Can the harmony change at the resolution of a suspension?

Question

I came across a 7-5 suspension for the first time today- as seen in the image. This is the first time I have come across a suspension which has a change of bass (that isn't an octave leap or fall) at the note of resolution.

Is it the case that when coming across suspensions like a 7-5 and 4-6, you take their first number as a cue that they will operate in the same way as their more conventional counterparts: 7-6 and 4-3, in terms of the bass note /inversion? Eg, If I see a 7-5 suspension, is it best to assume that, like the 7-6 suspension, the third will be in the bass, and the second of the chord will be the suspended note?

In the above example, as we are in A minor, my interpretation is that we have a chord of C major under the suspended note D, as I am treating the E in the bass as the third, the D as a suspended second, and the impending C as its root. Then, the bass note moves to F, exactly as the suspended note is resolved to C. In my interpretation, the harmony changes at this point to F major. In A minor, these would be chords III and VI. Is this correct?

Is it the case that with regards to suspensions whose bass notes change at the point of resolution, sometimes the bass will simply change to a different chord tone, continuing the same harmony, and sometimes the bass will change to a note that changes the harmony all together? Is it simply a case of looking at the rest of the progression and seeing what makes most sense?

The example is from a Figured Bass workbook. Online I can only find examples where the harmony stays the same, even if the bass note changes. Yet I couldn't interpret this example over one chord. so am I missing something?

Thanks for any time spent on this!

Ed

Answer 1

Yes. A favorite progression of mine is...

All seventh chords. The upper voices are held over the root changes, but relative to the roots the upper voices change from thirds of the chords to sevenths, the sevenths resolve with a downward step.

That image comes from a modern edition of partimenti rules by Fedele Fenaroli at https://sites.google.com/site/partimenti/resources/mon_of_partimenti/fenaroli.

The dark numbers in circles give scale degrees. The additional numbers in grey indicate how Fenaroli each two chord progression to be "almost as ^1 passing to their respective ^4." My understanding of that statement (translated from 18th century Italian) is: each iteration of a harmonic sequence can be considered similar to the first iteration but centered on a temporary, local tonic. Of course the critical word is "almost." Unless the sequence is chromatic each iteration will not be a literal transposition to a new tonic.

Answer 2

Can the harmony change at the resolution of a suspension?

Yes.

Is it the case that when coming across suspensions like a 7-5 and 4-6, you take their first number as a cue that they will operate in the same way as their more conventional counterparts: 7-6 and 4-3, in terms of the bass note/inversion?

No. For example, consider the suspensions below. The first two are 4-3; the third (a "retardation" — an upward-resolving suspension) is 4-6. You can see with the 4-3 suspensions that the bass at resolution could be either the root or third of the chord. So the presence of 4-3 isn't sufficient to determine the movement of the voices. You need to observe, for example, whether it's 4-(5)3 (as in the score you presented) or 4-6/3 (as in the second example below).

X: 1
T: 4-3 and 4-6 Suspensions
M: 3/2
L: 1/2
K: Amin
R: A minor
[V:1](F|"4"F)"3"E z | z2 (F|"4"F)"3"E z | z2 (F|"4"F)"6"G
[V:2 clef=bass]D,|C,2 z | z2 D,|C,2 z | z2 D,|C,B,,
s: iv III iv VI(6) iv III VII

If I see a 7-5 suspension, is it best to assume that, like the 7-6 suspension, the third will be in the bass, and the second of the chord will be the suspended note?

If the third were in the bass, the figure would include a 6. A 7-5 indicates the root will be in the bass.

Is [my harmonic analysis] correct?

Almost. The chord at the beginning of the suspension is D minor. The D is then suspended over an E minor chord (so, v), which resolves to F major (VI).

In order to interpret the chord under the suspended D as C major, the figure would have to be 7-6, rather than 7 alone.

Is it the case that with regards to suspensions whose bass notes change at the point of resolution, sometimes the bass will simply change to a different chord tone, continuing the same harmony, and sometimes the bass will change to a note that changes the harmony all together? Is it simply a case of looking at the rest of the progression and seeing what makes most sense?

Exactly right.