Farewell Chord·Mode Expansion·Mode Regression

This paper mainly discusses the harmony and form of Gustav Mahler’s(1860-1911)Symphony No.9,and summarizes the innovation of this paper through the following three concepts.In the aspect of harmony,this paper puts forward "farewell chord" for the first time--the character chord in Mahler’s Ninth Symphony.According to Professor Wang Chengyong’s concept of character chord,it can be found that this work has obvious distinctive personality,and has a certain systematic and regular chord.The structural meaning of "farewell chord" in the first movement of the work is very obvious,which has the same meaning as "Tristan chord","Trier chord","mysterious chord" and other character chords.This paper also puts forward the concept of "mode expansion",which is influenced by the familiar "tonality expansion".Through the concept of "mode expansion",we can better understand the composer’s thinking mode of harmony function logic.After discussing and analyzing the relationship between tonality and mode,we can conclude that Mahler’s "mode expansion" is realized in the major minor system through the alternation of the same tonic mode and then the alternation of parallel modes.The harmony logic it represents is the alternation of parallel major and minor modes by using the common alternate chord of the same tonic mode in major and minor modes.In the aspect of musical form,this paper proposes that "mode regression "-not tonality return,is an important basis for the establishment of sonata form in the first movement of the Ninth Symphony.Although the three part program of the sonata form is complete,its internal structure is far from the typical sonata form,and it is also combined with the circulation principle to a certain extent.From the second movement,the form began to be mainly variant form structure.The structure of the second movement is a double reproduction and double complex trilogy,which belongs to the "re-variation" of the variant form;the fourth movement is similar to the second movement in structure,which is a double reproduction and double complex trilogy with omission of interposition,and the third movement is a variant of the regression form.Based on the theoretical system of Professor Yang Ruhuai and the course of Sposobin and acoustics,this paper draws on Professor Wang Chengyong’s theory of character chords and Professor Wang Guisheng’s theory of mode reduction in Bartok’s research,and is influenced by Professor Tong Zhongliang’s and Liu Kanghua’s theory of tonal expansion.