Analysis

In the following section, the tonal elements including pedal point, key center,
melodies, and tertian chord will be discussed. For the word tonality, is a
system/language of music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based
on a key "center", or tonic, that is, on hierarchical scale degree relationships. The term
tonalit originated with Alexandre-tienne Choron (1810) and was borrowed by
Franois-Joseph Ftis in 1840 (Reti, 1958; Simms 1975, 119; Judd, 1998; Dahlhaus
1990).
Pedal point
In tonal music, a pedal point (also pedal tone, pedal note, organ point, or pedal) is a
sustained tone, typically in the bass, during which at least one foreign, i.e., dissonant
harmony is sounded in the other parts. A pedal point sometimes functions as a "nonchord tone", placing it in the categories alongside suspensions, retardations, and
passing tones. However, the pedal point is unique among non-chord tones, "in that
begins on a consonance, sustains (or repeats) through another chord as a dissonance
until the harmony," not the non-chord tone, "resolves back to a consonance." And in
Sorabjis Pastiche on the Hindu Merchants Song from Sadko, There is a Db pedal
point on the left hand bass note, starting from bar 5 till the end, which gives a tone
center feeling of Db.

pedal note starting from bar 5

Pedal continuous until the end

Melodies
Sorabji used the melody of the original score, that the melody was mainly composed
by major pentatonic scale. The major pentatonic scale can thought of as a
gapped or incomplete major scale, which also shows the sense of
tonality. In the Pastiche, Sorabji used Ab pentatonic scale (Ab, Bb, Cm Eb, F) in bar
7- 13 and bar 61- 72, and Db pentatonic scale (Db, Eb, F, Ab, Bb) in bar 14-60, and
despite some chromatic scales at the middle section. This shows there are two center
Ab and Db in different sections.

m s m

d md

mr r d d l

d l

l s s l

Key- there are quite a number of tonal scales used.

Db major scale

F minor melodic scale

Pitch
For the main melody, it was written in Db major, expect the introduction and the
chromatic scale of the middle section
tertian chord
In music theory, tertian (Latin: tertianus, "of or concerning thirds") describes

any piece, chord, counterpoint etc. constructed from the interval of a (major or minor)
third. Sorabji used a lot of tertian chords especially in the left hand accompaniment,
although he did not used them as functional triads, moreover, there are usually two or
more triads in one bar.

Eb min+Bb min Bb maj+Eb min

Bb min+Eb min

-atonal elements (parallel chords, non-functional chord, chromaticism, quartal

harmonies, dissonance, polytonal?, mixed interval chords)
parallel chords
In music, parallel harmony, also known as harmonic parallelism, harmonic
planing or parallel voice leading, is the parallel movement of two or more lines. There are

lots of parallel chords, including triads and seventh chords that sorabji used to
accompany the melody, and these chords do not related to the main harmonies.

parallel seventh

chords

Parallel traids

Db

Cdim Bbmin Amin Gb Ab

F#min Caug

ChromaticismChromaticism is a compositional technique interspersing the

primary diatonic pitches and chords with other pitches of the chromaticscale.
Chromaticism is in contrast or addition
to tonality or diatonicism (the major and minor scales). Chromatic elements are
considered, "elaborations of or substitutions for diatonic scale members."
Sorabji used lots of chromatics scales in order to blur the tonality.

Chromatic line in inner voice

On the other hand, he used chromatic note as non-chord note, that is a note in a
piece of music which is not a part of the implied harmony that is described by the
other notes sounding at the time. Similarly a chord tone is a note which is a part of
the current chord

Chromatic note act as non-chord note

quartal harmonies
quartal harmony is the building of harmonic structures with a distinct preference for
the intervals of the perfect fourth, the augmented fourth and the diminished fourth.

Dissonance
Polychord
The term "polychord" describes chords that can be constructed by superimposing

multiple familiar tonal sonorities. For example, familiar ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth
chords can be built from or decomposed into separate chords

Ebmin+Bbmin Bbmaj+Ebmin

Bbmin+Ebmin

Bbmin+Ebmaj

Dbmaj7+Gbmaj

mixed interval chords

In music a mixed-interval chord is a chord not characterized by one
consistent interval. Chords characterized by one consistent interval, or primarily but
with alterations, are equal-interval chords. Mixed interval chords "lend themselves
particularly" to atonal music since they tend to be dissonant.[2]

The accompaniment harmonies of mixed interval chords