Music theory

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#1: March 2nd, 2023 Here, Henry Purcell's baroque opera, 'Aeneas and Dido'. I'd like to discuss a very special bass motion that became known as the Lament Bass.

A descending bass in minor from the tonic to the dominant. Let's suppose that we're in G minor (G A Bb C D Eb F), so our descent will take us from G to D. When this descent is diatonic, we get something like Cavalli's 'Misero Apollo', where this bass motion is essentially the entire piece. We also get an extremely rare minor dominant chord, the passing v6, making our harmony i v6 iv6 V. Cavalli also uses a very cool set of suspensions, making it i v7-6 iv7-6 V, each prepared in the previous half-note.

A slightly later development is seen- at last in G minor- in the finale of Purcell's opera, with a fully chromatic lament from G to D. The harmonisation takes the form of i V V/IV6 IV6 iv6 V, very similar to the original lament, though the passing v6 has been substituted for a secondary dominant, since we need to prepare the raised 6 somehow. Not as though this is anywhere near the only harmonisation available, as Mozart later uses all diminished chords in the opening of his 24th piano concerto. Very dramatic, and in such a period of social conformity and etiquette.

You'll find examples of this type of bass in all kinds of music, including Beethoven, Bach, in the blues, in movie soundtracks... Either way, they are interesting to try to harmonise in different ways, so it may be recommended as a little exercise.

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