Nine-Eight Suspension

This is an example of a 9-8 suspension from an 18th century sinfonia concertante by Franz Danzi. This MIDI recording plays the first three measures of the adagio, which features a 9-8 suspension between the oboe and bassoon part. After this, the recording repeats the suspension passage with only the oboe and bassoon playing. A suspension is a type of dissonance. It begins as a consonant note usually in an upper voice and is sustained through a change of bass note that makes the consonant note in the upper voice a dissonant suspended note. This usually occurs on a strong beat. The suspended note resolves down by stepwise motion into a new consonant harmony. In this case, the suspended note is a ninth above the bass and resolves to an octave, creating a 9-8 suspension.