Pentatonic |
Music Terms

Pentatonic |

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terms and concepts

from the Greek pente – five and tone

A sound system containing five steps within an octave. There are 4 types of P.: non-semitone (or actually P.); halftone; mixed; tempered.

Non-half-tone P. is also known under other names: natural (A. S. Ogolevets), pure (X. Riemann), anhemitonic, whole-tone; proto-diatonic (G. L. Katouar), trichord system (A. D. Kastalsky), gamma of the “epoch of the fourth” (P. P. Sokalsky), Chinese gamma, Scottish gamma. This main type P. (the term “P.” without special additions usually means non-semitone P.) is a 5-step system, all sounds of which can be arranged in pure fifths. Only two types of intervals are included between adjacent steps of the scales of this P. – b. second and m. third. P. is characterized by non-semitone three-step chants – trichords (m. third + b. second, for example, e-g-a). Due to the absence of semitones in P., sharp modal gravitations cannot form. The P. scale does not reveal a definite tonal center. Therefore, the functions of Ch. tones can perform any of the five sounds; hence five diff. variants of the P. scale of the same sound composition:

Half-tone P. is one of the regular stages in the development of music. thinking (see Sound system). Therefore, P. (or its rudiments) is found in the most ancient layers of muses. folklore of the most diverse peoples (including the peoples of Western Europe, see the book by X. Moser and J. Müller-Blattau, p. 15). However, P. is especially characteristic of the music of the countries of the East (China, Vietnam), and in the USSR – for the Tatars, Bashkirs, Buryats, and others.

Do Nhuan (Vietnam). The song “Far March” (beginning).

Elements of pentatonic thinking are also characteristic of the most ancient Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian. nar. songs:

From the collection of A. Rubets “100 Ukrainian Folk Songs”.

Trichords typical for P. in Russian. nar. the song is often veiled with the simplest melodic. ornament, stepwise movement (for example, in the song “There was no wind” from the collection of M. A. Balakirev). The remains of P. are noticeable in the oldest samples of the Middle Ages. chorale (for example, characteristic intonational formulas c-df in Dorian, d-e-g and e-g-a in Phrygian, g-a-c in Mixolydian modes). However, until the 19th century. P. as a system was irrelevant for Europe. prof. music. Attention to Nar. music, interest in modal color and harmony. characteristics in the era after the Viennese classics brought to life the emergence of vivid examples of P. as a special. will express. means (Chinese melody in the music of K. Weber to Schiller’s adaptation of the play “Turandot” by K. Gozzi; in the work of A. P. Borodin, M. P. Mussorgsky, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, E. Grieg, K. Debussy). P. is often used to express serenity, the absence of passions:

A. P. Borodin. Romance “Sleeping Princess” (beginning).

Sometimes it serves to reproduce the sound of bells – Rimsky-Korsakov, Debussy. Sometimes P. is also used in the chord (“folds” into an incomplete pentachord):

M. P. Mussorgsky. “Boris Godunov”. Action III.

In the samples that have come down to us, Nar. songs, as well as in prof. P.’s work usually relies on a major (see A in the example on column 234) or a minor (see D in the same example) basis, and due to the ease of shifting the foundation from one tone to another, a parallel-alternating mode is often formed, for example.

Other types of P. are its varieties. Halftone (hemitonic; also ditonic) P. is found in Nar. music of some countries of the East (X. Husman points to Indian melodies, as well as Indonesian, Japanese). The structure of the halftone scale scale —

, eg. one of the slendro scales (Java). Mixed P. combines the features of tonal and non-semitone (Husman mentions the melodies of one of the peoples of the Congo).

Tempered P. (but not equal temperament; the term is arbitrary) is the Indonesian slendro scale, where the octave is divided into 5 steps that do not coincide with either tones or semitones. For example, the tuning of one of the Javanese gamelans (in semitones) is as follows: 2,51-2,33-2,32-2,36-2,48 (1/5 octave – 2,40).

The first theory that has come down to us. P.’s explanation belongs to scientists Dr. China (probably dated to the 1st half of the 1st millennium BC). Within the acoustic the lu system (12 sounds in perfect fifths, developed as early as the Zhou dynasty) combined into one octave of 5 neighboring sounds gave non-semitone piping in all five of its varieties. In addition to mathematical substantiating the mode of P. (the most ancient monument is the treatise “Guanzi”, attributed to Guan Zhong, – 7th century BC), a complex symbolism of the steps of P. was developed, where five sounds corresponded to 5 elements, 5 tastes; in addition, the tone “gong” (c) symbolized the ruler, “shan” (d) – officials, “jue” (e) – the people, “zhi” (g) – deeds, “yu” (a) – things.

