Comment on "The Geometry of Musical Chords"
Dave Headlam* and
Matthew Brown
Tymoczko (Reports, 7 July 2006, p. 72) proposed that the familiar sonorities of Western tonal music cluster around the center of a multidimensional orbifold. However, this is not true for all tonal progressions. When prototypical three-voice cadential progressions by Bach converge on the tonic, the chords migrate from the center to the edge of the orbifold.
Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester, 26 Gibbs Street, Rochester, NY 14604, USA.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: dheadlam{at}esm.rochester.edu