On 30 Jun 2005 at 0:14, Christopher Smith wrote: > On Jun 29, 2005, at 11:34 PM, David W. Fenton wrote: > > > > > >> On 29 Jun 2005, at 9:28 PM, Raymond Horton wrote: > > > >>> The work in question is most definitely in two groups of 3 beats > >>> each (although it often hemiolas into 3/2 temporarily). > > > > That's not the right meaning of hemiola. A hemiola is: > > > > W W W > > H H H | H H H > > > > across two measures in a 3/2 context, (or H H H in two 3/4 > > measures). In 3/2, the hemiola is overlaying a 3/1 measure over top > > of two 3/2 measures. > > I think "hemiola" is one of those terms which has gone beyond its > traditional meaning, to mean any 3 against 2 OR 2 against 3 counter > accent in our modern times.
Well, I think it's a problem, because it uses only 1/2 of the definition/function of the hemiola in the music in which it emerged. > Other terms that I think have moved on in a similar fashion: > > Subdominant (used to mean the 4th of the scale, or the chord built on > it. Now means ANY chord that can lead to a dominant (though it doesn't > invariably have to). Some of my colleagues have replaced this term > with "Predominant" to be more clear. But what if it doesn't go to the > dominant, but directly to the tonic? Is it still a "predominant"? If > not, then why have a different name for the same chord in the same > key? I don't know of anyone who uses "subdominant" to refer to ii, for instance. They may talk about "subdominant function" chords, or the group of chords that function as "predominants" but I don't hear anyone explicitly calling a non-IV chord a subdominant. > Modal - had a big discussion about this one last year on the list. > Doesn't mean now what it used to mean a couple of centuries ago. Of > course leads to Actually, this is a case where it never meant a single thing, and now we've gotten to the point that we recognize that there are at least two distinct meanings. It's like the word "organum," which has at least 3 distinct meanings. > Tonal - which might be one of those words that can't be used any more > in ANY context except historical, because of all the different ways it > is construed > Picardy third (now often applied to ANY major-quality resolution chord > where a minor one is expected in the key, wrongly or not) Well, that's one where I don't know of any more limited definition. > Toncisation (used to mean only with a secondary dominant, now can mean > articulating a temporary tonic by any applicable means) (on that > subject, what do you call a plagal resolution to a temporary tonic? A > "plagalisation"? I shudder at it, but it IS logical. Musicians who > play gospel (where it is most common) call it "backcycling", but that > is a bit obtuse IMHO. Drawing on "applied dominant" perhaps "applied > predominant"? Not clear. Applied how?) I don't recognize the validity of your claim of the original restriction -- that makes no sense. It could be that the term was first used to talk about those progressions, but that doesn't mean it can't easily be adapted to cover other progressions as well. If the term were "dominanticization" then you'd have a point. > All of these expanded uses came about because we needed to talk about > them, but didn't have a brand-new term, so we used an old term that > did something similar, but restricted, in an older context. I even > hear some jazz musicians (mostly bass players) talk about "musica > ficta" in a jazz context, meaning that they use sharper notes walking > up to a target and flatter notes moving down to a target; a great > departure from the raised 4th and lowered 7th the term used to refer > to. I don't see a problem with those. I *do* see a problem with calling something a hemiola that is EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE of what a hemiola actually is. All of your examples that I would agree are acretions of additional meanings are extensions by metaphor, or extensions of usage from the original context, and the extensions all apply to things that are SIMILAR, not the EXACT OPPOSITE of the original meaning. Hence, our invention of the term REVERSE HEMIOLA. -- David W. Fenton http://www.bway.net/~dfenton David Fenton Associates http://www.bway.net/~dfassoc _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
