The Neapolitan 6th chord

Well, I didn't get home from tonight's choir 1 sectional until 11pm and I went to bed shortly afterwards, but I was woken by the earthquake about an hour ago and I haven't been able to get back to sleep, so I thought I'd do a quick blog update. (I did mean to do one last week to talk about the Neapolitan 6th, but it was quite a hectic week and I never quite found the energy.) (My TV appearance went fine, by the way, and they did promise they'd send a DVD of it at some point, so if they do I can lend it to people who missed the live show - I should warn you, though, that it's not very interesting!)

I'll get onto the chord in a minute. But first, in case anyone's missed them, there are all sorts of recent news stories about the Hallé's new assistant conductor. Read about her in BBC Music Magazine; Manchester Evening News; On an Overgrown Path; and in The Guardian. (And no doubt elsewhere too; I haven't been searching, those articles were all ones that I saw on my RSS feed.)

A few more links, while we're at it: a nice story about an audience member saving an opera (it's not quite as good as it sounds - he was already rehearsing the role in question - but still!) Also, New Scientist magazine has had some musical articles recently: try the one about auditory illusions or the one about animals being naturally musical (or not). And finally, here's a map of the world made out of musical notes. Pretty!

Thank you, by the way, to the many choir members who have expressed concern about my financial woes. Things are a little better now - I have cleared the electricity arrears and am in negotiations with the mortgage people (it's a much longer story than that but I won't bore you with it). There is light at the end of the tunnel. The temp wages that I've been on since September are only slightly above minimum wage, but that's quite a bit higher than the jobseeekers' allowance that I was on prior to that. I could live on my current wage, though - the problems have been caused by the arrears from when I still had to pay all the bills while only having £59 a week coming in for several months. But I've almost cleared all the arrears, thanks partly to extremely frugal living and partly to several very generous friends (you know who you are, and I *will* pay you back!) The place I'm currently working as a temp did offer to give me a permanent job, which would be a bit more money, but I'm holding out for something music-related, because that's one of the things I left teaching for. It's looking less and less likely, because there is now only one major Manchester musical organisation that *hasn't* rejected me, but you never know! I *have* achieved my main aims of being less stressed and having more free time to concentrate on my musical interests, so leaving teaching is a decision that I haven't regretted for a second. Money isn't everything.

Anyway, the Neapolitan 6th chord! I've been meaning to write about this for ages - I know I've mentioned it on the blog before. It's my very favourite chord (closely followed by "chord iii", but I'll explain that one another time). I've loved it ever since I first heard it (long before I found what it was called). I even attended a fascinating lecture about it at an Open University summer school several years ago. (The lecture covered the various types of augmented sixth chords (French, German and Italian sixths) as well, but the Neapolitan is better than all of them!) So what's prompted me to write about it now? Well, there's a very prominent one in the St Matthew Passion (I'd be very surprised if there weren't more than one, but I don't yet know the work well enough to point out another one), and during last week's rehearsal, we were working on that page (96) (the Neapolitan 6th is bar 134). I'd just pointed out to Alison that it was a Neapolitan 6th (I've been trying to enlist her in the N6 fan club for ages now), and at that moment, a certain person (who happened to be explaining the harmonic progression to us) said "what chord is this?" to which of course I replied that it was a Neapolitan 6th - and he disagreed with me and said that if anything it was a Neapolitan 2nd! (It turned out he was actually looking for a simpler answer, i.e. F major, but never mind!) Well, I can see why he might have thought that, but he was definitely wrong, and I like to think that he had a sleepless night that night, having realised that I was in fact correct :-)

So, what is a Neapolitan 6th? I'll try to explain as clearly as possible, because once you know what they are, you'll spot them throughout the repertoire. They're most common in baroque music, although they aren't restricted to that period - there are several in Gerontius, for example. Invariably they occur when the music is in a minor key. Now, in any key, you can have a chord based on any note of the scale. (I presume that most of you know that a normal chord on any given note consists of the note itself plus the notes a third and a fifth higher within the scale - so that the chord of C major would be C, E and G, but the chord of C minor would be C, E flat and G, because in C minor every E is an E flat. ... If you didn't already know this bit, I realise it's a bit confusing, but at the moment my target audience is people who *do* already understand how chords are usually formed, so if this is totally new to you, I'm sorry!)

Now, in the key of E minor, the scale goes: E, F sharp, G, A, B, C, D sharp, E. That's the harmonic minor scale (as opposed to the melodic minor), and if you've ever wondered why it's called that, it's because these are the notes used in the harmony - as follows: chord 1 (the tonic chord) is the chord of E minor (E, G, B). Chord 2 is actually a diminished chord (F sharp, A, C). Chord 3 is G major (G, B, D). Chord 4 (the subdominant) is A minor (A, C, E). Chord 5 (the dominant) is B major (B, D sharp, F sharp). Et cetera. (The "dominant seventh" chord - very common, and I'm sure you've all heard of it - would be B, D sharp, F sharp and A... why 7th? Because the A is a seventh above the B.) (If you're wondering why some notes are sharp and others are natural, go back and look at the E minor scale - that's why.) (If you're wondering why there's a D in chord 3 but a D sharp everywhere else, that's a good question - a simplified answer is that if chord 3 had a D sharp in it, it would be an augmented chord, which isn't often used in traditional harmony. Or, put another way... the harmony works better if chord 3 is a major chord. Not a very satisfying answer but it's as good as you're going to get for the moment!)

