Omnibus Telesco

Society for Music Theory
Enharmonicism and the Omnibus Progression in Classical-Era Music

Author(s): Paula J. Telesco
Source: Music Theory Spectrum, Vol. 20, No. 2 (Autumn, 1998), pp. 242-279
Published by: {oupl} on behalf of the Society for Music Theory
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/746049
Accessed: 18-09-2015 11:58 UTC
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/
info/about/policies/terms.jsp
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content
in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship.
For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Oxford University Press and Society for Music Theory are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access
to Music Theory Spectrum.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 129.180.1.217 on Fri, 18 Sep 2015 11:58:44 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Enharmonicism and the Omnibus Progression
in Classical-Era Music
Paula J. Telesco
Every so often, the music of Haydn and Mozart contains Example1. Mozart,PianoConcertoNo. 17 in G Major,K. 453,
strange harmonic progressions that dramaticallyexceed the first movement, mm. 196-203 (reduction)
usual limits of classicaltonality-progressions such as the one
from Mozart's G major Piano Concerto (K. 453) shown in
Example 1. This paper surveys late eighteenth-centuryman-
ifestations of such progressions, and offers an explanationfor
these seemingly singularchromaticpassages, all of which ex-
emplify a harmonicformula that, with variations, gained cur-
a E7
rency during that period. These densely chromatic progres- A42 F7 bW6
4 B
sions facilitated remote harmonic excursions, anticipating
the more pervasive use of chromaticismand enharmonicism
in nineteenth-centurymusic. The present survey provides a
context for hypothesizing the development of this formula Example2. Omnibusprogression
from early Baroque models to its various eighteenth-century
forms, leads to a deeper understanding of the emotional
impact and rhetorical weight this progression evoked, sheds
light on the issue of eighteenth-centuryenharmonicismin one
of its most potent forms, and links these progressions to the
more idiosyncraticenharmonicismof the nineteenth century.
The underlying source of this progression, shown in Ex- c: i V6 (V7/?II ii46 Gr6ii) V7
= Gr6/ii
ample 2, has been called the "Omnibus,"a term whose origin Omnibus
is obscure. Victor Yellin, who used the term in a conference Chords: 1 2 3 4 5
presentation in 1972, traces his awareness of it to Roger
Martinez of the University of San Juan. The most thorough
published account of the omnibus to date appears in Robert
Enharmonicismand the OmnibusProgression in Classical-EraMusic 243
Example 3. Schubert,Piano Sonata in A Minor, op. 42, first movement, mm. 32-39 (1825)
1,
I L; L
L.J ,JL' 1
lA JJ J J7 J 9-
JJ nJJ ;JT3JJ L-J JJJ JJ-J
- JLJ-IJ J
*~~~~d I)
C: V7/iii? V6 V7/blII? Vs V7/bIII?V6 V7/bIII?V6 Gr6/ii ii6 Gr6/iiV7 viio7N I1

A A
=4 G6i G6
dominants
3rd-related dominants
3rd-related O
Omnibus
Chords: 1 2 3 4 5
Wason's VienneseHarmonic Theoryfrom Albrechtsbergerto chord resolves instead as a German sixth in D. Yet the ex-
Schenkerand Schoenberg. Both Wason and Yellin examine pectation of a modulation to ii dissipates almost instanta-
the progression's harmonic structure and usage by selected neously, and one quickly realizes that these were passing
composers, but neither explores the early history of the om- chords embedded within a chromatically filled-in voice ex-
nibus and its related chord progressions. change. An elegant nineteenth-century instance of enhar-
In its simplest classic form, the omnibus is five chords long monic ambiguity within a classic omnibus appears in Schu-
and prolongs a dominant seventh via a chromaticallyfilled-in bert's A minor Piano Sonata, op. 42, shown in Example 3.
voice exchange involving scale degrees 5 and 1; the resulting Schubert suggests V7/bIII (as well as V7/iii!) several times,
progressions are filled with enharmonic double entendres.2 at least by his spelling, before realizing the Bb7 chord as a
For instance, the third chord in Example 2 ("omnibus chord Gr6/ii.3
2") can be heard as both a dominant seventh of El major The pervasiveenharmonicismof the omnibus distinguishes
and as an augmented sixth chord leading to a cadential 6 in it from more common eighteenth-centuryenharmonicism,in
D minor, enharmonicallylinking these two keys. Given that which the diatonic context is clear both before and after the
the first two chords of the example establish C minor, a toni- enharmonic event. Example 4 provides a simple illustration
cization of the mediant is likely to be expected when the from music of Haydn. When the chord in mm. 47-49 is first
chord first sounds. But rather than a resolution to III, the encountered, it is clearly a dominant seventh in Ab major.
But its resolution and the new harmonic context starting in
1VictorFell Yellin, "The Omnibus Idea," paper presented at the annual
meeting of the American MusicologicalSociety, Dallas, 1972;Robert Wason,
VienneseHarmonic Theoryfrom Albrechtsbergerto Schenkerand Schoenberg 3As shown in this example, Schubert spells chord 2 (m. 36) as a Gr6/ii,
(Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1985), 15-19. I would like to thank Pro- but chord 4 (m. 37) as its enharmonicequivalent, a B6 dominant 4. As this
fessor Yellin for providing me with a copy of his paper. and the following omnibus examples demonstrate, composers were incon-
2Yellin, "The Omnibus Idea." sistent in their spelling of chords 2 and 4. I consistently label them as Gr6/ii.
244 MusicTheory Spectrum
Example 4. Haydn, Piano Trio in Bb Major, H. XV, No. 20, first.movement (reduction), mm. 47-51 (1794 or earlier)
47 - '
Example 5. J. S. Bach, "Erbarmes Gott!" RecitativoNo. 51 from St. MatthewPassion, mm. 9-12
~ "
j> r IJ}J fi- [ r
(
Mar- ter- sau - le gleich und noch viel har - ter sein. Er - barmteuch, hal-tet ein!
J 6J
ik IJ r-
C ^ 1- D 7- -D 10 I
6* 6*t 6 6 7
4t 4t 41 tt
2* *t 6
m. 49 cause the chord to be treated as a Gr6 in G minor. At Even amidstsuch musicaland textual anguish, the diatonic
some point, in principle, it is simultaneously two different context on either side of the enharmonicevent is clear. Chord
chords with an enharmonically transformed pitch (Db be- 2 in Example 2, by contrast, is ambiguous. This inherent
comes CO), whose chronology is unambiguous. Other in- ambiguity places the omnibus in a specialized category of
stances are reinterpretations of diminished seventh chords, enharmonicismthat is for the most part peculiar to the nine-
by far the most common form of enharmonicreinterpretation teenth century; its judicious use in the eighteenth century,
in the eighteenth century. Among numerous examples that therefore, is all the more compelling. Furthermore, in prac-
could be cited, the recitative "Erbarmes Gott!" from Bach's tice the omnibus was not a single immutableprogression, but
St. Matthew Passion excerpted in Example 5 is particularly a family of progressions, meaning its presence in a passage
telling. Prior to this excerpt the music tonicizes increasingly may not be immediately obvious. This paper demonstrates
sharper or "harder" keys as the text refers to harder and that several different progressions may be viewed as mani-
harder hearts, moving from C major to A minor, E minor, festations of a highly chromatic formulaic pattern cultivated
and the FIt minor shown here. Then in m. 11, at a moment for its dramatic effect within the convention-laden musical
of extreme passion, b?o7 is reinterpreted as an f#o7, bringing world of the late eighteenth century. A look at three such
the music to an abrupt cadence in G minor. seemingly unorthodox examples provides our starting point.
Enharmonicism and the Omnibus Progression in Classical-Era Music 245
Example 6. Mozart, Piano ConcertoNo. 18 in Bb Major, K. 456, third movement, mm. 162-71 (1784)
162
_ . km A
^ ^
Fl.
Ob.
,sJB.L~J J _ J J'FJFJF J FL
Bsn.
VI. 1
lJ ~S Jm ~ J. J.
VI. 2
Via. _____ __ _
-',~h~~m" ~ ~
_ rr i.rjr - '.
- Jr
vBb B G7C
D.B. r r r
/-ill--
3
Bb: I V4/IV V7/ii
b: Gr6
Example 6 shows a portion of the third movement of minor, the key of the minor Neapolitan, but that is even more
Mozart's Bb major Piano Concerto (K. 456).4 The passage remote.) A traditional functional analysis would yield the
begins in Bb major, the key of the movement, but ends sev- results shown below the score. The G7 chord in m. 165, con-
eral measures later in the strikinglydistant key of B minor- cluding a chromatic third relationship, appears to be left un-
all the more striking because of the\swift enharmonicism resolved, but is in fact enharmonicallyreinterpreted as a Gr6
that leads to it. (One might posit that the key is really Cb in B minor. This reinterpretationis particularlynoteworthy
because, unlike the more common enharmonic reinterpre-
4The passage in Example 6 occurs at the end of the second A section in tation of a primary dominant into an augmented sixth, the
a concerto-rondo, constituting the transition to the development section. G7 is an unprepared secondary dominant.
246 MusicTheorySpectrum
Example 6 [continued]
167 :^: A &ttfE 6 -
Fl. itt t Utt 17 7 !.

