In my previous post, I explored what is meant by "Pandiatonicism" and found that there appears to be no widely-agreed-upon standard definition of the term.
Today's post has examples of music that some have labelled as pandiatonic.
Unfortunately, most of the examples below for which pandiatonicism is claimed seem overtly tonal, albeit with very little chromaticism, which may be why some people claim them to be pandiatonic. That said, many of these examples have at least some chromaticism, but I don't consider that minimal use of chromaticism automatically excludes the passage in question from being considered pandiatonic.
I'll try to find more examples, ideally better ones, that make a stronger case for being pandiatonic, but for now, check these out. If you want to skip down to what I consider the best example, see Stravinsky's Sonata for Two Pianos, towards the end of these examples.
Alfredo Casella (1883 - 1947), 11 Pezzi Infantili, Op.35: 2-Valse Diatonique (1921)
• Cited in: "Pandiatonicism." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 29 Aug. 2023. Retrieved 8 Feb. 2024
This shows no indication of being pandiatonic to me. It seems pretty strongly to be in C major, albeit with very little chromaticism. But the absence of chromaticism does not make a work pandiatonic. If it did, then simple nursery-rhyme tunes such as "Mary had a little lamb" would be pandiatonic, which they are not; they are tonal and diatonic.
• Cited in: "Pandiatonicism." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 29 Aug. 2023. Retrieved 8 Feb. 2024
This hints at pandiatonicism in the slow intro before switching to the faster material at rehearsal number 2 at which point it appears to be in C major for a few bars, after which it becomes more chromatic. Perhaps the intro is pandiatonic, but the rest of it isn't.
• Cited in: "Pandiatonicism." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 29 Aug. 2023. Retrieved 8 Feb. 2024
This has a 3-sharp signature and appears to be pretty unequivocally in A major. This work has lots of nice harmonies and key changes, but it does not appear to be pandiatonic.
This is not claimed to be pandiatonic by any sources that I have seen, but perhaps it has sections that are? It introduces chromaticism that seems to be mostly consistent within sections, but the chromatic notes differ in different sections.
I posted an analytical essay about this piece back in 2009, but for our purposes the salient point is that it is not pandiatonic.
It uses tonality in somewhat unconventional way – The opening is based on a Gb pentatonic scale; the first cadence is IV-I in Gb (plagal cadences were relatively unusual in classical and romantic music, although plagal extensions, sometimes called the "Amen cadence," were more common), which establishes the initial home key as Gb. However, this is followed immediately by a passage (mm. 5-7) that ends with a perfect authentic cadence (PAC) in Eb (= VI in Gb), which is surprising, but this is followed by a passage that ends with another PAC, this time back in Gb. The V chord in this cadence (mm. 9-10) has chordal extensions of a 7th, 9th, and 11th, but it is nevertheless a PAC in Gb.
It also uses chromaticism in mm. 6-9. All of these factors – establishing Gb as the tonic key through a plagal and authentic cadences in the first 11 bars, and the use of chromaticism – make this a tonal work, not pandiatonic.
That said, these bars do have at least one element of pandiatonicism: There are 3rd-inversion dominant 7th chords on Gb and Ab in mm, 8-9 that do not resolve in a functional way (the second of these, the Ab dominant 7th, is followed by a Db dominant chord, making it a functional progression – V4/2 of V to V – but the voice leading is not functional; the 7ths don't resolve); these sonorities are used as colours, without regard for the need to resolve them in the traditional manner of classical tonal music.
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2 comments:
Since learning what pandiatonicism is, I have realized that I seem to really like the technique and will most likely be using it in some of my future pieces. All of the music I know that is pandiatonic (almost all by Phillip Glass) is very pretty and easy to listen to which I think is a great attribute to have to ones music when aiming to acquire a broad audience especially in todays world.
The different definitions of pandiatonicism makes it a little hard to fully understand what the term means, however, I also think it opens a lot of possibilities for what it could be when composers write in this particular style. That being said, I think pandiatonicism is an interesting concept and I wish we could learn more about these kinds of techniques in theory classes.
This is a very insightful post. after reading this post, I'm really curious to find out how I can use it in some of my own pieces if I haven't already.
I am also curious to know what the key differences are between pandiatonicism and post-tonality. Perhaps pandiatonicism is a specific type of post-tonality? The answer may be relatively obvious, so my curiosity may just be from my lack of understanding the topic beyond what I've learned from this post.
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