6791 / 18210 · Workshop 50 — “Nefertiti”: Repetition as Development, Harmonic Motion Under a Fixed Theme, Metric Ambiguity, and Learning to Change the Background Instead of the Melody← prev⊞ allnext →
50.63Level 38 — harmonic ambiguity created retrospectively
First repeat under Cm makes melody sound minor.
Second repeat under A♭ makes some same notes sound extensions.
Third under D♭ makes G perhaps ♯11.
The listener reinterprets the melody retrospectively:
“Oh—that note was not emotionally fixed after all.”
This is one of the most beautiful properties of reharmonization.