t L_fT
Ob.
Bsn.
VI. 1
VI.2
^ J-J_. "~d^~'i- rd .
Via. -' ~' ' I' -
.... . ij^r----C.'
Lr r r r :r r r r r rTT
F r r*.
r Tr
D.B.
b6 Fi?7b
i6
14
The next excerpt, Example 7, appears in the first move- analysis shown beneath the score has obvious similarities to
ment of the G major Concerto discussed above (Example 1).5 the previous example: (1) the first four chords of both ex-
The framingkeys of the excerpt are Bb major and A minor- amples are the same; (2) the first three chords have identical
again distantly related, although not as distant as the Bb functions in the key of Bb; (3) the pivot chord is a V7/ii in
major to B minor relation in K. 456. The standardfunctional the firstkey; and (4) the pivot chord is reinterpretedas a Gr6,
albeit a primary Gr6 in Example 6, but a secondary Gr6 in
Example 7. This single point of contrastmeans that the mod-
5Thispassage appears at the beginning of the development section. The ulation in Example 7 is more distant and tenuous with respect
musichas been in D major, the dominant,but has just modulatedto Bb major to the enharmonicpivot chord than is the modulation in Ex-
by way of a deceptive cadence. ample 6.
Exaniple 7. Mozart, Piano ConcertoNo. 17 in G Major, K. 453, first movement, mm. 186-92 (1784)
186 Lt- _
Fl.
t r ?r tr
Ob. r j .J J h- ? r r r, ' -
Bsn.
- r
Pf.
Li;
VI. 1
VI. 2 -1 -
| boi.
^,
Via. B^t k" o bf
D.B.
Bb Bs2
1 3 -
I V2H
V4/IV
189
-fA A
Fl.
Ob.
Bsn. A4
Pf.
$1'
$o~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~a
3 30 0 J
3
VI. 1
t 3LID
VI. 2 MM7
.
Via.
D.B.
[ vi "?
G7
o
b4
6 E7 a
_3 3
V7/ii
a: Gr6/ii ii6 V7
Example 8. Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major, K. 453, first movement, mm. 196-203 (1784)
r 196
A
Fl. r ;I t ,, ,
Ob.
Bsn.
L'i -Kr -
Pf.
m^ lt be_
VI. I
i
VI. 2
Via.
yi 'SEf (i
q
o
oo
Lab
-0
4 b
D.B.
.
a: i V4/iv V7/ii
g#: Gr6/ii
=ab: Gr6/ii ii6
114 V7
f: Gr6/ii
250 Music Theory Spectrum
200
PAa, - l
Fl.
1P
r Fr l
Ob.
0
Bsn.
Pf.
-: _ ..
VI. 1
VI. 2
Via.
D.B.
I ,,--A
;
'
0
o
g4
6
c~?7
C*07
J.
C7 B
(instead of Eb )
i6 vii07
114
e: Gr6 V
Finally, Example 8 (pp. 249-250) shows the full score for long association with intense emotional expression, a short
the progression of Example 1. This passage occurs immedi- history of the passacaglia and the lament aria are in order
ately after the Example 7 passage, sequencing and extending here.
the pattern. It begins in A minor and ends in the closely re- The passacaglia arose around 1600, and was originally a
lated key of E minor, yet the path from A to E is circuitous, ripresaor ritornelloused to accompanySpanishguitar songs,
requiringatleast threeenharmonicreinterpretations.The anal- a function it maintaineduntil about 1640.6It was popularized
ysis in the Example demonstrates that the first four chords through rasgueado, or strummed style of guitar playing (as
are functionally the same as the first four of Example 6. opposed to the more refined punteado, or plucked style of
These three excerpts obviously reveal a recurrent enhar- playing, cultivated on the lute and vihuela), which became
monic pattern, yet they also share a feature that fundamen- enormouslypopularin Spain and Italy duringthe seventeenth
tally sets them apartfrom music exhibiting the more common century. This style of playing was harmonically rather than
type of eighteenth-century enharmonicism shown in Exam- contrapuntally conceived-the player strums chords rather
ples 4 and 5. In these latter three excerpts ambiguity arises than plucking out contrapuntallines.7 Harmonically,the ear-
not just from the pivot chord but from the reinterpretation liest guitar passacagliaswere based on a I-IV-V-I ostinato,
of secondary dominants and secondary Gr6 chords, ap- but later versions, beginning around 1620, began to incor-
proached by unresolved secondary dominants, which then porate mode mixture and additional chords into the basic
obscure the entire diatonic context. framework. For example, the following progressions might
occur:8
THE PASSACAGLIA AND THE LAMENT ARIA

