greek word “chroma”, meaning “color”. Hence, chromatic alterations lend “color” to harmony, thus intensifying and enhancing it.

Chromaticism denotes the presence of one or more pitches that are not naturally part of a key. It can appear harmonically or melodically. Melodic chromaticism is an application of the chromatic scale. Unlike any other type of scale, the chromatic scale consists entirely of half-tone steps.

Example 2: Chromatic Scale

Since major and minor keys are defined by a characteristic (natural) distribution of semi- and whole-tone steps, a chromatic scale by itself is ambivalent in relation to any harmony.

An instance of harmonic chromaticism usually takes the form of a chromatically altered chord, that is, one or more tones of the chord are raised or lowered by a semitone. In music theory such situations are often explained as the “borrowing” of a chord from another key. We will encounter two examples in the analyses below.

Chromaticism weakens a tonality since it dissolves the natural distribution of whole- and half-tone steps through which a major or minor key is created. For this reason, it is often used in tonal music as a bridge between distantly related keys. It was also a common device used in many tangos, especially those whose formal structure was related to parallel major and minor keys. Examples of both melodic and harmonic chromaticism can be found in Firpo's El Apronte.

2. Roberto Firpo's El Apronte

El Apronte was performed for the first time in 1914 at the first carnival dance of the internists at the Hospital of San Roque (La Plata). It was Firpo's second tango milonga, a musical form that Francisco Canaro said to have created with his tango Pinta brava, written one year before El Apronte.

The formal organization is typical for an instrumental tango of that period. It consists of three discrete sections (hereafter referred to as A, B, and C, respectively), of which the third one is labelled “trio”. The trio, as customary, is a contrasting portion: whereas sections A and B exhibit short melodic melodic motifs in a jolted rhythmic style, section C, the trio, features a long arching melody that the composer highlighted by setting it as a violin solo.

The three sections of El Apronte are each 16 measures long and evenly structured. Each section can be subdivided into an antecedent and consequent phrases of 8 measures, and each eight-measure phrase is, in turn, made up of two motives of four measures.

3. Sections and Keys

The key signatures (f-sharp and c-sharp for sections A and C, b-flat for section B) and final chords (D-major for sections A and C, d- minor for section B) indicate that sections A and C are tonally in D-major, whereas section B is in d-minor. A more detailed analysis of the harmonic progressions within each section confirms this view. The harmonies oscillate, as it were, between tonic and dominant and thus leave no doubt what the key of the section is: it is either D-major or d-minor, respectively.

3.1 The Antecedent Phrases

The antecedent phrase of section A begins and ends on the dominant. Each occurrence of the dominant is followed by a resolution to the tonic and thus the key of D-major is established. (Tonic and dominant are indicated as I and V, respectively, in the following example.)

Example 3: El Apronte, Section A, Antecedent Phrase

In section B, the key switches to d-minor, but an alternation of dominant and tonic chords is characteristic of the harmonic progressions as well. The final chord of the antecedent phrase is preceded by a diminished seventh chord (indicated as VIIº in the example), but this chord may be considered simply a variation of the dominant or, perhaps better said, an alteration and intensification of the dominant harmony.

Example 4:  El Apronte, Section B, Antecedent Phrase

Section C shows the same picture of a clear tonal focus, here again in D-major. The antecedent phrase is once again an alternation of dominant and tonic chords.

Example 5:  El Apronte, Section C, Antecedent Phrase

In summary, the antecedent phrases of the three sections can be described as a series of dominant and tonic harmonies in their respective key, D-major or D-minor. From the outset, every section establishes a clear focus on its tonic, be it D-major or D-minor.

3.2 The Consequent Phrases

While an alternation of dominant and tonic chords is an unequivocal indicator of a key, it does not, strictly speaking, establish a key. For this, a cadence is needed, and a cadence usually involves at least one other harmony besides the tonic and dominant: the subdominant. Moreover, cadences serve a double purpose: they not only establish a key, they also mark the end of phrases. It comes as no a surprise, then, to find cadences in the consequent phrases of El Apronte, particularly in the second motives at the end of each section.

Section A, for example, ends with a textbook example of a cadence in a major key. Whereas the first motive of the consequent phrase is a repetition of the antecedent phrase, the second motif introduces a new harmony, the subdominant (indicated as IV in the example) and thus initiates the final cadence of the section.

Example 6:  El Apronte, Section A, Consequent Phrase

All harmonies before this cadence were either the tonic or the dominant. The appearance of the subdominant at this point is significant, not only because it is a new harmony, but also because it is a model for the following section. Sections B and C also feature completely new harmonies in places corresponding to Section A. However, they are at the same time examples of harmonic chromaticism and will be discussed below.

