The Golden Sequence: The History and Pre-History of the Term on the Pages of Russian Musical Guiding Manuals

Abstract

The golden sequence is one of the most widespread harmonic techniques in music history. Its creation coincides with the Baroque era, and having entrenched itself in the musical language of which it subsequently became an “evergreen” term, examples of which may be found in works from different time periods, styles, genres and sociocultural strata. The article examines the two-hundred-year-old history of presenting the golden sequence as a term and a harmonic technique on the pages of Russian musical guide manuals, where it appeared not only long before having acquired its “proper name,” but also noticeably earlier than the term “sequence” appeared in scholarly use. The author examines diachronically the conceptual-terminological construct, while the reconstruction of the progression of theoretical cognition of the aforementioned musical phenomenon makes it possible to establish its key positions. The Russian presentation of the golden sequence took place in the first guide manual to be translated into Russian – Georg Simon Loehlein’s The Clavichord School (1773–1774) in the form of figured bass ciphering and its brief description. Subsequently, the characterization of the golden sequence was supplemented by new positions: indication of expressive possibilities, technical details of voice-leading in harmonic practice, as well as functional and linear interpretation. The article provides information about the authorship of the term “golden sequence” belonging to Viktor Berkov. Its first fixation took place on the pages of a special harmony course in 1966. The reference to the history of the terminology is perceived to be a relevant vector of one of the mainstream directions of present-day Russian musicology connected with the comprehension of the processes of the formation of the language of music scholarship and its conceptual-terminological construct.