Heinrich Schenker's Conception of Harmony: 163 (Eastman Studies in Music, 163)

What makes the compositions of Handel, Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, and Brahms stand out as great works of art? Heinrich Schenker (1868-1935) set out to answer this question in a series of treatises, beginning with a strikingly original work with the deceptive title __Harmonielehre__ (roughly: Treatise on Harmony, 1906). Whereas other treatises of the period associated harmony with the abstract principles governing chords and chord progressions, Schenker's treated it as the conceptual glue that allowed the individual elements of a work (melodies, motives, chords, counterpoint, etc.) to work together locally and globally. Yet this book, though renowned and much cited, has never been studied systematically and in close detail. __Heinrich Schenker's Conception of Harmony__ approaches Schenker's 1906 treatise as a synthesis of ancient ideas and very new ones. It also describes his later views of harmony and the ways in which they influenced, and also were ignored by, the 1954 abridged edition and translation, entitled simply __Harmony__. Though problematic, __Harmony__ was the first published translation of a major work by Schenker, inaugurating the study of his works in post-war America and Britain, where they continue to be highly influential. 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. What makes the compositions of Handel, Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, and Brahms stand out as great works of art? Heinrich Schenker (1868-1935) set out to answer this question in a series of treatises, beginning with a strikingly original work with the deceptive title Harmonielehre ( Treatise on Harmony, 1906). Whereas other treatises of the period associated harmony with the abstract principles governing chords and chord progressions, Schenker's treated it as the conceptual glue that allowed the individual elements of a work (melodies, motives, chords, counterpoint, etc.) to work together locally and globally. Yet this book,though renowned and much cited, has never been studied systematically and in close detail. Heinrich Schenker's Conception of Harmony approaches Schenker's 1906 treatise as a synthesis of ancient ideas and very new ones. It translates, for the first time, two preparatory essays for Harmonielehre and describes his later views of harmony and the ways in which they influenced and also were ignored by the 1954 edition and translation, entitled simply Harmony. Though problematic, Harmony was the first published translation of a major work by Schenker, inaugurating the study of his writings in postwar America and Britain, where they continue to be highly influential. Front Cover -- Contents -- Abbreviations -- Preface -- Note On Online Material -- Part One Harmonielehre -- Chapter One The Eclectic Intellectual Methodology Of Schenker's Theory Of Harmony (1906) -- Chapter Two The Music-theoretical Content Of Schenker's Theory Of Harmony (1906) And The Status Of H -- Part Two Harmonielehre: The Past -- Chapter Three Schenker's Theory Of Harmony (1906) In Historical Perspective -- Chapter Four Sources Of Schenker's Intellectual Methodology In 1906 -- Part Three Harmonielehre: The Future Chapter Five A New Edition For A New Audience And An American Version For A New Country -- Chapter Six The Twilight Of The Masters -- Appendix A The Path To Likeness -- Appendix B [foundations Of Tonal Systems] -- Bibliography -- Index Robert W. Wason, Matthew Brown. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Electronic Reproduction. Baltimore, Md Available Via World Wide Web.