1.  the polytonal greensleeves

dave brubeck’s solo version of ‘what child is this’ (adapted from dave brubeck - a dave brubeck christmas – 1996 - telarc jazz - cat. 83410)

this is a solo piano version played very slowly. i have only transcribed the parts of the ‘head’ where the style is distinctively brubeck and have combined and edited  them to make a playable arrangement. i did not transcribe the improvised sections

the most interesting aspect of this solo performance is its rather original approach to harmony. brubeck is often credited with being influenced by modern classical composers –especially darius milhaud – who is most often remembered as an exponent of polytonality. in brubeck’s solo  there are several sections of the performance that have elements of polytonality (especially bitonality).

greensleeves, even as it is traditionally played, is often ambiguous in its tonality – is it major or minor? – or perhaps a bit  of both. usually, the first section is minor (am) while the ‘chorus’ begins in the relative major key (c major), and then (perhaps/sometimes) finishes on an a major chord.

jazz players are very familiar with the idea  of minor and major occurring simultaneously as it does in the blues. brubeck carries the melody in his right hand in am and for the first 24 bars the melody is harmonized using the natural minor. at the same time, in the left hand, a series of chords voiced as 10ths  - f#, e, d, c#  - descend down in another key – the key of a major or perhaps f# minor. it is difficult to assign chord descriptions to this sort of bitonality, but one way is to view them as a series of #9 chords. these #9 chords, which contain both the major and minor third exploit this minor/major ambiguity.

other parts of the song use other devices that are interestingly polytonal. in bars 15 and 16 that lead to the chorus of the song, simple triads first descend chromatically from c major to am, then climb up in steps of minor 3rds in a series of chords without their 3rds  (a c eb) to gb7#9. and from bar 25, a similar series of left hand arpeggios climb in similar fashion. after the final 4 bars, the way brubeck finishes, is to add yet another tonality – he repeats the final 4 bar phrase modulating down a further minor third from am to f# major. you’ll need big hands to reach some of the big stretches in the left hand, but these can be rolled or played as an arpeggio as shown.

another minor challenge, is the change in time signature and feel at bar 17 – overlaying the quarter note triplets against the eighth note triplets in the left hand.  this is again typical  brubeck - he is also remembered as the leader that introduced ‘odd’ approaches to time in jazz – using unusual (for jazz) time signatures, and overlaying and mixing different time signatures within the one song.

for those who are not good readers however, it may be comforting to note that ‘….. in college brubeck was nearly expelled when one of his professors discovered that he could not read sheet music. several of his professors came forward arguing for his ability with counterpoint and harmony, but the school was still afraid that it would cause a scandal, and only agreed to let brubeck graduate once brubeck promised never to teach piano!’
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