After elaborately defining the basic building blocks of music (mainly notes, intervals, and scales), Fedele Fenaroli in his treatise on partimenti introduces the concept of consonance and dissonance. The perfect consonance being the unison and the octave, producing a “sense of repose,” and the imperfect consonances being the third and the sixth, producing “a sense of musical motion.”1 The dissonances being the second, fourth, seventh, and ninth. These dissonances not being a natural part of harmony, must then be “saved” by art by way of preparation, the moment of dissonance, and resolution. 2
The perfect chord (the first fundamental chord) is that which is comprised of the first, third, and fifth scale degrees. When a minor seventh is added to the mixture, a second fundamental chord is created: the dominant seventh. Fenaroli explicitly states that all other chords are just alterations, derivations, or delayed chords from previous ones, which preserve the consonant or dissonant quality from which it derives.3
FIGURE 1 Chords and their derivatives, taken from Fedele Fenaroli’s Partimento ossia Basso Numerato, 11
1A Consonant fundamental chord and its derivatives
These are the cello equivalent of the three positions of a major chord that can be to all major keys:
2A Tablature version for the fundamental major chord
(with a 3rd and 5th a one the bass), its first derivative
(with a 3rd and 6th above the bass) and its second derivative
(with a 4th and 6th above the bass)
B Dissonant fundamental chord and its derivatives
C If the fundamental chord of the dominant seventh is altered, then the lowest note takes the name “Sensibile.” Below is the example of the dissonant chord and its derivatives.
Later in his treatise, Fenaroli demonstrates how chords can be used over ascending and descending scales. Using merely perfect chords on each scale degree does not produce harmonious sound, therefore, only the first, fourth, and fifth scale degrees are maintained as perfect chords, and the rest of the scale degrees use the derivatives based on the fundamental bass notes.4
FIGURE 2
A Demonstration of the scale in the major mode
B Demonstration of the scale in the minor mode
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1 Job IJzerman Job, Harmony, Counterpoint, and Partimento (New York: Oxford University Press, 2018), 3.
2 Fedele Fenaroli, Partimenti ossia Basso Numerato, 10.
3 Fenaroli, Partimenti ossia Basso Numerato, 10.
4 Ibid., 18.
B Demonstration of the scale in the minor mode
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1 Job IJzerman Job, Harmony, Counterpoint, and Partimento (New York: Oxford University Press, 2018), 3.
2 Fedele Fenaroli, Partimenti ossia Basso Numerato, 10.
3 Fenaroli, Partimenti ossia Basso Numerato, 10.
4 Ibid., 18.
After elaborately defining the basic building blocks of music (mainly notes, intervals, and scales), Fedele Fenaroli in his treatise on partimenti introduces the concept of consonance and dissonance. The perfect consonance being the unison and the octave, producing a “sense of repose,” and the imperfect consonances being the third and the sixth, producing “a sense of musical motion.”1 The dissonances being the second, fourth, seventh, and ninth. These dissonances not being a natural part of harmony, must then be “saved” by art by way of preparation, the moment of dissonance, and resolution. 2
The perfect chord (the first fundamental chord) is that which is comprised of the first, third, and fifth scale degrees. When a minor seventh is added to the mixture, a second fundamental chord is created: the dominant seventh. Fenaroli explicitly states that all other chords are just alterations, derivations, or delayed chords from previous ones, which preserve the consonant or dissonant quality from which it derives.3
FIGURE 1 Chords and their derivatives, taken from Fedele Fenaroli’s Partimento ossia Basso Numerato, 11
1A Consonant fundamental chord and its derivatives
These are the cello equivalent of the three positions of a major chord that can be to all major keys:
2A Tablature version for the fundamental major chord
(with a 3rd and 5th a one the bass), its first derivative
(with a 3rd and 6th above the bass) and its second derivative
(with a 4th and 6th above the bass)
C If the fundamental chord of the dominant seventh is altered, then the lowest note takes the name “Sensibile.” Below is the example of the dissonant chord and its derivatives.
Later in his treatise, Fenaroli demonstrates how chords can be used over ascending and descending scales. Using merely perfect chords on each scale degree does not produce harmonious sound, therefore, only the first, fourth, and fifth scale degrees are maintained as perfect chords, and the rest of the scale degrees use the derivatives based on the fundamental bass notes.4
FIGURE 2
A Demonstration of the scale in the major mode
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1 Job IJzerman Job, Harmony, Counterpoint, and Partimento (New York: Oxford University Press, 2018), 3.
2 Fedele Fenaroli, Partimenti ossia Basso Numerato, 10.
3 Fenaroli, Partimenti ossia Basso Numerato, 10.
4 Ibid., 18.
