List of pieces which use the octatonic scale explained

Compositions using the octatonic scale:

• Radiohead

"Just" (1995). Jonny Greenwood plays a series of OCT02 scales on the guitar during the intro (0:06-0:16) and each chorus (0:55-1:05, 1:44-1:55, 2:47-3:09)^[1]

• Béla Bartók

Harvest Song (Ara táskor) Violin Duo # 33

• Frederic Chopin

Ballade No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 23 : (bars 130-132)

Etude in F Minor, Op. 10, No. 9: (bars 28-30)

• Charles Ives

The Unanswered Question (solo trumpet part)

• Julian Cochran

Piano Sonata No. 1 (1st mov.) ^[2]

Fire Dance

Animation Suite, Tin Sentinel

Animation Suite, Clockwork Doll

Trio for violin, oboe and piano, Artemis (2nd mov.)

Prelude No. 9 ^[3]

Mazurka No. 1

• Madeleine Dring

Lilliburlero Variations for Two Pianos^[4]

• Prince Edmond de Polignac

Échos de l'Orient judaïque (1879)^[5]

"Chant à la lune", incidental music to Salammbô (1886)^[6]

• Joseph Haydn

String Quartet in F minor, Op. 20 No. 5^[7]

• The Human Abstract

"Digital Veil" (2011)^[8]

• King Crimson

"Red" (1974).^[9]

• Nirvana

"Oh, the Guilt" (1993) (verses)

"Blandest" (1988) (verses)

• Procol Harum

"Whaling Stories" on Procol Harum – Live In New York (April 1971)

• Zoltán Kodály

Sonata for Violoncello and Piano, Mov. II (1910)^[10]

• Sergei Rachmaninoff

Trio élégiaque No. 2

• Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Sadko (1867)^{[11] [12]}

• Arnold Schoenberg

Piano Piece, Op. 23, no. 3 (1923)^[13]

• Franz Schubert

Symphony No. 8, 1st mvt., bars 13-20^[7]

Piano Sonata in C major, D 840 (Schubert), 1st mvt bars 33-39

• Alexander Scriabin

Prelude Op. 74, No. 3 (1914)^[11]

Piano Sonata No. 9, Op. 68 (1912-13), melody from bar 5 onwards

• Juan Maria Solare

Octango (2005)

Transfuga

• Igor Stravinsky

Petroushka (1911)^{[12] [14]}

The Rite of Spring (1913)^{[12] [14]}

Les Noces (1923)^{[12] [15]}

Symphony of Psalms (1930)^[14]

Agon, "Pas de deux" (1957)^[13]

• Kenneth Leighton

Magnificat from the Second Service, Op. 62 (1972)

• Toru Takemitsu

Distance de Fée, SJ1050 (1951)

• Die Antwoord

Fok julle Naaiers (2011). Piano line in the intro is octatonic, bass synth adds a ninth tone.

• Adi Morag

"Octabones" (1999)

• Orbital

Oolaa from the Green Album

• Suraj Synthesist Khayaal, a lil fantasy^{[16] [17]}
• Gilad Hochman

Closer for two alto saxophones (2022)

Polarizations for solo viola (2023)

Notes and References

1. Victoria Malawey, “Ear Training with the Music of Radiohead.” Indiana Theory Review, vol. 30, no. 2, 2012, pp. 27–64. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24045402.
2. Stephen Pleskun, A Chronology History of Australian Composers and Their Compositions - Vol. 4 1999-2013 (Publisher Xlibris Corporation, 2014,, 9781493135370)
3. Robert Bremner Publishing (July 15, 2015). "Public extract of Prelude No. 9", robertbremner.com.
4. Maurice Hinson, Music for More than One Piano: An Annotated Guide (Bloomington, Indiana: University of Indiana Press 1983, 2001;)
5. Kahan, Sylvia (2009). In Search of New Scales, p.105&115. .
6. Kahan (2009), p.58.
7. [Peter van der Merwe (musicologist)|van der Merwe, Peter]
8. Karan, Tim (May 3, 2011). "Track By Track: The Human Abstract", AltPress.com.
9. Keeling, Andrew (2007). King Crimson: Red: An Analysis by Andrew Keeling.
10. Antokoletz, Elliott (1984). The Music of Béla Bartók, p.12. .
11. Antokoletz (1984), p.10.
12. Kahan (2009), p.1.
13. Schuijer, Michiel (2008). Analyzing Atonal Music, p.13. .
14. Chemistruck, Daniel (2006). Imposing Harmonic Restrictions on Symmetrical Scales, p.8.
15. Van Den Toorn, Pieter C. and McGinness, John (2012). Stravinsky and the Russian Period, p.43. .
16. Book: Shetty, Suraj . Khayaal, a lil fantasy: Full score : Band/Trio & Solo . English.
17. Web site: Khayaal, a lil fantasy: Full score : Band/Trio & Solo Sheet Music Suraj Synthesist Jazz Ensemble . 2024-03-28 . www.sheetmusicdirect.com . en.