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Newent Orchestral
Society Bill's Musical Notes, March, 2010 Modes Of Making Music Before the development of harmony rules, the church in particular
adopted melodic “modes”. Our major
and minor keys are but two examples of these of which there are many. The scale in each mode has its own particular
sequence of tones and semitones and, without any sharps or flats (or just examining the
white notes on a piano), start your mode off on any note and you have the scale of a
particular mode. The names given to the modes
stem from ancient Greece and each was said to have a particular effect on the listener. The qualities (after Juan de Espinoza, 17th C.) and starting notes
for some of the modes are Dorian (happy, taming the passions, D), Phrygian (inciting
anger, E), Lydian (happy, F), Mixolydian (uniting pleasure and sadness, G), Aeolian (our
minor mode, A), Hypophrigian (inciting delights, tempering fierceness, B) and Ionian (our
major mode, C). The qualities given to each of
the modes suggests the mediaeval system of correspondences, whereby all things with common
qualities could be bracketed together. More
than this, their influence would be consistent within their grouping. In that way, a particular herb, day of the week,
planet, metal, food, etc., each corresponding with the other within its category,
would have a predictable, accumulative effect, this being put to use for healing, for
example, or creating the right conditions for a good outcome to a situation. So, each musical mode would correspond with other
substances, with moods, types of personality, and so on.
If you wanted to create a particular effect with your music, then you would choose
the appropriate mode to write in so that it would influence listeners in the way the
composer desired. Modern composers, particularly Olivier Messiaen, have developed a
further mode which contains only whole tones between the consecutive notes of its scale. The use of this mode can be traced back as far as
Mozart and it was commonly employed by the French impressionist composers, such as Debussy
and Ravel. There is a particularly interesting interval contained in this mode
between the first and fourth notes and this is called a tritone, spanning the interval of
three whole tones. At one time this interval
was thought to be so diabolical, it was nicknamed the Devil's interval and was even banned
from use in church music. Today, our ears
have become accustomed to its unearthly quality but it still can be used effectively to
shock the listener. Modes and harmonies seem to possess different qualities affecting
the hearer in different ways. The system of
correspondences has fallen by the wayside but I'm sure that a lot has been lost in the
process. Bill Anderton, March, 2010 You can receive the Newent Orchestra's monthly email newsletter, including these "Musical Notes". Just ask to be added to our mailing list by emailing your request to info@newentorchestra.org Previous "Musical
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