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"What is a powerful surprise, and further evidence of Bach’s unique imaginative boldness, is the specific form the obbligato pedal part takes in this chorale setting: almost nothing but dissonant drops of a seventh – Adam’s fall made audible! And not just the fall, but also the attendant pain and suffering are depicted (and in a way evoked), since so many of those sevenths are diminished."
The expressive potential of the interval was not lost on Mozart, especially when, as Dennis Matthews (1971, p. iii) puts it, "Mozart reserved a minor home-key for his most disquieting utterances." The opening theme of the Piano Concerto No. 24 (Mozart), Piano Concerto in C minor K491, features rising diminished sevenths:
]
More startling is the finale of Symphony No. 40 (Mozart), Mozart's G minor Symphony No. 40, K550, which critic 
The dramatic clout of the interval was further exploited by operatic composers during the nineteenth century. Robert Donington (1963, p. 175) heard the dark, atmospheric Prelude to 
]
In classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...
from Western culture
Western culture, also known as Western civilization, European civilization, Occidental culture, Western society, or simply the West, refers to the Cultural heritage, internally diverse culture of the Western world. The term "Western" encompas ...
, a diminished seventh () is an interval produced by narrowing a minor seventh
In music theory, a minor seventh is one of two musical intervals that span seven staff positions. It is ''minor'' because it is the smaller of the two sevenths, spanning ten semitones. The major seventh spans eleven. For example, the interval ...
by a chromatic semitone
In modern Western tonal music theory an augmented unison or augmented prime is the interval between two notes on the same staff position, or denoted by the same note letter, whose alterations cause them, in ordinary equal temperament, to be one ...
,Benward & Saker (2003). ''Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I'', p.54. . Specific example of an d7 not given but general example of minor intervals described. and its inversion
Inversion or inversions may refer to:
Arts
* ''Inversion'' (artwork), a 2005 temporary sculpture in Houston, Texas
* Inversion (music), a term with various meanings in music theory and musical set theory
* ''Inversions'' (novel) by Iain M. Bank ...
is the augmented second
In Western classical music, an augmented second is an interval created by widening a major second by a chromatic semitone, spanning three semitones and enharmonically equivalent to a minor third in 12-tone equal temperament.Benward & Saker (2 ...
. For instance, the interval from A to G is a minor seventh, ten semitones wide, and both the intervals from A to G, and from A to G are diminished sevenths, spanning nine semitones. Being diminished, it is considered a dissonant
In music, consonance and dissonance are categorizations of simultaneous or successive sounds. Within the Western tradition, some listeners associate consonance with sweetness, pleasantness, and acceptability, and dissonance with harshness, unple ...
interval.
The diminished seventh is used quite readily in the minor key
In music theory, the key of a piece is the group of pitches, or scale, that forms the basis of a musical composition in Western classical music, jazz music, art music, and pop music.
A particular key features a '' tonic (main) note'' and it ...
, where it is present in the harmonic minor
The harmonic minor scale (or Aeolian ♮7 scale) is a musical scale derived from the natural minor scale, with the minor seventh degree raised by one semitone to a major seventh, creating an augmented second between the sixth and seventh degree ...
scale between the seventh scale step and the sixth scale step in the octave
In music, an octave (: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is an interval between two notes, one having twice the frequency of vibration of the other. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referr ...
above.
In 12-tone equal temperament
An equal temperament is a musical temperament or Musical tuning#Tuning systems, tuning system that approximates Just intonation, just intervals by dividing an octave (or other interval) into steps such that the ratio of the frequency, frequencie ...
, a diminished seventh is equal to nine semitones, a ratio of 29/12:1 (approximately 1.6818), or 900 cents, and is enharmonic
In music, two written notes have enharmonic equivalence if they produce the same pitch but are notated differently. Similarly, written intervals, chords, or key signatures are considered enharmonic if they represent identical pitches that ar ...
ally equivalent to a major sixth
In music theory, a sixth is a musical interval encompassing six note letter names or staff positions (see Interval number for more details), and the major sixth is one of two commonly occurring sixths. It is qualified as ''major'' because it ...
