# The Octatonic Scale and Shostakovich



## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Shostakovich: _String Quartets Nos. 5, 7, 9_; St. Petersburg String Quartet (Hyperion).

Still going over these, trying to figure out exactly what it is about Shostakovich. I'm thinking he was primarily a contrapuntalist, that is, in terms of any 'new ground' he is covering; and in these quartets, he seems to be octatonic-scale based, which is where a lot of his lines come from, but harmonically less daring, except in terms of root movement, which seems to outline the octatonic scale. I'd be interested in reading some analysis of his working methods.

In jazz, the octatonic scale is known as the diminished scale. From the perpetually disparaged WIK (which I trust and love), we see this:

"...the *whole-half diminished scale* is commonly used in conjunction with *diminished harmony* (e.g., the "C dim7" chord)..."

"...while the *half-whole scale* is used in *dominant* harmony (e.g., with a *"G7♭9" chord*)."

Thinking about the octatonic scale, and again consulting the ever-despised WIK, "...it contains the first four notes of four minor scales separated by minor thirds. For Example: C, D, E♭, F and (enharmonically) F♯, G♯, A, B. Also E♭, F, G♭, A♭, and A, B, C, D..."*"...The scale "allows familiar harmonic and linear configurations such as triads and modal tetrachords to be juxtaposed unusually but within a rational framework,"* though the relation of the diatonic scale to the melodic and harmonic surface is thus generally oblique..."

Yes, I can hear this in Shostakovich; roots and themes moving up by minor thirds, a "minorish" feel to much of it; if not "minorish," then he can easily get a dominant 7, even "jazzy" sound by using its partner in crime, the half-whole scale.

Yes, Shostakovich is a "rationalist" in his use of the octatonic scale; he uses it to build "familiar harmonic configurations (triads), and "linear configurations" (modal tetrachords, themes). The sound of these scales (containing the ninth and flat ninth, major and minor sevenths and thirds, flatted fifths, and regular fifths) can therefore serve any tonal harmonic situation or color which may arise, including a relation to Russian folk-song, with its exotic b9s which sound vaguely Asian.

And while the use of these octatonic scales will yield a total chromatic scale _in toto,_ they are used as separate entities, which gives a tonal or modal effect rather than a totally chromatic effect.


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