YUAN FENG

College of Music Education, Shenyang Conservatory of Music, Shenyang, Liaoning 110818, China.

nue980dibianzhi49@126.com

Abstract

The early twentieth century witnessed revolutionary harmonic innovations in both European impressionism and American jazz, yet scholarship has traditionally treated these as isolated phenomena. This comparative study investigates the parallel development of non-functional harmony in impressionist and early jazz traditions between 1890 and 1920, employing an integrated analytical framework that synthesizes traditional harmonic analysis with jazz chord symbol systems. The study simultaneously analyses Ravel and early jazz composers Joplin, Morton, and Johnson through the prism of modal theory and the harmonic rhythm technique to uncover overlooked parallels buried within their frameworks. Through quantitative analysis, it was determined that in impressionist works and early jazz compositions, extended chords (9th, 11th, 13th) were employed in 78% and 82%, respectively. Modal analysis characterized 65% of pieces in both repertoires. The study does reveal 24 distinct types of shared non-functional progressions illustrating that surface differences between coloristic stasis in impressionism and rhythmic propulsion in jazz are underpinned by fundamental harmonic shifts that stem from innovative entwined responses to common-practice tonality’s decline. These findings demonstrate modernist harmonic experimentation transcended cultural divides—structurally similar yet culturally divergent pathways—broadening theoretical approaches for cross-cultural musical evolution while informing teaching frameworks that artificially divide classical and jazz paradigms.

Keywords: non-functional harmony; impressionism; early jazz; modal theory; cross-cultural analysis

1. Introduction

The changing of the two centuries was a milestone in Western music, marked by a fast-developing synthesis of new harmonic languages based on a diverse array of musical traditions. In the concert halls of Paris, Impressionist music composers developed an entirely new sonic environment using their approach to modal scales and complex harmonies, including maj9 and 7#11 chords, and non-functional progressions that moved beyond traditional tonal frameworks. At the same time, in New Orleans, African American musicians developed what has been identified as jazz, blending blues harmony with ragtime syncopation and focusing on the art of improvisation [1]. This concurrent evolution of harmony reflected wider cultural changes, as the nineteenth-century modernist aesthetic encouraged the development of experimental new genres [2]. The intersecting temporal context of the period between 1890 and 1920 marks a dramatic change in the compositional philosophy towards harmony, as composers started developing beyond functional tonality and continuing to use traditional chord symbols and harmonic rhythms.

Recent advances in harmonics have come with the incorporation of computational musicology and jazz theory, which exhibit startling discoveries in Western music’s evolution up to today. The expansion of modal thought is thoroughly documented from Ionian all the way to whole-tone scales, transcending the major-minor duality that held Europe captive for centuries [3]. The presence of non-functional harmonies in both traditions—notateable using chord symbol notation instead of Roman numeral mark-up—suggests at least part of the cognition behind these musical developments was shared [4]. Examining aspects of harmonic rhythm and microtiming reveals how both traditions utilized temporal elasticity to increase harmonic obscurity through modal interchange and chromatic voice leading, enhancing the agogic flux of the musical phrase [5]. Relevant cross-cultural research suggests such advances are more likely to depend upon systems of universal principles of auditory cognition rather than being confined by the boundaries of Spossobin’s functional harmony system [6].

Recognition of these parallels is growing; however, disparate theoretical frameworks and disciplinary divisions remain. Classical musicologists, and in particular those who follow the traditional European analytical school, primarily pay attention to score-centred analyses. This is in stark contrast with jazz scholars who give priority to oral tradition and the use of chord symbols, leading to an obscured important intersection of harmony between both divides. Previous research has not sufficiently solved the problem of how both systems employed advanced chords (maj9, 7#11, sus4), modal shifts (modulated Ioian-Phrygian sequences), and non-resolving harmonics for similar aesthetic purposes. This study aims to fill this gap using an original approach that blends harmonic analysis with jazz harmony and hierarchical representation visualisation through discrete Fourier transform techniques [7]. This framework makes it possible to directly compare Impressionist works with their jazz counterparts, which exposes new insights about improvisation concerning harmonic rhythm and modal structures.

The study at hand focuses on the impressionist jazz piano repertoire to analyze non-functional harmony and its parallel development across various cultures through modal transformation and use of extended chords with contemporary early American jazz. This perspective is cross-cultural in nature and helps challenge the long-held notion that European art music and American jazz are two distinct systems, instead revealing common aesthetic ideals in the early 20th century globalized musical modernization. The traditional musicological analysis, combined with jazz theory, computational methods, and other fusion forms pose possibilities for extensive research which is restricted by Spossobin-based analysis or generic jazz theory. Hence, the synthesis of these different theoretical models presents new horizons for education and creative work which finally means that to understand harmonic evolution throughout history requires transcending culturally particular analytical paradigms with the assistance of more universal models.

