WebFacts 1
Because this pattern of harmonized chromatic lines in contrary motion is so
distinctive, it has a special name: the omnibus progression. The omnibus progression is most
often used to prolong a dominant seventh harmony. Since the voices that exchange when
prolonging a dominant seventh may span a tritone, which divides the octave in half, it is possible
for the omnibus progression to continue until the exchanged voices are where they began (but up
or down an octave). The tritone voice exchange is "filled in" chromatically-thus, the omnibus
progression may be seen as a harmonization of the complete chromatic scale. The voice
exchange may also reverse direction, returning chromatically to the original pitches with which
the progression began. When you analyze an omnibus progression, like any other chromaticized
voice exchange, simply label the harmony that is prolonged to capture the function of the
progression.
If you want to learn more about the omnibus progression, check out Robert W. Wason's
Viennese Harmonic Theory: From Albrechtsberger to Schenker and Schoenberg (Ann Arbor,
Mich.: UMI Research Press, 1984). Wason cites discussions of this type of progression
beginning with Georg Joseph Vogler (1749-1814).
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