1) i-iv-V-i 2) I-iv-V-I 3) i-IV-V-i 4) I-IV-iv-V-I
5) i-iv-VI-V-i 6) I-IV-V-I-( )VII-IV-V-I 7) i-v-VI-iv-V-i
How could such a strange form of enharmonicismarise in
the tonal universe of eighteenth-century music? An answer
lies in the voice-leading context. Each of the examples we 6RichardHudson, Passacaglioand Ciaconna:from GuitarMusicto Italian
have just seen features a chromaticallydescending bassline, KeyboardVariationsin the SeventeenthCentury(Ann Arbor: UMI Research
clearly reminiscent of a passacaglia bass. The passacaglia Press, 1981). Hudson writes, "The first music for both Ciaconna and Pas-
bass and its characteristicprogressions were major sources sacaglio appearsin 1606 in Montesardo'sNuova inventioned'intavolaturaper
of expressive chromaticism in seventeenth- and eighteenth- sonare li ballettisopra la chitarraspagniuola, published in Florence" (17).
7ThomasChristensenpoints out that rasgueadoplayingwas consideredby
century music, and provided a wellspring of inspiration and some to be vulgarand coarse. He quotes Sebastiande Covarrubias,lamenting
ideas for composers as diverse as Purcell, Bach, Haydn, in 1611 that "now the guitar is no more than a cowbell, so easy to play,
Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. This harmonizedbassline especially in the strummed style, that there is no stable boy who is not a
has a long and venerable history, and appears to have arisen musicianon the guitar." Thomas Christensen,"The SpanishBaroque Guitar
from two distinct yet related genres: not only from the in- and Seventeenth-CenturyTriadic Theory," Journal of Music Theory 36/1
strumentalpassacaglia, but also from the lament aria, which, (1992): 3, note 5.
8RichardHudson, The Folia, the Sarabande,the Passacagliaand the Cha-
like the passacaglia, often features a ground bass. Given the conne, Musicological Sources and Documents 35/3 (American Institute of
highly expressive character of this formulaic bassline and its Musicology, 1982), xvi-xvii, 18-26.
Gradually, the passacaglia developed into a triple-meter and Sweelinck's Fantasia Chromatica (before 1621), opens
minor-mode variation form. Sets of variations appear for with a chromatic descent from D down to A, a motive that
keyboard beginning in 1627 with Frescobaldi's Partite sopra permeates the piece.l2 Such chromatic basses support not
passacagli (from his Secondo libro di toccate), and for guitar only i-V6-v6-IV6-iv6-V progressions (as found in Purcell's
in 1640. In general, Frescobaldi wedded the purely chordal/ "Dido's Lament" of 1689), but may also support secondary
harmonic approach of the rasgueado style of playing to the dominants and cadential 6s (also employed in "Dido's La-
contrapuntalpunteado style. The result of this marriage is a ment"), as well as major seventh chords (VI7), minor seventh
melodic, stepwise descending bassline (along with its varia- chords (iv7), augmented mediants, and chords in parallel
tions and elaborations) that replaces the former I 4 5 i sixths. 3 This early usage of such dissonant chords is probably
(I-IV-V-I). The insertion of scale degrees 7 and 6 between typical of the kinds of harmonies one would find in impro-
i and 4 produces basslines that graduallybecame character- vised passacaglias of that time, although little printed evi-
istic of passacaglias, including the following:9 dence survives. The passacagliabassline, especially the chro-
matic version, virtually begs for improvisatory treatment,
)i 4 S 2) I S64 S 3) 1 6 4 4)i76S whether by keyboard, lute, or singer above a bass.
Once a passacaglia formula becomes established as the Passacagliasand ciacconas began to appearin Italian vocal
central idea of a piece (through the opening phrase, prom- music around 1630, particularlyin the lament aria. Several
inent placement, or repetition), other formulas may be used such pieces are II Fasolo's "Lamento di Madama Lucia," II
as variants. According to Hudson, "although the ostinato carro di Madama Lucia (Rome, 1628), Frescobaldi's "Aria
involves an equal phrase length, it is also concerned with a di passacaglia:Cosi mi disprezzate," Primo libro di arie mu-
selected group of formulas. Therefore, the fundamentaltech- sicali (Florence, 1630), and Felice Sances's "Usurpator ti-
nique of the Passacaglio and Ciaccona is an ostinato of se-
lected formulas."'0 One of the most common passacaglia
basslines, i 7 6 5, is frequently harmonized i-VII-VI-V, or '2Frescobaldi'sPartitesopra passacagli is included in Hudson, The Folia,
i-v6-iv6-V, or some combination of the two. " A typical dis- 32. Sweelinck's FantasiaChromaticais included in K Marie Stolba, The De-
cant for these progressions is the descending line 3 2 i 7, velopmentof WesternMusic, vol. 1 (Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown, 1991),
which fits either of the above harmonizations. Chromatic 257.
bassline descents begin to appear in the first quarter of the '3Thefollowing all appear in Hudson's The Folia: (1) Frescobaldi, Partite
seventeenth century: Frescobaldi's Partite sopra passacagli sopra Passacagli (1627), p. 32, Var. 16: chromatic descent and a secondary
dominant; p. 33, Var. 19: secondary dominant and minor seventh. (2)
(1627) contains a chromaticdescent in the sixteenth variation, Alessandro Piccinini, Passacagli (1639), p. 41, Var. 2: major seventh; p. 44,
Var. 21: secondary dominants; p. 44, Vars. 22-23: augmented mediant. (3)
Anonymous, Passagalli p[er] A la mi re (c. 1640), pp. 53-54: numerous
cadential 6s. (4) Anonymous, Passagalli (c. 1640), p. 56, Var. 1: secondary
9Of course, not all pieces based on descending tetrachordswere called dominant and cadential 6. (5) Anonymous, Passagalli (c. 1640), p. 57, Var.
passacaglias. 9: parallel-sixthchords. (6) Lully, Passacaillefrom Armide (1686), pp. 102-3,
"'Hudson, Passacaglio and Ciaconna, 271. Vars. 24-25: chromatic descent and cadential 6. Secondary dominants also
"Many examples of early passacagliasand ciaconnas appear in Hudson's appear with ascending chromatic basslines: Andrea Falconiero, Passacalle
The Folia and Passacaglio and Ciaconna. (1650), p. 69, Var. 23.
ranno," Cantade e arie a cove sola; Libro secondo, parte melodies of the major mode and the regular progression of major
prima (Venice, 1633).14 harmony. Anguish, misery, and other extreme states of affectivity
Why is it that this minor-mode tetrachord bassline (es- are deviants and become associated with the more forceful depar-
tures of chromaticismand its modal representatives, i.e., the minor
pecially the chromatic version) was (and still is) considered
to be so emotionally expressive that it became de rigueur for mode. 17
laments and other emotionally charged music? One answer Thus the association between the minor mode and emotional states
may lie in arguments proposed by Leonard Meyer. Speaking depicting sadness and suffering is a product of the deviant, unstable
first of the effects of chromaticism, Meyer says: characterof the mode and of the associationof sadness and suffering
with the slower tempi that tend to accompany the chromaticism
The affective aesthetic power of chromaticism not only arises be-
prevalent in the minor mode.18
cause chromatic alterations delay or block the expected motion to
the normaldiatonictones but also because uniformityof progression, Thus the descending tetrachord ground bass, which had
if persistent, tends ... to create ambiguityand hence affective ten- already appeared in contemporaneous passacaglias, must
sion. Moreover, ambiguity leads, particularlyin the realm of har- have seemed an obvious choice for early Baroque composers
monic progression, to a general tonal instability.'5
writing lament-type arias. The ostinato bass in general was
Speaking of the minor mode specifically, Meyer explains fur- perfectly suited for monody: the repetition of an ostinato
ther: would not draw attention away from the text, but could pro-
vide some formal organization while allowing for a certain
First, the minor mode is always potentially chromatic. ... Second, amount of declamatory freedom in the vocal line. The lament
the tendencies of tones as they approachsubstantivetones is stronger
aria itself can be traced back to the beginning of the sev-
in minor than in major .... From a harmonic point of view, the
enteenth century, with Monteverdi's "Lamento d'Arianna,"
minor mode is both more ambiguous and less stable than the major
mode . . . because the repertory of possible vertical combinations from his 1608 opera Arianna, occupying the premiere posi-
is much greater in minor than in major and, consequently, the prob- tion.19 But the lament's association with the tetrachord bass
ability of any particularprogression of harmonies is smaller.16 does not become explicit until around 1640, and then par-
ticularly in opera.20 Each of Francesco Cavalli's twenty-seven
The minormode is not only associatedwith intense feeling in general
but with the delineation of sadness, suffering, and anguish in par- '7Ibid., 227.
ticular. This association ... is also connected with chromaticismin 18Ibid.,228.
general. . . . States of calm contentment and gentle joy are taken "9Accordingto Rosand ("Lamento"), this was the most influentiallament
to be the normal human emotional states and are hence associated of the early seventeenth century, "confirmedby the publicationof monodic
with the more normative musical progressions, i.e., the diatonic Ariadne laments by Severo Bonini (1613), Possenti (1623), and F. A. Costa
(1626) and most conclusivelyby Monteverdi'sown reworkingof this piece as
a madrigal (1614), the publication of the monodic version (1623) and his
'4Ellen Rosand states that "II Fasolo" is almost certainly a pseudonym adaptation of the madrigal to a sacred text (1640)."
for Francesco Manelli. See Ellen Rosand, "Lamento," in The New Grove 20Nevertheless,earlier examples do exist. Monteverdi's "Lament of the
Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 6th ed. Nymph," with its descending tetrachordbass, was published in 1638 (in the
S5LeonardMeyer, Emotion and Meaning in Music (Chicago: University eighth book of madrigals),although Rosand speculates that it was composed
of Chicago Press, 1956), 218. c. 1632. See "The Descending Tetrachord:An Emblem of Lament," The
16Ibid.,225. Musical Quarterly65/3 (1979): 352, fn. 16. Sances's "Usurpatortiranno" of
extant operas contains one or more such laments, bringing to be filled in.24 But the augmented sixth clearly heightens
his total to over fifty.21 According to Ellen Rosand, the expression of grief or lament. Another example is in the
renowned conclusionof Carissimi'soratorio, Jephte(c. 1650).
All these lamenti exploit the tetrachord as a source of harmonic,
melodic and rhythmicdissonance created by suspensions, syncopa-
A solo section for Jephte, which has a chromaticallydescend-
tion and overlapping phrases between the voice and the bass.22 ing bassline, includes figuressuggestinga French/Italiansixth
complex. Again the text is one of sorrow and grief.
They are generally distinguished by their slow tempo, heavily Lament arias continued to occur in operas, oratorios, and
stressed triple meter, and string accompaniment,as well as by their cantatas of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth cen-
heightened affective style.... In addition ... most of Cavalli's
turies. The term "lament" also appears appended to music
laments are marked by a clear relationshipto the descending minor
tetrachord as ostinato. Frequently an unaccompaniedstatement of
of a programmaticnature. One striking example is Bach's
the pattern in the bass at the outset signals the association. This "Adagissimo. Ist ein allgemeines Lamento der Freunde"
framingdevice distinguishesthe piece from its surroundingnarrative from his 1704 Capricciosopra la lontananza del suo fratello
context; the tetrachord pattern sounds the mood, a declaration of dilettissimo[Capriccioon the Departureof his Most Beloved
"lament" that sets the piece apart, as if in quotes.23 Brother]. Bach's inclusion of the Italian word "lamento" in
an otherwise German inscription is an obvious reference to
Another noteworthy feature of some of these tetrachordal
the Italian lament aria genre. In this Capriccio, the term
laments, not present in the instrumental passacaglias I have
"lament" probably refers not only to the programmaticna-
seen, is the use of the augmented-sixth chord, or at least the
ture of the piece, but also to the descending tetrachord(and
interval of an augmented sixth built on 6. For example, a
its variants) on which it is constructed. Yet another notable
lament aria from Cavalli's L'Egisto (1643), "Piangete occhi,"
feature is Bach's use (twice) of an augmented sixth chord in
contains an F in the bass against Dot in the vocal line in two
different statements of the descending bass, and in each in- harmonizingthis bassline. By this time the augmented sixth
chord appears to have become a member in good standing
stance the pitches expand outward to an octave E. Since
of the standard repertoire of chords used to harmonize the
Cavalli notated only the vocal line and an unfigured bass, it
is hard to know how he might have intended the inner parts descending bass, especially to underscore some aspect of la-
ment, regardless of whether any text was present.
Indeed, the passacaglia/lament,with its associated second-
ary dominants, augmentedsixths, and major-, minor-, dimin-
1633 is another lament set to a descending tetrachordbass. Also noteworthy
is Monteverdi'sharmonictreatmentof the "Nymph"bassline. Linda Ciacchi
ished-, and half-diminishedsevenths, had become one of the
points out that Monteverdi uses the root position harmonization (i-VII- only sources of extreme chromaticismin Baroque music. Fur-
VI-V) to suggest the older harmonic system, and first inversion triads (i- ther evidence of the continuing sway the passacaglia/lament
v6-iv6-V) to suggest the newer harmonic system. See Linda Ciacchi, "The held over the imagination of seventeenth-, eighteenth-, and
Rhythm of the Nymph: Long Range Motion and Coherence in Monteverdi's even nineteenth-centurymusiciansappearsin Jer6me-Joseph
'Lament,' " paper delivered at the fifth annual meeting of Music Theory
Southeast, 16 March 1996.
21Rosand,"The Descending Tetrachord,"353. 24RaymondLeppard, in his piano-vocal arrangement,realizes the chord
22Rosand,"Lamento," 413. firstas a Frenchsixth, then as an Italiansixth. See FrancescoCavelli, L'Egisto
23Rosand,"The Descending Tetrachord," 353-54. (London: Faber Music, 1977), 93, mm. 71, 79.
de Momigny's Cours complet d'harmonie(Paris, 1803-5). To Example 9. Diatonic and chromaticpassacagliabass-line pro-
highlight the effect of the bass descending tetrachord in the gressions
opening of Mozart's D minor String Quartet (K. 421), Mo- a. diatonic
migny adds beneath the full score a piano-vocal arrangement
of the passage, complete with text from a lament of Dido.25
.a. ,.
TRANSFORMATION OF THE PASSACAGLIA PROGRESSION INTO THE
OMNIBUS i
or: ,,' 0 . -o.
5
: iv6
At this point, a closer examination of some typical early c: i iv6 V
harmonizations of diatonic and chromatic descending bass-

lines will be undertakento postulate the development of these b. chromatic
harmonizations into more chromatic ones, and ultimately,
into the classical-eraomnibus. Example 9 gives diatonic and s A A
A
chromatic versions of the descending bass in minor. Each of
these progressions contains a prototype of a basic tonal op-
eration: a voice exchange within a dominant prolongation, ) ' ho .0 o . --.
with iv6 or IV6 occurring as passing chords. (In the diatonic A
7
form the exchange is chromatic:an upper voice ascends from c: i V6 v6 v~6
IV6
IV6 iv6
iv6 VA
V
to raised 1, while the bass descends from unraised f to 8.)
The upper voice of the exchange in a minor key cannot
ascend diatonicallyby step because of the augmented second One way to obtain a wedge between the bass and the upper
that would result. Since this is not a problem in major, the voice in the minor version is to replace one chord and alter
voice exchange produces a wedge between the bass and some another: substituting a V4/IV for the v6 (cf. Ex. 9b) and an
upper voice as shown in Example 10a. Examples 10b-d move augmented sixth for the iv6 results in the progression shown
this voice-exchange one step closer to the omnibus with the in Example 11. This in fact became an extremely common
addition of seventh chords replacing the triads on the dom- harmonizationfor these passacaglia basslines in the classical
inant. Note also that Examples 10b-d provide three different
era; it includes a chromaticwedge between the chromatically
versions of the major-modeexchange between V6 and V7:the
ascending upper voice (usually the soprano), and the chro-
interveningchords are respectively IV6 (b), vi (c), and ii6 (d). matically descending bass voice, and the prototypical voice
In the latter instance, two voices hold common tones a minor
third apart while the other two voices exchange. exchange (similar to those shown in Example 9a, and espe-
cially Example 9b) in another voice. Examples of these pro-
gressions, from mid-centuryon (some with the wedge in the
25Ian Bent, "Analysis," in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Mu- outer voices, some without) may be seen in various compo-
sicians, 6th ed. sitions by Purcell, J. S. Bach, C. P. E. Bach, Haydn, Mozart
Example 10. Model voice exchangepatternsin major Example 11. Passacaglia progression
a. Chord#1 2 3 4 5
3 - j
/8 8
a w a
lre o
c: i V6 V4/iv IV6 Gr6 i V
C: I V IV6 V I
b.
and Beethoven.26 Two representative Mozart examples are
= shown in Example 12.
1+3}' ?- i - 8
For further confirmation that these harmonizationswere
common currency by the early classical era, one can look
9: am aal to no less an authority than C. P. E. Bach. Bach discusses
V7 I
C: I VS IV6 augmented-sixthchords in the second part of his Essay on the
True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments, in the chapter
c. entitled "Thoroughbass."One of his three examples of the
It6istrat
thefollowing: V/iv-iv6-6. And he illustratesthe usage
a2 -
of the Fr6 in two passacaglia bassline progressions: iv6-Fr6-
0 o" 0
l a
26E.g., C. P. E. Bach's "Prussian"Sonata No. 4 in C Minor, W. 48/4
0 .10
o I~ 0 (1740-42), first movement, mm. 4-7 and 57-58; "Prussian"Sonata No. 5 in
C: I V6 vi V7 I C Major, W. 48/5 (1740-42), thirdmovement, mm. 14-17; Sonata in C Major,
W. 62/10 (1749), second movement, mm. 1-4; Haydn's Symphony No. 7 in
d. C Major ("Le Midi," 1761), first movement, mm. 80-84; String Quartet in
D Major, op. 76, no. 5 (c. 1797), firstmovement, mm. 26-27; Mozart'sString
Quartet in D Minor, K. 421 (1783), first movement, mm 1-8; Don Giovanni
(1787), Overture, mm. 5-11; and the excerpts from Mozart piano sonatas
shown in Example 12.
Manyother imaginativeand innovativeharmonizationsof this basslinecan
easily be found. A few notable examples are: (1) "Dido's Lament," from
Purcell's Dido and Aeneas (1698), mm. 14-17: i-V-vii"/iv-IV6-iv6-V, and
C: I V6 ii6 V7 I
mm. 19-22: i-V6-v6-vi07-vii0-iv6-V; (2) the "Crucifixus,"from Bach's B
Minor Mass, BWV 232 (1733), mm. 1-4: i-VI6-vii?7-v6-vi7-iv6-i-V, and
mm. 13-16: i-vii?/V-V6-iv-vii3 -IV6-iv6-Fr6-i6-V; and (3) the opening
iv4 _ 4
9 I-V/V-V6-
of Beethoven's "Waldstein"sonata, op. 53 (1809), mrn. 1-9:
lVV2 -IV6-iv6-V7 (or, alternatively, IV7-V6 - Il-V IV6-iv6-V7).
IV v IV
. .
Example 12. Classicalexamplesof passacagliaprogression