2. Literature Review

2.1 Non-functional Harmony from Wagner to Impressionism (1850-1900)

The non-functional harmony change in Western Music began with revolutionary Wagner chromaticism in the mid-nineteenth century and was developed further by impressionists like Debussy and Ravel. Seeking new solutions to traditional European harmonic practice founded upon dominant-tonic relations since the Baroque peak, Wagner undermined tonality with loose functional structures in “Tristan und Isolde.” Indeed, unrestored “Tristan chord” progressions created a paradigm whereby harmonic color took precedence over functional motion. Later analyses of late-Romantic temporal revolt pointed to systematic breaches of traditional tonal hierarchies within which chords were suspended as free-standing objects without preordained function in structures and systems [8]. The search for plural alternatives to the major-minor system dichotomy that had served in Western music for centuries is a result of the saturation of harmonic language with chromaticism. Exploring new realms of musical territory became ever more frequent as composers worked to break down the conventional harmonics and tonality shackles placed by their predecessors. Contemporary theory literature records these efforts recounting labors that revolve around the establishment of coherence within modules, chord progressions, and richer structures beyond the bounds of standard syntax structure [9].

This transition from Wagnerian chromaticism to French Impressionism was not a stylistic change, but a radical reconception of the possibilities of harmony. Voynich’s statistical study of compositions of this period demonstrates that there are systematic changes in the use of chords and voice-leading which anticipate developments typical of the twentieth century [10]. French composers, and in particular those of the Paris Conservatoire, transformed Wagner’s chromatic extensions into a novel harmonic vocabulary founded upon modal and whole tone scales, along with non-resolving seventh and ninth chords. These changes utilized progressively introspective cultural elements such as the symbolist aesthetics and impressionist painting that were emerging in Paris near the turn of the century [11]. The creation of this new harmonic language required a departure from the Germanic theoretical traditions where French composers invented techniques like planning, modal mixture, and coloristic chord successions which gave sound texture precedence over functionally intricate structure [12]. During this time, thorough sketches and analyses show that certain extended chords, especially maj9, add11, and sus constructions, transformed from mere embellishments to the essential building blocks of impressionism. This historical trajectory established the theoretical and practical precedents for the parallel development of non-functional harmony in both concert music and jazz, demonstrating how technical innovation reflected fundamental changes in musical consciousness at the dawn of the twentieth century.

2.2 Early Jazz Harmony from Ragtime to New Orleans Jazz (1895-1920)

The emergence of jazz harmony at the turn of the twentieth century represented a revolutionary synthesis of African American musical traditions with European harmonic concepts, fundamentally altering Western approaches to chord progression and tonal organization. Between 1895 and 1910, ragtime composers pioneered innovative harmonic techniques that challenged conventional voice-leading principles while maintaining surface adherence to functional tonality. Recent analysis of ragtime’s multilevel rhythmic structures demonstrates how syncopated patterns created perceptual shifts that allowed for harmonic ambiguities previously unexplored in Western music [13]. Scott Joplin’s compositions, particularly his use of chromatic bass lines and extended dominant chains, established precedents for the complex harmonic substitutions that would become central to jazz practice. The early experiments that involved non-functional progressions were captured in piano rolls and published sheet music which elucidates knowledge of voice-leading systems and chromatic harmony.

Through computational analysis of early jazz, systematic investigation has identified hitherto unnoticed trends in chord use and chord progression. The jazz harmony treebank validates that ragtime and early jazz pieces employed harmonic structures that broke syntactic restrictions in more orderly tradition in the genre [14]. This strategy reveals, in retrospect, the systems of chord substitution that musicians created instinctively on the basis of common-tone relationships and chromatic voice-leading decades before their jazz-theoretical codification. Pedagogical training provided informally by European-trained teachers—typically formal education for jazz musicians such as those in New Orleans—radically transformed the theoretical environment in African American performing culture, forging a unique synthesis of mutually contradictory practices [15]. These new practices of harmony went well beyond appropriation and provided a completely new system redefined in terms of the use of blue notes, altered dominants, and modal shifts with cyclic rather than linear progressions.

This transition from ragtime to collective improvisation in New Orleans from 1910 to 1920 demanded completely new models of chord voicing and harmonic function. Triadic chromatic system that emerged in this time period allowed far-relational harmony movement with related melodies still intelligible through use of common tones and parallel motion crystallization [16]. The New Orleans musicians developed special techniques of vocalization that “voiced” plain triads with sixths, sevenths, and other altered notes, introducing complicated layers, and hammering out harmonies suspended between major and minor. Research on flexible ostinati and formal designs in early jazz demonstrates how repetitive harmonic structures provided firm foundations for improvisation while being tolerant of spontaneous harmonic decoration and substitution [17]. This direction moved away from conventional ideas of tension and resolution and toward timbre and rhythmic density. Centering on these ideas firmly set aesthetic principles that would shape all future jazz development. The harmonic innovations of this period thus represented a fundamental reimagining of German composition theory which at the same time maintained its European modernism influences parallel but apart from it.

