Ravel’s Octatonic Scripts

Abstract

Abstract This article investigates the use of octatonic chord progressions at deeper structural levels in the music of Maurice Ravel. Octatonic chord progressions are successions of triads and seventh chords derived from a single octatonic collection that are incompatible with other scales. These are shown to form the foundation for large spans of music, even when their constituent chords are embellished with non-octatonic macroharmony; the Discrete Fourier Transform is used to distinguish between the octatonicity of an underlying progression and the various surface colors that adorn it. Deeper-level octatonic chord progressions are woven into the formal scripts of several of Ravel’s major compositions: the two piano concerti, the Violin Sonata, and the Rapsodie espagnole. In these pieces, long-range motion through octatonic progressions undergirds entire sections or movements, and interacts with other elements of the work to create dynamic formal processes.