The first detailed study of Schenker's pathbreaking 1906 treatise, showing how it reflected 2500 years of thinking about harmony and presented a vigorous reaction to Austro-Germanic music theory ca. 1900.

Published originally by the David Mannes Music School, New York, in 1933 under the German title.

Schenker was one of the most influential music theorists of the 20th century. In this essay, he turns his attention to the performer's role, arguing that the cult of the virtuoso has led to an overemphasis on technical display.

In 1912 Heinrich Schenker contracted with the publisher Universal Edition to provide an 'elucidatory edition' (Erläuterungsausgabe) of Beethoven's last five piano sonatas. But that of the 'Hammerklavier' Sonata, op. 106, was never published. As Nicholas Marston shows in a detailed history of the Erläuterungsausgabe, despite Schenker's failure to complete the project, he nevertheless developed a voice-leading analysis of the sonata during the years 1924-1926. Marston's book provides the first in-depth study of this rich analysis, which is reproduced in full in high-quality digital images.

The first two volumes of Heinrich Schenker's masterwork Neue musikalische Theorien und Phantasien, Harmonielehren (1906), and Kontrapunkt (1910 and 1922), laid the foundations for the harmonic aspect of his theory. The specific voice-leading component was a later development, progressing with brilliance over the last 15 years of his life. It is in Free Composition (Freie Satz, 1935) that the idea of voice-leading receives its most detailed and precise formulation. Pendragon Press is honored to make this distinguished reprint available once again, with a new preface by Carl Schacter.

This book consists of over 1,500 citations to both primary sources and the burgeoning secondary literature of Heinrich Schenker, annotated and subdivided by category. The citations are supplemented with indices cross-referencing entries according to individual works and analytical topic.