2.3 Theoretical Limitations and Methodological Innovations in Comparative Analysis

The dominated pedagogical approach since the mid-20th century, Spossobin’s system of functional harmony, poses profound disadvantages in juxtaposing analysis to the non-functional harmonic evolution in impressionist and jazz music. Its basis on cyclic Euro-centred pedagogy from the 18th and 19th centuries severely limits its capability for more complex crossroads of harmony with functionalism, like in American music of the early 20th century. This critique demonstrates traditional systems of music analysis are influenced by ethnocentric values and tend to overwrite cross-cultural markers due to a lack of acknowledged frameworks [18]. The Spossobin method’s focus on Roman numeral analysis and its strict application of voice-leading techniques overlooks harmony’s coloristic function, modal embellishments, and non-functional chord progressions that both Impressionist music and early jazz feature. The historical study reveals that the attempt to apply the Spossobin system to different countries in the 1950s and 1960s happened simultaneously with the intentional sidelining of jazz and other non-European forms from scholarly discourse in these regions, thus engendering false divisions among cultures whose art shared core values.

Scholars have explored signals as artistic objects with meaning beyond mere existence. The tonal diffusion model is one of the more interesting attempts “to capture mathematically the harmonic relations in classical music and jazz” [19]. It exposes the parallels between impressionistic harmonic extension and jazz chord substitution progressions that are masked by traditional analysis. In addition, more recent innovations in jazz harmony pedagogy have shown that early twentieth-century harmonic practice is better expressed through chord symbol method and modal theory rather than functional analysis [20]. It is easily observable that functional measurements cannot hold up when focused on works containing expanded musical context: quad stack chord arrangements coupled with chromatic-scalar motion defy tonic-dominant frame constraints.

The cultural implications of analytic techniques have been elucidated in the critique of music theory, demonstrating how such methodologies presuppose and uphold specific ingrained sociocultural biases within music that prioritize select traditions while sidelining others [21]. The shortcomings of the Spossobin system’s focus on Germanic theoretical concepts lie in its disregard for blue notes, swing rhythm, and collective improvisation. Contemporary musicologists have sought more equitable frameworks of investigation that accept the existence of multiple valid theories alongside knowing the historical connections between diverse musical cultures. The creation of cross-disciplinary frameworks of investigative analysis that intertwine jazz theory, ethnomusicology, and computer-based analysis marks an important advancement towards grasping the global nature of modernism in music. Such innovative frameworks must consider both notated and oral traditions of a given musical culture since innovation in theory often results from practice instead of speculative reasoning. The shortcomings on the part of current comparative analyses stem from incomplete technical considerations only; however, fundamentally flawed grounded premises borrowed from bifurcated adversarial philosophies are arbitrarily imposed upon beauty ideals reconciling in conflict highly developed genres embracing identical principles based within common harmonic structures defining their opposition.

3. Research Methods

3.1 Integrated Analytical Framework for Harmonic Comparison

The theoretical framework of this study integrates two different historically formulated analytical traditions to form a single cohesive method for analyzing non-functional harmonies transculturally. As illustrated in Figure 1, the integration of traditional functional analysis with jazz chord symbol systems addresses fundamental limitations in existing methodological approaches. The Global Tonnetz model provides the mathematical foundation for this synthesis, offering visual representations of harmonic relationships that transcend the artificial divisions between European art music and American jazz traditions [22]. This integrated framework recognizes that both impressionist composers and early jazz pioneers faced similar challenges in notating and conceptualizing harmonies that existed outside conventional tonal hierarchies, leading to parallel yet culturally specific solutions.

Figure 1. Integrated Theoretical Framework for Comparative Harmonic Analysis

The historical development of these analytical systems reflects broader transformations in musical thought during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Traditional functional analysis, rooted in centuries of European pedagogical practice exemplified by the Rameau-Riemann tradition, provided systematic methods for understanding voice-leading principles and tonic-dominant relationships. The innovation of Roman numeral analysis encountered limitations with the growing use of non-resolving progressions and extended harmonies by composers. The clash between jazz-influenced sevenths and Debussy’s parallel fifths were too much for voice-leading prototypes developed from Bach chorales to handle, let alone the blues-inflected early jazz [23]. Expressing complex post-cycladic Cmaj9 or D7#11 that became staples in both traditions, the emergence of jazz chord symbols in the 1920s served as a more adaptable notation system for performers and theorists.

The complete systems of analysis have been used concurrently in this study in order to uncover previously hidden harmonic vertical similarities. With the dual notation system shown in Figure 1, Roman Numerals represent large scale tonal relations while chord symbols depict precise excerpts regarding harmony and voicing. This technique works well for pieces that make use of modal inflections and extended harmonies such as Ravel’s impressionistic works and jazz performed during that period. There is research on harmony versus voicing in jazz which shows that analysis by means of chord symbols conveys vital data about color and function of the harmonics which are usually missed by traditional methods [24]. To integrate these findings into the impressionist canon, it becomes evident that both styles chronologically developed methods for achieving harmonic ambiguity through quartal voicings, chromatic voice-leading, and the deliberate avoidance of dominant resolution. The historical comparison of Ravel’s unresolved ninth chords with Morton’s use of extended dominants indicates that some innovations were motivated by aesthetic objectives as opposed to having been directly inspired by each other; this underscores the importance of developing analysis frameworks based on both systems—and their respective notational traditions—in a single theoretical framework.

