neopolitan chord blog

Franz Schubert wrote this song caled "Erklonig" and it has a few neopolitans in it. I'm only going to talk about one section. Schubert uses a neopolitan sixth chord in measure 117 and 119, and it serves as part of a sequence of rising chords. The words in this passage mean "I ove you, I'm aroused by your beautiful form; if you're not willing, I'll take you by force." These words are more than a little creepy for their obvious ties to rape. The rising bass line that employs several nondiatonic chords works well to accentuate these words. The bass line is building, as are the speaker's feelings. The non diatonic chords has an uncomfortable feel, which suits the idea first of her not being willing and second of him raping her. The neopolitan sixth chord in this passage also does not resolve directly to the dominant, like it wants to, which is frustration in the music matching frustration in the text.