Elektra chord
| Component intervals from root | |
|---|---|
| diminished fourth | |
| minor second | |
| diminished seventh | |
| perfect fifth | |
| root | |
| Forte no. / | |
| 5-32 / |
The Elektra chord is a "complexly dissonant signature-chord" and motivic elaboration used by composer Richard Strauss to represent the title character of his opera Elektra that is a "bitonal synthesis of E major and C-sharp major" and may be regarded as a polychord related to conventional chords with added thirds, in this case an eleventh chord. It is enharmonically equivalent to a 7♯9 chord : D♭-F-A♭-C♭-E and a 6♭9 chord : E-G♯-B-C♯-F.
In Elektra the chord, Elektra's "harmonic signature" is treated various ways betraying "both tonal and bitonal leanings...a dominant 4
2 over a nonharmonic bass." It is associated as well with its seven note complement which may be arranged as a dominant thirteenth while other characters are represented by other motives or chords, such as Klytämnestra's contrasting harmony. The Elektra chord's complement appears at important points and the two chords form a 10-note pitch collection, lacking D and A, which forms one of Elektra's "distinctive 'voices'"