Inspired by my Koppangen post, Dr. Santa writes the following:
In trying to figure out why I like Bach's setting of "Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light," I realized that I too seem to be a sucker for suspensions. There is a suspension in all phrases except for the one sets"Our confidence and joy shall be," and in that phrase there is a retardation (which as a dissonance is basically identical to a suspension except for the fact that it resolves up by step instead of down by step. I also noticed that the last two phrases pile on the suspensions in the tenor and alto voices (there are two in a row in the alto voice, followed by three in a row in the tenor). Another dissonance that I think is part of why I like the chorale is closely related to the suspension. There are anticipations in the first two phrases (see the tenor voice), and anticipations are related to suspensions because they can both be understood as a rhythmic variation of consonant intervals (e.g. descending parallel thirds become a chain of 4-3 suspension when one delays the top voice). Finally, I should also mention that chordal sevenths, when prepared by common tone, are identical to suspensions, and there are plenty of those that I haven't counted as suspensions here, even though I enjoy those just as thoroughly (e.g. in each of the last two cadences).
I'm sure that these dissonances are only part of the reason that this chorale moves me so deeply, and I could go on and on about what else I think makes me love this chorale so much, but I'll stop here. In the end what I feel might be of broader interest here is this: there are certain parts to the question "why do we love the music that we love" that music theory, and only music theory, can answer. This realization is why I got into music theory, and my understanding of it has not once dulled the emotional responses I have when listening, it has only enabled me to more easily write and arrange music that creates those same responses, and to understand how music works on people (or at least myself) more clearly.
In trying to figure out why I like Bach's setting of "Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light," I realized that I too seem to be a sucker for suspensions. There is a suspension in all phrases except for the one sets"Our confidence and joy shall be," and in that phrase there is a retardation (which as a dissonance is basically identical to a suspension except for the fact that it resolves up by step instead of down by step. I also noticed that the last two phrases pile on the suspensions in the tenor and alto voices (there are two in a row in the alto voice, followed by three in a row in the tenor). Another dissonance that I think is part of why I like the chorale is closely related to the suspension. There are anticipations in the first two phrases (see the tenor voice), and anticipations are related to suspensions because they can both be understood as a rhythmic variation of consonant intervals (e.g. descending parallel thirds become a chain of 4-3 suspension when one delays the top voice). Finally, I should also mention that chordal sevenths, when prepared by common tone, are identical to suspensions, and there are plenty of those that I haven't counted as suspensions here, even though I enjoy those just as thoroughly (e.g. in each of the last two cadences).
I'm sure that these dissonances are only part of the reason that this chorale moves me so deeply, and I could go on and on about what else I think makes me love this chorale so much, but I'll stop here. In the end what I feel might be of broader interest here is this: there are certain parts to the question "why do we love the music that we love" that music theory, and only music theory, can answer. This realization is why I got into music theory, and my understanding of it has not once dulled the emotional responses I have when listening, it has only enabled me to more easily write and arrange music that creates those same responses, and to understand how music works on people (or at least myself) more clearly.