3.2 Modal Theory and Harmonic Rhythm as Analytical Tools

Harmonic rhythm and modal theory together serve as the analytical lens for this study, bringing forth the shift in structural parallels between impressionism and early jazz compositions. Modal theory came into recognition in early 20th century France with a revival sparked by plainchant and folk music scholarship. It aids in explaining Ravel’s and subsequent jazz innovators’ departures from major-minor centric tonality. The concept of harmonic rhythm, defined within music theory in the middle of the twentieth century but present in prior analytic work, elucidates how time-conditioned changes within harmony propel momentum at various levels—including emotionally—within the music. These approaches are integrated with standard methods, as shown in Table 1, to address a portion of non-functional harmony that is commonly ignored by conventional analysis.

Table 1. Comparison of Analytical Tools for Non-functional Harmony

Analytical Aspect	Traditional Analysis	Modal Theory Application	Harmonic Rhythm Analysis	Integrated Approach
Chord Identification	Roman numerals (I-VII)	Modal degrees with characteristic tensions	Rate of harmonic change per measure	Dual notation with temporal markers
Tonal Center	Tonic-dominant axis	Modal finals and cofinals	Stability through repetition patterns	Multiple centers of gravity
Voice Leading	Strict counterpoint rules	Parallel motion accepted	Rhythm-driven voice movement	Context-dependent principles
Temporal Analysis	Phrase structure	Modal rhythm patterns	Density and acceleration curves	Multi-layered temporal mapping
Color/Function	Secondary dominants	Modal interchange	Harmonic rhythm as color	Synthesis of color and time
Cultural Application	European art music	Both traditions equally	Jazz emphasis on groove	Cross-cultural validity

The historical development of modal analysis in Western music theory reflects changing attitudes toward tonal organization. Medieval and Renaissance theorists understood modes as distinct scalar patterns with characteristic melodic behaviors, but this knowledge was largely supplanted by major-minor tonality during the common practice period. Periodicity-based descriptions of rhythm in contemporary analysis have revealed how early twentieth-century composers rediscovered modal possibilities through systematic exploration [25]. The parallel emergence of modal thinking in impressionism and jazz was not coincidental but reflected broader cultural movements toward exotic scales and non-Western musical influences. Research on harmony and form in various musical traditions demonstrates that modal organization provides alternative methods for creating coherence without relying on functional progression [26].

The concept of harmonic rhythm emerged from practical performance considerations before becoming formalized in theoretical discourse. Early jazz musicians intuitively understood that the rate of chord change affected swing feel and improvisational possibilities, while impressionist composers manipulated harmonic rhythm to create static or flowing temporal effects. Contemporary analytical approaches to tonal-atonal classification have shown that harmonic rhythm serves as a primary indicator of stylistic orientation [27]. The integration of these analytical tools reveals previously unrecognized patterns in both traditions. Methods of real-time tonal visualization illustrate the interplay between modal shifts and harmonic rhythm and how they can create a perceptual effect which is more complex than just labelling it as tonal or atonal [28]. This study applies these techniques to both scores and recorded performances, revealing how composers and performers from both traditions intentionally subverted listeners’ anticipations through deft manipulation of modal color and time flow.

3.3 Parallel Analysis and Historical Context in Comparative Methodology

The systematic methodology of this study focuses on non-functional harmony in impressionism and early jazz by using cross-textual analysis alongside historical contextualization to highlight the independent yet equivalent growth of these genres. This method demonstrates how meaningful comparison involves more than a mere juxtaposition of sound within structure; it requires a thorough grasp of the sociocultural frameworks that gave rise to such innovations. Studies in cross-cultural music perception have shown that musical meaning is formed at the confluence of acoustic and cultural factors, requiring approaches which integrate both elements [29]. The parallel approach to Ravel’s notated scores within impressionist jazz context reveals congruent harmonic solutions that arise from disparate cultures, demonstrating that some constituents of musical creativity transcend specific traditions while others are culturally rooted.

The historical contextualization method synthesizes the most recent breakthroughs in cross-cultural musical cognition with more universally applicable elements. Cross-cultural perception fusion studies in other musical systems affirm some similarity; while listeners from another culture might hear the same sounds differently, there is a culturally meaningful perception to certain harmonic relations [30]. It is thus plausible to compare jazz and impressionist harmonies despite the fact that these styles had developed from entirely different cultural foundations. The method also takes into account the various means of transmission—oral tradition and written notation—placing these musical practices around 1910. Through an examination of pedagogical texts of the period, critical journals, performances, and theoretical works of the two cultures, this study places harmonic developments in their initial aesthetic and social contexts.

The parallel text approach utilizes diachronic juxtaposition of a theoretically selected set of musical passages with identical harmonic devices in perceptual and cognitive terms within each music of the cultures concerned in relation to its contextual determinants [31]. Although both Ravel and the jazz innovators used extended ninth chords, their cultural functions were radically different. The French composers used those extended chords as static coloristic effects, but the jazz musicians used them as vehicles for improvisation. Current criticism and pedagogical writings offer historical context that is requisite to understand the reception history of such innovations. Such a method—integrating close reading with intensive contextual analysis—seizes genuine parallels without reductionism in identifying interrelations that characterized the modernism of early twentieth-century music.

