“Dear old Bach!” exclaimed Miss Georgiana Gush.
“The Neapolitan Sixth,” continued Mr. Dubbe, “is usually found in the first inversion; hence the [p 238] />]name, the sixth indicating the first inversion of the chord.”
“How clever!” said Mrs. Gottem-Allbeat.
“It is an altered chord, the altered tone being the super-tonic. The real character of the chord is submediant of the subdominant key; that is, it is a major chord, and the use of such a major chord in the solemn minor tonalities is indicative of the superficiality of the Italian school—a desire for a change from the strict polyphonic music of the times. Even the stern Bach was influenced.”
“The Italians are so frivolous,” said Mrs. Boru-Stiffe.
“A reign of frivolity ensued,” went on Mr. Dubbe. “Not only was Italian music influenced by this sixth, but Italian art, architecture, sculpture, even material products. Take, for example, Neapolitan ice-cream. Observe the influence of the sixth. The cream is made in three color tones—the vanilla being the subdominant, as the chord is of subdominant character; the strawberry being the submediant, and the restful green the lowered supertonic or altered tone.”
“What is the pineapple ice?” asked Miss Gay Votte.
“The pineapple ice is the twelfth overtone,” replied Mr. Dubbe.
“There doesn’t seem to be anything that Mr. [p 239] />]Dubbe doesn’t know,” whispered Mrs. Fuller-Prunes to me with a smile.
I should say there wasn’t!