Poetic Endings: The Major-Major Seventh Chord
At the end of a piece, sometimes we seek something more expressive than a simple tonic triad. Several of my works, including my Poem No. 2 for piano, conclude with a major-major seventh chord. In a major-major seventh chord, a major seventh is added above a major triad. In A-flat major, the resulting tonic seventh chord is spelled: A-flat, C, E-flat, G. This chord has a “cool” sound familiar to jazz musicians, which suits this very peaceful ending.
Here the seventh of the chord is quite subtle, tied over from the previous measure with a pianississimo dynamic. The major-major seventh sonority is not just a device conjured up for the last measure, however, but an integral part of the piece. It is presented in the very first bar (at right above), which launches the mysterious 24-bar introduction. Here the same A-flat MM7th chord appears in first inversion.
Where the melody enters (bar 25, see above), the same sonority is spread out horizontally, with the seventh of the chord contained within the left-hand arpeggiation.
The melody reappears in a G-flat major guise in the Maestoso section (bar 53). Here the clanging chords in the added upper staff are again major-major seventh chords, with a combination of G-flat and D-flat roots, in first inversion with the fifth omitted.