a. Mozart, Piano Sonata in D Major, K. 284, third movement, VariationVII, mm. 2-4 (1775)
2
t , b
wfT IrCrrfrtrrlrl T
ir-
'1 r-
a
6W1:, 2/ q/ L r
L.
i V4/iv IV6 It6 i6 V
b. Mozart, Piano Sonata in C Minor, K. 457, third movement, mm. 205-10 (1784)
205
pP P
I f f. f
* ...,;'-'.. J~ '...
~ , ~~~~
~ z! J z!
J
, r0
r fw x- ar/i
0 r 1 P . P P
*6
C :i v6 V4/iv Gr6 4
i6-V, and i-V4/iv-IV6-Fr6-V.27 Later, in the chapter on are I-V65 -V4/iv-IV6-+

2 6-V; and I-V4/V-V6-v6-V4/IV-
2 2
"Improvisation," Bach explains to keyboardists, "particu- IV6-+6-V.29 Although he makes no mention of the fact,
larly [those] of limited ability," how to extemporize: "With some of his scale harmonizationsin this chapter are those of
due caution he fashions his bass out of the ascending and the earlier regle de l'octave, which dates from 1716.30
descending scale of the prescribed key, with a variety of fig- It is not hard to imagine, especially given Bach's own
ured bass signatures."28For his first minor diatonic descend- remarksabove, that the sorts of chromaticismthat first arose
ing scale progression, Bach shows two harmonizations:
i-v6-iv6-V; and i-V2/iv-iv6-viio6/iv. For the chromatic de- 29Ibid.,433. I am showing the chords for the descending tetrachordonly.
scending scale progression, Bach's first two harmonizations Bach harmonizes the entire scale.
30Ibid.,431, fn. 3. For more on the regle de l'octave, see especially Joel
27CarlPhilipp Emanuel Bach, Essay on the TrueArt of Playing Keyboard Lester, CompositionalTheory in the EighteenthCentury(Cambridge, Mass.:
Instruments,trans. and ed. William J. Mitchell (New York: Norton, 1949), HarvardUniversityPress, 1992), 72-74; and Thomas Christensen,"The Regle
216, 238. de l'Octave in Thorough-BassTheory and Practice," Acta Musicologica64/2
28Ibid., 431. Emphasis added. (1991): 91-117.
in the passacaglia bass and lament aria, combined with the Example 13. Comparisonof passacagliaand omnibusprogres-
well-known regle de l'octave, inspired keyboard improvisers sions
to explore heightened juxtapositions of distant harmonies a. passacaglia
over chromaticallydescending and ascending basses, culmi-
nating ultimately in the omnibus family of progressions. To
wit: if the passacaglia progression as shown in Example 13a
is modified such that the chromatic wedge becomes part of
the voice exchange, instead of being independent of it, the
classic omnibus will result, as shown in Example 13b. A com-
parison of the passacaglia to the omnibus reveals the fol- V4/iv IV6 Gr6
lowing similarities: Dominant
7thsonority
7th
Dominant Chords)
(DifferentChords)
sonority(Different
1. Both progressionsinstance a dominantprolongation man-
ifested through a voice exchange; b. omnibus
2. In both progressions, the chords built on the lowered Chord# 1 2 3 4 5
seventh and sixth scale degrees are dominant-seventhso-
norities. In the passacaglia progression, two different
dominant-seventh chords are used (V4/iv, Gr6), while in
the omnibus, the same dominant-seventh chord is used
each time, in different inversions (V7/III, or Gr6/ii);
3. In each progression, the chord built on the raised sixth c: i V6 (Gr6/ii ii Gr6/ii)
scale degree is essentially the same chord, IV6 or ii6- Dominant7th
7thsonority
Dominant sonority(Same
(SameChord)
Chord)
these are the diatonic passing chords used between V5 and
V7. The passacaglia progression tonicizes IV or iv, while
the omnibus contains a tonicization of ii nested within the
One variation of the omnibus, which I call the small om-
dominant prolongation; and
nibus, includes a voice exchange between V7 and V4, as
4. Each progression has a Gr6-i6 pairing.
shown in Example 14a. With only one whole step between
Even in the absence of an eighteenth-century discussion 8 and 4, only one chord can intervene. If the two voices not
of this issue, the evidence strongly suggests that this chro- involved in the exchange hold common tones, the intervening
matic harmonization of the passacaglia bassline is the pro- chord will be a non-functionalvii6 chord. As with the classic
totype of the omnibus. Moreover, compositions such as omnibus, the dominant preceding the 6 chord is enharmon-
C. P. E. Bach's Rondo in A Minor (W. 56/5) and Mozart's ically that 6 chord's own Gr6;given just the first two chords,
Don Giovanni contain both the passacagliaand the omnibus a likely interpretation is shown in Example 14b. When the
progression, suggesting that composers did indeed recognize subsequent chord is V4, however, it becomes clear that the
a linkage. Don Giovanni comes tantalizinglyclose to making i6 serves as a passing chord, possessing no functional signif-
this connection explicit, as is discussed below. icance or structural weight. Nevertheless, there remains a
Example 14. Small omnibus Example 15. Haydn, SymphonyNo. 98 in Bb, Major, fourth
a. b. movement (reduction),mm. 270-75 (1792)
aL L o..
270 ,
B..:r , MV , V.
Ii -r - J-.r '' - m
ytT -"lr-
J,.- his .
*y^0
BS:V7 vii6 V4 Bb: V7
r r
Bb: V7 (vii6) vG 16
=a: Gr6 i
=Gr6 Gr6
vii
momentary sensation of an enharmonic exchange. Haydn

used this progression in the excerpt shown in Example 15.31 Example 16. Small omnibusas segment of classic omnibus
In that instance the small omnibus functions independently,
although it can also be subsumed as chords 2-4 in a classic
omnibus as demonstratedin Example 16. It can also be fused
to a classic omnibus as shown in Example 17, creating sub-
I-., IFo o. l.
sequent voice exchanges between V6 and V7, and between
V7 and V4 (i.e., between S and 9, and S and 4, respectively). V7
g: Vs Gr6/ii ii6 Gr6/ii
The resulting progression, now seven chords long, contains
Omnibus
two nested Gr6-i6-Gr6 pairings, making the diatonic under- Chords: 1 2 3 4 5
pinning even more tenuous.
Despite their inherent aural ambiguities, both the classic
and the small omnibus may be taken to be, in principle,
unambiguous. The framing dominants make it clear that the Example 17. Small omnibusfused to classic omnibus
intervening chords participate in a prolongation of V, even
though they may temporarilysuggest deeper structuralfunc- Chord: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
tions. But if one of the framing dominants is removed, or
becomes part of a separate voice exchange, the progression
loses its tonal anchor. This happens when several omnibus
progressionsa minor third apartare strungtogether, as shown
in Examples 18 and 19. The connection is made by treating V6
i (Gr6/ii ii6 Gr6/ii) V7 (vii6) V2 i6
the last V7 of one progression (chord 5) as chord 2 of the = Gr6 i6 Gr6
vii
31Thepassage appears in the recapitulationof the second theme area of
this sonata-form movement.
omnibus progression a minor third lower, where it functions VOGLER'S CHROMATIC-SCALE HARMONIZATION
as a Gr6/iiinstead of as a framingV7. Without a V6 marking
the beginning of each omnibus segment, any sense of a start- The thirdMozartconcerto excerpt discussedabove (shown
ing or ending point within a dominant prolongation is ne- in Example 8) exemplifies another of the omnibus variants:
gated. Wasoncalls this progressionan "extended omnibus."32 a conflation of the omnibus with the harmonization of the
We might also refer to it as an "overlapped omnibus," or an chromatic scale as proposed by Georg Vogler (which prob-
"omnibuscycle." A complete cycle, which traversesan entire ably predates the omnibus, as discussed below). It was com-
chromatic octave, requires four overlapped statements. And mon for eighteenth-century theorists to present harmoniza-
since the notes held as common tones throughout one com- tions of major and minor scales (the regola dell'ottava, or
plete cycle comprise a diminished seventh chord, there are regle de l'octave), but Vogler additionally recognized the
only three possible cycles. Example 18 shows these three chromatic scale as a separate entity (apparently the first to
cycles; Example 19 presents the first of these (Ex. 18a) in do so, at least in print) and provided a harmonization of
musical notation, including a functional analysis. it in both his Kuhrpfdlzische Tonschule of 1778 and his
By considering any of the dominant seventh sonorities in Handbuch of 1802.34Since this progression is essentially a
a complete cycle as either a V7 or a Gr6, a progression can composing-out of a diminished seventh chord, it is limited,
potentially move to one of eight different tonics, each of as is the omnibus, to three transpositions. The earlier Kuhr-
which can be either major or minor.33It is precisely these pfdlzische Tonschule shows all three, while the Handbuch
tonally ambiguous cyclic progressions that are found in the illustratesonly the c0o7 transposition.An importantanalytical
MozartPiano Concerto excerpts discussed above, all of which insight can be gleaned from a comparisonof the two different
contain extended and/or varied omnibus progressions. In the presentations of this progression: Vogler was inconsistent in
Bb Concerto excerpt (shown in Examples 6 and 20), Mozart his chord spelling, suggestinga recognitionof the enharmonic
overlaps two omnibus progressions, taking chord 5 of the first equivalence of these chords in this tonally ambiguous pro-
as chord 2 of the second to produce a rapid modulation from gression. For example, in the KuhrpfdlzischeTonschule he
Bb major to B minor. In the excerpt from the G major Con- spells successive chords as Gk7 and go7,but in the Handbuch
certo (Examples 7 and 21), Mozart uses the omnibus to take he spells those same chords as Ft7 and fxo7.
the music from B major to A minor, but with one slight
deviation from the omnibus cycle: chord 4, which would have
been be a G4, has been omitted.
34AbbeGeorg Joseph Vogler (1749-1814), Handbuchzur Harmonielehre