Now, before I explain what the Neapolitan 6th chord is, let me explain what it isn't. It isn't a chord based on the 6th note of the scale - it's called "6th" for a different reason. (It's called Neapolitan because it was popular with a Neapolitan group of composers.) So what is it? Well, to make a Neapolitan 6th chord, here's what you do: in a minor key, find the 2nd note of the scale (so in E minor that would be F sharp). Flatten it by a semitone (so it becomes F natural). Form a chord based on that note (in a minor key, this will always give a major chord - in this case, F major (F, A, C)). This chord is sometimes called the Neapolitan 2nd. However, it is hardly ever used in that form - invariably it appears as a first inversion chord, which means that although it does consist of F, A and C, it doesn't have the F at the bottom of the bass (which is called "root position"), it has the A instead. (If the C was at the bottom it would be a second inversion.) And it's the fact that it's used as a first inversion that gives it the name "6th" - the 6th is the interval between the A and the F.

Now have a look again at bar 134 on page 96. All the notes are either F, A or C, but the basses have A. That makes it a Neapolitan 6th. (Why is this chord usually used as a first inversion? Because the harmonic progression works better that way. I could explain why, but I've already gone on longer than I intended to, and I imagine some people's brains are hurting already.) So I'll finish by giving you two audio examples. The first is the page I was just describing. It's right at the end of the Soprano & Alto Duet with Chorus: "Behold, my Saviour now is taken" ("Loose Him!"). The excerpt starts on page 79, but the lightning and thunder bit starts at about 3:33 into the track, and the Neapolitan 6th bar is right near the end, at about 4:47. Listen to the last few bars until the sound of the Neapolitan 6th sticks in your head - it's very distinctive.

And finally, one of my favourite pop songs, and not just because it includes a Neapolitan 6th. It's REM's Everybody Hurts. This song is in a major key, but the middle section (starting at about 2:17) is in the relative minor, and the Neapolitan comes at about 2:40. (I think it's probably a 2nd rather than a 6th, because of what the bass does, but the sound of the chord is almost identical.) A great moment in the history of pop :-)

A mixed week....

Choir on Wednesday was good - not much to say about it though, because all the best bits would involve quoting people who don't want to be quoted! And my band's gig last night at the North City Library went very well considering the lack of rehearsal. However, in a week in which I have already received letters telling me that my electricity is about to be cut off AND my house will shortly be repossessed (on the plus side, at least then I wouldn't need any electricity!) I got home after the gig to find a letter telling me that the job application I submitted a couple of weeks ago has been unsuccessful - I didn't even get an interview. It seems that my idea of a job I'd be perfect for is rather different to that of employers.... Oh well.

However, I just got a call from Five TV saying they want me to go down to London to appear on a live show on Tuesday morning, and they still wanted this (much to my surprise!) even after I said I wouldn't do it unless they paid me enough to compensate for losing a day's pay! So I will have a free trip to London to cheer me up :-)

Götterdämmerung!

Really quick post today, just to say: 1. The Sunday Times very belatedly gave us a very nice review, and in their closing sentence we learn that "a complete Götterdämmerung, over two evenings, is promised." Complete operas are always exciting, especially with Mark, but I must admit I wish it wasn't Wagner. Still, maybe this experience will convert me!

2. My online choir schedule is up to date with the new additions to the schedule. There do seem to be quite a few surprises in the summer, don't there?

3. Last week was the Bach open rehearsal, and also the first time that we found out which of the two choirs we're in. (I'm in choir 1, and I felt a bit guilty at the start because choir 2 seemed to have nothing to do, until I found that they get all the best bits later on!) Lots of sight-reading took place (which, as you know, is one of my favourite things to do EVER) and there were many, many hilariously wrong notes. I think I sang more wrong notes during last week's rehearsal than I've sung in total over about the past five years! Not easy, is it? But I'm really looking forward to getting to know it properly. Yum.

Anyway, I need to get back to my rearranging of parts. My band has a gig on Thursday, and only three of us can make it, so since almost all our songs involve a lead singer and three backing parts, I'm having to do lots of amendments to the backing vocals. I like doing this but it takes an annoyingly long time... especially because I need to do it particularly clearly, since we haven't had a chance to rehearse with just the three of us, so the instructions I write on the music need to be foolproof!