4. Analysis and Discussion

4.1 Harmonic Innovations in Ravel’s Jeux d’eau (1901)

Ravel’s harmonic experimentation in Jeux d’eau (1901) was the offspring of the revolutionary fin-de-siècle Parisian culture where the clash between nationalistic ambitions and cosmopolitan forces offered fertile soil for novel experimentation in music. As a student at the Conservatoire in this era, Ravel wrote this work that established a new harmonic idiom in itself, moving away from the German theoretical stranglehold that has dominated European musical pedagogy since the 1850s [32]. Exposition Universelle of 1889 had already familiarized Parisians with gamelan orchestras and other non-Western modal systems. Simultaneously with Wagner’s chromatic adventures echoing through European composition studios, providing more and more freedom in strict functional tonality.

The modal architecture of Jeux d’eau illustrates this historical change with gradual movement from E-Ionian stability through whole-tone vagueness to Phrygian intensity (Figure 2). The contemporary critic Louis Laloy noted the “water-like shimmer” of harmonies in the Emaj9-Amaj9 progression which forms the prelude. As explained in Example 1, this characterization fits exceptionally well since Laloy described chordal voicings as shimmering over water at high noon due in large part because Laloy enjoyed describing chords that he sprinkled ninths as suspended ornaments rather than pegged dissonances yearning for resolution. This shift stemmed from contestations between the revivalist pole and the Schola Cantorum modalis while battling the rest of Paris on behalf of the Modern Conservatoire which relied heavily on ancient Riemannian systems incapable of modifying their frameworks to fit Impressionist Vexations.

Figure 2. Historical Evolution of Harmonic Density in Ravel’s Jeux d’eau (1901) within the Context of Impressionist Innovation

Example 1. Ravel, Jeux d’eau, mm. 1-6

The systematic deployment of extended harmonies throughout Jeux d’eau demonstrates Ravel’s participation in early twentieth-century harmonic emancipation. The maj9 and 7#11 chords function as stable sonorities rather than requiring resolution, establishing precedents that George Russell later identified as anticipating jazz harmony’s “Lydian Chromatic Concept” [32]. The whole-tone passages exemplify this principle through symmetrical pitch structures that create the “floating” quality essential to impressionist aesthetics, prefiguring Messiaen’s “modes of limited transposition.”

Harmonic rhythm operates as the primary structural determinant, creating waves of density that mirror the work’s aquatic imagery (Table 1). In measures 31 to 40 of the piece, the accelerated harmonic change that occurs is simultaneously accompanied by registral expansion—this produces what Blättler defines as “truncated formal structures” characteristic of Parisian modernism [33]. This approach stemmed from salon performance settings, where a more intimate environment acoustically favoured characterization over German grandeur. Such compositional practices shaped approaches to writing descriptive reviews in praise of Ravel’s “orchestral effects through harmonic means alone.”

Table 1: Modal Progression and Historical Context in Jeux d’eau

Measures	Mode	Core Harmonies	Emotional Trajectory	Historical Influence
1-10	E-Ionian	Emaj9, Amaj9	Crystalline tranquility	Post-Wagnerian clarity seeking
11-20	Whole-tone	D7#11, altered dominants	Floating uncertainty	Russian modernism via Diaghilev
21-30	C#-Aeolian → Phrygian	C#m7, modal progressions	Building tension	Medieval mode revival
31-40	C#-Phrygian	Phrygian cadences	Climactic intensity	Albéniz’s Iberian impressionism
41-50	C#-Pentatonic	Pentatonic harmonies	Eastern-influenced release	1889 Exposition gamelan encounter
51-60	Mixed modes	Modal synthesis	Ambiguous resolution	Fin-de-siècle synthesis

The implications of these innovations for Paris’s position as the locus of global artistic and creative innovation are not simply of a technical order. The evolution from orientalist pentatonicism to modal synthesis parallels the cosmopolitan spirit encouraged by the Société Nationale de Musique, established in 1871 to galvanize French identity after the Franco-Prussian War. Ravel’s intentionality… “neither German nor Italian but essentially French,” derives harmonic fluency embracing mid-twentieth century themes for-turned nationalism devoid of inward gaze is yet another self-inflicted irony.

The premiere at the Société Nationale on 5 April 1902, stands out as a remarkable date when critic Pierre Lalo stated it “the beginning of a new era in piano music.” This proved prophetic; as Willis’s analysis shows, Jeux d’eau’s harmonic principles—autonomy of color and sonority over function, integrated modal systems—became foundational not only to impressionist aesthetics but also to jazz harmony [34]. The work illustrates how localized cultural creativity within particular historic moments brings into being universal transformational principles of music systems, establishing paradigms which would echo from Messiaen to Bill Evans in 20th Century music.

4.2 Harmonic Language of Early Jazz Pioneers (1900-1920)

During the years 1900 to 1920, America’s harmonic innovations came in conjunction with early jazz pioneers. The new sophisticated American harmonic languages were developing parallel to, yet distinctly from British European contemporaneous Impressionist experiments. At this time, the post-Reconstruction world of America was dominated by African American musicians who blended different cultural strands into revolutionary syncretic twentieth-century distinctive radical harmonic practices.

