Emily Kong

Music 22
Assignment C redo

The examples I used from Assignment B (Beethovens Moonlight

Sonata 1st movement, Chopins prelude in c minor, and Mozarts piano
sonata K.284 3rd movement) all had N6 chords used, but in a different way I
would say from how the N6 chord is used in Schuberts string quartet in D
minor that we listened to in class. In Beethovens Moonlight Sonata 1st
movement, the N6 chord was used in a traditional way, beginning with a i
chord (c minor), followed by: i4-2 VI - II6 V7 i6-4 V7 i. In this example,
the N6 resolves to the dominant V chord, then to the common i6-4 V i, so it
is the most traditional example of the N6 used. To the listener, I think this
provides an interesting harmonic progression but that quickly returns to the
tonic minor.
In the Mozart piano sonata, the N6 chord is used in a harmonic
progression to eventually get back to d minor. From the 2nd beat after the
first repeat of Var. III (Minore), the i6 iv6 N6 i6 vii etc has the II6
inserted in between the i6 and VI chord (d minor is tonic). The first E of this
second repeat section is not an N6 chord because of the B, making it an
augmented II (E, G, B) not a major II. This creates some interest for the
listener as one first hears the solidly d minor first repeat section followed by
this modulating second repeat section that ultimately ends in d minor again.
In the third example, the Chopin prelude, the N6 is used in a much
more complex manor, each time used differently. In the first example, in
measure 2, the Neapolitan is used to modulate to the VI (A major) of the i c
minor tonic. From the last beat of the 1st measure, the harmonic progression
goes: i VI - II5-3. But this N6 chord in root position functions additionally as
the IV chord of A major. Thus measure 2 could also go: VI [IV V8-7,6-5 I] of
VI (A major), thus the N6 here is used to modulate to A major in a
secondary function manor. In the 2nd example, measure 8, the Neapolitan is
used again in root position, but stays in the key of c minor. Measure 7- 8s
harmonic progression can analyzed as: i6 iv V6 i VI - II5-3 V7,6-5 i. This
follows a more traditional use of the Neapolitan than the first example, as the
flat 2 resolves to the dominant (V) and then to i. It is repeated again in
measure 12, to drive home the resolution to i at the end of the piece. In this
piece, Chopin forces the listener to observe every harmonic change, as he
consistently changes the harmonic progression on every beat.
These three examples use the N6 chord differently than in the
Schubert Quartet No. 14 in D minor, since in this piece the N6 is first
introduced passingly to briefly tonocize F minor (in measure 18), the relative
major (F major) of d minor, but in a minor setting. At the end of the piece,
the N6 makes another appearance in the last page (measure 282), where
one begins in B major (B is phrygian to A, which is the V of d minor). In m.
282, the N6 forces one back to d minor, followed by a i64 V VI (in d minor)
in measure 284-285, as a deceptive cadence back to B major (the VI of d
minor).