Lara Poe

MU 661
The Chromatic and Diatonic in Liszts Hungarian Rhapsody no. 13
In Matthew Browns work The Diatonic and Chromatic in Schenkers Theory
of Harmonic Relations, Brown examines the relations between chromaticism and
diatonicism, particularly in the context of Schenkers own work. As Brown states,
Schenker derived a fully chromatic tonal system from the diatonic triad, and within
this chromatic system, chromatic triads do not substitute for or elaborate diatonic
chords but are generated directly from the tonic triad. (Brown, p. 2)
First examining how the major and minor systems are derived, Brown
explains how Schenker derived the major system by means of the overtone series- he
takes ascending fifths and builds triads on them, as seen in the following figure:

(Brown, p. 4)
He then creates a descending version that extends to IV, or the subdominant
(as Brown calls it, the underfifth). The minor scale draws on this cycle of fifths of
the overtone series, and is not as fundamentally natural as the major system.
Schenkers next move was to combine these systems, to create what Brown and
Schenker call a fully chromatic system. He also adds the Neapolitan to avoid the
diminished triad on II (Brown, p. 5), thus avoiding unnecessary tritones. The
following chart shows what Schenkers combined system with bII added:

(Brown, p. 5).

As we can see, these same stufen can now be represented in two distinct ways.
Schenker then adds one more step- he allows building either major or minor triads on
top of each stufe. With these steps, Schenker ends up with a highly flexible system
ideal for analyzing very chromatic music. Even with just III, VI and VII having two
different characters, there are already many possibilities for ways to use modal
mixture:

(Brown, 6)
As we can see, this system is very versatile. However, it is not
comprehensive. As Brown points out, in order to produce all possible triads,
Schenker still needs to generate those on #IV However, he rejects this possibility,
explaining #IV as a means of inflecting V (Brown, p. 8). As Schenker states:
Certainly, we shall see in the chapter on chromatic alterations just
how readily one raises a fourth Stufe by a semitone in the major (also freely in
the minor) to produce a dimished triad, especially when its purpose is to
prepare the V Stufe- thus in F major, Bb is raised to B, thereby transforming
the IV Stufe into the diminished triad B-D-F. It is not advisable, however, to
consider this chromatic B as a Lydian element since this sharpening betrays
the intention of chromatic alteration too clearly to warrant accepting it as a
diatonic IV Stufe within the framework of the system.

(Brown, p. 8)
As Brown states, this assumption can produce problems with pieces that make
use of the Lydian mode, or that otherwise are characterized by use of #IV. Some
may question his decision to treat #IV merely as subordinate to V, Brown notes,
though it is not immediately obvious how to reply to Schenkers rejection of Lydian
mixture (Brown, p. 10).
Even despite these problems, this theory is quite flexible and can be used to
analyze highly chromatic music that could be difficult to analyze in other ways. For
instance, Liszts Rhapsody no. 13 is a highly chromatic piece and makes use of mode
mixture to create chromaticism that permeates all layers of analysis- there are even
hints of it in the background. Indeed, while the Urlinie is in A minor, the piece ends
in A major. This modal borrowing suggests that Schenkers scale system could be a
valid and helpful way of analyzing the piece from a Schenkerian perspective.
The piece starts out with an Ansteig starting from E3, going up to E5. This
Ansteig is decorated with descending incomplete neighbor notes (which ends up
being a central motif of the piece). It outlines an A minor 6/4 chord, which ends on
the Kopfton, 5^ . The entire first half of the piece, up to measure 100, is essentially
a prolongation of 5^ on the background level, and we get the next Stufe of the
Urlinie at measure 100 on 4^ . However, on the middle ground level, there are many
striking features within these first 100 measures. Following the Kopfton, we
immediately get an Ursatz parallelism that contains E, D# (# 4^ !), C, B and A, all
over a held A minor chord. This phrase repeats again, establishing the key area and
the # 4^ , which turns out to be central to the piece. Following the repeat, the line
goes up to the neighbor tone F#, and then descends 5^ # 4^

3^

2^ , in a partial

Ursatz parallelism. By this point, our sense of tonality is clearly ingrained and Liszt

has made it very clear that # 4^

is quite prevalent in this piece, and it coexists with

5^ in the same harmonic context.