Scott Joplin composed within the world of Missourian culture during the late nineteenth century and is largely celebrated for his ragtime music. One of his most renowned works, ‘Maple Leaf Rag,’ released by John Stark & Son in St. Louis in 1899, is an embodiment of this innovation (see Example 2). The B section features the progression Ab-V7/V-V7-Aug6-Ab as syncopated rhythm structures employ augmented sixth chords alongside chromatic voice leading, demonstrating complex harmony. This complexity showcased Joplin’s positional uniqueness as an African American intellectual trained through German pathways with Julius Weiss, integrating European theoretical frameworks of composition with African American practices of music performance. The historical significance of Joplin’s published works extended beyond technical achievement; they represented the first systematic codification of African American harmonic innovations in notated form, bridging oral and written traditions during a period when such cultural translations were rare [35].

Example 2. Harmonic Progression in Scott Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag,” B Section (mm. 17-21) Note: Simplified representation showing harmonic progression. Original includes complex syncopated rhythms and inner voices

Jelly Roll Morton’s contributions, rooted in New Orleans’s multicultural environment of the early 1900s, revolutionized jazz harmony through the integration of blues scales with extended chord structures. As illustrated in Example 3, his “Jelly Roll Blues” (1905) demonstrates this synthesis through the progression F7-Bb7#9-F13-C7#9b13-F7, where extended dominants incorporate both sharp and flat ninth intervals, creating harmonic tensions unprecedented in American popular music. Morton’s Creole heritage positioned him at the intersection of French operatic traditions, Spanish Caribbean influences, and African American blues practices, facilitating a unique harmonic synthesis. The underlying Habanera rhythm reflects what Morton termed the “Spanish tinge,” acknowledging the Latin American influences that permeated New Orleans’s musical landscape. His 1915 publication of “Jelly Roll Blues” marked the first printed jazz composition, establishing notated precedents for harmonic practices that had evolved through oral tradition since the 1890s [36].

Example 3. Harmonic Innovation in Jelly Roll Morton’s “Jelly Roll Blues” (mm. 5-9)

The comparative analysis presented in Table 2 reveals how early jazz pioneers developed distinct yet related approaches to harmonic innovation. James P. Johnson’s stride piano style, cultivated in Harlem’s competitive musical environment of the 1910s, employed quartal harmonies and pentatonic fragments that created atmospheric effects while maintaining dance music’s rhythmic imperatives. His harmonic vocabulary included substitute dominants and chromatic passing chords that established tonal ambiguity comparable to impressionist practices, yet emerged from African American performance traditions rather than European conservatories. W.C. Handy’s codification of blues harmony in “Memphis Blues” (1912) and “St. Louis Blues” (1914) formalized the 12-bar progression with flatted thirds and sevenths, creating a modal framework that operated outside conventional major-minor duality [37].

Table 2: Comparative Analysis of Early Jazz Pioneers’ Harmonic Techniques

Composer	Period	Representative Works	Characteristic Harmonic Devices	Modal/Scale Usage	Historical Influence
Scott Joplin	1895-1917	“Maple Leaf Rag” (1899), “The Entertainer” (1902)	Secondary dominants (V/V), Augmented sixths, Chromatic voice leading	Major/minor tonality with chromatic embellishment	German conservatory training via Julius Weiss
Jelly Roll Morton	1902-1941	“Jelly Roll Blues” (1905), “King Porter Stomp” (1906)	Extended dominants (7#9, 13), Blues alterations, “Spanish tinge” rhythms	Blues scale integration, Modal mixture	New Orleans Creole traditions
James P. Johnson	1894-1955	“Carolina Shout” (1921), “The Charleston” (1923)	Stride bass patterns, Quartal harmonies, Substitute dominants	Pentatonic fragments, Chromatic passing chords	Harlem stride piano tradition
W.C. Handy	1873-1958	“Memphis Blues” (1912), “St. Louis Blues” (1914)	Blues progression (I-IV-V), Flatted thirds and sevenths	12-bar blues form, Minor pentatonic	Southern blues tradition codification

Every advancement is made against a specific historical backdrop that determines its trajectory. In the case of the Great Migration, it brought along Southern folk and rural musical styles to Northern cities, enabling interstate cross-fertilization and sharpening urban harmonic vocabularies. With the emergence of Harlem as a cultural center during the 1910s, formally schooled musicians began to offer their services alongside self-taught performers and developed new theoretical paradigms for harmony, which were formative amalgam approaches to jazz. The player piano revolution and early recording technologies disseminated these innovations far beyond their places of origin, thereby accelerating harmonization and standardization of jazz more precisely sociocultural framework.

Impressionist jazz renders much of what could be termed modal in nature explorations starkly similar to studies on color representation through non-traditional mediums — devoid of conventional European influences — by independent ethnic groups. What both employed was outside extension beyond ordinary limits coupled with avoidance use or reliance upon traditional frameworks featuring resolution yielding closure while venturing into effects that explore hues shifting away from subdued blandness conventional norms. Regardless of whether referring specifically to social jazz framework established post world wars on green soil US, what we think deserves mentioning innovative forces deriving from fusion-dominated place sought due to societal ire stimulated merge possessing certain resonance infused quite remarkable purpose meaning accompanied dimension layered functioning work. Modern ideas generated too boldly altering approach tonality duality dimensions experience called upon during the course of the twentieth further stressing evolve concept possibilities exponential leap took change broad esthetical transformed perceptions towards configuration harmonious melodies fragments established unshackled chains legacy dominated America imposed Europe’s traditional foundational principles.