Across the Universe Day

I'm sure you know that today is Pancake Day, but how many of you realised that yesterday was Across the Universe Day? And isn't that a lovely idea?

Just a short post from me tonight, because there are pancakes to be eaten and World of Warcraft to be played. But I wanted to alert you to a few things.

Firstly, if you were wondering how the wedding went, look at the sword party!




Our musical contributions were fine too. All in all a lovely day!

Secondly, any altos who didn't receive a text tonight from the lovely Dr Liz will be unaware that tomorrow night's alto vocal coaching has been postponed to next week (13th Feb) due to the rehearsal being an open one. (I don't know when the bass vocal coaching will now be taking place.) My online schedule is up to date, and I will endeavour to keep it that way on the offchance that anyone ever looks at it these days.

Thirdly, we were on Radio 3 last night, and we sounded rather good, even if I do say so myself! You can hear it on the BBC iPlayer until Sunday. (Our bit starts 50 minutes in... and if you're as slow as me, you may wish to know that the button that looks like a "play" button is actually "fast forward". If you click and hold it, the time advances rapidly - but I can't see an easy way of going backwards if you go too far, so if you miss the 50th minute, click the stop button and try from the start again.)

And finally, something I wouldn't have realised if I hadn't heard Petroc mention it during the broadcast: there was an interesting Michael Kennedy article in the Spectator a couple of weeks ago. (Oh, and we also got a mention on On An Overgrown Path, that most interesting of music blogs.)

"Hallé dazzles with birthday display"

This is the Telegraph headline for its review of our concert. There's also a great review in the MEN. And, just in time for me to post this, a 4-star review in The Times! (Thanks to those of you who sent me links to these - as usual I'd already seen them but hadn't had time to do anything about it!) No actual review in the Guardian as yet (EDIT: here it is!), but they have made up for it by devoting a leader to us, and also a major feature the day before the concert (which included some interesting tidbits of info that I didn't previously know, plus comments from people like Lesley Garrett, who actually came to the concert on Wednesday). We even made the BBC News!

EDIT: The FT review is now up too, and they thought our bit was best \o/

EDIT: The Independent has finally joined the party, and they said we were on top form - "like a harmonic time bomb"!

Great concert, although the Telegraph reviewer was wrong when he said it was nearly 3 hours long - - it was MORE than 3 hours, finishing at 10.35pm. I think they could maybe have shortened it a bit, especially as quite a few people left early, presumably to catch last trains or buses. (If it had finished that late on a Saturday or Sunday I would have had to leave myself.) But it was all good stuff, and the audience certainly seemed to enjoy it, and there WAS a standing ovation at the end, although it wasn't until the choir stood up that most of the audience did too - before then, there were just a few people on their feet. I also expected a few more cheers at the end, but maybe everyone was just tired!

Our Vaughan Williams went well, and was a fitting end to the first half. I bet I wasn't the only one who wished we could have sung more, but they did have a lot to fit in. I do wish we could all have joined in the Rio Grande with the Youth Choir though - I love that piece!

I didn't realise, till it was announced, that Dmitri Hvorostovsky was ill, but then it wouldn't be a proper Hallé concert if one of the soloists wasn't ill! Sir John Tomlinson was a great replacement, even if I didn't recognise any of the things he sang. And I thought it was definitely a good thing to have TWO mezzo soloists and no sopranos or tenors! (Yes, I AM including Dame Janet Baker. Very fitting that an alto was in charge of proceedings!) And the lovely Jonathan Scott was as fantastic as ever in the Rio Grande. But the other pianist - Polina Leschenko - probably made the biggest impression. I've never seen a performance like it! Her playing was great, but it was the other aspects that grabbed even more attention.

For a start, she didn't use a piano stool, but just a normal chair, in which she slouched and fidgeted somewhat. Then, there was one of the buttonhole roses on top of the piano - I presume she put it there herself, although I didn't see that. And during several of the rests in her piece, she picked it up and smelled it a few times, and fiddled with it. She also spent quite some time examining her nails. None of this affected her very dramatic cadenza-type interspersions though. (For those who weren't there, she was playing the Weber Konzertstück.) And then, at the end, she took her bows very spectacularly, blew kisses to everyone (including Mark) and then shoved her bouquet under her arm as she strode offstage. We all found all this very entertaiing indeed - just what was needed at that stage of the evening!

The only sad note was that Lady Barbirolli wasn't there. I was really shocked to hear of her death - I had met her on many occasions, because when I was at school she was the visiting oboe professor (that wasn't her title, but you know what I mean). She used to visit all us oboists every term or so, to give master classes and other special sessions (e.g. on reed-making - my reed-making manual is signed by her, in fact, and I have been meaning to scan it all week to show you, but it's been rather busy!)

Here is her Wikipedia entry, and various obituaries: Guardian, Times, Telegraph, Independent, and BBC Music Magazine.

Now, all I have to do is get over my cold in time to sing at this wedding tomorrow. And then, next week - Bach!