undfuer den Generalbassnach den Grundsaetzender MannheimerTonschule
32Wason, Viennese Harmonic Theory, 18. (1802), 133ff. and Table XII; KuhrpfalzischeTonschule(1778), Table XXX.
33Forthe cycle given in Example 18a, the potential keys are A, B, C, D, Regarding Vogler and his recognition of the chromatic scale, see Wason,
Eb, F, F,, or G#, all major and minor. VienneseHarmonic Theory, 15.
Example 18. The three omnibus cycles

a. b07 cycle
Chord #1 2 3 4 5
G6 Bb7 d6 Bb4 G7
2 3 4 5
(E6) G7
5
b64
G42 E7
2 3 4 5
(C#6) E7 g#6 E4 C7
2 3 4 5
(B6) =Db7 f6 D6 B7
2 3 4 5
(G6) Bb7 d64
Bb2 G7
b. c#o7 cycle
Chord #1 2 3 4 5
A65 C7 e64 C42
A7
2 3 4 5
(F#6) A7 c#6 A4 F#7
2 3 4 5
(E16) =Gb7 bb6 Gb 2 Eb7
2 3 4 5
(C^) Eb7 g6 Eb2 C7
2 3 4 5
(A6) C7 e6 C4 A7
c. f#07 cycle
Chord #1 2 3 4 5
D 65 IF7
F7D a646 4
F42
D7
2 3 4 5
(B6) D7 f#6 D4 B7
2 3 4 5
(G6) B7 d46 B4 G#7
2 3 4 5
(F6 ) =Ab7 C Ab 2 F7
2 3 4 5
(D6) F7 a6 F4 D7
5 4 2
Example 19. Complete omnibuscycle with functionalanalysis
V7
fv Di-
r
ev P-
? by
A: Gr6/ii ii Gr6/ii V7
F#: Gr6/ii ii6 Gr6/ii V7
Eb: Gr6/ii ii Gr6/ii V7
C: Gr6/ii ii Gr6/ii V7
Example20. Chordprogressionfrom Mozart'sPiano Concerto Example21. Chordprogressionfrom Mozart'sPiano Concerto

No. 18 in Bb Major, K. 456, third movement, mm. 162-171 No. 17 in G Major,K. 453, firstmovement,mm. 186-192 (1784)
(1784) mm. 186-87 188 189 190 191 192
mm. 162 163-64 165-66 167 168-70 171 Bb Bb4 G7 b6
4
E7 a
Bb Bb4 G7 b6
4 F#7 b Bb: I V2/IV V7/ii
Bb: I /IV2 V7/ii a: Gr6/ii ii6 V7 i
b: Gr6 i6
4
V7 i Omnibus
Omnibus Chords: 4 5
Chords: 4 5 2 3() 5
2 3
Example 22 presents an analytic renotation of the Hand- dominantseventh serves a dual role (enharmonically)as both
buch example, includingthe resultingharmonicpattern, each a V7 and a Gr6, the viio7sin the Vogler progression function
overlapping segment of which is four chords long. Example enharmonicallyas viio7/Vin keys a minor third apart. Also
23 shows each of the transpositions as the composing-out of like the omnibus, four overlapped statements are requiredto
a single diminishedseventh chord, without respect to function traverse an octave. But unlike the omnibus, which nests Gr6-
in any particularkey.35Like the extended omnibus, where the i6 between two framing dominants, Vogler's harmonization
nests that two-chord progression between two viio7s/V,and
35Thetranspositionsare shown descending through the octave, although does not employ an elision when the segments are over-
composers also used them in their ascending form. lapped.
Example 22. Renotation of Vogler's chromatic scale harmonization
Gr6 viio6/
bb: vii7/V i6 Gr6 viijO/
c#: viio7/ i6 Gr6 vii?/V
e: vii?7/V i6 Gr6 i6 viio7N
c#: vii?6/V
r-
cS: Gr6 i6 vii7N/V '
bb: vii?/V Gr6 i6 iiO7/V
g: vii?/V Gr6 i6 viio7N
e: vii?6/V Gr6
C: V7IV IV V
Example 23. Descending scale chords for the three diminished-seventh cycles
Chords: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
a. cot7 cycle: c#07 C7 e6 c#o A7 ct6 c#o0 GK7 b6 co E7 g6 c#7 C7
b. b07 cycle: b07 Bb7 d6 bo4 G7 b6 bo4 E7 g#tt6 b D f bo7 BK7
c. fo07 cycle: F7 a64 f#4 274 D7 f#6 B7 d6 4 A7 C6 F7
f#o7 f#o43 D f#06 4 f#t7
Example 24. C. P. E. Bach, Rondo I in A Major, W. 58/1, mm. 85-87

83
A . 4t s lo * o(
e#O? f#6 eo7 f
85
r r >r rr * ^(
6, rS.r
,r tr _ _ _8 _ >6 _ _ _~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
D7
D? d0"7
dd#
a46 a6 F7
(=Gr6/f#) (= Gr6/a = V7/Bb)
Two examples from C. P. E. Bach's Rondos serve to il- from Mozart's Don Giovanni (1787), where the Commen-
lustrate Vogler's progression. The first, from the 1783 A ma- datore confronts Don Giovanni and demands a response to
jor Rondo, is shown in Example 24.36 In mm. 85-86 four his own dinner invitation. As demonstrated in Example 26,
successive chords correspond to chords 5, 4, 3, and 2 of Vo- Mozart uses seven chords of a C#o7 cycle, overlapping two
gler's f#07 cycle shown in Example 23c. (The order is reversed statements, although he substitutes a triad for a dominant
because the bass ascends.) The second example, from the seventh as the final chord in the pattern (m. 500). This pro-
1785 C minor Rondo, is shown in Example 25.37 Here seven gression corresponds to the first two measures of Example 22,
successive chords in mm. 99-101 are comparable to the first or to chords 8-13 of Example 23a (reversed).
seven chords in the b07 cycle of Example 23b (in reverse The Don Giovanni example is compelling due to its use
order). Yet another instance appears in the famous Finale of and explicit connection between the passacaglia progres-
sion and the Vogler/omnibus progression. In the Overture to
36C.P. E. Bach, Rondo I in A Major, W. 58/1, Clavier-Sonatenund Freye the opera, after the initial tonic and dominant chords, mm.
Fantasiennebst einigen Rondos furs Fortepianofur Kenner und Liebhaber, 5-11 contain a passacaglia progression with a chromatically
Vierte Sammlung, 1783 (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Hartel, n.d.). The excerpt
descending tetrachord, set in dotted rhythms, answered sev-
appears in the developmental C section of this rondo.
37C.P. E. Bach, Rondo II in C Minor, W. 59/4, Clavier-Sonatenund Freye eral measures later (mm. 23-30) by a chromatically harmo-
Fantasien,Fiinfte Sammlung, 1785. This excerpt is in the final A section of nized ascending bassline in the same dotted rhythm, above
this seven-part rondo. which Mozart writes sixteenth-note ascending and descending
Example25. C. P. E. Bach, Rondo II in C Minor, W. 59/4, mm. 96-101

