What is this chord in Grande Valse Brilliante?

Question

The chord circled in red is what I am asking about. I know that in the measure before, there is a diminished seventh chord. I'm certain that this is a dominant function chord(or at least, locally to the measure, it has dominant function(tritone is the biggest giveaway here)). This, along with 4 notes in the chord, narrows things down to:

• Dominant 7th(secondary or primary)
• Half Diminished 7th(secondary or primary)
• Diminished 7th(secondary or primary)
• Augmented Sixth
• Tritone substitution

Granted, the tritone substitution is pretty much nonexistent in Chopin's era(closest you get in notation is an unusually resolved augmented sixth chord), so that is out.

What are the notes in the chord? They are these notes:

Db, G, Bb, Ab

Or at least, that is what makes the most sense to me. But if I try to form a chord from these notes that Chopin would have used, I get nothing. Closest I get is a sixth chord(in the sense that there is an added sixth). Chopin wouldn't have used a sixth chord, at least, not a major or minor sixth chord. Could this be an augmented sixth? Well, these are the sixth intervals that are possible, including the possibility of F being a chord tone:

Db-Bb - Major Sixth

Bb-G - Minor Sixth

No augmented sixths in sight. Could this be a dominant seventh chord? No. Only 1 chord seems to fit, G halfdim7. This resolves to Ab major as expected. And this becomes part of a sequence, both melodically and harmonically.

So, the chord in question would be viiø7/IV, right, with the preceding chord being vii°7/IV?

Answer 1

As Old Brixtonian hints at in comments, this is simply a chain of suspensions. The primary chords in each bar are V⁷/IV - ii - cadential 6/4 - V⁷ - I in E-flat. In the last four bars, the final resolution of the suspensions in the right hand doesn't occur until the third beat in each measure.

The first two bars effectively contain a deceptive resolution of the secondary dominant V⁷/IV. Rather than going to IV, the chord resolves to ii. In the secondary key of A♭, that would be a V-vi progression. On the third beat of bar 2, the bass note shifts to A♭, to create a ii⁶ as would be expected moving into a cadence before the dominant.

So, what is happening on the downbeat of bar 2? Well, you have three notes suspended (held over) from the previous bar. The top B♭ resolves down to A♭. The G resolves up to A♭. The D♭ resolves down to C. All of these notes resolve precisely as expected in a deceptive resolution of a dominant seventh chord. The A♭ and F in the left hand are the actual "chord tones" at this point. The collection of notes on the downbeat of bar 2 would not have been viewed as a separate "chord," but rather a set of mostly non-harmonic tones (suspensions, in this case) that resolve on beat 3 of bar 2. A similar pattern repeats in each subsequent bar of the except.

As to the debate over whether the E♮ in the first bar is a chord tone, it really boils down to semantics. The E♮ is undoubtedly a chromatic passing tone. It can also be seen to imply a vii^o7/ii, which strengthens the motion to F minor. Note that this is a very typical addition to deceptive cadence resolutions, where scale degree 5 ascends upward through ♯5 to 6 in the local key. If we analyze this harmonic motion locally within the secondary key of A♭, this is a standard V⁷-vi motion with an interpolated passing tone. Whether you want to label the E-natural as a separate "chord" is more a matter of your analytical priorities. Chopin would undoubtedly have just thought of it as a standard chromatic passing tone ornament to a local "deceptive cadence-like" motion. That's the way such progressions were taught in keyboard treatises of the time.

Answer 2

The part you circled in red isn't really the chord. It's a non-chord tone device called a suspension.

The two chords involved at that moment are E diminished seven (circled in green) and F minor (circled in blue.)

Notice how those two chords overlap in time. When the bass goes from E to F the top voices don't change and hold the tones of the E diminished seven chord. Those top voices are suspended for a moment when the bass moves. When those top voices move down to the tones of the F minor chord is called the resolution.

In written harmony analysis, the bass is usually the point where a chord is identified and then non-chord tone symbols can be added on other voices. So you could put some F minor chord symbol under the F at the beginning of the bar, but on top of the treble voices you could add a mark "sus" to indicate there is a suspension.

Answer 3

Chopin's harmony is more like Bach's than his immediate predecessors. In other words, it's often more counterpoint than harmony.

This is just an F minor chord with a triple appoggiatura (the Db G and Bb). That is a straight forward progression after the Eb7 in the previous bar.

FWIW the E natural in the previous bar isn't a chord tone either. There is no diminished seventh chord there. It's just a passing note.

You have to use your ears to understand music. Ticking off the notes in the score one at a time to make "chords" out of them leads nowhere useful.

Answer 4

Just having a look without taking notice of the chords I hear the progression: Eb C7b9 Fm Bb7b9 Eb.

Analyzing the chords I agree with you that we have e-dim7 but leading to Fm and not leading to Ab: vii°7/ii. So I think your interpretation is quite close to mine. It is Fm chord in the left hand and above it the half notes of the right hand are suspended notes of the previous chord.