Editing Octatonic scale (section)

==Nomenclature==
In Saint Petersburg at the turn of the 20th century, this scale had become so familiar in the circle of composers around [[Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov]] that it was referred to as the ''Korsakovian scale'' (Корсаковская гамма).{{sfn|Taruskin|1985|loc=132}} As early as 1911, the Russian theorist [[Boleslav Yavorsky]] described this collection of pitches as the ''diminished mode'' (уменьшённый лад), because of the stable way the diminished fifth functions in it.<ref>{{harvnb|Taruskin|1985|loc=111–113}}, citing {{harvnb|Yavorsky|1911}}</ref> In more recent Russian theory, the term ''octatonic'' is not used. Instead, this scale is placed among other symmetrical modes (total 11) under its historical name ''Rimsky-Korsakov scale'', or ''Rimsky-Korsakov mode''.{{sfn|Kholopov|1982|loc=30}}{{sfn|Kholopov|2003|loc=227}})

In jazz theory, it is called the ''diminished scale''{{sfn|Campbell|2001|loc=126}} or ''symmetric diminished scale''{{sfn|Hatfield|2005|loc=125}} because it can be conceived as a combination of two interlocking [[diminished seventh chord]]s, just as the [[Hexatonic scale#Augmented scale|augmented scale]] can be conceived as a combination of two interlocking augmented [[triad (music)|triads]]. The two modes are sometimes referred to as the ''half-step/whole step diminished scale'' and the ''whole step/half-step diminished scale''.{{sfn|Levine|1995|loc=78}}

Because it was associated in the early 20th century with the Dutch composer [[Willem Pijper]], in the Netherlands it is called the ''Pijper scale''.{{sfn|Taruskin|1985|loc=73}}