In Russian music theory, the concept oflad(mode) plays a central role in understanding non-tonal Russian music. There is no equivalent term in the West to explain Russianlad. Although early definitions simply described it as a diatonic scale, the term was later expanded, altered, and applied to non-tonal music of Scriabin, Prokofiev, and Shostakovich.Ladapplies not only to the traditional church or Greek modes, but also to alterations thereof, as well as newly created modes, where orthography often determines the function of a single pitch. I explore the ever-changing concept ofladin the writings of prominent Russian theorists Alexeï Ogolevets, Alexander Dolzhanskiĭ, Miroslav Skorik, and Iuriĭ Kholopov, and I show how the concept enables discussion of non-tonal music, first from functional and then from voice-leading perspectives. The Russian analyses highlight continuity between twentieth-century repertoires and music from the common-practice era.
The article examines Prokofiev’s compositional oeuvre through the lens of the Rimsky-Korsakov scale (octatonic collection) and its prominence in selected works from 1915 through 1941. Although he never took a composition lesson with Rimsky-Korsakov, Prokofiev’s careful use of the collection shows his intimate knowledge of the scale. The article seeks to add a understanding of the development of the Rimsky-Korsakov scale within Russian theoretical thought. A survey of short octatonic sections culminates in the analysis of Sonata no. 6, which not only uses the same octatonic collection to characterize the themes of first and last movements, but also features a scalar version of the octatonic collection at the very climax of the last movement. This event further enhances the importance of the scale and takes on a dramatic role from its initial association with magical characters in Rimsky-Korsakov’s music to depicting the despicable woes of the Great Patriotic War in Prokofiev’s music.
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An integral feature in many of Scriabin’s late musical narratives is the presence of an atonal problem—a musical event that threatens a harmony which the piece is based on. I offer a new interpretation of Scriabin’s late music, in which the idea of an atonal problem becomes a defining feature of his style (after op. 58). This atonal problem is defined as a non-chord tone, which disrupts the balance of the collection (octatonic, whole-tone, or Mystic) which the work is based on. Drawing from Schoenberg’s concept of a tonal problem and from Straus’s expansion of this concept in Disability Studies in music, I use Scriabin’s piano miniatures to show that, within each work, a single pitch class always stands out registrally, dynamically, and/or rhythmically, and becomes an important staple of Scriabin’s late style. Thus, the accommodation of this “wrong” note no longer represents that pitch class as a disruptive note, but rather it adds to the unique aspect of that work.
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