32.2: Pandiatonicism

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Pandiatonicism refers to the use of all diatonic notes without the need for scale degrees or harmonies to progress or function tonally (V doesn’t need to progress to I, 7^ doesn’t need to resolve to 8^ , etc.). One often hears it as a wash of notes from the major scale, or as chords made of non-traditional combinations of notes from a major scale, often with at least one interval of a 2nd in a chord voicing.

In the first example, notice how Stravinsky creates a wash of sound from the notes of the major scale.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Stravinsky, Petrushka, Fourth Tableau: The Shrovetide Fair (Toward Evening)

In the second example, Copland uses non-traditional pandiatonic chord shapes in non-functional harmonic progression.

Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): Copland, Appalachian Spring

The third example is similar to the first, with Copland creating a wash of sound from the notes of the major scale, with no regard to the dissonant intervals occurring in counterpoint.

Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\): Copland, Appalachian Spring