Laura - David Raksin - Tonic Chord

[Teasing the Korean]

"Laura" has an ambiguous tonal center; some may say shifting tonal centers.

Anyway, the big reveal comes at measure 27 (if my math is correct), when the tonic chord is played for the first time, on the words "kiss to you."  This would be C major as the tune is written or at least frequently transcribed.  

In my solo piano arrangement, I play the relative minor there - am7 - and save the C major chord for bar 31. 

I have played it this way for years, and after listening to other versions, I think the relative minor is more effective in that passage.

Curious to hear anyone's thoughts on this, and if anyone else plays it this way.

 

 

 

Edited October 7 by Teasing the Korean

[sgcim]

It definitely belongs in there, but it's preceded by the Dm7-5  G7b9 line on the words "her ve-ry first" (F G Ab B), so I play the C6/9 on the word kiss to you for one measure and then I go to the Am7 for the next measure. If you got to the Am7 right away, then what do you do on the next measure? I definitely hear another change in that measure, and going to the Am7 right away forces you to hang out for two measures on the Am7, which slows down the harmonic rhythm of the climax of the song.

Working steadily in NY with two keyboard players who were harmonic geniuses (IMHO) and didn't have a bass player to force them to play roots that they didn't necessarily agree with, because they played their own LH bass, enabled me to learn some of their ideas, which literally made the world shake when I first heard them.

Wayne Shorter had one of those moments when he heard something Raksin did in the introduction to Laura from the film score. I don't think he said exactly what it was.

 

 

[Teasing the Korean]

You and I have talked about that Wayne Shorter passage in a different thread.  (I'll have to find it.)

I use lots of passing chords in my arrangement, so I can't write in much detail here, but this is what I play, more or less, in the last 8 bars:

dm7, cm7 / bm7, E7 alt / am7 / D7 / ebm7 Ab7 / G7 / C etc.

I think it is much more effective to delay the tonic chord until bar 31, but that's just me.

However, in my arrangement, I don't hit the tonic chord at all in the first chorus at all.  Where I would in theory hit the C on bar 31, I hit a Bbm with a major 7, so the last note (on the word "dream") becames the first note of a new chorus in Db.  I then finally hit the tonic chord in bar 31 of the second chorus.

[sgcim]

There are a few things I have trouble with in those eight bars.

1) the first note on the second beat is an Eb, and you have a Dm7 as your first chord- not gonna work. You've gotta stay with Raksin's Fm7 at least for those two beats.

I like the Cm7, because the first note is an F, so it makes it a Cm11, which sounds fine. I knew you were gonna change the Dm7-5  G7 to a Bm7-5 E7alt so you could get to your 'precious' Am7(11), but I prefer the Dm7-5 G7b9 to C 6/9, because we've already heard an Am7-5 in the first eight at that part, and going to C is something completely different. It's similar to the last part of "You Stepped Out of a Dream"; something completely different in the last few bars, which is something Raksin wanted.

Of course the Am7 sounds fine, and following it with a D7 is cool. I'm glad you included the Ebm7 Ab7 at the end, because to me, that is the real surprise of the end, because just playing an Ab7 is too Irving Berlin for such a masterpiece, and we've never heard an Ebm7 before in the tune. I think that chromatic ii V idea should be continued by going to a Dm7 G7 rather than just a G7 like you did.

One time I was playing "Laura" on the piano at a GF's house, and her father flipped out. He said, "That's the song I named my daughter (my GF) after!" It's too bad she turned out to be a demon from hell! Her dad loved me after that, and wedding bells were gonna follow if things had worked out.

[Teasing the Korean]

1 hour ago, sgcim said:

There are a few things I have trouble with in those eight bars.

1) the first note on the second beat is an Eb, and you have a Dm7 as your first chord- not gonna work. You've gotta stay with Raksin's Fm7 at least for those two beats.

I like the Cm7, because the first note is an F, so it makes it a Cm11, which sounds fine. I knew you were gonna change the Dm7-5  G7 to a Bm7-5 E7alt so you could get to your 'precious' Am7(11), but I prefer the Dm7-5 G7b9 to C 6/9, because we've already heard an Am7-5 in the first eight at that part, and going to C is something completely different. It's similar to the last part of "You Stepped Out of a Dream"; something completely different in the last few bars, which is something Raksin wanted.

Of course the Am7 sounds fine, and following it with a D7 is cool. I'm glad you included the Ebm7 Ab7 at the end, because to me, that is the real surprise of the end, because just playing an Ab7 is too Irving Berlin for such a masterpiece, and we've never heard an Ebm7 before in the tune. I think that chromatic ii V idea should be continued by going to a Dm7 G7 rather than just a G7 like you did.

One time I was playing "Laura" on the piano at a GF's house, and her father flipped out. He said, "That's the song I named my daughter (my GF) after!" It's too bad she turned out to be a demon from hell! Her dad loved me after that, and wedding bells were gonna follow if things had worked out.

Hurricane brain. My chords posted above are all wrong. 

I'll post the chords I play in the coming days, when I get through this. 

My mistake aside, the am7 is not precious: The whole point is delaying the entry of the tonic chord to heighten the impact of the tonic arriving. 

[sgcim]

17 minutes ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Hurricane brain. My chords posted above are all wrong. 

I'll post the chords I play in the coming days, when I get through this. 

My mistake aside, the am7 is not precious: The whole point is delaying the entry of the tonic chord to heighten the impact of the tonic arriving. 

Where are you in Fla.? Make sure the bachelor dungeon is secure! Something like that can't be replaced!

[Teasing the Korean]

59 minutes ago, sgcim said:

Where are you in Fla.? Make sure the bachelor dungeon is secure! Something like that can't be replaced!

Yes! And my chords above were correct after all. The Eb you reference on the melody occurs at the top of the B section. The first two notes of the C section are F and G. ("She gave...") F goes over Dm7, G goes over Cm7. 

[sgcim]

3 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Yes! And my chords above were correct after all. The Eb you reference on the melody occurs at the top of the B section. The first two notes of the C section are F and G. ("She gave...") F goes over Dm7, G goes over Cm7. 

Oh yeah, I always confuse those two notes. I take it back, those changes are fine. I just don't like the Bm7-5  E7 chords, but they fit fine over the melody. When I do arrangements of Raksin's stuff for big band, he's the one composer I don't bother to change the harmony for when I'm doing the melody. The trick is to change it around for the blowing sections, rhythmically, harmonically, tempo, even time signature have to be changed.

Stay safe!

[Teasing the Korean]

11 hours ago, sgcim said:

Oh yeah, I always confuse those two notes. I take it back, those changes are fine. I just don't like the Bm7-5  E7 chords, but they fit fine over the melody. When I do arrangements of Raksin's stuff for big band, he's the one composer I don't bother to change the harmony for when I'm doing the melody. The trick is to change it around for the blowing sections, rhythmically, harmonically, tempo, even time signature have to be changed.

Stay safe!

You're a guitar player and you don't like E7?!? I'm reporting you! 😹

[sgcim]

Only when it's an 'iconic' one with a #9