3.3 Section A: Melodic Chromaticism

Our previous assertion that the formal structure of El Apronte consists of three sections of 16 measures length each is not quite correct. The first section is actually preceded by an introduction of three measures. This introduction is a distinct segment since its melodic content (a simple descending chromatic scale) has nothing in common with the melodies of the proper section. The composer indicated, however, that it be repeated with every repetition of the section and, thus, it should be considered a part of section A.

Example 7:  El Apronte, Section A, Introduction

The introduction does not affect, however, the tonality of the section. We have noted above that a chromatic scale is neutral with respect to major and minor tonalities since it consists entirely of half-tone steps. This becomes evident in the introduction. Its opening chord is a dominant, and the proper section A starts on this harmony as well. Two measures of the chromatic scale do not change the harmony: since all steps are semitones, no reference to any other harmony is made. The chromatic scale is in this case mere “filler material”, as it were.

Illustration 1:  El Apronte, Section A, Introduction

While the introduction has no influence on the unfolding harmony, it is significant in respect to the musical form. It is an attention-grabbing moment at the beginning of the piece, as well as with every repetition as it signals audibly the recapitulation of section A. Yet, we believe, it is not just simply an embellishment to make the piece sound engaging, it is also an allusion to the instances of harmonic chromaticism in sections B and C.

3.4 Sections B and C: Harmonic Chromaticism

Instances of melodic chromaticism can be found in sections B and C as well; however, they are not as prominent and extensive as the introduction to section A. Sections B and C show instead conspicuous examples of harmonic chromaticism.

Section B is set in D-minor, in contrast to the D-major key of the sections surrounding it. The change of key is a simple switch from one key to the other, a fact that is noteworthy by itself. There is no harmonic preparation or transition: section A ends in D-major and section B begins in D-minor. The change back to D-major in section C is carried out just as perfunctory.

It was mentioned above that the phrase structure of the sections is very regular: 16 measures divided into two antecedent and consequent phrases of eight measures which, in turn, can be divided into motifs of four measures. Within each section, the first motif of a consequent phrase is repeated as the first motif of the consequent phrase. (Section C diverges slightly from this model, as we shall see.) The second motif of the consequent phrases, however, differs markedly from the antecedent phrase: it brings about the final cadence of the section and introduces a new harmony that has not been heard before.

In section A, it was the subdominant (IV, a G-major chord) that initiated a standard major-key cadence. In section B, however, which is set in D-minor, we encounter neither the major nor minor form of the subdominant (a G-major or g-minor chord, respectively) but an E-flat-major chord instead (indicated as N in the following example).

Example 8:  El Apronte, Section B, Consequent Phrase

An E-flat-major chord does not naturally appear in D-minor. It can only be created by chromatically lowering the second scale degree from E to E-flat. Hence, it represents a “chromatic alteration” or harmonic chromaticism. In the context of a cadence on D, an E-flat-major chord is, however, not an uncommon occurrence in D-minor (or D-major, for that manner). It is called a “Neapolitan” chord in music theory and signifies “a major chord built on the chromatically lowered second scale degree in the functional context of a subdominant”. In the preceding example, the “Neapolitan” initiates the final cadence of section B, just as the subdominant did in section A.

The consequent phrase of section C shows analogous chord progression. However, it occurs two measures earlier within the first motif. Here we find another chord that is not natural to the key and can only be obtained through chromatic alteration. This time it is a B-flat-major chord (indicated as N/V in the following example).

Example 8:  El Apronte, Section c, Consequent Phrase

In contrast to the “Neapolitan” progression in section B, there exists no term in music theory to signify the B-flat-major chord in this context. Yet, the analogy between the two progressions cannot be overlooked: the B-flat-major chord resolves to the dominant a half tone lower, just as the “Neapolitan” chord resolves to the tonic a half step lower. Hence, one could describe this B-major-chord as a “Neapolitan chord of the dominant” (hence the symbol N/V).

4. Conclusion

As in our previous harmonic analyses of tango, we have encountered a short piece of entertainment music that demonstrates a surprising complexity in its composition. From a harmonic point of view, the material that we have uncovered is not innovative. It belongs to the common harmonic language of Western music. However, the way it was applied is remarkable. Firpo created a small musical jewel that is extremely well thought out and highly structured. This is a kind of composition that one would expect in serious rather than dance music.

From its beginnings, tango was marketed as a kind of urban folk music, created by people with little or no musical training. Composers like Firpo and those we looked at in our preceding analyses (Arturo de Bassi, Ángel Villoldo, Eduardo Arolas, but the same it true for many other tango composers) bespeak a different picture. An analysis of their compositions shows that they understood what their colleagues of serious music were doing and applied it in their own work.

Example 8:  El Apronte, Recorded 1926 by the Orquesta Roberto Firpo.

© 2018 Wolfgang Freis