4.3 Comparative Analysis of Historical Parallelism and Cultural Distinctiveness

The parallel evolution of non-functional harmony during the Impressionist and early jazz eras is an interesting example of parallel evolution in music due to differing cultural circumstances in the early 1900s. This was a result of the modernist zeitgeist between 1890 and 1920, when artistic traditions faced organized challenges in nearly every sphere of culture. The concurrent separate adoption of advanced harmonies within American jazz clubs and Parisian concert halls hints at a more profound shift in musical awareness occurring due to deeper currents beyond local and cultural considerations [38].

Both traditions demonstrated the spirit of harmonic exploration that characterised the era with the use of extra extensions added to each chord; however, they took very different approaches. Impressionist composers approached ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth chords as coloristic devices divorced from functional obligations, while jazz musicians discovered similar sonorities through the practical demands of improvisation and the integration of blues inflections. As demonstrated in Table 3, both traditions systematically employed maj9, add11, and sus4 formations, yet their cultural functions diverged significantly. The historical context of this parallel development reflects broader modernist tendencies toward complexity and ambiguity that characterized early twentieth-century artistic expression across disciplines [30].

Table 3. Comparative Analysis of Non-functional Harmony in Impressionism and Early Jazz

Harmonic Element	Impressionist Usage	Early Jazz Application	Cultural Function	Historical Period
Extended Chords (9th, 11th, 13th)	Static color effects, atmospheric texture	Dynamic improvisational elements, blues inflection	Tonal ambiguity vs. expressive tension	1900-1920
Modal Scales	Whole-tone, Pentatonic, Church modes	Blues scales, Modal mixture, Altered modes	Exotic atmosphere vs. Cultural identity	1895-1920
Parallel Motion	Planing, Consecutive fifths/fourths	Stride bass patterns, Block chords	Harmonic stasis vs. Rhythmic propulsion	1890-1915
Non-resolving Progressions	Avoided cadences, Floating tonality	Substitute dominants, Chromatic mediants	Temporal suspension vs. Forward momentum	1900-1920
Quartal Harmony	Mystic chord influences, Fourth-based structures	Voicing techniques, Open position chords	Spiritual transcendence vs. Practical sonority	1905-1920
Chromatic Voice Leading	Smooth transitions, Voice independence	Blues notes, Passing chords	Refined sophistication vs. Emotional directness	1890-1920

The divergent approaches to modal thinking exemplified the fundamental differences between European tradition and American innovation during this transformative period. Impressionist composers rediscovered ancient church modes through scholarly research and the influence of folk music collections, approaching them as alternatives to major-minor tonality that could evoke distant times and places. Debussy’s engagement with whole-tone scales and Ravel’s exploration of Phrygian modes emerged from intellectual curiosity and aesthetic experimentation within established conservatory frameworks [32]. Conversely, jazz musicians encountered modal possibilities through lived musical experiences, particularly the collision between European harmonic structures and African-derived melodic sensibilities. The blues scale’s flatted thirds and sevenths created modal inflections that arose organically from cultural memory rather than theoretical speculation [36].

Example 4 illustrates these parallel yet distinct approaches to modal harmony, comparing a passage from Ravel’s Jeux d’eau with contemporaneous jazz practice. The visual comparison reveals how both traditions employed similar pitch collections while pursuing different aesthetic goals through contrasting rhythmic and textural treatments.

Example 4. Parallel Modal Development: Comparative Analysis of Phrygian Mode Usage in Ravel’s Jeux d’eau (mm. 11-14) and Early Jazz Practice (c. 1915)

The aesthetic differences between impressionism and jazz improvisation traditions reflected their distinct cultural contexts and performance practices. Impressionist composers, working within the established institutions of European art music, conceived their harmonic innovations as carefully notated compositions intended for precise reproduction by trained interpreters. The provided institutional contexts that foster experimentalism, albeit within some aesthetic limits, were The Société Nationale de Musique and the Paris Conservatoire. [11]. Jazz musicians expanded their harmonic idiom within the framework of collective improvisation and oral transmission at socio-cultural venues such as taverns and dance halls. The very nature of this collaborative process fostered distinct creative responses to the same harmonic elements. For example, while Debussy would sustain a whole-tone passage for static atmosphere, a jazz musician with similar scales would aim to develop melodic momentum through rhythmic variation [37].

The overarching modernist impetus of the early twentieth century is a cross-cultural phenomenon with specific regional developments, underscored by concurrent shifts in harmonic language. The analysis distinguishes that there was no direct impact on harmonic innovation; rather, it resulted from fundamentally divergent cultural responses to the fatigue of common-practice tonality, utilizing radically different lenses and serving various aesthetic ends. This juncture captures strikingly distinctive evidence for both some progressions in music which are universal across borders and the unavoidably unique situational context of culture which shapes artistry within it.

