Db Minor - Research on Harmony - Variations 10

The only waltz, and the only phrase that climbs without returning. Seven notes ascend from Db1 to E6 — Animé, mp, legato, in triple time — the series closing with an upward gesture after nine valleys. No accents intrude; every note belongs to the triad. Ab3 and Ab4 hold the fifth in blue, Db4 carries the root in blue-green, and E4 brings the third's yellow into the middle before E6 opens into pale light at the top.

The canvas is the darkest in the series. Shadow and midtones claim nearly everything — the sub-bass roots weighing the painting toward black, the middle filled with deep blue and blue-green where root and fifth overlap. Only a small opening of light appears at the top where E6 reaches toward brightness. The waltz rhythm gives the ascent a gentle turning motion, but the painting stays heavy, grounded in the low register.

The closing study — Db Minor finally lifting upward, but carrying its darkness with it.