Transposing Instruments and a Missing Chord Seventh
An orchestral score excerpt in F major has these written notes: B-flat clarinet C5, horn in F G4, B-flat trumpet D5, bassoon C3, viola E4, and cello C3. The clarinet sounds a major second lower than written, the horn in F sounds a perfect fifth lower, and the B-flat trumpet sounds a major second lower. No transposing instrument has an accidental in its written part. The conductor asks for the concert-pitch chord and whether the clarinet and trumpet are doubling the same pitch class. The candidate says the chord is 'C major with an added sixth' because the clarinet sounds B-flat. The passage is a dominant preparation in F major. The horns and trumpets are written in treble clef. The candidate must produce a concert-pitch reduction and decide whether the B-flat is a chord tone, a non-chord tone, or a transposition mistake.
1. Give the concert-pitch reduction and identify the chord and its function in F major.
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Concert pitches: clarinet C5 sounds B-flat4; horn G4 sounds C4; trumpet D5 sounds C5; bassoon C3; viola E4; cello C3. The chord is C–E–B-flat, with C in three octaves. That is a C dominant seventh with the fifth omitted: C7. In F major, C7 is V7, so the passage is a dominant preparation. The B-flat is the chord seventh, not an added sixth. An added sixth on C would be A, which is not present. The missing fifth G is acceptable in an orchestral voicing because the seventh and root are well represented and the third E is present. The candidate's label 'C major with added sixth' mistakes the seventh for a sixth and ignores the dominant function.
2. Are the clarinet and trumpet doubling the same pitch class? Explain how each contributes to the chord.
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No, the clarinet and trumpet are not doubling the same pitch class. The clarinet's written C5 sounds B-flat4, while the trumpet's written D5 sounds C5. The clarinet supplies the seventh of C7; the trumpet supplies the root. The horn's written G4 sounds C4, also the root, and the bassoon and cello add C3. The only E is in the viola, and the fifth G is absent. If the candidate thought both instruments were on C, the error was to read the trumpet's written D as D rather than transposing it down a major second, or to read the clarinet's written C as concert C. A quick check is to transpose each written note before assigning chord function.
3. What harmonic error would result if the candidate left the clarinet's written C5 at concert C5?
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If the clarinet's written C5 were left at concert C5, the B-flat would disappear from the reduction. The chord would become C–E–C, a bare C major triad with no seventh. The dominant function in F major would be lost, and the passage would no longer be a V7. The candidate might then mislabel it as a C-major harmony or as an added-sixth chord if another B-flat were imagined. The correct procedure is to write the concert pitch under each written note first, then stack the chord. The trumpet's written D5 must also be transposed to C5; otherwise the chord could acquire an extra D and sound like a C major added ninth. Transposition errors compound when chord labels are assigned before all pitches are converted.