I hesitated to respond to David Fenton's comments about my comments, since I hate getting into slugfests with him. But not to answer seems to imply that I agree with his criticisms.
David, if you will reread my post, you'll see I said that my chord labeling included "non-functional" chords, and I said that the Pachelbel canon's I to I progression (the first 3/4s of the phrase) is based on the sequential pattern that comes from descending 10ths. You call it descending 3rds. No difference. I did not get into the prolongational function of these chords, though you (and Hal) propose some ideas. I hear this as a prolongation of I followed by a half cadence. Thus, I (V-vi-iii-IV) I IV V -- and the foreground level would show the sequentially descending fourths. I agree that the IV-I sounds plagal, and is quite strong, but I think this is a function of the chords being all in root position, which makes this IV-I stand out (with the direct fifths in the outer voices emphasizing the return to tonic before the phrase-ending half cadence). For comparison, look at Beethoven Op. 109 opening phrase of first movement. Same progression as Pachelbel up to the cadence, except Beethoven makes the sequence explicit (with more melodic information in the parts), keeps the descending 10ths (that is, every other chord is in first inversion), and ends it with an IAC. Here, I think, the prolongation of I to the cadence (with the functional bass line arpeggiating I: E-G#-B-E) is clear -- and I think the differences voice leading and bass differences in Pachelbel do not change the prolongation of the phrase. Of course, in some sense, each of the competing analyses proposed so far has some merit. It is all in how you choose to hear it. The point, though, was to explain the chord progression in Pachelbel -- the questioner was wondering why it went down a fourth and then up a step. And my answer for him was to relate the Pachelbel to the standard sequential harmonic pattern generated from descending 10ths (or, if you insist, 3rds). My goodness -- a lot of discussion about a rather banal piece, especially one that makes so many of us switch radio stations when it comes on! David Froom _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