. There is no standard just tuning
In music, just intonation or pure intonation is a tuning system in which the space between notes' frequencies (called intervals) is a whole number ratio. Intervals spaced in this way are said to be pure, and are called just intervals. Just inte ...
of this interval, but one possibility, assuming the flat submediant is a perfect (5:4) major third below the octave, and the leading tone to be 15:16, would lead to an interval of 128:75, about 925 cents; another interval is 216:125, which is three minor thirds. However, in 19 equal temperament
In music, 19 equal temperament, called 19 TET, 19 EDO ("Equal Division of the Octave"), 19-ED2 ("Equal Division of 2:1) or 19 Equal temperament, ET, is the musical temperament, tempered scale derived by dividing the octave into 19 equal steps ...
, it is enharmonically equivalent to an augmented sixth
In music, an augmented sixth () is an Interval (music), interval produced by Augmentation (music), widening a major sixth by a chromatic semitone.Benward & Saker (2003). ''Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I'', p.54. . Specific example of an ...
, having a ratio of 215/19:1 (approximately 1.7284), or 947 cents.
The 128:75 just diminished seventh arises in the C harmonic minor scale
The harmonic minor scale (or Aeolian ♮7 scale) is a Scale (music), musical scale derived from the natural minor scale, with the minor seventh degree raised by one semitone to a major seventh, creating an augmented second between the sixth and ...
between B and A by combining B-D, D, F, F-A.
Usage in musical expression
Since the Baroque era, Western European composers have used the diminished seventh as a melodic interval to convey intense, sometimes troubled emotion.Richard Taruskin
Richard Filler Taruskin (April 2, 1945 – July 1, 2022) was an American musicologist and music critic who was among the leading and most prominent music historians of his generation. The breadth of his scrutiny into source material as well as ...
(2010, p. 258) draws attention to the falling melodic figures in the bass (pedal) part of J. S. Bach's organ chorale prelude from the ''Orgelbüchlein
The ''Orgelbüchlein'' (''Little Organ Book'') BWV 599−644 is a set of 46 chorale preludes for organ – one of them is given in two versions – by Johann Sebastian Bach. All but three were written between 1708 and 1717 when Bach served as org ...
'', "Durch Adam's Fall":]
"What is a powerful surprise, and further evidence of Bach’s unique imaginative boldness, is the specific form the obbligato pedal part takes in this chorale setting: almost nothing but dissonant drops of a seventh – Adam’s fall made audible! And not just the fall, but also the attendant pain and suffering are depicted (and in a way evoked), since so many of those sevenths are diminished."
The expressive potential of the interval was not lost on Mozart, especially when, as Dennis Matthews (1971, p. iii) puts it, "Mozart reserved a minor home-key for his most disquieting utterances." The opening theme of the Piano Concerto No. 24 (Mozart), Piano Concerto in C minor K491, features rising diminished sevenths:]
More startling is the finale of Symphony No. 40 (Mozart), Mozart's G minor Symphony No. 40, K550, which critic Charles Rosen
Charles Welles Rosen (May 5, 1927December 9, 2012) was an American pianist and writer on music. He is remembered for his career as a concert pianist, for his recordings, and for his many writings, notable among them the book '' The Classical St ...
(1971, p324) calls "a work of passion, violence and grief." The development section features a disorienting sequence of diminished sevenths:
The dramatic clout of the interval was further exploited by operatic composers during the nineteenth century. Robert Donington (1963, p. 175) heard the dark, atmospheric Prelude to Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
’s opera ''Siegfried
Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace".
The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...
'' as "a kind of elemental brooding…Its material is an uneasy sequence of thirds low in the bass, and separated by a diminished seventh.":Donington, R. (1963) ''Wagner’s Ring and its Symbols''. London Faber.]
See also
*Diminished seventh chord
The diminished seventh chord is a four-note chord (a seventh chord) composed of a Root (chord), root note, together with a minor third, a diminished fifth, and a diminished seventh above the root: (1, 3, 5, 7). For example, the dim ...
References