CONTEXT AND VOICE LEADING: INFLUENCES ON THEMATIC AND TONAL STRUCTURE
Larry Laskowski · 2016
In verbal communication the same word can express different meanings in different contexts. Similarly, in tonal music, the same sonority can function quite differently express varying compositional meanings in different musical contexts. This is evident even in a simple progression, such as that shown in Example 1. The C-major chord in bar 1 functions as a structural tonic, while the identical chord in bar 2 serves as consonant support for the dissonant passing tone e^. (Of course, different rhythmic values could change this reading.) The C-major chords are identical in pitch content, but different in function. Composers have often taken advantage of such simultaneous similarity and dissimilarity, thereby deepening the significance. of certain passages in their music. The following three examples from the literature illustrate a few of the many possible ways in which this phenomenon occurs.