G Minor - Research on Harmony - Variation 6

This bell does not reach for the extreme. Among the Lent variations that climb toward Bb7 in Variations 2, 3, 5, and 7, Variation 6 contents itself with Bb6 as the summit — pale violet, not near-white, a crest that acknowledges its height without pressing further. The arc is complete and proportionate, neither compressed into a single octave nor stretched to seven.

Two F's establish the base: F1 and F2, the paired roots in the bass register, deepening toward black. Then D4 and D5 form the orange middle body of the arc, warm and even, before Bb4 and Bb6 close the phrase with the violet family — mid-violet at the turn, pale violet at the crest.

The painting occupies the middle ground of the series: fully realized, neither extreme in range nor in tonal imbalance, the six tones describing the arc with a directness that needs no augmentation.