Structural Functions of Harmony

Arnold Schoenberg, Leonard Stein

W. W. Norton & Company, 1969 - Music - 203 pages

The earlier chapters recapitulate in condensed form the principles laid down in his Theory of Harmony; the later chapters break entirely new ground, for they analyze the system of key relationships within the structure of whole movements and affirm the principle of "monotonality," showing how all modulations within a movement are merely deviations from, and not negations of, its main tonality.



Schoenberg's argument is supported by music examples, which range from entire development sections of classical symphonies to analyses of the experimental harmonic progressions of Strauss, Debussy, Reger, and Schoenberg's own early music. The final chapter, "Apollonian Evaluation of a Dionysian Epoch," discusses the music of our time, with particular reference to the possibility of new methods of harmonic analysis.



Structural Functions of Harmony is a standard work on its subject and provides an invaluable key to the development of musical structure during the last two hundred and fifty years. This new edition, with corrections, a new preface, and an index of subject headings, has been prepared under the editorial supervision of Leonard Stein.

Contents

• PRINCIPLES OF HARMONY A BRIEF RECAPITULA: 4
• SUBSTITUTES AND REGIONS: 15
• REGIONS IN MINOR: 30
• VAGRANT HARMONIES: 44
• INTERCHANGEABILITY OF MAJOR AND MINOR: 51
• INDIRECT BUT CLOSE RELATIONS MEDIANT: 57
• EXTENDED TONALITY EXAMPLES FROM MUSICAL: 76
• POSES: 114
• Contrasting Middle Section: 120
• Variation of the Sequence: 134
• Durchführung Elaboration: 145
• Roving Harmony: 164
• APOLLONIAN EVALUATION OF A DIONYSIAN EPOCH: 192

About the author

An American of Austrian birth, Arnold Schoenberg composed initially in a highly developed romantic style but eventually turned to painting and expressionism. At first he was influenced by Richard Wagner and tried to write in a Wagnerian style. He attracted the attention of Alban Berg and Anton von Webern, with whom he created a new compositional method based on using all 12 half-steps in each octave as an organizing principle, the so-called 12-tone technique. His importance to the development of twentieth-century music is incredible, but the music he composed using this new method is not easily accessible to most concertgoers.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Structural Functions of Harmony; Issue 478 of Norton library, ISSN 2767-0120; The Norton library, N478
• Authors: Arnold Schoenberg, Leonard Stein
• Editor: Leonard Stein
• Compiled by: Leonard Stein
• Edition: illustrated, revised
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 1969
• ISBN: 0393004783, 9780393004786
• Length: 203 pages
• Subjects: Music / General; Music / Instruction & Study / Theory