As Brown stated earlier, it is not immediately obvious how to reply to
Schenkers rejection of Lydian mixture and of # 4^

in particular. In the context of

Browns and Schenkers writings, the first possibility would be to examine # 4^

as

an inflection of 5^ . However, in the case of this Liszt Rhapsody, that is not a

possibility for a few reasons. Namely, it is a part of a middle-ground Ursatz
parallelism, and there is no natural 4^

to counteract it. This # 4^

also occurs over

a texture that is a prolongation of 5^ , meaning 5^ is always present in our ears in

the background. From the way Liszt uses # 4^ , it is very clear that he is using it as
an independent entity, and not as an inflection of 5^ !
However, what other options are there for analyzing # 4^

in this context? In

the case of Liszt, thankfully, there is an option- namely, to introduce a new scale into
the system of minor and major scales that was available from Schenkers theory. This
scale is called the Hungarian minor scale (Double Harmonic Scale and its Modes,
p.1). It is a minor scale resembling the harmonic minor scale, and it contains # 4^ .
Liszt also uses another scale, which is a mode of the Hungarian minor (or double
harmonic major), which also contains # 4^ . This other scale can be described as
Lydian # 2^ # 6^ . In the context of analyzing Liszts 13th Hungarian Rhapsody, if
these scales are added to the analysis, then there would be a valid way of including #
4^

in our analysis without having to explain it as an inflection on 5^ (which in

the case of the Liszt, is clearly not the case). The following chart shows the
possibilities of A major, A minor, A Hungarian minor, and Lydian # 2^ # 6^ .

Major, Minor, Hungarian Minor and Lydian # 2^ # 6^ on A:

While these scales contain most of the same notes of the major and minor
scales, they also allow the possibility for #4 as a possibility that is not merely a
subordinate 5^ in both major and minor scenarios. This clarity of the behavior of #
4^

now established, we can continue with the analysis of the piece.

After these two Ursatz parallelisms, Liszt proceeds to go up to an upper

neighbor from the Kopfton prolongation, up to an F#, and then he reinforces # 4^

by

^ 3
^ 2
^ 1^ . On the
having yet another Ursatz parallelism that follows: 5^ 4
middle ground level, we have a lower neighbor D natural, which manifests itself as
partial ursatz parallelisms and parallel 3rds and 6ths in both inner and outer voices.
This progression turns to an A octave which moves out to B and G# (two neighbor
tones, and also derived from the Hungarian minor scale), which then turns into
another two middle ground Ursatz parallelisms, both of which have a # 4^ . These
then turn to a rising gesture paralleling the Ansteig, which then brings the piece back
to an elaborated repeat of this first section in A minor. As seen in the foreground
graph, theres more registral activity than in the first iteration of the section, but at the
middle ground level it is exactly the same.
In the next section, at measure 25, the piece moves to A major. Here we see
the beginnings of the mixture of mode, and the use of both major and minor scales.

Paralleling the beginning, we have 5^ held over, but reharmonized with major, and
it occurs immediately as part of an Ursatz parallelism. In this case, the parallelism is
major, with natural 4^

and # 3^ . It is immediately followed by another parallelism

in V, also in the major scale. This figure of two parallelisms is repeated two octaves
higher, in octaves, and is, once again, firmly in A major.
Immediately after the second V parallelism fades away, Liszt sets up a
neighbor motion (m. 37)- F is an upper neighbor to E ( 5^ in A), and Bb (bII) is an
upper neighbor to A, the larger key area. Within Bb, however, there is clearly use of
Lydian # 2^ # 6^ , as can be seen from the Ursatz parallelism that immediately
^ 3
^ 21
^
starts off the section: 5^ 4
. After repeating this parallelism once
more, Liszt goes back from Bb to A, emphasizing the upper neighbor relationship to
A. Within A, there is a foreground level lower neighbor down to G# (with I-V-I in the
bass). Then Liszt goes immediately back to B flat, bringing back Lydian # 2^ # 6^
in yet another parallelism- but this time, he doesnt go right back to A. Instead, he
respells B flat as A#, which he then uses as 3^ in F# major.
This instance of F# major is fleeting- Liszt goes from A# to G# in the upper
voice, under a C# cover tone and over a C# in the bass. This incomplete neighbor
motion is then repeated up a 3rd in A major and goes from I to V, after which the piece
transitions to the A major E major Ursatz parallelism motif. Liszt repeats this a
couple times in various registers, and then goes back to the bII, Lydian # 2^ # 6^
material starting at m. 37. This time, after coming out of the incomplete neighbor
motion in 3rds, Liszt goes into a voice exchange resting on V/V in A major. He then
takes D# and respells it as E flat, and leads B down to Bb, resulting in E flat major. If
respelled as D# major, it functions as #IV within A major! Whats more, Liszt

