How we got used to dissonance

Dissonance. These unsettling, hair-raising sounds are ominous in our everyday. We see it in popular music, horror movies and video games. But it wasn‘t always that way. There was a time when such sounds were not only rebellious but sacrilegious. I propose you a short journey through time trekking some key innovations that explain and shape our modern media. Let‘s dive in.

Machaut and polyphony

Music, taste and culture are ever-evolving, so defining a starting point for our study of dissonance will inevitably be arbitrary. But I think it is legitimate to begin with 14th-century French composer Guillaume de Machaut. At this point, western music tradition was already solidly attached to the Church for many centuries and choir music. As such, medieval composers tended to emphasize soothing compositions perfected for the reflective and pious lives the Catholic Church wanted people to live. Music had to follow an essential melodic sense, an agreement between pitches underlying the harmony between notes and with god. As such, most music was what is called monotonic - meaning one single note is played at a time by every singer. When individual voices singing different notes (called polyphony) are combined, they sometimes produce dissonant clashes. It was only in the 10th century that polytonic music was grumbly accepted by the Church and even then only because some brilliant composers proved that harmonious polytonic music could be made. Polytonic music would gradually develop, but we have to wait for Vitry and his successor, Machaut, to push its envelope.

De Machaut was a true harmonic virtuoso and, seeing dissonance as a tool, used it to generate richer tonalities. Take for example de Machaut‘s “Le lay de confort“ (mm. 432-34. PMFC, II, 67.). Within it, the tenor voice adds harmonic richness by filling the sonorities. Of the three voices in this piece, the second and third encircle the first main voice differently: the second voice falls on the beat and the third off the beat. In that way, Machaut liberated tonalities much more than his predecessors which allowed him to weave more complex harmonies than ever before. Listening to his work, we wouldn‘t find his composition that complex or hear any dissonance, but, for his day, this was groundbreaking and almost heretical. Without the work of composers like Vitry and Machaut, masterpieces of Western music that we are much more used to would have sounded quite differently. Now, I know it's quite unfair to many important and groundbreaking composers, but let‘s jump some centuries to one composer you should know about.

Mozart and the perfection of the tonality

The classical era. True to its name, this period contains many of the most famous composers ever. Music of the music of the time emphasized balanced structures, symmetry and order to produce clear and enjoyable results. Popular forms of the time including sonata-allegro, theme and variations and rondos all use elegant and simple polyphonies profusely. At that point, dissonance had taken another shape. No longer was it considered in a melodic sense (that is, considering sequences of notes and their cohesion) but to specific tones in themselves. No longer was it a question of which note should properly follow another, it was simply about specific sounds that sound, shall we say, wrong. Now, among those composers striving for perfect, accessible and enjoyable music, none struck true like Mozart. I don‘t need to convince you of how good he was (spoiler: he was) on his reputation alone, but you might be surprised to learn that such an iconic figure of harmonious pleasant music did dabble with dissonance from time to time.

To us, the most striking example of this might be his Symphony No. 40 in G minor Köchel 550. Within it, Mozart integrates dissonant tones in the main theme itself. This dissonance is exploited to maintain and build tension. Not resolving the tension right away was a deliberate move to make the rare moments where it is even more impactful and relieving. That dissonance, almost taunting us, is to this master of harmony another tool in his arsenal to add rich and engaging texture. Now, there is some debate about whether that piece was actually played at the time or not. One thing is certain: it would have caused quite a shock to Mozart‘s contemporaries if it ever was. Well, for our next stop, we are certain that this exact thing happened.

Beethoven and raw emotion

Beethoven was, from his own account, a moody and unagreeable man. But even without his confession, this would have been quite apparent in his music. His loud and fast compositions are a mirror of his own emotions. Beethoven would famously drum the notes into his pianos, breaking them apart while playing. Starting the 1800s in force, Beethoven would compose masterpiece after masterpiece, making his raw emotion an approach that would define the century to follow. In passages like the Rondo-Finale of his Sonata in D, Op. 10, No. 3 or the first movement of the “Eroica“ Symphony, dissonant tones were not only a tool to build tension, but a way to express powerful emotions and make Beethoven‘s audience feel them. As copied as Beethoven‘s approach was, it is no surprise that his use of dissonance would also be quickly popularized. Later examples are too many to follow or cite, but another big jump would happen at the near end of the 1800s.

Debussy and Stravinsky: beauty and the death of tonality

Almost reaching the new century, two composers would break the chains of dissonance and, ultimately, lead the way to the death of harmony as we know it. The first was Claude Debussy. Debussy was a real innovator in the Western scene by incorporating Eastern-inspired rhythms and tonalities in his compositions. In that way, he wasn‘t afraid to break a few rules of proper Western musical precedents. To him, dissonance became an exploration how what sound could be like. No longer was it linked to notes that sounded “wrong“, rather these notes encompassed a certain “roughness“. To Debussy, music was about what sounded interesting and good to him at the moment, what it made him feel, and not which notes should be put together to build proper harmony. Some of Debussy‘s compositions, like “Les Nuages “, really would be considered a rather long and strange session of instrument tuning a century before!

But it's one of Debussy‘s fans that really killed classic Western tonality. Don‘t get me wrong: Igor Stravinsky was a master of classical harmony. Nevertheless, he introduced atonality to the world. In groundbreaking pieces like “The Rite of Spring“, dissonance represents the chaotic and bloody ritual taking place. It was quite a shock, causing a riot in Paris at its premiere and called “no more than a laborious and puerile barbarity“ in newspapers. But his statement was made and people‘s taster would adapt rapidly. Hilariously, only one year after the premiere, “The Rite of Spring“ would be played again in Paris and cause ANOTHER riot. Only, this time, this riot was praising Stravinsky‘s work!

It all sounds wrong

In the end, from bold experimentation and daring incorporation, dissonance transformed from a jarring, taboo concept to something much more appreciated, normalized and even celebrated. Without this powerful emotional and artistic tool, the sounds of jazz, blues, rock and electronic music would be quite different to our ears. This only reminds us that each era brings evolving tastes, cultural shifts and innovations. I am confident that would-be composers will find new, engaging and compelling ways to create compositions. This, certainly, does not sound wrong to my ears.

See you tomorrow.

References

• Understanding great music, 3rd edition, The Great Courses.
• A History of 'Consonance' and 'Dissonance', James Tunney, Excelsior Music Publishing Company, New York, 1988.
• Guillaume de Machaut and Dissonance in Fourteenth Century French Music, Roland Jackson, Musica Disciplina, 2003 - 2008, Vol. 53 (2003 - 2008), pp. 7-49.