Descending Scales,the Sorrowing Soul Of "Dumka"

Music is an art of emotional expression. In works, various elements were used to express emotion while music was created. In Tchaikovsky’s piano piece "Dumka", composer expressed sadness by using descending scales. This paper based on the analysis of "Dumka" and trying to prove that descending scales play an important role in the expression of sadness, and it mainly reflected in three aspects. First of all, descending scales is the core material of "Dumka"; In the second place, descending scales creating sorrowing atmosphere in keys; In the third place, descending scales’integration with rhythm may help express sadness better. Not only "Dumka", but also Russian folk music and other Russian pieces in which descending scales have been widely used and they also play important roles, Tchaikovsky himself has a preference for descending scales. Descending scales is an important means of expressing grief. Descending scales is the sorrowing soul of "Dumka".