highlights this harmony by opening up significantly in register, presenting a thicker

texture and opening up dynamically, making the change very noticeable. Note, also,
that this chord occurs when 5^ is still prolonged.
Within this harmony, Liszt presents an incomplete Ursatz parallelism down to
2^ three times before using a diminished 7th chord to make his way back to A major
again, where he presents another incomplete Ursatz parallelism (again down to 2^ ).
In the middle ground graph, D#/E flat can be seen as an incomplete neighbor to E,
which is prolonged until a partial Ursatz parallelism down to 2^ . In the foreground,
it can be seen as a chromatic ascending bassline from E to B under a sequence of
Ursatz parallelisms in the upper voices, which is coupled with E in the bass. This is
then followed by a IV-V-I progression with Ursatz parallelisms in IV (although
incomplete, and ending up on # 4^

of A major instead of 4^ ) and in I. This

concludes the prolongation of 5^ within the Rhapsody.

After this relatively slow parlando section of the piece, Liszt turns to the
friska (a fast section, is typical of Hungarian Rhapsodies). He starts the friska on
4^

over IV (D minor), in a light, fast texture located in the top register of the piano.

Here he uses the a minor scale- D goes down to C ( 3^ ) as an incomplete lower

neighbor, and then up to E, where he incorporates Ursatz parallelism in A minor. He
repeats this figure once more, and then takes the incomplete lower
neighbor/parallelism structure and repeats it twice in D minor. As we can see, Liszt
adheres strictly to the A minor scale in this section, and the prolongation of 4^
relatively short- while 5^ was prolonged for 99 measures, 4^

is only prolonged

for 23, and 3^ is constantly present as a neighbor tone. At measure 124, Liszt
moves to 3^ .

is

When 3^ appears, it appears in a context similar to 5^ s initial

appearance, although in a less elaborated fashion: 3^ appears in the middle of a line
starting on A, moving triadically up to E and then down to D# ( 4^

once more),

^ 3
^ 2
^ 1^ in VII). Here
and then a partial Ursatz parallelism from C down to G ( 4
we can see an intersection of both A minor and A Hungarian minor with the combined
D# and G natural. This entire phrase then repeats in D minor, reinforcing the C-D-C
^ 4
^ 3^ neighbor tone idea. Liszt repeats this I IV idea up an octave.
or 3
Next, we get more mixture of scales- Liszt goes to F major with 3^ still in
the top voice. After a double incomplete neighbor, he goes to V/V and then to V (E
minor). Now, F major is VI in A minor, and bVI in A major, which enforces some of
the third relationships we have seen earlier in this piece, but within the context of E
minor, it can also be seen as bII, which reinforces the Schenkers scale mixture ideas
and his ideas of altering scale degrees. He then repeats this sequence in E major, and
then repeats the triadic ideas and Ursatz parallelisms starting at m. 124, elaborated
with repeated notes.
Now Liszt goes back to D natural, and then starts a sequence of ascending by
minor thirds, in parallel 4ths, until he is about to hit D natural again. Here he alters it
to D sharp, juxtaposes it against A, and resolves it up to E. This gesture harks back to
the idea of # 4^ , and Liszt then transposes it up a fourth to G#, D and A, harking
back to the idea of I-IV. Next we get 2^ on top over V, which then rises back up to
a middle ground 5^ over V. This concludes the last A minor section, and leads into
the final section, which is in A major.
^ 3
^ 2^
The final section of the piece is relatively straightforward, with 5^ 4
^ 3
^ 2
^ 1^ middle ground structure all in A major. At the very end, after the
// 5^ 4

final cadence, Liszt incorporates bII, II (b minor), and even III (C major) to sum up
the piece. As we can see, Schenkers system of mixed scales is very useful for
analyzing highly chromatic music, but it has its limitations, especially in the context
of a piece with Lydian, Hungarian and exotic scales playing a central role. In such
cases, more scales need to be added to the scale system in order to formulate a
meaningful analysis of the piece.

Sources:
"DOUBLE HARMONIC SCALE AND ITS MODES." DOUBLE HARMONIC
SCALE AND ITS MODES. http://docs.solfege.org/3.20/C/scales/ dha.html. Web. 26
Oct. 2015
Brown, Matthew. "The Diatonic and the Chromatic in Schenker's "Theory of
Harmonic Relations"" Journal of Music Theory: 1-35.