On May 29, 2007, at 12:03 PM, Harold Owen wrote:
I wonder what Schenker would say about the ending of "Hey Jude",
certainly a tonal piece. To me it's I - IV of IV - IV - I. Viva la
falling fourth!
Schenker didn't like retrogression, but in my book any strong path
back to I is fine and outlines the key. IMHO, his theories work out
fine even in music that he didn't apply it to, like jazz and gospel,
and even (gasp!) Debussy, if you go beyond his exact words. I would
agree with your analysis.
To bring the retrogression idea close to its limit, try this gospel
turnaround on the last three eighths of a bar of 12/8:
Right hand, Eb, Bb, F, then C on beat 1 of the next bar, all triads.
Left hand single notes, A, Bb, B, then C on beat 1.
So the right hand is cycling in retrogression (backcycling, as some
gospel musicians put it) while the bass is leading up chromatically.
Some of the vertical structures are pretty tense (first and second-
last) while some are straight ahead, but the whole thing is quite
pretty! You can even keep backing up, starting way back somewhere on
the planet Saturn and eventually ending on C in the right place.
Christopher
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