96
(6
A I
t
NN1
.;W i
S - f
161
r,
-1 f -
r, p I
1 . - Fi
IF
r! I|
7f I I I
/ ff
-- b 6
I p:, t b-
b?o b6
d6 C
Example 26. Mozart, Don Giovanni(reduction),Act II Finale, scene 15, mm. 494-501 (1787)
II1
Commendatore 494 - or | I I i i r 1 r - I-rr
ri- spon - di - mi, ri - spon - di - mi: ver- ra - i tua cen ar me - co
Vc./D.B.
.. . Ij. ' " p Ir v IIr e07
" "-Ir '1 pir r p i Ir rpr
p I
c#07 g4 Eb7 bb Gb forF$7)
(substituting
g: viio7/V i4 Gr6 viio?/V
b6: vii07/V i64 VI (substituting for Gr6)
scales.38This music returns in the Finale, at the entrance of rhythmas the Commendatoreintones Don Giovanni's name.
the Commendatore. The passacaglia begins in the dotted The ascending bassline progression of the Overture returns
for four statements, similarly harmonized, twice accompa-
38Thepassacagliaprogressionis: i-vii4/V-V6-viio4/iv- tvi7
nied by the sixteenth-notes scales, twice without. Mozart ups
3 5 [!]-iv6-Gr6-
4 4
iS-V; the ascendingbassline progressionis: i-N6-V6/V- v3v3 -iv6-N6 -Gr6- the ante on recurring statements, harmonizing them more
i6-V7-I. chromaticallyuntil the fourth statement concludes with the
Vogler progression, completing a modulation from A minor the "Earthquake"scene).41 The progression and a possible
to the far-removed key of Bb minor.39 functional analysis are as follows:
It is quite likely that this diminished-seventhprogression,
f F4 D f#6 F#4 Eb g6 G4 C6 f
or segments of it, antedates the omnibus, and, along with the
f: i V4/iv V/ii
passacaglia, lament aria, and regle de l'octave, provided the
materials out of which the omnibus finally emerged in its f#: VI i6 V4/iv V/ii
classic form. The earliest example of the classic omnibus in g: VI i6 V2/iv
the theoretical literature of which I am presently aware is in f: V4/V V6 i
Bonifazio Asioli's L'Allievo al clavicembalo (1819), cited by
Yellin. Yellin states that Asioli's treatise contains examples There are obvious similaritiesto the Handel example as well
of the omnibus with and without substituted diminished sev- as to the omnibus. The firsthalf of this progressionresembles
enth chords, "as well as the complete omnibus, expanding part of the f#o7 omnibus cycle, and the second half fits into
and contracting extended sequentially."40The earliest mu- the C#"7omnibus cycle:
sical example of which I am aware in which segments of the f#o7 omnibus cycle: F4 D7 f#6
diminished-seventhprogressionare used appears in Handel's Rameau: f F4 D f#6 F#4 Eb g6 G4 C6 f
opera, Tamerlano(1724), a full fifty-fouryears before Vogler C#07 omnibus cycle: Gl Eb7 g6
wrote about it in his KuhrpfalzischeTonschule.It appears in
the lament aria, "Si, figlia, io moro," shown in Example 27.
The functional anlalysisbeneath the score is accompaniedby 41This is one of the two passages Rameau cited most often in his own
the corresponding cto7 Vogler progression for comparison. writings on enharmonicism, especially in Generation harmonique (Paris:
(The full Vogler progression appears in Example 23a.) Prault Fils, 1737) and Demonstration du principe de l'harmonie (Paris:
Although not literally the same, it is a close match. The Durand, 1750). All of Rameau's writings are available in The Complete
TheoreticalWritingsof Jean-PhilippeRameau(1683-1764), 6 vols., ed. Erwin
most obvious difference is Handel's use of four different
R. Jacobi (Rome: American Institute of Musicology, 1967-72). Both the
chords (C6-f-F4-D7), in place of Vogler's single Eb7 (chord Ge'nerationharmonique and the Demonstrationdu principe de l'harmonie
11 in Example 23a), thereby delaying slightly the steady are in vol. 3. English translations of each of these treatises appear in
bassline descent. A similar instance appears in Rameau's Deborah Hayes, "Rameau'sTheory of HarmonicGeneration;an Annotated
1735 opera Les Indes galantes, in "Les Incas du Perou," im- Translation and Commentary of Gendrationharmonique by Jean-Philippe
Rameau" (Ph.D. diss., Stanford University, 1968); and Roger Briscoe,
mediately following the chorus "Dan les abimes" (scene V, "Rameau'sDemonstrationdu principede l'harmonieand Nouvelles reflexions
de M. Rameausur sa D6monstrationdu principede l'harmonie:an Annotated
Translationof Two Treatisesby Jean-PhilippeRameau" (Ph.D. diss., Indiana
39Thepassacagliaprogression (scene 15, mm. 437-43) is: i-v6-VI-iv6- University, 1975).
The other famouspassagecited by Rameau is "Quelle soudaine horreur,"
i6-V; the three ascending bassline progressions (mm. 461-70, 470-78,
and 479-85) preceding the Vogler statement are, in order: i-i6-N6-ii0 - sung by the Trio de Parques, in the second act of Hipolyte et Aricie (1733).
The enharmonicismof this passage is also sequential, but does not involve
V3-.v
iv iv6-N6-Gr6-i
4 4 -V-i; i-viio 5 -i6-ii6-V/V-V-Fr-V7-i;
- V W and an omnibus. For more on these two passages, and on eighteenth-century
i-V6/iv-N6 (or VI56/iv)-V/V-V3/iv-iv6-viiN/V -V-i.
iv enharmonicismin general, see my diss., "Enharmonicismin Theory and Prac-
4?Yellin, "The Omnibus Idea." tice in 18th-CenturyMusic" (Ph.D. diss., The Ohio State University, 1993).
Example 27. Handel, "Si, figlia, io moro," (reduction)from Tamerlano(1724)
J 6.-_ILPIL..
_ t ,..h IL i V p- . p
Bajazet rl \ \ i i \ 1 r
p Fb
Si, fi-glia, iomo-ro; ad-di-o! tu re-sti ahi-me, che dirnonpos-so in
$
:Jto :
iII8 q_.. .
Str.& b.c.
= -
;PtibO
<0 i F0 t S r --??
Ft bb e07 C6
Ft: I
bb: VI i vii0o7
f: vii07 Vs
F#7
Voglerprogression: bb6 e07 [Eb7
Bajazet Ji d J)i - -- .
4 11 i \ L i I|
pa-ce! tu re-sti, fi-glia, ne-gli af-fan-ni, e que-sto 6'1 so-lo af-fan-no mi-o.
Str.& b.c.
if &
Str. J..Jb.c.
-
(^^TT !>^^"E!T- r - ^r-^=--^ <iJ---J iJW
f F2 D7 g6 a?tso C7 B d#?t B7 e
f: i V2/iv V7/ii
g: V7 i6 viio7/V
e: vii07/VGr6 V viio7 V7 i
o 6
] g C#07 C7 e4
While neither of these examples is an exact match to As we have seen, Vogler's progression and the omnibus
the overlapped Vogler or omnibus progression, both prob- are closely related. Example 28 pairs descending versions
ably represent incipient stages of the sequential cyclic pro- of the three omnibus cycles with the corresponding Vogler
gressions, especially in their use of third-related dominants harmonizations. (Example 28a displays fully notated chords,
and Gr6-i6 relationships. It seems unlikely that these remark- while 28b and c show chord symbols only.) The sole differ-
able excerpts are unique for their time; a thorough search of ence between the two progressions is that the omnibus con-
the early eighteenth-century literature would likely turn up tains a dominant 4 chord wherever the correspondingVogler
others. harmonizationcontains a diminished seventh chord rooted a
n
Example 28. Comparison of the three omnibus cycles to the three corresponding Vogler chromatic-scale harmonizations
a.
C$#7 omnibus cycle:
6n
H 4*
11 b0' ft
iR k
^fi;n ^ '? |
|11^ l
-, -----$-uh8 io,
k?
1
^.
T
A6 C7 e4 C4 A7 c$6 A4 F#7 bi6 Gb6 Eb7 g4 Eb4 C7
Vogler's c0?7 cycle:
bn a $
,R $ Bl '
e
1^ >6 4| t 16Tr
i---- ^ $0ko it0
I0 --^? " o
6~~~
~~~~~.M
I
A7 c$04 6
c#07 C7 e4 c2? c# F#7 bb46 ? c Eb7 9g6 c#o7 C7
b.
b?7 omnibus cycle: G6 Bb7 d6 Bb6 G7 b6 Gb4 E7 g46 E4 Db7 f6 Db4 Bb7
Vogler's b07 cycle: b07 Bb7 d6 bO? G7 b6 bo?

4 E7 g464 bo65 Db7 f64 bo7 Bb7
C.
f#t07 omnibus cycle: D5 F7 a4 F2 D7 ft 4 D B7 d<64 B A7 4 Ab F7
Vogler's f0 7 cycle: f o7 F7 a4 fto?4 D7 f ft04 B7 d# f#06 A67 c f07 F7
Enharmonicismand the Omnibus Progression in Classical-EraMusic 269
Example 29. C. P. E. Bach, Die neue Litanei, W. 204/2, mm. 211-23

211
J8
${- f
"
- *=
r fr r r J r J o J r r r
6* 4# 7 6 5 6# 6 2t 7 4 7 6 7 2 6# 4# 6#
4 5 4 t 2 5 q
3
E6 Gr6/b b6 g#O4 E7
major third higher; the corresponding chords thus differ by In the unmetered Adagio-Allegretto section, shortly before
only one note. The utilitarianaspect of Vogler's progression one complete cycle). More importantlythough, with respect
is apparent as well: taking any of the diminished seventh to the explicit recognitionof the relationshipand interchange-
chords in the progressionas either viio7 or vii7/V of some key ability of these progressions, rather than using just the di-
enables a composer to modulate to the same eight major and minished seventh chord from Vogler's progression, or the
minor tonics as the corresponding extended omnibus. Con- 4
corresponding dominant from the omnibus, Bach uses
sequently, these progressions can be mixed, substitutingthe both chords in each of two statements. This is the only such
diminished seventh chord for the analogous dominant 4, or example of which I am aware.
the reverse, thereby further subverting a sense of key and Bach's progression:
introducing numerous opportunities for enharmonic puns.
A simple example of this combined progression exists in D6 F7 a6 [d?o7 F4] D7 f#6 [D4 b?07] Cb7 eb6 Bb
C. P. E. Bach's 1786 Die neue Litanei, shown in Example
29.42 Measures 213-15 contain a single omnibus statement Vogler's corresponding fo"7 progression:
(the prolongation of an E dominant seventh chord) with a
substituted diminished seventh chord (g#o4) in place of the d#o6 F7 a6 d#o7 D7 f#64 b#o7 B7 dt64
dominant seventh (G2): E6-Gr6/b-b6-g?t4-E7.
Two other examples by C. P. E. Bach deserve special men- And the corresponding f#07 omnibus progression:
tion for their respective treatmentsof these progressions.The
first is a passage from the A major Fantasia, Example 30.43 F D7 f#4 D4 B7 d6
42C.P. E. Bach, Die neue Litanei, W. 204/2 (Neuhausen-Stuttgart:

The second Bach example, shown in Example 31, is from
Hanssler-Verlag, 1980).
43C. P. E. Bach, Fantasiain A Major, W. 58/7, Clavier-Sonatenund Freye
a Rondo in A minor (1780) and uses a completeVogler/omni-
Fantasien,Vierte Sammlung, 1783. This passage appears near the beginning bus cycle to descend chromaticallythrough an entire octave
of the piece; a simlar instance appears near the end of the piece. from A3 to A2; this is one of the two earliest such examples
D ; e ' U S tv [, ? VLhX~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Example 30. C. P. E. Bach, Fantasiain A Major, W. 58/7

Adagio. Allepretto.
?ten.
--C?-^
" : k
'a1 ^-. J: - -
"r=r: r..' tf---
6
D6 F7 a4 d#07
(insteadof D6) (= Gr6/a) (= f#"7)
U,Rl PE I V; ;
DV I I I a
I
D7 f,46 D4 b#o7 Cb7 eb6

(= Gr6/eb)
of which I am aware.44A comparison of this progression to Rondo must have had on contemporaryaudiences, who must
Example 28b clearly reveals the identity of the progression, have been utterly astonished by the novelty and harmonic
with its intermingled diminished seventh and dominant 42 daring of the passage.
chords. It would be hard to underestimate the effect this If we now reexamine the third Mozart excerpt from above
(Examples 8 and 32), it becomes clear that this too is an
44C. P. E. Bach, Rondo III in A Minor, W. 56/5, Clavier-Sonaten und example of an extended omnibus with a substituted dimin-
Freye Fantasien, Zweite Sammlung, 1780. This excerpt appears in the final ished seventh chord. A comparison of this progression with
A section of the rondo. Complete cycles through an entire octave are far less chords 7-14 of the Vogler progressionin Example 28a reveals
common than single statements of an omnibus, or several overlapped state- that the match is exact. Mozart overlaps three omnibus pro-
ments. The other contemporaneous example I am aware of is by Vogler,
shown in Example 38. Two later examples of complete cycles appearin Hum- gressions to get from A minor to the closely-related key of
mel's Piano Sonata in F# Minor, op. 81 (1819), firstmovement, mm. 118-23; E minor. He obviously wants to exploit the instability and
and Tchaikovsky'sSixth Symphonyin B Minor, op. 74 ("Pathetique," 1893), tension generated by this highly chromatic extended omni-
first movement, mm. 259-62. bus, with its inherent enharmonicism. Another remarkable
Example 31. C. P. E. Bach, Rondo III in A Minor, W. 56/5, mm. 142-56
ten.
149* n ..b j 3
L6M. i ten. ten.
ff pP P f ff o p I
$ ffPPPfff"ffirf~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i
9 J hJJj $J
C 7 b07 B( 7 g#o7
(= Db = Gr6/f) (= Gr6/d)
Example 32. Chord progression from Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major, K. 453, first movement, mm. 196-203 (1784)
mm. 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203
a A42 F#7 bb6 () E7 g6
94 tt07 C7 B
(instead of Eb4)
a: i V4/iv
2 V7/ii
g#: Gr6/ii
= a: Gr6/ii ii6 ()
V7
f: Gr6/ii ii64 viio7 V7
e: Gr6 V
Omnibus
Chords: 4 5
2 3 () 5
2 3 4 5
moment in this excerpt is what may be called double enhar- nected to a small omnibus.47This excerpt still contains one
monicism. The F#7, which is chord 5 of the first omnibus, substitution in the small omnibus segment-a viio7/Vinstead
becomes upon its reinterpretation not a Gr6 of A# minor, of vii6-diluting somewhat the omnibus effect.
but of Bb minor. Without this extra, or double enharmonic Since the keys in this section, G and A, are separated by
reinterpretation, the music would move not to the closely only two accidentals, no extraordinarymeans are required to
related key of E minor at m. 204, but to the very distant key modulate from one to the other. Mozart'suse of the extended
of Dx minor. omnibus here clearly demonstrates his desire to make a mu-
Yet another Mozart concerto example is exemplary in set- sical pun. He accomplishes this in two ways. First, by re-
ting the V7/Gr6duality of the extended omnibus in high re- peating the G6-D7 formula four times, D7 is unquestionably
lief. Example 33 shows mm. 125-129 of the D major Piano treated as V7/G. When it is then followed on its fourth ap-
Concerto (K. 537).45The framing keys are G major and A pearance by f#6, its enharmonic reinterpretationas a Gr6/f#
major. The process begins with a tonicization of G major, is unmistakable. Second, Mozart maximizes this effect
clearly articulated by five and one-half measures of exclu- through the voicing of the D7. In both the piano and violin
sively G6-D7 chords beginning in m. 120.46 On the fourth parts, this D7 is arpeggiated upward, placing the critical Cq
appearance of the D7 (m. 125), the overlapped omnibus be- in the uppermost voice of the figuration. When the chord is
gins, but with some alterations.Two chords are different from reinterpretedas a Gr6/f#,the prominent placement of the C~
those that would appear in an overlapped omnibus: a?o7 sub- (respelled as Bt in the piano part), highlights the C~/B# du-
stitutes for d#6, and g#o7 substitutes for G#7. Both substitutes ality. Mozart has brought the enharmonicisminherent in the
have the same bass note as the chords for which they are omnibus progression into full relief.
substituting, thereby maintaining the chromatic wedge, but While some of the examples I have examined show om-
neither of these chords fits into the corresponding Vogler nibus progressions in developmental or transitionalpassages
progression. The g#o7 substitute obviously functions as viio7 -as one would expect for harmony of such ambiguity and
of A, leading the music back to A major for the close of this instability-composers also use them in what would normally
section. But with two chords missing, particularlythe critical be harmonicallystable sections of music. This creates an el-
d#6 (chord 3) that makes the surroundingdominants sound ement of surprise, allowing for excursions into remote keys
like Gr6s, the third segment of this extended omnibus does in the most unexpected places, as is the case in the Mozart
not cohere as such. This unusual progression is more prof- D major Concerto and the Bach C minor and A minor Ron-
itably compared to the model shown in Example 17, which dos discussed above. In the Concerto, the omnibus is found
fuses the classic and small omnibus. Using that model, the in the closing material of the B section of a rondo form, a
excerpt shown in Example 33 can be interpreted as a two- place where one would expect relative harmonicstability and
statement overlappedomnibus, whose second segment is con- confirmationof the dominant key before the obligatory re-
turn to tonic, rather than the nebulous omnibus harmonies.
45PianoConcerto No. 26 in D, K. 537, third movement ("Coronation").
This excerpt appears in the closing section (and thus the dominant key area)
Similarly, in the two Bach Rondos the omnibus appears in
of the B part of this concerto-rondo form.
46Thisis without doubt an unusual key to tonicize within a section in A 47Thisis also the case in the C. P. E. Bach Fantasia shown in Example
major (i.e., tVII). 30.
Example 33. Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 26 in D Major, K. 537 ("Coronation"), third movement, mm. 125-29 (1788)
125 6 A t t L
S& h4
Fl.
Ob.
I t '?rr ? r- I rr r
-r
Bsn. rCI T *r r?fr*rrr
1, lo 'f lf ''# f '1' 1
Pf.
I^IF f F F!F iF
VI. 1 (
~~~~~~., h
VI. 2 > --^ -- --- -- -
i --- S D .-p Y h--
f^$t D
Via. - - pD
J ---p-- P----
D.B. -
.-- .- h- h? -
-h . '
4
G46 D7 f6 D2 B7 ado7 g$07 A
(insteadof d#64) (insteadof G$7)
G: V7
.6
e: Gr6/ii i14 Gr6/ii V7
Key?: Gr6/d$? Eb?
Omnibus Chords: 5
2 3 4 5
2 (3) 4 (5)
OR
G: V7
..6 4
e: Gr6/ii 114 Gr6/l V7 viio7/V V2 viio7/iv
I(insteadof vii4)
A: vii07 I
Omnibus Chords: 5
2 3 4 5 6 7
the final A sections. The melodic component of an omnibus nineteenth-century example of a similarly ambiguous type
passage is usually underplayed. Rather than clearly defined of enharmonicismwill suffice to show this link. The passage
melodies, as would be used to articulatesections of harmonic appears in Schubert'sPiano Sonata in D, shown in Example
stability, such passages tend to be athematic, with lots of 34. Gregory Proctor cites this passage as typical of nine-
passage work. The harmony is the center of attention and teenth-centuryenharmonicusage.49Briefly, Proctor explains
generator of musical interest. Thus, even if the omnibus pro- that the Ft major triad can be generated in two ways, and
gression no longer carried specific lament connotations for is therefore simultaneouslytwo different chords, as shown in
classical-eracomposers, it still carriedmuch of the rhetorical Example 35:
and dramaticweight from its origins in the passacagliabasses
1. It is a V/vi, whose goal chord is delayed for a measure and
and lament arias, and would therefore be a felicitous choice
for the dramatic climax of a composition. preempted by a return to the tonic D major chord; and
2. It is a chromatic neighbor chord to D. The At is an en-
harmonic spelling of the Bb upper neighbor, borrowed
LINK TO NINETEENTH-CENTURY ENHARMONICISM from D minor.
Unresolvable enharmonicism exists because one cannot
The omnibus and its related progressions represent a claim that the A#/Bb is exclusively one pitch or the other, nor
link between the simpler, more typical manifestations of can its chronology be unequivocally established-it is both
eighteenth-century enharmonicism (such as those shown in pitches simultaneously. There is no diatonic context that ac-
Examples 4 and 5) and the more idiosyncraticexploitation of commodates a D major-Ft major-D major progression, so
enharmonic relationships in the nineteenth century. This is the generation and identity of the A#/Bb pitch is ambiguous.
so not only because the omnibus (with its seemingly anach- At firstblush, it would appearthat this type of enharmonicism
ronistic enharmonicism) was enthusiastically adopted by is unimaginable in eighteenth-century music, and would
nineteenth-century composers (Beethoven actually begins therefore have few counterpartsor antecedents. But a closer
the third Razumovsky quartet of 1805-06 with a Vogler/ look at the omnibus reveals a striking similarity due to the
omnibus progression), but because its ambiguous tonality
questionable identity of the omnibus's second soprano note.
likely encouraged nineteenth-century composers to experi- In Example 2, for instance, can that note be labeled un-
ment with even more remote enharmonicpossibilities.48One
equivocallyAb and not Gf, or vice versa? Labeling the chord
as a passing chord does not identify its pitches uniquely.
48Yellincites many nineteenth- and even twentieth-centuryexamples, in- Given an enharmonictransformation,the chronology is clear:
cluding: the Finale to Weber's Der Freischiitz; the Overture to Rossini's the pitch is first Ab (as part of a V7/III), then Gf (as part
WilliamTell;the firstmovementof Schumann'sThirdSymphonyand the third of a Gr6/ii). If there is no enharmonic transformation,then
movement of his Second Symphony;the first movement of Brahms'sSecond
Symphony;the Finale of Tchaikovsky'sFourth Symphonyand the firstmove-
ment of his Sixth; excerpts from Wagner's Rienzi, Lohengrin, Tristanund
Isolde, and Parsifal; Debussy's Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum;Schoenberg's 49GregoryProctor, "Technical Bases of Nineteenth-CenturyChromatic
Gurreliederand Kammersymphonie;Stravinsky'sL'Histoiredu Soldat; and Tonality: A Study in Chromaticism" (Ph.D. diss., Princeton University,
Bart6k's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta. 1978), 140-42.
Example 34. Schubert,Piano Sonata in D Major, op. 53, third movement, Trio, mm. 9-18 (1825)
(-4\i i Ff+F-
j w rFr A r r AH
[I V4 I6] vi
Example 35. Proctor'stwo generationsof the Ff major triad TWENTIETH-CENTURY VERSUS EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY VIEWS
shown in Example 34 OF THE OMNIBUS PROGRESSION
4 .-^r 1 II .
This discussion of the omnibus would not be complete
L W W
v-tgWII without differentiating a twentieth-century view of the
e- L] *
V/vi and chromatic neighbor chord

