G Major - Research on Harmony - Variation 4

The tempo breaks open. Variation 4 is the series' first Animé étude — 88 beats per minute, triple time, a sense of forward motion that the descending and slow bell études didn't carry. The waltz returns, but now it has energy rather than meditative calm.

Six notes, ascending: from G2 (near-black) the line climbs toward B6 (pale yellow-green) where the phrase hangs suspended. G Major's third appears twice at the top — B5 and B6 — giving the peak a double brightness, the pale yellow-green radiating in two adjacent octaves before the phrase rests.

Highlights dominate overwhelmingly; shadow is nearly absent. The painting is oriented toward the upper register — luminous and forward-moving. With Variation 4, the series shifts character: the slow falling line of the opening gives way to an animated ascent.