Studies on the Origin of Harmonic Tonality
Title | Studies on the Origin of Harmonic Tonality PDF eBook |
Author | Carl Dahlhaus |
Publisher | Princeton University Press |
Pages | 406 |
Release | 2014-07-14 |
Genre | Music |
ISBN | 1400861314 |
Carl Dahlhaus was without doubt the premier musicologist of the postwar generation, a giant whose recent death was mourned the world over. Translated here for the first time, this fundamental work on the development of tonality shows his complete mastery of the theory of harmony. In it Dahlhaus explains the modern concepts of harmony and tonality, reviewing in the process the important theories of Rameau, Sechter, Ftis, Riemann, and Schenker. He contrasts the familiar premises of chordal composition with the lesser known precepts of intervallic composition, the basis for polyphonic music in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. Numerous quotations from theoretical treatises document how early music was driven forward not by progressions of chords but by simple progressions of intervals. Exactly when did composers transform intervallic composition into chordal composition? Modality into tonality? Dahlhaus provides extensive analyses of motets by Josquin, frottole by Cara and Tromboncino, and madrigals by Monteverdi to demonstrate how, and to what degree, such questions can be answered. In his bold speculations, in his magisterial summaries, in his command of eight centuries of music and writings on music, and in his deep understanding of European history and culture, Carl Dahlhaus sets a standard that will seldom be equalled. Originally published in 1990. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Harmonic Tonality in the Music Theories of Jérôme-Joseph Momigny, 1762-1842
Title | Harmonic Tonality in the Music Theories of Jérôme-Joseph Momigny, 1762-1842 PDF eBook |
Author | Glenn Gerald Caldwell |
Publisher | |
Pages | 171 |
Release | 2001 |
Genre | Harmony |
ISBN | 9780889464261 |
A Chord in Time: The Evolution of the Augmented Sixth from Monteverdi to Mahler
Title | A Chord in Time: The Evolution of the Augmented Sixth from Monteverdi to Mahler PDF eBook |
Author | Mark Ellis |
Publisher | Routledge |
Pages | 255 |
Release | 2017-07-05 |
Genre | Music |
ISBN | 1351578138 |
For centuries, the augmented sixth sonority has fascinated composers and intrigued music analysts. Here, Dr Mark Ellis presents a series of musical examples illustrating the 'evolution' of the augmented sixth and the changing contexts in which it can be found. Surprisingly, the sonority emerged from one of the last remnants of modal counterpoint to survive into the tonal era: the Phrygian Cadence. In the Baroque period, the 'terrible dissonance' was nearly always associated with negative textual imagery. Charpentier described the augmented sixth as 'poignantly expressive'. J. S. Bach considered an occurrence of the chord in one of his forebear's motets 'remarkably bold'. During Bach's composing lifetime, the augmented sixth evolved from a relatively rare chromaticism to an almost commonplace element within the tonal spectrum; the chord reflects particular chronological and stylistic strata in his music. Theorists began cautiously to accept the chord, but its inversional possibilities proved particularly contentious, as commentaries by writers as diverse as Muffat, Marpurg and Rousseau reveal. During the eighteenth century, the augmented sixth became increasingly significant in instrumental repertoires - it was perhaps Vivaldi who first liberated the chord from its negative textual associations. By the later eighteenth century, the chord began to function almost as a 'signpost' to indicate important structural boundaries within sonata form. The chord did not, however, entirely lose its darker undertone: it signifies, for example, the theme of revenge in Mozart's Don Giovanni. Romantic composers uncovered far-reaching tonal ambiguities inherent in the augmented sixth. Chopin's Nocturnes often seem beguilingly simple, but the surface tranquillity masks the composer's strikingly original harmonic experiments. Wagner's much-analyzed 'Tristan Chord' resolves (according to some theorists) on an augmented sixth. In Tristan und Isolde, the chord's mercurial
A History of Harmonic Theory in the United States
Title | A History of Harmonic Theory in the United States PDF eBook |
Author | David M. Thompson |
Publisher | |
Pages | 224 |
Release | 1980 |
Genre | Music |
ISBN |
Tonal Space in the Music of Antonio Vivaldi
Title | Tonal Space in the Music of Antonio Vivaldi PDF eBook |
Author | Bella Brover-Lubovsky |
Publisher | Indiana University Press |
Pages | 384 |
Release | 2008-06-25 |
Genre | Music |
ISBN | 0253028035 |
Tonal Space in the Music of Antonio Vivaldi incorporates an analytical study of Vivaldi's style into a more general exploration of harmonic and tonal organization in the music of the late Italian Baroque. The harmonic and tonal language of Vivaldi and his contemporaries, full of curious links between traditional modal thinking and what would later be considered common-practice major-minor tonality, directly reflects the historical circumstances of the shifting attitude toward the conceptualization of tonal space so crucial to Western art music. Vivaldi is examined in a completely new context, allowing both his prosaic and idiosyncratic sides to emerge clearly. This book contributes to a better understanding of Vivaldi's individual style, while illuminating wider processes of stylistic development and the diffusion of artistic ideas in the 18th century.
The Cambridge History of Western Music Theory
Title | The Cambridge History of Western Music Theory PDF eBook |
Author | Thomas Christensen |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Pages | 1033 |
Release | 2006-04-20 |
Genre | Music |
ISBN | 1316025489 |
The Cambridge History of Western Music Theory is the first comprehensive history of Western music theory to be published in the English language. A collaborative project by leading music theorists and historians, the volume traces the rich panorama of music-theoretical thought from the Ancient Greeks to the present day. Recognizing the variety and complexity of music theory as an historical subject, the volume has been organized within a flexible framework. Some chapters are defined chronologically within a restricted historical domain, whilst others are defined conceptually and span longer historical periods. Together the thirty-one chapters present a synthetic overview of the fascinating and complex subject that is historical music theory. Richly enhanced with illustrations, graphics, examples and cross-citations as well as being thoroughly indexed and supplemented by comprehensive bibliographies of the most important primary and secondary literature, this book will be an invaluable resource for students and scholars alike.
Sourcebook for Research in Music
Title | Sourcebook for Research in Music PDF eBook |
Author | Phillip Crabtree |
Publisher | Indiana University Press |
Pages | 258 |
Release | 1993 |
Genre | Bibliographical literature |
ISBN | 9780253213235 |
This bibliography of bibliographies lists and describes sources, from basic references to highly specialized materials. Valuable as a classroom text and as a research tool for scholars, librarians, performers, and teachers.