omnibus from an eighteenth-century perspective. Above,
I describe the omnibus as a prolongation of a dominant-
seventh chord. While it may profit us at times to view it this
way, it is not clear that an eighteenth-century composer or
theorist would have done so. In fact, it is difficult to find an
the chord is exclusively a Gr6/ii (by virtue of its resolution) eighteenth-century omnibus passage that is simply that: a
and the pitch in question is G#. But after chord 5 makes clear straightforwarddominant prolongation, without any over-
that this progression was an omnibus, might one not also lapping statements (e.g., G6-B 7-d6-Bb4-G7). The closest
choose to hear the soprano as the mirror image of the pas- such example I have found appears in C. P. E. Bach's Die
sacaglia bass (G-Ab-A -Bb-B -C in the soprano against neue Litanei (Example 29), but even this passage substi-
C-B -Bb -A -Al -G in the bass), and reinterpretagain the tutes a diminished-seventh chord for the dominant 4 and
Gf as an Al? At this point, does the identity of the pitch the framing dominants do not function as such with clarity
become immaterial?Is this simply a succession of chromatic and stability. In all but one of the other eighteenth-century
half steps within a prolongation of V? If so, then it follows examples I have found, the omnibus is overlapped, start-
that Ab is structurallyequivalent to Gt and that the chro- ing in one key and ending in another, and the surrounding
nology is trivial. This is in principle exactly analogous to context is often tonally ambiguous. In fact, eighteenth-
Schubert'sharmony in Example 34, which otherwise has few century examples are as a rule more tonally ambiguous than
counterpartsor antecedents in eighteenth-centurymusic. The those of the nineteenth-century, where classic omnibuses
omnibus, and to an even greater degree the extended om- are relatively easy to find. So rather than being used to pro-
nibus, clearly is an antecedent. long a primary dominant, or even an augmented sixth, the
Example36. Vogler, PreludeXII in E Major, mm. 15-19
:J-^' i. r r r - r+f F
.^ p ! F f ??? o '
1 F
P
Y~~~~~~~~~~x1
f r r
B7 [C]
b#"7 f 6 Gr6/f# e
forD2)
(= d#07, substituting
omnibus was typically used instead as an exotically colorful, shown in Example 36, contains the following short, single-
chromatic, yet utilitarianprogression to take the music from statement omnibus with a substituted diminished seventh
one key to another, close or distant, providing a wild en- chord (and one additional C major chord, which is not part
harmonic ride along the way. The same holds true for Vo- of the omnibus):
gler's related progression, his harmonizationof the chromatic B7 C b#07 f#6 Gr6/f# B6 E
scale, and what I call the diminished seventh progression.
An analysis by Vogler of one of his own keyboard pre- This omnibus is easily analyzed as a prolonged dominant,
ludes, dating from 1806, is pertinent here.50 The Prelude, especially if the b#o7 is spelled or heard as a d#7--the state-
ments do not overlap, the framingchords are V7/e and V6/E,
50Prelude XII, Georg Joseph Vogler, Pieces de Clavecin (1798) and Zwei
und Dreisig Prdludien (1806), ed. Floyd K. Grave (Madison, Wisc.: A-R asthetischer, rhetorischer und harmonischer Ricksicht, mit praktischem Bezug
Editions, Inc., 1986), 79-80. The analysisappearsin Vogler'sZwei und dreisig auf das Handbuch der Tonlehre vom Abt Vogler (Munich, 1806), 33-34. I
Praludien fur die Orgel und fur das Fortepiano, nebst einer Zergliederung in would like to thank Professor Grave for making this available to me.
and a tonic E major chord follows the B6 chord. (This may viio7/V-I6 progression leading into a cadenza. Grave points
be compared to the single-statementomnibus prolonging a B out that Vogler declines to comment in detail on this section.
dominant seventh chord shown in Example 18c, second row. According to Grave, "by omitting mention of any chord
The same progression with a substituted diminished seventh roots, Vogler suggests that the harmony involves a purely
would include dt?4 in place of D4.) Vogler, however, ana- linear elaboration, with no harmonyof structuralimportance
lyzes the progression not as a composing out of a dominant occurringbetween the two dominant chord roots that frame
seventh or diminished seventh chord, but as a modulation. the chromaticscale."53Whether Vogler viewed this chromatic
This omnibus excerpt is much cleaner and clearer tonally than extravagance explicitly as an extended dominant or dimin-
any of the Mozartor C. P. E. Bach examples discussed above, ished seventh prolongationis hard to determine, but he prob-
yet Vogler analyzes it in two keys: ably at least understood it as an interpolation, unable though
he was to account for it in his harmonic theory (thereby
mm. 16 17 18 19
accounting for his lack of comment on these measures).
e: V VI vii?7 // f: V #iv / E: V7 I From this and other evidence I conclude that eighteenth-
century composers such as C. P. E. Bach and Mozart under-
Interestingly enough, Vogler never mentions this passage stood such progressions to be chromatic and enharmonic se-
at all in his commentary, yet he refers to other parts of the
quences (moving mostly by third), segments of which could
piece that are not nearly so complex. This is particularly be linked and overlapped to produce modulations that reside
surprising,coming from a theorist who often takes great pains at the outer reaches of diatonic tonality. While modern the-
in other analyses to show chord roots, function, non-chord
orists may gain some insight by emphasizingthe prolongation
tones, and the like. For instance, in one example he discusses of the dominant, in so doing they may also miss the intricacy
a cadential 6 as being a dominant with a prepared 13th and
and fluidityof the progressionin eighteenth-centurypractice.
11th that resolve down by step, and he shows the chord root
as V.51But clearly he does not interpret the above passage
as belonging to a single chord root. ABSTRACT
On the other hand, Vogler's analysisof the final movement The musicof Haydnand Mozartoccasionallycontainschromatic
of his Keyboard Concerto No. 2 in Bb, shown in Example progressionsthat dramaticallyexceed the usual limitsof classical
37, suggests more of a linear perspective. The passage con- tonality.This papertracesthe developmentof one particularfor-
mula,calledthe omnibus,fromearlyBaroquemodelsto its various
tains a complete diminished seventh cycle, traversing an
eighteenth-centuryforms, and in so doing, leads to a deeperun-
entire octave. As with his Prelude analysis, Vogler provides
derstandingof the emotionalimpact and rhetoricalweight this
no Roman numerals, only a figured bass.52The section fol- progressionevoked,shedslighton the issue of eighteenth-century
lows a half cadence on F, and is itself followed by a ii-I6- enharmonicism in one of its most potent forms, and links these
progressionsto the moreidiosyncraticenharmonicism of the nine-
51FloydK. Grave and MargaretG. Grave, In Praiseof Harmony(Lincoln: teenthcentury.
University of Nebraska Press, 1987), 55-61.
52Ibid.,65. This concerto excerpt is discussed in and excerpted from the
second volume of Vogler's Betrachtungender MannheimerTonschule(Mann-
heim, 1778-81). 53Grave,In Praise of Harmony, 64.
__ .
Example 37.
a. Vogler, Concerto No. 2 in Bb Major, second movement, mm. 73-89
72 [Alia polacca]
., L
f0O7 c6 Ab7 a07
eb4 B7 b#?7 f#6
D7 d#o7 aS F7
S P Y f r r--VW S f:
" Q^ v fI '
tr~~~~~b~~Io 7
01
fto7
b. Vogler's analysis
73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89
7 7
6 76 76 6b 5# 5(1) 6 7 7 6 6 6
7 4 5 5 4 3# 3(#) 4(#) 3(X) 3(#) 4 7 7 3 4 7 4
bass line F$ G AS A BI B B# C# D D, E F F$ G F E F
preparationfor cadenza