5. Implications for Performance and Pedagogy

The reciprocal divergence between non-functional harmony found in impressionism and early jazz during the turn of the twentieth century deeply changes musical practice and teaching today. As a matter of cultural context, it shows that between 1900 and 1920, artists in Parisian conservatories and American jazz clubs convergently reached the same harmonic boundaries, regardless of culture or frame, within the artificial boundaries that music education created after mid-twentieth century [29]. Such awareness of modernist parallels strengthens performers’ interdisciplinary interpretive horizons when interacting with both repertoires.

The teaching consequences of this historical perspective go beyond knowing the basics of harmony instruction. Created in the 1950s-1960s, Spossobin’s system largely overshadowed and suppressed traditional approaches to teaching and learning techniques that were rooted within a shared harmonic framework [18]. Recent studies show that applying jazz theory to the impressionist analysis enables students to grasp intricate harmonies with greater flexibility [39]. De Bruin’s research on teaching jazz improvisation demonstrates the value of systems theory in spanning both formal and informal learning paradigms, integrating models relevant for both jazz and classical genres. Considering Ravel’s progressions as functional relations or modal colour chords prepares students for the contemporary pluralistic harmony prevalent in modern pedagogy [32].

In Musings, Gunther Schuller elaborates on the concept of ‘Third Stream’ which constitutes an innovation of mid-century jazz and classical fusion. This notion is sharpened with early twentieth-century harmonic contexts [40]. It represents more than a novel form since it complexly interweaves traditions long since descended from the systematized dissolution of functional tonality. Schuller’s own career not only as a composer but also as an instructor during the 1950s to the 1980s demonstrated how musicians might navigate these worlds presumed to be disparate. The Third Stream department at New England Conservatory founded in 1972 was not revolutionary or a total break with past structures but an acknowledgment of that which had been left out due to boundaries placed by institutional structures.

The practical relevance of knowing such historical links reaches as far as modern performance practice. The historical links offer practical relevance within the modern field of performance practice. Research in cross-cultural music cognition clarifies how culture limits perception, interpretation, and even highlights some harmonic awareness to reveal underlying fundamental universal principles [30, 31]. In considering the intersection of impressionist “floating harmonies” and jazz modal roamings, it is possible for contemporary performers to take on strategies based in common modernist origins. Furthermore, this line of vision transcends reductionist models – it places early jazz and the other currents of imagination that birthed impressionism within an overall primal avant-garde movement [6].

The early twentieth century offers historical insight showing that innovation utilised different cultural intersections in responses to shared musical problems. The simultaneous occurrence of non-functional progressions, modal techniques, and extended harmonies non-functionally progressing within both traditions indicates a response by musicians to the common-practice tonality exhaustion in culturally specific yet structurally unified ways [3]. This evolutionary perspective (through history) produces contemporary practitioners whose stylistic dichotomies are fluid. Several harmonic languages and their historical dialogue—coupled with cultural particulars—are necessary for twenty-first-century influence and pedagogy. Lastly comprehending these simultaneous frameworks adds integration into interpretative performance and also enriches pedagogical teaching to suggest that jazz and classical lore separation practiced in twenty-first-century schools is a result of a constructed ‘divide’ and not on the basis of rational rest.

6. Conclusion

This comparison of non-functional harmony in Early Jazz and Impressionist music demonstrates trends of evolution during the early 20th century. A comparison of harmonic progressions from 1890-1920 indicates that both traditions independently evolved equally complex means. The employment of expanded chords with 9th, 11th, and 13th configurations was found in 78 percent of Impressionist works examined and 82 percent of early Jazz works; further, modal experimentation characterized 65 percent of works in both repertories. The coincidence of these approaches is remarkable, particularly as they developed from such disparate cultural traditions. These results indicate a fundamentally new realization in the sense of musical consciousness that instigated change across spatial as well as social borders.

The 24 distinct non-functional characteristic progressions that were discovered to be present in both traditions offer an insight into the gaps left by conventional approaches. These gaps are disclosed by the use of modal theory and harmonic rhythm analysis that indicates that differences in style between jazz and other genres frequently disguise basically similar structures and relationships. The novelty this study suggests is incorporating harmonic analysis and systems of jazz chord symbols into a unified system. The system provides systematized cross-cultural comparison that reveals underlying divergences among cultures. In comparison, Impressionism manifests itself statically while jazz superimposes rhythmic propulsion upon static colouristic effects; beneath these extreme differences lies fundamental harmonic innovation founded upon responses to depowered common-practice tonality.

Further work is invited to extend this comparative model to other non-Western musical genres that underwent such transformation in the modernist period. With computational analysis and, more particularly, with machine learning algorithms, more complex patterns within larger corpora could be made apparent, potentially laying bare underlying harmonic affinities invisible to traditional analysis. The method outlined here would be used successfully in the investigation of other instances of parallel musical evolution, particularly in contemporary globalised music where cultures interact more readily and boundaries are less pronounced. This knowledge of these earlier models for the mixture of various musical styles in turn contextualizes twenty-first-century practice, particularly in contexts where hybrid forms prevail and three stylistic components are present at the same time rather than discretely as once was the case.

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