TheElektra chord is a "complexlydissonant signature-chord"[1] andmotivic elaboration used bycomposerRichard Strauss to represent the title character of his operaElektra that is a "bitonal synthesis of E major and C-sharp major" and may be regarded as apolychord related to conventional chords withadded thirds,[2] in this case aneleventh chord. It isenharmonically equivalent to a 7♯9 chord : D♭-F-A♭-C♭-E and a 6♭9 chord : E-G♯-B-C♯-F.
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| Component intervals fromroot | |
|---|---|
| diminished fourth | |
| minor second | |
| diminished seventh | |
| perfect fifth | |
| root | |
| Forte no. / | |
| 5-32 / |
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InElektra the chord, Elektra's "harmonic signature" is treated various ways betraying "bothtonal and bitonal leanings...adominant4
2 over anonharmonicbass." It is associated as well with its seven notecomplement which may be arranged as adominantthirteenth[1] while other characters are represented by other motives or chords, such asKlytämnestra's contrasting harmony. The Elektra chord's complement appears at important points and the two chords form a 10-note pitch collection, lacking D and A, which forms one of Elektra's "distinctive 'voices'"[3]
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Use in other works
editThe chord is also found inClaude Debussy'sFeuilles mortes, where it may be analyzed as anappoggiatura to a minorninth chord, andFranz Schreker'sDer ferne Klang, andAlexander Scriabin'sSixth Piano Sonata.[2]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^abLawrence Kramer. "Fin-de-siècle Fantasies:Elektra, Degeneration and Sexual Science",Cambridge Opera Journal, Vol. 5, No. 2. (Jul., 1993), pp. 141-165.
- ^abH. H. Stuckenschmidt; Piero Weiss. "Debussy or Berg? The Mystery of a Chord Progression",The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 51, No. 3. (Jul., 1965), pp. 453-459.
- ^Carolyn Abbate, 'Music and Language in Elektra', inRichard Strauss: Elektra, ed. Derrick Puffett, Cambridge Opera Guides (Cambridge, 1989), 107-27. Cited in Kramer (1993), p.156.