Omnibus Telesco

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Omnibus Telesco

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Omnibus Telesco

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Society for Music Theory

Enharmonicism and the Omnibus Progression in Classical-Era Music

C: V7/iii? V6 V7/blII? Vs V7/bIII?V6 V7/bIII?V6 Gr6/ii ii6 Gr6/iiV7 viio7N I1

Fl. itt t Utt 17 7 !.

THE PASSACAGLIA AND THE LAMENT ARIA

harmonizations of diatonic and chromatic descending bass-

Enharmonicismand the OmnibusProgression in Classical-EraMusic 257

Example 12. Classicalexamplesof passacagliaprogression

i V4/iv IV6 It6 i6 V

i6-V, and i-V4/iv-IV6-Fr6-V.27 Later, in the chapter on are I-V65 -V4/iv-IV6-+

momentary sensation of an enharmonic exchange. Haydn

34AbbeGeorg Joseph Vogler (1749-1814), Handbuchzur Harmonielehre

Example 18. The three omnibus cycles

Example 19. Complete omnibuscycle with functionalanalysis

Example20. Chordprogressionfrom Mozart'sPiano Concerto Example21. Chordprogressionfrom Mozart'sPiano Concerto

Example 22. Renotation of Vogler's chromatic scale harmonization

Example 24. C. P. E. Bach, Rondo I in A Major, W. 58/1, mm. 85-87

e#O? f#6 eo7 f

Example25. C. P. E. Bach, Rondo II in C Minor, W. 59/4, mm. 96-101

Example 27. Handel, "Si, figlia, io moro," (reduction)from Tamerlano(1724)

Si, fi-glia, iomo-ro; ad-di-o! tu re-sti ahi-me, che dirnonpos-so in

268 MusicTheory Spectrum

C$#7 omnibus cycle:

A6 C7 e4 C4 A7 c$6 A4 F#7 bi6 Gb6 Eb7 g4 Eb4 C7

Vogler's c0?7 cycle:

Vogler's b07 cycle: b07 Bb7 d6 bO? G7 b6 bo?

f#t07 omnibus cycle: D5 F7 a4 F2 D7 ft 4 D B7 d<64 B A7 4 Ab F7

Vogler's f0 7 cycle: f o7 F7 a4 fto?4 D7 f ft04 B7 d# f#06 A67 c f07 F7

Example 29. C. P. E. Bach, Die neue Litanei, W. 204/2, mm. 211-23

42C.P. E. Bach, Die neue Litanei, W. 204/2 (Neuhausen-Stuttgart:

270 MusicTheory Spectrum

Example 30. C. P. E. Bach, Fantasiain A Major, W. 58/7

D7 f,46 D4 b#o7 Cb7 eb6

Example 31. C. P. E. Bach, Rondo III in A Minor, W. 56/5, mm. 142-56

V/vi and chromatic neighbor chord

Example36. Vogler, PreludeXII in E Major, mm. 15-19

278 MusicTheory Spectrum

f0O7 c6 Ab7 a07

eb4 B7 b#?7 f#6

You might also like