Quote from: Latios212 on April 03, 2018, 07:38:55 PMI went back and gave this one some more thought to try and find justification for my previous self writing those in. It does sound fine without the A, but I think I did prefer the slightly "bulkier" texture because otherwise the middle of the measure emphasizes B a bit too much for my liking... I'll think about it a bit more.
Just want to chime in on this real quick, since this is a subject that interests me. I think there's a number of advantages to the addition of A into these chords, such as it emphasizing the quartal quality of the chord's upper structure, as well as anchoring the progression on the 5th scale degree of the key as the progression drifts away from the key. But I think what interests me most is how this A naturally comes to one's ears, despite it not being explicitly audible in the OST. My hypothesis is that perhaps there's something missing texturally between the punchiness of spiccatto strings and the inevitable pedal-heavy execution on piano, and that the extra A helps to fill in that gap with its distinct bulkiness.