Ab Major - Research on Harmony - Variation 2

Seven notes played Modéré, mp, legato, in four — the only variation at moderate tempo, an even tread neither rushed nor lingering. The line arches from Ab1 through C3 and C4 to Ab5, then up to C6 and C7: a bell contour, the phrase rising to the upper registers before settling. The third appears three times across the span, the red of C asserting itself at every level.

Dark blue toward black anchors the bass at Ab1. The middle opens into red and red-violet where the thirds cluster — warm tones glowing against the cool root. Blue-violet touches appear where the fifths would be, but here the fifth is absent from the notes entirely. At the top, C6 and C7 fade the red toward pale pink, near-white.

The first bell shape in the series, and the only moderate tempo. A measured arc, the chord rising and returning, the third dominant from bass to treble while the fifth stays silent.