Progression of major triads on minor thirds
The notes of a diminished 7th chord form a 'circle of minor thirds'.
I've noticed that some composers modulate through one or more major triads built on successive minor thirds, e.g. major triads on F#, A, C, Eb, (and back to F#).
Is there much to be said about this harmonic sequence?
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Each chord change is to a chromatic mediant.
To this list of notable examples add: Gesualdo, Moro Lasso a Renaissance madrigal and Orlande de Lassus, Prophetiae Sibyllarum.
The sound isn't new or modern.
One outgrowth is that this sequence creates an octatonic collection. More specifically, it creates the half-whole octatonic collection beginning on the roots of the triads. In fact, you can get this octatonic collection by using major triads, minor triads, minor seventh chords, and dominant seventh chords all separated by minor thirds, a feature used by several Russian composers around the end of the nineteenth century.
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