Interest in P. revived in the 19th century. A. N. Serov considered P. belonging to the East. music and interpreted as diatonic with the omission of two steps. P. P. Sokalsky first showed the role of P. in Russian. nar. song and emphasized the independence of P. as a type of muses. systems. From the standpoint of the stage concept, he connected P. with the “epoch of the quart” (which is only partly true). A. S. Famintsyn, anticipating the ideas of B. Bartok and Z. Kodaly, for the first time pointed out that P. is an ancient layer of bunks. music of Europe; under halftone layers, he discovered P. and in Russian. song. K. V. Kvitka on the basis of new facts and theoretical. prerequisites criticized the theory of Sokalsky (in particular, the reduction of the “epoch of the quart” to trichords of P., as well as his scheme of “three epochs” – quarts, fifths, thirds) and clarified the theory of pentatonic A. S. Ogolevets, based on the stage concept, believed that P. in a hidden form also exists in more developed music. system and is a kind of “skeleton” of modal organization in diatonic and genetically later types of muses. thinking. I.V. Sposobin noted the influence of P. on the formation of one of the types of non-tertzian harmonies (see the example at the end of strip 235). Ya.M. Girshman, having developed a detailed theory of P. and examined its existence in Tat. music, illuminated the history of theoretical. comprehension of P. In foreign musicology of the 20th century. rich material has also been accumulated on dec. types of P. (in addition to non-semitone).

References: Serov A. N., Russian folk song as a subject of science, “Musical Season”, 1869-71, the same, in the book: Izbr. articles, etc. 1, M. – L., 1950; Sokalsky P. P., Chinese scale in Russian folk music, Musical Review, 1886, April 10, May 1, May 8; his, Russian folk music …, Har., 1888; Famintsyn A. S., Ancient Indo-Chinese scale in Asia and Europe, “Bayan”, 1888-89, the same, St. Petersburg, 1889; Peter V. P., On the melodic warehouse of the Aryan song, “RMG”, 1897-98, ed. ed., St. Petersburg, 1899; Nikolsky N., Synopsis on the history of folk music among the peoples of the Volga region, “Proceedings of the Musical and Ethnographic Department of the Kazan Higher Musical School”, vol. 1, Kaz., 1920; Kastalskiy A. D., Features of the folk-Russian musical system, M. — P., 1923; Kvitka K., The first tonoryads, “The first citizenship, and its remnants in Ukpapna, vol. 3, Kipb, 1926 (Russian per. – Primitive scales, in his book: Fav. works, i.e. 1, Moscow, 1971); ego, Angemitonic primitives and theory of Sokalskyi, “Ethnographic Bulletin of Ukrapnskop Ak. Sciences”, book 6, Kipv, 1928 (rus. per. – Anhemitonic primitives and Sokalsky’s theory, in his book: Izbr. works, i.e. 1, М., 1971); его же, La systиme anhйmitonigue pentatonique chez les peuples Slaves, в кн .: Diary of the XNUMXnd Congress of Slavic geographers and ethnographers in Poland, v. r. 1927, t. 2, Cr., 1930 (rus. per. – Pentatonicity among the Slavic peoples, in his book: Izbr. works, i.e. 1, M., 1971); his, Ethnographic distribution of pentatonic scale in the Soviet Union, Izbr. works, i.e. 2, M., 1973; Kozlov I. A., Five-sound non-semitone scales in Tatar and Bashkir folk music and their musical and theoretical analysis, “Izv. Society of archeology, history and ethnography at the Kazan State. university”, 1928, vol. 34, no. 1-2; Ogolevets A. S., Introduction to modern musical thinking, M. — L., 1946; Sopin I. V., Elementary theory of music, M. — L., 1951, 1973; Hirshman Ya. M., Pentatonic and its development in Tatar music, M., 1960; Aizenstadt A., Musical folklore of the peoples of the Lower Amur region, in collection: Musical folklore of the peoples of the North and Siberia, M., 1966; Musical aesthetics of the countries of the East, ed. AT. AP Shestakova, M., 1967; Gomon A., Commentary on the tunes of the Papuans, in the book: On the bank of Maclay, M., 1975; Ambros A. W., History of Music, Vol. 1, Breslau, 1862; He1mhо1tz H., The theory of tone sensations as a physiological basis for the theory of music, Braunschweig, 1863 (рус. trans.: Helmholtz G. L. P., The doctrine of auditory sensations …, St. Petersburg, 1875); Riemann H., Folkloristische Tonalitätsstudien. Pentatonic and tetrachordal melody…, Lpz., 1916; Kunst J., Music in Java, v. 1-2, The Hague, 1949; MсRhee C., The Five-tone gamelan music of Bali, «MQ», 1949, v. 35, No 2; Winnington-Ingram R. P., The pentatonic tuning of the Greek lyre.., «The classical Quarterly», 1956 v.

Yu. H. Kholopov

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