D Major9 - Research on Harmony - Variation 5

Nine notes — the densest étude in the series. D1, D2, D3, A3, D4, E4, A4, C#5, F#7. Every tone of the D major ninth is present: root, third, fifth, seventh, ninth. The fifth A sits low at A3 and again at A4. The ninth E appears at E4, yellow among the oranges. The seventh C#5 adds its blue-green. F#7 crowns the phrase in silver, a distant green fading to near-white. Played Lent, mp, legato, in three — descending from F#7 to D1.

The canvas holds every color in the chord's palette. Orange fills the lower half in graduated darkness. Yellow at E4 and blue-green at C#5 interrupt the warmth at mid-register. Yellow-orange at A3 and A4 sits between them. Silver at F#7 floats alone at the top, far above the rest — a wide gap between C#5 and F#7.

The fullest statement — every chord tone accounted for, nine notes spanning seven octaves, the waltz descending from a single silver point through the complete palette of the D major ninth.